Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Chapter 7

"Heiji? Are you alright?" Kazuha asked as she lightly touches his shoulder with concern.

In truth, Kazuha had been feeling slightly worried and uncertain of how Heiji would react when she finally tells him the news and looking at him now had raised a lot concern over the well being of her childhood friend.

Was it too sudden or perhaps not the right time?

"Um...Heiji? Are you..." Kazuha asked again but before she could finish her sentence, she could feel Heiji's shoulders trembling underneath her hands.

"BUAHAHAHAHAHA..." Heiji suddenly broke into fits of laughter while clutching his stomach on both sides.

Peoples in the restaurant had begun to stare and some had even inclined their heads to get a view on the one who made such a ruckus. Kazuha looks on embarrassingly and tries to slide further underneath her seat if possible.

"Stop laughing already! What is so funny about this?" Kazuha gave Heiji's arm a playful slap as the laughing gradually ceases into occasional snorts.

"I thought I heard that you're getting married!" The second laugher comes along, slightly smaller than the previous one but equally irritating to Kazuha's ears.

"This is not funny! I'm telling the truth and here, have a look!" Kazuha huffed in response and immediately her hand was outstretched in front of him and Heiji noticed a ring on her finger.

A diamond ring

From Tomoki

Or was it Tokuda?

Heiji grabbed her hands in his and brings it closer for inspection and noticed that the ring was slightly bigger than his. Damn!

"Do you believe me now?" Kazuha said and snatched her hand back from his.

The two of them then gave each other a glare before Heiji broke it and turned his attention towards Takumi who was sitting beside Kazuha watching the whole scene quietly.

"Are you sure about marrying her? I mean she's not what she seems to look like...she can be very violent at times!" Heiji's eyes bored into hers, taunting her and as expected earned himself a kick from underneath the table.

"Ow! See what I mean?"

This time the whole table broke into fits of ringing laughter and Kazuha can no longer resist the temptation and childishly stuck out her tongue at Heiji.

"Thanks for the warning Hattori, I'll be watching my back from now on!"

Kazuha lets out a fake surprise and elbows Takumi on his side for his teasing remark. The auburn haired man only chuckles in amusement as he runs his fingers through Kazuha's rich beautiful locks looking at her adoringly.

Heiji turns away from the sight and immediately locked eyes with both Kudo and Ran sitting across him.

They knew...

Heiji swallowed his saliva as he picks up his glass and chugs down a generous amount of cold water at once. As a result, he broke into a coughing fit when he suddenly chokes on his water and desperately wheezing for air.

"Ahou, what are you doing?" Kazuha instinctively rubbed his back up and down and at the same time grabbed a napkin to dab away the water stains in front of his polo shirt.

"No worries I'm alright haha, just a little spill nothing much!" Heiji brushes her hand away easily while brushing away along his silliness as well.

Kazuha ignored his protest and continues to mother him. "Geez, I swear that you are such a kid sometimes."

"Who's the kid ahou?" Heiji counters with a flick on her forehead.

"Hey! It hurts ahou!" Kazuha covered her forehead with her hands and pouted in half hearted annoyance.

"It really looks like what Kazuha had told me, that you guys are really close." Takumi chips in as he watched the whole exchange with amusement evident in his eyes.

"Well, we did grow up together anyway..." Kazuha smiled in return.

Takumi extended his arms to wrap themselves around Kazuha's shoulders and pulled her slightly towards him. "Yeah, Hattori must have had a lot of headaches being your childhood friend huh?"

"Excuse me; it was supposed to be me not the other way round'!" Kazuha pouted her lips at the accusation and Takumi leans forward to steal a peck from her lips.

Suddenly, Heiji stood up from his seat and his chair screeched against the polished wooden floor. All of them looked up at him in question.

"Hey guys, it was getting kinda late and I've got to go. So once again, congratulations Kazuha!"

"Huh? What? It was only..." Kazuha read the time from her watch. "9.30?" Kazuha looked up at him again.

"I'm taking a train to Hokkaido tomorrow morning and I have suddenly remembered that I've forgotten to pack so..."

"Don't always leave things till' the last minute, ahou!"

"I think we should go too, Shin probably won't stop crying if he wakes up and realized that I'm not there." Ran stood up as Shinichi helps her to her feet.

Kazuha looked at Takumi and he too nodded in agreement.

...

..

.

"...and that's how it ends."

Kazuha heaved a sigh as she reopens her eyes.

In front of her, sat Suzuki Sonoko with her brows furrowed together and Kudo Ran with her hands folded neatly on top of her lap showing signs of anxiousness with her fidgeting fingers.

Since when did Ran pick up that habit?

"So...that's all?" Sonoko raised her eyebrow in question.

Kazuha lets out an unfeminine groan and rolled her eyes. "Can you believe that he actually laughed?" Kazuha adds on. "He's such a jerk!"

"You know Kazuha chan? You really gave me a fright when you had told me that you're getting married. I thought you're playin' a prank on me and it's not even March yet!" Sonoko playfully glared at Kazuha.

Ran nodded in agreement and added on. "What's more it's not even Hattori kun..." Kazuha's eyes glazed for a moment barely noticeable by the other two when suddenly Sonoko's enthusiastic voice snapped her back from her reverie.

"So...who's that lucky guy? Do you've a photo of him?"

"Well... in fact I do have one with me." Kazuha scooted back a bit at Sonoko's sudden closeness. It was kinda creepy...

Sonoko clasped her hands in anticipation. "Oooh...let me see it! Let me see it! Is he cute?"

Kazuha giggled as she rummages her bag. "Here it is. See it for yourself." Kazuha said as she handed the picture to her friend who was already in her infamous fan-girl mode.

Both Ran and Kazuha watched in amusement as Sonoko brought the picture up to her face in close inspection.

"This...This is...He's so..." Incoherent words sprouted from Sonoko's mouth as she clutches the front of her blouse in a dramatic fashion, eyes widening in admiration.

Sonoko settles her attention back at Kazuha and raised a question with seriousness in her eyes. "Does he have a brother? I don't mind even if he's younger ya' know? I mean he's just so..." Sonoko wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth but jumped as Ran suddenly snatched away the photo from her hands.

"Give it back, Sonoko! You've Kyougoku san already!" Ran glared at her friend in disapproval.

"Aww, come on..." Sonoko whines.

Kazuha laughed as she pockets the photo immediately when Ran returned it back to her.

"Care to explain what happen?"

Sonoko studied her manicured nails half heartedly as she waited for the answers from a very surprised Kazuha. Ran's lips rose slightly as she rejoiced when the subject was brought up.

Way to go, Sonoko! Straight to the point as always...

The atmosphere of the room had suddenly turned stuffy as Kazuha masked her uneasiness with a question of her own in response. "What? What do you mean?"

"You know what we're talking about Kazuha chan."

Ran had finally broken her silence since she had barely any patience left as she was dying to know what was going on.

"Yeah, how the hell do you guys met anyway?"

This time Kazuha noticed that even Sonoko had turned serious.

Kazuha gave a small smile and brushed her side bangs back behind her ears before replying. "It was a long story..."

Sonoko looked at Ran for a moment and decided to start the ball rolling. "Ok. Let's start with...when was the first time you met him?"

"Umm...well, it was three months ago...at a party."

"What kind of party?"

"It's a party to introduce all those who were involved in the shoot, from the directors, models to even all the sponsors. All of them were present."

"Who is he then? Is he a model too cuz' he sure convinced me!" Sonoko injected a bit of playfulness in the end.

The three of them giggled slightly and Kazuha's mood lifted a little.

"No, he's not a model. He's actually a representative of one of the major sponsors we had."

"So you mean you fell in love with him at first sight when you suddenly realized just how rich and hot he is at the same time?"

"Sonoko! That's not Kazuha chan!" Ran gasped at the ridiculous joke as Sonoko snickered at herself.

"Of course not! As a matter of fact we hated each other at sight, more so on my side at least."

Kazuha grinned in amusement at the confused look she gathered from her two newly appointed bridesmaids.

" Let's say I didn't find out who he was until much later on and by then I had already offended him so many times that even I have lost count."

Ran sucked in her breath and asked. "What did you do?"

Kazuha grinned sheepishly as she recalls back her embarrassing memories of three months ago.

"At that fateful night, I kinda well...umm...got drunk..." Kazuha slightly cowered a little when she was given two disapproving looks at once. "...I wasn't in a very good mood that night because of what happened between me and Heiji which I do not wish to disclose..." Kazuha's breath hitched slightly when Heiji's name was brought up.

Both Sonoko and Ran did not argue and instead gave her an understanding look which made Kazuha felt really grateful for.

"...and...I threw up on him." Kazuha felt a blush slowly warming her cheeks as she blurted out one of the most embarrassing details which she wished she had forgotten.

Sonoko's eyes widen at the confession. "You. Did. Not."

Ran tried to muffle her giggles but failed miserably as she pictures the hilarious scene in her mind.

"Yes I did and he was completely mortified."

Sonoko could no longer contain herself anymore and laughed out loud. Ran too had given up on her pathetic attempts and removed her hands from her mouth.

"So whose name have you splattered all your goos on?"

"Dolce and Gabbana"

"No way...two birds with one stone or shall I say, one puke?"

"I'm quite surprised that he hasn't decided to kill me yet." Kazuha muses and joined in the laughter as well.

Ran wipes the corner of her eyes as the laughter gradually dies down. "God, you're killing us Kazuha chan!"

"Sure glad I did."

"Anyway, if a guy can still go out with a girl who pukes all over him, I can assure you that he's definitely a catch!" Sonoko said firmly.

"Is that why you went out with him?" Ran probed further.

"Partly...but it didn't start out right away but much later on when we had finally cleared away some misunderstandings. We did argue a bit here and there and he was quite obnoxious at first."

Ran and Sonoko scooted closer as they perked up with interest.

Kazuha inhales as she continues. "We had bad impressions on each other at first. I thought that he was just some stuck up rich man who pretends that he knows everything and he thought that I was a brainless bimbo who does not have the ability to carry even a single proper conversation to save my life."

"Then, how the hell does it happened?"

"Well it was on the other day when I found out that he was not just some stuck up rich man who pretends to know everything but in actual fact he is one of the biggest sponsors of our event." Kazuha smiled slightly at the memory. "...he kinda saved me from embarrassment when one of our arguments has reached the ears of the directors."

"Oohh...you like him from then on?"

Kazuha frowned at Sonoko as her flirtatious friend wriggles her eyebrows suggestively.

"Not really...but after that we had slowly started to get to know each other better and from there onwards I guess we kind of found out a lot about each other which was really unexpected by our first encounter." Kazuha smiled knowingly and shrugged her shoulders.

"Then what about Hattori kun?"

Kazuha turned her head towards Ran and somehow knew that her friend is going to question her sooner or later.

Kazuha lowered her head and studied her palms. "I don't know...and he doesn't even seem to care..."

"What does he say about everything and what exactly happened between the two of you?" Ran asked worryingly.

Kazuha kept her silence and felt slightly annoyed by her friend for being too nosy. However, deep down she knew that she was feeling jealous and hurt and wondered why she was the only one who did not end up with her childhood love and much to her disappointment; Ran had decided to press on.

"Do you even love him?"

Kazuha subconsciously squeezed her hands together. "I will."

"What would happen between you and Hattori kun? You love him very much and I'm sure that he's in love with you too so..."

"NO, HE DID NOT AND NEVER WILL!"

Ran jumped slightly and her eyes widen in shock at Kazuha's sudden unexpected outburst. Sonoko chose that time to place her hand on Ran's and gave her a squeeze while shaking her own head. Ran read the signals and understood. However much to their surprise, Kazuha responded.

"I...I have to move on...I've waited for so long but things are still the same and I'm still standing on the same spot for the last ten years or, or maybe even more I don't know! I'm just so sick of being just a childhood friend!" Kazuha brought up her hands to hide her face as she felt moisture had begun to blur her sights.

"I guess that I'm just...so tired..." A tear broke loose and rolled down her cheeks. "...so tired of waiting...I can't do this anymore..." Kazuha cannot control herself anymore as she sobbed.

Both Ran and Sonoko scooted themselves closer and hold Kazuha in a hug and comforted her with hushed words and a rub on the back. Gradually, Kazuha begun to calm down and wipes her tears with the back of her hands.

Ran clutches both Kazuha's hands and stared at her eyes as she spoke.

"I'm sorry for taking it so harsh on you but it's gonna be alright Kazuha chan. You just have to remember that no matter what you do, we will always be here by your side and support you with all we had."

"Of course, you can count on Sonoko sama!"

Kazuha stared at her dear friends with unspoken gratitude and manages a smile underneath her mess.

"I'm sorry too...thank you so much and both of you are really the best."

Kazuha widens her smile as she felt slightly relieved that one of her burdens has been lifted off her shoulders. The three friends then leaned their heads on each other savouring the comforts of being together.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly and finally she will have her own happy ending she had always dreamed of having ever since she was a child even if that happiness was not given to her by Heiji.

I guess I have never been Heiji's princess after all...

...

...

..

.

Osaka, 9.35 am

DING DONG!

...

DING DONG!

...

DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG! DING DONG!

...

Heiji slowly removed his arms from his face as he wondered who in the heavens had decided to wake him up at this hour but frown when he noticed from his clock that it wasn't as early as he thought it would be.

Shinichi groaned in annoyance as he stared at the red oak wood door in front of him and ran his fingers through his hair in pure frustration before resorting to hammering his knuckles against the door repetitively.

"Hattori, just open the damn door right now!"

Shinichi waited for a few more seconds and then leaned his body against the wall and heaved a sigh.

He had received a personal call from Heiji's secretary and learned that his friend had been missing from work for almost a week. Feeling slightly worried, he had decided to leave his desk for a day and took a train ride down to Osaka early in the morning.

The night Kazuha had made an announcement to get married, Shininchi had to accompany Heiji and made sure that he's not getting into any trouble since he's still a little more traumatised than he care to let on. Even Ran had suggested that they delay their trip back to Tokyo until the very next day.

As to Shinichi's prediction, he was right about Heiji when he lied that he had to go home earlier, instead later on only did he found him slouching on a park bench with a can of beer in his hand. That alone does not raise any concern from Shinichi but the other five empty cans littering around him did.

Shinichi's suspicion was further confirmed when he stood in front of his heavily drunk Osakan friend who later on asked in a slurred manner. "Hey Kudo, let's get married!"

Shinichi really couldn't help but rolled his eyes at THAT. Moreover, adding to his troubles, he had noticed a passerby looking at them weirdly from a distance.

"No it's not what you think it is!" Shinichi spluttered in defence as he cursed his friend even more so when the old man only gave him a kind and understanding smile. Even with all of that, he still remained quiet and stayed though.

The things I did for the sake of brotherhood...Shinichi thought grimly.

Although he was genuinely feeling worried for his friend, he was also having a hard time on deciding what he should do in times like this.

However, it turns out that silence works the best as they stayed there for a few hours without any of them saying anything to each other. At first Shinichi had been as understanding as he could as a friend but his patience with his dark-skinned friend was running low especially if he keeps making a shit out of himself! He knew the kind of depression his friend was going through, he really could not blame the guy at all but this has to stop.

CLICK.

Shinichi's head snapped up when he heard the door was opened and turned abruptly only to be faced by a dishevelled looking Hattori Heiji. The two of them stared at each other for a moment before Shinichi blurted out the first thing that came into his mind.

"You look like shit."

SLAM.

"Oi, Hattori open the door! Hey, I was just kidding!" Shinichi groans in frustration when he was suddenly reminded of the times when Ran was angry at him during their teenaged days.

Shinichi waited for a few moments before the door opened again and this time he had shoved his foot forward for just in case but thankfully, he was let in unharmed much to his relief. He walks closely behind Heiji while silently studying the Osakan man in front of him but was shocked at what he saw when he finally stood in front of his living room.

It was not what he had expected in the first place. Much to his surprise, it was...clean. Shinichi scanned across the room looking for any signs of littering beer cans but did not found any. By the time he had decided to speak up, he noticed that Heiji was nowhere to be seen. Geesh, give me a break already...

Heiji's body shifted as he rolled onto his side and tries to drown himself in the warmth of his pillow but failed when he felt a presence in his room. Slowly peeking through one eye he saw Shinichi leaning against the wall right opposite him silently reading him with that solemn look of his.

Heiji turned his head away from him and asked. "What do ya' want now?" Instead, he received nothing in reply so he decided to just keep quiet and closed his eyes when all of a suddenly, he felt a weight on the foot of his bed.

"How long have you been here, Hattori? More precisely, have you even leaved your house these past few days?"

"Just leave me alone."

Shinichi continues to study his room as he took in the surroundings. Maybe he had exaggerated the situation he thought Heiji would be in and it's all thanks to his over paranoid wife who constantly bugged him to check on Heiji so that to make sure he wouldn't harm himself out of depression. Truthfully, he hardly doubts that such thing would happen as guys normally handle things differently from the female species especially sensible guys like him and Hattori Heiji. We detectives were different...

However, when he turned his attention back to the still slumbering figure on the bed he started to have doubts on his own statement.

"Kaeda san told me that you haven't been going to work lately."

"...don't feel like it..." Heiji mumbled into his pillow.

"You can't do that."

"Yes I can. I'm the boss."

"No, you can't. What would your subordinates say about you?"

"It's none of their business."

"Have you been drinking?"

"No. Those shit give me headaches."

"That's what we called a hangover, Hattori."

"Shut up, Kudo."

The two continued to remain in silence while Shinichi contemplates on how he should approach such situation. Even though he was a renowned world class detective, he too had to admit that he seriously was lacking when it comes to dealing anything close to people and emotions.

"Look Hattori, as a dear friend of yours I'm currently feeling very concern about your well being." Shinichi furrows his brows together. That doesn't sound right...but that's what Ran told me to say...ugh, whatever!

"Hattori, I'll just go straight to the point. You have to stop this nonsense at once and do you mind if I ask you to stop pretending to sleep?" Shinichi felt a bit of relief when he noticed that Heiji's body had stiffen a little in response which means that he was listening.

"I understand how you feel but this doesn't mean that it is the end of the world Hattori."

"No, you don't understand."

Shinichi noticed the tension in the room had started to rise.

"Hattori, life has to move on no matter what and moreover..."

"You don't understand!"

Shinichi felt alarmed when Heiji had started to raise his voice.

"Hattori..."

"You can never understand me Kudo, so just leave me be!"

"Hattori, listen..."

"DON"T YOU GET IT? SHE"S MY LIFE!"

Shinichi remained in silence as Heiji sat up feeling slightly shocked at his own sudden outburst.

"You won't understand Kudo. You're happily married with Nee chan."

Shinichi did not reply.

Heiji looked into Shinichi's eyes for the first time in the whole morning.

"I, I really don't know how...how should I move on? I don't know how should I start or, or what should I do? What happened and why would she suddenly say she wants to get married? Moreover, who the hell is he and where did he come from and what about me? I'm her best friend Kudo! How come? What happened? Tell me, Kudo!" Heiji pants as he tries to catch his breath.

Shinichi did nothing but turned his head towards the side. He really had no idea...

"I love her Kudo...I love her so much..."

Shinichi's heart ached at the confession. Never had he imagined that THE Hattori Heiji would make such a pitiful sight as he sees Heiji buried his face into his arms with knees tucked closely to his chest looking like a lost child.

"So...what are you gonna do?" Shinichi broke the silence.

Heiji paid him no heed but he continues. "Are you really just gonna give up and mopped all the way until the wedding?" Shinichi studied Heiji closely as he waits for a reply.

"There's nothing I can do, Kudo. She's getting married in three weeks."

"So? She's getting married but not married YET."

Heiji paused in mid thought and snapped his head up as he tries to read Kudo. He recognises the gleam in the other man's eyes and once again be reminded of their adventurous younger days as high school detectives. "What are you trying to suggest here, Kudo?"

Shinichi knew that what he was about to suggest will be a very dangerous thought but he couldn't stop now. However, before he can open his mouth to speak, he was beaten into it by the other loud mouth detective.

"Are you telling me that I should seduce Kazuha?"

Shinichi's jaws immediately dropped in reflex and his mouth gaped wide opened as his cheeks burned at the obscene suggestion.

"Wha, what...? That's not what I meant!" This is wrong! So wrong! It's wrong to seduce a married woman but wait a minute...Kazuha san's not married yet! So does it mean that it was alright? But, but...Arrgh, this is so confusing!

"Wait Hattori, I didn't mean it that way!"

"What do you mean then?"

"I just thought that maybe you should just confess to her your feelings and maybe it might work out, got that?" Shinichi tried his best to clear the miscommunication and prayed hard that Heiji would not get the wrong idea this time.

Heiji stared momentarily into space as Shinichi felt sweat trickled down from his forehead.

"Maybe I should." Heiji said.

"What? Confess? Yeah, you should..." Shinichi sighed in relief.

"No, seduce her."

"Yes that's the right thing to do...WHAT?" Shinichi sprung up to his feet and stared at Heiji in disbelieve in his eyes. No, no, no, no, NOOO!

Heiji's eyes gleamed in mischief as the corner of his mouth lifts in a smirk. He felt his body suddenly fuelled with a familiar excitement when he was reminded of the feelings he had when he and Kazuha was still a child where he would always play a prank on her.

"I've decided. I would seduce Kazuha and make her fall for me."

"What? Why would you wanna do that?" Shinichi yelled in alarm. SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!

Shinichi's eyes widen in fear when Heiji's only response was a smirk full of confidence. "That's her punishment for falling for other guys."

Shinichi really couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"She's mine Kudo and whether she likes it or not I'll make sure she knows that."

Kami sama...save me...Shinichi thought grimly as Heiji left the bed and hummed his way happily towards the bathroom. Shinichi gave a deep breath and sighed heavily and now all he has to do was pray hard that Ran wouldn't kill him for this.

Truthfully, he hardly doubts that.

A/N: Thanks a lot for your patience! I know I had taken took quite long for this chapter and hopefully it was up to your expectations. Actually from the previous chapter I have promised a Plan B but it seems that I can't squeeze it into Chapter 7 or else it might be too long. So, I'm sorry guys that I have no choice but to split it into the next chapter but luckily I'm having a holiday now so I can update sooner before I start my college next year!

YIPEE! I'm going to COLLEGE! I really can't wait cuz I heard it was fun but I was kinda nervous so please share your tips on how should I start my first day!

Christmas is coming soon so, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!