Chapter Text
Twenty-six years, that's worth celebrating! For Shinichi Kudo's birthday, Ran and the others have been working hard in the hope of organising for him a great big surprise birthday party. But, of course, surprising the modern day Sherlock Holmes like that would be an incredible feat, so the birthday man sharply stated his wish for a more subdued celebration with only a small number of guests. Apparently, he's always been humble that way, often going so far as forgetting that it was his birthday on the day.
His wife, Ran, tells us all this as we help her prepare the food... Well, I say we but I mean Ayumi, Ai and Genta (who is still a proud restaurant owner's son) are helping her to prepare the food while I'm tasked with keeping her one-year old son out of trouble. I don't mind looking after Akio, even if he is startlingly curious and energetic, but it does mean that I only get to listen to about half of the anecdotes our hostess is sharing, her voice drowned out by the babbling of the small baby next to me.
I envy him, the Kudo child, he's got his whole life in front of him and no worries beyond his next meal. I'm sixteen now, and life feels a lot less simple: The beginning of my senior phase, the looming choices that'll determine the direction my life will take, alongside the unsolvable mystery currently called "girls." I sigh as I return the glass the curious child had grabbed, making sure to keep it further out of his reach, and then, while Akio is distracted (likely considering his next attempt to grab that glass) I sneak a look at the mystery that captivates me. Ai Haibara.
I've known her for eight years now. Eight years is also the age she was when we first met. I was a naive and fearful kid, but her? She was the same as she is now - discreet but not devious, beautiful and smart. She's not changed, apart from her blossoming beauty. She looks happy, much happier than she once was, but I can't help but notice, in moments like these where I catch her staring into the distance, that her eyes hold a hint of regret. I've long wondered why, but it's only when I mentioned it to the professor, one night when he was helping me out with a school project, that I've been told the most likely reason.
Ai once had a sister. All of us knew that, but we never really got to ask what had happened to her, or why Ai needed to stay with the Professor if he wasn't her father. When we used to broach the topic, Ai would always dodge the question, pretend she didn't know or get distracted by something else. Professor Agasa was similarly evasive, but on that one night, he opened up to me. Both Ai's sister and parents were dead. The latter passed away years before, but her sister... Her sister's death was still very recent when she moved into his home. Having a sister myself, I couldn't help but imagine how I'd feel if she wasn't in my life. Asami may be stubborn, teasing, often to the point of being annoying, but she always has such energy and optimism. She may by a few years older than me, but... A life without Asami would be well dull. Watching her leave home for her studies already felt like a punch in the gut, picturing her leaving never to return? No. The thought is too cruel. I can't even imagine how it felt for Ai. I can only hope that, in our childhood naivety, we didn't make things worse, that we were able to help her in those trying times.
So it's her sister that Ai thinks of, each time her eyes glaze over? Or her parents that she, it seems, never got to know? That would explain how often her melancholy hits when Ran and Shinichi get mentioned... Ran, who we thought of as a big sister, Shinichi being her husband and, more recently, a father. And yeah, there are times when Ayumi, Genta and I had the impression that Shinichi was watching over us more than he would want to let on. When we mentioned that to Ai once, she had smiled with her saddened gaze, simply stating that yes, we were all very dear to Shinichi Kudo.
She finally notices me watching her. Her melancholy evaporates, replaced by a warm smile directed at me. I feel my stomach twist itself in knots, returning a smile of my own that's far from being as confident as I'd like. Tonight, I'm going to tell her. Tonight, I'll take the first step. I won't chicken out. I remain, a moment longer, entranced by her face as her lips part. Her gaze is now pointed behind me, and I turn to the sound of her outcry. Akio managed to reach the glass again, fumbling it and sending it to the floor, where, inevitably, it shatters. A deep sigh leaves me, as Akio puts his small lungs to maximal use in expressing his disappointment. No more contemplation, back to work!
It's with much joy that, once little Akio put to bed (expertly) by his mother and the dinner served up by ourselves, the party starts. Amused by our enthusiasm, Shinichi is courteous enough to only say "I knew it" a limited amount of times, though his stern request for limited numbers didn't totally deprive us of the opportunity to surprise him after all. Shinichi's mother, Mrs Yukiko, honours us by singing a special song for the occasion, to her son's embarrassment. The latter then quickly finds himself in a heated debate with his father, Mr Yusaku, and Heiji Hattori, one of his detective friends from Osaka who insisted on being here, surprise party or not. Genta and Professor Agasa are hitting the buffet, despite the raised eyebrow the object of my affections sends them. Ai and Fusae, the Professor's wife, compliment Yukiko on her singing, while Ayumi, Ran, and a woman with a ponytail, Kazuha I believe, are busy talking about cooking. Genta pipes in between bites. I smile, doing my best to follow the birthday man's conversation with the novelist, while exchanging small talk with the Professor. I am happy, but as often in this kind of moment, I can't help but wonder what became of a brilliant boy... The one who'd likely be sat at the table with us, if only his parents hadn't taken him with them to live so far away.
Oh, I'm not going to delude myself... Our group might have had a solid bond back then, but it didn't always stay that way after. Genta did spend two and a half years avoiding both me and Ai, and Ayumi spent a while refusing to have anything to do with an investigation, criminal or not. As for me, I'm ashamed to recall how many months I spent in my room pretending to be an IT technician. Of our group, the only one who never threatened its integrity was Ai. Despite our childish ambitions, our betrayals, she never once turned her back on us. Even if her sarcastic quips sometimes stung, we always loved seeing her smile amongst us, and listening to her advice. We couldn't help but feel guilty if we left her out, whether by accident or on purpose. She's so discreet yet has always been such an essential part of our group. Would that have changed if Conan Edogawa had stayed?
I remember how shortly after his departure, Ai fell ill. Had his departure contributed to her illness? Who knows. I only know that at the time, the rest of us had felt left behind. Genta would have struggled to admit it back then, but Conan had been the brains of our group. Without him, we shied away from big investigations, fear clashing with the persistent thought of "what would Conan do?" If Ai hadn't remained, the Detective Boys likely wouldn't have done any more than hunt for missing cats.
And that's how I stop thinking of "what ifs" but of our good fortune. Ai is still with us. For whatever reason, back then, we'd been convinced that with Conan gone, she would leave too. Yet, despite her pneumonia (I think it was pneumonia?) and her depressed aura, she stayed.
Thus it was with a warm heart, as I watch the oldest Kudo now and request a dance from his wife, that I do the same with Ai. She gives me an amused smirk as my hand reaches out to her, but she doesn't refuse. She gracefully stands from her seat beside Mrs Fusae to take me up on the offer properly. The song playing isn't anything special, and my steps are clumsy, but I can see that she isn't bothered. I am in heaven. I definitely haven't hallucinated last week. We are dating.
Naturally, as our dance finishes, Gents has little qualm in reminding me that he's aware of our new status, entertaining the other guests with my sudden bashfulness. Ai is still smiling.