Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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A year passed quickly. During that time, Ritsu regained his dedication to studying and constantly expanded his knowledge.
It wasn't just academics. Every morning he went jogging and did strength training, practiced Jeet Kune Do in the afternoons, and even taught himself Krav Maga to improve his real combat self-defense skills.
While living a fulfilling life, Ritsu also shared his home with two friends who were three years older than him. Rei had shamelessly "claimed" the remaining spare room in the house, and occasionally Morofushi would stay over as well.
Ritsu trimmed his overly long bangs, revealing his handsome face.
However, his height hadn't increased much. He had barely reached 170 cm (about 5'7"), still a head shorter than the other two, who were already close to 180 cm (about 5'11").
Because of that, Rei often teased Ritsu for being short. Ritsu would immediately fire back, saying that he still had room to grow while Rei had already reached his limit.
The refrigerator at home used to be packed with Calpis, but once Ritsu started worrying about his height, he finished all of it and replaced everything with high-calcium milk. He even joined a club at Teitan High School, becoming the ace pitcher of the baseball team.
Incidentally, although he was only fifteen years old, he had successfully skipped a grade and was now a second-year student at Teitan High, only one grade below his two friends.
But that didn't stop Rei from teasing him and calling him his kouhai. Ritsu, who was currently in his "rebellious phase," had even stopped calling Morofushi "Aniki," so there was no way he would ever call Rei "Zero-Aniki."
"You can drink all the milk you want, but you'll never suddenly grow as tall as me. Just give up," Rei said in an irritating tone. He even pressed his hand down on Ritsu's head, rubbing it as if hoping it would stop him from growing any taller.
"Move."
"Nope."
Just as the two were about to start fighting, Morofushi quickly stepped in as a peacemaker. Smiling warmly, he said, "Alright, alright. Hurry up and change into your indoor shoes. Class is about to start."
Ritsu opened his locker.
The moment he did, a pile of envelopes spilled out.
Rei bent down and picked up a pink envelope. With the little heart stickers on it, it was obvious that it was a love confession letter.
"Not bad. It's only been two weeks since school started and you've already gained this many admirers? But at your age, dating is still too early. Wait until you're an adult."
Morofushi helped pick up the confession letters and neatly placed them back into the locker. Then he couldn't help but expose Rei's past.
"Zero, didn't you have someone you liked when you were ten? I never saw what she looked like, but you used to deliberately get into fights and injure yourself just so you could go to that clinic."
"Hey… Hiro, whose childhood friend are you exactly? Why are you always siding with someone else?" Rei complained.
"I'm just telling the truth."
"What was the name of that clinic?" Ritsu asked curiously.
"He refuses to tell me," Morofushi replied. Seeing that Ritsu looked ready to investigate Rei's preferred type of girl, he laughed and added, "Are you planning to go check it out? Give up, the clinic has already closed."
"Closed? Was the business doing badly?"
—
"You promised you wouldn't get into fights again."
"If you get hurt again next time, I won't be able to treat you… because I'm going somewhere very far away."
"So this is goodbye… Zero."
—
Remembering her words, Rei's expression grew dim. He forced a bitter smile and shook his head.
"It's not because of business. Let's not talk about it. The bell is about to ring… aren't you two leaving?"
"Crap! The first class today is with that demon teacher! Hurry up, Zero!"
Watching the two of them rush off, Ritsu closed his locker and slowly made his way to Class 2-A on the second floor, completely unconcerned about being late.
Rei had deliberately changed the subject just now, and Morofushi had cooperated with him. Running to the third floor at their speed wouldn't even take thirty seconds, and there were still two minutes before the bell rang.
So Rei liked an older female doctor, huh?
'A cougar relationship… interesting.'
Ritsu mentally made a note of it.
Second-year and third-year high school students were dismissed at different times, which was why Ritsu chose to join a club. It allowed him to stay at school and wait for Morofushi and Rei, who finished classes later.
Today, however, Morofushi had gone home to spend time with his foster parents.
So the group on the walk home shrank from three people to two.
Ritsu carried his school bag in one hand and a bottle of Calpis from the vending machine at the school gate in the other. Since Morofushi, the household chef, wasn't around tonight; they would have to grab something outside.
"What should we eat tonight?" Ritsu asked.
"Soy sauce ramen?"
"OK."
Without Morofushi around, the two of them talked much less.
After searching on his phone, Ritsu found a ramen shop in Beika Town, Block 2. The shop specialized in shoyu ramen, boasting that its soup base was made by simmering five different types of chicken from various regions. Using only water and chicken allowed the broth to release the ingredients' most natural flavor.
At the end, they added a special sauce made from nine different handcrafted soy sauces, giving the broth its unique taste.
The storefront looked simple enough, but once they stepped inside, they noticed a small television hanging above, repeatedly playing a clip from a Yomiuri TV food program that had interviewed the shop.
Both of them ordered the shop's signature shoyu ramen. After all, soy sauce ramen was considered the representative style of Tokyo ramen.
Soon, two bowls of clear, amber-colored broth were placed in front of them, topped with an enormous slice of chashu pork, with bamboo shoots and bean sprouts underneath.
Ritsu picked up his spoon and scooped some soup. When eating ramen, the first step was always to taste the broth.
The appearance and flavor were completely different from what he expected. Although the broth looked light, it was packed with flavor. This was a classic old-style soy sauce broth, unlike the cloudy pork-bone soy sauce soups. With the blend of nine soy sauces, the saltiness was perfectly balanced, pairing wonderfully with the chewy noodles.
The chashu pork was not only huge but also thickly cut. One bite released a flood of savory juices. Taking such a big bite of meat was incredibly satisfying.
Ritsu wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief.
No wonder Yomiuri TV had called it "the ultimate soy sauce ramen."
It truly deserved the word ultimate.
"The broth is so clear, yet the aftertaste lingers… This is an excellent bowl of ramen," Rei said.
Rei loved traditional Japanese food, and this delicious bowl of ramen perfectly satisfied his cravings. He even finished all the bean sprouts, something he normally left behind.
"Yeah, it's really good," Ritsu agreed.
Ritsu also disliked bean sprouts, mainly because Japanese ramen shops often added them for free, and eating them too often made him sick of them.
But the bean sprouts here were different. They had been simmered in a small pot with chicken bone broth until soft before being added to the special soy sauce soup base. The flavor was rich while still maintaining a crisp texture, which made them surprisingly delicious.
Ritsu pulled a 2,000-yen bill printed with the Shureimon Gate from his wallet and handed it to the cashier. After receiving the change, he casually stuffed the coins into his pocket and looked at Rei.
"Walk back?"
"Yeah. Think of it as a stroll after dinner."
At this hour, the shopping street still wasn't very lively. Most office workers hadn't come out for their evening activities yet.
The two of them stood at a crosswalk waiting for the light to change. Behind them, a television in a shop's glass display window was playing entertainment news.
"The film Agent Sandra, starring Chris Vineyard, daughter of famous American actress Sharon Vineyard, has surpassed 80 million dollars at the box office…"
"Seventeen-year-old Chris announced her entry into the entertainment industry with this film. Will she achieve the same glory as her mother Sharon? Let's wait and see…"
Ritsu looked at the blonde, blue-eyed beauty on the screen.
Seventeen overseas seemed a bit more mature… but she really was beautiful.
"What are you looking at? The light's green already," Rei said.
"Nothing."
Ritsu didn't pay much attention to the news. He was just an ordinary person and had no ability to predict the future.
He had no idea that someday, he would become entangled with the famous actress's daughter.