Seeing Green
Drabble 3: Discovery

Notes: Again we have the unconventional Heiji. Really, does the man do anything like a normal person does?

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School had been unusually boring and very quiet without her there. During first period, when there usually would be an outbreak of some sort with shrill voices and harsh words, an unnerving silence had enveloped the room. Of course, some of his guy friends had the nerve to approach him after second period to tease him, "Where's your wife today, eh?"

Needless to say, after he was through with them, they dropped the subject entirely.

He had to swallow his pride for a bit when he asked his mother after school if she could make a pot of soup, seeing as he was no cook. And then she just had to go smile in that proud, knowing way as she asked what ("Or whom?" she's said with an arched eyebrow) the soup was for. After several denials that the soup was for anyone -- but she wouldn't take the denials, for she had to know just who the soup was for in case she needed to add a little extra spice to it, as she knew a certain special friend of her son liked her soup spicy -- Heiji had grit his teeth and muttered, "Kazuha."

So off he went next door to the Toyama house armed with a surgical mask over his nose and mouth and a big pot of soup in his hands. After ringing the doorbell, he waited for a few seconds before ringing it again. And again.

He was about to reach for the bell to ring it for a sixth time when Kazuha opened the door for two seconds and slammed it in his face. Blink. Then she opened it again.

"What was that for?" Heiji growled, his words somewhat gargled by the mask.

Kazuha looked far too out of sorts to argue, so she settled for glaring at him with her watery eyes in return. "Don't be a jackass. Just ring it once," she replied in her low, scratchy voice. Heiji mentally winced. It was always strange when Kazuha got sick. Usually her throat was affected every time, so naturally she would never yell at him when she wasn't feeling well. A welcome break really, for his poor ears, but sometimes it was really unnerving.

She stepped back to let him in and slowly trudged back up the stairs to her room. Heiji, meanwhile, closed the front door behind him and went to the kitchen to prepare the soup for Kazuha.

When he opened the door to her room, she was already lying in bed with a towel draped over her forehead. Her eyes were bleary as she turned to look at him. In her lime green pajamas with her loose hair disheveled and fever-induced red cheeks, the other half of the detective of the West (though he would never ever admit that) was not looking her best at all.

"Mom made you some soup," he explained, looking away. Was that a blush on his face? "She said I should go over and take care of you since you're sick and all."

"You didn't have to," she replied as she sat up with a bit of difficulty, coughing. Good lordy, that was a lot of phlegm.

Heiji bit back a laugh as he helped her sit up and placed the tray of food in front of her. "It's cool. Not everyday that I get to see you and you don't yell at me for some stupid reason."

She was about to comment on that when she sneezed into her elbow. Sneezed once, twice, three times. Yep. Definitely a cold.

In other words, she looked positively miserable. As she sipped up her soup and he watched her cough, his eyes grew concerned.

Just like that, all the pieces started to come together. Staying at her bedside showed a side to her that he'd never seen before – just like in the middle of a case, when he just out of nowhere noticed a piece of evidence that no one else took note of – and it all became clear. The puzzle that he came to label Toyama Kazuha was complete.

It was quite funny, really. The great detective of the West finally figured out that he was in love with his best friend, and frankly, she looked like crap.

"What are you staring at? It's bad enough I'm sick; I don't need to deal with you staring at me," she replied as best as she could with a stuffed-up nose. Not caring much for protocol anymore, she took a tissue from the box nearby and blew her nose into it.

A smile curled his lips. Poor girl had enough to deal with at the moment.

Maybe he'd share his discovery with her when she got over her cold.

End.