Chapter 2: A Heart-to-Heart Conversation Between Two Unlikely Friends
Disclaimer: I don't own any Detective Conan/Case Closed characters.
So what do you think? Anything completely out of character so far? Please review!
Kazuha silently followed Shinichi to his house.
While Shinichi was busy looking for changing clothes from his mother's wardrobe and setting up a hot bath for her, Kazuha's mind was still in Osaka, preoccupied by her dear childhood friend.
After going through various possibilities on the train to Tokyo, Kazuha finally decided that Kudo's house was her best hideout. Heiji would not have guessed that. And she knew, from Kudo's experience pretending to be Conan for so long without Ran noticing, that Kudo could be a really good liar if he wanted to.
Also, after all, Kudo was Heiji's best friend and they were alike in every little way. Although she told herself that she should give up on Heiji now after witnessing the kiss he had shared with Momiji, she still held some faint hope deep in her heart. She really wanted to read Heiji's mind, but she couldn't. Although they had grown up together and had practically spent almost every day together, she felt she did not know her childhood friend at all.
She knew Kudo and Heiji were incredibly close and alike. She wanted find out more about what Heiji was really thinking from Kudo's perspective.
"Kazuha-chan!" Shinichi called her from upstairs after the bath was all set up. "The bath is ready. I also found you some dry clothes. They are my mom's and should fit you."
Kazuha looked at this pale-skinned boy, who was as handsome as her dark-skinned friend. She squeezed out a polite smile and silently walked upstairs to the bathroom.
"What she's doing here without Hattori …" Shinichi grumbles, as he had not yet heard a single word from Kazuha after she had entered his home. But he, as a shrewd detective, could not have missed the overwhelming sadness in her beautiful emerald eyes. In his impression, Kazuha had always been energetic, loud, and upbeat. Now thinking about it, he actually quite enjoyed Kazuha's presence ever since he was Conan. She and Heiji really made a hilarious couple whose fights and arguments never failed to amuse everybody around them. He could not help laughing when he recalled the multiple times that Heiji failed to confess to Kazuha.
"What are you laughing about?"
Shinichi turned back, and saw Kazuha had come out of the bath, wearing a beautiful red dress that belonged to his mom. "It really fits her." He thought to himself. Her mom, the famous actress Kudo Yukiko, had a nice figure and liked cute clothes. Thinking about that, Kazuha and his mom were alike in many ways …
"Nothing major …" Shinichi felt a bit embarrassed to make the connection between Kazuha and his mom, even though it was only in his mind. He scratched his head, "I was just thinking about you and Hattori …"
He paused when he saw Kazuha's eyes instantly turns cloudy at the word "Hattori."
Kazuha sighed, and walked to the couch that Shinichi was sitting on. She sat down, and looked Shinichi into his eyes, making him a little uncomfortable.
"Kudo-kun, may I ask you a question?"
Shinichi nodded, wondering where the conversation was heading.
"Kudo-kun … when did you find out that your feeling for Ran-chan is actually more than your childhood friend or a little sister?" She looked at Shinichi, really curious and almost begging him for the answer.
"I …" Shinichi felt embarrassed about this question. He only told Hattori about it before when they were in Kyoto a while back. He had not even told Ran. But now looking at Kazuha's begging eyes, he felt compelled to share his little secret with her.
"Ok, Kazuha-chan, I will tell you." He smiled at Kazuha, and pleased to see some sparkles in her eyes.
"Etto … It was probably two years ago, once I totally forgot about that Ran and I were to have dinner that night. When I finally remembered it was already several hours later. I felt really guilty, and ran as fast as I could to our meeting place. Although I was telling myself she must be furious with me and must have already left, and I was praying that she would not beat me up with her karate …" He scratched his head, laughing with apparent embarrassment.
"And then?" Kazuha was into the story. Well, the same thing had happened between Heiji and herself countless times, with her always waiting for Heiji who always forgot about her when he ran into cases.
"Then … I was really surprised and felt really guilty when I saw Ran was still there waiting for me …" Shinichi's eyes softened, "And she smiled at me, truly sincerely, and said, 'that's great Shinichi, you are ok! I was worried that you might got into some kind of trouble.' …"
"Oh …" Kazuha's eyes opened widely, "That is so Ran-chan … she is always so gentle, so understanding, unlike me …" She sighed.
"You know, Kudo-kun, if it was me, I would call Heiji 'ahou' a thousand times and use my Aikido to beat him up …" She lowered her head in frustration.
That is why. Kazuha thought to herself. That is why Kudo and Ran-chan could become lovers but Heiji and she could not. Of course, Heiji would never like a violent girl like herself. He was already nice enough to put up with her for so long because they were childhood friends …
"Kazuha-chan, is it why you are here tonight? To ask me about Ran and I?" Shinichi, from Kazuha's question, already guessed that Kazuha was comparing herself and Heiji with Ran and him. It really did not take a famous detective to figure out that something troubling must have happened between the Kansai couple that this girl wanted to ask for his advice.
Shinichi's question interrupted Kazuha's self-reflections.
"Kudo-kun …" Kazuha closed her eyes. The cherry tree, Heiji, Momiji, and the kiss, all came up to her mind. New tears started to roll down her face.
"Kazuha-chan …" Shinichi was a little bit frightened by the tears of Kazuha. He knew that Kazuha's cry could be really loud. But today, she made no high-pitched screaming sound, just sobbing quietly.
This was the first time that Shinichi had the opportunity to take his time and look at Kazuha carefully. Before, she was always with Heiji, or with Ran, except for the brief time that he tried to rescue her from the Gyokuryu Temple in Kyoto, he and Kazuha literally had no opportunity to have any alone time. Of course, none of them felt that was an issue that need to be addressed. Shinichi had Ran, and Kazuha had Heiji. Although for a long time Shinichi and Ran were not officially dating, although Kazuha and Heiji were still not officially dating even now, they all understood the proper balance among the four of them.
And in Shinichi's eyes … Kazuha was a really pretty girl. Her hair was now down, without her signature ponytail, and also wet from the bath she just took. She was different from Ran. Her face was rounder, and her eyes were emerald while Ran's were sapphire. Like Heiji said before, Kazuha truly looked like a super cute little sister, even though she was actually several months older than Heiji.
Also, like what he had already observed, his mom's red dress really complimented Kazuha's nice figure. She was slim but strong, given her rigorous Aikido training. She also had a nice curve that made her fit perfectly into his mom's dress — Don't forget his mom used to be Japan's no.1 actress.
Yes, Kazuha and his mom really shared quite some similarities. The Kazuha in Shinichi's impression always had this aura of high spirit around her that in whatever circumstance people wouldn't fail to notice this was a super jovial girl. Just like his mom.
" … Kazuha-chan." Shinichi finally decided he could not bear the silence anymore and broke out the question, "I know there must be something wrong between you and Hattori, and that was why you are here, right? Can you tell me what happened? Trust me, I can beat him up if he mistreated you in anyway." He waved his fist and smirked at her.
A little bit of smile appeared on Kazuha's face, which was quite to Shinichi's delight. But the smile soon disappeared with more tears rolling down from her eyes.
"… Kudo-kun, I am sorry for bothering you tonight …" Kazuha swallowed some tears that flowed into her mouth, and started talking.
"You see, I am here because I don't want Heiji to find me, and I know you are quite good at lying …"
"Kazuha-chan …" Shinichi's eyes turned half-moon. What does this girl want to say? She came to his house to call him a liar?
Kazuha saw Shinichi's expression and realized that what she said did not sound polite at all. She became quite embarrassed and her face became as red as a tomato. "Sorry Kudo-kun! I don't mean it in any negative way! I just want to say that you did a really good job covering your real identity as Conan-kun so I thought you could probably help me to hide my whereabout from Heiji …"
Seeing her uneasiness, Shinichi sighed and decided to let it go, "It is Ok, Kazuha-chan. I know what you mean." Actually, thinking about it, he was not that upset, but instead quite amused to see Kazuha's face becoming so red. "Sure, I will cover you up from Hattori. But … Kazuha-chan, you are really not yourself today. You are the world's most high-spirited girl in my impression. But today I can hardly recognize you!"
"Sorry …" Kazuha lowered her eyelids, with more tears rolling down. "You see, Heiji and I …Well .." She wondered where should she start with, "you know … I am accepted by Harvard …"
"Really?" Shinichi couldn't believe his ears, "You applied to Harvard? And got accepted?"
Kazuha was surprised by Shinichi's response, "Yes … but Shinichi, I am not here to discuss with you about my Harvard admission."
"Ah, right …" Shinichi scratched his head, quite embarrassed, "anyway, congratulations for being accepted by Harvard … not everyone can do that, you know?"
Shinichi didn't want to tell Kazuha that he was actually envious of her, because he, Kudo Shinichi, had also applied for Harvard but hadn't received the admission yet. His parents really wanted him to have an American college education. But he didn't want to leave Ran. However, under the pressure of his parents he applied for Harvard, half-heartedly. He didn't tell Ran, of course.
Not that he really wanted to go to Harvard, but his ego was hurt when he was not yet accepted. In the ideal scenario, he would get the admission and declare he would give it up out of love of Ran. But now that he heard Kazuha had already received the admission while he himself had not, his ego got really hurt.
"That is not the point, Kudo-kun." Kazuha frowned, appearing to be a bit annoyed that Shinichi is still focused on Stanford.
"Hey, that's not fair Kazuha-chan!" Shinichi became annoyed as well, "You are the one who brought up Harvard! How come you blame me for not to the point? Ahou!"
Kazuha's mouth opened wide when she heard "ahou" from Shinichi, but then she gathered her thoughts and started chuckle, "Kudo-kun, you really sound Heiji now, calling me 'ahou.'"
Shinichi realized what he said was totally out of character. Does this girl have some magic that can turn people around her into ahou-calling ahou instantly?
"Alright, Kudo-kun na ahou …" Kazuha continued chuckling until she realized she hasn't even started telling Shinichi what had happened today.
"Sorry, my bad …" She looked at Shinichi with an apologizing look, and continued, "I am quite ambivalent about the admission. Of course I am happy that I am accepted by one of the world's best universities, but that also means that I will say goodbye to Heiji for four years …"
"That's right …" Shinichi nodded, understandingly. He had exactly the same thought about Ran. There was no way he would go while keep Ran waiting for another four years. She had already waited for him for too long.
"But, Kudo-kun," Kazuha bit her lips, her eyes darkened, "… Kudo-kun … I really love Heiji …"
Shinichi gasped. Although he had long known about the Kansai couple's feelings about each other, he was definitely not prepared to hear Kazuha's love confession to Heiji at this moment. He felt quite ambivalent now.
On the one hand, he was happy that the feelings between Heiji and Kazuha were mutual. He knew his dark-skinned buddy loved this girl. After all, he had witnessed how many times Heiji risked his life to save Kazuha, probably as many times as he, Kudo Shinichi, had risked his own life to save Ran. In light of that, it was assuring to hear that Kazuha also loved his best buddy just as much.
However, on the other hand, Shinichi felt really embarrassed that he, instead of Heiji, heard this lovely confession. He really hoped his idiot buddy could be here to hear what this beautiful girl just said. Now that he had heard it, how should he respond? Congratulations?
Shinichi felt really troubled now. Should he tell her that Hattori was really going to confess to her in multiple occasions but somehow got all screwed up? But did he have the right to do that? It was Hattori's confession after all, and he knew how Hattori cared about picking the right moment and the right place to confess. He, as Hattori's best friend, could not spoil his plan, even though he had no idea what was Hattori's most recent plan for the time being.
But him being him, the smart Detective of the East, Shinichi quickly figured out by following Kazuha's train of thought, "Kazuha-chan, I see. So you want Hattori to make this decision for you - If he feels the same way about you, you will decline the Harvard admission and stay with him in Japan. But if otherwise …" Well, he didn't have the heart to say "otherwise," and he also had the confidence there was such "otherwise."
"You are smart …" Kazuha smiled, feeling she has made the right decision to come to talk to Shinichi, as he really had a clue, unlike that ahou Heiji.
"So you went to confess to Heiji?" Shinichi gave Kazuha a naughty wink, feeling totally relieved by assuming that Hattori heard Kazuha's confession before he did. So in that case, there was no burden for him to carry on behalf of his best friend.
But soon his smile froze … Wait, so she did confess to Heiji, but now she is here, in his house, thousands of miles away from Osaka, crying …
Did that idiot screw up? How could he screw up? Shinichi felt perplexed and angry.
Well, knowing Hattori being Hattori, Shinichi felt his idiot friend could never fail to be even more ahou when it comes to his love life …
Meanwhile, Kazuha's eyes were filled with even more tears. She tried to hold the tears back so she could speak, "right … I was about to confess, but I saw him and Momiji-san …"
"Momiji-san?" Shinichi was startled, "You mean that arrogant girl from Kyoto?" Damn, how come Momiji is involved? Shinichi had the uneasy feeling about where Kazuha's story was going.
Kazuha nodded, let out a long sigh, and finally said what she really didn't want to say,
"I saw them kissing …"
"What?" Shinichi couldn't believe what he just heard. He couldn't believe that Heiji would kiss any girl other than Kazuha, just like him, Kudo Shinichi, would never kiss any girl other than Ran … well, they had not really kissed so far … Ok, that's off topic, the focus here was, something must be wrong.
"Kazuha-chan, I think there must be some misunderstanding about the kiss that you saw …" He decided to spoke up on behalf of his buddy, "I am sure what you saw must be a misunderstanding. I am sure Hattori has an explanation …"
"He always has an explanation, didn't he?" Kazuha looked at Shinichi into his eyes. Shinichi shivered at her gaze, as if she was accusing himself instead of Heiji.
Kazuha sighed, "Like the time when he said my ponytail made him itchy, like the time when he denied saying 'my Kazuha,' like the time he told me about the nonsense of porridge tastes better with eggs …" She paused a bit and sighed again, "I don't want to hear his explanation any more …"
"…" Shinichi opened his mouth, trying to say something for Heiji, but was completely out of words. If it was Ran who saw him kissing another girl, would Ran want to hear him explaining? Well … that's not going to happen anyway. He would not kiss another girl so this scenario was entirely imaginary.
Shinichi felt quite angry with Heiji. Whatever the explanation is, which he was really curious to find out now, he could not help but to curse his idiotic friend.
Hattori, how come you screwed up so badly? Shinichi shook his head, helplessly.
"Well, what do I have to compete with Momiji-san …" Kazuha sighed. "She is beautiful, rich, and … don't you boys all like girls with big boobs like her?"
"That's not true." Shinichi protested, "Yes Momiji-san has big boobs, but hers are too big to make the sight actually attractive. Trust me, boys like your type of boobs better, just the right shape and size …"
"Ah?" Kazuha couldn't believe what she just heard.
"Ah?" Shinichi couldn't believe what he just said.
Well, he knew exactly how Kazuha's breasts felt like because he, of course back in Conan's form, touched them for a good minute when they met for the very first time in Osaka. Kazuha, at that time mistaking Ran as the woman named "Kudo" who obviously spent way too much time with Heiji than she would like to see, did not notice the little boy sitting between Ran and herself when she leaned closer and closed to Ran while talking to her. Well, it was at that awkward moment that Conan's innocent hands rested right on the breasts of Kazuha, whose body was looming over the blushing little 7-year old. It was not his fault, of course, but somehow till now his hands still remembered the shape and feeling of her chest ...
"Etto … Kazuha-chan," Shinichi, fully embarrassed, tried to change the topic and run away from the scene, "you must be cold and thirsty. I will make some hot tea for you. Please wait a bit …" With that, he stood up and ran away. He also needed some space to process what he just heard. He really couldn't believe his love-struck friend could kiss another girl other than Kazuha. But …
When Shinichi came back with the tea tray, he found a soundly asleep Kazuha in the couch, her hair still wet, and tears still hang on her long, curly eyelashes.
"Ahou … Heiji …" She murmured in her dream.
Shinichi's heart softened when he heard Kazuha's dream talk. Finally, his heart was not as heavy as a moment ago, seeing the girl was not completely mad with his best friend.
He put down the tea tray and tried to wake her up, "Kazuha-chan, if you want to sleep, you better go to the bedroom. I already cleaned up a guest bedroom …"
After shaking Kazuha for five minutes without the girl showing the slightest possibility of waking up, Shinichi sighed. This girl was the dictionary definition of sleeping like a log.
Shinichi scratched his head, and finally decided to carry her to the bedroom. He bent down, picked her up in bridal style, and walked upstairs to the guest bedroom.
"Heiji …" Kazuha continued to murmur her childhood friend's name while her left cheek pressed close to Shinichi's chest. Shinichi suddenly felt some itchiness, maybe from the hot breadth she let out while murmuring Heiji's name.
After he put Kazuha on the bed, Shinichi found there was a big problem: Kazuha could not let go of his right arm!
"… Heiji … don't go …" She murmured, without opening her eyes, but tears continued to roll out of her eyes.
"Kazuha-chan …" Shinichi became quite nervous. Kazuha's hold was really tight and his arm was practically caught up between her soft breasts. Blushing like a tomato, he tried hard to retrieve his arm from her grasp, but this Aikido champion surely had very strong grip. What made it worse, when he attempted to move his trapped right arm in any direction, it ended up massaging Kazuha's breasts in one direction or another. And he could obviously feel that this girl was not wearing a bra …
Shinichi sighed with his fully reddened face. Of course, her bra must be still wet and hanging in the bathroom …
"… Heiji … don't go … I love you …" Kazuha was still murmuring, probably dreaming of an alternative universe when she confessed to Heiji in real life and received his love in return.
Shinichi gaze softened. He looked at Kazuha's crying, sleeping face. She's beautiful and tender. He thought to himself.
After staring at Kazuha's sleeping face for another five minutes or so and still could not pull out his right arm, Shinichi decided the only thing he could do was to sleep by her side. He felt quite embarrassed. He only slept by Ran's side while trapped in Conan's body. This was the first time he'd ever slept next to a grown-up girl of his age. He felt his body becoming hot, especially with his right arm still tightly trapped between the girls' soft and nicely shaped breasts.
Damn … Hattori … How could Hattori break the heart of such a precious girl? Had Kazuha not asked him keep her whereabout a secret from Hattori, he would have called Hattori right now and curse this idiot.
Well, as if Hattori was reading his mind thousands of miles away in Osaka, right at this moment, Shinichi's cell phone rang, and the caller ID is no one but Hattori Heiji.
"Hattori …" Shinichi looked at the wall clock, "It is 2 am …"
"Kudo!" Heiji's voice almost broke Shinichi's eardrum, "I cannot find Kazuha!"
Looking at the girl lying next to her who still grabbed his arm tightly but unconsciously, Shinichi shook his head, and sighed into the phone: "what happened to her, you idiot …"
Heiji sounds frantic, "She left school before school is finished without telling me! I have been calling her for hours but she is not answering! She is not home and her parents are in America. And I just called Nee-chan and Nee-chan said Kazuha didn't come to her, either! Do you know where she could have gone?"
Shinichi took a deep breath, "Hattori, listen. This is your woman you are talking about, not mine. What are you thinking to call me and ask me where is your woman?"
"She is not my woman!" Heiji denied without thinking. How can Kudo embarrass him now when he is so worried about Kazuha? But he realized that he actually liked the way Kudo put it "… you are right …" Heiji quieted down, "sorry bud, I am a bit … not myself when it comes to her …"
"I know, ahou." Shinichi sighed. "You know, Hattori … Please be nice to her. She deserves it." Without listening to the response from Heiji, he hung up the phone.
"Ah?" Heiji, hearing the dial tone in the phone, had no clue why Kudo said something like that.
Shinichi, meanwhile, tried to suppress the tingling in his stomach caused by the close contact of his right arm and Kazuha's breasts. Fortunately, there was still his sleeve and her dress in between, otherwise, he would not be able to sleep at all tonight. Shinichi managed to keep whatever that went wrong in his mind under control. After cursing Heiji for a few more times, he fell asleep as well.
To be continued ...
So what do you think so far? It is very hard to write a story about an unlikely couple. Although I am a BIG fan of Heiji x Kazuha, I am also not against trying something new occasionally.
I started thinking about this story when I thought about the relationships of the parents' generation in DC. Kogoro and Eri are the only childhood-friends-turned-married-couple in DC. They undoubtedly love each other and care about each other deeply, but they cannot get along. Isn't it in some way similar to Heiji and Kazuha's relationship? Although we find HeiKazu's bickering hilarious, in real life, if those kinds of bickering continue into the real married life, it could be consuming and even devastating. Heiji's possessiveness of Kazuha is incredibly cute in the story, but again, it would be a kill in an actual marriage.
The two happily married couples in DC are Heizo X Shizuka and Yusaku X Yukiko. It is not hard to imagine that Shinichi growing up to be a person like his father, romantic and gentlemanlike. And Kazuha, more than Ran, resembles Yukiko. In real life, man and woman like Shinichi and Kazuha could actually make a lasting married couple. So here comes this crazy story.
And of course, this is just an imaginary AU that will fortunately never take place in DC :) We know the bonds between Shin-Ran and Hei-Kazu are unbreakable :)
Please review!