Thanks for checking this out. Please leave a review if you have some spare time. Thanks.

I actually had this idea since June, just never got around to writing it. Inspired by a lot of fics here in fanfiction, but the most recent is chapter two of "Love is Unspoken" by grayfirefly. This was also inspired by "Konna ni Chikaku de" by Crystal Kay and "What Hurts the Most" by Cascada. These songs have wonderful CoAi AMV's on y**t***. (Yes, I'm full of inspiration)

This story was made to be sweet, or maybe it was meant to be sad. Either way, it's a story of unrequited love, which all the oneshots here will probably be. Well, on to the story then.

EIEN NO AME

Eternal Rain

"Here, I'll walk you home."

He was holding out a hand to her, the bespectacled shounen was. He had an inviting smile on his lips. She took his hand gingerly, it was probably the smile that did it. It was probably the smile that made her fall in love with him in the first place.

.

It was early evening, ominous clouds were looming in the -almost- night sky. Having parted with the other members of the Shounen Tantei Dan just moments earlier, the three of them were supposed to head to their respective homes.

"Byebye, Ai-chan. Let's go, Conan-kun," said the 17-year-old, taking the brown-haired, blue-eyed boy by the hand.

The reddish-brown haired girl with aquamarine eyes watched them go, then forced her gaze away and started walking towards 'home.'

The boy glanced at the taller girl, then at the retreating back of the other. He suddenly ceased walking, tugging on the karate champion's wrist.

She smiled at him questioningly and asked, "What is it?"

"Ran-neechan," he said in a childish voice, "Imma gonna go walk Haibara home!" He put on a cute, concerned expression. "It's dark, and the clouds are also dark! She shouldn't go home alone!"

The older girl smiled, touched by the concern the little boy was showing for his best friend. Aww... That's so cute...

She let go of his hand and knelt to his height. "Alright, Conan-kun. Take care of Ai-chan, okay?" Mussing his hair a little, she stood up and waved goodbye, walking away without much of a backward glance.

He looked at the retreating back of the long-haired shoujo, then shifted his glance to the farther girl. He stood there, rooted, thinking how he could accompany her home without making her suspicious.

Then, something happened.

It was just an accident, the girl had tripped and most of her weight landed on her knee. The boy, hearing the thud of her hitting the cement, had immediately run to her side. Kneeling down to examine the wound, he smiled in relief when he saw that it was a mere scrape.

Standing up, he held his hand out to her, saying "Here, I'll walk you home."

She immediately rejected the idea, being a proud girl. She stood up and said, "I can take care of myself, Kudo-kun."

When the boy didn't retract his hand, kept that smile on his face and his gaze on hers, she hesitated. Maybe it was the smile, maybe it was his gaze. Or maybe she just wanted company at the time. Whatever it was, she met his eyes for a second before looking away, and a second after that, she took his hand, letting him lead her home with a hidden smile.

Arriving at the house of the inventor who treated her like a daughter, he had let go of her hand, barging in the gate like he had lived there all his life.

"Hakase!" he called out.

The girl, not trying to let on how sadness had filled her the moment he broke away, unlocked the door with her key and opened it saying, "Hakase's away on a convention right now."

He widened his eyes, and exclaimed in mock shock, "He left a little girl like you all alone!?"

She raised an eyebrow, scrutinizing him with her stare before commenting, "I suppose the only reason you came was because you had another favor to ask him."

The shrunken detective winced, a 'caught!' look on his face. "Was I that obvious?"

"Do you even have to ask?" she said with a smirk, entering the house.

The boy sighed. "Well, if the professor's not here, then I've got no reason to stay." He was about to say goodbye and leave when-

BOOM!

A flash of lightning streaked the sky, followed by a pour of rain.

"I guess you're stuck with me a little while longer," she commented, barely glancing at the rain outside.

The girl didn't bother to close the door, a subtle invitation for him to come in. The boy glanced at the dark, cloudy night sky, before following the girl and closing the door.

"So, Haibara," he said, trying to strike up a conversation, "Have you made any improvements on the antidote yet?"

It was a small, innocent topic, one that was only said for the purpose of small talk. But the boy didn't realize that it was the one thing the girl was sensitive of, the one thing that clutched at her chest in a combination of guilt and jealousy.

If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have shrunk.
If it weren't for me, the two of them would never have been separated.

Whenever the antidote was brought up, whenever she was sitting in the lab, typing away, those thoughts would go through her mind.

If it weren't for me, he wouldn't have to go through this hell.

But no matter how much guilt she felt about it, that wasn't the one thing she regretted the most.

No, the one thing she regretted, hated, loathed, was that she, by some miracle, had fallen in love with him.

That would've been okay, if she weren't so close to him.
That would've been okay, if she weren't his best friend.
That would've been okay, if he weren't in love with somebody else.

But she was close to him.
She was his best friend.
And he was in love with somebody else.

That's why it hurt.

Why every moment he was there, there was always something nagging her at the back of her conscience.
Why every time he and that other girl were together, there was always a painful sensation in her chest.
Why each and every living second, she wonders why she was still alive.

She should've been dead. If she were, she wouldn't have to deal with those things, the pain would've stopped.

But she wasn't. She was alive, her blood flowing through her veins.

Of course, she always had a choice. She could've chosen to die, to kill herself. She already made that decision long ago, it wouldn't have been hard to attempt once again.

But she didn't. Because she chose to live the painful days, chose to bear the hurt and suffering, just to be by his side.

So tears came, unbidden, just as the rain outside stopped.

The detective's eyes widened, shocked at the droplets flowing down her cheeks. He stepped toward the crying girl, though not having any idea what to do, what to say.

The girl wasn't sobbing, she wasn't breathing heavily as if she couldn't get enough air, she didn't even look remotely sad, if it weren't for the stream of tears. She was probably not even aware of them herself.

"Haibara..." the boy said gently, unconsciously wiping a tear with his thumb.

The girl snapped to attention, and, as if only noticing the wetness on her cheeks for the first time, hastily turned away from the boy and wiped her tears away.

But they didn't stop.

"Haibara..." he said whispered again.

"I'm not crying." The girl said it as if it were a fact, even though it was an outright lie.

He lightly touched her shoulder, slowly turning her around to face him. Though she resisted at first, she wasn't able to put up much of a fight.

With a defiant look, she glared at him. "Miyano Shiho does not cry," she stated, "It's just the rain."

The boy smiled a little, was about to comfort her by saying, 'But Haibara Ai does,' when she beat him to it, saying the words with a mixture of stubborness and determination.

"Miyano Shiho doesn't cry. Haibara Ai doesn't cry. Sherry doesn't cry. Whoever the hell she is, she doesn't cry!"

Softly whispering her name, he pulled her in for a hug, comforting his best friend. He didn't know what reason she had, didn't know he was the reason. All he knew was that he wanted to be there for her.

He didn't know how much he was hurting her by doing that.

"It's just the rain..." she muttered into his shirt, allowing herself to sink into his arms, even though she knew she'd regret it afterward. She knew she'd never forget the feeling, and she'll just be torn by the memories once again. But she allowed herself to savor his embrace, allowed herself temporary happiness.

They stayed like that, her tears not stopping, for what felt like a lifetime, and just a few seconds.

She finally came to her senses and put a little distance between them, not wanting to loathe herself more, not wanting to fall deeper in love with him. But she couldn't make herself completely pull away.

"You should go," she whispered, looking down, not meeting his eyes.

He should've left. That way, she could've picked up what was left of her pride, could've acted like nothing happened the next day. But he didn't.

"Are you kidding?" he replied, amusement in his voice. Then, his eyes softened, and a gentle smile graced his lips once more. And even though the rain had stopped, even though the only water flowing was from her eyes, he said, "You don't expect me to go home in this pouring rain, do you?"

He hugged her once again, and didn't let go this time.

He was an idiot.

If you keep saying things like that, you'll never be able to go home.

Because the tears just won't stop.
Because of the pain you're making me feel.
And because... I don't want you to go.

The rain won't ever end.

EIEN NO AME ~OWARI~

Eternal Rain ~The End~