Chapter 5: The Final Battle and the Lonely Girl

ok so this is the very last battle between the syndicate and the FBI... and somethings shinichi has finally realized about shiho...

Akai studied her expression. He could tell that it was a painful thing for her to do.

Her and Jodie went behind a clump of trees and everyone turned away.

After wrapping herself in a blanket and pulling on Shiho’s clothes, she swallowed the pill.

She bit into her jacket once again, her muffled screams filling her comrades’ ears.

They hated that she had to go through this multiple times, so much pain, physically and emotionally.

When she stumbled back over, she was leaning against Jodie for support and her face was pale.

Shinichi was about to offer her something to drink, when Akai handed her some tea silently.

It was a brotherly gesture, but a sharp stabbing pain that lasted for a second seemed to pierce Shinichi’s heart, and vanish. He had a confused look on his face, not understanding what the pain was.

Color started to return to her cheeks as she finished the tea, and just in time to gear up quickly before the explosion. She was already wearing her camouflage cargo pants, boots, and black tank-top, but she decided to go without her black jacket. Then she pulled on a bullet-proof vest and all her gear.

As soon as she finished, the last phase began.

They stealthily moved through the forest in groups of 4.

Shinichi, Hattori, Shiho, and Jodie were one group, but Ran tagged along with them.

All of a sudden the headquarters came into view, just as the bomb went off.

People were being shoved by the blast, some dying and some being heavily injured.

As the dust began to settle the FBI moved in, just to raise the dust again.

A large fire fight began as the two forces clashed.

Ran stayed hidden in a tree, having given Shinichi her bullet proof vest and also since she was unarmed.

The air was filled with the stench of burning hair and flesh, along with that of freshly spilled blood.

The air was humid and the putrid smell mingled with it, allowing one to taste the foul air.

As the dust settled and the five minutes came to a close, police sirens wailed and guns continued to fire.

Not only were there gun fights, but hand to hand combat also was going on in some cases.

It was as if hell had broken loose. Blood smeared all the trees and fighters, and corpses were trampled as the battle raged on.

Finally the police had come and the FBI had come out victorious.

As Jodie and Akai explained the situation, the others were fixing up the war scene and tending to the injured.

Shinichi looked at Ran with a smile on his face. He was about to take a step towards her when both his step and smile faltered.

He swiveled his head around in search for the strawberry blonde. Finally his eyes rested on a lone figure, covered in blood and dirt, mixed together. She stood on a hill and gazed at the stars that speckled the night sky.

Most of the people there had already wiped off the blood and changed, but Shiho had refused.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the murky air, practically suffocating her lungs. Yet she had no bitter feelings towards the air for stinging her eyes, nose, and lungs, but she was glad for it. Like most people there, her eyes were watering. Although the others’ eyes were watering due to the air, her eyes were watering for another reason, but nobody needed to know that.

Shinichi couldn’t help but stare. He hadn’t had time to study what she really looked like in her true form.

Her short strawberry blonde hair rustled in the wind as she removed the ponytail, and it flowed freely around her beautiful face, filled with sorrow.

No matter how much blood, dirt, and clothes she wore, her figure was still visible.

She was even more developed than Ran, with a much more seductive aura. Yet she seemed to have an air of loneliness surrounding her, which kept people away.

This teen, only a year older than Shinichi, had no place to go. Now that the organization was gone and the antidote was complete, she no longer had a use.

Shinichi blushed lightly as he studied her, but soon grew to be sad. He finally realized what Shiho had come to a conclusion about long before. She didn’t have a place anymore. As Haibara Ai she had friends and a foster father. As Miyano Shiho, she had no one and nowhere to go.

Ran began to call out to Shinichi but stopped when she saw him walking towards Shiho. She only watched with sad eyes, not sure of what to do.

Shinichi pulled out a handkerchief and surprised Shiho by wiping away some of the blood and dirt from her face.

“What’s up Kudo-kun?” she asked calmly.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“In a bit. I’m busy right now.”

“With what?”

She smiled mischievously. “For me to know, and you to never find out.”

Her grin sent a wave of heat through Shinichi and he could feel the color rising in his cheeks. He was thankful for the darkness which surrounded them.

He took her hand and pulled her down the hill.

“Come on, let’s go.”

She looked at him quizzically as if asking ‘Where?’ She knew she didn’t have a place to go, and the way he had said ‘let’s go’ seemed like there was something behind those words, other than, ‘Let’s go get you cleaned up.’

He looked away from her gaze, turning redder. Then he whispered, “Home.”

Author's Note

ok sorry for any mistakes... please read and review ^-^ thanks for hanging in there for so long without any romance... well there is some coming up soon... not really in the next chapter but probably some in the one after!