Chapter 4: Tampon?
Disclaimer: I don't own any Detective Conan/Case Closed characters.
Another update! The promised lemon should appear in the next chapter and I am looking forward to write it!
Again, please read and review!
While Heiji was still pondering over how he had misinterpreted Kazuha's "love signals" to Kudo, he didn't foresee there were yet more challenges awaiting.
To prepare for the upcoming National Kendo Tournament, Takei Miho, the manager of the Kaihou Kendo Club, co-organized a joint training camp with the Kendo Club of the Senshin High School in Kyoto. So in early July, Ooka Momiji, the manager of the Senshin Kendo Club, led the Senshin samurais to meet the Kaihou team in Osaka.
On the first day of the camp, during the first break session, Okita Soji, the captain of the Senshin Kendo club, saw Heiji happily talking to a girl with high ponytail, who definitely looked familiar to him.
"Is that girl … Hattori's girlfriend?" He asked Miho, who was dutifully distributing water to the Senshin students.
"According to themselves, not really." Miho shrugged. Like so many other girls in Kaihou, Miho was a fangirl of Heiji. Until the beginning of this school year, she was still the closest female friend to Heiji, thanks to her role as the manager of the Kendo Club. However, the return of Kazuha entirely shattered her special status among Heiji's fan club. She was certainly jealous of Kazuha, but was also a bit relieved that neither Heiji nor Kazuha admitted any special feelings to each other.
"What's her name?"
"Toyama Kazuha." Miho's eyes narrowed while seeing Okita's inquisitive expression. Don't tell me Okita Soji was also interested in Toyama! That damned woman!
"Ah I know it's her!" Okita snapped and ran to the direction of Kazuha and Heiji.
"Kazuha-chan!"
"?" Both Heiji and Kazuha turned their heads in surprise.
"Okita?" Heiji frowned. What is he doing? Calling Kazuha by her given name?
"Okita?" Hearing the person's name from Heiji, Kazuha pondered for a second and then realized, "You are Okita Soji, aren't you?"
"Wait a minute!" Heiji felt he had missed something important, "You guys know each other?"
Heiji definitely considered Okita a respectable and worthy opponent, not just because Okita was his only true match in the Kendo arena, but also because he had the almost exactly the same face as Kudo Shinichi, who Heiji still considered as his best buddy after clearing the Detective of the East's suspicion as Kazuha's love interest.
But seeing the cordiality between Kazuha and Okita, he realized his competition with Okita was probably not just limited the Kendo matches.
"Yes we do! Soji-kun's elder sister Haruko-senpai is two years my senior at Dalton, my school in New York." Kazuha explained to Heiji, totally oblivious of Heiji's somewhat pissed expression.
"Yes, my sister always talks about Kazuha-chan. Apparently, Kazuha-chan was quite a celebrity at Dalton, the only girl in the all-boy baseball team!" Okita winked at Kazuha, "We met once when I visited my sister last year."
"You did …" Heiji narrowed his eyes. Why did he feel a sense of … threat?
"Kazuha-chan, you come back for the summer break?" Asked Okita. American school's summer break starts much earlier than Japanese schools. It was early June and the poor Japanese students still have two more months to go before their summer break.
"No. I am back to Japan for good." Kazuha smiled, "It is so nice to see you again, Soji-kun!"
"Same here." Okita smiled, and then pointed to Heiji and her, "I didn't know you and Hattori are …"
"Ah, we are actually childhood friends," Kazuha smiled and turned her head to Heiji for confirmation, "Right, Heiji?"
"Yes …" Heiji mumbled, totally grumpy.
"Soji-kun, is Haruko-senpai … by any chance in Japan now?" Kazuha suddenly blushed.
"She is. Actually she is in Osaka now." Okita explained, "She is doing an internship at Itochu Corp this summer."
"Really?" Kazuha's eyes widened with relief, "May I have her phone number? I have a favor to ask her …"
"Sure." Okita took out his cell phone and showed Kazuha his sister's phone number.
"But in return," Seeing Kazuha entering the number in her phone, Okita grinned, "Can I have your number?"
"Sure." Kazuha answered without hesitation and gave her number to Okita.
"Ahou!" Heiji suddenly felt angry, "Haven't your mom told you that a good girl should not give her phone number to strangers especially male strangers?"
"You are the ahou!" Kazuha narrowed her eyes, "Soji-kun is not a stranger and by the way I thought you guys were friends!"
"You should at least ask me before doing it!"
"Why do I need to ask an ahou?"
"Ahou…"
"Ahou…"
A bit taken back by the Osakan dual's bickering, Okita felt somewhat left out.
"So Kazuha-chan," He finally found a millisecond of peace to interject, "are you and Hattori dating?"
"No we are not! Who would like to date an ahou like him/her!" Kazuha and Heiji shouted at Okita in unison."
"And stop calling her Kazuha!" Heiji added angrily, "Call her Toyama-san!"
"What's wrong with you, Hattori!" Okita squinted and held up his katana, "Want to have a showdown?"
"With pleasure." Heiji frowned and got his katana, "Don't forget you lost to me in the Kansai Tournament!"
"Okita-kun. Heiji-kun." A calm but affirmative female voice came from behind, "Grow up and stop acting like kids."
"All right, Ooka …" Seeing the graceful figure and blonde hair of Ooka Momiji, the manager of the Senshin Kendo Club, both Okita and Heiji blushed a bit and put down their katana. They knew she was right. After all, there was no point to start a collegial training camp with an unnecessary fight.
"Now, stop flirting with that little girl and go back to training." Momiji gave Okita a gentle push on the back.
"I am not flirting …" Okita grumbled but still obeyed their beautiful manager.
"And Heiji-kun," Momiji turned her charming smile to Heiji, "would you forgive Okita-kun?" With that, she hugged Heiji's right arm and beamed at him.
"Of course …" Momiji's intimate move made Heiji blush. As much as he liked Kazuha, he couldn't deny that Momiji was a beautiful and charming girl. In particular, her breasts were larger that Kazuha's. Overall, Momiji was more mature and womanly than Kazuha. But Heiji knew more than anyone that his type was Kazuha and only Kazuha.
"Who is she!" Seeing the intimacy between Heiji and Momiji, Kazuha was angry and there was definitely fire in her eyes. She imagined that Heiji was a womanizer with his fame as the Great Detective of the West. But so far, she had not seen any girl particularly close to Heiji. Well, Miho talked to Heiji more often than other girls, but that's because she was the manager of the Kendo Club. Therefore, although she still did not know how Heiji felt about her, at least so far she felt no real threat from other girls.
But this blonde girl was certainly a bone fide rival! Would Heiji like that type of girl? Blonde hair, big breasts, wearing make-up, with bling earrings … Kazuha put one hand on her own face, which had no make-up at all, and then to her own ears, which had no earholes to accommodate pretty earrings …
She suddenly felt inferior.
She always had doubt about her own attractiveness before she left for America three years ago. On the one hand, Heiji always called her fat and ugly. On the other hand, she had never received a single love letter from any boys while even the most plain looking girl in her class had received one or two.
She just didn't know that it was because Heiji had intercepted piles after piles of love letters addressed to Toyama Kazuha.
It was not until she came to America that she suddenly gained confidence in herself. Every year during the prom, there was always a long line of guys waiting to dance with her. After all, Kazuha was not a stereotypical nerdy Asian girl. She was quite outgoing and amiable that people liked to make friends with her. She was also unique in many ways. Her porcelain skin and emerald eyes were unusual among Asian girls. Her trademark hair style, the high ponytail with bright-colored ribbons, was different from the usual hairstyles of American girls. And not to mention that she was the only girl in the all-boy baseball team. American boys didn't write love letters, but they asked her out directly. She always happily accepted such invitations to movies, dinners, hiking trips, water parks, etc., although she had not developed any deeper, romantic relationship with anyone.
After all, Heiji had always been in her heart.
But her confidence was gradually draining since her return to Japan. Again, no guys had ever asked her out or wrote love letters to her. It made her wonder whether American and Japanese guys had different tastes. Maybe she was not the cup of tea for Japanese boys?
Well, she just didn't know that anybody who had showed the slightest intention to date or confess Kazuha were scared off by Heiji's katana.
Now, the not-so-confident Kazuha felt even more insecure at the sight of the definitely-confident Momiji.
"Ooka Momiji." Miho grinned. Although she also did not like the way Momiji behaved in front of Heiji, judging from Heiji's behavior since Kazuha's return, she knew the real threat was Kazuha. Seeing the apparent anger and uneasiness of Kazuha, she would not hesitate to use Momiji to kick Kazuha out of Heiji's life. "She was the heiress of the Ooka family, the richest family of Kyoto, or even the entire Kansai region."
"Why is she and Heiji … so close?" Kazuha was trying hard to suppress her anger.
"Haven't you heard of Hattori-san's first love?" Miho whispered to Kazuha.
"Heiji's first love?" Kazuha was dumbfounded. She had never heard such thing from Heiji.
"Really?" Miho was happy that her bet was right, "I thought Hattori-san's childhood friend would have known about it."
"No …" Kazuha bite her lips.
"Go check out the August issue of Kansai Monthly last year. It has a long interview of Hattori-san." Miho smiled, "Hattori-san mentioned that he met his first love in Kyoto when he was 9 and he showed a pearl that the girl gave him at that time. You know, Momiji-san is in Kyoto and the expensive pearl was something that only the Ooka Family could afford." She paused a bit to appreciate the downcast expression on Kazuha's face, "Although Hattori-san had not admitted it yet, everyone gossiped that the mysterious first love of the Detective of the West is the Ooka heiress. Isn't that romantic? They make such a lovely couple."
"A lovely couple …" Looking at the back of Momiji and Heiji, Kazuha could not deny the truth in Miho's statement.
She felt like an idiot.
Come on! She was still in Japan when they were 9! How come Heiji had never told her that he had a first love in Kyoto?
"Also, rumor has it that …" Miho enjoyed the almost teary eyes of Kazuha, "Hattori-san and Momiji-san had already engaged."
Kazuha's eyes wide opened.
That was definitely the biggest shock of the day. Or, the biggest shock of the year. Or, the biggest shock, ever.
Ooka Momiji was Heiji's first love and fiancé.
She had missed the most important chapter in Heiji's life.
So who is herself to Heiji? Just childhood friend and elder sister? Or just an ahou?
Without anybody noticing, Kazuha walked quietly out of the gym. She needed some fresh air.
Kazuha phone rang.
Is it Heiji?
Kazuha secretly hoped that Heiji would call her to at least explain what's going on between him and Momiji, but the caller ID was instead "Okita Soji."
"Fine, it is not that ahou …" Kazuha mumbled, thinking that it's probably a good idea to talk to someone else for some distraction.
"Kazuha-chan," Okita's voice sounds excited, "I just called my sister and she was thinking about you as well. She suggests the three of us have dinner tonight. Are you free?"
"Etto …" A few days ago Heiji had been talking about going to a new takoyaki restaurant together some time. Earlier today she was about to tell Heiji that tonight would be a good time. But thinking about Momiji, Kazuha let out a long sigh.
"I mean, yes." Of course, Heiji would rather spend time with his fiancé, wouldn't he? And she needed to see Haruko Senpai as soon as possible …
The dinner was delicious and Kazuha had a wonderful time chatting with the Okita siblings.
"Shall I walk you home now?" Okita smiled at Kazuha after the three of them left the restaurant.
"Actually …" Kazuha suddenly blushed. She pulled Haruko aside and whispered to her. "Senpai, do you by any chance have some extra …"
She stole a secrete glance at Okita, making sure he was far enough to overhear them, and then cleared her throat.
Some extra tampons?"
Yes.
Tampons.
While in America, Kazuha had got used to using tampons as she felt more convenient and clean. However, in Japan girls mostly use sanitary pads. She had searched for all over Osaka but had not found any stores selling tampons.
While knowing the Haruko was in Osaka, Kazuha hoped that her senpai had brought some extra tampons that she could use for her next few periods.
"Yes, I do." Haruko chuckled. "Running out?"
"Yes …" Kazuha blushed, "I should have brought some more with me … My aunt will come to Japan for Christmas so she can bring me more. But before that …"
"Don't worry." Haruko smiled, "I have enough to last you a few months. I will ask Soji to bring them to you tomorrow. How about that?"
"But …" Kazuha flushed with embarrassment and stole another glance at Okita, "Soji-kun … I …" She couldn't organize a complete sentence because she was so embarrassed. How awkward would it be to receive tampons from a guy?
"Don't worry," Haruko assured her, "I will seal them in a box and warn Soji not to open it."
"Ok …" Kazuha let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you so much Senpai!" She really couldn't thank Haruko enough. Her next period was around the corner after all!
"Are you almost done with your girl talk?" Okita asked, but not at all in an impatient manner.
"Yes we are." Haruko chuckled and Kazuha blushed again.
"Alright, now can I walk you back, Kazuha-chan?" Okita's voice was really gentle.
Kazuha sighed. How she wished that Heiji could also talk to her like that!
It turned out to be a pleasant walk home. Kazuha enjoyed it, mostly because she learned a lot about Heiji's life as a kendo master from Okita.
And suddenly something else occurred to her.
"Soji-kun …" She hesitated a bit, but still asked, "What kind of person is Momiji-san?"
"Ooka? Well, typical rich girl." Okita shrugged, "Too arrogant to my liking."
"Is she and … Heiji … close?" Kazuha lowered her head, her voice was barely audible.
"Why?" Okita's eyebrows raised, "Are you jealous of her?"
"No!" Kazuha looked up and denied nervously, "You know … I am like an elder sister to Heiji and I feel obligated to watch out for him …"
"Really? That's all?" Okita smiled happily. In fact, he had liked Kazuha since they first met in New York a year ago. But he did not pursue the relationship further since he did not want to try a long distance relationship. However, it was an entirely different story now since Kazuha was only 15 minutes Shinkansen away from Kyoto. He was happy to meet her again this morning, but was a bit hesitant when he saw how close she was with Heiji. Now that he had heard it from Kazuha herself that she had no romantic feelings for Heiji, he felt confident to court the girl.
"Anyway, thank you so much Soji-kun." As much as Kazuha wanted to ask Okita more about Momiji, she didn't know how should she carry out the conversation. Seeing her house was just steps away, she gave Okita a bright smile and bid him good night. "See you tomorrow. I will come to the gym to pick it up."
"It?" Okita's eyebrows raised again. He obviously had no idea what Kazuha was referring to.
"Ah …" Kazuha realized that Okita did not hear her conversation with Haruko. Well, thank god he didn't hear anything. But because of that he obviously did not know what "it" was. Well, he didn't have to know anyway …
"Anyway …" Kazuha smiled with embarrassment, "Haruko Senpai will give me something and she says she will give it to you to give me tomorrow. Thank you!"
"At your service, my lady." Okita smiled at the girl, bowing to her like a shinning knight.
"Thank God ..." Throwing the packing of her last tampon into the trash, Kazuha let out a sigh of relief, "That was close."
Great, I can get refills from Okita today!
While running to the Kendo Club as fast as she could, Kazuha accidently bumped right into somebody's chest.
"Ouch!" She covered her forehead and looked up, only to see the handsome face of her dear childhood friend.
"Kazuha." Well, her friend was obviously angry, "You left without telling me yesterday! And where have you been last night, ahou!"
"Have you seen Soji-kun?" Kazuha was not in the mood to argue with the Great Detective/Kendo Captain. All she could think about was tampons, tampons …
"Stop calling him on first name basis!" Heiji got even angrier. Calling each other by first names should be a privilege of him and him only!
"I have been calling him on first name basis before you introduced him to me!" Kazuha's eyes narrowed. She had no idea why Heiji was fussing over such minor issues. But she soon stopped bickering as still, getting new tampons was more urgent than anything else.
"Ah! He is over there!" Kazuha spotted Okita, who just entered the dojo. "Soji-kun!" She ran to him without giving Heiji a chance to stop her.
"Soji-kun …" Kazuha stopped right in front of Okita, panting really hard, "Do you have the thing from Haruko Senpai?"
"Ah." Okita reached into his gym bag and took out a sealed box, "Here it is. From Nee-chan."
"Thank you so much Soji-kun!" Kazuha almost grabbed the box from Okita's hand. Just in time!
Kazuha's happy face lightened up Okita. With a grin, he slightly bent down and whispered to Kazuha, "Kazuha-chan, may I ask a favor?"
"Yes?" Kazuha was a bit absentminded after getting the box of tampons. But Okita's voice was too close to be ignored.
"Senshin's junior prom is next week. May I invite you to be my date then?" Okita's voice suddenly sounded a little bit … seductive?
"Prom?" Kazuha's eyes widened, "Does your school allow non-Senshin students to go?"
"I am sure exceptions can be made for a beautiful lady like Kazuha-chan." Okita kept his gentle smile.
"You must be kidding …" Kazuha flushed while hearing the compliment from Okita. This was indeed the first time she had heard a compliment from a male friend after coming back to Japan.
"I am serious, Kazuha-chan." Okita certainly looked serious, "So will you be my date then?"
"Sure …" Kazuha found no excuse to decline such an invitation. At any rate, she needed to repay the favor of Haruko Senpai.
"Promise?" Okita beamed while hearing Kazuha's answer. He was half-joking in the beginning and did not keep his hope high. As much as he liked Kazuha, he knew asking her out on a prom date was a bit too fast. He asked anyway but he didn't expect Kazuha would accept so fast.
"Promise." Kazuha beamed at him as well. She extended to him her pinky, "Pinky."
Okita's mouth opened. He forgot how old he was when he last did a pinky promise with any one. But that definitely looked cute when it was Kazuha who did it.
"Pinky it is!" He extended his pinky to meet hers.
"Ahou!" Heiji's eyes was spitting fire when he saw Kazuha and Okita talking so amiably. He wanted to go and intervene right away, but unfortunately both Momiji and Miho came over to discuss the training schedule with him. While the two managers finally let him go, Okita was already gone to the locker room.
"Why are you so fond of doing pinkies? You are not a grade schooler anymore!" He caught with Kazuha, who was actually about to go to the bathroom to change tampon. But Heiji had no idea. All he could think about was her bright smile while talking to Okita. The pinky made him even angrier, especially when he recalled the pinky between Kazuha and Kudo that made him jealous.
"What was that pinky for?" He interrogated.
"I agreed to be his date to the Senshin junior prom next week." Kazuha shrugged. She wanted to finish the conversation as soon as possible so she could use the bathroom.
"His date? Prom?" Heiji was almost pulling his hair. What was Okita thinking to invite his girl? And what is his girl thinking to accept that invitation?
"I know you knew each other before but isn't it too quick to go on a prom date?" Heiji raised his voice, drawing quite some attention from others in the dojo. But he was oblivious of anything else as his mind was busy processing all the new information.
"Well …" Kazuha blushed. She knew a prom date was something serious. She would definitely think twice before accepting if not for the gratitude for Haruko, "I owe him a big favor …"
"For what?"
"For this …" Kazuha eyed to the box in her hands and blushed even more.
Well, actually Heiji even knew when she got her first period. At that time, she challenged Heiji for an Aikido vs. Kendo showdown just to prove that she was still his big sister. While Heiji's katana hit her hip hard, both of them panicked when they saw blood dripping down her legs. Both of them cried and Heiji carried her to the school nurse with full speed. The nurse chuckled when seeing the crying face of the two kids and gave them a biology crash course on female reproductive organs.
"There is nothing you should worry about." The nurse assured them, "And Kazuha-chan, congratulations, you are a woman now."
Both kids blushed while hearing the comment. It was the first time that Heiji realized Kazuha was a woman instead of a little girl.
And since then, he learned that there was such a thing called PMS and he should avoid arguing with Kazuha on certain days during the month. Thanks to his detective instinct, he could even figure out these days more accurate than Kazuha herself, despite her irregular cycles.
But since Kazuha came back, he realized it was harder to figure out the days of her periods. While in the past she would avoid doing certain sports, such as swimming and bicycling, on those days, now he had observed no such restrictions. She was simply as high-spirited as ever every day.
Well, it was tampons and painkillers that had done all the magic.
But Heiji didn't know that.
"What is it?" Heiji got suspicious while seeing Kazuha's clearly embarrassed expression.
What could it be? Enough to make her to repay with a prom date?
"You don't have to know …" Kazuha grumbled and tried to sneak away from the conversation.
"Come on Kazuha." Heiji decided to change his strategy. He really wanted to know what's inside this mysterious box and he was determined to find it out. His hunch told him that it was something expensive
He put on a smiley face and used a gentle tone to bait Kazuha, "We are best friends, aren't we?"
"But you are a guy …" Well, that strategy definitely worked. Kazuha clearly had no resistance to this sweet and handsome face. But she was still hesitant to give it out, considering their apparent gender difference.
"Okita is a guy as well!" Heiji secretly grinded his teeth, but still managed to keep on smiling.
"But he doesn't know what's inside …" Kazuha pouted, thinking hard how to end this conversation as soon as possible.
"So what's inside?" The sweet Heiji face pressed closer to Kazuha, made her heart pounding faster and faster.
"Tam …" She almost spitted it out, but still managed to hold her tongue. "I am not going to tell you."
"Tam …" Heiji repeated the syllable that slipped Kazuha's mouth, but still didn't get a clue. He had to beg even harder, "Come on Kazuha."
"No." Kazuha denied, but know that she was about to give in. She lowered her head so her eyes would not meet Heiji's inquisitive eyes.
"If you tell me …" Heiji came up with another idea, "If you tell me, I will do your math homework for 2 weeks."
"Really?" Kazuha looked up with surprise. This offer was definitely attempting.
"Pinky?" Heiji extended is pinky, much to the surprise of Kazuha as well as himself. Although Heiji felt embarrassed to do that, seeing Kazuha doing it with two other guys, who happened to have the same face, made him want to do it with her himself for once at least.
"Fine, pinky …" Pinky was certainly Kazuha's thing. Without hesitant, her pinky grabbed his, signaling that she had given in, "But please don't tell others …"
She looked around, making sure nobody was in the range to overhear their conversation, and whispered in his ears, "You know … you know that girls have periods, right?"
"Ahou! Of course I know!" Heiji looked at Kazuha in disbelief. How could she doubt his knowledge about that? "Remember I was with you when you had your first period!"
"Hush!" Kazuha was almost pulling her hair. What is this ahou doing! Embarrassing her by talking about her first period?
"Do you want to know or not!"
"Ok I will shut up …" Heiji blushed, knowing that he should stop diverting the conversation if he wanted to know the answer.
"And these are …" Kazuha pointed to the mysterious box, "these are tampons for periods."
"Tampon?" Heiji had never heard of it before. He repeated the word and forgot to lower his voice.
"Ahou!" In haste, Kazuha muffled Heiji with both her hands and dropped the box, "Lower your voice!"
"What's that?" Heiji mumbled behind Kazuha's hands. He realized his volume was higher that it should be and felt sorry. But his question was still not fully answered.
"I am not saying anything more and you ahou don't tell anyone else!" Kazuha did not want to talk about it anymore with this ahou. She picked the box and ran to the bathroom as fast as she could.
"Tampon …"
It did not take a great detective to find out what it is. Google tells you everything instantly.
Heiji's face flushed terribly while looking at the pictures related to tampons on his phone. Thinking about Kazuha inserting something like that into her body triggered a thousand other dirty fantasies.
"Those lucky tampons …" Heiji murmured.
And thinking about the conversation between Kazuha and Okita yesterday, he quickly deducted that Kazuha got it from Okita's sister.
Thank god Okita did not know … well, he better did not know what's inside the box. Otherwise, it would have triggered the same dirty fantasies.
And it drove Heiji crazy by just thinking about other men fantasizing Kazuha.
But wait a second … Okita …
Now that he knew the content of the mysterious box, Heiji realized there was another problem to deal with – Kazuha and Okita's prom date!
Of course he had to keep an eye on the stupid woman on that day! What if Okita or other hungry Senshin boys took advantage of her in such occasion?
But how could he legitimately go to another school's prom?
"Heiji-kun?" Momiji approached Heiji from the back. She had been observing Heiji for a while after Kazuha left him. The handsome detective was clearly deeply absorbed in some kind of thought. Was it something she could help?
"Ooka?" Heiji looked back and met Momiji's eyes. His eyes widened and he now thought of a way to go to the prom.
I hear that Senshin has a junior prom next week?"
To be continued ...
So what do you think so far? Where do you want the story to go next? Please read and review!