Ouma's POV:

Shuichi finally let go of my hand when we reached our apartment and he had to let go to unlock the door.

I had never seen him stand up for himself like that before, he was usually quiet and just accepted things...but now...

Shoto...

I bit my tongue as I held back tears. I don't get to cry about this, it wasn't my uncle who died.

Shuichi is the one who needs to be comforted, not me. 'Shumai, want me to order us something? Maybe make tea?' I asked.

"That would be nice...thank you...sorry if I was being clingy I just...with my parents..." he trailed off before stopping.

I nodded and gave him a comforting smile, 'I get it. Don't worry, I understand' I told him.

...was that a lie?

He didn't say anything and instead just sat on the couch and took out a book flipping through the pages somberly as I quietly prepared tea and downed my pills.

He still hadn't said anything when I handed him his favorite mug and I took my own. We were still in our formal wear, I had discarded the vest in the car but he was still fully dressed minus his shoes.

He was flipping through a photo album.

Across the pages I saw pictures of a camera shy Shuichi being scared and caught off guard making me want to laugh, the first pages were of us but as we went on further...pictures of a teenage Shuichi proudly showing off his acceptance letter to the academy we had met at...him in middle school...holidays and birthdays...all with his Uncle.

...

'Riko likes taking photos too' I told him, he looked at me interested "really?" He asked and I smiled 'she took so many, even though she knew we didn't have money for them to be developed she still took them. I wish I knew where her camera ended up, I think Mirai has them...' I told him.

"Well, when we find her I need to see pictures of a young you" Shuichi teased as I shivered from the horror.

It would be worth seeing him smile though.

"You know...theres still so much I don't know about you..." Shuichi mentioned, "about your friends...what you want out of life...I know we talked about having kids someday but I never thought to ask how you want them...surrogacy or some form of adoption?" He asked.

'Definitely adoption' I quickly told him, 'as much as I want your fine ass to make it to the next generation, there's a lot of kids out there who need parents. Kids who were like me. So I would adopt' I told him.

"Ah...that makes sense..." he mumbled, maybe I wasn't supposed to hear that, "I can agree with that...anything you want to know about me?" He asked.

I pondered for a bit 'what did you want to be growing up? Other than a detective?' I asked.

He laughed, "I wanted to be a librarian, I loved reading so much I wanted to live inside of a library" he joked and I snorted as I asked anothed question.

'So when do we wanna get married?' I asked.

"Definitely after we find DICE" He said, I could 100% agree with that, "I want both of our families to attend, you know?" He said.

His gloomy look returned as I held his hand.

"Thank you...you're perfect..." he told me fondly, "I...I know I can do better...but thank you...thank you for being in my life...I would be lost without you..." he told me.

...

...

I gazed at the drawers of the table ahead of me, the one I knew had the new Ace letter...

The one with the ticket to the concert Iruma and Kiibo had helped me purchase...

...

I'm sorry Shumai.

We kept each other company that night. Talking about our pasts, our dreams, jokes about how his Uncle would have been a nightmare if he tried to be the flower girl...

...

But...why do I feel unsatisfied?