Part 4

Shiho was strapped to a chair, a man fishing his hand in her hair all too violentlt and pointing her head up, his strong grip on her scalp bringing tears to her eyes. From her position, facing a large window in a building she did not recognise, she could see him - the sniper. She could not make out a semblance of his appearance, save for the gun pointed straight at her.

"Tell us where it is, and we won't need to kill you," the man hissed in her ear and when she didn't reply, he continued in a violent whisper, "We heard Gin spends his time frequently with you, perhaps he'd be happy to know you died using his most beloved weapon.. and hmm.. what about your sister? Should've invited her to come watch the show... "

Shiho bit back a cry. This was it, she will die here.

"I told you, I didn't know the item was a fake. I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE REAL ONE IS,"

"This is the 10th time I have asked you.. well then, lady," and the man raised his arm, motioning with two fingers high up in the air.

He had signalled the sniper.

He was going to shoot.

3 Hours Earlier

Shiho was trapped; she was sure she was going to die that day. What had come of her life? Would it all end in this one moment? Trapped in this broken down, lifeless building?

She'd known she should've refused this mission. 7 months had passed since she'd completed her training with Gin and.. that guy, for that matter.. and she'd never been on a single mission without Gin. Their task was simple enough: eliminate the enemy. And who was the enemy? A small syndicate who stole a valuable piece of software from the Organization; they were to retrieve it and exterminate all members without leaving any traces.

But it had all gone downhill when they'd try to ambush their delivery truck only to find themselves outnumbered - after the most stressful escape plan Shiho had ever experienced, they were now hiding out in this evacuated, burned down building. She'd been separated from her teammates, and worst yet - the software was with her. She was hiding out in a dark room with minimal furniture; she'd heard someone's footsteps outside and was too afraid to leave. Her bullets were nearly out, she had absolutely no way to protect herself save for weak-looking pieces of wood and shrapnel near her feet.

That was when he heard it - footsteps inching closer to her location, her heart beat so fast she was worried it could give her away. Who was it - friend or foe? Was a teammate here to rescue her?

This was it, she had to attack - Shiho grabbed a broken-off piece of wood and charged; it was the enemy, a man with a shotgun twice her size. Shiho stabbed him in the guts before bolting forwards, only to run straight into his partner who was poised with a long metal bar as a weapon, ready to attack.

"She's the one with the software, what a lovely coincidence-"

And that was the last thing she heard before everything went blank.

Shiho shut her eyes in utter fear as she heard the sound of the gun, and then a splatter of blood landed on her face. She opened her eyes and sat there, barely able to breathe with her heart in her throat; the blood dripped down her face in agonising slow motion. Time seemed to still, and she was unable to stop trembling. The tears in her eyes dripped down her face involuntarily.

It wasn't her blood... she realized the man next to her had stopped moving. Was he- was it possible-

The sniper had shot the man instead... how- had he missed? Impossible; he died instantly, it must've pierced his heart or head. But then how-

Shiho lay there in shock, in pure disbelief, thankful and at the same time still in distress. What if there were more of them- she didn't even know the software was a fake; did her teammates escape with the real software? Why did they leave her with a fake? Leave her to die here? Why had the sniper not killed her? Was this man even dead? Where was his partner?

Lost in her train of thoughts, Shiho bit her lip when she heard footsteps sound from behind her. Someone was entering the room; the footsteps were timely and intimidating.

One.

Two. T

hree...

It was a man; and save for his footsteps her heart felt like the loudest thing in the room.

He was right behind her now.

"Missed me, Sherry?"

...

No, it wasn't possible.

..

No.. it couldn't be..

Seven months gone... and now, here, of all places...

He leaned in closer to her ear, his hair tickled her cheek. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize my style; forgotten our training already?"

She was at a loss for words; she didn't know what to feel either. He had saved her life just when she'd thought all hope was lost. He undid her ties, and turned to face her as she sat on the chair, breathless and in awe. He looked truly angelic - his hair and his eyes glowed in the dimly lit room. Shiho didn't know if it was because he'd saved her or because she hadn't seen him in months but for some reason she... missed this man. Despite all she'd said, how she'd acted...

Shiho stood up, only to embarrassingly collapse forward from an ankle injury she didn't even know she had. Strong arms snaked around her waist and pulled her in, holding her upright. She was suddenly reminded of how irresistible he was.

"Dai..", she whispered, "thank you.."

He held her in his arms; he couldn't explain what he felt but he truly felt he missed her. He had never met anyone like her, strong yet delicate, sarcastic and snide, yet caring and passionate. He didn't want to let her go, he'd always sacrificed what he'd wanted for the sake of his missions, maybe just once he could-

She pulled away from him, trying to stand upright despite her injury.

With a pang of guilt, Shuichi remembered the pain he had put her through last time - how he'd kissed her without permission. She said she'd never wanted to see his face again... for all he knew, she was simply elated to see him only because he had saved her, nothing more.

"Can you walk?" He asked, camouflaging his feelings expertly.

She tried, though it was too painful. She sighed in exasperation.

Shuichi reached over to hold her upright but then hesitated, "May I?" He asked, not wanting to upset her like he'd done before.

She didn't reply.

"..Sherry?"

"What's your real name?" Shiho said suddenly, her eyes pointed straight at him.

Shuichi paused. Did she- she couldn't possibly know...

"Moroboshi Dai..." he said, eyes pinned on her. Unwavering. He exuded confidence and allure.

"You're lying," she whispered, though she didn't sound accusatory.

"I have no reason to lie to you," he whispered back.

"How did you find me?" she pressed.

Shuichi eyed her suspiciously. Seriously? He'd saved her life and now she's suddenly interrogating him? "Your teammates returned and claimed they'd given you a decoy so they could retrieve the original piece of software. They said you'd been captured and so I came to find you."

"You didn't answer my question," she pronounced, inching closer to him. Their bodies were flush up against each other and Shuichi willed himself not to react to their proximity.

"There was a tracker on the software, wasn't there?" Shiho had said it as a question, but it was entirely rhetorical, "There were trackers on both copies. My teammates and the Black Organization didn't know of this, otherwise they would have trailed the bandits who had stolen it from us easily. No one knew. And neither did I, but it all makes sense. We originally stole the software from the FBI; that mission was all too easy, as though they'd let us steal it. And who did I hear was the main lead of that mission? You. You knew about the tracker, didn't you? And last time I checked, you aren't a computer engineer... so who are you, Rye?"

Shiho grabbed him by the throat and flung him to a nearby wall; it hurt her ankle insanely. "What are you after?" She hissed.

The man seemed silent, and then he grabbed her and flipped her over. For the first time since she had met him - he looked visibly upset.

He pinned her body painfully to the wall, and plastered his hand above her head.

"You want to know what I want?" He hissed back, though he didn't sound angry, just... frustrated.

"I want anything but this..." Shuichi whispered, though now he sounded exasperated, torn. He lay his head on the wall, breathing into her shoulder.

Though he didn't specify what "this" meant, Shiho knew - everything, this lifestyle. The way they lead their daily lives - it was all simply unbearable.

After what seemed like an eternity, she whispered back, "Me too."

Then, after another pause, "You... you killed a man for me..."

"I would do more than that for you,"

Shiho's heart fluttered, then a smirk played across her lips, "I thought you weren't that kind of guy?"

He looked up and met her stunning eyes, his fingers reached up and gently pulled a string of hair off her face, "I'm not... I killed a man."

Though the darknes cast shadows on his face, she could tell he was feeling utterly remorseful. He didn't want to have to do this and yet he did... for her.

"You're with the FBI... aren't you?" Shiho breathed heavily; their close proximity suddenly coming to light. His body was so.. warm and sculpted..

His eyes did not falter as he said, "Yes."

She knew the answer, but her heart still beat faster. He was... with the good guys, if anyone could get them out... it could be-

"Is Dai Moroboshi an alias?"

"Yes," he said again, though he did not tell her his real name.

"What do you want... right now?" Shiho whispered, her cheeks coloring. Why was he still so close to her...

"Right now?" He said slowly, enunciating the words as though he had all the time in the world. "I want you; I want to take you home with me, hold you and kiss you like no man has ever done before. I want to make love to you, because you spark a feeling inside of me that I cannot explain. These seven months without you have been," he only paused to press himself harder to her, "unbearable."

Shiho stood there, unable to respond, not knowing how or what to say. She was flabbergasted and shocked, a part of her wanted to yell please take me with you while another part warned her this was simply insane.

Then he stepped back a few feet away from her, Shiho felt vacant at the loss of contact.

"But, like I said," and then he turned to face the door, "I'm not that kind of guy."

"May I... know your real name?" She said in a hushed whisper, she felt shaky and elated but at the same time, upset and sombre.

"I'll let you know," he said, "if we ever we meet again. But next time," he paused, as though contemplating what to say, "I hope you have a response for me."

And that was the last time she ever saw Moroboshi Dai.

"Haibara-san?"

Haibara turned to face the man seated next to her in the driver's seat of the car, though she still looked dazed. It was a relatively normal day today, she'd gone to school, come back and then the Professor had asked Okiya to drop her off at the dentist. They were here early though, and were waiting in the car for a bit before entering.

They hadn't spoken save for greetings upon entering the car. Today was an important day in her life; it marked one year since the incident with the software thieves, her capture and.. that man.

One year since she had last seen him.

Haibara felt upset, though she tried not to let it show. It was only when Okiya had called her name four times that she had responded,

"Yes," She turned to face him, and her heart skipped a beat at his expression; she had never seen him look more intently at a person before. His eyes were pinned on her as though he could not bare to let her out of his sight.

"Are you alright?" He whispered gently, and a part of her felt that maybe he wanted to lean in close and hug her. But he didn't move an inch, his hands remained plastered on the steering wheel.

"Yeah," she responded, though her voice betrayed her feelings. She didn't even try to hide it, "it's..."

Should she say it? Tell this random person how she was feeling? She didn't know why, but she felt... she could.

"Have you ever..." she murmured, "missed someone you barely knew?"

Okiya gazed at her with glistening eyes, and he whisperer back, "All the time."

Haibara wasn't sure why, but something inside her fluttered. What was wrong with her?

"Have you ever regretted not doing something?" It was only after she had said the sentence that she realized how vague and strange it sounded. Baka, she though to herself, he'll think you've hit your head or something.

To her surprise, a small chuckle erupted from his lips, a playful expression now on his face, "In fact one time, I did exactly what I wanted, and it didn't go down too well."

He could've been talking about anything, absolutely anything in this world, but Haibara couldn't help but think of the time Rye had kissed her, and she had attacked him...

"Why not?" She added quickly, wanting to distract herself.

He smiled sincerely, "I guess she didn't like my lips on hers."

Haibara convinced herself she was insane, he couldn't be- not at all - they were both talking about something completely different, unrelated. Why was she blushing? She must look like an idiot, it wasn't him-

"I should've kissed her again," Okiya said, all playfulness gone from his voice, "but I was afraid of what would happen. Ever felt that way, Ai-chan?"

Haibara looked away, embarrassed, and then nodded her head. "I wanted to say... to him... how I felt-", then she stopped dead in her tracks, feeling utterly shameful. What had gotten in to her head? BAKA BAKA BAKA, Haibara though again, he think you're a CHILD. Say anything wrong and he'll probably demand you tell him who molested you.

"This... person," Okiya said, though he was trudging on thin ice at this point, "would he have liked what you had to say?"

After a long pause, Haibara said, suddenly dismissive and aloof, "Who knows," she shrugged, "he's not that kind of guy."

Haibara didn't see the genuine smile that touched Okiya's lips after she had said that, and she would not know until later that day he had slipped a note in her jacket pocket while she was at the dentist. A note that made her heart flutter and her mind wander a mile a minute, a note that could have risked everything - for him - she knew, a note he must've been so afraid to give to her...

As promised, my dear Shiho, Akai Shuichi is my name. Despite everything, I still want you. I want you more with every passing day, with every minute and second that passes without you. I crave your lips on mine, and though you pushed me away the first time, I know it's all you think about too.

Maybe one day, after all this... I can whisper my name to you in person, as I hold you in my embrace.

I said I'm not that kind of guy, but on that day... I will be for you.

HELLO EVERYONE! Sorry for the super late update, this now marks the end of this fic! I am so sorry I decided not to include M-rated chapters, since I felt it would be too soon, and if I were to do that, it would be in another story. Please let me know if you liked this, I am sad myself that they didn't get a chance to kiss again, but one thing I love to do is to try and keep things as canon as possible, while still including romance. I hope you liked this chapter, and if you want more Shuichi/Shiho fics, please let me know! Love you all! Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!