A/N : Hello, happy Friday :)) Well, there's nothing much I want to say this week, except that this chapter is bloody long and almost killed me! Hahaha ;D I spent all week working on it. So, hope you guys enjoy reading! :)):):)
Oh. By the way, actually there is something I've wanted to do for a while. That's talking to my anonymous reviewers! I've already answered all logged-in reviews by sending PM to each of its owner, yet, as for the guests, I don't really know how to do that. lol. So, specially for guest reviewers, please don't forget to read my note to you at the end of this.
Thank you all again for reading and reviewing! Have a great weekend! ;D;D;D:D
...
Chapter 11 : The dare
...
"Haibara..?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Suddenly, the familiar voice called from behind. Though very quiet, it was powerful enough to make the girl frozenly turned around.
And so she met the person she had tried so hard to avoid the whole week.
Yet he might be the same person whom she could never forget the whole times.
Kudo Shinichi
...
...
...
...
...
...
Surprised.
Shiho began to yell startlingly.
"Kudo..! Why are you..."
"Shsshhhh! Quiet. Aren't we supposed to be lovers? You wouldn't want to ruin this, would you, Agent Miyano?" Quickly, the man pushed his face up so close and whispered warningly to her left ear. In the public's eyes, they looked like a beautiful couple, in which the boyfriend was so lovingly impatient to sweet-talk his girlfriend. The act was perfect and flawless.
However, as his sharp nose was about to touch her radiant cheek, the strawberry blonde just couldn't help but feel her temperature increased frantically.
What the..!
Gasping. Not knowing whether it was anger or else her flush was coming from, the only thing Shiho knew right then was that she needed to push this man away as fast as possible.
She couldn't stand to be so close to him like this.
Like he was able to think it through, Shinichi then wrap his arm around her waist.
And he 'actingly' gave her a blowing peck.
...
...
...
"Hey, sweetie, shall we go to over there? I can't wait to be with you."
...
...
..
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
..
..
...
...
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU FREAKIN' HERE, YOU BASTARD?!"
"Ouch! Slow down! That's hurt, Haibara!"
"LIKE THAT I CARE! ANSWER ME, IDIOT!"
Right at the narrow corridor behind the gambling chamber, the couple were facing each other, intently. As soon as they got this little private area, it was definitely time for Shiho's FBI agent furiously pushed the man toward the wall and started to scream at him.
This man.. How dare he!
Luckily, the detective was able to cover her mouth in time.
"Sheesh! Shut up! Isn't it obvious? I'm here to be your partner, you moron!" The man agitatedly whispered back. His hand forcefully shut her mouth while his other arm tied her back against the padding wall.
The strawberry blonde wriggled.
"Listen. I'm the one assigned to this case, okay? See? Inspector Takagi sent me." After releasing her mouth, Shinichi shown the text message from his chief to Shiho. Shiho starred at it unbelievingly.
"What? But.. Jodie-San told me that it would be a man named Yoshihara."
"Well, it's changed. I'm in charge now. So, work with me."
"What?"
Suddenly, as foot step was heard coming up.
Immediately, Shinichi put his face straight to her neck.
...
...
A waiter walked pass them,
...
...
...
...
...
"Whoa. That was close. Alright, where were we?"
"Kudo.. You... Baka!"
The girl punched him hard on his chest that made him flew over to the opposite wall.
"Ouch! What the...! Hey!"
"Shut up, Baka! There is no way I will work with you!"
"Hey! Stop it already, Miyano. Sheesh. What's so wrong with you? I absolutely did nothing!" Slowly, the man recovered his composure and shook his head in annoyance. Why the hell is she angry? Don't tell me that because of the peck? I was protecting us! Shiho's eyes just kept scowling at his face like they were cursing him to death.
And that's what he called 'Nothing'. This pervert is absolutely the worst.
Shinichi ignored her killing glare.
"Alright. Listen to me. Tonight, you will only be the backup, okay? I will get the sample poison myself and hand it to you later," carefully spoke, Shinichi flicked his eyes to one of the VIP lounges which was where their target was staying. Tonight, some hazardous chemicals would be presented to many international buyers in that room, and their mission was to get some of those back. His hand unwittingly reached his pocket gun.
"What? Why would I listen to you? I'm not your subordinate!"
"You're not, but it's dangerous. Go wait for me in the room," he meant the prepared guest room that the FBI had booked.
"You wish. I'm an FBI, not some innocent helpless girl... Nnnn!"
A little tranquilizer needle pinched her shoulder.
The girl fell asleep.
...
...
...
...
...
...
"I know, but you need not to risk this, Haibara,"
He picked her up by both arms.
I will protect you whenever I can.. as promised.
I can't ever lose you.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
It's midnight.
After hours of sleep and unconsciousness, Shiho was finally awake. This place... Slowly, she sat up on the fluffy bed, rolled her eyes around trying to recall things.
Oh. That's right. Kudo poisoned me.
Angrily, the FBI agent jumped out of the bed and walked furiously toward the living room. This was a suite type of guest room. The FBI had specially booked this luxury site in order for her to use it as an operation center, yet, on the contrary, she had comfortably slept in it like being on her sweet vocation. Shiho just couldn't forgive herself.
And when she was about to open the door..
"Hi. You wake up already? But sadly, Miss, I'm afraid the breakfast isn't ready yet..." A lazy yawn suddenly broke the silent air, and when Shiho turned to face the standing of the voice, there she found the speaker laying on the velvet sofa.
Shinichi idly put his back up.
...
...
...
...
"Here. The sample poisons," several medicine packs were swayed up in the air.
Shiho slowly walked to sat at the same sofa and took them.
Then, she noticed that his lip was bleeding.
...
...
...
...
...
"How did you get these?"
"I gambled."
"And they used this as the bet?"
"Not really. I gambled with another drunk buyer. He sucked. But his bodyguard found out that I cheated. So, I got banged, and the samples."
Shinichi told her dryly like nothing big had really happened.
Looking at the blood dripping oce more, Shiho just couldn't say a word.
...
...
...
...
The detective raised his eyebrow, "I thought you're gonna say something sarcastically..?"
"No. I'm not. Not when you're hurt like this..." mumbled, the beautiful agent just kept her head low starring at the packs in her palms yet Shinichi just couldn't believe if he heard things right. He glimpsed at her surprisingly.
...
...
...
...
Shiho intentionally avoid his eyes.
"Stop starring me, you idiot. Lift your chin up. I'm going to clean the wound."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Okay. Here you go."
Moments later, Shiho finished taking care of Shinichi's cut. Although there wasn't much she could do without the exact medicines, the girl did managed to stop the bleeding and did closed the lesion for him. Actually, since the mission was already accomplished, they should be able to leave the hotel by now, however, because of Shinichi's incautious fight with the gangsters, they could never leave the room until those blood-hungers were completely gone.
Which meant, they had to stay together all night, again.
...
...
...
...
During the time Shinichi watched the beautiful girl attending to his injury, he remained silent.
"Thank you," he finally was able to speak once she took her hands off his lip.
"What for? I'm the one who should be thanking you. You did the work for me," Eventually, I ended up needing your help.
The couple just sat quietly together.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Hey. Wanna play some game?"
Finally, it was Shinichi who broke the silence once more. He raised his voice joyfully as the usual smug appeared on his handsome face.
"Eh?"
"Game. Gambling. Since we can't go out anyway and we are still at the biggest casino, so,..."
"I'll pass. Aren't you sleepy? Besides, what's in for me to gamble with you?" The girl brushed it off without hesitation as she walked over to the cupboard to prepare some drinks.
Shinichi narrowed his eyes, "Nah. I'm not sleepy. I just got a long-haul flight back from London and slept well enough already. Will you selfishly go back to sleep again?"
Of course, upon hearing his ironic remark, Shiho stopped drinking and narrowed her eyes, too.
"Excuse me? Are you pleading me to stay with you, Kudo?" Sharp. She automatically raised her voice high while the other just tried hardly not to let a laugh. Well, pushing her button always worked. He didn't know since when did he start to enjoy teasing her like this.
Enjoy teasing her like this?
The detective put on a poker face.
"So, how about we both bet on... this?" Smiley, Shinichi pulled a rumple piece of paper out.
"What's that?"
"The address of the poison factory"
"WHAT? How could you... Give that to me, Kudo!"
"A-ah. It's the bet. If you want to get it, win me."
"Kudo!"
"Hahaha. Okay, then. What shall we play? Poker?"
Carefreely, Shinichi walked toward the private gambling desk which was sitting all elegantly in a corner of their luxury suite. Next to the glass stall, several tools used in gambling were served, ranging from simple UNO to roulette bowl, including a fancy one, such as, snooking machine.
Shinichi picked up a golden set of cards, beaming.
Shiho gave him another death wish.
...
...
...
...
...
"You really love messing up with me, don't you?"
"And you really love offending me, don't you? Come on! Let's have some fun. A game wouldn't hurt, would it?"
...
...
...
Shiho unwillingly sat down at the opposite chair.
Shinichi sneakily laughed in his head.
...
...
...
"Alright. What you wanna play? Poker, Bridge, Rummy or Spades?"
"Never knew you're quite an expert, Sherlock."
"Oi Oi. No need to bite me like that. Just tell me which would you prefer, you player," the detective frowned irritatingly. He handed the cards to the girl.
Shiho looked at the cards in his hand. She didn't accept it.
...
...
...
...
"What?"
"I don't know how to play cards."
...
...
...
"WHAT?"
"What's wrong with that? You wouldn't expect every criminal to know how to gamble, would you?" boringly, the former so-called criminal yawned at him.
"No. But cards are fundamental. I thought you grew up in bloody organization, not a convent."
"And I thought you are detective, not magic phantom thief."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Fine. Then, we play 'Truth or Dare'. I hope that you at least would have heard of it, wouldn't you, your highness?" the man looked at his competitor fretfully as he finally gave it up.
"Tell me the rules."
"We take turns to pick a card and answer questions. The one with less mark on the card goes first. And the one who skips questions three times will go back without the samples."
"What kind of questions?"
"General knowledges." Well, that's not really 'Truth or Dare', but, not that she will answer something 'Personal' either.
Shiho heedfully watched Shinichi shuffled the golden cards. The list of questions was pulled out from a board game while the address paper were purposely placed above it, and, lastly, she swore that she saw him raising his eyebrow, challenging her.
...
...
...
...
...
She bit her lower lip.
"You'd better not regret this, Kudo. Bring it on."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Almost two hours has passed.
Yet the game was no where near its end. Both Shiho and Shinichi still got all the questions perfectly right, not a single one was skipped. Expectedly and ridiculously, the clever detective and the genius scientist both got the draw, and, as almost intense two hours had passed, they seemed to finally realized that this gambling would never ever end.
...
...
...
"What is the capital city of Thailand?"
"Bangkok"
"How many oscars did Audrey Hapburn win?"
"Two wins. Five nominations."
"What does the Canadian motto, A Mari Usque ad Mare, mean?"
"From sea to sea."
"Which country does the ethnic group, Javanese, belong to?"
"Indonesia."
"Where was Thomas Edison's first power station?"
"Manhattan, New York."
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"When was your first crush?"
"What?"
Seeing that this game had gone long enough, Shinichi decided to wrap it all up. It was already two in the morning and so he saw that the girl was generally tired.
"That's not in the list," Shiho protested.
"Come on. We both know that this won't end unless one of us fall asleep completely. So, change the rule. Let's play the real 'Truth or Dare'."
"Excuse me?"
"What? You're afraid to answer the truth?" Yeah. Just like before. She will never ever be honest with me. He slightly chuckled.
...
...
...
Gripping. The girl began to hold her card sturdily. What did he just say?
Shiho stared deeply into his eyes. Without a blink, the cerulean oculus reflected with another cobalt one.
What do I have to be afraid of?
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Eight," the word slowly slipped from the luscious lip.
"Eh?"
"I first fell in love when I was eight," Shiho precisely continued, removing her eyes off his. Shinichi's eyes widened. The man slightly raised his eyebrow in surprise. He watched the girl turned her face suspiciously.
"That young? And who was it?" frowning, came to think of it, he found her answer unbelievable and, somehow, disturbing?
"I thought we are playing 'Truth or Dare' not 'Getting Together Therapy'," the scientist found it was irritafor for her to be questioned, too.
Shinichi just frowned harder and huffier.
...
...
...
...
"Fine. You ask your question,"
"Since when did you fall in love with Mouri Ran?"
"Hey! Isn't that too specific?!"
"So you skip it?" Now, it was Shiho's turn to smirk amusingly. Shinichi was always weak against these things, but not that she felt bad for him, he started this anyhow.
...
...
...
...
...
"When I was 15, I guess," Well, that was the time I began to have some feelings for Ran.. I think.. might be after the New York's trip? Upon remembering this, no matter if the girl was already married, a small blush just couldn't help but rise unknowingly on his face. He didn't expect to say it that frankly. Shiho gazed at his action. So, he finally admit it, huh?
Emotionless. The girl towed a card, and it was her turn to ask a question again.
...
...
...
...
What should she ask him?
Before things go further out of hand, what could she ask him to knock him down?
Maybe something he wouldn't want to answer?
Maybe something she had always wanted to know?
...
...
...
...
"Why wouldn't you marry her?" Shortly. The question seemed simple.
Shinichi slowly lifted his head up.
...
...
...
"I was about to, but then something just wasn't right," a somewhat lonely smile appeared in his eyes, "I thought it would be best if we stay friends. It was me who caused her pains."
Finished.
No one did speak a word again.
...
...
...
As if understanding, Shiho's eyes met with his once more, yet this time they all showed sadness and care.
And that made Shinichi felt so warm.
...
...
...
...
"Well, my turn then? Haha. Have you ever loved someone, Haibara?"
...
...
...
...
...
...
Frozen.
She wasn't sure if she should dare the truth.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Yes. I did, but not anymore," the true answer eventually left out.
"Really?" the detective chuckled a little happily, "It would be nice to love someone, huh?"
The beautiful girl remained silent for a while.
...
...
...
...
"No. It's actually the worst mistake I've ever made."
...
...
...
...
"So, I'm lucky I haven't gone through that, right?"
"You haven't loved anyone?"
"Well..."
As Shinichi was about to answer the question , he suddenly realized that they were in the middle of 'Gambling' game. So, he held his answer and reached his hand to the card's box.
And then he found that there was only one card left.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"So? Whose card is that?" The girl raised her eyebrow.
The man looked at it for a while.
He handed it over.
...
...
...
...
...
"It's yours. You've already won this game. I can't answer your last question," You haven't loved anyone? That sentence still echoed all over his head.
"What do you mean it's mine?"
"Keep it as a medal," he stood up, "Even if I towed a much bigger card, I still couldn't answer that anyway,"and he walked toward the sofa again, smiling. I've actually planned to lose it to you after all.
That's right.
She saw it clearly that he was smiling.
But why his face was so painful?
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Beep. Beep. A text message was sent to her cellphone. Shiho looked at the screen and so she saw that it was 2.58 a.m.
"This late already? You wanna have some tea? I will prepare it for you."
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ten minutes later.
Just when Shiho came back with hot chocolate from the mini-bar, she found that the certain detective had already fall asleep.
Carefully, the girl placed the cups down, she went into the bedroom, and came back with a silky blanket.
Snoring. He looked just like a child.
Thank you, Kudo, for everything. I've never played a game like this with a friend before.
The girl smiled gently as she put the blanket on his shoulder.
The card he gave her still rested beside the chocolate cup.
It was Queen of Hearts.
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
A smile formed up on her lip again as she recalled the text message she had received.
'I'm so sorry, Shiho-chan. We bumped into cool kid at the airport and we slipped it and he took my car T_T Yoshihara-kun just told me that he told him not to go. Hope you guys alright. Cool kid seemed to have a jet lag. Please take care.'
And so he said he had a perfect sleep. Loves to play hero, doesn't he?
Shiho cautiously brushed a strand of hair off his forehead.
Will he ever know that I met my first crush not when I was Shiho but Haibara?
...
...
...
...
And so she stood up, turned off the light, and hummingly walked to the bedroom.
...
...
...
...
...
...
Meanwhile, a text message was also sent to Shinichi's inbox..
'Hey, Kudo, are you back? Book your schedule next week. Kazuha and I are getting engaged!'
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
A/N : Phewww... It's done! Hahaha. Quite a hard chapter for me. I'm so relieved I could finish this 3,000 words chapter. And I hope it's not too bad.. lol. Well, the next chapter might be a little bit longer because it will be the CLIMAX! Finallyyyyyyyyy! Yayyyyyyyyy! :D:D:D:D:D:D Can't wait to write it myself though, but I may not be able to update it next week since I know full well that it's gonna be damn hard... Hahaha. But I will try my best. Wish me luck then ;))))
.
.
Answers to my dear anonymous reviewers
To you, Paprika-san,
Thank you so much, my special and frequent reader! I felt so happy every time I read your reviews 'cos they are all encouraging and meaningful to me! Even though you don't have an account, you still manage to follow my story surprisingly fast, and whenever I felt sad not seeing any review yet, there you reviews would popped up like magic! Never can I say how grateful I am. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! :)))
To you, Somebody,
Thank you so much for reviewing! I've actually considered a tragic ending but still don't really know how this story should end, but I don't think I can cruelly hurt Shiho-chan! Hahaha :))) However, since it's a love triangle, at least someone will have to be sad, right? Guess we have to pray for them ;););)
To you, Gueststar,
Yo! I haven't seen you for a while but still remember you pretty greatly, because you are one of my first reviewers! Thank you for all the reviews. They truly mean so much to me and I hope you will comeback anytime soon. If you are reading this somewhere, please know that I miss you :D:D
To you, blue orchid-san,
Hahaha, sorry for shocking you, but I'm really certainly a boy and 100% straight! ;D That's why I'm not really good at portray Shiho's feeling. lol. But, hey, even Shakespere was a man, right? So, maybe romance is not limited to girls ;))))))
To you, hk86-san,
I love your name 'cos I'm from Hong Kong! :D:D Hahaha. Thank you so much for enjoying this. I hope you'd continue to find this fic cute. I will do my best! :)))
To you, Raksha-san,
Thanks! :D I'm sappy for happy ending, too! I'm just not really sure will it be happy for whom? lol. But I guess we will find out in the next chapter then ;D Thank you for your support again! :D
.
.
.
.
.
And to all many reviewers I couldn't reply to at this time.
I'm sorry but I have to go now. My mother is killing me. lol. But I promise I will try to answer them all in the next chapters! Thank you, everyone, for reviewing. Please know that the reason I can keep writing this story is because I want to read the reviews like yours :))))