AN: So this oneshot is based off a line from File 693, where Heiji refers to a time where Kazuha passed out as the result of practicing too hard. In my endless quest to flesh out Heiji and Kazuha's past with each other all the more, I decided to try and write something to that effect! I'm pretty pleased with the result, so I hope everyone else is as well!

Thanks for reading!

The Same Coin

She didn't even remember passing out. She must have though, otherwise she wouldn't have found herself in the nurse's office.

Despite her body telling her not to, Kazuha ignored it, forcing herself to rise. She was dizzy and disorientated still, and for a moment, she wondered if she had perhaps hit her head on the way down. The last thing that she could remember, she'd been...

"Ya finally woke up?"

Disorientated though she was, she'd know that voice anywhere. She'd grown up hearing it, after all, sometimes a bit too much. Putting a hand to her head, feeling a dull throbbing rising in it, she wondered if the timing was a coincidence or not. She didn't really feel like she was in the mood for dealing with a disapproving Hattori Heiji. Wasn't he supposed to be at practice now anyways?

Whenever now was. She hadn't yet checked.

"Heiji, I-"

"Shut up, idiot." Pulling out a chair next to her, Heiji pressed something cool against her cheek. It took her a moment to realize that it was a water bottle. "Drink some. Not too fast now though, ya hear?"

"I don't need water, Heiji," Kazuha told him, ignoring the fact that her throat felt dry, and her voice sounded cracked, "...I need ta get back ta practice. If I don't..."

"Ya passed out, Kazuha." Heiji told her, once more pressing the water bottle against her cheek. "From lack of water, the nurse said. On a hot day like this, yer lucky that's all that happened. Yer old man's on his way here now, ta bring ya ta the hospital anyways."

Though she could think of more than a few things to say in this situation, Kazuha instead merely frowned, finally accepting the water bottle from him. Licking her lips, wondering how she hadn't noticed how dry they were, Kazuha opened the bottle, feeling the cap scratch against her skin. Now that it was in her hands, she realized just how thirsty she was, and for a moment, was overcome with the urge to drink it all at once.

Thankfully, she thought better of it, instead starting off with a small sip. Even that was a great relief to her, her body all but scolding her for putting it off for so long.

"Don't scare me like that, idiot." Heiji grumbled, his words almost more meant for himself than for her, she sensed. "I nearly had a damn heart attack when I found out that the one at the source of all the commotion goin' on in the dojo was ya, Kazuha."

"I don't want ta hear that from ya, Heiji." Kazuha frowned, setting the cap aside on the table, resting the water bottle in her lap. "Ya make plenty of stupid-"

"Yeah, but yer supposed ta be smarter than me, ain't ya?" Heiji asked, leaning back in his chair, sending her a rather pointed look. "I know yer worried, but there's no point in workin' yerself so hard ta the point that ya pass out. Not ta mention not even stoppin' fer so much as a single water break... what were ya thinkin', Kazuha?"

"I was..." Kazuha began, before realizing that she didn't really have much of an answer. She hadn't been thinking anything at all, actually. "Shut up, idiot. What does it matter ta ya? Don't ya have a tournament ta worry about? Ya should be practicin' fer that, not worryin' about me."

"What kind of lousy ass childhood friend keeps practicin' when their friend has passed out?" Heiji asked, arching a brow. "Better question is, what kinda lousy impression ya got of me, Kazuha?"

"I just don't want ta be lectured by the idiot who missed his last tournament because he broke his arm tryin' ta get a cat out of a tree." Kazuha remarked, taking another small sip of water. "Ya haven't changed at all since we were kids."

"Ya were the one who wanted me ta get it!" Heiji protested.

"I didn't tell ya ta fall!" Kazuha shot right back, instantly regretting raising her voice. As she was overcome by a fit of coughing, she felt a hand rise to her back, the sound of a chair being pushed back just barely rising over the sound of her own coughing.

"Ya really shouldn't be talkin' either, idiot." Once her coughs had finally died down, Heiji's hand remained on her back, something more than just irritation lined in his expression. "Just drink yer damn water."

"Ya were the one talkin' ta me in the first place, Heiji." Kazuha pointed out, her voice raspier than it had been before the coughing fit. Slowly drawing in a long breath, she took another drink of water, a bit longer this time. "What is it that ya want me ta say anyways?"

"That ya won't do somethin' this stupid again?"

Perhaps it was the way the hand on her back tensed, that had her biting back down her protests. She'd only just gotten too focused, too distracted, she hadn't meant to-. He might not have stated it right out- but he was worried about her, deeply, and she could tell that much.

But he was right. She might bicker and fight with him, but she wasn't fool enough to try and deny the times when he was, actually, for once, probably right. They didn't happen all that often, after all, so she supposed she had to give him credit where credit was due.

"...fine." Kazuha said finally, the plastic of her water bottle crunching a bit underneath her tightened grip. "...I'll be more careful next time."

"Good." Pulling his hand away from her, a wide grin finally lit up his face. "Ya'd better thank me though, Kazuha! Yer not exactly light, so carryin' ya all this way wasn't the easiest thing ta do!"

The squeak that she let out wasn't necessarily so much one of offense.