Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
----
Time passed like a fleeting white colt through a crack in the wall, three years went by in the blink of an eye.
Three years was enough for a boy who once looked childish to grow into someone far more mature and steady.
"Time really flies…"
Rei lay on the sofa, idly playing with his phone. The pace of technological change was almost impossible to keep up with. Just a few years ago flip phones were still popular, and now everyone was using slide phones?
At this rate, would the future leave nothing but a single screen?
Sorting the snack wrappers on the table into the proper trash categories, Morofushi tied the garbage bag with a smile.
"Yeah. Ritsu's already taller than both of us now."
"…"
Rei's face darkened. He couldn't help wondering if his height had stopped growing at 180 cm (5'11") because he hadn't been getting enough sleep.
Even Hiro had surpassed him by half a centimeter! The tallest one had somehow become the shortest, and that irritated Rei immensely.
Click.
The heavy electronic security door opened.
Bending down, Ritsu neatly lined up his sneakers after taking them off. He removed his black down jacket and hung it on the coat rack in the entryway, then slipped into a pair of gray slippers and walked inside.
Tokyo's weather was unpredictable. Even though summer had barely ended, the temperature today felt like winter. The sky was overcast, a clear sign that rain was coming.
A small tuft of duck down from his jacket had stuck to his glossy black hair. His sharply defined face still carried a trace of youthful softness that hadn't completely faded. Beneath his sharped brows were strikingly beautiful eyes framed by unusually long lashes, like priceless deep-blue sapphires.
His pale, cool-toned complexion contrasted sharply with the darker-skinned man lounging on the sofa. His face was small, but his jawline was distinct even in profile, and the strong bridge of his nose added a masculine edge.
The corners of his thin lips naturally tilted downward, giving him the impression of someone who wasn't very happy. But people who knew him well understood that he simply looked like that when he wasn't smiling. Sometimes he appeared slightly intimidating; other times he looked blank and absent-minded.
In any case, he wasn't angry.
His cool, reserved demeanor combined with his 186 cm (6'1") height naturally gave him a strong presence. Even though he was only eighteen, not even old enough to drink, he carried himself with a calm maturity.
If his personality could be described as a color, it would be deep blue: calm on the surface, but with unseen currents flowing beneath.
"So?" Rei asked.
"I passed."
Japan didn't have a police university. To become a police officer, graduates simply had to pass the civil service exam after finishing college. Those who passed would then be sent to the Metropolitan Police Academy for six months of pre-service training.
After completing the training and passing the final exams, they could officially become police officers. If someone failed, they could take a make-up exam starting in May. If they failed again, they would have to wait until the following year to try once more.
"So after today, we'll all report to the police academy together?" Morofushi said with a smile. "You and us were in different majors at university… it'll be nice to finally be in the same class."
Both Morofushi and Rei had studied sociology in college, but Ritsu had chosen biochemistry; a major that seemed almost completely unrelated to becoming a police officer.
Back when they were choosing majors, Rei had asked about it.
Ritsu's answer had been simple.
"It just seems like a good major. And I have this strange feeling about it. Hard to explain."
"So, any plans today?" Morofushi suggested. "How about going to a shrine and drawing a fortune?"
"You actually believe in that stuff?" Rei replied.
He had no interest in things like horoscopes or fortune-telling. Fate was something you controlled yourself, it wasn't as if drawing a "great blessing" slip would magically make the entire year smooth sailing.
"There's nothing to do at home anyway. If you're not coming, Zero, Ritsu and I will just go by ourselves."
"…Alright, alright. I'll go."
After putting away his acceptance notice, Ritsu noticed the tuft of duck down still stuck in his hair. He removed it and blew it away like a dandelion seed, then followed the other two out the door.
Their destination was Meiji Shrine in Yoyogi, Shibuya.
Meiji Shrine was one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan. Located in the heart of Tokyo, it covered an enormous 70 hectares.
After taking a bus there and walking along the shrine path, they arrived at the main shrine building.
However, they discovered that the shrine's fortune slips, called Ōmikokoro, didn't contain predictions of good or bad luck. Instead, they featured imperial poems and explanatory commentary.
Since they had come all this way, they decided to write their wishes for the future on ema wooden plaques.
Rei quietly sneaked behind Ritsu, trying to peek at what he was writing. But the sharp-eyed Ritsu had already noticed. He suddenly raised his arms high, spun around, and placed the wooden plaque on top of Rei's head while continuing to write his wish that way.
"Brat! Are you asking for death?!"
"Hahahahaha!!"
Seeing his childhood friend doubled over with laughter instead of helping him, Rei puffed out his cheeks.
"Hiro… at least laugh a little quieter…"
"S-sorry… pfft, I didn't mean to."
"I meant to," Ritsu said calmly.
Rolling his eyes, Rei shoved Ritsu, who was nearly half a head taller than him, aside and began writing his own wish.
People often said that wishes wouldn't come true if you spoke them out loud.
Even though he believed wishes weren't exactly scientific… he still wrote one down.
Because deep down, he still hoped it would come true.
—
[Next spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom, I hope Zero, Ritsu, and I can graduate from the police academy together and become excellent police officers who uphold justice. —Hiro]
[Find her. Stay with them forever. And… protect the Japan I love. —Zero]
[I want to grow up faster so I can protect them… and I hope justice is only late, not nonexistent. —Ritsu]
—
None of them tried to peek at what the others had written. After hanging their plaques in different places and paying their respects at the main hall, they left the shrine.
Even on the last day of summer vacation, Shibuya was still bustling. Cars flowed endlessly along the streets, while the sidewalks were packed with crowds of people. In a place like this, some "unlucky" kid would inevitably get their shoe stepped on or their hat knocked off.
After waiting in line for half an hour, they finally got into an izakaya called "Tsukada." The place looked ordinary, but it was extremely popular.
Ritsu rubbed his freezing hands together, trying to warm them up.
After ordering food for everyone, Rei stood up and headed to the restroom.
Morofushi picked up the teapot on the table and poured them each a cup of hot barley tea. Glancing out the window, he said in surprise,
"It's snowing!"
Small snowflakes drifted down slowly through the night sky. Blown by the wind, some stuck to the glass window. The unseasonal snowfall made pedestrians on the street stop and pull out their phones, either sending photos to friends or posting them online.
Snow on August 31st, that really was unusual.
Ritsu stared at the snowflakes on the window, lost in thought.
A dull ache pulsed at his temples, making him frown slightly. Although he tried to hide it, Morofushi still noticed.
"Your head hurts again?"
"Yeah… maybe I caught some wind outside earlier. It's nothing."
"I told you to wear a hat when we left, didn't I? Wait, I'll give you mine."
Ritsu wanted to protest, but eventually said nothing.
The truth was, the cold wind wasn't the cause of his headaches.
Every time it snowed, he felt a strange stabbing pain in his head; almost as if something important had happened to him on a snowy day in the past.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remember.
It was the same as the time before he went to live with the Honjo family at the age of four. His memories before that were incredibly vague. He only vaguely recalled that the place he had lived before didn't seem to be Japan.
The only thing he clearly remembered was a single sentence his father had said when he was fighting with someone over something.
"Fifty–fifty. Now we're even."