Chapter 4: The Moment Before Truth

Disclaimer: I don't own any Detective Conan/Case Closed characters

Kazuha and Shinichi walked side by side for a long time, in complete silence and without a clear destination. Well, at least to Shinichi, he had no idea where they were heading. He was just following Kazuha.

And he was thinking really hard about what Kazuha just said, and he felt chilly all over.

Does it mean that … that Ran is not really THAT special to me, after all?

He wanted to slap himself when the thought popped up.

How could I even think of that? Ran has been patiently waiting for me for so long! Of course I love Ran!

But he felt really helpless while reflecting on what Kazuha just said. Yes, he risked his life to save Ran multiple times, but gosh, like she said, he also did the same for Kazuha, for Hattori, for Haibara, for the Young Detective League kids, and for many other people. If you ask him, he would do that to anybody without second thought.

He had been so convinced that he loved Ran. What he had done for her must be out of love. He would not hesitate to risk his own life to save hers. But what Kazuha just said totally shattered his belief.

"Kudo-kun," Kazuha broke the long silence, "Thank you for accompanying me walking around Kyoto today. I had a really good time." She beamed at him. "I think now I am ready to go back to Osaka and face Heiji."

"Ah?" Shinichi was still a bit zoned out, "you are going back now?"

Now that she was talking about it, Shinichi realized they were already standing in front of the Kyoto Station.

"Yes." Kazuha said, "I thought about what you said. Maybe you are right. Heiji did a lot to me, and that … might still … might still mean something."

She looked at him with a faint smile: "I will try to have a good sleep tonight and confess to him tomorrow. This will be my last try, I think …" Her shaky voice betrayed her uneasiness, "If he … Well, I am not sure if I can handle even more frustrations …"

"What?" Shinichi felt a bit … fooled !

How come she is convinced by me? When I am almost convinced by her?

So who is right?

Suddenly his cell phone rang. It must be Hattori or Ran. Shinichi thought to himself.

While he was still debating whether to pick it up or not, he looked down and realized that the caller ID was … Mom.

With a slight sigh of relief, he answered the call.

"Hey, Mom," his eyes turned into half-moon shape, "What's up?"

"Shin-chan!" Mom's voice was as lively as usual.

Just like Kazuha's voice … Wait, what am I thinking?

Shinichi shook his head and forced his thought back to the phone conversation.

"Shin-chan! You know what?" Yukiko almost yelled, "You are accepted by Harvard!"

Harvard … Kazuha … Harvard … Ran … Kazuha …

For a few seconds, Shinichi was at loss what was the right response to what he just heard.

"… Shin-chan? Are you listening?" Yukiko was concerned when she didn't hear any response from Shinichi. But in no time she realized what was the problem, "Of course, Shin-chan, I know you don't want to come to the states because of Ran-chan, but I am sure there are something that you guys can work out!"

"Mom, can we not talk about it now?" Shinichi hang up the phone before Yukiko could further protest.

Great, Harvard accepted him.

Yes, now his ego had been satisfied.

According to his original plan, now that he was really accepted by Harvard, he should decline without second thought because he wanted to stay with Ran. But …

"What's up? Kudo-kun?" Kazuha looked at Shinichi's uneasy expression. She was quite concerned.

"Is there anything … to be concerned about … about your mom or your dad?" She asked, quite concerned. Of course, she just heard Shinichi saying "mom" over the phone and Shinichi's face did not seem to suggest something pleasant.

"No …" Looking at her beautiful emerald eyes, Shinichi skipped a heartbeat.

"Kazuha-chan … My Mom just told me that … that I am accepted by Harvard …"

"Really? Congratulations!" Kazuha's eyes widened with joy. She jumped at the news and gave Shinichi a sincere, warm-hearted hug.

Shinichi froze, while Kazuha's widespread arms circled him and her soft chest touched his, even for just a brief split of second.

It was just a friendly hug, an innocent hug between friends. But …

While Kazuha quickly withdrew from the hug, something suddenly occurred to her.

"Sorry Kudo-kun … You won't go … of course … Ran-chan …" Kazuha felt both embarrassed and sorry that she somehow couldn't make up a complete sentence. HowBut Shinichi knew what she wanted to say.

"… Will you … will you go?" He nervously uttered out his true concern.

"Me? Go where?" Kazuha was surprised that the topic of the conversation suddenly became herself, but she soon saw the connection here. "Ah I see …"

Yes, she was also accepted by Harvard, and that was the very reason that prompted her to confess to Heiji yesterday.

"You know …" She lowered her eyelids, "you know, I just said I would give it a last try to confess to Heiji … It all depends on what he says …"

Shinichi felt some unexplainable heartache, and before he knew it, words escaped his mouth: "If I go, will you go as well?"

Both of them were dumbfounded by this question.

A long silence befell.

"Kudo-kun …" Kazuha tried to break the awkwardness, "I see no connection between your decision and mine … right?"

"Never mind …" Shinichi hoped there was a time machine so that he could take back what he just said.

Indeed, what am I thinking? It's myself and Ran that I should be thinking about now! Just like Kazuha is thinking about herself and Heiji! There is no damn connection between the future of Kudo Shinichi and the future of Toyama Kazuha!

"I am sorry, Kazuha-chan," He looked away so that the girl wouldn't notice the how red his face had turned, "I must be really tired."

Kazuha, whose mind was still occupied by Heiji, quickly dismissed it as an innocent slip of tongue.

"Sorry, Kudo-kun, for keeping you busy yesterday and today with my stupid lovesickness." Kazuha thanked him, wholeheartedly. She was grateful that she could get to know Shinichi better. Such a nice person, indeed.

Kazuha's phone beeped. She looked at the phone: another incoming message.

Kazuha sighed. It must be from Heiji again.

In the past 24 hours, she already received hundreds of messages from her childhood friend.

"Where are you ahou!"

"Call me back idiot!"

"Are you out of your mind stupid woman!"

"Stop playing hide-and-seek blockhead!"

"…"

"…"

Kazuha suddenly found that she didn't like their name-calling routines anymore. In the past seventeen years people around them already got used to their mutual "ahou" calling and so did themselves.

But who, especially a sensitive, insecure, unconfident girl would like to be called "idiot," "ahou," "stupid," and "ugly" by the boy she loved wholeheartedly all the time?

She felt tired.

And she almost had the urge to delete this new, unread message right away.

But then she realized it was from an unknown number.

With some relief and some curiosity, Kazuha pressed on the message:

"Happa-chan, this is Ōoka Momiji. You must have been wondering about who is Heiji-kun's first love. Come to the Sannon Temple if you want to know the answer."

Kazuha was almost trembling. Deep inside she had some pretty good guess of what she would hear from Momiji.

Is she … going to tell me what I think she will tell me?

She felt the courage that Shinichi just gave her to face Heiji again was quickly draining.

So, it is really her? Heiji's first love … Momiji … what a beautiful couple …

The scene of the kiss between Heiji and Momiji came to her mind again and made her dizzy.

Kazuha felt more vulnerable than ever.

"Okay." Her shaky hand typed a concise reply.

"Is it Hattori?" Shinichi looked at Kazuha who was checking her phone message. He saw that her face became saddened all of a sudden while staring at her phone, and that sight made his heart ache.

Kazuha was silent for a few seconds. Instead of answering him, she squeezed a smile at Shinichi, "I need to use the restroom before I jump on the train. Bye Kudo-kun! Thank you for everything!"

"See you …" Shinichi was not exactly surprised by the sudden farewell. Kazuha did not ask him to come along but he volunteered himself nonetheless. From the beginning he knew it was just a short trip and they would say goodbye sometime soon. After that, he would go back to Ran in Tokyo, and Kazuha would go back to Heiji in Osaka.

Last night and today was just a one-time intersection. They would separate and go on their respective paths soon after.

But he did not want to say goodbye. It all happened too fast.

However, as much as he wanted to grab Kazuha's hand and ask her to stay a bit longer, there was no way he could stop a girl from going to the restroom. Staring at her back disappearing into the big crowds coming in and out of the Kyoto Station, he sighed deeply and went to the ticket machine to buy his own return ticket to Tokyo.

He had a long, long day, and there were many, many things he need to recollect and rethink, over and over again. About his feeling for Ran, about his future, college, and about … Kazuha …?

At least, the 2 hours of uninterrupted time on the bullet train would be helpful.

He took his ticket from the ticket machine and walked to the entrance.

Kudo Shinichi suddenly felt very, very uneasy.

And in no time, he identified the source of his uneasiness.

He saw a girl with ponytail, in red dress and red hair ribbon, running out of the station.

Wait, what is she doing here? She should have already boarded the Osaka-bound train?

Without second thought, he pushed his way into the overwhelming weekend crowds to catch up with the girl.

What is she doing? She is not going back to Osaka? Anything wrong?

He felt more and more uneasy as he saw girl's figure quickly disappearing in the crowds.

"Kazuha-chan!"

He yelled at the top of his voice, which attracted the attention of many people. However, Kazuha was probably too far to hear him.

"Kazuha! Wait for me!"

While he continued to call out Kazuha's name, many people around him chuckled.

"Lost your pretty girlfriend, young man?"

"Get the girl back!"

"…"

Shinichi was not at all interested in explaining the already messed up situation to strangers. All he cared about at this moment was to find Kazuha. He sensed something bad would happen to the innocent girl if he couldn't find her right away.

Shinichi congratulated himself for bring Conan's tracking glasses. Although Kazuha was already faraway, he could still see the direction she was heading to. However, it was really hard to catch up his speed in such a large crowd. It would have been so much easier with the small body of Conan. Well, even better if he had Conan's skateboard with him.

But anyway, Kudo Shinichi was an expert of tracking people down.

And he saw Kazuha running to the direction of … Sannon Temple?

Shinichi felt his head spinning.

Heiji was racing on his motorbike with full speed. He needed the constant strong, cool breeze to clear his mind.

Just yesterday, to his utter surprise, Ōoka Momiji, the girl who claimed to be his fiancé before, appeared on the campus of Kaihou High School.

"Heiji, I am your first love." Momiji declared to Heiji with confidence.

"What?" Heiji couldn't believe what he just heard. He already found out his dear Kazuha was also his first love, a fact that thrilled him.

"Heiji-kun," With her usual graceful smile, Momiji extended her hand to Heiji, "do you recognize this?"

It is one pearl earring.

"I saw the interview of you and the picture of you showing the pearl from your first love," She examined at the pearl earring, which must have cost a fortune, with a smile of affection, "And I realize it is mine."

She looked up at Heiji, "You know, I lost one of my pearl earrings nine years ago. And when I saw your picture I realize you have my lost pearl."

Satisfied with the surprised look of Heiji, Momiji moved closer and closer to Heiji, finally landing her lips on his.

Heiji's eyes wide opened. He knew Momiji was talking nonsense. The pearl belonged to the stolen Buddha statue which he had found and sent back to the Sannon Temple. And it could not be from an earring anyway, as Kazuha did not even have earholes.

"What are you doing!" When he realized the Momiji was forcing a kiss on him, he pushed her away and the girl almost fell.

"Heiji-kun!" Momiji felt humiliated by Heiji's strong reaction. She was quite confident in her own female charm.

No man could resist me. So she believed.

She already felt humiliating enough when last time Heiji told her that the fiancé thing was an utter misunderstanding. How could he destroy her like that? For a decade, she had been loyally waiting for their next meeting when he would finally marry her!

But Heiji simply told her it was not at all what he had promised her.

Never in her life had she been rejected so mercilessly like that.

Then Iori showed her the Heiji's interview, in which he talked about his first love.

"So he hasn't found her yet …" Realizing that Heiji's first love was a Kyoto girl, Momiji found that she had another chance to finally win over her "fiancé."

But that was what she got … a second humiliation …

And Heiji, while rapidly walking away from Momiji, felt more annoyed than ever. He hoped Kazuha didn't see what just happened.

But … He swore he saw Kazuha's ponytail and her yellow ribbon disappearing into the dazzling afternoon sunshine.

Damn it! That stupid woman must have seen it and misunderstood! I've got to explain to her!

He called her right away. Well, she didn't pick up, as expected.

He sent her dozens or hundreds of messages. He called her parents, his parents, Ōtaki-han, Mikiko-chan, and then Nee-chan and Kudo in Tokyo, and even the Young Detective League kids! He looked for her at all the places they usually go together.

He couldn't sleep last night, worrying about the safety of that ahou.

Where could she go? Where would she hide? Does she hate me? How can I explain?

Until he received the 2 photos from an unknown ID:

My Kazuha, and … Kudo.

In the first one, Kazuha's head was slightly tilting forward, revealing her smooth, porcelain neckline. She is in a dazzling red dress that he had never seen her wearing before. Behind her, Kudo is tying a red ribbon on her signature ponytail. The angle of the photo made it hard to see the expressions on both their faces, but it was clear that both of them were blushing.

In the second one, Kudo is putting both his damn arms around Kazuha's tiny waist and she is leaning into his embrace with a bright, carefree smile.

Heiji felt his blood turning cold, then hot, then cold again …

Just then, another incoming message:

Want to know more about how your girl betrayed you? Come to Sannon Temple before dawn.

The word "betray" hit Heiji like a hammer-blow.

And here he was. Kyoto, Sannon Temple.

When Heiji walked into the courtyard of the temple, he felt his breath was taken away by the familiar sight: the old cherry tree, the flying sakura petals, and most importantly, a figure …

A figure of a young girl in red kimono.

The last rays of light from the sinking sun dazzled Heiji's eyes. The figure was indistinct, but at that moment he couldn't think of anything else.

Kazuha … Kazuha … My Kazuha …

He picked up his pace, walked closer and closer to the girl, and once his trembling hands touched her shoulder, he told himself it was not a dream. Without hesitation, he hugged her from behind as hard as he could.

"Do you know you are my first love …" He buried his head in her neck.

"You … it has always been you … only you …"

To be continued ...

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for my update, I thank you for your patience and faithfulness. I don't plan to leave this story, as well as two other HeiKazu stories I have been writing, unfinished. But with your reviews and messages I have more motivations to keep up writing and fantasizing! Please Read and Review!

And spoiler/warning: the next chapter contains smutty content. Please skip if you don't feel comfortable.