Shinichi stared at the brown-haired beauty in front of him, shocked at what had happened just a few milliseconds ago. Her auburn hair was soaking wet, droplets of water still dripping from locks of her hair. She made no efforts to wipe away the water that was thrown at her, which stained her beautiful face. Her blue eyes showed no sign of panic; they held a blank stare that Shinichi had not seen ever since the took down the Organization — icy, emotionless, almost inhumane. He felt a pang of compassion for the girl in front of him; but even more than that, he felt a rage burn within him, the fury that had been bottling up for days finally consuming him. He turned his gaze toward the source of his anger, his mouth moving quicker than his brain could to stop himself:

"Sonoko, what the fuck?"

The headbanded girl who stood in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest, sneered at him. "'What the fuck?' Is that the best you can do, dipshit? Wow, I really am disappointed in the Great Detective of the East. Even Heisei Holmes feels guilty when committing crimes, huh?" Her voice dripped with such venom that even Shinichi flinched.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Detective, but I don't think I'm the one who cheated on my significant other and left them to just pick up the pieces of their life alone," said Sonoko, glaring at him harder than she ever has in the last over ten years he has known her.

"I—"

Sonoko didn't even give him a chance to speak. "I always thought you were a shitty son of a bitch, but oh, Kudo, you have managed to surprise me by how disgusting of a person you really are every single second I am breathing the same air as you. And now, you've hit an all-time low. You disgust me, Kudo. You pride yourself in having a righteous sense of justice, but really, who are you to talk?"

Behind her, Ran took her hand and tried to pull her back. "Sonoko, come on, let's go back. Don't do this."

Sonoko whirled around to face her best friend and pointed a finger angrily at her. "No, Ran, I am not going to go back, and I am definitely going to do this. You sit back and be quiet. Sister's got some words for this asshole."

"Sonoko," said Shinichi, biting back his anger in order to stay calm. He could tell that everyone else in the cafe was staring at them by now. "You're causing a scene."

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting your little date here with Miss Bitch Face herself?" At this, Sonoko walked up to the woman she just threw a glass of water at. "Hi. Let me introduce myself. I'm Sonoko Suzuki, heir of the Suzuki Corporation, and the best friend of Ran Mouri, the girl you stole her boyfriend from. How are you doing on this lovely day?"

Shinichi turned to look at Shiho, his heart twisting in hurt for the girl he loves. He bit his lip as he saw her sport the same blank expression, and he hated himself for not being able to protect her well enough. Just like always.

Sonoko let out a sharp laugh as Shiho stayed silent. "Too scared to say anything? You are just as worthless as he is. You know, this girl right here, my best friend, she waited years for this worthless bastard. Years. And when he finally came back, everything was supposed to be good. But no, you showed up. You stole him away from my sister and left her life in shambles. You seduced him, you slut; did you blackmail him? Manipulate him? Or else how would he give up the true love they had for a whore like you? Tell me, how did you sell yourself to get him to abandon my best friend?"

"Sonoko, that's enough," said Shinichi. There was no way he could sit back and let her insult Shiho like that. "You don't know anything."

"Oh, I think I have a pretty good grasp of what's going on right now. You, you fucking asshole, you made Ran wait for you for years and years just to abandon her and ruin her life to be with this slut right here." Sonoko again turned to point a finger at Shiho in rage. "You don't know the history that they have. They've been in love with each other since they were kids. They've been through so much together. Way, way too much. So I suggest you back the fuck off."

"Sonoko…" Ran fidgeted with her sleeves as she seemingly tried to stop Sonoko, although in reality, her eyes gave away how much she agreed with her friend.

"You're a murderer," Sonoko hissed at Shiho. "You murdered their love, their relationship, and my best friend's wellbeing and perfect life. You are nothing but a disgusting whore. I wish you didn't exist."

At this, Shiho stood up. Silently, she cleaned up the mess that was made in front of her and packed up her bag. She didn't look at anyone as she stood up and got ready to leave.

"Running away, coward?" Sonoko yelled after her. At this, Shiho's footsteps stopped. "You wouldn't do this unless you were scared. Admit it, you know that what you're doing is disgusting, but being the bitch you are, you still do this shit. You are no one to step into someone else's relationship. Pathetic."

Not a word was said when Shiho walked off brusquely. It was then that Shinichi finally overcame his initial shock and faced Sonoko with a fury he had not felt in a long time.

"Sonoko Suzuki, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" He hissed. "You think you're so damn smart and all-knowing, but you don't know shit. I broke up with Ran because I love Shiho. I'm not going to waste Ran's time any longer because she can find someone much better than me. Shiho constantly rejected me because she was concerned about how Ran would feel, but it's been months since Ran and I broke up. It's about time both of us can finally move on completely. But of course, Ran didn't tell you any of this, which she said she understood."

"Are you blaming Ran, Kudo? I swear to god-"

"You don't know the history between me and Shiho, either. We've been through so much, sacrificed too much to get here. You disgust me by not only drawing conclusions from the tip of the iceberg, but also acting upon them and causing such a big scene and hurting the innocent."

He turned to Ran, and for the first time, looked at the girl he used to love with disappointment. He couldn't believe he used to be so in love with someone like this, someone who would think and act so irrationally. "I thought you were better than this, Ran."

Shinichi shoved past Sonoko and ran out the cafe in the direction Shiho left. He could hear Sonoko protesting in the distance and Ran bursting into tears, but he didn't care anymore. He finally caught up to Shiho, and he grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. She slapped his hand away, but he grabbed it once again. She didn't even turn back to look at him before slapping it away again, even harder this time. He pulled her into a tight embrace from behind her, his arms around her as he buried his face into her shoulder, allowing her drying brown locks to tickle his cheeks. She stopped fighting against him, and the two of them stood like this for a few seconds, allowing themselves to forget the entire world around them.

"Kudo-kun, let me go." Shiho finally broke the silence as she spoke softly and calmly.

"What if I said no?" Shinichi asked quietly, his warm breath landing on the skin on Shiho's neck.

"You heard what your friend said," said Shiho. "I'm a murderer. You don't belong with me."

"You just agreed to a date for the first time. How can I let you go now?"

"On our first date, your ex and her best friend showed up and gave me a nice gift. It's a sign."

"Well, thank god I won't have to worry about your ex," said Shinichi, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. "I don't think I want a bullet in my skull."

"Kudo-kun, this is no time for jokes. We're not meant for each other. I've disrupted your life enough. You should return to the world you wanted so badly, back to her side."

"Hey." Shinichi let her out of his embrace and spun her around to face him. "We've been over this. I love you, and only you. This is my decision, and I don't regret it a bit at all. My world is better with you in it. I don't want a life without you."

"I stole you away from Angel."

"That's ridiculous. Do you believe me or Sonoko?"

"I don't see how anyone could love me."

"Are you serious?" Shinichi cupped his palms around Shiho's face, and he couldn't help but smile. "You're amazing. You understand me more than anyone else does. You've been by my side through everything. You are the best person that has ever existed on the face of this planet, and I love you. You deserve everything, and I'll do whatever I can to give you all of it."

Shiho averted her gaze. "You have no sense of embarrassment at all, idiot."

At this, Shinichi's face grew hot. "S-Shut up!" He stuttered. "You're the idiot. How could you let Sonoko's words get to you? She doesn't know anything."

"She's right about me being a murderer, though."

"You're not a murderer."

"A thief, then. I stole her perfect life and her perfect romance."

"Yes, you're a thief. You stole my heart."

Shiho rolled her eyes in an attempt to stop herself from laughing. "Idiot."

Shinichi grinned and he took her hand in his. "Tomorrow, my place at 12? I'll make noodles. We can watch Sherlock. To make up for today."

A quiet "hmm" escaped from Shiho's lips, and she smiled softly. "Today works, too."

Shinichi did not have any time to conceal his surprise, because his wide smile gave him no such opportunity. Silently, he pulled her into an embrace and planted a kiss upon her forehead. Hand in hand, the two walked towards the Kudo residence for their real "first date."

Sonoko Suzuki was wrong, but there was no point in thinking about that now. They had each other, and frankly, that was all that mattered.