Tantei-kun

Four

The wedding invitation came on the Mouri Detective Agency early morning.

"Debts, again?" Ran grumbled, picking up the lone envelope. She was surprised to feel expensive paper and see the perfect loops on the back, forming 'Mouri Kogoro and Mouri Ran'.

Curiously, she pealed the envelope open, careful not to tear it. There were a letter and a picture inside it. Ran looked at the photo first, putting the letter on her lap. Her eyes landed on Ai and Conan, both in their wedding attires. She was sitting while he stood behind her, a small smile on his face and a ghost of a smile on hers.

"Huh?" Ran quickly opened the letter to read it, confused. The letter started with, "Mouri Kogoro and Mouri Ran, you are invited to Edogawa Conan and Haibara Ai's wedding."

Her eyes widened and she let the letter fall on the floor. After a few seconds, she picked it up, and continued to read it again. She wanted to focus on the words but her eyes kept darting on her ring, her engagement ring. A year ago, Ito Hamada, her boyfriend, now fiance, proposed to her. They were already in their mid-thirties, and they had been dating for more than 10 years. He was a son of a police man, and he knew the dangers of the world and how to use a gun without hesitation.

"Ran! The mail already here?" Kogoro stepped inside his office, yawning.

"Dad... Conan-kun and Ai-chan.... are-are... getting married."

"Brat? What are you saying, Ran? Did they even date-" he was cut off by Ran throwing him the letter and picture. She had a look on her face, almost saying, 'look for yourself.'

Kogoro examined the 'evidence' on front of him, his brows furrowed. When he had finished reading the letter, he looked at Ran and laughed. Laughed a full blown laugh.

"Dad, what's funny?!"

"Brat and she-devil! Hahaha!"

"It's true. Don't you remember that night 11 years ago?"

Kogoro's face melted into a solemn expression, of course he remembered that night. He had been watching movies that night, marathoning it with a case of beer beside him. Then, Takagi had called him halfway through his second can. He quickly explained the situation, how there's a sindicate that's holding Ran hostage and the police were planning an attack in a few hours and they really needed-

"Dad? Are you still listening? Eleven years ago, Ai-chan took a bullet for Conan-kun. I'm not really sure what happened next but that triggered something and they dated after a couple of months," she recalled.

Kogoro suddenly understood. Ran would surely notice the signs, even though he was the detective between the two of them. After Conan had fully healed and Ai's wounds were tended, especially her eyes, they had told the truth to them. It took a whole hour for them to finish their story, it took a week for the truth to settle in. There was something that definitely changed between the two teens, and then their wedding invitation came and everything just seemed to make sense.

Kogoro looked at Ran, at her 36 year old form and remembered how her blood stained her sweater that night. Then, how Conan held his broken glasses, how Ai fired a gun, how Satou's crumpled form lay in Takagi's arms, how his wife was crying and the looks on their faces when they lost half of their men. He couldn't forget how Ran had cried, months later, when Ai said that there was no cure and that they would forever spend their lives as Conan Edogawa and Haibara Ai.

"About time," Kogoro muttered. "They're already nearing forty."

Ran cracked a smile. "They grew up too fast, didn't they?"

Kogoro smiled back.