AN: Oh hey, here's the next chapter! So how about that April Fool's joke the official Detective Conan website pulled, huh? Complete with the video, even! If only such a thing were actually real- motorbike wiggles and all. A girl can dream, at the very least. Until then, there's always fanfic!
As always, thanks to everyone who reads this story, and especially those of you who have taken the time to leave a review! Next chapter is going to be a rather fun one for me to write, if everything goes as planned, so hopefully everyone will look forward to it as much as I am.
Until next time!
(Don't) Believe What You Know
Chapter Twenty
The Case of the Childhood Friends Whose Bonds Are Extremely Literal
In hindsight, he supposed that he wasn't all that surprised to learn that Heiji's mysterious source was none other than Koizumi Akako. She, for one, didn't seem the least bit surprised to see him there.
"Well, well, if it isn't the famous Kid Killer." Poorly concealing her bemused smile, Akako's gaze flickered towards him. "Fancy seeing you here, and in such company."
"Can it, Koizumi." Keeping his tone rather curt, Heiji shot her a warning look. "The kid's with me, so don't bother him. Don't ya have a ritual sacrifice or whatever ta get ta anyways?"
"Now, now, if you say things like that, I'm afraid little Edogawa-kun here will take you seriously." Merely arching her brows at his words, Akako took a small step away from him. As she thought, it would appear that he very much wanted to keep her away from the likes of Edogawa Conan- which, of course, only made her want to do the exact opposite.
It wasn't that often one saw a child with that sort of curse cast on him, after all. She couldn't help but be at least a little bit interested.
"Idiot, he knows sarcasm when he hears it." Heiji shot back. "I don't suppose ya found any leads on yer end about the fairy mirror?"
"First you insult me and then you ask me for another favor. As always, you're quite the charmer, Hattori-kun." Akako noted, before simply shaking her head. "I'm afraid not. I'm sure you know that us witches and the fae folk generally do not get along, though perhaps not nearly so poorly as your kind and theirs. I've no interest in getting too deeply involved with this matter."
"Yes, yes. Ya've made yerself perfectly clear." Rubbing the back of his neck, Heiji let out a long sigh, his gaze briefly flickering down towards Conan. He had been pretty quiet this whole time, and it was starting to bug him. He couldn't possibly be under the influence of Akako's charm, even with his body in that state, could he?
Just a little, Heiji quickly determined, his lips twisting in a frown. He was going to have to make sure that the two of them never crossed paths when he was in his normal form- his best friend getting flustered over that damn witch wasn't something that he wanted to see. Nor was it something he wanted to have to show Neechan, for that matter.
"Well, in that case, I'll leave you two boys to your detective work." There was a hint of mockery in her tone that made Heiji's eyes narrow, an expression which did not seem to faze her in the least. "Have fun~."
Watching Akako go, Conan cast a glance up towards Heiji, wincing a little as he took note of the annoyed expression on his face. "She's... quite the interesting person, isn't she, that Koizumi-san?"
"Interestin' is one way of puttin' it, I guess." Heiji grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets and turning back on his heel. "Come on, Kudo. We got a corpse ta look at. Imagine it's gonna be just as pretty as sight as all the others."
Not wanting to press the issue, Conan fell into step behind him. Yet again, this corpse had been found in a place that would be rather hard to simply stumble across. The warehouse district that they found themselves in wasn't one that saw much use, especially not this particular section of it. The corpse had been hidden inside an old crate, one that Heiji carefully lifted up, wearing gloves to prevent his fingerprints from getting on it. Perhaps the first corpse had been something of a fluke- or perhaps it had been deliberate, meant to serve as a notice that they were here.
A notice, perhaps, directed not towards the police- but towards one they were targeting.
"Ya comin' Kudo?" Heiji asked, glancing behind him, a slight frown crossing his face. "It's not like ya ta not wanna see the corpse fer yerself."
Snapping out of his thoughts, Conan hurried to catch up with his friend. Using a smaller crate that had been placed in front of the large crate where the corpse had been found, he propped himself up with it. As he thought, today's corpse wasn't anything that much to look at anymore either. "I can't say that I'm too sure about this though, Hattori."
"What, there's nothin' wrong with it!" Heiji beamed. "It's no different from when we go pokin' around a crime scene before the police actually show up, right? Besides, we'll let 'em know where she is after we're done here, so don't worry too much about."
"Well... I suppose you have a bit of a point there." Conan admitted, turning his gaze back down towards the body, his expression turning grim as he did so. "Still, as always, it's a cruel sight. The culprit must really have a deep grudge to go this far."
"Yeah." Heiji noted, fixing his own attention back towards the corpse. For a brief moment, a mental image that he would have rather not pictured entered his mind, and he had to force back a shudder. He wouldn't let that happen- not in a million years. "If my theory is right, that would probably explain it."
"From the way you described it, at least." Conan noted, casting an almost rueful glance up towards him. "You were right about it being a bit out of my depth, Hattori. Still, I won't just sit around and let something like this happen, no matter how justified the culprit thinks their actions are. It's still murder."
"That's right." With a curt nod of his head, Heiji lowered the lid of the crate back down, pulling off his gloves. Tucking them away back into his pocket, he narrowed his eyes, taking a slight step back, already starting to wonder how he would let the police know about the corpse here without drawing any attention to himself. "Besides, fer all we know, the ones these three might have replaced might not have any issues with it. Most don't, ya know."
"You talk like you've met some." Conan couldn't help but note. "Have you?"
"Well sure I have! What kind of job do ya think I have anyways?" Heiji told him, forcing a smile onto his face. He had to go and find her, after all- if only to sate his own curiosity. They had only met the one time, but that one time was enough to let him know that there was no resentment in her heart, and that she was perfectly happy where she was.
It wouldn't have changed anything even if there was. She wasn't the one he had grown up with, after all- though they might share the same face. To him, the imposter was the real one, more real than even the real thing.
There would be others who probably wouldn't agree with him- which was why no matter what, he was going to make sure that this was kept under wraps. Especially from the person herself. It was a secret that he knew he had to keep- and not one that had anything to do with lack of trust.
"Well then, Kudo," allowing a more genuine grin to grow on his face, Heiji tucked his hands into his pockets, "...shall we give our friends at the police station a call?"
Somehow, he got the vague feeling that he didn't like what that grin entailed.
Wait for me after school, he had said.
I'll be right there after it lets out, he had said.
She should have known by now that Heiji was not one to keep his promises- at least not ones like this. Glancing down at her watch for what felt like the twentieth time, Kazuha grumbled to herself, wondering if he had simply perhaps lost track of the time after all. If he didn't show up soon-!
"Sorry, sorry, Kazuha!" Perking up at the sound of his voice, Kazuha let out a slight sigh, turning on her heel to face the boy who had called out to her. Judging from the apologetic look on his face, he at the very least had the sense to be aware of the fact that he was late this time- so maybe she would let him off a bit easy. "I got held up with the case!"
"Well, that's more or less what I expected." Kazuha noted, folding her arms in front of her chest. She was still a little annoyed with him- he could have at least called! "So? What's so important that ya had me skip out on aikido practice ta talk ta me about, Heiji? Ya said it was about this Sunday."
"That's right, that's right." Nodding his head, Heiji took a moment to catch his breath. He hadn't expected that finding a nearby mirror to slip through in the area would have been such a problem, but it wasn't as if he could just slip out of one in front of someone. "It's an important conversation that I need ta have with ya in a place that's a bit more private!"
"Then why didn't ya just ask me ta wait at yer place, if ya needed ta talk about in private?" Kazuha asked, her brows knitting together. There was something in the way that he put it that made her think that there was perhaps a bit more to this masquerade party they had both been invited to. It didn't have something to do with his current case, did it?
No... carefully assessing his body language, Kazuha quickly determined that it did. She might not be a detective, but she knew her childhood friend- the fact that he had been keeping secrets from her all this time didn't change the fact that he was easy to read. He might have been able to conceal it from her last night, but now she could tell, as crystal clear as it came. He'd been hiding it back then, she thought, but he'd figured out the answer to whatever he had been debating back then now.
"I figured I should probably show my face back home, seein' as I ran off without even leavin' a note." Heiji told her, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, Kazuha. It seems like ya talked ta my mom fer me, so I should probably thank ya for that. I kinda forgot about it."
"I can't say we're not both used to this sort of behavior from you." Kazuha noted, letting out a long sigh. "Have ya ever thought about tellin' her, Heiji? I don't mean yer father, of course, that might be a bit complicated, but Auntie Shizuka at least-"
"No." Simply shaking his head, Heiji quickly cut her off. "I'm not gonna tell her. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I think she wouldn't understand, or anythin' like that. I just don't really think it's that important between the two of us."
Besides, he kind of got the feeling that his mother, at least, perhaps had some idea that the boy that she had taken in as her son wasn't quite as he appeared to be. She had been the one who had been summoned to that place, after all- the one who had been chosen to raise him, in a sense. If she never felt the need to bring it up with him, then he didn't see the need to do it either.
That was just the kind of relationship that they had.
"Well, if ya say so, Heiji." Kazuha said after a moment. "Then, let's head ta yer place then. We can talk there, right?"
"Yeah, let's do that!" Flashing Kazuha a broad grin, Heiji could only hope that what he actually had to discuss with her would go over well. Not only did he need to dance around the reasons why, but the request itself was, well...
It was a good thing, really, that they had known each other since they were babies.
"I thought you were with Hattori-kun, Conan-kun."
"Ah, I was until just a little bit ago..." Conan began, before blinking slightly, something clicking in his mind. "But how did you know about that, Hakuba-niichan?"
"I went by your residence earlier." Hakuba told him simply. It was a fair question, after all. "Ran-san told me that you were out with Hattori-kun at the moment. Is he around here somewhere?"
"No, Heiji-niichan had something important to do, so we went our separate ways." Conan told him, shaking his head. He'd been ditched, essentially- the Osakan detective had taken one look down at his watch, and had nearly panicked. It wasn't hard to figure out from the way that he was acting that he'd made a promise to meet up with Kazuha somewhere, so Conan had freely let him go, promising to let him know if anything came up.
"That's strange. I would have thought for certain that he would have wanted to come see the scene." Hakuba couldn't help but note, turning his gaze back in the direction of the crate. He had come here as soon as he had left the Mouri residence, to take a look at the scene of the third murder. No, perhaps that wasn't quite right- like the first and second murders, it was clear that the actual crime had not taken place where the third corpse was found, but likely somewhere else.
Biting back a comment that Heiji had already gone over the scene, Conan merely gave Hakuba a small smile. "He asked me to tell him about the scene later. He'll come here himself, if he get the time." He said, turning his own gaze towards the crate, hoping not to make it too obvious that he himself had already been here. "Have you been able to identify the victim yet?"
"No, not yet." Hakuba told him, shaking his head. "But we're closing in. Judging from the manner of her dress, it's possible that she worked as a hostess. The Inspector has people asking around at the local clubs right now."
"I see! Hopefully you'll be able to find out soon!" Conan said. In the end, their own investigation into her identity had been cut short by Heiji's abrupt exit, so they hadn't gotten that far themselves. No doubt he wanted to discuss with Kazuha their plans for Sunday.
He hoped that he had informed her that there might be some level of danger in attending the masquerade party in question. If the culprit knew that Heiji was likely to come if they invited Kazuha as bait, then they must have been keeping tabs on him for awhile before this- unless there was something else to this that he was still missing. And frankly, the more he thought on it, the more it really felt that way.
It could simply be his own anxiety- if Heiji had been concealing such a fundamental fact about himself for so long, what else might he be hiding from him? He knew that he was, in fact, still hiding things from him- but this, he thought, was not related to whatever larger scheme was likely behind this current string of murders. This was something else- something that he had yet to pinpoint.
It troubled him, but at the same time, he had decided to put his faith in Heiji. There might very well still be things that he was hiding from him, but if there was one thing he knew with confidence, it was the fact that they were friends. His underlying nature might not be what was shown on the outside- but when it came to his personality, everything was exactly as it was shown on the tin.
He couldn't deny that he liked that part of him.
"We can only hope." Hakuba noted. "This is the third victim in two days. Hopefully our culprit only managed to create one corpse last night, and not two."
There was something in Conan's words that he found a bit strange, but for the moment, he decided not to press it. The idea of Heiji leaving the task of looking over the crime scene to someone else didn't sit right with him. Unbidden, Akako's words from before once more bubbled to the surface of his mind.
"If I told you that Hattori-kun isn't working in the interest of the police this time, what would you do, Hakuba-kun?"
Even if such a thing were true, he got the feeling that he wouldn't be getting any answers from Edogawa Conan. If anything, it would only serve as an advance notice to his fellow high school detective that he suspected something strange about him. And if he really were doing something behind the scenes that made him suspect... well, he could only imagine that it would only become all the more difficult for him to find out what.
Still, it was entirely possible that Akako had only said those things to create strife between them- she was that type, after all. He wasn't certain as to what she would gain from it, but there was surely something there that would benefit her somehow. Amusement, if nothing else.
"Is something wrong, Hakuba-niichan?" Frowning a little, Conan tiled his head. He seemed to be awfully full of questions about Heiji- which he could only hope was mere curiosity on his part. "You seem a bit distracted."
"Ah, no, it's nothing." Merely shaking his head, Hakuba turned his attention back towards the crate. "Well then, since you're here, are you interested in assisting me again today, Conan-kun?"
"Sure!"
Never in a million years, did she ever once think that her childhood friend would end up asking her something like this. But then again, she had never once suspected that he might be anything other than human, either, and look how that had turned out.
There was something resolute, however, in well... his eyes, that made her fight back the overwhelming urge to argue against this plan. Especially since she could sense that there were a few details that he was leaving out. What he had told her made sense, to be sure- that the culprit behind the recent serial murder cases was trying to lure him into a trap, and was using her as bait to that extent.
The idea that someone was trying to use her as bait ticked her off, to say the least- but what bothered her the most was the fact that Heiji had kept something as absolutely critical as the fact that the serial murderer was targeting him a secret. He'd very quickly explained to her that he'd been keeping it from her because he didn't want to worry her, and that he more than had it under control, but that hadn't been enough to keep her from biting back her temper.
"Ya've got more ta worry about in concerns ta my detective work than ya do with my duty."
If his duty included having people actively angling to take his life, then she was going to have to dispute his earlier words. Even if it did technically intersect with his detective work this time.
Briefly, she found herself wondering how many cases in the past had done so already. Perhaps all of the cases that they had been drawn into before, that involved something vaguely supernatural to them fell into that category. Though given the fact that Heiji had chosen to bring her along on no small number of those, he must have already known that the so-called supernatural elements of the case were already likely fake.
When she thought about that, it finally sunk into her a bit- that this sort of thing had been going on all this time, without her knowledge. That all this time, he had been doing this sort of work, all by himself. It wasn't as if she had any cause to doubt what Heiji had told her, not after all of the things that she had seen in the past month or so, but rather, the reality just hadn't quite fully set in just yet.
Well, as his childhood friend, she would do what she could to support him here too- even if it wasn't that much.
"Fine, Heiji, I'll go along with yer plan." Kazuha said finally, letting out a long sigh. "But I'm just tellin' ya now, I don't know that guy all that well. I only met him all of once, an' not even fer all that long."
"I know. That's kinda the point."
"Well... I guess it would make things a bit easier." Kazuha mused, placing a hand against her chin in thought. For a moment, she locked eyes with her childhood friend- before she grimaced slightly, turning her attention back away. "But just so ya know, yer gonna owe me one fer this! The only reason that I'm agreein' ta this is because I trust ya, an' cause ya seem so dang insistent about it."
"Fair enough. Once all this is over, we can do anythin' ya want, Kazuha."
"I'm holdin' ya ta that promise, Heiji." Kazuha remarked, before stretching out her hand. "Now gimme my charm back already."
"What, ya bothered by this?" The grin on her friend's face made her eye twitch, but at the very least, Heiji did what she asked, tossing her charm back in her direction. Once it was back in her hands, she felt herself relax a little. "I wouldn't be askin' ya if I could think of any other plan, ya know."
"I know." Kazuha noted, barely glancing towards him as she returned her charm to where it usually belonged. "But I think it's gonna take me a little while longer ta wrap my head around ya bein' able ta use magic like that than maybe I first thought. Ya've done that before, haven't ya?"
"A few times, yeah." Heiji told her, a rather easy grin on his face. "Well, don't worry about it, I promise I won't do anythin' weird! I made sure that Conan-kun doesn't bring Neechan along either, so ya've got nothin' ta worry about there either."
"Speakin' of Neechan, though," Heiji began, taking note of the slight way that Kazuha seemed to flinch at his words. So she really had- honestly, what a troublesome girl she could be sometimes. "...ya told her some stuff, didn't ya?"
"Ah, well that's..." Trailing off a little, a rather guilty expression crossed Kazuha's face. "It's just, after that talk about yer dreams from before, she seemed kinda worried, so it just..."
"But, I heard from Ran-chan that ya told Kudo-kun about it, so what's the problem?" Quickly recovering, Kazuha planted her hands on her hips, this time locking eyes with Heiji without fail. "How did that go, by the way? From what I heard from Ran-chan, Kudo-kun's kinda..."
"Ah, it went fine." Well, if she had some idea of what he had been concealing for that long, it was no wonder that she had been able to determine that much. Still, Heiji couldn't help but smile at the touch of concern that Kazuha's voice took on. "I showed him some stuff that even that guy couldn't deny. Really, I'm feelin' a lot more free now, so I'm kinda wonderin' why I didn't do it sooner."
"But still, tellin' Neechan about me," just as quickly changing the direction of the conversation as Kazuha had done earlier, Heiji returned Kazuha's earlier glare with one of his own. "...ya know how she is about ghosts an' stuff! She's even worse than you with them!"
"Do ya really think Ran-chan would be like that?" Kazuha shot back, narrowing her eyes. "She's a good girl, ya know. I'm sure even if she'd know ya back when you were a kid, she'd be fine with ya!"
"Well, that's true..." Heiji admitted after a moment, unable to deny that much. It was certainly true that Ran was afraid of ghosts and monsters, but aside from some lingering gazes, it didn't feel as if she had been treating him all that differently lately. "How much did ya tell her anyways?"
"Only what I knew back then. About yer dreams, an' the ghosts an' stuff. Ah, I did mention that poltergeist phenomena that used ta happen around ya, too." Kazuha told him frankly. "She was a bit surprised, but she told me very clearly that she wasn't goin' ta think of ya as bein' scary by extent because of it, or anythin' like that."
"I see." Letting out a small breath, Heiji turned on his heel, facing away from Kazuha. "Ya didn't... ya didn't tell her about that incident, did ya?"
"No." Knowing at once exactly what incident he meant, Kazuha shook her head, feeling something in her heart lurch as Heiji's expression shifted at the mere mention of it. As she thought, even after all this time, it still weighed heavy on him, like a burden that he would never be able to let go of. "It's not somethin' that ya really talk about. If ya wanna talk ta her about it sometime though Heiji, I'm sure she'd understand."
"I'm sure she would, that Neechan." Heiji remarked, a hint of a smile crossing his face as he slowly turned back towards her. "Like ya said, she's that type of person. But well, I think she's got enough ta worry about without me addin' my own problems ta the list."
"Well... that's true, I guess." Kazuha admitted after a moment, before she gave him a quick smile, crossing the room to stand by his side. "But make sure ta keep yer promise, Heiji. When this case of yers is all wrapped up, let's go somewhere fun, the two of us."
That was what came out of her mouth- but the underlying meaning to it was something else entirely. Be careful, she was saying- and to Heiji, her true words were as clear as day.
"Idiot, of course I'll keep my promise!" Heiji told her, a bright grin lighting up his face. "If I didn't, ya'd never let me hear the end of it."
"Well, holdin' ya to yer word is part of my own duty as yer childhood friend." Kazuha teased. "Now then, ya got a case ta get back ta, don't ya? I won't hold ya up anymore here. Besides, we'll still see each other on Sunday, won't we?"
"Yeah." Heiji nodded, his grin taking on a bit of an impish nature. "Sunday."
There's a public restroom not far from where ya are, right? Meet me there, Kudo!
Conan wasn't sure if it was a good or a bad sign that it only took him a moment to figure out why it was that Heiji wanted to meet up with him in the nearby public restroom. What part of him had already begun to accept the fact that his rival came from a very different world than he had already made the link between the somewhat odd request, and the rather unusual manner of transport that Heiji was capable of using.
What part hadn't quite yet, found itself twitching as he connected the dots, even as he sent him a reply that he would do so. In the first place, why was it that he had to be the one to meet him? Why couldn't he just find them? He'd asked for the current location, after all, it wasn't as if it would be all that hard-
Ah, that was right. Them.
That was problem.
"Is something the matter, Conan-kun?" Glancing down towards the slightly peculiar child with a slight frown, Hakuba took note of the fact that his cellphone was out. He appeared to have been exchanging messages with someone for the past minute or so. Judging from the expression on his face, before he quickly covered it up with a smile, he could somewhat guess with whom.
"Ah, no, it's nothing!" Conan said, shaking his head. "I just have to go to the restroom, Hakuba-niichan! Why don't you get started on asking them questions without me?"
"Are you sure?" Hakuba asked. "It seems as if we've found the right shop."
"It's fine! Besides, that's not really a place for children to enter anyways, right?" Conan ventured, taking half a step back. "You said it yourself not all that long ago, and I'm starting to think that you're right!"
While the child had a point, Hakuba couldn't help but not be convinced- if he really had a problem with it, he would have stopped coming with him after they had checked the first shop, not when they were checking the fourth. Still, one thing was crystal clear to him- that he wanted to get away from him, and without drawing his suspicion. Though he had failed in the latter, Hakuba supposed that he had no choice but to let him go.
After all, it wasn't as if he was much interested in pressing a child for whatever secret it was that Hattori Heiji- who he was doubtlessly going to meet- was hiding. While he still wasn't convinced that Akako's words held merit, nevertheless, he was quite certain that it was true enough that the high school detective of the west was hiding things. Not just from him, of course- but rather, probably from the world at large.
The fact that he hadn't the slightest clue as to what that might be was perhaps the most frustrating thing of all.
"Then, hurry on, Conan-kun." Hakuba told him. "I'll let you know if I learn anything that might help the investigation."
"I got it! Thank you, Hakuba-niichan!" With a wave of his hand, the small boy disappeared within the crowd, leaving Hakuba behind in an area of Tokyo that he never quite thought he would find himself in. Goodness, but this case was taking all kinds of labyrinthine turns. Given that it was one that had even perplexed his own father, back in the past, perhaps that shouldn't come as a surprise.
Before he could enter the shop in which he suspected that the victim most likely had worked, Hakuba found himself having to remove his own cellphone. It was a phone call, not a text message, and one that came from someone related to the case at that. He'd given the old man his phone number before parting ways with him yesterday, so there was nothing all that strange about it.
"Professor Clarke?" Hakuba answered, stepping off to the side a little. "Did something perhaps come up?"
"Ah no, nothing of that nature, my boy." Professor Clarke was quick to reassure him. "I thought that I would call and see if my invitation reached you."
"Invitation?" Hakuba blinked, a slight frown on his face. "I'm afraid I have not been home since this morning, Professor. If you could perhaps elaborate?"
"Ah, out working hard on the case, are you?" The Professor asked. "That's quite fine then. The hotel that I am staying in his hosting a masquerade party this Sunday, and I sent you an invitation earlier this morning. I know you're likely to be quite busy given what you're looking into right now, but I would very much like it if you could come."
"A masquerade party?" Hakuba asked, considering his words for a moment. Though he was loathe to think it, if one of the Professor's students really did have something to do with the case, it would give him a chance to interact with them in a less stilted setting than their previous meeting. "You always did have a fondness for them. I suppose I can make it."
"I'm rather pleased to hear it." The Professor told him. "Well then, I suppose I must be interrupting something, so I will let you go, little Saguru. Do be careful, now."
"You don't have to concern yourself with me, Professor." Hakuba said simply. Unlike some people, he took care to be cautious when it came to cases like this one. "I will make certain to watch my back."
Exchanging his goodbyes with the old man, Hakuba hung up his cellphone, tucking it back away in the pocket of his school uniform's jacket. Perhaps the case would be closed come Sunday- or perhaps not. With it only being two days away from now, he was starting to suspect that the latter might be more of a possibility than the former.
He would do everything in his power to overturn that conclusion, though.
Somehow, the sight of his rival emerging from one of the mirrors placed over the restroom's sink didn't surprise him anymore.
"Yo, Kudo! Hope I didn't keep ya waitin' fer too long!" With a bright grin on his face, Heiji stepped down onto the restroom floor, looking for all the world like what he had just done was natural. And for him, Conan supposed, it was- which was the part of all of this he was having the most trouble grasping.
"Finished your meeting with Kazuha-chan?" Conan asked, biting back any other comments that he wanted to make. "You really shouldn't forget about your promises with her."
"It's not like I expected ta find a corpse!" Heiji protested. "An' there's no way I could leave without givin' it a look over first! So? Ya find anythin' out about that woman's identity? That's what ya've been doin' all this time with Hakuba, ain't it?"
"I was about to, when you sent me a message." Conan told him, merely quirking a brow. "If you want to rejoin him..."
"Pass." Holding up a hand, Heiji quickly shot down the idea. "I get the feelin' that guy's kinda suspicious about me, so the less I talk ta him, the better. Not ta mention he goes ta school with Koizumi, apparently. Who knows what that damn witch is tellin' him about me when I'm not around."
"Well, at the very least, I can tell you he's suspicious of you, Hattori." Conan told him. "It seems like he dropped by Ran's place before this, asking for me, and she told him that I was with you at the time, chasing a new lead."
Wincing a little, Heiji let out a long sigh. "Well, that can't be helped. It's not like Neechan knows not ta tell him stuff, an' it probably only worry her if we did tell her that." Pausing for a moment, a slightly suspicious look crossed his own face then. "Ya haven't told her, have ya? About Sunday's masquerade party?"
"I haven't." Conan told him plainly. "Though I don't see what the big deal is."
"Just don't tell her, Kudo." Heiji said. "Ya don't want her ta get mixed up with this, do ya?"
"No." Shaking his head, Conan knew that much. The further he kept Ran away from this kind of case, the better. "Don't worry, Hattori. I won't tell her anything. More than me, the one you should be worrying about is Kazuha-chan."
"Ah, ya don't have ta worry about Kazuha." Heiji said, tucking his hands into his pockets as he headed towards the door. "I already worked things out with her about the party. That's why we had ta meet up. Anyways, ya comin'?"
"I'm coming, but where do you plan on going?" Conan asked, glancing up towards him. There it was again- the distinct feeling that there was something Heiji wasn't telling him yet. The feeling that there was something that he had failed to realize.
What was that about? Though he tried to turn what he knew over in his head, he couldn't find the answer. Perhaps it was simply because he was dealing with things that he didn't fully understand- there were too many things that were out of his element involved in this case.
"Ta the police station, of course." Heiji told him. "I need ta pretend like I never saw either of those two scenes, right? Sides, there's a chance that they might have figured somethin' out."
"Pumping the other side for information?" Conan couldn't help but ask.
"Well, somethin' like that." With a slight shrug of his shoulders, Heiji flashed a grin down towards him. "Well, don't look at me that way, Kudo. Ya knew that a day like this might come eventually. It's not like I'm plannin' on lettin' the culprit off if I'm the one who catches 'em first. If anythin', they'd be gettin' off light if the police caught 'em."
"They murdered at least three people." Conan pointed out. "Seven, in two different countries, if they're really also behind the previous string of murders. I don't think they're going to be let off easy."
"Ya just say that cause ya don't know what fae folk consider ta be a punishment." Heiji noted. "If they're lucky, they'll get off with bein' slowly turned into a tree or somethin'. If they're not... well, my job here is ta bring 'em in, not ta give my opinion on how they should be handled. Doubt I'd be listened ta anyways."
"They didn't seem to think much of you." Conan couldn't help but note, forcing himself to bite back any other comments he wanted to make. "That fae queen, that is."
"Well, ya could say that." Heiji admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "Either I'm too human, or I'm too much like my clan. Either way, I can't win."
"I don't mind it, you know." Conan noted. "The former, that is."
"Well, thank ya kindly!" The grin that resurfaced on his face then wasn't as strong as it usually was- though he masked it well, he could still see the strain etched onto Conan's face. It wasn't that hard to guess what he was thinking about right now. "What, ya worried I might take what she said back there seriously one day?"
"You would do well to leave such mortals behind, Guardian, for you do not belong among their kind."
"...it's crossed my mind." If there was one advantage to being this size, it was that he could easily conceal his expression from taller people by merely turning his head away from them. He didn't know quite what expression he was making right now- but he didn't think it was one that he wanted to show to Heiji.
Honestly, when had he gotten so used to the idea of having Heiji around? Half a year ago, he hadn't even known the guy. Now he couldn't imagine what he would do if Heiji decided to part from them. In front of him, he could be himself- truly himself, in a way that he couldn't be in front of either Ai, or even the Professor.
"Idiot, ya don't have ta worry about somethin' like that!" Heiji told him, his grin growing all the brighter as he spoke. "I might not be one of ya, but that doesn't mean a damn thing! I happen ta like where I am right now just fine."
Well, even if said something like that, if something were to ever happen that would destroy the masquerade that he had been working so hard to protect... who knew what would happen then. Even if he wanted to, the choice of whether to stay or go might not be up to him.
"Or what? Don't tell me that ya'd miss me if I went somewhere out of yer reach, eh, eh~?" Leaning down so that he could take a gander at Conan's face, Heiji couldn't help but smile all the brighter at what he saw there- though his honest expression only lasted a moment longer, before the shrunken detective quickly covered it back up again.
"Shut up, idiot." Conan grumbled, shooting him a sour look. "Don't you have to go spy on the enemy?"
Letting out a burst of laughter, Heiji straightened up. "The enemy, huh? I guess yer not wrong though, Kudo. But are ya sure it's fine? Yer helpin' the enemy right now."
"More like I'm monitoring the enemy to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."