Author's Note: these were originally a series of drabbles I had written for my little sister Sammy on Tumblr, because she loves Heishin like a lot. Anyways disclaimer I have never actually watched Detective Conan, I watched it when I was younger, but nothing recent and I have never actually watched or read anything with Heiji or Kazuha or that entire group.
Of Sunsets and Shooting Stars: an Anthology.
Chapter 1: Heiji
Heiji first hears about Shinichi Kudo when he was just a kid.
He doesn't hear it on some radio or the tv the first he hears of this Kudo is through his own father. Trying to gain his father's approval his entire life was tough enough for Heiji and when the faceless kid, though they were the same age, comes out of nowhere and suddenly his father is commenting on how much he enjoys this kids work, how much this kid has helped the police force and the detectives and in a moment of cold harsh truth, his father eyes him for a brief moment and mumbles something along the lines of "if only our police force had a kid like that" and it burns. It settles white hot and blinding in his chest and Heiji slips from the house without so much as a rustle finding himself in the Kendo practice room, it was there in that moment that Heiji pushed himself to become a better detective, if only for his father to speak of him that way, he had been helping out with cases every so often but his father had never spoken of him like that or to him like that.
(but little did Heiji know at that time that the comments of Shinichi were genuine praise but were also to bait Heiji, his father knew he was capable of catching up and even surpassing this other boy but what he lacked, what he had always lacked was conviction.)
Surprisingly enough, not much is said of Kudo in their household for the next few years, people in the department will sometimes throw out the comparison but otherwise than that Shinichi Kudo's name drops from their house. It was until Heiji was 16 did he ever actually see him. They were supposed to of met once, at a ski lodge but the duo had never met and though Heiji won't admit it the abandonment cut him deep.
But when Heiji was 16 he was through with being compared to this faceless counterpart of his and he took a motorcycle and skipped his classes hell-bent on finding this Kudo. And he did. It may have taken him a few hours to even drive there and locate the town but he had seen him. He wasn't even doing anything special, school had just released and he was with one girl and idly dribbling a soccer ball, it took Heiji back for a moment, he was expecting some pompous guy who was milking his 'fame' for all it was worth, but this kid was so similar to him that instead of confronting him or challenging him Heiji just smirked readjusted his cap and melted back out of the scene.
Of course Heiji hears when Kudo has seemingly disappeared from a theme park and the spark of worry that ignites in him feels a little unexpected but Heiji pays no heed to that more worried over his 'rival' Up until now Heiji had no idea just how much his life was going to change with Kudo in it, for how could he know when the two of them hadn't even met face to face yet?
But he does and theres a certain glow pride and something else when he figures that Kudo has been deaged into this Conan character. In retrospect, this is probably where Heiji lost himself.
Somehow over the course of the next few weeks and months together Heiji finds himself and Shinichi being drawn towards each other. He doesn't resist it, not even a moment's hesitation, he declares himself Kudo's best friend, helping keep up the ruse of Conan, the little thrill that goes up his spine when it is just him and Kudo alone and he freely calls him "Kudo" while Shinichi as Conan refers to him as "Hattori" and not the slightly weird Heiji-niisan that he uses when others are around. He misses the looks in Kazuha and Ran's eyes when he refers to Kudo or when he's solving cases he doesn't understand why whenever he brings up Shinichi that Kazuha goes still or shakes her head and looks at him imploringly like he's leaving out a punch line to a joke he wasn't aware he started. The small accepting smile that follows this look still throws Heiji off.
Things change and for one so perceptive it takes Heiji a long time to catch up. The few moments when Conan is brought back into being Shinichi there is a weird feeling that usually accompanies Heiji feels warm, comforting and Heiji struggles to put a name to it.
Things start to happen, Heiji, who was usually prone to not being a reckless mess, leaps before he looks, he takes multiple injuries to protect Shinichi and in a moment of panic at Shinichi's real identity being discovered throws his favorite hat, the one he never goes anywhere without, and whips it on top of Shinichis head, the warm feeling is back when Shinichi's confused eyes blink up at him from under the rim of the cap. Later on when he sees Ran in the hat and Shinichi laughing beside her something ugly curls into his chest making him fingers loosely curl into fists he stalks off briefly to collect himself, wondering where his calm went, before coming back, once again Kazuha is giving him the small smile and for the life of him Heiji can't figure it out and it drives him insane.
He discovers it though. One day.
Shinichi had been in his normal body and was passed out next to Heiji in a room that they were sharing for a case, and Heiji happened to glance over at Kudo and was struck still, the moon had filtered through the blinds and cast lines of light over the boy next to him and Heiji momentarily forgot how it was to breathe, his fingers twitched in anticipation the strongest desire to trace the contours of his face, of his neck. of him. Heiji swallowed thickly and flopped into his own bed.
Ironically, everything made sense then. Kudo had always been a person to look up to a way to judge his own skills, but once he met he realized he was so much more than that and unknowingly he had fallen in love with the boy who was his supposed rival. Sighing deeply Heiji fell asleep to restless dreams.
Of course though, Heiji doesn't act on these feelings for quite some time. He was so sure that Kudo had harbored feelings for Ran and Heiji was content to keep his title of best friend. It wasn't until Ran was going out on dates with some guy the two of them knew from school did a small glimmer of hope filter into Heijis heart, but of course, this is when everything falls apart.
Heiji is kidnapped when someone was going after Shinichi and Heiji didn't have time to think he saw the attacker and threw Kudo out of the way taking the bullet to the leg himself and being dragged into a car, before he blacked out the last thing he sees is Kudo standing where he just was holding Heiji's hat and yelling after them. A small smile graces Heiji's face and he thinks this isnt the worst way to go.
He comes to later, in a hospital, apparently the bullet had been laced with some paralytic poison and by pushing Kudo out of the way and taking it in the leg he saved his life. All of their friends visit and bring him flowers and well wishes but no sign of Kudo.
It wasn't until late that he sees him, leaning in the corner of the room Heiji's white hat still clutched into his palms. A moment of tense silence passes between them as they stare at each other. Surprisingly it is Kudo who breaks first, he falls heavily into the seat and in a ravaged voice whispers, "I thought I had lost you" and Heiji's response is dying on his tongue because Kudo grabbed the front of his shirt and presses their lips together in a kiss that feels almost desperate. Heiji briefly wonders how bad the situation had been, Kudo pulls back looking ashamed and before any words can be said Heiji smiles at this boy who has somehow gone from a goal to being his everything and grabs his shirt in response pulling him back in for another, slower, deeper kiss.
The breathe of relief and smile from Shinichi that Heiji feels rather than sees fills him with such happiness and pride that Heiji doesn't think he had ever been more content and no amount of praise would amount to what he was feeling with Kudo in that moment of time hidden away between just the two of them.