our intuition - HEIZOU.

𝐩𝐭. 𝟕 - 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆

"haha...you know where you're going, right?" you were being brought along in the little mission heizou had been sent on and kujou sara placed all her trust in the doushin that you wouldn't get in the way. or perhaps the other way around, since the detective had a mind of his own.

the humid november morning had you feeling drowsy, and the breathless running had you selling your life to the devil.

"just following my intuition. this investigation is just observation, we aren't going to throw hands with anyone or anything, i promise."

"you can't promise anything that hasn't happened yet," you scoffed, following him into the chinju forest with a scowl.

"well, madam kujou sara told me about your current training, told me you have to take the next step in whatever. trust me here, alright?" he guided you through a thin path amidst the trees and chewed on his lip, an ear out for conversation.

you followed, a hint of reluctance trailing your steps. "but we aren't starting a fight?"

"i told you already, didn't i?" he paused in his tracks, his big green eyes shifting between the paths of the upcoming fork in the road. he then waved a hand over to his left with a grin. "this way."

slightly annoyed, you continued forward, your focus on the sky- even though the sun was high up in the air already, it didn't seem to shine through the branches of chinju forest at all. which was unusual, since you could catch a glimpse of an indigo sky... does it not shine at all? perhaps these plants cannot grow with sunlit roots. you searched through memories, but you couldn't find any related to the inside this forest.

"watch where you're going." a hand closed around your arm and you moved your gaze towards a slightly concerned heizou, then followed his eyes to the rocks in front of you. "keep your eyes on the road."

you raised your eyebrows at the contact, then twisted your arm slightly, escaping his grip. "yeah, i got it." your hand is unusually warm for this brisk weather.

barely a minute passed before he backed up a few steps then knelt down, which had your thoughts race faster than your heart could catch up to. the first clear thought was a marriage proposal, but considering the stage of friendship you were in with the doushin, it didn't make sense. archons, what am i thinking?

you backed up as well to stay out of his path, planting your feet together and waiting for him to say something. if i'm not in front of him, there's nothing for him to ask. but it was just an odd precaution you took based entirely on your thoughts. can't believe i thought of something that ridiculous.

"my goodness," heizou muttered, inspecting a thick twig, about six inches on the ground. "i've never seen such a clean cut before." his eyes wandered to the supposed tree that it came from. "it definitely wasn't an accidental break...so..." he moved to inspect the tree, only up to how high he could reach. "kairagi activity."

you stood there, bewildered. "from a twig??"

heizou stood up, brushing his hands against his knees with a proud smile. "can you name an animal in inazuma with claws that thin or sharp, that could ever come across this forest? plus, my leads are based off the kairagi activity in this area, so we can only assume."

"and you're sure? because not everyone would be."

"oh, you think? let me explain." he held up his hands, mimicking two mouths on opposing sides.

he opened the left one- "you scammed me!"

he closed his left hand and opened the right- "it was a fair deal, no?"