CHAPTER 13
Mizakan-sensei paid the woman at the counter and made his way back to the teacher's lounge, carrying his lunch in a styrofoam box in a plastic bag, which was held tightly by his left hand. He nodded at the two students who greeted him, and pressed the button on the lift. " Mizikan-sensei!" somebody called out from behind him. He turned lazily, and smiled as he saw a very pretty schoolgirl with a crutch under her arm limping over to his side.
" Hello, Akane." he said good-naturedly. " Has it healed yet?"
" It's getting better day by day." she said, nodding in thanks as he opened the lift doors long enough so she could limp inside. " I'm really sad I couldn't make it to the dance though. I was looking foward to dancing with you."
It was five days back when she had asked him to the dance with her. Not wanted to reject or hurt her feelings, he accepted. Ironically, just after he had bought his suit for the prom, she had told him that she couldn't go because she had sprained her ankle during her physical education classes. She was mature for her age, and he actually viewed her as an equal, and it felt pleasant to talk to her during his lonely hours. Maybe that was why he understood Shiho and Shinichi's relationship far better than others in the school.
" Maybe some other time then." he said to her.
She simply smiled back.
The lift doors opened and he helped her out. " Thank you." she mumbled.
" You're welcome." he said.
He waved goodbye to her as she limped away and he walked onwards to the teacher's office, and his eyes widened at what he saw.
" Sahshriyuki?" he called out to his student.
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" What? You 're going with Yoro to the dance?"
Ran smiled bashfully at her shocked friend. Well, actually, shocked is too small and silent a word. More like stupified or some classy word like that. But that's another story, of course. " Yes," she answered, biting her lip, forcing a giggle as Sonoko's eyes widened even more. " Come on, it's no big deal. Shinichi already rejected me, and I have to respect his decision, no matter how much that hurts me. To say the least, I'm actually relieved. I was feeling suffocated by all the pressure of Shinichi and everything. . .I'm happy now, the way it is."
Sonoko just gaped at her friend. " Are you sure?" she asked.
Ran simply smiled. " Yes." she said.
Sonoko was about to say something before Ran cut into her sentence.
" Besides," Ran said cheekily. " I heard you were spending long hours with sexy water polo boy Sanshriyuki." she said. " Have you finally found your knight in shining armour? What would his mace be? A polo ball?"
" Oh, clam up." Sonoko snapped, flushing.
" It's not what you think it is."
" Right." Ran said sarcastically. " I believe you."
Sonoko opened her mouth to rebuke before smiling softly and nodded to herself. " I've grown very attached to him lately." Ran smiled at her friend silently. The two of them were sitting below a huge tree just outside of the school, their lunches in their hands. " I've got half the mind to ask him to the dance, but he's too crazy with someone to even give me a second glance."
" Oh?" Ran asked, angry for her friend. " Who is she?"
Sonoko sighed. " Miyano-sensei."
Ran's eyes widened.
" Her?" she asked.
Sonoko tucked her arms behind her the back of her head and leaed against the tree. " Just wish me luck to win him over."
Ran grinned. " Okay." she said.
Just above them, there sat Shuichi, gnawing on an apple. He glanced at Sonoko, who was excitedly telling Ran about how Sanshriyuki won the last water polo match with his team, having scored the winning goal. He just smiled to himself, secretly wishing her luck too.
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The three people turned in the direction of one of their names.
Slowly, Shiho turned to face Sanshriyuki who was standing behind her.
" Sanshriyuki-kun?" she asked, but he just turned around, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked away. Shinichi was glaring in his direction in a way of fierce triumph, his hands clutched in small balls.
' I love her, Sanshriyuki.' he thought furiously, glaring at Sanshriyuki's back, burning imaginery holes in his shirt. ' I love her far more than you could love her. You know that, don't you?'
As if his telepathy had worked, Sanshriyuki slowed down in his fast pace for a second. . .just a mere second, and a small voice broke through Shinichi's head.
' No I don't, Kudo.' he had said. ' This isn't over.'
' Bring it on, you piece of dirt.' Shini chi thought.
" Way ahead of you, soldier." Sanshriyuki muttered softly behind disappearing behind the bend of the school.
Shiho turned to Shinichi, who smiled down at her. " You agreed, S- - -Miyano-sensei?"
Shiho smiled back, turning around.
" I guess so." she said, ready to enter the teacher's lounge before she stopped slowly. " But today, lunch is on you."
He grinned, a full-fledged smile. " Only if you drive."
" You're on." she replied, before disappearing behind the glass doors of the room.
Shinichi just watched the area where she once stood before letting out a sigh, and dropped to the ground, his legs suddenly weak. He was just about to take a nap right then and there in one of the most awkward places in the entire school when he heard a chuckle behind him and he jumped to his feet. " What are you doing here, Kudo-kun?" Mizakan-sensei asked him, walking up to him. " There are many other good resting spots all over the school, in case you haven't noticed."
Shinichi sighed again, then glanced at his teacher.
" You saw the entire thing, didn't you?" he said.
" Would be lying if I said I didn't." Mizakan said, grinning broadly.
Shinichi snorted under his breath and looked away, hands in his pockets.
Mizakan, however, was looking at him thoughtfully.
" Hey, Kudo-kun." Mizakan said, and Shinichi turned around.
" Yes? Sensei?"
Mizakan smiled. " Would you care to have tea with me? I'll excuse you from your next class. It IS physical education anyway."
Shinichi shrugged. He guessed eating with two different teachers in two days wasn't as bad he would have thought three months ago.
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" Can I have two cafe lattes please? Thanks."
" Alright, comin' right up sir."
" Hold the cream on mine."
" I'll have an additional cherry, thank you."
" Righty. Anythin' else, sirs?"
" That'll be all. How much?"
" Twelve thirty."
" Right."
" Sir, let me pay."
" Absolutely not. I'm your teacher."
" Fine. Let's go dutch."
" Fair enough."
Shinichi emptied his wallet and dropped six dollars and fifteen cents on the table, while Mizakan-sensei did the same. It was ten minutes later when the two of them were sitting peacefully at a table at the far end of the school cafeteria. Mizakan was nibbling at the two cherries fondly, Shinichi sipping his coffee silently, watching his teacher from the top of his coffeecup for a moment before placing it on the table before him.
" Was there anything you wanted to speak to me specifically, sir?" Shinichi asked.
" Yes, in fact there is." Mizakan said, dropping the cherries from his mouth to the side of his plate. " I wanted to talk to you about the relationship between you and my fellow collegue, Miyano Shiho."
Shinichi raised an eyebrows. " Oh? Do you object it?"
" Not to the least." Mizakan said gently, and Shinichi blinked in surprise. " In fact I support it greatly."
Of all the things he expected his maths teacher to say, this was one that he had least thought of. His mouth was hanging open loosely, and shut it quickly as he noticed how stupid he looked in the mirror behind him. Mizakan chuckled.
" You're in love with her, aren't you?" he asked.
Shinichi would have avoided the question. He could have lied with the answer. He could have just walked off. But Mizakan was one of the best teachers in the school; caring and understanding students in their minds and movements and ways, and in some part of Shinichi, he just wanted to spill out everything to his teacher. " I love her." he said softly.
Mizakan smiled. " I guessed that on how happy you were when she agreed to go with you to the dance."
Shinichi smirked at him. " You're pretty good at deduction too." he said.
" It's not like you think it is." Mizakan said modestly. " It's just that I was in a similar situation too."
Shinichi raised his eyebrows. " Oh?" he asked. " How's that?"
Mizakan just sat there for a moment, and Shinichi made no movement to rush him. " Do you know a girl in the school by Akane Tendouji?" he asked, and Shinichi just nodded. Akane was one of the most popular girls in school. Aside from Ran and Sakura, that is. But she was kicked out of the three most popular girls with the arrival of Shiho Miyano. " Well, she and I carry a strong bond together. . .not in the way of you and Shiho though." he added, eyes twinkling. " But she's one of the few people in this school. . .possibly in this world. . .that really understands me."
Shinichi smiled warmly.
" That's a beautiful friendship right there." he said quietly.
Mizakan nodded. " Yes, indeed it is."
They stayed quiet for a short moment.
" So what's it like with you and Shiho?" Mizakan asked.
Shinichi blushed for a moment before smiling. " I'm not very good with words, but let me just put it in an emotion. . .if that's alright with you."
Mizakan grinned. " I'm not your Literature teacher, but alright."
" It's like when I ride my bike to school, and I'm just crossing the hedge to the school gates when I look down at the road, and beyond that path is the beautiful sea, and as I look beyond that, I can see the wonderful sunrise. It makes me feel warm, happy, tired, and yet just fantasizing its beauty all in that second. Happy to see it, happy to around it, happy that it's there for you."
Mizakan's eyes widened. " Wow, that's some pretty meaningful stuff."
Shinichi grinned. " Thanks."
" Kudo-kun? Mizakan-san?"
They spun around, and came face-to-face with a surprised-looking Shiho, her eyebrows raised, hands on her hips. " What are you doing here, Kudo? My class starts in ten minutes. Surely you weren't planning on skipping that."
He got to his feet hurriedly. " N- - -No! Of course not."
His heart was thumping painfully against his chest. What was wrong with him? Was he really that in love with Miyano-sensei? " Mizakan-sensei was just having words with me. Did you come here to pick me up?"
" Don't flatter yourself, Shinichi. I was just getting myself a coffee. Are you coming or not?"
But she noticed him looking at her with a goofy smile on his face.
" That was the first time you called me by my first name." he said.
A blush appeared on her cheeks. " I. . .I called you by that two days ago. . ." she stammered.
" This time it was on your own good will!" he said. " Shih- - -"
" It's MIYANO-sensei in school," she hissed, her blush increasing, spreading across her whole face, pointing at Mizakan. " Now are you coming with me or not?"
" You said you were here to get a coffee." Shinichi said slyly.
Shiho bit her lip, glaring at him. She knew she would never tell that she walked all the way down here to pick him up, it was just too embarrasing to admit for words. " Oh, go gnaw on a bone." she snapped, turning her heel and walking off.
" I was kidding!" Shinichi called out, pushing his chair aside and running after her.
Mizakan chuckled to himself and crossed his arms. " I think Shinichi's the only person on the face of this earth to make Shiho Miyano to look and feel that flustered." he said to himself.
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" Shiho!" he called out. " I was kidding!"
" DON'T call me by that name in school." she snapped. " God, where is your brain attached to?"
" Yeesh, cold." he said.
They
made their way up the steps to the level of the physics room. " So what
were the two of you talking about?" she asked him innocently, nodding
at him in thanks as he kept the door open for her. He just remained
quiet for a moment before shaking his head, almost humoringly robotic.
" Nothing, actually." he said, trying to make it sound as carelessly as possible.
She simply raised her eyebrows but said nothing.
" So what will you be wearing?"
Shiho cocked her head and looked at him. " Curious?" she taunted, smirking.
" N. . .Not really." he stammered. " I just wanted to know what you would be wearing."
" That amounts to the same thing." she said, pleased that it was her turn to make him squrmish, a way of punishing him for making her lose her cool just a few minutes ago. Then she crossed her arms across her chest, clicking her tongue. " But don't worry." she continued, desire flooding her to break him. " It shows plenty of cleavage for all to see."
His blush deepened, and was about to say something to her when he noticed she was grinning. He glared at her, his blush disappearing. " You were doing that on purpose, weren't you?" he said.
" I don't know what you're talking about." she said in a mock innocent tone.
He sighed and made his way to the chemisty lab with her.
" I have a feeling today's going to be interesting." he said cheerfully.
" You think?" she said wirily.
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" You've SO got to be kidding."
Ran was smiling at her, a list in her hand. " Come on, Miyano-sensei." she said, ignoring the huffy looking Sonoko behind her. In fact, Shiho barely felt her presence in the room either. " It's just a simple karaoke that we decided to hold. . ." she was interrupted by Sonoko's loud snort before stalking off. " . . .And I wanted you and Shinichi to come along with us."
Shiho seemed to consider for a moment.
" Who else is going?" she asked resigningly.
" There's ME, of course." Ran said, shrugging as Shiho rolled her eyes. " Then Sonoko, Sanshriyuki, Yoro, Sakura. . .some of the girls in our class. . .I guess that's about it. Unless you and Shinichi agree to come along too, of course." she added hopefully.
Shiho bit her lip. " I don't know. . ." she started uncertainly. " I'm your teacher, and. . ."
" And what?" Ran asked. " That doesn't mean you can't be our friend."
Shiho's eyes widened before smiling warmly at her. " Yeah. I guess you're right."
" So you'll go?" she asked.
Shiho smirked. " Yeah."
" Great!" Ran exclaimed, running off. " Meet us after class, sensei!"
Shiho let out a rather arrested sigh and leaned against the whiteboard behind her.
" I can't believe you would agree to that," came a drawling voice behind her, and she flushed, glaring at the person.
" Relax, sensei." Shinichi said, taking a step backwards in fera in spite of himself. She looked away and he managed a goofy grin on his face.
" I'm not confident in my singing ability." she stated, chewing on her bottom lip.
Shinichi grinned. " Relax, I'm sure you would be able to sing like a bird."
" A crow, in any ways." she snapped.
He laughed, then nodded in Ran's direction. " Look how happy she is." he said.
She looked at Ran, who was telling Sakura the good news. The two of them waved at her. She froze for about a full second before she let a small smile slip through her defenses.
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" What? Miyano-sensei and Kudo are coming too?"
Sanshriyuki looked outraged, and Sonoko just shrugged. " There's no matter. You were unhappy to be invited anyway, might as well have some nice view while you're having a bad time, don't you think?"
" Shut up." he muttered, a tinge of red on his cheeks.
" Besides, I don't see why you're so upset about Shiho. . ."
" Miyano-sensei." Sanshriyuki corrected her, once again.
" . . .Miyano-sensei. . ." Sonoko added, rather sheepishly. " . . .Choosing Shinichi over you. From what you told me, she merely saw him before you anyway. Since he already asked, it was obvious she would agree to him."
Sanshriyuki sighed and nodded. " I've lost, in other words."
" Don't be stupid." Sonoko snapped. " That's just an invitation to the dance on the same night as the auction, that's all. You can still win a date with her on that day, can't you?"
Sanshriyuki sighed. " Yeah. I guess."
She got to her feet and pointed at Ran, who was waving at the two of them. " In the meantime, let's just go meet Ran. She and the rest are waiting."
Sanshriyuki looked up, and saw them standing at Shiho's desk. Then his eyes fell upon Shiho, who was talking to Shinichi, a small smile on her face. He got up to his feet, eyes full of confidence and anger. " I'm not going to lose to him." he said, tight-lipped.
Sonoko forced a smile, ignoring the feelings for him. " That's the spirit." she said. " Now let's try to enjoy ourselves, shall we?"
He managed a small smirk.
" Yeah." he said. " Let's."
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Miyano glared at the phone before him, gnawing on his bottom lip. " Shuichi Akai. . ." he whispered to himself. Shutting his eyes, he grabbed the phone and pressed it against his ear, dialing a number hastily. " I thought you would stay away from my daughter like planned. . .and now you've just gone too far. Trying to kill of Shinichi, the person whom I chose to take your place. . .you stupid, ignorant. . ."
He was about to finish his sentence when the person at the other line answered.
" Yes." Miyano, otherwise known as the principal of the school, hissed. " I want to take him out. Get fifteen this time, lock and loaded." There was a crash of lightning that filled the sky. " Kill him." he ordered. " I want Akai Shuichi's dead body before him."
It was then when people looking from their own point of views would wonder if what the principal said before was true. All about letting his daughter make the right choice, and choose the right person. Maybe he was specifically suggesting Shinichi. Maybe Sanshriyuki. Maybe he would just want her to be alone, like she was for almost her entire life.
Did he lie to himself? You would ask.
Yes he did, I would then say to you. Yes he did.
END CHAPTER 13
Well, another cliffy. Would Shuichi die? What's going to happen at the karaoke? What songs shall they sing? Lolz. It's a twist of laughter and bitterness. The showdown of Shuichi and Shiho's father is beginning. And it would not take more than two chapters, I promise you. Please look foward to chapter 14. BTW: Who knows where I can download Conan episodes after episode 190 in japanese? Please tell me. THANK YOU!
ReWieW ReSpOnSeS
kris- - -Not a bad guess, but no.
Yume Takato- - -Hmm, that's tough.
SN 1987A- - -Yep, Galatea rocks. Lolz. Whoa, I'm glad for Sanshriyuki, I don't want his dead body over my fanfiction. XD. Thanks for the compliment about Akemi. She's really and cute in my opinion too. Please continue to read and review.
Alouette- - -Why, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Crystal Snowflakes- - -Thanks. I like doing cliffies, and I hope I'm pretty good at it. XD
ShinichiXShiho- - -Wow, you truly, if I may be so bold to say, are a fan of my story. You were so sharp in every way, and yes, I congradulate you for noticing it was Shinichi. Thank you for your support thus far!
Fanfic Maniac- - - -Lolz. And here it is.
amazonchick73- - -Thanks.
Silver Sky Magician- - -Well, my name's NOBODY. Nobody is perfect. Sorry, corny joke. Lolz. Please wait for chapter 14!Lolz!