Detective Conan
Dream Date
by
sgamer82

Ryusuke Higo was meeting with fans, signing autographs, when he first saw her.

She stood aloof from the others, arms crossed. The serious expression on her face made for a stark contrast to the Big Osaka jersey she wore. Ryusuke was hardly the only player meeting with fans after the game, but he could tell she had eyes only for him. Something about her struck Ryusuke as familiar. Something about her hair's unusual shade of brown, or possibly the exotic features hidden within that otherwise Japanese face.

She didn't move until the signing was nearly done. She didn't force her way through the crowd. She didn't have to. It seemed to simply part as she approached, like in that foreign religious story. When she reached Ryusuke, she had an autograph sign board for him. She handed it over lazily, as if she just happened to be here and thought "why not" instead of waiting nearly two hours.

"Who should I make it out to?" he asked the woman, perhaps not nervously then was usual for him.

"Shiho," the woman answered.

"Shiho-chan, or -san?" he asked, a part of him hoping for the former.

"Surprise me." Shiho grinned.

In answer, Ryusuke wrote his autograph to "Shiho-chan".

As he handed the autograph board back, Shiho slipped something into his hand. She winked at him as she turned away. Ryusuke stepped away from the remaining crowd for a moment to examine what he'd been given.

It was the business card for a restaurant not far from the stadium. Hand written on the card was a time and phone number. Next to those was "call me if you're going to be late."

How presumptuous, Ryusuke thought. Yet even as he thought it he was grinning. Nowadays, the women he encountered either knew who he was, and would fawn all over him in their eagerness to be near a star athlete, or didn't know and didn't give him more than a cursory glance.

This was new and, even as he thought to himself this woman could be some kind of stalker, Ryusuke Higo knew he would go to her.

"Higo-san… you came…"

"What is she muttering about?"

"How do you expect me to know, Genta-kun? You're closer than I am and you can barely hear her."

"Shh. You two are gonna wake up Ai-chan."

"Good."

"Conan-kun!" Ayumi scolded. The Detective Boys rode in Professor Agasa's car, coming home from an exhibition soccer match between the Tokyo Spirits and Big Osaka.

It didn't take a Great Detective to figure out the Spirits has lost. Conan sat sulking in the front seat. In the backseat, to Ayumi's left, Genta and Mitsuhiko discussed the match between themselves, trying to work out what had gone wrong. Even Ayumi had been glum, with almost everyone else so sad around her.

The only two people who had been in a good mood following the game were Professor Agasa, who hadn't really worried about who won or lost, and Ai Haibara, who had looked very pleased ever since Ryusuke Higo scored the winning goal.

Ayumi had suspected Ai had a crush on Higo ever since those rumors about him and Yoko Okino had briefly appeared. Ayumi had since spent the last fifteen minutes, after Ai nodded off and rested her head on Ayumi's right shoulder, getting that confirmed as her friend muttered in her sleep about taking a pill to become a grown-up so she could ask him on a date.

"Can you at least do something about the giggling?" Genta asked. "It's creepy."

"Shh!" Ayumi hissed. "Not so loud!"

She wanted to hear this.

"What's… dessert…" Ai mumbled.