Disclaimer: Detective Conan is not mine. This fanfic is a translation.
Enjoy Reading!
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On the way back to the police academy, they bought the essential drinks and snacks needed for New Year's Eve. Not many students stayed at the academy to celebrate the New Year, at least in Instructor Onizuka's class, there were only the six of them.
They had agreed to meet on the rooftop after taking a bath. But when Ritsu arrived at the public bathhouse carrying his toiletries, he found that he was the only one there.
Feeling puzzled, he put his things in a locker and, still wearing his slippers, headed toward the rooftop. Before he even finished climbing the last few steps, he could already hear Jinpei's loud voice.
"Hey, what's wrong with this lighter? It won't light! Do we have any matches?!"
"Good thing I brought some matches. But are you sure Ritsu-ya will come up to the rooftop to find us?"
"Knowing Ritsu's personality, he'll definitely come up."
Ritsu hesitated about whether he should just open the metal door. Clearly, they had underestimated how quickly he would arrive, the surprise they had prepared had already been completely exposed by their loud whispering.
In truth, he hadn't forgotten that today was his birthday. It was just that since no one had mentioned it, he pretended not to know.
Now that he knew they had been preparing a birthday surprise for him, he felt deeply touched. So they had remembered all along… It was a feeling of being cared about.
"Maybe I should go downstairs and tell Ritsu? What if he thinks we're just late and has already started bathing?"
"That's possible! Class leader, hurry and go!"
Hearing footsteps coming from inside, Ritsu quickly and quietly descended the stairs, heading toward the bathhouse. He picked up his toiletries and walked out, running into Date who had come looking for him.
"Class leader? Why are you coming from that direction?"
Date was incredibly skilled at making things up on the spot. He smiled and explained,
"Hagiwara kept insisting he wanted to watch Kōhaku first, so he dragged us all to the rooftop. He said we can shower after the show."
"Oh. Then I'll put my things away and go up with you."
"Alright."
Pretending he knew nothing, Ritsu headed toward the rooftop together with Date. The moment the door opened, two handheld party poppers went off with a bang.
Morofushi stood there holding a cake he had made himself. The decoration on top was a sakura blossom, the symbol of the Japanese police.
"Happy birthday to you!"
"Happy birthday to you!"
Even though Rei wasn't good at singing and sang off-key even with a simple birthday song, he still persisted. Even in the night, even with his wheat-colored skin, it couldn't hide his embarrassment.
Ritsu widened his eyes in surprise and instinctively took a step back. Inside, he couldn't help giving himself a thumbs-up for his superb acting.
"Ritsu-ya, happy birthday! (ω<)"
"Ritsu, happy birthday!"
The deep winter night wind carried a chill as it brushed across the hair on his forehead. He instinctively raised a hand to cover his deep azure eyes, turning away to suppress his emotions.
Even though he had already known about the birthday surprise, the moment still made his nose sting slightly with emotion.
He didn't like showing his emotions too openly, nor did he want them to see that side of him. When Ritsu turned back again, a faint mist of tears lingered in his eyes, and a softness unlike anything before appeared on his face.
His gentle smile was like the warm breeze of early spring in March, illuminating the dim rooftop.
So Ritsu could smile like this too, pure and simple, like a child who had just received a beloved toy.
"No wonder you're our flower-heart representative!"
"?"
Hearing Date call him that, Ritsu tilted his head in confusion.
"Flower-heart representative? What does that mean?"
Morofushi pointed at the sakura drawn on the cake with strawberry cream and smiled.
"Sakura blossoms usually have five petals, just like the five-pointed rising sun emblem on the police badge. We're the petals, and you're the flower's heart that brings us together."
The flower's heart is surrounded by petals. In the eyes of the five older "brothers," Ritsu, the youngest, would always be like a child who needed to be cherished and protected.
They were all police officers, so comparing themselves to a cherry blossom felt quite fitting.
"Hurry and make a wish. The candles are almost burned out," Rei reminded.
Ritsu clasped his hands together and closed his eyes, silently making his wishes for the year.
'First wish: I hope the six of us can always stay together.
Second wish: I hope all of us pass the test next March and become police officers.
Third wish: I hope everyone can live the rest of their lives healthy and safe.'
And there was one more wish.
'I want to become someone who can protect them.'
Perhaps he was being greedier than usual. Ritsu opened his eyes and gently blew out the candles that were nearly burned down.
"Thank you for preparing this birthday surprise for me," he said sincerely. "I'm really happy."
"Well, all the ceremonial stuff is done! Let's watch Kōhaku, come see my masterpiece!"
Jinpei grinned as he fiddled with the antenna on the TV. After tuning it to the NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, he said proudly,
"This TV couldn't even receive a signal up here before but I fixed it!"
'Come on, hurry up and praise me.'
Date and Morofushi were excellent at playing along. After just a few compliments, Matsuda was so proud he practically lost his sense of direction.
"Alright, hurry and bring out the presents we prepared!"
Date took out the ring he had bought earlier in the afternoon and handed it to Ritsu with a smile.
"To be honest, I was really worried you'd notice something was off this afternoon. Luckily we didn't get exposed!"
Looking at the ring, Ritsu froze for a moment. He hadn't expected the trip to the jewelry store had actually been to pick out a birthday present for him. He had thought they just wanted an excuse to get him out of the academy.
Inside the black ring box was a simple platinum men's ring. Aside from the name Ritsu engraved on the surface, there was also a small diamond.
No wonder they had chosen the brand Ritsu, the character for the brand name was the same as his name.
"Thank you… but there's something a bit awkward."
"Hm?"
Ritsu scratched his cheek and took out an identical ring box from his pocket. Opening it revealed a rose-gold women's ring from a different series.
"I thought the class leader didn't bring enough money, so I went ahead and bought the proposal ring."
"!!!"
"That diamond is even bigger than the one we bought!"
"I used all the New Year's money I had saved to chip in for that ring… As expected of Ritsu, he just casually bought a ring worth hundreds of thousands of yen."
Ritsu looked confused.
"So the proposal thing was fake? What should we do with this ring?"
"The proposal part isn't fake but it's not happening now. And the proposal ring is definitely something I should buy myself. Let's return this one tomorrow."
"Okay."
Ritsu put on the ring they had given him directly onto his ring finger. It was slightly loose, so he moved it to his index finger instead.
After all, he had no plans of dating. Maybe this ring could even help him avoid unwanted romantic advances.
After this year, he would be nineteen years old. Only one more year until adulthood.
Holding a bottle of Calpis in his hand, Ritsu clinked it with the others' beers and looked toward the TV screen. Even though the screen was much smaller than the big LCD in his apartment, watching it together like this felt warm and comforting.
As for the birthday cake Morofushi had made, they had eaten more than half of it and used the rest to fool around.
For example, Ritsu right now had his entire face covered in whipped cream like a face mask.
"You should probably wash that off now, or it'll be harder to clean later."
"Yeah."
"Ritsu-ya, are you choosing the Red Team or the White Team?"
Ritsu paused mid-step. After thinking for a moment, he answered:
"The White Team. I like white better."
White represented light and hope.
He wanted to keep living in a place where there was light.