AN: You can tell by the title of this oneshot that it's been something I've been planning to get around to writing ever since, ah, well, summer. Anyways, time for another silly oneshot, because I live for them, and am currently not feeling up to working on any of my mutli-chapter series very seriously at the moment. Fear not, it's just a case of the holiday blues, so I should be back to normal tomorrow!

As always, thanks for reading and until next time!

Summer Cold

Characters: Conan Edogawa, Kazuha Toyama, Ran Mouri, Heiji Hattori

Summary: When Conan later came down with a summer cold of his own, he knew exactly who to blame.

"Sorry, you two. Ya came out all this way ta see us, an' Heiji's down with a cold." Kazuha's apologetic tone perfectly matched with her apologetic words, as she set down a cup of tea in front of each of Heiji's would-be guests. "If he'd only told me the two of ya were comin' earlier, I could have called ya an' let ya know that he was sick, so ya wouldn't have wasted so much time waitin' in front of his place."

"It's alright, Kazuha-chan." Ran said quickly, shaking her head, flashing a smile at her friend, trying to let her know that she wasn't bothered by it at all. She had been a little worried when no one had come to pick them up at the station, and when she couldn't get into contact with Heiji over the phone. She would have called Kazuha, but... "It was Hattori-kun who wanted to keep our visit here a surprise for you. I'm sure he wasn't expecting to get sick at the last minute. More importantly, is he really going be alright?"

"But I'm surprised. I always thought Heiji-niichan was a bit sturdier." Conan couldn't help but observe, frowning a little into his cup of tea. Though he had tried to mask it well, when they had gotten here to find that nobody was answering the door, for a moment, he had feared the worst. Granted, he hadn't involved Heiji with them lately at all, but it was possible that they might have realized that he held some information about the supposedly dead Kudo Shinichi, and had captured him, or something along those lines.

If Kazuha hadn't come around when she had, coming over to look after Heiji, whose parents were currently away on a trip, he wasn't sure what he would have ended up doing. It had been a great relief to hear that his friend was simply under the weather, rather than in danger somewhere.

"He's been this way ever since he was a kid, really." Kazuha said, heaving a long sigh. Clearly this was an issue that she had more experience than she cared for with. "Generally, it's pretty rare fer him ta get sick in the first place, but when he does catch somethin', it always hits him way harder than other people. He's completely hopeless durin' such times. He probably forgot the two of ya were supposed ta come over today... I'm not even sure if he knows it's today yet."

"That's why you came over to check on him?" Ran asked, giving her friend a small smile, not missing the faint red tint that rose to her cheeks. "That's admirable, Kazuha-chan."

"W-well, it can't be helped. His parents are out, so it's not like Auntie Shizuka can look after him right now. Besides, if I called them an' told 'em Heiji was sick, she'd just come racin' back from the vacation that she's been lookin' forward to fer so long just ta take care of them." Kazuha told her, folding her arms in front of her chest, shaking her head. "I can't have somethin' like that, ya know?"

"In other words, I just have ta put up with lookin' after him fer the time bein'." Kazuha finished, giving them a rather resolute nod of her head. "Well, I am somethin' of an older sister ta him, so it can't be helped, really! I guess I can spare some time ta look after that bothersome guy."

"I bet you're thinking of taking care of him as something other than that though, Kazuha-chan~." Ran couldn't help but tease, the mischief that twinkled in her eyes shining brighter at the flustered reaction her words earned. She was starting to understand why Sonoko enjoyed teasing her about Shinichi so much.

"W-well, there might be a bit of that..." Kazuha mumbled, fiddling with the fabric of her skirt, before she quickly turned towards Conan, deciding to change the topic for the sake of her pounding heart. "Hey, Conan-kun! Why don't ya go wake Heiji up an' drag him out here? Knowin' that idiot, he probably hasn't eatin' anythin' yet today, an' it's just around lunch time."

"Ah, sure thing, Kazuha-neechan." Conan told her, rising to his feet, the faintest of frowns on his face. There was something in her gaze that he didn't quite like... although he couldn't pin down the reason why. Well, it probably wasn't anything serious. "I'll go do that."

"Thanks, Conan-kun." Kazuha told him, letting out a slight sigh of relief once he disappeared into the hallway. Well, that was one hurdle cleared, at the very least. She could only hope that Conan would forgive her later. He always seemed to be a bit of the type to hold grudges- that was a trait that Ran should really try to work out of the kid while she was looking after him.

"But I'm surprised." Ran blinked, frowning a little as she watched Conan go. "You didn't want to wake up Hattori-kun by yourself, Kazuha-chan?"

"Ah, about that..." Kazuha trailed off a little, giving her a small laugh. "When he's sick, Heiji's got this nasty little habit of..." At the sound of Conan's voice letting out a rather surprised yelp of protest from down the hall, she could only heave a long sigh. "...An' there he goes."

"Nasty habit...?" Ran trailed off a little, blinking in confusion for a moment, before Conan's cry of protest echoed down the hallway. Almost springing to her feet, for a moment, she couldn't help but be afraid that something terrible had happened- it was only Kazuha's lack of reaction that stopped her from outright sprinting down the hall to see what was wrong. "Um, Kazuha-chan...?"

"Well, you'll understand what I mean when ya see it, Ran-chan." Kazuha simply told her, flashing her friend something of a weak smile, as she got to her feet. Leading her down the hallway to Heiji's room, she found herself heaving another long sigh as she realized that her guess was right on the mark- honestly, as much as she enjoyed being close to Heiji, this was exactly why she didn't like trying to wake him up when he was sick.

"...ah." Ran said simply, her eyes falling on the scene before her. "I think I understand what you mean by nasty habit now."

"Right? It's always like this. I thought it would be a bit different if I sent Conan-kun ta do it, but I guess I was wrong." Kazuha told her, quickly stepping into the room, planting her hands on her hips. "C'mon, Heiji! Wake up already! An' let go of Conan-kun, he's not a stuffed animal, fer cryin' out loud! How can ya sleep through all of that squirmin' he's doin' anyways?"

"You knew this would happen, didn't you, Kazuha-neechan?" Conan found himself asking, somehow managing to maintain some degree of composure in spite of the very undignified position he now found himself in. There were few things more embarrassing than being dragged by your rival into a cuddling position, as if he had mistaken you for a pillow. For once, he didn't feel like keeping up the act of a real child- he was annoyed, and the one who had knowingly lead him into this situation deserved to know it. "You meanie."

"Sorry, Conan-kun. I thought maybe if it was someone different fer once that he wouldn't do this." Kazuha apologized, crouching down by her childhood friend's bed, reaching out to tug on his cheek. "C'mon, Heiji, wake up already!"

"And let go of me already!" Conan protested, once again squirming against his friend's grip on him, but his arm remained firmly in place around his waist. For someone who was sick, he was sure holding on to him well! "Seriously, Heiji-niichan, I'm not a pillow! What are you going to do if I catch your cold?"

"Mm..." Faintly stirring at all of the noise going on around him, Heiji slowly blinked his eyes open, turning his head so that he could glance up towards Kazuha. "...'zuha?"

"Yes, yes, it's me. I came ta look after ya, Heiji, an' found Ran-chan an' Conan-kun waitin in front of yer doorstep." Kazuha told him, folding her arms over her knees, a rather displeased expression on her face. Well, maybe with one of his arms occupied with Conan, he wouldn't try and pull her towards him as well. The last time she had let something like that happen to her, she had been stuck in that position for an hour, until he finally woke up again.

"...Neechan an' Kudo?" Heiji blinked slowly, apparently only now taking notice of the bundle that he had tucked underneath one arm, gaze slowly turning towards him. Were he in his right mind at the moment, he too, probably would have been embarrassed about this, but as it was, he only cast a lazy smile towards the captured shrunken detective, almost looking pleased to see him. "Oh, he's here."

"Seriously, Heiji, I know yer sick, but that's not Kudo, that's Conan-kun." Kazuha informed him, heaving a long sigh. "Come on now, let's get somethin' ta eat. Ya probably haven't eaten anythin' since yesterday, right? Ya need some food in ya if yer gonna recover, ya useless lump."

"And can you please let go of me already, Heiji-niichan?" Conan almost hissed, having more or less given up squirming, seeing as it wasn't getting him anywhere, and only making him look more ridiculous. Seriously, he knew that Heiji was the type who enjoyed physical contact, so it was reasonable to assume that he was probably also a cuddler- but he had expected that to apply to Kazuha, when he finally managed to spit it out to her, not just whoever came into arm's reach whenever he was feeling under the weather.

Honestly, if he got sick after this, he knew exactly who to blame.