--------------Chapter 17: The Destined Kiss--------------
Out of the store, Ran walked along holding a small plastic baggie.
"Oi Ran, what's in the bag?" Kazuha asked, sitting on the bench outside the store.
Ran shook her head, walking in front of her. "It's nothing."
Kazuha smirked, following her. "Ya have to tell me. Is it for me?" Ran shook her head.
"Nope, it's for no one." Ran said with a smile.
Kazuha let out a long, "Aww.." As she hunched over her shoulders.
"Hey, Kazuha, can you hold my bag while I go get us some chicken dumplings?"
Taking the bag, she nodded. "Oh, can you get some soy sauce?" Ran nodded as well, walking toward the stand. Holding the bag, Kazuha looked at Ran. She smiled, seeing how cheerful she was being today. Returning to Kazuha, Ran handed her the dumplings, then sat down beside her, taking the bag back.
Heiji and Conan stopped at Ran's house briefly, only to find the wannabe-detective still snoozing in his chair. "Ugh, he seriously has no life.." Conan thought to himself. They searched around for perhaps a note saying where the girls had gone. Conan walked into Ran's room, remembering how he woke up there just this morning. As he walked in, he accidentally tripped and fell onto the bed. "Huh?" he looked down at what he tripped on. It was Kazuha's open bag, and some of her stuff had become strewn on the floor. "Crap!" He quickly jumped to the floor and started putting everything back. Among the things, he picked up a school photograph of Heiji. He paused for a moment, "She carried this with her here?..." Just then, Heiji came around the corner.
"Oi, Kudou. You find a note yet?" He stopped, looking down in the doorway at Conan, in front of Kazuha's open bag. "H-Hey! What are you doing going through Kazuha's stuff!"
"Shh! It was an accident!" hissed Conan, quickly shoving the photograph back inside. But Heiji stopped him, pulling his little wrist out and seeing himself in the picture.
"Huh?..." He raised an eyebrow curiously. "That crazy girl..." He shook his head, hiding a little smile inside, "Come on, we'll have to go look for them ourselves." Conan looked up at him and nodded, as he zipped up the bag and put it aside, the two of them walking out.
Coming up the sidewalk, Kazuha had noticed Ran's hair was still in a pony tail. "Oi, Ran, your hair looks pretty cute. Y'know?" she complimented her, tilting her head.
Ran blushed, putting her hand on the side of her face, "R-Really? I mean, I only put my hair up when I'm in karate, but..." She stopped. "Really?" she squealed with a bright smile.
Kazuha laughed embarrassingly, "Yes, really." Kazuha stepped forward. She ran her fingers through Ran's bangs, putting them to the side, "Even cuter."
Conan looked around down the road, spotting the girls. "There they are! Hey, Ran-neechan and Kazuha-neechan!" He made a big smile and waved to them spastically, in a way that only a child could properly do.
Ran jumped up, hearing Conan's voice. Kazuha did as well. Ran smiled, "Hi Conan-kun."
Kazuha looked up at Heiji, "How did you find us?"
Heiji laughed a little, approaching Kazuha, "I don't know, maybe instinct?"
Kazuha shot a look. "Very funny," she mumbled.
Conan glanced up at Ran, "We thought you might be hungry. Since you weren't home, we went in the direction of the market!"
Ran giggled softly, "I'm sorry, but we had already ate. You should go on without us."
Kazuha grabbed Ran's hand, "Right! And Mouri-san still needs to show me what she has in the bag," she said, eye-balling the bag Ran held.
Ran turned away quickly, as her skirt and hair twirled. "I already told you- it's not for you." She smiled, looking over at her. Kazuha puckered her lips.
"Geh. Then can we go to the spring baths tonight?" she grabbed Ran's hands,"Please?"
Ran sighed, rolling her eyes, "Go get your things..."
Kazuha jumped up, "Yay!"
The boys stood there and blinked. "B-But what about us?" Heiji asked, watching the ecstatic Kazuha jump. "Are we to just be left behind?..."
Kazuha stepped forward, getting into Heiji's face. "You can go, but you'll have to use a seperate bath with Conan."
Ran rubbed the back of her head, "I think they already knew that, Kazuha.." she laughed nervously.
"Of course," scoffed Heiji. "Ah, it'll be nice to get a little relaxation, I suppose. You just have to be careful of your leg, Kazuha." He looked down at its bandages, as the group started heading back to the Mouri household.
Soon, after grabbing their shampoos and soaps, they were already at spring baths. When getting in, Ran kept her hair up, as Kazuha let hers down. Ran leaned back against a rock. "Mmm, this feels good." After a long pause of silence, Ran looked at Kazuha, whose eyes were watering, "K-Kazuha?"
Kazuha squeezed her eyes shut. "Heiji was right, the wound on my leg is really stinging," she whispered so he could barely hear.
Ran giggled. Swimming toward her, she gently grabbed Kazuha's hand, putting it on her wound. "Better?"
Kazuha nodded, giving a long sniff. After a while it almost felt like they were both drunk from the heat. Kazuha squinted her eyes, trying to see if Ran was still in front of her, "O-Oi Ran...You still there?" Ran began to giggle, soon hitting the water. She quickly came up, catching her breath. Kazuha giggled, as her red, heated face glowed. She got up, wrapping a towel around herself. "I'll be back..." she said with a slurry smile on her face, walking away and trying to keep her balance.
Ran waved slowly. "B-B-Bye...bye."
Meanwhile, they boys hung out in a nearby steam room. "Those girls.. They sure do love their leisure, don't they?" Heiji commented boredly, as he used a ladle and dropped some water onto the coals in the center of the room, causing a fizz of steam to fly up.
"Well, like you said, it's nice to get a little relaxation sometimes," said Conan, lying down on the bench in his bathing suit and towel. "It HAS been a crazy week, after all. Though.. I still hope the girls will be okay..." He peered at the door, worriedly.
Walking down the hallway, Kazuha slid open the door of the room Heiji and Conan were staying in. "O-Oh, this isn't the bathroom..." she hiccuped, slurring her words. She fell next to Heiji. Sitting up, she looked over at him, smiling, "You're so cute when you have that weird expression on your face.." She giggled, running her fingers up his chest. She came closer to his face.
Conan sat up, unsure of what to do.Heiji leaned back a bit, "K-Kazuha, a-are you okay?... You.. You sound like you're drunk again..." He blinked at her, but stayed where he was.
She giggled some more. Closing her eyes, she puckered her lips to his, almost touching them.
Conan sat stock-still, unsure if he should run off out of the room or not. Heiji looked around nervously as Conan blinked, lost. Finding no way out, and Kazuha looming over him, he suddenly thought, "Ahh, what the heck.. As if she'll even remember this later anyway." He closed his eyes and pressed forward, meeting her lips to his.
Ran wandered down the walkway, sliding the door to the sauna quickly. "Kaz-!" she stopped, realizing Kazuha and Heiji, were... kissing! She fell to her knees, tilting her head in confusion. "O-Oi.." she quietly mumbled. She then began to laugh loudly and suddenly, rolling on the ground.
Kazuha blinked, opening her eyes as she had just noticed the situation. Still with her lips on Heiji's, she blushed furiously, slowly pulling away before looking at Ran. She got up, looking down at Heiji. She paused for a moment, covering her mouth as she ran out of the steam room. She continued down the hallway, running outside to the baths and jumping in. She decided to stay under water as long as she could. But it was soon too much to bare, so she came back up, catching her breath. She held her face, blushing. "D-Did that just happen?" she asked herself. She pulled her knees up to her chest.
Heiji sat there and stared into the wall across from him, dumbfounded. "Kazuha..." he said quietly, entirely unaware of Ran's ferocious laughter.
Conan slowly edged away from him, nearer to Ran and the door. He slipped his feet down onto the floor and quietly snuck his way outside of the steam room. He took a few steps away before he couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing, just as Ran had. He threw his hand against the wall to hold himself up, certain that he could easily fall as well.
Ran got up, wiping her laughter-tears away. She walked outside and gave out a long sigh. "Eh." she paused, as her body froze, "Kazuha and Heiji kissed," she re-told herself, looking down at Conan. She was still in shock at seeing the image again. "Kazuha and Heiji, Heiji and Kazuha.." she mumbled to herself as she walked back and forth.
Conan calmed down and stopped laughing, instead drawing in long breaths to try and relax. He turned around and noticed Ran pacing back and forth. "Ran-neechan?..."
Ran fell to her knees, she grabbed ahold of Conan's shoulders and began to shake him frantically. "Heiji and Kazuha kissed!"
"Y-Yes.. And?..." Despite having left the sauna, Conan felt himself begin to sweat again. "I hope she's not worried that Kazuha actually got that first kiss before she did.." He made a nervous face and tried to stay still through Ran's shakes.
Ran looked up at the ceiling, she felt her drunken moment fade away. Putting her finger on her chin, she looked at Conan. "Do you think they'll kiss again?" she asked, almost giving a little girl's expression in curiosity.
"Well, uhh I guess that's up to them, heh heh," answered Conan, his eyes closed as he scratched his head.
Out of the door came Heiji, still in a daze. He looked around the area as if lost in a cloud. "Kazuha?..." He stepped out some more, seeing Ran and Conan. "Oh, hey Ran and Ku-.. uh.. umm..." For a moment he was quiet, as he tried to remember Conan's name, "Oh yeah! And Conan! Sorry about that there..." He turned around and continued searching.
Conan smacked himself in the face gently, watching Heiji wander around, "Baro..."
Ran blinked, confused. She shook Conan again. "Aw, don't tell me that! Give me a yes or a no answer..." She paused, redeeming a grin on her face. She looked back in the corner of her eye, watching Heiji look for Kazuha. "Maybe he'll make his move again?" she snickered, looking back at Conan. "Whaddya say?"
"Uhh.." Conan looked at her, then back at Heiji. He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay," he answered, a mischievous little smile growing on his face.
"Someone's coming?" Kazuha asked herself, she breathed in a period's time of air, then quickly went underwater. Unable to hold it any longer, she came back up. Noticing it was Heiji who was looking for her, she quickly and quietly swam behind a rock, waiting until he was left.
Ran smiled at Conan, she pulled the side of his cheek. "Maybe we should go spy on them..." she grinned.
Knowing well that he shouldn't, but deciding it would be good for a laugh anyway, Conan accepted. He started walking quietly down the route that he saw Kazuha take earlier.
Heiji was still wandering around. "Kazuha?..." he asked to the air, stepping between groups of families and sticking his head into other people's saunas. "Kaaazuha?..." He continued floating around the area, certain that she had to be SOMEwhere.
Following Heiji's footsteps quietly, Ran stopped, realizing Heiji had finally entered the bath that Kazuha and herself were staying at. She looked over to the boulder, seeing Kazuha hiding behind it.
Astuu! Kazuha sneezed. She jumped up, covering her mouth, almost letting out a squeak of a gasp. Ran snickered, trying to hold her laughter in. Conan stepped up behind Ran's legs, peering into the scene.
Heiji turned suddenly, "Huh?" He noticed the rock near the side of the bath, with some long, black hair flowing around it. "But... Rocks don't have hair..." He muttered to himself, calmly stepping over to it. He looked at it from the side, "Kazuha!" he shouted. "There you are!" He looked into the water, then jumped in beside her.
Kazuha inched away. She began to blush. Seeing this, Ran quietly rooted Kazuha on. "No! Don't run away, Kazuha!" she whispered to herself. Kazuha got the image in her head again: kissing, kissed, kiss, MUAH- a big planter Heiji had given to her. HIM to HER. This was all confusing. She just continued to inch away.
"Kazuha?..." Heiji said softly, as she continued to move away. He looked off in another direction. He sighed quietly, "Don't tell me she regrets it. Damn!..." He sat quietly, shy once again.
She stopped, seeing his face. She sat up against the boulder and stared at the water. "L-Listen, I'm sorry that it had to end up like that. I didn't realize what I was doing.. I uh mean, seeing that I was acting all drunk. Uh heh, uh heh heh." She laughed nervously. She looked over at him and smiled softly, "Let's forget about it?" She raised up her hand, to redeem a hand shake.
Heiji stared at her. "No! If you both agree to this, then nothing can ever happen between you!" he shouted in his head. He closed his eyes and turned around. "...No."
Nearby, Conan continued watching next to Ran. Ran began to blush, hearing what Heiji had said.
With Kazuha's hand still hanging loosely in the air she looked up at Heiji, "Huh?"
"I said 'No'. I won't forget it. I never will.." He shook for a moment, before stepping up out of the water and tossing a towel over his shoulders. "I don't see how you can just forget it either," he glanced at her, expressionless, then walked off and back to the sauna.
--------------End Chapter 17--------------