Starting Over

A/N: Hello again! (: Well, here is Chapter 8 as promised.. I really tried to update as quick as possible (especially since Chapter 7 was a very.. er.. slow update). XD

Just wanna say a quick THANK YOU SO MUCH to all my reviewers! If you like/dislike my story, and you don't review... well... You should! You guys need to let me know what you think! Otherwise, I lose interest and won't update for longer! No joke! And as for those of you who review each chapter, THANKS! This story depends on you guys! [:

Anyways, here we go! (:

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan/Case Closed. (:

"Ran! Ran!" Sonoko's high-pitched shrieks echoed across the High School campus. Shinichi resisted the temptation to roll his eyes as the two best friends collided excitedly.

"What is it, Sonoko?" Ran asked frantically, breaking away from the hug. It appeared she, too, did not realize the cause for her counterpart's enthusiasm. Sonoko grinned broadly and let out a shrill giggle, shooting Shinichi a obvious glance. She began to whisper merrily into Ran's ear. The only male, having had enough of their nonsense, stalked off to find Shiho, scowling deeply.

"Hey, Shi– ! Oh... Hello, Hakuba." Shinichi said wearily upon discovering the two teenagers conversing with one another, already in their seats.

"Morning, Kudo," Saguru nodded politely. Shiho quickly shot Shinichi a pointed look. Correctly interpreting the message, he rolled his eyes and smirked. Don't worry... I'll behave, he mouthed to the young woman.

"Anyways, as I was saying, did you happen to hear about the event that's going to take place later this winter?" Saguru continued, "Not a lot of people know yet; it hasn't been officially announced, but all the girls are saying there's going to be a Win– "

BRING!

"Ah," Saguru laughed sheepishly as the class began to file in. "I guess you'll have to hear about it later then." Shinichi shot Shiho a puzzled look before heading back to his seat near Ran.

"Shinichi! Guess what Sonoko just told me –"

"Alright, class. Settle down," their sensei said, "I honestly don't know what's gotten into you lately... However, let's get on with the lesson."

BRING!

The bell had rung again, and signaled the end of the school day. Shinichi watched glumly as his frenzied classmates rushed for the exits. Their sensei, however, had a different idea.

"STOP!" she bellowed, glowering at them behind her tiny rectangular glasses. "Now, I would ask you all to please return to your seats so that I may make a very important announcement." More than half the class, eyes downcast, slowly made their ways back to their seats, muttering "gomenasai" under their breaths.

"Ahem," their now greatly aggravated teacher began, "As you may or may not have heard, majority of Teiten High's staff have decided that, in favor of the upcoming holidays, we shall organize a event in which students and their guests are allowed an opportunity to gather and socialize." Shinichi noticed Ran perk up in her seat at once, as if she knew exactly what was coming. Several of the other students shifted curiously in their seats as well.

"Teiten High's first annual Winter Gala will take place on the First of December. Now, let me inform you that it is a formal occasion, and students are required to dress in their most decent attire and behave civilly. And yes, Mr. Fujita, it is a ball. Therefore, students are suggested to bring dates – " Sonoko let out a shrill giggle. Shinichi noticed most of the girls in the class clamping their hands over their mouths and struggling to stifle giggles themselves – Shiho was not included of course.

"It was begin promptly at 7:00 and end at 11:00," Sensei continued, choosing not to comment. "Any questions?" She scanned the classroom reproachfully. "No? Then you may go."

There was yet another rush as several of the students made a dash for the doors, this time chatting eagerly amongst themselves. Shinichi rolled his eyes and stood, surprised to find Ran still seated by his side, purposely trying hard to avoid his eyes.

"Hurry up, slowpoke!" he teased, carelessly swinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Right." The brunette immediately stood and the two friends proceeded to the door.

"Er, wait," Shinichi paused, holding out his arm to halt Ran. "Oi, Shiho! You coming or not?" The young blonde smirked.

"And I thought you had forgotten about me," she muttered, casting a glance in Ran's direction. "However," Shiho added, lowering her voice so that only Shinichi's careful ears managed to catch her every word, "I suggest you spend a little more alone time with your girlfriend... She doesn't look to happy now, does she?" Shinichi turned to Ran. Indeed, she was biting her lip almost dishearteningly.

"I suppose," he responded just as quietly. "See you later then."

"Something wrong, Ran?" Shinichi asked, giving her soft hand a quick squeeze as they left the classroom together.

"Oh, nothing." His girlfriend smiled up at him nicely – though his quick eyes still managed to catch the slightly worried expression that was on her face for a split-second.

"Honestly, Ran," Shinichi stopped directly in front of her, both hands grabbing her shoulders lightly, "We've been friends for years. And I'd think I'd know if something was bothering my girlfriend."

Ran blushed at the use of the word "girlfriend". But nevertheless, she shook her head, "It's honestly nothing, Shinichi!"

"Fine," the detective huffed, and continued walking. He suddenly stopped once more, a strange grin taking over his face.

"What is it now, Shinichi?" Ran pouted, obviously tired of bumping into him. Shinichi only smirked back. Ah, I see! he thought to himself, I understand why she's so jumpy. She wants me to ask her to the ball! But she's too freaked out about it – I can't believe I've figured her out! Shiho would be so proud –

"Shinichi!" Ran snapped, bringing him back to his senses at once. "You have this weird grin on your face! What is it?"

"Eh?" he said, "Oi, Ran. You're coming to the ball with me, right?" He waited, almost expecting her to break out in joy. However, he noticed that she bit her lip timidly before smiling and nodding politely.

"Of course, Shinichi."

Shinichi sat, straining his brain furiously, attempting to find a reason for Ran's odd behavior that afternoon. Shiho lounged lazily on the couch across from him, reading a magazine and occasionally sending the detective an amused glance. At last, she couldn't take it any longer.

"Something on your mind, tantei-san?" she wondered aloud.

Shinichi looked up at her. "Yeah," he murmured. "I, uh... I asked Ran to the Winter Ball."

Shiho frowned, biting her lip at the twinge of pain she felt when he said those words. Forcing an indifferent look on her face, she replied, "And?"

Shinichi frowned too. "What is it with you girls and your lip-biting?"

Shiho rolled her eyes. "Is that what Ran was doing that bothers you so much? Well, I'll have you know, girls tend to bite their lips when they're upset – or disappointed. What did you do now, Kudo?"

Shinichi caught a breath. "And what exactly are you disappointed about, Shiho?" he asked softly.

"I – wait, what?"

"You just bit your lip."

"No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you did."

"No. I did not."

"Yes. You did!"

"What are you going on about, Kudo?"

"But – oh, never mind!" Shinichi snarled, causing Shiho to smirk.

"And, pray tell, what did you do to upset your angel?"

Shinichi grimaced. "Don't call her that."

"Why not?" Shiho questioned grimly, "You would've."

"I – " Shinichi let out a sigh, "It's complicated."

Shiho laughed. "You're forgetting this is the woman who spent hours a night putting together intricate chemical formulas to form a complex drug that can actually slow the natural process of death." Her companion smiled wryly.

"You're right," he scratched the back of his head, "But... Ah, I'd rather just forget about it."

The young scientist raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Shiho sighed. "This is becoming a nightly ritual for us, isn't it? Why can't you go hang out at your own house?"

Shinichi chuckled, shrugging. "Well, since I'm not wanted here – " He stood and grabbed his coat, glaring pointedly at Shiho. " – I suppose I'll just leave."

The young woman smiled. "Hallelujah."

The very next morning, as Shiho arrived alone at school (she had left Shinichi so he could walk together with Ran), she was met with a pleasant – or perhaps, not so pleasant – surprise. The minute she set foot on the courtyard, she collided with a rather distraught Mister Kinji Fujita, who seemed even more distressed when he realized who he had bumped into.

"Ah, Miyano-san," he stumbled, very out of character for his usual flamboyant self. "My apologies... Actually, you were just the person I was looking for." He coughed, and quickly pulled himself together, flashing her a brilliant smile which hardly failed to make most girls melt. Shiho, on the other hand, lifted an eyebrow expectantly. Kinji faltered.

"Well, I – I just wanted to know if you'd be willing to go to the ball with me...," he lowered his gaze nervously.

Shiho was relatively shocked. Of course, she had hardly expected anyone to ask her to the Gala – actually, she didn't expect to go at all. But seeing Kinji stare at his feet anxiously... The outside of her lips twitched upward. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder, coercing him to meet her eyes. She felt oddly out of character as she did this; on normal occasions, she'd simply scowl at him and walk away. However, upon seeing the most troublesome and well... the funniest student in her class shyly asking her to be his date... She wasn't that cold.

"Well, Fujita-kun," Shiho said, "I'm not quite sure if I'm planning to go. So it'll have to be a no for now."

It seemed to have turned out a lot better than he expected. Kinji nodded understandingly and flashed her another grin, before waving and hurrying back to his large group of friends, who were keenly trying to listen in.

Shiho frowned and made her way to class, silently thinking to herself that it would be a long day.

By the end of the day, Shiho was in quite a testy mood. At first, the requests to the ball were flattering (such as Kinji's), but Shiho soon found her patience wearing thin. The first couple offers she politely (or at least as politely as she could muster) declined. However, by the fourth offer, she had already forgotten several of her books in the science classroom, had to write a three-page long essay on a subject she was already very familiar with, and to top it all off, Shinichi had been with Ran the entire day, being the good boyfriend that he was and dutifully ignoring any other members of the opposite sex – including her. And so she couldn't help to snap at the poor boy who had asked her out, and watch him hastily scamper away under the intensity of her glower. Needless to say, by the time the bell rang, Shiho was not one to be trifled with.

"Bad mood, your Highness?" A certain blonde detective stepped in front of her, smirking knowingly, "Anything I could do to cheer you up?"

"I doubt it," Shiho said unconcerned, and continued walking as though he had not just interrupted her musings.

"Hmm," Saguru followed her thoughtfully. She was relieved he didn't pester her any further. However, her mood hardly increased as they stepped out of the school building – Shinichi and Ran were talking amongst their group of friends. Shiho deliberately avoided watching as Ran proceeded to grab Shinichi's hand shyly; he looked fairly surprised and scratched the back of his head nervously. Shiho began to walk faster.

"Hey, wait up!" Saguru jogged to keep up. "Listen, I gotta get to a meeting in five minutes – "

" – oh, by all means, leave – "

"No, no – I need to ask you something."

Shiho stopped and raised an eyebrow (for about the tenth time that day). Saguru, in spite of this, looked unperturbed.

"Look, I – I know you're not interested in me at all – " Shiho almost snorted. " – but would you like to come to the ball with me? It'd be completely unromantic!" Saguru added hastily upon seeing Shiho's disbelieving expression.

Shiho rolled her eyes, preparing to turn him down just as she had the last four boys. As she did so, something quickly caught her eye. Shinichi had draped his arm casually around Ran's shoulder. Shiho tensed. Ran teasingly slapped his arm off, but nevertheless, the young scientist had been effected by the action. Remembering last night's conversation (and trying not to bite her lip), Shiho sighed, shaking her head and turning to Saguru, who seemed baffled at her sudden mood change.

She knew exactly what her answer would be.

A/N: Oh, SNAP! Another cliffhanger! LOL. Please, NO hate mail! XD

Okay, thank you for being patient. Believe me, I tried updating as soon as possible.. I think I did okay. I now have the rest of the story pretty much mapped out... but I'm still accepting any ideas/suggestions! As for the lip-biting thing.. Um, yeah, the whole "girls bite their lips when they're disappointed" is not true. Haha. At least not for me. And PLEASE (I cannot stress this enough!) REVIEW!

If you don't review, I won't update. :P

And yes. That's a threat.

-AnnieAltman88