Hmmm. Heiji mumbled in his sleep, turning in vain to try to block out the array of voices in the background.
"We can't tell him, can we?" Male. Father. Confused? Or maybe just frustrated.
"Heiji won't be a problem." Female. Mother. Hint of delight in her voice. Or was it a devilish grin that seeped through her voice?
His attention snapped at his name, now fully alert, frowning in concentration.
What were they talking about? He looked at his night stand. 7am. On Sunday. He grunted softly, plans of sleeping in now utterly ruined. He dragged his lazy, half-asleep body out of bed and prepared for breakfast.
While he was stumbling into his jeans, he heard another voice. Tiny, yet way too familiar to be ignored. Who was it? He could not place. Was it his childhood friend? He blushed at the thought and quickly waved her smiling face away. No... She's probably visiting her Grandma's house. It is, after all, summer time.
He hurried just a little bit more at the possibility of Kazuha being there, and almost ran downstairs. Not for her sake, of course. No, of course not, despite his silent prayer and the heavy blush on his cheeks.
He gathered himself at the foot of the stairs, just as his father was heading out.
He glanced around, and a disappointed gloom hung over him. No, it was not her. Was it just my imagination. He quickly shook his head and started his daily routine.
"Well, you're up early," His mother beamed at him. Smiling bright. Perhaps too bright. "You're just in time for breakfast. Sit down." She glanced at the table, while cleaning away.
"Hmm. Thanks, mom. Where's dad going so early in the morning. I thought he was on break."
Both chuckled and frowned at the inside joke, for we all know, Hattori Heizo does not have breaks. His summer time was spent with his second wife, his love, his devotion. His job.
Shizuka sighed, "He went on a business trip." She took a dramatic pause. "With Toyama-san."
"Hmm." Heiji noted with his mouth full. Of course, he thought, another business trip. With Toyama-san.
Toyama-san.
Toyama-san?
Wait, Heiji almost stopped chewing. With Kazuha's father?
Aren't they supposed to be at her grandma's place. He eyed his food suspiciously, then does that mean she's going there alone? No, that's improbable.
A tint of worry flashed through his mind.
"How long will they be gone?" He was sure mother was acting strangely. Cleaning on a Sunday? Certainly, something was up.
"Unfortunately, 4 weeks." Shizuka sighed again. Stopping to lean on her mop and turned to her son.
"A month?" He frowned. Well, at least Kazuha's with her grandma. He settled down to his glass of juice.
"Yes. A month. That's why... Kazuha's staying with us for a month!" She beamed, giving her mop a final thump.
First his eyes widened, as his every brain cell struggled to grasp this new concept that was thrown at him. He, then, at the velocity of an exploding volcano, spit his juice out, leaving him wide-eyed, wide-mouthed, and dumb-struck.
"You're going to clean that up." His mother said, frowning.
"But...How? Why!" He jumped up, confusion, anger, and utter surprise took over his brain, making him oblivious to the figure at the door.
"Heiji..." His mother warned, shooting him looks and glancing at the doorway.
"But...I thought she's staying with her grandmother!" He stuttered, try to gather his wits, not realising he was still yelling for the world to hear. Especially her.
"Hei..." But he didn't even let his mother finish.
"She can't stay here!" He shouted.
No, she definitely cannot. Not when he was going through a "phrase" as he would call it. Heiji's condition has been occurring for quite a long time. Since he could remember, Kazuha's mere presence made Heiji sweaty, nervous beyond belief and unbalanced. His heart would beat irregularly, and blood would rise to his face, causing redness in his cheeks. Yes, these are all definitely symptoms of a disease unknown to the young detective. His conclusion long, long ago was to fight it. To fight it for as long as he could. And lately, it's been hard. Her image floated in his brain all the time, manifesting her smile everywhere. He would think about her, talk about her, and even dream about her. It's been getting worse since the beginning of summer vacation. A lot worse. The ache has turned into a longing, a battle with want and desire. He balled his fists.
"Heiji." Shizuka hissed.
"No, mom, you don't understand. I can't stand her!"
It was the truth. He would have a heart attack otherwise. To see her smiling every morning was enough to bear. No, he would fight it. And the only way he knew how was to get her angry. Yes, getting Kazuha angry was a specialty of Heiji's. He would lie, lie about how she looked like a boy, lie about how no guy would have the decent mind to like her. Lie about his feelings.
Heiji would not survive a month with her in the house. He felt his legs give in already. It's almost as if he can feel her in the house, with him at this very moment! His breath shortened as he gave his final complaint.
"She's going to ruin summer, mom." He lied, clenching his teeth, fight himself, that little voice in the back of his head. Heiji, stop lying, fool. You wouldn't want it any other way, than to spend every day of summer with her...
"Heiji!" Shizuha spat angrily. She stared past his into the doorway.
That's when he flashed back to all her hints and nudges and looks to shut up. He spun around very slowly. Afraid of what he might see. His heart pounding a hole in his chest.
And when he saw her. His heart skipped a beat. Probably the last beat before he realised she's been there the whole time. He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Kazuha..." He whispered, while a flood of regret and guilt drowned his soul.
"Ahou!" Her angry frame angrily appeared in front of his. With her cheeks red and her heavy baggage in her hand, she punched him, not caring that Shizuka was standing a few feet from them. "Don't want me here, huh? Well, too bad! I'm going to enjoy my summer." She blew a raspberry at him and stormed upstairs, where a familiar guestroom was waiting.
Dumb-struck, he just stood there, with the light pain of her punch.
He felt as if his whole spirit was lifted off the ground as he watched her thump up the stairs. She was angry, definitely better than what he feared.
But as he bounded up the stairs double time, with his come-back already at the tip of his tongue. He couldn't help but pause for a second. Did he imagine it? He thought. The moment her figure flashed past him, he noticed her eyes. Her usually bright, shiny, green eyes. Were they always that sad? He felt a pang of pain in his chest. There it goes again. He grasped his sweater, as if to calm his beating heart down. Did she hear what I said? What if she thought I meant it? He couldn't help but peer in her room. And as if the whole ground was taken from him. He saw her silhouette on the bed, light bursting through the windows revealing a single crystal tear, running down her face.
Was she always this beautiful? He grasped his chest a little bit harder as the flood of guilt and regret came again. Yes. And always will be.
He wanted to run into the room and tell her the truth. To hit himself for being an idiot. But his pride wouldn't let him.
"Ahou." He stepped into the room. Her eyes widened. She immediately wiped her face and covered with a magazine.
"W-what do you want?" She murmured. Cursing under her breath for his sudden intrusion.
"Ahou. You left the door open." He strode over and sat on her bed.
"Go away!" She hissed, hiding her face behind the magazine.
"What are you reading?" He gently lowered the magazine.
"Ahou! Go away!" She quickly darted back, her back now leaning against the bed frame.
"Hmm. Fine. Ahou. Just so you know I was going to take you to icecream. But since you don't want to..."
He slowly got up and stepped towards the door.
She peered over the magazine, like a cat, her eyes asking the obvious question.
Heiji turned around with a big grin. She was so predictable.
"Well, since your dad's gone, I thought I'd take you there to calm your nerves, but since you don't want to..." He took another step.
"Ahou! It's your fault! For your information, I don't want to stay here, but your mom insisted, and it's not like I wanted to see you or anything..." She faded out.
"Tch. Your sudden intrusion means I can't be involved in cases everyday for the summer, you know. It completely disrupts my plan, now that you're here!" He sneaked a peek.
Her face lit up. Interrupting Heiji's plan to get himself killed every day? Damn right! She would keep a sharp eye on him, making sure he would not get hurt.
"Ahou! You and your stupid cases. Someone has to stop them." She teased, with a smile.
He sighed, with relief, too little for her to notice, at her bright smile, and softly yelled back.
"Annoying. Are we going for icecream or not?" he took another, and the final step towards the door before she bounded past him, bag and all and swatted him on the arm.
"Your treat!" And with that she disappeared down the stairs.
He sighed, rolled his eyes and followed her. Thinking, this will be an interesting summer indeed.
Oh, Heiji. You have no idea.
Hey Guys! Yoyo here!
This is my first story, about my favourite couple from Detective Conan, ofc! =3
I hope you guys enjoyed it.
I stumbled upon this site by accident and has been in love ever since.
I really hope you guys like it (did i say that already?) if so, please give me a review and tell me what you think.
Or suggestions of what can/might happen.
I've witnessed some amazing fan base here and as a fanfic junkie myself, i am proud!
Hopefully you'll help me along the way, as I am a newbie! =3
Thanks for reading! Next chapter's coming soon!
Yoyo. XD