Hello guys. Yeah I'm still alive XD and I hope you like this little sweet V-day story! Inspired by a fanart Cherry drew, duh! (Something new and nobody would have guessed, huh?XD) Hope you enjoy this! Love, Jojo
It's the small changes...
by Jojo
The sun shone brightly, the birds chirped happily, the wind was chilly but still acceptably mild. But no matter how cold it got today, he was certain that nobody would feeze on a day like this, February or not. You ask why? Easy, even for all of the none-detectives among us.
It was Valentine's Day.
Love was practically flying among those birds high up in the sky and everybody seemed happy for no apparent reason at all.
Now, we all know that Hattori Heiji was one of the most rational thinking persons out there. Usually he didn't spend a second thought on such useless events that were merely invented for consumer purposes. The only great thing about it was the chocolate that he got every year from various fans of his that he didn't even know. Often, he would eat most of it in class with a smug grin on his face because of the annoyed expression that would regulary grace the face of his childhood friend.
He really loved teasing her and daring her with his eyes to make a comment about it. But she'd always turn away from him when he caught her looking and pretend to not mind at all while pouting openly. On those days, even her closest friends knew to not mess with her. She once got in a screaming fit because a girlfriend of hers asked her casually if she hadn't made any chocolate this year. Poor girl, couldn't hear properly for the rest of the day.
Kazuha had been incredibly sorry afterwards but the arrogant smirk on Heiji's face managed to make her forget everything else. He enjoyed himself immensely. He knew it was mean but it was simply so much fun.
Why he did it? Because he could. And because he loved to tease her, focus her attention on only him and titillate this passionate spark inside of her until it was blazing like a raging fire.
What Heiji didn't know was that Kazuha, for the past couple of Valentine's Days, always had a special chocolate heart hidden in her bag, carrying it around with her the whole day like a time bomb that was likely to go off any second, leaving her practially on edge even without his doing. But whenever she thought it was the right moment, either he would do something incredibly stupid to enrage her and thus make her refuse to give the chocoalte heart to him or somebody else would interrupt the scene. In any case, every Valentine's Day she was left frustrated and eating the chocolate herself.
'But not this year!' she promised herself the night of the 13th of February while stirring the brown substance with a determined expression.
However, the next morning things looked completely different. Kazuha's heart was pounding so hard it made her get up way before her alarm usually woke her after a restless sleep. She hardly noticed the unusual warm February day on her way to school, her bag once again feeling like a time bomb. She sighed, heart heavy, her steps seeming to bring her nowhere. It was the same as every year and that thought made her sad.
Because this year was supposed to be special. They had come along so well over the past year and grown so much closer. Granted, he still hadn't brought up the guts to kiss her but they had held hands a couple of times when they were alone and although nobody noticed, they did realize that their fighting was becoming more and more endearing; a light, teasing flirting instead of violent rage. He payed more attention to her than he used to and occasionally a compliment would leave his lips; of course only when they were alone but it still made her day and haunted her dreams. When he smiled at her, a smile that was solely meant for her it easily increased her heartbeat to a painful speed and left her knees wobbly like jelly.
But they still hadn't kissed, or gone on a date, or talked about the status of their relationship. She had put all her hopes into that one chocolate heart with a big "H" next to a katana on it but now feared that she wouldn't get around to giving it to him, again. The girl exhaled in pure frustration.
"Oi, what are you sighing for on a nice day like this, ahou?"
Kazuha didn't even have to turn her head to know who this insolent voice belonged to. "Good morning, Heiji." She muttered indifferently and walked on.
The detective stopped everything, walking, breathing and so on, and was for a moment glued to the spot. That was definitely not a response he had counted on. Quickly regaining his composure, he ran after her and fell in place with her steps. "What's wrong?"
'You wouldn't understand anyway, ahou!' her mind screamed but she didn't dare voice those words out loud.
Her cheeks colored a little but she still refused to look at him as she spoke on with a quiet, tired tone of voice. "Just tired. Couldn't sleep well."
"Oh..." was all that he said as he continued walking quietly next to her, thinking of a way to cheer her up a little and feeling extremely pathetic and useless for not coming up with anything clever.
Too soon they had arrived at the schoolbuilding without a word passing between them. A little awkwardly and unsure, he stepped forward and opened the huge door. But instead of entering as he usually would do, he held it open and turned to give her a look, telling her with his eyes to go ahead.
It was a pretty small gesture but her whole face lit up right away. Her heart skipped a beat and her insides warmed up quickly as she gifted him with a smile that let his own heart race in return and she stepped forward and past him.
"Thank you." She whispered, creating quick eye contact before walking on with rosy cheeks. With a silly yet incredibly satisfied expression, he walked in after her, hands securely in his pockets.
For bystanders it didn't look like a big deal or like something had happened here at all; but Heiji and Kazuha knew better than that. It was unspoken, it was a small, honest gesture but it was there.
The day went by other than she had expected it to. Sure, the girls were completely wacky, giggling madly about their plans for the day and when they planned to get their chosen one alone to give him their chocolate. Kazuha was never left alone by her girlfriends, the talking around her louder than usual and all consuming. However, that didn't stop her from sneaking glances over at her childhood friend at a regular basis. She saw the usual pile of sweets on his desk but with a song in her heart, she noticed that he was hardly acknowledging it. On the contrary, he was reading some book with his feet on his small desk right next to the sweets but not one wrapping paper in sight. And as the day passed by, she saw the pile remained untouched.
'Jeez, I wonder where my deduction skills suddenly come from...oh boy, I hang out with Heiji way too much.' she thought with a gentle expression on her face after glancing over to him again and seeing the guy stiffle a yawn behind his hand. She knew she really didn't mean that.
Today she couldn't concentrate at all on what the teacher was saying because she was thinking about one question over and over again. Should she dare?
In the second big break she had managed to sneak away from her friends, claiming she had forgotten something in her drawer. Immediately, she had started searching for him and quickly found him sitting on a bench with a book in his hand and his mouth filled with an apple. She smiled at the typical sight, looked around paranoid and walked over to him as casually as she could.
"Hey." she greeted him with the coolest voice she could muster.
He gave her a happy smile. "Hey. What's up?"
"Nothing, I was just walking by and thought I'd say hello." she lied miserably and sat down next to him, deciding to change the subject before he could ask more about her motives. "What are you reading? Oh no, wait, let me guess. You're reading the 'Valentine's murder', right?"
Heiji smiled. "Yeah, thought I adapt to the celebrations. How'd you guess?"
"You're reading it every year." She smiled at him.
"And I thought I had finally rubbed off on you." He grinned and both laughed.
'It's now or never, you'll never get a better opportunity, girl!' Her mind screamed at her and she knew it was true.
"Heiji...speaking of which, there's something I want to...I r-really want to...to...eh...how to say this..." she broke the eye contact, feeling her cheeks burn while Heiji continued to look at her curiously. "Well, I just wanted-"
"Oi, Hattori!" A bunch of guys came over to them and Kazuha clutched her bag tighter to her chest, feeling her cheeks darken in color as she stared at them with big eyes that could probably kill at the moment. "Come over man, let's play some basketball. We're missing one man and we need to kick the asses of the B-class!"
"Sure." Heiji answered and turned to look at Kazuha. She would have almost smiled because she saw something apologetic in his look. "What is it that you wanted?"
Panic grabbed her heart. She blinked a few times at him, lost. "Er...I just wanted to ask you if I could borrow that book after you're done with it." she totally lied to him, again.
Heiji looked at her wordlessly for a moment and she could have sworn she saw disappointment flicker through his eyes but it quickly disappeared again so she wasn't too sure. "Sure. Here, take it with you now. You know I've read this like a million times already."
"Yeah. Thank you." She numbly took the book from him.
They stood up and Heiji was following the guys to the field, Kazuha looking after them, her heart dropping. She had missed her chance. Damn it and damn those guys.
"Oi, Kazuha!" Heiji's voice tore her from her mental kickings. He had turned around and was staring at her from across the yard.
"What?" she screamed back.
He suddenly smirked. "Do you think I'm supposed to tell you that the major's son is the killer?" Laughing madly at her perplex expression, he started running away from her to find a hiding spot before she had a chance to react.
When his words sunk in completely and he had already a head start, she sprung to her feet and started chasing after him, swinging her bag in his direction. "Why, you-" Her voice thundered over the heads of the other students.
Heiji laughed loudly while he ran around the court with a raging girl on his heels.
---
'This is it. School is over and you stupid didn't manage to give him your chocolate. Well, congrats! You can go home now and eat it yourself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.' Kazuha scolded herself angrily, not able to ban the sadness from her heart as she passed the schoolgates.
Happily giggling girls and grinning boys talking actively with each other passed by her and Kazuha felt miserable. Her heart felt heavier than ever in her chest and she tried to block out all sounds.
Defeated, fighting tears and with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, she started walking home slowly. 'This was the worst day ever.' She sighed again, head hanging as she walked until somebody called her name. She turned around and her cheeks immediately reddened as she saw who was calling her.
"Hey Kazuha, why didn't you wait?" Heiji panted as he came to a halt next to her.
"Eh...I forgot." She lied yet again, looking at her shoes. The truth was that she didn't see any chance of catching him alone and only wanted to get home and wallow in her misery for a while.
"Jeez, it sure isn't your day today." Heiji started the conversation after they began to walk again, arms behind his head.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you seem pretty sad all day long. As if something's bothering you a lot." As she shot him a look that clearly asked him how the hell he knew that again, he grinned knowingly. "You keep knitting your eyebrows together when you're pondering something and you fidget with your fingers extremely often, too. It's a habit of yours since...practically always."
Kazuha looked thoroughly surprised and they stopped walking for a moment. She had never realized she was doing these things until he pointed it out. A careful hand touched her forehead and she jerked it away immediately. He was right!
"Uh...what are you doing here anyway? Don't you have some cases to solve or something?" She tried lamely to change the subject, her cheeks darker than ever.
They had started walking again and she was arguing with herself if she should be flattered that he was paying so much attention to her. The result? Of course she was flattered! This was Heiji's way of telling her that he cared about her and noticed even small changes in her behaviour and that little fact alone made her happier than she thought she could be. A small, sincere smile played across her face.
"I..." the detective coughed into his fist discreetly, clearing his throat at the same time. He looked straight ahead, cursing as he felt his own cheeks hotten. Deciding that he should be honest with her for once, especially on a day like this, he decided on the whole, embarrassing truth and damn the consequences. "I wanted to check on you."
Her head turned to look at him surprised. After a few more moments, his own head turned to look at her, unsure of what kind of reaction to expect from his childhood friend. "You were worried?" She asked him gently after some time of silence, her voice a soft whisper in the noises of the city.
Heiji was glad that his cheeks didn't show too much of his embarrassment because he felt like they were as burning as the sun on a hot summer day. Or at least hot enough to cook an egg. With bacon. We don't want to exaggerate, after all.
"Yeah." It was a vey soft sound, barly audible but she heard it loud and clearly because to her, it was the only thing that existed in this world right now.
She felt moved to tears but held on desperately to her calm, managing not to cry. However, she did give him the most beautiful smile he had seen in a very long while. Realizing that words were no longer needed between them on this amazingly nice afternoon, she took his hand and squeezed it in gratitude, thanking him wordlessly for caring about her and for always being there for her.
He returned her smile and her squeeze and, as they walked on, they both didn't let go of each others' hands
"I'll take you home...?" he was not exctly sure if this was a statement or a question. Probably a mix of both and he wished she would just respond quickly to this without lots of thinking since the sudden nervousness in his stomach was driving him nuts.
"I would like that very much." She answered right away as if sensing his distress.
Heiji's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at her and smiled as he saw her own smile. Quickly averting his eyes from her face, he looked at the road ahead, the tell tale smile still present and stuffed his free hand in his pocket in his usual, cool manner.
All too fast, as both thought, the house of Kazuha came to view and both felt immense disappointment but neither said anything. As they finally stopped right in front of the entrance, the awkward situation returned.They stood there for a couple of minutes, looking anywhere but at the other or their still joined hands.
"Well..." Kazuha started when she couldn't bear the situation anymore. "Thank you very much for taking me home." She said in a gentle voice that snapped him out of his trance.
"You are welcome." he finally replied and reluctantly dropped her hand to stuff it into his other pocket. Kazuha didn't know why exactly but there was something about him standing there sheepishly like a young boy that was unendingly adorable to her. Before she could change her mind, she opened her bag and quickly found what she was looking for.
"For you." She had meant to say but it turned out to be the most quiet whisper she had ever spoken in. Embarrassed, shy, self-conscious and with burnig cheeks, she looked at his shoes while holding the small, blue and white chequered box out for him.
Heiji was taken aback. This was something he hadn't counted on, at all. He blinked irritated, his usually exceptionally fast working mind needing some time to comprehend what was going on in front of him. Was this really Kazuha, his childhood friend, giving him homemade chocolate for Valentine's Day? This couldn't be true, right?
He rubbed his eyes with his hands to make the illusion go away but even after opening his eyes again, she was still standing there with outstretched hands. And he could clearly see that she was getting more embarrassed by the minute and starting to lose her composure along with her temper.
"Would you just go ahead and take it already?" She finally snapped at him before she could help herself, her face beetred. "If you don't want it I can eat it myself and-"
"No!" he quickly reached out and took the box from her before she could put it away. The surprised girl closed her mouth and looked at him with a fuzzy feeling in her stomach as he examined the small object in his hands closely, the grin on his lips growing and growing. At long last, as if he only now remembered that she was there, too, he looked back at her with the most amazing smile on his lips. A smile that not only reached his eyes but also every other inch of skin on his face.
"Thank you." he finally said, looking a couple more times from the box to the girl and back with amazement in his eyes. She loved it. Thinking back, she knew she could hardly have hoped for a better reaction from her favorite tantei.
"You're welcome." She whispered, wondering if it was possile to feel ones increased heartbeat throb in ones cheeks that were currently almost overflowing with blood.
Heiji went back to carefully looking all over the box and Kazuha was vividly remembered of when they where young and he would inspect all his bithday presents for long, agonizing minutes until he guessed what was in them before opening them and thus frustrating all the other kids. She smiled blissfully at the memory.
"You know, you can open it." She offered and held her breath when he nodded and started to tear it open.
He removed the lid carefully and gasped very quietly at the sight, a look of amazement on his face. The 'H' with the katana were decorated so skillfully on the heart of dark chocolate that he couldn't help but wonder how long she had spent on this. He traced the white chocolate letter and sword carefully with one finger, almost afraid to destroy it.
"This is amazing." He whispered more to himself than to her, really, but she still heard every word of it and blushed again very badly before going back to look at her own shoes that she really needed to clean later, as shefound out. But not even stains on her shoes could ruin the song of bliss that had started playing inside of her at his words of praise and the look on his face.
Her heart skipped another beat as he startled her to the bones right after. His head shot up and he stared intenly at her before speaking almost forcefully with a very loud and clear voice.
"Go on a date with me." Kazuha blinked confused at him, one hand clutching the fabric of her blouse right over her heart in shock.
Heiji was staring intently at her, his eyes piercing into hers so fiercely that her breath was gone for a moment. Totally baffled, she could only nod subconsciously, eyes still wide. A huge grin spread on his face, his expression staying determined. "I'll pick you up at 8?"
Still bewildered, she nodded again, earning herself another smile from him. "Great, see you later. Bye."
Her hand moved to wave goodbye out of its own accord. He turned a last time to grin at her and then disappeared behind a building. Kazuha stood there, glued to the ground, her mind racing, her mouth open, moving slightly as if imitating a fish.
'Did this all just really happen? Did I give him the chocolate and he accepted it, too? Do I...do I really have a date with Heiji????'
She slowly turned and walked inside the empty house. Every move she was making, every gesture, everything she did felt like she was watching herself do it from a different universe. So many things were racing around her mind that autopilot must have taken over. Everything felt more than unreal and after thinking about it for another half an hour, she decided it was all a dream. None of this had just happened.
At this moment, her cellphone beeped, announcing an incoming text message. She took the phone in her hand with a raised eyebrow and opened the message. It was from Heiji.
'So sorry, forgot to tell you how the chocolate tastes! Well, it's the most delicious thing I have ever tried, period. You should make more chocolate in the future, ahou. See you later!!'
Kazuha blinked confused at her phone a couple of times and reread the whole message, then again and again...until, very slowly, a small smile creeped onto her lips. That smile spread and spread and spread and soon consumed all of her face that was smiling broadly down at her phone. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest, her stomach overflowing with butterflies, her head spinning a little.
So it had happened! She had given him the chocolate, he had accepted it and then again by eating it and even complimenting her for it! Ok, granted, not very skillful but typical and for Heiji this was a huge compliment. Also, she knew he was only hiding his embarrassment behind his cool facade. Typical. AND, to top this amazing day, she was going on a DATE with Heiji, their first real and official date ever! Could this get any more perfect?
She let out a very deep breath and felt her muscles relax for the first time today. Today really was perfect and nothing would get in her way anymore.
Suddenly she sat upright, a loud "OH NO!" escaping her lips. She raced up to her room, throwing her bag and jacket somewhere on her way. What was she going to wear? She rummaged hastily through her closet and stepped back a minute later, an expression of pure shock on her face.
"I have nothing to wear!!" She shrieked panicked, arms high in the air, then pulling at her hair.
tbc
Liked it? Check on my homepage for the picture to this story. Part two of this twoshot up tomorrow!