4 year old Kuroba Conan gripped his book tightly as he rode in the back seat of his parent's car. A wide, excited grin was on the boy's face. "Tou-san, Kaa-san! Are we going to visit Oji-san and Oba-san?" He piped up. Smiling, his mother turned around to face her son.
"Yup! We're going to visit Heiji and Kazuha for a picnic, and then go see Shinichi and Ran." Kuroba Aoko replied.
The boy's eyes shone. "And then we'll see Rin-chan, right?" At his mother's nod, Conan beamed and practically bounced in his seat. Kaito grinned at the rear view mirror. The Hattori family's recent announcement of a move to Tokyo had taken everyone by surprise. Kazuha and Heiji loved Osaka, but it seemed they wanted to keep close to their friends.
Thinking back on the old events with the Back Org, Kaito understood perfectly.
They arrived at the park only minutes later. Conan had unbuckled his seat belt and was out the door in a flash. Aoko turned to her husband with a glare. "He undid the child locks- again! Kuroba Kaito, if our son turns out like you, I'll never forgive you!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him, and he only grinned sheepishly. With a sigh, Aoko rolled her eyes and reluctantly relented on her attack.
As the couple began carrying their stuff onto the grass, they were greeted by the sight of their son blushing furiously as a small girl embraced him. "Conan!" she squealed.
"H-hi, Rin-chan," he stammered back as she released him from her hug.
Smirking, Kaito murmured, "If those two end up growing up together, history may repeat itself."
"Well it's repeated itself three times. Why not once more?" The Kurobas turned to see Hattori Heiji grinning down at them. Kazuha was right beside him. The two girls immediately walked off, chatting animatedly like the high school girls they used to be. "Mind ya," he continued conversationally, "Ya better keep yer son away from my daughter once they get older."
"Actually, I think it's 'keep your daughter away from my son,'" Kaito replied with a chuckle. "Look at them. She has him completely wrapped around her little finger!" Sure enough, Conan was allowing the girl to drag him all around the park. The two men snickered as the poor boy desperately tried not to trip over his own feet.
"But it's strange. He looks exactly like…" Heiji began slowly.
"Me?" Kaito cut in. "I know, he'll have his own fan club when he's in high school."
"I was going ta say Kudo, ya aho," Heiji snapped, but he was grinning.
Kaito let out a sigh as he crossed his arms behind his head. "I know. I've sworn a million times he got his hair from his grandpa, but sometimes it's almost creepy how similar they are. In fact, because of you, he wants to become a detective. A detective! He loves magic, but he's caught that damn disease all you detectives haven." Kaito pointed at Heiji as he dramatically declared, "You infected my son!"
"Am I sick, Tou-san?" The two fathers looked down to a worried Rin and Conan peering up at them. With a grin, the magician grabbed his son and swung the boy up onto his shoulders. Sniggering madly, the youngest Kuroba wound his small fingers through his father's hair.
"Nah, you're not sick. Just your father being an idiot." It was then that Aoko and Kazuha decided to make an appearance. Humming happily, Kaito set Conan back down and strode up to his wife.
"That hurt, Aoko," he purred. "Now you gotta kiss me to make me feel better." As he leaned forward, Aoko huffed but obediently pressed her lips against his. Kaito wound his arm around her, pulling her closer to deepen the kiss until…
"EWWWWW!" They were forced to break apart and glanced down at the two children. Both Rin and Conan had their faces scrunched up in disgust.
"That's gross!" Rin declared. In the background, Heiji was grinning from ear to ear as Kazuha only giggled.
"Oh, don't give me that," Kaito scoffed. "Besides, you and Conan will be doing the same in a few years." The two friends shot each other horrified looks, obviously appalled at the very thought. Then the silence was broken as Conan gave the girl a playful shove, just because he could, and ran off with Rin in hot pursuit. The parents watched as their children raced around until Rin finally launched herself at him in a flying tackle, successfully knocking him to the ground. The book he had been clutching flew out of his grip and landed in the gass.
"Hey, what's this?" The girl sat up on the grass and picked up the novel.
Conan beamed. Clearly he had wanted her to ask that. "Sherlock Holmes!" he announced happily.
Heiji and Kaito snapped their heads around to exchange looks of horror. Then they simultaneously broke out into grins and mouthed 'Kudo!' before doubling over in laughter.
When Heiji had recovered from his laughing fit, he managed to ask, "But isn't he a bit young for those books?"
Kaito groaned aloud. "Definitely. He comes to me every couple of minutes to ask what a word means, or explain one of Holme's 'Great Deductions!'" The two last words were said in English, with a perfect British accent to match. Then he smirked and added, "For once I'm thankful for Kudo's blathering. I actually understand that mystery mumbo-jumbo." Heiji snorted in amusement.
Soon, lunch was served. Bentos were brought out and eaten, and an all out food-war very nearly took place once Heiji and Kaito got on the subject of Queen vs Lupin. And finally, the two families got into their cars, with Rin and Conan riding together. Not long passed before they rolled to a stop once more.
"So we're going to visit Shinichi Ji-chan and Ran Ba-chan now?" Conan asked as they walked across the grass.
Kaito smiled sadly. "Yeah…" He nodded to Heiji and Kazuha as the couple came to join them. "We're going to visit them."
They came to a stop by two graves. Kazuha and Aoko knelt down, placing a red rose and an orchid down in front of the marker. Suddenly feeling choked up, Heiji found it hard to speak. But finally, he managed to murmur, "Hey, Kudo. Nee-chan. It's been a while. Sorry fer not visiting sooner but… it's hard, ya know? Sometimes I wonder if I could have saved ya that day. Maybe if I stayed behind, I could have found th' bomb and you two would still be here."
As though they'd rehearsed their words, Kaito jumped in. "I know you wouldn't want us to worry. Heck, you're probably worrying your heads off over us right now.." He chuckled hoarsely. "And while I don't think we'll ever stop blaming ourselves, I think we've finally accepted it. You two have moved on, and there's nothing we can do. But… yeah… we're fine. And I hope you two are the same."
Conan and Rin came up curiously to the gravestone to read the inscription.
Shinichi Kudo, Ran Mouri
Loving son and daughter
Together in the end