Questions

Strawberry’d

Heiji/Kazuha

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Heiji heard sniffling. Was she crying? She was saying something, but he couldn’t quite hear her over the roaring in his ears. He did hear one sentence though:

“I can’t do this anymore.”

---

Block, parry, defense, offense; the movements were very automatic. If the opponent did a certain movie, then he would counter with another. It was simple.

A few minutes later, Heiji’s opponent was on the ground, his shinai a few meters from him. Heiji was declared the winner. He took of the mask and quickly scanned the crowd.

There! Was that a flash of ribbon he saw? No, he thought dejectedly, it was only a handkerchief.

As Heiji went through the pomp and circumstance that came with every tournament he entered, thinking of only one thing: She didn’t come…

---

Ever since their emotional breakup, Heiji and Kazuha’s friendship was shaky.

Heiji knew now that what happened was his fault, but back then he was as stubborn as a pig.

He ran a hand through his sweaty hair and turned to shower and change.

“Do you miss me?”

---

Then came the emotional roller coaster that was school. It was there were Heiji saw Kazuha and felt the effects of their break-up best.

Any conversations they had were awkward and brief. A long time ago, it seemed, they did almost everything together, but now Heiji had to get accustomed to a life without her.

“When the phone rings, do you wish it were me?”

---

It was kind of hard since his friends were her friends, but thankfully Kudo and Ran-neechan understood and kept social gatherings to a minimum. Heiji always had a handful of excuses just in case.

Sometimes, one of them would bring up Kazuha or the idea of them together in the conversation. This happened to frequently that Heiji had gotten quite well at change the subject. Neither Kudo nor ‘Nee-chan were blunt enough to comment on it.

“Do you still long for my embrace?”

---

Heiji tried to stay away from her at all costs, just for the sake of keeping his heart intact. That is, until he saw her with The Other Boy.

It was something akin to an epiphany, Heiji guessed, sprinting towards the pair.

“Do you still love me?”

---

He grabbed Kazuha’s hand and roughly pulled her away. He ignored her protests and sputtering.

“Sorry, buddy. She’s taken.”

After shooing away the confused boy, he finally looked at Kazuha who had been indignantly screeching the entire time. He stuffed his hands in his pockets sheepishly.

“Because I do.”

---

“He’s not your type.” He finally said, after a long uncomfortable silence.

She looked at him incredulously, but Heiji would be damned if that wasn’t a smile on her face.

“C’mon, I’ll walk you home.”

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AN: Written a long time ago, around September, I think. Posted it on my LJ and then promptly forgot about it. So here it is now, I hope you all like it? Uhhh.. heavily based on the song 6, 8, 12 by Brian McKnight. And internet withdrawal. XD For... all my new DC friends? Sure 8D.