Okay, first I apologize that in the last chapter, I put "asdfghijkl" instead of "asdfghjkl". I don't know what I was thinking . Second, I'm sorry for not updating very often! But please stay with my story!
"So, are we going home now?" I asked as we continued to walk by the park.
"You really don't remember, do you?" Heiji sighed.
"Remember what?" I quickly ran through a checklist in my mind. I wasn't forgetting anything, was I? Dad's birthday? No. Heiji's birthday? No. Date? OBVIOUSLY NOT.
What on earth was Heiji talking about?
"The school's having this track meet, and all the athletes from different sports have to attend for school support or something like that."
I stared at Heiji.
And then wondered if I was suffering from short-term memory or something. BECAUSE HOW COULD I FORGET THAT?
"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that!"
Before you go all, "wow, Kazuha, how could you forget something as important as that? You must have the mind of a goldfish," please remember that I'm still just as young girl.
With a broken arm.
And was shot at this morning.
Yeah, that's right. I'M PLAYING THE GUILT CARD.
Though of course, that will never work on Heiji.
"Wait, if we have to go the track, then why are we walking home?" I asked.
"We aren't," Heiji said exasperated. "I just wanted to take a look at where the bullet was fired and see if I can figure something out."
"Oh."
I sat down on the grass and waited patiently (okay, maybe not patiently, but I didn't yell at him to hurry up more than twice. That's pretty good for me.)
Heiji walked back to me and pulled me back onto my feet.
"Come on, let's go back to school."
"Did you find anything important?" I asked.
He shrugged. He had this tendency to be super vague in his responses. Though I'm pretty sure he just did that to annoy the heck out of people. And by people, I mean me.
"That's not helpful," I scowled.
"Obviously, that's why I did that," he half-smiled.
I glared at him.
"Hey, don't forget, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't have even known that we're supposed to go to that track meet today," he said, reminding me yet again of my great failure of the day.
"I DID know. I just forgot about it…"
"Shame," Heiji said, shaking his head at me. "Well, at least you have me as a friend to remind you of things like that."
"Right, I'm so lucky to have a detective nerd as a friend," I scoffed.
"You couldn't be more sarcastic," Heiji said, rolling his eyes.
"But," I paused, realizing that I was being A LITTLE mean to Heiji. After all, he had saved me from being humiliated by the instructor for missing the track meet. "thanks." I didn't really know what else to say.
"For…?" Heiji raised an eyebrow.
"For making sure I attended the track meet like I was supposed to when I wanted to go with Candy after school," I said, looking down at my feet.
"Look, Kazuha, I-"
"ALL ATHLETES PLEASE REPORT TO THE TRACK AND FIELD STANDS. I REPEAT, ALL ATHELTES PLESE REPORT TO THE TRACK AND FIELD STANDS."
I jumped slightly as at the announcement. Good thing the park was close to the school and track.
Not like it mattered, because we still had to figure out how to get there before our instructors took role.
"Come on!" Heiji said, beginning to run for the THIRD TIME TODAY.
"Ugh, really? HEIJI, SLOW DOWN!" I exclaimed. My bag felt ten times heavier as I tried to keep up with Heiji's long strides. I was really getting a good workout today. And did Heiji slow down his pace so I could keep up with him?
Of course he did. NOT.
Because he's just super nice like that.
"HEIJI! GIRL WITH A BROKEN ARM HERE, HELLO?"
"Don't be a slowpoke," he called. But he stopped briefly, and it was only when I was about a meter or so of reaching him that he began running again.
"WHY IS IT SO HOT?" I complained. Come on, March, what happened to spring weather? And by spring weather, I prefer below 80 degrees Fahrenheit; sunny with a slight breeze.
Heiji and I were sitting under a tree that had been conveniently planted on a grassy field just outside of the track. Even in the shade, I felt like an overcooked chicken (okay, you could pretty much substitute chicken in for any kind of food that suits your fancy. Hurray for choices!)
I heard a loud yawn next to me and grinned when I saw Heiji rub his eyes sleepily.
"Tired?" I asked.
"Sort of," he shrugged. But then he yawned again. "Okay, I am tired," he agreed, smiling slightly.
I laughed at him (not in a mean way.. you know what I mean).
"Kazuha!"
My head jerked up at the mention of my name. Now, who could that be? I began scanning the area around me. Okay, don't know that person, nope, nope, oh, wait, I think I know who that is. Oh, and she's waving at me. I don't know about you, but she seems like a likely person to have called my name.
I recognized her as Kanako's mom. She was one of my best friends (aside from Heiji, of course) and since she was on the track and field team, it made sense that her mom would be there to support her.
She motioned for me to walk over to her. Somewhat curious, I made my way across the crowded walkway that separated the grass field and the track.
"Hi, Mrs. Sato," I said, smiling.
"Hello, Kazuha, how are you? Kanako is so happy that you could be here to cheer her on, and honestly, I have absolutely NO clue on how this whole track system works. And it's so hot today, isn't it? It's at times like these that I wish spring was colder, though of course, it would be awful if the runners had to compete in the rain-"
She was one of those woman that talked ON and ON, but she meant well, and she had always been extremely nice to me. At times, I actually liked hearing her talk. She had a smooth voice that made her easy to listen to.
Okay, and now I'm going off topic and beginning to sound like her.
Moving on.
"I'm doing really good, Mrs. Sato," I said. "But, did you want something?"
"Oh! I almost forgot to give it to you," she laughed. "Since I'm going to be sitting in the stands, I have this blanket that I brought that I have absolutely no use for right now. And since your friend over there," she gestured to Heiji, "looks like he's going to pass out, I thought you could borrow my blanket to lie down on. And, of course, you need lots of rest, too, especially with your broken arm."
"Ohh, you don't have to," I started.
"Please, I INSIST that you take the blanket. Otherwise, it's just dead weight on me."
"Well, okay, then, thank you so much!" I took the blanket, and began walking back to where Heiji was slowly nodding off.
He opened his eyes, and looked up at me when I got back to him.
"What do you have there?"
"A blanket for me to lie down on," I said simply.
"For YOU to lie down on," he asked.
"Yep," I grinned.
"Kazuha…" Heiji crossed his arms.
"FINNNEE WE CAN BOTH LAY DOWN ON IT. You happy now?"
"Yes," he smirked.
I made a face at him and then rolled out the blanket. Heiji promptly laid on his back with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. I used my school bag as a pillow and laid down next to him (not too close, duh).
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Heiji lying still. How like him to fall asleep so easily.
I closed my eyes briefly, then opened them again to look up a the brilliant blue sky and overhanging tree branches. Breathing deeply, I felt myself relax. Everything felt so quiet and peaceful.
It's not a very exciting moment, but for some reason, I couldn't keep a small smile off my face. Maybe it's the fact that this was one of the few times where we weren't arguing (it's actually kind of sad to think that something as simple as not arguing was a good improvement in our friendship.)
But, as I'm lying here and thinking things over, I've come to a weird, yet truthful conclusion.
In spite of the agonizingly hot weather, the roaring cheers, and the startling sound of the starting gun going off, I would much rather choose to be here with Heiji than be doing anything else right now.
I know this scene is a little random… but I wanted to incorporate a bit of my life into this story. And I thought it would be nice for Kazuha to go through a more happy moment (since you know, I've been kind of mean to her, with the broken arm and all that.) So… hope you enjoyed this (even though it's kind of a short chapter) and have a nice day~ :]