~Arc 2~
-Part 2-
Chapter 16
Revelations
Something was different about this morning. Shiho winced as sunlight filtered through the blinds. Slowly, she rose from her bed, glancing at the clock beside her. It was still early, only seven. Running a hand through her messy hair, she frowned. As the ache ran through her back again, she was instantly reminded of where she was. Japan. The 13-hour flight from America was a non-stop trip, leaving her a little lightheaded. Getting out of bed, her feet settled on wooden floorboards. Shiho was in an apartment provided by the organization. Empty and far too big for a single person, and like everything else about them—was cold.
Peering through the blinds, she studied the scenery outside. Several tall buildings surrounded her apartment—towering menacingly in gray skies. A dull, dreary scene devoid of anything, and she could not help but smirk. Taking a cardigan from her suitcase, she drapes it over her shoulders. Pushing open the door, she was greeted by the scent of coffee and...burnt toast?
"There you are."
Azure blue eyes meeting hers, a raven-haired woman with a sunny smile held a spatula in her hand. With an apron over her red sweater, her cheeks were smeared with the distinctive ash of calcified smoke. The woman was standing over a stove and was in the process of…burning eggs?
Shiho rushed forward, abandoning her cardigan, turning the knob as rancid smoke billowed from the pan.
"What are you doing, Onee—"
She paused as arms wrapped around her. And the icy chill disappeared almost immediately. The woman buried her face in her shoulder, squeezing and holding her close. Her scent is reminiscent of toast, eggs, nutty coffee, and the nostalgia of...
Shiho takes a sharp breath as her sister tightened her grip.
There was indeed something different about this morning. The black organization still ruled, their presence an everlasting curse— but Akemi was here. Her sister. Not the child she once was but a woman who carried her own. A raven-haired beauty whose eyes held the gentle warmth of childhood memories. They had not met for many years…their contacts —far and few between. Yet, here she was, greeting Shiho with the force of a sun.
And Shiho was a child once more.
It did not hurt. It was warm; it was safe…it was…
"Shiho," the woman's embrace—tight and everlasting. "Welcome home."
"Haibara! You better not be skipping our group activity!" a voice calls her, the pounding on the basement door doing nothing for her throbbing head. She woke and found herself strewn over the laboratory table with notes stuck to her cheeks. A dream? As echoes of past memories emerge, a lump forms in her throat. And the ache settles like an anchor, dragging her to the depths.
"Haibara-san!"
Cursing softly, she swung the door open, only to be greeted by the all-too-happy faces of the detective boys and Kudou Shinichi. They were all carrying nets and wearing unsightly-looking fishing suits. High-waisted waders that were waterproof. Shinichi dons a yellow one over his white shirt. It was a fashion disaster, and Shiho wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"No," Shiho emphasized as the children grinned. She did not like the look on their faces.
"Wait—" she protested as they dragged her out of the house with her lab coat still on. The professor chuckled at her plight. It was mid-morning, the sun was halfway up, and it felt like summer despite it being late spring. Disgruntled, she stood, coat discarded on the grass, and watched as the children and Shinichi waded into the river's shallows. Shiho half-remembered Genta saying something about Crayfish fishing, and she could only assume the ridiculous activity she was witnessing now was akin to that.
"You should have worn the wader we got you, Haibara!'" Shinichi slinked around the area in gloves, knee-deep in muddy water.
"No."
No amount of money in the world could force her into something so ugly.
"Are you going to sit there, Haibara-san?" Mitsuhiko frowned as she settled into the grass.
"Yes, I prefer watching," she replied explicitly. Having worked all night on the antidote, she was in no mood to wade knee-deep into the waters of a shallow river.
Laying in the grass, she peered at the skies. The sun blinded her for a moment. White wispy clouds dotted the clear blue forming luminous castles across. Birds chipped as green, lush grass rustled, swaying with yellow wildflowers.
Why was she here?
She knew the answer...and the guilt emerges. An apology was in order. Even though she had snapped at them five days earlier after playing soccer in the park, she had no idea why the children were so nice to her.
Even when she was harsh...even when she treated them with the cold indifference of past habits…even when she tried to push them away…
Their kindness was unconditional, and they always came back.
It was hard for her to stay aloof—but she had to. The notion was reinforced by her sister's death. If she remained, they would only get hurt or worse—killed. With an arm resting on closed eyes, she takes a deep breath, biting her lips to maintain control.
"Haibara," Shinichi dumps a crayfish on her knees. She regards it with a raised eyebrow. Suit dripping wet from his walk through the river, he grinned.
"Did you expect me to scream?" she asked, and he shrugged.
"Well, you're afraid of cockroaches."
"That is an insect, and this," she picks it up with disdain, "Is a crustacean."
"You can tell?"
"I worked in a lab, just so you know. Experimenting with creatures is practically part of the job," Shiho quips, and he smirks.
"Worked in a lab?" Mitsuhiko asked, and she stopped.
"What do you mean?" Genta gave them both skeptical looks.
"Experimenting on animals is not right, Ai-chan!" Ayumi protested, hands on her hips.
While she was forced to devise an excuse, she scowled at Shinichi, who was whistling off-key.
"Ai-chan, won't you join us?" Ayumi held a net in her hand and was giving her a puppy dog look. One that Shiho found she was weak too.
"I-"
"Leave her be," Shinichi interrupts, 'She's just scared~."
"Of what?" she snaps, and he points to the river.
"Why, I mean, Haibara, you do know how to use a fishing net, right?"
Her annoyance grew, and she snatched the net from Genta. Her shoes discarded, she wades into the river, much to the children's delight.
"You're on, Edogawa-kun," Shiho challenged, and he smirked.
"We'll see."
Hours later, they emerged from their battle. Drenched and thoroughly soaked. Shiho shivered slightly as she smiled in triumph. Genta counted their catches with glee.
"That's ten! Haibara wins!" Genta shouted, and she glanced at the boy with a smug smile.
"That doesn't prove anything!" Shinichi snapped, and the children laughed at their rivalry.
"Man, I wish we could do this forever," Genta said as they sat by the riverside a little while later. Eating from the bento boxes prepared by the professor in the morning. After a grueling morning of activities, the egg mayo sandwich was a welcome lunch.
"That'll be great," Mitsuhiko said.
"Genta-kun, we can't keep doing this forever," Shinichi was amused by the children's remarks.
"Ayeeee…"
"We can't be catching crayfish like this when we're twenty," he chuckled at their bugged-eyed expressions.
"But…but-"
"That's right," Shiho whispered. Though hard to hear, his words were truths that needed to be said. "Nothing lasts forever."
"Haibara," Shinichi warned, and she shrugged.
"We'll all grow, develop different interests, and go our separate ways. That's the reality of it."
A wry smile forms as an inexplicable ache rises in her chest. Seeing the stunned expressions on the children's faces, she paused.
"I'm joking."
Only to be met with the determined glare of a little girl. Grabbing onto her wrist, Ayumi leans forward. Their noses practically touching.
"What—"
"It doesn't matter!" Ayumi declares, "Even if we're adults, even if we're separated, even if Ayumi is no longer able to meet with you guys, it doesn't matter! We'll be together forever, right here," the little girl gestured to her heart, slapping it with an open hand. "Because we're friends!"
"No matter what, we'll always remain friends."
Again, Shiho is stunned by the little girl's tenacity.
"Ai-chan," Ayumi tightened her hold, "I promise."
Her eyes filled with innocent determination. Ayumi's words left her speechless once more.
"What did I say," Shinichi asked later as Shiho looks at the children ahead. Their innocent conversations flowed from food to school to a cartoon showing in theaters at the moment, and she couldn't help but smile.
"Ice cream, we are getting ice cream!"
"Hakase, going to go broke if this continues."
"Yeah, he would," Shinichi answers cryptically, "Ayumi-chan said it didn't she?"
Holding that annoying grin, he winks at her. "We'll remain friends, no matter what...right?"
These idiots.
She frowns as he chuckled. The boy took hold of her hand as he led her to the laughing children.
This will never last, won't it?
The sight of a brown-haired man bearing the sinister aura of the black organization shattered the day's peace. Shiho froze when she saw him standing before the professor's house. Olive-green eyes glared at her, glasses reflecting anger and sadness that chills Shiho to the bone.
"Subaru-san, what are you doing here?" the children greeted him, but he did not respond. His attention fixed on hers, and she winced when he grabs her arm. It hurt, and she cried out softly, her fear turning into anger, and she glared at him with the same intensity.
"Subaru-san!" Shinichi exclaims.
"Let her go!" Genta shoves the man away. Mitsuhiko and Ayumi shielded her from the man.
"Subaru-san, you're hurting Ai-chan!" Ayumi shouted, tears appearing in the little girl's eyes. The man, realizing what he had done, released her with a forced smile.
"Oh, I'm sorry," lacking his usual calm demur, he sounded exhausted, "I just wanted..."
"What's going on!?" the professor emerged. Glancing frantically at Shinichi and the children and then at her. The fury for the man before her threatens to erupt, and she swallows, collecting herself.
"Hakase," Shinichi ordered, "Could you bring the children to get some ice cream?"
"But—"
"Hakase!"
"Come on, let's go," he told the children, who were still staring daggers at Subaru.
"No, he's up to something!" Genta grumbled, "He was hurting Haibara!"
"Yeah, no way we're leaving him with her!" Mitsuhiko chimed in. Ayumi bounded over to her, hugging her tightly. There was a tense silence as the children huddled around her.
"It's ok," she forced, releasing herself from the kids and giving them a reassuring smile.
"But-" the children protested as she waved them off.
"Thanks for your concern," she answered, "But I'm alright. Subaru-san probably has something to tell me."
She turned to the professor.
"Hakase," she requested, and the professor shuffled the protesting children out of the courtyard.
"You better not do anything to her, you hear me!" Mitsuhiko shouted, the professor chuckling nervously before guiding the children out of the gate. There was a deep awkward silence, Subaru running a hand through his brown hair.
"You've got some nerve," her rage springs to life, "Moroboshi Dai!"
His fake alias made him wince. This was all she knew about him. This man, her sister, had talked about. "What do you want?"
The man's anger seems to have vanished, and Shiho is left staring at an empty husk. An aura of defeat surrounded him, making her feel slightly anxious.
Has something happened? Was the operation unsuccessful? Were they in danger? The escalating tension made it difficult for them to speak, and Shinichi found his voice first.
"Subaru-san, what happened?"
Standing coiled like a snake, Subaru stares at the ground. His hand tightened over something in his pockets.
"We've got the thumb drive," his voice was soft, unexpected for a man who had just achieved the impossible. Who now had a winning chance of taking the organization down.
She expected him to be ecstatic, and not—this.
"Is anything the matter? Did something happen?" Shinichi prodded. The boy's concern reached new heights.
"Nothing happened," Subaru faced Shiho.
They were in my apartment.
Shiho falters.
He couldn't have.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Subaru whispered.
Erase it.
Balling her hands into fists, she dug her fingernails into her palms.
Focus.
"Shiho, why?" Subaru pulls the black notebook from his pockets. Flipping it open, the photographs fell onto the grass patch, staining it with her past.
Shinichi regards them for just a moment, then he gasps, stepping back in disbelief. Face contorted, aghast by the revelation.
"Haibara?" Shinichi whispered breathlessly, and she shuts her eyes.
Do not feel. You are ice. Erase it.
"It," her voice holding the same mechanical quality she had used on Shinichi when they first met. "hardly matters."
"How can you say that?" Subaru held out the notebook, displaying its contents. Fingers tightening, leaving imprints. "Shiho, why didn't you tell us!"
"You've got what you wanted, haven't you?" Shiho smirks, "Whatever happened in the past is over. There is no reason for me to delve into it."
The photos on the ground came into view, and then—
She was on the bed, pinned down with a hand covering her lips. Gin laughed as he pressed down harder. Shiho couldn't breathe. This man. Why was he here? She would not let him taint it. Not here—not the apartment where her sister came to visit—not the place she regarded as home.
"Sherry, do you think this is over?" he drawled, his voice grating against her ear, and she struggled. Using the techniques he had taught her. She kicks hard, and he slaps her. The notebook he had been holding was slammed into her face, and she found herself staring at images that he'd taken long ago. Of a girl she could barely recognize. Fourteen years old, tied to a bed, pinned down by a beast that was doing the same. She bulked, wanting to vomit, and the man grinned. Wicked eyes glaring into her own.
"Are you going to disobey me again?"
Golden eyes pierced through. He released her, and she grasps the blouse that he had forced apart.
"What do you think would happen," his hands lingering over the photograph on her study table. A photo that was taken months ago—of Akemi hugging her from behind, smiling widely. The woman's smile was untainted by the darkness of the evils of an organization. "If she finds out about this?"
"You will not touch her!"
"Oh, but that's not for you to decide, isn't it," he taunts.
She falters, memories of a man dead in a basement, neck twisted as Gin laughs, teeth glinting in the darkness. An abyss she could not climb out from. He seizes her yet again, and Shiho collapses onto the bed. Going limp as he grabs her throat, squeezing it tight.
"You're mine, Sherry. Remember that."
"It's nothing," Shiho returns to the present, "What's done is done."
"Haibara, how can you possibly say that!" Shinichi shouted. Unrestrained, filled with anger, he was lifting the pictures, showing them to her. "What did they do? Why did you allow it? Why didn't you tell us?!"
His words pierced like hot knives cutting through butter, stabbing her from within. It was hard to look at him. Accussortory eyes burning with fury. Shinichi wanted answers. Answers she could not give. She could almost feel him. Gin's touch burned, his lust erupting from the bowels of hell. He was—rough, relentless. The hurt ran through, racing down her neck, chest...back.
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Shinichi repeated, desperate.
"Because it does not matter," she was barely keeping it together, replying in a way a machine would. "It happened, Kudou," she spat, "It's over. You have crucial information; now focus on the operation at hand."
"Haibara," he seethes, "I don't care about the mission. I care about yo-"
"No," she stopped him before he could say anything else. Clenching her fist, she couldn't help the slight tremble that came over. Shiho could not bear to see the expressions on their faces.
She turns away, reaching for the handle of the professor's house, about to leave when—
"Akemi knows, doesn't she," Subaru whispered.
Her sister's voice whispered in her ears, growing from a single point—echoing—her last goodbyes. Gone. Shiho had told her. And now—
"That was why she wanted to leave," Subaru continued, "She wanted to help you."
"You have no right," she breathes heavily.
"Shiho, your sister...I made a promise to her," a wry smile spreading across his lips, "I vowed to protect you if things went south. Akemi gave me no choice…" he trailed off, reconsidering his words.
"Please...let me help you."
What was he saying? How could he? She's—
"Gone," she started, and he paused.
"She's gone!" she shouted, hands clamped over her eyes, pressing them down. Wanting to blot out the blinding pain that overwhelmed her. The sorrow turned into a wave that was threatening to destroy everything in sight.
"She's dead, Moroboshi Dai! Do you want to know why?! Because you failed her! We failed her! There's no bringing her back. She's gone, dead, buried, finished! Do you not understand!"
"Haibara," Shinichi tries to grab her, but she shoves him away.
He promised, and yet—
"You couldn't save her!" she ranted, "There's no bringing her back! You don't owe her anything. So don't speak of her!" She shouted, losing any semblance of control.
Finished, she bends over, trying to control the raging agony of memories that were flashing past. Subaru was silent, eyes wavering as he bowed his head. Fist clenched as silence descended over them.
What did I do?
Why?
It was the truth. He had failed to protect her, failed to save her—but...what Shiho did—was worse.
"Haibara, no, please," Shinichi comes closer, possessing azure eyes that were too gentle, too kind—too vulnerable.
She will hurt him. Just like her sister. Just like them.
She couldn't be here.
She had overstayed her welcome.
Everyone. Everything around her—dies.
Shoving him back, she rushes into the house, down the flight of steps, slamming the basement door behind her.
Her knees buckled as she sunk to the floor, her chest tightened painfully, and she couldn't breathe. She tried but found herself rasping. Hot angry tears ran down her eyes. Her vision blurred as she rested her forehead on the ground, pressing it on the rough surface, trying to force the image back. It was fruitless, her memories flooding back. His stench assaulted her senses.
That vile smell of cigar smoke mixed with Gin. The foul, sour odor of his breath as he licked her. The grunts. The pain—flowed from her chest to the juncture between her thighs. Sharp and unrelenting, he had entered her and had not stopped. Not when she begged, not when she cried. He had laughed, grabbing her roughly by her hair, pulling her head back before biting her neck, marking her with his scent. Golden eyes burning hot, red, turning into hell as she appeared, Vermouth. Her punishment for refusing to kill a target. A whip slashed across her skin, a knife running down her back, creating scars that could never heal.
A gentle giant emerging from the abyss of buried memories, she tries to forget, but it rears its ugly head. The brown-haired man was dumped on the ground, green eyes staring at her—dead. His smile was wiped clean. Aperol. A choice she was forced to make. A choice she could never turn back. A sob escaped her lips. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Ryuu-san.
She was—
A murderer.
The memories swirled, becoming a chaotic mess. It hurt. She had thought herself immune.
How had she survived? How did she go through it?
No.
Shiho could not—she could not face them again.
Enough.
She had enough.
They know. They had found out. There was no going back. The shame was almost deliberating. Shiho could still see the disgust in Subaru's expression. Still see the shock on Shinichi's face. She wasn't clean…
She could not wash away this sin. Gagging, Gin's shadow loomed above her, her heart beating so hard she felt like she would faint.
Onee-chan.
"How do you like the eggs, Shiho?" Akemi, seated opposite, smiles with her chin propped on her hands. It was the first time they had seen each other after their six years apart, yet it felt like Akemi had never left. Her sister rushed over when she heard the news of Shiho's arrival. Home. Her sister had said. Welcoming her back with open arms. Gentle eyes gazing into hers, withholding years of love—of affection.
"You burnt them," Shiho answered.
"I'll have you know. I am a better cook than I look. It's just that—"
"You can't cook?" Shiho teases, and her sister huffs. Shiho couldn't help the soft chuckle that escaped her lips. She stops, surprised by the sound of her laughter. How long has it been? Since she was allowed the freedom—
Scooping the eggs into her lips, she was greeted with the slightly burnt taste of yolk. It was arid, bitter, tasting like smoke. It tasted terrible. But…it was…
"Shiho?" Akemi asked, "Why? Where does it hurt?"
Tears rolled down. She couldn't control them. They flowed uncontrollably, freely. Her sister walked over, wiping them away with her hands, holding onto her shoulders. The weight, a stable rock in a sea of swirling, hurt.
"It's ok," Akemi whispered gently, "It's ok, Shiho, everything—will be ok."
Glancing at the instrument on the table, Shiho picks it up. Studying it in her hands.
Akemi was gone. She was no longer here. There was no one left.
Shiho was alone.
It isn't necessary to be here anymore, isn't it?
They had the thumb drive. They could access the information. They could take down the organization. They could expose it. There would be other brilliant scientists that could help Shinichi with the cure. The data there was relevant enough. The mission was accomplished, and the objective was achieved. If she had done this earlier, it would have been easier.
So why...did I try?
Tawara-san had told her to make a choice, didn't he?
And she would.
She smiled, twirling the scalpel in her hand. A feverish grin graced her lips.
I'll see you soon, Onee-chan.
Raising the instrument, she rams it down.
There were no words to be said. Shinichi stood solemnly by the furnace located in the professor's courtyard. And he watched as the photographs bearing the monster's work curled into smothering ash, burning away the abuse, hurt, and pain. Shinichi takes the notebook next and throws it in later. Paper turning into soot amidst the roaring fire Subaru had conjured just a few minutes ago.
"It could be used as evidence," the man had muttered, but Shinichi did not hesitate.
It will never be used again.
Picking up the photographs on the ground, he examined—all eight of them. They were numbered carefully, meticulously. As if a label of some sort, her suffering—a trophy for him.
That bastard. It was a sick game he played.
The fire cackled, burning like the anger in their chest, threatening to implode. Shinichi shuts his eyes, unable to quell the vortex swirling through him.
"I would end him," he seethes through a clenched jaw. The man who stood behind held the same purpose.
There was nothing in those eyes—none of that cheery nature, none of her mischievous, sarcastic glint. The girl he had come to know—Haibara Ai, was wiped clean. The revelation brings about the woman shrouded in mystery. The ice-cold entity Gin had created. Sherry. The aura around an impenetrable wall. She had pushed him away, and Shinichi saw, at that moment, the years of torment she failed to hide.
She had looked—so small.
And Shinichi couldn't stop. Not when she was suffering. Crying. Alone in that dreadful basement. He made for the door, but Subaru blocked him. The disguised Akai Shuichi, contemplating the situation, shook his head slowly.
"She needs to be alone," he whispered. The man seemingly understands the sorrow that pervades the girl. The same sadness lingered behind his own.
Alone?
She has always been alone. Never reaching out…never complaining…never once—asking for help.
And all he could see was her limp body lying on the concrete ground. A raven-haired woman turns shrunken scientist, blood gaping from a hole in her stomach as a silver-haired beast laughs, descending into a darkness nobody can pull out from.
"In the end, people who betray don't have anywhere to go," she had told them once amidst a sidewalk filled with soccer fans walking back from a game. Staring at the sky with melancholy in her eyes, she spoke a hidden message Shinichi grasped too late. "If the rumor is true, then the person must be lucky," she had made the statement in response to Higo's false escape to Spain."Because he can forget about everything and run away. To a place far away, where the booing won't reach him."
"Eh?" the children had asked, and the girl simply shrugged.
"Just kidding."
She was never joking. Burying it deep, putting up a wall to keep them at bay. Momentarily revealing her desires—pulling it off as a joke so that they will not worry.
She's been controlling it ever since. Since the day they met...for all her life.
Idiot!
He would not allow it. Even if she screams, even if she pushes him away, even if she hits or hates him. He would never leave her alone. Never again.
Turning the knob, he entered the professor's house. Subaru tried to stop him, but he ignored the man's words, practically running down the stairs leading to the basement.
"Haibara," he barged into the room and was greeted with the metallic scent of blood.
What?!
Dread hit him as a heaviness settled in the pit of his stomach. It was as if the floor was swept away from under him, and all he could see was the scarlet red gushing from her wrist.
"H…Haibara.." he could barely utter her name.
"Boy!" It was Subaru's commanding voice that broke through the fog. Shinichi gasped and leaped forward, opening the cupboards frantically to get the first aid kit the professor had kept somewhere. He opened it, almost dropping the contents in haste. Pulling out the gauze, he bends down to wrap the wound tight. A silver scalpel sits by her side. Her fingers stained red, used to push it in.
"Haibara, no!"
"Boy, we go now!" Subaru shouted.
Still holding onto her wound, he had lifted her with the help of Subaru, carrying her up the stairs into Subaru's car. The blood staining and dripping onto the ground. Her pulse was faint, and he swallowed the growing panic in his chest.
Subaru started the car, and they raced their way through the streets, Subaru dodging and ignoring the ongoing traffic. His car skidded to a stop at the entrance of the hospital. Jodie-sensei ran out with emergency nurses to receive the bleeding girl. Onlookers paused at the sight, and they pushed through. Shinichi still clutching on.
"Let go, boy!" one of the nurses shouted, Jodie-sensei having to pry him off, and he stumbled back into the woman's arms. "It'll be ok, cool kid," she said.
Shinichi struggled in her grasp, trying to make for Haibara, but Jodie-sensei stops him. The woman took hold of his shoulder. He paused before realizing the redness of his hands, stained with her blood.
"Hey, listen to me, Kudou-kun," Jodie-sensei snaps him out of his shock, "It'll be ok."
Suddenly, dizzy, he stumbled back, falling into the arms of the FBI agent.
Jodie-sensei observed them before grabbing Subaru, who was equally haggard.
"Come on, standing around would do us no good," she said firmly. The weight of her hold did nothing to quell the gut-wrenching anxiety that was pulling him apart.
"What happened!?" The professor arrived later. The man panting, eyes wide with shock. They were seated outside the operating theater. The minutes passed by in an agonizing wait. "What happened!" the professor demanded.
"I was gone for just an hour! What did you do, Subaru-san!" his voice echoed down the corridors. Jodie-sensei had to calm the old man down, and he sank to the seat, defeated when he heard of the situation.
"Why…why," the professor laments, the white-washed halls of the hospitals. "Why Ai-kun…"
They couldn't speak, and Jodie-sensei offered to get them coffee.
For a time, Haibara seemed to be improving. He thought she treasured the time she spent with the children, with the professor—with him. She had been free—forming relationships and conveying feelings she would not normally have expressed.
But reality hits—it didn't matter what they did. They couldn't reach her.
The girl had chosen to leave. The lifeless body of Akemi was mixed with Haibara's, leaving him speechless. She had felt so—cold. The futility of the situation eventually sets in. Squeezing his eyes shut, he covered his mouth with his hand, trying hard to hold back the sob.
"Shinichi?" the professor whispered.
He bounded over, gripping his chest. The pain spread, and he couldn't stop the hot tears from rolling down his eyes. And, for the first time in his life—he cried.
Episodes Used: Episode 279 -probably the best in the series :D, well apart from 280...and 177...and well- hmm
And the next chapters...are probably my interpretation or made-up fiction of what went on in America. I hope you enjoy it...it evolved from a one-chapter fiasco to three.
Again, I thank you all for the reviews and kind words, enjoy :)