Chapter 3: Light-headed...

The week went by and nothing much changed, except for Kazuha's stomach that seemed to be in a constant knot now instead of just feeling a little sick at times. She never got used to the stares of her fellow students which, as a little voice inside her head kept telling her over and over again, resulted in the fact that her relationship with Heiji was only pretended. If she really was his girlfriend the stares of other people and their talk wouldn't bug her at all, of that she was sure.
And now, as she stood in front of her closet, searching for something to wear to bloody Eliza's stupid party she didn't have a clue how to survive the evening.

Throwing her green dress on a pile of other clothes in the corner of her room she sighed heavily. She made a face as she continued to ravage her closet; her "boyfriend" had, after all, told her to wear something "simple but breathtaking" – as he had put it. Kazuha had no idea if there was something like that in her stock or how other girls managed to look like supermodels without the least bit of effort. Sighing she dropped down on her bed, staring at the ceiling on which little stars stuck. A loud knock at her door did not cause her to sit up. "Not in the mood for a talk, dad." She complained loudly while she covered her eyes with her pillow.

"Your dad just left for his night shift and if you don't hurry we'll be late, ahou."
Heiji's voice resounded in the hall. "Are you clothed?" he asked and Kazuha could literally hear him grin. She moved immediately. "Of course I am, ahou, whatcha thinking?!" She blushed furiously as he entered and looked her up and down. "When I told you to dress in a nice way to make the other guys stare like idiots… What didn't you understand about that?!" She glared at him and jumped from her bed. "And what, oh great detective of the West, would you suggest I should wear?" Her arm made an expansive movement in the direction of her closet, inviting Heiji to have a look himself. He raised his eyebrows but still took some steps in her direction, scanning the clothes he knew quite well for something adequate for the occasion. She just stood by waiting.

It took him about four minutes to find something and when he handed her the black dress with silver embroidery all over it she only shook her head violently. "Are you nuts?! You know perfectly well this was for some school-play! It's far too short!" She blushed furiously. He smirked, folding his arms in front of his chest. "It's not shorter than the shorts you like to wear and it's pretty. No one will remember you wore it on stage!" He turned and walked towards her door. "Get changed or we'll be late!"
She stared at the dress and then an idea hit her. She grinned triumphantly. "I-I don't have any shoes that go with this!" Heiji stopped and looked at her, recognizing her grin. "Oh, I know you mostly got sneakers… So I bought you some heels… And, what a coincidence, they're black with silver straps." He threw a box on her bed and left the room, not before adding a mumbled "Hurry".
Right that moment she hated being his "girlfriend" even more.

As he stood at a small party table he could not help but glance at her every now and then. Not only did she really look breathtaking in her dress, heels and with her hair down (and Heiji should know, for he nearly forgot to breathe when she opened her door pouting, of course, and ready to leave for the party), she was also absolutely oblivious to the gaping stares of most males in the room. And while he was besieged by about twenty girls of his fan club she chatted away with some girlfriend she had met there. Heiji sighed and put some crisps into his mouth while swirling the rest of beer in his glass. He'd rather dance with Kazuha now than listen to those crazy chicks talking about themselves and how they were perfect for him. But she seemed to enjoy herself so he didn't bother to watch her while not even pretending to listen to those girls. Kazuha drank quite a lot of that punch, didn't she? Hopefully she'd realized there was alcohol in it. He shrugged, catching some scraps of the conversation around him: "I really don't believe you're with her! You're not even spending time together right now!" Heiji rolled his eyes. Sometimes he really had a feeling those girls would never give up, not even now that he was officially in a (faked) relationship.
He looked over at Kazuha again and realized she wasn't talking to that girl anymore. There was some guy standing next to her and she was currently laughing about something he had said.

"Heiji." A chirping voice sighed next to his ear and caused him to nearly jump out of his skin. "Gosh, Eliza! Don't do that!" he exclaimed roughly, still startled by her well hidden appearance. "Sorry, honey! I just wanted to see whether you're alright." Eliza smiled sweetly and ran a hand through his locks. "I didn't have much time for you tonight, after all! And you surely missed me!"
Heiji examined her curiously. How could anyone possibly be so blunt about hitting on a guy who already had a girlfriend? She leaned in closer and he thought about something to say while glowering over her shoulder. Kazuha was standing much too close to that blond guy right now and her smile was far too bright!

"What shall we do now, Heiji, now that I've got time? I'm all yours!" Eliza disturbed his thoughts and pressed herself against him.
Small pearls of sweat started to appear on his forehead. Not too gently he took hold of Eliza's shoulders and tried to provide some distance between them. "I'd rather spend time with my GIRLFRIEND, ya know?!" He tried to sound nonchalant and grinned at the girl in front of him. Eliza wickedly grinned back, stroking his hands while he grasped her shoulders. "You're so strong, Heiji! You don't need that stupid Toyama girl, just wrap your strong arms around me!" Those words were spoken with fervency. Heiji gulped and lightly pushed her away, not touching her at all anymore. "I'd rather not!" he said and turned around just in time to see Kazuha swooning slightly. She touched her head with her left hand whilst her right seemed to search for something to hold onto.

Kazuha felt strange and dizzy. Or maybe she felt strange because she felt dizzy. She wasn't sure. The only thing she did know for sure was that she wasn't enjoying herself. And whereas she had been bored to no end talking to a girl she had not seen in years Heiji seemed to enjoy himself pretty much. He had been standing at a table, surrounded by girls who were nearly killing each other to get next to him. Unnoticed by him Kazuha had scowled at the scene sometimes. The girl, Natsuki or Mitsuki or something like that, had kept talking about guys she had recently met, assuming Kazuha would be interested – which she wasn't – which left Kazuha to drink a lot of punch in order to keep her mouth filled so she did not have to answer often. Mostly she would only smile but the girl didn't mind and chatted away.

But when Eliza had appeared at Heiji's side and started flirting with him Kazuha had had enough. How could Heiji want her to act like a proper girlfriend if he kept hitting on other girls while she was in eyesight?! She had fumed and turned around, leaving her former conversational partner dumbfounded. Smiling at a blond guy standing next she had started talking to him. Who needed Heiji?!
The blond one, his name was something like Glen or Ben – a foreigner, obviously -, had started to flirt with her immediately. At least she assumed he was flirting for she had no experience in this whatsoever. But soon she realized how light-headed she felt. The room was spinning slightly and she couldn't help herself but close her eyes. Touching her forehead that felt padded she felt as if she was falling. Her only instinct was to grip anything that was near and steady and opening her eyes a crack she saw Glen or Ben reaching for her though he never touched her for she collided with something solid behind her back.

"It's alright; I'll take care of her! She's my girlfriend!" A husky voice growled and she realized Heiji was leading her somewhere, his strong arms steadying her. "I can walk for myself!" she wanted to say but her voice was too weak to be recognized by him and his grip was far too firm for her to struggle against. She did not know where he directed her but soon felt herself being sat down on a chair and heard a water-tap being switched on and off again. Kazuha took a deep breath to steady her and leaned back.

"Heiji..." she mumbled when suddenly something cold and wet touched her forehead. She yelped and opened her eyes looking into his green ones. He was kneeling in front of her in a small kitchen, his right hand pressing a cooling cloth to her temples while his stern eyes bore into hers worriedly. "Ahou!" he mumbled, sighing deeply. "Why did you drink that much?" She didn't respond, a sullen expression getting on her features. Some time passed until she countered: "Why did you flirt disgustingly with Eliza?" Her eyes were locked at her hands in her lap. He watched her confused. "I didn't! But you nearly plastered yourself on that guy!" Heiji glared at her when her gaze shot up. "Did not, Ahou!" she claimed as Heiji stood up and handed her a bottle of water. She obediently took a sip and felt her sudden anger subside. "Thanks." She murmured softly.
"You sound better." he noted leaning against a counter. Kazuha sighed and swiftly stood up from the chair – too swift in her condition. She stumbled and Heiji caught her again, cradling her against his chest.

"Hey, not so fast; you're still drunk, Ahou!" he whispered into her ear. She leaned her head against his shoulder, smelling his aftershave and closed her eyes. "I'm going to be sick!" Kazuha mumbled against his shirt. "No, you're not!" His voice was firm and strict and somehow it made her decide against being sick. She only nodded in agreement nearly not moving at all. Absentmindedly Heiji stroked her hair and they remained like that for some time.

Author's note:
Finally continued. I'm really looking forward to what comes next so I won't take long to update! Hopefully you liked this chapter, too. I sometimes feel they are really OOC but how could I prevent this?

I'd love you to review (I always feel like a child on Christmas waiting for somebody to review and it's so disappointing when nobody seems to like the story *sniff* My friend nearly collapsed laughing because I was so thrilled about getting reviews on another story some days ago...)

Hope you like it. Till next time!
Ria

(Unfortunately I do not own DC)