Prompter: LovelySakura777 (you beautiful person you!)

Prompt: (Not quite the sentence structure, but what's done is done! And it was a cute idea so that more than made up for it.) I'm hoping the story will be about Shizuka and Amuro/Furuya out on a date after they have defeated the Black Organization and are enjoying each others company freely without worries, meanwhile Shinichi is spying on them after finding out Shizuka has a boyfriend and is going on a date and is worried about her and who the guy is. You know, just to make sure the guys is good to her and being his overprotective self. (Of course they both know he's there and just decide to ignore him and confront him at the end of the date.

Notes: For anyone who doesn't recognize the name, Shizuka is my OC from the story Snapshot. She is Shinichi's older sister. A few parts of this won't make sense if you haven't read it but those are small things that don't affect it too much. Also, Amuro/Furuya and Shizuka are not dating yet! This is how it starts, hope that's okay.

Shinichi paused in his reading to think over everything he had found out. The plot was seemingly straightforward, but there were random discrepancies that happened too often to be accidents. Filing away everything he knew so far about the main character and their interactions with others he tilted back in the kitchen chair, crossed his ankles, and buried his nose in the book once more.

Twenty minutes later the soft bell-like sound of keys knocking against each other drew his gaze upwards.

Shizuka tucked her house keys into the small purse she had slung over her shoulders. She was wearing a dress he had never seen before; spaghetti strapped, with white at the top that slowly morphed to dark blue as it moved downwards. It came to a stop just above her knees, and he felt his eyebrow tick up when he noticed the dark gray ankle boots she was wearing had a sizeable heel on the end to make her taller. She also had a white scarf wrapped carefully around her neck to cover any traces of the bandages that were undoubtedly under it. Both of his eyebrows reached for his hairline when he noticed the subtle traces of makeup on her face; just enough to make her features more defined and her eyes seem brighter. Her hair was down and curled lightly, reaching the middle of her back now since she had decided to let it grow out the last few months.

"Do you have a case?" he called before he could help himself, narrowing in on the oval-shaped locket on a silver chain around her neck and the matching silver chain bracelet with a small camera charm on it. "I thought we both agreed to take a break."

Everything with the Organization had only been settled a week ago. After the years it had taken to finally pin them down the siblings had agreed to take at least a month long vacation to recuperate. They both needed it, after everything that happened. The antidote Haibara had given him had left his immune system in shambles (even now he could feel a fever creeping back over like clockwork) and his leg still needed to be in a brace for another few days before he could work on any form of rehabilitation. Shizuka was also having difficulties healing. The wound on her throat kept hindering her breathing, and he would often hear her stop to catch her breath when she went up and down the stairs. While her wrist was getting along just fine, her back obviously pained her when she sat down on anything without a soft cushion to ease around it.

"It's not a case," she rasped, rolling her eyes. Her voice came out soft, the words cracking softly as they were forced out. Shinichi's mind automatically traveled back to what Haibara had said ("The chances of her vocal cords ever healing are a million to one. I'd usually say to give up on ever speaking normally again, but I doubt you would listen. Come back when you'd like to try those exercises I mentioned.") before he shook them away.

Shizuka looked at him and laughed breathlessly. "I'm not sneaking off to battle evil Otouto. I was invited out."

"Like a date?" he questioned suspiciously, once again categorizing the careful way she had dressed. Shizuka hated heels of any kind.

She actually paused at that and his suspicions grew. "…I'm not actually sure," she coughed slightly, the sound echoing in her lungs. "Maybe."

"With who?" he dug for information. He knew most, if not all, of his sister's friends and she wasn't one to accept invitations from strangers. One of the officers maybe? That tall girl was always bouncing around her whenever they were together, and the red-haired boy couldn't look at her for more than two seconds before turning into a human tomato. Or the new mailman that he had seen her talking to in the mornings on occasion. Maybe Ikezawa or Okino? He didn't think they held any interest towards his sister, or that she had any in them, but Shizuka was unlikely to pursue any interests while they were fighting against the Organization. Besides, he hadn't thought she would be interested in dating at all ever since he learned about-

"I don't feel like saying," she cut off his trail of thoughts with a smirk. "I doubt you would approve anyway."

Shinichi felt his eye twitch. That didn't sound good. Who on earth could she possibly be seeing that he would actually oppose? Not that detective wannabe; she hated him as much as she did. Kid maybe? But even if he would have preferred someone less danger inducing as his sister's partner he wouldn't have gotten in the way. Kid had proved himself trustworthy enough after the takedown.

"Don't think too hard Shinichi," she laughed awkwardly again, her breath catching in her throat. "It might not even be a date. I didn't exactly ask for specifics."

"And yet you dressed up for it," he pointed out. His book was long forgotten on the table in front of him.

She shrugged. "They said it might be fancy."

"What might be fancy?"

"Goodbye Shinichi," she waved lazily, ignoring his question as she walked away.

He sat there, dumbstruck, until the faint sound of the front door clicking shut jolted him back into action. Scrambling for the black cane laid out on the chair next to him he hobbled after her.

Shizuka could take care of herself. Usually. If she thought he wouldn't approve of whoever she was seeing it would only be because he would think that person could be dangerous. She wasn't back in fighting form, not even close. If whoever she was with took advantage of that…

They had barely made it through everything alive already. It was a miracle that the people they had tried so hard to protect were even safe. He would be damned if he let something happen now.

-00-

Shizuka tilted her head curiously when they turned towards the park.

"I thought you said it might be fancy," she commented, grateful for their slow gait. Any faster and she would be out of breath in a matter of minutes. From walking.

What a pain in the ass.

"Parks can be fancy," Furuya Rei (aka Amuro Tooru) grinned back innocently. He had a large black jacket on, zipped up all the way to his neck, and a standard pair of blue jeans with white sneakers.

She normally would have hummed skeptically, but with her throat as it was she settled for leveling him with a blank stare.

"Or," his grin turned sharp, "maybe I just wanted to see you in a dress."

She blinked once, unimpressed. "I wore heels Amuro. If I had known we would be walking I would have picked something else."

"I was wondering about that," his gaze drifted downwards and she would have smacked him if he didn't look back up right away. "Is that because I teased you about your height?"

"No," she smiled, "it was so I could stomp on your feet if you tried anything."

He took a half step away from her, face twisting slightly. His feet were more sensitive than he cared to admit.

"I'll be the perfect gentlemen," he promised, ignoring the amused and disbelieving glint in her eyes. "And I told you that you could call me Rei. Not many people get that privilege anymore you know."

"Which is exactly why I didn't," she shot back, motioning for him to slow down more. He did so without question, stepping closer again as they made their way under the trees along the path. "Why exactly did you ask me here?"

"I'll get to that," he promised before extending his arm out. "But for now, would you care to take a walk with me?"

She looked to his face, to his arm, and back. "We're already walking," she pointed out while taking his proffered arm in her own.

He smiled brightly instead of answering, to which she simply shook her head and looked around the park as they went. There was a taste of rain in the air, but the clouds were far enough away that she didn't bother to worry about being caught in it. A few families were scattered about the playground at the center, while the occasional jogger or couple passed them by every few minutes.

After about ten minutes her throat began to tighten uncomfortably. Amuro tugged at her arm lightly to gain her attention. When she looked up (the heels at least made a dent damnit) he motioned towards a bench coming up along the side.

"Let's take a break there."

She scanned him over, searching for any pity that might show. He looked back at her knowingly, but his gaze was clear.

"Sure," she sighed softly.

He let her lead the two of them over, but when she moved to sit down, he stopped her.

"Just a second," he uncurled his arm from hers and slipped off the heavy jacket from his shoulders leaving him in a form fitting, red short sleeved shirt. Laying it over the front of the bench where her back would be when she sat down he plopped down next to it and patted the wood in invitation.

Shizuka blinked, pleasantly surprised. She had thought it was odd that he was wearing such a warm looking coat. The air had a chill in it, no doubt, but even in her dress the temperature was manageable.

"Thank you," she offered him a small, grateful smile. He returned it readily.

As her back settled comfortably against the blissfully cushioned fabric, she tucked her ankles underneath the bench and shifted her purse to the side opposite of him.

"I came to this park once when I was a kid," Amuro started suddenly, looking out over the green field in front of the playground with a nostalgic expression. "I got into a fight with a few other kids that were bullying a cat over by the slide."

She followed his gaze, settling further into the jacket. The strong scent of cinnamon and coffee wafted up to her nose.

"Did you get into fights a lot?" she asked curiously.

He laughed. "All the time. I had a bit of temper back then."

"I don't think it has faded as much as you seem to think it has," she noted. She had seen him angry plenty of times, and while he handled it well while keeping it mostly under control, it was clear that he had a lot of it.

"I guess," his answer was softer, not offended by the blunt response. He suddenly chuckled, turning to focus his attention on her. "Not many people would tell me that to my face."

She threw him an amused glance but kept her focus on the kids playing on the swings. Shinichi used to challenge her to see who could reach the highest point. "I have been told that I am a bit of an… oddball."

"That's a nice way of putting it."

She smacked his shoulder warningly, but his eyes were teasing when she finally looked at him.

She froze when his gaze suddenly turned serious. The creases around his mouth and eyes were still relaxed, but his stare was sincere.

"I like that you're an oddball."

The warm tone of his voice made the tips of her ears flush. Refusing to break eye contact now, as though a challenge had been offered, she fiddled lightly with the scarf around her throat.

"…Why did you ask me to come here?"

He twisted to face her more fully, leaving a bit more space between them but making it feel more intimate than before.

"Would you believe me if I said it was because I wanted to go on a date with a smart, beautiful woman?"

Shizuka sent a mental punch to her heart when it stuttered. Words would not sway her that easily.

"Perhaps," she spoke slowly, cursing the crack at the end. Stupid vocal cords. "But you know a lot of smart, beautiful women. I wanted to know why you asked me to come here."

She scowled at the flash of affection that crossed over his features. Shifting self-consciously in her spot she twisted the soft ends of her scarf between her fingers.

"Because none of them," he waved his hand around as though to point out a group of people, "are you. I'll admit, the first time we met I didn't like you."

Shizuka would have snorted if it wouldn't have sent her into a painful coughing fit.

This time he looked a bit sheepish. "It wasn't anything personal. You were just… very nosy and, as you know, I had a lot of things I didn't want anyone knowing about. Your brother was fine, he was a kid and I didn't think he could actually do much," which they both agreed was his biggest mistake, "but you had a lot of influence behind you that could put me in a tight spot if I wasn't careful. The challenge was fun, but the repercussions of losing were too big. Especially when I realized that I might actually lose."

Shizuka allowed herself a moment to feel smug. She worked hard to be good at what she does; some self-pride was well earned.

Amuro tucked his leg up to lay flat across the bench so he could rest his hands on it. It brushed the sides of her leg, making her twitch, but she didn't bother moving away.

"Once everything started coming together more," he looked at his hands speculatively, "and we started actually working together more the consequences of you learning anything about me started to matter less. I realized that while I enjoyed the challenge of working against you, working with you was more… fun," he settled on.

Shizuka would agree with that much, at least. Once she was sure that Amuro wasn't going to kill her brother and the tension between them started to die down she would often team up with him to track down new leads and information. Having someone at her back with his level of skill had been both a comfort and entertaining.

"It wasn't all bad," she said instead, eyebrow twitching when he smirked.

"Sure," he said nonchalantly, "after all it's not everyday you get felt up in the closet of a club."

Shizuka felt the blood in her face burn. "I wasn't feeling you up! I was trying to pick the lock and you got in the way!"

The insistent statement was ruined by the way her voice kept cutting in and out as she defended herself. By the end her throat was tight and her ability to breath became difficult.

"Okay, okay," he laughed, putting his hands up in surrender. "May I?"

Shizuka glared at him when he pointed towards her throat and she was about to vehemently disagree when she caught the worried crease across his forehead. Debating internally for a moment she gave in. If he knew how to relieve the pain in her throat then at least he would be doing something other than trying to embarrass her.

Tipping her chin up as an invitation she fought the automatic reaction to flinch when his fingers brushed against her skin.

He moved slowly, broadcasting his movements so she wouldn't panic. The care was appreciated.

Unwinding her scarf carefully he slowly undid the bandages wrapped securely around her throat. She didn't look at him when the bright red laceration was revealed. The stitches were still securely in place, but she had always thought the little strings made everything look even worse.

Amuro was silent for a long while before his middle and index fingers began kneading carefully along spots below the cut. Slowly but surely she could feel the pressure around her windpipe lessen until she could breath with relative ease.

"I didn't realize it had come so close," he murmured quietly, fingers hovering uncertainly over the wound.

"Kudo's are hard to kill, as it turns out," was her poor attempt to lighten the mood. This was one of the main reasons she didn't like anyone seeing her throat. When her mother had walked in on her while she was changing the bandages a few days ago Yukiko's face had crumpled immediately and it had taken over an hour to calm her down.

"But not impossible," Amuro's frown was heavily lined. Hooking his thumbs over the edges of her jaw he gently angled her head down so they were eye to eye once more. Once he was sure he had her attention he pulled his hands back. "I enjoy your company," he stated abruptly. "I respect your talent and admire the incredible resolve you hold in everything you do. You are one of the most amazing people I have ever met and I would be honored if you would give me the chance to see more of your life."

Shizuka could feel her eyes threaten to pop right out of her head. She had been joking when she told Shinichi she might be going on a date. Amuro would often call her out when he wanted her opinion on something, and the teasing was always par for the course. Never anything serious.

At least she had thought.

"W-why all of this now?" she stuttered out, and her damaged vocal cords were not entirely to blame for the staggered cracking of her voice this time.

Amuro sighed, lifting his hands so he could look at them. He stared at them as though they might hold the answers to everything he would ever want to know. "I planned on never actually getting involved with anyone. Too much risk, too many dangers. Even if I could find someone I could trust to keep my secrets I wouldn't be able to handle putting them in danger all of the time."

The reasoning was uncomfortably familiar.

"Then I learned what happened with you," he said slowly, gauging her reaction. Shizuka gave none. She had been expecting it to pop up at some point, and she was finally starting to make her peace with what had happened. "And I thought that was just more proof that I had made the right choice."

"What-" Shizuka had to stop to clear her throat. It hurt. "What changed your mind?"

"Your brother, actually," he lips turned up half-heartedly. "I asked him why he put himself through so much for Ran-san, and why he was willing to force so much upon her as well."

A droplet of rain landed on the tip of Shizuka's nose, startling her. She hadn't realized they had been there for so long, but the genuine look of hope on Amuro's face kept her rooted in her place.

"He looked at me like I was an idiot," he huffed. "Told me that for being a genius I didn't notice very much. Apparently, if you care about someone, pushing them away only fills you with more regrets. If they die it won't hurt less because pretended to care less. You just hate yourself for not giving them the time they deserved while they were alive."

Shizuka swallowed heavily, closing her eyes. A picutre of a warm, sunny smile crossed her mind.

She missed him. Losing him had hurt. More than anything she had ever felt in her life. The pain in her neck, her back, the times she had been shot before, nothing could compare to the hole he had left in her life. And she had always wished she could go back in time and stop herself from befriending him. Never drag him into danger alongside her. It was only recently that she realized she would never have been able to bring herself to do that. Not after she remembered everything he had said. All of his smiles, and laughter. He had been happy. For whatever it was worth, he had been happy to have her in his life and she refused to keep disrespecting his memory by refusing to believe he had loved her enough to believe she deserved saving.

"So," Amuro spoke after a long silence, breaking her out of her train of thought, "I decided to give it a shot. I don't think I could handle caring about you and then having you die on me," he stated honestly. "But the idea of having you in my life… seems worth it."

The breath was knocked out of her lungs. She wasn't worth it. She would never be worth it, not in her eyes.

But Amuro's… Rei's eyes were not hers. His eyes had not been hers either.

"I probably won't take no for an answer, by the way," his tone seemed more rushed. Unsure. "This morning I thought I would just walk away if you said you couldn't, but now that we're actually here and I've gotten all of this off my chest I don't think I can give up on it."

Shizuka wheezed out a laugh, her eyes burning. "You two-" she choked, shaking her head despairingly. "You two are more alike than I thought."

He seemed confused about how to take that so she reached out and wrapped her thin fingers around his hands.

"I can't say yes," she croaked, grip tightening when he opened his mouth. "Not yet. I'm just starting to move on. But… I'm not saying no either. I'm willing to give it a chance at least. Would you-" she rolled the words around in her head, struggling to find the best way to say them. "Would you like to join me for dinner Rei?"

Not quite what she wanted to say. But the hopeful grin she got in return was worth it.

"Of course," he turned his palm over in hers, lifting her hand up and laying a kiss across her knuckles. "Although I don't think your brother will be too happy to see me."

Shizuka chuckled, massaging around the stitches in her throat. "He'll have to deal with it. He owes me for following us anyway."

Rei tossed a look towards the trees behind them. A familiar curl of black hair stuck out from the pine tree on the far left.

"We should probably go back soon then. His leg must be hurting horribly after all this time."

She smiled softly. "Yeah. Let's go Rei."

They stood together, Shizuka hesitating before taking his hand as they walked back. She wasn't ready to let go. Not yet. But she had people to help her. Her friends, her brother, her family…

And Rei now, she supposed. As his fingers twined together with her own she felt a sizeable weight lift off her shoulders.

Avelia was so going to cry when she told him.

Aaannddd done. I had never actually thought about pairing Shizuka with Rei, but gosh darn it it's adorable. None of this is guaranteed canon for Snapshot by the by (such as injuries and such) but it might be. Maybe. We'll see. ;p

Hope you all enjoyed! Especially you LovelySakura777! I hope it lived up to what you wanted!

If anyone else would like to ask for a pairing or prompt (from just about any fandom and pairing) check out my profile for the details. These are gifts for those that read my works and like them, so I'll try my best to make them well!

Thanks for reading!

(p.s. What did you guys think of Rei. I tried to get his character right but I'm not sure how well I did.)