Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Gosho Aoyama, the master of sick murder-plans.

Chapter 9: Bad Timing on whose part?

Shinichi still felt sceptical. The way the bet seemed to have worked out seemed dubious, even though he had hoped it would push those two eventually together. But he had thought it would take at least a week for Heiji to actually get around to asking Kazuha out. According to Hattori, he had done it the day after they started the bet.

Something about his story smelled fishy and it wasn't the eel they had bought for dinner. At the same time, the glances those two exchanged appeared to be real. Kazuha smiled shyly, while he smirked, she blushed and Shinichi even thought he saw Hattori's ears turn a little red when they all ate ice cream on their way to Heiji's house. Now they were all sitting in the Hattori's living room, chatting and laughing, Kazuha sitting on the ground, slightly leaning against the legs of Heiji, who was sitting on a sofa right behind her. Ran was near Kazuha on the floor, just taking a cookie the other girl had prepared and he, Shinichi, was sitting opposite Hattori on a comfy armchair. "You should have seen my father's face when I told him Shinichi was back," Ran just laughed, "it was priceless. I don't know what bothered him more: That Shinichi would start meddling in his cases again or that I told him we were dating." At that, Hattori chuckled. "Well, since he never actually saved any of those cases..." the dark skinned boy started, but Ran just shook her head. "We didn't tell him." She looked at Shinichi, who smiled at her. "He's not that bad of a detective, if he really pays attention. Remember when he realized your mom was searching for her wedding band at the beach?" The detective of the East encouraged his girlfriend, who in turn nodded. "And he promised to stop drinking that much," she stated happily. Shinichi could see the doubt on Heiji's face, just as clear as it had been on his own when Ran first told him that, but before either of the guys could comment anything negative, Kazuha chimed up. "Good for him! He'll better himself and win your mom back and then you'll be a family again right in time for your and Kudo- kun's wedding!" Shinichi gulped audibly and Ran blushed, but smiled anyways. "That would be great," she whispered and Shinichi wasn't sure if she was merely thinking about her reunited parents or about the possibility of them marrying. He took a sip of his tea and looked at Heiji, who was watching him with a cheeky grin, chuckling about his reaction to Kazuha's sudden announcement. In return, Shinichi shot him an angry look, but Heiji only chuckled again and absentmindedly started playing with Kazuha's ponytail which was grazing his thigh, listening to the girls talking.

Some minutes later Heiji's mother walked into the room, announcing she and her husband would leave soon. "We're going to the wedding of one of Heizo's colleagues," she explained apologetically. "We'll be back sometime tomorrow, but just make yourselves comfortable, Kudo-kun and Mouri-chan. I hope Heiji will take good care of you while we're away. Also, don't forget to take Kazuha home later tonight, Heiji. Her father will probably be working late since he had to take the workload of some of the wedding guests." Kazuha nodded and answered the question on Shinichi's mind: "He isn't that chummy with this particular colleague, so he decided not to go to the party." She grinned when Heiji lightly pulled on her ponytail. "Not that chummy is a nice way of putting it," the dark skinned boy interjected. At that, Kazuha grimaced. "Alright, maybe he thinks this colleague is incompetent and stupid and did not mind to tell everybody so at the last Precinct Christmas Party." Heiji laughed and muttered: "Feckless Dunce were his exact words, if I remember correctly." His mother shot him an unamused look and continued to speak. "Anyways, I'd like you to have a nice time here, but I want to be sure Kazuha gets home safely as well. Don't burn down my kitchen, if you please and, if you'd like to, help yourselves to some dessert from the fridge. I think there's still plenty of the chocolate mousse I made yesterday." At the mention of chocolate the girls' eyes lit up. "And, last but not least, I cleaned up the guest room upstairs next to the gym room for your friends, Heiji." Right that moment, Heizo Hattori's voice boomed from the hallway. "Shizuka, we're going to be late!" - "I'm coming!" she shouted back, looking at her son. "Yeah, yeah, I know. No fires or rituals, no raging parties. We'll eat your chocolate cream and I'll take Kazuha home safely, as I always do. Just go and have fun," Heiji grumbled, waving his mother out. Ran shouted a happy "Thank you, Mrs. Hattori" after the woman as she left them alone. "You actually have a gym room?" the girl then asked Heiji, who merely frowned. "That and an indoor swimming pool... His mother tends to overdo her diets," Kazuha whispered, standing up. "So, the thought of chocolate made me hungry, I think I'll go and prepare dinner." With that she started to walk towards the kitchen, closely followed by Ran who wanted to help. When Kazuha stood up Shinichi noticed how her hand travelled along Heiji's leg into his hand, where he squeezed it lightly before actually parting with her. Then the girls were gone.

"So..." Heiji started, looking at Shinichi. "No inexplicable cases of death on your way here, that's a first." - "Cut the crap, Hattori, what is this?" Heiji watched the other man in surprise before sighing. "What do you mean, Kudo?" Shinichi crossed his arms in front of him. "You're telling me, after we talked on the phone you just walked up to Kazuha the next day, scraped all your courage together and asked her out?" Heiji looked at him funnily at that and grinned. "Something like that, yeah." - "I don't believe you. But we'll see what this weekend brings." Heiji chuckled. "I wouldn't have it any other way, Kudo."

In the kitchen, Kazuha was feeling giddy. She and Ran were preparing the food and even though Kazuha was really happy about their friends' visit, she would have loved some alone time with Heiji now that they were actually together. Even though his kisses had been great the whole week, that last kiss after they had made it official had just blown her mind. She could still feel the tingling sensation in her fingertips were she had brushed his skin and the burning of his lips on hers. She blushed, but was ripped from her thoughts by Ran. "Earth to Kazuha," the Tokyo-girl grinned, waving a hand in front of her friend's face, who flinched a little. "I just wanted to know where the salt is," Ran continued, while trying to oppress her smile. Kazuha smiled at her, too. "I'm sorry, Ran-chan, it's right here." With that she opened a cabinet and fished out some bottles of spices, the salt one of them. When Kazuha turned to put the salt in the dish herself, Ran snatched the container from her. "No way, you are not going to season the food! Don't you know that girls in love always over-salt everything?!" Kazuha blushed and watched as Ran put some salt on the food. "I'm not that bad," she started but Ran just rolled her eyes. "Yes, I can see that. You weren't just thinking about Hattori-kun with a goofy smile on your face." This made Kazuha blush even more. Ran giggled and peeked into the living room, where the men seemed to be in deep conversation. "Just tell me one thing," she then whispered to Kazuha. "Is it everything you imagined it to be?" Kazuha beamed at her friend. "It's more, I think," she stated happily. "Well, you'll have to tell me every last detail later!" Ran demanded, putting the food on plates and bowls with Kazuha's help. "Right now the food's ready and we wouldn't want it to get cold. But there has to be time for girl's talk sometime this weekend!" Kazuha laughed. "We'll make sure there will be."

After dinner, Heiji announced a tour of the house for their guests. Kazuha decided to stay behind to clean the dishes, even though Ran protested they could do it together after the tour. Still, Kazuha insisted on getting a head-start, since she knew Heiji's home inside- out since their childhood days. So, when Heiji, Ran and Shinichi left, she barricaded herself inside the kitchen and put on some music, twirling around and singing along with the songs on the radio while cleaning up. When she was nearly finished two hands sneaked around her waist, pinning her against a warm body behind her. "Excuse me, do you perform here often?" a husky voice whispered in her ear and Kazuha could feel goosebumps arising on the skin of her neck. Coyly, she turned her head into Heiji's direction and smiled brightly. "I'm sorry, this was a one-time-only show, just for tonight," she lilted, just as he pecked her lips. Sighing, she turned around in his arms and heard him mutter "That's a shame" as he deepened their kiss. Kazuha felt herself melting against him, her still damp hands tousling his hair while his hands caressed her back and pressed her closer to him. "What about Ran-chan and Kudo-kun?" she whispered as they broke apart for air, but Heiji only shook his head. "Looking at their room, don't care!" he growled, before capturing her lips once again. He felt her smile against his lips and could not help but be pleased of the way she reacted to his touch. She felt perfect in his arms. When he heard footsteps on the stairs some minutes later he reluctantly parted from Kazuha, only to rest his forehead against hers. "Worst timing for a visit ever," he mumbled with slight annoyance in his voice. "It's not their fault you chose just the moment of their arrival to think about what you wanted," Kazuha reminded him and he growled lowly. "'Zuha, I'd really like you to be unreasonable and slightly unhappy about this situation with me, instead of all clear-sighted and levelheaded," he grumbled, looking deeply into her eyes. They sparkled mischievously. "Of course, you're right. Worst timing ever. I mean them, not you," she added when he lifted an eyebrow. "They are horrible friends." She grinned and he slightly shook his head. "You, my dear, are the worst liar ever," he chuckled, kissing her nose affectionately and taking her hand. "Come on, we decided to watch a movie. At least that way we can cuddle." She blushed, but smiled at him, before her expression changed. "Wait a minute, who's going to decide on the movie?" she asked suspiciously. Heiji sighed audibly. "You girl's are. Mouri-chan persuaded Kudo with the devices of a woman." Kazuha grinned and stopped Heiji shortly, lovingly nuzzling his neck before giving him a short kiss, then pulling him towards the living room, since he was clearly too astonished to move on his own. "Oh well, I clearly couldn't have done that," Kazuha teased as they reunited with their friends and the girls at once started discussing which movie to watch.

Later that evening, after they had finished watching "Love, Rosie", only to annoy the guys and get them back for every Sherlock Holmes adaptation ever, Kazuha said goodbye to their friends for the night and left with Heiji at her side. Yawning, she snuggled closer to his side as he protectively put his arm around her and they walked on in cadence. "So," he inquired as they strolled through the night, "what plans did you girls make for tomorrow?" Kazuha glanced up at him. "Nothing much. Some shopping, maybe a little sight seeing, even though they already know most of Osaka's specials, and then supper in the city." She grinned at him. "To be honest, we're already expecting some kind of case to come up and snatch you boys away, since today was so quiet." Heiji frowned. "You really think we conjure those on purpose, don't ya?" Kazuha giggled. "Not really, even though Kudo- kun mentioned a weirdo magnet to Ran on the train. I think that's kinda plausible."

Heiji chuckled and softly nudged her forehead. "So that's the reason I'm stuck with you, Ahou!" he exclaimed good-naturedly, at which she stuck out her tongue at him.

As they arrived at Kazuha's place everything was still dark and silent. Her father was either still at work or already sleeping. "What I'd give to be able to go inside with you!" Heiji mumbled, burying his face in the side of her neck, inhaling her scent. She shivered and put her arms around his torso. "Yeah, I know, but Ran and Kudo-kun are waiting for you and my dad is either already here or coming any minute now," she whispered, drawing circles on his back with her fingers. He sighed and deeply kissed her, prolonging their touch as long as possible.

"You have to go!" she urged him, caressing the nape of his neck. "Are you coming over for breakfast?" he asked, leaning into her touch a little. "I will," she promised, kissing him once more, before leaving him to open the door. "Are you certain I shouldn't make sure there are no kidnappers in your house?" Heiji suggested hopefully, but Kazuha only laughed, pecked him on the lips one last time and scurried into her home. "You can write me when you're back home," she proposed as she closed the door and Heiji waited until the lights in her room went on and her face appeared behind her window. She waved and blew him a kiss. He pretended to walk away like a whipped puppy, which made her laugh and then continued back to his own house, where Ran and Shinichi were waiting for him.

Author's Note: Somehow I love lovey-dovey Heiji and Kazuha. What do you think?

Would you like some more RanShin love as well? Do you think everything will stay perfect?

Just tell me your thought. Thank for reading, reviews always make my day 3

Hugs, RiaSternchen