Chapter 17

Ahhhhh!

I don't even know how to do it from this point on. I must warn you (I might have already?) I suck at writing endings haha. This isn't the end but it's drawing to a close and I suck at the whole de-climax/resolution part.

Shinichi spent the following week recuperating from the shocking betrayal of his ex-boyfriend and, of course, doing his summer homework. This continued until Friday, when there was a ring of his doorbell. He twitched, fearing who it could be. Kaito had tried calling him numerous times; like Shinichi would ever answer calls from him again. So now he wondered, walking cautiously to the front door, if the bastardly thief could be coming to torture Shinichi in person this time. It had been bad enough seeing the screen of his phone light up with the familiar name (and then, when Shinichi deleted the contact, the familiar number) but actually seeing the criminal...he couldn't deal with that.

So he peeked carefully out of the window next to the door, and sighed in relief. It's only her, he thought with comfort, opening the door with ease. "Hi Ran," he said, attempting the first smile since last Friday afternoon (when he had last seen Kaito before the revelation).

Ran looked at him with suspicion and then stomped into his house, brushing right past him. He blinked in confusion and closed the door hesitantly behind her. "Um, sure, come on in," he said sardonically.

Ran whirled around to face him, her face appearing deadly. "Cut the crap, Shinichi," she snapped.

"Ran!" Shinichi whined. "What did I do this time?!" Did I forget her birthday? He thought in panic. No, that's not for a few months...was I supposed to do something? Crap, I'm in trouble.

Ran stepped close to Shinichi, resembling a vengeful predator. "I don't know what you did but Kaito-kun is absolutely miserable!"

Shinichi felt the blood rush suddenly away from his face. The name alone could send him into an emotional frenzy, and presently he was not in the mood to deal with her crap, either. His jaw locked and he said quietly, "Ran, I don't know what you heard from Nakamori-san, but whatever she told you about how he is feeling, I can assure you that I am feeling much worse and if you think any of this is my fault you can leave right now."

Ran stepped back, her mouth open, looking like she'd been severely hurt. Sure, maybe it was harsh, but he would not deal with that man playing the victim. It was only when tears began to form in the girl's eyes that Shinichi forcibly relaxed his tense body and stepped closer to her, offering a hand on her shoulder. "Stop, Ran," he said softly, pleading. "I didn't mean to be a jerk, I'm sorry. It's kind of a sore spot for me right now though. You immediately accused me without having all of the evidence needed."

Ran exhaled shakily and nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess I did. Sorry. So...what did he do?"

Shinichi led her to sit down on the living room couch and patted her head lightly. "It doesn't really matter. It's something I should have known a long time ago and something that isn't reparable."

"Shinichi, there isn't much he could've done that's irreparable. It's not like he cheated on you...did he?" After Shinichi shook his head, she asked, "Well then? What?"

Shinichi sunk into the couch next to her and looked at her to convey the seriousness in his gaze. "Ran, I'd love to tell you and have you understand that there's nothing that can be done anymore. I'd love to have you raise hell like usual. But this isn't something I can tell you. This isn't my secret. It's his, and no matter how much it shocked me I'm not going to betray his privacy."

"He betrayed you, didn't he?" She asked, half wanting badly to know what this secret was and half really caring about her friend's feelings.

"Yes, but I don't...I don't hate him." Shinichi looked away, embarrassed at his own emotions.

Ran pursed her lips. "You like him more than you should, don't you?" she asked. Shinichi didn't respond, and he didn't look at her again, so she scooted close and rubbed his back to provide solace. "It's okay," she said softly. "It might take a while to get over it, but it's going to be fine."

Shinichi's shoulders began trembling slightly, and Ran could tell he was trying hard to suppress it. "I trusted him too much," he whispered.

"No, Shinichi," Ran said firmly. "You trusted him perfectly. He was the one who revealed such a terrible thing..." It was hard to help someone, she mused, when you don't even know the specifics of what's wrong.

They stayed like that, with Ran comforting Shinichi, for a while, and eventually they stopped talking. Ran's movements got slower and eventually stopped. Shinichi blinked his eyes hard and then looked at her for the first time since it all started. She was asleep sitting up. Down her cheeks there were a few wet streaks. She had to be the most loyal friend ever...she would even cry over his pain.

The doorbell rang again and Shinichi hurried to answer it, trying not to wake Ran. He opened it (bravely, without looking to see who it was) to find Heiji smiling on the other side. Great, just what he wanted. "Hey Hattori," he greeted unenthusiastically.

"Hey Kudo!" Heiji greeted, much happier than Shinichi. "I heard about your love problems and I came to get your mind off of them. I couldn't come earlier though cause I had to arrange a day to come and I've been busy with cases..."

Shinichi ran a hand over his face in annoyance. "How did you find out about this?"

Heiji shrugged. "Well duh, Kazuha told me."

Oh, Ran must have told Kazuha about it...maybe for the precise reason that she would tell Heiji. Shinichi sighed and moved to the side. "Okay, come in. Just don't be too loud because Ran is asleep in the living room."

"Oh," Heiji commented mock-quietly. "She been here long?"

Shinichi looked at his watch; it was about three o'clock now...when did she come over again? "Mm, a few hours I suppose."

"How long she been asleep?"

"About ten minutes I guess," he said, shrugging.

"Wanna go somewhere? We can leave her here to sleep and go eat or somethin'...I'm pretty hungry. And we can talk about whatever and knowing your luck we'll find a case!"

Shinichi grinned, shaking his head. "You are very strange. Let me just write her a note about where I'm going..." He searched around for some paper and a pen, and scribbled a little note Went out with Hattori for a while. We'll be back soon.

"Okay, I'm ready," Shinichi said, stretching. He put his shoes on near the front door and stood up. Heiji followed him out the door.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, looking at his hungry mooch of a friend.

"Somewhere with good food!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah, be more specific."

They turned down the next road while Heiji thought about his preference in eateries. Heiji glanced around the street in thought and yawned. "Man, I've been up all night workin' on this case and packin' to come here."

"You poor baby," Shinichi deadpanned, thinking of his sleepless nights lately, constantly tossing and turning but never able to get the words, the thoughts, the memories, the face, out of his mind.

Turning onto another more populated street, getting closer to the shops and restaurants, Heiji made more and more humming sounds, debating inside his head.

Something caught Shinichi's eye further up the street. It was a familiar person, walking in their general direction. Shinichi's heart began to beat faster and was slightly relieved that the person didn't seem to see him. Shinichi walked with his head down, still looking up through his hair at the other person. Please don't notice me, he begged.

"Oh hey, wasn't there a place we went last time?" Heiji asked beside him, but Shinichi wasn't listening very hard. "Some place with really good sushi?" Heiji. Was. Oblivious.

"Hey Kudo, there's someone over there who looks just like you. That's weird...Oh, it kind of looks like he's coming over to us."

Shinichi couldn't see much through his hair, but he snapped his head up at that remark. It was true: Kaito was staring at Shinichi, walking straight across the road toward them, looking confused. Shinichi grabbed Heiji's arm in a spur of the moment panic, and he saw shock and hurt pass through Kaito's face. Shinichi dragged Heiji's arm and said, "Just trust me and run." And they ran.

Shinichi glanced back after a while, and saw that Kaito was standing in the same spot, not moving. Just watching them go. But the detective didn't stop; he just kept pulling Heiji and running. When they were standing in front of a restaurant, the one with the great sushi, Shinichi allowed them to stop. They stood panting for a few moments.

"What," Heiji asked, breathing hard between words, "was...that about?!"

Shinichi replied, "It was the guy. I didn't want to deal with him after all that..."

Heiji's face lit up with realization. "Oh, that was the guy you were with? Right, I think I remember hearing he looked like you but...man he was almost identical!"

Shinichi motioned for Heiji to go into the restaurant, and they got some food. While eating, Heiji babbled about the annoyance that was caused by having to run for no reason. "Jeez you could just ignore him. I doubt any guy is willing to make a scene just because you don't talk to him."

"But he's not 'any guy'...he's him. He's weird. He'll do anything to get what he wants and...I think the only reason he didn't come after me is cause I was with you." He remembered the misunderstanding that Kaito seemed to have when he saw Shinichi touch Heiji's arm.

"Hm," Heiji said, popping some food into his mouth and chewing. Before he swallowed his food he mumbled, "So what did he do anyway? Or what did you do? All I heard is that it was some nasty break-up and no one really knows what really happened."

Shinichi sighed, sipping at his water. "I didn't do anything. I refuse to be the assailant in this situation. It's not something I can talk about; just understand that I'm not up to talk to him. Like, ever."

Heiji nodded. "I would normally push you harder but Kazuha told me I'm not allowed to pry."

Shinichi put his drink down and smiled. "Tell her I said thank you for that."

Wooo...not much happening here, just Shinichi avoiding the problem. Good friends comforting him

Anyway, next chapter should be good. And no, by the way, Kaito was not just randomly walking down the street...

I realized while writing this that the way I write Heiji might make it seem like I dislike him. I just want to say that I really do love Heiji haha. I guess it's just that Shinichi gets annoyed at him a lot so I try to write him kind of annoying. Yah.

Review! Love you! (Rhymes :D)

Byeeeee!