Hi! This is the last chapter as promised, I updated fast enough (I hope I did) because I can't also wait to finish this story! Did that… make sense? Never mind. Thank you all for those who read and reviews this story! Thank you very much!

Let's cut the introductions and to the story!

Disclaimer: I NO OWN DC! ^^

-Chapter 10-

"Shiho-chan, do you still remember me?"

"N... no..."

"Shiho-chan, why did you leave?"

"Get a... away" she closed he eyes tightly.

"I love you so much, why don't you accept it?"

"No, no, no!" she covered her ears, "I don't want to hear it!"

"Shiho-chan, why don't you accept it? WHY?!"

"No..." she couldn't do anything, her body won't respond.

"Why? What part of me you do not like? Answer me!"

"Help..." tears slowly escaped from her eyes, "Kudo..."

"Answer me!" her stalker raised his hand, the knife reflecting the light, "ANSWER ME!"

...

"No!" Shiho winced, she slowly opened her eyes. She felt her wounds covered in bandages, her clothes different from the one she wore earlier. She sat down, the blanket falling down on the bed. "Where..."

"You're awake" a low, creepy voice whispered. Shiho whipped her head to the lamp on the table, the only light source of the room.

The man stood up, "I thought you're going to die, I was readying my knife, you see" he raised his knife.

Shiho froze. He got her, she can't escape now.

"I love the way your blood covered the knife, the once silver blade turned red, your favorite color"

A gasp escaped her lips, she needs to get away. But where? How?

He walked towards her and stopped just before the bed, the light behind him making shadows all over his face. Shiho looked at him with wide eyes.

"Shiho-chan" he whispered, feeling the name.

Shiho shivered, just him saying her name can make her numb with fear.

He sat beside the bed, Shiho pulled the blanket closer to her. She tried to back away but something tugged on her wrist.

"What...?" her wrists were tied by a rope, she didn't noticed it before. Her ankles are also tied. She was fixed to the bed.

"Oh, I did it you so you won't get away. You're mine, Shiho-chan" a smile appeared on his lips, he slowly reached for her face. Shiho tried her best to avoid the contact, but being fixed to the bed, the best thing she could do is look away.

"You're beautiful, Shiho-chan" he said softly, yet, she felt his words stabbing her heart with more fear.

"I already removed your disgusting disguise for you, it doesn't suit you at all" he stroked her cheeks with his finger.

"S... stop"

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Just let me go" she prevented herself cry in front of him.

"Why? Did I do something wrong?" he forced her to look at him.

"Stop!"

Slap!

He held her roughly by the shoulders. Shiho couldn't hold her tears anymore, her wounds hurting and bleeding.

"Why don't you accept my love!?" he slapped her again, "I sacrificed so many things for you!" he slapped her harder, making her fall on the bed. He grabbed her hair so she's looking at her, her tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Then you left me with no choice" he reached for the knife he put on the table, "I'll just send you first then I'll follow you, that way you'll have no choice but stay with me!" he raised the knife to stab her...

Shiho closed her eyes. All the years of running and hiding was useless. He still found her. She suddenly remembered Shinichi. She smiled sadly.

'It's your fault, Kudo' she thought, 'making me comfortable in your presence... making me feel special...'

Time passed by slowly, 'so this is how it feels... dying' she opened her eyes only to see the knife making a slow progress, making her remember every moment of it. Making her remember things unfinished.

'Too bad there's no time, huh?' the knife was a few inches from her, 'to say goodbye to them' she closed her eyes again. 'Goodbye nee-chan, goodbye...'

'Shinichi'

...

Shinichi was annoyed, as he run up the stairs up to the twelfth floor, he cursed the damn elevator for breaking down on a crucial time.

"Damn, Miyano be safe" he took two steps at a time, good thing his legs are fit for running.

He reached his destination floor and slammed the door open. He ran through the hallway looking at the room numbers on the door.

"119, 120, 121!" he stopped, he was about to kick the door open when he remembered the stalker has weapon. He could kill her in an instant. He gritted his teeth. He need to do it slowly.

He knocked on the door, acting cool as always even though he felt like he's going to kill the person who'll answer the door.

After a few minutes, the door slowly opened, revealing a foreigner about his age.

"Yes?" he spoke English.

"Uh..." did he got the number wrong? He looked at the number on the door, 'it's 121, what's happening here?'

"I'm looking for someone" he answered in English, "a woman this tall, black hair and wearing glasses"

The man seem to think about it, "no, I haven't seen her"

"Oh, uh, can I take a look inside? She gave me this room number anyway"

The man opened the door, "sure, go ahead"

He looked at the foreigner suspiciously before entering, the living room and the dining area are one, the kitchen at the back and two doors for one room and the bathroom.

'There's not much extra space to hide a person' he looked around the room, the living room doesn't have large furniture, only the television stand and the television, the table in front of it, the end table and the vase on top of it.

"Can I look at your bedroom?"

"Go ahead"

He slowly opened the door, he clicked the lights open. The room was... normal. Nothing unusual in his view. He checked under the bed, nothing. In the cabinets, nothing. He checked every place that can hide a person but nothing came out.

"Are you done already? I still have things to do" the man said after entering the room while looking at his watch.

'Damn! I can't find her anywhere' did he deduced it wrong? Where did he go wrong?

"Uh, I'll just call you if I find her" he gave Shinichi a piece of paper, "write your number here"

He accepted and wrote his number.

'Where is she? I'm sure she's here, I don't know where else she could be' he was led by the foreigner out of the room.

"I hope you find her" the man said. He turned around to ask the guard again...

"Tch, annoying"

He turned around facing the now closed door. Surprise written all over his face.

"J... Japanese?" he was sure it was not English, the foreigner can speak his language.

He had this suspicion about him, he was very cool in showing a complete stranger his room. He let him in without hesitation. He didn't say a word when he's checking his room. Wait. He wasn't with him when he checked the room. He only entered when he was FINISHED checking the room, asking him to leave. That means he was in the living room... waiting for him? Who would let someone rummage through his room without looking? He could have stolen something and he wouldn't know. His suspicion grew.

"When I entered, he was standing by the door, he didn't move an inch from there, he just let me check the whole room. When I entered the room he followed me after a few minutes..." he held his chin, thinking deeply. "He answered the door after a few minutes... he could have hidden her, but where?"

"Ah..." he didn't checked the kitchen much, he just looked if there's someone on the floor, the cabinets and the refrigerator is too small for a person to fit in even if their legs are curled.

"What is this feeling?" he closed his eye, he felt that he missed the bull's eye, he missed a very important detail.

"I met her in U.S."

Shinichi's eyes snapped open.

"So, that's why..."

The foreigner led him out of the door...

Shinichi can't believe he was tricked. He ran back to the room and slammed the door.

"Open up!"

The foreigner opened the door with an annoyed expression, "what is it? She's not here okay, I'll just- whoa! Hey!"

He pushed his way in and checked the kitchen floor. His eyes widened.

Blood.

There's blood on the floor. He entered the bedroom.

"Miyano..." he was sure it was her, he ran to her side, "Miyano!" he pulled the blanket covering her.

"Miyano?!" it was not her, Shiho didn't have red hair, it was her younger sister.

"How dare you!" he looked at the door, the foreigner now held a knife in his hand, his face twisted into a frightening expression.

"How dare you approach Shiho like that!" the man bellowed.

"Shiho?" he looked at the woman.

"Yeah, Shiho, MY Shiho! No one can get her but me, I already sent her to the other world so no one can have her but me!"

Shinichi was petrified. Sent to the other world? No way. There's no way...

"I was about to follow her but you interrupted. I let you go but you returned..." he slashed the wall with his knife, the wallpaper peeled a little. "I guess I should send you to the other world too... but in hell!" the man charged at him hacking him with the knife. He barely escaped, his sleeve ripped.

"No one-" He jumped at Shinichi burying the knife on the floor, "no one!" he glared at Shinichi as he pulled the knife.

'Shit!' Shinichi thought.

"You know her, that means you're trying to take her away from me" he took a heavy step forward.

"No, I'm not taking her away from you, you don't own her in the first place! No one owns her! AHHG!" he was stabbed on his right arm. He was able to get out of the room and in the living room.

"No one owns her? Heh, words coming from a thief, I OWN her!" he charged at Shinichi again.

Shinichi was able to ready himself from this, he lifted the table to obstruct his way. As the stalker pushed the table away, Shinichi already ran to his side knocking the knife out of his hands.

"AARRGH, DAMN YOU!" the stalker punched him in the face, he was able to dodge it but he wasn't ready for the weapon the stalker revealed.

"Move and I'll blast your brains out!" he pointed a gun at him.

"Tch!" Shinichi glared at him, he stood up and raised his hands. He looked at the room where Shiho was, he can't save her. He was too late to save her. He felt useless. He couldn't even escape from this insane-

Shinichi smiled sadly, he lowered his hands to his side. How foolish of him, he should have used it before.

"Raise your hands! Raise it or I'll kill you!" the pulled the trigger a little.

"It's too late, huh" he raised his sleeve revealing his watch, "wake up in jail"

"Wha-"

Clank! Blag!

Shinichi lowered his head, his bangs covering his eyes.

"Shiho" a tear trailing down his cheek.

...

A/N: WHAT! Shiho is dead! WHY? Who killed her?! Who wrote this story?! Eh, me? Hehehe, ^^;

Don't worry, because the story is not done yet! xD

Ok, back to the story!

...

Shinichi looked at the sleeping stalker on the floor. He was too late. He walked into the room.

"Shiho" he sat beside the bed, he brushed a few strands of her hair from her face, "heh, you're really beautiful, too bad you got a stalker" he fought the tears back but he can't fight the pain he's feeling, his tears fell.

"Shiho!" he hugged her tightly, "I'm sorry I couldn't save you"

A groan was heard.

"Eh?" he pulled away, he saw her expression, she winced.

"Shiho, Shiho!" she's not dead! He quickly carried her, supporting her back while his other hand behind her knee. Then he noticed she's only wearing a t-shirt for her top and... only panties. He blushed. He grabbed the blanket and covered her with it.

"Don't worry Shiho, I'll save you now"

...

"It's a good thing you came in time" Akemi said serving him tea.

"Well, I was a bit late... if I came home earlier, this wouldn't have happened" he said accepting the tea.

Akemi sat beside him, she looked at Shiho, who was sleeping on the bed. He was able to run to the nearest hospital and get the nurses to attend to her before calling Akemi.

"The doctors found the nurse that treated her, they said that Shiho-chan's stalker and the nurse were college buddies"

"Why didn't he told the guard anything?"

"He said that the woman was chased by a killer and his friend was able to save her, his friend also told him not to tell anyone." Akemi took a sip of her tea.

"Mhh"

"By the way, it was amazing you thought about all of that"

"The what?"

"Where Shiho-chan was, you came home and she was already gone right?"

"Ah, I found her blood at home and assumed she was attacked, Hakase, my neighbor, said that he saw her and I went to the place. I asked around but no one saw her except for a small boy, who thought Shi- ahh, Miyano was her mother" he saw Akemi smile.

"Go ahead, you can call her by name, it's fine by me"

Shinichi blushed, "th- then, I asked the hospitals around that area if someone brought a wounded woman but not one said yes. I was about to lose hope when I heard the guard said 'walk out' and 'go home', the kid also said that he saw the man 'walking' past him. So I thought maybe it was a stalker, walking around with a wounded person, not caring if it will survive or not.

"I followed the direction where the kid saw the man walk to and found two apartments. I was able to narrow it down to the apartment where she was because of this" Shinichi revealed a key, "ah, I got this when I bumped on a girl on the first day of class, I never thought it was Shi... Shiho until that moment" he blushed, mentioning her name.

Akemi smiled at him thinking how cute they would be, Shiho and Shinichi, as a couple.

'They would end up teasing each other every day, I guess?' she thought

"I know that it was that apartment but not the room where she was. I remembered that she was wounded and not brought to a hospital, I asked the guard if a nurse came by and he said yes, I asked what floor and room he visited. The guard seemed surprised so he ended up telling me the number" he smiled at her while scratching the back of his head.

"Wow, that's amazing, you're like a detective"

"Well, I like mysteries since I was little"

Silence

Shinichi looked at Shiho, her black hair now gone revealing a short reddish brown hair. Her fake freckles removed. She was in disguise to hide from her stalker. That's why she was very scared when she first saw him, he looked like her stalker. He suddenly remembered that she was about to tell him something. Is this is what she wanted to say?

"Miyano-san"

"You can call me Akemi, Kudo-san"

"Ah, then you can call me Shinichi too, I guess"

She smiled, "what is it, Shinichi-kun?"

"Since when did she wear her disguise?"

"Hmm, I guess when we're still living in U.S. She was attacked by her stalker when she was left alone in our house. She continued studying with her disguise before we moved in Japan. Why?"

Shinichi looked away, "nothing"

"Do you hate her?"

"Huh?" he looked at her.

"Do you hate her?"

Shinichi looked down, "she lied to me, I know I looked like her stalker but she could have told me so I could protect her. She knew I was tricked thrice but she still lied to me. I 'm hurt that she did because I thought that she's... different."

"So, do you hate her?"

"She lied to me"

"That's not an answer, Shinichi-kun"

He looked at Shiho again, "I... I don't"

She knew it.

"I could never hate her, she did many things that can make me mad but it doesn't last. Whenever I turn around and find her there it just... disappears. Then I find myself smiling at her again."

"I'm going to let you in a little secret" Shinichi looked at her, "you know, someone out there feels the same way as you do" Akemi said this while staring at Shiho. Shinichi followed her gaze.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this but I guess it's alright"

Shinichi nodded. He get what she wanted to say.

All that is left is to wait for her to wake up.

...

"Shiho! I'm sorry that I couldn't save you"

She faintly heard someone whisper in her ears. Was that a dream? She thought she was going to die that time.

-Flashback-

'so this is how it feels... dying' she thought, 'Too bad there's no time, huh?' the knife was a few inches from her, 'to say goodbye to them' she closed her eyes again. 'Goodbye nee-chan, goodbye Shinichi'

Knock, knock

Her stalker stopped. She could still see his face glaring at the door.

"Damn nuisance" he pocketed his knife and carried her to the door, she was half asleep and half awake, fighting her eyelids from falling. Even if she's beside the door, she couldn't make a sound. Even a knock would do, but she's too tired and too much blood flowed out of her before she was treated. She could see her stalker come out of the room carrying the bloody bed sheets, pillow cases, and blankets. He threw them out of the kitchen window.

"Be quiet Shiho-chan, or I'll kill this innocent pest"

Well, no use because she was starting to feel dizzy. All she could remember was the first sentence the person said before she fainted.

"I'm looking for someone"

'Am I dead?'

She was numb all over. Not until she felt something warm envelope her body. Someone was hugging her. Then she heard that voice.

"Shiho! I'm sorry that I couldn't save you"

'No, don't be sorry' she wanted to tell him, 'you just saved me. Now I know that I'm still alive'

-Flashback end-

Shiho slowly opened her eyes, white ceiling welcomed her and the smell of antiseptic. She blinked a few more times to clear her blurred vision.

"Kudo" she whispered after seeing Shinichi sleeping on the couch. She smiled. She looked around again, searching for her sister. She tried to sit down, her body aching all over.

"Nee-chan?" she called. No answer. Was her sister there? She can't see anything that says she was.

"Nee-chan?" fear growing inside her. What if her sister was targeted because she escaped by the help of someone. No... it can't be.

She pushed the blanket of her and sat at the end of the bed, ignoring the pain that travelled through her body.

"Oh, you're already awake" she stopped, she turned to see Shinichi yawning.

"Where's nee-chan? Is she safe?"

"Akemi-san went outside, she said she's going to buy lunch, wait" he looked at his watch, "hmm, she's been out for quite a time now"

"What if she's in danger?" she slipped her feet on the slippers on the floor.

"Whoa, wait! Don't move yet!" he stood up and supported her. He put his arm around her and her hand rested on her waist gently, to not hurt her. Shiho loosing balance from the pain leaned on him, making their bodies close, feeling the warmth of each other.

"I told you to stay put" he looked at her, she's looking down, her bangs covering her eyes.

"Don't worry, she's not in danger" he continued, "your stalker's already caught, seems like he's suffering from a mental illness"

Shiho looked up, "you met him?!", 'did he get in danger?'

"Met him? I was almost killed by him, if not for Hakase's invention I would have died there, you know" he smiled at her, "why do you have a stalker anyway, you're not that pretty"

No answer, he could feel her grip on his shirt tighten.

"I'm sorry" she said, "it's my fault that you're involved"

"Hey, I was just joking. It's not your fault, I went there on my own"

"Yes it is, I've caused too much pain for you... not only that" she whispered the last.

Shinichi was confused at first before getting what she wanted to say, "oh that, well, I forgot all about it"

She punch his chest, still looking down, "how could you say it so casually? I know you hate me, I tricked you, I lied."

He scratched his head, "well... yeah, you did"

"Why are you acting like you don't care? You can shout at me if you want, hate me even, I deserve it"

Instead of answering Shinichi tighten his hug, his hold on her, but enough to not hurt her physically, and to comfort her mentally. He buried his face into her hair.

"I won't hate you... I can't hate you" he whispered.

"Why?" he's being nice to her after what she did. He's making her feel that she owe him something.

"Why you ask?" he chuckled, "I also ask that same question to myself"

Silence followed. Neither of them spoke, they just stayed like that, comforting each other after the danger.

"Kudo" she started.

"Mhh?"

"Could you let me go? My feet is starting to hurt"

"Oh, uh, sorry" he pulled away, a blush on his face, helped her sit on the bed, she refused to lie down. He smiled at that. "You're really stubborn"

"If I'm not I'm probably dead now" she said. The feeling she's getting from him slowly disappearing.

"I just want to clear something" she looked at him in the eyes, he looked away. She raised her brow, 'blush?'

"I know I owe you that I'm still alive, I don't know how I can repay you but-"

"I'm not expecting something in return" he interrupted.

She stopped, "that's impossible because you almost died, as you said, and it was a dangerous act you did so I must repay you somehow-"

"I told you, I don't need something in return"

Shiho's eyes widened, "but it would make me feel bad if I don't"

Shinichi smiled, he pulled a chair beside the bed and sat on it, he put his elbow on the bed, his chin resting on his palm.

"Then try to smile more often"

"Excuse me?"

"Repay me by smiling more often"

Shiho was still puzzled about it but tried to smile.

"No, no, no. I said smile not smirk" Shinichi frowned, he reached for the end of her lips, "smile, like this"

Shiho removed his hand from her face, "never mind, you said you don't need a reward so I won't do it"

"But you insisted, do it"

"No"

"Geez, stubborn woman" he smiled in defeat.

Silence.

"I hate you" she said looking away. Shinichi looked at her, the smile slowly turned into a frown.

"What?"

"I said I hate you"

It's just a joke right? She couldn't possibly...

"Don't joke around, Miyano, it's not funny" he frowned.

Shiho gestured him to come closer.

'Is she going to slap me? Did I do something to get her mad? I was just joking about the stubborn part-' his thoughts were cut when he felt her arms wrap around his neck.

'Wha..?' he blushed.

"I hate you, Kudo Shinichi" she whispered in his ears, her breath tickling his ear making him blush harder, "you're always acting cool, acting like nothing is wrong. You don't care about what people say to you as long as you do what you want. You befriend me even if people are avoiding me" she tighten her hug on him.

"He- hey!" he doesn't know if he should hug her back or not.

"I hate you because you're annoying. Your happy-go-lucky attitude irritates me, I hate it when you smile, I hate your laugh"

Shinichi frowned, 'is this what she thinks of me?' somehow it broke his happy mood.

"I hate it when you're near, when you talk to me so casually while people are looking, no, glaring at me. Don't you know what happened to me when you shouted that we are dating at the field? Your fan girls bullied me, I was so annoyed so I planned to embarrass you on our date"

"Well, sorry about that" he doesn't want to hear more of her 'thoughts' about him. It's killing him.

"I hate it when you touch me, the night when you're sick, you hugged me. I hate you for that." she still held him.

"Then why are you hugging me now? I thought you hate it?"

"I hate you because you're making me confused"

"What?"

"You're confusing me, when you're near I don't know what to do, since the day you showed me your special place I felt that you're different. That I'll be safe with you even if your face looks like danger"

"Oi, oi" he sweat dropped.

"Whenever Hayagawa-kun is with us, I would rather stick with him than you because he's not making me feel what I feel when you're with me."

Shinichi frowned.

"I don't know what to do. Should I smile? Laugh? Should I act normal or should I tell you everything? I can't decide so I act cold and stubborn. My heart beats faster than normal, my eyes always find you in a crowd, I want to hear your voice when you're silent but kept myself from starting a pointless conversation fearing that you would find out my motive"

Shinichi blushed.

"I don't know what to do anymore, I want to talk to you, I want to hug you so badly but I can't. You're too dense to notice the feelings I'm hiding behind my mask and I can't bring myself to tell you because... it's embarrassing"

"Shiho..."

She chuckled, "I realized something after that night with you, at first, I refused to admit it but I can't pretend that it's not there."

She loosen her hug but still held him close, she leveled her mouth to his ear before whispering softly.

"I like you, Shinichi"

Shinichi smiled softly, his fast beating heart slowed a little. Having Shiho to confess first was also embarrassing for him. He was the man, you know?

Shiho pulled away, she looked at him before smirking.

"You don't have to answer that anyway. I was just telling you how I feel because I can't pretend anymore after... what happened"

"I was surprised you know?" he said.

"I know, and I was the first one to tease you about falling in love with me" she looked away, "guess you can start laughing at me, like I said last time"

Instead of a laugh, she felt his hand touch her chin, facing him.

"No" he shook his head, "if you just knew, you would have been laughing for a long time now" he smiled at her before closing the distance between them.

...

Outside the room...

Akemi pocketed her camera.

"Took them long enough" she massaged her tired feet, she looked at the sleeping young man at the chair "time to go in, Hayagawa-kun"

…...

Hahaha! I hope you didn't mind the Author's note at the middle, I just felt that I should cut that part a little, I also thought that maybe I should put it in another chapter but the voices inside my head said, "don't do it, stupid, you only want to make stories with even chapters!" then it ends with chapter ten. Ten is even… right? Hahaha! So? Did I get a stalker's attitude right? I've watched an episode where stalkers are involved and found out stalkers get mad if their feelings aren't recognized. They also kill if they get really mad then commit suicide. Scary 0.0;.

Oh, and the part where the stalker hid Shiho when Shinichi arrived, I also think that it's not clear so here's the explanation: the stalker hid Shiho behind the door, she was already unconscious at that time. The stalker stayed at the door, hiding her body behind him, since Shinichi didn't pay too much attention to him and searched the room. The stalker carried Shiho to the kitchen and placed her on the floor before entering the bedroom and asking Shinichi to leave. He led him out to make sure he doesn't look at the kitchen again. Hope that makes it clear. If you still have questions you can ask me about it, don't be shy! ^^

I hope you liked the ending because like I said in my other stories, ending and beginning stories is not my forte! I know there are still mistakes (a lot of them actually) you can point them out and I'll be glad to do better next time. Shucks, the ending message is very long! Thank you for reading again! See ya!