Shinichi You're So Close Yet So Far Away From Her

Shinichi you're so close yet so far away from her

It took me 25 hours lol (　；∀；)

Me right now:

A Constant

super short and written at like 3 am

archiveofourown.org

A Constant - Clover1412 - 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Working as he had for these couple of years meant he was always on his toes waiting for something to go wrong. Waiting for his secrets to be discovered.

Of his three faces he didn’t know which life he liked best, Rei Furuya was an agent waiting for orders and protecting the country he loved most. Bourbon was a dangerous criminal who annoyed even the likes of Gin and was often forced to work with Vermouth.

Amuro Tooru on the other hand was tame in comparison to his other lives. He worked at a small but busy cafe in Beika, with a steady stream of regulars and a cute colleague.

They were constants in his forever changing life.

A peaceful alternative to his normal.

A way to relax.

He was also a detective trainee of sorts, though he’d surpassed that stage ages ago.

I don't like her!

my only kazuhei fic (a tragedy)

archiveofourown.org

I don't like her! - Clover1412 - 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

full fic here :)

Chapter 1: A letter?!

'Oi Kazuha! Where d'ya run off this morning!' It was clearly too early to be shouting, but this was basically every morning when it came to Heiji Hattori and his 'not' girlfriend Kazuha Toyama.

'Heiji! Didn't I say I was going to school early today,' she turned to face the boy who just entered the classroom.

'So, my mum still gave me an earful,' He walked over to his seat and put his bag down.

'I don't think that has anything to do with me.'

'It does when she was shouting at me for not walking to school with you.'

'Well I can't help that can I? One of my friends said something weird was sticking out of my locker, so I came early to check it out.'

'So?'

'So what?' She looked away from him, waving at one of friends in a different class as they walked by.

'Did you find the weird thing?'

'Oh yeah, it was a letter,' she quickly turned back to him, taking the letter out. 'Someone must've slipped it in after school,' the small envelope she took out of her bag seemed nice, it was that pastel orange colour Kazuha thought was cute.

'A letter? About what?'

'I haven't checked yet, I promised I'd open it with my friends,' Heiji seemed slightly confused at how the two things were related. 'They think it's a love letter, so they want to see too.'

'A love letter? For you?'

'And what's the problem with that?' Kazuha was definitely glaring at him now, but somehow he couldn't help it, teasing her was fun.

'Just saying there are nicer girls than you, you know one's with quieter voices.' Oh, he was so going to die.

'Well there's clearly someone who thinks otherwise!' She had somehow opened the letter in the few seconds he looked away to greet a classmate. 'See!' She was holding the letter and a movie ticket, a movie date?

'Maybe they're blind,' he shrugged before taking the letter from her. It was clear whoever had written the letter did care about her, in some way, their handwriting was very neat and they had clearly thought it through. However the obvious part was the movie ticket, a clear invitation to a date, maybe he was wrong. He wasn't going to admit it though. However, before he could say anything, he was pushed out of the way.

'Kazuha-chan! Is that a ticket for that new movie?' Kazuha's friends were crowding round her one by one.

'I heard that they're so hard to get!' Another one.

'Woah, who do you think it's from?' And another.

'Someone obviously hot!' How many friends does she have anyway?

'Well if he's going to settle for you,' he chuckled, 'you might as well marry him.'

'Heiji!' She looked like she might throw a chair at him but was saved by their teacher telling them to get to their own seats.

~ ♡ ~

When it got to their morning break, Kazuha had left the classroom as fast as humanly possible, with her friends rushing out behind her. He thought that was a good thing, after all that meant she wasn't going to murder him. Yet. The one thing he had forgotten about, was the rest of his class. His friends were practically attacking him with questions.

'Does that mean you don't like Toyama?' As a sister.

'She's definitely single?' Probably.

'Do you know who it is? You're a detective right?' That's a waste of my time.

'Do you think it's one of our seniors?' A waste of my time.

'It might be, after all Toyama is pretty popular with the boys.' She is?

'Yeah I heard one of the third years was interested in her.' Really?

'Well she's pretty and has a great body, who wouldn't like her?' It would seem he underestimated her popularity.

Well he couldn't keep quiet while they discussed *his* childhood friend, 'yeah right, that's an immature reason to like someone.'

'Oh Hattori do you think she'll accept?'

'If she does, good for them,' this was really starting to annoy him.

'So you are jealous,' one of his friends chuckled, and the others seemed to agree.

'I am not.'

'You so are, you like Toyama.' He felt like he was back in elementary school when everyone thought they liked each other. Honestly so annoying.

'I do not like her!' And as per his luck, Kazuha just happened to walk in. She glanced towards him, catching his eyes momentarily, before resuming her conversation with her friend. Ah the silent treatment, guess he made a mistake.

~ ♡ ~

The rest of the day seemed to move as slowly possible, with lunch seeming like an eternity away. Except when it came, it wasn't peaceful at all, somehow everyone seems to have gotten wind of the situation. 'Second year hottie Toyama got asked out' (not his words). It would seem everyone had something to gain out of this situation but him, apparently he was now very single and lonely. (Kazuha was not his only friend, he had others), and he wasn't sad at all and definitely did not need one of the third year girls comforting him. Though he was sure that's not what she really meant.

~ ♡ ~

So when the day was finally over, he was relieved that he was finally alone, but now he had to deal with Kazuha. Plus he had something to confirm with her. Obviously having avoided him, she was halfway home before he found her.

'Kazuha!' He started to jog to catch up to her, she was still ignoring her. He grabbed her arm forcing her to look at him, 'look Kazuha, I'm sorry okay?'

'It doesn't matter Heiji.'

'Okay but that's not what I wanted to say,' she shot him an annoyed look, 'isn't the day of the movie one of the days that kid and nee-chan are coming to visit?'

He let go of her arm so she could check, waiting for her to confirm she couldn't go.

'Yup, it is. Wait,' Heiji celebrated secretly to himself, now she can't go, 'that's perfect!'

Perfect?

'Now Ran-chan can help me,' before Heiji could ask any further she had pulled out her phone to talk to Ran about their visit. She really was excited about this date. The question was why did that bother him so much?

Since it was a Tuesday, he had until Sunday to convince her otherwise about this date. That should be easy.

Chapter 2: Saturday? Already?!

(This bit happened on Tuesday (break))

Kazuha knew practically sprinting out of the classroom wasn't her best idea, but she really didn't want to face Heiji, after all she didn't really care if no one else liked her. She just wanted him to. She could barely hear her friends calling her name until one of them had physically stopped her.

'Kazuha-chan are you okay?'

'Kazuha you shouldn't have run away,' she bent over trying to catch her breath, 'man I forgot you did Aikido.'

'Yeah, really Kazuha-chan you should have let us catch up.'

She smiled, she might be sad, but it felt better to have someone around her. She let them catch their breath, before walking with them.

'Say are you going to go, I mean don't you like Hattori-kun.'

'Yeah, you've always liked him right?'

She looked down, it was true, she had liked Heiji for a long time. However it was getting more obvious that he didn't share the same sentiment, so she was going to forget about him and date someone else. 'Well that idiot clearly doesn't like me back so I am moving on,' she declared. 'I mean whoever sent this letter might be way better than Heiji, right?'

'Kazuha-chan,' her friend put her hand on her shoulder, momentarily she regretted everything she just said, 'we're rooting for you!' She blinked in confusion before hugging her friends, okay she was going to do it, she was going to forget Heiji!

Well maybe not forget, they have been friends forever and their parents were close and she knows his house inside out. BUT! That wasn't going to stop her from moving on either. So when he heard Heiji shout as she walked in, she ignored him, after all she was meant to be forgetting him.

~ ♡ ~

(After School)

She nearly gave up when he grabbed her arm to apologise, he practically never apologised, but gave that up when he immediately changed his tone. However, he did bring up a good point that Ran and Conan were visiting that weekend.

She really needed to talk to Ran, she really needed her help now.

~ ♡ ~

(Saturday Morning)

Heiji's unsure how it was already a Saturday, he had no time at all to convince Kazuha otherwise about that date of hers. After all he barely saw her all week, at breaks she was surrounded by her friends, at lunch she left the classroom before he could stop her and she did something after school to avoid walking home with him. So here he was standing near the entrance of the train station, waiting for both Kazuha, Kudo and nee-chan to arrive.

'Hattori-kun!'

'Heiji nii-chan!'

'Oh the both of you are here,' he sighed before turning to look around the station quickly. 'What is that girl even doing, the both of you are already here.'

'Kazuha-chan didn't come with you Hattori-kun?'

'We, uh, had a disagreement of sorts,' he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, 'I think she's avoiding me.'

'Heiji nii-chan did you say something mean to Kazuha nee-chan?' He could hear the teasing tone of the brat's voice.

'That's not it!' However, he couldn't finish defending himself because Kazuha had practically materialised out of nowhere next to him.

'Sorry, I'm late I was trying to pick out an outfit,' she smiled at Conan and Ran, but even to them it was obvious she was avoiding looking at Heiji. 'Ran-chan, come on lets go!'

'Ran nee-chan, where are you going?' Conan hadn't heard anything about being left with Heiji, not that it bothered him. He was just curious.

'Oh Conan-kun, we're just going shopping, I thought it might bore you, plus if we took you, Hattori-kun would have to come too. I didn't think either of you wanted to spend all day shopping with us. That's all,' she smiled kindly at him and he had to agree, he didn't want to spend all day shopping.

'Then we're off, Heiji we're having dinner at your place tonight. Don't forget 'kay?' Kazuha gave them a small smile and with that the both of them walked away.

'You want to follow them, right Hattori?'

'You think they're hiding something too?'

'Ran doesn't usually give such long excuses unless she really wants someone to leave her alone. I'm guessing it's for Toyama's sake though.'

'Kazuha, why?'

'You said you fought, right?'

'I told you it wasn't a fight, just a small disagreement.'

'Uhuh. I heard them talking on Tuesday, I mostly heard them talking about shops to visit, but I did hear the words 'going on a date',' Heiji slightly flinching gave it away that Conan had heard those words correctly. 'If it was Ran who had the date, Sonoko wouldn't have let me hear the end of it and I'm pretty sure she would have told me. So that means it's Toyama who has a date, at first I thought it might have been with you, but that couldn't be possible.' He saw Heiji slightly glare at him, 'firstly, you knew we were coming, as stupid as you may be you wouldn't schedule a date then and I heard Ran ask Kazuha why she wasn't talking to you, so I guessed you were fighting again and she had a date with someone else.'

'Kudo, you're completely correct,' the detective looked slightly defeated, 'she got some letter from someone at school and I've never seen her so excited for something before. But the problem is I don't know why it's bothering me so much.'

'That's because you're immature,' he moved out-of-the-way before Heiji could attack him, he continued 'but you want to follow them right? Ran probably wanted to spend time with Toyama alone to cheer her up though.'

'Cheer her up?'

'She sounded kind of upset over the phone, plus Sonoko and Ran always go shopping to cheer either one of them up.' He watched Heiji furrow his brows in confusion, 'but I think they're most likely shopping for her date tomorrow, she was kinda dressed up today.'

'You noticed that, she doesn't usually dress like that,' it looked like he was thinking really hard, but failing to understand.

'You know we're going to lose them if we continue to stand here.'

'Oh right.'

~ ♡ ~

'Kazuha-chan you look really pretty today!' She beamed at her friend.

'Really? I tried putting on make-up today, I haven't really dressed up like this, not since my birthday anyway.'

'Kazuha-chan did you really mean what you said about giving up on Hattori-kun?'

Kazuha was slightly taken aback by her straightforward question, but she had expected it. Unlike her, Ran was much stronger, despite not seeing Kudo Shinichi for months, she wasn't going to ever give up on him. 'I'm not like you Ran-chan, Heiji doesn't like me in that way. It's not like you and Kudo-kun, he clearly loves you,' she chuckled, her smile sort of sad, slightly at the girl blushing. 'Don't worry about me Ran-chan, this is my choice, I'll be okay.' The other girl nodded, not entirely convinced, but instead she smiled and let her lead them to another shop.

Kazuha-chan I'm not strong at all, I do miss him and I'm sure Hattori-kun cares for you in his own way. One day he'll realise it, so I hope you hold on a little longer.

~ ♡ ~

Heiji and Conan were sitting on bench, completely exhausted.

'We've been absolutely everywhere they would've gone! How could we not have found them, Kudo where could they have disappeared too?'

'Lunch probably, I'll ask Ran if we can join them, hopefully she'll tell us. That is of course if Toyama doesn't mind.' He cast an accusatory glance at Heiji, she was technically avoiding him and him only.

Ran had picked up on the third ring 'Conan-kun?'

'Ran nee-chan, we were wondering if you lunch yet? We could have lunch together.'

'Ah Conan-kun, I'm sorry we just got lunch,' she sighed before continuing, 'don't tell Hattori-kun, but Kazuha-chan doesn't really want to see him, okay Conan-kun? Could you keep him busy for me? Please? Kazuha-chan looks happier now.'

'I'll try Ran nee-chan,' with that she cut the phone, leaving Conan to deal with boy standing next to him.

'What did she say?'

'Are you sure it was just a small disagreement?'

'Um,' the Osakan looked away.

'She told us to stay away for now, maybe you should work out how to apologise to her.'

'She said she didn't care when I did that, man, women are confusing.'

'I've got to agree with you there.'

He sighed before getting up 'come on let's at least get lunch, you can tell me about your cases this month.'

~ ♡ ~

Fortunately they didn't come across any cases that day and made it back to the Hattori residence on time. Ran and Kazuha had already come back and were helping Heiji's mum with dinner.

'Heiji-kun! Come across any cases today?' Kazuha's parents were also here, hopefully they hadn't heard about their fight, he didn't particularly want her dad to press him about it. He could definitely be very scary.

'Not today, any interesting cases pop up recently?'

'Not that we need your help with and Conan-kun, we haven't seen each other since that once case right?'

'Yes, have you seen Ran nee-chan?'

'Ah Kazuha and her friend were helping out in the kitchen, but I think they went to get changed.'

'Changed?'

'Kazuha wanted to show Shizuka-san and her mum the dress she bought for tomorrow.'

Heiji's dad interrupted, 'is tomorrow important?'

'I think she said something about a date? You wouldn't know anything about that would you Heiji-kun?' The question was polite enough, but Heiji still felt slightly threatened.

'Ah yes, she'd going on a date with someone from school tomorrow.'

'Not you?' Heiji felt his face heat up at the question, but before he could answer he could hear Kazuha and Ran's voices from down the corridor.

He only caught a glimpse of Kazuha's outfit as they passed by the door. He now knew one thing: he was very much screwed for tomorrow.

Chapter 3: Best Friends

'Heiji-kun? Are you okay?' Heiji's brain had stopped being able to function properly. What was he even supposed to say? He could only hope his face wasn't as red as it felt.

'I think Heiji nii-chan is tired, we walked a lot today. I'll take him to his room.'

'Ah okay, don't push yourself too hard.'

After finally getting to his room, Heiji fell into his bed. He sighed and turned towards the boy sitting on the chair, 'Kudo what on earth is wrong with me?'

'Hattori, how many times are you going to ask that? You kinda need to figure that out for yourself.'

'Say Kudo, how long have you liked that nee-chan of yours?'

The other boy blushed, looking at something outside the window, 'how is that important? That doesn't really matter now.'

'Oh so it was practically love at first sight, huh?'

'Oi Hattori, don't you have other issues to deal with right now?'

Heiji started to say something, only for Kazuha to burst into his room, 'ah, the both of you are here. Dinner's ready, we're going to eat.'

'We'll be there Kazuha nee-chan,' he smiled at the girl as she closed the door, 'come on Hattori, we can deal with your problem tomorrow, let's eat.'

'Fine.'

After dinner Ran had decided to stay the night at Kazuha's house, leaving Conan with Heiji. His mum made them go to sleep as soon as possible, on the count of Heiji looked drained. Which was true in some part, he looked exhausted despite not having done much that day but going to bed early didn't help whatsoever. Instead he spent most of the night tossing and turning, for some reason he didn't want tomorrow to come.

He was woken up by Conan, who had been struggling to wake him up for a while. It was about 10 in the morning, Kazuha's movie date was at 4, giving him very little time to stop her.

After they'd got changed and had some breakfast, the girls had come over to pick them up. The both of them were quite dressed up, well more so than usual.

'Ran nee-chan? Are you going somewhere special?' He looked up at her, trying and failing not to blush.

'Oh Conan-kun, not really, Kazuha-chan was embarrassed to dress up by herself so I offered to do so as well.' Ran had chosen a pink summer dress, it was off the shoulder and a mix of baggy and fitting that definitely flattered her.

Kazuha on the other hand had chosen a light orange halter neck dress, it was backless, and had a belt that gave it some shape. The dress itself fell mid-thigh, paired with a cute pair of deep green block heels. Luckily for him, Heiji had chosen that precise moment to go look for his hat. She had hair up in its usual ponytail, with a matching green ribbon. She was wearing little makeup, scared she'd overdo it, either way she looked beautiful, which was precisely what Heiji was scared of.

'What's taking Hattori-kun so long? Conan-kun could you check on him?'

'Sure Ran nee-chan.' However, he couldn't find the Osakan detective anywhere, that was until he walked into one of the back rooms. Heiji was sitting there talking or arguing with his mum, it took him a while to realise that Conan was standing in the doorway.

'Ah Kudo, I can explain. But could you tell the girls to go on without me, just make something up.'

He didn't bother questioning it, when he made it back to the girls he told them that he couldn't find Heiji nii-chan and that they should go ahead. He then had to promise Ran that they would join them for lunch at least.

Heiji on the other hand was facing some sort of crisis, he couldn't possibly face Kazuha now, when he caught a glimpse of her this morning his heart definitely did a flip, which was not good. His mum hadn't helped either, he fished out a bunch of pictures of the both of them when they were younger and it didn't help that they looked very close. Whatever feeling he was feeling, it was making him very uncomfortable, he couldn't possibly be in love with her, they were best friends. That's it, anyone would be annoyed to see their best friend be close to someone else. That's all, he didn't want to lose a good friend like Kazuha.

'Hey Kudo!'

'You owe me one Hattori.'

'Ah thanks Kudo, what did they say?'

'They want us to at least join them for lunch, some cafe, 12:30.'

'We have an hour and a half Kudo, what d'ya want to do til then?'

'I still haven't seen the Osaka Police HQ'

He grinned at the request, 'you've come to the right person.'

~ ♡ ~

After a tour that could only interest police officers and keen detectives, they had made it just in time for lunch with the girls. When they got there, Kazuha and Ran were deep in conversation, but had stopped by the time the boys had gotten to the table.

'Glad you were able to make it Hattori-kun.'

'Ah yeah, no problem.' Kazuha shot him a small glare, suggesting that, that was not the best possible reply. However, in a way it showed that things were becoming normal between them.

'Say Ran-chan, what time are you guys leaving today?'

'Our train is at 7:30, you don't have to worry about seeing us off, just enjoy your date.'

'Say Kazuha, how are you getting back home?'

'I haven't really thought about that, he'll probably walk me back, right?'

'He?' Heiji blinked at her, slightly confused, before realising who she was on about. 'Oh, you're boyfriend~' he chuckled, just a little teasingly.

'Heiji!'

'Kidding, kidding,' but he was still laughing, ignoring the slight twist in his stomach.

~ ♡ ~

Heiji, Ran, and Conan hid behind a random pillar as they watched Kazuha meet up with her date. It turned out to be one of the third years, he was good-looking and probably popular. Ran slightly gasped as they linked arms and walked into the cinema.

'Hattori-kun, let's go.'

'Go where?'

'Don't you want to spy on them too?'

'Uh, I don't think that's a good idea Ran nee-chan,' he tried tugging on the hem of her dress gently, but she wouldn't be swayed.

'The both of you can go somewhere else if you want, but I'm staying.'

'Do you even know what movie they're watching? Or what seat they're in?'

'Well, I wouldn't be suggesting this if I didn't, they're watching the new Okino Yoko movie and their seats are in the middle. If we get seats at the back, they won't know.'

'You know that sounds like a very risky plan Ran nee-chan, I think it would be better if we didn't.'

'Yeah, we have time 'til your train, how about we do something else.'

She glanced between the both of them, realising there would be no way to convince them she sighed, 'fine, got anything in mind?'

~ ♡ ~

Heiji was talking to Conan and Ran as they waited for their train, they'd sent the last couple of hours walking around many different shops. Conan had managed to stay away from buying more versions of Sherlock Holmes from a book shop they had found. Ran had bought herself a cute purse. Heiji on the other hand was slightly preoccupied, as much as he did not want to admit it, he cared about Kazuha and her date.

He couldn't tell whether it was a good or bad thing he had turned down Ran's offer to follow them, after all was it so bad to be curious about his best friend?

Just as the train was arriving, they heard a shout, 'Ran-chan!' 'Kazuha-chan? What are you doing here?'

'To see you off,' seeing her friend's slight confusion, she added, 'I'll tell you about it later, kay?'

'Oh okay,' she turned to face them both, 'thanks for having us, come visit us soon.'

'No problem, we'll see each other soon.'

'Make sure to check your phone later on, 'kay Ran-chan?'

'Sure, we'll see you guys next time.'

The teenagers watched as their friends got on the train, waving at them as they walked to their seats. They waited for a little bit before heading back.

'Say Kazuha, I thought your boyfriend was taking you home today.'

'As if, he was so annoying,' she glanced at Heiji before continuing, 'he would not shut up at all, worse all he did was talk about himself.'

Heiji chuckled earning a small glare from her, 'sorry, carry on.'

'After the movie, he wanted to take a walk somewhere, and guess what. He tried to give me a necklace with our initials on it.'

'A necklace?'

'Yeah, it was a leaf, or something, but we aren't even dating, isn't initials going a bit too far?' She watched as Heiji nodded albeit a bit confused, 'so I told him I'd think about it.'

'But you're going to say no?'

'Obviously, I don't know how though. He's just not my type.'

'Wow, so what's your type, guys who fall asleep during movies?'

She smiled at his attempt at a joke, 'of course not, ones who talk about the movie at the right points, oh wait a second Heiji.' She stopped and using him for balance took off her heels, 'that feels so much better, I don't know people walk in these all day.'

'Want me to carry you?'

She laughed at his offer, 'as if you could carry me all the way back home, no offence Heiji but I doubt you're that strong.'

'Yeah right, get on I'll prove it to you,' he bent down slightly to let her get on his back.

'Sure, what should we bet on this.'

'Loser pays for okonomiyaki next week.'

'Oh it's on.'

~ ♡ ~

Needless to say Heiji had lost, not because he was weak, more like Kazuha had leaned in front to say something and Heiji who had turned to ask her something was surprised at how close their faces had gotten, and dropped her.

Kazuha chuckled as she brushed her clothes lightly, 'guess you owe me lunch.'

'That doesn't count, you scared me.'

'Your excuses won't work now Heiji,' she shot him an innocent smile before continuing to walk back.

'It's not an excuse!' He jogged to catch up with her, for now their relationship had gone back to what it normally was. How long that would last was unclear, but for now, walking back together felt perfect.

Just as best friends. For now.

~ ♡ ~

quiet night in

my first i didnt know where else to go fic

archiveofourown.org

quiet night in - Clover1412 - One Piece (Anime & Manga) [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Isuka was enjoying a quiet night in, with no roommates, no fuss and no noise. She was all alone, and she could not be happier as she turned on the TV. She could finally watch what she wanted, with no judgement and no interruptions. Or at least that's what she thought. As she took a spoon of her ice cream, someone knocked on the door. She prayed internally it was a delivery of some sort and not one of her roommates back way too early and most likely crying.

She placed the ice cream on the coffee table and padded towards the door, 'I'm coming!'

She, however, did not expect to throw open the door and find one Portgas D. Ace leaning against the wall, injured. It was a well-known fact that the both of them did not get along in school, with Isuka being a stickler for the rules and her trust in authority meant she wasn't too fond of Ace's carefree nature. They'd argued about plenty of things in school, like Ace's uniform not being up to standard, about his poor attendance and his tendency to get into fights. She barely saw him now that they no longer went to school or lived anywhere near each other.

'Oh, thank goodness you're home. I didn't know where else to go,' Isuka gasped as she took in his appearance. He had bruises and cuts on his face, fresh ones as if he'd been in a fight. Scrapes on his arms and legs, almost like he'd fallen out of a tree and some bigger ones which definitely needed to be dressed. There were bruises on his stomach, like he'd been kicked, visible because, as usual, his shirt was open.

'What on earth happened to you?' She draped his arm around her shoulder to drag him in. She sat him down on the sofa before frantically trying to search for the first aid kit; no, maybe he needed to be taken to the hospital.

'If you're worried about me, you should see the other guys,' he smirked at her despite the fact he was clearly in pain, wincing when he tried to move. He kicked off his shoes and placed them to a side, his bag was on the floor, and he emptied his pockets onto the table. He also took off his shirt to make it easier for her to access all the cuts and grazes.

Isuka had managed to find the first aid kit fully stocked because of a certain someone's clumsiness. 'Why are you here?' She waited for him to sit up before opening the kit and pulling out what she needed; most of his injuries were minor cuts and grazes, but the bruises made it seem a lot worse. 'Are your brothers terrible at treating wounds? That would be horrible considering the fights I've seen the younger one get into.'

'That would be Luffy,' he laughed, coughing as pain shot up his side, 'and yes he's a terrible doctor, you're better off not going to him for this sort of stuff. He's also with his friends so I can't really bother him.'

'Noted,' she smiled at him before opening a packet of sterile wipes to clean the wounds, starting with his legs. She could feel him tense as she held his ankle to tug his leg onto her lap.

'Sabo, you can trust, he's pretty good at this stuff,' he caught her eyes again as she focused on his other leg, 'but he's out with his girlfriend right now, he might murder me for ruining his date and then murder me again for getting into a fight and getting injured.'

Isuka chuckled, 'he sounds like a reasonable person,' before adding, 'well anyone would seem more reasonable compared to the both of you.'

Ace held out her arms for her to clean next, 'yeah he's always been the smart one. I figured they would murder me if I didn't do anything at all about these wounds and I don't know anyone else around here.'

Isuka continued to clean his wounds. After getting through about five wipes, she made sure everything was good enough to move to the next step, cleaning the skin around the bigger wounds. She dabbed the cotton ball with antiseptic before signalling for him to come closer.

She heard him suck in, 'sorry I'm trying to be gentle. What are you doing here? You're pretty far away from home.'

'This is home,' he had an indecipherable look on his face, 'I had some time off so I came back to visit. It's been a while since I've seen everyone.'

'Yeah, it has,' she thought about the last time she'd seen him, younger and more carefree, as school ended. Then he moved away, and in all this time, Isuka's career hadn't gotten any further; she heard about his achievements, and some part of her was happy for him even if they had their differences.

'It's been even longer since I've seen you, I see my brothers way too often,' he looked up at her, but she didn't address the statement.

'Sorry I couldn't help more. This is all we have,' she apologised as she tugged his arm closer.

'Oh don't worry about it, you've already done more than I expected,' he smiled gratefully.

'What did you think I was going to do?' She continued her work, focusing on the cuts on his lip and nose.

'Honestly? Wrap me in bandages and send me home.'

'We may not like each other Ace, but I'm no heathen.'

'We don't?'

'Huh?'

'No, nevermind,' he waved it away. He watched her work, her concentration as she tried to only dab the skin around the wounds. Whenever he winced, she apologised before carefully going back to what she was doing.

For a while, Ace sat there watching her work. Isuka had always been kind, almost too kind for her own good. He knew she didn't like him that much, but she had been nice enough not to say it to his face, so hearing those words from her mouth was somehow different.

She pulled out small plasters for his nose and lip and pieces of gauze for the bigger cuts on his arms and legs. She placed the plasters on, 'so why did you fight them?'

'Huh?'

She began placing the gauze on the wound on his arm and took out something to wrap it with, 'I mean you didn't just fight them for no reason right?'

'Oh that, of course not what do you take me for?'

'Didn't you get into fights a lot for no reason when we were back in school?'

'What?' he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head after Isuka was done wrapping his arm. 'It's been a while, I was young and stupid, I've changed since then.'

'Oh so you admit you were stupid?' she teased as she focused on a cut on his leg.

'Hey, I have changed, give me some credit,' Isuka knew that to be true, but his flustered expression was way too funny to ignore, 'I really did have a reason.'

She shook her head affectionately as she finished up the last bandage, 'let me put this away, then I'll get you some ice for those bruises,' she gestured to his stomach. She packed everything back into the first aid kit and got up. When she got back, she walked over to the kitchen.

'You don't have to worry about an ice pack, I'm pretty sure these will just fade,' he called out to her.

'No, that's really not how it works, in my opinion you should get checked in case of internal bleeding but since you insist things will be okay the least you could do is ice it,' she replied as she bent down to open the freezer. She pulled out the first ice pack she saw, wrapped it in a towel and made her way back to the sofa Ace was now lying on.

He let her place it on his wounds before sitting down on the floor next to him, 'why do you even have an ice pack?'

'Sports injuries are very common in this household, you've got to be prepared,' she shrugged as she gently iced his injury.

'I can do this at the very least,' he placed a hand on hers to get her to stop.

'If you'd like,' she sighed and got up, settling herself on the armchair next to the sofa.

Ace continued icing the area before speaking, 'they were trying to attack this girl.'

'Who?'

'The guys I attacked.'

'Oh right.'

'After I went to Sabo's and he gave me the leave and if you accept any offer to third wheel our date I'll murder you look,' Isuka chuckled, picturing Ace's teasing look and Sabo's murderous one. 'I took that as a signal to leave the lovebirds alone and was making my way to Makino's bar,' Isuka was familiar with Makino, the kind woman who ran the only bar she enjoyed going to, 'I was cutting through this alley when I heard a voice shouting for help. So I went over to where I heard the voice and I saw four guys cornering this girl. She looked terrified so I stepped in, she ran away as soon as she had the opportunity and I fought them to make sure they didn't try to chase after her.'

'You got beat up pretty badly, you sure there were only four of them?'

'They had weapons, this bruise is probably from the bat they hit me with,' he pointed at the bruise he was currently icing.

'A bat? You sure you didn't break a rib or something,' it didn't feel broken when she touched it, but there was no harm in double-checking.

He ignored her concern at first, 'I couldn't bother Makino with my injuries. She's busy,' but he quickly added, 'stop worrying so much. I've broken ribs before; this is nothing compared to that.'

'None of that statement makes me any less worried,' she shook her head disappointedly.

'You worry too much. You should know by now nothing hurts me that much,' he glanced over at where she was, but she didn't look convinced; like usual, she thought too much. 'Have I ever told you you think too much?'

'Yes,' she sighed, multiple memories coming to the front of her thoughts, 'multiple times.'

'Oh, well you do, maybe you should think less Isuka, you look stressed.'

'I'm stressed because of you! You can't come to my home, for the first time, injured and expect me not to worry.'

Ace was quiet before he spoke again, 'I tried visiting you before, but you were never home, always holed up at work,' Isuka opened her mouth to try and deny the statement, but he continued, 'your roommates told me.'

'Well, I can't say they were wrong but I do take breaks; matter of fact, I was taking one before you came,' she leaned over to grab the half-melted ice cream; she might as well put it back in the freezer.

'Oh that's right, it's quiet, where are your friends?'

Isuka grabbed two cups of water before making her way back, 'Tash is on a date,' she placed one in front of him and sank back into her seat, 'Koby and Helmeppo are doing something or the other. I didn't question it.'

'Oh so you're home alone? Must be fun,' when he was younger, being home alone was a luxury he rarely had, but when he did, the peace and quiet was something he appreciated.

'Well I planned on bingeing some show until I passed out on the sofa and was woken up by my roommates,' she signalled to the stack of blankets and pillows she'd moved to make space for Ace, 'but as usual I can never catch a break.'

At first, Ace didn't quite clock what she was talking about before realising he was very much the problem, 'ah, sorry about that.'

'Nothing you can do about it now,' she waved off his apology, 'have you eaten? You mentioned being on the way to Makino's.'

'Now that you mention it,' he hadn't eaten; he was planning on clearing Makino's stock, lovingly as her sort of younger brother.

'Let me see what we have,' Isuka got up yet again, she had eaten a big lunch and decided eating a whole tub of ice cream was good enough, so she hadn't had dinner yet. She opened the fridge, which was startlingly empty; not even the basic things like eggs or milk were present; she really needed to go grocery shopping. She and her roommates were always busy, meaning lots of takeout and tons of leftovers in the fridge, but apparently not today.

'It doesn't have to be fancy!' He shouted, supposedly helpful, but not when the fridge had a single energy drink and a strawberry, the one Koby picked from their strawberry plant the other day.

She returned to Ace, 'yeah turns out we have absolutely nothing,' she pulled out her phone to see what places would deliver.

'What were you planning to eat?'

'Ice cream.'

'For dinner? And you say I make terrible decisions,' he teased.

'I don't make them on a daily basis, just sometimes, plus I'm not on the clock. Let me relax,' his annoying, bother Isuka voice was making a comeback, 'do you want pizza?'

'Yeah sure.'

She placed her usual order and let him pick what he wanted before paying, not without a small argument about who should pay. Isuka won, her main reason being he was in pain to simply fish his card out of his bag. With food on the way, they sat in silence.

Ace broke the silence first, 'so what have you been up to,' he hadn't heard much about her in the past 3 years. He got updates about basically everyone else through his brothers, but Isuka wasn't friends with them, so he didn't have a real reason to ask them about her. He was not about to call his grandfather to try and get information about his subordinate. Skull was able to get snippets of information about her from time to time, but it was not much.

Isuka thought for a moment before replying, 'well work I guess, there hasn't been much time for anything else.'

'Is that why you're home alone on a nice night like this.'

'Like you're any better, you ended up at my place, injured on a nice night.'

'Like I said I would've bothered someone else, but unlike you they are with other people.'

'There's nothing wrong with enjoying some alone time.'

'Sure,' he really had a way of making her annoyed. Damn his stupid face and addictive smile. 'Are you still fencing?'

'Huh? Oh yeah, but it's just for fun, I help out with a kids class too,' she smiled, remembering the little kids who watched in awe as she demonstrated different moves.

'I see, that must be a lot of work,' Isuka had almost become a professional, representing nationally and even had an offer to take part in an international competition. That was until she gave it up because of personal circumstances.

'Yeah but it's a lot of fun seeing the younger generation interested in it.'

She smiled sadly, he hadn't known her for long, having transferred into her school a little late, but her friends had told him enough. She was once one of those kids eagerly attending every session. Even in the time he knew her, her passion for the sport was astounding.

He wanted to say something of comfort, but she broke the silence first, 'so what about you? What's it like living away from your family?'

'Of course I miss my brothers and home, but I've found a family there too. They're good people.'

'That's good,' she'd been worried about his reckless nature, but he'd found people who'd helped him settle down.

Silence took over again. Ace fiddled with one of his bracelets, 'so, um, what show were you gonna watch?'

Isuka looked puzzled, 'oh, my show. It's nothing really, a friend recommended it to me. It's one of those murder mystery shows.'

'I see,' Ace wasn't someone who spent a lot of time keeping us with tv shows. If it was on, he'd watch it, but he spent most of his time outside with others. Deuce would always be rambling on about some show or book; in all honesty, he'd learned to tune him out.

'Do you want to watch something? While we wait?'

'Oh sure, we can watch your show if you want,' he felt bad that she was missing out on her form of relaxation.

'You sure? I don't mind watching something else if you'd prefer,' she offered.

'Nah, murder is interesting enough.'

'Okay then, murder it is,' she turned on the TV and pulled up the show. She hadn't started watching it and planned on not sleeping (or trying not to) until she finished it.

~ ♡ ~

The both of them watched quietly as the show began, setting up the murder, introducing the victim and then the main character. Ace winced as the murderer stabbed the victim, and Isuka laughed, which then prompted him to call her psycho for enjoying this sort of stuff. They watched as the murderer hunted for the main character, and the doorbell rang, causing the both of them to jump, before Isuka realised it was the pizza, paused the show, and went to collect it.

'There you go,' she placed the boxes on the coffee table.

'Almost thought we were going to be murdered.'

Isuka laughed and said, 'don't worry there are enough weapons in this house to protect ourselves with.'

'Oh right, you guys have a bunch of swords and stuff,' Ace sat up slowly and opened up the boxes as Isuka went to grab some glasses for the drinks.

'That would be all of us but Koby, he's more of a martial arts type person,' they each had their own interest, with made for an odd assortment of weapons in the house.

'Right, remind me never to try to surprise you. I might end up riddled with holes,' he watched as she sank back into her seat, 'can you even see the TV from there?' Isuka nodded, and Ace added to the question, 'I mean properly? Isn't the angle kinda weird?'

'It's not too bad, I'm used to it, all four of us can't fit on one sofa,' the four of them tried to eat dinner together as often as they could, which was very rare and always caused arguments about what to watch.

'Join me,' he smiled, patting the seat next to him. The sofa was quite spacious, and at first, Isuka denied the offer, stating she was quite comfortable where she was. Ace, however, was insistent, and she caved, getting up to join him.

He clicked play when she picked up a slice of pizza and leaned back into the seat. They were mostly quiet, their attention focused on eating and the show.

'Who do you think did it?' Ace asked when they paused to clear up the mess.

Isuka pondered the question before answering, 'I think it's too early to know, but the uncle is suspicious.'

'Right? He gives me the creeps.'

They sat back down on the sofa, Isuka grabbing the blankets and pillows so they could get more comfortable. Isuka wrapped herself in the blanket and sat with her legs up on the seat. Ace accepted a pillow and placed it behind his head. When the show started again, the both of them talked a bit more, Ace making a comment about the dumb ideas the police had and Isuka complaining about how reckless the main character was.

At some point, Ace made a noise of discomfort, and Isuka made him lie down on the sofa, putting the pillow below his head and draping a blanket over him.

'You don't have to baby me, you know.'

'My house, my rules, you are injured, you don't get a say.'

'Yes ma'am,' he saluted as she sat back down, lifting his legs to sit down before placing them on her lap.

~ ♡ ~

It wasn't very long until Ace fell asleep, he tried to fight it, but the nice hot meal and being tucked in made it really difficult. He woke up, the room was dark, and the only light was the TV; Isuka was still awake.

He watched her as her expression changed, her hair tucked behind her ear, making it all the more easy. Her eyes seemed tired, but she stared intently, barely moving.

'What's happening?' She seemed a little startled as she turned to face him.

'Oh, how was the nap? If you want you can take my bed.'

'Nah, I'm good,' he wasn't going to admit that he likes being on the sofa with her, 'did they find out who did it?'

'Yeah, it was the uncle, but they haven't caught him yet.'

'So we were right? Wow I'd make a great detective, maybe I should join you Birdie.'

'I don't think you should quit your day job too soon, Fire Fist,' he smiled at the use of nicknames, well more like Birdie was what he called her to annoy her, and Fire Fist was what most people knew him as, but it was still cute she remembered.

He smiled to himself before turning his attention back to the TV, the show was clearly coming to an end, and he wondered what time it was. Isuka grabbed them the ice cream she planned on eating later, and they finished the whole thing, laughing at each other when they got a brain freeze.

When the show ended, Isuka got up, stretching her limbs. He wanted to do the same, but the pain made him stop.

'That was a good show.'

'Yeah, Deuce was right,' Isuka chuckled, and Ace did too until he clocked her words.

'Deuce?!'

'Yeah, he watched it a while back and told me it was good and I should check it out.'

Ace hadn't wrapped his head around the fact she'd just said Deuce. Deuce, who was absolutely terrified of her and used every excuse to avoid being in her path, that Deuce was now exchanging TV show recommendations with her? He vaguely remembered Deuce mentioning a murder mystery show, but then again, he hadn't been paying attention, so he wouldn't know.

'You talk to Deuce?'

'Occasionally, he usually texts me. Skull too, he tells the funniest stories.'

'They have your number, but I don't?' He was even more shocked that Skull had also kept in contact; he always mentioned admiring her from afar, not exchanging stories weekly.

'Well you never asked, Deuce asked before we finished school. Skull asked a little later.'

He muttered under his breath, 'those traitors,' he'd mentioned Isuka multiple times in the past couple of years, and apparently, they never thought to mention that they were in contact.

'You can have it now, if you'd like,' she held out her hand, and he scrambled to find his phone for her to enter her number.

'So it's just me you don't like?'

'Huh?'

'Earlier, you mentioned not liking each other, you really don't like me?'

Isuka stared blankly at him before bursting out laughing, 'Ace you really crack me up, sure I didn't like you when we first met. I thought you were annoying as hell.'

'And?'

'I still think that,' Ace's hopeful look immediately fell, and Isuka started laughing again. 'However, I never really hated you. I mean, we were just similar people with different views; we could have been good friends.'

'Could have? Can't we? Like now, we can be friends right?'

Isuka saw the look in his eyes and realised he was being serious about getting closer, 'sure.' His face immediately lit up; Isuka always thought he looked adorable when he smiled. 'I do think, however, since it is four in the morning, we should get some proper sleep.'

'Yeah that's a good idea Birdie.'

'You're not letting that nickname go are you?'

'Oh, absolutely not,' he smirked, and Isuka questioned what she was getting herself into.

~ ♡ ~

Come morning, Isuka woke up with a crick in her neck and her arm numb. She'd fallen asleep on the armchair, Ace sprawled out on the sofa. She got up and stretched, making her way to her bedroom to freshen up. When she got to the kitchen, she was met with a slightly bemused Tashigi.

'Looks like you had a fun night,' referring to the sleeping figure of Ace on their sofa.

'I could say the same about you, when did you get home?'

'About 10 minutes ago,' she took a sip from her cup, 'should I be happy or worried for you?'

'Happy, I think,' she opened their cabinets to make herself a coffee.

'Well, I guess our guest is staying for breakfast.'

'Let me check,' she abandoned her quest to make coffee and instead turned her attention to waking up Ace.

He woke up, a lost expression on his face, 'where? Who? Birdie?'

'Yeah, it's me. I was wondering whether you were going to stay for breakfast.'

He sat up, Isuka helping him. He rubbed at his face before looking back up. Tashigi had made her way to the living area, so he waved at her, and she nodded back.

'Well, considering I told Makino I was going to see her yesterday then disappeared, it would be a good idea to drop by and let her know I'm not dead. Plus I have invaded your space enough for one visit.'

'Okay, if you want you can use the bathroom over there and I'll pack your stuff,' he nodded, getting up.

When he came back, he looked a lot more awake, and Isuka handed his bag over, 'thanks, Birdie.'

'No problem, Fire Fist. Make sure to take care of those injuries.'

She opened the door to let him out, 'I look forward to seeing you again, now that I have you I'm never letting you go Isuka.'

She could feel her cheeks burn as he turned around, waving as he disappeared down the stairs, 'I look forward to it.'

~ ♡ ~