Rage still boiled hard within his veins (though one might just wonder how much of that was his own) as he withdrew his hand and kept it at his side, though its tremble was crystal clear. Inwardly he seethed, but at least sought the mind to quell the anger to a simmer—any hotter and it’d cause a headache he (or anyone else for that matter) didn’t want.
“…Ahou. Ya think I enjoyed that?” Though the hit connected, that smugness that remained hardly satisfied the dark-skinned Osakan. Heiji had half the mind to keep it in, but after another moment’s hesitation he drew a spit to the ground, just before Hakuba’s feet. “Civilized my ass… How ‘bout ya keep that silvered tongue back in yer throat, an’ listen ta yer own damn words fer once?”
Somehow, the detective refrained from commenting on the question of Heiji’s enjoyment and instead shrugged his shoulders, palms up defensively.
“All that I request is that you refrain from employing such insulting nicknames. ‘Hakuba’ will do, if you refuse to offer any sort of respect or formality, Hattori-san. I don’t think that’s unreasonable, do you?"