My first Case Closed/Detective Conan fic. I'll be frank, other than having seen like twenty episodes of Case Closed back in the day, most of my knowledge is now from hunting down scenes in the anime and manga with Heiji/Conan/Shinichi. That being said, I've paid attention to other details and feel I can reasonably represent this story. If I get something wrong...just roll with it. And by the by, you might find the scenarios I'm about to lay out a bit strange, but it's not what you think. I have a devious plan. Mostly. XD Enjoy!~

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"Close your eyes!"

"Why should I?"

"Just do it, Shinichi!"

A heavy sigh, and then Shinichi closed his eyes. "Happy, Ran?"

There was a silence and then..."Okay, open them!"

Shinichi Kudo was greeted by a roomful of people, most of whom he recognized and few of whom he cared for who had gathered for his fourteenth birthday. He was tempted to be annoyed rather than pleased, but the sight of Ran's smiling, beaming face was too much and he relented as he smiled for her. "A surprise party?"

"Yup! We did good this time, right? You didn't guess, did you?"

Of course he had. The hushed whispers, Ran's poorly hidden excitement, the fact that it was in fact his birthday, and the business card from a nearby bakery he rather favored had made it rather obvious. But in the end, he scrunched his nose and said. "Well, I thought you might...but you got me in the end. When you said we were only going to the park, I thought maybe you'd given up this year..." he said with a slight frown, to make it more convincing.

Ran eyed him carefully, but apparently decided that he was telling the truth because she beamed again. "I knew it!" she suddenly produced a small envelope and passed it to him with a faint blush.

Shinichi blinked as he quickly determined that it could only be a letter of some kind, which he doubted, or some sort of tickets. Sure enough, he opened it to find two tickets to...a murder mystery workshop at a nearby science museum. Such a thing would be child's play, but Ran, who cared little for such things, had chosen it for him. He noticed something then, and tilted the envelope to find a small cord bracelet with a little question mark engraved on a bead.

Ran looked at him anxiously. "Do you like it? I had them put the question mark because...well, you know..."

Shinichi didn't need an explanation. She had drawn a comparison between a question mark and his love of mysteries and given him the little bracelet to represent that. The tickets had been thoughtful, so was this, both were silly but even so...Shinichi smiled to himself before he held out a hand a bit arrogantly. "Of course I like it, who else could pull off wearing something like that anyway?" More softly, he added. "Will you put it on for me, Ran?"

Ran's beam returned full force, not put off at all by his lofty front as she clasped it on his wrist. They admired it for a moment before Shinichi added. "Thanks, Ran...this is...really great, actually." He couldn't stop the warm feeling brimming in his chest, and he willed his cheeks not to warm. But then Ran suddenly darted forward and hugged him tightly, her lately blooming form pressed up against his, and he bit his lip and hugged her back tightly. Both to reciprocate, and hide the blush he could feel was on his cheeks.

"Happy birthday, Shinichi." Ran whispered warmly.

Shinichi bit his tongue and despite himself, smiled into her shoulder. Happy birthday indeed.

Shinichi, or rather, Conan woke up with a bittersweet expression that morning and he cursed whatever mental associations had brought up that particular memory. Today was Shinichi's birthday, but there would be no celebration because 'Shinichi' was 'away on a case' and Conan didn't share a birthday with him. No, the day would be lackluster, and just a sad reminder of the turn his life had taken. Even so, he could at least try to spend the day with Ran...that would be some consolation, even if he wouldn't be getting any birthday affections this year. Conan rubbed his wrist thoughtfully, the bracelet had been rather cheap [though no less highly held in his esteem] and had broken within a year. The bracelet was now kept tucked away in his dresser. "Happy birthday to me." he muttered with a sigh, before he got up to start his day. He'd stayed over at Ran's home, in part to spend more time with her, and in part to avoid Haibara's teasing about 'little Conan's birthday'.

He headed down the hall and steeled himself for what he was sure would prove to be a less than wonderful birthday, [particularly compared to his previous ones], but he stopped short as he approached Ran's room and heard a male voice through the slightly cracked door.

"Tonight is the night!"

Hattori? Conan's brow furrowed. What was Hattori doing here? And in Ran's room? This couldn't have anything to do with his birthday, it had to be a coincidence, since Hattori wouldn't spill the beans on his identity over a birthday.

"That's...I don't think..." Ran's voice replied back hesitantly.

"That's it, don't think! Just go with it! Feelings like these...ya can't dwell on them too much. Just gotta let 'em be."

"Heiji, that's..."

Feelings? What are they talking about? Conan honestly couldn't come up with a single reason for the snippet of conversation he was hearing and he leaned closer with a frown, but the floor started to creak a little and he froze, and missed Hattori's reply.

"I-I can't just say it!"

"Sure ya can, just say 'I like ya'..or be honest...'I'm madly in love with ya!'"

"Heiji!" Ran chided, and she sounded embarassed.

Conan's eyes widened and he nearly choked. What had Hattori just said?

"Well, it's true, isn't it? I already know how ya feel. There's no point in denying it." There wasn't a reply and Hattori's voice softened. "I'm not trying to force ya, I'm just saying...how long do ya wanna wait?"

There was another bit of silence before Ran replied. "I'd wait forever if I had to...but..."

"But the truth is...you just wanna say it, don'tcha?"

"But...where do I even start? I can't just come out and say...say..."

"I love ya?" There was a grin in Hattori's voice, and it made Conan bristle. He'd tried to make sense of this conversation in any other possible light, but there was no way. If, by some remote possibility, he was talking about Ran confessing her feelings to...Shinichi...that just wouldn't be possible. Because Shinichi was Conan, and she wasn't going to just call up 'Shinichi' who wasn't even there...and why was Hattori here of all times, what did he care? Hattori was about as dim-witted about romance as a guy could be, look at him and Kazuha...but maybe that was it, somehow...could Shinichi have been wrong? Was Kazuha's love really one-sided...were Heiji and Ran talking about...a love between them?

The thought made him sick and felt a little dizzy as his mind reeled. Where had that thought come from? It surely wasn't possible. Hattori wouldn't do that to him, and he loved Kazuha, what was Shinichi thinking? How ridiculou-

"I love ya, Ran..." Hattori's voice came earnestly from the room, and Conan realized he'd missed some part of the conversation but what did it matter? He could hear that loud and clear.

"I-I..love...you too..." Ran's voice was almost a whisper, meek and embarrassed, but there was no doubting the words, Conan had been listening too carefully. He had even taken a peek inside the room, and he saw Hattori with his hands on Ran's arms as she gazed up at him with a blush.

Conan felt the air rush out of him, and he had a strange sense of disorientation a moment as if felt as though he'd been punched in the stomach. He stumbled back, wide-eyed and blinking slowly, and nearly in a trance he made his way into the living room. Conan stood stock-still as he stared at a wall blankly. That conversation...he had been analyzing it carefully, weighing all possibilities and although it seemed impossible...although the evidence didn't seem to match...what other explanation could there be for what he'd heard? Some part of him knew that he was too close to this, that his feelings for Ran were affecting his judgment, but he couldn't accept that consciously. Hattori, knowing about Shinichi's situation, about his feelings for Ran, even though he had Kazuha, even though he claimed that they were best friends and brothers...even though he was the best friend and closest thing to a brother Shinichi had ever had...he had betrayed him. On his birthday no less.

"Ah, Ku-er..Conan! Hey!" A grinning Hattori came over and ruffled his hair, and Conan slowly gazed up at him. "What'cha thinking about so hard, kiddo?" he teased. Ran hadn't followed him out, it was only Hattori and Conan in the living room that suddenly seemed deafeningly silent to Shinichi. When Conan didn't reply, Hattori frowned slightly and crouched down to be eye level with him. "Hey...Kudo...?" Hattori's voice had gone quiet, almost a whisper. "You alright?"

"Yeah...just fine." Conan said lowly, through gritted teeth.

Hattori didn't miss that at all and concern registered in his expression as he put a hand to Conan's forehead to feel for a fever. "You-" Hattori's hand was suddenly smacked away, none too gently, by Conan who took a step back and stared at Hattori with a cold expression. "Oi! ...Kudo?"

"You said we were like brothers." Conan muttered distractedly, although he met Hattori's gaze evenly.

Hattori's expression registered confusion then. "Well...yeah...we are brothers. Where it counts."

Conan gave a cold chuckle as he looked away a moment to run a hand through his hair. "'Where it counts', huh?"

"...Kudo...what's wrong? Why are you being like this?"

And suddenly, Conan was angry, viciously angry and he could hardly understand the sudden well of emotion himself but there it was. Before he knew it, he'd flung himself at Hattori and gotten in a child's punch to his cheek, before Hattori grabbed his small wrists.

"The Hell?" Hattori shouted in surprise, and he kept a squirming Conan in his grip. "What the Hell's wrong with ya?"

"You! You're wrong with me!" Conan shouted back.

Hattori's expression flashed confusion and then a bit of anger, even for Shinichi, his patience had it's limit. "Listen, I don't know what this is about, but you need to calm down, kid. Before ya get hurt."

"Oh, it wasn't enough to stab me in the back? You'll beat me up as well? What a hero you make, Hattori." Conan replied sardonically.

"S...Stab you in the back? What are you talking about?"

Conan suddenly began to struggle against Hattori's grip anew, Hattori's feigned innocence inflamed him even more. He didn't understand his rage, it was different than when he was angry over an innocent being hurt, or a miscarriage of justice or some such...no one he loved was in danger, this was...something else. A rage that he was unfamiliar with. A sense of betrayal. Shinichi didn't bother to care about people enough for such a thing, he didn't need relationships and friends and trust. He had a few people in his circle, whether by his choice or not...but...other than Ran, who had ever...who had ever really wanted to be his friend? Let alone his brother? Shinichi had been a loner, and while Conan was a bit more popular, still...Hattori was...irregular. He had obnoxiously forced his 'friendship' and 'brotherhood' on Shinichi slash Conan alongisde their rivalry. Hattori had made himself...important. To Shinichi. To Conan. In general. It didn't really make a difference. The point was...it hurt. This was a betrayal and more than Ran loving someone other than him, this was Hattori blatantly...well, betraying him. There wasn't another word for it. "Let. Me. Go." Conan gave a violent tug away and Hattori let him, and the boy stumbled back onto his rear.

"Kudo..." Hattori's voice was confused and concerned, and entirely too soft. How dare Hattori speak to him that way, like he gave a damn, after what he'd done?

"Get out."

"Wha-Kudo, you gotta tell me what's wron-"

"I said get out!" Conan couldn't fight Hattori, there was no way, and knocking him out wouldn't do any good. He just wanted him gone. Conan couldn't force Hattori to listen but he could try.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on!" Hattori insisted.

Conan fought a scowl as he filtered through his options, right up until Ran walked into the room. He could deal with how he felt about her end of this later, for now... "Sister Ran..." Conan sniveled as he darted over to her and hid behind her legs. "Make him go away!"

Hattori's eyes widened just as Ran's did, and she blinked down at Conan before she looked to Hattori. "What on Earth...?"

"Please, Sister Ran! Just make him go away! I don't want him here!" Conan buried his face in her leg and sniffed. She put a comforting arm around him as she crouched down and looked between the two males.

"What is going on, Heiji?" Ran asked, quite confused.

Hattori's lips were set in a deep frown. "I'm wondering that myself...K-Conan...look, I dunno what I did to make ya so upset...but I really am sorry...we are brothers, that's what I think, anyway...I...well, I thought you did too..."

Conan felt his heart clench a little at those words, and he cursed the universe that he was capable of something as frivolous as emotion or that he'd ever allowed himself to give a damn about Heiji Hattori. He forgot himself a moment as he shot Hattori a glare full of ice and said venemously. "We are not brothers. I don't ever want to see you again."

Ran's eyes widened. "Conan!"

Hattori looked as though he'd been slapped and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You...don't mean that..." he said weakly.

"I meant every word. I can't stand looking at you. So just leave already!"

Ran stared down at Conan dumbfounded, and only then did he realize he'd been 'Shinichi' in front of her. He quickly let out a sob and buried his face in her chest this time as she had knelt beside him.

Hattori stared at the pair long and hard a moment, before Ran finally said, gently. "Maybe you should go, Heiji...until we figure this out..."

Hattori's expression was miserable a moment before it became cool and he inclined his head. "Sorry for the trouble, Ran...I'll...call you later."

"You don't need to!" Conan hissed from Ran's chest, and Hattori stiffened before he turned and left without another word. The deafening silence seemed to return before he felt Ran pull him away and look at him sternly, but with concern as well.

"Conan...what's wrong? Won't you please tell me? Why were you so upset with big brother Hattori?"

"He's not my brother!" Conan insisted before he looked away, teary-eyed, and he told himself that it was entirely an act and none of it real. "I just...want to go to bed...please."

"Conan..."

"Please, Sister Ran..." he sniffed, all sweetness again as he gazed up at her with teary, puppy eyes.

Ran hesitated before she nodded and in short order, he found himself in the guest room. "I'll come check on you in a while, okay?"

"Thanks, Sister Ran." Conan said, and she eyed him a moment before she left. He stood there for a moment, ages it seemed, before his phone rang and he frowned down at the caller. Hattori. He wanted to hang up, but a sudden, vicious feeling shot through him again and he found himself answering if only to get a final point across.

"Kudo?" Hattori queried when the phone stopped ringing but Conan hadn't said anything. He continued. "Look, I don't-"

"Just stop talking, Hattori, for once." Conan's voice was utterly cool.

"...Kud-"

"Shut up!" he snapped, and Hattori went silent as he continued. "You seem to be under a mistaken impression, so let me clear things up for you. We are not now, have never been, and never will be brothers. We are not friends. You're not even my rival." he scoffed haughtily. "You're a convenient tool sometimes, that's it."

There was silence before Hattori replied lowly. "I don't know why you're sayin' this...but I know it's a lie. I know you, Kudo."

"Heiji Hattori...the great detective from the West..." Conan drawled. "So smart...and so clueless. Let me be clear: I used you. You gave me easy access to cases, someone to compare deductions with, and someone to handle certain physical aspects that I currently can't. But here's the thing, I don't care about you. You always called me your best friend and brother, I never called you that, remember? Our whole 'relationship' is something you've dreamed up and it was convenient for me so I didn't bother to argue. But I'm done with you. And I'll make sure Ran is too, believe me."

"Ran...what does she have to do with this?"

So Hattori still wanted to play innocent? "Basically, you're not welcome. Not with me, or with her and her family. And if you try to come near us, I'll make you regret it."

"...I could tell them who you are, you know. If we're not friends, why shouldn't I?" Hattori's voice was practically deadpan now, and Conan couldn't tell what he was thinking. Had he realized yet, that Shinichi knew?

"Try it and see what happens." It wasn't entirely a bluff, but Conan felt he didn't need an ace. Hattori had been cornered, and he knew how devious Shinichi could be.

"...So...ya really wanna do this, Kudo? Pretend you don't care? Not even tell me why?"

"It's not pretending, so I don't need a reason, do I?" Conan retorted.

There was silence once more before Hattori replied. "Have it your way...Conan. I won't bother you again."

"Glad to hear it." Conan replied with false cheer.

The line clicked off then, and Conan stared down at his phone with satisfaction. Or at least, it should have been. But instead, a sickening feeling had slithered into his stomach again, and with a frown he plopped down on the bed to bury his face in the pillow. Where had all of his emotions come from? What had just happened? He needed to think...he needed...he needed...he just needed time to compose himself, that was all...

-Several Hours Later-

Hattori entered the building cautiously, he wasn't sure quite what to expect and so it would be best to expect anything. He needed to tread carefully here. "Although, why I'm even here...I have no idea." he muttered to himself. After all, this wasn't his problem any more, it never had been apparently. Because apparently Kudo had been playing him for a sap. Hattori hadn't believe it at first, in part he still didn't, he felt it had to be part of some plan, something that he had missed, a misguided attempt to protect him. But from what? Nothing about his alternative conclusions made sense. More evidence suggested that the cold, logical Shinichi really had used him. But as he thought on their time together, he found he just couldn't believe it...surely he hadn't been duped. But Shinichi was right, it was only Hattori who had called them friends, and brothers, other than Shinichi referring to his slight elders as brothers and sisters for the most part.

So why was he here, dressed up as Shinichi Kudo, in a creepy, supposedly abandoned building?

Because, apparently he was just a sap after all. A sap who couldn't let his [not] brother down.

"Shinichi Kudo?"

Hattori whirled around. "Who's asking-" Something was sprayed in his face, and he felt his whole body go limp and numb as he fell to the floor. He was only aware that he'd hit it because he could see the world bounce in his vision.

"...What the...Face paint?"

Hattori could see a hand rub at his cheek, and then the man before him clapped his hands together. "I see...so Shinichi Kudo really is dead...what we have here is just a fake...well then...that makes this simple. Open wide, fake Kudo." Something was shoved into his mouth, but he couldn't form the movements needed to swallow. Perhaps he didn't need to, because everything suddenly went black.

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I know, I know. But there's a good reason for Conan's behavior. And a good explanation for the 'love confession'. Both of which shall be explained next chapter. Someday, when I'm not falling asleep at my computer. XD Poor Hattori. XD We'll see his POV of things next time too, so you can hear the sound of his heart breaking...well, maybe not. But sadness for sure. Enjoy! Reviews are like verbal hugs! -P.S. I'd like to avoid using Japanese terms in my English fanfiction, so that's why I'm not using 'nee-chan' and such. Witchy~