Hope you like this.

It took A LOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT of time to write. Well, please read and review me if you want me to update faster! Thanks and please look foward to the ending chapters!

CHAPTER 7

" Welcome back! Shiho!"

Shiho gave a weary smile to her sister as she sat down on the chair behind her, exhausted. Her sister walked over to the stove and turned it on, humming a happy tune. " What would you like for dinner, sis?" Akemi asked happily.

Shiho raised her eyebrows.

" You seem happy." she said.

" And why shouldn't I be?" Akemi said happily.

" I don't know." Haibara said simply. " Why should you be?"

" I heard about you tying in votes to the most popular girl in school, Shiho." Akemi said, ignoring Shiho's past statement.

Shiho flushed slightly.

" Who told you that?" she asked.

" Oh, I didn't even need to ask." Akemi said, smiling as she fingered around in the cupboard for cooking utensils. " Many girls came not too long ago to look for you, wishing you good luck. One of them even had a camera with her."

Shiho said nothing.

" You're really popular now, aren't you?" Akemi said happily, flicking on the switch as heard the dull whirr of the oven turning on. " It's totally not like when you were in High School, when you would just ignore whoever wanted to be friends with you."

Shiho raised her eyebrows. " That's way into the past." she said.

" I'm not accusing you of anything!" Akemi said, stepping into the kitchen, picking out the most brightly coloured apron and pulled it on. " It's just that I think you changed a lot after you started teaching. I never thought you would have continued after Shuichi. . ."

She stopped in mid-sentence, at the sight of Shiho's hardened face.

" I'm sorry."

" It's alright." Shiho said, yet there was a distinct coolness in her voice.

" No, really. . .I shouldn't. . ."

" It's okay." Shiho said, a smile upon her face.

Akemi's eyes widened.

" Really?"

" Yeah."

" Why?"

Shiho's eyebrows rose, but just shrugged. " I don't know," she said, raising to her feet and started to make her way to her room. Her hand was on the door handle, ready to open it. Then she paused, her fingers slipping off it for a brief moment before placing them on it once more. " Call me when dinner's ready." she said, shutting the door behind her.

Akemi smiled knowingly, looking at the photograph beside the stove. It was Shiho and a young boy, both wearing short-sleeved shirts, standing under the hot sun, a soccer ball under the boy's arm. And the both of them were smiling.

" I guess she's moved on," she muttered. " Am I right? Shuichi-kun."

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He had come too early.

It was obvious that he had come too early. The huge iron gates of the school were clamped shut, and even the owls on the trees were getting some shut eye before perching off for another mid-morning feast. He took a step backwards, walking in the direction of the park just opposite the school. There was something remotely mysterious about it all of a sudden. But then again, anything could look freaky at two in the morning.

He sat himself down on the swings, and pushed himself off the ground just a few inches before allowing himself to be swung backwards and then lifted off the ground once more. He was about to lift off once more, when he noticed walked up towards the school. He raised his eyebrows and came to a stop, hopping off the swings and onto the ground.

His eyes widened as he saw who it was.

" Miyano-sensei?" he called out.

She turned and squinted at him.

" Kudo?" she said.

Expect it sounded more like " Bruno' because she had half a sandwich in her mouth. He jogged across the road to reach to the other side. (Really not in the mood for the ' Why did the Chicken Cross the road' jokes.) He stepped up next to her as she as she pulled the piece of bread from her mouth, tossing it onto the ground as happy birds flew down to consume it eagerly.

" What are you doing here so early?" he asked.

" That's what I should be asking YOU." she said narrowly, pulling out a school key from her pocket and unlocked one side of the gate and pushed it open gently.

" I woke up too early." he said sheepishly. " There was no way I could just continue to toss and turn around in bed, so I guessed it wouldn't be better to stay around here."

" NOT smarter," she said, tucking the key back in her pocket.

He grinned sheepishly.

" What are YOU doing here, then?"

" I always come here this early." Shiho said calmly, locking the gate behind them and walked on along the pathway leading to the two huge doors which would soon bring them inside the dark corridors of the empty school. At the sight of that, Shinichi let out a low, low whistle, which went down the long line of unlit hallways like a train down a railway track.

" Don't you get scared?" he asked, who shivered in spite of himself.

" No." she said calmly, as they walked onwards in the dark hallways. " I'm used to the dark."

He raised his eyebrows.

" Why, what kind of childhood did you have?"

She didn't say anything until they reached her staff room and she swung open the door after unlocking it. " Do you want to come in for a while?" she asked.

" Sure," he said, sounding slightly impatient. " And stop changing the subject."

She clicked her tongue impatiently and opened the fridge inside.

" Coffee or tea?" she asked.

" Your answer to the question." Shinichi said.

Shiho seemed amused by his rudeness to his teacher and desire for her answer. But she kept herself quiet and had hide her grin at the sight of him glare into her back as she prepared the drinks. Finally after ten blistering minutes of waiting and eye glaring, Shiho turned around with two onigiri and two cups of coffee. " Enjoy." she said, hiding her smirk.

" Thank you." he said, almost sarcastically.

" You're welcome." she said, grinning broadly.

He was about to ask her once more, when she cut in before he spoke to save his saliva. " I don't remember much about my childhood." she said slowly, and he shut his mouth tightly. But not for too long, as he grabbed the riceball off the table and bit into it. The riceball, not the table.

" Any friends?" Shinichi asked, downing about half of the coffee.

Shiho thought for a moment.

" Not really." she said, biting into a small bit of the riceball. " My dad made me stay away from anyone."

" Why so?" Shinichi asked, looking apologetic.

Shiho paused for a moment, sipping her coffee.

" I guess he just didn't want me to meet anyone." she said. " Ever since my sister lost her memory for six months. . .yes, I have a sister. . . he was very paranoid, and did not want me to get in any physical harm. I know it's weird, but in some way. . .it's kind of sweet."

He raised his eyebrows, but nodded.

" Yeah. I guess it is."

Silence.

" But I do remember someone." she said slowly.

He nodded for her to continue.

" It was one of the few times I saw the light." she said vaguely. " A woman stood there with her son, and I could just remember his smile." A small blush appeared on her cheeks as she smiled slightly. " He was the first person I knew besides my parents and sister."

Shinichi smiled.

" How is he now?" he asked.

Her smile faded.

" It was three years after we became friends when I reached my tenth birthday." she said, crossing her legs. All of a sudden she looked forlorn and tired. " I expected him to come to my room once more. Hell, I even prepared to squint as I heard footsteps approach my door. But as it opened, all I saw was my mother."

She paused.

And he didn't force her to continue.

She just went by herself.

" I had a boy-friend when I was sixteen." she said, as if finishing off the story she left hanging previously. " He was just like me, quiet and sullen. I don't think there was ever a time that we went out on a date. It just like on reflex. W would see each other on the road and with one quick glance at each other, we were side-by-side, and just walked."

She swallowed.

" It didn't matter where we went." she said. " I was happy."

She bit her lip.

" Once, he finally showed some expressions to me. He just grabbed me by the arm and kissed me on the cheek. I was stunned, because we didn't show much things to each other. We barely held hands, let alone kiss each other. ' Call me tonight.' he had said. ' I have a surprise for you.' And for once, there was a grin on his face. A smile."

" And unknowingly there was one on mine too."

Shinichi remained silent. He didn't know if she was even talking to him anymore. Or maybe she didn't even know that she was still talking.

" I called him but he did not answer." she said.

Silence.

" And the next day he did not come to school. And the next day after that. And the day AFTER that." she gulped. " I called and called him. But he just would not answer."

Shinichi opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself.

" Even now I still call him." she whispered. " Even though I know he will never pick up."

She stopped, a blush forming on her face. " I'm sorry," she said in embarrassment. " You must be bored dead listening to me ramble on, aren't you?"

He finished the riceball and drained the last of the coffee. He wiped his lips and smiled at her. " I guess that was why you helped me out, right?"

Her eyes widened.

" What?" she asked.

" It's the same with Ran as it is the same with your past boy-friend, more or less." he said calmly. " Just that you don't know if your's is dead or not. Mine is very well alive, and you just wanted to help me out, am I not right?"

She just stoned out for a moment, before grinning.

" Yeah." she said. " No wonder you're a detective."

He smirked.

" Thanks." he said.

She lifted the mug to her lips, sipping the coffee, but was still watching Shinichi with the corners of her eyes. He just looked so familiar.

Who was he?

She drained the mug and placed it down.

" I need to clear my locker." Shinichi lied, clearly wanting to escape from an uncomfortable conversation.

" Okay then." Shiho said, wanting to be left alone.

Silence.

" See you later, Miyano-sensei."

" You too."

Then he stopped, and turned around.

" Miss Miyano?" he said.

" Yes, Kudo?"

" You're prettier when you smile."

Her eyes widened as she watched him disappear behind the door as it slowly shut.

There she stood alone.

" Dumb ass." she said, blushing.

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Sanshriyuki watched Shinichi's figure fade away from Shiho's office.

" Damn it." he grunted.

Sonoko let out a whistle.

" Looks like they really ARE together." she said.

Sanshriyuki opened his mouth, but was stopped short by Sonoko.

She was smirking.

" Never mind." she said, pulling out her phone. " I've got this all planned out."

He blinked.

She really WAS what they said she was, wasn't she?

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The war had indeed begun.

Friends had become enemies.

Enemies had become friends.

It was almost instant the next day that girls and boys who supported Ran would hang out together in one area, and fans of Shiho would in another place. Glaring or ignoring would take place, and if there were any needs of conversation or speaking to each other, it would be insults, which would lead to fighting and basically a lot of unnecessary pain.

Fans of Ran were more rowdy and lost their temper easier, as most of them were fans of Ran's kick ass karate moves, and thought that Ran could make Shiho fly across the globe if she wanted to, but was way too sweet and nice to do so.

Shiho's, on the other hand, were mostly boys and girls in her classes who idolized her brains and cool, but the others just liked her because she was plain hot. And they said that Shiho had a better looking future with all the brains, whereas Ran was just a wall kicking maniac bimbo who did not have enough brains to fill an eggcup.

The tie score clearly caused this.

There was just five days to the balloting.

One fight every lesson.

Eight lessons every day.

Five times eight would be forty.

The war had indeed begun.

And Ran, Sanshriyuki, Shiho and Shinichi were in the middle of it.

END OF CHAPTER 7

KristiexxNguyen. . . . Ok then. (Laughs) Sorry, once again, for the long wait.

Hoshito. . . . .Yep. I just did.

xtuyet. . . . .Sorry, yeah, I just noticed that. Guess I'm still not that good writer yet. (Laughs) Thanks for your support!

Sadie Janelle. . . . .I hope this was worth the wait too.

Vash. . . . .Excellent review. (Laughs)

tantei. . . .Yeah, most of us hate her, but she still cxares for Ran, so I'll let her live.

Adilla. . . .Really? (Broan grin) Really? Thanks. I don't know what to say.

anime-obsession260. . . . .Thanks. I'm cute too.

FoxyFire. . . .Yeah, I found that out. (sheepish)

SN 1987A. . . .Yes, you SHARP REVIEWERS, I made a mistake. (Cries against the wall)

Fanfic maniac. . .Yes, she sure is. Oh yeah, ahem. Muahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. (Breathes in oxygen.)

Crystal Snowflakes. . . . .Whoa, don't want to delay you there.

wayupi. . . . .Whoa, did I make you all wait THAT long? I'm sorry.

Silver Sky Magician. . . .Join the club, we've got jackets.

YumeTakato. . . .Arrg. . . .Everyone spotted my mistake. Crud. Never mind.