Her eyes fluttered open and narrowed when a bright light came into view. They adjusted to the brightness and scanned the area. Pale blue curtains. White walls. White almost everything. A hospital room. She attempted to sit up but wince when a sharp pain hit her abdomen. The girl put her hand on the hurting area and managed to force herself to sit.

A shade of red on her left made her turn to see Akashi napping on a chair with his arms crossed and body in a relaxed position. He looked so peaceful at sleep that Shizune couldn't bring herself to wake him up. Though, her good intention was ruined when he woke up by himself and instantly straightened his posture.

"Shizune..you're awake…"

"as you can see"

"how are you feeling?"

"what do you think?"

"don't answer my question with a question."

"I feel normal. Minus my middle"

He hummed as a response then stood up from his seat with the reason of calling the doctor. Giving her a soft pat on the head, he went out. As soon as he disappeared from his sight, the brunette covered her face with the blanket and murmured a "the cause of my death wont be this wound…"

The doctor did some check-ups and left the room, leaving the teens together. Shizune groaned and laid on the bed like a slug or konyaku might fit the description better. It has been a while since she got hospitalized and she had completely forgotten how tiring and boring it was. Akashi placed himself on the chair once again and asked the girl if she had told her parents about the incident.

"Mom doesn't need to deal with this kind of stuff again so nope"

"you're pretty laid back about this, aren't you?"

"can't help it" she shrugged. "I'm used to—"

The door being slammed open and someone rushing over to give the wounded girl a bone-crushing hug cut her sentence before she could finish it. Even Akashi almost got an heart attack. An additional three people entered the room and the last one shut the door gently.

"H-Hayama-senpai…!" she tried to speak as he tightened his hug. "y-you're killing me- c-can't breath..! g-give, give, give, give!"

"oh! Sorry, Shizu-chan~" Hayama sticked his tongue out as an attempt to look cutely apologetic.

"I thought I was gonna die…." she gasped in a low voice, catching her breath.

"oi Shizune. You should really consider quitting being a detective. You're gonna get killed one day, y'know" Nebuya unusually said his concern.

"in a way, that would be exciting. Like in a light novel…" Mayuzumi added though it went unnoticed by most of them.

"if it's to solve a case then so be it"

"that kind of mindset is not healthy, dear…"

"but—"

The four continued conversing and Akashi awkwardly stood in the room. Totally forgotten by them. His phone vibrating in his pocket made him excuse himself out the room and he answered the call in the hallway.

"hello?"

[ "Seijuro." ]

His heterochromatic eyes widened and suddenly he found it hard to speak. His father, who literally denied any contact with him, was on the phone with him. After a moment of silence, he replied.

"yes..father?"

[ "…how…are you two doing in Kyoto?" ]

"…fine…" he lied, choosing not to tell his father the incident. He didn't want to face him because he wants to check on her just yet.

As if seeing through the lie, he asked, [ "are you sure?" ]

"yes." A confident answer to convince him.

[ "….Seijuro.." ] a hint of guilt and worry could be sense in the voice of the older Akashi. [ "I know what I said about the qualifications of being one of the Akashis. I have always been thinking about the family name and not you. No wonder your mother chose to leave us..." ]

Father…?

He would never speak about his mother. Never. It was considered as a sensitive topic ever since she disappeared to who knows where. The reason, according to those who worked in the mansion, was that she couldn't agree with Shuusaku's way of raising. The boy loved his mother so much that her leaving was a big shock. But daddy said that as a man from the Akashis, he should stay strong and forget about her. So why…?

[ "I just wanted to know, if you would accept…an apology from your old man?" ]

Silence passed through the hallway and only the soft chatters of others could be heard. He was lost. He didn't know how to respond. He wanted to say 'yes' but somewhere deep inside of him said 'no'. He never cared about him. Even though he was suppose to be his father, not a single shred of care was shown. Now, after denying his existence, he was asking for an apology? How should he even…

[ "Seijuro?" ]

"…please give me some time."

[ "very well." ]

The call ended and Akashi silently reentered the ward. The teens in the room were already set to leave. They weren't planning to stay long anyway. It might bother the girl who was still undergoing recovery.

"ah, Sei-chan~ We're heading back now. Also, I already told Shizu-chan but we're having a Christmas party in the clubroom so be sure to come kay?~"

"…We'll see."

Mibuchi's violet orbs blinked as he saw the lack of usual confidence in the redhead's response. He made a small guess of what happened waited till the other three Rakuzan teens were walking out the room before whispering into Shizune's ear.

"this might be the only chance for you to tell him so be sure to seize the chance"

He gave a good luck wink and skipped out the room, once again leaving them together. Attempting to take Mibuchi's advice, the girl cleared her throat and started to talk but a sudden hug from him made her stop her attempt. His arms were wrapped around her small frame and his face was buried in her shoulder. The young detective's face heated up and her brain was desperately trying to process his actions.

"A-Akashi—"

"just…let me stay like this…please…"

Her eyes softened and she gently stroked his hair. It must've been something to do with the call, she thought. That was the only thing that could trigger him to act like that. He seemed so fragile ever since he lost to Seirin and his father's words increased the damage. She didn't want to ask but him not talking about it wont make things better.

"was it your dad?..."

A soft nod could be felt and the girl returned the embrace. To think that he would actually call him..What was he actually thinking? Since she didn't know what had happened, good advice couldn't be offered but it wouldn't hurt to try and cheer him up, right? He was in need for some comforting and she was the only person that was available to give it to him.

"Akashi…whatever he said to you, you shouldn't give it much thought. But, if he was asking for forgiveness.."

as expected.., Akashi thought. She's exceptional in guessing…

"you should…consider accepting it. Like I said before, holding a grudge would result in murder and I don't want someone I care about commit a murder. It would also hurt you the whole time you hold it in your heart. That's why—"

"thanks…" the redhead said, backing up slowly from her and sitting on the chair which was left ignored beside the bed for a while. "you are really an interesting person…"

"how'd it lead up to that…" She gave a small smile to him which he returned.

"I..will tell father about accepting his apology..though on a later date. Right now, I want to take my mind off of it…"

"that does seem like the better choice" she chuckled.

"be sure to seize the chance"

Mibuchi's words flashed in her head and she froze for a while. Should she? She should, right? But the courage of saying it was…Somehow the great female detective Kudo Shizune-sama is defeated by a mere love confession. Or 'mere' shouldn't be used to say it…But, if she doesn't say it now, when would she get another chance? Yeah. Now is the time. Just, casually say it. That's it. Casually.

"Akashi"

"yes?"

" you see…I uh…well.."

"what do you want to say, Shizune?"

She murmured a few meaningless words before saying rather timidly, "me too…"

"pardon?"

"I…! like..you..too…"

"…mind repeating—"

"ah geez! I like you too! More than anyone in the world, I like you…."

Even though she looked serious, her face was beat red as Akashi stared with widened eyes at her before letting out a small laugh.

"w-what's so funny?"

"no. I was expecting you to say yes but the way was unexpected"

He said, continuing to laugh lightly. The brunette pouted but she had to admit, seeing him laugh for the first time was quite a sight making her rather unwillingly smile. She was then pulled into a warm hug and the boy set his chin on her head.

"I'm happy you feel the same…"

"you knew what I was going to say. Should that even be an option?" she chuckled.

"it might.."

Little did they know, an excited Mibuchi Reo was peeking through the slight crack of the door. A motherly happy smile was plastered on his face and it remained intact as he returned to his teammates from his fake toilet break. He wanted to check on the two to see if any progress was made. He was glad to see that there was some progress from the two idiots.

"Reo-nee!~"

Hayama waved at him from the main entrance and he returned the gesture.

"what were you doing in the toilet, taking so long? I'm so freaking hungry here…"

"geez Eikichi. You're always hungry…"

As they walked out of the hospital, Mibuchi started to hum happily which creeped the other three out. Mayuzumi, being the blunt one between them, let out a rather disgusted sigh before commenting on it.

"Mibuchi. Stop humming. It's annoying."

"Chii-chan's so mean…"

"but you look so happy! What's with that, Reo-nee?"

"hm~ it's nothing, really~"

"eeeeeh….tell us, tell us!"

"you'll find out soon, Hayama~"

The blonde puffed out his cheeks but chose not to press on further. What Reo-nee says is bound to come true— was what he thought.

"oh yea" he started to say. "Akashi's birthday is just a few days away right?"

"now that you mention it…oi, Mibuchi. What are you planning to—"

"of course I have planned out everything!~ I already explained it all to Shizu-chan and all that's left is to execute it"

"What are you talking about, Reo-nee?"

Mibuchi giggled and told the three boys to move in closer so he could whisper the little plan he had for Akashi's birthday.

Just thought it was high time for them to get together-
hope you liked how I did it- I kinda suck at confession scenes-
sorry if Akashi seems OOC here- "OTL
oh, I might not update the next chapter for a week or so because I'll be in Japan next week and I doubt I would be able to use the internet there-
but but but- I'll bring the laptop and write the next chapter(s) over there and try to update once I get back!~ ^^
Thanks for reading and once again, hope you liked it~