The arrival of dusk signaled that the wedding ceremony was about to begin.
As the clock struck the hour, the doors of the church slowly opened.
Standing before the assembled guests was Ritsu, dressed in a pristine white suit.
Today, he had removed his gold-rimmed glasses and set aside the refined yet faintly villainous aura he usually carried. Bathed in the sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows, he stepped onto the soft red carpet and walked toward the altar.
The priest waiting there greeted him with a gentle smile, a copy of the Holy Bible held in his hands.
The Metropolitan Police officers seated on the left side all wore expressions of surprise.
It was the first time any of them had seen Onizawa wearing a white suit. Combined with the carefully styled hair and the absence of his glasses, he looked like a completely different person.
Sitting in the second row, Hayasaka gazed at him with longing in her eyes.
She suddenly remembered something she had written in her diary as a little girl:
'I hope I can find a boyfriend like Mamoru Chiba and get married before I turn thirty!'
Married before thirty... That dream was probably impossible now. She was already twenty-nine.
And as for finding someone like Mamoru Chiba, that opportunity would likely never come again.
On the opposite side of the chapel,
Conan sat with his mouth slightly open, barely concealing the envy filling his eyes. His gaze drifted toward Ran, who was seated diagonally in front of him.
Before he knew it, he was imagining what their own wedding might look like someday.
.
Standing before the altar, Ritsu's entire body was stiff.
He struggled to keep his expression under control. His heartbeat was so loud that he could hear it himself.
'I'm going to die from nerves... It's only a fake marriage.
But... standing in a place like this, surrounded by all the ceremony and atmosphere... there's no way anyone could stay calm.'
The chapel doors slowly opened once more.
Ritsu turned sideways.
The moment he saw Akemi walking toward him beneath her delicate white veil, dressed in an elegant wedding gown, his eyes widened involuntarily.
He had seen countless wedding dresses before.
So why...
Why did it feel completely different once she was the one wearing it?
Akemi clasped her hands together in front of her as she walked.
Feeling every guest's eyes fixed upon her, someone who had rarely experienced such grand occasions couldn't help but feel her heart pounding faster.
She had never imagined that their fake marriage would go this far.
But when she saw a certain someone standing frozen in the distance, her heartbeat gradually steadied.
'There's an even bigger fool who's more nervous than I am. So somehow... I'm not nervous anymore.'
Haibara stared intently at her sister.
'She really is beautiful in a wedding dress...'
But...
The thought that this entire wedding might have been orchestrated by the Organization sent chills down her spine.
'Could members of the Organization be hiding somewhere, waiting for me to take the bait?
Or did they gather so many Metropolitan Police officers here because they're planning to wipe them all out at once?'
The terrifying thought surfaced naturally.
She quietly tugged on Conan's sleeve. Under his puzzled gaze, she whispered,
"Edogawa... I have a bad feeling about this."
"Hm? What do you mean?"
Conan looked confused.
Today's Haibara had been acting strangely from beginning to end.
"Just... be careful."
Conan couldn't help feeling puzzled.
He was certain Haibara was hiding something from him. But he had no intention of forcing the truth out of her. Everyone had the right to keep their own secrets.
He would simply wait until she was willing to tell him herself.
The ceremony continued.
Opening the Bible in his hands, the priest turned toward the bride.
"Miyano Akemi, do you willingly accept Onizawa Takashi as your husband, to enter into the covenant of marriage with him? Will you love him, care for him, honor him, and accept him, whether in sickness or in health, or under any other circumstances, remaining faithful to him until the end of your life?"
"I do."
A gentle smile rested on Akemi's face.
She knew her younger sister was here today too.
'She's probably worried sick about me right now. Once today is over... it's time to tell her the truth.'
The priest then turned toward the groom.
"Onizawa Takashi, do you willingly accept Miyano Akemi as your wife, to enter into the covenant of marriage with her? Will you love her, care for her, honor her, and accept her, whether in sickness or in health, or under any other circumstances, remaining faithful to her until the end of your life?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Ritsu answered after calming his breathing as much as he could.
"I do."
'That should mean the ceremony is basically over... right?'
Following the priest's instructions, the couple exchanged wedding rings.
Only one final step remained.
The kiss.
Ritsu gently took Akemi's left hand. Leaning forward, he softly kissed the back of it. That alone was already the boldest thing he could manage.
Making him do anything more intimate in front of this many people, that would practically be murder.
Besides, he had already sensed an extremely murderous glare. He didn't even need to guess who it belonged to.
The little girl with chestnut hair.
Her eyes seemed to be saying,
"If you dare kiss her... you won't live to see tomorrow's sunrise."
"Huh? Just the back of her hand?"
"Onizawa, that's only the appetizer for the kissing ceremony!"
"Yeah! We want a real kiss! One overflowing with love! The kind that fills the room with pink bubbles!"
Ritsu froze.
Right now, he desperately wanted to throw a bomb into the middle of the Metropolitan Police officers who were egging him on.
Only now did he truly understand the meaning of the idiom "riding a tiger and unable to dismount."
He had no way out.
Akemi knew there was no escaping this. Fortunately, she'd already prepared for it.
The priest had stepped away from the altar, so as long as they carefully used the flowers to hide the angle, no one would notice.
She stepped closer, shortening the distance between them. In a voice only the two of them could hear, she whispered,
"There are flowers on the altar, aren't there? Just hold them up and use them to block everyone's view. A little angle trick should do it."
'As expected... Akemi is the reliable one when it really counts.'
Ritsu reached toward the bouquet.
Then—
His eyes narrowed.
At the bottom of the bouquet, a tiny red light was blinking. An overwhelming sense of dread flooded through him.
He recognized that flashing red light immediately.
Without a second's hesitation, and under everyone's astonished gaze, he shoved Akemi away with all his strength, snatched up the bouquet, and hurled it toward an empty corner of the chapel.
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion shook the church.
Only then did the guests understand why Onizawa had suddenly acted so strangely.
Sitting in the front row, Matsumoto Kiyonaga instantly leapt to his feet.
With astonishing speed, he ripped down one of the curtains while working in perfect coordination with Megure, using it to catch the crystal chandelier that had shattered from the blast.
Had that chandelier fallen directly, Akemi who was lying on the ground would have been in grave danger.
"Onee-san!!"
Haibara could no longer remain seated.
She immediately jumped from her chair and rushed forward. In that instant, she even forgot to conceal her true identity.
'Big Sister?'
The moment Conan heard those words, he instantly realized what secret Haibara had been hiding from him all this time.
He jumped up, intending to stop her.
But before he could—
BANG!
The chapel doors were kicked open.
Several men wearing bizarre masks stormed inside, raising their guns and firing indiscriminately into the chapel.
"Get down!!!"
Several officers who had stood to evacuate the guests didn't even have time to react before bullets struck them, sending them collapsing to the floor.
The chapel instantly descended into chaos. After all, no one attending a wedding would be carrying a service pistol.
Ritsu scooped Akemi into his arms and hurried behind cover.
His mind raced.
'This can't possibly be the Organization. Then who is it? A random terrorist attack?No... '
His eyes narrowed.
They hadn't fired a single shot toward the guests seated on the right side.
'Their targets... are only the police.'
He pulled out his phone. His fingers quickly entered Vodka's phone number. Yet, he hesitated before pressing the call button.
Right now, the only people capable of helping might be the Organization. But if he involved them, things could become even worse.
"Officer Sato!!"
Hearing Takagi's voice, Ritsu instinctively looked up.
Just in time to see Takagi throw himself in front of Miwako, only to be struck by a bullet and collapse to the ground.
Without another moment's hesitation, Ritsu pressed the call button.
But at that moment, one of the attackers, wearing an eerie plague doctor mask with a long bird-like beak, slowly raised his left hand and performed a flawless gentleman's bow.
It was almost as though, he were apologizing for ruining the wedding. With a snap of his fingers, his hoarse voice echoed throughout the chapel.
"This is my wedding gift to you. Accept it... with gratitude."
The armed assailants disappeared from the chapel entrance as suddenly as they had appeared.
Leaving behind a square pink gift box, neatly wrapped with a pale blue ribbon.
Every pair of eyes in the chapel instinctively turned toward Onizawa.
Everyone arrived at the same conclusion.
'These attackers... must have something to do with him.
Was this revenge by someone connected to a criminal Onizawa had once brought to justice?'