KudoEdogawa Presents...

""Always""

Chapter 2

The morning sun sneaked into the room and shone onto Shinichi. He woke up, memories of the previous night was still engrained deeply in his mind. It was one of the best nights he's had in quite a while, oh, why couldn't the night last?

Shinichi got up and took a shower. He has something to do...ah yes. He must get to England, his plane leaves at eleven, what time is it now? He got out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist, and went back into his room. He looked at the clock...warm water droplets slid down his bare back...

"OH SHOOT!!!"

It was already 10:15! Why didn't he pack up before going to the Mouri's last night? Why??

Frantic, he put on some clothes without drying himself first, stuffed a bunch of clothes into a trunk, put on some socks, and ran out the door, but soon ran back---he forgot to bring his passport. He dashed to his room and searched for his passport, and that's when he realized that his socks weren't matching. Cursing, he put on the right socks, got his passport, hopped on his car, and speeded towards the airport.

He got to the airport and sighed; he still has twenty minutes to spare, enough time to get his luggage checked-in. After he did so, he wandered to the boarding gate, and there she is, all dressed and waiting---his girlfriend Ran.

Time froze---how in the world did she know that he'd be here? Ran seemed to know what he was thinking and answered his question.

"Erm...I just wanted to give you a little something before you leave, but I don't know when your plane is, so I decided to come here and wait." said she.

Argh, what kind of boyfriend am I? thought Shinichi. I never told her when I'd be leaving, and even so, she's still determined to see me off.

"How long have you waited?" He asked at last.

Ran hesitated, then said, "Since five in the morning..." she whispered.

Guilt just struck Shinichi's heart so hard. "Oh Ran, you didn't have to..." Ran held out a box.

"Open it," she said. "It's for you."

There was a magnificent pendant inside, not only that, there's a picture of Shinichi and Ran enclosed inside the pendant that you can see from the glass in the center.

"Oh, Ran. I love you." Shinichi said and gave her a hug. "I promise, I won't let you worry about me this time, I'll call you from England every single day."

"Oh?" Ran sounds amused. "But what if I wanted to contact you?"

Argh, how can he forget this? Just shows how stupid he is. Shinichi whacked himself in the head and told Ran about their high school friend---Akira, who lives in England, and Shinichi will be at his house during his trip. Knowing that she has way to contact Shinichi, Ran felt much more relieved, but as usual, Fate is overlooking them, plotting mischief into their lives.

"We will start boarding the eleven o'clock flight to London." The P.A. announced.

"Well," said Shinichi. "That's me." He gave Ran a quick hug. "Take care," and he left. However, the same uncomfortable feeling struck Ran again...it felt exactly like that time at Tropical Island, when she lost Shinichi the first time. Time went by, and through the window, Ran can see that the plane has begun to move.

"NO!!!" Ran shouted. "DON'T GO!! SHINICHI!! STAY!!"

But the plane has already soared into the blue sky. Although the day looked so promising, Ran went home with an uneasy feeling, and an unknown dread...

~*~

"SHINICHI!! DON'T GO!!" Her own words are stuck in her mind, why hadn't she stopped him? She sat there eating dinner with her family, dinner was so enjoyable last night, why is it so different now?

The phone rang. "I'll get it." Ran said as she got up slowly and went for the phone.

"Moshi, moshi?"

"Ran?" It was Shinichi! "I'm at Akira's house now." That was a relief to hear. "Well, I'm thinking of touring around first, do you want anything from London?"

Ran smiled, "No, I just want you to come back safely..."

"Don't worry, I will..."

Will you, now?

What was that? Ran shoved the thought aside. "Have fun in England," she said.

"Fun? At work? You must be kidding!" They both laughed and hung up.

~*~

The sun crept over the horizon, turn the Big Ben golden. The city of London became busy at once, people are moving all about, whether it be going to work, going to school, or just going to slack off for the day. Shinichi have to ask the manager of a certain bookstore some questions in order for someone's alibi to be established. With Akira's help the previous night, he knows exactly where and how to get to the bookstore. London is a busy place, with lots of shops all around, a particular jewelry shop caught Shinichi's attention. Ran had given him something, so he should also buy her a little something.

Shinichi roamed around in the jewelry store...would Ran like this crystal angel pendant? Or does she prefer these emerald earrings? Or this golden ring, which has this heart-shaped ruby in the center?

"Ah...that is a very fine ring." A voice behind him said...it was the shop keeper. "You know, there is a legend about this ring..."

...........

Shinichi drives through the busy England streets, the ring is next to him, inside a box, and his mind just keeps on thinking of the so-called ""legend"" that the shop keeper had told him.

"......If a man should give his other half this ring, they will be bonded by the ring, and they will always have each other's love, no matter what. Whosoever receives this ring will be live a perfect life for the rest of her years, and so should whoever gave her the ring. But, my, I am rambling, let me make this short: The couple who possesses this ring will be together with each other, forever. 'Tis a very fine gift, they call this ruby 'The True Love'."

Thinking that this is the perfect engagement ring to give to Ran after he goes back, Shinichi's is more determined than ever to finish this case quickly and return to Japan. He was so distracted that he did not notice the approach of another car as he took a sharp turn right...

The approaching car saw him and turned away...but Shinichi had already crashed into the wall of a nearby store. The car then flew into the air, swirled around, and fell back onto the ground up-side-down...

The pendant which Ran had given him that he was wearing fell off his neck and out of the car...the pendant dropped and opened up...a gust of wind came just then...and blew the picture of him and Ran away...

Away...

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I know I have verb tense problems....bear with me....I hate it too