AN: Here's the next part in my four seasons + napping series, and we're skipping straight to summer with my OTP, Heikazu! The last and final entry in the series will of course be spring and Shinran. I really love how this one turned out though. I have many feelings about these two Osakan babies. Such good children.

Windchimes

Characters: Kazuha Toyama, Heiji Hattori

Summary: There were few things she loved more than the sound of windchimes.

There were few things that she loved more in the world than the sound of windchimes.

There was something relaxing, almost lulling, about the way they faintly chimed as a breeze blew past them. On a warm summer day, they almost seemed to bring with them a feeling of coolness, a sweet relief from the sometimes oppressive heat. She loved their melody, the sound of it like a pleasant buzz in the background.

And sometimes, when she went looking, she found one of the other things that she loved most in the world just underneath them. During blazing hot summer days, when she found herself at the Hattori household, trying to escape the heat, she would make her way to the section of the porch that she knew Shizuka hung their windchime from every summer. As the cicadas sung loudly outside, chirping out their own song, she followed the sound of a faintly tinkling windchime, leading her to what she hoped most to find.

The sight filled her with warmth, the pleasant kind, as opposed to the kind that made her swelter, that made summer at it's height so uncomfortable. It was a soft, gentle feeling, that made her feel as if all was right with the world after all. The sky was blue, the birds were singing- and Hattori Heiji had fallen asleep on the porch, having drifted off there listening to the sound of the windchimes.

Just as she thought, that was where she found him. Lying on his back, feet dangling over the ledge of the porch, was none other than her very own childhood friend, head turned so that one a few strands of his hair dangled just so that they danced with every breath that he took. Right next to his slumbering form was a plate of watermelon rinds, traces of an afternoon snack that he'd probably come here to eat in the first place. The sound of windchimes danced in the air around them, covering up the faint sounds of Heiji's breathing, a strangely soft, peaceful sound for someone as lively as he could be.

With a fond smile on her face, Kazuha carefully crept over towards him, kneeling down just beside his head. He didn't stir as she did, fast asleep, lost to the world of the waking for the moment. Reaching out a hand, she carefully moved the strands of hair away from his face, her touch barely tracing skin as she did so.

In contrast to everything else about him, his sleeping face was so serene, so peaceful. It wasn't something that she got to see often, so she cherished the chances when she did. The long eyelashes he'd inherited from his mother faintly brushed his skin, eyelids closed, sweet dreams dancing just beyond them.

"Really, yer just so cute like this, Heiji." Kazuha whispered, smiling a little. Carefully picking up the plate of watermelon rinds and bringing it inside, she placed it on the table. Quietly picking up a pair of pillows, she crept her way back towards the porch, sliding one underneath Heiji's head without waking him. Placing one on the porch next to him, she lay down on it, turning on her side to look at him.

There was no need to wake him up, nor was there any need for her to stay awake. With all of the cases Heiji managed to run into, dragging her with him, sometimes their lives could be a little too hectic. Even when he didn't go out looking for trouble, it somehow always managed to find him nevertheless. She really was starting to wonder if he was perhaps cursed after all.

But right, such things didn't matter. All that mattered to Kazuha now was the faint sound of Heiji's soft breathing next to her, and the lilting sound of the windchimes softly dancing in the air. Letting the sound of them lull her into sleep as well, Kazuha slowly closed her eyes, drifting off into dreamland.

Everything was right in the world. The birds were singing in the blue sky, the cicadas were singing, hidden from the view of human eyes, and on the porch of the Hattori household, a pair of childhood friends quietly slept, letting themselves be carried away by the faint sound of a windchime.