Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
----
Sitting in the dolphin stadium's audience seats, Ritsu had never been particularly interested in shows like this.
The marine animals in aquariums were like birds in cages, they had no freedom. When he was younger, he used to admire aquariums, but after watching a certain documentary, he never went to one again. If it weren't for the date being set here today, he wouldn't have come.
They were spirits of the ocean, yet they performed tirelessly just to entertain humans for a fleeting moment of joy.
It reminded him of himself.
He wondered how the Honjo family was doing now, probably not very well. People who grew used to a life of excess, spending lavishly without ever creating wealth, would eventually bring about their own downfall.
After the half-hour dolphin show ended, it was time for lunch. The main reason Akemi had chosen this place was to try the café's adorable dishes.
The café was extremely popular. They had to wait in line for quite a while, but their luck was good, they got seats right by the glass wall. Just by turning their heads, they could watch tropical fish swimming in the large viewing tank.
"If someone's afraid of fish, coming here would be a nightmare."
Ritsu rested his chin in his hand while flipping through the pastel blue-and-pink menu. As expected, everything was shaped like marine animals. Even a completely ordinary sandwich, just because it had clownfish colors and was served on a clownfish plate was priced five times higher than one from a convenience store.
"Who would be afraid of fish?" Shiho flipped straight to the dessert section. For her, the quality of a café was determined entirely by its sweets.
A memory flashed in his mind, two noisy kids from two years ago. If he remembered correctly, that boy had been terrified of fish.
"No, there are people like that."
Squid ink pasta served on a squid-shaped plate, cream stew in a beluga whale-shaped bowl, latte art in the shape of a baby seal, even Shiho's parfait had bananas carved into dolphin shapes.
No wonder the place was so popular with kids and women. Ritsu looked at the Scotch egg set he ordered, the dish was served in a shark-shaped plate. Somehow, it fit perfectly.
The breadcrumb-coated exterior was fried to a golden crisp. When he cut into it with a knife and fork, the crunch instantly whetted his appetite. Inside the meat layer was a soft-boiled egg, the rich golden yolk flowed out. Even without sauce, it tasted amazing.
"No wonder people are willing to line up for this. The cream stew here is so smooth and comforting," Akemi said with a satisfied smile, though she was already thinking about trying to make something similar for Akai next time as a homemade lunch.
"It really does taste great."
Noticing her younger sister barely touching her main dish and instead digging into her parfait, Akemi frowned. "Shiho, eat your meal before dessert. That's not good for your stomach."
"…Okay."
After finishing their meal, it was, rarely, not Ritsu who paid. As the oldest, Akai finally pulled out his wallet. A small miracle worth celebrating.
Shiho still occupied the spot right beside her sister, hands in her pockets, half-lidded eyes glaring faintly. Ritsu walked with a slight slouch beside Akai and asked, "Is this really okay? You don't get many chances to go on dates with her either, right?"
Recently, Akai had become more active in the operations unit and had begun to gain Gin's attention. His workload was now second only to Macallan's. And perhaps deliberately, Gin always assigned him missions outside Tokyo, often for two or three days at a time, almost as if trying to prevent him from seeing Akemi.
"It's fine."
Akai glanced at a couple walking past them, the guy was helping the girl put on a Christmas gift he'd prepared. Pressing his lips together slightly, he asked, "What kind of gift should you give someone for Christmas?"
"I've never been in a relationship. How would I know?" Ritsu rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone. "I'll look it up for you."
#What kind of Christmas gift should you give your girlfriend?#
Looking at the listed answers, Ritsu read aloud patiently, "Scarves, hats, scented candles… and limited-edition Christmas cosmetics."
Hats?
Akai instinctively thought of the knit cap on his own head. Should he buy a red one for Akemi? Since they were in a relationship, it felt like he should prepare a gift for an occasion like this.
"Come with me to a gift shop, it's right next to the café."
"You're buying it on the spot? That's pretty half-hearted."
"I just never think about gifts in advance."
Shrugging, Ritsu jogged ahead to tell the others they were heading to the restroom. After all, gifts were supposed to be a surprise, saying it outright would ruin the point.
The two retraced their steps to the shop. The souvenirs here were all quite cute. With no real desire to buy anything, Ritsu turned around and spotted a sea lion mascot taking photos with customers. The highlight was the tuft of blond "hair" sticking out of the costume's head.
Thinking of a certain someone, Ritsu held back a laugh and snapped a photo, sending it straight to that person's phone.
Elsewhere, Rei, who was still working on missions even on Christmas, heard his phone buzz. After reading the message, his mouth twitched, and he muttered through gritted teeth, "That guy…"
[Macallan: Didn't know you had a side job like this, Bourbon.]
Putting his phone away, Ritsu was about to see what kind of gift Akai would pick when he heard children arguing behind him.
"Why did you break my toy on purpose?! Pay for it, you jerk!"
"You stepped on mine first! You're the bad one!"
"I didn't! You dropped it yourself! If you don't pay me back, I'll hit you, that was from my mom!"
"Bring it on! Mine was from my dad!!"
Two boys, no older than five, were suddenly arguing over a beluga whale plush toy. It quickly escalated into a physical scuffle. Ritsu immediately stepped in, reaching out to stop them.
"You two shouldn't be fighting! What if you get hurt?"
Maybe his tone was too harsh, one of the boys with brown hair burst into tears. Ritsu froze, at a loss, acutely aware of the surrounding stares. Most likely, they thought he was the one who made the kid cry.
He just stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do, when Akai, who had been browsing gifts walked over, holding two beluga whale plushies. He crouched down and smiled at the children.
"Boys don't cry over something like this."
That really didn't sound like something Akai would say and that smile on his face was even more surprising.
Then, the next words out of his mouth made Ritsu freeze completely, unable to recover for a long moment.
"Fifty-fifty. That makes us even."
"!"
There was no snow falling outside, yet a sharp pain shot through his temples.
'Why… why would Rye say that?!'