CHAPTER 11
" Please tell me what we are doing here again."
Sonoko raised her eyebrows at Sanshriyuki as she pulled out the key to the room and unlocked it. " Didn't we just go through this?" she asked him wirily, looking around the empty collidors, satisfied by her own cunning, and shut the door behind her. She walked briskly over to the huge cupboard at the back of the faculty room. " I'm going to remove a considerable amount of votes from Shiho's voting box secretly with you, and tomorrow at the balloting, she will lose and of course, Ran would defeat her easily."
" Miyano-sensei."
" What?"
" Miyano-sensei. You said Shiho. She's our teacher after all, and deserves our respect."
" Right. Miyano-sensei." Sonoko said carelessly, unlocking the cabinet and started to grab the box labelled ' SHIHO' and dropped them onto the table before her. " Thanks for helping me, by the way." she snapped, rolling her eyes.
" You never asked me," Sanshriyuki said, walking over to her to help her unlock Shiho's box with the new key that she handed him. " How many keys do you have, anyway?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.
" You don't want to know." she said, chomping into an apple she had kept in her pocket. " I even have the key to the boy's lockerroom."
His eyes widened. " So have you. . .?"
" Don't be stupid." she snapped. " But girls paid me hundreds just to borrow it. 50 dollars for a minute."
" That's scary."
" No it's not." Sonoko said impatiently, taking another bite. " Girl have their urges too, you know."
" I mean the number of votes Miyano-sensei got. Look at them!"
" Just hurry up." Sonoko snapped, tossing the apple core aside. " Take out five. I have faith in Ran's popularity. Just taking out five would be enough for Ran to bowl Shiho over her legs."
" Miyano-sensei." he corrected her.
" Miyano-sensei." she said, rolling her eyes again.
" I don't see why you like her so much."
Sanshriyuki looked offended. " You fancy the gym teacher." he argued.
" Because he's hot." Sonoko aruged back.
" And you're saying Miyano-sensei isn't?"
Silence.
" Do you want me to add more votes to your name?" Sonoko asked.
" I don't care about myself." he said. " I just want Miyano-sensei."
" Pervert."
" Egoist."
Silence again.
" You're crushing the voting slips."
" Sorry."
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It was seven.
Shinichi was starting to get worried by now. He had been waiting for exactly half an hour now, and he was wondering if anything had happened to Shiho. His hands were grasped on her doorknob now, contemplating whether it would be better to wait for another few minutes or to just go out and check. He raised his eyebrows at himself and stopped, snapping his fingers impatiently.
It was when he had made his mind and to open the door when it magically slammed right in his face, and there was a moment of silence as Shiho stood there, a bowl of porridge in her hands, watching Shinichi cradle his nose painfully, the door creaking away from the harmed surface.
She blinked.
Then she got it.
Blink.
" Oh my God, Kudo, I'm sorry!" she said, placing the bowl gently on the tabel and walked over to check out his bruise, but he simply waved it away.
" Naw, I'm okay." he said, trying to grin, but it only inflicted more pain on himself.
She raised her eyebrows at him, amused. " I can't beleive you still want to be macho at a time like this." she said.
" I'm not!" he said tightly, but winced as blood ran down from one of his nostrils.
" Men are such babies," she muttered, feeling into her pocket, and pulled out a handkerchief.
" Oh, hold still." she snapped. " I swear, dried leaves are tougher than you."
She dabbed the handkerchief on the exact spot where the blood was, examining the wound carefully, unaware of being watched by the detective's close gaze, a small blush appearing on his face.
He smiled warmly.
" You're really beautiful." he said out loud, then blushed at what he said.
" Er. . ." he started, expecting her to slap him or something, but she bit her lip, looking up at him.
" Thanks." she whispered. Then she smirked. " You're not just saying that because I'm tending your wound, are you?"
" Of course not." he said, grinning.
" AhEM." came a familiar voice from behind, a flash of light appearing in their direction before disappearing.
" Oh my sainted aunt." Shiho muttered, turning around to come face-to-face Akemi, a camera in her hands, grinning broadly at the two of them.
The two of them just stared at the unusually high lady.
" Oh, please tell me you didn't. . ." Shinichi whispered.
" Yep," she said, not denying it at all. " But don't worry, this is just for my eyes only. Of course, I could make seperate copies for the both of you if you want."
The two blushed furiously as she shut the door behind her, her laughter heard sounding the halls outside.
The two of them sweatdropped.
" Ne, your nee-san really is a joyful person." Shinichi said.
" Yeah." Shiho said, tossing the handkerchief into the rubbish bin. " There, it's done. Now eat up before it gets cold."
" Okay." he said, walking past her to pick up the porridge, and it was this split second when Shiho gasped, staring at his back. He whipped around, concerned for her. " What?" he asked. " What's wrong?"
She just looked at him soundlessly for a minute, seemingly taking in every turn of events, understanding them fully before smirking and shook her head. " It's nothing." she muttered. " It's just that. . .lately I've been seeing a lot of someone else in you."
He blinked, the spoon dipped into the porridge, letting it simmer silently.
" What do you mean by that?" he asked patiently.
" It's just that. . ." she whispered, biting her lip, unsure whether she should continue. " I think I figured out why I was so eager to help you."
He smiled, taking a bite of the porridge. " We already went through this didn't we? . . .Hey, this is delicious."
" Arigato." she said, before looking down at the floor. " I figure out. . .that I saw Shuichi inside you."
He stopped eating.
There was silence that befell the room after that.
Shinichi seemed to just stare at the porridge for a moment before looking up at her, and it was amazing just how unnaturally cold his eyes had become in just a few seconds.
" So in your heart I'm Shuichi's replacement, aren't I?"
Her eyes widened in shock. " No!" she cried. " Kudo. . ."
He got to his feet. " I guess the only reason I would still be in here was because you wanted to spend some time with your past fiance, right?"
" Kudo. . ." she whispered, tugging at his sleeve, but he wrenched it out of her grasp.
" Kudo?" he sneered. " Shouldn't you be calling me Akai now?"
It was then when she promptly got up and whipped her hand across his cheek. He just stood there, shocked, and his eyes widened as he noticed her eyes were stinging with tears.
" What kind of person do you think I am, Kudo?" she whispered angrily.
He blinked soundlessly, before sitting back down, and soon after she did too.
Silence again.
" I'm sorry." he muttered.
" Actually it should be me who should be apologizing." she muttered, and he looked up from his porridge, surprised. " It was the way like that at first." she said quietly. " But day by day I've gotten. . .steadily more fond of you."
His eyes widened, a faint stain of red appearing on hsi cheeks.
She smiled at him. " You're like my best friend, Kudo."
His heart dropped like a stone.
Quiet.
Silence.
Peace.
Sadness.
He smiled back.
" You too, Miyano-sensei." he said.
She grinned, wiping her tears away from her eyes. " You can call me Shiho, anyway."
Then her mouth widened in shock as he placed his finger on her eyelid, wiping away her tears softly.
" And you can call me Shinichi." he said.
She smiled back, blushing.
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Alright, this was interesting.
It seemed normal and perfectly alright to everyone, but there were only two people in the school who were shocked out of their skins, eyes wide, staring at the screen in shock. There was a two day holiday, and school would only start the day after; yet students were cowding around the billboard, anxious to know the results of the balloting.
It was when a group of students walked down the stairs to the carpark, when Shinichi and Shiho arrived at the same time from inside Shiho's car. Shiho nodded curtly at the few students who winked at her, some waving furiously.
Shiho and Shinichi exchanged glances before walking over to the huge billboard.
" I can't see why you had to drag me here." Shiho muttered.
" Come on, it's fun!" he said cheerfully, winking at several girls who congradulated him.
" I guess you won." Shiho muttered sarcastically.
He smirked. " I won't be surprised if you and Ran tied again."
Then the two of them arrived in front of the billboard, gazing up at it.
SANSHRIYUKI- - - -452 votes
" Well, HE'S certainly gotten more popular over the weeks." Shiho said approvingly.
" Yeah." Shinichi said, nodding.
YORO- - - - -453 votes
" Oh, good for Yoro!" Shinichi said, winking at Yoro who was not far from them.
He grinned back. " Not as good as you though." he mouthed.
SHINICHI- - - -500 votes
" Well, you're amazing." Shiho said, amused, crossing her arms across her chest.
He smiled, blushing slightly.
SAKURA- - - -321 votes
" Well, she did alright, I guess." Shinichi said, grinning at her. " She lost pitifully to you last time, didn't she?"
" Us." she said clearly, ignoring fan girls of her who were posting a banner with the words ' SHIHO MIYANO' on it, next to ' RAN MOURI' fans. " Me and Mouri-san."
" Right." he said sheepishly, before looking up at the banner.
SHIHO- - - -512 votes
RAN- - - - - 511 votes
Silence.
" Miyano-sensei won." someone whispered.
After that was followed by cheers and groans from all four sides of the court, yelling could be heard, glares in her direction, followed by cheers and many thumbs-ups. She just smiled. She caught a glimpse of Shinichi who was grinning back at her when she blushed and looked away.
Then the two of them noticed Akemi taking photos excitedly in their direction, waving.
" Shall we go?" Shiho asked.
" Yeah." Shinichi muttered. " I'll treat you lunch if we can make it to the carpark in 5 minutes."
" Make that 3 and you're on." Shiho muttered, waving at the roaring crowd before exiting the area.
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Sonoko was in shock as she and Sanshriyuki made their way off the bleachers.
" I can't Shiho won." Sonoko muttered.
" Miyano-sensei." Sanshriyuki corrected.
" Right." she said, too shocked to argue. " Which means that. . .Miyano-sensei actually won by six votes."
Silence befell the two of them.
" Actually, no." came a voice.
They spun around, and came face-to-face with a smirking man.
Sonoko blushed. God, he was good looking.
" When the two of you left I sneaked in and added the five votes that you took out." he said, his hands in his pockets. " In reality, Shiho only won by one."
And Sanshriyuki didn't feel the need to correct him.
" How did you managed to unlock the doors?" Shuichi asked, astonished.
" I'm in the FBI." he said, smirking.
" Who are you?" Sonoko asked.
" Shuichi." he said. " Akai Shuichi. And I'm warning the two of you. If you dare to do anything to Shiho. . ." he just simply cracked his knuckles, glaring at the two of them.
" I'll kill you."
Sonoko just nodded soundlessly, Sanshriyuki frowning.
Shuichi walked away, but stopped in mid-step. " Oh yeah. . ." he said. " Don't hurt that Kudo kid either. He's a nice person."
And he left.
The two just stared.
" Cool." Sanshriyuki muttered.
" Yeah." Sonoko said.
END CHAPTER 11
What did you think? This was a pretty easy chapter to write, in my opinion. Things start to get heated up in chapter 12, so please keep reading and reviewing this story! Sorry for forgetting the review responses! They're here now!
ReViEw ReSpOnSeS
Yamin- - -Aw, shucks. . .I'm blushing already.
ShinichiXShiho- - -She'll get it eventually, I guess.
wayupi- - - -HAHA! Gin as the principal! That'll be a riot!
KristiexxNguyen- - -You're welcome.
Vash- - -Thanks, I think so too. I sort of pictured her as a Tomoyo type, though.
fanfic Maniac- - -Haiz, don't remind me. I hate my grades. Damn.
Annitha- - -Oh, trust me, I will.
YumeTakato- - -Really? Sadistic, that you are.
Teresa- - -Thank you. I will.
Crystal Snowflakes- - -Ooh, me happy you reviewed, that I am, that I am. Lolz.
SN 1987A- - -Ah, yes, Haibara rocks my socks. Even if I'm barefooted at the moment, but not for long. Crud, I'm rambling. Thanks for the reviews and please update Galatea!
Adilla- - -Aw, someone actually misses my stories! (sniffs)