#heiji: kudo if you don’t get kid I’ll kick your ass

[saltyfilmmajor]

I forgot how good The Wizard of the Last Century was

[perhapsitmaybedragons]

I am actually still doing ok on the writing front this year. I desperately wanted to write this Detective Conan one shot and I got it done. It is the longest one shot I have ever written (I’ve seen longer, but this is long for me).

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22690015

Shinichi/Ran pairing with Heiji running around being pals with Shinichi cause I love Heiji.

A Study In Scavenger Hunting

Twenty year old Shinichi Kudo could not for the life of him begin to understand what was going on. Usually mysteries were met with enthusiasm, especially since he’d regained his normal body three years ago. But when it came to his girlfriend, mysteries were rarely welcome. She’d come over for their usual date night then after he took a phone call he came back and found she’d vanished.

Well. Not vanished. She sent him a text, so he knew she was safe. And they’d talked on the phone since then, so he knew no one had taken her against her will (not that it would have been easy for most people to make Ran do something she didn’t want to do. Her karate skills had only gotten more fine tuned over the years.) But he hadn’t seen her in going on four weeks now. When she went by her parents’ place both insisted they hadn’t seen her, though he noted that Eri looked guilty. Shinichi had been a big help in getting her and Kogoro to see the light and get back together. She’d taken some pity on Shinichi and insisted that he didn’t need to worry. That Ran was just “working some things out”.

“Working things out,” he muttered to himself as he got dressed for work. He’d started going to college first, but the cops kept calling for assistance and before he knew it he had a job offer as a detective, though officially his title was ‘consultant’. He and Heiji had both been hired, and due to Shinichi agreeing to an ill advised bet, he wound up agreeing that the pair would work two years together in Tokyo and two years together in Osaka. He was still kicking himself over that one, but how was he to know that for once the battle Heiji wanted to face off in would be kendo instead of a battle of wits.

But they were on year one, so at least for now Shinichi was on his home field. Which also meant he had time to try to get out of it. Or to at least figure out different living arrangements. He and Heiji were close now, practically brothers, really (though Shinichi refused to admit this). But the pair weren’t suited to living together. They got along pretty well, but competitions between the two could be fierce and they were known to stay up most of the night trying to one up each other. Sometimes Ran and Kazuha joined them, but the girls almost always fell asleep before the guys were done.

“Ya still on about that, Kudo?” Heiji came out of the bathroom wearing only a tank top and boxers, a toothbrush in one hand that he gestured with wildly. “Just call her and ask,” he used the toothbrush to mime a phone call “'Ran! I love ya, why don'tcha tell me what’s going on?'”

Shinichi threw a pillow at him. “You’re going to be late if you don’t get more clothes on.”

“I can get dressed at the station,” he shrugged, “So long as I put some pants on, who cares? Besides, you’re tryin’ to distract from the point. And the point is to just come out and ask her.”

“Like you just came out and told Kazuha how you felt about her?”

“That was different,” Heiji sulked. “You took all the good spots. It took me ages to figure out a good enough place to tell her. And I did tell her…ya know. Eventually.”

“So Ran will tell me when she’s ready,” Shinichi shrugged. “I just have to wait.” He looked mature in the moment, but Heiji could see right through him. They both knew Shinichi was getting impatient and that he desperately wanted Ran to come clean about what was going on.

“What, you think she’s gonna dump ya?” Heiji put the toothpaste on his toothbrush. With a full mouth, he added “and wisha boat da ass her ta,” he brushed quietly for a moment and then ran into the bathroom to spit. “marry ya,” he finished.

“Idiot, who said anything about that?”

“Saw the ring box in your underwear drawer.”

“What were you doing in there?” Shinichi hissed.

“Looking for a clue,” Heiji said with a shrug.

“A clue for what, how to invade my privacy in as many ways as possible?!”

“A clue for why you were acting so funny a few weeks before Ran was. Honestly, I thought maybe you knocked her up or something. But then, she never spends the night here so I’m not sure you two have gotten there.”

“Maybe if you weren’t always here,” Shinichi said pointedly.

“Surprised it’s taken you this long to pop the question. You’ve been in love with her since what, grade school?” Shinichi didn’t answer him, so Heiji continued on. “She waited for you the whole time you were Conan and she didn’t freak on ya when she found out the truth after you changed back. So it’s weird she’s freaking out now, right? That’s why I wondered if you knocked her up, since nothing should have shaken her after the Black Organization got taken down.”

“Or it might make her more nervous,” Shinichi was mostly talking to himself so he moved from the bedroom to the living room. Heiji followed him. “Think about it, when we finally took them down…that was a rough day. We were lucky we all got out alive. Takagi-san got a broken arm and Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Genta probably really need counseling but weren’t physically injured …but Ran found out the truth the same day we all almost died.”

The outcome had been the best they could possibly hope for, but Shinichi still felt guilty about the whole ordeal. The Black Organization had found him out and tracked him down ..to the elementary school. He and the Detective Boys had all been grabbed from the side of the road on the way home from school, he and Ai identities both having been discovered by the organization. The actual kids had been grabbed as a way to get he and Ai to comply no matter what. A gun to Ayumi’s head got a faster response from Ai than someone threatening her.

It had lead to a final showdown between the police and the organization, with Heiji leading the cops. In just a little over twenty four hours Conan Edogawa went from being a little kid to disappearing into Shinichi Kudo. And with how everything had gone down, the list of people who knew both sides were one and the same expanded from a handful to include Tagaki, Sato, Shiratori, Inspector Megure, the Detective Boys, Kogoro, Kazuha …and Ran.

“Maybe she would say no if I asked her,” Shinichi sank onto his couch and put his elbows on his knees and his face in his hands, looking miserable. “Maybe it’s just too much danger. Ran wants kids,” they’d never discussed it, but Shinichi knew Ran had always seen herself as a mother some day. “she wouldn’t want her husband, the father of her kids to be in danger all the time.”

“She knew the risks,” Heiji didn’t seem to see the big deal. Shinichi didn’t bother to pretend to be surprised. Heiji was a great detective, but he was also a 'miss the forest for the trees’ type when it came to emotions. “She agreed to date you, and that whole mess was years ago now. I bet nothing’s …hmm.” Heiji had been making his way to the front door, probably about to head out (Shinichi momentarily wondered when the guy had put pants on, but he wasn’t about to ask). But now Heiji was holding up an envelope that seemed to have been slid under the door. “Hmm. What’s this?”

“Hand it over,” Shinichi commanded. He could see his name on the envelope, and he knew that handwriting.

“What if I want to see what’s in it?”

Shinichi vaulted over the couch and snatched the letter before ripping it open.

Dear Shinichi,

I want to talk to you and get some things straight, but you’ll have to find me first. Not long ago you made a journey for a second time. Go there and await your next clue, which will be delivered by an irregular crew.

~Ran

Shinichi poked Heiji in the stomach. “All right, whats she up to?”

“You think I know?” he asked innocently.

“I get up earlier than you do,” Shinichi snorted, “ I already went this way multiple times and that letter wasn’t there. You pretended it came, but you actually dropped it from underneath your shirt before you pretended to pick it up. Which means whatever she’s doing, you’re in on it.”

“Oh, Kudo,” Heiji tsked at him, “The lady wants to play a game. You’re just gonna have ta play along with her.”

“And what about work?”

“I told them yesterday that you and I would both be out today,” Heiji gave him a thumbs up sign. “You’re all set. I’m just your guide to make sure you don’t go too far off the path.”

“So you already have the answers?”

“Actually, no,” Heiji admitted. “I helped her a little bit, but she came up with most of it and didn’t give me any clue for where we’re actually going. I’ll be seeing the clues at the same time as you. But I’m not allowed to tell ya anything.”

“Helpful,” Shinichi grumbled, taking his jacket off. If he was going to run around today he wasn’t going to do it in a full suit. The mystery aspect was intriguing and he was quite happy Ran had arranged this for him, but it was a little harder to be enthusiastic when the first clue was this obvious.

“So, where are we off to first?”

“Teitan Elementary school. She’s poking fun at my having to go there twice, and the 'irregular crew’ is the Detective Boys. Ran made a Sherlock reference,” his smile got brighter. “She’s calling them the Baker Street Irregulars. Guess she must have listened to me talk about Holmes so much some of it sunk in even if she didn’t want it to.”

They ran quickly to the elementary school and found the Detective Boys waiting for them at the playground. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko were on swings while Genta stood leaning against the swings’ frame. “Shinichi-kun!” Ayumi launched herself out of her seat and took off running into his arms. The boys followed suit. While they were saddened that “Conan” wouldn’t be by to play with them ever again, they had taken in stride that he and Shinichi were one and the same. Shinichi was now asked to babysit them from time-to-time and he took them to soccer games whenever he could. They didn’t know it yet, but he was currently working out a murder mystery party for them for Ayumi’s next birthday.

Shinichi gave each one a hug before putting them down. Part of him still expected to see Ai with them, but of course she had also returned to her adult body. But she still insisted on all of them calling her Ai, and had told the Detective Boys she really was Ai when they had asked for her true name. Ayumi grabbed his hand and yanked him down to her level, forcing him from his thoughts.

“Hi, Heiji-san!” she called over Shinichi’s shoulder before getting to business. “Your clue is ..umm… let’s see…Mitsuhiko?”

“Your own Auguste Dupin-” he started but Ayumi cut him off.

“Right! Your own Auguste Dupin is within the building, though no apes are in sight. Find her and ask for your next guiding light!”

“Dupin?” Shinichi titled his head to the side as he thought. His first though was to his father. Dupin, after all, was Sherlock’s predecessor. But that isn’t the first character he would pick for his dad, and somehow he knew Ran wouldn’t either. “Auguste Dupin was Edgar Allan Poe’s creation,” he muttered to himself, “similar to Sherlock, but came before him,” he tried to get into Ran’s mindset and let go of his own.

Who would set the framework to Ran’s mind? A builder? No, he was being too literal. Ran was smarter than that. Someone who laid the foundations for someone else, who made someone better. “A teacher?”

The kids nodded and smiled in response. “And we got one more for you!” Genta crooked his finger at Shinichi, indicating he should come closer. “What’s sticky and spotted all over?”

“I uh ….is that a joke one? Is this actually from Ran?” He felt like he’d heard a stupid joke like this sometime ago, but he couldn’t remember the answer.

“You,” Genta answered before Shinichi could process. He’d pulled a bottle of soy sauce out from under his shirt and managed to shake some of its contents on Shinichi’s formerly white shirt.

“Hey, what’s the deal?” He resisted the urge to call him a brat. The Detective Boys were all smiling up at him with the most over the top innocent looks he couldn’t take seriously. Somehow, this factored into Ran’s plans though he couldn’t figure out how. “Well, now I need to go home and change.

“You can’t!” Ayumi cried. “She said it’s important you get to the end as soon as possible. No stopping unless it’s a bathroom break.”

“All right, all right,” Shinichi agreed, trying to make sure Ayumi wouldn’t start crying. “Is Kobayashi-sensei inside?”

Ayumi nodded and wiped at her crocodile tears, forcing back the urge to smirk. She squeezed Shinichi’s hand and lead him into the school, with Mitsuhiko and Genta following closely behind. Heiji kept further back at a more leisurely pace. It was a weekend, so the school should have been closed, but apparently Ran had been calling in all sorts of favors. The group made a bee line for the classroom the Detective Boys and Conan had all once shared. Sumiko Kobayashi was at the front of the class, sitting on one of the desks chatting animatedly with Shiratori.

“Oh, Kudo-san. You’re making good time on this,” Shiratori said in approval. “Heiji-san,” Heiji gave a two fingered salute in greeting.

“Your clue is on the board. Please have a seat,” Miss Kobayashi said. Shinichi awkwardly sat in one of the desks, trying to figure out how to get his adult sized legs comfortably into the seat. “I didn’t mean there,” she said, laughing. “You can sit on a desk the way I was, just pick anything up if you knock it down.”

It was obvious that Miss Kobayashi was the one who had written the note on the board, though Shinichi figured Ran had still provided the clue.

Always a princess, my previous protector. Holding place in a different kind of court.

“Ooh, a princess,” Ayumi cooed.

“But what’s it mean?” Genta asked.

“You kids don’t already know?” Shinichi stared them down. He figured they’d probably crack if he gave them a stern enough look, but all three shrugged.

“She didn’t tell us the answers or what happens at the end,” Mitsuhiko admitted.

“Ok,” Shinichi decided not to press it. The group were usually bad liars, but if they were especially enticed by something they could all manipulate. “Well, we’ll see you guys later.”

“Where are we headed to now, Kudo?”

“The mall, to see one of my least favorite people.”

The mall was crowded, of course, but Sonoko was easily spotted in the middle, her arms crossed and looking annoyed. “Took you long enough, Detective Geek,” she said by way of greeting. Shinichi figured he was probably still making good time but without knowing the end game it was impossible to know for sure.

As he’d explained on the way to Heiji, Sonoko had been the one to defend Ran from bullies before Shinichi came into her life. And given her rich family, princess was only a slight exaggeration.

“So, what’s the next clue?”

“You’re not getting it.”

“What?!” Shinichi’s eyebrow twitched.

“You’re not getting it looking like that,” she pointed at the stain on his shirt.

“The kids did this to me, you think I left the house like this?” he felt a headache coming on. Sonoko had that effect on him sometimes. He didn’t hate her, but it wasn’t like he’d ever choose to spend time with her.

“At any rate, we’re getting you a new set of clothes and then I will give you the hint.”

“Don’t I just need a new shirt?”

But instead of answering him, Sonoko took off forcing Shinichi and Heiji to follow after her through the crowds until they came to an expensive boutique. Sonoko was being handed a package from one of the workers when the guys caught up to her. She thanked the worker and then shoved the clothes into Shinichi’s arms. “Go change. This one’s on me because I love Ran and you will not be seeing her dressed like that. Not today, anyway.”

Shinichi found a dressing room and swapped out his clothes. He emerged shortly wearing a nice, deep blue tuxedo.

“There. Cleaned up about as well as we can expect you to,” Sonoko said approvingly, grabbing his earlier clothes from him and throwing them in the garbage.

“Hey, I still need those!”

“No you don’t,” she insisted, “and you’re going to be late. You want your clue or not?”

He was about to protest, but noticed Heiji fishing the clothes out of the trash behind her. “Fine. Clue, please.”

“Well, for a great detective like myself, this clue would be too easy, but we’ll see how long it takes you to crack,” Sonoko gave a haughty laugh and Shinichi cringed. She was not on the list of people who knew about his time as Conan, and he didn’t want her to be. But he really wanted to let her know that all of her great solves had been him. Especially right now. “Anyway, the clue is:

Back to where you would have begun from,

Back into your den of friendly wolves

Not surprised to see you come,

That pair will give you the goods”

“Why do some of these rhyme?” Heiji wondered aloud. “And wolves/goods? Bad writing,”

Shinichi ignored him and focused on the words. “After all that trouble of you getting us an off day, and now we have to go to the precinct anyway.”

“Why’s that?” Sonoko asked, genuinely interested. “Ran said it was important that none of us know the answers.”

“Because of 'okami’, a not so nice slang term for police,” Shinichi explained. “usually spelled to mean 'one who is above’, but otherwise..”

“Wolves,” Sonoko and Heiji answered in unison.

“Ok, but who’s the pair?”

“The only pair of cops we know that’s dating each other and who knows about Conan,” Shinichi explained, waving for Heiji to follow him.

“What about Conan? He went back to America, dummy!’ Sonoko called after him. Neither Shinichi nor Heiji answered her.

What is Ran trying to lead me to? Shinichi wondered as he jogged along, a little annoyed by Heiji keeping pace next to him. They both raced into the police station, looking around for Takagi and Sato. The pair waved them over.

“Ah, you made it to us already. Great job!” Takagi said encouragingly.

“Though we wouldn’t expect any less of our little Conan-kun,” Sato ruffled Shinichi’s hair affectionately. Sometimes she slipped and called him Conan, but oftentimes it was fairly obvious that it was her intention. This was one of those times.

“Thanks, but could I get the next clue, please? I don’t know what time Ran is hoping to see me by. And she …I haven’t seen her in a few weeks.” He would not have admitted this to most people, but Takagi and Sato reminded him of himself and Ran so much that it made it easier for him to tell them his girl troubles. And they told him theirs in return. They were currently trying to get everything together to save up enough money that they could get married and Takagi could be a stay-at-home dad when they were ready to have children.

“Ok, then,” Sato suddenly stood at attention, “But while your clue was to lead you to us, we don’t have your next clue.”

“Who does, then?!”

“That would be me,” Inspector Megure patted him on the shoulder. He’d somehow snuck up behind him, causing Shinichi to jump. “You all right, there? You’re not usually so jumpy.”

“Sorry. Just too focused on this thing, I guess.”

“I understand,” Megure patted his shoulder before removing his hand. “Your clue is:

I craft something better,

but still stand above,

you can’t out reason me

but I give you my love

Even Holmes needs a home

And that’s all she wrote. Do you need me to write it for you?”

“No need, Inspector. I’ve got it.”

“She really needs to decide if she wants them to rhyme or not. These are all over the place,” Heiji complained.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Shinichi pointed out. “You could stay here and get some work done. I’m pretty sure you’re behind on your paper work.”

Heiji shushed him and gave a nervous glance at Inspector Megure. “He’s joking, he’s joking!”

“Hmm. Maybe I should just check on–” Megure started, but Heiji cut him off.

“Kudo, why don’t you explain what this clue meant? I bet everyone would love to hear, right? Right?” He elbowed Takagi, who nodded enthusiastically. Apparently he was pretty caught up in the whole thing, because he looked excited.

“She’s telling me to go to my parents’ old house and that my father will be there. Because, at least for now…he’s the Mycroft to my Holmes.”

“I didn’t know she knew this much about Sherlock Holmes,” Heiji pondered, “Thought she kept telling you to shut up about him.”

“I guess…I guess she wanted to make this special for me,” Shinichi admitted, considering something. If she was mad, if she was going to say no when he got ready to propose, why would she go through all of this? He didn’t know what was waiting at the end, other than Ran, but he would run like hell and through hell to get to her.

“Well, that’s my exit.”

“What do you mean? Are you actually going to stay and work?”

“Shuddup about that,” Heiji hissed at him. “Ran just said to stay with you until you got the clue to go see your folks. She said once you were there it should be all on you. I got somewhere I gotta be. See you later, Kudo.” he punched him in the arm and took off. Shinichi acknowledged his departure and waved his goodbyes to his fellow officers before making his way back to his old house.

His parents had offered it to him originally, and he planned to take them up on it …someday. For now he had wanted to try making it on his own. Heiji moving in hadn’t been a part of that plan, but it was probably for the best. The lights weren’t on inside, so it appeared that no one was home.

He knocked, but no one answered so he pushed the door open. “Hello?”

He was met with silence. He walked in, suddenly wary. Things going wrong seemed to be the rule of his life rather than the exception and part of him felt like he was going to walk into yet another murder mystery. But instead, all that happened was his mother pouncing on him from the darkness.

“I missed you!”

There was the sound of an irritated snort, and Shinichi blinked hard as someone flicked on a light. He had started to adjust to the darkness and the sudden change had his eyesight go all screwy for a moment. It wasn’t just his parents.

Eri and Kogoro were also standing there. And Kogoro looked irritated. He often glared at Shinichi before the teenager had become Conan. Now that he was back to normal the glares had gotten more intense, especially as Kogoro now knew it had been a mentally teenage boy seeing his daughter naked during bath times.

“Hello,” he greeted them awkwardly.

His dad squeezed his shoulder.

“Kogoro, say something nice,” Eri urged him.

“I will only say this once,” Kogoro’s arms were crossed so tightly Shinichi wondered if it was possible for it to cut off circulation. “For now, you make my daughter happy and that is the only reason I will allow this. If you ever make her unhappy…you will be dealing with her.”

“With her?” Shinichi raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

“You know damn well that girl can take care of herself. If you ever do anything to hurt her, I won’t have to come after you. I’ll just help her hide the body.”

“Understood, sir,” Shinichi agreed awkwardly. He coughed and then straightened up. “But I would never hurt her. …I wouldn’t try to, I mean. I love Ran a lot. Actually, I want to…I’d like to…”

“Don’t say it. I know what you’re going to say and I don’t want to hear it. It’s between you and her.” Kogoro wasn’t making eye contact and now he looked embarrassed. “I will accept whatever Ran says on it. And that’s as good as you’ll get from me.”

Eri patted him approvingly on the arm. “I have to say I agree with my husband. It’s for Ran to decide.”

“Dad, I believe you have the clue?”

“I do indeed. I offered to make it harder for her, but she wouldn’t let me,” Yusaku looked offended at the idea. “So here we are:

sakura”

“…that’s the whole thing?” Yukiko asked, looking irritated. “You probably forgot some of it, dear.”

“No, that’s it. Shinichi knows what it means.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Because he already left,” Eri pointed out. “Look, he didn’t even close the door after himself.”

“I can’t believe I’ve agreed to help with this,” Kogoro muttered.

“What, you don’t approve of him?” Eri looked amused. “I agree, marrying a detective is always trouble.”

Kogoro muttered something under his breath, but Eri ignored him. “Should we get going, then? His next stop is to her, right?”

“I don’t know,” Yukiko admitted, “She didn’t tell me the clues or the route. Just a general idea of what’s going to happen.”

“It’s the last clue,” Yusako said confidently. “And I think we all know what’s going to happen,” He pulled his wife close to him. “And I think it’s about time.”

His first thought was that Ran would be inside the old preschool, but he found her outside sitting on a bench apparently waiting for him.

“Sakura. For the sakura classroom where we first met,” he said appreciatively. “Solving the clues required knowing Holmes, Dupin and about our lives together so far.” he sat down beside her on the bench. She wore a red dress, and was staring intently at the paper scraps on her lap. Shinichi looked closer and realized they were like the paper badges she had made them in preschool. Wordlessly, she handed them over to him.

The first one had her name on one side. On the other side, what was written was:

Time to play a dirty trick,

Turn about is fair game

Hope I’m not being too slick

So ask about my name

“Your name?” He asked aloud, looking at the other badge. His name was on one side. The other side read

My answer is yes.

“Answer?” he pondered it over, going through the events of today. Starting with the fact that Heiji had brought up the ring box in Shinichi’s underwear drawer. “You mean….Ran?” She finally looked up at him, a gentle smile on her face. “You knew I was going to ask?”

She nodded. “I wasn’t trying to snoop. Sonoko told me I should leave some stuff at your place so I could finally spend a night with you…something about it being easier, I don’t know,” She blushed bright red, “But when I opened your drawer to put some clothes in I found the box and I knew what it was without looking,” she pulled her purse out from under her the bench and fished the ring box out. “I put an empty box back because I figured you wouldn’t look at the ring until you were ready. And I wanted to surprise you with something you’d like. I’m sorry, I know the clues weren’t very elaborate and-” she was cut off by him pressing his lips to hers. He tried to pour all the emotions he could into that kiss. How much he loved her, cared about her …wanted her. How much he appreciated that she would do so much for him. He pulled away only after he felt satisfied he had conveyed exactly how he felt through that kiss.

“You did so much for me, Ran. Thank you,” he grabbed the ring box out of her lap and opened it before sliding the ring on her finger. Diamonds and rubies blended together, since red was both of their favorite color. “But why did you not want to see me the last few weeks?”

“It took a while to put everything together, and when I decided to have a clue to lead to your dad I had to wait for them to come back to Japan from the states. They agreed to it right away, but had some things to wrap up before they could come. Originally Ai and Professor Agasa were going to help, too, but they said they wanted to help with something else.”

“Something else?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged. “We’re supposed to go to an address they gave me after we’re done here.”

Somehow I think I know what they’re up to, Shinichi thought crossly. Right now he wanted Ran to himself, but he knew what was coming next. He pushed himself up and pulled her up with him.

“But why did you have the kids spill soy sauce on me?”

“So sauce? I didn’t ask them to spill anything on you.”

So that was Sonoko’s idea alone, huh? Figures, he thought.

“Where do you think we’re going?” She asked, handing him the address Ai had given her.

“I don’t know about the where, but I bet I know what will happen when we get there.”

“What’s that?”

“An engagement party!” Ayumi, Masumi and Sonoko shouted in unison as Ran and Shinichi walked through the door. The address had been to a hotel, where a helpful front desk person had ushered them into a large ballroom where all their friends and family were waiting.

“Let me see that ring!” Kazuha said excitedly, pulling Ran’s hand towards her. “ooh, nice!”

“Kudo,” Heiji grabbed him by the collar. “That’s not fair, now I’ve gotta do better for when I ask her,” he kept his voice low so Kazuha wouldn’t hear.

“Have you considered not one-upping me?” Shinichi asked gruffly, but Heiji ignored him.

“Let’s see…can’t ask too soon or it looks like I’m stealing your thunder. Ugh, I don’t wanna spend this much money.”

Shinichi rolled his eyes and left his friend to his muttering. He linked his arm back in with Ran’s. “Did everyone know I was going to propose?”

“Yes,” All three Detective Boys chorused at him.

“It was really easy to figure it out,” Mitsuhiko started. “First, you started to get all quiet and contemplative around her.”

“Then, one day, you stopped looking the same. You looked determined!” Ayumi added. “And then-”

“And then the three of us saw you in the jewelry store,” Genta explained.

Well, that explained it. Those three had seen him, gotten over excited and blabbed at some point. “Do you three want to be in the wedding?” Ran asked them. They all nodded their agreement.

“And what about me?” Ai poked Shinichi in the back and both he and Ran turned to face her.

“Well, I don’t think you’d want to be a flower girl, but you could be a bridesmaid if you wanted!” Ran grabbed Ai’s hands and squeezed.

“You’re too pure and you’re too good for him,” Ai chuckled.

“Gee, thanks.”

“But maybe I’ll take you up on that. At the least, I would like an invitation.”

“Did you guys invite everyone we know here?” Shinichi looked around the party and made mental notes of each person he saw. Some were from old cases he’d solved, some were his high school friends, there were loads of cops running around and of course the Detective Boys were weaving in and out of the crowd. “I half expect to see Kaito Kid pop out of somewhere.”

“Oh, he was here earlier,” Professor Agasa explained, apparently summoned out of thin air.

“What?!”

“He left a gift on the table,” he gestured in that direction.

“Wait…Professor,” Shinichi cottoned on quickly. “What’s your brother’s name again?”

“Brother? I don’t have a brother.”

“So why are there two of you here?”

Agasa took off running, and Shinichi decided not to run after him. The real Professor Agasa was engrossed in a conversation with Shinichi’s mother. And the fake …well, if Kaito Kid was kind enough to bring him an engagement present, he supposed he could let him go this time. Especially since he had more important matters to attend to right now.

“Was that-”

“Yep.”

“Do you need to-”

Shinichi put a hand on each of Ran’s arms and squeezed gently, making sure she was looking him in the eyes. “I’m not running off and leaving you ever again. There’ll be another time to catch Kaito Kid. Right now…right now I just want to be with you.”