A.N.: The "Joke" in the middle of this chapter came from the first Magic Kaito book (The first chapter and like the third or forth page), for those who only know DC

Afterward: Forever

The burning heat of the fire before me got in my eyes, and I had to turn away and blink before I was able to see clearly again. Aoko laughed when she saw this and gave me a sly smile, whacking me lightly on the head with the stick she had in her hand.

"I do hope they don't call the police on us."

"Why?" I raised an eyebrow at the detective. "Afraid we'll get in trouble? It's my yard, and it's not like I don't have it contained."

Hakuba glared from his seat next to me, still unsure as he watched the curling smoke from the fire pit in front of us.

"Don't worry 'bout it. There's no law against it." Hattori took the stick Aoko had hit me with. Well, he tried to take it. Aoko wouldn't let go, and they both stared each other down before Hattori let go.

"I'll give it to you when I'm done. Wait your turn."

"Yeah, Heiji. Don't take something from a girl." Kazuha hit him upside the head.

"Hey! She's had it fer ten minutes already!"

"Who cares?"

"Shut up, both of you."

I looked over at our peacemaker. Kudo was sprawled out on the grass between me and Hakuba. He didn't want to sit by the fire, saying that it was making his clothes smell. I couldn't deny that, but he could always wash them. He'd gotten really picky since he'd returned to our age almost two years ago.

"You know," I grabbed the stick from Aoko before she was ready for me and poked him with it. The brunette swatted at it but wasn't at a good enough angle to stop me. It wasn't like I was really hurting him, but I knew the end was sticky, and, from where I was hitting him in the ankle, it was getting under his pants. "Just because your girl couldn't make it doesn't mean you have to be grumpy."

"Give me the stick back!"

"Shut up." Kudo turned away from me, eyes distant and angry. "It's not like Ojisan could have stopped her if she really wanted to come."

"Trouble in paradise?" I asked as I handed the stick back to Aoko, getting prodded for my thievery.

"Maybe."

"Kuroba, stop tormenting everyone." Hakuba looked away, giving Kudo his space. Ever since I'd become an Inspector, the detective was there with me. He still worked independently, but he also worked with me on the clock. Apparently he wanted to keep up being a detective as well as a police officer. I never liked for him to forget that I was above him since he tried to outshine me every now and then. Kudo made that even worse, because he'd come in and shown us both up. He and Hakuba seemed to have an understanding about it, but it just ticked me off. That didn't mean Kudo and I weren't friends, just that he was one of my more annoying friends that I liked to tease. "I'd think you would have grown up by now."

"Good to know that spending my days with you and Kudo hasn't gotten to me." I rolled my eyes at Hakuba. "Anyway, it's my twenty-first birthday. Be happy I'm not doing something more fun."

"You'd be doing it alone then," Hakuba smirked. "Kudo-kun's the only one of us for you to have fun with."

"Hey!" Hattori stuck his head up, ignoring the chips in his hands as some spilled into the grass. We were in my yard, and my neighbor was currently next to me, so I didn't care much about the noise or the mess. "What about me?"

"Not that you could stay sober enough to be of any use, or fun. If I recall, last time you passed out."

"Last time?" Kazuha ignored her own food and shot a look at Hattori. "I thought you said you weren't going to drink!"

"Kazuha, it was so long ago, and I didn't have—"

"What? Long ago? Heiji, you were drinking underage?"

"Ah," Hattori looked at me, but I put my hands up in surrender with a smile on my face. Aoko punched me in the arm.

"Kaito, what did you do?"

I leaned over closer to her so that Kazuha wouldn't hear. "Remember, after all that trouble the first time, when Kid pulled off his little prank on the city?"

Aoko stared wide-eyed at me. "Kaito— You— You..."

"I know." I put my hands up again. "Like he said, that was a long time ago."

Aoko shook her head, looking sad. She'd hated Kid before, but ever since I told her the truth, whenever I, or old news stories, mentioned the name, she got quiet. It wasn't a topic of conversation I liked to bring up around her, nor something I had to think about with all the demand the force brought with it, but I'd seen the shadows there enough to recognize where they streamed from.

"Aoko," I reached over and brushed my hand through her hair. "Nothing like that is ever going to happen again. You have to stop worrying that I'm going to flip out any second and that things will suddenly go back to the way they were. Because they're not going to. I'm not like that anymore, and it's about time you gave me credit for changing."

"I know that. I know why... and I know you won't do it again. But you were lying to me for so long..."

"You know why I was doing that, too."

"I guess." Aoko broke apart a graham cracker and placed a piece of chocolate and the marshmallow she'd been roasting onto it.

Three years I'd been working with the police, and that still wasn't enough to calm her worries. The way things were going, it looked like I'd be dead and in my grave before she ever really forgave me.

"I guess we've got some trouble in paradise, too." I placed my hand on the armrest of Aoko's chair, watching her as she bit into the dessert and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Love you, 'dear'."

Aoko blushed at the joke, a small laugh coming out so that she had to raise her hand to prevent the crumbs from going all over the place. It had been so long ago that she called me that by mistake. Now, that we actually admitted that we were in love with each other, it was cute.

I shrugged, shooting her one last smile, before turning to Hattori and Kazuha. "How about you guys?"

They both looked up at me at the same time. Hattori was next to Aoko, so he was easier to look at, where as most of Kazuha's expression were hidden from me by the darkness and the heat of the flames.

Hattori caught my eye before turning away. "What do ya mean?"

"And how have you two been? I run into Mr. Sourpuss over here practically every week at work." I threw a hand over my shoulder to indicate Kudo, but I could have been pointing at Hakuba, too. The blond kept quiet if he did think I was insulting him. "You both stopped coming out. I take it that's a good thing?"

"Good thing?" For a minute, I thought Hattori really didn't know what I was talking about before I saw what could have been a blush on his dark skin. "I guess."

I'd seen Hattori often enough to have him visiting my house separately from Kudo's. Mom and Aoko knew him well. We'd all become very close after that first year of peace-chaos. It was no secret to any of us that he and Kazuha were more than just friends.

Kudo had still been Conan, and whether or not it was done purposely, Hattori and I had gotten closer than I had with him, even though he lived no more than fifteen minutes away. That had been remedied the next year when Conan no longer existed. Ran had gone off, and I ended up having to play story-teller for her, because she was so mad at Kudo that they couldn't be in the same room together. I felt bad for the guy, but I felt bad for Ran, too. And Aoko. If any of the girls was happy, it was Kazuha, because Hattori had never had to hide anything from her. I found out around the time when Ran and Kudo were fighting that the Osakan had spilled everything that had happened when he'd been trying to explain Conan to her. Everything. I had thought that he wasn't good at keeping secrets, but to blurt out my part in all of it got me mad too so that, while Ran was mad at Kudo, Hattori found good incentive not to visit Tokyo for a while because neither of us was in the mood for having him over.

As much as he'd been trying to, Kudo never got any closer to hunting down the Organization. He'd told me that he was working with the F.B.I., and a few months ago, he'd become a member. But he was quiet about all of it. Everything that I knew about him I heard through Ran while I was trying to calm her down. They still fought a lot, so I wasn't surprised to see Kudo here alone, but it wasn't the type of fighting between people who hated one another. There were just so many lies around both of them that didn't compare to Aoko and me. He'd been right in front of her, and she thought she had lost him.

The girls were all close, because there was only so much I could do alone, and Aoko ended up helping Ran more than I could. Kazuha came over without Hattori at that time, and the three of them had all bonded with one another over similar pain. Kazuha wasn't in the same boat as the other two, but I had to guess Hattori was distant enough and as eccentric as Kudo that it got to her sometimes.

I'd forgiven Hattori a while after, when Kazuha didn't start spouting out the same bad underlying hints that Hattori did every now and then that referenced me to Kid or Kudo to Conan. She'd come to me and gotten up the nerve to ask me a few things that I told her the truth about, and any tension between us fell apart.

Because I was working with Hakuba and he lived right next door, he and Hattori had also started to get along. To a degree. They still fought every other day, sometimes getting heated enough to scare our neighbors, but when they were calm, everything was fine. So I made sure that Hattori stayed at my house when he visited. I liked wrecking havoc on the neighborhood my own way, not through roller coaster decidable screaming.

Because of that, the girls knew us well and we knew the girls well. Out of all of us, Hakuba got along with Ran the best, and the two of them and Aoko would sort out any misunderstanding. Hakuba was there so they could get a guy's take on everything. Hattori and I, somehow, ended up making things worse. Kazuha was thrown together with us, because all her solutions ended with quick and painful revenge.

We were all friends, though, as messed up as that was. Aoko was a counselor, while I hunted down the bad guys that sent her patients to her. I was actually going to be moved to devision one soon, because as good as I was as solving puzzles when it came to fraud, they needed that type of person to investigate homicides. They were just waiting until I was a little older. Hattori was still a detective, tried and true, and was going to stay independent. Kazuha was a teacher at a local martial arts class in Osaka, and I'd heard she'd been in some competitions already, taking first prize in one of the national ones. Kudo, of course, was working was as an F.B.I. agent, though he didn't advertise. And Ran... Ran was a doctor. Just a few months ago she graduated school and was working at a clinic nearby. I don't know why but Kudo seemed to be bothered by this for weeks now. With his attitude, I didn't dare ask him why.

And then there was the mistress of darkness that I wasn't letting be here tonight for certain reasons. Akako and Hakuba didn't get along. At all. I thought they might, but she was too out there for him and he to down there for her. It didn't take long for the blond to believe in her magic when he had called what she did a bunch of, and I quote, 'ludicrous fantasies that only a child could come up with'. Needless to say the flaring red hair and pointy ears that he kept hidden under a hat for the next two weeks changed his mind.

Akako was still after me, too, which drove me crazy. I had to pry her off of me at every turn, and we weren't even in school anymore. It was crazy!

So I still had the witch to deal with, though I had an idea of how to get rid of her. I'd be her friend, sure. She needed one, and I'd been her friend for years, but with her pushing herself on me all the time, it made things hard.

Hakuba seemed content without a girlfriend, though I knew he got lonely living in that house alone. His mother was here with him now, but she was staying at the mansion his father owned. His father, meanwhile, lived somewhere nearby, but I'd never gotten his address. And that was sad, too, because I knew Hakuba and his father still weren't getting along, and, from what I heard and was a part of, his mother only wanted to use him. She loves him, but not the same way my mother loves me. She'd made the trip here, but only to make sure that Hakuba was kept on a metaphorical leash. I didn't like it, but there was nothing I could do about it. He was old enough to take care of himself and his mother hadn't done more than prove to be as annoying as a flee on a dog whenever she had the chance.

But, even if I had Aoko, I'd always be there for him. He'd come over enough, and on occasion when we hadn't seen him, we'd gone over there. He was like my brother.

So all of us messed up couples and Hakuba, though I knew it was only a matter of time before his special someone came along, all had our problems, but we were closer for it. Aoko and Keiko were still close, and I saw her every now and then. Hakuba hadn't really spoken to her in class—he'd never really spoken to anyone except me—so maybe they could met each other, and we'd see how it went.

So we weren't prefect. No one was.

"Well," I leaned my arm over Aoko's shoulder, getting a glare for interrupting her while she starting roasting another marshmallow over the flames. "We've been doing a lot better than you." I flicked my eyes at the group in general.

"Huh?" Aoko sounded authentically confused, because I'd been throwing around the conversation so much. I spoke with just the Osakan at this point, making sure not to look at the girl next to me.

"We're getting married."

I heard Aoko choke on nothing as I kept watching Hattori instead, pulling her as close to me as I could while we were still in separate chairs.

"Kaito, don't go lying to them!"

"Oh, but I'm not." I turned to her, feeling the heat from the fire burn my eyes again but not caring. "I figured if I did the way I wanted, you'd get mad at me. I mean," I brushed her hair out of her eyes with my free hand, cupping her ear with the tips of my fingers and pulling out a ring. It was summer and I had nowhere to hid it in my short sleeves. "I didn't want bring up bad memories, so I gave you a heads up."

Aoko never stopped staring at the ring. I tired really hard to make it look like I was sincere. Making a jewel appear out of midair wasn't the best way I could have proposed, but being a cop never stopped me from being a magician.

"So?" I got off the plastic lawn chair I was on and lowered a knee into the soft grass. "Will you marry me?"

Aoko moved her eyes to me as I watch her, flickers of the flames reflecting off of them to make their color darker than it really was. She said nothing, mouth slightly open.

"Ah, this is where you say 'yes'."

Her mouth opened more in the form of something that wanted to be a word but wouldn't make it past her lips. She tried again and was as unsuccessful as the first time. I laughed gently, trying to ease up the tension I felt affecting both of us. "Come on, you're making me feel bad. I'm sure it's not that hard of a decision."

"Kaito, you're not—" She didn't finish.

I raised an eyebrow. "Do you think I would kid around about something like this?"

Then Aoko really did make me feel bad. I knew I'd surprised her, but I didn't know I'd done it enough to make her start crying. I was nervous, too. Sure, I loved her. Sure, I knew she loved me. But I didn't know if she was ready. I was.

My smile may have wavered, because, though she couldn't speak, she took the hand that I was holding the ring in and clasped hers around it, nodding furiously.

I laughed again, this time relieved, and got up off the ground enough to hug her.

"Oh, Aoko!" The moment I let go of Aoko, Kazuha was all over her. Hattori was in the seat next to them and smiling as if he'd seen it coming. I smiled back.

"Your turn." I faked firing a bow and arrow at him, and he rolled his eyes. The girls missed all of this as they were hugging and crying over one another. I couldn't explain any of the feelings that were rushing through me, and a part of me felt like crying with them. I already had my happy ending. I didn't need a wedding to make it any more special than it already was, but it was a nice touch.

I felt a hand clap me on the back, and turned around to find Kudo smiling at me. "Good luck. I... I have to go."

"Go apologize for whatever it is before Ran-chan kicks you out again." They'd been living with each other since Kudo had 'returned,' because his house was bigger. One of their fights after he'd come back had him staying at my house for the weekend, because he didn't have a chance to get his money before Ran locked the doors. "And make it good."

Kudo nodded, rushing off. I was either getting lazy or Kudo was fast because he was out of my sight quicker than I could have pulled off.

"I do wish you would have warned me."

I grinned. I'd already seen Hakuba get up from where he was sitting next to me.

"I don't give warnings anymore. I thought you knew that." I winked at him. "What's my best man complaining about?"

Hakuba smiled, looking over at Aoko who was slowly getting herself back together. "I've known how much you've loved her since the moment I tried to take her from you. I had no doubt that it wouldn't be long before you proposed. You never did like to take your time." He paused, and his smile fell. "But she's not something to be kept, or protected, like you've been doing in the past. Don't put her through that again."

"I won't. Trust me, I know what would happen. To both of us."

"The Organization isn't gone, and there's always a chance they'll find out who you are. Or think you're still a danger. I know Kudo-kun removed himself from their radar with those arrests a few years back, but we don't know how far Kid was in. So I was just making sure you know that neither of us will tolerate any self-sacrificing behavior. I'm not worried about it, though. You've changed."

"So have you, kinda." I rolled my eyes. "You still know how to give a good lecture at the most inappropriate of times."

"Kaito."

Aoko's quiet voice drew my attention to her. Her eyes were red and her face still covered in tears. She was smiling though. "Yes."

"Better late than never." I bent down and kissed her on the lips before she saw it coming. She blushed but didn't look angry. Usually when I tried something like that in public, I'd be walking away with more than a few bruises.

Aoko's eyes moved to the ring in her hand as she twirled it around. There was a blue diamond in the middle with two leaf-shaped white diamonds on each side, coming out to make it look like a flower woven around a thin, white-gold band. "Kaito, it's beautiful."

"Personalized. There's no other like it. I have a few friends who were able to pull it off. Good friends," I added when I saw the shadows cross her eyes. I would have to be dealing with that all my life, that suspicion. But maybe it would stop hurting so much. Soon. It was my fault, after all.

Aoko got off the chair and flung herself at me, weaving her hands behind my neck and forcing me into a tight hug. I hugged her back with equal enthusiasm.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Aoko," I whispered into her hair. "I always did... and I always will."

Aoko laughed. "Isn't that what all the guys say?" I heard sobs still tugging at the end her voice.

"I guess I'm not very original."

"That's a first."

"It doesn't make it any less true. I love you, Aoko."

I tried to push her as close to me as she could get. My arms ran down her back, and we felt so right together. I had no doubts about it. We were right together. Even broken little pieces of us fit together perfectly with the other.

"I mean it, too." I barely heard her voice, too caught up in just feeling the perfection of the world. "I'll always love you."

...

...

Fin