Side Story: Agasa's Hope

The chiming sound of the church bell rang across the clear winter blue sky. It chased away every birds on the greyish roof of the Anglican church, adjuring them to flutter their wings and decorate the azure all along with the scattered white cottons. The chitter-chatter inside the hall began to subside as the organist began to play the wedding march on the altar. Soon, the grand door was opened to reveal a beautiful bride. She was dressed all in white, while hugging a graceful pageant bouquet of white lily in one of her arms.

The silence in the room was gradually filled with stifled cries and snuffles. The attendees were all expressing their tears of happiness toward the union of the marrying couple. Among them all, there was one particular gentleman who cried the hardest– the one who stood the closest to the bride. He was her father.

As he led his daughter walk down the long aisle, it was getting harder for him to hold his mixed emotions. She was his little princess, the apple of his eyes since the first day she came to this world– second to the queen of his heart. In only a few steps away, he had to let her hand go, delegating all the rights he had upon her to the man whom she would spend the rest of her life with.

Witnessing all of these things from his seat together with his wife, Agasa could clearly see the heartbrokenness his old friend had. He watched how the anxiety his friend had kept on his face before it changed into a contented look upon his daughter's beaming lovely smile.

It wasn't easy, he knew, to reconcile with oneself only on the count of three. Yet, here he was, beholding one true magical awe at what a father could do for his precious daughter.

There wasn't anything that could compare to the love of a father. Or so most of his married friends said years ago during one of their reunion nights. And now, looking at the heart-melting scene playing before his very own eyes, Agasa couldn't agree more to it.

Then before he knew it, he was starting to wonder.

How did it feel like to guide his own adoptive daughter down the aisle?

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In the midst of his friends' laughter and noisy chatters, a fifty-three-years-old bachelor Agasa Hiroshi was left dumbfounded by a throwing utterance coming from his married friends. It was an utterance about a storge love between a father and his children.

As the only child to his parents, he definitely understood how it was to receive a father's love. However, when it came for his turn to be on the giving end, there was no way he could perceive it that well. He had invested too much of his life dedicating himself to his researches and inventions to even think about romance and marriage. Even his bald head and greyed hair that he got too soon than his own age only proved his total devotion to his life's passion.

Therefore, listening to his old married friends talking about such kind of love, the closest thing that he could relate to was his care for his family friends' only child and his childhood friend; the two children who used to drag him out to play, whom he had deemed as his own nephew and niece.

Until a certain shrunken strawberry blonde scientist came crashing into his life one day.

Indeed, it all started simply because of a mere compassion. She was a run-away victim who was chased down by a mysterious organization; a fellow researcher who was in need of a shelter– a home. Above all, she was a young girl who had lost her everything– except her memories and herself– who was so hurt and broken to even named herself sorrow and ashes.

Perhaps, deep inside his kind heart, he was actually jealous of his old friends.

Maybe, down below his unconscious mind, he was verily longing to understand how it felt like to have someone whom he could share such kind of love with.

Or was it the unfeigned bond he had built with her that moved his will?

Still and all, the moment she told him that she wasn't going to take the antidote was the moment he decided to step forward and offered her an adoption legality under his name. A grateful genuine smile was all she replied him with, and it was enough to let him know that she accepted his good disposition.

"Thank you, dad." She said, making the blush on his cheeks grow harder from the fluttering happiness in his chest.

Despite so, he realized her eyes were tinged with unfathomable sadness. He understood all at once what her real intentions were for staying in her current state. Surely, he was no detective himself but he was holding the title of a Professor for nothing. So of course, he was smart enough to guess what his adopted daughter was going to do here and more importantly, why she had to do it.

Though, he held his tongue and kept all the questions to himself.

Aside from their legal status and his appellation, nothing had truly changed between them. She was still the Ai-kun he knew, the smart-cold-but-caring-shrunken teenager who was so strict with his diet. Her last name which she insisted to keep was included. It was the name that he gave for her– the name that changed her life that was too precious to be thrown away, they agreed.

"Damn it, Haibara!"

Shinichi's voice was echoing through the Professor's living room. It reached up to the high ceiling of his house in unruly fashion.

Agasa's feet were halted on the stairsteps instantly, his brain was alerting all of his body parts to refrain himself from coming down to the first floor. He was aware that a day like this would come soon. Nevertheless, it still stunned him to hear the name he crafted for his adoptive daughter was treated so harshly, not to say, by the guy whom she treasured.

He didn't mean to eavesdrop, really. However, the anger Shinichi displayed through his yelling and the jittery uptight air that he sensed in the room worried him.

Ai's icy sharp cutting tone.

Shinichi's betrayed stares and infuriated clenched fists.

There wasn't a single thing in there that clued the old Professor in about the two partners being all fine. It was coming together to his knowledge, that things had truly went downhill between them.

"Are you sure you're fine with this, Ai-kun?" He asked a couple of hours later when things had quiet calmed down.

"This is for the best, isn't it?" She replied almost quavering. It sounded more like she was seeking for assurance instead of answering. The doleful look that she managed to suppress was hardly to be missed even by his pair of old eyes. He could feel his heart throb bitterly at that.

He said nothing in return. And once again, keeping his lips tight was the only thing that he could possibly do in this situation.

The next thing that came thereafter was the ineluctable game of cat and mouse between Shinichi and Ai. It became as much vexing as it could get for everyone around them to see– even Ayumi who was supposed to know nothing was sensing it too.

Regret was all Agasa could feel. If only he tried to do something back then, would things have been different? His tongue could only taste sour and it was getting stronger with each passing day he watched his adoptive daughter mistreating her own emotions. A wave of disappointment embraced his mind every time he found her dull eyes.

It must be tiring, he bet, to keep on running away from her true feeling. But as much as he wanted to help her, nothing could really be done to lessen her tormented soul. She had endured enough hardships in this lifetime, so why should she tolerate another one now?

If only she could share her burden with him, he would be more than willing to bear all the suffering in place of her. After all, a father could never have the heart to see his own child hurt, couldn't he?

So, the over-brimming happiness he felt when he got a particular call from Ai one day was very much justifiable. Never once did it cross his mind that in the two years of his absent to his hometown would he hear a news about her marriage with the detective next door. Since when did they talk to each other again? It didn't matter to him anymore. Just the fact that they had finally come forth with each other was enough to bring a delightful mood to his day.

The joy that he felt was overpowering him that he dismissed the tiny part of him that was imbued with reluctance– could Shinichi truly bring happiness to his adoptive daughter's life? Despite the convenient reason that was backing it up, a marriage was still a marriage. It was never a play thing to begin with.

He definitely needed to believe more in Ai's judgement this time around once again. She won't ever make rush decisions based on fleeting notions, would she? Moreover, he trusted Shinichi would never intended to harm her; he would protect her like he used to those years ago. Because they were partners, weren't they?

At that thought, his face turned so verily bright once more. His grin was as wide as a soccer field, while pink tints were decorating his cheeks. He literally kept that mood for the whole day. Whomever he passed by could definitely see the rays of joyfulness reflected on his look. As if he was living up to the nickname which Yusaku once gave for him, he was radiating like a sun that day.

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"I wasn't expecting to meet you here, Professor Agasa."

A woman's voice that sounded so authoritative startled him. He turned around to find a tall woman around his age smiling at him. Her short blonde hair was complementing her dark turquiose dress, all together with some light make up and accessories that went well to harmonize her overall look.

Based on the way she dressed formally, it seemed she was also attending the wedding ceremony he was invited to.

"Oh, Mary-san!" He greeted excitedly, while Fusae who stood beside him smiled courtly at her. She excused herself just then, giving her husband some private space to chat. "Never knew you're a mutual friend."

"Actually, I was only standing in for Masumi." She politely answered. "She's acquainted with the groom, but she has to go to Japan to run some errands for me."

Some errands that involved a carton of peanut butter and blueberry jam.

"Is that so?" Agasa replied.

Their conversation continued for a while afterwards. With Mary saying her thanks before she commented on how useful the invention he had provided her and her team on one of their missions; and with the Professor's sheepish grin upon receiving such praises for his work.

"I couldn't thank you enough for taking care of my sister's daughter for all these years, Professor." She said at the end of their talk. Her eyes softened as she reminisced a bit of the past. "Thinking back to that day, it really surprised me that she chose to relive her childhood instead of coming here with me."

Listening to her heartfelt words of graditute, Agasa smiled. He was glad there were a lot of people who actually cared for his adoptive daughter, especially her maternal family.

"Time did fly too fast, didn't it?" He commented.

"Right." She smiled back, agreeing. "I'm glad she grew up happier than I thought she would be. And to know she's getting married to that detective boy soon, maybe letting her stay is the best decision after all."

"Marrying? Detective boy?" The old Professor was stunned.

Some beads of cold sweat started to slide down his temples, while his heart was pounding faster. Not that he didn't get her saying, but he was nervous– guilty– for he didn't tell this lady about her niece's marriage to the detective due to the latter's request. He kept acting like he knew nothing though. If she found out that he hid such important information, he would probably be dead in a matter of second.

"Didn't she tell you?" Mary asked, slightly amused at the Professor's cluelessness. Watching Agasa frantically shook his head in reply, she began to reanalyze her deduction. "That's weird. Masumi told me so after she met her yesterday."

And it was the reason why she disposed her idea to persuade Ai to come live with them or her adoptive parents here in this country after she graduated high school.

"If it weren't Kudo-kun who proposed her, then who else would give her an engagement ring?" She began to knit her eyebrows, getting distraughted at who the brave gentleman her niece agreed to marry might be.

"Proposed? Shinichi?" Agasa was now dumbfounded. His brain was processing all the information thoroughly slow, yet it seemed he couldn't grasp the news well. While Mary kept on telling him what Masumi had gathered through her observations, he on the other side, was becoming paler and paler in a more comical way.

Did it mean Shinichi and Ai were finally taking their marriage-for-convenience to another level?

Or did they, at last, have their things in the past settled?

Why didn't he know something about this at all?

As the church bell chimed once again and the grand door was opened to reveal the now husband and wife, Agasa was left stumped in the midst of the attendees'cheers and the rose petals rain. Just as though he visioned his adoptive daughter in a real wedding dress standing side by side with the detective, he blushed– flustered– uncontrollably. His feeling was all mixed up, unable to decide on what responses he should give to the lady in front of him.

"Eh? Ehhh?!!"

He eventually chose to let out a perplexed shout in the end.

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"A wedding ceremony?" Ai asked dumbfoundedly as she leaned herself on the puffy pillow. Hugging the cover so close to her bare chest, she snuggled her exhausted body up to the warmth of her bed, still facing him.

Shinichi hummed in reply, smiling. He carefully shifted to his side so he was facing her back. One hand was playfully brushing her strawberry blonde hair, while the other propped his head up. Despite all the sweats he had gotten from their endless rounds of activity, his look was showing a clear satisfaction. His face was glowing– refreshed– as much as to Ai's amazement.

Damn, pervert detective.

"We don't really have to do it though." She sighed.

"I know, but don't you think the Professor is hoping to do those fatherly things with you?" He reasoned. "Like when he'd guide you down the aisle before giving your hand to me in front of the altar."

"Isn't it you who actually want to see me in a wedding dress?" She chuckled teasingly, making him annoyed but blush at the same time.

Well, she wasn't wrong either. He did want to see her in a wedding dress although he was more excited to take it off of her rather than just admiring how the dress hugged her. More importantly, it was his mom that he was too concerned with.

"If we don't bring this idea up first, my mom would definitely do it sooner or later. And you know how she is, don't you?" Shinichi grimaced at the thought of Yukiko being all pushy-fussy over this thing. He could somewhat imagine her saying that she would die in agony if she didn't see her one and only daughter-in-law dressed all in white in this lifetime, or something over those lines.

"You've got a point there." Ai agreed. Remembering how her mother-in-law had planned out a perfect getting-them-back-together arrangement during the new year's day with Ayumi behind their back, there was no way she would fail to put them to agree on her version of a wedding ceremony.

So, before they could see her antiques, it was better if they took some actions first, wasn't it?

"Aw, come on. Look at the bright side." He tried to cheer the mood up as his hand slid its way down to her arm. Taking her hand in his, he intertwined them together, feeling the warmth of the white gold band she was wearing in between his fingers. "We'll get to exchange our vows this way, before the God and the audience– just like what I said to you when I gave you this ring."

He then brought their hands to his lips, kissing the ring so lovingly. She could hear the thumping sound in her heart as the blood crept up to her face, giving her cheeks some little blushes. She was sure he did say something about tying their knots with a vow or some sort of that stuffs when he proposed to her. She didn't expect him to really mean it, however.

If he put it this way, then, how could she not want it?

She was so deep in her thought to even miss what her detective was doing to her hand, until she was finally distracted by his trailing kisses on her arm. He went further up, pulling himself closer to her side and flipped them so he was pinning her down to her back.

"H-hey! What are you–"

He immediately sealed her lips with his, kissing her passionately. She melted quickly under his inviting advances right away. Pleasing whimpers and sighs escaped from her throat as he violated her tongue.

"We still have one last cup of warm chocolate to finish, remember?" He smirked when they parted for breath. He was showing her yet another lustful spark in his eyes. His inside was totally burning with desire for her, like a wild bee craving for a sweet nectar. Then, without waiting for her retort, he already started his ministration, leaving some of his marks on her neck.

"Hmnn, you do aware…" She managed to say in between her short panting. "…that I still have to attend classes in the morning, don't you?"

"You can just skip them. Exam weeks already ended and your result is the least thing I would be worried about. But I…" He confidently uttered without stopping his work on her skin. "…I can't wait much longer, Ai."

He whispered the last part as his hand made its way down to her stomach, leaving tingling sensation to her lower belly. There wasn't any sign that he would stop it anytime soon until he reached his desired destination.

She wanted to throw some curses at him out loud, but as always, he knew her weak spots too well to arouse her and bring her to the peak of indulging pleasure. She was losing her mind.

Now that they were back on another round of their activity, they became too busy to notice their phones were ringing endlessly. Their love noises were basically much louder than the ringtones.

It wasn't until so late in the morning that Shinichi and Ai read their notifications, after putting their drained phones on charging mode, that Agasa had left them a hefty number of missed calls, messages, and voice notes.

It looked like the day when the Professor would finally learn at firsthand the heaviest weight of a father's love was coming sooner than he imagined.

Author's Notes: A daughter will always be her father's princess. I guess, looking at their current canon bond as housemates, there would come a day when Agasa might feel that way towards Ai, wouldn't it?

I do hope you enjoy this chapter. And as always, please review and comment. Happy reading!

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