Brrrrrt-brrrt.
Brrrrrt-brrrt.
Click.
"What is it?" The strawberry blonde answered the incoming video call from her phone.
It was a call from her favourite detective. He shivered at how cold her tone was just now.
Geez.
"Can't you be less cold when answering a call from me?" Shinichi moaned from the other line. He was lying comfortably on his stomach on the tatami, having a bit of a rest before dinner time. "It is summer but why do I feel like it's winter here?"
Ai scoffed.
This was her first time to receive a call that wasn't truly discussing something important from him, yet it was important at the same time. So she didn't actually know with what voice she should answer it. Still, she was happy that he spared his time to give her phone a ring.
"Dadda!" Chiharu cut their unfinished conversation. The whole camera view was now filled with her upside down face.
The little girl was playing on the carpet with Ai when she heard a ringing sound. She had turned into a little explorer recently, so she crawled really fast toward the source and snatched the phone from her mom's hand.
She was all grinning and smiling seeing her dad's face whom she hadn't seen for two days in a row. Shinichi was taken aback by her sudden intrusion. He was laughing though.
Ai smiled as she took the phone from her little hands and adjusted it on the leg of the coffee table a bit farther to fit the two of them in the frame. That was then the detective saw Chiharu stood up by herself and walked two steps forward without any aid. She was back to sitting down in front of the phone.
"S-Since when can you do that, Chii?" He asked with a great excitement, also little disappointment for not being there to witness her very first baby step. The last time he recalled, she was still too afraid to make a step even though she was able to stand by herself so perfectly.
"Dadda!" Chiharu raised both her hands. "Babaa-mu-baa-dda!"
She ended her baby talk as she pointed her two feet. Shinichi couldn't stop his laugh seeing his adopted daughter acting this cute. He really missed her. Ai, too, couldn't hold her giggle anymore. She turned her head to the side with her hand covering her mouth. Her face looked so red and her shoulders were shaking from trying to restrain her laughter; tears were forming on the edge of her eyes.
Shinichi clearly saw that from the corner part of his phone. His gaze was softened seeing how she seemed so fine. He really missed her too. He was only away for two days, but it already felt like forever.
Did this how it feel to have his own family?
Knock knock.
"Hey Kudo, how do you think the culprit could hack the secured luggage without leaving any traces?" Heiji slid the door open, barging into Shinichi's room right after he knocked. He didn't even wait for any reply from the room occupant.
The latter couldn't complain since he was staying at the Hattori Mansion. The office was going to give him some budget for the trip except it was Heiji's dad who insisted for him to stay with them. Heizo wanted to show his gratitude to Shinichi for all the troubles he got as his son's fellow friend, while Heiji was more than glad– he was excited to discuss so many things with him.
Shinichi stared at the now stunned Osakan detective by the door with a silent annoyed face.
"Ah, sorry." Heiji apologized, feeling embarrassed for interrupting the little family time his friend had. He forgot that his friend had settled down and owned a family now.
It felt awkward.
But before Heiji slid the door close, they heard Ai say something.
"A ballpoint." She said as she held Chiharu to prevent her getting too close to the phone; she was concerned with her eye health. "I used to open Professor's suitcase with it every time he lost his padlock keys when we were traveling together."
The two detectives' attention were all directed at her, astounded. They started to imagine how it fit with the details of the case and finally grasped the whole idea. Damn, it was such a simple trick. How could they miss it?
"If that's so, the culprit must be that person." Shinichi said, turning his head to Heiji. His face showed that smug smile.
"Yeah." Heiji returned his look, also showing the same smile. "But how about the combination lock?"
"Every combination lock has its own mechanism but it isn't very different from one another." Shinichi explained as he sat up to cross his legs and arms. "With some self-training also trials and errors beforehand, not only could the culprit easily distinguish which one is which but he could unlock it in less than thirty seconds."
At last, this case was coming to an end.
"Then the next thing we need is to prove it." Heiji said. "We'll leave it to the forensics for the ballpoint ink chemical reaction on the luggage zipper."
"Even if the ballpoint the culprit used was inkless, we can still examine through the shape of its tip that was in contact with it." Shinichi continued. "There must be a little friction between the two metals in the process and it definitely leaves marks."
Both of their faces were lightened up.
"Yosh! I'll go ahead and tell the team." Heiji said as he ran after sliding close the door.
Shinichi waited until his friend's footsteps were completely unheard before getting back to the phone call he made.
"Looks like you've solved the case, huh?" Ai smirked while hugging her legs. Chiharu had wondered to somewhere around the room, no longer seen in the camera.
He nodded.
"Thanks to you." He smiled. "But I still have to do the after report once I'm back."
He laughed wryly at himself once he remembered how he hated making reports so much.
"Heh, you can't choose for only the exciting part of your job."
"I guess." He shrugged his shoulders.
"You better get going then."
"Mhmm."
Shinichi let an inaudible sigh in frustration. He wanted so much to give her a peck on the cheek before really get going, but she was so far away on the other side.
"I love you, Ai."
It was the least he could say to her right now to express his feeling. He grinned once he saw the red tint on her face. He knew she hadn't gotten used to this kind of thing at all, which he found it adorable in some ways.
"You should show that kind of face more often." Shinichi teased her.
"Shut up and just get back to work." Ai tried to keep her reserve.
They ended the call right after. Shinichi then went to join Heiji eagerly. He just couldn't wait to wrap the case up and be back home soon. Meanwhile, Ai hid her red face in between her hugged legs. She never knew that being in reciprocated love could be this fluttering. It really made her lose her composure.
Well, it seemed like she still had so much things to learn about this feeling now.
.
.
.
Ping!
Ping!
It was quiet late in the evening and she had just done putting in the laundry into the washing machine when Ai received a chat notification on her phone. She had usually turned in for the night during these hours, but tonight was a bit different.
She switched the washer on then swiped open her smartphone to check it.
Ai-chan~! Do you have any plans for the day after tomorrow? It was a message from Ayumi.
She smiled and typed her back.
Not really. She pressed the send button.
Let's go to the pool then! Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun are going too. The sweet girl replied so fast.
She received a photo attachment a second later. It was a photo of six entrance VIP tickets to the newly opened public swimming pool.
Another text from Ayumi followed after.
Yuuto-kun won these in a lottery today and asked us to go together.
Ai was going to decline the offer because she couldn't leave Chiharu alone. The little girl was off from the day care for the summer holiday since Ai had the whole month free. However, Ayumi preceded her reply.
I also asked Shinichi-niichan to come along with Chiharu-chan, and still waiting for his answer. It said.
The strawberry blonde halted her thumbs. She was stupefied. Why on earth did Ayumi ask the detective to join them? She or Yuuto could've just ask their other friends from their class. And to her confusion, why should she be informed about his hung up reply to the girl?
They were only neighbors in front of everyone's eyes, weren't they?
"Why don't you go?" A low voice suddenly rang through just right before her ear.
She was extremely shock that she almost threw her phone into the air in that instant. Ai turned her head and she found her husband standing right behind her; he gave out a chuckle at her response.
It seemed Shinichi had only arrived home from his trip. He was still in his shirt and tie.
And he looked gleefully happy.
Ai nearly cursed if it wasn't because she held her tongue back.
"When did you arrive?" She tried to recollect her heart back. She didn't hear any sound of the door unlocking or even his footsteps coming into the laundry room.
"Just a minute ago." Shinichi replied gaily as he loosened his tie. "What are you doing in the laundry room anyway? And at this hour?"
The room turned into silent all of a sudden, with only the sound of the washer spinning. Ai was at loss for a moment. Really, what did she do in the laundry room when she usually had been lying lazily on her bed at this hour?
Doing a late evening laundry, maybe? Or was she actually waiting for someone to come home tonight?
"What do you think am I supposed to do in a laundry room?" She scoffed at last, trying to hide her pinkening cheeks.
Shinichi grinned playfully. She was more transparent with her emotion recently which he found endearing each time she did that.
"What are you supposed to do then?" He pretended to know nothing.
Ai replied him with a growl. His grin was widened seeing her shy yet annoyed face.
"I miss you too, Ai." He finally said it with a smile as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave her a lingering kiss on her forehead.
She smiled back secretly, enjoying his comfortable arms around her. She was glad that he clearly knew she missed him and she was waiting for him to come home. If not, she definitely won't know how to say it straight to his face.
"Hey Ai, let's take a bath together." Shinichi asked her jokingly which earned him a hard pinch on his cheek.
He was being too straight forward with her on the other hand.
Sigh.
"But why are you planning to decline Ayumi-chan's offer?" The detective asked from inside the bath.
His voice echoed across the room, reaching to Ai who was sitting on the floor near the frosted glass sliding door of the wet room. She was accompanying him from the outside, which she compelled in the end because he persuaded her, hugging a bath towel in between her chest and her legs.
"I can't just leave Chiharu alone, can I?" She replied plainly.
"About that, I can just say yes to Ayumi-chan then bring Chii with me. It would be fun seeing her playing with so much water." He tried to convince her. "And I got an extra leave because of the last case."
She agreed with him that it would be so much fun going to the pool together. But Ai was unsure about the three of them joining the detective boys.
From her chatting with Ayumi just now, looked to her that she was starting to have an idea between her and Shinichi. She had to admit that the girl really had a very sharp girly instinct. This alerted Ai to be more aware with keeping their marriage a secret from everyone, especially the public. It was because her husband was basically still a well-known detective despite having his official rank in the police department.
She shuddered at the thought of their peaceful life being stirred up by the media. It certainly would give them a lot of work to settle everything if it happened for real.
"You should enjoy your last summer as a high schooler, you know." His head appeared from the slightly opened door, letting her know that he had done taking the bath.
"And I'm twenty eight, remember?" She stood up and handed him the towel. She leaned her back on the wall after that, continuing their discussion.
"On the inside, yes." He retorted while walking out from the wet room. "But this is literally your first and last time to live as a normal seventeen-years-old girl."
Ai turned her blushing face to the side when seeing Shinichi was half naked with only a bath towel around his waist and some droplets of water on his hair. She forgot that he needed the dry room to put on his clothes. Her fingers started to play with each other unknowingly; she somehow became mousy by the view in spite of having shared their intimate night together.
"W-Well, it isn't that important." She sounded staggered, almost lost her focus on their conversation. "Besides, a real normal seventeen-years-old girl won't actually marry a guy who is much older than her like this."
Shinichi noticed her sudden stumbling speech. He was clueless as to why, but he understood upon seeing her face looking so much like a boiling crab. Furthermore, she was fidgety. Turned out she could be self-conscious only from catching a sight of his half naked body after a bath, eh? Where had the cold Haibara Ai gone to?
"Look who's talking here." He walked closer toward her with a smirk plastered on his mouth. "You're fidgeting like a real teenager now."
"I did not." Ai was flustered more, noticing he was only wearing his pants from the corner of her eyes.
Her heart was thumping faster with each inch Shinichi took to shorten their distance. While she couldn't back away, she somehow didn't plan to move from that spot either even if she could. It was as if his magnet was attracting her to stay still.
"You should see yourself in the mirror if you don't believe me." He pushed her further with his words.
He then draped the damp towel around her head to make her look at his way and pulled it to bring her face closer to his as he bent forward. She gasped.
"You look so cute, Ai." He said with a low voice before he slowly brought his mouth so close to her slightly opened ones.
"F-Fine!" She cut his movement, however. "Let's join them to the pool then."
Shinichi was astonished by her abrupt shaky voice. His wife was really something. He let out a laugh as he pulled her into a hug– Ai groaned. He really got himself under her skin this time.
"I just don't want you to hold back from doing the things you never enjoy in your previous life, Ai." He said, still hugging her. "You don't have to be considerate of me and Chiharu all the time."
Ai hummed as her ears digested every soothing words he said. She had indeed been feeling a bit edgy after she received the last text from Ayumi. Perhaps she should learn to relax a bit now that she got him on her side.
Even if it came to the worst, bet it won't as bad as when she was on the run from them, would it?
"Let's go to sleep together now, shall we?" Shinichi asked her so openly which earned him a kick in the shin.
Looked like she had to get used to his overly shown affection first before dealing with anything else.
Author's note: A day felt like a thousand years when you're apart from your loved ones, right? I am not that cruel to make these two stay apart for too long after everything they had went through in the past ten years (wink).
I hope you are satisfied with this chapter too.
Also, please forgive me because I will update this story only once a week starting this month (sobs). The new term has started so I have to focus with assignments and other things in real life.
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.