"Chiharu is your true grandchild and you are her true grandparent. No one can break such kind of a bond, even if it is the law."

Once upon a time, a couple of months after Chiharu was officially adopted to the young Kudos, Eri came to them humbly for a plea. She was asking for their permission to let her and Kogoro spend a day with the little girl once a month on a regular basis.

Everyone fell agape to see the Queen of the Courtroom looking so weak in that spur moment. Shinichi and Ai agreed nevertheless, telling her that she and Kogoro were the only two persons who could link the little girl to her late mom.

And that no one else could ever replace Chiharu's real parents within her heart no matter what.

However, it seemed to them now that they were the ones who failed to remember their own words.

Without doubt, it was all because they got carried away by their own sweet delusion– a surreal feeling they perceived from looking at how real their little family had now become. Little by little had they forgotten how things initially began, until they realized it was too late.

They were already far gone from their self-made commitment– a pledge to themselves that they would heed to Ran's last will to take care of Chiharu well. Their carelessness and foolishness were what they should've been called to account for. Be it a condemn or a punishment, they'd take anything as long as this guilt would cease.

Except that the only rightful person to bring the judgement out to them was no longer a part of this world.

"I don't know what to do with them anymore!" Yukiko wailed as she flumped herself down into the sofa in the living room. Her phone was in her hand with its camera on and fixated at her front face; she was video calling her husband.

Yusaku, on the other line, only replied her with a light chuckle. He was seen on the screen busy typing on his laptop, probably writing the draft to his new mystery novel.

"Is that the only response you have? Geez…" Yukiko groaned speechlessly, totally worn-out after fuming over her endless exasperation. Her husband's cold feedback only made her feel even more so. Again, he replied her with another chuckle.

"Well, didn't you say Ai-chan has agreed to return to the house since a week or so ago?" Yusaku finally made some remarks out of courtesy on his wife's nattering. "So, what's there to complain about?"

"Yes, I did say so." Yukiko sighed. "But… Ugh, how should I explain this? It's like they lost the sparks between them all of a sudden."

"The sparks, huh?" Yusaku rephrased, slightly showing his wry smile. He didn't need to probe more to know what his wife meant by that cheesy term. Still, she never failed to amuse him how she could come up with her assumptions. Because every time he asked her that, she would always say–

"Intuition, Yuu-chan. It's intuition." Yukiko humped proudly and confidently. "My womanly intuition told me so of course."

Too bad, men's brains were never specially made to understand baseless hunches such as that.

"And here I thought everything was back to normal, they become somewhat distant and awkward with each other." Yukiko began her tattling again as if her energy had been revived. "Moreover, their guilty looks whenever they met each other in the eyes are very excruciating. I just can't stand it."

"Guilty?" Yusaku stopped typing as curiosity began to feed his head for the one word that seemed to be out of place.

"Mm!" Yukiko took a little break from her continuous speech and nodded her head vigorously in reply. "They started having that kind of face ever since the day Chii-chan got her fever."

Even though they were working so flawlessly harmonious when nursing her back to health. Her inner self continued the talking, still in disbelieve with the things she witnessed over the weekend between those two.

On a side note, she was relieved her granddaughter's fever had went down considerably within a day of resting thanks to their care. She was as cheerful as to be back in the day care again this morning. However, her concern was now laid upon the young couple of the Kudo household.

"I see." Yusaku answered her like he had understood everything only from that little clue. "Just give them some time alone and they would resolve it in no time, I believe."

"Ehh? How could you know that?" The ex-actress responded. Her eyebrows were curled up to the middle of her forehead, her mouth was churned into a pout; she was showing her disagreement on Yusaku's advice.

He could only sigh and shook his head lightly, understood that she demanded him an explanation. It seemed this wife of his had forgotten that before anything else, both of them were parents to their only son. So, they should've been familiar with every nick of parenting stuffs, including to what was called as the parental guilt.

"If my guess is correct, then their unwonted quirks must've got to do with the guilt they feel from watching Chii-chan sick." He concluded, successfully turning Yukiko's enthusiasm a hundred eighty degree in a split second; she was aghast.

"Even if it goes just like you said, haven't they gone too far with their self-blame?" She lowly mumbled.

"Don't you forget Chii-chan isn't their biological child, unlike Shinichi to us. To make it more ironic, she isn't anyone's child but Ran-kun's." Yusaku replied her calmly. "So I can say, the guilt they keep must be more than just a mere parental guilt."

"Then, there is also Ran-chan and her husband's death anniversary coming soon to add up everything…" Yukiko quietly continued as she began to realize the hard truth. The crinkle on her forehead was getting deeper, showing so much of her worries. It became too obvious to the novelist that his wife was overly concerned.

"That's why I told you to leave them alone for now. Let them talk things over." He told her, trying to ease out her mind. "Both of them aren't kids anymore, so they must've known to not treat this as a joke to even think about silly decisions."

"I know that much, but still I can't stop my mind from brooding over it." She sighed heavily in frustration. "It had been eight years since I last saw Shin-chan so alive, and Ai-chan too. I hope everything is well for them– they both deserve it."

Yusaku replied her only with a gentle smile. He, after all, didn't give his blessing to the young couple without noticing that little truth about them. And so did he agree to Yukiko's wish of their happiness.

.

.

.

The leaves were starting to grow, giving back to the dull brown branches their former vibrant green-coloured hair. Some of them were even showing pinkish buds of what would bloom into flowers when spring time came.

The narrow paved footpath was no longer covered in white snow although the weather was still as chilly as it had been in the midst of winter. With rows of trees being lined up on its both sides, the view was definitely breathtaking. It gave off that tranquil feeling to whoever passed through the gate to this burial ground; a little consolation given by nature to those who came to mourn.

Only it didn't help with what Shinichi was currently keeping to his chest at all.

"You…" He mumbled, getting lost with his own tongue. "I didn't expect to see you here, Ai."

He sighed his words eventually. His dark blue orbs fell upon the strawberry blonde opposite of him. They were both standing just right in front of Ran's grave, each was holding a simple bouquet of Ran's favourite flower.

"Neither did I." Ai stared back at him. The same complicated look was shown on her face.

It was still in the middle of the day, a time when everyone else were busy with their own hectic city life. Yet here they were, accidentally meeting with each other in a secluded area like a couple of stranded people– both were skipping school and work.

No one threw a further comment to the other, however. Instead, their feet instinctively brought them closer, only leaving a short gap to maintain the personal distance between them.

They silently squatted down side by side in front of the grave and placed the bouquets they had brought for the deceased. They stayed that way even after they were done with their prayers, gazing at the engraved name that they came to know so well. It was beautifully written on the tombstone, exactly transpiring the heart of the owner.

White puffs were escaping their mouths in turns, a sign that the weather was getting colder and that they shouldn't stay outside for too long. Yet neither one of them moved from their spot. Both of them were distracted by their own thoughts, feeling all grey as if the gloomy clouds didn't engulf the bright sky enough.

"How do you know this place?" Shinichi broke their silence first.

"I have always had my way, remember?" Ai shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, right." He let his half-chuckle out.

There wasn't any single 'why' question exchanged between them. They didn't need to, for they had understood truly well the one unspeakable reason that urged them both to come here.

It was to search for an answer– a justification– to their guilty conscience.

As if the Angel who was buried down the ground would raise up from her grave right at this instant and tell them her forgiving words.

What a stupid illogical thinking they had there; they cursed themselves.

Minutes had passed between the detective and the shrunken ex-scientist. Still, silence was the only thing that accompanied them. Things won't go anywhere if they stayed tight-lipped, they soon realized. Even so, they weren't sure from where they were supposed to start.

"Shinichi…" Ai was the one who snapped them off from their stillness this time. Her serious tone was trailing his name out in a somewhat hesitating way. She was catching his full attention with that. "About the thing that you asked me the other day…"

"…let's not do it." He finished off the sentence for her almost immediately, loud and clear.

Hearing the unexpected coming from him, Ai hurriedly turned her head to look at his face. Her blue orbs went wide unbelieving when she found him looking back at her with a soft smile. There wasn't any slightest hint of disappointment in the way he threw his expression at her, but sincerity and calm. He then brought his hand to the top of her head, caressing her hair gently as a gesture of assurance.

"If you're not sure about having our wedding, then I won't go along with it as well." He said, totally aware of what she was going to ask and what she hoped to hear from him.

He was fully aware of her anxiety.

"But–"

"You see..." He cut her short before she could say more. Then, as if his patting her head wasn't showing enough of his assurance, he slid his hand straightforwardly down to rest on top of her left hand, squeezing it lightly. "...just the fact that you are lawfully married to me and that you're mine, is enough for me, Ai. As long as this isn't a dream, rather than going against our consciences, I would prefer us to stay with the way we are right now. At least, this is what I thought we should be doing to live through this marriage without any regret."

Listening to such kind of wholehearted confession from him, Ai pressed her lips into a thin line. It was unfair, really. How his uttered words and everything else he did always work to melt her heart like a black magic; it was inequitable. She would be lying by now if she didn't admit the fact that those words were all she ever needed to make a patch with her own blaming inner self.

Now that he had done his magic on her, she couldn't help letting her cheeks get rosy and her lips turn upwards in a smile of relief. She flipped her left hand– so her small palm was meeting his large ones– before she slipped her fingers in between his own. She caught him off guard with that simple movement, though she didn't care about it at all.

"And so have I thought the same." She told him. "Besides, we've got Chii in our care. It'd be best if we could give her all the things she needs the most, wouldn't it? After all, she is the baby girl whom Mouri-san had trusted you to before she left."

Watching her say that with such a brightened mood, Shinichi too, threw his disburdened smile at her. He hummed a yes and nodded in reply as he clasped his fingers in return, intimately holding her hand.

If whatever things he did and said could make her heart waver that it felt unfair to her, then to him, her absolute understanding toward all his deepest unspoken feelings and thoughts was the one that played him well. It always amused him how she could read his mind– and now his heart as well– like an open book and responded to him the way he wanted her the most.

It was a good thing that they decided to come here, they thought. For this little discussion they had had brought them an answer to their troubled minds and a chance for them to make everything right again.

"But the last part I said doesn't mean you could return to the Professor's house again of course." He sheepishly remarked, hinting her to stay by his side for good this time.

"Oh, someone is being needy, huh?" She playfully scoffed, making him blush harder.

Even so, she knew that he knew that she would still comply with him anyhow.

"Well then, let's go now before it gets any colder." Shinichi said, not releasing his hold on her left hand while he straightened his leg and stood up.

Before he could get anywhere, he was halted by a soft tug on his fingers– Ai hadn't moved from her spot yet, that was why. She was throwing her face to the other side when he checked up on her, trying to hide whatever expression she had on her face from him. She couldn't stop her blushes from reaching the back of her ears, however.

"Um, my legs..." She said with the tiniest voice she could get. "They have gone asleep, it seems."

It took Shinichi a second to catch her words. He burst into laughter thereafter while she threw an annoyed glare at him. And so, he untwined their hands to offer her, gentlemanly, his broad back for a piggyback ride. She gladly accepted without much protest as she circled her arms around his neck, hugging him close for support.

"Lucky me, your physique grew so perfectly fine like it should be." He commented cheekily when he felt her breasts meet his back– they were so soft exactly like how he had imagined all this time. The blushes on her cheeks were getting bolder upon realizing what her husband meant by saying that.

"Pervert." She remarked.

"What can I say? Men are visual creatures." He joked. "It's one of the things that spices our marriage anyway, does it not?"

"Oh, you know it's only a myth." She tightened her arms around his neck on purpose, choking him. He cried out for her forgiveness immediately.

They continued exchanging banters as they treaded their way back through the paved path of the gravesite. Their voices echoed into the air, smiles were plastered on their lips. Their hearts were as light as feathers with their guilt gone, and so did each steps they took. At last, it was the supposedly peaceful aftermath of their resolution...

…if it wasn't for the boring stare of a certain light caramel short-haired woman, who was walking just right in their way, turning it into an awkward moment.

She looked surprised and rather agitated by the sight of the two people whom she least expected to be so close. What was with that lovey-dovey mood they shared? And did she hear them talk about marriage? Who was married to whom again?

The Suzuki heiress looked somewhat pissed off at them now.

Oh, shit.

.

.

.

Sonoko's stare was affixed to the two people in front of her. Still peeving over the things she witnessed, her demanding glare was getting more ferocious that it pierced through their self-consciousness. Shinichi and Ai could only keep their heads low, looming over their knees as they sat side by side on the floor of their own living room in seiza. Cold sweats were drenching the palm of their hands on their laps.

It was as if they were a couple of lovers who were asking for a blessing for marriage from their parents– no, they had gone through that almost a year ago and it was an easy score. So rather than that, this tension was more like they were two crime suspects who had just been caught on action, and were now sitting ready for a merciless interrogation taken in charge by none other than the self-claimed Deduction Queen.

The young Kudo couple wasn't sure if they had to feel lucky or the other way around that Sonoko didn't make a fuss right there on the spot. She didn't even make an objection when Shinichi invited her for a talk at his house– after all, knowing the high probability that the Suzuki heiress would make a scene, there was no way they'd get a talk in public. Although by the look of it, they won't get to see her dramatic squabble so soon.

All Sonoko did was keep her glare at Shinichi and Ai instead, exactly like right now, without saying much herself. She had been doing it since their eyes met and kept at it throughout their way together to the Kudo Residence in her limousine.

Damn, her out of character silence was what pressured them into acting this stiff and gawky.

"I'll leave the three of you to talk then." Yukiko said after she put down the last cup of tea on the coffee table. She was forcing herself to sound as cheerful as she could, realizing the awkwardness in the air.

Just what the hell is happening now?! She shouted in her head once she was out from the living room.

First things first, she didn't knew that Shinichi and Ai could actually think of skipping work and school until she saw them just now by the door earlier than they would usually have. They should've had different clock out time anyway. So for the strawberry blonde to be coming home together with her son, she concluded they had met each other outside the house– planned or unplanned– and talked things through, to which she hoped everything was resolved. But then, for Sonoko to be joining them while looking like 'that', she knew that there must be something seriously wrong going on.

Just why are things coming one after another upon those two?! She was getting really frustrated now, unable to comprehend the things bestowed upon her eyes any longer.

Meanwhile, back in the living room, the three individuals were still too preoccupied by the tension the Deduction Queen had created. While Shinichi and Ai should've been giving her some explanations by now– or maybe even lies– to clarify whatever thoughts she might presume from the scene she saw, they chose to stay silent for some reasons. The tension had taken a toll on their brains, probably.

Despite so, they felt this heiress didn't make any sense at all. The more they thought about her actions, the more they found her being irrational. Because, why would Sonoko be this mad after discovering their secret marriage?

"So, tell me…" Sonoko finally spoke up for the first time, sending Shinichi and Ai a flinch. "Is what I'm thinking true that the two of you are married?"

"Y-yes?" Shinichi replied her, unsure if he should've been in the first place. But as gentleman as he was, he instinctively took the question.

"And it's for Chii-chan's adoption legality. Am I right?" She preyed with fiery eyes.

"Yes, you're right?" He answered her anyhow, though nervously.

"Ha! What kind of nonsense is this?!" Sonoko snorted all of a sudden, diminishing the straining atmosphere around them with the return of her usual self. "Don't tell me this is the reason Ran left us such a will. She had got to be kidding me!"

"Eh?" Both Shinichi and Ai looked up, confused at her reaction. Her sudden mentioning of her late best friend's name got them even more baffled. They were greeted by her disappointed tired face nonetheless.

"Geez, you're the detective here, Kudo-kun." She groaned, getting irritated at his overly dumbness. "Do you still not get it after looking at the whole picture?"

"The whole picture of what?" He asked as dense as he was.

"Of this– your marriage– your life!" She impatiently shouted, while her tear began to pile up by the corner of her eyes. It soon fell uncontrollably as her voice began to softened; her words sounded broken with her unrhythmical sobbing. "All this time, she had been worrying over you. Always, always– it turns out she still does even though she's in her grave now..."

"H-hold on!" The detective intruded her speech. He didn't mean to be unsympathetic to her, but there seemed to be some backstory to their current circumstances that he and Ai didn't realize was exist. "What does Ran have to do with this?"

At that seemly stupid question, Sonoko recomposed herself from her cry. She let out another long groaning sigh, frustrated at where she was supposed to begin her telling and– yet again– at his insensitiveness. She tried to keep her emotions at bay though. In the end, she replied him back with another question of her own.

"Didn't you even notice how you live your life after your return from that long case of yours?"

Her question put Shinichi's mind into a stump immediately.

Well, if she was talking about his life after the unforgettable nightmare, then of course he didn't notice how he lived it anymore. Except for the first three hellish years when he was trying so hard to recollect all his losing souls, it was fine, he supposed. But recalling to what Heiji had described about him years ago, and remembering to how his heart regained its missing beat once he heard Ai's voice again, he noticed he must have been living an empty life since then.

"H-hey, don't tell me…" He said with wide eyes; a realization struck into his head.

"Ran– she must have seen why you were losing yourself in your works and cases before this." She said, confirming his assumption. "So, putting Chii-chan under your care during her three-days-trip was in her plan all along to drag you out of it. She was hoping by doing so, it would bring back to you whatever thing you had lost."

"Bring back… the thing I had lost?" Shinichi mumbled, perplexed by what Ran had hidden in her mind all this long.

"It was what she told me few weeks before she went on that trip." Sonoko continued with a voice that was rather wavering as she reminisced her last meet up with the deceased. "I thought I'd never understand the things Ran said that day. But seeing you right now, and like this, I've got to see why she did it."

Just when she was going to conclude her story, she took a quick glance at the strawberry blonde and threw a tiny hurtful smile at her. Her tears were coming back, though she managed to hold it in. Then, still with the same smile on her lips, she got back to the detective again.

"You've finally found that thing, haven't you, Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi could feel his stomach churned as he came to understand pieces by pieces the whole picture Sonoko was talking about. His hands on his laps were now tightened into fists, his brain was muddled.

Never did he think that Ran had found out right from the start that one tiny part of his soul was still on the loose. He didn't even realize it himself if it wasn't for that fateful day in front of his house gate, so how could anyone else know it?

He had always thought that it was such an absurd thing for her to ask him to take care of Chiharu even only for three days. All the while, she knew he was just a single bachelor, and a workaholic to say the least. Furthermore, she went as far as making that legal will for him to adopt the baby girl. Although the latter might be purely driven by her own premonition, but what was she expecting from him?

Yet, after listening to Sonoko's side of the story, it was clear to him now, and to everyone involved, that she was setting him up on purpose by putting him in an unbreakable legal bind. It was as if she was telling him to go find his missing piece and get himself a life so she could rest well in her peace.

If that was truly what she intended him to do, then was this a sign that he could be a little inconsiderate and be a bit selfish to pursue his happiness? Was it alright if he were to do so without the need to bear the guilt? After all, his little family which consisted of Ai and Chiharu was what that mattered the most to him right now; his marriage with the strawberry blonde was what he wanted to keep the most.

Ai, whose mind was as restless as his, could only keep her lips tight. It wasn't her place to give him any advices, she judged herself by the situation. Rolling her blue orbs to her side, she took a peek at the detective from the corner of her eyes. At once, she understood that the resolves he had gathered before this were all falling apart. He was getting lost in his own bewilderment, unsure to which decision he had to take. And so did she bite her lip and remained silent.

Little did Shinichi and Ai guess that by going to Ran's grave would they meet with the Suzuki heiress and had this talk. As much as they wanted to believe that it was only a coincidence, they were more convinced if it was the fate that played them again.

Or was she, perhaps, sent by the Angel to bring them her justification to settle their guilt?

Author's note: To be honest, this chapter was the hardest to write among the rest so far (the second hardest chapter to write was chapter 10). Maybe because I was trying to connect one plot to the other, so I kinda found some difficulties to figure out how to make the overall story reasonable. Now that it was done, I just hope I didn't make it sound too rushing or pushy.

And gosh, it's been a year since I started this fic and without knowing it's almost that time of the year again: CoAi week! The last-year-me once mentioned that she would join the sweet week, but seeing to how my real life goes this year, I could only say please wish me luck (finger crossed to get it done on time). I'll try my best nonetheless.

Anyway, I thank you so much for being such patient and loyal readers to this fic! I couldn't survive writing this long without all the support from you all (hug). Your reviews really mean a lot to me.

All in all, happy reading!

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