Luck for Freedom
By Kaiyrah
After five long years, Kazuha comes back from London to settle things with her oldest friend. HeijiKazuha platonic, sequel to One Shot at Redemption.
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"I'm coming back."
Hattori Heiji never thought that three simple words left on his voicemail would have such an overpowering effect on him. It was a short, two-second message on his cell, so he could have heard it wrong… He pressed "ok" on his phone to replay the message.
"I'm coming back."
There was no name or number left either – just three words, but in those words he could tell a number of things. The tone of her voice. Pitch. The familiarity of Kansai-ben – though at that point, it was very slight; nearly untraceable – but it was there.
There was no mistake.
It was her.
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Five years she was gone, and those five years were lousy.
No phone calls, no letters, no emails.
Five years of silence and a block in communication. Even when he'd talked to Nee-chan, she explained that Kazuha hadn't contacted her either. Heiji vowed to give her a good earful once he met up with her. How shameful, avoiding contact with everyone when all they wanted was to make sure she was alright.
As he quickly slipped a clean jacket on, his eye caught a particular framed photograph hanging on the wall. It was a picture of himself, Kazuha, and Eiko in the office, laughing.
Heiji frowned. Eiko had worried, too, about Kazuha.
Yes, she was definitely in for a good yelling.
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The only person Kazuha seemed to talk to during the five years was her father. After Heiji had asked Toyama-keiji of her arrival date and time, he'd hurried on to the airport to pick her up.
She certainly had arrived earlier than he had anticipated.
Heiji expected it would take a while to get through immigration and everything. Even so, he stuck around the arrivals waiting area, pacing up and down and looking at his watch.
After he'd been waiting for about 45 minutes and more and more people began to pour out of the terminal, he detected her voice from the crowd. Yes, it was just as high-pitched and annoying as he'd remembered.
"Yes, yes, Tou-chan. Of course I'll visit Oba-san, it's been five years. Whaddya mean you won't let him stay in the house!"
Heiji had to smile. After spending five years in London, her Kansai-ben had faded, but five minutes on the phone with her father brought it back in full form. "Yo, Kazuha!"
She lowered the phone to her shoulder and looked in all directions before finally spotting him and grinning. "Hey, Heiji's here already. I'll see you later, Tou-chan!"
After hanging up the phone, Kazuha stuffed it back into her purse and took off running towards him. As soon as she was close enough, her arms were around him in a fierce hug, and she was all smiles.
Heiji's stunned expression stayed until he awkwardly returned the hug, which ended much sooner than he wanted. But she didn't let go of him completely; her hand still rested in the crook of his elbow. Just like old times.
"Wow, Heiji," she remarked, taking in a breath for effect. "It's been so long. You look completely different."
He shrugged nonchalantly. Honestly, he didn't believe that much had changed. His face had probably grown a bit longer, and his full adult features were probably set in now. If anything, she was the one who looked different.
Her hair was much longer now (and highlighted with lighter browns), and all of it was pulled back with a large clip, forming a fan of sorts behind her head. The part of her bangs was different as well; before she left she'd parted them in the middle, but now they were parted over her left eye. She still was very fresh-faced about her makeup, but clearly she had grown up physically. At second glance, he noticed she was dressed in conservative clothing – a blazer over a shirt with matching slacks – looking quite professional. He didn't fail to notice the diamond ring on her finger, but he decided to stay quiet.
Heiji showed an appreciative smile. "Not as different as you. But you look nice."
"Thanks," she grinned, showing off her glossy lips. "So how's Eiko-chan?"
"She's good," Heiji responded. "Our son's good too."
Her eyes went wide. "Son? You have a son? Heiji, you jerk, why don't you tell me these things?"
He gave an ungentlemanly cough. "Well, someone here decided to be a hermit and avoid her friends for five years."
Kazuha began to laugh but stopped when she heard someone call her name.
Heiji paused as well to witness a handsome foreigner make his way up to Kazuha and chat rapidly with her in some strangely accented Japanese. Something about the stranger was oddly familiar, though Heiji couldn't place it. He chose to interrupt at a small gap in the conversation. "Uh… Kazuha, who exactly is this?"
"Oh, that's right, you two never met," she mused out loud. "Okay, I'll introduce you. Saguru, this is Hattori Heiji, my dear friend. Heiji, this is Hakuba Saguru, my fiancé."
The British detective turned to Heiji for the first time and smirked, a glint of recognition evident in his eye.
The dark-skinned detective could hardly contain his shock as he mentally identified the man. "…Fiancé? Y-you mean… You're her fiancé!"
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"So you two know each other then?" Kazuha asked, wide-eyed.
"Yeah," Heiji affirmed, glaring at the blond detective. "This guy and I were involved in the same case a while back."
"It's rather cliché, but it really is a small world, isn't it?" Hakuba mused. "I hadn't anticipated on Kazuha-san knowing the famous Hattori Heiji."
"You're just as arrogant as I remember, bastard…" Heiji grumbled. Eiko softly reprimanded him for his language.
After scowling at Heiji, Kazuha turned her attention back to the young Keiji as she bounced him gently in her lap. "Aww… You're a cute little guy, yes you are!" The dark-skinned infant gurgled happily. "He's so cute, Eiko-chan. How old?"
Heiji's wife smiled. "He's eight months old now. Just started teething, too. But luckily he's not being too fussy."
"Well, that's good," Kazuha responded, turning to Keiji with a smile. "Hi, baby! Can you say hi to Auntie Kazuha?"
Keiji squealed in reply, to which Kazuha grinned. "Oh man, he's adorable! I can't wait to have kids!"
At her comment, Hakuba cleared his throat rather inconspicuously. Regardless, Kazuha sent him a sheepish smile. Heiji gawked.
Well, what on earth? Just how long had they been together to pick up each other's subtle signs? It had taken him years to figure out the puzzle that was his best friend. Somehow, the thought was beginning to make him feel very, very regretful.
"Ah, where are my manners?" Kazuha spoke. "I'll go make us some tea."
The western detective watched her exit to the kitchen and briefly mentioned to the others that he was going to assist her.
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"I'll help," Heiji offered upon stepping into the kitchen.
Kazuha showed an appreciative smile. "Thanks."
"You know, I was kinda surprised to learn about him," Heiji admitted, taking four teacups from one of the cupboards out of pure habit. He had grown to know this house almost as much as his own.
Kazuha pouted. "Why, did you think that I wouldn't be able to attract a guy? That hurts, Heiji. I'm not that ugly."
"No, you're not," he agreed hastily, and rolled his eyes when she gave him a triumphant grin. "But I mean, I kinda thought that you'd still be wary of guys. I thought you'd still be healing, you know? Our relationship, even if it wasn't romantic for very long, still lasted a long time. Considering that we've known each other since we were little."
"Yeah, I get what you're saying," she nodded. "And it's true. I'll admit, I'm not completely over you. I didn't think that I'd ever be. But then I saw this guy solving a murder case and…"
"I guess you've always got a thing for detectives, then. Even if it ended up being Hakuba."
"Shut up, you. Saguru's not the same man he is to me as he is to you," She stuck her tongue out at him. "But like I was saying, I saw him solving a case, and before I knew it, we were talking regularly." Her eyes softened, "It was kinda painful at first, because he reminded me so much of you. But as we talked more, I began to notice certain differences. After a while, I realized that the pain wasn't there any more."
The western detective swallowed and looked away. For some reason, he couldn't meet her eyes.
"Not only that, but he really just helped me survive in London overall. He can be really helpful. I guess that's where he differs in comparison to you," Kazuha teased as she turned the stove off.
"You say he's helpful, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a jerk," Heiji mumbled.
She frowned. "Hey. I already told you not to say anything bad about Saguru. Besides, who's the one who married first, hmm?"
He looked out the window, to the door. To the kettle with the steeping leaves. Anywhere but her face. "Yeah, I know. Still, I kinda wonder how things would be if we ended up together after all."
She thought for a bit before replying, "It wouldn't work out."
Finally, he looked at her, shocked.
"We're both too stubborn," Kazuha explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We're both stubborn, headstrong, and immovable. We both have too much pride and we refuse to admit our mistakes. On top of that, we argue all the time, which is fine since we're just friends, but if we were married, I'm almost sure there would be a homicide somewhere along the line."
Heiji stared at her incredulously. Strangely, what she said made sense. Minus the homicide part… he doubted that their problems would run that far.
"So instead of being with people so similar to us, we needed to find people who instead complete us where we are empty," she remarked. "And if I'm right, our respective significant others bend to our wills accordingly?"
The detective nodded with a smile. It certainly was true… Eiko wasn't very rebellious toward him, but a part of him really did wish that she would possess more of a backbone.
"Yeah, Saguru's got the idea that I'm more outspoken than the typical Japanese woman… rather, more outspoken than most women in general," Kazuha grinned. "But that's what he loves about me." Her smile faltered. "Hey. Heiji, can I… can I hug you?"
His lips turned up in a smile as he opened his arms to let her through. As her arms encircled his form, her head resting on his shoulder, there was a certain air of familiarity about the situation…
His best friend had come home.
Heiji felt his smile grow a bit wider. Kazuha was one unique woman; he was lucky to have known her.
And Hakuba… Well, Heiji supposed that he would have to get used to him.
But now that he thought about it, Hakuba was rather lucky to have someone like Kazuha – Heiji just wished that he'd had that luck six years ago.
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"Is it really so bad after all, Ran?" Shinichi asked his wife over the cheers of the applauding crowd. "Toyama-san got her happy ending, too."
Ran frowned. "There's no doubt that I'm happy for Kazuha-chan, but…"
"…You wish that she could have ended up with Hattori," he finished for her, to which she nodded. The eastern detective shrugged. "I guess they just figured that they weren't right for each other. You can't help that."
"I know," Ran nodded, blowing her nose gently into a handkerchief. "But I guess as long as they're happy, things are fine."
"So they are," Shinichi agreed, watching as Hakuba and Kazuha made their way down the aisle, wearing million-dollar smiles.
Heiji's eyes softened as he watched them walk down. He was happy for Kazuha, he really was – what kind of best friend would he be, anyway, if he refused to offer his blessing?
And for a split-second, his eyes met hers as she walked past.
Hopefully when I come back, I'll be a stronger person than I am now.
You were my heaven.
I loved you.
And now you've found yours.
Then she turned away again and walked out with Hakuba at her side.
And Heiji was left with an inexplicable smile on his face.
End.
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Let us pray that a separated Heiji and Kazuha never actually happens. I'm not satisfied with how this turned out, but I'm not sure what else to do with it. In any case, I promised a sequel, and I personally felt that Heiji's feelings were left dangling in "One Shot at Redemption," so this remedied that.
As for Kazuha getting married to Hakuba? Not likely either, but when possible I like to avoid creating more than one OC in a fic. The original character I created to be Kazuha's fiancé was based on Hakuba, so I figured why not go for the real thing?
I apologize if the writing style seems to change right in the middle of the fic. I started it mid July and only picked it up again early August, so there's bound to be inconsistency... haha.
As always, Detective Conan is not mine.
Thanks for reading!