Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Detective Conan or its characters and this time, I also don't own Criminal Minds. Just so you know...
Btw. apparently I'm killing my readers. I'm sorry. Still, if you'd die, Heiji would probably save that case in a heartbeat, if that makes you feel any better.
Chapter 7: Setting Kudo In Motion
The following day had been surprisingly uneventful, Kazuha realized. In school Eliza had been missing, apparently sick at home, so her flock of dimwitted girlfriends had seemed a little disorganized and unsure what to do. They had fluttered around the corridors, making a fuss to get away whenever Kazuha (and Heiji, for that matter) had come close. Of course Kazuha knew they had been whispering about the pair of them, but since nobody approached her about it, she didn't really care.
Additionally, since they had spent so much of Sunday in a lip lock, kissing and touching in public did not seem so hard anymore. To be honest, Kazuha had to admit she enjoyed every second of him holding her hands or pecking her lips before going off to Kendo practice. Unfortunately, she also knew this was a bad thing. It was too easy to live the lie they had created and in the end she, Kazuha, would be the one heart- broken and alone. Still, as she was sitting cuddled against Heiji on her sofa, she felt content and warm. The way his hand was lying on her stomach made her tingly and his breath grazing her hair every now and then along with his rhythmic breathing felt way too good. She would have slapped herself, but she didn't want to move. Even watching "Criminal Minds" on tv did not bother her. Heiji was just mumbling "I knew that guy was trouble!" when the phone rang. Startled, Kazuha got up and grabbed it, while Heiji grumbled and paused the program.
"Moshi, moshi. Toyama residence, Kazuha speaking." She sat down again and listened to the caller. "Kazuha-chan, how are you? It's Ran!" - "Oh, Ran-chan!" Kazuha squealed, while Heiji suddenly listened attentively. "I'm great! How are you? Did something happen? Why are you calling?"
Heiji frowned. Of course it could be that the Tokyo Girl only wanted to chat with Kazuha, but at the same time it could be one of Kudo's tricks to find out about their bet. Heiji perked up his ears but he could merely hear incoherent mumbling sounds though the phone. "Kazuha! Put – her – on – speaker!" he mouthed, but Kazuha only turned away after shooting him an irritated glance. "Oh, that sounds lovely, Ran-chan! I'm sure a little holiday will be great for you and Kudo-kun," she then answered to whatever Ran had told her. Heiji frowned and moved closer again, inconspicuously putting his head nearer to Kazuha's. Now he could understand a little of what the other girl was saying. "Yes, I'm so excited for this trip. But what about you, anything new?" Ran inquired, sounding rather happy. This was it. If Kazuha didn't tell Ran about their relationship right NOW, Kudo would never believe they were for real.
"Oh, first of all: I'm playing a role in our school musical! I'm so excited," she started and Heiji accidentally bumped their heads trying to inch closer, "and... Ouch! Heiji, stop it!" - "Oh, Hattori-kun is with you?" Heiji heard Ran again. "Yeah, and he's..." acting weird she wanted to add, just as Heiji snitched away the phone and put it on speaker. "... adorable as always," he finished Kazuha's sentence for her. "Is Kudo with you, too, Ran-chan?" Heiji dared to ask, making his voice sound as cheery as possible. "Uhm, no, he's not at the moment, but I'll see him in about an hour," the other girl answered, sounding surprised, "I didn't want to disturb you two," Ran then added. "You're not disturbing," Kazuha commenced, but again Heiji interrupted her. "That's alright, Ran-chan, I think Kazuha needs a little break from me, anyways. We've spent so much time together lately, even I did not think we could increase our time together even more! So, please, distract her, before she gets sick of me and dumps me." Next to him, Kazuha looked shocked. Her mouth hung open and she dumbfoundedly stared at Heiji, who inwardly congratulated himself. On the other end of the line, Ran seemed to be surprised, too. "I... You... What?" Ran paused and took a deep breath. "Are you telling me... you're DATING?" she nearly shouted the last part. Heiji looked at Kazuha with huge, innocent eyes. "You haven't told her yet?!" he asked in a surprised tone. "But it's been more than a week since we made it official, 'zuha!" Still, Kazuha only stared at him. "Oh my god!" Ran squealed. "I can't believe it! That's so great! I mean, I'm really, really happy for you guys! Why didn't you tell me?!"
That seemed to bring Kazuha back to life. "I, um... It's still new and I'm still getting used to it..." she babbled, absentmindedly rubbing her temple. "Oh, this is just the best! Wait till I tell Shinichi about this!" Ran sounded so enthusiastic Kazuha had to smile, while Heiji grinned. His plan was working. Ran would tell Kudo and he would win his bet. "And the best thing is," Ran continued, "before we go on our trip we plan a stopover at your place!" Heiji coughed. "What trip?" he inquired.
"The one I just told Kazuha-chan about. Together, Shinichi and I are going on a holiday for the first time since school trips. My dad finally caved! I'm so excited. And now visiting you beforehand has gotten even better!"
Kazuha smiled and nodded. "Okay, so we'll see each other next weekend, I guess," she stated and Ran ardently agreed. "I'm so happy! Looking forward to it," she chirped, and then added in a serious tone, "don't blow this, Hattori or I'll kick your ass!" Heiji only rolled his eyes and muttered something like "Yeah, no need for reminders".
After Kazuha had placed the phone back on its stand, she sat back next to Heiji on the sofa and watched him quietly. He had returned to watching his tv show and it took him a moment to react to Kazuha's stares. "What?!" he questioned. "Why would you tell Ran-chan we're dating?" she countered. Heiji was silent for some seconds, before he paused the tv again. "First of all, we would have had to tell them when they came here, anyways. And you wouldn't want to involve them in our scheme, now, would ya?" Kazuha shook her head a little. "And second of all..." he started and paused again for a few moments. "Yes?" Kazuha urged him on. "Well, she asked you what was new in your life and you decided the musical was more important than this." Heiji waved his hands between them. When Kazuha blushed, he felt heat rise to his own cheeks as well. "Also, I'd like to know if Kudo catches on to us," he added hastily. Kazuha thought about it for a moment. Something about Heiji's behaviour during the call bothered her, but before she could put a finger on it he caught her by her neck and kissed her deeply. At once, her pulse quickened and she sank into him, relishing his warmth and smell. When he pulled away and looked into her big, slightly dazed eyes, he grinned. "Sorry, you looked so fetching. Now sit back next to me, I want to know whether I'm right about the killer in this episode!" With that, he grasped her waist and softly took her back into his embrace, as he restarted the tv show. Kazuha snuggled back into his broader frame, feeling more confused than ever. Could Heiji be jealous? Or could he really want their relationship to be real? Or was the whole act just another way to show Kudo-kun who is the better detective? Kazuha wished she could tell Ran about this.
At the same time, Heiji's mind was racing. He was in so much trouble. If Kudo-kun visited them their act would have to be perfect, of that Heiji was sure. Otherwise the other detective would catch on to his scheme quicker than a piranha biting your finger. But the only way to make it seem realistic was to make Kazuha feel as if their relationship actually was the real deal and Heiji didn't know if he could do such a thing to Kazuha. "Aaaaand," the little voice inside his head added, "if you really invest yourself into this relationship, how will YOU ever get back again?" Heiji realized more and more: Being with Kazuha made him feel differently. Happy and excited and incapable of thinking straight. He would never actually admit it to himself, but he really had been annoyed she had stated her stupid musical before telling Ran about them, even though they were merely pretending. And he could not even control his urge to kiss her. And there were still three weeks of relationship to go.