Shiho stood outside of Shinichi¡¦s high school, patiently waiting for school to end. Her hands tightly gripped the handles of a red paper shopping bag. The gun Gin had thrown at her the day before was in that bag. She tried to stifle a yawn, but couldn¡¦t manage to hide it. She hadn¡¦t been able to sleep at all last night. Belmot and Gin¡¦s words had haunted her until morning. At last, she gave up on trying to rest and got up.
¡§ Those who support us proper; those who are against us die.¡¨ Both Gin and Belmot often said that phrase. Shiho didn¡¦t want Shinichi Kudo dead. She had no reason to kill him, and no reason not to kill him. Gin and Belmot had raised her after her parents had died and they had always done what was best for her. She had never disobeyed them before, but now she was having trouble accepting the fact that she was going to kill Shinichi Kudo.
¡§ Shinichi, come on. Let¡¦s go home.¡¨ Ran said as she pulled Shinichi toward the door.
¡§ Hey, Ran, wait a minute, I have to write down the homework assignments.¡¨ Shinichi told her as he pulled out a pen. He opened his notebook and began to write, then gave a start as he looked at the pen. It was Shiho¡¦s pen, the one she had left at the coffee shop. A little smile started to form on his face, and he quickly finished writing in his notebook. Then he turned and walked out of school with Ran, still holding the white pen.
¡§ Shiho!¡¨ Shinichi cried when he saw her at the door. ¡§ What are you doing here?¡¨
¡§ I wanted to see you again, Kudo-kun.¡¨ Shiho lied, wishing she could be anywhere else on earth, wishing she wouldn¡¦t see him again, wishing Gin and Belmot hadn¡¦t told her to kill him. She gripped her shopping bag even more tightly as she tried to think of more lies to tell Shinichi. Then she saw her pen in his hand. ¡§ What are you holding? I think that pen belongs to me.¡¨
¡§ It¡¦s yours, you left it in the coffee shop. I wanted to give it back to you, but I didn¡¦t know where you went. Here.¡¨ He grinned as he held the pen out to her. Shiho wished he would just disappear, or at least be mean to her. How could she bear to kill him?
¡§ Never mind, I¡¦ll give it to you. Keep it.¡¨ She told him with an empty smile. ¡§ Come with me.¡¨
¡§ What? Where do you want to go?¡¨ Shinichi asked in astonishment.
¡§ No! Don¡¦t go away.¡¨ Ran grabbed Shinichi¡¦s arm and pulled him away from Shiho. She had a bad feeling, one that was similar to the one she had had that night at Tropical Land. She didn¡¦t want Shinichi to go with Shiho.
¡§ Ran, don¡¦t worry. I¡¦ll be fine.¡¨ Shinichi assured her with a smile. He knew Ran was worried, but he was curious about what Shiho wanted. ¡§ I promise. See you tomorrow.¡¨ He smiled at Ran, then turned and followed Shiho.
Ran felt a surge of anger quickly building inside of her. She was so worried, and Shinichi wouldn¡¦t tell her anything. All he could say was ¡§ I¡¦ll be fine.¡¨ What was wrong with him? That jerk acted like he couldn¡¦t even trust her, and she worried so much about him. And the red haired girl, she resembled Ai Haibara. Who was she? Shinichi obviously knew her, but Ran could guess how much he would tell her if she asked. ¡§ She¡¦s just a friend.¡¨ Shinichi would say, as if that could explain it all. Ran found herself thinking resentfully toward the red haired girl. Shinichi owed her an explanation, but he wouldn¡¦t tell her anything. She turned around and stomped home, wondering if Shinichi was worth her time at all.
Shiho led Shinichi to an apartment building, and Shinichi followed her up to the roof in silence. Shinichi wondered what could possibly be up on the roof, but he didn¡¦t ask. When they reached the roof, Shiho walked over to the side and looked down at the world below. Shinichi didn¡¦t join her, but stood several feet away, waiting for her to speak. Shiho remained at the railing, and presently found hot tears forming in her eyes. The tears slid down one by one. She stared at the pearl-like drops helplessly as they fell down to the world below. She wished she could become a teardrop and follow her tears. After a while, she closed her eyes. Shinichi continued to wait, wondering when she¡¦d speak. Finally, Shiho took a deep breath, pulled the gun from the handbag, and pointed it at Shinichi.
Shinichi gasped, then he understood. He looked at Shiho with blue eyes full of hurt, anger, and betrayal. He couldn¡¦t believe what was happening, and then he grew angrier and angrier because she had betrayed his trust. Shiho¡¦s eyes were full of tears and sorrow as she fumbled with the gun. She had the gun pointed at Shinichi¡¦s heart, but she couldn¡¦t bring herself to pull the trigger. She tried two times, but both times her fingers disobeyed her. On the third try, she pulled the trigger, but her hands were trembling so hard that she missed, and the bullet grazed Shinichi¡¦s left shoulder. Shiho knew she couldn¡¦t do it, and she threw the gun down, looking sorrowfully at Shinichi.
Shinichi couldn¡¦t see past his own anger, and everything in front of him was just red. He didn¡¦t see Shiho¡¦s painful expression. He only saw that she had missed and dropped the gun. He knew he wasn¡¦t seriously injured, so he angrily walked over to Shiho.
¡§ You¡¦re one of them, aren¡¦t you? Still? After all this time? You always were. You always had a black heart. You lied to me the whole time, right? Ever since the beginning. And I believed you. I trusted you. I¡¦m so stupid. I¡¦m such an idiot, such an idiot.¡¨ Shinichi shouted. Shiho looked confused, but Shinichi didn¡¦t give her a chance to say anything. He winced as blood from his wound started to stain his uniform red. He walked closer to Shiho, then drew back his right hand and slapped her across the cheek, as hard as he could.
¡§ You¡¦re disgusting! I hate you, I hate you! You¡¦re the cruelest person on earth. Even Gin and Belmot can¡¦t compare with you. I never want to see you again. I don¡¦t even want to see your shadow, or hear your voice. Never!.¡¨ Shinichi yelled as loudly as he could. He couldn¡¦t believe he had ever trusted her, couldn¡¦t believe they¡¦d actually been friends.
Shiho couldn¡¦t stand the force of the blow and fell over. Shinichi was breathing heavily as he carefully watched her. Shiho slowly sat up and spat out a mouthful of blood. Gin and Belmot were right. She had been weak. This detective would just hurt her. He¡¦d never tell her anything. She wanted to pick up the gun and kill him, but when she looked up at him, all she could see was the nice boy at the coffee shop yesterday, a yesterday that seemed like a million years from now. A tingling pain on her face reminded her of the slap, and her eyes cast a murderous glance at Shinichi. A chill suddenly went up his spine. Shiho stood up and glared at him, then leaned forward until their faces were no more than a few inches apart.
¡§ I should have killed you.¡¨ She whispered in a voice full of hatred and contempt. She almost wished that she could kill him. She turned around, put her hand to her cheek, and quickly hurried off the roof.