Sorry for the super long update, everybody. My exams were crazy, my com crashed five to six times, I got a nervous breakdown, and a crisis went through my life. But now that thats over and the holidays are coming up, you can all rest assured that I will update as much as I can, whether thats good news or not. Here's the next chapter of this story, everybody, and hopefully you can enjoy it. (HINT HINT) immensely. Alright, here I am at the next chapter of The Teacher, please read and review this story and most of all, enjoy.

CHAPTER 9

" Eh? An internal war?"

The four other teachers laughed at the new sensei's shocked reaction, a noodle still hanging limply at one side of his mouth. The four teachers were having an early breakfast before the start of school, and were huddled around one table in the teacher's lounge. " Yeah," Mister Mizakan said, sipping from the cup of coffee in his hands. " Apparently there's some sort of trife between the ' Miyano-sensei' fans, and the ' Mouri fans.'

The new teacher, seeming even more puzzled than ever, looked at the other teachers questioningly.

" It's no contest, really." Miss Ayako said, leaning back in her chair. " Ran was here for years, and yet Miyano could catch up so fast in popularity in a matter of weeks. Miyano would overtake her in days, I assure you."

" Not exactly," Miss Takato said, biting into the onigiri in her hands. " Ran has been widely liked around the country for her many wins in judo, so technically, her fans win Miyano's by a tenfold."

Baki sensei lifted a cigarette to his lips, and blew. He smirked at the other three. " But Miyano's hotter than Mouri."

Mizakan blushed. " Baki!" he muttered. " There are female teachers here!"

" But it's true, really." Ayako said, smiling to herself. " Miyano has a sort of radiance wherever she goes."

" I hope you aren't just being biased towards her because she's a teacher." Takato laughed.

The new teacher, was lost in the conversation long ago.

" Well, I'm not." Ayako, laughing along with the rest. " You have to admit that Ran CAN be rather childish at times. Miyano just seems to keep her cool at all times of the day. When I speak to her, I feel almost as if she is my senior, when in fact she's. . .well. . ."

" Younger than you are." Mizakan said, grinning.

" Er. . ." the new teacher started, but was cut in almost right away.

" But Ran's friendlier than Miyano, and easier to approach." Takato said, shrugging. " Easily spoken, I would rather brefriend Ran than Miyano."

" Oh really?" Ayako said. " I heard some students speaking about this exact same subject when I was in the lift. They said that Shiho is really funny in class."

" Miyano?" Mizakan asked, raising his eyebrows. " Funny?"

" Yeah, I thought she was just hot, that's all." Baki said, grinning wider than the sun.

Ayako grinned at Baki. " What's wrong with you?" she asked. " She's only 17."

" So what?" Baki asked, squishing his cigarette butt into the ashtray before him. " She's five years younger than Takato, and her body's already better than hers."

Takato blushed. " Baki!" she said. " You. . ."

" It's true, at any cost." Baki said, grinning.

Secretly, Mizakan agreed.

" So who would you think will win the war?" Ayako asked, getting back to the main subject.

There was a short silence.

" I choose Miyano." Ayako said, answering her own question. " She's smart, beautiful, and extremely grown up for her age."

The others murmered in agreement and in objection.

" I'm going for Mouri." Takato said pointedly. " In the long run, Ran. . .no pun intended. . .would win. She's known more, and people would choose someone who stayed here for years, not pop out within weeks."

Another constant muttering.

" I'm going with Miyano." Baki said, lighting yet another cigarette. " One point for her brains, another point for her beautiful face, another point for her lucious lips, another point for her mysteriousness, and ten for her body."

There was silence on this one.

A cough.

Mizakan finished it. " I choose Ran. Miyano's mysterious and that's attractive, but Ran's friendliness wins hers by a mile."

The new teacher just shrugged.

" Whatever happens," he said, and the others turned. " This will be fun to watch."

They grinned.

" Amen."

" Right."

" Finally you spoke up."

And there was silence once more.

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" In the case of the extraction of aluminium, aluminium occers naturally in the ore called bauxite. Bauxite contains hydrated aluminium oxide. Aluminium is a reactive metal, so it cannot be obtained by reduction of the ore with carbon. It must be extracted from its ore by. . .?" Shiho raised her eyebrows at the class for a moment, when Shinichi's hand rose up. She grinned at him.

" Yes, Kudo?" she said.

" Just wanted to say," he said, a grin on his face to compete with hers. " Welcome back, Miss Miyano."

There were cheers to that, and whistles going in his way. Shiho raised her eyebrows, but was amused all the same. " I don't think that that has anything to do with our topic, Kudo." she said, and the class laughed.

" Crud, the substitute teacher was really bad, Miss Miyano." groaned a boy from the centre row, and there were murmers of consent.

Shiho folded her arms.

" Wrong answer, Yoro." she said.

There was another laugh, and Shiho look into the crowd for anyone who knew the answer when her eyes and Ran's met. There was jealousy in them. Was she angry because Shinichi welcomed her back? Looks like Shinichi's plans were going along fine. She looked at Shinichi, and he looked back.

She smiled at him.

He looked away, blushing.

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" Welcome back, Miss Miyano." said Mister Mizakan.

She nodded and sat down at her seat in the teacher's lounge. Several teachers walked over from their seats, who had just come back to rest while their students had recess or physical education.

" Where did you go?" Miss Ayako asked, concerned.

Shiho just smiled at her reassuringly. " I'm alright, really." she said. " I just had a fever."

" Fever?" asked a health education teacher, backing away from her slowly. " Do you still have it?"

The other teachers laughed, while Shiho merely smirked. " No," she said. " But with your luck you'll probably still catch it."

They laughed again.

" I bet you got tons of visitors, didn't you?" Mister Bika said.

" Not as many as you would think." Shiho said. " But much more than I expected."

" You're just being modest." a teacher said, laughing.

Shiho was about to answer her when there was a knocking on the door. All the teachers looked up, and noticed Kudo Shinichi standing there. " Ah, there's a piece of eye candy." Mister Ayako said, grinning. The other teachers hid snickers as she walked over to open the door.

" Hello, Kudo. Who are you looking for?"

" Er. . ." Shinichi said, uncomfortably aware of all the teachers staring in his direction. " Is Miss Miyano there?"

The teachers looked at Shiho, who had gotton up from her seat. " Ah, my adoring public." she muttered, as some of the teachers grinned mischeviously. She nodded at Miss Ayako, who walked past her. Shiho stood at the doorway, smiling at him. " Hey, Kudo. What's up?" she asked. He blushed, and was about to answer her when he stopped, eyes following to the staring teachers behind.

" Come on," she muttered, pulling him outside, much to the disappointment of the teachers, and shut the door.

" Well, that's an interesting conversation we won't hear." Mister Baki said, folding his arms.

Mister Mizakan was smiling knowingly.

" What?" the teachers asked questioningly.

" I never saw Kudo Shinichi that flustered before. . .not even before Ran Mouri."

There were some knowing smiles.

" But that's wrong, isn't it?" Ayako said, raising her eyebrows. " For a teacher and a student have that sort of relationship?"

" Not if we don't tell anyone, it's not." Mister Mizakan said, lifting the cup of coffee to his lips, a gentle smile on his face.

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" So what did you come for?" Shiho asked, leaning against the wall behind her.

Shinichi bit his lip, face red. ' What's wrong with me?' he shouted at himself. ' Why is my stupid heart beating so hard? Why do I feel like I've just run a long distance and stopped? Why do I feel like. . .' His mouth felt dry, before smiling. ' No. . .that couldn't be it.'

" I just wanted to ask if you were feeling better already." he asked, struggling to keep calm.

Her eyes widened, before smiling warmly.

" Yeah." she said. " Thanks for your chicken soup. I never knew that you could cook."

" Yup. . .Ran taught me how to."

Shiho nodded, before poking him on the shoulder. " Speaking of which. . .when do you want to have the next lesson? I think things are going on really well. . .you would be able to win her back soon.'

I don't love her anymore, Miyano-sensei.

I love YOU.

He forced a smile.

" Would tomorrow be okay?"

" Yeah." she said. " Tomorrow would be great. See you in class later."

" Yeah."

She left, and left him there struggling to keep his heart beating normally.

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Akemi smiled as she looked at the photo album.

" Yup. . .it really is him."

There was a picture of Shiho and a young boy together. Shiho was in bed, a weak smile on her face, Shinichi reading a book to her. Akemi smiled fondly. This was when Shiho had a fever, and the boy had come over for days until she was feeling better. She remembered she had to open a small creak in the door in order to take the picture, and she had never shown it to anyone yet.

" Kudo Shinichi. . ." she whispered.

" The lost boy. . .we found you at last." She looked at another, and it was of Shinichi letting Shiho lick a bit of the ice-cream in his hands.

She pressed the picture against her chest, shutting her eyes tight.

" Shinichi. . ." she said softly. " Please take good care of my sister."

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" What? Shiho Miyano?"

The man nodded, his hands in his pockets. " Yeah. . .I heard that she taught here."

" Indeed she teaches here. . ." the random schoolboy answered. " But she just left school a few minutes ago."

" Oh." he said. " Thank you."

And the boy walked off. The man scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably, walking up the steps towards the rooftop. He remembered how much Shiho liked high places, and maybe, with some luck, he could catch her there. His hands grasped the handle and pulled, sighing as he walked up.

When he reached there, he raised his eyebrows, aware that there were people there.

Just two, one was a girl and the other was a guy.

" What's this whole thing of you snubbing Ran?" the girl was asking, almost snapping at him. " Don't you like her already?"

" Whaaat?" the boy asked wearily, his hands in his pockets. " Since when did I like her?"

" Since forever?" the girl said, which was more of a demand than a question.

The man let out a whistle.

This was some hot stuff.

" Shinichi!" she yelled.

" What?" he yelled back.

" Are you in love with Miyano-sensei?"

The man's ears pricked.

" What the Hell are you getting at?" Shinichi said, but there was a faint sign of unease in his voice.

" You spend almost every day with her!" the girl said. " What's the matter with you? Don't you know that it's wrong to fall in love with a teacher?"

The man didn't know whether he was amused or angry.

' Was this Shinichi person in love with Shiho?'

There was silence.

" I am, okay?" he had said.

The man's eyes widened.

There was silence again.

" Oh, go to Hell with you!" the girl yelled, and stomped off towards his direction. He moved aside and let her kick the door down, walking away. It was at one moment when she noticed him, and smiled coyly at him, before walking away.

He rolled his eyes.

' Whatever. . .'

He hopped over the broken door, and noticed the boy looking at him.

He blinked.

" Who are you?" Shinichi asked.

He didn't mean for anyone to hear what the two of them were talking about. . .especially not from someone who looked like he was from C.S.I.

" Is it true that you're in love with Shiho?" he asked.

Shinichi blinked.

" Who are you?" he asked.

" Is it true that you're in love with Shiho?" the man asked again.

" Who are you?" Shinichi asked.

Silence.

" I'll answer you only after you answer me."

The man smirked, and shrugged.

" Very well." he said. " I was Shiho's fiance."

Shinichi's eyes widened.

Her fiance? Could he possibly be. . .

" My name is Shuichi." he said, a smirk on his face. " Akai Shuichi."

END OF CHAPTER 9

Hahaha. . .that's so full of drama, isn't it? The conclusion of Shinichi and Shiho's past is coming in one shot, and then it would be finished. Or I would choose to just end it here. . .I don't know. It's pretty good this way. Finally Shuichi and Shinichi meet, and there will be a sort of confrontation here. Relax everybody, the next chapter will be up MUCH MUCH MUCH faster than this one took, because this time I had exams, so please pardon me. Chapter 10 would have a climatic scene, so please look out for it. I want to keep writing this, I really do. It's a lot of fun, really it is.

ReAdEr ReSpOnSeS

Silver Sky Magician. . .But she had a fever in Conan book 41 right? She looked cool even when she was sick, that it shocked me. Doh. I really want to put that in my story, but Shiho would seem like a weakling if she fell sick TWICE in the same story, right?

Great Detective. . .You can bet on that. More scenes of the two of them coming up.

wayupi. . .It was always SS from the start to the end. I'm not fond of Shinichi/Ran.

SN 1987A. . .Yeah, this one took a long time too. Lolz. But the next one won't, I promise.

anime-obsession260. . .Haha, no he didn't. There's no point of that happening, right? Where's chapter 6 of Silent Life? COME ON! UPDATE!

ShinichiXShiho. . . .Yeah, Shinichi's like the candy. Sweet, and addictive. Sorry, did I sound gay just then? Hahaha.

Fanfic maniac. . .Sorry, once again, for the long update.

Adilla. . .Yeah, you're right. Was it THAT obvious?

Kippenberger. . .Interesting question, I never thought of that. When did she wear glasses in the comic? She only did that once, and that was to disguise herself.

Crystal Snowflakes. . .Well, good luck with that. Haha.

KristiexxNguyen. . .Trust me, I won't.

Vash. . .Crud, everyone knows. Haha.

Kippenberger (2). . .They're both the same age, I wrote that in the first chapter.

H. Rui. . . .Hehe, sorry about that. Good luck with your violin, I always dreamed to play it.

Yume Takato. . .Yep, he's naughty, that he is.

Neil. . .Whoa, that freaked me out. Hahaha.

Sooner. . .Aw shucks, thank you.