Naoto sighed as she walked into her hotel room; she was exhausted and she wanted to be tucked up in her own bed cuddled up and warm, she threw herself onto the bed. She lay there on the bed her long blue hair pooled around her and her pale brown suit covering her obviously feminine frame. She would be back to her home in a day or two, and back to the caring man she shared the home with, when she agreed to marry him she expected to stay with him before the ceremony, but she had been dragged away on a case and she loved her job as much as she loved him.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket; she dug it out and saw that her phone had received a message, it was from Rise Kujikawa, and Naoto hesitated before she read it.

From Risette

To Naoto Shirogane

Nao-Chan I hope you are home soon so we can get you ready for the wedding

Rise ^-^

She giggled at the message, it was a minute later that the rest of her friends texted her.

From Chie Hanamura

To Naoto Shirogane

Naoto, Come home soon we all miss you, and Kanji is driving us crazy. Yosuke mentioned going to Junes' to eat.

Chie and Yosuke

From Yukiko Amagi

To Naoto Shirogane

Naoto-Chan, Rise told us all to send you a message to tell you to come back to Inaba soon, and Yu said hi.

Yukiko and Yu Amagi.

Naoto smiled to herself, she had a nice group of friends, and they all were supportive of her and Kanji. Rise and Teddie practically cried when she announced her engagement Yosuke patted him on the back and said something about the "Detective Prince".

The next message she had received made her feel happier.

From Kanji Tatsumi

To Naoto Shirogane

Hey Nao, hurry home I miss you.

K

As she read the message she couldn't help but imagine him blushing after having to admit he missed her, she remembered when he told her he loved her.

Three years ago

Kanji had made his mind up to finally tell Naoto how he really felt about her; he saw her sat at one of the tables in the Junes' food court, she had a takeaway cup in front of her. Her hat was on the table beside her as she looked at the cup, it was mid spring and it was a sunny day, she didn't really need to wear it but it was her signature look. Even her profile is cute, Kanji thought he held a bag in his hands, it was emblazoned with the Tatsumi Textiles logo, he had made her a stuffed doll, he had planned to have given it to her for Valentine's Day but he panicked and couldn't do it. The doll was a rabbit that looked like her, it had the jacket and her hat and he really hoped she liked it and him too.

As he approached her she heard his footsteps and looked at him, she looked concerned as he was blushing, and she stood up and reached for his forehead. Her small hand delicately touched his head and she felt no sign of fever in him, she smiled gently as she had deduced that he was fine.

"Tatsumi-San what's the matter?" She asked looking at him

Kanji held the bag out to her, and mumbled that it was for her, he stared at her as she pulled out the handmade stuffed toy. Her eyes lit up and she blushed when she realised that it was a doll that was made to look like her. Naoto looked right up at Kanji and smiled, he looked at her rather embarrassed.

"D'ya like it?" He asked looking away from her.

"I love it." She stopped before she said "Kanji-Kun."

As she said his first name he blushed more, he wished he had given it to her earlier. He took a deep breath as he looked at her she was looking at the little hat and smiled at how accurate it was, as a thought came to her mind she giggled. Her little laugh was rather feminine Kanji thought as he looked at her.

"I didn't just ask ya' here to just give you that." He managed to say

Naoto looked at him, she was certain that he was finally going to admit his feelings for her; she had known that he had feelings for her; she was a genius detective after all. But she was waiting for him to make the first move; the look in his eye had a sad look as if he had already assumed that she was going to say that she didn't like him.

"Kanji, actually I had to tell you something." Naoto said "I am glad you invited me to meet you today."

She looked at him he was still blushing and he was struggling for words, as his mouth was opening and closing like a fish.

"I was waiting until the case was closed to admit how I feel about you. You may act all tough, but you have such a great talent for making these things." She said gesturing her little rabbit look-a-like

Kanji looked at her and took her hands in his.

"Just shut up and listen Naoto, 'cause I'll only say this once." Kanji said looking at her with a determined smile "I have been in love with ya since the moment I met cha and I want to be your boyfriend."

What felt like an eternity passed for Kanji as he waited for her to react to his feelings; she simply smiled at him and wrapped him into a hug, she nuzzled against his chest and gently giggled to herself.

"I know Kanji-kun." She muttered "I wouldn't be a good detective if I didn't work out how you felt."

She looked up at him and frowned; she was a little sad about their height differences, she realised that she hadn't reciprocated and Kanji was looking at her very anxiously. Naoto was thinking about kissing him, but she was going to wait for the right time and hopefully when she could see eye to eye with him directly.

"Naoto, please just reject me so I can forget this ever happened." Kanji said as he looked at her with sad eyes.

"Sorry Kanji-Kun not gonna happen." She mumbled as she looked at the confused blonde "I was a little upset that I can't kiss you from here." She whispered that last part loud enough to only let Kanji hear that. He managed to hear her and he smiled gently.

Kanji waited for Naoto to say it was all a joke and that Rise was the one who said she should do that, but Naoto stayed there holding him in her arms, she had a gentle smile, he loved that smile it was cute just as she was, and she was showing it to him.

"Kanji-Kun." She said as she blushed, she was waiting for him to take her cue that she wanted him to kiss her "I very much would like you to be my boyfriend."

Two days later

Naoto woke up alone in the hotel room. She sighed to herself as she climbed out of the bed; she made her way carefully to the bathroom. The mirror showed her that her long dark blue hair was all over the place and that her suit was wrinkled up, she sighed again, she picked up the hotel promotional comb that lay on the sink and carefully pulled it through her long hair, she saw the elastic hair tie she had left on the sink. She had worn her hair in a ponytail on the trip up from Inaba, and figured now would be a good time to put it up.

Her phone rang; its ringtone was loud against the silent backdrop of the almost empty hotel room, Naoto dashed to answer it, she nearly slipped on the hardwood floor with the speed she used.

"Hello Shirogane speaking." She announced to the caller.

"Ah Shirogane-San, it's me Minamoto, during the early morning the culprit was apprehended, just as you thought he took the bait." Minamoto said. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Finally, I am glad my instincts paid off" Naoto said "Do you need my help with the paperwork to close the case?", she smiled to herself she never would have thought she'd be excited to be done with a case before she met Yu-Sempai and the others, nor would she have met Kanji.

"We can finish the paper work here without you." he said "We also got a phone call from Detective Dojima, that you were needed back in Inaba immediately."