Disclaimer:
I don't own MR, DC, or White Day :3
IMPORTANT NOTE THING: THIS IS THE SECOND HALF OF A DOUBLE UPLOAD, MEANING THAT I UPLOADED IT THE SAME DAY I UPLOADED ANOTHER CHAPTER! MAKE SURE YOU READ THAT OTHER ONE FIRST, IT'S IMPORTANT!
So this chapter is going to be based off of White Day!
For those of you who don't know what that is, let me explain.
In Japan Valentine's day is a day where girls give the boys they like chocolate. White Day (March 14) is a day for boys to give gifts to girls. (Romantic gifts can include chocolate, and other fun things like necklaces or white based objects ;3)
Yes, I'm aware that it's not actually White Day today...
But...
I was so unhappy that they've got a Valentines Day episode for DC but not a White Day one...
YET, as far as I have seen.
So ecause of that, I'm making myself happy with this fun little chapter.
It has nothing to do with the plot at all, I'm obliviously proud to announce.
Just a ton of flurf :3
It's also longer than most chapters...because it's a celebration that I've reached twenty-five chapters in this fanfiction. :3 I'm incredibly proud of this fact, so brace yourselves for this uber long chapter of luuuuurve X3
Enjoy
Chapter Twenty-five- The Five Tales of White Day
I sniffed the air around the food I was cooking carefully while tipping my head in the direction of Nudge. I knew that I was basically asking for an incredibly lengthy monologue, but she had at least caught my attention a little bit. "White Day?" I asked, curious as to what she was so excited about.
"Yep!" Nudge said, sounding excited. I heard the chair scrape as she sat down, "Apparently, here in Japan, the girls are the only ones to give chocolate on Valentines day. Now these people thought it would be courteous for guys to return the favor by giving more expensive gifts in return. A sorta romantic gratitude thing. I'm so excited! I wonder if I'll get anything from any of the boys in my class? Oh, I hope that they'll give me something neat. Like...um...cookies! Or even some jewelry!"
Ah, so that was what Kazuha had been hinting towards the other day at dinner. I wonder if those two knuckle-headed detectives had figured as much out, or if that little comment she'd made helped them to forget. Still, I didn't want Nudge to get her hopes up for no reason at all.
"That wouldn't make sense." I said flatly, shifting the bacon that I'd cooked onto a plate. Gazzy came from out of nowhere and ran off with it. "Oi! Don't eat it all Gazz! That's for everyone!"
"What do you mean that wouldn't make sense?" Nudge pouted as I threw some more bacon in a pan. It seemed the eggs would be done soon as well. I rolled my eyes in Nudge's direction.
"Think about it. It's for guys to return the courtesy of a girl giving them chocolate. It stands to reason that unless you actually were here for Valentines day, which you weren't, you wouldn't get anything for this holiday." I placed the eggs on the next plate, and this time when Gazzy reached to grab it I smacked his hand away with my spatula. Considering his hiss of irritation I'd say I got a bulls-eye. "They wouldn't be obliged to."
"So, maybe they just like her." Angel said cheerfully. "I have a good feeling that some of the boys in MY school are gonna give me some stuff."
Oi, oi, probably because you mind-controlled them...I thought. I managed to wrestle the plate of bacon Gazzy had stolen away from him, before throwing the heaping plates of food on the table. This was my second day cooking breakfast for the Flock. I had decided to make it a routine to come by here and cook breakfast before I headed to school. That meant I was getting up pretty early in the morning, but I was handling it pretty well.
It was surprising how well it fit. Like an old glove, and though some things about my sudden lack of height were awkward it seemed that everything was going to be alright.
Except...well, Max was kinda giving me the cold shoulder. It seemed that she was pretty ticked with me for leaving like I did. I suppose that makes sense, but sometimes I wish she'd just grow up...that being said, as a retort to her silent treatment I didn't speak a single word of English in the apartment. I knew it drove her up the wall, but when she was willing to talk to me maybe I'd have some words to say that she could actually understand.
"Edible food!" Total praised, and heaved a contented sounding sigh. "I have to say Iggy, I'm certainly glad you've returned home. The food that Max was making for us wasn't fit for a cat."
"I tried cooking as well but...well, let's just say that we couldn't get the stove lit so Gazzy tried to use some explosives." Dylan sounded vaguely embarassed. "We're lucky the stove was still usable."
"What did you try to use?" I asked, grinning wickedly. "I wonder how angry Shinichi would be with me if I played a small scale prank on Ran-san...then again she hasn't ever done anything to make me want to prank her. Sheesh, I'll have to figure out something to get Shinichi one of these times though."
"He's a detective right?" Gazzy asked, I could hear the mischief in his tone. "Hey! What if you left him all of these clues saying there was a big bomb that he had to defuse or something, and then at the end the timer would run out and a little flag would pop out and say, 'bang'!"
"You. Are. My. Hero." I said, grabbing for Gazzy and punching him in the arm lightly. "Haha! Watch out Kudou Shinichi!"
"You'll have to make sure he's not, like, in full panic mode right?" Nudge asked. I frowned.
"Awww, but that basically ruins the whole thing." Gazzy pointed out. I snorted with laughter at the mere thought of just how utterly irritated Shinichi would be in the end if we were to pull something like this. I snapped my fingers.
"You know what would make it better? If we had a flash bomb in there! Something that would let out a bright light so that he thought for sure he exploded!" I cackled, and began rubbing the palms of my hands together. "Oh-ho yes, this would be amazing! And of course Hattori has to be involved somehow as well..."
"You're evil." Dylan said, though he sounded vaguely amused.
"Iggy are you going to give any girls gifts for White Day?" Angel asked slowly, I choked on the orange juice I had been drinking. I cut a sideways glare in her direction and heard her giggle. Max sat down next to me and silently grabbed for the bacon. Remember, cold shoulder.
"Why would I do that?" I snorted in irritation, crossing my arms over my chest. I found myself remembering that Shiho hadn't been to school, at all, since the fire. If I didn't know any better I'd say she was avoiding me or something like that. I grimaced, and fiddled with my napkin. "Remember, most of the kids in my class happen to be nearly ten years younger than me. I'm not some freaky pedophile."
"Yeah, MOST of the girls." Gazzy said. I swear, that kid can pick up on whether or not I'm uncomfortable about something from a mile away. Sometimes I wondered if he had the ability to read minds as well as his little sister. I didn't have much of a reply, so I merely snorted in something akin to irritation.
"We better go. We'll be late." Max said sharply. I could basically feel the wince around the room. Okay, we get it Max, Iggy is supposed to be public enemy number one. The room fell awkwardly silent but I hopped off my chair and grabbed for my bag.
"See you tomorrow then guys." I said, ducking out of the room and into the hallway.
Three things were obvious to me as I sat in class that day. The first was that Shiho wasn't in school, again. The second was that this fact bothered me considerably, because I couldn't help but think she was doing it to avoid me for some reason. The third was that White Day, despite being something slightly on the romantic side, was something that had everyone buzzing with excitement.
Everyone but a certain shrunken detective.
"Did you get something for Ran?" I whispered, wondering why he seemed so depressed. Whatever his reply was, it was silent. I paused, and growled after a moment, "Hey, mini-detective, don't forget that you happen to be talking with somebody was blind. Visual responses don't cut it."
"Yes, I got her something." Shinichi said, sounding as if he wanted the floor to swallow him whole or something. Not out of embarassment, but out of something depressing. Good lord, compared to him Shiho was Miss Sunshine Princess. That's saying quite a bit.
"Conan-kun is sad..." Ayumi said, sounding rather concerned. See, he was depressed. Enough so that the Detective Boys were picking up on it. He wasn't even trying to HIDE it though, which was kind of bothering me. Shinichi wasn't the type of guy that broadcasted his feelings.
"Oi, what's wrong with you?" I asked, really worried about the detective now.
"It's nothing." Shinichi said, bucking up a bit, though I think it was for the sake of the kids. I frowned, wondering what could possibly have upset him so much. He seemed to be seriously down in the dumps today.
She had been crying. When Shinichi had gone to ask Ran if she was ready for school he had found her, sitting on the floor and sobbing her heart out. When they were walking to school she had started crying again as well. He hated HATED it when he made her cry.
And he knew it was his fault, without a doubt.
Shinichi sighed, flattening his gaze. If only Haibara were at school, then maybe he could try and take one of the temporary antidotes to drop by and cheer Ran up...then again he didn't really have a cold at the moment so... If only he had been smart, and called her early in the morning just so she could talk with him for a short while.
There was the gift, but he had to think of a way to get it to her that would cheer her up. He was certain that the appeal of mysterious detective was beginning to wear off. She wanted to see him, to talk with him. And he couldn't do that. It didn't help matters that everyone seemed to think he was a jackass.
He would, if he could, visit Ran.
"If we keep missing school like this we'll be in trouble." Kazuha said. Heiji hardly heard her, he was too busy having a small-scale panic attack in his head. Kazuha was in good spirits, happy, cheerful. It was good to see her like that (it meant she wasn't ready to kill him for once) but Heiji was afraid that mood would vanish.
He had completely, and totally, forgotten that it was White Day.
Not that he thought of Kazuha as anything more than a friend...right? That put aside, he was still obligated to get her something since she had given him a chocolate for Valentines Day.
They had been exchanging gifts like this since they were little kids, and it hadn't really meant anything before. Heiji shrugged off the strange feeling of nervousness that was fluttering in his stomach. Couldn't he just be honest with her and tell her that he forgot? That would make more sense, after all, it wasn't anything special or romantic right?
"Kazuha..." Heiji said, and found himself stopping despite what he said. His friend looked back at him with a warm smile and Heiji tripped over his words, "U-uh...I have to go...figure somethin' out real quick! I'll see ya later!"
With that the dark-skinned detective took off into the crowd.
"Oooooooii..." The soft hiss came from the window, and really I don't know why the idiot thought people couldn't hear him. I scooted my chair closer to him, letting the legs scrape against the ground and affectlively brought the classtime to a halt. Giving Hattori a wicked grin I leaned against the window.
"Heiji-niichan, what're you doing by the window?" I asked. This was followed by the class bursting into a fit of giggles at the obviously embarassed look from the dark-skinned boy in the window. I tipped my head to one side, "There isn't some kind of trouble is there?"
"He just forgot about White Day is all." Shinichi said in something like a bored tone of voice. The whole class let out a chorus of, 'ooooo' at this, and I could hear shifting in seats as they all looked at the idiot boy who had forgotten to get a gift for his girlfriend on one of the most romantic days in the world.
"Oi, oi, hold on a second..." Hattori said. This batch of words made the entire class start giggling.
"How come he talks so funny?" One kid announced.
"Is he a foreigner?" Another asked.
"Oi!" Hattori said, sounding clearly irritated. "Kansei-ban is perfectly normal Japanese, thank you very much. I'm sorry for interrupting your class Sensei, but I wasn wondering if it would be possible to steal the Edogawa brothers from ya real quick like."
"No." Shinichi said flatly. I snickered as the detective fell over. Shinichi added, quieter so that only those immediately close to us could hear. "It's not a case or you would have bothered to use the front door. My deduction was correct, ne? So, you dug yourself in this hole. If Kazuha-chan is really important to you you'll think of something."
"But..." Hattori's words were cut off as the teacher shut the window in his face. The class roared with amused laughter, and even the teacher chuckled a bit. (Probably at whatever expression was on the poor Osakan detective's face at the moment) Class resumed, and poor Hattori was left standing in the school yard probably looking like a forlorn little puppy.
It made me think though, obviously Shinichi was getting something for Ran. Hattori was thinking of something to do for Kazuha...what should I do? Shiho had been clearly avoiding me since the event in the vents but...
"I shouldn't have fallen in love." She had murmured, before brushing her lips against my own...
"Iggy-kun? Do you care to involve the rest of the classroom in whatever you were daydreaming about just now?" The teacher asked, catching me off guard. I felt my cheeks heat up involuntarily as I stammered out a quick denial and apology. She continued on with her lesson and I sighed heavily.
What was a blind bird-kid with trust issues to do?
Aoko was writing her homework down when her bestfriend sat next to her in class. He seemed fidgity for some reason, even a little nervous. Aoko glanced at the magician, narrowing her eyes in suspicion slightly. What was up with Kaito now? Had he done something that would require her getting him out of trouble?
It wouldn't be something all that farfetched with him.
"What is it Kaito?" She asked, finally deciding to call him out on it. Sometimes it seemed as if Kaito had this amazing ability to hide what he was really thinking...but somehow Aoko could see through it everytime. It wasn't as though, when he was really trying, she would ever call him out on it.
There was just something she could always tell with her best friend. Kaito stiffened, and looked slightly embarassed. Kaito? Embarassed? Why?
"For you." He said, producing a box from seemingly out of nowhere. Aoko blinked twice in surprise...was he getting her a gift for White Day? She felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she took the box. Why was he so nervous about it then?
Just before she removed the lid to the box she thought she caught sight of...a mischevious grin? But no, she must have imagined it. She removed the lid and felt her face heat up with embarassment and a little bit of rage too.
Sexy underwear. Oh Kami the idiot had gotten her some...
Several students had crowded around the two, interested for some reason unknown to Aoko. The girls that were in the immediate vicinity clapped their hands over their mouths in a gesture of something mixed with pity and horror. The boys all began to get nosebleeds, except for Dylan and Hakuba who both just looked plain embarassed to be standing there.
Aoko let her bangs cover her eyes, listening to Kaito laugh was just pissing her off even more than the initial prank.
That...that JERK.
Aoko was probably more angry with Kaito than she'd ever been, ever. Why? Because he had thought it would be HILARIOUS to give her some white...well, white undergarments as you would say for White Day. He had presented it to her, acting as if he were cute and genuine, and then...
Aoko slammed the handle of her mop against another desk. Something cracked, and she hoped she hadn't somehow managed to get somebody's fingers caught in the crossfire. Kaito danced away, oblivious to the fact that he'd completely gone over the line with the pranks this time.
For lack of anything else to do she hurled the mop at the magician's feet. He was caught off guard by that, since she usually wielded it like a sword or something. He crashed to the ground, and winced slightly. "Ow, okay that REALLY hurt this time..."
He trailed off, snapping his mouth shut and looking suddenly slightly nervous. Aoko realized she was crying, though she couldn't exactly place the reason for it right off. She backed away out of the room, feeling her face warm from the embarassment of that on top of everything else. For lack of anything else to do she spun around and ran out of the room.
Takagi shifted his eyes nervously back and forth. It was one of those rare moments in the day when the break room was empty...except for her. The dark-skinned officer breathed something like a lovestruck sigh. That much would make sense, since he was quite intoxicated by that arrow of Cupid's.
Taking a deep breath he stepped into the room. "Satou-san!" He announced, blushing lightly because he'd said her name rather loudly. She glanced up at him from whatever she had been reading, her features slightly curious. Takagi stumbled, "Er...ehehe, how are you doing today?"
"I'm okay, Takagi-kun." Satou said, giving him a smile that made his heart stutter slightly. Takagi sat next to her, looking curiously at what she had in her hands. "I'm just looking over the Sleeping Sleuth cases..."
"Why?" Takagi blinked, a little confused. Satou shook her head and put the files away, looking as if she had something on her mind. Takagi figured she wouldn't want to share whatever she had thought of in front of him. She looked slightly embarassed for a moment before bringing up the files again.
"Ever notice...that the same day Conan-kun came was when Mouri-san started to get good at deductions?" Satou said, pulling them out. She frowned in concentration, and Takagi loved the way her eyes looked when she was thinking hard. "It's ridiculous, but there's something about it that seems a bit strange."
"Perhaps Conan-kun is solving them for him?" Takagi said with a nervous laugh. Recalling the spectacled boy, however, soon made his laughter die. If there was any kid that could be doing something like that it would be awfully easy to imagine Conan as the one. Satou blinked at him, as though he said something that niggled a thought in her head. Then she was glancing over his shoulder and blinking.
"Oh, hello everyone." She said, and Takagi winced. He had the distinct sensation that death was hovering over his shoulder as he turned to face the furious glares of every man that worked within the police force. Takagi let out a nervous laugh, but secretly cursed every man with all the words he could possibly think of.
He supposed it was his fault though, for not getting to the point quicker. He wouldn't be able to give her the gift with all of them in the room, not unless he wanted to disappear and be found in some closet in America or something ridiculous like that. The young officer hung his head as Satou began conversing with the people of the groups.
Being a detective meant you had to be confident most of the time. Being a detective meant that you couldn't let panic override what you were doing, but then for Heiji Kazuha always seemed to be the exception to his detective rules anyways. It was like she was in a completely different category from everyone else.
He didn't want her to be unhappy that he'd forgotten. Heiji was beginning to feel rotten just knowing the fact himself. He knew that Kazuha would be mad, but that wasn't what made him hesitate...it was the fact that she'd be sad that bothered him. He couldn't stand the thought of it being his fault she was upset.
Like that time he'd had a deduction battle with her. Heiji had never been so shocked in his life, so utterly unhappy with the way he had been acting, than the moment that he had seen Kazuha crying because he was going to beat her. It had taken him a moment to remember Kudou telling him that there were no winnings and losings in deduction. Only the truth.
And the truth was...he hated it when Kazuha was sad.
But what was he supposed to do? He had texted Kazuha, telling her to meet him in a park near the time the sun would set. Which was all well and good, but he couldn't say that the sunset was her present. She'd see right through it and know right away that he'd forgotten and was just trying to find a way to give her something.
Heiji grabbed his head with his hand and groaned. Really, why was it so hard to think of something? It was just White Day...he could stop at a store and get some cookies or something for her.
That didn't seem to be enough though.
"Ahou, at this point it doesn't matter just get her SOMETHING!" The detective growled at himself, rubbing both sides of his head with his hands in an attempt to get the blood flowing and bring forth some idea. He shoved his hands in his pockets as he stalked towards a bakery.
Something caught his eye. Heiji paused midstep, his foot hanging above the sidewalk as he leaned back to look in the store window. He hopped back twice on one foot before running into the store. That thing, it was perfect. He didn't know how he knew it, he just...knew that Kazuha would love it.
He had to get it.
Shinichi sighed as he shut the door to Agasa's house behind him. So much for that, apparently Haibara didn't have any of the temporary antidote on hand right at this moment. The shrunken detective's spirits were looking rather low at the moment. As he stepped down the sidewalk he noticed that Iggy was leaning against the fencepost, waiting for him. The Detective Boys were there as well.
"Ne, Conan-kun." Mitsuhiko said, and Shinichi held his hands in front of him with a nervous chuckle. Why did the child sound so furious. Genta looked angry as well. Ayumi just looked ever so slightly embarassed, she was holding onto a white stuffed rabbit and fiddling with it's ear.
"Did you get Ayumi anything for White Day?" Genta demanded.
"Uh..." The answer to that would be no, he had forgotten since he was thinking about Ran. Iggy had apparently remembered, since he was arching an eyebrow at him like he was a moron. Now that's just sad, being outdown by the guy who didn't even know White Day existed until earlier in the day.
"It's okay, Conan-kun doesn't have to get me anything." Ayumi said, but she looked tearful. Shinichi felt a distinct pang of guilt. Just because it was slightly annoying to have a little kid crushing on you didn't mean that he didn't care about Ayumi. She was one of his...kids after all.
"Didn't I mention it?" Iggy said, sounding slightly bored. "Conan-niichan picked the rabbit out for you Ayumi-chan. We decided to get you a gift together since Oji-san is mean and took Conan-niichan's allowance away last week, ne, Conan-niichan?"
"Yeah." Shinichi said, wishing that Iggy was able to recieve a grateful glance. He truly deserved it. Ayumi blinked, then looked suddenly very happy as she cuddled the stuffed toy to her chest. As she skipped away, followed by Mitsuhiko and Genta, Shinichi couldn't help but ask, "When did you get that for her?"
"On the way to school. I asked the lady at the store and she actually gave me the thing for free." Iggy said, he looked as though he would have liked to scowl, but amusement was on his features instead. "She thought I was an 'adorable little boyfriend for whatever girl I have'..."
"I shouldn't have forgotten." Shinichi said.
"It's not like you, that's for sure. You're not happy because of Ran right?" Iggy asked. Shinichi sometimes wondered if his friend realized how perceptive he really was. With some practice Iggy would make a good detective, even though he happened to be blind. It was strange, the things he picked up on sometimes.
"Yeah...she was crying this morning." Shinichi said, surprised at himself for how depressed he sounded. Iggy stayed silent for a moment before getting up and walking away from the house that was behind them. Shinichi blinked and followed after him, he had the feeling that the blind boy was going to reply to what he had said.
"Look at it this way." Iggy said, as though deciding something suddenly. It was strange how he seemed to be looking at him, his features were very serious as he held up a finger, "The reason she cries is because she cares about you. I know it hurts that she is crying...but she's worried and you can't expect her not to be. I'm not saying that you should be happy because she's upset...I'm saying...she's going to wait for you. She's waited this long, ne? She won't quit anytime soon."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Shinichi snorted, rolling his eyes slightly. He wouldn't admit it but...it helped a little. "I don't feel good for making her worry."
"Just one more reason to take Them down." Iggy said cheerfully, he pulled and invisible pen out and air-wrote as he said, "Take down baddies. Get antidote. Get the girl. Dramatic kiss scene. The end."
"You make it sound so easy." Shinichi said, but he couldn't help but laugh. Look at that, how had the kid managed to do that? Shinichi rolled his eyes, "It won't be as simple as that."
"Right, I forgot to add, 'Blow something up...' in the list..." Iggy said with a mischevious grin. Shinichi snorted and rolled his eyes as they walked down the street. He couldn't help but notice that his friend seemed slightly hesitant though, and Shinichi was smart enough to be able to deduce why.
Though he didn't say it.
Aoko had never been more embarassed in her life. She wasn't the type of person who just burst into tears and fled from rooms. Kaito...that idiot. Aoko sighed, looking out over the city with bored eyes. She had been here since the end of school, on the roof of the school.
"BaKaito." Aoko hissed, thinking of the stupid magician.
Why was she so upset over this anyways? Wasn't this just...typical Kaito? She should have suspected it was a prank, after all that was what the magician always did. It was the way he worked, kind of like how Hakuba had a hard time being late to things. Still, she felt as though he'd gone and punched a hole in her chest.
"The lady seems to be deep in thought." The whispered words caught her off guard, and Aoko found herself turning around to face the last person she ever expected to see on the rooftop with her. Her shock was so complete that she could hardly feel, "You would be...Nakamori-chan, ne?"
It was Kaitou Kid. The phantom thief that her father spent and endless amount of time hunting, and an even more endless amount of time obsessing over. The very criminal that had embarassed her father countless times over. Aoko felt her teeth snap together, and she grinded them as her fury was complete.
"What are YOU doing here?" Aoko said, for lack of anything else in the world to say. Something like a smirk quirked at the corner of the white clad thief's lips.
"I heard a damsel in distress." Kid said, bowing low. Were his eyes twinkling in a strangely familiar mischevious way? No, she was certainly imagining it. That would be the best bet. "I should mention the other person I ran into earlier...perhaps he is the real reason I am here."
"You ran into somebody?" Aoko asked, feeling like she wanted to rebel against the stupid thief in some way, but still intrigued by what he was saying. She had never expected Kid to be so...so charismatic before. Aoko shook her head, furious with herself. Really, of all the people in the world to be taken in by it shouldn't be this idiot thief.
Kid tipped his hat in her direction, his way of nodding perhaps. It was hard not to watch him as he stalked effortlessly acrossed the rooftop, as if he commanded this place as his own. There was a strangely intoxicating sense of confidence that seemed to seep from him. Aoko shook her head, scolding herself mentally.
"He seemed rather distressed." Kid said, tipping his hat so that she couldn't see his monocled face. Speaking of that face...it was vaguely familiar somehow. Aoko shook her head, feeling slightly dizzy. "Said that he did a lot of stupid things in his life...but never something so stupid as what he did earlier."
It sounded like he had regret in his tone, but perhaps he was just accidentally dropping into the character of whoever he was talking about. He tipped the brim of his hat up with his thumb, and regarded her as she thought. Her eyes widened. Surely he couldn't mean..."Kaito?"
"Was that his name? Kurabo or something like that right?" Kid asked, looking slightly bored. Aoko felt a flash of irritation at the thief.
"Kuroba." She snapped, "It's Kuroba, and he's a better magician than you'll ever be."
"Oh?" Kid said, tipping his head to one side and looking a little amused. "You really think so, Nakamori-chan?"
"I know so. Where was it that you saw him anyways?" Aoko said, deciding that at the moment she liked Kaito more than Kid anyways, so she might as well go see him. Besides, she had a feeling that what the thief had said was true, that Kaito was unhappy. She didn't want that.
"Oh...somewhere near the clock tower." Kid said. Aoko could feel him watching her as she ran for the door. She knew that he'd disappear, so really there wasn't any point in telling her father that he popped up at her school right?
Takagi sighed as he placed the files he had been tediously checking through in their place. It was way passed lunch, and he hadn't had any time alone with Satou since the interrupted moment in the break room. Takagi heaved another sigh, and stiffened as he heard footsteps.
"Takagi-kun?" Satou said, and Takagi could hardly believe the fact that she seemed to materialize out of nowhere at his mere thought of her. (Okay, so she walked down the stairs as he happened to be thinking about her...and Takagi happened to think about her a lot...never mind, just keep reading the love story thing)
"S-Satou-san!" Takagi said, rubbing the back of his head. "You surprised me, I was just putting these files away...are you getting more stuff on Mouri-san?"
"Yes." Satou said, breezing passed him. Takagi tried not to blush, thankful that his skin was darker than many of the people he knew. Not that Hattori boy's of course, but still it was darker than many of the people in the precinct. Not so easy to see blushing with dark skin.
As Takagi glanced up at the door he saw something that made his heart lurch ever so slightly. He tore up the stairs, panicking and running to catch the culprit before it could manage...the door clicked shut. There was a final sound to that shutting that made Takagi sweat a little.
"Oh no..." The young officer breathed. Satou was glancing up at him from her place down the stairs, and eyebrow raised. Takagi rubbed the back of his head a little nervously and pointed at the door, "You see...the lock is broken Satou-san...so..."
"Oh." Satou said, walking up the stairs. She jiggled the handle and frowned, "You're right...that's not very good. We've got work to do."
Not to mention the fact that we're both now locked in this room. Takagi thought with a nervous laugh. Satou was looking at the doorknob a little curiously. That look made Takagi feel ever so slightly nervous. He became even more nervous as she drew her revolver and pointed it at the handle.
"W-wait a minute, Satou-san!" Takagi said, pushing the gun to the side. "We can always wait for somebody to come along...we can always read through the files up here and wait until we hear somebody on the other side."
"That's a good idea." Satou said, cheerfully replacing her gun in it's holster. She smiled at him, and it made Takagi feel a little bit dizzy that smile. "Mmm...and the bullets could ricochet off of the handle and hurt one of us. So I think that you're idea is better, Takagi-kun."
Oh Kami...Takagi thought, blushing furiously.
Heiji was panting by the time he'd run to the park. The thing was...he hadn't exactly arranged which bench she would be sitting at. It would make sense if she was sitting somewhere that would be facing the sunset, a place with a good view. Which would have been easy for a local detective to figure out.
Erm, Heiji wasn't exactly from Tokyo though.
The detective held the gift behind his back, running through the park as he checked what felt like a million benches. He almost ran right passed Kazuha, and had to slam on the breaks and catch himself from falling down. (All this was done while making sure he didn't jostle the gift he had gotten for Kazuha very much...)
A sheepish smile found it's way acrossed his face, and she smiled back. He wondered if she was unhappy because he left her alone practically all day...he hadn't really thought about that. The detective thought of facepalming himself, but the hand he wasn't waving with was occupied at the moment.
"Found ya!" Heiji said with a grin, and then added, a little teasingly, "Ahou, you could have answered that text I sent you asking which bench you were sitting at with more than the word guess. Sheesh..."
"What? I thought you like mysteries?" Kazuha said, sticking her tongue at him. Heiji rolled his eyes, honestly, that woman. She smiled at him, looking amused. "You forgot about what day it was today, didn't you?"
"Wh-what? No, I've gotta gift for ya right here!" Heiji said, gesturing over his shoulder, indicating that he had it behind his back. He gave her a mischevious grin. "I bet ya can't guess what I got ya! Ya wouldn't ever figure it out in a million years...hmmm...I hope your parents don't mind that I got it for ya...I didn't think about that."
Heiji laughed inwardly. Oh well, hopefully they'd get over it. This was a special gift after all.
For a friend...right?
"Heiji..." Kazuha complained, but there was laughter in her eyes. "Is it a cookie?"
"Nope." Heiji said with a grin.
"Some jewelry?" Kazuha said, tipping her head to one side.
"Noooope." Heiji said, tsking her with his free finger. He knew she wouldn't guess, he hadn't even considered something like this as a gift until he saw it in the door. So it wasn't something you usually gave on White Day...Heiji thought that he should get props for being slightly creative about it.
Her gaze flattened slightly, "It's not something perverted is it?"
"Oi, oi!" Heiji said, blushing so badly that it was obvious even on his dark skin. "What kinda guy do ya think I am? That's not it, ahou! Are ya done guessin'?"
Kazuha paused, tapping her chin with her finger. Heiji was grinning like mad, knowing that even Kudou would have never been able to guess what he had. (Okay, Kudou could probably figure it out, but that's him...) She sighed, and shrugged her shoulders. She looked amused though as she said, "I give up Heiji, what is it?"
Heiji stepped up so that he was closer to her, putting his other hand behind his back so that he could place the gift in the palm of that one. It took a moment to get it carefully adjusted, and he pulled his hand so that it was right in front of both of their faces. With a grin he unfurled his fingers revealing...
A snow colored chipmunk.
"It's rare, I guess..." Heiji explained, giving her a bright smile as the small rodent sniffed at her fingers. She was staring at it with a look of something like astonishment and Heiji found himself blushing furiously. "The person who sold it to me said it's called an albino...or somethin' like that."
"Heiji..." Kazuha breathed, scooping the small thing into her hands. It chittered at her and she giggled, "You got me...something alive? That's so sweet."
"Aw, well..." Heiji rubbed the back of his head in embarassment. "I had ta be kinda careful with him. He's real friendly, the lady said, and he's trained to stay on your shoulder apparently. Still, I didn't want someone ta knock him off of me or somethin' when I was...Oi-Oi!"
He broke off as Kazuha threw her arms around him. The chipmunk clambered from her hand onto her head, and blinked curiously down at the blushing Osakan. Heiji coughed, not quite knowing how to react to this at all. He sighed, and wrapped his arms around her in a return hug.
"Heiji..." Kazuha murmured into his shoulder. Heiji blinked, feeling like his face was going to explode or something. Sheesh, it was like he'd gotten sunburned...
She leaned forward and kissed him, right on the corner of his mouth. Heiji's eyes stretched wide with surprise as the girl he'd grown up with calmly stepped away, plucked her chipmunk from on top of her head, and began to tickle it. "I think I'll name him Satoshi. Toshi-kun for a nickname..."
She was blabbering because she was nervous. He didn't know what to do. He was just standing there like the idiot he sometimes was, blinking with in shock.
"Oh?" Kazuha said, sounding embarassed and nervous. She was looking at her watch and let out a quick laugh, "Is it that time already? I should get back to the agency and help Ran-chan with dinner...she'll be needing it you know. Heiji I'll see you later then, alright?"
She turned to go, and Heiji blinked after her a little stupidly for a moment.
Ahou, MOVE! He screamed at himself inwardly, snapping himself out of his stupor. He ran over to her, having absolutely no idea what he was going to do in the first place. But then, that's what made things more exciting in the first place right? He quickly over took her, and turned around. Kazuha stumbled to a stop, and before she could say anything...
He kissed her.
Oh Kami, he kissed her. Actually kissed her, in a way that he wouldn't have expected himself to ever kiss Kazuha before. He pulled away after what seemed like hours, and yet what must have been about three heartbeats instead. He blanched at her, appalled at his little moment before rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Ya don't think Ran-san can wait a bit?"
"I think she could..." Kazuha said slowly, and with a smile that was completely infectious.
There was a time, when they had been young, that they had gotten into a fight. Shinichi honestly couldn't remember the reason behind it now. All he remembered was that it was the longest fight he'd ever been in with Ran in his entire life. They had been walking home together, despite their argument, and basically every glance was recieved with a glance away and a huff.
After all, they were both two of the most stubborn people in Beika.
It was on this particular trip home that ended their fight. It was strange that Shinichi couldn't remember what the argument had been about, but the way they made up was so clear in his mind. Even now, as he closed his eyes and thought back to that day. They had been walking along the bank of the river when...
"Ama~zi~ing grace...ho~ow sweet...the sound..." The English words had drifted to them both. They had stopped, and stood staring in the direction of a woman they would unknowingly meet later. A soprano voice singing a song that had touched both of their hearts. They made up without even saying the words.
They were just forgiven.
Shinichi sat with his back pressed to the couch, waiting for Ran to step out of the kitchen. He knew she'd see it right away, it was sitting in the middle of the table and everything had been cleared off. Now it was just a waiting game. The shrunken detective fumbled with his sleeves.
Ran entered the room, and he froze, his eyes peeping over the edge of the couch. She stopped, her head tipped to one side as she looked at the small package on the table. It had taken Shinichi a long time to get this gift, he'd started working on it a long time ago in fact. Of course it required a bit of Agasa's help...
She lifted the package and opened it up. Shinichi watched as she blinked, did she like it? It was a necklace, silver and delicate, with a clock in it's face. It was odd, and Shinichi knew that, but that wasn't the only thing the pendant had. A note was beneath the necklace, and as she read the words he could hear himself saying them as he wrote them down.
There will be a day, I swear it, that I will have all the time in the world for you. For now, I will just have to give you this song, and hope that when you'll hear it your heart will remember that one time...
She opened the pendant, and the chimes of the song they both remembered from that day chimed through the air. She was crying again, but Shinichi had the feeling that it was for something other than sadness that tears leaked down her face. She put the necklace around her neck, touching her fingers to it.
Shinichi wished he could hug her, but for now this was the best he could do.
Aoko found him sitting with his back pressed against the fountain. It bubbled behind him, catching the rays of dying sunlight and throwing beautiful patterns around the square. Aoko sighed to herself. He really did look like the picture of depression at the moment, but then that was Kaito. He had always been a bit good at acting.
"BaKaito." She said, making him flinch and turn to look at her. She was surprised by the amount of regret that was in his blue eyes. She put her hands on her hips, "You don't have to be sad anymore, I'm not angry with you alright?"
"But I hurt you." He said, his voice raw with something like pain. Aoko blinked in surprise and found herself sitting next to her childhood friend. He was looking at her with such a sad look in his blue eyes, "I'm sorry...it was really stupid..."
It was a rare thing that Kaito ever apologized for a prank, rarer still that it was heart felt. She'd never seen her friend look so miserable before. She hit him upside the head with her bag, scowling at him rather nicely. "Baka, it's what everyone would expect from you anyways, ne?"
"You don't have to be violent about it." Kaito exclaimed, rubbing his hands through his wild hair. He leaned back, looking up at the tower with something like a nostalgic smirk on his face. She wondered what he could possibly be remembering about it. That was better though, she had the old Kaito back.
"I was the stupid one, for pouting like that." Aoko replied, nudging him with her foot. "Don't feel bad, I shouldn't have taken it so personally."
"Why DID you take it personally?" Kaito asked, genuine curiousity reflected in the blue of his eyes. Aoko blushed, and glanced away sharply. That wasn't a matter she needed to discuss with him right? She hardly knew the reason herself. So she shrugged her shoulders.
It was quiet for a moment as they both stared in opposite directions. Her, with a blush on her face, and he with a strange look on his features. After a moment he fumbled through his pockets, catching her off guard with his sudden motions. He was tossing strange objects of every variety everywhere. They landed on the ground with interesting little noises.
"Aha!" The magician said triumphantly, revealing a small box. Aoko narrowed her eyes at him as he gave her a genuine smile, pulling a white rose from his sleeve. "For the lovely lady..."
He bowed as he said this, and she rolled her eyes at him. She opened the case, and blinked in surprise. It was a bracelet, with several silver charms on them. A diamond, a spade, a club, and...a heart. All centered around cards, so she could think of her magician everytime she looked at it no doubt. Kaito picked it up and put it around her wrist. He kissed her fingers like a gentlemen, lifting his blue eyes to her's.
"Kaito...what is this?" She said, pulling her hadn away and blushing. Kaito twirled the rose under her nose, and smiled at her. That smile that she was growing to like more everytime she saw it.
"It's what I should have given you the first time, ne?" He asked, arching an eyebrow at her. "It's a little too early for that other stuff-OW!"
She had smacked him with her bookbag again, and as she turned away she smiled softly to herself. She hoped he wouldn't see that, he was supposed to think she was irritated by that last comment after all. Still, she loved the gift. It would be hers, her precious gift from her precious magician.
Takagi watched as the streetlights turned on outside. This was beginning to look bad. By now most of the officers would have gone home. Which meant they were probably stuck in here for the night. Takagi glanced at his pack against the wall, remembering his gift to Satou earlier.
It was possible that...well...
A blush lit his face as Satou stepped up behind him. She sighed, rolling her shoulders. "It seems as though we aren't going to get out of here tonight, Takagi-kun. Hmmm? Why are you looking at your bag like that? Do you have a cellphone in it that you'd forgotten about or something?"
"W-wait!" Takagi stammered out, but the woman was already opening the bag. She blinked in surprise, and pulled some boxes out. Takagi felt his face flush with embarassment as she blinked at them. "Th-those..."
"This looks like a romantic lunch." Satou said, teasingly glancing at the poor man who stood feeling slightly idiotic and embarassed. She smiled at him, probably noticing how tense he was and attempting to put him at ease. "Were you were planning on giving lunch to some girl for White Day, Takagi-kun? Who is it?"
"We-well..." Takagi laughed as he pulled the boxes from her grasp. It had taken a long time of slaving over a stove to get this to turn out, and a little help from Ran as well. The girl had been nice enough to offer him some recipes. It had taken a few hours, but he had come up with the simple dish that he had hoped to share with...
Well, with the very officer he happened to be locked in a room with. Takagi didn't know whether he was going to die of embarassment or not as she observed how nicely he'd made them. But at least she seemed to think it looked good, that meant that she liked it right?
"Takagi-kun? Are you alright?" Satou said, catching the young man off guard by placing her hand on his forehead. Takagi blushed furiously, but stood very still as she pressed her other hand against her own forehead. "You don't seem to be running a fever or anything...but you're awfully red in the face."
Takagi blushed further, if that was even possible.
"W-well you see...S-Satou-san." Takagi coughed politely into his hand, stepping back. "I actually made that lunch as a gift for you...but it seemed there was never time to give it to you?"
"A gift...for me?" Satou said, smiling at him. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Takagi felt like he was about ready to melt into a puddle of mush on the floor. His heart was racing a million miles a minute. She sat down, breaking apart the chopsticks he had packed. "Then let's not let it go to waste."
"Right!" Takagi said, sitting down in front of her cross-legged.
So maybe being locked in this room for a night wasn't such a bad thing after all.
Shiho sighed, it was late in the night already. She was getting tired of the doorbell ringing that way over and over. It was a surprising thing that Hakase hadn't been woken, but then she suspected that the man would wake up in surprise the next morning if a train ran through his home in the middle of the night.
"Coming, coming." The shrunken girl murmured, sliding off of her computer chair. She had been working nonstop, since she had been sure that Iggy would be alright, to get the antidote finished. She felt that she was nearing a breakthrough, and it had something to do with Iggy actually.
His metabolism had made her think of something, but she wasn't sure if it was working yet.
He was actually the other reason she was staying home so much lately. She couldn't bring herself to face the final victim of her poison. She would never admit it to herself, even if she knew it somewhere deep down in her heart, but she was afraid of how he would treat her after that.
Would he reject her? It seemed the most likely scenario after all.
Shiho sighed as the doorbell was suddenly pressed, and then the person didn't let their finger off of it. They were holding it down and it was beginning to make an incredibly irritating noise. She went to the door and wrenched it open to give whoever was standing on the other side the biggest death-glare she could manage.
She never expected that the person would be unable to see that death-glare. "Iggy-kun?" She said, surprised and shocked. He grinned at her momentarily, before shoving a box in her hand. After that he snapped his wings open and took off. Just like that. Shiho would have thought he hadn't even been there in the first place if it hadn't been for whatever she was holding.
Shiho walked inside the house, and glanced at the top. It had an envelope, with writing that she didn't recognize as either Kudou's or Ran's. She had the distinct feeling Iggy had written those words himself, and they were surprisingly neat considering he wouldn't be able to see whatever was on the paper.
So basically I got you this...for White Day. Really, it seems like it's just some hype for card companies and candy companies to get stuff if you ask me. I mean...really. Anyways, yeah, this is for you. Happy White Day or whatever...
Oh, and Shiho...
You can't run from fate forever. Just saying.
She blinked, a little surprised, and opened the box. It was a cake, covered in white frosting with strawberries decorating the top. Shiho stared at it for a moment, remembering what time it was and feeling how warm that cake was. He must have been working on this since he got home from school.
With a sigh she retreated into her room with her cake. Chances were that if she left it out Hakase would eat it all.
PHEW! It's DONE! -gasps for air-
Okay, so this is officially my most favorite chapter EVER :3
I love it, so much. I had a ton of fun writing it, and I just LURVE the moments that I'm proud to say came from my little head. -cackles-
My favorite White Day Tale, as I dubbed them, was definitely the KaitoAoko one...
Though the HeiKaz one trumped the others with it's ending. I LOVED that one the best...
And yes, I purposely didn't do very much of Iggy in this chapter. I wanted the fact that he got a gift for Ai in the end to be a surprise, and her's was short and sweet because I felt that was the best way to do those two. :3
NOTE: For those of you who haven't seen it, the Amazing Grace thing is actually a reference to the DC movie, Full Score of Fear, one of my favorites.
Reviews are adored :3