The next chapter will be the last everyone. Excited? Sad? Happy? Whatever you may be feeling, please continue to read and review my stories, and story. This one will be ending, but that may be the start of new ones. (Hopes) Alright, chapter 19 is up and at 'em. I had to speed through this chapter due to exams and everything. Hope you all understand. By the way, I noticed a mistake of mine that I want to kill myself for not seeing it earlier. Before I had said that Miyano ditched his family when Shiho was born, but in the flashback with Shuichi and him, Shiho went into his office and asked whether Shuichi was there. Damn! It's too big a mistake to change. . .I hope you all can understand. Looks like I have a long way to go from being the writer I so desperately want to be. :p

CHAPTER 19

The announcer looked at his watch, chewing on his bottom lip. Kudo Shinichi still had not arrived. Almost everyone in the room knew the fact that if he did not come within the elapsed time he was to be bid for, he would be allowed to be bidded for the entire night or any other time at all. He raised his eyebrows at the crowd, almost hoping for a sign of the teenager.

But he was nowhere to be seen.

He sighed as he noticed some girls shuffle their shoes on the ground depressingly, some of them even taking out tissue papers to dab their now watering eyes. He nodded to himself, coming to the decision. " Since the fact that Kudo Shinichi has not arrived to the scene yet, I am sad to say that he will not be allowed to be bid for. Sorry for the disappointment everybody."

That line, in itself, was an understatement.

His eyes caught Shiho's, and he shrugged almost apologetically.

She raised her eyebrows but did not say anything.

Yet, somehow, something inside her was glad that Shinichi was not going to be seen in public hand in hand with some lovesick girl to the movies, the both of them sharing a stick of candyfloss.

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Akai Shuichi was an undoubtably strong fighter.

Shinichi had never even dreamed of crossing fists with somebody who could stare down the devil himself with those cold eyes of his. Shinichi struggled up to his feet, panting, exhausted. Shuichi crossed his arms across his chest, nodding his head slowly, almost in self-recognition. " I haven't hit someone so many times before." he muttered to himself, rubbing his chin. " It's either that you are stronger that what I thought you would be, or making the impossible possible, I'm getting weaker."

Shinichi spat out blood, smirking at him.

" I'll choose the first option." he choked out.

" I think it's wiser to hope for the second." Shuichi said coldly.

Shinichi fell down to his feet once again as he felt a hard blow hit against the side of his head. Only pride was keeping himself from crying as he pushed himself against a nearby wall, and got to his feet. He looked at Shuichi, whose eyes were colder that he ever saw before. He let out a smile at Shuichi, earning himself a shocked expression. " I'm running out time, Shuichi." he said in a whisper, rubbing his aching sides. " This one will be the final blow."

Shuichi watched him with raised eyebrows.

" You can't make it." he said.

" Just watch me." Shinichi said.

How long the two of them stood there staring at each other, they did not know. But as Shishio finally lifted the cigarette to his lips and blew out in a whiff of smoke, the two of them burst at each other, fists raised, a blow coming across one of their faces, one falling to the ground, the other getting back to his feet, a triumphant smirk on his face.

Shishio smirked.

" Smokin'." he whispered.

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" We'll have a twenty minute break before going for the females!" the announcer called. Shiho opened a shut eye before shutting it once more, her arms crossed across her chest, her lips pressed against each other tightly. Then she opened them again. " It's been like that for the last ten minutes," she muttered to herself depressingly. " Every time I shut my eyes, I see Shinichi standing before me. Can he just get out of my bloody head for one second?"

" Sensei."

She turned and noticed Sanshriyuki standing beside her with a rather sour look. She strained a smile. " 'Evening, Sanshriyuki." she said in a falsely cheerful voice. He ignored that and promptly stood beside her. The two of them stood there for some time before Sanshriyuki spoke up. " Do you want a drink?" he asked, offering her the drink that was in his hands. She shook her head tiredly.

" No thank you."

They continued to stand there. Surprisingly, Shiho was not annoyed by his presence. There was something about Sanshriyuki that reminded her of someone that she knew. His frown, his scowl, his sullenness but there was love inside him that shone out from him like a torch in a dimly lit room. Just who did he remind her of anyway? Could it be possible that he reminded her of. . .him?

" Miyano-sensei." he said out quietly, and she snapped out of her trance, looking at him once again, acknowledging his presence. " Are you and Kudo-kun an item?"

Usually she would have been irritated with the form of question, but somehow, with Sanshriyuki, she felt no such irritation at all. " No we're not." she said flatly. Sure, that sounded nonchalant on the surface. But was that really what she felt inside? Her heart burnt with something so painful that it felt like she was on flame inside, but she ignored it. " At least I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

He looked extremely relieved.

" In that case. . ." he said, sounded confident. " Is it alright if I ballot for you?"

Her cheeks burned at that.

" W. . .why would you want to do that?" she asked.

" Because I'm in love with you." he said, looking deep into her eyes.

She blushed and looked away.

They remained in silence for times to pass until he spoke up once again.

" So can I?" he asked again.

Shiho bit her lip.

FLASHBACK

" I was wondering. . ." Akemi said. " If two people walked up to you and asked you for the dance. . ."

" I'm not going." she said abruptly.

" Oh yes you are." Akemi said, and Shiho silenced. " If two people walked up to you at the same time and asked you to the dance," she repeated, ignoring Shiho rolling her eyes. " One of them being Shinichi and the other being some really really really really REALLY. . ."

" I';m begging you to stop." Shiho said.

" Okay. . .Really good-looking guy. . .who would you pick?"

Shiho bit her lip. " That's a stupid question, nee-san."

" Just answer it." Akemi said, winking at her. " Shinichi, wouldn't it?"

" Not exactly." Shiho said, crossing her arms across her chest. " It depends on who asks me first. If there's the case where I would be going to the dance with someone or at all, I'm going with the one who asks first."

Akemi chuckled. " That's so much like you." she said.

END FLASHBACK

That was like her, wasn't it?

To choose the first guy who asked?

" Okay." she said.

When she received no answer, she turned around, only to see that he had left.

She nodded to herself and shut her eyes again. But this time, it was not Shinichi who she saw. It was Sanshriyuki, Shuichi, and him. Standing together, smiling at her. And this time, she didn't open her eyes. She left them shut, a dizzy smile slowly lifting up her lip.

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" Excuse me, kind sir. . ." came a voice behind the announcer and he jumped a mile, turning around abruptly, only to come face-to-face with Yoro, grinning at him with a kind smile on his face. The announcer raised his eyebrows. " You don't have to call me so formally, Yoro." he said, sounding rather embarrassed by Yoro's common courtesy. " You do know that you can just call me Yamakasi right?"

" Sorry, old habit." Yoro said, chuckling.

" So what do you want from me now?" Yamakasi asked, lighting himself a cigarette. " It's impossible that you merely wanted to stand next to me and simply start a conversation."

" Is that your view of me?" Yoro chuckled. " I really am unpopular, aren't I?"

" I wouldn't say that." Yamakasi said softly, as two girls make motion to walk up to Yoro, but ran off, giggling furiously. He caught sight of Ran in the corner, laughing with Sonoko at a nearby table. He sighed and nodded to himself heavily. " So I guess this is it, isn't it?" he asked Yoro softly, pushing the cigarette to his lips, a smile on his face. Yoro, somehow, without even looking at him, knew exactly what he was saying.

" Yeah." he said. " It's amazing isn't it?"

" I never thought a person like you would actually get settled down with a girl like Ran." Yamakasi muttered, pulling the cigarette out of his mouth long enough to get a swig of punch.

Yoro smiled rather oddly at him.

" Yeah," he said. " You would think."

Yamakasi smirked at him. " So you really love her?"

There was a long silence that followed, Yoro just sitting there watching Ran, Yamakasi slowly finishing his cigarette. It was when a gust of wind burst into the room and snuffed the light of his cigarette when Yoro looked up, grinning up at him. " Yeah, I do." he said.

And that was enough for that.

Yoro got to his feet, brushing himself off. " I think it's about time that you announced the balloting characters, don't you think?" he said, taking one last swig of his drink before turning back to grin at Yamakasi. Yamakasi looked at his watch before nodding at him.

" Yeah, I guess you're right." he said.

Yoro made motion to move to leave when he stopped and turned around to face the announcer once again. " By the way. . ." he said, sounding apparent. " You might want to leave Miyano-sensei's balloting for last. . .I have a feeling that we can get to see some form of a show if we're lucky."

The announcer smiled at him.

" Whatever you wish, Yoro." he said.

" Owe you one." Yoro said, before walking off.

" No problem." Yamakasi said.

It was until he waited for Yoro to walk out before winking at him, grabbing the microphone in his hands. " And now. . .THE LADIES BALLOTING SHALL BEGIN!"

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Yoro took his time; knowing Yamakasi, he knew that he had around ten to fifteen minutes to take his time to find Shinichi, and to get him to arrive in time to Shiho's balloting. Thing is, he already knew where Shinichi was; being the fact that he asked the girl who told Shinichi where to go.

" I didn't think I would be able to meet you and Shishio once again, Akai." he muttered to himself softly, reaching the basketball courts, sliding the door open, leaning against it.

There sat Shuichi on the ground, coughing, Shishio in a wheelchair next to him. Both of them looked up at the sight of him, faces of shock dawning the both of them. " Yakosuke?" Shishio asked, his eyes wide.

" It's Yorokobi now." Yoro said, smiling sheepishly.

" Damn, how many times do you change your damn name?" Shuichi scowled, wiping his mouth.

" This will be the last, trust me." Yoro said lightly. " Where is Kudo?"

" We just got into a fight, that's all." Shuichi said, getting to his feet, brushing himself off.

" I figured." Yoro said, chuckling. " How bad did you injure him?"

" Not as bad as I could have." Shuichi said, brushing his knuckles against the hard floor. " The only thing of his that I broke was his ribs. When I hit his face, I was careful not to break anything."

" That's good to know." Yoro said, before turning to Shishio. " And how are you, sir?"

" Very well, thank you." Shishio muttered.

" So are the both of you leaving tonight?" Yoro asked. " I have to admit, it DOES seems like of rushed. After all, the two of you aren't even being searched for yet."

" We will in due time." Shishio said. " I want to leave the country before that."

" Where to? Afghanistan?" Yoro asked coyly.

" Don't try to be cute." Akai muttered under his breath, pulling on a new shirt. " We're going to be running across the globe; I doubt we can continue to stay in contact anymore."

" I see." Yoro said flatly, falling to his feet. " Where is Kudo now?"

" He left, Yakosuke."

Yoro's eyes widened.

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" And Sakura is won for four hundred and thirty dollars!" the announcer roared, amid hearty cheers. " Heaven knows how much parents are giving their children these days. . ."

Sakura smiled bashfully at her date grinned at her, looking almost unbelievably stunned that he actually won her over. The announcer had seemingly deliberately paused for a moment to talk to Ran, who was giving small twitches of smiles from time to time throughout their small conversation; in which it ended with him announcing that she was not willing to be bought over. And nobody in the room said anything to that. Yamakasi looked at his watch rather nervously before sighing, putting on a cheerful smile soon afterwards.

Shiho frowned.

Something was going on, she was sure.

" And finally, last but not least. . ." Yamakasi said. " Miyano-seisei!"

Rather reluctantly, Shiho walked up to the stage, amid cheers and wolf-whistles.

She was forcing herself to concentrate on what she was going to do the next day; but just simply gave up at the sight of Akemi hopping up and down on the balls of her feet, her video camera in her hand. " I'm going to wake up, that's the top priority. . ." she said to herself firmly, desperately trying to make herself up the stage without even taking a second glance at the crowd below. " Then I'll have a quick breakfast. . .then maybe I'd. . ."

" THE HOTTEST TEACHER IN OUR SCHOOL!" came a yell from the crowd.

" . . .And then I'll commit suicide by swallowing my goldfish." she said restlessly.

She finally reached the stage, and it was just then when she noticed how high it seemed up here. It was a hauntingly beautiful sight; what with the dark floor, the crystalized walls and the shiny ceiling. She took in a deep breath and let it out. She caught a second glance at Yamakasi, who winked at her before turning on the microphone once again. " Alright then," he said out loud, and as he said that, Shiho noticed Sanshriyuki looking at her with a confident smile, and she looked back at him bewildered.

What did Sanshriyuki remind her of?

" Let us begin."

Shouts came up from all sides of the room, and Shiho raised her eyebrows as Akemi looked more and more like a young schoolgirl on high, zooming in her video camera lens on every single person that opted on her. She shut her eyes and bit her lip. Where was Kudo? Surely she couldn't have hurt his heart that bad. For one, the two of them only knew each other for a few months; he couldn't have loved her that much.

She opened her eyes and glanced at Sanshriyuki, who was shouting along with the others.

She shut them again.

But maybe it was possible.

" Three hundred and twelve!"

" Three hundred and thirty!"

Ran smiled sideways at Sonoko.

" I wonder how much Sanshriyuki get for pocket money?" she muttered.

" Yeah. . ." Sonoko said, rather sadly. " Makes you wonder."

Ran opened her mouth to say something, but shut it just as quickly.

" What is it?" Sonoko asked.

" Nothing." Ran said quietly. " Nothing at all."

" Four hundred and fifty!" someone yelled.

" Four hundred and eighty!"

Shiho looked at Yamakasi with raised eyebrows, and he just grinned back at her before turning back to the crowd.

" Five hundred!" someone yelled from the back.

" Five hundred and fifty!" Sanshriyuki said.

There was absolute silence that followed that, and everyone turned around to face him. Yamakasi looked around the crowd for larger buyers, but they all seemed to be right out of their wallets, and were looking at Sanshriyuki in hate and jealousy.

" I think this could be it." Baki muttered to himself. " Too bad as a teacher I don't get much money."

" Going once. . ." Yamakasi shouted out.

Still nobody voted.

" Going twice. . ."

Sanshriyuki clenched his fist in triumph.

" Five hundred and sixty!" came a yell from the back.

Everyone turned at that, but nobody's shock could compare to Shiho's.

" Damn." Sanshriyuki muttered.

Shiho's eyes were wide.

" . . .Shinichi?" she whispered.

END CHAPTER 19

By the way, the flashback of Akemi and Shiho was in chapter 12. Exactly what does Shiho see in Sanshriyuki? Who wins the balloting, Sanshriyuki or Shinichi? Does everyone have a happy ending? THE LAST CHAPTER will be up! Please look foward to it! Thanks!