002 Car Log! Yay!

[tickingheart]

Waking up in a car where you hadn't been the night before was never good. For Kaito, waking up wasn't usually good, especially when he couldn't remember falling asleep.

But apparently, the town was annoyed with him, because there, curled up in the passenger's seat, was Aoko. Aoko. How was he--- and he checked the handle with a quick tug--- locked

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[lafillebleue]

Aoko woke with a sudden tighter breath, her body recognizing that she was no longer curled up in bed. Car seats were definitely not mattresses and were far more lumpy. Though her body awakened, her mind took several more moments, and she blinked with sleepy bewilderment at the surrounding car, not seeming to quite take it in . . .

And then sat up with a bolt. "What?"

Her eyes flashed to the other occupant of the car -- and simultaneously relaxed and tensed. Kaito. He'd better not be responsible for this.

"Kaito?" The use of his name both uncertainly requested information and promised doom if he was behind this.

[tickingheart]

Kaito knew that tone of voice. That was a dangerous tone of voice. He needed to explain what little he knew, and make sure she didn't hurt him in the process.

"Oi! I didn't do this!" Annoyance was the appropriate tone of voice, the easiest way to convince Aoko he was not in fact behind their current situation (at least not this time). "Check and see if you can get your door open. Mine doesn't work."

He shifted slightly in his seat, turning away from her and trying to figure out another way of getting the door open. There didn't seem to be one.

[lafillebleue]

Aoko was starting to get to the point where she could believe that he wasn't the cause of strange things happening.

Starting to. Excuse her if she was a little skeptical of a boy who wore a head on his rear end once just to get her distracted enough to look at her underwear.

She wiggled the door handle. Nothing. With a sound of consternation, she twisted around in her seat, craning over the head rest to push at the one in the rear.

Nothing.

"Try the one behind you!" she directed, trying the handle next to her again. Even a firm butt with her shoulder yielded nothing.

"Mooooou. Now what?"

[tickingheart]

Kaito leaned over the seat, wiggling the handle on the door behind him. Nothing.

"Nope. Looks like we're stuck."

Breaking a window was the next option, but he wasn't sure if it would work too well... This being Mayfield...

"You have a rock or something heavy? All I've got on me is a deck of cards. Stupid town took all my equipment."

[lafillebleue]

She eyed him sideways. Please excuse Aoko. She's a little grumpy.

"Do you think I just carry rocks with me?" She gestured at her nightgown. "This is all I've got."

On second thought, she cast another glance at him and firmly tucked the ends of the nightgown under her legs. Just in case.

[tickingheart]

Kaito blinked once, then turned and ran his hands over the edges of the door-frame. There had to be some way to get out. A latch or something, hidden where they couldn't see it. Everything had to have a trick behind it.

Oh wait. Magical looping town of 1950's American brainwashing. He was going to have to re-write some of his "logical reality" perimeters.

And no, he was most certainly not blushing at Aoko's adorable self-consciousness.

[lafillebleue]

Well, there were worse people to be stuck with, anyway, than one's childhood friend. Aoko glanced out the window on her side. There was another car beside theirs, and visibly another car beyond that.

"Looks like we're not the only ones," she murmured. Then, more heatedly, "This is stupid. Why would you ever lock someone in a ca--"

Twisting back to him, she caught sight of his red face, and anger dissolved quickly into concern. "Ne, Kaito, are you okay?"

[tickingheart]

Oh. She saw that. That could be bad. Apparently, denial was something Kaito did. So he was supposed to blink in confusion and slam on a poker face, or make some comment about how the car was rather warm and there was no air circulation in here.

That was illogical and not at all the best choice. Many things Kaito had done in the past were not the best choices. Time to remedy that.

"N...nothing!" Squeak just slightly, let poker face bend but not break, shift awkwardly and glance away from her. Mutter something underneath the breath about this stupid town and stupid teenager stereotypes. Make her realize that Kaito should be feeling a bit awkward, locked in a car with the girl he liked, both dressed only in their nightclothes.

[lafillebleue]

Unfortunately, Aoko was a bit dense on picking up these cues and leaned forward to press the back of her hand to his forehead. "Mm, you don't feel hot . . ."

[tickingheart]

Kaito leaned away from her. "Ahouko. I'm not sick."

Alright, time to change the subject. "Looks like we're stuck in here."

[lafillebleue]

Now that was the beginning of a familiar pattern -- and one she fell into quite easily. "Stupid. I'm just trying to see if you're warm. You'd better not get sick if we stay out here."

Gathering her knees up -- though making sure everything was still covered! -- she leaned her cheek on them. "Because yeah, it looks like it's going to be a while."

Some kind of strange movement was attracting her eye over Kaito's shoulder . . . someone in the next car, maybe?

[tickingheart]

There really was not very much to say. Not between the two of them. Kaito and Aoko had known each other for so long, words were unnecessary. So he just nodded.

And then her line of sight shifted, something out the window catching her interest. Kaito glanced out the window and froze. Yep, there in the next car was that other Kaito, the Kaito that shouldn't exist anymore. Just wonderful.

[lafillebleue]

Who was . . . ? Was that . . .

As Kaito moved, Aoko had a better view of the occupant of the other car, frantically waving and gesturing. She stared, her eyes flickering first to one Kaito's face, then the other.

Then with a sudden yelp, dove to the bottom of the car, one hand reaching up to try to tug Kaito down too.

[tickingheart]

Kaito didn't resist Aoko's tug, and dropped down to the floor as well.

"What?" He hissed, for some reason dropping his voice down to a whisper, even though the other Kaito couldn't hear.

[lafillebleue]

"That must be the robot!" she whispered back. "In that other car -- did you see??"

Which of course begged the question as to why they should be on the floor if they'd already been seen, but . . . Aoko logic did not always make sense. Maybe it went with whispering even though the other Kaito couldn't hear.

[tickingheart]

"Robot?" escaped his mouth before he realized that of course the other Kaito had told Aoko about... the situation. And of course she knew and now, thanks to his momentary lapse of thought, there was really no way to salvage anything.