"Oy Kudo! Not picking up your phone, getting cold feet already? Mah, whatever, just make sure you bring your ass to Osaka like you promised, neh? Love ya!"

Kudo chuckled, as the machine rattled off the time and date of the message, he'd just missed his call. He got held up by Ran, who forced him to stay behind and help her clean. He sighed and moved to the bathroom, deciding on a shower before he called Heiji back.

His mind wondered as he showered, him and Heiji had talked about it to some length. Telling their childhood friends about their relationship, but it was just a small stepping stone at best. They worried, equally so, about losing their best friends. He had played in his mind all the responses he might get from Ran and none of them were pleasant. He knew Heiji had thought the same, and reached an equally unpleasant end.

It'd been 2 years since he'd gotten his body back and their relationship had sky rocketed. No longer did they have to sneak around and worry about Heiji slipping out his name. Ran had taken the whole "Conan" deal rather well, in fact she understood his concerns quite clearly. She just seemed happy to see him again, and admittedly, he was really glad to be back in his own body and grade.

He wondered out of the shower, the towel draped lazily over his head, as he picked up his phone dialing Heiji's number. He listened to it ring, and imagined what Heiji was doing at that instant. Many times through the day did he wonder in almost vivid detail what Heiji was doing. What was he talking about, thinking about, feeling, seeing, hearing, every aspect of Heiji's day fascinated him. The train of thought was interrupted when Kazuha picked up, startling him,

"Hello?" she demanded irritably.

Kudo could only imagine the horrors Heiji must have been putting the girl through, having experienced only a few himself.

"Ah, Kazuha, is He...Hattori in?" he corrected himself quickly.

"Yeah, he's acting weird though, cleaning the house from top to bottom, freak" she said the pout evident in her voice.

"It's not weird!" he heard Heiji yelling in the background, possibly from the bathroom, it was right next to the phone after all.

"It's weird for you! Just because Kudo's coming doesn't mean you have to clean so thoroughly!" she snapped "Never clean for me when I visit" she murmured.

Kudo bit his lip a bit, for Heiji to clean suddenly was rather odd, in fact it was down right out of place. One could easily argue it was because a friend was coming over, and he didn't want his place to be viewed as messy. Though Kazuha was irritated by the fact, which meant she was suspicious about something. Though he felt confident, that even in her wild imagination, she couldn't fathom what was really going on.

"Neh, Kudo" Kazuha whispered to him,

"Hm?" he wondered back curiously

"Are you bringing some girl to meet Heiji?" she demanded of him secretly.

"No, it's just me, Ran has to catch up on her studies so she passed" He told her honestly.

"Then what could be going on...?" she wondered softly mostly to herself, "Well get here soon Kudo! Here's Heiji!" she said sweetly and passed the receiver over to her tanned friend.

"Yo! Kudo!" he breathed out, slightly out of breath from his intensive cleaning "Kazuha giving you a hard time?" he teased the girl and was rewarded with a flat stare.

Kudo chuckled nervously, more like putting him through the ringer.

"She's been bugging me all day wondering if I have a girl coming over" Heiji halfheartedly complained. "I told her it was just you, but isn't it normal to clean when guests are coming?" he asked him curiously.

"For you, I'd say not so much, but I guess even you have some pride" Kudo teased him, Heiji eyed the receiver.

"Don't you start too Kudo" he said going along with it, "What time will you be at the station? I'll pick you up!" He asked happily.

"Should be about two-thirty" Kudo said thoughtfully.

"Great! See you then!" Heiji said excitedly and hung up.

Kudo hung up gently, and sighed this wasn't going to be pretty.

The train to Osaka was thankfully not as packed as he'd expected, luckily for him it was a Sunday and the holiday week was coming up. He leaned against the window gently staring out at the scenery as it past in a green blur. He had some time to think now, how were they going to break things to Kazuha?

She was obviously going to be upset, like Ran, it was obvious to see she had deep feelings for Heiji. They'd entertained every possibility, even going as far as discussing a temporary break-up. The idea was his, now that he was thinking back on it, it was an extremely stupid one on his behalf. He recalled that it set Heiji off in a sudden fury. He'd made the grand mistake of calling what they had "the effects of circumstance". He defended such a conclusion by the fact that, beside the Professor, his parents, and Haibara, Heiji was the only one he felt closest too at the time.

He closed his eyes, he could still see the look in Heiji's eye, that was a day to remember. He opened his eyes again, they had small spats, but that day was the biggest fight they'd had yet. He knew that it wouldn't be the last, but he could hope to some degree that they wouldn't happen often. Despite being rather similar, they were quite different in many aspects. He fancied that's what made them such great friends, and even better lovers.

Heiji was much more impulsive than he was, which that kind of energy was addicting and infectious. He found at times when he was being particularly impulsive, it reminded him of Heiji. It made him feel good to know that his lover was rubbing off on him in a way that was good. Likewise, he was a lot more level headed than Heiji, he entertained the idea that maybe Heiji caught himself being unusually pensive and calm, maybe the same was true for Heiji.

He smiled, and noticed his reflection in the window, he had never thought when he was young he'd be in such a position. He always thought he'd grow up, marry Ran, and they'd have children. As he got older, the desire to marry and reproduce faded, replaced by his burning desire to be a detective. Ran lost her appeal as a suitable life partner, and was more enjoyable as a friend.

He then thought maybe Haibara was a more suitable match, after all she was female and rather intelligent. He chuckled, he tried to develop feelings for her, but he couldn't force his heart. He then began to think of his perfect woman, what woman he'd like to find. He couldn't really think of one, physically some were appealing, but he just lacked the emotional attachment. The idea of entering into a long term relationship with any woman left him feeling strangely apathetic.

He sighed, he finally came around to the fact that he had no real interest in women. At least not in the way people expected him to have, sexually speaking he did find them attractive. Though he didn't want a relationship that was based solely on sex, he at least knew that much. He wanted to feel that deep connection that everyone spoke of, the feeling like you can't live without that person.

It wasn't until he met Heiji as Conan did he finally understand everything with intense clarity. The feelings that inspired poetry of all kinds, lyrical, haiku, sonnet. Those sugar coated words that spoke adamantly of how beautiful love was, wasn't an exaggeration he came to find out. They were sincere feelings of people who had experienced not just the joys of love, but the heart breaking sorrows too.

He broke from his thoughts listening to the woman announce their arrival to Osaka's station. He took in a deep breath as he got up and faced the door, it was easy to pick out his tanned lover out in the very small crowd. He braved a smile as he stepped on to the platform and somewhere in the back of his mind prayed everything would be okay.