Chrysanthemum (9)

End/. Epilogue

"Let me give you a hug!"

"By hug, do you mean breaking my ribs even further?"

His mother retorted with a pull of his cheek and he winced in pain, the little shout caused a slight tension to his chest. Kaito rubbed his sore face and sat on the sofa as she followed to sit beside him.

"We should make it as a compulsory morning greeting."

"Of all times, why are you setting this rule when I'm suffering an injury in the chest?"

Chikage sighed. "If you're willing to eat fish, it would've healed faster."

"Stop forcing me." Kaito switched on the television, something he hadn't done for a million of years. He would prefer reading news articles or updates from his phone or tablet, but as an opportunity was here to finally entertain his mother, he fully grasped onto it.

Just his luck, the first thing the TV showed was the news about the yacht incident.

It had been a couple of days since he rowed his way to his grave, to only be sent back to Earth. This whole incident, obviously, was set up by one escaped members of Snake's Organization. The bomber threatened the safety of the Inspector's daughter, in exchange of freedom to his crimes and monetary value in order for him to escape Japan and lead a better life somewhere else. That dumbass had hoped for a fat chance when he sent the threat to the police, to only be tracked down by the infamous Kudo Shinichi for his skills of analysing how the letter came, where the letter came and bla bla bla-

The culprit was arrested. But that still didn't stop the bomb from exploding.

There was no way both of them could get out to good safety if he released the wire as promised to Aoko. Eventually, there were only three outcomes he could choose. 1) They would get partially hurt, but the critical level couldn't be predetermined, and that's not a good thing at all. 2) Both of them die because she refused to go without him. 3) He tricked her and she would willingly get out first. His fate would wait later.

He didn't mean to lie to her, but for the sake of her life and safety, he decided to do the thing that would hurt her again, as long as she wasn't physically hurt. He had sworn his life for it.

Only twenty six second left when he stayed in his lying position and witnessed Aoko jumped off the deck to safety. Once he divided the countdown by the five-times speed, he only had around five human seconds to run. Takes one second to get up. One second to-

He didn't remember running. In fact, he didn't remember anything. The only thing he could feel with his six senses once he gained consciousness of his surrounding was the faint sound of crying, his chest hurts a lot, and he felt something on his lips.

In the next moment, Aoko was crying into his shoulder.

His mother flew back on the fastest plane when she heard the news and came to the hospital the next morning with Jii. The doctor had to pull her away from his bed before more damage was done, but Kaito personally requested to have one little hug, just because he needed it from her too. He didn't know if he regretted it or not as she was starting to get addicted to hugging him ever since then.

Kaito hadn't met Aoko all these while. Even though he didn't really ask for her presence on his hospital bed, Inspector Nakamori seemed to know it somehow and told him that she was resting and needed time to recover too. Honestly, he did intend to find her in his own ways, but knowing how this entire thing was his fault, he didn't have the courage to meet her. This must be the biggest scare of her life after all.

As his attention returned to the news reporter who was babbling about the things he already knew, his mother turned towards him with an impressive poker-face. She rarely showed one, unless she was serious about a particular matter. He naturally straightened his posture.

"Do you want to come to Las Vegas with me?"

He blinked.

"You're not a teen anymore. You've got to decide your future now." His mother continued the impassive stare. "The syndicate is finally dealt with once and for all and there's nothing for you to stay here. How about considering my suggestion?"

"About going back in the past... I don't know, or maybe I don't know how. I need more time."

Kaito lowered his eyes to the remote in his hand, his thumb hovering over the replay button. If only life was just as easy as a simple push of a switch.

The doorbell rung just on time, cutting the silence that he didn't know how to break. His mother sighed and pushed herself off the couch and approached to the door.

"Did you order breakfast service?"

"Mom." He rolled his eyes at the screen. "We're not in a hotel for goodness's sake."

The sound of the door swung open and Kaito was expecting those typical high-pitched voice coming from the ever-energized salesperson, instead, he heard his mother's surprised yelp.

"Oh! It's my daughter-in-law!"

Kaito almost choked. He spun around in his seat, a pain shot through his body and his hand landed on his chest in attempts to calm himself down like an old man almost suffering from a heart attack. "Mom! What the hell?"

As expected, Aoko was standing at his doorsteps with bags and bags and a lot of bags in her hands. She blinked at the warm welcome before the situation slowly began to register in her mind.

"Chikage-san! It's been long. Sorry that I didn't visit you sooner when you're in Japan."

"Oh no worries, you're here already aren't you? Come in." Chikage took some bags from her hands to lessen her burden.

"Thank you."

Aoko neatly set her shoes aside, saying a word of apology for intruding before her eyes fell upon him. She greeted with a smile and he returned a bigger one before she went over to help his mother pick out the groceries and ready-to-eat food from the plastic bags and onto the table. He then stood up from the sofa and trudged towards the dining table to sit on his new seat and watched the two women doing all the work.

After some seconds of fidgeting, Aoko finally seemed to build enough courage to ask him about something.

"Are you alright now?" She peered over him.

"Much better than before." He licked his lips, understanding and feeling the equal amount of pressure he had to overcome just to ask the same thing back. "You?"

"A little busy recently, there's many things I have on hand so that's why it took me so long to drop by. I've heard from my dad yesterday that you're discharged from the hospital, but I was stuck in a-"

"How are you feeling?" He didn't mean to cut her off. Perhaps she had misunderstood his question, to which he would apologize later if he had the chance. Now, he really needed to know her well-being much more than her reasons for her busy schedules and such.

Aoko paused, lips parted and in the midst of searching for words. "I'm fine."

He didn't know what else to say.

"How sweet of you to buy all these, Aoko-chan." Chikage smiled, swiftly helping to break the little awkwardness that was rising in the air. "My poor son is probably going to starve himself to death by the time I found the nearest supermarket here. This shows how long I've been away."

"Don't worry about that." Aoko gave him a slightly accusing sidelong glance. "He'd survived a day without food just fine. That's what he always do anyway."

He sighed, too tired in the morning to say a thing to defend himself.

"Anyway... Did the doctor give you any medication or special instructions for the recovery process?" Aoko suddenly asked.

"A couple of pills that last for three months. Ice my ribs twice every day for twenty minutes. Walk is fine. No jogging or anything more than that." Kaito flicked his gaze over to his mother. "And no hugging."

"No tight hugging." She argued.

Aoko simply nodded. He wasn't sure what she was nodding to. The pills? Walking? No tight hugging? Did she want a hug now? He would be more than willing to give her one if she wanted to, just because it was for her.

After all the things were being emptied, Aoko was prepared to head for the door. "Actually since Chikage-san is here, I'll leave first."

Kaito was about to stop her, or at least attempt or hint or do his stupid stunts to make her stay a little longer, but his mother beat him to it.

"I'm sure coming all the way here at such a timing, you haven't had breakfast right? Why not we have it together?"

"It's fine. Besides, today is one of my colleague's birthday and we're doing an early celebration over at my work place. I've got to go now or I'll be late. There's tons of food there so you don't have to worry about me."

All the words he was thinking as a backup plan to support his mother's decision died in his throat. Her excuse would have sounded believable for his mother who rarely talked to Aoko. But for Kaito, who recognized her speech patterns better than anyone he ever disguised, he knew her words sounded a little over scripted. Lack of feelings, stiff sentence structures... He instantly knew he was correct when she pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, revealing the redness of it. Kaito sighed inwardly.

She still needed the time she wanted.

"Just-"

"Alright." Kaito interrupted his mother. "Sorry that I can't see you off today."

"No worries." Aoko waved a hand nonchalantly. "I promise I'll come around soon."

With that said, she turned and closed the door behind her.

Chikage stealthily took a seat across him, a little glint of mockery hinted in her eyes. "I'm a big failure of a mother, aren't I? I should have known the reason why you wanted to stay."

He tiredly showed a wry smile. "It depends if I'm welcomed to."

His mother didn't have the heart to continue the conversation.

.o.

It had been the busiest month for Aoko, ever. Having to juggle her time between coming up with new recipes for her upcoming classes and coping with the current batches of students, running back and forth from Kaito's home to hers at least thrice a week was just an addition to her exhaustion.

Once she knew Kaito's mother left for Las Vegas after half a month of her stay, Aoko just couldn't bear to know that he would be home alone by himself. She remembered him telling her a long time ago about how he actually liked it because he could do whatever he want, but knowing that he would be eating instant noodles and going on with his unnatural sleeping habits, there was no way in hell Aoko could trust him to take care of himself, especially when he really needed the care.

She was still a tad bit awkward and foreign for frequently visiting the place she once called her second-home, and the fact that she always had to remember the way she discovering Kaitou Kid's room and how Kaito nearly died in her arms twice was definitely not helping. But as time passed, she was eventually more accustomed to her routines. Her stays were longer, her nagging turned louder and take-away food became home-cooked food. Her dad even dropped by to eat when he was free.

Aoko was certainly not lacking in nutrients when she was eating all the good food she cooked for Kaito, but the lack of sleep was a torture. She didn't know if she should be happy that this heavy-eyebags period was soon over when Kaito had his last check up for his injured rib cage and was finally deemed fine by the doctors. Ever since then, she didn't have any reason to go back to her old neighbourhood anymore. Or at least that was what she told herself.

Now in her sanctuary, the place where she developed her interest and found new friends, Aoko placed her piping bag aside on the table and wiped an invisible sweat off her brow. The baking studio was empty, a rare time for her to do what she needed. And after much tampering and editing of the ingredients and methods, this was what she finally came up with.

She shifted the pink wrapper of a cupcake on the plate for better presentation and sighed. This was the fifth time she had struggled on the same recipe, and despite all her good drafts and edited instructions, she hoped her recent poor concentration wasn't going to be the cause of her possibly over-spending on crafting and perfecting her recipes again next time.

"Do you think we can ever go back to the time when we're together again?"

Kaito had made a clear move and said everything so clearly. So now, she should be making the first step because he would be doing nothing to her again, for the sake of the time he promised he would give her because she asked for it. And it had been over a month since she realized and was sure of her feelings for him (again), yet she had done absolutely nothing about it other than showing her typical concern like a friend... And stupidly staring at her old photo albums that she couldn't bear to throw away. And pitifully remembering scenes from the past. And pathetically going to places they once spent together. And cuddling on her bed and wondering why she was so timid and coward to admit the simplest thing she could ever said.

Just great. Aoko groaned inwardly.

"Something new?"

Her head shot up to the direction of the door, eyes widened at the very said man she was thinking a millisecond ago. Was this a dream, a hallucination for thinking about him too much? She wordlessly watched him snaked his way past the desk to stand beside her, his eyes fixated on the food on the table. He must be real. There was no way her imagination could picture him this masculine, tall, with such fine broad shoulders and-

Why is my heart beating so fast? She rubbed the back of her neck. Get a hang of yourself Nakamori Aoko!

"Yeah. Part of what I'm preparing f-for the newer students."

"It looks interesting."

"Why are you here anyway?" She unconsciously stared at his shirt. Instead of seeing what her eyes should see, it was like she gained some X-ray vision and perfectly imagined his firm, flawless chest that she remembered staring when she prepared and gave him the ice packs to press on his wound during her time at his house. Aoko could never, ever forget those brief awkward tensions between them as their fingers brushed against each other when she exchanged new ice packs for the old ones with him. It was just fingers and a bare chest and things already became so complicated.

Oh my God Aoko...

She wondered if he'd noticed her crazy behaviour recently.

"I'm meeting a charity organizer with Jii-chan nearby later. Since I'm passing by, I thought of trying my luck to see if you're here."

"Oh." Aoko used all the energy in her body to look into his eyes. "Is your ribcage...?"

"It's all healed."

"That's good." She chided herself mentally for giving such a worthless answer.

Kaito pointed at one of the cupcakes. "Can I have one?"

Aoko would be more than glad. She nodded calmly, trying to refrain herself from acting like a happy idiot.

He picked up the one with the most buttercream frosting and Aoko shook her head inwardly at the unintentional observation. He peeled off the wrapper a little, just enough for him to take one mouthful without eating the paper. He chewed a couple of times before halting all of the sudden and turned to look at her with mild surprise.

"What's this?"

"It's a chrysanthemum-tea flavoured cupcake. I'm still thinking of a better name in the future." Aoko paused when Kaito began inspecting the cupcake in his hand, his two eyes focusing hard, seeming as if he had the power to analyse the content. "I've used the tea leaves with my special mixture and also honey to make the buttercream."

She was expecting (or hoping) that he would take a second bite, but he showed no attempt in wanting to do so. The more confident she was in her baking skill compared to her cooking skills, the more she was afraid to try her own creation and hear what the taster had to say. Even if his teasing remarks did bruise her ego a little, it was still better off than his mysterious silence now. Was it... bad? Was it... super bad? She uncertainly glanced down at remaining cupcakes and then at the rest of the ingredients she hadn't used to bake.

After an eternity, he finally took a bite again before nodding to himself and her eyes lit up to his reaction.

Kaito snorted.

"W-What's so funny?"

"The way you look when you're watching people taste your food is ridiculous."

Aoko scowled and crossed her arms in a defensive mode. But her anger was washed away as fast as the count of one and she seriously stared at him. She would rather focus on her main worry now. "Is it bad? I've used more natural sweetness than sugar, so was it not to your taste?" Her own words struck her in some sense and she widened her eyes and tried to snatch the cupcake from his hand. She wasn't just concerned that Kaito was tasting something he didn't like for her, but it was also for the sake of wanting him to remember her as a great baker and not a failure just because she didn't meet his expectation this time.

Kaito refused to let her take it away from him. "It's perfect." He finally said.

Jaws dropped. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah." He took a bite to emphasize his point. "It tasted just right for me; The soft texture, the sweetness... Everything about it is amazing."

Aoko couldn't believe it. Kaito had never once complimented her to this extent about anything that was related to the food she made, be it from cooking or baking. The word perfect was probably the most she ever got from him in her entire life.

"But..."

"But what?" She interjected when she realized he hadn't finished what he had to say.

The side of Kaito's lip curled up a little. "It tastes familiar. I was wondering where I've tasted it before."

Aoko blinked. "Really?" She was almost confident that it would be an original recipe. Had she not searched the web enough to find that there was one who had beaten her first to this idea? Though a little deflated, she smiled. At least she tried something that was new for her and Kaito liked it. Perhaps it was good enough, or maybe it would've been better if this was the first time he tried this unique taste. She shook her head to get rid of those unnecessary thoughts. "Have you remembered where you've tasted it?"

Kaito considered for a moment before taking another bite on the soft and fluffy cupcake. "I think so. Let me check."

"Check?"

He gently wrapped his warm hand around her nape and pulled her down, his lips pressing softly onto hers.

Butterflies. Bees. Birds. Aoko had no idea what was fluttering in her stomach, but she knew it was something she didn't mind. In fact, she liked it more than she could ever love something. No. It was something she loved second, after Kuroba Kaito.

Aoko leaned towards him, her eyes slowly closed as she felt his hand moved to her back, doing his part to pull her in. His sweet lips, minty breath... When he finally broke away, she felt weirdly as if she had lost something.

Kaito then picked up his half-eaten cupcake he left on the table and ate it again. "So that's where I've tasted it before."

"I..." Her head lowered. She didn't need a mirror to know how red her face was. "I...We..."

He lifted her chin and they made eye contact. She would have glanced away if her mind was able to control her nerves now. "Sorry," Kaito's smile grew bigger. He looked completely unapologetic. "I've got it on you too." His thumb reached over and swiped the cream off her lips.

She was barely alive, but once she saw how Kaito began licking the residue off his thumb, she was officially dead.

Can't breathe. Can't breathe!

"Oh shit. I'm late." He suddenly sighed at the clock that was hanging on the wall over her head. "Jii-chan's probably going to scold me again."

Kaito finished his cupcake with another bite and grabbed a new one from the plate. "I'll take another. To remember the taste." With that, he skipped out of the door and turned at the very last second to give a wave before disappearing down the corridor. Aoko's legs were wobbly, but she managed to stand for an amazing five minutes of silence before she tiredly leaned against the table, completely defeated.

What he did... to me...

She glanced down at the cupcakes. Her mouth twitched, instantly remembering the lingering touch he left behind on her mouth, both from his lips and thumb. Shaking her head, she reached over to one and took a heartfelt bite, savouring the taste. As a baker, she should be analysing whether she had used too much butter to outshine the taste of chrysanthemum, or if she should use less whip cream to make the smell of honey stronger. But all she could think was the taste.

The taste of her own lips that Kaito said.

"Really?" Aoko frowned and took a second bite. "Do I actually taste like tea and vanilla honey?"

Soon, she decided, she would ask him again.

.o.

.

.

.

It was a warm day, a perfect time to crack open some fizzy drink to sooth the throat.

Shinichi professionally approached his fridge even when his eyes were fixated on Ran's back, her butt swaying to the rhythm of her humming as she was chopping her ingredients for tonight's dinner. He tried to hide a smile, but seriously, who could?

His eyes only glanced away for a brief moment when he noted a light blue envelope he didn't see in the morning when he went to work. Nothing ever missed his eyes.

"What's this?" He set his drink on the counter and pluck the magnet away to take the envelope. Ran turned, puzzlement soon turned to a cheerful smile.

"It's a wedding invitation!" She wiped her hands against her apron and gleefully joined him in a round of staring at the envelope. Ran rolled her eyes and took the paper from his hand. "Are you trying to guess who it's from? Sherlock Holmes."

"Nakamori-san, right?"

"How do you know that?"

"You've just back from your baking classes and the closest person you know there who will sent an invitation is only her."

Ran nodded impressively before she gave a snicker. "But there's no way you'll know who the groom is though."

"Kuroba Kaito." He almost said immediately. He didn't attempt to make it sound like he guessed it.

"No way!" She pulled out the silver letter out of the envelope and scanned over the names before looking back at her husband. "Have you peeked inside?"

"You know I don't cheat when I'm using my detective skills." Shinichi cracked opened the soda and gave a sip, feeling the sizzling tingling in his mouth. He let himself enjoy the little cute frown on Ran's face before deciding to finally explain himself. "I've met them together once during a case. Remember the bombed yacht on the news nearly a year ago? They're involved."

"Seriously?! Nakamori-san never mention anything though..." Ran cupped a hand over her mouth, horrified. "But I supposed everything is fine now, right?"

"The culprit was caught and the rest are history."

"Are they already a couple back then?"

"I don't think so. I just thought they were quite..." Shinichi wrinkled his nose, unsure of what to say. He was skilled in observing suspects' reactions to questions and the way they portrayed themselves, which gave him clues to know who the murderer was. But those two were not suspects, and definitely not murderers. They just looked like lost children, cradling and supporting each other because their life heavily depended on this connection and they would die if one of them let go. Yes. That was the first thought that went through his mind when he saw them on the burning dock.

"They were quite meant for one another, right?" Ran finished his sentence as she chuckled and stared softly at the letter.

"Have you met him before?"

"He always comes to pick Nakamori-san after her lessons. Oh Oh! Do you know how he proposed?" Ran bubbled in glee. He mildly wondered if she was just as excited when she shared to other people about how he proposed to her on their favourite roller coaster from Tropical Land.

Before he could guess, she already continued. "I've heard from Kyoko-san that he transformed the whole baking classroom into a flower garden filled with roses, lilies, daisies, chrysanthemums- All of every kind! " She cleared her throat. "But the highlight was that the cake Nakamori-san was baking to teach turned into a diamond ring!"

Alright. Shinichi was totally lost. "How-" He choked. "How the hell did he do that?"

"He's a magician!"

"A magician...?"

"Yeah!"

Why was his detective sense tingling at the back of his head?

"Nakamori-san is such a pleasant person and Kuroba-kun seems cool too." Ran smiled. "But when they're together, they become like a completely different person, in a good way that shows how true they can be when they are around each other." She looked up at him. "They kind of reminded me of us."

Shinichi shrugged. He would've agreed with her about the comparison, but he would prefer thinking that their relationship was the most unique one of all.

"So when's the wedding?"

"In a month and a half time. Nakamori-san asked for you to join too if you're free."

"I'll see."

Ran stuck the envelope back on the fridge and went back to being busy with her cooking again. Shinichi gave one last glance at the invitation, a brief horrific memory of how his own wedding turned out after Kaitou Kid appeared flashed across his mind. He shuddered at the thought and wondered why that incident from so long ago suddenly came out of nowhere.

He narrowed his eyes.

Shinichi decided that he would definitely go to the wedding.

.end.

A silly one-shot idea of the cupcake scene turned horrifically wrong and this 9 chapter fic appeared instead. It had been a great ride from the beginning to the end and it always feels satisfying once a story finally finished. And of course, how can I forget to thank YOU GUYS who read everything and even my rambling here. Hopefully you've enjoyed the story and its ending and reviews would be appreciated!

Hope to see you soon (again)!