At the foot of the mountain, in the old hot spring inn called Benkei, six middle-aged people were having a reunion for the first time in five years.
"Five years have really passed in the blink of an eye."
Mouri Kogoro couldn't help but sigh.
"Yeah. So much has happened, and yet it feels like no time has passed. That last class reunion still feels like it was yesterday."
Ayashiro Yukio echoed with a nostalgic tone.
Five years was not short. To gather again here, at the same place, brought with it a strong wave of emotion. It felt almost surreal.
After a moment of silence, Ayashiro looked down at the little boy with glasses sitting beside Mouri Kogoro.
"Actually, I was just wondering—Kogoro, when did you have a son?"
"Five years ago, you brought Ran along. This time, instead of her, you've brought your little boy. Looks like you and Eri finally made up, huh?"
Faced with the teasing, Mouri Kogoro rolled his eyes.
"This brat's not my son. He's the child of a friend. The parents went abroad to enjoy life and left their son in my care."
Ayashiro Yukio widened his eyes at the boy, then turned back to Kogoro.
"Your friend's got guts, leaving their kid with a sloppy guy like you. But I guess it's fine since Ran's around. If you mess up, she can pick up the slack, right?"
"Exactly."
Mouri Kogoro downed a drink, then slumped with a sigh.
"If Ran could take care of him, I'd be thrilled. But our apartment's not big. It used to be fine with just me and Ran. Now that this kid's staying with us, it's a squeeze."
"Ran's already sixteen, you know. It's not appropriate for her to sleep in the same room as a child. So ever since he moved in, Ran's been staying over at Eri's place."
As Mouri Kogoro sighed, his five old classmates looked at him sympathetically.
Among them, the only two female classmates—Ayashiro Yukio's wife, Ayashiro Noriko, and Horikoshi Yumi—were especially curious.
"Kogoro, it's been five years. Ran must've grown into a real beauty, huh? You got any photos?"
"What kind of father carries photos of his daughter around?"
Kogoro scoffed. He wasn't in the habit of carrying photos of Ran with him.
"I have one."
Yumi Horikoshi smiled and pulled out a photo she had clearly prepared in advance.
"I ran into Ran on Monday afternoon at the shopping street. Five years have passed, and she's grown from a little girl into a young lady."
Ayashiro Noriko's eyes sparkled as she took the photo.
"Wow! This is Ran now? I can't believe how much she's changed in just five years!"
Yukio, Omura Jun, and Nakamichi Kazushi all leaned in. Just one glance and their jaws dropped.
"Jeez! She grew up into that in just five years?"
"She doesn't look like Kogoro's kid at all."
"No kidding."
Hearing the jabs from his old pals, veins bulged on Mouri Kogoro's forehead.
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?! Can't my daughter be beautiful?! She takes after Eri, okay?"
At that moment, Nakamichi Kazushi suddenly burst out laughing.
"So you admit it—you couldn't possibly father such a beauty?"
"Damn it! You bastard!"
Kogoro was speechless for a second, then exploded.
"No matter how much Ran takes after Eri, she's still my daughter! Hmph! She's beautiful, and you're just jealous!"
The three classmates without daughters twitched visibly. They all felt the same urge to throttle this show-off dad.
Fighting him was pointless. They might not even win.
So the three exchanged glances. That old classmate's silent understanding kicked in immediately.
Ayashiro Yukio's mouth curled into a sly grin, and his voice suddenly turned teasing, full of mischievous glee.
"Kogoro, you must be on cloud nine. So tell me, how will you feel the day Ran brings home a boyfriend?"
That one line made all of Kogoro's smugness vanish in an instant.
That brat who tried to date his daughter recently had gotten into an accident, but with the way Ran was growing up, suitors would be lining up soon. And he was terrified that day might come too soon.
And it wasn't just Mouri Kogoro who feared that day.
Edogawa Conan feared it even more.
He had chosen to pursue the Black Organization no matter the cost. For that goal, he had abandoned his identity as Kudo Shinichi and killed off the idea of ever being himself again.
But by doing that, he had cut off his own path of return.
Unless the Black Organization was completely taken down, he would never reclaim his real identity.
And so, Edogawa Conan hoped harder than anyone else that the day Ran found a boyfriend would never come.
He prayed that she wouldn't fall in love with someone else before he could finish what he started.
Right now, he was just a child. He didn't even live under the same roof as Ran anymore. It was impossible to know what might happen in the future.
---
On a hillside not far from Benkei Ryokan, Ren stood beside Ran, his voice gentle but probing.
"Ran, do you… like me?"
"I… can't be sure."
If she didn't, Ran would've denied it on the spot, maybe softened it with polite words.
But because she couldn't deny it, her voice hesitated.
"I think I liked Shinichi. That feeling came from us growing up together."
"But… now I don't know anymore."
In the past, Ran had been certain she liked Shinichi. Even during their interrupted date at Dorobiga Paradise.
But too much had happened that day.
She learned Shinichi had been attacked with a blunt object after tailing two suspicious men. That he'd been fed a mysterious drug that shrank him into a child.
And that instead of trusting her, Shinichi chose to hide everything.
She found out he had even tried to get close to her again under a false identity.
If none of that had happened, she might've still said she liked Shinichi.
But everything that happened eroded her feelings for him.
Especially the part where he moved into her house through deception, secretly acting possessive of her while keeping everything hidden.
And ultimately, Shinichi chose to "kill" himself.
Maybe that was the moment Ran finally let go of her feelings for him.
How could she love someone who had already decided to disappear?
(To be continued.)