Whenever Ran and Conan came to Osaka to visit Kazuha and I, the scenario always played out the same way: Kazuha would suggest we eat at some stupid restaurant that wasn't very good, at least not in comparison to my suggestion. So I would tell her this and she would get really angry and storm off with Ran while Kudo and I were left to amuse ourselves until a case came up(which it almost always did). This day was no exception; however, I had planned on it so I came up with a little game to entertain us. Well, mostly me.

"So let me get this straight" the shrunken detective said curiously "You want to play a game where I have to guess what you're thinking of by asking any fifteen questions?"

"Exactly"

"What's the catch?"

"Look, if I win, I can make you do anything I want that won't cause you physical harm, and if you win you can do the same to me" I smirked mischievously as I awaited his reply, as if I didn't already know what it was

"Fine, I'll play" He responded confidently. "Of course you will" I thought to myself "after all, how could you turn down a challenge like this. Anything that even looks like a battle of wits is impossible for you to turn down". Unfortunately, he took our little game too lightly as he would soon learn

"Okay half-pint" I yelled mockingly "ask away, just mind the number of questions you have"

1. Is it a person? Nope

2. Is it a thing? Nope

3. Is it an idea? Nope

4. So then it's a place? Yes

5. Is it in Japan? Yes

6. In Osaka? Nope

7. In Kyoto? Yes

"Wow" I thought, dumfounded by his slow start "This might be easier than I thought"

8. Is it a restaurant? You can eat there

9. Is it a place for shopping? You can shop there

10. Have I been there? Yes

11. Do I go often? Nope

12. Have I been there since becoming Conan? Once

It was at this point that Kudo really started to sweat. I think he realized at about that point that he hadn't made progress. My guess is that it was at this point as well that he really started to consider the things I might make him do as a penalty for his defeat. He was right to fear my intentions, because I had already thought of this long before I challenged him to the game.

13. Have I been there with Ran? Once

14. Was I Conan or myself when I went with her?

"Shoot" I thought fearfully "He's getting really warm now. If he actually gets this, God only knows what he'll make me do" As I started to worry, he uttered his fifteenth question, the question that would spell disaster for one of us.

15. How many words is it?

I breathed a heavy sigh of relief upon hearing this. I laughed to myself heartily, realizing that he had lost count of his number of questions

"Two" I said, leaning down to eye level with him. "Its Tropical Land" He said confidently. "Correct, Great Detective of the East, but I'm afraid you're out of questions" He stared at his hands with shocked eyes as he manually counted every question he asked in the past few minutes. He moved his fingers one by one as he recollected until he got to fifteen. He put his hands in his pockets and kicked a rock on the ground as hard as he could

"Fine" he grunted angrily as he turned back to face me "What ridiculous thing are you going to subject me to?" I grinned with evil intentions on my mind. I leaned over and whispered into his ear the request I had premeditated. As I told him, his face was gradually engulfed in a hue of red beyond anything I had ever seen. I stood up and looked at him while he grumbled to himself with a look of embarrassment

"And you have to do it? That was the deal"

"Yeah Yeah I know jeez"

Later that night, after we caught up with Kazuha and Ran again, we headed back to my house. As we arrived, I shoved Kazuha into the house aggressively and followed her in, shutting the door behind us before the other two could trail us in.

"Aho! What are you doing?"

"Kazuha shut up and watch would ya?" She nodded and leaned over me to see out the window. As we both stared on in anticipation, I knew what was coming. What I was curious about was how the girl would react. Soon after we began observing them, Kudo disappeared around the corner, leaving Ran to wait at the front door. She banged on it furiously and threatened to kick it down

"Oh come on Heiji can't we just let her in?"

"Trust me Kazuha, she'll be glad she waited" Shortly after reassuring Kazuha, Ran's phone rang. After a few moments of trembling in shock, she hung up the phone and sprinted back towards the woods near my house.

"Where is she running off to?" Kazuha whispered to me, seemingly concerned for her safety

"Don't worry, she'll be back in a few minutes, and besides, it's not like she can't defend herself" Kazuha accepted my explanation with an expression of uneasiness. I led her to the couch where we both sat, and she slowly calmed down. I looked at my clock, "ten minutes?" I thought with a degree of irritation "what's taking that guy so long?"

Not long after this thought, I heard a calm knock at the door. When I opened it, Ran stood before me with a smile on her face. She walked slowly over to Kazuha, without so much as a second glance at me and took her by the hand. She then proceeded to drag her up the stairs to my room and slam the door. In the moments following, I heard an eruption of adolescent giggles and joyful shrieks. I looked around the outside of my house until I finally found Kudo, walking confidently with his hands in his pockets. He looked up at me as he entered through the door and smirked.

"So Kudo, How'd it go?" I asked rhetorically, not really expecting an answer

"I think she'll be relieved when she reads it" he said quietly, in a hardly audible voice

"Wait, reads what? that wasn't part of the deal!"

"Relax Hattori, i did what you said, i just chose my own way to go about doing it"

"So how do you feel now?" I asked with a hint of a smile

"Relieved."

After about an hour of screaming and laughing in my room, the two girls came down. We had dinner and then headed to sleep. The next day Ran and Kudo headed home on the 10 a.m. train. A few days later, I went to pick up Kazuha so we could walk to school together as we always did. But this morning she seemed very off. She was so…happy.

"Oi, what's with you?"

"Nothing" she smiled, smiling uncontrollably. After a few minutes of walking in silence she reached and grabbed me by the hand and looked and me with huge, loving eyes.

"Aho! What's this about?"

"What do you mean 'What's this about?' don't play dumb with me Aho!"

"I'm serious I have no idea what's going on" I replied, staring at her with a genuinely puzzled expression

"Fine!" she yelled as she ripped her hand away from mine and proceeded to walk a few feet in front of me. For the rest of our walk to school she did this, ignoring every word I said and even distancing herself from me further. When lunchtime came around that day, I took the opportunity to call the person I knew to be responsible

"Oi Kudo! Did you call Kazuha last night?"

"Hattori what are you talking about? Why would I call Kazuha?" he asked condescendingly

"I don't know but I know it had to be you! She's acting really strange today and I know it has to be your doing!"

"Calm down Heiji. Now, Kazuha did not receive a call from Conan last night, however…" he dropped off, insinuating another option

"Wait a minute! Damnit you used the voice changer to call her as me didn't you?"

"I thought I'd return the favor for what you did for me"

~Flashback~

Ran can be seen running through the forest, guiding herself with her hands because of the darkness. She sees a clearing and runs toward it. The moonlight is shining almost deliberately on the spot. As she arrives, a box letter lay unopened on a stump with her name on it, written eloquently. She analyzes the envelope for a moment before searching the surrounding are then running back toward the Hattori house. When she arrives, she goes directly to Kazuha, paying no mind to Heiji and they stampede violently up the stairs and into Heiji's room.

"What's this all about Ran-chan"

"Shinichi just called me and told me to go out into the forest by Hattori's house and look for a clearing. He said he left an important letter there for me." After she says this she reveals the envelope, unopened, from her back pocket

"Read it Ran Read it!"

"Okay Okay" She opens up the envelope and begins reading what is written

"Dear Ran,

If you're reading this it means I finally gave it to you. The truth is I will most likely never give you this letter, and if I do it will be a long time from now. We have known each other many years and now I think I feel like you've become more than just a friend to me. In fact, often times I think about you for hours on end to no resolve. I wish I could just walk up and tell you all this, but it's hard for me to say. I hope you understand

Sincerely,

Kudo Shinichi

Beika Middle School"

As they both soaked in the contents of the letter Ran suddenly jumped at the sight of a few more lines

"Look" she said, grabbing Kazuha's shoulder "There are a few for lines written inside the envelope, and they look like they were written just recently. See, they were, the ink is still a little wet"

"Ran" she began to read "I know I haven't been around much this last year but I wanted to let you know that despite how long its been since I wrote this letter, I still feel the same now that I did then"

Both the girls broke out into a series of frantic giggles as they further analyzed the letter in Ran's hand

"So he wrote this back in Middle school huh? He must have only been twelve or thirteen years old when he wrote it then huh?"

"That means" Ran whispered thoughtfully "he waited for me longer than I have waited for him. He's waited since we were that old for me to return his feelings and yet I'd nearly given up hope after one year"

"Don't cry" Kazuha said tenderly "You should be happy, this is a great that's happened to you. In fact, we should celebrate!" As soon as she said this she pulled Ran off the ground and grabbed by the arms, causing Ran to once again break out into joyous laughter. The two hugged one another and talked privately from some time after that.

~End Flashback~

"Wait so then what did you say to-" He cut me off before I could even finish my question

"Everything you already wanted to say, Hattori" After that, he hung up. I stood there for a significant amount of time staring at my phone, trying to decide whether I should call him back and ask him what exactly he meant by that, or if I should sprint home before Kazuha found me. Before I could come up with a logical course of action, I felt a presence behind me.

"Heiji!" the voice screamed ferociously "If you think you can call me like that one night then totally blow me off the next day I might have to beat some sense into you!"

"Kazuha listen, that wasn't me that called you last night, okay. It was Kudo playing a joke on me. He's really good at impersonating voices, since his mom is famous for it"

As she listened to my explanation I saw her face go blank. She seemed to be overtaken by grief as she lowered her head and put her hands at her sides

"I see. That was just a joke." She said, obviously choked up by the whole situation

"Hey, I meant to tell you" I said, now back to my usual snide and cocky demeanor "If you weren't busy I was gonna let you come with me and eat dinner"

"You were gonna let me?" she growled with a suddenly reinvigorated rage

"I mean…I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go out to dinner with me tonight"

"Oh...okay sure. Where are we going?"

"I'm not telling. I'll call you when I'm coming to pick you up" after I said that hurriedly, I ran away. It may have looked like I had somewhere to go, but in reality I just wanted to leave her before she started asking more questions.

Tonight, I'll take her out to the best restaurant in town and tell her everything myself. No way I'm gonna let that Aho Kudo talk to her for me, no way! If anyone is gonna tell her anything, It's gonna be me.