I don't own Detective Conan
Don't Miss Your Chance 01
The detective boys were watching as Takagi was struggling in front of Sato, obviously wanting to say something, but couldn't make himself to do it. Sato watched him curiously, expecting him to say what he wanted, but in the end Takagi said something completely irrelevant and quickly strode away. The detective boys all sighed.
"Poor detective Takagi." Ayumi said as she was looking at him as he was quickly walking away.
"Maybe we could help him." Genta said optimistically.
"And how would you do that?" Mitsuhiko asked him sceptically, which made Genta to think about it and then sigh as he realized that he didn't really know.
"Conan-kun, what do you think?" Ayumi turned at him only to find him gone.
"Eh? Where is Conan-kun? He's been here just a few seconds ago." She said surprised and looked around herself.
"He left as you were talking." Ai stated and the three looked at her.
"Where to?" Genta asked, Ai just shrugged.
"Who knows." She said.
"Let's go to find him!" Ayumi exclaimed with determination and Genta with Mitsuhiko quickly joined her in her enthusiasm. Ai sighed, knowing that there was nothing which could stop them at the moment.
Takagi sat down on a bench sighing heavily. He wasn't able to say it again. Not only that, but now she must have been thinking about him that he's a complete idiot from the way he was acting.
"Detective Takagi." Conan stepped in front of him with serious look in his eyes.
"Oh, Conan-kun, what are you doing here?" Takagi asked, trying to sound normal. Conan was just watching him for a while and Takagi was getting nervous. He knew there was something about this kid, but now he could see it more clearly. He could see as if he was more mature than his real age and he also noticed a certain pain showing in his eyes, which confused him a lot. What could have happened to him that it made him acting like this?
"Detective Takagi," Conan started again, "if you want to tell her something, then do it." He said, looking straight to his eyes. Takagi looked at him bewilderedly as he was trying to process what did the kid just say to him.
"Wh-what are you talking about?" He stuttered, but Conan didn't seem to notice his nervousness, or take it into consideration.
"Don't miss your chance Takagi. You can never know what will happen tomorrow and before you know it, it might be already too late. If you wait, you might never be able to tell her at all." Conan stared at him with such certainty and such pain that it took Takagi aback. After a while of them staring at each other, Conan averted his eyes, looking at the ground.
"Don't make the same mistake as me." He whispered and started to walk away. He said it so quietly that Takagi wasn't even sure if he heard him right at first, but when he realized what he said, he quickly ran after him.
"What did you mean by that?" He asked the little boy, who looked up at him with bitter smile.
"Is this really what you should be worried about? No matter how many times you'll ask, I won't tell you anyway. Your focus should be directed at someone else, don't you think?" The further this conversation was progressing, the more confused Takagi was. Conan often said something which wasn't really usual for his age, but this time he could see there was even more to it.
"Then why did you start with it? If you didn't talk to me in the first place, I wouldn't be asking you these questions right now." Takagi then said, hoping that it was stern enough so it would make Conan change his mind, but the boy just chuckled.
"You're right, it probably was stupid." Conan started and Takagi stared at him, completely at a loss of words. "Maybe I just didn't want you to make the same mistake as me so much that I made one other on my own." Conan looked away again and turned around so he was standing with his back at Takagi.
"Just don't wait too long. Even one hour is enough to change your entire life and if something happens which will make it impossible for you to tell her, you will regret it for the rest of your life. So, detective Takagi, don't let your chance slip away just because you're afraid of her reaction. It's still better to get rejected than to regret that you didn't ask at all." With that Conan walked away, but this time Takagi wasn't following him. He was thinking about what he was just told.
Even though those words came from a kid, he took them very seriously. He couldn't figure out where Conan could get such experiences, but he knew they were real. As he was watching Conan's fading form, he made his decision.
Takagi ran through the headquarters searching for Sato. He knew she should be somewhere there and he knew if he stopped, he could change his mind, but Conan's words were haunting him and he didn't want that to happen. He found her in the office with many other officers, including Shiratori.
He gulped as he thought about what he was going to do and what could it bring, but again, Conan's words reached him in his mind and he went straight to Sato. All eyes in the room were on him. Sato was looking at him confusedly, but he didn't stop.
In his pocket he clutched the small box he was always carrying around, waiting for the right chance, but after today's conversation with Conan, he knew he couldn't afford to wait anymore. He still wasn't even sure why was he listening to him at all, but at the moment it didn't matter to him that much. He stopped in front of Sato and looked straight into her eyes.
"T-Takagi-kun?" She asked uncertainly. He was extremely nervous, but he kept telling to himself that he would tell her now or never. He didn't like the option of never so he rather decided it would have to be now.
"Sato-san," he started with surprising certainty in his voice, "there's something I want to tell you." He felt the darkening atmosphere around him, coming from the surrounding officers, but he didn't mind.
"I wanted to tell you for a long time already, but I was always too afraid and telling to myself that I would just wait for better occasion, but today I realized that if I waited too long, I might not get the chance to tell you at all, so..." The pressure from the other officers was starting to be almost unbearable, but Takagi focused only at Sato. He knelt down on one of his knees and looked up at her.
"Sato-san, I love you and I always did since the first time I've seen you," he reached into his pocket and took out the small box. Sato looked at him surprised as he stretched his hand and opened the box, revealing a small ring.
"Sato-san, will you marry me?" There was stunned silence after he said those words and Takagi was already expecting the worse scenario. He noticed with the corner of his eye as everyone's look was now on Sato, waiting for her answer. She didn't seem to notice them and instead was looking at Takagi who was still holding the ring in front of him.
She didn't say a word, too surprised by the revelation, but she slowly stretched her hand closer to the ring. With that action the surrounding officers all instinctively took a step forward, but no one really dared to interfere.
Sato slowly took the box out of Takagi's hands and he rose up. He took the ring out of the box and Sato stretched her hand to allow him access. He hesitantly started to put the ring on her finger, but her smile as the ring was slowly sliding down her finger, gave him confidence and he also smiled.
When the ring was finally on it's place, Takagi took her hand into his and drew her closer to him. She was surprised by the sudden pull at first and it made her trip over and fall straight into Takagi's arms, but then she giggled and Takagi soon joined her. He made it. He finally asked her and she accepted.
He noticed a movement near the door and instinctively looked there. Whom he saw didn't really surprise him. Conan stood there with smile on his face and when Takagi looked at him, he just nodded slightly and then turned around and left.
Strange boy indeed. Takagi thought, but he was glad. Thanks to him he was now with Sato and he knew he wouldn't be without Conan's interference. He made a note to himself that he would have to thank him, but it could wait for some other time. Right now the center of his interest was Sato.
He smiled down at her as she looked up at him and then they both looked around themselves at the other occupants of the room. Shiratori looked as if he was about to faint and the others had rage in their eyes. After they observed them enough, they looked at each other again and started to laugh. Now when it was settled, Takagi didn't really feel bad in their presence anymore. He found their reactions rather amusing and Sato seemed to see it the same way.
He was sure that now everything would be alright. Now when Sato was his, there was nothing what could go wrong. Right?