A/N: AND WE'RE BACK WITH CHAPTER NINE!

I had a lot of ideas for this but it was so hard to form into a chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognisable in this

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(Gemini,

Won't you meet me eye to eye?)

Nakamori Aoko liked to think of herself as determined

She knew of course, that she would most definitely be classified as dense, it wasn't a mystery that she wasn't anywhere near as smart or as perceptive as Shinichi and Heiji- and they were both her age for crying out loud!

Hell, even Conan-kun himself was a prodigy and he was like what, in the first grade?

Then again, how could he not be? He was surrounded by detectives. He even lived with one—what was his name?

Oh right. The world famous sleeping Mouri Kogoro

She knew she wasn't an idiot, at the very least. Her grades anyway, made her hope so.

But even so, Kaito was incredibly canny himself, even if he was always sly about it. He was always able to read people so well. Though no matter how good his poker face was, he was still her childhood friend.

Most of the time

Akako was extremely clever. She was incredibly persuasive and was almost always able to turn the tables around and have her way. She could even be considered as a rival towards Kaito with her ability to be able to read people.

Even Hakuba, another detective her age was a damn genius. Always so attentive. He was almost always calculated and collected. The only time her ever wasn't was probably around Akako, but that was beside the point.

Man! Why were all these high schoolers around her so damn clever? It was really doing a number on her self-esteem.

Compared to everyone else, she was pretty dull. Aoko was slow on the intake, she couldn't take hints and was so naïve. She was particularly clumsy and was just a mess.

It especially wasn't helping when she was stuck in the middle of a murder mystery and watching Heiji (Who miraculously, was still in Tokyo) and Conan-kun discuss just how it could have happened.

Aoko raised an eyebrow from where she sat, sucking the straw of her iced coffee. The two were really into it. It was actually kind of inspiring.

They were in beika city's mall. Less than an hour ago, they were all in Starbucks, waiting in line for Aoko to purchase their beverages.

Less than an hour ago, there was a horrifying shriek, two stores down.

Less than an hour ago, she was running out the store, following the two boys with three cups in her hands.

Now, in the present; there were police officers everywhere, news reporters, camera crews, sirens blaring.

It was all so overwhelming

She hadn't actually gotten a chance to see the actual victim themselves, thanks to Heiji covering her eyes (She couldn't even begin to understand how she wasn't allowed to look but Conan-kun was) but from the solemn expressions of almost everyone in the room, it probably wasn't pretty.

Then again it was a murder, what else was she expecting?

She couldn't understand why this wasn't affecting her as hard as it should. Someone had just died but she wasn't feeling that upset about the matter.

It was actually kind of concerning.

The process hadn't fully kicked into her brain yet.

Someone had just died

But her brain wasn't functioning.

Granted, she wasn't feeling happy about somebody's passing (that would have just been terrifying) but her lack of remorse was starting to have an effect on her.

Did someone really just die?

Her lower lip trembled as she gazed ahead, towards where the yellow and black barricade tape was used.

Her grip on her coffee cup tightened before she let out a large intake of air from her nostrils.

Megure-Keibu had offered her a sympathetic smile

Maybe she should ask one of the policemen for a shock blanket? Or was it that only paramedics and fire fighters had those for physical injuries?

She really didn't know how it worked. The closest thing in real life to a murder case she had ever come to were Kaito Kid heists.

And Kaito kid heists were safe

Kaito Kid didn't go around killing people

And for once in her life, Aoko was grateful that her father's speciality were Kaito Kid heists. She was glad that he didn't have to go through these kinds of cases every day.

Granted, that he probably would have been to a hand full of them. He was a police inspector after all, but Kaito Kid kept his spirits up.

And for that, she was thank full.

Despite some of the all-nighters he pulled and his unhealthy habits of skipping meals for Kaito Kid heists and planning.

He was alive

And that was all that mattered.

Heiji, noticing her unusual hopeless appearance and how her hands were continuously rubbing her arms, walked over towards her, causing Aoko to gaze up towards him, her expression sombre.

"Hey"

He dropped his hoodie over her head, causing the brunette to blink in surprise.

Heiji had a calculating expression on his face, before his features softened

"First time, huh" it wasn't a question

"….that obvious?" she asked before burying her face into the green fabric that he had just given her "Just give me a few minutes, and I'll be fine, I promise."

She then felt something else on her head and jumped in surprise, eyes wide as she turned towards Conan-kun, who smiled lightly towards her

Aoko felt her eyes water as Conan span his baseball cap that he had put on her head around, putting it into a position where the stiff bill was downwards and covering her eyes

"Take all the time you need, Aoko-neechan"

"Yeah, we'll be here if you need to talk"

They were rewarded with a large sniff and a watery smile

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Now finished with her coffee, the brunette discarded the item into the recycling bin, making her way over towards the two companions she had come with.

Both, Conan-kun and Heiji had encouraged her to leave, but a huge part of her wanted to see the two in action. Despite Conan-kun's age he had proved himself a numerous amount of times, and Heiji was already a somewhat already famous detective.

With the light green hoodie now on and the cap facing backwards, the brunette gave the two a small, grateful smile

"So how are two out of three of my favourite detectives in the whole wide world doing?" Aoko asked lightly.

She wasn't oblivious enough not to notice the mood.

Though, she was (pleasantly) surprised to find the two turn around and grin towards her.

"We've finally figured it out, Aoko!" Heiji smirked and she found herself smiling towards the two and their enthusiasm.

"That's great guys! I can't wait to see the two of you in action" Aoko grinned, clasping her hands together in excitement.

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After spending about twenty minutes with Heiji acting like a complete smart-ass and having Conan be a part of his demonstration and provide his own sarcastic remarks, then finally having the culprit spring out of his seat and race off into the distance, in attempts to escape only to be smacked in his back by a giant soccer ball and passed out, Aoko could confirm that it had been extremely interesting.

"Quick question" Aoko said, as the trio made their way through Beika city, it was seven o clock in the evening and Kaito and her father would be over for dinner in an hour.

Sweat dropping, the brunette realised that she wouldn't have enough time to cook the three of them dinner. The abrupt appearance of a murder hadn't been on her schedule.

"What's up, Aoko-neechan?"

"Where the hell did that huge ass soccer ball come from? Why am I the only one questioning its origins? Is it considered normal that a six year old boy has a belt that spits out large unholy soccer balls of doom at a size that could rival Jirokichi Suzuki's ego!?" she gawked, grabbing the youngest boy by both his shoulders and staring at him with wide, wild blue eyes.

Both, Heiji and Conan gawked

"You know…I don't think anyone's ever questioned it before" Heiji said, rubbing his chin in thought after getting over his surprise.

Aoko's head snapped towards him "What"

"No seriously," he continued, seemingly oblivious towards Conan's rather exaggerated gestures, informing him (not so subtly) to shut up.

The brunette frowned towards the darker skinned teen "But he literally had this giant soccer ball the size of a football field just pop out of his belt- wait did no one else notice his shoes? Am I the only one noticing the lightshow that happened on only one of his shoes?"

Aoko groaned, gripping her hair "Ugh. You guys confuse me" she pouted

Heiji snorted, subtly giving Conan a look.

"Heh...the thing is Aoko-neechan, I get them from this professor"

"Professor?" Aoko asked, blinked "what is this, Pokémon?"

Heiji snickered while Conan paused "Well…I guess you can look at it that way. He basically gives me and my friends these gadgets for situations like those"

Aoko stared "A random guy comes up to you and gives you a bunch of super cool and dangerous devices and you and your friends just accept them with open arms?"

"He's a family friend, Aoko-neechan" Conan-Kun sweat dropped

She paused before letting go of his shoulders and stepping back "Oh my god, you're basically Ash Ketchum. Minus the Pokémon part of course." she snorted "A professor gives you the latest gadgets to help you and your friends with your journey" she mused, pulling out her cell.

Conan rolled his eyes "so who're you calling?"

"No one, I'm just changing your contact name to 'Ash Ketchum'" she snickered

"How is that fair? You give us all these weird nicknames while you're just 'Aoko' on our phones" Heiji stated

"Not my fault you guys lack in creativity" she shrugged, putting her cell back into her skirt pocket.

"Do you wear anything other than skirts?" Heiji asked, amused as Aoko quickly walked in front of the two, then span around to walk backwards so she was able to face them.

"Never"

"Not even in the winter?"

"Nope" she swung her shopping bags back and forth happily

"Don't your legs get cold- or all of you for that matter?" Conan-kun asked and Aoko smiled lightly at his concern

She then span around to face the front "The cold never bothered me anyway" she sang, grinning

"Oh no-"Heiji started

"Aoko-neechan, you really don't have too-"

"LET IT GO! LET IT GO! CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE—"

"I blame you for this" Conan said, glaring at the darker skinned teen.

"…You know what brat? I think I agree with Aoko. I think you should…."

"O-Oi Hattori-"

"LET IT GO! LET IT GO! TURN AWAY AND SLAM THE DOOR!" Heiji and Aoko sang, perfectly in sync and grinning wickedly towards the younger boy.

"….Hanging out with the two of you was a mistake" Conan deadpanned

"Come on Conan-kun, you're a kid. You should be more into this than the two of us combined" Aoko said, pouting

"Yeah, Conan-kun" Heiji grinned, stressing out the word 'kun' while bending down to be face to face with the young boy, taunting.

Conan made a show of rolling his eyes and slamming his palm against his face before sighing exaggeratingly.

He then faced the two teens with a blank expression "Let it go. Let it go. Can't hold it back anymore" he spoke, bored.

Aoko and Heiji both sweat dropped

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"Thanks for walking me home guys!" Aoko grinned, spinning around to face to two

"It was a total coincidence, we just happened to be walking this way" Heiji declared while Conan-kun and Aoko both rolled their eyes.

"I feel so loved"

"I'm kidding, jeez woman" he snorted, pulling her cheeks

"Ha, ha" Aoko said dryly, smacking his hands away before her eyes widened "You guys must be hungry, after all, we didn't really end up eating anything at all in that café, do you guys want to come in for dinner?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in question

"Nah" Heiji said, ruffling Conan's hair "Maybe some other time. I've got to get this brat home, his nee-Chan's probably already cooked something for all of us. Can't have it go to waste"

Aoko hummed "You've got an older sister, huh?" she smiled

"She's really not my sister—"Conan-kun started of

"Anyway we've got to go! Today was fun Aoko, besides the whole, uh murderer case thing"

The brunette snickered "Yeah, it was" her eyes then widened "Oh wait guys! Before you go,"

"What's wrong, Aoko-neechan?"

"My school's going to have a bunkasai in about a month or two, I know it's hell-a early but do you think…you could come check it out?" she asked, a small smile on her face "I'm pretty certain my class is going to be preforming"

Heiji snorted "That's what you were going to ask?"

Aoko pouted while Conan smiled "Yeah, we'll definitely be there"

"Aww, Conan-kun!" Aoko squealed, bending down to hug the young child, nuzzling her cheek against his causing his own cheeks to flare "I knew I could count on you!" she then glared towards the other teen "I'm uninviting you"

"What—no, you can't take it back! You've already invited me, you can't just uninvited me!" He gawked

"Too late" she stuck her tongue out at him before letting go of Conan and grinning

"Oh, come on Aoko" Heiji whined

"Fine, fine. But you totally owe me" she smirked

Heiji to roll his eyes "Women"

She then lifted her wrist up to view the time on her watch "Oh shit—sorry guys, I've got to go! Thanks again for dropping me off!" she then proceeded to rush towards her front door, almost tripping in the process and digging into her purse for her house keys before unlocking the door.

With a final wave towards the two, Aoko bid them a hasty farewell and entered her house, making her way towards the living room.

"H-Hey Dad, Hey Kaito" she panted out, kissing her father on the cheek and grinning towards the other teen who was sitting lazily on the couch, flipping through the channels.

"Ah, Aoko! I was wondering what took you so long" Nakamori Ginzo said, smiling warmly towards his daughter.

"Yeah, considering the fact that you took almost a decade to get here" Kaito snorted, glancing towards her

"Heh…sorry about that" she smiled sheepishly, sitting down in-between the two on the couch and letting her shopping bags rest on the ground, in front of her feet.

"So, what was the hold up?" Her dad asked while Kaito absentmindedly glanced through her shopping bags before a horrified expression came over his features as he lifted up a package of tuna, then dropping it back into the bag and moving the thing as far away from the couch as possible

"Oh right…I was at beika city mall, and uh…someone died" she started off awkwardly, inwardly face palming

"Wait, someone WHAT"

Aoko sighed loudly, covering her face with her palms and leaning her back fully against the couch, facing the ceiling "I was at the mall, getting coffee from Starbucks with some friends, but a few stores down someone actually got murdered. There was barricade tape everywhere and police were all over the place—wait a second. Shouldn't this be on the news?"

She then grabbed a hold of the remote and flipped towards the beika city news channel, before clutching the remote "Yeah—right there" she nodded towards the screen

Both, Kaito and her father's attention were both fully onto the television screen in front of them. Aoko frowned guiltily, being able to see the worry in her father's eyes was one thing, but for Kaito to be able to let his mask crack with his was another.

Shit

Her hands began to play towards her sleeves nervously as she bit her lower lip

"—the murder mystery however, was solved thanks to well-known Osakan detective of the west, Hattori Heiji"

Aoko narrowed her eyes slightly, knowing fully well that Conan-kun deserved an equal amount of credit for the case. It was however, understandable that they didn't mention his name, his age probably caused a lot of scepticism.

"Oh my goodness, Aoko. I didn't even realise! Are you alright?" her father turned his attention towards her, grabbing her shoulders, then cupping her face, looking for any signs of harm that could have been bestowed upon her.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Kaito asked, frowning and also scrutinising her with his jaw clenched

"Yeah, yeah! Guys, honestly I'm fine" she smiled sheepishly before awkwardly shrugging her shoulders "I-I'm sorry I couldn't make dinner on time though"

"Nonsense! We'll order take out!"

"Hey—isn't that you on TV, Aoko?" Kaito suddenly said causing Aoko and her father to snap their heads towards the television screen.

Aoko's jaw dropped slightly as she viewed herself on the screen, talking towards Heiji and Conan-kun for a few seconds while the reporter talked in the background

"Oh…Yeah it is" she said, eyebrows lifted up in surprise. Her cheeks then flushed and her cerulean eyes went wide as she realised how the two had skilfully blocked her from the reporter and the cameras way.

They had come right when the cameras were about to film her breakdown.

Aoko's form relaxed as her features softened "That's Hattori Heiji and Edogawa Conan. They're both really sweet awesome detectives and really helped me out today." Her voice was laced ever so lightly with pride as she ran her thumb over one of the green sleeves from Heiji's hoodie.

Kaito's expression remained neutral while Nakamori Keibu's eyes widened in realisation "T-Those two! I remember that brat…He's that stupid detective Mouri Kogoro's kid! You wouldn't believe how many times that brat has meddled in with my Kid heists" he grumbled out, glaring towards the screen

"But…if he was able to help you out Aoko, then he can't be that bad" Her dad sighed out, giving an exhausted smile causing Aoko to grin widely as she adjusted the baseball cap Conan had given her

"Besides…how could I possibly forget about the time where he and his friends disabled almost all the bombs off of Jirokichi Suzuki's blimp? The poor boy was thrown out of a window! And the other one…I'm pretty sure I've heard of that high school detective"

Aoko nodded her head happily "Yeah, I know! Aren't they great Kaito?" she turned her head towards him, smiling.

"…incredible" he said, his grin looking a tad bit too wide for her liking as he struggled to keep one of his eyes from twitching.

(I've been wondering,

Why do you feed me these lies?)

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A/N: WHOA AN UPDATE! ONE THAT DIDN'T TAKE OVER A MONTH?

I know, it's weird. But I had some free time to be able to write out another chapter so here it is my lovelies!

Thank you so much for reading! R AND R!