A/N: I assume the last chapter had been extremely confusing, but it was meant to be that way. :/

Thank you, Enji86, YELLOW JACKET PRIDE, Anime Lady PIMP for leaving reviews! I guess I still have much to learn about Ai's characters 3; Anyway, I thought it was time to finish this story, since I thought it was dragging too much, and things were getting boring. Again, thank you all who've supported me throughout the months, and I really appreciated the reviews you've written for me.

Disclaimer: Gosho Aoyama owns Detective Conan.

Chapter Fifteen

Sour Romance II

Crying can happen when one is enormously happy.

Crying is not sadness.

-0-

(Conan's POV)

A rainy day.

The girl had a dream that was almost impossible. A mere strand of hope that could be cut any second. But she held onto it. Until it was destroyed completely. Or so she thought it had been.

Either way, she lost her hope.

A rainy day.

The rain was depressingly thick. As if it had been following the girl's mood as she stared out the window. The decision was made.

That day, she let it go.

And her hope now only brought thoughts for revenge.

But only temporary.

Unfortunately, her hate met its start button on the way downstairs.

Half an hour later, she was back inside, her hair plastered against her skin by the rain. She barely heard her friend approach her with a worried look.

She only remembered the sad smile, and the final words.

And regretted every moment of the last thirty minutes.

.

"…That's why she didn't attend the school until the vacations started?"

"I guess…"

"…Why did you do that?"

"I-I don't know either, I just-" The voice was resigned. "It was such a retarded thing to do." Her voice trembled. Probably started to cry.

I leaned against the wall. A heavy but quiet sigh escaped through my lips. I took off my glasses and waited for the conversation to continue.

A rainy day.

It was easy enough to recall.

Being able to know. To finally understand the cause of that gloomy incident.

It was not pleasurable. Just like the bloody cases.

It was not always happy to know the truth.

Then, the voice stopped my train of thoughts.

"A-And I had to act like that when she was already s-so sad…"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know exactly, but s-she said she was only connected be-because of her mistake."

The other didn't talk for a while.

"Then…"

"I-It must've been the same for her, like me."

"…"

"H-He probably won't…love her."

That moment, I had to make a hard decision. Should I jump out of here and say what I've gotta say? But half of me told me that was stupid. To be shown eavesdropping. Or maybe I didn't have enough courage to say it out loud in front of two people who felt some feelings towards me.

That I loved her. Truly.

Wrestling with my mind, I couldn't hear much of the rest of the conversation. I barely saw the two girls walk out of the bathroom.

Ayumi and that girl, Kana.

-0-

When I finally heard the footsteps fade away into darkness, I stood up straight. Then, I heard a door open.

Damn.

Slowly, Haibara came out of the bathroom. I prepared to hold onto her, but when I saw her expression from behind the door, I froze.

She had that look on her face.

Something like sad, but not quite.

It never failed to make me feel uneasy.

I realized I've only been watching her as she slowly walked out of the corridor.

I coughed. She revolved on the spot, even slower.

Damn. I thought again.

Everything was supposed to go alright today. I even watched the stupid romance DVDs at night for some help. (Although they were extremely useless)

I didn't have any specific words to say in my mind while I studied her expression. I knew she was pretending that everything was cool.

She didn't say anything either. We just stared at each other for a long time.

I didn't know if it was all right to break the uncomfortable silence.

I carefully took my first step.

She didn't budge an inch towards me. Instead, she just waited.

Second.

Third.

"Why are you here?"

"I-" Then, I put my hand up on my hair and sighed. "You-You forgot your ticket." I put my hand with the ticket up.

"You heard it, didn't you." Not a question. I merely looked ahead of the empty corridor. She laughed once when I didn't answer.

My hand fell to my side. I stopped walking.

Now I kind of knew what I had to do.

Prove her wrong.

"It doesn't-" Desperate and frustrated at the same time, I ran up to her, so fast she didn't have a second to close what she had to say.

Our lips were already folded together by the time I held her face in my hands. The last thing I saw was her widened eyes before closing my own.

All the questions. All the doubts. All the uncontested truth. I hoped this could be the answer.

Startled, she pulled back for the tiniest of a second. But I didn't give her much chance to recover.

She gave in.

I blindly wished she knew what I meant by this.

.

We parted only because she looked like she'd faint if we went longer. She breathed in and out roughly, leaning against the wall. I felt awkward to watch her. Meanwhile, I noticed my watch. Crap. Less than twenty minutes until the movie ends.

"Fool."

I looked at her, confused by her word. Surprisingly, she was smiling at me.

She checked my watch. "Now I doubt we'll do good on that homework."

"Uh-" But she already was walking through the dark corridor. I stood there for a while, feeling a little stupid. I scratched my head and followed her, a bit late.

Perhaps things had gone the right way.

-0-

For the twentieth time, I glanced at my watch. Just a few more minutes. Meanwhile,

"Impressive."

She fiddled with the glass of light wine in her hand while finally commenting about the food after eating it for the last 30 minutes. We watched the last moments of the movie in silence. I don't even remember much of it, though. Just like the last time we…accidentally kissed.

"Hm?"

"You know food."

I snorted.

"You talk as if I've never done anything in my life except for chasing criminals."

"Close."

"I'd say I've had enough to learn about life."

She snorted this time. "Such as?"

"Like being able to know others-"

"Idiot."

"?"

"-And right when I was about to say 'it doesn't matter', you attack me."

"WHA-?"

She nodded silently while I was out of words. The memory was dismantling my temperature again.

"R-Really." I muttered again.

She sighed.

"You've gotta learn to show your expressions better. I thought you were-"

"I believe detectives are supposed to know what is behind the veil of the questions."

I glared. There's just no arguing against this girl.

"Your face is still red."

Thanks. I just needed to know. Awkward, I glanced at my watch again.

At the same time, the alarm rang.

The sound that meant everything started.

I stood up, while she watched me curiously as I also made her stand up and follow me.

-0-

(General POV)

The sky was no longer black with the scattered pieces of color that was flying everywhere. The fireworks created a spectacular view from the highest floor of Beika Hotel.

The teenage boy grinned while the girl watched the sky, mesmerized.

"Beautiful, right?"

"Y-You planned this?"

"I just asked if there were any fireworks planned for today. Lucky."

"The colors…"

"They fill the emptiness." He said simply.

"But they are temporary, aren't they? They fade after a time…"

They silently watched the sky for a few more minutes.

"It doesn't matter." He barely whispered the words, but she heard them.

"What?"

"As long as they fill the emptiness in people's hearts, it never fades away."

The girl slowly turned her head around to look at his face. It was iluminated by a hundred shreds of colors that filled the sky now. However, his eyes still shone through all the light.

"That's what you've said before."

Haibara smiled.

"…I love you."

His pupils trembled from the sudden confession.

Of course.

Colors can fade away.

"…I-"

But the happiness here…

"I love you too."

Will never fade. Forever.

Edogawa Conan smiled. The truth was told, and he knew it. Happiness and triumph into one, he truly smiled like it was the first time he ever had.

They drew their faces closer and closer to each other while the last bit of firework died away.

-0-

"By the way,"

"Hm?"

"What did Kazuha say to you before?"

She frowned. "And what about Heiji-kun?"

"H-He told me some pro tips and tricks."

Her eyes were narrowed into that are you kidding me look.

I laughed nervously. "Anyway, what about Kazuha?"

Her face became smooth again. "She just told me that she confessed to Heiji-kun."

"What?"

"Is that wrong?"

"A-Haha-no."

Haha, Heiji, you bastard. And I've been watching that romance crap until dusk. Thanks a million for your advice. Maybe I'll track him down before school starts in a few days.

-Epilogue

(General POV)

"I do."

The last sentences were told.

Everyone clapped at the couple standing at the front. The brown-skinned man glared at a teenager student that was wolf-whistling. The woman just blushed as her eyes quickly darted around the room, embarrassed for the next moment. Everybody stood up and clapped harder when they gently kissed.

They still clapped while Heiji and Kazuha made their way through the red carpet.

Edogawa Conan stood up from the front row, and silently tugged on an arm.

"Just a sec."

"Now." He pulled harder, and Haibara complied unwillingly.

They walked out of the bundles of people swiftly. It was spring, and the sunshine was warm against their skins. A gentle breeze kept the atmosphere from being humid, and balls of cloud filled the sky. People were still clapping from behind, still congratulating the pair that would be leaving in an hour.

Conan sat down on a grassy hill and sighed.

"Whew…Weddings are so dull."

"Because your head is only filled with brick." Haibara also sat down beside him. "I personally thought it was beautiful that they were getting married."

"Hmf." He closed his eyes and took off his glasses to clean them. "Married…They only dated for 6 months. And I thought it would take forever."

"…"

They did not talk for a while.

"So."

"?"

"We're getting close to thirty." He grinned.

She snorted. "Remember, you're Edogawa Conan."

"Right."

There was another pause. Then, she noticed he was not satisfied by her answer. She realized what he wanted to say.

"Enjoy being a high schooler for now, won't you?" She chuckled and put a finger on his lips.

Momentarily, he was startled, but managed to mumble. "C'mon. I mean, we know we lo-"

"Skip the cheesy part, please."

He glared at her smiling face, but his face soon smoothed out. Because he realized she was a lot more closer to him than he thought.

They jumped from a loud voice.

"HEY KAZUHA! Ran's new husband just asked her to go to the movies together! Will you be kind enough to drive her there?" The voice could be heard all the way from the building to the hill.

"Sonoko!" Ran's protest.

"…That Sonoko."

Haibara smirked. "Be quick, they're gonna come out."

Ran smiled through the window as she watched the couple put their lips together.

-0-

-End of No More Words-

A/N: So this is the end of No More Words. Maybe it was too abrupt, and things happened really quickly. Still, I thought I should've ended it here. I will still appreciate reviews till the end. I might start writing another story soon, so cya till then.