First World Arc ~

Chapter 1: Gleeful

"So, has a date for the dinner been decided?"

A pause. "Tomorrow night? Yeah, I think we can work with that."

She pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat down, resuming the phone conversation. "Since we're having it at our house this time, I could cook, but I don't think I'm good enough to cook myself. Do you think you could come over later and help me?"

Another pause. "Really? Thank you so much, Ran-chan!"

She stood from her chair and took a walk around the room. "By the way, how's the Agency doing?"

The person on the phone spoke some more. "That's great! With Shinichi-san running his own Detective Agency and you running your own restaurant, you two have become pretty successful."

The person on the other end asked a question. She nodded. "Yeah. He has another magic show planned next week, so he's at the theatre preparing."

Another pause and a blush. "Yeah, he may come off as sneaky, but he's really sweet like that. Anyway, did he give you your tickets yet?"

She failed to notice as the front door to the house opened slightly and silently. "Really? You found them in Shinichi-san's jacket? But he almost never takes it off so how did he..." She stopped, "Never mind, let's not question it."

A shadow, well immersed in the art of sneaking, hid behind the couch. "Alright then. I guess I should get back to work too. I have a bunch of criminal cases to research."

One last pause. "Alright, bye now."

She sighed after hanging up the phone. These criminal affair cases were wearing her out, and she never could seem to find any time to herself. Becoming Inspector for Division Two had always been her dream, but jobs were tough. And just as she was about to go and finish, two strong arms wrapped themselves around her, lifting her high into the air.

"I'm hooooome!" A cheerful voice called to her from behind. She didn't even have to look to know who it was.

"K-Kaito! At least let me know when you open the door!"

Her husband gave a smile that most other people would think to be innocent. "But if I did that, it wouldn't be any fun!"

Aoko let out an annoyed huff. "At least set me down now!"

"Hmm? And if I do that, what would happen next?"

"Well, I'm supposed to be working on those cases, so obviously, that would happen next."

"Oh, well, in that case..."

For a split second, Aoko thought he was about to reconsider, however her hopes were dropped when both of them were flung onto the couch. Kaito still had his arms wrapped tightly around her. "If those cases are gonna take you away from me, then I'll just hold on tight and never let you go!"

The way he rubbed his head on her shoulder made Aoko feel warm. In fact, she didn't feel like getting up at all. However, she knew she had to, so she tried to fight it. "Kaito, I really need to get back to work now."

Kaito gave her his bet puppy face, which was pretty rock solid. "Aokoooooo. Spend time with meeee." He whined, knowing his wife was unable to resist it.

Aoko sighed. "Geez Kaito, if you want me to spend time with you that badly, you could have just asked."

He smiled that bubbly smile of his in response. "But I came home early just for you!"

The endearing way he said that almost made Aoko go numb. Now, she really wasn't in the mood to just get up and leave. The warmth emanating from her husband extended to her, making her feel all fuzzy inside. Kindly, she smiled. "Alright, I guess it's okay for a little while."

Silently, he kissed her on the head, while she laid herself down on his chest. Kaito and Aoko were friends from childhood, having grown up together, and even living next door to each other. A while later, Kaito had become the infamous thief, Kaitou Kid, stealing big jewels in his father's place. Aoko had found out about it after a while, and of course she was unhappy about it, but they were able to move past it, and now, Kaitou Kid was retired, and the man behind the monocle had proposed to his dear childhood friend. It had only been six months since the wedding, and they were doing nicely.

As Aoko was being hugged tightly, she couldn't help but notice that Kaito seemed to be bouncing around a little, just bustling with energy. "Um, Kaito, has something happened?"

Her bubbly husband tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you seem happier that usual. I just assumed something good happened."

Kaito looked at her with loving eyes. "Something good did happen."

She blinked. "Really? What is it?"

He closed his eyes endearingly and rested his head on her shoulder, appearing to be in some dream-like state. "I got married to my bestest friend in the whole world."

Aoko sighed as she realized it was only Kaito being Kaito. But nevertheless, she smiled, thinking about how adorable he was when he got like this. "Oh, by the way, our dinner is tomorrow. Ran-chan's coming over later to help me cook."

"Oh really? That should be fun. You could use some time off from all that boring work."

Aoko slowly closed her eyes, feeling grateful that her husband could read her so well. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Aren't I?" He asked, wearing a casual smirk.

She looked up at her husband, who made the world around her so much brighter. The way he smiled, even if it was cocky and confident, let her know that he was Kaito, and he was there with her. Nothing was better than knowing that.

"So, how long should we let this cook?" Aoko asked, as she prepared to set the stove timer.

"About fifteen minutes should be enough. We should probably start setting out plates." The woman with the spike in her hair responded.

Aoko nodded. "Okay. Sorry again for having you help me with this."

Ran shook her head. "No, it's alright. I'd love to be of some help."

"Alright then, I guess I'll start setting things out now."

Aoko grabbed some plates and forks, and took them outside into the backyard, which had a picnic table, and sitting on said table was Kaito and Shinichi, Ran's detective husband, chatting like old friends. Even to this day, Aoko still finds it funny. During Kaito's Kid days, he was always being challenged by a young detective by the name of Conan. Conan was Shinichi, after being shrunken by the Black Organization. How funny it was, to think that the two former enemies were living next door to each other, and even met each other for dinners every month.

Smiling, Aoko sat down their plates in front of them, receiving brief thanks, and moving on, setting the plates for the other guests who had yet to arrive.

"Heya, everyone!" A voice called from the other side of the fence.

The two husbands could see a man and woman walking to the gate, so Shinichi called out. "Ah, Hattori!"

The dark-skinned man replied back. "'Sup Kudou, Kuroba!"

The woman with the ponytail smiled at Aoko. "Nice to see ya again, Aoko-chan."

She smiled back. "You too, Kazuha-chan."

Ran came out of the kitchen upon hearing the name of her best Osakan friend. "Kazuha-chan!"

"Ran-chan! How are ya?"

"I'm doing fine, and you?"

"Ah well, Heiji's detective business is takin' off, and I recently started my own charm makin' business."

"Oh really, I heard your charms are super effective." Aoko chimed.

"My, my. Have you already started without us?"

The three women looked to the gate, and found a red-haired woman accompanied by a blonde man. "Akako-chan! Hakuba-kun! You two made it!"

The charming woman chuckled. "Well of course. We couldn't let these little dinners go to waste, now can we?"

Her words may have sounded belittling at times, but Aoko knew she really cared. She was kind of a Tsundere like that. It had taken everyone some time to show up, and Ran almost didn't notice the stove timer go off. "Ah, I'll get that."

"I'll come too." Aoko noted.

The meal for that particular dinner was curry, and it had been planned by Aoko and Ran the day before. After each of them had got married, they decided to have monthly dinners, where each husband and wife pair would come over and enjoy dinner together.

Aoko took a seat next to Kaito and began eating. It was nice, she thought, for everyone to gather like this and just be with each other, even if it was only once a month. Nothing would ever be able to replace the value of family in her eyes.