"This one's for you!"
Back home, Makoto wasted no time handing over a huge bouquet of roses.
Granted, this was already the second bouquet of roses he'd given away today.
"For me?"
Ran's eyes went wide, and she cradled the bouquet as if she could hardly believe it.
"This is the first time anyone's ever given me flowers."
"And on Valentine's Day, no less!"
"Makoto, thank you!"
Before long, her eyes had welled up, and she wiped away tears, moved.
Every Valentine's Day before this...
No—not Christmas, not New Year's, not her birthday, not any important day, put together—nobody had ever given her flowers.
After her parents separated, her father Kogoro spent his days loafing around doing nothing, while her mother, Kisaki Eri, was always too busy to spare a moment.
Both of their attention toward her had grown thinner and thinner.
As for that deduction idiot who only cared about his cases—forget about counting on him.
"Silly girl, what are you crying for?"
"There's going to be a second time, a third, a fourth. Are you going to cry every single time?"
Makoto gave her a head-pat devastating enough to kill, so overflowing with yasashii it had nowhere left to go.
"I—I'm not crying!"
"Not at all!"
Ran wiped at her tears, though a happy smile broke through anyway.
"Oh, right, there's something I need to tell you!"
"We're together now, so I don't want to keep anything from you."
Makoto said, suddenly turning solemn.
"What is it?"
Ran startled slightly and grew serious too.
"Sonoko might have fallen for me!"
Makoto came straight out with it, no preamble.
In an instant!
Ran froze.
After a long moment, she asked quietly, "Can you tell me the details?"
"On the way to drop her off just now, I stopped at a flower shop—I wanted to buy you some flowers."
"And then..."
Makoto described everything that had just happened, in detail.
Only, he told it from a different angle, leaving out every part where he'd made the first move, every part where he'd been the one flirting.
In his version, upright and kind-hearted Makoto had simply noticed poor, lonely Sonoko, and out of friendship, out of the noble duty of looking after his girlfriend's best friend, had given her a bouquet as an afterthought.
Sonoko, as it happened, had mistaken it for something else entirely, and had even given him the Valentine's chocolate she'd so carefully prepared.
And upright, kind-hearted Makoto, not wanting to hurt Sonoko's feelings, had been left with no choice but to eat the chocolate.
Sure, plenty of ambiguous little moments had happened along the way, but Makoto's heart belonged to her alone, his true love unwavering—the moment he got home, he'd come clean immediately, because he refused to keep even the smallest thing from his girlfriend.
By the time he finished, Ran's expression had traveled from shock, to jealousy, to something warm and moved—all within the span of a single minute.
"Makoto, I'm not mad at you!"
"No, quite the opposite—I should be thanking you!"
"I know all of this, you did for me. You went through all of it because of me."
Ran leaned into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around him.
Even something like this, he could be so honest about, without hiding a single detail.
In this moment, she felt an unusual sense of peace.
"I'm the one who should be thanking you, Ran!"
"Thank you for your generosity, thank you for your understanding and patience, thank you for your kindness and gentleness..."
Makoto's string of sweeping, soap-opera-worthy declarations left Ran blushing furiously, too flustered to even look at him.
"Actually, I figured it out a while ago."
"More precisely, from the very first day you transferred to Teitan High, Sonoko told me she liked you."
"I just never expected so much would happen between us, and that we'd end up together first."
"Honestly, I've always felt like I owed Sonoko an apology."
Saying this, Ran pushed back from Makoto and looked him in the eye, her tone deeply serious.
"Makoto!"
"If it's Sonoko, I wouldn't mind."
"As long as it makes Sonoko happy, it doesn't matter what happens to me."
Makoto was stunned.
This happiness had arrived a little too suddenly.
He'd assumed this day would take at least three or four carefully calculated steps to reach.
But he never expected Ran to react like this.
So this was what it meant to be childhood best friends?
Best friends forever, never apart!
Even falling in love, even sharing a boyfriend—the two of them could walk hand in hand through it all.
In Makoto's mind, a familiar tune couldn't help but start playing.
It was a song about a promise once made—never to drift apart, to stay together, always.
About holding onto that vow even if time itself turned against them, even if the whole world stood in the way.
...
"So, what you're saying is?"
Makoto swallowed hard, wanting to confirm it one more time.
"What I'm saying is, go for it!"
"If it's Sonoko, I really don't mind."
Ran said earnestly.
"Ran!"
Makoto was moved beyond words, touched from the very bottom of his heart.
He pulled her into his arms and held on tight, refusing to let go.
If only every girlfriend of his could be this open-hearted.
World peace, hooray!
"How nice!"
Not far off, in the corner, Akemi stood by the doorway, watching the two of them through the gap in the door, all lovey-dovey.
She bit her lip, feeling a mix of envy and bitterness.
As for her own phone—her boyfriend, off in America—he still hadn't called, not even once, hadn't sent so much as a single text.
As for a Valentine's Day gift of any kind, forget about it.
…
…
Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Miyano Akemi — Miyano Shiho's older sister. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
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I apologize for making you guys wait. I have a situation to deal with.
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