AN: Based off a tumblr prompt, have a oneshot! This somehow ended up with a bit of a Heikazu bent, but there's nothing really wrong with that, now is there? As always, thanks for reading, and it would be lovely if you could leave a review!
Maybe FFnet will actually properly send out alerts this time, since they were having problems with that last night, from the looks of things.
Noisy Silence
Summary: Mind you, it was his own fault that it had ended up like this.
"Ran-chan, it's been awhile~!"
"We just saw each other two weeks ago, Kazuha-chan." Ran's tone was light, and it was clear from the smile on her face that she was just as delighted to see her friend as Kazuha was. "But it really is nice to see you again too, Kazuha-chan."
"It really is, it really is!" Kazuha said, nodding her head. "An' of course, it's nice ta see ya again too, Conan-kun~!"
"It's nice to see you too, Kazuha-neechan!" Though he said that, Conan was already looking around, searching the station's exit for the person that he had really come here to see. Usually that guy would have been the first to greet them, but the one who had called out to them had been Kazuha instead. He'd hadn't seriously sent her out to greet his own guests for him?
Well, he wouldn't put forgetting that they were coming past him, though.
"By the way, where's Heiji-niichan?" Conan asked, a slight frown on his face. "Don't tell me he forget we were coming?"
Blinking a little, as if she didn't understand the question for a moment, Kazuha glanced behind her, heaving a rather annoyed sigh. Spotting the person in question right away, she quickly recognize what that expression on his face meant. Really, he could be so childish sometimes- sulking over something like this! It was his own fault in the first place.
"Come on, Heiji! There's no point in sulkin' over there!" Kazuha called out to him, folding her arms in front of her chest. "Conan-kun an' Ran-chan came all this way just ta see us, so the least ya can do is greet them, ya sourpuss!"
Perhaps it was no wonder that Kazuha's words startled the both of their guests- to be honest, they hadn't even noticed that Heiji was there. They were so used to him inserting himself into the conversation as quickly- and as loudly- as possible, that they'd barely even noticed his presence when he wasn't doing so. As the Osakan detective pushed himself off the bench he had slouched on, hands shoved in his pockets, and an irritated expression on his face, the sense that something was wrong here only managed to increase.
"C'mon Heiji, you were the one who wanted 'em ta come ta Osaka in the first place, so try not scowlin' so much." Kazuha fussed, turning on her heel to give a scowl of her own up towards her childhood friend. "Yer bein' rude. They're gonna think ya didn't want 'em ta come after all."
Though Heiji's own brows furrowed in annoyance, he didn't open his mouth to reply, a thing which struck both Ran and Conan alike as odd. Usually he was to quick to retort back to anything that Kazuha had to say to him, so to see him not do that... they couldn't help but wonder if something was wrong.
"Um, Hattori-kun...?" Ran spoke up, her words trailing off slightly as Heiji reached into his pocket, pulling out his cellphone. For a moment, she couldn't help but think that he was brushing her off, inwardly wondering if she had said something wrong. It wasn't like him to be this quiet- it was kind of eerie, actually.
Wordlessly watching as he seemed to type something into his phone, she started a bit when her own phone vibrated from within her purse. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Conan pulling out his own as well, and with a deep frown, she went for her own. He couldn't have sent her a...?
He had, actually.
S'not like that at all! I'm plenty happy ta see both of ya, it's just that ya came at somethin' of an annoyin' time.
It would appear that the both of them had been sent the same message, given the way their gazes mutually trailed towards each other. Although they were starting to form a conclusion, honestly, they were having trouble believing it. After all, this was Hattori Heiji they were talking about- nothing short of a force of nature seemed like it would be enough to shut him up.
As their gazes trailed from Heiji, towards Kazuha, the brunette could only blink, before the gears in her head started to turn, piecing things together.
"What, ya didn't tell them?" Glancing between their guests and Heiji, Kazuha could only heave another long sigh. Somehow, it didn't surprise her really, that he hadn't. "This idiot came down with a cold on Monday. When he went ta go see the doctor ta get some medicine, he ran into a case on the way home, an' just couldn't keep his nose out of it!"
"Honestly, the doctor even told ya that ya should probably keep yer darn mouth shut as much as possible fer the next few days, yet ya had ta go an' mouth off anyways." Shaking her head, Kazuha could only let out another long suffering sigh. "An' now cause of that, ya went an' lost yer voice entirely."
They both could hear Kazuha's phone buzzing from within her pocket, but the girl ignored it, instead casting a pointed glare towards Heiji. It was clear that she didn't need to read the mail he had sent her to know what he was trying to say. "Don't give me that, Heiji! Ya heard what the doctor said, an' ya went an' ignored it! Ya reap what ya sow!"
Opening his mouth and just as quickly snapping it shut again, Heiji returned the glare. It couldn't be helped! How was he supposed to just walk away when there was a case happening right in front of him? Sure, as a result it had taken him longer to recover from his cold, and sure, it had helped result in his current predicament, but he definitely hadn't done anything wrong!
"Now, now." Holding up her hands, not wanting to start their Osaka trip with the pair's usual bickering- or almost usual, considering only one of them was doing all the talking- Ran smiled at the both of them. "More importantly, are you okay, Hattori-kun? If you're still feeling sick..."
Breaking his deadlock with Kazuha, Heiji blinked, his mood almost seeming to shift in an instant at her words, a quick grin taking place of the annoyed scowl on his face. He was always the sort who was quick to shift moods, but somehow, when he couldn't talk, this only managed to become more pronounced.
And once more, her phone vibrated.
I'm fine, I'm fine! Just got a little bit of a cough left, that's all. There's nothin' ta get in the way of me showin' ya around Osaka this weekend.
As if to illustrate the point, Heiji let out a bit of a cough, using his free hand to cover his mouth. Ah, crap, now that he thought about it, he had completely forgotten the-
"Geez, I told ya ta take some cough drops with ya, Heiji." Grumbling a little, Kazuha dug into her pocket, pulling out one and placing it in his free hand, making sure he took it. "It's a good thing that I thought ta bring ya some."
Taking it from her, the grin that settled on his face was a rather sheepish one, to which Kazuha merely arched a brow, shaking her head. Heiji's fingers, in the middle of typing out a message, froze in place as she responded before he even had a chance to send it. "I did tell ya! Auntie Shizuka even bought ya some, an' even left a pack right in front of the entryway in case ya forgot the ones she left in yer room. Don't act like ya didn't see 'em!"
Taking a slight step back, Heiji could only let out a silent laugh, averting his gaze from her. She might be right, but...
Exchanging another glance between each other, Ran and Conan shared something of a mutual smile between them. It wasn't as if this was a new discovery to either of them, but if anything, this only reconfirmed what they already knew. That Kazuha and Heiji really did understand each other remarkably well- it really was amazing.
But to think that in spite of that, when it came to that certain thing, that the both of them could be almost equally oblivious to it... in a way, that was amazing too. Amazingly frustrating, maybe.
"Kazuha-neechan, you're amazing." Deciding to give voice to what he was thinking, Conan turned towards her. "It's almost like you can read Heiji-niichan's mind."
"Eh?" Blinking a little, almost as if she hadn't realized it herself, Kazuha's gaze flickered briefly back towards Heiji. With a laugh, she all but brushed the comment off. "No, no. It's just cause this guy's easy ta read, that's all. I'm sure anyone could do as much!"
"No, I don't think I could do it." Ran said, shaking her head. It was true that Heiji was the expressive type, but that didn't mean that they would be able to decipher exactly what he wanted to say, just from that. "Not the way you can, Kazuha-chan."
Though to be fair, she was almost certain that anyone would be able to read the sly grin that settled over Heiji's face at her words. Somehow, when his next message came in, she wasn't all that surprised by it's contents- but even that couldn't prevent her cheeks from turning a bright red.
I get the feelin' that ya could do it pretty well with Kudo, though, Neechan! 3
When Heiji got a mail of his own, not even a few seconds later, she could only wonder why it had him sending that same leering grin down towards Conan. For a moment, she found herself briefly wondering if Conan was perhaps catching a cold too, judging from the red tint of his cheeks.
"Well, even with Heiji like this, I'm sure we'll be able ta show the both of ya a good time!" Piping up, Kazuha gave them both a smile, one that faltered, if only for a moment. "Ah but... I suppose I should apologize in advance fer what's gonna happen ta yer phone bill."
"Eh?" Blinking a little, Ran and Conan once more exchanged a look. "Our phone bill...?"
Ah, so that's what she had meant.
For a moment, Conan found himself wondering if he even had the space on his phone for all of these messages. Even as he thought that, another one came in, causing him to shoot a look up towards their sender, the glower written on his own face apparently not nearly enough to effect the broad grin on Heiji's.
In hindsight, he should have seen this coming. It was only natural that when deprived of his main method of communication, Heiji would then resort to the next best thing- which was, as it turned out, sending mail after mail. Mostly to him, which was a fact that didn't surprise him in the least.
Perhaps he should have expected it, really- that even without his voice, Heiji would still somehow find a way to be his usual chatty self.