The water from the tap flowed as the girl spaced out in front of the sink. A faint blush was spread on her face as the scene from minutes ago replayed in her mind. It was unexpected. Totally unexpected. She did plan on doing it herself but because of the thought it was something one-sided, she didn't do it just yet. Then suddenly he goes saying that he likes her in his own room. With a straight face at that. Shizune switched off the tap when she realized she left it on and let out a sigh.

What should I do…

"I like you."

"I like you, Shizune."

Her cerulean orbs widened and she felt her cheeks going bright red.

"like as in sisterly-brotherly like or friendly like or—"

"romantic like, idiot."

"eh~ is that so?" she released a nervous laugh with a smile then almost dropped the items in her hands. "Wait. What?"

"would you like me to repeat?"

"yes! I mean, no! I mean, what the hell!? Why are you suddenly—"

"speaking up ones true feelings is the best action, don't you agree?"

"don't give me that! This is one of your jokes, right?"

"of course not." He said standing up and walked towards her. His fever had slightly gone down when he woke up and the headache had gone too so lucky him. "as heartless as I can be, I wouldn't make fun of one's feelings"

"you're admitting you're heartless…" she comically sweat dropped. "that aside, you totally made fun of mine during last night's incident! What the hell are you trying to say now?"

"what I'm trying to say is," he made sure a 5cm distance was between them as he leaned towards her. "what happened last night was a result of my feelings for you. I apologize once again if my denial at first hurt you but I assure, my feelings are sincere."

There you go saying something from out of a shoujo manga!— Shizune inwardly cursed. Her face was already red as it is and he goes saying stuff like that. The nerve.

"why are you telling me this now?"

"because" he closed his eyes then reopened them. "I can't keep them in any longer. 7 years is long enough…"

7 years?— she repeated in her mind.

"you don't have to answer it now…just, keep it in mind." He said before dismissing her.

Another heavy sigh was let out from the young girl and she trudged back to her room, successfully avoiding Akashi. She needed to consult this matter with someone. ASAP. She was super dense when it comes to dealing with love and though she always declines every confession directed to her with ease, this was different.

Very different.

She flipped open her phone the moment she got on her bed and scrolled through the contacts.

Mom? Nope. Don't wanna disturb her time with dad just yet. 'Sides, she wont give me a serious answer…

Sousuke? The damn guy would tattle to Ren. Can't let both of them know…yet.

Hayama-senpai or Nebuya-senpai? Can't expect a serious answer too…

Which leaves…Mibuchi-senpai…

She stared hard at his name in her phone before pressing the call button. Mibuchi has a understanding attitude so he's the best choice at the moment. She heard a click at the other end and a soft voice greeted her.

[ "hello Shizu-chan~ Do you need something?" ]

"senpai…." She whined and she herself couldn't believe that she just did because it was just so out of character and just so— you get the point. The raven haired male noticed this out of character action and his motherly instincts switch was turned on immediately.

[ "did something happen? Did someone do something to you? Are you hurt?" ]

"woa there. I'm fine, Mibuchi-senpai. It's just that I received some…damage…"

[ "damage?" ]

"senpai, what would you do if someone confessed to you out of the blue?"

[ "eh? Well, I would give him my answer—" ]

"and then some time later another person confesses to you. You're close to them and even if you want to accept the one that confess on a later time, you don't want to hurt the other's feelings. What would you do, senpai?"

[ "…." ]

"senpai?"

Little did she know, Mibuchi was smiling on the other end knowingly. He knew what she was talking about and to be honest, he thought the first one to make the move would be her instead of him. Considering his mindset on not having any interest in being in a romantic relationship with girls because it's a waste of time.

He certainly has changed…

[ "senpai?—" ]

"oh sorry! let's see...if it were me," He closed his eyes, the smile still intact. "I wouldn't give it much thought. If you like that second person, then just tell him. As for the first person, if you explain it well enough, I'm sure he'll understand."

[ "it really has come to that huh…." ]

"that is the only way, dear"

[ "thanks, Mibuchi-senpai"]

"anytime Shizu-chan~"

She cut off the call and curled up into her blanket. She could try avoiding the male until she can calmly answer him…Nope. Not an option. It is cowardly to do that. Guess listening to mother #2's advice is the best choice. After a short sigh, she flipped open her phone and clicked on a mail she received on the day they returned from Tokyo.

[ From: Ren
Subject: -no subject-

Sorry I didn't see you off at the station. Shizune. Since there is only a 10% chance that we will ever meet again, I want to tell you something that I have been keeping secret since childhood

I love you. More than anything else in this world. And for the sake of it, yes I'm confessing to you

I know it's not that romantic of a confession but…I'll wait for your answer

-Ren ]

Shizune stared hard at the contents and typed a reply. Her finger hovered over the send button for a period of time before finally pressing it. The girl closed her eyes and brought her phone closer to her as her grip tightened on it.

Sorry Ren…And, goodbye.

Ren reached for his phone the second he saw it vibrate. When he saw it was from his childhood friend, his heart started to pound fast since he knew it was about. He started to fidget, feeling nervous of reading the mail.

…Okay. Now he was acting like a girl…

A sigh was let out and he shook his head. Whatever answer she gave, he has to accept. He took a deep breath and opened it. His blue eyes widened as soon as he read the content and he lowered his gaze, a sad smile forming on his face.

"so you chose him, huh…"

A stray tear went down his cheek and he quickly wiped it off. A strong, stinging pain was felt in his chest which he deciphered as jealously and also sorrow. He should have noticed it. How she looked at him. How she became more attached to the other than him. Or maybe, he noticed it but chose to ignore. He took a final look at the mail before deleting it.

The next morning, she marched over to Akashi's room after she made her resolve— which only took one phone call to confirm —and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. A few minutes wait but no one came to answer the door.

Is he still sleeping?

She turned the knob to discover it wasn't locked. The girl peeked in the room to further discover that the male wasn't in the room. Couple of blinks and off she went to search for him. The entire silent mansion was searched but no sign of him. Just as she was about to quit and wait for him to reappear while munching on something, she noticed a small note pasted on the fridge.

[ went out for a walk.

-Akashi ]

"with a fever? That idiot…."

She grabbed her coat and went out on the chilly streets to drag the redhead back to the mansion. His fever was still rather high last night and he suddenly went out in this kind of weather. Shizune was ready to hit some sense into that brain of his. She went by every possible place he could have been until she reached the park where they stopped by before returning.

A sigh was released when she saw him sitting on the swing, watching a few early bird children play together. He wasn't aware of her presence until she approached him and gave him a tap on the shoulder.

"you really shouldn't be out when you're sick, y'know"

"it has gone down. There is nothing for you to worry about."

"guess so."

Akashi felt her gaze softly at him before sitting on the empty swing beside him. She cupped her own face in her hands and rested her arms on her lap, watching the children like he did. After a short moment of silence, Shizune suddenly asked him,

"it was you, wasn't it?"

It took a moment before he reacted to the question. "pardon?"

"the kid who I saw moping 7 years ago in Beika Park…it was you, wasn't it?"

"so you've remembered."

"it came to me just now. The setting is perfect, you see. With this place being similar and stuff."

"I see…"

"so, I was your first love?"

"correct."

"you didn't realize it until recently?"

"exactly."

"in other words, if I wasn't the girl who you met 7 years ago, you wouldn't even fall for me?"

"possibly."

The straight faces and monotone way of speaking made it hard to determine if both of them actually cared about the current conversation. Then again, both were quite good in acting so it might be just another mask they put on.

"…let's head back…"

"agreed."

The duo stood up and started to walk back to the mansion. When they reached the housing area, a man wearing a trench coat with a hand in his pocket approached them and asked with a ghastly voice.

"Kudo Shizune…I presume..."

She hesitated to answer for a moment because something was telling her that this man was bad news. "..yes. Do you—"

It happened so quickly. As soon as she answered his question, a gunshot was sounded and the man smiled maliciously. A small gasp was let out as her eyes widened and a sharp pain was felt from her abdomen and blood slowly started to flow from that area. The male's eyes widened too and he instantly caught her before she collapsed.

"this is for my brother, Numabuchi…"

He muttered darkly before running off. He would have went after him but the bleeding female was more important. He hurriedly called the ambulance, ignoring the small crowd who heard the gunshot. Shizune held her wound and curled up slightly in attempt to lessen the pain and possibly the blood lose.

"hang in there. The ambulance is coming in a moment."

"Numabuchi…" she muttered. "a man I had arrested a year back…"

"this isn't the time for that—"

"being a detective has its risks…being a target of revenge is one of them…"

"like I said—"

"this would heal in a short time…if I'm not mistaken…."

She's completely ignoring me…

"that's why, don't..worry…"

She passed out just as the ambulance came and rushed her to the hospital. A surgery was instantly done because according to the doctor, she had lost quite an amount of blood thanks to the depth of the wound. There was only 50% that she could make it. Akashi tried to keep his calm while watching the light which indicated the surgery was still ongoing, silently praying she would make it.

forgive me but I just love torturing these two-
oh but don't worry-
no more torturing in the next episode-
maybe- xD
thanks for reading!