Who's that Guy?

Kazuha wanted to tell Heiji something. And as usual, he wasn't quite getting it.

Kazuha wasn't the most popular girl in class, but she had a good number of quality-worthy friends to laugh and talk with everyday. Besides that, she was well-known in her Aikido club, well-liked by her colleagues from the supermarket she occasionally worked at, and she knew quite a handful of people outside Osaka; like Ran.

And from these circle of friends, Kazuha never lacked stories to hear. Especially stories that had to do with love.

From tragic heartbreaks, betrayals and to parents' objection, Kazuha was inspired enough to write a Shakespeare-like story on her own. But likewise, she'd also heard many happy stories too, like the process of falling in love, first kisses and celebrating anniversaries... Kazuha was too happy for her friends to be jealous (Perhaps she was just too hopeless to be jealous).

It never occur to her till later that while she was comparing her friends' live to soap operas, her own life would ironically turn out to be equally surreal as well.

Or more.

.o.

There really wasn't a specific reason why, but something just clicked in her one day. Maybe she was considering how she was lucky in comparison to Ran and Sonoko's long-distance relationship. Or how daughters of other inspectors always ask whether Heiji was single. Or maybe she was starting to get suspicious about Heiji's feelings towards her.

Suspicious wasn't such a nice word. Maybe she was curious if he ever sees her as a woman, or even a... a girlfriend(!)

She started gathering as many friends' advices as she could, read up six magazines on love, Googled "How to confess to a blockhead", and even went to an extent of watching romance movies on her own. She always choose far-end corner seats so she could quietly type in some notes, reactions and quotes for future references on her phone without disturbing anyone else. She looked almost like a loser, be it the purchasing of ticket or walking out of the theatre alone, but she was determined to get it right. She didn't know what the it was, but she would wait and see.

It wasn't long later when Heiji realized her odd routine.

"Who did you watch the movie with?" Heiji nonchalantly flicked the movie ticket he found on her desk and looked at her with eyes that seemed bored, or trying to be. Kazuha wasn't sure.

She casually slumped onto her bed and avoided his gaze. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does." He picked up the ticket from the table again and waved it over his face. "Especially when the title seemed so... erotic."

Kazuha scowled. "It's a nice and decent movie."

He tossed the paper away like dirt. "You're acting really strange these days."

"No, I'm not." She laid on her bed and bury her face into her pillow, hoping to hide the flush that unconsciously reddened her cheeks. She would definitely die from embarrassment if Heiji knew she watched the movie alone, and for reasons that were just ridiculous beyond belief. To him, at least.

"Who's that guy?"

Kazuha lifted her head off her pillow and turned, nonplussed. "What?"

"The man you like."

She blinked. And blinked again.

"What?" Her entire body flew up like magic and she felt dizzy for standing up all of the sudden.

He stared at her with a withering look. "You like someone, don't you?"

"How- I mean- What-" Kazuha shook her head to regain the composure to speak with the usual strong tone she had (Though Heiji was always responsible in ruining it for her, with his smiles and whatever thing that made her heart flutter more than it should). "I mean- I mean what made you ask that?"

"There's rumours going around." He turned away to face her bookshelves. "You've been asking people weird things and acting all suspicious with the information."

Kazuha hated it when he coated his words with irrelevant meaning to it. "What weird things?"

Heiji grumbled under his breath. "Love. Confessions. Those things." He tilted his face a little bit towards her and Kazuha swore she saw his eyes looked a little less brighter than usual. She was thankful that she blinked because he had his back facing her again. She didn't like the sight of his dull eyes anyway.

Her mouth moved in preparation for a denial, but she closed it, hesitantly, when she realized this could be her chance. She always missed a reaction from him whenever they were in a critical situation, but now, being alone together in her room, she could finally hear and see everything that Heiji do or say. From that reaction, it might be enough for her to do it.

She nodded intensively and glared at the back of Heiji's head with an amount of determination she never realize she could gather in herself. Heiji shivered and glanced over his shoulder, as if he could sense her electrifying stares behind him.

"Yes. I do."

Heiji wrinkled his nose and turned properly to face her. "Yes what?"

"Your question." She took in a deep breath. "About me liking someone."

A pause.

"Oh."

Oh? Oh?

They stared at each other for an eternity.

He gave no reaction.

Completely nothing.

"No wonder." He broke the weird silence and suddenly crossed his arms tightly against his chest.

Wait... why isn't he asking who?! Kazuha began shrieking in her mind. Wasn't he interested in the first place?

"Anyway," Heiji picked up the jacket he dropped over Kazuha's chair when he welcomed himself into her room. "I need to go back to school now."

It took her a while to find back her voice, and to also make sure she didn't sound like her throat was on fire. "Why?"

"There's gonna be training every Saturday from this week onwards." He was making his way to the door. "A competition is coming up."

"Oh, right." She mumbled and looked down. Her vision started to blur and the back of her mouth turned sour...

Still, she dared herself to look up. She hadn't said her goodbye.

But all she could see was her door being left ajar, and Heiji was already gone.

.o.

Everyone from the Kendo club went back home with at least two patches of bruises that day, courtesy of Hattori Heiji.

.o.

The first thing Heiji did when he enter the classroom the following Monday morning was stomping towards Kazuha's desk.

Over the weekends, Kazuha had formulated two plans. One, drop the entire ruckus and try to get over her one-sided love. Two, continue what she was doing even though heartbreaks wasn't one pleasant thing to experience. There was a tentative yet best option number three, which was to tell the blockhead her feelings straight in the face. But she was still hesitant about it... just because.

Irregardless to whatever choices she had considered from Saturday till now, his sudden presence over her table made her unable to think.

"Who's that guy?" He blurted the second before Kazuha could ask what he was doing.

She gaped like a goldfish out of water. "What?"

"Who's that guy." Heiji narrowed his eyes, and Kazuha was somehow sure his irritated features were related to the emphasis of the last word. He made an exaggerated show of annoyance by crossing his arms. "The guy you liked."

He did care after all!

This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it. This is it.

But the sudden chaos in the class interrupted her beautiful thoughts as she glanced around and realized this was not a good place to talk about her feelings for him at all. She was sitting on the chair and he was standing over her and they were in such a stupid and awkward position and- and- and- No! She needed to tell Heiji her feelings somewhere else, but she didn't want the conversation to fall apart just like that too.

"He's someone you know." She stood up from her seat and was about to take his hand so she could bring him out of the classroom and to somewhere quieter when he started cracking his knuckles, her fingers only managed to brush across his arm.

Why the hell was he cracking his knuckles for?

"And yeah, what about him?" He said, voice eerily calm.

It was an odd question that she didn't revise in mind before. There's a lot about Heiji, but she wasn't sure what to say all of the sudden, especially when the very same man was the one that asked. Her eyes briefly scanned over the wooden katana he brought to school, which was meant for his training later.

"He's quite athletic." She blurted out.

And then, like that Saturday afternoon, he was gone, along with the wooden katana that was originally on his table.

.o.

All along, Heiji had a hunch that the disgusting gossip about Kazuha's love sick problems had something to do with someone from the Aikido club. And with just one clue was all he needed to finalize his confirmation and prepare for attack. If he had his hat with him, he would twist it around and smirk like some bastard because he finally solved the mystery that had been bugging him for 48 hours straight.

Ah. Heiji's smirk grew bigger as he spotted the man he wanted to find. The captain of the Aikido club, who Heiji found no point in remembering the name, was walking down the corridor and towards his direction. This got to be some destiny.

Heiji had no comment if Kazuha wanted to find a senior to respect and admire, but he sure had lots to comment about if that pervert actually brought her to watch some erotic movie alone and together.

The captain noticed Heiji long before the latter needed to block his path.

"How can I help you, Heiji-kun?" The captain raised an eyebrow.

He was mildly disturbed that he knew his name, but decided to let it go. "Let's have a match."

"For?"

"Kazuha."

The captain raised both of his eyebrows, but Heiji didn't need to say anything else for extra convincing as the captain grinned and agreed. "Sure."

.o.

No one knew why the fight between one of the best member in the Kendo club and the captain of the Aikido club broke out, but the match ended halfway and the crowd scattered before their teachers came and sent everyone to detention.

The captain wasn't ranked the best in the team for nothing. Heiji trudged back to his class with his chipped wooden sword and a bruise in his kneecap, not bothering to answer anyone's questions on the sudden duel.

This was personal, and he had no intention to explain it.

"You always do the stupidest thing everytime!" Kazuha exclaimed and smacked a plaster over the palm he didn't know was cut.

This is weird. Heiji narrowed his eyes and looked down at the cute pink plaster over his hand. With everyone in the classroom constantly chatting about the sudden and brief match that occured ten minutes earlier, it wouldn't take Kazuha less than a second to know the opponent he fought was her captain.

He was expecting her to run over to his class, give the same girly band-aid and be frantic and concern for the guy she liked. Yet here she was, still standing over his head and continuing the same rants over his crazy behaviour. She didn't scold him for hurting her captain or even mention the latter's name once; her rambles consisted nothing but her worries about his hand and the risk of ruining the competition he was training so hard for.

Well, he was her best childhood friend, so it was natural for her to care to this extent. But he still very positive that she would at least be worried for the well-being of the guy she liked, unless...

Unless...

Damn. Heiji cursed under his breath.

He must have gotten the wrong guy.

.o.

It was the usual afternoon when Heiji asked Kazuha out to ran some errand with him. They bought the thing his mother asked him to buy and were on their way to the subway station when they stopped to wait for the traffic light to turn green.

"Anyway, you haven't answered m-me." Heiji hid the slight stutter with a loud cough. "Who's that guy?"

Kazuha was too busy worrying about Heiji's competition that was coming up to even remember the conversation that was left off abruptly last week. She blinked and turned to look at him. His shoulders were firm and eyes were cool like ice, though it still held enough warmth to melt her insides sometimes.

She looked away to hide her awkwardness and focused on the huge television screen that was hanging by the side of a shopping mall. She tapped her foot, hoping the traffic light would hurry so they could move and her flushed cheeks wouldn't be obvious to see.

This period of focus was extremely important for Heiji, and Kazuha didn't want to distract him with her silly feelings... Even if he didn't feel anything for her, he would definitely feel at least a tad bit guilty after he rejected her.

And that, was the last thing Kazuha ever wanted him to feel towards her too.

Her eyes peered right through the television screen, still unable to look at Heiji.

"Kaitou Kid is going to strike Osaka's Tower this midnight, where the prized Juliet's Emerald is being exhibited at... The police have prepared..."

"So?" He slightly leaned forward, his impatience was starting to show.

Maybe a few more hints wouldn't be that bad, for now.

"He's bold and charming when he's doing what he's good at." She gave a tiny smile, the fond memories that were sparked off by her own words came rushing in and sending her great nostalgia.

Heiji stared at the TV screen.

The scowl on his face stayed permanent all the way home, much to her confusion.

.o.

Kaitou Kid was always ready. Ready for Inspector Nakamori. Ready for Hakuba Saguru. Ready for the feisty Nakamori Aoko who occasionally dropped by his heist to mess up his feelings.

But he wasn't ready for this.

Kid remembered Hattori Heiji, the surprising new-comer, was watching sulkily from the roof of Osaka's Tower as he flew away into the night. He was victorious, with the gem kept safely inside his pocket and ready to be inspected once he found a safe landing.

But he was wrong.

And it wasn't a nice feeling to be wrong.

"You're dead, Kaitou Kid!"

Kid turned his head so fast his neck almost snapped.

Right behind him, the detective was waving a megaphone and riding in a helicopter that was closing their distance at a rapid speed. And just in front, another helicopter was flying fast towards Kid's direction too, probably instructed by the son of the Osaka Police department's powerful Chief.

The change in the wind's movement caused his glider to misbehave, and he had nowhere to go but down the river below him.

.o.

"I didn't know you're interested in thieves."

Heiji scoffed. "No, I'm not."

Conan quirked an eyebrow in amusement and showed the news he was reading on the phone to prove his point. "You're all over the news for tackling Kid and retrieving the jewel yesterday."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to steal the Kid-killer title from you."

"That wasn't my implication. I just thought it's odd that you were so participative in the heist, that's all."

"Damn right it's odd." Heiji narrowed his eyes as he continued staring at Kazuha's back. She was laughing happily and giggling throughout the conversation with Ran, even though she was fully capable of reading the news and knowing that her goddamn crush was probably catching a cold somewhere and she couldn't get a chance to tend to his ill side and-

"Heiji!" Kazuha suddenly turned and began skipping towards him, her cute flip-flops slapping the pavement loudly ever time she took a step. "Let's bring Ran-chan and Conan-kun to the Osaka Tower after lunch."

His eyes twitched at the mention of the location. "What for?" He wasn't in the mood to show how Osaka had the best scenic views at the moment.

"So I can tell them how you butchered Kaitou Kid last night!" Kazuha chuckled proudly and punched a fist in the air, while Conan and Ran exchanged an embarrassed laugh.

Heiji was too confused to join in the merriness between them.

Wait.

So... it wasn't Kaitou Kid either?

.o.

Meet me at the fountain behind the hall after my first match. I need to talk to you.

Kazuha had been staring at her phone screen longer than the actual match that was occurring before her eyes. She wasn't bored of Heiji's signature moves and patterns even though she had seen and memorised them enough. Seeing the placement of opponents, Kazuha was confident that she could repay the current lack of enthusiasm during the finals. This was still just the first round after all.

And speaking of which, what was so important that Heiji had to speak later, and not after the entire competition? She clutched onto her phone tightly, her heart starting to race.

Could it be...?

The entire hall suddenly erupted as her schoolmates, who were sitting the same row as her, suddenly stood up and cheered. Kazuha flung up from her seat and noted Heiji was leaving the mat and in the process of taking his mask off. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Heiji's name shown on the small TV screen beside the judges, depicting his win.

Kazuha went about squealing and jumping around for a full minute before remembering Heiji's text message. Not wanting to waste his resting time, She swiftly asked someone to save her seat before dashing to where he wanted to meet her.

Once she was outside, she immediately noticed him standing right beside the fountain and looking all serious in his uniform and slightly unkempt hair. Her skips automatically turned into a sprint until she reached his side.

The first thing he said while she was still struggling to catch her breath was;

"Who's that guy?"

"Wait... What?" Kazuha choked and continued her breathing exercise. Once she regained back her composure, she looked at her phone screen to check the time before giving him an exasperated look. "You don't have much time to rest and you're wasting it to ask this question?"

"It suddenly bugged me since this morning." Heiji grumbled. And for some reason, he refused to look at her.

Kazuha gaped. Is he serious?

"I need to know." He added, almost tentatively.

Heiji... needed to know.

This was something new.

Her heart fluttered like a maniac butterfly, the answer she recited in her head since ages ago were stuck in the middle of her throat, twisting it in every way possible till she couldn't say them out at all. She clenched her fist, digging her nails deep into her palm to make sure she wouldn't get dizzy from the sudden blood rush.

She wanted to say it, but- BUT! Her eyes glanced over his Kendo costume and her heart squeezed. She had been controlling her feelings all these while, so if she say them right now, in the middle of his match, wouldn't everything be pointless?

Besides... she still... wasn't... ready...

Heiji suddenly gave a sigh.

Her head shot up, surprised.

"If it's so hard for you to tell me, you don't have to do it." He finished his words with a shrug and glanced past her shoulder.

She winced inwardly. The uncaring version of Heiji was her least favourite one. The distant rumbles from a passing train wasn't helping to ease the tension in her chest.

"Heiji..." The word finally rolled off her tongue. But by the time it came out, and from the way she articulated it so softly and weakly, it didn't sound like she was replying his question, even when it was exactly that very answer.

Oblivious to her inner turmoil, he continued at ease. "I've known you for so long anyway. From that, I believe I can easily figure it out myself."

Kazuha would have laughed at his joke if he wasn't serious about it. "And have you figured it out?" She asked meekly. She was already sure of the answer before he even had to say it.

His confidence shook, just a tiny bit. "Well, uh, you can still give me some hints."

She sighed and wondered about the irony of her next sentence. "That guy... Well, we've known each other for quite a while."

.o.

Kazuha resumed her part-time job at the supermarket even though it wasn't her holidays yet. Her school work was still busy, but she wanted to earn some extra cash so she could give Heiji something nice after he won his competition last week. She was contemplating between a Kendo carry case or a training bag since his seemed worn out, and regardless of the choice she made, both gifts weren't cheap.

Everything at her workplace was going nice and well like usual, until her lunch break. She was only told then that one of her long-time male colleague, Satoshi, who began working around the same time as her, was quitting next week.

She found him to ask him why, but he wouldn't tell (They were still laughing and chatting so happily a few days ago. But today, he was avoiding her like a plague).

A few people commented, although it might not be relevant, that a young, dark-skinned man had been loitering around the supermarket before Satoshi decided to leave.

Something was telling Kazuha it wasn't entirely a coincidence.

.o.

Before Heiji even opened his mouth, Kazuha already knew what he was going to say. The unique combination of furrowed brows, pursed lips and slouchy shoulders were the signs.

"Who's that guy?" He spoke as he grabbed a random chair and sat beside her. Their lunch break just started and she had barely finished untying her cloth that was wrapping around her bento when he approached her with the same question again.

If there was a competition for patience, she was sure she had an equal chance against Ran. Still, it was kind of her fault for being so indecisive and not confessing her feelings clearly when she knew how bad Heiji processed information that didn't have to do with crime or murder. But on the other hand, she thought Heiji's exceeding concern over the guy she liked was slightly amusing, although nonetheless irritating too.

And to top it off with the same, old excuse she gave herself everyday... she wasn't ready either.

She took her time to stare at Heiji's bushy eyebrows before answering. "He's good with kids."

Heiji blinked. "Kids?"

Kazuha wondered if she should elaborate on it. In the end, she did, since all the previous, obvious hints didn't get through his head anyway. "Kids like Conan-kun."

"Conan?" He echoed again.

Her blush started to bloom. "Yes." She squeaked. Was he finally getting it?

"Hold on. I need to make a phone call." Heiji abruptly stood up from his seat left the classroom before Kazuha could ask what he was up to.

The dial tune didn't ring long before the receiver picked up.

"Hattori?"

He took in a deep breath. "Kudo."

"Is there something wrong? I'm actually in a middle of something."

"Um, just a question." Heiji stared out at the window along the corridor solemnly. "Does your girlfriend happen to be... bisexual?"

"..."

"..."

The line went dead.

.o.

Kazuha was used to attending these fancy police functions and didn't mind following her father when he needed the company. Heiji was often around to keep her company and make her night a little less boring anyway, but his presence today was the same as not coming at all; He had been avoiding her since she last met him at the entrance of the event hall that evening. She would have initiated to go look for him, if he didn't bluntly and unnecessarily commented on her lipstick colour, which she painstakingly choose at the department store for nearly an hour.

But besides his usual rude comments, she noticed he was getting more weird than usual. For instances (and also because it occured the most often), he would give her a few odd and awkward glances whenever she smiled around him (She would then spend ten minutes in the bathroom, trying to figure out if there's something stuck in between her teeth).

Another frequent example was his reactions whenever she was simply answering what he wanted to know. She remembered that one time when he asked how she felt after Satoshi stopped working at the supermarket. She gave an honest and innocent reply of feeling sad but happy for his future plans, and before she could even question how the hell he knew Satoshi, he stoned for a minute before having some depressing-sort of monologue to himself and ignored her for the entire day.

She had no intention or energy to deal with those possible situations tonight.

So, since Heiji had voluntarily disappeared and she was too full to go for a second round of food, Kazuha started off a conversation with the son of an Inspector from the Hokkaido Police department, who her father introduced to her a while ago. It was a pleasant conversation, something nice to distract Kazuha from the boring and sophisticated environment when Heiji abruptly barged right in between them, with a drumstick in his hand and asking loudly about what they were talking about.

Kazuha blinked.

Feeling suspicious was an understatement.

"I need to talk to Kazuha for a moment." He spat before either of them could question his intrusion.

Seeming to know better, Kazuha's new friend bade a goodbye and left the two alone.

"Who's that guy?" Heiji turned towards her and bit of the remains of the meat, in a way like he had been starving for years.

"That's the thing you want to talk about with me?"

He ignored her snappish tone. "Is he the guy you like?"

She had a sudden urge to dig his brain out, to see if it was only switched on when crimes and murders happened. Were the hints really not enough? "No, ahou."

His brows were merging to form a bridge. "Then who is it?"

Kazuha stared at him for quite some time, her eyes squinty and tired (It wasn't entirely because of how she slept late last night thinking about Heiji and the thousands could-have-beens). "He's really, really smart." She muttered before stomping off to her father, who ushered her over at the right time to greet more of his colleague's sons or nephews or whoever.

Thinking back about it, she wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

.o.

It wasn't as if Heiji hated competitions. He liked it, in fact, to some extent as it motivated him to do something better.

But this was quite too much.

So the target he had to settle with was smart. And not just smart but really smart? In the room filled with Commissioner officers, inspectors and wise-ass detective sons? That adverb and its emphasis was pretty much useless.

Still, it was alright. This was of no challenge to him. All he needed was to deal with all the possible candidates and he'd bound to get that bastard eventually.

Feeling as ambitious as the time he was first born into this world, Heiji twisted his cap and headed towards the bullet train station on the next Saturday morning. He would ask Kudo for the direction to Ekoda's High School later once he reached Tokyo, but for now, he had to think of how to deal with Hakuba Saguru, the son of the Superintendent General Hakuba.

Well, it wouldn't hurt to start big anyway.

.o.

His sudden spike in challenges across Japan caused a rise in his fame, and the level of annoyance Kazuha had towards him was growing almost at a similar rate too.

It wasn't as if he posted his address online and begged for fan letters, though it wasn't so bad when he received them. Some were thank you letters, which was nice, and some were request letters, which was equally nice since he would have more mysteries to solve.

But for some reason or another, a couple of letters ended up being sent to Kazuha's house. And what made it worse was that those portion of letters just happened to be the real fan-latters, with its pastel-coloured and scented envelopes being addressed to My dearest Hattori-senpai.

And obviously, Kazuha wasn't very happy about it.

He took it as a consolation that she didn't slap the letters into his face when they met.

"Well, thanks." He stuffed the cute-cartooned envelopes into the back of his pocket. He knew better than to read it right in front of Kazuha, considering her squinty eyes that were staring at every movements he made.

"You're welcome. And bye." She turned on her heels and towards the direction of her house.

"Uh," His words halted her steps, which he was awfully thankful for. "Wanna go and get some ice cream? My treat."

Her eyes narrowed to a slit as she scrutinized him over her shoulder. "I think I deserve more than that, given that you'd skipped school nearly thrice a week, just to go around being a detective freak while I have to make all the notes and prepare your homework sheets."

"Double scoop. With any toppings you want."

She couldn't help but allow her lips to slant a little bit upwards. "Fine."

Without having to say the location, their thoughts synced as they began their stroll towards the local shopping mall, where they often had their desserts at after their Okonomiyaki session. The sun was setting as it casted its warm light over the river they were walking by.

There were a few kids lying on the slope of grass by the river. Some girls were making flower crowns while some boys were playing trading cards. The children's laughters filled the comfortable silence between them.

Until Heiji finally broke it.

"Anyway, did you happen to see any news about me?"

"Yeah." Kazuha refrained herself from adding the part where she actually screenshot the website and saved it in her private folder on her computer.

"So what do you think?"

"What do I think about what?"

He cleared his throat. "About those detectives I challenged and beaten."

Kazuha heaved a sigh of relief, feeling glad that she asked what he was referring to or she might have accidentally admitted some compliments that were meant to be brought to her grave. She cast him a quick look. Heiji was cool and charming like always, but about the other detectives he challenged... she couldn't even remember their names.

She simply shrugged in response.

"What?" He didn't seem satisfied with the answer.

"Nothing." She emphasized. "There's no reason for me to think or feel about them anyway."

He dug his hands further inside his pocket and scowled.

It didn't require a brain cell to notice his unhappy expression. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing." He muttered before giving her a side long glance. "Who's that guy?" He suddenly spoke again.

It's been quite a while since she last heard the question. And since it had been a long time, she wasn't quite prepared for it like all the previous times he asked. Her heart started beating at a irregular pace and her brain expanded in different directions, thinking and evaluating every scenarios that could happen based on the replies she gave. But all she could process now was;

"Uh,"

"I know, I know." Heiji grumbled as he stared at the low orange clouds in the distant. "Despite so many hints, I still can't guess it right."

"Yeah," Kazuha couldn't help but chuckled. This was the first time he got her implications at least half right. "You failed."

"Fine." He twitched his nose in annoyance. "I'm going to guess it by today. Just you wait."

"It's already been months."

"It doesn't matter. When I said today, it will be today."

Kazuha let out a scoff, inwardly and outwardly believing it wouldn't happen. She knew Heiji too well for this. She crossed her arms and made a show of a challenge, in which Heiji copied her reaction and crossed-arms before looking to his side and at the orange-coloured river.

Focus.

"He's quite athletic."

"He's bold and charming when he's doing what he is good at."

"We've known each other for quite a while."

"He's good with kids. Kids like Conan-kun."

"He's really, really smart."

It never occur to him, until now, to piece all the clues he had together. And once he did, stupidly, it was almost as easy and quick as a flip of a switch.

He slowly uncrossed his arms, his eyes became so wide it could pop out anytime.

Kazuha could feel an abrupt change in the atmosphere, and it had nothing to do with the sun setting and the breeze that was blowing. She glanced skeptically to Heiji and quirked an eyebrow.

"Heiji...?" She mumbled unsurely. It couldn't be that he... really got it, right?

"It couldn't be..." Heiji muttered, as if their minds were in sync.

Does he know? Does he know? Does he know? Does he know? Does he know? Does he know? Does he know? Does he know? Does he know?

"Kazuha... Don't tell me the guy you like is actually," The shock in his eyes continued to radiate like a flare from the undying sun. "Kudo Shinichi?"

A crow squawked above them.

She focused her entire energy onto one foot and used it to stomp Heiji's toes as he growled out in pain.

"That hurts!" He continued his wail.

"You deserve it!" She screamed right into his face. A couple of children turned to stare at the commotion.

"What?!"

"I can't believe you think I'll ever like Kudo Shinichi!" Her words were shrill and deafening and Heiji had to close his ears, just to make sure his eardrums wouldn't burst. "And he's Ran-chan's boyfriend! Ahou! Did you actually think I'll stoop that low?!"

When he was sure Kazuha stopped her shouts, he removed his hands from his ears and mustered the necessary courage in him to speak. "I... don't know." He didn't have the will to shout back at her, even though he always do so during their arguments. Maybe it had something to do with the tears that were brimming her eyes.

"GoodBYE." Kazuha spat, walking the opposite way and towards her home.

He was one second too late to react as by the time he stretched out his hand to grab her arm, she was already stomping down the path of no return. Panic, a feeling he refused to admit he have, started to overwhelm him and he began sprinting in order to catch up with her.

"Hey-"

She wasn't listening, or stopping. Her pace quickened instead.

"Kazuha! Wait-!" His sentence was cut short as his feet suddenly failed to function, causing him to trip and tumble down the slope and into the goddamn river.

.o.

The river wasn't deep, but it wasn't shallow either. Before Heiji could save himself by standing up as quickly as he could to avoid soaking himself entirely in the water, he was already entirely wet from head to toe. It certainly didn't help to lighten his mood when his knees were scrapped from the bedrocks and when he slid down the sharp blades of grass.

But for another consolation, at least Kazuha didn't ditch him in the river and left him alone. She was already magically by his side and pulling him out of the water when he landed right in it.

"Are you alright?" She pat his wet skin and attire, as though she had some power to detect broken bones from a simple touch. "Why did you even slip?!"

Heiji tried to ignore the handful of kids who were sitting by the river and laughing at him. He half-glared at them before giving a grouchy pout at Kazuha. She was still swatting his knees and looking for signs of injuries.

"I'm fine."

Kazuha scoffed and looked up from her squatting position. "Are you?" She then jabbed her fist right into the scrapped part of his leg and it gave way, causing him to fall flat on his butt.

"You're crazy!" He yelled.

She stared at him boredly. "Are you not too?"

That reminded him of the insane answer he thought about a minute ago, and he wasn't going to allow the conversation to be left unfinished. "So the one you like isn't..." Heiji swallowed and regretted at the end as the salty taste from the river overwhelmed his throat. "Kudo Shinichi?"

Her eyes hardened. "Don't make me throw you back into the river."

He was already drenched anyway. "Was it not? He's athletic, good with kids, smart and... yeah, all the things you listed."

"Now that I think about it, I'm taking back the smart part." she grabbed his cheeks and gave a hard, squeezy pinch. "Because I realized he's dumb as hell."

"Ow!" Heiji slapped her hands away, the soreness numbing his whole face in an instant. "What was that for!"

"It's you!" She exclaimed, her mouth was about to split open. "The guy I like is you! Ahou!"

The pain on his face instantly evaporated.

"I can't believe you're so stupid. Stupidest, dumbest..." In honesty, she was also referring to herself. Her feelings just took over her and the words slipped out without her knowing. And now it would be all awkward, it would be all so-

"Kazuha." His voice was pitched with hope. "You... I- I... Really?"

She shifted her weight and proceeded to stand. "I'm leaving."

"Where the hell are you going?" He grabbed her wrist successfully this time and she fell right back onto the ground next to him. Kazuha scowled and tried to wriggle her hand out of his grasp, but she should know better that once her hand was in his, he wouldn't let it go so easily. They'd been through that stage before.

"I'm going back home. Let me go." She spat.

He refused to loosen his grip. "It wasn't suppose to be like this, ya know."

"Like what?" Tear sprang into her eyes like magic. "My feelings for you? It shouldn't be like that?"

"N-No!" He sputtered the word with an effort that was needed to lift a car. He sighed and released his grip around her wrist to run his hand across his wet hair. "The confession wasn't supposed to be like this."

Her previous worries for Heiji was already dead and buried in the ground. "I'm so sorry about that, then." Kazuha narrowed her eyes,

Heiji tentatively glanced at her. "It's n-not that either." He sighed again.

She realized he had been stuttering unusually a lot for the past five minutes. "What the hell do you mean?"

"I'm suppose to be the one that confess to you first, ahou!" He blurted out in one breath. "I wanted to find that shithead you like and defeat him into a pulp before telling you that I like you!" He turned away in an instant to hide the blush he didn't want her to see. "But to think that it's..."

Something in her chest bubbled. And not knowing how to process the weird feeling inside her, she abruptly gave another pinch on his cheeks.

"What was that for, again?!"

"Because you're stupid!" Her entire face flushed to an unhealthy shade of red. "So all these random challenges and weird obsession in trying to find out the guy I like... were for the moment of wanting to confess to me?"

He gave an answer by looking away embarrassingly, and it was a confirmation that Kazuha didn't know she wanted in her life. She pounced right on top of him to give him a chock-tight hug as his entire body slammed right back onto the ground.

"Oh, Heiji!" She exclaimed into his ear excitedly, happy tears began filling her eyes.

Unsure of what to respond besides secretly smiling to himself, he gave the usual rude remark back, just because. "You're really heavy."

She broke the hug to stick out a tongue at him. "Deal with it."

And with her hand around his shoulder, she pulled him close and kissed him on his lips.

.end.

A/n: Thank you for enduring till the end of this ridiculous fic :') By any chance, hope you enjoyed.