Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
----
Life at the police academy was fulfilling, and he had people around him to keep him company.
Because of that, Ritsu didn't even remember what day it was today. When he was little, he had always hoped time would pass faster so he could grow up sooner.
But now, he only wanted to cherish every day he spent with them, so much so that he forgot that today wasn't just New Year's Eve; it was also his birthday.
By the time he woke up naturally, it was already close to noon. Ritsu slowly crawled out from under the covers. Winter really did make people lazier, he could understand why animals hibernate.
If his stomach hadn't started sending signals of hunger, he felt like he could stay buried in that warm blanket until the next year.
He wore an apricot-colored turtleneck sweater with an ivory-toned long business coat layered on top. For the lower half, he chose dark gray straight-leg jeans. Maybe people in Japan had grown used to the cold regardless of age or gender, but at least Ritsu disliked thermal underwear and outright refused to wear it.
After taking off his indoor slippers, he stepped into the newly released high-top casual sneakers from Abibas Fear of God. His height instantly felt like it was approaching 1.9 meters. It couldn't be helped, he was already tall to begin with, and shoes with about a 3-centimeter heel just made him look even taller.
Last night, Date had come over to ask him for a favor: to accompany him out for lunch and some shopping today. The main task was to scout for a ring for his proposal in advance so he could figure out how much money he needed to save.
Ritsu didn't doubt this at all. Among the six of them, the ones who understood fashion were publicly acknowledged to be only him and Hagiwara. The others didn't care much about that sort of thing. Rei, in particular, had only three sets of casual clothes in his closet besides his police uniform.
"Date, I'm ready."
"Oh! We're ready too!"
'We?'
The next second, he saw Hagiwara walking out of Date's room. Smiling, Date explained, "I figured one person might not be enough, so I called Kenji along too. Let's go, food first!"
"Alright."
At 1-chome 3-ban, Asahi Town, there was a Chinese restaurant with pretty good food. It was said that the owner had studied in Sichuan Province.
Ritsu paused in front of the restaurant, which was decorated in a red-and-black style. A single character was written in a bold, sweeping calligraphy style on the signboard: Tiger.
It looked extremely domineering, definitely carried a Chinese flair.
After the three of them entered, they saw tiger-themed decorations hanging inside. There were even traditional Chinese knot ornaments everywhere. Chinese elements filled the place, making it clear that the owner really loved Chinese culture.
"This is my first time eating here too. I heard the mapo tofu dan dan noodles are really good," Date said while flipping through the menu.
Hagiwara noticed that many of the dishes sounded quite spicy and glanced at Ritsu. "Hey, Ritsu-ya, can you handle spicy food?"
"I'm okay with it. I can eat it."
Normally he ate Japanese or Western food. This was actually Ritsu's first time trying Chinese cuisine. In truth, he wasn't very good with spicy food, but when he saw the options—mild, medium, and extra spicy—he chose the middle option without hesitation.
"One medium-spicy mapo tofu dan dan noodles, please."
"Alright!"
After flipping through the menu, Date ultimately decided not to eat noodles and went with rice instead. He ordered two stir-fried dishes that looked tasty—,ung pao chicken and mapo eggplant, both with the safer mild spicy level.
Hagiwara knew the restaurant's flavor leaned quite spicy and even used Sichuan peppercorns, which were rarely used in Japan. He chose the mild spicy dry dan dan noodles and thoughtfully ordered himself a cup of oolong tea to help with the heat.
When the bowl of mapo tofu dan dan noodles was brought over, Ritsu couldn't help but frown slightly. The intense spicy aroma that hit him made him hesitate.
This… didn't seem quite the same as the "medium spicy" he had imagined.
Normally, when eating noodle soup, he would take a sip of the broth first. But the bright red soup looked intimidating. After hesitating for a moment, he simply picked up a chopstickful of noodles and placed them in his mouth instead of slurping them.
At first bite, it wasn't particularly spicy. What he noticed more was the unique fragrance of the spices. The broth clinging to the noodles was very flavorful, and the saltiness was just right. It didn't seem nearly as intense as it looked.
But just as Ritsu was about to scoop up a spoonful of the mapo tofu topping, a symphony of numbing spice suddenly erupted in his mouth.
The ground Sichuan peppercorns created a tingling numbness that made him inhale sharply. The chili peppers brought a burning heat that made sweat bead on his forehead. It felt as though a flame had ignited in his throat.
"Cough…"
"Too spicy? Want some of my oolong tea?" Hagiwara asked.
"N-no… need."
His tongue was so numb he could barely speak clearly, but Ritsu stubbornly refused to drink water and insisted on finishing the bowl. His competitive spirit flared up, leaving him no room for retreat. He lowered his head and ate at twice his usual speed.
'As long as I eat fast enough, the spiciness won't catch up to me.jpg.'
With his sharp observation skills, Hagiwara naturally noticed Ritsu was forcing himself to endure it. He called a waiter over and ordered a cup of ice yogurt to counter the spice, but didn't expose Ritsu's "self-torture."
After finally finishing the entire bowl of dan dan noodles, Ritsu could feel that his thin lips were probably a little swollen. They were even stained with a natural chili-red color. Picking up the iced yogurt, he gulped it down in one go.
He was definitely stuffed.
After lunch, the three of them took the subway to the Beika Department Store in 2-chome, Beika Town. There was a newly opened brand-name jewelry store there where they could buy fashionable rings.
By the time they arrived, it was exactly two in the afternoon. The jewelry store was located on the second floor of the department store. Seeing three young men walk into the shop together was quite rare, and the female sales clerk immediately brightened.
A cool, aloof "cat-type" man, a flirtatious "fox-type" man, and a dependable "bear-type" man. Especially the cat-type, his looks were almost too good. Could he be an undisclosed trainee from some entertainment agency?
Ritsu stared at the rings displayed in the counter, already scouting the moment he entered. Meanwhile, Date and Hagiwara stood a short distance away, whispering quietly to each other, completely ignoring the smiling sales clerk in front of them.
"Um, is there anything I can help you with?" the clerk asked politely, maintaining her professional smile.
"Oh, I'd like to buy a ring for my girlfriend. Do you have any recommended styles?" Date quickly responded.
"These are all newly arrived designs. Please feel free to take a look."
As he looked at the rings, Date suddenly thought of Ritsu's long, elegant hands. Turning around, he called out, "Ritsu, come help me try one on. My girlfriend's fingers should be about as slim as yours."
"Hm?" Ritsu walked over and held out his hand, saying expressionlessly, "Mine might actually be thicker."
"Just roughly try it. Hagiwara and I definitely can't."
"Alright."
Ritsu picked up a women's ring and placed it on his index finger. Looking at the diamond on it, he raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure your girlfriend's finger size is about the same as mine? Shouldn't a small men's size match a large women's size?"
As expected, it was hard to fool this kid. Hagiwara gently poked Ritsu's slim waist and leaned close to whisper in his ear.
"Some girls have thicker finger joints too, you know."
Ritsu nodded and didn't pursue the question further. He had only asked out of casual curiosity.
After helping try on several rings, Date and Hagiwara exchanged a glance. Just as Ritsu took off the sixteenth ring he had tried on, Hagiwara pushed him out of the store.
"?"
"Come with me to the restroom."
Without thinking much of it, Ritsu accompanied Hagiwara. Meanwhile, back in the store, Date was talking with the sales clerk. He handed her a men's ring that Ritsu hadn't tried on.
"I'll take this one. I'll pay now, use the size of the guy who was just here."
The clerk looked confused, but Date immediately added, "Please keep it a secret for us. Today's his birthday, we want to give him a surprise."
Realizing what was going on, the clerk nodded in understanding and even carefully wrapped the ring box.
After paying and receiving the ring, Date sent a message to Hagiwara indicating that the mission was complete.
Meanwhile, Hagiwara, who had been pretending to use the restroom for over ten minutes inside a stall, gave a bitter smile.
Ritsu waiting outside the door was probably starting to think he had stomach problems by now.