Author's Notes: Sorry folks, but I will be leaving the Fanfiction world temporarily. This chapter is dedicated to all my faithful readers, as well as my amazing friend readwritereview! Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. You have no idea how much it means to me. So, yep. :) This is my parting gift (also a token of appreciation!). Without further ado...

Disclaimer: Aoyama Gosho owns Detective Conan. I only own the plot of this fanfiction.

Shinichi felt a wave of underlying panic and followed Shiho out of the miniscule room. He seized her arm roughly, panting. "Hey, wait!"

Shiho came to a halt. "Yes?" she asked, affronted.

"I'm sorry?" Shinichi said, trying to look guilty. "I had no idea that it would make you so upset."

Shiho stared at him, her cold orbs penetrating his soul. Sharply, she tore her gaze away and continued walking to her laboratory.

Shinichi tried again. "Can we talk? I really don't understand why you are so angry."

"Why I am so angry?" Shiho whispered. "Wouldn't you like to know, tantei-san?" She placed her report in the top drawer carelessly, pointing at the door. "Leave now."

"I'm sorry, okay? I only asked you what this 'Black Organisation' is. You don't need to act like some pissed off banshee," Shinichi retorted, none-too-happily.

Shiho glared at him. "And that is exactly the problem - you are too nosy for your own good."

"What's wrong with that? I was just curious." Shinichi said, frustrated.

"Has it occurred you that some people just don't want to share?"

Shinichi pressed on. "What's there to hide if you haven't done anything wrong?" His gaze darkened. "Unless…you are scared that I would discover your shameful sins, Miyano-san."

Shiho darkened her gaze to meet his. "So what if I'm hiding something from you, Kudo-san? It has got nothing to do with you."

Seeing the anger in Shiho's eyes, Shinichi backed down. He wasn't here to fight with her again; he was here to make peace. Despite their differences in terms of thinking, he would let it go - for now.

Shinichi lowered his head in an attempt to look repentant. "I'm sorry," he said. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have asked."

Shiho turned her head to the side and scoffed. "Heh."

"I'm an idiot," Shinichi said. "So sorry for always pissing you off."

"You'd better be," Shiho said, looking at him unhappily. "Guess you're forgiven – for now."

"I'll go first," Shinichi said, feeling the awkward tension in the laboratory. He reached for the door handle but was stopped by Shiho's bored voice. "You can stay if you want to."

Shinichi turned around, pleasantly surprised. "You're not angry at me?"

"Just don't touch my chemicals," was Shiho's only reply.

Beaming, Shinichi plopped down on the chair beside hers with excitement that of a child. "This looks really cool!"

Shiho donned her lab coat and reached for a gas mask on her organised table. "Move to the extreme end of this room," she instructed. "I'll be preparing a toxic compound today."

Shiho swore she had never met a man with such little tact. Was this a trait possessed by all investigators? Well, it was just her luck to stumble upon the one of the best detectives in Japan – also one of the most annoying.

Sneaking a glance at the excited teenager, Shiho stirred her concoction mindlessly and thought about their earlier argument. She knew for a fact that she could not hide the truth from him forever. Sooner or later, Shinichi would discover her identity as the creator of APTX 4869, and her carefully thought out plan would go down the drain. Not only would she be unable to persuade him to join her on her quest to bring down the Black Organisation, she would also be arrested for her crime, with Shinichi being the good detective he was.

A voice snapped her out of her trance. "Isn't this pentamethylenediamine?" Shinichi asked, wrinkling his nose.

Finally noticing that Shinichi had shifted his chair from the corner of the room to the spot right next to hers, Shiho scowled. "Didn't I ask you to stand away? I won't be responsible if you die of toxic gas inhalation."

Shinichi pouted. "Give me a gas mask then," he said innocently, gesturing towards her storage cabinet.

Shiho shot him an annoyed look. "I only have one. Live with it."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Placing his head on her shoulder, he whispered, "But you won't let me die, right?"

Shiho stopped stirring the mixture. Standing up abruptly, she removed her gas mask. It was evident that she was livid.

"If you are here just to stir up trouble, get out of my lab now."

Raising his palms in mock defeat, Shinichi retreated to the corner of the room. "Fine. I'll just stay here then."

Throwing one last death glare at Shinichi, Shiho put on her gas mask and resumed brewing her mixture.

A disappointed voice rang out. "And now I can't see anything."

"Too bad."

The other man did not reply. Finally, Shiho thought dryly, some peace and quiet.

It was unfortunately short-lived when the inquisitive detective decided to fire more questions. "Say, what is this mixture for?"

"It's for your amnesia."

"How does it work?" Shinichi asked. Shiho kept her lips sealed and continued brewing it.

"Don't tell me this is a secret too!" Shinichi said jokingly.

On hearing this, Shiho's heart sank. Why did he have to make this harder than it already was for her? One needed to be very clear about the cause of the patient's amnesia in order to prescribe effective drugs. By raising this question, Shinichi was indirectly asking her how she knew about the cause of his amnesia when he had not given her any information about it at all. It threatened her cover and she could not allow it.

"It's complicated," Shiho replied nonchalantly.

"Simplify it," countered Shinichi with zest. "I'm really interested, you see."

Ah, yes! I was the one who invented the drug, so I knew what active ingredients there were, and what chemicals could counter their effects!

Shiho clenched her fists. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" She hoped she did not sound evasive.

Shinichi's face fell as if he understood something. "Oh." He did not interrogate her any further and watched her stir quietly.

Much better, Shiho thought, sighing. She didn't think she could keep her cover with him asking so many questions. But right now, she had to focus on the task at hand and finish the mixture as quickly as possible.

Then her phone buzzed. Whoever just called was so dead, she thought murderously. Shiho really did not have time for this. Disgruntled, she removed her gas mask once again and answered it.

"Hello?"

"I'm here, Sherry," the baritone voice vibrated.

Gin.

Panicking, she quickly grabbed a stopper and fit it into the mouth of the vial to prevent any poisonous gas from leaking out. Having no time to arrange things back in place, Shiho dashed towards the door and stopped before turning the handle.

"Stay here and don't come out."

With that, she locked the door and left without even locking her drug cabinet like she usually did.

"Gin?" she asked carefully, opening the wooden door.

A man with silver hair stepped into her apartment confidently and smirked at her. "Are you enjoying yourself, Sherry?"

"What are you trying to say?" Shiho retorted, folding her arms across her chest defensively. Whenever Gin was within her radar, she would feel unsafe and worried.

"I heard that Anokata has given you a three-day leave, hmm?" he whispered huskily, leaning into Shiho's personal space. "Have you been a good girl while I was away?"

Shiho automatically took a step back. Not so close…she thought, as bad memories started flashing before her eyes again. Before she knew it she was backed against her white wall.

Gin placed both palms on the sides of her head and hovered his lips near her collarbone, almost touching, but not quite so. Shiho shivered as Gin mumbled against her sensitive neck. "You reek of guilt…what a naughty kitty."

Shiho knew from previous experiences that it would be pointless to even try to push him away. She stood, motionless, as Gin continued his administrations and sucked at greedily at the hollow spot of her neck. It was so painful that she let out a sharp gasp, which soon turned into an erotic groan.

Then Gin slapped her and forced her chin up to look into her eyes. He could see tears swimming in her beautiful orbs, but that was not enough. He wanted her to cry and plead for him to stop.

Grinning sadistically, he pulled into Shiho into a rough kiss, and tore at her clothes like a hungry, unsubdued beast. Shiho told herself not to cry, but tears still fell to the ground like crystal drops.

Then, he stopped, pulling away suddenly. His breathing came out rough and panting, but his voice was stern. He smoothed the creases in his coat and lifted her chin to look into her swollen eyes.

"As much as I love to play with you, kitten, I'm here on Anokata's orders. Your three-day leave has been cut short to two days. He requires your presence."

He forced one last kiss on her lips before he smirked and left.

"Ja ne, Sherry."

Shiho stared at her ruined dress emotionlessly. It wasn't the first time that she had been violated. In fact, this time was one of her better experiences; she had had much worse.

So why am I crying?

As much as she hated to admit it, she was weak and it was painful to have her dignity stripped away from her.

Resigning to her fate, Shiho wiped away her tears and decided on her next course of action. She would go to her room, get a fresh set of clothes, wash up, and check on Kudo Shinichi.

Licking her bruised lips, Shiho winced. Gin was never gentle. He only cared about his own pleasure.

Falling into a routine stride, Shiho let her legs take her to her destination. She grasped the door handle tightly and turned it – only to be met by a strong force. The door was locked.

Confused, Shiho looked up and saw the black sign hung on the door – and it suddenly dawned on her. Laboratory, said the words carved on the sign. She cursed.

How could she forget? Her room was connected to her laboratory – so was her bathroom. When designing her apartment, Shiho had seen no need for separate rooms since she was the only living occupant in this apartment, and she regretted this decision now.

Shiho had been in such a hurry to answer the door that she had forgotten to get an extra set of clothes for her to change into.

Taking in a deep breath, Shiho tried to adjust her dress once more, before finally unlocking the door.

This was the only way.

She swung it open and moved through the narrow gap as inconspicuously as possible. When she saw the slightly ajar drug cabinet, all thoughts of avoiding Shinichi flew out of her mind. Eyes wide with shock, Shiho swiftly roamed the room for a certain young man.

She drew in a sudden breath.

"What on Earth are you doing?"

This is bad.

Very bad.

This was the last thing she needed - Kudo Shinichi fiddling with a white-and-red pill which Shiho recognised immediately.

APTX 4869.

Shinichi knew that he was screwed the moment the door was flung open. He felt like a deer caught in headlights – his limbs went immobile. Technically, he was not doing anything legally wrong, but it still felt morally wrong. After all, it was rather disrespectful to invade other people's privacy.

However, it was too difficult to resist the temptation when he was locked in a room, all alone.

At first, he had been simply idling around. He had caught parts of Shiho's conversation with the man such as 'three-day leave' and 'kitten' and had thought nothing of it until he heard groans. He had wanted to leave the room to check on Shiho, but decided against it when he remembered her caution.

Sighing, he had looked around for other sources of entertainment when he spotted a dull, nondescript cabinet. Despite its bland appearance, Shinichi was drawn to it like a moth drawn to light, and before he knew it, he was standing right before it.

Tugging at the knob hesitatingly, as if scared that it would trigger an alarm, Shinichi had been greatly surprised when he realised that it was actually unlocked. He had expected the chemist to add more security features to something so exciting.

Grinning, Shinichi had opened the cabinet and roved his gaze over the objects. Just then, a particular object caught his eye – a small pill that was put in a container much too big for it. With a smirk, he had taken it out and examined it casually.

Now, Shinichi almost wished he had not done it. Shiho's face was deathly pale, as if she had seen a ghost, and Shinichi felt a bit guilty for touching her personal objects. He looked up to apologise but stopped when he noticed her dishevelled state.

"What on Earth are you doing?" he heard her scream, but his mind was preoccupied with other matters.

His sharp eyes took in everything – her puffy eyes, swollen lips and tattered dress and they widened momentarily. He forgot his original intentions to apologise, and instead, gasped.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Ignoring his words, Shiho walked up to him, and snatched that white pill away from him. Contorting her face into an ugly sneer, she hissed, "Who gave you the permission to open my cabinet?"

Shinichi shrugged. "It wasn't locked," he replied simply, looking at Shiho with concern. He reached out his hand to touch the black mark on her neck and frowned. "What about you? How did you get – "

"Don't touch me," Shiho bit out harshly. Shinichi let his hand drop to his side limply. Biting his lips, he said, "But you're hurt…"

"Who said that you can touch the cabinet?" Shiho roared, holding up the white pill. "Do you know how important this is?"

Shinichi stared at her with his piercing eyes. "No, I don't," he said, shrugging off his jacket. "Here, wear this." He leaned forward to wrap it around Shiho's shoulders, but she slapped his hands away.

"Do you want to die?" she whispered menacingly. " 'Curiosity killed the cat...' Sounds familiar, Kudo-san?"

Shinichi stood up angrily. "Answer my questions, damn it! Who did this to you?"

In a flash, Shinichi found himself pinned to the wall with a pair of creamy hands wrapped around his neck. Her hands were strangely strong for a girl of her stature, and it hurt him enough to gasp for breath.

"What's wrong with you…"

"Listen up: do not mess around with my things," she seethed. Shinichi squinted at her and realised that she looked unusually desperate. Fed up with her constant mood swings, Shinichi narrowed his eyes and wanted to anger her even further.

He tilted his chin upwards defiantly and smirked. "What? Are you scared that I would discover even more of your secrets?" Feeling the increased pressure on his windpipe, he only laughed hollowly. "Afraid that I would question you about the purpose of this pill, my amnesia, your 'leave', oh - and yes, the Black Organisation?"

At the mention of 'Black Organisation', Shiho grabbed him by his collar and slammed him into the wall once more. His head throbbed painfully but there was no time for him to recover, because the next instant, Shiho grabbed a fistful of his hair and pulled him towards her.

"How many times must I say this for you to understand?" she snarled, her hot breath hitting his face. "You are not supposed to know anything."

Shinichi felt his temper rising. "Did you honestly expect me to stay silent and not do anything?" he growled, his furious gaze locked with hers. "This is my life we are talking about."

"So this is all about you, now?" Shiho laughed mirthlessly. "Maybe if you stopped being so self-absorbed you'd notice that this isn't exactly a tea party for me."

They both glared at each for another few seconds before Shinichi noticed their close proximity. He could see faint traces of scratches on her otherwise perfect skin and a lingering sadness in her hard irises. His anger forgotten, Shinichi raised his hand and stroked Shiho's cheek.

"Are you okay…?"

Releasing her grip on his neck suddenly, Shiho wheeled around and tried to walk away in a dignified manner. However, all Shinichi saw was a broken doll. Her strawberry-blonde hair covered most of her neck, but Shinichi could still see the angry black mark marring her smooth skin.

For the first time, Shinichi felt like he could understand Shiho - even if just a little. No matter how many times he tried to brush it off, the slimy feeling of remorse still rested in the pit of his stomach. He sighed and looked at the cabinet with wonder.

Just what was it about that pill that got Shiho into such a frenzy?

Hattori Heiji was a busy man. He had never had time for this, and he definitely did not now. Nevertheless, he still answered the phone because he had a reputation to maintain.

"Hello? Hattori Heiji speaking."

Ah, the things he would do for his perfect reputation as Osaka's best detective – replying to fan mail, having autograph sessions, and tolerating stupid calls from fangirls demanding to have phone sex with him.

This was no exception. Heiji sighed.

"...hello? I have a favour to ask."

Heiji's eyes widened in surprise. Not a fangirl? "Yes? Please continue. I'm listening." He twirled the pen between his index and middle fingers and waited for her response.

There was a nervous chuckle. "I need you to promise me that you will keep this confidential. It's rather dark, you see…"

"Yes?" he replied rather impatiently. "May I have your name, ma'am?"

There was a moment of silence before the caller finally revealed her identity.

"I'm Mouri Ran."

Heiji's eyes widened once more. "Kudo Shinichi's girlfriend?" he said teasingly, jotting it down on a piece of paper.

However, there was no amusement in her voice as she continued, "Yes, this call is about him…and his death."

"I'm listening," he prompted encouragingly.

Never in his life did Heiji imagine that this one single call would change his entire fate. Time was ticking by…

To be continued. See you in 2014! :) Review if you think my writing is decent. Constructive criticism is welcome.