"Oi, Kudo. You have a teddy bear in your room," Hattori Heiji remarked with his forefinger aimed straight at a pale blue woollen teddy bear adorned with an oversized red bowtie.

Kudo Shinichi, lounging on his king-sized bed, turned lazily to look at the teddy bear. Cerulean eyes glazed over and a corner of his mouth curved upwards affectionately. "Ran gave it to me."

Heiji grinned mischievously. "Neechan gave it to you? You mean she has not gotten over the fact that you're no longer six-year-old? Or can it be that you have a hidden affinity for teddy bears?"

A pillow flew straight to his face, which he easily caught with his hands.

"Baro! Haven't you heard of the legend?" Shinichi ejected with exasperated half-lidded eyes.

"What legend?"

Shinichi sighed as Heiji sat down on one corner of the bed. "Do you know when a teddy bear's birthday is?"

"On the day it was manufactured?"

"True, but it can be hard to tell when exactly it was made. Legend says that its birthday is when you tie a ribbon around it and give it a name."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Shinichi blushed marginally. "Legend also says that if you name a teddy bear after yourself and give it to someone you like, you'll stay together forever."

Heiji blinked blankly for a few moments before an impish expression flitted onto his tanned features. "You mean neechan-"

"Shut up!" Shinichi interjected crossly. "Maybe you can give one to Kazuha-chan," Shinichi added flippantly.

Much as he anticipated, Heiji assumed an indignant look as he sprang up from Shinichi's bed, his green eyes wide with incredulity and his arms rocking back and forth menacingly.

"W-W-What are you talking about?" he sputtered out. "Why would I give her a teddy bear?"

Shinichi tossed another pillow at him with a smug look. "You know you want to," he continued infuriatingly.

"AHOU! WHEREVER DID YOU GET THE IDEA! I WOULD NEVER, EVER GIVE HER A TEDDY BEAR! MAKE SURE THAT GETS THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL!"

"What the heck am I doing here?" Heiji mumbled to himself as he scanned the rows and rows of teddy bears before him thirty minutes later. A particular teddy bear with huge bottle-green glass eyes caught his attention immediately. A young woman's countenance lurked across his mind promptly.

He shook his head clear of the image rapidly. "Why on earth did I think about her? Ahou! I should not even be here."

He started walking away coolly, his hands in his pocket. Once again, the same face with sparkling emerald eyes and lustrous dark hair tied up with a ribbon darted through his brain. He halted.

"I shouldn't leave without buying anything, that's impudent. Yeah, I'll just buy something and leave." He twirled on his heels, paced towards the aforementioned teddy bear, grabbed it, and paid for it.

Standing outside the toy store, he gazed at his prize. Green eyes bore back into him.

"I did not buy this for her, no I didn't. Why would I?"

And he marched away triumphantly, swinging the plastic bag containing the teddy bear with thoughts of a certain teenager swimming cheerfully in his reverie.

Heiji strutted up towards the Toyama mansion and stood on the threshold, one hand holding a ribboned-and-christened teddy bear while one hand hovered tentatively before the door.

"Since I'm here, I might as well give her the teddy bear. I have no use of it anyway. Yeah, it's just a casual gift between friends," he reasoned to no one in exact. Smirking to himself, his hand flew towards the wooden door, only to have it flinging open before he could even knock. A very flustered-looking – but very attractive nonetheless – girl appeared at the door.

"H-Heiji! What are you doing here?" Toyama Kazuha exclaimed, her dark ponytail swinging behind her.

"I-I was just-" Heiji's eyes travelled from Kazuha's strapless tube top to her extremely provocative miniskirt which was fluttering around her tantalisingly, threatening to reveal glimpses of her ahehem any second. He could practically hear his heartbeat speeding up hysterically. However, his adept little grey cells deducted that something was amiss.

"Why are you so dressed up?" he questioned suspiciously.

Kazuha blushed. A hair ran through her hair as her lovely lime eyes rolled upwards contemplatively. "W-Well… You see, I… I'm going to a date."

There was a long pause as Heiji stared expressionlessly at Kazuha. Then, much to Kazuha's amazement, he burst out laughing.

"AHAHAHAHA! I thought I heard you saying you have a date!" he cried out, doubling over with laughter.

Kazuha gritted her teeth irately as her eyes shone with malicious intents, her hands clenching into fists. "AHOU! I DO HAVE A DATE! Now if you would excuse me, I'm going to meet him now! And for your information, I can't wait to see him!"

And she stormed furiously away, every step creating a mini-earthquake.

Or maybe it was just Heiji's heart plummeting again and again.

He watched her diminishing silhouette in the sunset, his hand tightening around the forgotten teddy bear.

Maybe it would stay with him forever after all.

The school bell rang shrilly, ensued by the hubbub of students scurrying out of their seats and outside their classes. A tanned young man hung back as he kept his books one by one, every objective on avoiding the walk home with a young lady who had a date.

"Hei-ji!" a voice sang, agitating him inordinately, though he shammed a placid façade.

"Yeah?" he said frostily, not bothering to turn to the source of voice. The girl, however, remained ignorant of his frigid attitude and flounced to him.

"Aren't we walking home together?" she said. Heiji could not bring himself to meet her eyes. The eyes that pranced about in his mind incessantly.

"Why don't you walk home with your date?" he muttered heatedly.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh," Heiji regained his icy tone, "I said, why should I be walking home with you? It's not like we're very close or anything."

Heiji attempted really hard to disregard the hurt expression on Kazuha's visage. Instead, he sauntered away from her indifferently.

"What are you mad at?" the voice called out from behind him. Heiji's steps broke.

He pursed his lips and squeezed his eyes shut, but he did not turn around. Nor did he betray any emotion in his voice.

"I'm not mad at anything. Why would I be?"

"I… I thought maybe you're angry at me for going on a date with someone else," Kazuha breathed softly, showing the vulnerability in her voice. Heiji's chest constricted, yet he still did not turn around.

"Toyama-san, you can go on a date with whoever you like, it doesn't concern me at all," he hurled out. All said and done, he strolled away, never once turning back.

If he did, he might have heard the sobs coming from the designated teddy bear's owner.

Heiji chucked his bag away and flopped down on his bed, his arms bolstering his head. Olive orbs landed on the teddy bear on his bedside table. The same girl's face overlapped with the bear.

"No no no! I don't like her! I have no feelings for her whatsoever!"

He rolled sideways away from the poignant teddy bear, a miserable expression on his face.

"Why? Why do I think about her all the time?"

He closed his eyes, only to see numerous images of the same girl frolicking about in his mind, saying his name time cyclically, each time fashioning an unfamiliar sensation in his pit.

His eyelids snapped open suddenly.

"Heiji, you ahou! What have you done?"

Leaping up from his bed, he sprinted hastily towards the Toyama manor, teddy bear clutched intensely in his grip. Before long, he reached his destination, albeit panting heavily. He knocked on the door impetuously.

The door opened.

"Heiji-kun, where's the fire?" Toyama asked.

"Kazuha," he gasped, "I want to see Kazuha."

Kazuha's father furrowed his brows gravely. "She doesn't want to see you."

"KAZUHA!" Heiji bellowed to a nearby window, startling Kazuha's father. "KAZUHA, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME! PLEASE SEE ME, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!"

Silence.

"Give up now, boy. My daughter is very stub-"

"KAZUHA! PLEASE, COME DOWN AND MEET ME! IF I DON'T TELL YOU THIS, I'LL REGRET IT FOREVER!"

"Boy, you should leave-" Toyama started pushing the door shut against Heiji, who was blocking his way resolutely.

"Otousan, let me talk to him," a hoarse voice said. Toyama nodded in consent and moved away, and Heiji finally perceived Kazuha behind him. Her enormous eyes were swollen, and her cheeks were flushed and tearstained. Heiji winced.

"Kazuha, this is for you," Heiji said, holding out the teddy bear pleadingly.

"Heiji, if this is all you want to tell-"

"Do you know when a teddy bear's birthday is?" Heiji interrupted. Kazuha was rather taken aback, but shook her head nevertheless.

"A teddy bear's birthday is when you tie a ribbon around it and christen it. Legend says that if you name a teddy bear after yourself and give it to someone you like, you will be together forever," Heiji recounted, the fiery tint on his cheeks apparent even against his tan.

"H-Heiji…"

"Kazuha, his name is Heiji."

Kazuha stood motionless for a long time, looking very muddled. Heiji's heart fluttered erratically, praying that she would accept it.

And after an eternity, Kazuha moved towards him and took the teddy bear in her hand. Close up, Heiji caught sight of a few glistening tears at the corners of her eyes.

But contrary to her susceptible appearance, she began thumping the teddy bear's head ferociously while chanting, "Heiji, you ahou ahou ahou ahou ahou..."

"Hey, that bear costs me a pretty penny! You can at least take good care of it!" Heiji protested.

"It's mine now, I can do whatever I want with it!"

"WHY-EVER, DID I GIVE IT TO YOU?"

You can tell it was a beginning to a very eventful, and very long-lasting relationship. Toyama chuckled silently to himself as his wife slunk up behind him.

"Finally, they're together. It's been like forever!"

Toyama nodded in utmost concord.

"Finally."

Lolz, can you tell which anime this is inspired from?

Oh, and Kazuha went on a date because her parents wanted her to. Lolz I forgot to add it into the story.