KudoEdogawa Presents...
""Always""
Chapter 2
The morning sun soaked into the room and shone onto Shinichi. He woke up, memories of the previous night still engrained deeply in his mind. It was one of the best nights he's had in quite a while, oh, why couldn't the night last?
Shinichi got up and took a shower. He has something to do...ah yes. He must get to England, his plane leaves at eleven, what time is it now? He got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and went back into his room. He looked at the clock...warm water droplets slid down his bare back as silence filled the room.
"OH SHOOT!!!"
It was already a quarter past ten! Why didn't he pack up before going to the Mouri's last night? Why??
Frantic, he put on some clothes without drying himself first, stuffed a bunch of clothes into a trunk, put on some socks, and ran out the door. Several moments later, he came running back, unlocked the door, went to his room, grabbed his forgotten password and prepared to leave again when he noticed something: his socks weren't matching. He cursed, today might be one of his worst days. He put on the right socks, and hurriedly ran out of the house, heading for the airport.
He got to the airport and sighed; he still has twenty minutes to spare, enough time to get his luggage checked-in. After he did so, he wandered to the boarding gate, and there she is, all dressed and waiting---his girlfriend Ran.
Time froze---how in the world did she know that he'd be here? Ran seemed to know what he was thinking and answered his question.
"Erm...I just wanted to give you a little something before you leave, but I don't know when your plane is, so I decided to come here and wait." said she.
Argh, what kind of boyfriend am I? thought Shinichi. I never told her when I'd be leaving, and even so, she's still determined to see me off.
"How long have you waited?" He asked at last, scared of the answer.
Ran hesitated, then said, "Since five in the morning..." she whispered.
Guilt struck him like a mighty hammer from the heaven. "Oh Ran, you didn't have to..." Ran stopped him by holding out a small box. He took it, and looked at Ran guiltily. The box was red with blue ribbons.
"Open it," she said. "It's for you."
There was a magnificent pendant inside, held by a string. Not only that, there's a picture of Shinichi and Ran enclosed inside the pendant that you can see through the glass in the center.
"Oh, Ran. I love you." Shinichi said and gave her a hug. "I promise, I won't let you worry about me this time, I'll call you from England every single day."
"Oh?" Ran sounds amused. "But what if I wanted to contact you?"
"I'll be at Akira-kun's house," Shinichi told her. "Remember? The smartest kid in our junior class, he moved to England now, I'll be staying at his house while I'm there... you do have his number, don't you?"
Ran smiled and nodded, "Of course."
"We will start boarding the eleven o'clock flight to London." The P.A. announced suddenly, breaking their conversation.
"Well," said Shinichi. "That's me." He gave Ran a quick hug. "Take care," and he left. Ran watched him give his ticket, and go through the gate, and his image was lost in the busy crowd. Ran sighed, the same uncomfortable feeling struck her again... it felt exactly like five years ago, when they were at Tropical Island... when she lost Shinichi the first time. Time went by, and through the large window of the airport, Ran can see that the plane has begun to move, the engines roaring loudly.
Unable to control herself, Ran dashed forward and slammed her fist at the window. "NO!!!" she shouted. "DON'T GO!! SHINICHI!! STAY!!"
But the plane has already soared into the blue sky. Although the day looked so promising, Ran has never felt more dreadful. The security came to stop her. She lowered her head, embarrassed. After informing the security guard that she wasn't feeling well, she went home with an unknown fear in her heart.
"SHINICHI!! DON'T GO!!" Her own words are stuck in her mind, why hadn't she stopped him? She sat there eating dinner with her family, dinner was so enjoyable last night, why is it so different now?
The phone rang. "I'll get it." Ran said as she got up slowly and went for the phone.
"Moshi, moshi?"
"Ran?" It was Shinichi! "I'm at Akira's house now." That was a relief to hear. "Well, I'm thinking of touring around first, do you want anything from London?"
Ran smiled, "No, I just want you to come back safely..."
"Don't worry, I will..."
Will you, now?
What was that? Ran shoved the thought aside. "Have fun in England," she said.
"Fun? At work? You must be kidding!" They both laughed and hung up.
The sun crept over the horizon, turn the Big Ben golden. The city of London became busy at once, people are moving all about, whether it be going to work, going to school, or just going to slack off for the day. Shinichi had to ask the manager of a certain bookstore some questions in order for someone's alibi to be established. With Akira's help the previous night, he knows exactly where and how to get to the bookstore. London is a busy place, with lots of shops all around, a particular jewelry shop caught Shinichi's attention. Ran had given him something, it's only polite for him, Ran's boyfriend, so buy her something in return.
Shinichi roamed around in the jewelry store...would Ran like this crystal angel pendant? Or does she prefer these emerald earrings? Or this golden ring, which has this heart-shaped ruby in the center?
"Ah...that is a very fine ring." A voice behind him said. It was the shopkeeper. "You know, there is a legend about this ring..."
Shinichi drove through the busy England streets, the ring sitting next to him, inside a box. He frowned as his mind flickered back to the so-called legend that the shopkeeper told him of.
"...It was said that long ago, there was a couple who loved each other very much. However, the man died in a tragic accident, and the girl was so sad that it touched even Cupid himself. Cupid dropped his bow and arrows and cried, his tears turning into red rubies which he gave to the girl to honor her lover. The rubies were evidence of their love. It was said that after the girl died, her rubies were given away, and whoever had possession of one of those gems, lived a fulfilling life with their other half. They call it 'The True Love,' and so it was said that if a man gave one of those gems to the woman he loves, they will be bonded together by Cupid's power and that they shall always have each other's love. This is one of those rubies, and a very fine ring also."
Shinichi smiled to himself. This would be the perfect ring for his proposal. He had been planning his proposal for many weeks now, he wanted to take her to the restaurant that they went to before. He had booked the whole restaurant already and hired a violinist for the evening. It was going to be a candlelight dinner, and it was going to be the -perfect- proposal.
Drowned in his own thought, Shinichi had not noticed an incoming car as he made a sharp right turn. The approaching car honked and swerved around. Shinichi snapped back to the reality and turned the wheels so fast that the car flew and swirled in the air, crashed into the walls of a nearby building and finally falling back on the ground upside-down.
Shinichi groaned and tried to climb out of his car, an ugly cut on his forehead. Half of his body was able to escape the trapping of the ruined vehicle before he passed out. The pendant around his neck fell off and opened up upon contact with the hard ground. A gust of wind came by just then and blew the picture within, the picture of him and Ran, away...
Away...
Edited: 9-26-2004
Note: I have been informed that this story turned out to be similar to the Chinese drama "Meteor Garden II" and I assure you that it wasn't intended to be. I have seen the first Meteor Garden, but haven't bothered to check out the second one until someone told me that this fic was similar. Also, old readers will find some major changes concerning the character "Shiho" in the later chapters.
