"Teitan versus Ekoda, 3PM, home field."

His words echoed in her mind as she quickly tidied up her belongings, hastily shoving them in her new Louis Vuitton purse. Quickly bowing and saying goodbye to her coworkers, she dashed out the door, looking both ways to find the right direction. She was already an hour late, and she had to really rush to barely make it on time. If only she could drive her Harley…!

She could still see the disappointed look on his face when she told him that she had an important meeting the same time as his soccer game. It was his first soccer game after they started dating and the first soccer game of his that she was going to, and she hated that she had to miss the majority of it.

It's been two weeks since he confessed to her, and school's been wild ever since. Everyone, literally everyone, looked at them whether they were alone or together, and she could hear the whispers wherever she went.

They told the kids first, of course — well, they were no longer "kids," were they? They stuck together all throughout elementary and middle school, and now that they were all high schoolers, they've matured quite a bit, but they were still all best friends. Upon hearing the news, Ayumi excitedly hugged Ai, squealing about how it "finally" happened. Mitsuhiko and Genta nudged Conan teasingly, congratulating him. They weren't planning to keep it a secret, but once someone saw the two holding hands as they went from one class to another, the news spread like wildfire, and soon, nobody could stop talking about it.

Ai was never one to enjoy such attention, but nobody has done anything that was out of line, so she let it slide. They were all high schoolers, anyways, and this sort of thing was probably normal. Conan, however, beamed at such a situation; he'd always been in the spotlight as Shinichi Kudo, so she assumed that he was used to it. He was also a hopeless romantic of sorts, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at how happy he seemed to be even just holding hands with her.

She really didn't want to disappoint him, and she really wanted to be there for his match, but there was no way she could skip today's meeting. He said he understood and that it'll be fine, but she knew that he was a little upset, and so was she. The lab wasn't too far from school, and if she ran fast enough, she might be able to make it in the last five minutes of the game.

"Haibara-san?"

She looked towards the source of the voice. A car was stopped beside her, and the windows rolled down to reveal the face of Saguru Hakuba. She knew of him as an acquaintance of Conan's, as they were all detectives and therefore familiar with each other. They've spoken a few times and gotten along rather well, but because of his frequent trips to England, they've never gotten to see each other much.

"Hakuba-kun," she said. "I see you're back in Tokyo."

"For a short time, yes," he said. "You seem to be in a rush. Can I help you?"

"I'm heading to Teitan; I'm kind of running late."

"Well, would you like a ride? It'd save you much more time than running."

"That would be lovely."

She got in the car and took a deep breath; she didn't realize how out of breath she was until now. Saguru's appearance was completely unexpected, but it definitely saved her. Now, she'll probably make it in time for the last bit.

"We'll be there in hopefully around five minutes," said Saguru. "What's happening at Teitan right now?"

"There's a soccer game… His soccer game. It started at three, but I had a meeting I couldn't miss, so now I'm terribly late."

"Ah," said Saguru knowingly. "You're right. It's a match between our schools; I heard about it from Kudo-kun. But speaking of which, I hear that you and Kudo-kun started dating. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"He's loved you for longer than you would think," said Saguru. "Even longer than he'd think, perhaps. We even placed bets on how long it would take for you two to finally confess to each other. Hattori-kun expected a little too much of Kudo-kun, while Kuroba-kun expected a little too less."

"Then what about you?" Ai asked with a light chuckle.

"I won, obviously. That's why I wasn't very surprised. He was very clearly in love with you, but he was too dense to realize that immediately, and clearly it wouldn't be a good idea to begin a relationship as an elementary schooler, so I expected around freshman year of high school. We did our best to… ah, hype him up, because he always thought you wouldn't take him seriously."

"That's… Not wrong, I guess. I never thought I had any chance, so I never held any expectations."

"Ah," said Saguru. "Well, you did, and I'm glad it worked out between the two of you. We're all very glad."

Ai smiled at the thought of the three men teasing Conan no-longer-Shinichi-Kudo Edogawa about, well, her. Being in love has made her soft in ways she never expected, and she had no complaints.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm glad his friends are so supportive."

"Anytime," said Saguru as the car came to a stop. "We're here now."

"Thank you," said Ai as she stepped out of the car. "I owe you one, Hakuba-kun."

She dashed through the front gates, making a beeline towards the field. She checked the time on her phone: 4:45 PM. She arrived at the field in a few minutes, and quickly, she scanned the field for a familiar figure.

There he was. Striped jersey, black cleats, running forward with the ball in control. Her number ten. Her heart soared as she watched him kick the ball with full force towards the goal. The goalie leapt towards the left to block it, but his fingers missed the ball, and it was another goal for Teitan. She glanced at the scoreboard to see Teitan tied with Ekoda; there were only a few minutes left of the game, and time was ticking away. Teitan's soccer team never was the best, but when Conan Edogawa joined the team, he pulled their team straight towards victory for almost every match.

She walked closer towards the field to see the game better. He was looking around the crowds, and as their eyes met, she could swear that he flashed her that proud smile of his. The game picked up once again, and she saw him take off towards the other side of the field with immense speed. She used to not be the biggest fan of soccer, but being with him has given her a new appreciation for the sport. Her heart pounded in her chest as she watched him take a daring shot, and she held her breath in as the ball flew towards the goal.

Was it a goal? Or was it a miss? She didn't even need to witness it herself, for the crowd went wild as they cheered for Teitan High School. But she did see it clearly, her number ten making the final goal, scoring the last point for his team. She smiled, and as he turned to face her direction, she could see him smiling back at her. He held up two fingers towards her as a sign of victory, grinning like an idiot.

This one's for you, Ai Haibara.