I had to think about this chapter for quite a while. The setting, the timing, the characters, the props. . . .finally I'm coming to the end of the story. I don't know if I feel sadder more than I feel a sense of achievement. I guess it's a crossover between both. Just who was the person in the bushes? Could it, by any chance, be Akai Shuichi? Find out in this chapter!

CHAPTER 17

Shinichi stood erected to the spot.

What she said had gone through his senses, but still had not traveled fully to his head and mind. It was like being locked into a freezer. His entire body seemed to go numb, silence circling the area between the two of them. And he felt cold. Unknowingly cold. He just gaped at her, eyes wide with shock. People surrounding them seemed to get the hint that something had happened which did not go according to Shinichi's plan, and edged away at the undying tension that was passing between the two of them.

" You're. . .sorry?" he whispered.

She let out the breath that she was holding and crossed her arms across her chest, refusing to look up at him; to look into his eyes. " I viewed you as my best friend." She said, almost to herself. " You were my pillar of support, and were the only friend I could cling on to. When I first met you, you were someone that I thought I could count on more than anybody else. Kind, sweet, and gentle. I gave you the lessons so that you could win Mouri back. I do love you too. . .but as a friend."

Nothing that she said went through his head. Just a sense of resignation, a feeling of retirement, a hope for her to just accept him; or at least allow things between the two of them to be the same again. But who the Hell was he kidding?

He forced a smile and turned his heel to walk away.

" Shinichi." She said, and he stopped.

" Yes, sensei?" he whispered, and she flinched at the sensibility of his tone. There was no signs of the old Shinichi that he knew. He was not calling her by her first name like he always did. It was then when she really understood the true pain of her rejection. He was rejected twice. Twice in just a matter of days. She licked her dry lips.

" I just wanted to. . .thank you for the friendship you shared with me." She said.

He smiled.

" You're welcome." He said, before disappearing behind the door.

Shiho stood there for a long time, just gazing at Shinichi's back, until he was just another person in the crowd. She sighed and leaned against the pillar behind her. He glanced at it slightly before letting out a small smile. " Another pillar of support for me." She said, before slamming her fist against it. " Please don't shatter to pieces too."

Akemi watched from the tree she was in, and sighed, shutting off her video recorder. " I knew that something like this would happen." She said depressingly. " Even so, I just hoped that she would accept Kudo's confession. Oh well."

She noticed someone watching the two of them too.

She smiled softly. Slowly, she dropped down from the top of the tree, crossing her arms across her chest. " You were the one watching the two of them in the bushes, weren't you?" she whispered, and the person jumped at the sound of her voice. Yet he refused to look at her, his lips pursed, staring at the many people who were dancing on the dance floor.

" How did you know it was me, Akemi?" he asked softly.

" It was pretty obvious that it was you who was watching her all along." She said casually, stuffing her video camera into her bag. " You may seem heartless at some moments, but I know that you still care for her at the bottom of your heart."

The person said nothing.

" Don't try to act like you understand me." He said quietly.

" Oh, I think I know more about you than anybody else." She said gently, in a voice of self-praise and understanding. " I'm one of the persons who went looking for you when you left."

" And did you find me?" he said coldly.

" Indeed I did." She said. " It was obvious that it was you who invited her to work at this school, being the fact that you wanted to take care of her and look after her."

" You're wrong." He sneered. " I couldn't care less about her."

" You cared about our mother, in any case." She said.

She stayed silent.

" Got you right there, didn't I?" she whispered. " . . .Father."

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Shinichi locked himself into the toilet cubicle, before sitting down on the toilet seat with a dull plonk. So he was rejected by Shiho too. He was so sure that she had felt the same way about him. But then again, he was no expert on telling the emotions of females. He was no expert like Yoro. Hell, he even thought that Ran was in love with him, for a point of time.

He gave a harsh laugh before burying his face in his hands.

All the weeks that he and Shiho spent together was more enjoyable and fun that his many years he spent with Ran. She was so perfect with him, fitting into him like a glove. He had always been looking for his " missing piece" for many years, and almost thought that it had been found when he met Ran. Well, that certainly was a bad judgment.

" Shiho." He whispered.

Her name tasted sweet on his lips.

" Shiho." He said again.

Suddenly her name tasted hard and salty from his mouth. Tears had started to fall from his eyes and he rubbed them furiously. Boy, he almost thought that he could never feel worse than after the time he was rejected by Ran. That was nothing in comparison with what he was feeling now. He pressed his head against the back of the wall behind.

All was lost.

He was defeated by Sanshriyuki.

Wait a minute.

He sat up right, glaring at the ceiling. It wasn't possible that Shiho did not love him. Did those weeks mean nothing to her? He wrenched open the door of his cubicle, and turned on the tap, splashing his face. The water mingled with his tears, but he ignored it, wiping his face.

" I love you Shiho Miyano." He said clearly.

There was no answer.

He smiled to himself and threw the tissue paper into the bin next to him. He was going to win her over at the balloting. If he wouldn't win her over, there was some way that he could win her over. There was no way he was going to give up without a fight. He opened the door to the toilet forcefully, before coming face-to-face with Sonoko. Her arms were crossing against her chest, looking at him with somewhat of an appraising look.

" What?" he asked cautiously.

But she smiled.

" Good luck." She said.

Shinichi blinked before grinning.

" Thanks." He said, running off, still clueless to what she was wishing him luck for.

She sighed and watched him leave. " Please end up with Miyano-sensei." She whispered to herself, clutching her fingers together, in the way of a prayer. " Then maybe. . .then maybe. . .Sanshriyuki and I can. . ."

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" You're still as sharp as you were before, Akemi." Miyano said, smirking. " When did you notice that I was the principal all along?"

" In the yearbook." She said clearly. " I don't forget faces as easily as Shiho does. But scratch that, what's with the wheelchair?"

" Yeah." He said, wincing in pain. " I might have to be in this for many years to come. Looks like there's no good side in making Akai Shuichi angry."

" Akai?" she asked, eyebrows raised. " He's still alive?"

Shishio smirked and turned his wheelchair in the direction away from the dance. " I think I'm going to take off now." He said quietly. " I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Akemi watched him roll away before sighing. " I won't tell about who you really are, father." She said silently. He stopped, before turning around, eyes wide with shock. " I don't know what the reason is for you leaving us, and frankly speaking, I don't really care. I just want you to leave us forever. Don't show yourself to Shiho once again. I don't want you to hurt her."

Shishio smiled sadly.

" Yeah." He said. " I guess you're right."

" I know I am." Akemi said curtly. " If you dare hurt her in any way. . ."

" I wouldn't dare to." He said. " She's my daughter after all."

Akemi glared at him before looking away.

" Goodbye father." She said.

He looked at her before chuckling lightly. " You've really grown up, Akemi." He whispered. " I always thought that you were the one who was taken care of by her younger sister. . .apparently me leaving you and her did you some help, don't you agree?"

" So it would seem." Akemi said, still refusing to look at him.

He nodded to himself, before taking another look at his daughter. " You're beautiful, Akemi." He said. " Be sure to tell that compliment to Shiho too."

" I would try." Akemi said coldly.

He gave a withering smile before turning his wheelchair around once again. " Goodbye, Akemi." He whispered.

She said nothing.

It was only after the sounds of the rolling of the wheels of Shishio's wheelchair died away when she turned to look, facing an empty sea of trees. A lone tear fell from her face and she wiped it away hastily.

" Goodbye." She said. " Father."

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" Is something wrong, Miyano-sensei?"

Shiho turned to face three school girls, who were looking at her worriedly. She gave them what she hoped was a comforting smile. " I'm fine." She whispered. " Everything's okay."

" You can't lie to us, sensei." One of them said, pointing her finger at Shiho. " We know female emotions better than anyone else, and we can tell that something just happened between you and Shinichi-kun. What happened? Can you please tell us?"

Shiho looked rather edgy, and tried to get away, but found out to her dismay that they had cornered her against the wall behind her. " I'm afraid I can't say anything about that." She said tightly, and the three girls groaned. " It's strictly something between him and me."

They gasped.

" That sounds like you're married, sensei." One said, giggling.

" Or engaged." Another said.

" Or that you two just had a healthy snog."

Then the three burst into giggles.

Shiho flushed to the colour of an overripe tomato. " That was totally uncalled for." She snapped. " What do you mean that we're like a couple?"

" Oh, you two are the most popular " what if" couple in the school." One of the girls said dreamily. " Second was Ran and Shinichi, which used to be the top last time. Third was of course, Mizakan-sensei and Akane-san. Third are Sanshriyuki and Ran, but then that's. . ."

" Enough." Shiho said firmly. " Me and Shi- - -Kudo are not dating."

" But that's a pity, isn't it?" the second one said, crossing her arms across her chest. " You two are just so sweet together. Both are cool, calm, smart, nice. . .not to mention good-looking."

" Plus, you two spend a lot of time together alone too." The first said.

" And what proof do you have?" Shiho said, suddenly nervous.

" Your sister told us about it after we gave her some pictures of the two of you together." The third said proudly. " See? We're onto you."

Shiho reminded herself to physically kill her sister when she got back home.

" No you're not onto me." She said. " Because you can't be onto someone if there's nothing happening with her. Or him, for that matter."

" Whatever you say, sensei." The girls said, giving up and started to retreat.

" But come to think of it. . .you only warmed up to us after you met Kudo." One of the girls said, and she froze. " You were nicer after you two became friends."

And they left her standing there alone.

She stood there, rooted to the spot.

" You two look really cute together."

" You two spend a lot of time together."

" You were nicer after you and Shinichi became friends."

She bit her lip.

Truly enough, it was Shinichi who had a huge impact on her life. She never though she would actually be friends with such a person. He was cheerful, popular, loud. . .all these three characteristics were nothing like Shuichi. Sure he was famous with the girls, but he would just brush them away like dirt on his collar. In Shinichi's case, he would thank every one of them, and think of a way to pay back their love. Yet the two of them were also alike in so many ways.

Their smile, their cool, the way they spoke to her in tender moments. . .

She let out a small laugh before pressing her hand against her forehead.

" I love you."

That was what Shinichi told her, speaking it though the likes of a fact.

" Kudo. . ." she whispered, his name echoing through the night.

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" Well, I have to admit, that was mighty depressing."

Yoro and Ran gave pitiful looks to both Shinichi and Shiho who were both standing at opposite ends of the party, showing no signs of happiness at all. Akemi nodded and shut the video recorder, chewing on her bottom lip edgily. " It's doubly saddening for me," she said, gently putting her camera back into her bag. " Because not only is the person breaking his heart my own little sister, but also because I'm so fond of Kudo Shinichi. And I've watched this twice." She added as an afterthought, the other two grinning at her sheepishly. Ran looked at Shiho.

" She looks so lonely." She whispered.

" That was what Shiho was like most of the time before she met Shinichi." Akemi said, almost casually as they skimmed through the dance floor to get themselves some punch. " At first Shuichi was the only source of warmth for her. But then. . ."

And her voice died out.

Yoro raised his eyebrows.

" And then what?" he asked.

" It's nothing really." Akemi said flatly. " In any case, you two better do something about those two. They're so gloomy, it's almost frightening."

" Not for Shiho's case, it's not." Ran muttered. " She was like that for the first quarter of the year. . ."

Then she stopped, looking at Akemi, who smiled.

" . . .Before she met Shinichi." Akemi finished, eyes twinkling. " You see what an impact he had on her? My guess is that she probably just doesn't know her love for Shinichi yet. After all, it would seem like she's cheating on the past Shuichi."

Ran nodded.

" Okay." She said. " I'll talk to Miyano-sensei, and. . ."

" No." Yoro said, and Ran stopped, startled, staring at him.

Ran raised her eyebrows.

" No?" she asked.

" No." he said, quite firmly. " I'll talk to Miyano."

The two girls watched as something surged through his eyes, something that Ran had never seen before. He turned and once again, it was gone. He smiled at them. " Talk to Shinichi, Ran." He said. " You two didn't get a decent chat lately anyway. Leave Miyano to me."

Ran nodded and walked off.

Yoro smiled and started to leave when he found out that Akemi was frowning at him. " Have I met you somewhere?" she asked.

Yoro shrugged.

" The world is small." He said.

She smirked and nodded, and he walked off.

" You're just full of secrets aren't you, Yoro-kun?" she whispered, almost to herself.

Almost as an answer, his head tilted downwards for a fraction of an inch, as though telling her his answer.

Yes.

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Shinichi drank out of his punch cup, letting out a sigh.

Sure he had not lost to Sanshriyuki yet. But there was something about chasing after someone who had just rejected him that he did not like. However, being the fact that he was chasing Ran after she rejected him hundreds of times, he really shouldn't have thought of that.

" Hi." Came a voice, and he turned.

Ran smiled up at him.

He forced a grin.

" Hey." He said. " Enjoying the party?"

" Not really." She said, smiling sheepishly, and he smiled back.

Then she bit her lip.

" Shinichi. . .I'm sorry about you and Shiho."

Shinichi raised his eyebrows.

" You know about that too?" he asked.

" Yeah." She said. " Miyano-sensei's sister told us all about it."

He sighed.

" Right." He said.

Then there was silence.

" So you're really in love with her, aren't you?" Ran asked, cocking her head. Shinichi looked at her questioningly, wondering if there was a second part of the question. When she said nothing more, he sighed and leaned against the wall behind him.

" Yeah." He said. " I am."

Ran blushed slightly and smiled.

" At first I didn't want you two to get together." Ran confessed, and Shinichi looked at her. " I wanted her to just dump you, and hopefully you would get back together with me. But that was just a hopeless fantasy. You and her looked so perfect together, that it seems ridiculous now that I wanted her to break your heart."

He said nothing.

" I thought that I could never possibly fall for you again." Ran said, ignoring the fact of people gazing at the two of them, sly grins on their faces. " I though you were just a thing in the past, a person from a small chunk of my life. It was only when I fell for you again then I realized how many good points you had. And they were all shown to me because of Miyano-sensei."

At that moment several girls walked past, and Ran stopped in mid-speech.

" The pain must be terrible, am I not wrong?" she whispered.

Only at this, Shinichi looked at her.

" I hoped for death when you dumped me." She whispered. " I just wanted to curl up in a ball and die when you said that you would never love me again. Being the fact, what you must be feeling must be. . ."

He stood upright.

" I didn't ask for you to read into my heart, Ran." He said curtly.

" And I'm not trying to." She said stubbornly. " Don't you think that what happened with me and you is a reflection of you and Miyano-sensei?"

Shinichi stared at her.

" I know she loves you too." Ran said. " Just like I did to you."

" Ran. . ." Shinichi started.

Ran smiled at him.

" Come on." She said cheerfully. " The balloting will start soon."

She started to walk away, when she felt his hand tug against the hem of her skirt. She raised her eyebrows and turned. He was smiling, rather forcefully at her.

" Thank you, Ran." He said.

She smiled back.

" You're welcome." She said.

She walked away, and he stood there.

He shut his eyes and smiled to himself.

" That's right." He said softly. " I love her."

It was dark outside, but suddenly the sky seemed to bright and sunny all of a sudden.

Finally, he had found his missing piece.

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Suddenly Shinichi felt a tap on his shoulder and a young girl gave him a letter. Shinichi, thinking that it was love confession, was ready to apologize to her and tell her that his heart had somebody else when he noticed what was on it. ' A.S.' was what was written on it. He smirked slightly and took it from her, opening it up. But strangely there was nothing inside, and he gazed up at her curiously.

" He. . .asked you to meet him in the basketball court." She said, fingering her hair nervously.

He smiled at her and nodded.

" Thank you." He said.

He ran out to the basketball court, and opened the door before shutting it behind himself. " Shuichi!" he yelled out, but received no answer. He raised his eyebrows and took another step inside, when a blinding light flashed from all four sides of the area. There stood Shuichi and Shishio in the middle, smirks on their faces. Shinichi blinked and took another step forward.

" Shuichi?" he asked cautiously. " What is this?"

" This is what I wanted to clarify before I finally acknowledge the fact of you and Shiho together." Shuichi said flatly, removing the coat that covered his body. There were scars all over his chest, but God knows how many there were underneath his singlet. " Shishio and I came to an agreement to let you two come together, on one condition."

" And. . .what's that?" Shinichi asked nervously.

" If you can land one punch on Shuichi." Shishio said, smirking.

Shinichi gaped at the two of them.

" Er. . .you two. . .this isn't funny. . ." he started.

" It wasn't supposed to be." Shuichi said, cracking his knuckles. " Do I seem like the kind of person who would kid about this sort of thing?"

" I guess not. . ." Shinichi said slowly. " But why now?"

" Because I may not be able to see you for a long time." Shuichi said sadly.

" Me neither." Shishio said, grinning sheepishly.

" Why?" Shinichi asked, body going numb. " Where are you two going?"

" I'm wanted by the police for breaking Shishio's back." Shuichi said.

" And I'm wanted for using an overly large amount of men to raid Akai Shuichi's house. The two of us are going to run from the law together, despite our hatred for each other."

Shinichi gulped.

" So, come on." Shuichi said, taking a step towards Shinichi. " Or you'll be late for the balloting."

" I couldn't care less about me being bought for a date." Shinichi snorted. " I would rather. . ."

" It's about Shiho, actually." Shishio said, eyes twinkling.

Shinichi stopped.

Silence.

" So shall we begin?" Shuichi snorted, taking another step towards Shinichi.

Shinichi removed the tie from his neck in one sling, and it fell to the floor.

" Yeah." He said quietly. " I guess we should."

Shishio raised his hand in the air.

" If you get hit by Shuichi ten times or fall to the ground before you get to land a punch on him, you lose." Shishio said silkily. " And I think we all know what would happen if that happens, don't we?"

Shinichi glared at him.

Shuichi grimaced before exchanging a glance with Shinichi.

" I wouldn't hold back, Shinichi." He said quietly.

" Is that so?" Shinichi whispered, getting into his stance. " Me neither."

They just stood there, glaring at each other for a moment.

" Ready. . ." Shishio hissed, rolling his wheelchair to a side.

Silence.

" . . .Go!" he yelled.

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Yoro looked at his watch.

Ten minutes passed.

That should be enough time for Shiho to be alone.

He took a step up towards her when he noticed that rain was starting to fall from the sky. He smirked to himself and stuffed his hands in his pockets.

Inside the middle of the arena, a young man stood up on the stage.

He cleared his throat, smiling.

" The balloting of the six most popular people in the entire school will begin in fifteen minutes!" he called out, followed by an explosion of cheers.

Yoro smiled to himself.

" Looks like there's going to be a storm coming." He whispered to himself. " And I'm not just talking about the weather."

And at the sound of that, there was a clap of thunder.

END CHAPTER 17

How was THAT for a climax? Yes, the story has been finalized to end at chapter 20. I just love stories that end with a beautiful figure or number. Please look forward to the last three, which I hope will be this story's best ones yet. You might think that Shishio and Shuichi were a tad too light on Shinichi, for just letting him hit Shuichi once. Don't forget the fact that Shuichi is from the FBI, and that makes him an expert. Good luck to Shinichi, whose skills are nowhere near Heiji. Hey, come to think of that, I didn't let Heiji come into this story at all. Hmm. . .it's too late to think of that now, isn't it?

Please look forward to chapter 18! Will Shinichi be able to make it back to Shiho's balloting in time? Find out in the last few chapters!