Teacher

Chapter 7: Shiho's Story

" Welcome back! Shiho!"

Shiho gave a weary smile to her sister as she sat down on the chair behind her, exhausted. Her sister walked over to the stove and turned it on, humming a happy tune. " What would you like for dinner, sis?" Akemi asked happily.

Shiho raised her eyebrows.

" You seem happy." she said.

" And why shouldn't I be?" Akemi said happily.

" I don't know." Haibara said simply. " Why should you be?"

" I heard about you tying in votes to the most popular girl in school, Shiho." Akemi said, ignoring Shiho's past statement.

Shiho flushed slightly.

" Who told you that?" she asked.

" Oh, I didn't even need to ask." Akemi said, smiling as she fingered around in the cupboard for cooking utensils. " Many girls came not too long ago to look for you, wishing you good luck. One of them even had a camera with her."

Shiho said nothing.

" You're really popular now, aren't you?" Akemi said happily, flicking on the switch as heard the dull whirr of the oven turning on. " It's totally not like when you were in High School, when you would just ignore whoever wanted to be friends with you."

Shiho raised her eyebrows. " That's way into the past." she said.

" I'm not accusing you of anything!" Akemi said, stepping into the kitchen, picking out the most brightly coloured apron and pulled it on. " It's just that I think you changed a lot after you started teaching. I never thought you would have continued after Shuichi. . ."

She stopped in mid-sentence, at the sight of Shiho's hardened face.

" I'm sorry."

" It's alright." Shiho said, yet there was a distinct coolness in her voice.

" No, really. . .I shouldn't. . ."

" It's okay." Shiho said, a smile upon her face.

Akemi's eyes widened.

" Really?"

" Yeah."

" Why?"

Shiho's eyebrows rose, but just shrugged. " I don't know," she said, raising to her feet and started to make her way to her room. Her hand was on the door handle, ready to open it. Then she paused, her fingers slipping off it for a brief moment before placing them on it once more. " Call me when dinner's ready." she said, shutting the door behind her.

Akemi smiled knowingly, looking at the photograph beside the stove. It was Shiho and a young boy, both wearing short-sleeved shirts, standing under the hot sun, a soccer ball under the boy's arm. And the both of them were smiling.

" I guess she's moved on," she muttered. " Am I right? Shuichi-kun."

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He had come too early.

It was obvious that he had come too early. The huge iron gates of the school were clamped shut, and even the owls on the trees were getting some shut eye before perching off for another mid-morning feast. He took a step backwards, walking in the direction of the park just opposite the school. There was something remotely mysterious about it all of a sudden. But then again, anything could look freaky at two in the morning.

He sat himself down on the swings, and pushed himself off the ground just a few inches before allowing himself to be swung backwards and then lifted off the ground once more. He was about to lift off once more, when he noticed walked up towards the school. He raised his eyebrows and came to a stop, hopping off the swings and onto the ground.