same mistake

an unexpected surprise

disclaimer: lowercase intended, not proofread, ooc, language

-:-

connecticut, united states 11pm (three years later)

sheryl murphy, previously known as shiho miyano, took a sip of her coffee as she was typing another formula on her computer. the room was dark with the only source of light being her computer and the little lamp in the corner. she was almost done with her newest research. the only thing that was left to do was to test it, but her colleague was in charge of that.

the reddish brown haired woman sighed as she finished and saved everything on her computer. she stared at the screen emotionlessly for a few seconds, contemplating whether or not she should do her monthly google search. others would consider it stalking but it really was not that deep. she'd just find herself slowly typing his name on the search engine every once in a while just to check how he was doing.

her eyes widened as she read the very first headline.

"the modern sherlock holmes, shinichi kudo, and his childhood best friend, break off their engagement"

shiho just stared at her screen for what felt like an eternity. these articles were probably a bunch of fake news. she didn't even dare to click on the news article, it just felt too wrong.

"stupid press.", she muttered.

the woman packed her stuff. she switched off all the lights, checked that all the chemicals were put in their correct place, as she was the last one to leave the lab. shiho took off her white lab coat and wore her jacket. she locked the door and left her workplace with a yawn.

it was an insanely cold and tiring day. shiho couldn't wait to get back home to a warm home cooked meal. she was excited to enter the warmth of her home.

"i'm home.", the reddish brown haired woman said as she entered her apartment.

in front of her, only around a meter away, stood her boyfriend. she took a few seconds to very secretly admire his looks.

"come on, i told you i need to practice my japanese!", he whined as he went up to her to give her a peck. that was their way of saying 'welcome back home'

she rolled her eyes playfully at him, "i have absolutely no idea why you're so set on learning japanese."

"hello? are you forgetting that the only reason i managed to get such a good job was because of the many languages i know? plus, it makes traveling so much better! so far i have mastered english, spanish, german, italian, arabic & mandarin! i think japanese, turkish and korean would be a great addition too.

the reddish brown haired woman teased her boyfriend, then headed to take a warm shower after the exhausting day she's had and changed into her pajamas as her boyfriend warmed up their dinner.

they were pleasantly enjoying their meal as her boyfriend interrupted, "you know what? since work has been currently very slow for me and your research is almost done, we'll be quite free, right? so how about we go on vacation? to japan, i mean?"

shiho choked on her food, "why would you want to go to japan all of a sudden?"

"it's not all of a sudden! i think japan is a great destination. i can finally improve my language skills over there. plus, it's also really great to visit the place where you grew up.", he softly responded, trying his very hardest to convince her.

the woman was panicking. she had entered the witness protection program three years ago. part of her background information is that she spent her entire life in japan and only moved to the united states for a work opportunity. so, shiho's boyfriend was unaware about her past and the fact that she's not even supposed to step foot in tokyo.

"where do you want us to stay?", she asked him, trying to act like she wasn't about to lose her mind.

"well, tokyo would definitely be great!", he exclaimed.

"i don't think i can go there. it's just that during my 10th grade school trip, i hated that place. but you can definitely go there on your own if you want to. i don't want you to miss out on visiting tokyo just because i don't want to go there.", shiho faked a cough.

"oh no that's fine then, i guess. i respect that. how about we go to fukuoka? you said you were from there, right? we could stay there for most of the time and i'll just leave for tokyo for a few days while you can catch up with your friends from there.", her boyfriend suggested.

"then it's settled.", she faked a smile as she continued eating her food. she didn't want to disappoint her boyfriend.

the scientist has been going to a therapist weekly for the past three years to cope with everything that she had been through and to adapt to her new life. she wasn't scared about the organization getting to her. mainly because she moved continents and had a completely new name with a very believable background. she wasn't scared of going back to japan and getting caught by the organization. she was scared of going back there and realizing how much she had missed it. she was scared that she'd want to go back.

bradley international airport, 3am

two weeks had passed since sheryl's boyfriend had surprised her with his idea. she was still cursing herself out for somehow agreeing to this trip. they didn't get to the plane yet, but she could still feel herself slightly starting to panic.

"sheryl."

"yes?"

"the flight's boarding right now. let's go!"

the reddish brown haired woman walked towards the desk holding her passport on one hand and her boyfriend on the other. she felt weird at the thought of being in such a serious relationship, holding his hand in public and going on a vacation to her home country.

they entered the airplane, took a seat and prepared themselves for the long flight ahead of them. shiho's boyfriend got ready to take a long nap as she grabbed her book to read.

"can't wait.", she whispered, sarcastically.

a/n: my attempt to explain this chapter: shiho joined the witness protection program and moved to connecticut. she had to change her name (usually they're encouraged to keep their initials hence sheryl murphy), she works at a research lab and is in a committed relationship. from what i read, being part of the witness protection program means you're not allowed to return to the city you were relocated from, get in contact with people from your former life or be active on social media and that's exactly what shiho has been doing. she finds herself looking shinichi up every now and then because that's the only way she can somehow see how he's been doing.