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The bright illumination of the city poured through the large windows of the restaurant as she stared out, appreciating the dazzling lights strewn across the city. Her attention flickered over to the Christmas tree that almost stretched to the ceiling in the center of the room, beautifully decorated by expensive ornaments—the soft sounds of the piano played gently in the background. Golden string lights that hung on the tree and overhead cast a warm, festive glow over the wineglass in her hand and on his face—his cerulean eyes shone intensely, his lips quirked up with his usual cockiness.
Ai felt a small grin tug at her lips as her heart fluttered at the look on his face, so full of unmistakable adoration for her.
“So,” she murmured, bringing the wine up to her lips before taking a sip, savouring the smoothness of the drink. “Is there a reason why you’ve brought me here for dinner, Tantei-san?”
Letting out a scoff, he gave his head a slight shake. “Do I always need a reason to take you out?”
Her eyebrow rose before her lips curled up in amusement. “I had to blackmail you the last time I wanted to go to a fancy restaurant.”
“Oi,” Conan muttered as he let out a wary chuckle, the tips of his ears reddening. “That’s not necessarily—”
She huffed. “I literally had to coerce you by threatening to show Hattori and Kuroba a picture of your—”
“Oi!” If it was possible, his ears glowed brighter as his cheeks lit up. “Please never bring that up again!”
A small peal of laughter escaped her lips and she watched him scowl. “I had to prove a point,” she teased as she swirled the wine in her glass, taking a moment to appreciate the sweet odor. Her gaze flittered over his face again, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. “So are you going to tell me? Or should I speed dial—”
“Well,” he said, letting out a breath, his fingers fidgeting with his own glass of wine—his shoulders were tense.
Something was wrong.
Instantly, she felt a flash of concern—it wasn’t often that he was so anxious. As a matter of fact, the last time she had seen him so agitated… Her mind flashed back to explosions and gunfires, to blindfolds and ropes—her fingers clenched tightly, nails digging painfully against her palm.
Across her, he shifted in his position as he began digging into his jacket pocket reluctantly. Before his hand pulled back out, he let out another deep breath, almost as if he was preparing himself.
In one swift movement, he had pulled out a black, velvet jewelry box and had cracked it open—her breath caught in her throat. The sight of the diamond ring sparkling in the dim lighting of the restaurant had been the last thing she had expected, despite how much he had hinted at it over the months. She felt her heart stutter wildly in her chest and a lump knotted in her throat.
“Edogawa—”
“Ai…”
Her name rolled off his tongue with familiarity as if he had uttered it hundreds of times before and she scolded herself inwardly for feeling the sudden surge of emotions overwhelming her.
“You asked me once what I wanted the future to look like,” he continued softly as his lips pulled into a gentle smile, his gaze a little far as if he was recalling a memory. Her mind flashed back to an image of a riverbank sprinkled in gold, red, and orange—of tattered phones and broken dreams. And then he refocused his gaze on her with those piercing and knowing eyes. “I knew then what I wanted already.”
She felt her heart stop.
“C-Conan…”
The corners of his lips twitched into a lopsided grin as his empty hand reached over and pried her hold from the wine glass loose before his threaded through hers. “So?”
“So?” she repeated as she tried to calm her racing heart—her palms felt sweaty.
He rolled his eyes in mock annoyance. “Geez, woman. Are you really going to make me ask?”
Just as she was about to respond, a piercing screech echoed throughout the venue. Without thinking, their heads snapped towards where the scream had come from.
Beside her, she heard the sound of his resigned sigh—she couldn’t help but smirk.
“Only you, Corpse Magnet,” she said teasingly with just the slightest hint of exasperation. “Seriously.”
“Oi.”
She turned her head around towards him—the fact that he hadn’t yet stood up and rushed off spoke volumes to her. There was a look of utter defeat on his face as he stared at the ring box in his hand.
It took more effort than she cared to admit to school her features carefully so that he couldn’t see her amused grin. Pulling her hand from his grasp, she took one last sip of her wine before standing up—with her eyebrows raised in question, she looked down at him. “Well, Meitantei-san? Are you coming along?” At his look of surprise, she felt the corners of her lips twist. “The crime isn’t going to solve itself.”
The ring box snapped closed as he scrambled to his feet, his lips curved upwards as he grabbed a hold of her hand.
“You know you’ll have to ask again, right?”
“I’ll try again tomorrow.”