Chapter Text
Kazuha was furious.
She was working on a talisman she had promised a neighbor of her mother and pricked her finger for the fourth time, her stitches becoming frantic with anger. Cursing quietly, she put her work aside and took another plaster to stick around her fingertip.
Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to make a lucky charm with anger in her stomach. Her curses and bad feelings might just end up being transferred to the fabric!
Oh dear... she didn't want to do that to Mrs. Takamura either.
But that was only Heiji's fault!
As always!
That idiot!
That stubborn idiot!
Damn him!
She quickly picked up a cuddly toy and screamed into it. Then she threw it back on the bed and leaned back in her desk chair with a heavy sigh.
He didn't need to come crawling up after her and howl in her ears! That would be even worse!
After everything he'd banged in her ears when he'd simply left in an argument!
To then go to Kyoto to Momiji to work on a case with her!
Without Kazuha there, because it was – in Momijis words, quoted by him - too dangerous!
What nonsense!
And then he also wondered why Kazuha got angry...
He was such a steal!
Kazuha spun around in her chair and stared at the ceiling.
He had been gone for two days now. Without calling. The idiot.
She unconsciously glanced at her cell phone on the desk. Should she check if he was still alive?
Kazuha quickly shook her head.
No! She wouldn't make the first move again!
As if!
He had called her "burdock" too!
She certainly wouldn't confirm to him that she was overly attached to him!
Although she was. But... he didn't need to know that! As if she was going to tell him that too!
Angrily, the girl blew the air out of her nose and crossed her arms.
Let him have a nice rendezvous with Momiji. She didn't care.... If he preferred to spend his time with that girl - fine!
Kazuha snuffled and wiped under her nose with the back of her hand.
Stupid.
At some point, frustrated, she had gone to bed and fallen asleep comfortably watching her current favorite series.
Click.
Click.
Kazuha frowned in her sleep and turned to the other side.
Click.
Click.
"Man, Heiji, ya idiot...," Kazuha mumbled in her sleep.
A muffled, almost aggressive whisper repeated outside.
Rustle.
Crack.
BAM.
Kazuha opened her eyes at the sound and startled. Her gaze went to the closed window.
There was a soft, painful groan and a muffled, low curse outside.
Was someone there?
She glanced at the clock. 1:00 a.m.
Wait, this voice and this impertinence, in the middle of the night at a girl's window...
Kazuha hastily slipped out of bed and opened the curtains and window to look outside.
At first she couldn't see anything in the front garden in the darkness... but an annoyed sigh made her look straight down the wall of the house.
There laid her best friend.
In her mother's beloved trimmed cypress tree.
"Heiji?!" she gasped and immediately slapped her hand over her mouth and listened for footsteps in the house. Hopefully they wouldn't wake anyone!
"What‘cha doin‘?" she hissed.
"Uhh... looking fer a bed fer the night... What's it look like, you peat nut?" came the grumpy reply.
Kazuha grimaced grimly. What a name to call her!
"It probably looks like a burglar or a stalker to the neighbors!" she growled.
"Burglar? Stal-? What?!"
Startled, Heiji looked around for possible witnesses.
Kazuha sighed heavily and leaned on the window frame. What an idiot.
He wanted to be a detective and the son of the police chief?
"Go home, it's the middle of the night!"
"Yeah, I'll do that in a minute! I'll come in first!"
"What?!" Kazuha watched in horror as he slowly picked himself up, knocked leaves and earth off him and apparently made another attempt to climb.
"Stop it! You're seriously hurting yourself!"
"But if ya won't let me in any other way?"
Kazuha rolled her eyes. Before he would break his neck...
"Come to the front door - but be quiet!"
She quickly threw on a cardigan and crept to the door to open it for her dolt of a best friend.
When she opened the door, she saw the whole disaster. She had to stifle a laugh as she plucked a few leaves from his hair.
"Oh man, you really are a complete idiot."
"No bigger than ya."
Since Kazuha had to stand on tiptoe to free his hair from leaves, she could say otherwise - but that was a minor matter at the moment.
"Who comes up with such stupid ideas in the middle of the night, if not the biggest douchebag of all time?" she explained with a grin and an almost motherly sigh.
"Yer movie ‘n TV princes all the time."
"They're... fiction..." Kazuha then mumbled a little contritely.
She brought Heiji into the house and closed the door before pushing him to a chair and fetching the first aid kit. After all, all his wounds from the fall had to be treated.
Heiji held his scratched arm out to her, almost as a matter of course and extremely well behaved, and let her get to work. At least she could ask him more questions in peace.
"So... why are ya acting out scenes from my series at my window in the middle of the night?" she asked with a suppressed giggle.
Somehow, the anger at him had almost evaporated by itself as a result of this action.
"Because... well, because of the argument..."
"A phone call?"
"Are ya answering yer phone at 1 a.m.?"
"What?! No! I'm already asleep!"
"See?"
Kazuha looked at Heiji and squinted slightly, but he just looked at her with a superior expression.
"But it could’ve waited until tomorrow, huh? I might not even have opened the door!"
"But ya did."
"Yes... But... that's not the issue here now!"
Kazuha slapped a plaster on his arm in annoyance, making him wince.
"It's the argument..." Heiji started again. Kazuha took a deep breath.
"No, we could still have-"
"But I couldn't sleep before-"
"Ya were away for two days with radio silence! And ya must’ve had a great night's sleep!" Kazuha said bitterly and louder than planned.
Suddenly there was silence between them.
Perhaps because they were startled to hear whether anyone had woken up.
Perhaps because they both needed to let the statement sink in.
Silently and defiantly, Kazuha disinfected the scratches on the second arm.
"Hey..."
"We've already had greetings."
Well, more or less.
"No... so about the fight."
Kazuha stuck a plaster on with a flourish at the words, making her best friend wince again.
"Damn it, Kazuha!!!", he said angrily and slapped a hand over his mouth. They were both silent for a moment and listened anxiously into the house.
But fortunately it remained quiet. Their parents seemed to be sound asleep.
"I don't want to hear about it. Neither about the case, nor anything about Momiji!" Kazuha then declared with an annoyed hiss.
She would just patch him up and send him home. No more and no less.
Then she and her heart would have peace from the guy again.
"Why are ya getting so upset again? It's just like before I left!" Heiji complained.
Kazuha glared at him grimly. It wasn't really his fault, he didn't know anything about her feelings and why she was so against him doing anything alone with Momiji.
But he couldn't call her a burr for that!
"Because it's after 1 a.m. and I'm tired!" she then explained indignantly, to remind him once again of the current situation. What an idiot.
"Ah..." he just said, as if he'd only just noticed it again.
Typical. This guy was really beyond saving.
She exhaled heavily and took out another plaster. "Were ya at least able to help her with this 'dangerous case'?" she then asked with no to little interest.
"Um... well, as far as that goes..." Heiji looked aside, a little embarrassed. "It wasn't that dangerous after all... Apparently she thought the situation was more dangerous than it was..." His voice became more of a mumble. "I guess ye were right..."
Kazuha lowered the plaster and stared at her best friend in disbelief. Then she frowned.
"Of course I was. Ya should listen to me more often!"
Heiji rolled his eyes slightly. "As if you're always right!"
"As far as Momiji is concerned, I suppose I am..."
"Yeah, maybe..."
She stuck a plaster on Heiji's cheek and felt the piercing gaze of two turquoise eyes on her. When their eyes met, however, they both quickly averted their gaze, embarrassed.
Kazuha quickly packed up the bandages again.
"Then ya can now go home with peace of mind."
"Huh? You're kicking me out? At this time of night?"
"Well, hello?! Who came here in the middle of the night without asking?"
"What can I do about that-"
"Jeez….My goodness!"
Both teenagers wheeled around and winced under the stern gaze of a visibly overtired Ginshiro.
"Ya finally finished?" He threw Heiji a blanket. "Go to sleep."
As the two teenagers turned away, he paused again.
"Heiji-kun. On the couch."
"Ah... haha... sure."