The rain had just started to drop in slow rhythm when Shinichi drove his car to the garage of his house. He was so dead tired and hungry from working an overtime. Moreover, he still had to read those case files he brought home.

He was getting indulge in his fatigue but then the image of Ai and Chiharu greeted him in the dining table crossed his mind. In that instant, he was refreshed.

He hurriedly got out from his car seat and entered his warm dwelling through the back door. His heart was in a bliss when he walked nearer to the kitchen. Instead, he was welcomed with the grins of the detective boys and the soccer captain (plus Chiharu who was laughing happily on Ayumi's lap).

"Good evening!" They were all greeted him happily in unison.

The detective was stupefied. He turned his head to Ai who was preparing dinner on the stove, expecting to get an answer from her.

And she didn't even glance at him.

Damn.

Even so, he showed his best smile to them and greeted back.

"What are you all doing here?" He asked as he walked toward the kitchen island to put all his files and laptop.

From his quick observation, he guessed they were coming straight from the school. All of them were still in their uniform, including Ai. Now, it just looked like Shinichi had given her the house key due to him working overtime.

What a nice plan she got there. At least they could cover their marriage from their little friends here.

But he was getting annoyed when he knew that boy was also here.

What was he doing here, in his house?

Before he could run the train in his head, the sweet girl answered his previous question.

"We are helping Ai-chan taking care of Chiharu." Ayumi replied. "It must be hard for her to do things since she hurt her right arm."

Oh, that.

All of a sudden his cheeks were getting hot at her mentioning about Ai's right arm. The memory from yesterday night was replying in his mind. He succeeded to stop before it got to the main part though–only by chance.

"It is just a scratch, Yoshida-san." Ai joined the conversation while she was arranging the table. "It wasn't like I sprained my arm."

"But…" The girl was disheartened, which Ai noticed.

"Thank you for worrying about me." The strawberry blonde smiled to lightened Ayumi's feeling.

And it worked.

"Ah, it's Haibara's curry tonight!" Genta shouted happily.

The fat boy was going to grab the ladle, but he was stopped by Ai's warning.

"Wash you hands first, Kojima-kun." She warned. "And you, Tantei-san. Are you going to just stand there?"

Shinichi was startled. It had been so long since he heard her call him that, and he had almost forgotten that she still had her dominant character in her.

Was it because she always let her guard down only when she was alone with him?

"Ah, I'm going to change my clothes first then." He replied with a grin as he rushed toward his room upstairs. He was delighted after finding the newfound fact that he was the only man whom she showed her carefree side.

Ai shook her head and gave out a small sigh. He was twenty seven but sometimes he was acting like a kid.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner later on. It felt just like years ago when they gathered at the Professor's house to play games and ate Ai's homemade curry.

Except for Shinichi and Yuuto. Somehow there was an invisible tension between the two every time they were engaged in a small (sarcastic) talk. No one knew who started first however, the detective hadn't had a good feeling with this boy from the start.

"Looks like you get a lot of works piled up tonight, Kudo-san." The boy smiled.

"Yeah. What can I do when I am a working adult?" He replied, smiling back.

"Why don't you start doing the works now so you can sleep tonight?"

"And how can I concentrate if you are all still here, in my house?"

Both of them had some veins popped up on their skulls while the tension between them was risen to a top notch.

Shinichi was the first to break it. He went to the fridge to get his beer. Nothing was better than drinking a can of cold beer in the summer evenings after work, right? He needed some alcohol in his blood to release his stress anyway.

"You will die from heart problems if you drink too much alcohol." Ai warned him as she walked past his back.

She was putting the dirty dishes beside the sink, while Ayumi and Mitsuhiko helped with the washing. The latter teenagers could only giggle when their best friend scolded the detective.

Shinichi sulked. It wasn't like he hadn't gotten any heart problems already. His heart was displeased upon seeing that boy in his house, and he might die from it if he continued talking to him.

He took one of his case files then sat down on a kitchen island chair. He started skimming it. It was a fine idea to distract his attention from the boy.

"Hey Ai." He called her in a whisper.

"What?" She walked toward him, looking annoyed.

Turned out he just wanted to discuss the case in his hand with her. She obliged with something in return of course. As always, he couldn't say no because he needed her help.

With that, both of them were having a heated serious discussion in whispers. As much as they wanted to continue, they had to make it short for now to avoid suspicion from the rest of the teenagers in the room.

But Ayumi caught a glimpse of them while they were at it. She smiled, looking at Ai's face. Even though she looked disinterested, it was clear to her she was enjoying the short discussion with Shinichi.

Could it be him who was texting Ai in the class last time?

On another side, Yuuto was pouting when he saw his crush and the detective were having a good short moment there. An idea crossed his mind. He smiled cunningly as he saw Ai walking to his direction to join Genta and him playing with Chiharu.

"Why don't we have a group study in here this Saturday afternoon?" The soccer captain suggested it out loud.

Everyone in the room turned their eyes on him.

"Good idea." Mitsuhiko replied excitedly. "We're having our finals in two weeks after all."

"We can ask Shinichi-nii to help us too." Ayumi continued.

"But Haibara doesn't need it. She always ranks at the top ten even without studying." Genta felt the pressure. His name didn't even appear on the ranking board for once.

Well of course, she– I had gotten my degrees long time ago. Both Shinichi and Ai thought at the same time, smiling dryly at him.

"It is much better then! That way, Haibara-san can teach us the subjects we don't really understand, right?" Yuuto assured the fat boy.

The detective boys were all grinning, agreeing him.

"It is decided then!" They shouted all together.

"Oi-oi." Shinichi was speechless. "This is my house, you know."

.

.

.

If there was the most exasperating moment in Shinichi's life, perhaps it would be none other than these minutes. Because just right in front of him, with his very own eyes, he was looking at that boy sitting so close to his wife, and they seemed to be having a very exciting study session together.

The detective boys were also there, yet his attention was always drawn to those two.

He could feel one of his eyebrows twitching.

How did he get stuck in this study group planned by that boy?

He was the owner of the house but he didn't get to voice out his mind. Even this seating arrangement was done by the soccer boy. He was smart enough to have his way to get them sit in this order without anyone suspecting anything.

Looked like he purposely made their seats to be opposite of each other. As if the boy was telling him to watch him and his wife harmoniously studying so close to each other.

Shinichi glanced at Ai who was paying attention to the text book she held.

How can she be so ignorant around that boy? He asked the back of his mind.

He was going to avert his gaze, but then his eyes met with his. Their stares were piercing each other, and somehow there was a glint of courage in Yuuto's eyes.

Like, he was challenging him on something?

"Shinichi-san, can you please explain this to me?" Mitsuhiko who sat beside him asked, breaking his thoughts.

"Ah, me too." Ayumi scooted closer to the detective too. "I don't get that part either."

Seeing that, the boy was smiling mockingly at him; Shinichi saw that.

He smiled to himself wryly. What was this really all about? It felt like the two of them were fighting for Ai's affection.

While the three real teenagers were busy with their own subject, Genta had already passed out in thirty minutes after the session begun. Everyone couldn't do anything about it and only laughed it off.

Their study group ended before sunset. It was weekend so they had to go home before dinner time.

As if God was on their side, Chiharu was still having her late afternoon nap so Ai could use the helping-Shinichi-with-her-waking-up-crankiness excuse to stay behind.

"I'm so sorry I can't stay longer to help you, Ai-chan." Ayumi sadly apologized to her best friend.

"It's alright, Yoshida-san." Ai assured her with a smile.

"See you on Monday then, Haibara-san. And thank you for your help Shinichi-san." Mitsuhiko said which earned him a nod from them.

The strawberry blonde walked inside the house once she saw the detective boys were out from the gate. However, Shinichi stayed behind because the soccer captain hadn't left his porch yet. He looked hesitate to leave, knowing his crush and the detective would be left alone by themselves until quiet later.

Shinichi seemed to get his message and replied his silent protest with a smug smile. The soccer captain was flustered. He couldn't do anything but leave after the detective boys were calling out his name to hurry up. Yuuto once again looked back in worry at the closed door before he really left the premise.

The house was quiet once again as the warm yellow light came across the room from the window pane, followed by the shadows of the muntins. It touched the exposed skin of the shrunken adult who was cleaning up the scattered books on the coffee table, making her glow like a dazzling gold living statue.

Shinichi let out a happy sigh while he entered the living room. His wife was indeed beautiful.

Then suddenly he recalled the face of that boy, his pair of orbs directed at him in heated gazes, and how close he was trying to get to his wife all through the afternoon. Not to mention she didn't seem to mind him at all. He somehow felt irritated remembering all of those.

"Does he always act like that when you are at school?" He asked, sitting down on the armchair with his chin resting on one of his hands. He tried to hold back his obvious annoyance.

Ai raised her head in surprise. Her eyes were opened wide, looking at his direction. She was confused.

Who did he mean by he?

"That soccer guy." He clarified.

Oh.

"Not really, since we are in different classes." She told him. Her attention was back to the things she did on hand.

"But?" He asked again.

"But?" She was more confused now.

"There is more to your answer, isn't it?"

Just like how Ai could read his mind, Shinichi could also read her thoughts very well despite her habit of being cryptic most of the time.

Ai sighed. This would be the last time she reminded herself to give up on hiding things from him when he was asking her.

"His class is next door, but he always goes to our class whenever the bells ring for lunch and at the end of the school." She explained without looking at him. "He always tries to have a friendly chat with me. It becomes tiring every day."

"Although you appeared to have fun with him today."

There was a pause after he said that statement. Or was it a question?

He, himself didn't realize when his mouth was opened. Shinichi was shocked for it happened in a blink. He wasn't actually going to say that half-hearted sentence, but why did it slip out from his mouth? It was as if his cranial nerves were disconnected from his brain in a jiff.

Well, perhaps his brain cells too had been completely shut off the moment his mouth took over the control.

Ai groaned.

She was getting mad once she understood what he was implying. Looked like someone needed to check his eyes.

Or could it be?

"Ara~ Someone is jealous." Ai jokingly teased him. Her facial expression and her tone changed drastically in a split second.

He couldn't have seen her with that guy having 'fun' today if he hadn't been observing them the whole time, could he?

Shinichi didn't see this one coming. He straightened his pose, trying to start up his brain again to retaliate her remark. He didn't expect her to turn the tide this quick.

Ugh.

"I didn't." He said with a light flush. It was a weak reply, but it was the only word that got into his brain right now.

"You're not a high schooler anymore, Shinichi." Ai pushed him further, smirking. She walked nearer to the armchair, both of her hands were behind her back.

"And that is why I told you I am not jealous." He tried to suppress his cheeks from reddening more. He was almost at his loss now as his body backed away instinctively to the single-seater, his hand was no longer propping his chin.

"Oh, really?" She kept on going. She was now standing right in front of him, bending her body forward so her eyes could reach the same level as his. "Then how on earth did you know I was having fun with him?"

And eventually, he was tongue-tied. He gritted his teeth as he thought of any available ways to get out from this dire subject. He found none except from conceding.

He looked down until his eyes were covered with his bangs. He took a second to gathered his courage to reply her.

"What if I am?" His tone became serious immediately, but his voice was barely audible.

"Hm?" Her face came closer to his; her ears were trying to catch his answer.

He then raised his hands to cup both of her cheeks and pulled her face much closer to him. She lost her balance due to the sudden force and almost plopped herself down on top of him if it wasn't for her hands on the sides of the armchair propping her up.

She was blushing and bewildered.

"So what if I am jealous when I see you so close with another guy?" He said it louder this time while looking at her straight in the eyes, still with his flustered face.

Ai was stunned. She was processing his answer in her brain and tried to look deeper into his soul. To her surprise, she didn't find anything beside honesty. He was telling her the truth.

How?

The yellow light turned red that penetrated through the window was now filling in the silence of the room they were in. Her back was basked with the red color while her shadow was all over him. The sound of a single water drop was echoing through their ears from the kitchen across the room. No one dared to move; no one dared to speak.

"Ai, I–" Shinichi broke the silence. He was going to say something as he closed the gap between them further. Their mouth was only an inch apart and his eyes were softened; hers were widened.

Nevertheless, he was cut by the sudden cry of the baby girl. Chiharu had awoken.

Ai stood up straight away and left the room without saying anything, leaving the detective all by himself. She was perplexed by his last reply and action. She didn't even know what kind of expression she had right now.

Was she blushing? Was she smiling?

Or was she crying, perhaps?

She leaned on the closed door once she got inside the nursery room. The thumping sound of her heart mixed with Chiharu's crying voice reached her ears. It beat faster by each second like a drum in festivals.

She clenched her chest– her wedding ring to be exact– and slid down to the floor, losing the strength of her legs. She didn't know why her inside felt so painful. It was even worse than when her bone melted due to the apotoxin. It was like she was trying to hold a lit giant firework from bursting out with her bare hands.

It wasn't fair. At least that was how she felt about all of this.

He was the one who started it yet she was the one who lost it in the end. Just like ten years ago when he told her to not run away from her life; but she ended up falling for him eventually. Just like eight years ago when he returned to his original life and she tried to move on with the life she had; but here she was, tangled up once again with him in a baseless marriage.

Why did things with him seemed to always went against her in the end?

And to her sorrow, only now did she realized that the feeling she had for him– the one she had tried to forget even if she had to sacrifice his trust those years ago– had regrown.

Her mind was now as clear as a mud.

Did she really have the right to have this feeling again?

Meanwhile in the living room downstairs, Shinichi was still sitting on the same spot. He was massaging his temples with the thumb and one other finger of his hand; resting the elbow on the armrest. The room was getting darker after the sunset, but the blush on his face was still clearly visible to anyone if they was there.

He tried to straightened his mind.

What was he going to say before she left? And what was he going to do to her just now?

He gripped his other hand into a fist. The warmth from her cheeks was still lingering on his palms.

Shit.

He was a detective, yet it was so hard to deduct his own mind and emotions. Just like a doctor who couldn't cure his own illness, it seemed a detective really couldn't solve his own mystery.

He felt so messed up right now.

Author's note: There is this old saying in my home country that a doctor can't cure himself, and that is why a love consultant can't find a lover for himself. It is silly but somehow it rings right (the first part at least), so I changed it to fit this story for the closing part. Turned out I'm quiet liking it.

Oh, and by the way, I'll change the rating of this story to T starting next chapter. This will be my first time writing a T rated story, so please go easy on me!

I do hope you all like this chapter. Do not forget to give your comments and reviews.

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: All characters of Detective Conan are belong to Aoyama Gosho. I don't own any single of them.