Title: Not Quite Lost
Author: RanMouri82
Word Count: 453
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Detective Conan's owned by Aoyama Gosho, but I just call him A-dawg.
Pairings: Heiji and Kazuha
Notes: Two Osakans looked for—and found—each other. For Magic Kaito, prompt of "Wagon".
Not Quite Lost
Evening fell on the damp forest as Kazuha huffed and gasped her way through and under a sea of branches. They whipped and tore at her thin jacket, but she did not care. "H-Heiji? Heiji!"
This was no longer funny. That idiot was driving her crazy with the way he had slipped from the path, grinning in that impish way of his. In fact, she felt for all the world like a trailer hitch that had lost its wagon. Kazuha grimaced at the thought, knowing Heiji would just use that knowledge to his benefit and call her his "little follower" for eternity.
She was also certain that Heiji had stumbled upon a fresh clue, one he could not allow to expire among the soft heaps of leaves covering the ground with its spiced carpet. But maybe he had stumbled on the way. Forests were dangerous and filled with hidden rocks, ditches, hungry creatures—
"Kazuha?"
"AAAAAAAAH!" she cried, her unbridled scream echoing into the night. Whirling behind her in the pale moonlight, she saw Heiji standing there with a rare, stunned expression on his dark face. A fire sparked in Kazuha's eyes as she yelled, "W-what are you trying to do, idiot, give me a heart attack?!"
"Hmph, of course not!" Heiji growled. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he muttered, "If you gotta know, I was looking for you."
"Me?" Warmth spread over Kazuha's cheeks for a millisecond before she retorted, "Who was looking for who? I've been out here for . . . for hours!"
And against her will, tears rose to her eyes and soreness choked her throat.
Sighing, Heiji edged closer, reaching beneath his cap to scratch his head. "Hey, don't—don't cry or anything. Why didn't you just stay at the campsite?"
Kazuha glanced away, blushing brighter in shame. "I . . . don't know. Just to know where you were, that's all."
For a moment, the two of them stood wordlessly, the whistling wind offering the only sound. Then, Heiji stepped closer and, with a grunt, took Kazuha's hand.
Kazuha blinked her eyes wide.
"Hey, maybe I was . . . ." Heiji frowned, then shook his head. "I'll tell you where I'm going from now on, if that'll keep you from running after me like this."
The ponytailed girl opened her mouth, eager to protest, but stopped. Returning Heiji's softened, green gaze with her own, she realized he was not saying it to push her away.
Kazuha smiled. "Okay."
As they walked away, and their conversation turned toward the newly solved murder case and rose into yet another round of bickering, Heiji held Kazuha's hand as tight as he could. Of course, if asked, he would say he just did that to lead her through the darkness.