When Did It Start?

[Ai Nightray]

Ai didn't know how to feel anymore. Vacation had gone by but not as swiftly as she thought. What only took a few months seemed like years, nothing was the same at the Edogawa house. Her aunt and uncle decided to go abroad for a break and it was just about the same time she and Conan had gone home. They were alone and the house was silent. They would not talk, they wouldn't even acknowledge each other's presence. It felt as though she was alone, more lonelier than she had ever felt. She ate alone, studied alone, watched movies alone, everything she did, she was alone. Her friends never came by to visit as they had no idea that either of the twins were home. And Ai, had no intention of going out as well. It had been a lonely world.

But coming back to school, she was happy with it. At least, she forced herself to look happy. The young Hufflepuff wanted to go back to the way it was before she and Conan fought. Wherein she was glad to be in Hufflepuff and would strive to get top grades. Getting top grades was in her list of priorities, but being in Hufflepuff wasn't such a good idea for her anymore. She would always see her brother, but they couldn't even approach each other, and she wouldn't want a fight to form in the common room. There were only certain people that she knew in Hufflepuff that made her glad to be one. There was JazzyMae, Kate and Heath. Especially Heath. I never knew why everytime she saw the boy, her face would light up to a smile and made the world a little better, even just by a bit.

With a little sigh, Ai decided to push her thoughts to the back of her mind, before getting out of bed. She went for a little bath before getting some breakfast. It was not long after she decided to go to the Lakefront. It was a very nice place, and it helped her calm her mind. Even though, many happy memories were there and it made it a bit painful to stay there, she would not sacrifice her favorite place for something which may be a bit trivial. She took a seat at the snowy ground and looked at the sky. It was a beautiful sight, winter. It was cold, but the view was worth it. Thoughts crossed her mind once more, and one particular person had crossed her mind once more. "I hope I'm not having a crush on him. He won't really appreciate that," she thought as she continued to admire the view before her.

 

[Heath James]

Heath James wished he did not have to come back to school. He wished he could stay at home and keep doing nothing all day. No one at home was entertaining. He could not mess with anyone at home. Vincent had borrowed a ton of money from his sister and flew off to Rome. He hoped his evil cousin was dead by now. He had caused nothing but pain and stress for Heath. He never once had been polite to him. Once Heath had started defending himself, Vinny knew he had to move one. His little cousin had finally grown up. Heath walked out of the Hufflepuff common room. The interior had not changed at all. It still made him want to puke. It was a nice day to head out to the Lakefront. He needed to be outside. He had gotten a little pale over the vacation. He, literally, did not do anything but sit around and watch movies. The only person from school he had thought about over the break was Ai. It was always nice having her around. That's how he thought about it simply. Once Heath really started to thin about it, he realized he was only really happy when Ai was around. He was not had not had a nice day until he saw her at least once. It became complicated once Heath started to think about the details. As if by some crazy thing called coincidence. He saw Ai sitting by the lake. He went and sat next to her. "Nice seeing you here, short stuff." he said. It was that Heath called Ai by her name. Whenever he thought of her he thought of how short she was compared to him. It made Heath dread to think how they would both change once they started going through puberty. "Ick. Ick. Ick!" Heath screamed in his head.

 

[Ai Nightray]

Thoughts swirled in Ai's mind. She mostly had no issues about it, except for the fact that almost all contained Heath in them. How he'd met him and their relationship started with a fight, that might have ended with Heath as victor since she cried that time, probably making Heath guilty and all. But she decided to not dwell on that too much. She remembered Heath telling her why he despised the Hufflepuff House and told her a bit about his sister too. She remembered seeing him in the common room and discovering that he was also a Hufflepuff. Ai remembered the time they had spent together at dungeons where Heath had seemingly, yes, very seemingly comforted her. Every moment she spent with him was something really worth remembering and reminiscing.

It was not long before though that the young girl's mind was suddenly interrupted by the voice that kept ringing on her mind ever since vacation started. Heath's voice. "Uh.. Uh.. Yeah," she stuttered. "Gods! Keep yourself together!" she mentally scolded herself. "Nice seeing you too, Heath. Never thought you enjoyed the winter cold though," she said as she felt the cold breeze touch the uncovered parts of her skin. It was cold, no doubt about that. It was almost nerve-wrecking seeing him while she was just thinking about him, she would almost go crazy thinking of what to say, but silence would definitely kill her too. Her mind struggled to put up a decent conversation with the boy and hoped that he can start a better conversation than she can.

 

[Heath James]

Heath felt that Ai was acting weird? Did he smell bad? Was his hair messier than normal? No one had been able to make Heath question himself, no one but Ai. She was causing him to second guess himself. She made him think about everything he knew about himself. He wondered if there was something there that he had not noticed before. It probably was. Heath shrugged. "For some reason I thought it was nice out here, despite the cold." he told her. He wanted the sun to come out though. He was already getting tired of winter. He wanted some sun. At least, he wouldn't be so pale if the sun was out. It looked like Ai was leaving it to him to keep the conversation going. It wasn't like her to do that. She usually had no problems keeping the conversation going. "Something's up, Ai. You're usually good at this." he told her honestly. He had a feeling she would know what he was talking about. She had known him for three years! They could practically read each other.

 

[Ai Nightray]

Ai had almost gotten her hopes up that Heath came out since he saw her from at least somewhere from inside the castle. But why did she have to have that kind of hope? Heath doesn't even see her that way, or at least she thinks so. And besides why is she hoping for it too. She decided to shake off the thoughts in her mind, which was quite hard, indeed. "It is nice, isn't it?" she said as she looked at the amazing view of a blanket of white. With a sudden brush of a not so gentle cold wind, Ai had felt herself shiver, "It is cold too," she said with a little smile as she hugged herself, in an attempt to keep herself warm. It was cold indeed, she could feel it from the uncovered parts of her skin, and even in the covered parts. Ai was still in a bit of deep thought, trying to figure out what she needed to say to start up a decent conversation, "What the heck ever happened to keep yourself together?! Jeez, Ai! Snap out of it!" she mentally scolded herself in an attempt to look for a topic. And she was not doing a good job with starting conversation at all, and she fully realized it when Heath had pointed in out in an indirect way, although she did get the point. "Sorry, I'm just, uh..." she paused for a while thinking for the right word to say. "Distracted," she added, a hint of uncertainty shown in her voice.

 

[Heath James]

Heath shook his head. "I'm lying. I hate it out here." he said bluntly. The snow had suddenly gotten annoying. The cold was now getting to him. Heath looked over at Ai and saw she was hugging herself. He rolled his eyes. Why hadn't she brought a jacket or something? A small part of Heath wanted to help Ai with her little dilemma. The bigger part of him wanted to scold her for being so stupid to come out to the Lakefront without one. He complained silently before he scooted closer to Ai and placed an arm over her shoulder. He was not going to give her his jacket, so this was going to have to do. "You know I hate when you make stupid decisions like this, Ai." he scolded her. He was not happy. Sure, he liked being close to Ai, but he did not like that she had not brought a jacket in the first place. Heath let the topic go before he said something that would get the two fighting. He guessed he was on his own in starting the conversation. He thought about a topic that the two had left hanging? "I learned how to cook something." he said. Luvesha had reluctantly taught Heath how to cook several dishes. He had simply said there was someone who dared him to a cooking battle of some sort. Luvesha saw right through him and saw that it was a girl he was going to be cooking for. He wished his sister did not read him so easily.

 

[Ai Nightray]

Ai had let out a very small giggle at Heath's sudden confession of hating the snow. She wasn't very surprised with the revelation as she knew the boy beside her was more capable of hating than snow than actually liking it. Unlike her, who fairly seemed to enjoy what nature was offering her despite the tingling and cold sensations it left on her skin. It was cold, yes. But it was worth it. Drowned in her thoughts, the Hufflepuff girl had almost jumped in surprise when she felt an arm over her shoulder. She had been hugging to herself for only a few minutes and sure it was cold, but she least expected Heath to do what he just did. Ai felt her heartbeat speed up as her face was more pinkish to red than usual. "Calm down!" she mentally scolded herself, and wanted to follow her advise to herself but was quite hard. "Sorry. I didn't think I would be out for long," she admitted. It was certainly true, until Heath came that is. And she was more than willing to stay like that for a few more moments. "Really?" her face lit up to a smile. She had dared him before vacation came to cook something when the school year starts anew. Ai had no idea though that he would actually be learning how to cook during vacation. "Maybe we should head to the kitchens sometime then," she suggested, but she knew the had ways to go before she could actually make him agree to go with her there to prepare something. But all the while, Ai was glad at the moment.

 

[Heath James]

One word crossed Heath's mind when he heard Ai's giggle, "Adorable." What was going on with him? Why would he think something like a giggle would be adorable? He was, like, a Hufflepuff. Only Heath would be able to convince himself that his House made him incompetent. Only he would think something so impossible. Heath sighed. He had thought that he had gotten over his petty anger, but deep down it was still there. Hufflepuff. If he ever saw the Sorting Hat again, he was going to rip the damn thing to shreds. Heath was not one to hold a grudge because of things so petty. He never wanted to waste his time. The only reason he was probably still at Hogwarts was because he didn't want to abandon anyone. He was abandoned by his parents. Now, he did not want to abandon anyone that he had met here. He wasn't friends with most of them, but there was still a connection. The down side to him staying at Hogwarts was that the feeling of being suffocated would not go away. Hogwarts made him feel like he was exhausted when he actually wasn't. Hating everyone was a hard thing to do. Watching people have fun without him was hard too. He just didn't fit in. Heath stood up. It was cold, and he hated the snow. "Come on, Ai. Lets go back inside. I don't like it out here anymore." he told her calmly. He was sure Ai was used to his regular mood changes. He had not heard a word she had said anyways. He had been too busy putting himself down to listen to her. It was not like anything she had said needed a response anyways. He had enjoyed their closeness while it lasted, but he often did things in the spur of the moment. Heath hoped she did not think of the physical contact as anything special.

Out of Character:

Sorry for how late this is. I dropped off the face off the Earth for alittle.

 

[Ai Nightray]

Ai had been talking for a bit before she actually had the courage to look at Heath. She stopped talking and smiled a bit. After knowing him for three years, she could read him if not very well, at least enough to know a few things. He wasn't paying attention to her and it was fine with her. She knew that Heath always had a few things on his mind, and Ai wouldn't be the one to judge that. Even she wasn't paying much attention when he first approached her a few minutes ago. Time continued to pass by the two of them and Ai just continued to appreciate the time they were spending together. She was just looking at Heath, wondering what he was thinking about, while he had his arm over her, protecting her from the cold. Sure, it didn't do much, but she appreciated it a lot than he could ever imagine. When Heath stood up, Ai immediately faced the scenery before her, blushing as she did so. She was practically begging to the gods that Heath hadn't caught her staring at him. That would be pretty bad. She wanted to keep her feelings a secret for a while. She didn't want to drive him away because of them. She stood up as Heath had told her he wanted to go back inside. Ai nodded in understanding as she stood up and hugged herself once more. Now that she was standing, the cold already got to her, she was grateful that Heath had offered to go back inside the castle which was warm and cozy. "Alright. Let's go then," she said with a smile as she face the direction of the castle. She sighed barely audibly as she remembered the warmth that Heath had offered her. It felt nice, but she should have expected that it wouldn't last very long.

Out of Character:

It's alright!

 

[Heath James]

Heath wanted to get inside of the castle quickly because it was too cold to be outside. Ai was idiot enough to go outside in the cold without a jacket. Only Ai made such stupid decisions. Heath thought that he would be used to it by now, but for some unknown reason it still made him angry that Ai just couldn't seem to do the right thing. He felt like he had to babysit her in order for her to get things right. Heath sighed. He cared too much for the girl. What he tought was "anger" because of Ai was actually worry. Heath was independent. He grew up with busy parents that were able to disown him without a second thought. He knew how to take care of himself. Ai used to lean on Conan, but he did not really know what was up with the two anymore. "Do you and Conqn still talk, Ai? I haven't really seen him around." he said quietly. He wanted to tread the waters of this topic carefully. Now, he did not really have a clue how the girl was going to act.

 

[Ai Nightray]

As soon as they started walking, Ai had tried her hardest to avoid looking at Heath's direction all the time. And frankly, she was quite failing at it. She just couldn't help but take a glance at the boy beside her. She had known him once as an enemy, more often than not an acquaintance and a friend. Although she wouldn't admit it out loud, she may have started falling for him quite some time ago, and it came to her with no surprise at all. Thoughts swirled in her mind before Heath had brought up a question that she knew was bound to come sooner or later. She smiled a little before replying, "The last time we talked was before the little trip down to the hospital wing before vacation, and that really didn't end well," she paused before remembering the time when Conan had actually broke her bone. She was grateful for the healing techniques in Hogwarts, but then again, that broken bone had really hurt a lot. "And I haven't been seeing him too since vacation ended," she said with a sad smile. It had already been more than a year since she and Conan fought, and it looked like they were far from making up. This had saddened her a bit, but of course, she decided that she shouldn't stay depressed for long. After all, she still had things to pay attention more to, like the Hufflepuff boy walking with her.

 

[Heath James]

There were times when Heath was smart, but there were also times when Heath was absolutely clueless and oblivious to some things. Right now, he was confused about his feelings. He had expected that he and Ai would be fighting by now, but they weren't. His made Heath think that something had changed. Ai was the one who started the conversations, but at the moment, Heath was in control of what they talked about. Ai was usually more outgoing, but now she was just acting strange. That was he only thing that Heath had caught on to at the moment. He was sure more was to come later one. They had reached the castle. "Do you want me to talk to your brother? Or I can have Satsuke do it. This is seriously annoying." he commented. Siblings weren't supposed to fight. He and Luvesha had their arguments, but they never dragged it out for over a year. Heath thought it was seriously childish. He walked into the castle. "This is boring, Ai. Why can't you start the conversation like you used to?" he whined. He was not very creative. He felt like Ai was trying to teach him some sort of lesson. How annoying.
​

 

[Ai Nightray]

Ai was slowly getting the hint that Heath was confused about a few things, meanwhile, she was getting all nervous and her brain kept on going haywire that she still couldn't put up a decent conversation. She knew that she would have to start one eventually, and of course, she needed to be prepared. As the two of them had reached the castle, Ai was surprised. No, not just surprised, but shocked as to what Heath was offering, and she actually considered it for a moment before shaking her head. "I know it's annoying, but I really don't want you talk to him about it," she said sadly. "He'd probably just burst again and I don't want to be in the hospital wing a second time," she explained to him. Ai knew that recently, Conan wasn't able to hold his temper for very long, and she really didn't want a fight to emerge just because of her. And going to the hospital wing a second time wouldn't be a good idea, whether it'd be Heath or Satsuke getting hurt or her, but if she had to make the choice, she'd rather take the blow again herself. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad," was all she managed to say at the time. Ai had been apologizing a lot lately, thanks to a certain Slytherin she had encountered. She feared that she would soon be scared of making another mad just because of what Liam had threatened her once. But she was not about to give in to that, with a slight shake of her head, she finally decided to start a topic, almost not caring if Heath would be bored with it or not, "So, what did your sister teach you to cook, Heath?" she asked with a little smile plastered on her face.

 

[Heath James]

Heath leaned against the cool wall of the castle. He gave Ai a strange look before he scoffed. "Do you think he is going to hurt me, Ai?" he asked the girl honestly. She sounded surprised when he suggested talking to her brother. That must have meant that she was uncomfortable about the idea. He was still getting used to this "caring-about-people" thing. Normally, Heath would have just let Ai deal with her brother. But, this was too much. It was stupid, and he really wanted to make that clear to Ai, without yelling at her. She already seemed to be in a bad place already. Heath did not want to make her feel worse. Heath raised an eyebrow at Ai's apology. "My short stuff? Apologizing? Wow." he smirked and turned his head away. He wandered how those words tasted coming out of her mouth. He was not used to the girl apologizing without them getting into a fight. She had skipped a whole step. With Ai, Heath was used to a rhythm. Talk, argue, apologize, and talk again. "You're supposed to do something worth apologizing for first, Ai." he said and looked back over to her. Something was up. His girl was acting weird. His girl? Heath mentally slapped himself. Since when did Ai become his? Since when did he even start thinking about her like that. He needed to get out of here. "Maybe I will tell you some other time, Ai." he said. He patted her softly on the head, and he turned to walk away. Ugh. What was wrong with him? Ai was what was wrong with him.
​

 

[Ai Nightray]

"He just might. And I'm not going to let that happen. I'd rather take another kick from him," Ai said as he looked into Heath's eyes. She won't let Conan hurt Heath. She would never let Heath get hurt because of her. The young girl would rather go up to her brother by herself that risk anyone getting hurt, especially the boy in front of her. She knew she won't be able to take it. "Well, you seemed to be mad, so I thought I should apologize," she told him truthfully. Well, it was certainly true. And she hoped that he would accept that kind of explanation. "Is it that weird that I'm apologizing? Or surprising for that matter?" she thought to herself as she felt Heath pat her head. With a small shy smile, she gave a slight not before turning her head and watch him walk away. She enjoyed her time with him. But she guessed that there would always be an end and it was just it came early. With a little smile on her face, she began to walk away and back to her room.