O. M. G. You all have every right to shoot me in the head for not updating in, like, FOREVER! I am so sorry you guys had to wait this long and for me not upholding my promise! Don't you just hate it when someone doesn't update their fanfic in forever? Oh dear. And I also broke my promise about finishing this fic over the summer. ╥_╥ I'll try making it up to you guys, but I'm not going to promise anything because . . . well, let's just say I have a knack for breaking promises. -_- Well, hope you guys enjoy Chapter 7: The Stakeout!

Kazuha didn't know how long she was knocked out, nor did she care. All she wanted to do was go home and lay in bed. It was depressing enough that Heiji was forced to go out with Kamiko. Even more so when Kamiko would get to kiss Heiji for the play.

When Kazuha woke up, she felt warm and nauseous. Ran, Shinichi, Kaito, Aoko, and Sonoko were all there when she woke up, but Kamiko and Heiji were nowhere to be seen.

"Poor Kazuha-chan. Her temperature is pretty high," Ran said with a frown. "But she might feel better with some fresh air."

"But she looks pretty bad, eh?" Shinichi said.

"Yeah . . . but why did she faint?" Kaito asked the group. "You don't think that Nagasaki-san winning affected her that much, do ya?"

"Jeez, Kaito, you don't understand women at all!" Aoko said angrily. "When a guy a girl liked forever is taken away by another girl, it breaks her heart. . . ."

"Shh, guys!" Sonoko shushed everyone excitingly. "Kazuha's waking up!"

"Mm . . ." Kazuha groaned as she woke up. It took a few seconds for her eyes to focus, but when it did, Kazuha was immediately blinded by the fluorescent lights. She instantly wanted to go back to sleep.

"How are you feeling, Kazuha?" Ran asked with concern.

"Fine," she lied.

"You sure? Your temperature is pretty high," Aoko said, looking at the thermometer in her hand.

". . . Where's Heiji?" Kazuha asked, but she had a faint idea where the ahou was.

No one answered her at first, but then Sonoko said, "With Nagasaki-san. But not willingly, of course!" she added hastily when Kazuha's face turned gloomy.

"Yeah, you should've seen it: Nagasaki-san was literally dragging Heiji with her out the auditorium," Kaito said.

"That is true . . ." Ran began, "but before they left, Nagasaki-san actually carried Kazuha to the nurse's office; I'm surprised at how strong that girl is."

"Oh, yeah, and Nagasaki-san actually took Kazuha's temperature and put a wet cloth over her forehead when the nurse wasn't here," Aoko added.

Noticing the wet cloth over her forehead, Kazuha took it off and thought, Maybe Nagasaki-san isn't that bad a person after all.


The nurse later sent Kazuha straight home, but everyone decided to go with her just in case she fainted again. As much as she appreciated it, Kazuha didn't want to talk to them. She just wanted to go to her room and cry.

After insisting to everyone that she could take care of herself (especially to Ran) and saying goodbye, Kazuha went inside and took off her shoes and jacket. Noticing how quiet it was, Kazuha went to the kitchen. On the refrigerator, her father left her a note saying he wouldn't come home until tomorrow, as he was busy with a case. Of course, Kazuha thought with a sigh. But she felt relieved all the same.

She then walked slowly up the stairs to her room, feeling disheartened. With each step she took up to her room, she felt more and more miserable. When she finally reached her destination, she fell down onto her bed and began to cry. She cried for a good ten minutes when the phone began to rang.

Wiping her tears, Kazuha answered the phone without seeing the caller's ID with a hello.

"Hey, ahou, are you all right?" asked a familiar Osaken voice.

Not knowing whether she should be happy or sad at hearing his voice, she replied, "Fine, I guess. So, uh . . . I heard Nagasaki-san dragged you out of the auditorium after taking me to the nurse's office."

"Yeah, I'm surprised at how strong Nagasaki-san is. Never would've guessed she does aikido like you."

"Oh, I see." Kazuha wondered for a moment if Heiji was complimenting Kamiko. "So . . . what did you guys do on your little, uh . . . 'date'?" Kazuha asked hesitantly.

Heiji sighed loudly. "Shopping. And a lot of it. She's worse than you."

It took a few seconds for Kazuha to process this. When she finally does, Kazuha glared into the phone, as if Heiji was able to see it. "WHAT IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, AHOU?"

"That you shop way too much, ahou!" Heiji retorted.

The two then got into a rather long argument for about half-an-hour, filled with rage and a lot of ahou's. But maybe, from Kazuha's end, with a few, quiet tears.


It was Monday, and 99.9% of the student population were tired and complaining to anyone who'd listen that the week would be another five days in hell and how they'd get tons of homework and, if they were lucky, homework over the weekend. The 0.1% that was neither tired nor complaining was Suzuki Sonoko, the director of the upcoming school play Romeo and Juliet.

Yes, she was determined to make sure every single, solitary detail was perfect. However, there was only one problem: the actress who played Juliet was changed to a different girl. Nagasaki Kamiko, a college student who attends Tokyo University, was to become the new Juliet.

"All right, everyone, the Spring Festival is in two months, well, actually eight weeks now," Sonoko announced to the class, "but nevertheless we have to work hard! I expect everyone to work their asses off to make sure this festival is a success! Got it?"

"Hai!" everyone replied back and quickly got to work. Now that Kazuha was no longer Juliet, she worked as the costume designer, since her outfits during the competition were impressive.

"Oi, Kazuha," Aoko whispered to her, holding a script in her hand. Aoko was to play the Nurse in the play.

Kazuha looked up from a dress she was making. "Yes, Aoko?"

"You sure you're okay? I was worried about you over the weekend."

"I promise you I'm fine," Kazuha replied, giving a small smile. She was grateful for her friend's concern, but in the inside she was not fine. Where is that stupid ahou, anyway? she wondered. Probably with Nagasaki-san . . . again.

Kazuha went to Heiji's house to walk with him to school this morning, since it had been their tradition since they were children, but was angry to discover from his mother that Kamiko came early in the morning to take Heiji. Thus, Kazuha had to walk—more like march—to school by herself. Her fellow classmates knew instantly not to talk to her, else they'd go deaf.

Kazuha went back to sewing an outfit when Sonoko dropped by. "Hey, you okay?" she asked.

Kazuha's hand shook for a moment from annoyance of everyone asking if she's okay, but she calmed herself down and said, "Yeah."

"Well, um . . . I thought that it was only fair for you to look at the script. Here," she said, handing her a packet with the title of the play on the front. "Just to let you know, I changed quite a few things in the play—especially the ending," she emphasized the last few words. "It's like Snow White, a happy ending. Tell me what you think about it after you're done reading it!" and with that, she left.

Curious, Kazuha decided to read the script, and Kazuha discovered that what Sonoko had said was true: the ending was changed drastically. Somewhat similar to Snow White, Romeo goes to Juliet's crypt to mourn after she "dies" and gives her a good-bye kiss. Instead of Romeo poisoning himself after, Juliet wakes up, and the play ends with the two eloping and living happily ever after.

Although at times clichéd and cheesy, Kazuha thought that Sonoko did a good job writing the play. After reading the script, Kazuha got up to go return it to Sonoko. It wasn't that hard to find Sonoko, since she seemed to be the only one yelling. This time, Sonoko wasn't yelling at the stage crew, but instead the actors Heiji and Kamiko. Well, actually Kamiko.

It seemed that Sonoko wasn't very happy about the change of actresses for Juliet, because she was scolding Kamiko for trivial things. Kamiko, however, wasn't taking Sonoko's criticism kindly.

"It's not my fault that this scene isn't working out," she said regally. "So how about you look at the script instead?" This angered Sonoko even further.

"You little—" Sonoko began, but was interrupted by Kazuha.

"Here's the script, Sonoko," Kazuha said, handing the script to her and purposely avoiding eye contact with Heiji. "It was very good."

"Ah, thanks Kazuha." Sonoko smiled widely, relieved that someone had intervened. "You know . . ."

But Sonoko's voice faded out and Kazuha instead heard what Kamiko was saying to Heiji: "Ne, ne! Heiji-kun, let's go on a date together after practice!"

Heiji sighed loudly, "Where do you want to go?"

"Hm . . . where to go . . .? Oh, I know! Let's go to the mall! We'll do a lot of shopping and have ice cream! How does that sound, Heiji-kun?"

"Do I have any choice?" he groaned.

"Yay! I knew you'd want to go!" Kamiko tightly hugged his arm.

It's what he gets for not refusing to go, Kazuha thought, smiling smugly.

"Okay, Kazuha?" she heard Sonoko asked.

"Huh?" Kazuha glanced back at Sonoko. "Uh . . . yeah, sure," Kazuha agreed, despite not knowing what she had just asked.

"All right, see you after practice!" Sonoko said with an evil sort of grin, and she left to go yell at someone else.

What does Sonoko want to do? Kazuha wondered as she went back to work.


It was after practice when Kazuha went to go find Sonoko. Well, actually, Sonoko founded her first. "You ready?" she asked, apparently pumped up for something.

"Um . . . Sonoko, what exactly are we going to do?"

"Jeez, Kazuha"—Sonoko rolled her eyes—"do you have short-term memory loss or something? We're going on a date stakeout!"

"Date . . . stakeout?" Kazuha's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"I'm pretty sure you heard Nagasaki-san asking—well, forcing—Heiji to go on a date with her after practice to the mall. So we're all going to follow her to make sure she doesn't"—Sonoko leaned in and lowered her voice—"do anything, if you know what I mean."

"Er . . . okay, but—Wait. All of us?"

"Yep! You, Ran, Aoko, Shinichi, Kaito, and yours truly!" She suddenly waved enthusiastically behind Kazuha and Kazuha turned around to look behind her—all of them were there.

"Why do I have to go?" whined Kaito. "You know how much I hate the mall, Aoko!"

"Shut up, baka! We're doing this for Kazuha's sake!" Aoko scolded him. "We have to make sure Nagasaki-san doesn't get too cozy with Heiji!"

"So, Kazuha, you ready to do some spying?" Sonoko asked.

"Everyone . . ." Kazuha looked around at her friends, and a smile grew on her face. Her friends really did care about her. "All right, let's do it!"


"Ne, ne, Heiji, what flavor do you want?" Kamiko asked a miserable Heiji.

"You know, I can pay for my own ice cream," Heiji said.

"But I have plenty of money with me! It's my treat!" Kamiko beamed. "So what flavor do you want? Chocolate? Strawberry? Vanilla? Oh! How about a rainbow sherbet?"

"Chocolate is fine," Heiji said. Hey, if she's paying, why not?

"Okey-dokey! One strawberry and chocolate, please!" Kamiko chirped to the clerk, who was drooling at her.

After being handed their ice cream, Kamiko dragged Heiji with her to sit at a table. After licking their ice creams for a bit, Kamiko said, "Ne, Heiji, can I try your ice cream?"

"WHAT?" some voices screamed out in the distance.

Heiji, Kamiko, and everyone in the mall looked around curiously. Not being able to pinpoint the source of the screams, everyone went back to shopping.

Little did Heiji and Kamiko know that those voices were Sonoko, Ran, Aoko, and Kazuha, hiding behind a newspaper on a bench opposite of the ice cream shop.

"That skank! How dare she use an old trick in the book!" Sonoko blazed from fire.

"Didn't you do that with Makoto?" Aoko and Kazuha asked in unison with half-mooned eyes.

"Heiji! Don't let her try your ice cream!" Ran said, also burning with fire.

Shinichi and Kaito sat on the bench next to them, talking about how stupid the stakeout was and wishing they could be at their homes re-reading Sherlock Holmes (Shinichi) or planning out his next heist (Kaito).

Seriously? Isn't that an old trick in the book? Heiji thought, pushing the scoop of ice cream with his tongue so it would fall out. And fall out it did, because the chocolate landed with a splat on the table.

"Oops," Heiji said in a monotone, not trying to act like he didn't do it on purpose, "it fell."

"Oh, it's all right, Heiji! I can just buy some more ice cream!"

"No, no, that won't be necessary. I'm not in the mood for one anymore."

"All right, then! Let's go shopping now!"

Here we go, Heiji thought, letting out a sigh.

"Let's go!" Kamiko cheered, grabbing Heiji by the arm.

"Yay," Heiji cheered as well, but with much less enthusiasm. Kamiko ran full speed to the nearest clothing store with Heiji in tow.

"Phew," Kazuha let out a sigh. "Guess the ball isn't in her court."

"But who knows what can happen next, Kazuha!" Sonoko said. "We have to continue with our stakeout!" She dragged Kazuha along, and Ran and Aoko followed behind them swiftly.

Looking at each other, Shinichi and Kaito got up with a big sigh to follow the girls.


For hours they followed Heiji and Kamiko. Kamiko tried every trick in the book, but Heiji was either oblivious or pushed her away. Example: Kamiko brought Heiji with her to a bikini store. She tried on a very, er . . . revealing bikini suit that showed way too much skin. Every boy in the bikini store laid their eyes upon her and wouldn't look away, much to the disapproval of their girlfriends and earning Kamiko death glares from every direction. However, she couldn't care less and was winking and smiling naughtily at Heiji, who only yawned in return (much to the relief of Kazuha and the girls).

Finally, the two left the mall. The sun was setting behind the city's skyscrapers and everything was glowing orange.

"Ah, how romantic!" Kamiko cooed, her arms wrapped tightly around Heiji's.

"Yeah. How romantic . . ." Heiji muttered, annoyed with Kamiko, but relieved that their shopping trip was finally over.

They continued walking down the street, arms linked together. Kamiko checked her watch. "Oh, would you look at the time. How did it get so late?"

"Gee, I don't know," Heiji said sarcastically.

"Let me walk you home, Heiji," Kamiko said. "I still have some time before my errand."

"What kind of errand?" Heiji asked, curious.

"Aw, look at you!" Kamiko sang. "Are you worried about me, Heiji?"

Heiji didn't answer. Kamiko continued on, unfazed. "Some modeling for a magazine." She winked and said no more.

"Hm?" Ran raised a brow in suspicion. "Why isn't she inviting him?"

"My thought exactly, Ran-chan," Aoko said. "You'd think that Nagasaki-san would invite Heiji to her model shoot, wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, very suspicious," Ran replied, nodding her head.

Kazuha and Sonoko said nothing, instead they were closely eavesdropping on Heiji and Kamiko.

At last, they arrived at Heiji's house. They stopped near the front door while the gang hid behind the nearby bushes.

"Thank you Heiji," said Kamiko. "I had a lot of fun today!"

"Uh, yeah. . . . I did too," Heiji said politely.

"We should do this again tomorrow!" Kamiko continued on. "After practice?" She pulled out her cellphone and opened up the calendar.

"Um, actually, Kamiko, I have something to do tomorrow afternoon," Heiji said, attempting to look apologetic.

"Oh, okay. No worries." Kamiko smiled mildly, glancing back at her phone. "Actually . . . I have a project to do for college due on Thursday. . . . Well, anyway, maybe on the weekend when we have nothing to do."

Heiji nodded stiffly. "Sure. Uh . . . Kamiko?"

"Yes, Heiji dear?" Kamiko said, still looking at her phone.

Heiji said nothing for a moment. "How . . . how long do I have to keep this up? Why do I have to keep on dating you? Why can't I just break up with you now?" he demanded.

Kamiko looked up at him and turned her phone off. "Well, Heiji dear," Kamiko began, suddenly sounding cold. So cold that Kazuha felt goosebumps on her arms. "If you know who I am, I am a very rich girl. And because I'm a very rich girl I can buy anything. Anything," she emphasized, her eyes turning dark. "And if you know what's good for your childhood friend, you will continue dating me. Okay?" she chirped, suddenly smiling.

Heiji glared at her, undaunted. "So you're saying, Nagasaki-san, that if I stop dating you, you'll try to hurt Kazuha."

"Oh, you must've misunderstood," Kamiko said nonchalantly. "I won't hurt her. But someone else will. And they won't try to, Heiji darling, they will."

Heiji said nothing and turned his back against her. He muttered something that no one but Kamiko heard.

"I'd like to see you try," she replied swiftly. "You may be a detective, boy, but you're only that: a boy."

"Where's all the love?" Kaito asked quietly, finally interested in the situation.

"It could've been just a façade," Aoko whispered back.

"No," said Shinichi quietly, now interested as well. "Why would she pretend to be in love with Heiji to hurt Kazuha?"

"Maybe to hurt her emotionally?" suggested Ran.

Shinichi shrugged. "Perhaps."

"I see," said Heiji, turning back toward her and closing his eyes. "But if you hurt her"—Heiji opened his eyes, burning with hate and determination—"you'll regret it."

"Okay, dear!" Kamiko tweeted, returning to her normal, bouncy self. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Heiji scowled at her then turned away from her again, walking to the door.

"Oh, wait. Before I forget. . . . Heiji," Kamiko suddenly said.

Heiji turned back, still glowering. "What is it now? If you're going to—"

Kamiko grabbed his arm and pulled him toward her, planting her lips on his. Heiji grunted in surprise and his eyes widened. A feeling of horror swept through Kazuha.

"Ja ne," she said with a smile when she pulled away, and turned around to strut away.

"Hide!" Sonoko said, and everyone ran off to hide. All except Kazuha.

She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She was in shock.

"Kazuha!" said Ran, grabbing her arm and pulling her away to hide.

They hid in the bushes as Kamiko walked away. When she disappeared from view, they all came out of the bushes.

"Wow," Kaito said. "That girl . . ."

"If Kamiko thinks that she can hurt Kazuha . . ." began Ran, cracking her knuckles, "she has it coming to her."

"Don't worry, Kazuha-chan!" Aoko said. "We'll protect you! We'll be your personal bodyguards!"

Kazuha said nothing for a moment and sniffed, refusing to cry. "It's fine," she said. "I'm not afraid of Kamiko. I do aikido, after all; I have no reason to fear her."

Ran nodded. "That's the spirit! What's a kiss anyway? Keep on fighting, Kazuha-chan!"

"Thanks, Ran. We're gonna have to come up with a battle plan!" Kazuha said, feeling motivated.

"Actually, Kazuha," Sonoko interrupted, "we have some things to do. Along with Aoko."

"Oh, right," Aoko said. "I forgot about that. Sorry Kazuha."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too, Kazuha-chan," apologized Ran as well. "Tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure," Kazuha said, wondering what they had to do.

"Well, ja ne, Kazuha," Sonoko said, walking away.

"See you later," Aoko added.

"Tomorrow, then." Ran waved with a smile.

"See ya. I'll try talking to Heiji," Shinichi told her.

"Thanks." Kazuha nodded.

Kaito gave a lazy wave to her, and Kazuha waved back.

Then Kazuha was alone.


As Sonoko walked across the park, she smiled when she spotted someone sitting on the bench. The person had been waiting for her in their usual meeting spot.

Sonoko sat down on the bench next to the person and leaned back, crossing her legs. "So, how did it go?" she asked the figure casually, a smile playing on her lips.

The figure smiled in return. "Good. They didn't know what hit them."

"I was quite surprised," admitted Sonoko, her eyes gleaming. "But I'm very happy with the way things are progressing. I thought that things were going awry with the plan, what with the way things were going, but I'm pleased that you managed to avert that."

"Hey, you paid me good money." The figure shrugged. "When someone pays me well, I do my job well. So"—the figure leaned back on the bench—"how long do you think it'll be till then?"

"Not long, my friend," Sonoko replied, a wicked smile on her face. "Not long at all. . . ."

Uh-oh! Cliffhanger! Mwhahahaha! What is Sonoko's evil plan? Who was Sonoko talking to? Tune in next time! Ja ne!