Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.
Warnings: Violence, language, and character death
Blackout
A Collaborative Story by Stelra Etnae, neonquincy1217, and Taliya
Mouri Ran
Sunday, August 21: Three years after Operation Raven
Ran knelt down in front of the grave, reaching out fingers to touch the familiar contours of the name etched on the smooth stone.
"Hello, Shinichi. A lot of things have happened since I last came to visit. I've just graduated from university, you see. The graduation ceremony was last week. Mum and Dad came to it; so did Professor Agasa and Ai-chan.
"Ai-chan and the others are entering their last year of elementary school already. They've all grown so much—Genta-kun will soon be taller than me! It's crazy how fast time is going; they'll be high school students before we know it. Sonoko was there too, with Makoto-san. She wouldn't miss her own graduation, after all. In fact, I think she was the most excited out of all of us.
"And do you remember Hondou Eisuke? He came back from America a few years ago to study at Touto University, and he graduated together with Sonoko and I. You never got to meet him properly, did you? I think you would have gotten along really well. I came today with Eisuke-kun. Shinichi…"
She paused, tears glistening in her eyes. She imagined Shinichi smiling at her, fond exasperation in his expression.
"Cry-baby," he would chide gently, "There's nothing to cry about, silly."
She brushed away her tears, a smile of her own lighting up in response. "I still miss you, Shinichi, and a part of me will always love you. But I've moved on. Eisuke proposed to me last week, right after graduation—and I accepted. I'm going with him to America in three weeks' time. He's good to me, Shinichi. I love him and he loves me as well. I'm happy now, Shinichi, and I'd like to think that you'd be happy for me too."
The soft tap of footsteps made her look up. Ran smiled up at Eisuke as he approached, a filled bucket of water in his right hand and a ladle and rags in the other. He had considerately offered to fetch the cleaning materials to give Ran a chance to speak to her childhood friend alone. He smiled back with a sweetness that always made Ran's heart flutter as they began to clean the grave together, wiping the smooth stone and removing stray weeds.
The two of them had reunited by chance during their university days, and had finally started dating halfway through second year—which, according to their friends, had been a long time coming. The once shy and awkward youth had matured into a young man, steadfast but still just as kind-hearted. Eisuke was slated to begin his training with the CIA next month, having applied for the position after graduating from Touto University with a degree in Forensic Psychology and Criminal Justice. Ran herself had recently completed her degree in Criminal Law. It had taken a good amount of consideration, but the overwhelming support from her family and friends had given her the courage to decide to pursue her vocational training in America.
Done with the traditional routine of cleaning the grave, Eisuke knelt down next to Ran, giving a respectful bow and a soft smile. His hand found hers, covering it and clasping it warmly.
"It's been a long time, Kudo-kun. Do you remember? Five years ago, I revealed to you my feelings and intentions towards Ran-san. Right now I would like to tell you that none of that has changed. My feelings have only deepened over the years, and—I truly love her. I promise to take care of Ran, Kudo-kun. So you don't have to worry."
They stood together, hands still linked. Ran smiled through the tears that wavered on her eyelashes, but these were tears of happiness, not sorrow. "We'll come to visit again soon, Shinichi. Please watch over us."
And through her hazy vision she thought she saw the familiar warmth of cerulean blue eyes, smiling back at her.
Written by Stelra Etnae
Author's Note: The end! Hello readers, Taliya here. So while I cannot speak for stelraetnae or neonquincy1217 , I for one thoroughly enjoyed the experience and had so much fun plotting this thing out. I'm so happy with how it turned out, and thank you, stelra and quincy, for this amazing experience! I hope you enjoyed it.