Kicks down door bc it's been five years since I updated my last year detco fic... and you know what that means! It's time to start writing for this fandom again! Except when I went back and reread my old fics that I wanted to continue I realized yeah- I could do better than what I had. So I just decided to do the logical thing and start from scratch! I'll be tackling rewrites of a couple of them, but I'm starting with this story because well... I wanted to! Also to clarify when this fic starts: I punted the timeline back to right after Shukichi's first introduction.

This isn't just a simple rewrite either- I'm definitely mixing things up and changing things, as anyone who has read the first chapter of the old version could probably tell. Anyways, here's the very first chapter! Thanks for reading!

(don't) believe what you know

chapter one

please heed your fortunes (or you will pay)

"Ran-chan! Conan-kun! Over here, over here!"

Toyama Kazuha's voice rose over the din of the train station, making the girl easy to pinpoint in the crowd- made even easier by the fact that she was wildly waving a hand.

"Kazuha-chan!" Ran brightly smiled, deftly weaving through the crowded station to reach her friend, all while making sure the person whose hand she was currently holding didn't accidentally get their face smashed into someone's knee in the process.

As the person whose hand was being held, Conan greatly appreciated it. Being this small was enough of a pain without any additional head trauma to go along with it.

"Ya both made it!" Kazuha beamed. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble."

"No, not at all." Ran said, glancing down in his direction with a bright smile. "Right, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "-the train wasn't even that crowded."

"That's good ta hear." Kazuha said. "I hope ya both have room fer lunch, because the okonomiyaki place I'm takin' the two of ya two has some pretty big portions!"

As if on cue, both of their stomachs growled. With a faint flush to her cheeks, Ran let out a light laugh. "That shouldn't be a problem. We thought that would be the case, so we didn't eat much for breakfast this morning."

He just hoped they actually got to eat said okonomiyaki. The last time Hattori and Kazuha had tried to take him to get some had ended in disaster. He'd been starving for pretty much the rest of the day.

Speaking of the Osakan high school detective... where even was he?

"Are we meeting Heiji-niichan there?" Conan asked.

"Yeah," Kazuha nodded, "-he said he had somethin' ta wrap up first, an' that he'd meet us at the restaurant. What, Conan-kun, are ya that eager ta see him?"

"Yeah," Conan's smile was only half-faked, "-I can't wait!"

Well, he mostly just expected the person who had actually invited them here in the first place to actually be here when they arrived, but Hattori had a bad habit of getting too wrapped up in what he was doing and forgetting everything else.

Then again, he couldn't exactly pretend he didn't have the same problem.

"What is it that he has to finish up anyways?" Ran asked, her brows furrowing. "It's not a case, is it?"

"No, no." Kazuha waved a dismissive hand. "Apparently someone he knows just asked him last minute fer a favor or somethin'. I don't really know the details."

"Well, as long as its not a case..." Ran trailed off, before cracking a smile. "But it really is good to see you again, Kazuha-chan! I'm just sorry dad couldn't make it."

"It can't be helped." Kazuha shrugged. "It just goes ta show how in demand his skills are."

Conan had to fight back the urge to snort. His skills, huh... well, the job Uncle was currently working on wasn't anything he couldn't solve with the skills he actually had. He didn't have to worry.

"That's true." Ran agreed.

"More importantly, have ya picked out some places ya'd like ta see?" Kazuha asked, walking ahead a bit. They both took that as their cue to follow her, letting her guide them through the crowded streets of Osaka. "It feels like every time we try an' give the two of ya a tour, it keeps getting interrupted by somethin' or the other, but this time fer sure nothin' will happen!"

Conan couldn't help but chuckle dryly at that remark. If there was one thing he'd come to rely on, it was getting interrupted- especially when Hattori was around. But well... it would be nice if this trip was the exception that proved the rule. Honestly, he'd rather avoid running into one of those weird cases that always seemed to crop up whenever they got together. That last vampire case had been enough for awhile.

"Let's hope." Ran agreed, but from the sound of her voice, it seemed like the thought that they might get interrupted anyways was at the back of her mind.

Not that he could blame her.

Still, at least they got to the restaurant without any complications. He only half-listened to Ran and Kazuha's conversation, the latter regaling the former with a story about a friend's tennis tournament. He kept his eyes peeled for Hattori as they navigated the crowded streets, half convinced that he might pop out at any moment from out of the throng of people. That kind of thing was practically his speciality, after all.

He was only slightly disappointed when it turned out he was waiting for them in front of the restaurant like a normal person for a change.

"Yo!" With a broad smile, Hattori lifted a hand in greeting. "Neechan, Ku- Conan-kun. See ya made it with no problems."

Conan shot him a slight scathing look at the slipup, but thankfully no one seemed to notice. For his part, Hattori only looked slightly apologetic, offering him a nervous chuckle.

"Yeah, we made it just fine." Ran said. "Did you finish up your errand?"

"Yeah, no problems there." Hattori flashed them another broad smile. "Now we can enjoy okonomiyaki ta our heart's content. I'm tellin' ya, this place is the best in Osaka!"

"Heiji an' I have been comin' here since the two of us were in middle school." Kazuha provided, glancing over at her childhood friend. "Right?"

"Yeah," Hattori nodded, "-it's way better than any of that stuff ya can get in Tokyo, I guarantee."

Conan just let out a dry laugh, one that was missed by the two girls as Kazuha took Ran by the hand and led her inside, leaving him alone with Hattori for a moment. Glancing up at his friend, he arched a brow.

"So? Was it really just an errand you had to take care of?"

"What, ya don't believe me? Have some faith, Kudo!" Hattori asked, making an obvious show out of pretending to be offended. "But it was really just an errand. Some old ladies I know asked me fer a favor, so I couldn't exactly say no."

"What," he added with a teasing grin, "-don't tell me yer that depressed that ya didn't get ta meet me at the station?"

"Idiot," Conan said, "-that's not it."

Hattori just grinned, ruffling his hair in the most obnoxious fashion before heading inside. He trailed slightly behind him, taking a seat next to Ran- although it took him slightly longer than he would have liked to climb up on the stool.

Yet another disadvantage of being small.

They ordered in short order, thankfully- he didn't know about the best in Osaka, but it was true that the smell of sizzling okonomiyaki was causing his stomach to grumble even louder. It turned out Kazuha wasn't lying about the portion size either- going light on breakfast had been the right call. Even the child's portion was big.

(He would have appreciated, though, if Hattori hadn't leered at him when Ran had ordered it for him. Asshole.)

"Oh, you're right," Ran said, after taking her first bite, "-this really is good."

"Ya see?" Hattori beamed triumphantly. "What did I tell ya? Best in Osaka!"

"It is pretty good." Conan admitted- though he quickly regretted it from the way Hattori's grin grew even further.

Well, the truth was the truth, he guessed. No harm in admitting that much.

"So," Hattori leaned over slightly in his direction, an unmistakable twinkle in his eyes, "-has anythin' interesting happened lately?"

"No," Conan said automatically, before slightly rethinking his answer, "-although I did get to see Kaitou Kid get kicked in the face the other day."

There had also been some slight developments with the Organization, but he didn't want to tell Hattori anything until he had a clearer picture of what was going on. The last thing he wanted was to put his friend at risk, especially now that he had other options when it came to dealing with them. Not that he'd talk about the Organization in the middle of an okonomiyaki restaurant in the first place. He wasn't an idiot.

"What, that flashy thief in white?" Hattori asked. "That must have been quite the sight!"

"How did that happen anyways?" Kazuha asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Apparently he disguised himself as Sera-chan at his last heist." Ran said, a faint tint of pink to her cheeks. "But he thought she was a boy, so..."

"Ah, that would do it." Hattori said.

"Well, at least ya haven't run into any more creepy cases like that vampire one." Kazuha said. "I think I've had enough of those ta last fer a lifetime. An' here I thought we'd see Otaki-han's girlfriend too..."

"It all turned out ta be one big hoax in the end, though." Hattori noted.

"Of course," Conan said, "-there's no such thing as vampires."

"Guess not." Hattori agreed, almost seeing to hesitate for a moment before asking, "-but wouldn't it be interestin' if that stuff turned out ta be real fer once?"

"No way!" Kazuha swiftly said, Ran vigorously nodding in agreement. "It's bad enough when they're fake!"

"But well... I guess if it was something friendly, it would be okay." Ran said after a moment's thought. "Like a unicorn or something."

"Ah, a unicorn might be nice. Or maybe a pegasus!" Kazuha agreed, before shooting Hattori a glare. "Why can't ya ever find somethin' nice like that, Heiji?"

"Idiot, I don't set out ta find these things on purpose." Hattori grumbled. "It's not my fault people keep hirin' me fer this sort of thing."

"Aren't unicorns and pegasus the same thing anyways?" Conan asked. "They're both horses. One just has a horn, and the other has wings."

"No, they're different." Hattori replied- almost automatically, before seemingly realizing what he'd said and quickly added, "-anyways, it doesn't really matter. Like the kid said, that stuff's not real anyways."

Conan frowned slightly, unable to help but pick up on the slightly bitter note in Hattori's voice. Weird. He didn't think anyone had said anything that would be that upsetting, and it didn't seem as if he was otherwise in a bad mood. What was he so annoyed for?

Well, it probably wasn't anything serious. It wasn't as if it lasted anyways- as soon as the flow of conversation changed, the bitter note went away. If it was something major, he would have sulked for longer. It was probably for the best- the last thing he wanted was to start off their Osaka trip on a sour note.

Or, you know, with murder.

Lunch, thankfully, passed without incident.

It was nice for a change to just be able to relax- even if the ever present feeling of wishing he could do this in his own body lingered constantly in the back of his mind. At least being around Hattori made it a bit easier to bear- having someone who knew the truth about him was a massive help in that regard. If he lingered behind with him instead of staying near Ran, neither of the girls noticed, too occupied by catching up with the other.

Then again, there was a chance that they did notice, and just didn't care. They both knew how close 'Conan' was to Heiji- it probably didn't surprise them if he wanted to spend more time with him rather than either of them. Either way, it worked out for him- it was easier to talk freely when they weren't immediately within earshot of the conversation.

"So," Conan glanced up towards Hattori on one such occasion,"-what about you? Anything interesting happen lately?"

"No," Hattori said with a shrug, "-mostly just the usual stuff."

Conan hummed in response, keeping one eye on Ran and Kazuha as they snapped some photos together. As if sensing his gaze, Ran caught his eyes, waving him over with a bright smile.

"Conan-kun! Come here! Let's take some photos together!"

Conan briefly hesitated, before Hattori gave him a pat on the back with enough force to propel him forward. He stumbled, turning back around to glare at him.

"You heard Neechan," Hattori said with a grin, "-go take some photos, Conan-kun~."

Conan let his glare linger for a few seconds, before erasing it completely as he hurried over to join Ran. She scooped him up, holding him close to her as she snapped a two shot of them- all while he tried not to show how flustered that made him on his face.

(And very likely failed, if he was being perfectly honest.)

At least she released him swiftly, though part of him almost wished she hadn't. Making his way back towards Hattori, he paused, noticing that he'd pulled out his phone at some point. Judging by his expression, he clearly didn't like what he was looking at.

"Something wrong?"

Hattori startled, almost dropping his phone only to catch it at the last second. Letting out a breath of relief, he turned to glower at him. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I didn't sneak up on you." Conan said, taking the tiniest amount of satisfaction at giving him a taste of his own medicine for once. "So? What's the problem? You looked like you were trying to glare a hole in your cellphone."

"There's no problem." Hattori said- a little too quickly, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "It's just one of those scam mails, that's all. I was just annoyed that someone actually had the nerve ta try one of 'em on me."

"Hmm," Conan arched a brow, unsure if he actually believed him or not, "-well, if you say so."

"I do, so don't worry about it." Hattori said resolutely. "Come now, the girls are leavin' without us. We'd better hurry."

"They wouldn't leave without us." Conan remarked, but still followed behind Hattori, struggling a little to keep up with his longer strides until he realized and slowed down accordingly. It was simultaneously frustrating and much appreciated.

(And what was that but the story of his life recently?)

Up ahead, Kazuha turned on her heel, waving at them. "Heiji! Conan-kun! Hurry up already!"

"We're comin', just hold yer damn horses!" Hattori shouted back. "Where are we goin' anyways?"

"We're goin' ta pick up some omikuji, that's what!" Kazuha said, a slight frown on her face. "Didn't we already tell ya that back at the restaurant?"

"Ah, now that ya mention it..." Hattori trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Ya weren't listenin', were ya?" Kazuha asked.

"Idiot, of course I was." Hattori said. "It just slipped my mind, that's all."

"Who's the idiot, idiot?" Kazuha countered.

"Now, now, you two," Ran cut in, planting herself between them, "-there's no need to fight."

Heaving a sigh, Kazuha withdrew. "Well, I guess yer right. He does this sort of thing all the time anyways."

"It's not all the time." Hattori grumbled, crossing his arms in front of him.

Conan just dryly chuckled, somehow doubting that. As a detective, Hattori was undoubtly sharp, but in his day to day life... well, calling him a flake would be a bit of a stretch, but he definitely wasn't always all the way tuned in.

"But omikuji, huh," Hattori considered, "-we're gettin' them from that shrine, right?"

"Of course!" Kazuha beamed. "Theirs are the most accurate in all of Osaka, after all! They sell great omamori too!"

"Omamori?" Ran asked. "Is that perhaps where you bought yours, Kazuha-chan?"

"You bet!" Kazuha nodded. "So ya should buy a pair while yer there too, Ran-chan! One fer ya an' Kudo-kun!"

"I don't know about that..." Ran trailed off, her cheeks flushed slightly pink. "I mean, Shinichi doesn't really believe in that sort of thing."

"It's fine, it's fine." Kazuha said. "Any boy would be happy ta get somethin' like that from the girl he likes. It means yer thinkin' of him!"

"Well, when you put it that way..." Ran trailed off, before brightly smiling. "Maybe I will."

In spite of himself, Conan felt his own cheeks heating up. Ran was right- it wasn't like he believed in that stuff. But an omamori from Ran... that wouldn't be too bad. Of course, the moment was ruined the second he so much as glanced up towards Hattori's face, a broad grin pasted over the Osakan's features.

"Ya hear that, Kudo?" He asked, thankfully keeping his voice low. "Looks like that Neechan is plannin' on buyin' ya a special souvenir."

"Shut up." Conan grumbled, even though he couldn't deny he was a little happy about it. It was always nice to have the reminder that Ran really was thinking about him still, even though they hadn't been able to see each other face to face since London.

...where he'd confessed to her.

Yep, now his cheeks were definitely red.

(And Hattori's grin, he noted, was wider than ever.)

There was, Conan knew, no such thing as fortune telling.

There was no such thing as fortune telling... and yet, that didn't stop drawing a Worst Luck fortune sting any less. It must have shown on his face too, from the way a certain someone didn't hesitate to invade his personal space and pluck the fortune from him.

"Worst luck, huh?" Hattori observed. "Sounds about right."

Glowering up at his friend, Conan tried to take it back. "What did you get then?"

"Not telling~." Hattori teased, holding it just out of his reach.

"Let me guess," Conan said, giving up getting the fortune back for now, "-you got it too."

Judging from the way Hattori flinched, he was right on the mark. He didn't even need detective skills to tell that much.

"W-what makes ya think that?" Hattori stammered, purposefully averting his gaze. "I'll have ya know I just got a regular fortune, that's all."

"Then let me see it." Conan said, holding out a hand. "Since you've already taken mine."

"No way." Hattori said. "Besides, I already tied it up."

"Isn't that basically just admitting you drew a bad one?" Conan asked. "There's no reason to tie up a good fortune."

"W-well," Hattori stammered, only reconfirming that he was correct, "-more importantly, we should probably tie this one up right away. Wouldn't want it comin' true."

"Idiot, there's no need for that." Conan said, tilting his head slightly. "I didn't think you were the type to actually believe in fortune telling, Hattori."

"I didn't say I believed in it," Hattori said- again a little too quickly, "-but it couldn't hurt, right? Besides, that Neechan of yers would only worry if she saw this."

"...well, I can't argue with you there." Conan admitted, his eyes darting towards where Ran and Kazuha were huddled together, perusing a selection of omamori. His cheeks tinted pink at the sight of her smile, and he had to look away before it got any worse. He didn't need Hattori teasing him again.

"Right?" Hattori grinned, finally returning his omikuji.

He took it from him with a slight frown, once again scanning the contents. They hadn't changed any, not that he'd expected them too. If he was being honest, it was pretty weird fortune- he could understand how clinging too tightly to previously held beliefs could get someone in trouble, but what did be wary of the sound of pipes mean?

...that bit about the imposter close to him being in danger did manage to strike a nerve, though. Was Subaru-san...?

No, no. There wasn't any point in worrying over a fortune. It wasn't like it would come true.

"So?" Conan asked. "Where am I supposed to tie this up anyways? I've never been here before."

"Over there." Hattori said, pointing towards where a few other omikuji had already been tied up- his own presumably already among them.

He almost contemplated trying to find it, since Hattori had read his and all, before he quickly dismissed the thought. It wasn't worth the effort.

"Thanks." Conan said, casting a quick glance towards Ran before he headed over there. Quickly tying up the fortune on the lowest part of the musubidokoro, he heaved a slight sigh, wondering why he was bothering with this in the first place.

Then he thought about Ran's worried expression again, and remembered right away. He already worried her enough as it was- if playing along with a silly superstition meant avoiding worrying her more, he'd happily do just that.

Although...

Glancing towards Hattori out of the corner of his eyes, he wondered since when he'd cared about stuff like fortunes. He didn't seem like the type at all. Then again, he didn't seem like the type who would have called him all the way out to Osaka because of a bad dream either, but he'd definitely done that. Not to mention loaning him his own omamori because of it... well, it had saved him in the end though, so he guessed he was grateful.

Whatever. He wasn't going to worry about this any more than he had to. He didn't want anything to ruin this long awaited trip.

...and judging from the fact that this was the third time he'd caught Hattori glowering at his phone, he wasn't the only one.

"Are you sure you don't need to take care of that?"

"Like I said before, it's nothin'." Hattori insisted, tucking his phone back away again. "So? We're headed ta Osaka Castle next, right?"

"Yeah," Conan slowly nodded, "-since the last time we were here, we didn't really get a chance to enjoy it between the rain and the murder."

"Ah, that annoyin' case." Hattori's eye twitched, no doubt recalling the case in question- or more accurately, the way his father had led him around by the nose. "I'm not about ta forget that one anytime soon."

Letting out a dry laugh, Conan cast a studious glance up towards Hattori. He'd definitely changed the subject there, but he wasn't sure yet if this was something he needed to press on. He was the same type as him- someone who couldn't ignore a case if it was in front of him, so whatever was going on with his phone, it probably wasn't that.

Well, if it happened again, he'd just ask Kazuha about it. She'd probably know something.

Speaking of which...

"Hurry up, you two!" Kazuha called back to them. "Conan-kun's one thing, but how are ya walkin' so slow when ya got such long legs, Heiji?"

"Shut up, I can walk as slowly as I like!" Hattori shouted back, even as he picked up the pace to catch up with the girls.

Conan had to scramble to catch up with him, cursing his own currently stubby legs. At least they waited for him, Ran smiling at him and offering him a hand without a word. He took it with some slight hesitation- ignoring the amused look that was shot in his direction by Hattori.

Jerk.

They made idle conversation as they winded their way through Osaka's streets, Osaka Castle becoming visible before long. They were nearly there when Kazuha suddenly stopped in her tracks, prompting Ran to abruptly stop too- and for him to slam into the back of Kazuha's legs in a manner he really hoped no one had recorded. Hattori, by virtue of standing next to Kazuha, seemed to be the only one to avoid the sudden collision of bodies.

"Ah, sorry!" Kazuha startled, whipping around to face him. "Are you okay, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Conan said, lightly rubbing his nose. "But why did you stop so suddenly, Kazuha-neechan?"

"Ah..." Kazuha trailed off, her gaze likely unconsciously darting towards Hattori. "Maybe we should actually come back later?"

He followed it, momentarily surprised by the intensity of his gaze. He tried to follow it, but there were too many people around for him to catch a glimpse of whatever it was in between people's legs.

"No," Hattori said after a moment, his expression returning to normal, "-it's fine. We'll just walk real quickly past 'em."

"Past who?" Ran frowned, tilting her head.

"Lately there's been some weird cult hangin' around Osaka, passin' out fliers an' stuff." Kazuha admitted, her expression weirdly strained as she glanced back towards them. "There's a bunch of them gathered near the bridge. I don't think they'd do any real harm, but..."

"Kazuha just doesn't like that sort of thing." Hattori finished.

Kazuha's eyes narrowed, shooting him a look. "It's not like ya like them either, Heiji. After all, you were the one who-!"

"Kazuha."

Kazuha almost seemed to flinch at the sound of Hattori's voice, uncharacteristically snapping her mouth shut. And honestly, so did he- it wasn't often he heard him sound so serious outside of cases. And that expression...

...he wasn't sure he'd seen that look on his face before.

"Let's not talk about that," Hattori said, "-not after these two came all this way ta have a good time."

"Yer right." Kazuha agreed, but her smile was strained. "Then, let's just scurry past 'em real fast, an' maybe they'll be gone by the time we're done!"

Conan frowned, glancing up towards Hattori. He didn't meet his eyes for a long moment, but when he did, the broad smile plastered on his face felt strangely artificial.

"If ya want," he began, "-I could even tuck the kid under my arm. I bet we'd we go a lot faster that way!"

"No, I don't think that will be necessary." Ran thankfully said. "But are you sure? I don't need to see Osaka Castle that badly."

"It's fine, it's fine." Hattori waved a hand. "Ya missed out on seein' the Castle last time because of everythin' right? Then ya shouldn't miss yer chance ta see it properly!"

"Well... if you say so." Ran frowned, still not seeming entirely convinced.

He couldn't blame her. He wasn't either.

But it also didn't seem like the sort of thing he could ask about- at least right now. He'd bring it up with Hattori later when they were alone. Knowing him, he might just brush the question off, but... well, it at least wouldn't hurt to try.

And if he caught Hattori and Kazuha in a furious whispered conversation awhile later, what was that but even more reason to? He was his friend after all- if there was something that was bothering him, he'd like to know about it.

"Hm? What was what earlier?"

But well... he couldn't say that he hadn't seen this coming. If anything, this was exactly what he'd expected to happen.

"What do you mean what was what earlier?" Conan asked, not even attempting to hide his scowl. "That thing by Osaka Castle, of course. I've never seen Kazuha shut up that fast."

They had made their way to the Hattori residence, where they would be spending the night. Kazuha and Ran were staying in one of the guest rooms, while he'd been invited to share Hattori's. They'd already eaten dinner and helped themselves to the bath- Hattori's mother must have come by at some point during the latter, since there was a freshly unrolled futon on the floor near his bed.

"Ah, that thing with the cult?" Hattori asked, sounding remarkably nonchalant about the whole thing. "Like I said earlier, don't worry about it. It's nothin', nothin'."

"It didn't sound like nothing." Conan argued.

"It really was." Hattori insisted. "Honestly, ya worry too much Kudo."

"Well sorry for being concerned about my friends." Conan retorted, just as quickly realizing that had been a mistake.

"Oh~?" Hattori perked up, not even trying to hid the amusement in his voice. "We're friends, huh?"

"Idiot, of course we are." Conan huffed. "And speaking of weird things, what was up with your phone today? Every time I caught you looking at it, you looked super annoyed."

He'd meant to ask Kazuha about it, because he'd definitely caught him doing it again... but after that thing by the bridge, he'd changed his mind. She still seemed kind of bothered by it, as much she'd tried to hide it, but she'd finally seemed to be in a better mood by the time they reached Hattori's place. He didn't want to be the one to make it worse again, and he hadn't actually seen him mess with his phone again since they'd left Osaka Castle.

(The cultists, thankfully, were gone by them.)

"Yer really bein' nosy today, ya know?" Hattori observed, arching a brow.

"Can't help it," Conan shrugged, "-you're the same way, you know."

"Well, I can't deny that..." Hattori admitted, awkwardly scratching his cheek before holding up a placating hand. "But I promise it's really nothin', Kudo. I'm just havin' a bit of an argument with one of the members of the kendo team, that's all."

Conan hummed, unsure if he really bought that. As much as he'd seen Hattori glaring at his phone plenty of times during their tour, he hadn't actually seen him use it even once, not even to send a text. If it was an argument, it was a pretty one-sided one.

"More importantly," Hattori leaned over, "-tell me about yer cases, yer cases. I know ya probably ran into a bunch while I wasn't around."

Conan heaved a sigh, sensing that the subject was shelved. Well, it wasn't like he had any interest in forcing him to talk or anything- it wasn't like he was a culprit. If it really was important, he had to assume Hattori would tell him at some point, right?

Besides, he was keeping secrets of his own from him. For good reason, but...

...it would be pretty hypocritical of him to demand Hattori not keep secrets from him, when he couldn't return the favor. At the very least, he felt fairly confident that whatever it was, it wasn't nearly anything to the scale of his own troubles with the Organization. Maybe it really was just a fight with another club member.

"Then," Conan began, "-I told you I met Haneda Shukichi the other day, right?"

"Ah, that shogi master?" Hattori asked. "Didn't ya say somethin' about him datin' one of those traffic cop neechans ya knows? How'd ya run into him anyways?"

"Yeah," Conan nodded, "-it went a little something like this-"

They'd wound up spending the next few hours talking about cases, before he'd felt his eyes start to droop. Hattori had just laughed, cracking a joke about kids and bedtimes that he only half remembered, and the next thing he knew, he was out like a light.

Until he woke up, several hours later.

Slowly sitting up, Conan blinked blearily, before glancing down at his cellphone. It was already three in the morning- an ungodly hour for anyone to be awake, if they weren't already staying up. Grumbling, he got to his feet, making sure to do it quietly so that he didn't wake Hattori.

...except he wasn't in his bed. Huh.

Yawning, Conan put it out of his mind. He was probably in the bathroom, same as what he'd woke up to do. Quietly trudging down the hall, he paused outside the bathroom door, giving it a slight push. It creaked open, clearly unlocked and unoccupied.

...that was a little weirder, but he was probably just getting a glass of water or something from the kitchen. Nothing to worry about. It was his house, after all.

Yawning, Conan quickly finished up what he'd gotten up to do. Heading back to Hattori's room, he made a slight detour towards the kitchen which proved to be similarly unoccupied. Scratching the back of his head, he just figured he'd already made it back to his room and they'd just missed each other.

Now heading back to Hattori's room for real, Conan paused halfway there, his ears picking up on a strange sound. Tilting his head, he tried to place both what it was and where it was coming from- it didn't sound like anyone's alarm- not that anyone in their right mind would set an alarm for three in the morning. No, if anything it sounded more like...

...pipe music?

Suddenly more awake, Conan strained his ears to pick up on where it was coming from. It almost sounded like it was coming from outside, but that was weird- if it was loud enough that he could hear it from here, it should have waken someone else up, but when he peeked in on the guest room Ran and Kazuha were sharing, they were both still deep asleep. Ran was one thing, but he was pretty confident the noise would have at least roused Kazuha.

Frowning, Conan slowly shut the door. The sound of pipes continued unabated, almost seeming to draw closer. It made the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, his mind unconsciously drifting back towards that weird fortune he'd gotten this afternoon. It wasn't like he believed it anything, but still... for a coincidence, it was pretty weird one.

And there was something about that sound... it was almost like it was tempting him to come closer. To follow it. Without thinking, he took a few steps forward, before coming to an abrupt stop, realizing what he was doing.

No, no- what he should be doing was going back to bed. It was probably just some car's radio.

...but it wouldn't hurt to check it out, right?

Unconsciously taking a few more steps forward, Conan almost didn't stop himself this time. He might not have, if it weren't for-

"Where ya goin' this late, Kudo?"

Freezing in his tracks, he glanced back towards Hattori. When had he gotten there? He hadn't heard him at all.

"Don't you hear that?" Conan asked, glancing back towards the front door.

"Hear what?" Hattori asked, arching a brow.

"That sound." Conan said, his brow furrowing as he looked back at his friend. Could he seriously not hear that? It sounded even louder than before, more insistent-

-almost like it was calling to him.

(That didn't make any sense, some part of his brain thought. Music couldn't call people.)

Cocking his head slightly, Hattori frowned. "I don't hear any sound. Are ya sure ya aren't just hearin' things?"

Conan frowned, opening his mouth to say that he wasn't, but as soon as he did, the sound suddenly stopped. Glancing back towards the door, then back at Hattori, his frown deepened at the sight of his expression. He'd seen that look before- usually right around when he'd noticed something unusual in what would have been an otherwise open and shut case.

And then it was gone, just as quickly as it came, covered up by a loud yawn.

"I don't know about you, Kudo," Hattori said, already brushing past him, "-but I'm goin' back ta bed. We have an early start tomorrow, remember?"

Hesitating for a moment, Conan glanced back towards the door one last time. Maybe it really had been nothing- maybe he was just tired. It was three in the morning, after all. But just in case it wasn't... he filed the noise away in his memory. If there was one thing he'd learned recently, it was that you could never be too careful.

(So then why had he been so convinced following a strange sound in the middle of the night was a good idea?)

Six in the morning, Conan decided, was way too early.

And yet the kitchen was already abuzz with lively activity. Shizuka was wide awake and making them breakfast with Ran's assistance- the latter had been rather insistent on helping, in spite of the former's protests that she didn't need to trouble herself. Next to him, Hattori was also wide awake and chatting with Kazuha, who might not be as awake as everyone else, but was definitely more so than him. The only person absent was Heizo- but that was only because he'd woken up even earlier than the rest of them and had already gone into work.

Great. He was surrounded by morning people.

"Are ya okay, Conan-kun?" Kazuha asked. "Ya still look tired."

"It's fine," Hattori said, "-the kid's just not much of a morning person."

"I don't see why we have to wake up at six anyways." Conan protested, letting out another yawn.

At least he'd gotten back to sleep quickly after the previous nights disturbance, which felt more like a weird dream now than anything else. It made more sense than someone playing pipe music at three in the morning. It was probably just because of that stupid fortune.

"Today's our last day here," Ran said from the kitchen, "-so I want us to get as much done as possible, especially since we're going to USJ today."

"Ya heard the Neechan." Hattori said. "Besides, six isn't that early."

He bit back a protest that it absolutely was. No reasonable person had business being up at six on their days off- excluding Ran. Ran could wake up at whatever time she wanted.

(As long as she didn't wake him up too.)

At least breakfast was delicious. He could see why Ran was so eager to take notes.

By the time they had gotten dressed for the day, he was more or less fully awake. Ran and Kazuha were already lingering by the front door, chatting about something by the time he arrived with Hattori in tow- or Hattori arrived with him in tow, if he was being more honest. Catching his eye, Ran smiled as she offered him her hand.

"Ready to go, Conan-kun?"

"Yeah." Conan nodded, this time pointedly not looking in Hattori's direction as he took her hand. He already knew exactly what kind of expression he was making.

"Then lets head out!" Kazuha grinned. "USJ is waitin' fer us!"

Well, if nothing else, going to a theme park sounded fun... as long as it ended up going better than his last trip to one. Between the decapitation and the whole shrinking business, he was pretty sure he was done with Tropical Land for the foreseeable future.

Or maybe he didn't have to worry about anything happening at USJ. Maybe they'd get stopped by something way before then. As in, had barely left the house before then. If it was too early to be awake, it was also too early for police cars some part of him thought, as they had to step back to let them go by. When they stopped not far up the street, he felt something in his gut tighten.

"What?" Kazuha frowned. "Isn't that Kondo-han's house?"

"Did something happen?" Ran asked. "Ah, Conan-kun-!"

He didn't wait to hear the rest of Ran's words, already running towards the house the police cars had stopped in front of. He wasn't the only one- Hattori was already a step ahead of him- and curiously, the brim of his hat was already turned around.

"Otaki-han!" Hattori called out, spotting the familiar officer stepping out of the car. "Did somethin' happen?"

"Hei-chan!" Inspector Otaki blinked, only looking vaguely surprised to see him. "And Conan-kun! I heard you were staying over at Heizo's place tonight, but..."

"More importantly, what happened?" Conan asked.

"Actually, it seems as if the two children living here went missing." Otaki reported. "I was just about to talk to the owner, but-"

"Kondo-han's twins, ya mean?" Hattori cut him off. "Since when?"

"Sometime last night, apparently." Otaki said. "From the sound of it, they weren't in their beds this morning when their mother came to wake them up. And-"

"Otaki-keibu," another officer called out, cutting off whatever he was about to say, "-we got a call about another one!"

"Another one?" Conan asked, his brow furrowing as he realized what that probably meant. "You mean there's more than just these two missing?"

"Seems like it." Otaki said, sounding more tired than he'd ever heard him in the short time they'd known each other. "Including the one that was just called in, that makes six. All from this general area."

"So in other words," Hattori began, his tone befittingly grim, "-we've got a mass kidnapping on our hands."

"Yeah," Otaki agreed, his tone equally grim, "-it certainly seems that way."

As they followed Otaki inside, Heiji couldn't resist letting his gaze drop down towards Kudo.

Honestly he'd been hoping that he'd been wrong- that last night had really been something else. But as soon as he saw the police cars, he knew he hadn't been mistaken. It was just his luck- his fortune had even warned him about this, but he'd stupidly hoped that tying it up would have stopped it somehow. He knew what he'd said earlier, but for Kudo to be around for a case like this... honestly, the situation couldn't be worse.

No, it actually could be. If he hadn't been keeping an eye on him...

...no, he wouldn't think about that. He'd just have to wrap this case up quick, without giving too much of his hand away. The last thing he wanted was for Kudo to find out like this.

Or at all... maybe.

There were more things in this world than anyone knew, Heiji thought, pulling his cap lower over his brow as they stepped into the Kondo's living room. And judging from the pipe music he'd heard last night, this case had one right at the center.

He just had to figure out who'd unleashed it this time.