Author's note: again sorry for the late update. I've been stuck on this story for a while, hopefully I'll be able to update sooner this time.

Under the Façade

Chapter five

Ran's POV

I pace up and down the hallways of the apartment. I've called and texted him a dozen times without reply. I remember the look on his face before he left, the emptiness of his voice when he last spoke, and I can't help but worry about what this all means for him. I wanted to chase him but his mother held me back. He had to face this one on his own.

Although I want nothing more than to be able to comfort him, I don't know if I can. Because seeing his expression before he left, I found myself being completely out thoughts. A part of me is glad that I didn't get the chance to comfort him, I mean what would I say? This whole life he's living feels completely foreign to me.

Jodie sensei and the FBI left for what they termed the final battle a few hours ago. The lonely guard that was left to watch over this place seems as stressed and concerned as I am. As I have my friends in this battle, I am sure he does, too. I force myself out of my trance and head towards the kitchen. Searching for a distraction that will rest my increasingly shaking heart. I reach for the kettle placing it on the stove. As I await the boiling water, I sink back into thoughts of anguish. Thoughts of when he will come back. Thoughts of if he will come back.

The whistling that rings around the kitchen awakes me from my daze. Slowly and as careful as I am nervous, I begin preparing tea for the two of us that were left behind. I place the cups on a tray, similar to the way I have done hundreds of times in dad's agency, and I walk out the kitchen. I hold the tray out for him. He seems shocked for a moment, his expressions then soften offering me a polite smile. Neither of us utters a word. Fully comprehending the current situation. I return his smile with the weakest smile that I have ever worn, it's all I can manage.

I stumble back into the room I had occupied earlier. I fall onto the bed as my emotions begin to take hold of me. I feel my tears begin to descend, my eyes growing redder by the moment. My frustrations with this whole situation take hold of me once again. I hate it all. I hate how I have no way of helping him, I hate that I have no way to stop him and I'm afraid that I just don't really know him.

I'm knocked back into reality by the buzz of my phone. My heart skips a beat when I realize that it is a message from Shinichi. My finger hovers over the phone for a second before I display the message.

'I'll see you in a few days. Be safe. Trust me.'

Shiho's POV

My eyelids feel heavy. There's a ringing in my head that seems to grow louder by the second. I manage to pry my eyes open and I stare into the white ceiling above me. I blink a few times to make sure that I am in fact still alive. The pain rushing through me makes that perfectly clear. Slowly I manage to pull myself up ever so slightly. I notice my right arm hooked onto an IV machine. I follow the liquid slowly dripping from the bag into my blood stream with my eyes. A little gasp of relief escapes my mouth. I look up and see someone sitting in a chair in front of me. He doesn't seem to notice that I have awoken. It takes me a while to recognise him, Hattori Heiji.

"Oi," is all I manage to say.

He looks up and smiles at me. "You're up," he says as he walks towards me, "You've just been shot so try not to move around too much."

I struggle to word my thoughts. My mouth dry and cold. "What happened?" I manage to say.

"I don't know, I was hoping you may know that," he says wearing a confused expression. Registering the puzzlement in my face he continuous, "all I know is that Kudo called me a couple of days ago and asked me to come here and take care of you".

"a couple of days? How long have I been out?" I ask.

"Well today is the third day since you were shot," he replies.

A sense of panic surges through me. I abruptly force myself to stand only to get knocked back down by the rush of pain. "Easy, easy you've just started to heal," he says.

"What happened to him? Is he okay? Did they manage to stop the Organisation?" I question him.

He forces me to lay down first before he starts. "They attempted a raid on their hideout a couple of days ago, but the servers were wiped and all their big players disappeared. A lot of people got hurt, too, "he sees the look on my face and quickly continues, "Kudo is fine. I just spoke to him. We're supposed to meet up with him once you feel up to it".

"Where is he?" I ask him.

"He sent me an address we'll head over there tomorrow so just get some rest tonight," he replies.

I try refuting his offer, but my body is quick to take up his request. Unwillingly, I fall back into my bed. "Where are we?" I ask.

"A small hospital on the outskirts of Tokyo, I think, I don't really know the area all that well," he says.

I decide not to press on any longer. He seems to know about as much as I do and I don't have the energy left to talk anymore. He sits back in his chair and I fall back into my bed. As long as everyone is safe then it is fine, for now.

The two of us stand under the shade of the bus stop. My body still aches but my desire to end this fight urges me on. With a hand full of pain medication is how I left that hospital. The bus pulls up in front of us. He seems to be lost in thought, not having noticed the arrival of the bus.

"Osaka," I call to him.

"Are you calling me Osaka?" I look away from him, "I mean you do know my name right?" he asks. I pay him no attention. "Right?" he asks again as we step into the bus.

Standing outside an old brick building in a seemingly dead neighbourhood, we knock on the door. Kudo opens the door, and I don't think I've ever been happier to see anyone. He quickly guides us through. The place is small and dusty and I find myself stampeding through spider webs every step I take. I never get the chance to ask him before he begins, "Don't ever scare me like that again, you hear me?" he says pulling me back towards him. Osaka walks ahead of us.

"Well at least now you know how we feel all the time when you run off and put yourself in danger," I reply. He exhausted expression softens. "Kudo, What's going on? Why are we here?" I ask him.

"We're here to bring down the organization once and for all and we'll get to all that. But before we do that, don't you want to know how you survived?" the look on my face answers his question. "Someone saved your life, and you owe him," he says.

"Who?" I ask him.

He says nothing. Instead he walks me down the narrow hallways into what I presume to be the living room. There a man stands. "I'm sorry that I kept this a secret from you. But if we need to win, then we need to be on the same page." Kudo says to me before he leaves the room.

Hatred. That's the first emotion that floods through me as the man turns around. I feel a fire begin to burn inside me, a fire fuelled with the sadness and sorrow that lay deep within me. The sadness and sorrow he caused. Memories flash before my eyes. Memories of my sister, her smiling, her laughing and her in love. Before me, stand the reason why Akemi is gone. Before my stands Rye.

TBC

Reviews and suggestions are welcomed.