Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan. That honor goes to Gosho Aoyama. I also don't own the book, The Simple Truth About LOVE. That honor goes to Bradley Trevor Greive.

Side note: All the italicized phrases do not, do not, do not, DO NOT belong to me. They are excerpts taken from The Simple Truth About LOVE by Bradley Trevor Greive.

The Simple Truth About Heiji and Kazuha

The simple truth about Heiji and Kazuha was that everybody thought - no, knew - that they were meant to be. It was written in the stars, it was written on their palms, it was written in every crystal ball in the entire universe. Their parents knew it the moment the two babies first met and baby Kazuha smacked Heiji on the head and cried, and when baby Heiji retaliated by yelling a variety of baby-curse-words at her. It had been love at first sight, they all said.

So when their babies finally grew up and admitted their love for each other - the two of them had been a staggering twenty-three, incidentally - the earth shook, the moon smiled, the sun burnt with an intensity it had never had before.

And there had been kisses. Plenty of kisses.

In case you are wondering, this... is about the love that inspires such kisses - a love that sends your heart soaring from here to eternity.

If you were to ask them now, they most likely wouldn't remember how they'd become one. Actually, Shinichi had taken the liberty of asking the both of them about "how it had finally happened."

Heiji's version: "Well. She wasn't saying anything. She kept looking at me. It bugged the hell out of me. Other guys kept looking at her, and if I tried anything I'd end up in jail for manslaughter. So I figured it was about time to just make her mine."

Kazuha's version: "It was the most unromantic thing ever. I swear to you. I mean, sure, we were at the beach and there was a full moon out, but it was awful! He just kind of grabbed me and looked me in the eye... which, sure, wasn't half-bad, because he has gorgeous eyes, you know? And then he just blurts out in that stupid way of his - 'Dammit, I'm so sick and tired of those guys looking at you. Do you REALLY like them that much? Because I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were THAT stupid.' And then - we argued. A lot. Until he finally just screamed - yes. Screamed. - at me, 'Will you just come HERE already?' And, well, here we are today.."

Heiji, after hearing Kazuha's rant: "You. Complete. Dork."

Falling in love is just like kissing - no two people do it the same way.

To which Ran, who had, of course, tagged along, had squealed and asked, "Well, then, when did you guys realize that you were in love?"

Heiji and Kazuha shot each other Looks.

"You know," Heiji said, after a while, "I don't really remember."

Kazuha chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Me either. I guess it just.. it just sort of.. happened."

Often you are just sitting there minding your own business and then Wham! Love suddenly hits you out of the blue, and your pulse is off and running.

But in reality, of course, Heiji definitely knew when he had realized that there was something more to the way he looked at Kazuha and the way he got downright pissed off whenever other guys looked at her and the way he knew he would commit a felony for her in an instant.

And Kazuha knew, too.

It had been during that one instant - that one, fleeting instant as they had both been hanging off that cliff.

It had been when Kazuha had swung him around so that she would fall, not he...

It had been when Heiji had leapt for her, one hand locking around hers, the other wrapping around a tree branch...

No second thoughts.

It had been when Heiji had thought to himself, I can't imagine my life without her.

It had been when Kazuha had thought to herself, I can't imagine my life without him.

It had been when Heiji had made that promise to himself, I'll never let you go.

It had been when Kazuha had smiled and said, I know. I know.

And it had been when Heiji said something stupid out of the blue and caused Kazuha to yell bloody murder at him and locked herself in her room for days, refusing to acknowledge his existence.

And it had been when Heiji had decided to swallow his pride and give her a bouquet of cherry blossoms because he couldn't stand seeing her mad at him.

It had been when Kazuha came out of her room, accepted the blossoms, and kissed him.

Because when they were together, it just felt right.

Love inspires us to do great, beautiful, terrible things and a bunch of weird and stupid stuff.

Not that everything was perfect. Because it wasn't. Somewhere in the back of their minds, they'd both thought that maybe when they got together they wouldn't fight anymore.

They were dead wrong.

"I can't believe you forgot!"

"It's not my fault! Maybe the fact that, oh, somebody's lying dead in the streets and there's some crazy axe-murderer running loose is more important than your birthday!"

Heiji's face was smartly smacked by Kazuha's ponytail.

Icy green eyes met his.

"Oh, really?" she said, and turned her back on him.

Heiji swore. "Kazuha..."

The irritating thing about falling in love is that you don't suddenly get transported to the mythical Kingdom of Coupledom, where everything is designed to make your relationship perfect.

And the part that hurt the most, Kazuha realized, was that Heiji was right. She was so selfish, she thought bitterly to herself, what Heiji did was important - more important than remembering her birthday or giving her a gift..

They fought so much. And most of it was her fault.

So when she heard that knock on her door - a rapid, violent, angry knock, his knock - she jumped and leapt for the door.

She stood there, dumbfounded, as her jacket was thrust at her face and as his hand gripped hers - tightly, but not too tight. Perfect. Comfortable. - and as he grumbled, "Let's go."

"...go? Wait. Where?"

"To celebrate your birthday. Dummy."

The bottom line is that love, like everything else in life that really matters, requires genuine effort. Cuddles and kisses go a long way toward making love last, but they aren't enough by themselves.

The first time he told her he loved her, it was an ordinary day. Rainy, actually. Thunder.

And actually, it had been - surprise, surprise - after a really big fight.

Funny, really - he couldn't remember what the fight had been about, or what had been said, or what had been done. It was probably her fault, though. It usually was. But words had been exchanged, verbal assaults had assailed, and when it came down to it, all he remembered was her, sitting on the couch, a hand to her head, eyes closed.

She looked so hurt.

"Maybe," she began, voice shaking - god, she was crying, wasn't she - "this isn't working out."

Something cracked inside of him.

"I mean... we're always fighting. And I'm so sick of fighting, Heiji. Aren't you tired of it?"

Something inside of him told him to go closer, go nearer - but he didn't.

"I hate - I hate being mad at each other, and yelling, and -"

"I love you."

It was the first time he'd stunned her into silence.

"I don't care about this yelling stuff. Isn't this what makes us work? Our fighting - our yelling - it's how we communicate, and - did you hear me? I love you. I. Love. You. And I'll be damned if I let you go now."

The journey to true love is not as daunting as it seems.

She hadn't told him she loved him back right then and there. She had said it a little bit later.

Like, when he had been shot, again, and lying in a hospital bed after recovering from surgery.

"Heiji?" She was sitting beside him, leaning forward so that her head was resting near his stomach. "Heiji? Don't die. Don't die on me, please?"

The bullet had been - had been so dangerously close to his heart..

"Heiji?" Her voice cracked slightly, thick with tears. "Heiji? I love you. Can you hear me? I love you, I love you, I love you.."

Imagine her shock when his arm moved - just a little bit - and his fingers brushed against her cheeks in a ghostly caress.

"About time," he whispered.

Two lives. One love.

"And it was because I looked so handsome, lying there, on that hospital bed.."

"You scared the crap out of me," she interjected.

"...that you finally realized that deep in your heart, you always loved me.."

"Shut up." She pinched him.

He pulled her closer to him, and she snuggled deeper into his chest. "You're an idiot," she stated.

"For falling for you? Hell, yeah."

She snorted. "You make it sound so romantic, don't you."

You can discuss your dreams and desires and know it was safe to share things you could never say to anyone else.

"I want to be a teacher."

He blinked.

"Or an astronaut."

He slowly swiveled around to face her.

"I've always wanted to go to Saturn. Its rings look so pretty... don't you think so, Heiji?"

And Heiji, never having been one for tact, bluntly stated, "What have you been drinking?"

"Nothing," she said, smiling prettily at him.

He continued to stare, but the intensity of the Good god, what have I gotten myself into factor had lessened. Though what he did have to say next definitely took Kazuha by surprise.

"I know."

She stared at him. "What?"

"That you want to be a teacher."

And Kazuha, always amused with the way Heiji's mind worked, said, "Oh, really. How's that?"

"You're great with kids," he said. "Sometimes impatient, but you're good with them. I see the way you look at them and the way you handle them, and..." He paused, and if Kazuha really, really stared, she could detect faint traces of a blush staining his cheeks, "you'd be a great mother."

To experience such a relationship is to know that every breath affirms that you are loved and that true love overcomes all obstacles.

He wasn't quite sure how they had ended up draped over each other in the couch like this. The last thing he remembered, they were both studying for their coming trig test and now - well -

She was resting on top of him, head on her chest. She could hear every heartbeat, pulsating under her cheek.

Her head fit perfectly under his chin, the intoxicating smell of her hair - vanilla - piercing his senses.

"I wish this would never end." Snuggling closer. Searing him with her touch.

"Me, too."

"Like... It feels like we're on top of the world. On a ferris wheel."

"A ferris wheel?"

"Like the one at the amusement park, remember? We went there before. I was mad at you at the time, and then... our parents forced us in there, right? To make us talk things over."

"And that was also our first kiss."

She smiled into his shirt. "Right."

"And our parents took pictures of it."

Her smile faded, slightly. "Right."

"And posted them in the papers."

She shook her head, trying to deny the fact that she really was amused by everything. "With the headline, At last! At long, long, last!"

"Yeah. I remember that."

"Pretty hard not to."

"True."

"We should thank them someday."

"Mm. I'm pretty happy where I am, though. You really want to get up?"

"No."

"Good." And he pulled her closer.

True love can climb the highest mountain and cross the deepest sea... eventually.

So around school, around college, Heiji and Kazuha had been known as The Couple. The most romantic couple to everyone; they had a relationship that everybody envied. Knowing your boyfriend/girlfriend ever since you were in diapers had its perks.

"YOU IDIOT!"

So, these Heiji-and-Kazuha fights were pretty well-known around school. They tended to get pretty violent, with sharp objects hurtling towards Heiji's heads and some sharp words sent Kazuha's way.

Smash.

They knew the signs and the symptoms. A scream indicated the start of it. More screams - muffled, usually, at the beginning, in a vain attempt to hide the fact that there was a fight - which would be followed by some curse words - Idiot! Dummy! Ahou! You get the drift - and then the sounds of objects being thrown and then louder screams.

"I'M the idiot? Who the hell decided to make ME be the one to bring the poster? I NEVER remember to bring this stuff!"

"You can figure out EVERYTHING and remember the most TRIVIAL pieces of information when solving those damn cases of yours - what normal human being notices what side of the cup a person drinks from or - or knows how to unlock a door with a piece of thread?"

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

And people would sit back and wait for the hurricane to pass.

It always did, eventually.

And at the end of the day, you could always see the two of them, happy smiles on their faces, hands intertwined.

"What do you think they do in there, anyway?" A classmate asked, pointing to the room from which the two previously angry teens had come.

"..." No reply.

In other words, nothing can hold love back. True love overcomes anything and everything.

Sometimes, she didn't understand him. She didn't understand how he couldn't suddenly just leave in the middle of a date to go solve a case. Sure, she understood that it was important and that - well, preventing a murderer from roaming the streets was more important than, say, her, but that didn't mean that it hurt any less.

But she let him go. Eyes never leaving his back.

She sighed, twirling a fork around her spaghetti. She didn't feel hungry anymore.

She wondered if Ran ever felt this way.

"Kazuha!"

That sounded like -

Kazuha raised her head. As she did so, a pair of lips crushed hers.

Normally, she might have screamed, backed away, slapped the person who owned said pair of lips.

But no. She knew these lips too well.

"See you later," Heiji murmured, pulling away.

She watched him leave, dizzy.

Realizing the power of love feels like a light switch is suddenly turned on inside your heart.

"I'm going to do it, Kudo."

Shinichi turned lazy blue eyes onto his friend - friend of more than six years now, actually. "Do... what?"

Heiji fidgeted. "You know."

Shinichi blinked, not comprehending at first. And then - "Oh. Oh. Wow."

"Yeah."

"Well. I mean." Shinichi twitched, blinked a couple of times more. "It's not like it's a surprise, really. There's been a pool going about it for years. Kuroba started it."

Heiji gaped at him in disbelief. "You've been betting about it?"

"The pool's gone up to close to a million."

"..." Heiji opened his mouth, and then closed it. "You know what, never mind. Just never mind. Are you going to help me, or not?"

Shinichi stared at him. "Help you... how?"

"I helped you when you did it!"

Shinichi sighed, somewhat annoyed. "Fine, fine."

The world looks different. Or perhaps you are looking at it differently.

Heiji was a man on a mission. Oh, yes. He had the determined stare and the blazing eyes and the flames emanating from his body, to boot. Shinichi tagged along, whistling and singing - which, normally, would blow anybody's ears to pieces, but Heiji was too distracted - "Sherlock Holmes is better than Ellery Queen, yeah, yeah, yeah -"

"We're here," Heiji said, staring at the small shop reverently.

Shinichi stared at his friend, unsure of what he was seeing. "Uh, yeah. Are we going to go in any time soon?"

Heiji hopped from one foot to the other. "I don't know."

Shinichi sighed. "Hattori..."

"I don't know!" He twitched.

"I thought you were going to do this."

"I was."

"You are going to do this."

"...sure."

"Hattori!"

"Leave me alone!"

"So help me, Hattori, I will drag your ass in there."

"...but..."

"Shut up and start walking."

"...but..."

"I will throw your beloved katana off Mt. Fuji. I will feed your baseball cap to the sharks. I will -"

"Dammit! All right! I'm going!"

You have finally found true love, or true love has finally found you.

"Kazuha?"

"Mm?" They were sitting in a restaurant, he in a black suit, she in an elegant dark green dress. He couldn't take his eyes off her, and truthfully, he wasn't trying too hard.

He cleared his throat and prayed that he didn't sound like a complete and utter idiot. "You look.. uh... really pretty. Tonight."

She blinked at him, her cheeks stained a light pink. To him, she looked more beautiful, if that's possible. "Oh. Thanks."

"Yeah."

Awkward, leaden silence.

Damn damn damn damn damn - are the thoughts coursing through Heiji's mind.

"Heiji, you're turning red. And - are you sweating?" She got up from her seat. Drawing closer. Every step she took, she kept coming closer by an inch, and then two, and then before he knew it she was next to him, right in front of him and then she had her hand on his forehead and her fingers against his cheeks and her touch - her touch - drove him insane and he had to say the words, now or never, now or never, because he can't take this anymore -

"Did you ever think of what it would be like to be together?"

Kazuha stared at him, wondering if he had gone off the deep end. "Heiji. We are together."

"No - I mean, yes, we are together, but I meant -" Good god, was it hot in here or what?

And Kazuha just continued to stare. Stare and stare and stare.

"Like. In a house."

Now concern was beginning to make its mark on Kazuha's face. "Heiji, are you sure you're okay?"

"And maybe... I dunno... kids.."

Kazuha: "...Heiji?"

"I could cook for you, too. Or... I could.. learn... to cook." Heiji's eyes were beginning to look glazed. He suddenly began fishing in his pocket for a certain black velvet box and upon finding it, thrust it at her.

Kazuha gaped.

He fumbled with it for a bit before opening it.

She was silent.

He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He offered her a small smile in between feeling drunk and high all at once. Please say yes, he prayed, please say yes, please say yes, please say yes... All he knew at this point was that he wanted this girl, this - this woman that he'd watched grow up right beside him, to stay by his side and grow old with him.

He loved her, after all.

"So what do you say?" The silence was killing him.

But Kazuha was a little too, oh, shall we say, taken aback, to really comprehend.

Unfortunately, our hotheaded little Heiji took it the wrong way.

"Never mind," he said, already standing up. "It's fine."

This snapped Kazuha back into reality. She stood up, the legs of her chair scraping loudly against the floor. "Heiji."

"It's okay." He was so angry at himself. "Just -"

"Heiji," she tried again.

He walked away.

"DAMMIT, HEIJI!"

Well, that certainly caught his attention. He turned around -

To meet her lips.

Well, hello.

"Yes."

He stared at her before the word sunk in. "...really?"

"Yes." She was smiling and he couldn't believe he hadn't seen her smiling like this before. "Yes, yes, I will, I will!"

"Oh, thank God," he murmured, and pulled her close.

"Hello!"

Their happy ending was sealed with a kiss. The events were all in a blur, really - there was an embrace and a slipping on of the ring at some point or another, and then the lifting of the veil and the meeting of the lips.

And tears. And an absolute feeling of bliss.

Everybody clapped and applauded - and hell, there was even a whistle or two.

About time, right? everybody said.

They had spent their childhood with each other, every waking moment. And they had the rest of their lives left.

The en -

No.

The Beginning.

Ah. This was fun to write. To keep things short, this was just a fluffy fic that popped into my head and it goes out to my wonderful, darling friend, Lyn "Jarewo" Wors-chan and just.. you know.. thank you for listening to me rant and everything. Also a big thank you to the readers... I know I haven't updated lately.. and I'm sorry. So sorry! But please, take the time to review this, neh?