Requited, Unrequited: Chapter Six

Trapped

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"Oi. Miyano."

"What?"

"You wouldn't happen to believe in charms, right?"

She shifted the irritated stare away from the locked door and landed it on him. "Of course not."

He nodded. "Good. Then you won't think this is my fault."

"What are you on about, Kudo?" Miyano Shiho narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't tell me you planned this."

"I wouldn't bother to, trust me."

Shiho seemed to give him a once over, judging him, and then turned away. "Whatever." The frown on her face was illuminated by the sliver of light that peeked in from an overhead window. She studied the thin slit and the pane of glass that was gently eased open to allow air circulation. Shiho didn't know why she was bothering. It wasn't like either of them could actually fit.

"Hey, you're not in a hurry or anything, are you?"

She turned to him and shook her head. "Are you?" she asked back. "If you are, I can try kicking down the door." Her offer surprised him so much that it made him chuckle. Shinichi Kudo thought he had managed to stifle it fairly well, but she still stared at him. "What are you laughing at?"

"It's just weird." His shoulders shook. "Seeing the girl who is the top best student next to me in the whole school willing to ruin her shoes for me."

Shiho's face darkened at the mention of the 'top best student next to me' but remained indifferent at the 'shoes' remark. "You got stuck here helping me take the sports equipment back," she stated. "I hate owing people favors."

"You're very, uh, fair, aren't you?" She only raised an eyebrow. Shinichi decided not to elaborate. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You're making me feel like a cheater or something."

"And why would that be?"

Damn. "Ah… you wouldn't be mad if I told you I might have done something to get us stuck, would you?" he asked warily.

Her eyes went even narrower.

Oops… I think I'll be a bloody pulp when we manage to get out of here…

She tilted her head a little. "It depends on how you did it."

"A charm."

"Huh?"

Shinichi laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh, see, this friend of mine was introducing me to charms and I fiddled around with one that would get me stuck in the equipment shed with the first girl that came to my mind." A rueful smile wavered. "I didn't know it would actually work. Sorry." He peered carefully at her. "So… are you mad?"

She shook her head. "Didn't I just tell you that I don't believe in charms?" As Shinichi sighed, Shiho looked around, and then sat down on a stack of gym mats. They were hard and not the best seating option. "Looks like we'll be here a while," she observed.

For some reason, Shinichi didn't think she would care if he told her there was a reverse charm. "Don't worry; we won't be staying overnight," he said instead. "The basketball club trains on Thursday afternoons. They have to come in here to get their gear. Sit through lunch and they'll come."

Shiho nodded and he noticed that she was a little more relaxed than she had initially been. He supposed that it had been foolish of him to suspect that she was incapable of emotion. "You know their timetable very well," she noted.

Shinichi shrugged.

The muffled drill of the bell seeped in through the window. Shinichi raised his head. "There goes the lunch bell," he said wryly. He looked hopefully toward Shiho. "I don't suppose you have any food on you…?"

"No, sorry." He sighed and his head dropped. Shiho took off her shoes and slid back so that her back was resting against the wall. "You should sit too," she told Shinichi.

He blinked, and then sat at the opposite end of the mat. "Good idea." He glanced over at her. "You're pretty calm for a girl who's trapped with me."

"That's because I know you wouldn't try anything."

"And how would you know that? I've got a reputation for being unpredictable, you know."

Shiho crossed her arms and frowned. "Are you trying to force me into self defense?"

"Forget I said anything," Shinichi said hastily, backing away.

She didn't say anything. He shrugged and turned away, closing his eyes. It was a pity that the shed wasn't located in a busy area, or they could just yell and someone would hear them and let them out.

Shiho was being very quiet. She seemed to be a girl of few words. She was a mystery, too. Shinichi cracked open an eye and glanced over at her. For an intelligent girl and an ice queen she was quite interesting.

He noticed that she was rubbing her forearms. "You cold?"

Her head turned sharply, as if she had been in deep thought and Shinichi had popped her bubble. Her eyes gradually softened. "It's just the breeze," she said. "I'm fine." But Shinichi had already gotten up. He unbuttoned his school jacket and threw it to her

She caught it deftly and held it out in front of her. She shook off any dust clinging to the fabric, and then, after a short moment of contemplation, draped it on her shoulders.

"Kudo?" Shiho's soft voice echoed around the enclosed room, and Shinichi opened his eyes. He stared into hers. It was difficult to read the emotion in her eyes. She wasn't like Ran or Sonoko. She was sarcastic but there was also something gentle about her, the instinct to care… and Shinichi found that he found her presence comforting. Shiho was blunt with what she said. No hesitation. No lies.

"Miyano…"

"… Yes?"

"Do you ever miss your parents, or your older sister?", the death of the three Miyano's was still heard within the halls of their school.

She was unresponsive for a while. Shinichi was beginning to think that he had offended her when she spoke up in that soft voice, a bitter smile curving her lips. "Yeah. Yeah, I do." She slid off the mat to sit on the ground with him. "After their car accident, I always though I didn't have a reason for living anymore but… Why am I telling you this anyway?" She shook her head. For a moment there, she had felt he understood…

Shinichi chuckled. "You're just like me."

"What?" Shiho was puzzled. She had always thought that Kudo had a perfect life.

"Ever tried holding sand in your hand?"

Shiho frowned. "Yeah… so?"

"Falls apart, doesn't it?"

"So?" Then it came to her. She averted her gaze. "Change the topic. I don't want to talk about this anymore."

He shrugged. "Fine." The atmosphere got a little lighter. "For an ice queen, your pretty funny, Miyano"

"I'm not an ice queen."

"But you are pretty funny," he grinned. His impression of Miyano Shiho was shifting. He saw something underneath that hard shell. Someone abstract like him saw her as something akin to a clam – hard shell, soft centre. Shinichi saw her as a girl he could get to know better. He never really got acquainted to her since she was always secluding herself from their classmates.

"You're funny as well," Shiho said abruptly.

"Eh?"

She gave him a small smile. "I think you know that more than anyone, don't you, Kudo?"

Speechless, but only for a moment. "… Yeah." The bell drilled again. Shinichi and Shiho shared a look, and then stood. "Won't be long now before someone comes to fetch us."

He wasn't looking at her. "Yeah… Shiho?"

"Yeah?"

"Family is important. Even if it isn't your real family, even if it's just friends or strangers you feel comfortable with… they're the last grains of sand that you can't shake off no matter how hard you try."

Shiho remembered Shinichi's words. Even after they had been released by a pair of perplexed juniors. Even after they pretended that they had not gotten themselves trapped together for a whole lunch.

Because they were both still trapped in their past, their life, still in that equipment room.

Together.

Hello everyone!! I updated! Finally!!! Its our Christmas break now, and I'm now brainstorming for a topic on this fic, I've got some major writers block here... Anyway, REVIEW!!!!

Trapped ©Akitsuki Akira