*Update! ^^ Hope you like it!*
Chapter 3
It was one of those moments where your ability to talk just stopped working. Instead, Conan was spluttering, trying to piece together the obvious, and yet at the same time, the impossible. Heiji was dead; he had been lost at that warehouse, the lair of the Organization. He hadn't returned, he had most definitely, most certainly been killed. And yet, and yet-
"Ellery, how about you introduce yourself to the class?" goaded Kobayashi-sensei to the reluctant child, who fidgeted nervously next to her. "There's no reason to be shy, we're all friends here!" She gave him a smile, which he willingly returned.
"Um," he started, foot tapping as he tried to decide how to continue. "My name is Matsumoto Ellery! I'm six, and I just came here! I hope I can be friends with all of you!" His voice was eager, but he was still obviously hesitant. Though there was no need- the class seemed to accept him happily.
"Hello, Ellery-kun!"
"Nice to meet you, Matsumoto-kun!"
"Ellery-kun, where are you from?"
"Ellery-san, you can sit next to me!"
Ellery walked down the aisle, plopping down next to Mitsuhiko, who kindly introduced himself and smiled. Conan grimaced despite himself- what was Heiji playing at? Coming into a classroom- Conan's classroom, and not even passing Conan and attempting to tell his best friend what had happened? To not even cast him a glance?
Heiji… What's wrong with you? Tell me you bastard! If thoughts could kill, poor little, helpless Ellery would be lying dead in his seat.
Ai grabbed Conan's wrist, keeping the boy from lashing out as she sensed he wanted to. Love only made people do irrational things, and uncontrollable anger was one of them. His love for Heiji was like one of a brother, and it was no wonder that he was just two inches from foaming at the mouth right now. "Calm down! Act normal! He's just acting too!" hissed Ai quietly, but her words had hardly any effect on the raging boy.
Conan, however, was still silent, though it was quite obvious he wanted to pounce on Heiji for this, for coming back last night, for not even telling him that he had been shrunk by the Organization! How could how do this? Didn't he know how worried Conan was, how frantic last night had been, couldn't he see the dark circles under Conan's deep blue eyes, read how much the boy had gone through in just six hours? And he had the nerve to just stroll in as if nothing had happened!
Ellery looked back curiously, having heard the slight whisper of Ai's voice behind him. He flinched as he saw Conan's features drawn back in fury like some feral animal, quickly directing his gaze back at the chalkboard, where Kobayashi-sensei was teaching. The boy scared him… And was he angry at him? Why would that be? thought Ellery nervously, shifting uneasily. I didn't do anything to him…
"Um, Tsuburaya-kun," whispered Ellery to his desk partner, eyes flickering to the brown-haired boy behind him. "Who is that boy?" He gestured behind him, and Mitsuhiko smiled.
"That's Edogawa Conan. He's like a detective!" said Mitsuhiko, eager to inform his new friend. "He's really smart. And he's solved a lot of mysteries."
Edogawa Conan! That's the person Vermouth-neesan said to hand the letter to! Ellery's feelings quickly transformed from fear to excitement. I'll give to him at recess. Or lunch.
"What time is lunch, Tsubayara-kun?" quipped Ellery, taking the letter out of his backpack and placing it in his pocket.
"There's another hour to go, and please, call me Mitsuhiko. And I'll call you Ellery-kun!" replied Mitsuhiko politely.
"Thanks."
The bell rang noisily, and all the kids jumped out of their seats, eager to get out into the recess yard before a nice meal in the cafeteria. Ai and Conan lingered behind for a few moments, needing the moment for a quick, unheard conversation.
"Haibara, why do you think Hattori is here?" asked Conan in a barely controlled growl, kneading his fingers against his desk. "Without even bothering to tell us he came out of that building alive? I'm considering ripping him to bits."
"Now, now, Kudo-kun, that would destroy the entire point of hoping he was alive. Unless what you really wanted was to kill him with your own hands," commented Ai sarcastically, keeping the surprise out of her own voice. That was all she felt, pleasant surprise, because she honestly didn't care much about Heiji. That was Conan's job- he was Heiji's best friend after all. "Quite a shocker that would be."
"Well, that wasn't my original plan at least," he hissed, kicking his chair into his desk. "But seriously, he could at least show some recognition of some sort! A wink! A smile! He didn't even bother to look at us! It's like he doesn't even know who we stinking are!"
"You can ask him at lunch. Try to ask nicely at least," she sighed, grabbing hold of his sleeve and dragging him towards the exit. "I'm more curious to how he got into Teitan. You'd need an adult to do that."
"So you think he went to someone in Tokyo?" Conan leaned against the door frame, watching all of the kids playing outside through the window. "But who? Aren't we like- his closest friends in Tokyo?"
"Ask Hattori-kun, I don't have all the answers surprisingly enough," said Ai in a voice simply dripping in sarcasm. "Just go up to him, and ask."
"Fine, I will." Conan charged outside, quickly approaching the young dark-skinned boy with furiously taken strides, taking his sleeve and pulling him over to a wall, pinning Ellery to it with his hands.
"W-what do you want from me?" squealed Ellery, emerald eyes bulging with fear at this ferocious looking brunet, squirming as he tried to wriggle free. "Stop hurting me!" he cried as Conan's hands forced him harder into the rough brick wall.
"Stop fucking with me, Hattori." Conan's eyes were vicious and full of malice, his voice taut with all of his anger. "Why didn't tell you me you survived? Why did you just leave me to worry over you all night, thinking you were dead? And how dare you just walk into my school like nothing's wrong! How could you? I thought we were best friends."
"I don't even know you!" protested Ellery, wishing he could just disappear, get away from this person. Vermouth-neesan had said to give the letter to Edogawa Conan, but this Edogawa Conan was scaring him to death. "Let me go!"
"Edogawa-kun, let him go." Ai's voice was eerily cold, and swiftly, she pried Conan's fingers off of Ellery's arm, facing the young boy himself. "There might have been a misunderstanding. But before you go, Ellery-kun, I have a few questions for you."
"Thanks… And sure, I'll answer them," said Ellery hesitantly, inching away from Conan, rubbing his arm where the skin was still sore.
"Do you know a detective named Hattori Heiji?"
"That's weird…" commented Ellery in a musing voice, looking up at the sky. "Vermouth-neesan asked me the same question. She said he's some famous high school detective or something. But nope, I don't know him."
"What?" Ai stared on straight, gaze blank as she slowly turned to Conan, the truth dawning on both of them.
"Oh, Vermouth-neesan said to give a letter to Edogawa Conan." Ellery handed his letter to Ai, making sure to avoid eye contact with Conan. "Here."
Conan and Ai unfurled the piece of paper, reading it with a desperate necessity to learn about what had happened to their friend.
Dear Silver Bullet-kun,
If you haven't figured it out, this is Hattori Heiji, except, he's been shrunk. Along with his size, he's also appeared to have lost his memory. I found him outside one of our bases, and it's a miracle he didn't die. You'll have to keep him with you though, and don't worry about his 'death' or anything. I told the Organization he's dead. But don't ask for my reasons.
Vermouth
P.S. He appears to have lost his intelligence as well, so I wouldn't tell him too much. Just keep him safe.
*Review reply time!
Sera-kun the mystery detective: Great... Now I feel rushed. I have another story I'm updating weekly, and that's my top priority. I'll try my best to update faster though. (though how possible that is with high school and volleyball is a different question...)
Iris Taishou: Don't tempt me! Please don't! Because all the non-shounenai people'll kill me if I do that! DX Unless... I get over five reviews asking me to do HeiShin. But I somewhat doubt it'll happen...
Graywolf22: Yup. Finally. And you got an update faster this time! :D
Ayumi Kudou: Not crack pairings, pairings with actual proof thank you very much... DraMione has plenty of canon proof behind it, I can even give websites with quotes from the book! Only, kills links... ... *cries* HeiShin has a basis too. And hopefully HeiSera will too. HeiKazu is much too cliche, especially seeing you already have ShinRan, too predictable, repetitive, boring, and plain old annoying. I can't help but hate Kazuha. She's the only bad part about Heiji! D: Besides, they're just characters... I have updated before reviewers hunted me down as asked though. :3
Partsu: Because I thought it'd been a nice (and cute!) twist. XD And what do you mean by 'aloof'? The word doesn't make sense in your review to me... Either that or I need to go over my English vocab again. *sigh* I keep so many stories up because I get too many ideas that don't happen to have endings. :3
Hope I get inspiration soon, or your next chapter will be a long way coming. (hint, reviews=inspiration.) ;D See you next time! ~Aeyra*