Begin!

~Normal POV

Kanji had been patient, and patience paid off for him. Naoto sent him a text before school started the very next day. The text said she wanted to talk to him after school about everything. He accepted right away. Hm, she also said she was bringing a friend to help explain the phantom thief situation. He figured it would be nice to tie that up before they talked about anything else. Sadly, they were in different classrooms so he couldn't see her much at school. And it was one of the rare times when the team didn't have lunch together, so that didn't work either.

Finally after school let out, Kanji went to meet with Naoto at the gazebo. She had decided this was a good spot. And it let them get out and away from their friends' questioning. Naoto was grateful for it, Rise had been pestering her all day for details, and she had only told her that she wanted to talk to Kanji again before she had any updates. (Rise seemed to finally back off after this, thankfully.)

Kanji practically ran to the gazebo, wanting to not be late for Naoto. Lucky for him, she arrived first. And as promised, she wasn't alone. That guy was with her! The man in the suit and sunglasses! Kanji got a bit heated from seeing him again. But his anger faded when he noticed the two were talking calmly with each other. It was confusing. Wasn't this guy dangerous?

"Hey, Naoto?" He greeted walking up to them.

Naoto and her companion turned their attention to him. "Ah- hello, Kanji-kun…" She turned a bit pink from looking at him. "I'm glad you came. There's someone I want you to meet." She gestured to her companion.

The man beside her bowed respectfully. "I am Yakushiji, secretary of the Shirogane estate. I humbly apologize for the other day."

Kanji was shocked. So this was the guy she talked about before? "R-Really?"

"Yakushiji-san, this is Kanji Tatsumi, he's…" Naoto struggled to avoid saying what she wanted to call him. The last thing she needed was for him to go blabbing to grandpa just yet. "Been helping me lately…" She finished, vaguely. And she avoided looking directly at Kanji as she did so.

With Yakushiji it was hard to tell how he thought of this. He seemed to look between the two and nod slightly as if he understood. He didn't seem the type to show too much expression. Kanji thought it made sense, kinda like a prim, proper butler, in that way. All business. And knowing this now did make him relieved that he wasn't a threat after all.

"What's this about?" Kanji asked.

"I must also apologize, Kanji-kun." Naoto said, frowning. "Though I may not have known, I involved you in this. It was an act put on by my grandpa."

"My master has been terribly saddened by Naoto-sama's state of affairs lately," Yakushiji explained, in a smooth professional tone. "Lacking acquaintances to confide in, she devotes every fiber of her being to work… My master wanted Naoto-sama to regain the joy she felt in days past. To regain the feelings when all that she wanted was to be a detective, regardless of her heritage or gender…"

Naoto looked away embarrassedly.

"I involved you at my own discretion," Yakushiji continued. "Believing you to be trustworthy. Please forgive me." He finished with another respectful bow.

Kanji couldn't help feeling kinda proud now. If someone like this guy thought he was trustworthy with Naoto, then maybe he didn't need to worry so much after all. He never expected to hear that. So this whole mess was just a trick all along. He thought it was kinda funny.

"Oh, it's, uh, all good…" Kanji replied. He felt dumb for saying it like that, he should have been more proper- but Yakushiji simply nodded and didn't seem to mind.

Yakushiji turned to Naoto and handed her a card. "I believe you'll need this to finish your task."

Naoto nodded. "Y-Yes, thank you…" She hesitated. "Um, you may go now…"

Yakushiji took the hint. The two teens wanted to be alone, and he would happily oblige. With a curt goodbye, he left them alone at last.

For a while, neither of them knew what to say. Kanji had a thought that maybe she'd feel more comfortable if they got this case stuff out of the way first.

"So, what's the card say?" He asked, giving her a supportive smile.

Naoto looked at him and smiled a little back. "You're right, let's do that first…" She opened it up and read it for him.

I did what you can't stand to do at a place you'd be fond of.

But underneath, rather than inside.

"Hm… a place I'd be fond of?" Naoto said, quizzically.

"You said you like high places," Kanji pointed out.

Naoto seemed to smile bigger from hearing that. "You remembered?" She was touched that he remembered something so inconsequential about her.

"Of course I did." He replied, simply. Why wouldn't he remember?

"The highest place around here is… the hill." Naoto continued, confidently. "Next, what I can't stand to do. There are several possibilities…"

"Would it be throwing stuff away?" Kanji suggested.

Naoto blushed. "That's right! …Did I mention that before…?"

He chuckled. "You did."

She smiled embarrassedly, but didn't seem offended. "Um, considering what's at the hill, the most likely answer is the trash can. I have an inkling of what might be there."

She motioned for him to follow her. So they walked to the hill overlooking the town. Kanji liked being here. It was always really relaxing and peaceful. It would be a good place to have their… talk… when they got to it. He wouldn't lie, he was still scared. But he had to be brave. Naoto wasn't pushing him away at all. She seemed happy to see him. That made it a little less worrisome. Upon arriving at the picnic area, Naoto went to the nearest trash can and searched around it. There was something hidden under it with a piece of tape. She pulled it out and wiped it off before showing it to him.

"I- I forgot this thing even existed…" She said, quietly. "It's the last of the seven tools. The 'Detective's Pocketbook.'" It was a little blue, pocket-sized notebook.

Kanji looked at her curiously. "Wait, don't you already have one of those? I've seen you writing in one on the case before."

She nodded. "Well, yes, I have a newer one. It's very handy for keeping track of things on the job. But this one is from my childhood. I haven't seen it in years…"

She stared at it and flipped through a few pages. He couldn't read what they said, but it seemed full of notes, and some little doodles of badges and other tools she made. The handwriting was a lot messier than her current neat and proper handwriting he saw when they did schoolwork together. She then closed the book.

"All the things I had forgotten about are packed in here… I think grandpa wanted to remind me of them." She said, frowning. "This childish game… He's selfish indeed! Forcing me to recall all this now… I was trying so hard… Not to be underestimated, not to be condescended to…"

"Whoa, hey- I don't think he wanted to upset ya," Kanji said, gently. "It sounded to me like he cared, that's why he did it."

Naoto looked at him. His words were soothing. She took a shaky breath and calmed herself. She had more she wanted to say. She wanted to push past the initial anger, and focus on what she'd learned through all this mess. And share it with him openly. She pocketed the notebook and sat down at the picnic table. Kanji hesitated at first, but decided to sit down next to her. Keeping a respectful distance though, just in case. There was a calm silence as he waited for her to speak.

"...If I solved this town's murder case, then everyone would accept me…" She began, quietly. "They would acknowledge me as the 5th in the Shirogane lineage of detectives… That's what I told myself. I just wanted to be accepted. I wanted to be needed. That's why I fretted and stood on my tiptoes… and focused only on solving the case… But the original reason I wanted to become a detective… It was because mysteries intrigued me… And I could help people by solving them. That's all. I remember now…"

He didn't know what to say, so he just kept listening.

"Do you recall the time I faced myself in the tv world?"

"I do…" Kanji wouldn't be likely to forget it. Seeing how miserable she was like that. It stuck with him…

"It was my task to accept the self that yelled, ' I want a reason for me to stay…' But my 'reason to stay' was not solely to solve the crime…" Her voice started breaking a little. " You… everyone… gave me a reason… You gave me a place to stay." She tried to smile through the tears in her eyes. "I have to be an adult… I have to be a man… With that way of thinking I was running from myself. I don't need to look for something to change, or something to accomplish… I only need… to have faith in myself…"

She finally turned to look at him properly. Her eyes were still a little teary, but she had a gentle smile on her face.

"I finally think I can accept myself. That I'm a woman… That I haven't yet become the detective I wanted to be… I- I am a woman and a detective… One who is seeking the truth with you and the others."

Kanji returned her smile. He was glad she was feeling so much better now. But there was still something they hadn't discussed. Something they needed to talk about… He didn't know how to begin, so he was thankful that Naoto seemed to want to say it first.

She was turning red. She had been so confident a moment ago, yet this was cracking her resolve just thinking about it. But she had to say it. She fidgeted with her hands.

"Wh-When I'm with you… I become scared." She started, shyly. "Afraid that the instant I admit the truth, everything will spill out… But I need to say it… My true feelings…" She took a deep breath and said, "I love you, Kanji."

Kanji blushed heavily, feeling his stomach do a flip. He had been hoping for Naoto to eventually stop using honorifics with him. He wanted her to be closer to him, and that felt like the last major barrier between them. And hearing her say she loved him too would have surely knocked him out any other day. But she already knew he loved her, and she was here telling him she felt the same. He couldn't be happier!

"I- Naoto… You really-?" He asked, grinning widely.

"Y-Yes…"

"S-Since when?"

"I don't know… I think for a long time now. I just never- never really explored this feeling until we started to truly spend time together. It must have built up inside me, and finally got to me. Um, I'm curious now too… How long have you…?"

Kanji scratched his head nervously in his usual manner and averted his eyes. "Ya want the truth?"

"I do."

He sighed and confessed. "I think… since I met you."

"What?!" Naoto looked very confused. "But I-"

"I know!" He interrupted quickly, wanting to explain himself. "It confused me too, at first. In fact, I thought for a while that… that I only liked you cause I thought you were a guy. But then when we fought your Shadow… I realized that I still liked you. And even more, I finally realized that I loved you. Everything about you. It didn't change a damn thing about how I felt. I fell for ya because… because you're you, Naoto."

Naoto felt that her face couldn't get any redder if she tried. Her heart was pounding again. She felt almost dizzy with emotion from hearing him pour his heart out like that.

"I- I'm glad to hear that…"

"And I'm sorry for taking so long to say it. I was so freaked out by rejection, and I didn't want to lose you. I was planning to tell ya yesterday, really, but I wanted it to be more… romantic…"

Naoto smiled gently. "I had planned to confess yesterday too. I know it didn't go the way either of us wanted, but we're here now, aren't we? Isn't that what matters?"

Kanji felt a lot better hearing that. "Yeah, you're right…"

The two stared at each other bashfully wondering what came next.

"Hrmph… I'm so embarrassed… I feel like I could die…" She said, softly.

"Heh, yeah me too…" He gulped. "So…?"

"So…?"

"What do we- um-"

Naoto had an idea of what they could do now. The words were out, they were comfortably alone here. It was a chilly day, but the fall view made a perfect setting.

"W-Well… I've read about moments like this in one of my books… There is- um- one thing we could do. I-If you want to."

Kanji had a feeling he knew where this was going. He smiled again. "Oh? And how did it go?"

Naoto looked up at him, happily flustered. "They said how they felt and… k-kissed…"

He thought he would be too nervous to do something like that. But once she said it, it seemed to feel more comfortable. He'd seen people kiss on tv and movies before. This would be his first, he naturally knew it was her first too. And he'd thought about it… a few times… Ok maybe it was more than a few, but who cared about the specifics right now?

Kanji moved closer to her on their bench. Her face was red, but she wasn't going to let embarrassment keep her from doing what she wanted. At first, neither of them knew who should lean in. Finally, Naoto made the first move and leaned closer.

Kanji was about to move in until he had an idea. "Ah- wait-"

"What's wrong?"

"Just a second." Kanji reached over and removed her hat. He set it down on her lap. "There…" He said, softly, admiring how pretty she looked without it.

Naoto understood now. It was actually quite a sweet gesture. Normally, she would be offended at anyone touching her precious hat, but Kanji was now the only exception. She was also too happy to care anyway. And they were in the middle of something far more important.

Without taking any longer to think it over, the two leaned in and kissed.

Naturally, it was gentle and shy at first. But after a moment, they settled into it. Kanji wrapped his arm around her to pull her closer. Naoto seemed to like the feeling. She felt all fuzzy now- her brain could think of nothing else but the feeling of this kiss. And she was sure he felt a similar way. After several moments of bliss, they pulled apart and smiled, with their foreheads leaning against each other.

"Mm… wow…" She breathed out contentedly.

"Heh… So, does this mean we're… ya know-?"

"Yes, I think it does… You're my b-boyfriend…"

Kanji couldn't smile any bigger if he tried. "And you're my… girlfriend."

Naoto held her hat on her lap as she decided she wanted to be even closer. She leaned against him, he held her close with his arm around her. She rested her head on him and closed her eyes.

They spent the rest of the afternoon together in that same spot. Until it got dark and he had to take her home. But they enjoyed their first time alone together as a couple. Even if it meant they'd have to deal with a lot of teasing from the others when they eventually broke the news.

Who cared, really? All that mattered was that Kanji and Naoto were finally dating.

~End of Chapter