KudoEdogawa presents...

"Everlasting"

***

Chapter 9::

The mansion was the same as he had remembered it last: the wide, spacious rooms, delicate wooden handrails for the marble staircase, the house was tiled with beautifully polished stones and the huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, decorating the house for the day, and illuminating nearly the whole building during the night. The doors leading to the rooms upstairs were all open, all except one, where Ran was being held captive.

"Why, Shiho?" Shinichi asked. "Are we not friends?"

"How dare you ask me that when you were the one who has forsaken our friendship!?" Shiho cried, her voice ringing throughout the halls of the mansion.

"Me?" Shinichi repeated, "How so?"

Shiho's face was filled with disbelieve; so Ran and Kazuha weren't lying when they said that Shinichi was a total idiot when it came to matters of love. Shiho opened her mouth in an attempt to speak, shuts it in frustration, and opens it again, "By marrying that woman, of course!"

"That woman? Ran?" said Shinichi; he had no clue what made Shiho like this. This was definitely not the Shiho that he had known a few years ago.

"Yes!" Shiho barked, her eyes full of fury, a tint of sadness hidden behind it.

"Shiho," Shinichi said, "What's wrong? Let's talk about this, alright?" Shinichi pleaded.

"Nothing's wrong," Shiho said, shaking her head. Silent tear drops slid down her cheek, "Only thing wrong is my life.... Shinichi, tell me, you, as a pursuer of truth, how would you feel if you've recently discovered that for your whole life you've been living within a life?"

Shinichi was silent. He had never been engulfed in lies, and he would never know. "You must feel pained," was all he could say.

"Pained! Injured! Hurt!" Shiho cried, "Especially when a man that you're desperately in love married another woman, who just had to be your friend! Married! A man whom you thought you've given up on, yet could not have forgotten for all those years!"

"I do not understand you, Shiho," Shinichi said, his tone soft, trying to calm Shiho. Yet the softness only did more damage to her.

"Don't talk to me like that... don't talk to me with such caring in your voice," Shiho begged. "You're only going to make me fall deeper into this pit of torture.... Please don't."

"Shiho? What's the matter?" Shinichi asked again, trying to sound a bit normal under Shiho's plead.

"You want to know?" Shiho shouted, her eyes wide with anger... and distress. "Alright, I'll tell you! The truth is that, Kudo Shinichi, I LOVE YOU!!"

Shinichi gave a soft Eh? before realizing what Shiho was talking about. And when he did, his mind went blank and he stared disbelievingly.

"I LOVE YOU!!" Shiho continued, "AND IT'S BEEN THAT WAY FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS!! THE TRUTH IS THAT I'VE NEVER GIVEN UP ON YOU!! THE ONLY REASON THAT I LEFT FIVE YEARS AGO WAS BECAUSE I KNOW THAT YOU WILL GO BACK TO HER!!" Shiho closed her eyes and allowed her tears to fall. With the gun tight in her hand, she fired aimlessly. The shot hit Shinichi's left shoulder, making blood drip slowly down his arm.

Shiho stared; she hadn't meant to hit him.... She shook her head slowly, "And it's more painful," she said, her voice suddenly so soft that Shinichi could barely hear her, "When I've been commanded to kill your wife... I love you too much to do that, I didn't want to see you get hurt, nor did I want to hurt Ran-chan. But she threatened me! I'm not doing this because I want to..."

"Who?" Shinichi asked hoarsely, "Who commanded you?"

"I wish I could tell you..." Shiho said, "But I couldn't, nor do I want to see you suffer," Shiho said as she raised her gun again, "I don't want you to feel the pain of losing your beloved wife.... I'd have to let you leave first."

Shinichi stared, half disbelieving and half struggling, he didn't want to do what he was going to, but it had to be done to save Ran--and himself.

Tears streamed once more as Shiho whispered, "Good bye, Shinichi."

Two loud gunshots were heard as Shiho fired. Shinichi had been hiding a gun in his pockets, just in case he had to disable her...

Little did he know that his counter attacked was fatal. He could see, for a brief moment, the shock and sadness in Shiho's eyes as she fell to the ground, leaving a trail of blood falling in the air. Shinichi walked over to where Shiho was and knelt down next to her.

"I'm sorry, Shiho, I hadn't meant to-"

"It's okay," Shiho panted before he could finish, "It's better this way. I've been suffering for these past years, it's time to end them."

Shinichi looked at her with great concern and sympathy in his eyes.

Shiho smiled, "I've always loved your eyes." Shinichi gave a weak smile as a reply, "I... I have to tell you something."

"Shh," Shinichi said, "Don't talk, save your strength, I'll call an ambulance."

"No!" Shiho said and reached up to him to stop him from getting his cell phone. "That woman... she still hates you, she's regrouping...."

"Who?"

"G-Got new scientists..." Shiho's breathing was becoming more rapid, "P-Planning for... for revenge.... She won't stop until...." Shiho gave a loud groan of pain, "Until you're dead..."

"Who is it, Shiho?"

"My cousin..." she managed at last, "Chris... Chris Vinyard......."

Shiho gave a soft sight as her eyes closed and her head rolled to the side. She had left... not with sadness or regret, but with a smile so innocent and angelic that made Shinichi felt that she must be going to a good place. A silver pendant dropped from inside of her shirt, the pendant resembled an angel--Ran's gift to her five years ago.

"You really are an angel, Shiho," Shinichi said as she went upstairs and found his wife, mustering all the strength he could, he put Ran onto the car, called the police, and left for the hospital. As the red car zipped across the highway, Shinichi glared menacingly at the distance, and bared his teeth as he speeded the car up even more.

"Vermouth..." He muttered under his breath, "Just you wait...."

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Next chapter's the ending!! (Not sure, though most likely it will be).
Yes, yes, I'll get working on "Feelings" after this...

And by the way, flames from S/S supporters not accepted, cash, check, and credit cards are though!