Give it up for chapter three! This wraps up this introductory arc! Next chapter should be on the shorter end, depending on how I ended up approaching it- it'll cover some canon material, before we head into the next case- the kuchisake-onna one! Hope everyone enjoys, and as always, thanks for reading!

(don't) believe what you know

chapter three

things that go bump in the night

Once he was certain Kudo was unconscious, Heiji let out a sigh.

Honestly- he didn't know if the guy's goal was to give him a heart attack, but he was pretty sure he'd almost had one when he'd spotted him. He didn't know if he'd been lured out by the pipe music after all, or if he'd just snuck out to investigate the case himself after everyone else had gone to bed, or both- but whatever it was, it was a pain the ass. He'd hoped to put a stop to this mess tonight, but it looked like he was going to have to make a detour to drop Kudo off back at his place.

Not to mention he'd have to take the time to erase any evidence that he'd ever left. It felt kind of dirty and underhanded, making Kudo question his own memories like that, but it couldn't be helped- a little while longer, and he would have seen something that even he would have had to admit was strange.

Guess he had no choice but to leave it to the person currently watching him from within the shadows.

"Someone you know?"

Heiji didn't look in their direction, even as the man stepped out of the darkness. He would recognize the curly haired bastard anywhere- unlike him, he didn't make any attempts to hide his identity. It had only taken a little digging to figure out who he was- not hard, when it was obvious who he worked for. On the surface, he was just a simple butler, but he knew better than that- almost no one associated with the Ooka family was completely what they seemed.

Given that they were a family of exorcists, it was no surprise.

He didn't even question how he'd found him- he had an unerring knack for that sort of thing, much to his frustration. It would be one thing if he could trust him, but honestly? He didn't.

Well, he imagined the feeling was mutual.

"Ya could say that." Heiji said, tucking the unconscious Kudo underneath one arm, so that he couldn't get a good look at his face. "I have ta get him back before his Neechan notices he's missin'."

"Then am I correct in assuming that you are giving up and leaving this matter to us?" The man asked, his tone annoyingly polite. "That would be most helpful."

"That depends," Heiji said, meeting his eyes, "-on what yer plannin' on doin' with the object that started all of this?"

"Seal it, of course." He said simply. "It is not in the interest of my employers to allow something that dangerous to escape from our grasp. But of course, you are always welcome to come and steal it back, if you so desire-"

"-Guardian-san."

Gritting his teeth, Heiji fought the urge to snap back at him. He had to take care of Kudo first. Sure, he could just send him back with a shikigami...

No, he needed to take care of this matter himself. Kudo wouldn't be fooled by anything less- and maybe not even then.

"Maybe I'll do just that." Heiji challenged. "Since yer offerin' an' all, Muga-han."

That curly haired bastard's expression didn't change in the slightest. So it really didn't matter that he'd figured out who he was. Well, that didn't come as a surprise either- it wasn't like he needed to hide his identity.

Not like him.

"I would expect nothing less from you." Iori said, his tone still painfully polite.

"Then again," Heiji began, "-maybe I'll just finish this up quick an' catch up with both you an' yer cronies. I've got a personal stake in this case, after all."

"Case?" Iori's eyebrow arched slightly. "An unusual turn of phrase."

More than ever, he was grateful for his mask- since it meant this bastard couldn't see him flinch. Crap, he hadn't meant to put it like that. With Kudo here, he'd just naturally...

"Ya got a problem with it?" Heiji asked.

"No, not at all." Iori said. "But if you will excuse me, I believe I have a creature to exorcise. It seems as if my cronies," and he said that in what was somehow the world's most polite mocking tone, "-have found the place the Piper was leading the children."

"Off with ya already then." Heiji said, waving his free hand in a dismissive fashion. "An' while yer at it, tell yer employers that they should stick ta Kyoto. Osaka is my territory."

"I will be certain to pass that along to them." Iori said, punctuating his words with what felt like an almost mocking bow. "Well then."

Heiji could only glare at the space they'd occupied. Like he thought, he really couldn't get along with that curly haired bastard.

Well, he imagined the feeling was mutual there too. He was unknown element, and that made people nervous- even suspicious. Heck, he'd probably be suspicious of him too.

Heaving a sigh, he glanced down at Kudo. If he had only just stayed put...

...but well, he wouldn't be Kudo if he had.

"Nothin' ya can do about it." Heiji said, turning on his heel. "Let's just get ya back before ya worry anyone, ya idiot."

"Should we really just let him go?"

"It's quite alright," Iori said, not so much as glancing behind him, nor at his fellow exorcist, "-our mission this time is to put a swift end to these kidnappings."

"But-"

"Besides," Iori continued, "-even if we did attempt to follow him, he would most likely stick to paths not meant for us. Once you get lost on one, there's no finding your way back."

His companion didn't look satisfied by the answer, but he couldn't particularly blame him. That young man had been something of a thorn in their sides these past few years- as much as they often shared the same goals, no one who called themselves a Guardian was to be trusted- least of all by those who served the Ooka family. The fact that he took pains to hide his identity only leant more credence to that theory.

But that was trouble for another day. Besides, he didn't doubt this wouldn't be the last they'd see of him tonight. The child he'd tucked underneath his arm- and taken pains to conceal the face of- was clearly someone related to his surface life. No doubt he'd been drawn out by the sound of the pipe music like the others.

If it was personal... he'd definitely be back.

"This the place?"

"So it would it seem."

True to form, the curly haired bastard didn't so much as look up. He'd just have to take what satisfaction he could from startling his fellow exorcists- all branch family members, from the look of it. If it weren't for the presence of Iori, he would have almost thought the Ooka family didn't care about this case.

It couldn't be that they were counting on him to resolve it. Not when it was obvious they didn't trust him.

Not that he'd always given them good reason to.

"Hmm," Heiji hummed, cocking his head to the side, "-pretty big mansion."

Not only that, but he recognized the place. He'd never been inside, but he knew the Western-style mansion belonged to some rich couple who had moved here three years ago after renovating it. Before that it had sat abandoned for decades, slowly rotting away. He'd always gotten slightly weird vibes from it, but nothing enough to investigate.

Guess that had been a mistake on his part.

But of all things, the Pied Piper's pipes? What was something that originated from Germany doing in Japan? Sure, there was a black market for occult goods, but he couldn't imagine any idiot actually wanting something like that. And what's more, why had it taken three years for a case like this to happen? It should have happened sooner, maybe even before that couple had moved in. There was always the chance it had been sealed until recently, but...

...something about this wasn't right.

But whatever it was, he could figure it out later. The less time he spent in the presence of exorcists, the better- especially Iori.

"An'?" Heiji asked, glancing down at Iori. "Have ya figured out where the kids are being kept?"

"Most likely the storage shed towards the very back." Iori remarked. "The boundary is strangely weak there."

"An' the item in question?" Heiji asked.

"The music stopped, so it is most likely dormant again." Iori said, speaking to him with remarkable politeness considering the stink eye he was getting from the rest of his group. "In a manor that size, it could be rather difficult to find."

"Well, ya can just leave that part ta me. I'm good at that sort of thing." Heiji said, eying Iori with a broad grin. "Unless ya've got a problem with that, exorcist-han?"

Based on the way Iori narrowed his eyes, he clearly did. It was clear that they didn't trust him with an item of that power. He'd be hurt, if he didn't know exactly where that mistrust was coming from.

"No," Iori said finally, "-our priority is rescuing the children."

And that stung a little. It kind of made it sound like he didn't care about the children at all- which of course he did. Two of them lived just up the street from him, so of course he cared! But he also couldn't deny it was convenient for him- this way they'd be kept busy while he collected what he came here for.

Not to mention someone else would be stuck with the clean up for once. Given that his old man was working this case, he couldn't be more grateful. Especially since the Ooka family was so powerful- they had more resources for covering this sort of thing up than he did.

"Then everythin' works out then." Heiji said. "I'll just leave ya to it, exorcist-han."

He didn't stick around to see Iori's expression- it probably wouldn't be that interesting anyways. He had an item to collect and return- it looked like he'd be up all night again.

Honestly, what a pain. At least he'd gotten Kudo back without any trouble. He just hoped he was good enough to fool him.

(If that worst luck fortune he'd drawn was any indication, he wasn't so sure.)

"I can't have ya findin' out about this kind of thing just yet-

-Kudo."

"Hattori!"

Jerking upright, Conan let out a gasp. No wonder that voice had sounded familiar, that had-!

...wait. Upright?

Huh? When had he gotten back to the Hattori home? He was pretty sure he remembered sneaking out last night to investigate the case, but... weird. Not only was he back in the futon Hattori's mom had laid out for him, but he was also wearing his pajamas, even though he'd definitely changed before sneaking out. His glasses were neatly folded next to him, and a quick check of both the end table and the trash showed no traces of the note he thought he'd left for Ran.

...had that really been a dream?

Come to think of it, the last movie they'd watched yesterday had been some weird supernatural drama. Letting out a yawn, Conan checked his cellphone. As he thought, there were no traces of the messages he'd thought he'd left for Hattori last night, and it was right where he'd left it when he'd gone to bed. Sure, he guessed Hattori could have erased them himself, but there was no way he would have known where he'd left it seeing as he'd never returned home after storming out last night.

Oh. Right. That part wasn't a dream, huh.

From the look of it, it was already morning. Both Ran and Kazuha had already woken up and left- probably for the best. It would be pretty hard to explain why he'd woke up shouting Hattori's name.

He frowned a little. Had that all really been a dream? It had certainly had felt real enough, but the contents...

...in the first place, why would Hattori be wandering around at night in some kind of weird mask? It didn't make any sense. It was more logical to think that he'd actually fallen asleep and dreamed it instead. It did, but...

"Oh, are you finally up, Conan-kun?"

Quickly putting on his glasses, Conan smiled at Ran. "Yeah, I just woke up."

"You sure slept late." Ran observed, before smiling. "Would you like some breakfast? I saved some for you."

Judging from how normally she was acting, she hadn't woken up last night to realize he was missing. Even with a note, she would definitely still be mad at him. While it was true that Ran was a deep sleeper, Kazuha had also slept in the same room- if she'd woken up to find him gone, the first thing she would have done would be to wake Ran. Either way, she'd find out about it.

Which either meant they'd both just slept through the night- or that really had been a dream after all.

"Yeah, thank you." Conan nodded, before adding with the slightest hesitation, "-where's Heiji-niichan?"

Ran just shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think he ever came back last night."

"Really?" Conan frowned.

"Yeah," Ran nodded, "-ah, but he did send Kazuha-chan another mail this morning. Something about a break in the case."

"A break in the case?" Conan asked, now fully alert. "What kind of break?"

"I don't know," Ran shook her head, "-he didn't say."

Conan's frown deepened, once again checking his messages to see if there was one from Hattori that he'd missed. But nothing had changed in the few minutes since he'd checked it last, even though he'd usually be the first one he'd tell in these circumstances.

As he thought, he'd really made him angry.

"Conan-kun?" Ran asked, tilting her head. "Is something wrong?"

"No," Conan quickly shook his head, putting his phone away, "-everything's fine."

Ran frowned slightly, but thankfully she didn't push the topic. He didn't exactly want it getting back to Kazuha that he'd broken his promise to her. If Hattori was mad at him, he could only imagine how angry he'd probably be with Kazuha.

Crap, he hoped he hadn't messed things up between them. Maybe he really should have just kept his mouth shut. Even worse, he wasn't sure if he'd even have a chance to see Hattori again before they left for Tokyo. They still had a few hours, but...

And what did he mean, a break in the case? Would it have killed him to add a few more details!? A break indicated that something good had happened, but...

Ah geez! This was exactly why he'd planned to sneak out last night! Why had he actually fallen asleep?!

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. Stopping by the bathroom first to freshen up, he changed into his day clothes- all while keeping an eye on his phone, both for any word from Hattori, or news about the case. He'd gotten neither by the time he settled down for breakfast, so he set it aside.

He was halfway through his meal when someone sat across from him. At first he thought it might be Ran or Kazuha, but a quick glance up revealed it to be a particularly exhausted looking Hattori. For a few seconds, he was too stunned at his sudden appearance to say anything, before quickly shaking off his stupor.

"Hattori?"

"Hm?" Hattori briefly squinted at him, before his eyes widened. "Kudo? When'd ya get here?"

"I could be asking you the same thing." Conan remarked, quickly checking over his shoulder for either Ran or Kazuha. Thankfully they were nowhere to be found. "I was already sitting here when you sat down."

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Hattori yawned, "-I was up all last night. I don't think my brain is workin' properly anymore."

Conan frowned, abruptly recalling that weird dream again. Quickly putting it out of mind, he cast a studious glance over Hattori. He definitely looked exhausted if those bags under his eyes were any indication, and his hair was a mess. He was pretty sure he was already half asleep, judging from the way he'd just missed his mouth and attempted to jab his chopsticks into his cheek instead.

He also definitely wasn't acting as angry with him as he'd expected, given the way he'd stormed out yesterday, but if he was tired enough he hadn't even noticed him sitting at the table, he might be too tired to remember he was mad at him. It was a little strange, considering Hattori had stayed up for the length of an entire night before and not been half as tired, but well... he'd probably been actively running around the entire night.

"So?" Conan asked. "I heard there was a break in the case."

"Yeah," Hattori said, "-they apparently found the missin' kids."

"Really?" Conan blinked. "Then they know who did it?"

"Who knows?" Hattori yawned. "The old man wouldn't tell me anythin'."

"Who knows?" Conan frowned. "This is too big of a case for who knows."

"Then ask the old man yerself." Hattori said, finally seeming to wake up a little as he directed a frown towards him. "What are ya still doin' here anyways? I thought ya would have left fer Tokyo already."

"The train doesn't leave for another two hours." Conan remarked.

"Ah, I see." Hattori said.

Okay, so he was definitely still mad at him if the uncomfortable silence they lapsed into was anything to go by. Heaving a sigh, Conan glanced in his friend's direction. The last thing he wanted was to part on a sour note, so...

"Sorry."

Hattori blinked, actually looking surprised.

"I shouldn't have forced you to talk about something you didn't want to." Conan continued. "It was wrong of me."

For long moment, all Hattori did was stare at him- before he slowly cracked a smile. "Well, it's not like I can blame ya. It's pretty shocking."

"That's an understatement." Conan muttered.

"I guess so." Hattori admitted. "But I meant what I said last night. It's ancient history. I'd rather forget it ever happened."

"If that's what you want..." Conan trailed off, still unsure if that was for the best.

"Oh? When did you get back, Hattori-kun?"

"Just now." Hattori said, glancing up towards Ran, decidedly less startled by her abrupt appearance than he was. "Case is closed."

"Apparently all the missing children were found." Conan supplied.

"Is that so?" Ran asked, a look of abject relief on her face. "That's great!"

"Sure is." Hattori grinned, clearly a bit more awake now. "It's just too bad it had ta spoil yer last full day in Osaka, though. We'll have ta do USJ some other time."

"That's true." Ran said. "Ah, I should go tell Kazuha you're back. She's been worried about you all night, you know!"

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean ta worry anyone." Hattori apologized, standing up. "But ya don't need ta tell her. I'll do it."

"Are you sure?" Ran frowned. "I don't want to interrupt your breakfast."

"It's fine." Hattori said. "I'll just finish the rest later."

Conan watched him go with a slight frown, half-tempted to follow him and see what they talked about. He quickly shook the thought off- that didn't seem right. It wasn't like he was the culprit of some case.

Although... had he been wearing that black hoodie yesterday? Strange. Had he come back sometime last night after all? But what did he need a hoodie for? It was still pretty warm out, even at night. And hadn't the figure in his dream been wearing a hoodie too? He couldn't recall the color for some reason, but...

No, no. That was just a dream.

(It was... right?)

"Ya told them."

She hadn't meant to flinch like she was guilty of something- it was just hard not to when she had that tone directed towards her. She didn't even need Heiji to specify what she'd told to who- it was kind of obvious.

As she thought, he was mad.

"It just kind of... slipped out." Kazuha admitted, turning on her heel to face her childhood friend. "It's not like I told them on purpose!"

"Slipped out?" Heiji asked, arching a brow. "How does somethin' like that just slip out?"

"It just did, okay!" Kazuha huffed, planting her hands on her hips. "I barely said anythin', but Conan-kun figured it out super easy!"

Heiji just stared at her for a long moment, before heaving a long sigh, a hand straying to the back of his neck "Well, I kind of guessed it was somethin' like that. Just be more careful next time, idiot."

Kazuha frowned. She expected a bigger reaction, honestly.

"Ya aren't mad?" She asked.

"Of course I'm mad. Ya went an' said somethin' ya shouldn't." Heiji said, narrowing his eyes. "But I guess they were probably goin' ta find out about it at some point. It was in the news an' everythin'."

"...sorry." Kazuha apologized. "With the case an' everythin', I was just so worried that I just-"

"I know." Heiji cut her off, before cracking a reassuring smile. "But it's fine. That case is over with."

"Eh, really?" Kazuha asked, perking up. "Is that what ya meant by a break?"

"Yeah," Heiji nodded, "-all the missing children came back. Sounds like all of 'em are fine too."

Kazuha exhaled, placing a hand over her heart. "That's a relief. I was so worried! Especially fer Kondo-han's twins. I kept thinkin'-"

She didn't finish that sentence- but she didn't need to. They both already knew what the end was. They were childhood friends, after all.

Even if Heiji never talked to her about those three weeks.

"Then, I'm gonna clean up a bit." Heiji said, turning on his heel to leave. "I was runnin' around all last night, so I probably stink. I gotta be presentable when we see Neechan and Ku- Conan-kun off."

Kazuha blinked, frowning slightly. "Alright..."

Strange. Usually Heiji would take this chance to blab about the case. Sure, there were occasions when he didn't, but...

...she really didn't like it when that happened. She'd already had a bad feeling about this case from the start, but the fact that Heiji wasn't acting like his usual self only made her more uneasy. Sure, it was good that the children had been found and the case had been wrapped up, but...

"Somethin' wrong?"

"No," Kazuha quickly shook her head, flashing Heiji a smile, "-it's fine."

Heiji hummed, studying her for a moment- before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if ya say so."

She held her smile until Heiji was gone- then let it drop completely. Part of her wanted to stop him, but she didn't even know what to what end. To ask him questions about the case? Or something more?

Sometimes it felt like there was something he wasn't telling her- something big.

She didn't like that feeling, not one bit.

By the time Hattori made it back to the table, he had already changed his clothes.

It was a perfectly normal thing to do- he'd been running around all night in them. Of course he'd changed them. But for some reason, it stuck out as suspicious. Which was stupid. Suspicious? Hattori? Exactly what was he suspecting him of? Being the figure in his dream? That was ridiculous. It was a dream!

Even so...

...well, he wouldn't stress about it. It sounded like the case was mostly solved, and he was heading back to Tokyo today anyways. He was confident that between Hattori and his father, they could handle the aftermath... or maybe just his father- since it seemed he was stonewalling his son when it came to this case. It seemed to bother Hattori, so he hadn't really brought it up, but...

...not that he could blame him. He'd be pretty frustrated in his shoes too. At least it wasn't as bad as the time he'd been used as literal bait.

But it was a little weird that it wasn't being reported on yet. He'd expected it to be all over the news by now, but there was almost no mention of the case. Maybe there were some details the police hadn't resolved just yet?

"But it's really too bad that we couldn't go to USJ together like we planned," he heard Kazuha say, her voice breaking him out of his thoughts.

Both Hattori and Kazuha had offered to walk with them to the station, trying to make the most of what little time they had left together. He was almost surprised Hattori hadn't just crashed, given how tired he'd seemed earlier, but he guessed getting some food in him had perked him up a little.

Well, he wouldn't be surprised if he passed out for the rest of the day once they left.

Speaking of the two of them, he'd noticed a bit of awkwardness between them earlier, but it seemed to have mostly resolved itself. As he thought, he must have confronted Kazuha about blabbing about his kidnapping- he was just grateful that it hadn't seemed to do any real damage to their friendship.

But that was childhood friends for you, he thought, his gaze darting up towards Ran.

"I guess we'll just have to save that for next time." Ran said. "Of course, you and Hattori-kun are welcome to come with us to Tropical Land sometime too."

Conan grimaced. He'd rather not go back to that place unless he absolutely had to. Worst idea of his life.

"Then we might have ta take ya up on that offer sometime!" Kazuha said, glancing over her shoulder. "Right, Heiji?"

"Y-yeah," Hattori said, casting him a quick apologetic glance, "-sounds fun."

"But it's really a relief that all the children were found." Ran said. "I'm sure their parents must be thrilled."

"Yeah," Kazuha nodded, before shooting Heiji a teasing look, "-although it looks like ya didn't do too much this time around, Heiji."

"Well sorry fer not doin' much." Hattori twitched, glaring at Kazuha. "At least I wasn't blabbin' about people's secrets."

Conan flinched- but well, he was pretty sure everyone did. Especially Ran, who from the look of it was just now learning that Hattori had figured out Kazuha had told them. But well... if those two were fighting about it so openly, things were definitely back to normal between them.

"I already said I was sorry!" Kazuha huffed. "Ya don't have ta keep bringin' it up!"

"I'll bring it up as much as I feel like it." Hattori countered.

"I'm sorry, Hattori-kun," Ran said, putting her hands in apology, "-none of us meant to pry. And I don't think Kazuha-chan meant anything bad by telling us. She really was just worried about you."

"Honestly, there's no need fer that." Hattori said, crossing his arms. "It's not like it's gonna happen again."

"Didn't you and Kazuha both get kidnapped not too long ago?" Conan asked, unable to resist the urge. "You know, by that female lawyer."

Hattori twitched, shooting him a very pointed glare. "That doesn't count."

"You did also get pushed off that ship that one time..." Ran trailed off.

"Not ta mention ya got shot once before." Kazuha recalled.

"And both you and Kazuha-neechan nearly fell off a cliff." Conan added.

"Alright, alright, I get it already!" Hattori huffed. "So I might be a little unlucky."

"I think it's more than a little." Kazuha said. "Fer someone who keeps yappin' about his dreams, they sure don't seem ta do you a lot of good."

Hattori's eyes went wide, a faint dark tinge spreading across his cheeks. "Idiot, don't tell 'em that!"

"Dreams?" Conan asked, tilting his head.

"This idiot has had weird dreams since he was little." Kazuha said, pointing over her shoulder at Hattori. "More often than not, they'd come true."

"That's amazing, Hattori-kun!" Ran exclaimed. "That's almost like precognition!"

"Not almost!" Kazuha said. "It totally is!"

"It's just a coincidence, a coincidence." Hattori said, brushing her words off. "Don't make me sound like some weirdo."

"Besides, there's no such thing as psychic abilities." Conan said.

But even as he said that... hadn't something like that happened once? The first time Hattori invited them to Osaka, he'd said something about having a ominous dream about him being stabbed. And in actuality, he was almost stabbed- if it hadn't been for Hattori lending him his charm, he almost certainly would have died.

No, no. Like he said, that had to have just been a coincidence.

"The kid's right." Hattori said, ruffling his hair. "There's no such thing."

"Oh?" Kazuha asked, arching a brow. "That's funny. I remember ya sayin' differently when ya were a kid."

"Hey, Kazuha!" Hattori grew even more flustered, badly covering it with a glare. "I really will get mad!"

"Ah, scary, scary!" Kazuha grinned, ducking behind Ran. "Ya've got ta protect me, Ran-chan!"

"Now, now," Ran said, holding up her hands in an effort to placate Hattori, "-you shouldn't tease Hattori-kun so much, Kazuha-chan."

"Honestly, ya with yer big mouth..." Hattori trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck. "Anyways, that's stuff from when we were kids. If ya want, I could always bring up plenty embarrassing things from yer childhood, Kazuha~."

"...on second thought, maybe we should focus on gettin' ta the station." Kazuha said, pointedly averting eye contact. "We wouldn't want ya ta miss yer train!"

"No, no," Hattori grinned, "-I think everyone would love ta hear about that one time in second grade when ya-"

"Nope, we're not talkin' about that!" Kazuha said, grabbing Ran's wrist. "Come on, Ran-chan, let's hurry!"

Before anyone could even say anything, she was already half-dragging Ran along. She shot them a helpless look before matching her pace with Kazuha, the two of them darting ahead to the train station. For a moment, he could only blink, before slowly glancing up towards Hattori.

It seemed there were a lot of things he hadn't known about him.

"So you used to believe in that sort of thing?" Conan asked, arching a brow.

"It was a phase, a phase." Hattori insisted. "Mom used ta read me youkai stories an' stuff before bed every night. Of course it would influence me."

"...I feel like that explains a lot about you."

"...rude."

The train ride home was, blessedly, quiet.

He and Ran chatted for the first part, but eventually her attention had turned to her book- a recommendation from Kazuha, apparently. For his part, he turned to his phone- namely to check if anything about the case had been uploaded yet. A single news article had been published around the time they boarded the train confirming that the children had all been found, but that was it. Nothing about the identities of the kidnappers, or even what their goals had been.

The one thing that did stand out was that the number of kids didn't match up.

The tally had been at seven yesterday, but the number of children found by the police this morning was apparently thirteen. Either more had gone missing that first night than originally counted...

...or the others had gone missing the night after.

Again, his dream returned to mind. There had been kids in it too, walking along in their pajamas as if they were in some sort of trance. Unfortunately, there were no pictures of the children available, so even though he could clearly remember the faces of the children in his dream, there was nothing to actually compare them to. If there were...

...if there were what? It would prove that it had been a dream?

Or that it hadn't?

Scratching his head, Conan glared at his phone in frustration. He didn't know which one he wanted it to be. But if that wasn't a dream... then what did that mean? If that really had been Hattori...

"Conan-kun?" Ran's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Is everything okay?"

"No, I'm fine." Conan glanced up, giving her an apologetic smile. "I was just looking at the news. Apparently they haven't announced the identities of the culprits yet."

"Well, it was a big case." Ran said. "Maybe they need a little more time to put a statement together."

That was true enough. But he would have thought they would have at least mentioned something about having caught them by now, if only to ease everyone's minds. The fact that they hadn't done that...

...it couldn't possibly mean they hadn't caught them yet?

But that was strange. Hattori had seemed pretty certain that the case was over. He wouldn't talk like that if the culprits hadn't actually been arrested yet, right?

It felt like there was something he was missing here. Something big. Honestly, it was a feeling that had been haunting him ever since the beginning of this case.

But what? What was it? That was what he just couldn't figure out.

"Conan-kun?"

"Ah," Conan jerked his head up, realizing he'd zoned out again, "-sorry, Ran-neechan."

Ran frowned, setting her book aside in her lap. "Are you really alright?"

"Yeah," Conan nodded, "-just thinking."

"About what?" Ran asked. "If it's something I can help with..."

"No, it's nothing important." Conan shook his head, before reconsidering. "It's just... I'm worried about Heiji-niichan, that's all."

"Hattori-kun?" Ran frowned, tilting her head. "Ah, because of what Kazuha-chan told us? I don't think you have to worry."

"But he wouldn't talk to me about it at all." Conan pouted, the expression half-sincere.

"Kazuha-chan did say that he doesn't talk about it much." Ran said, tilting her head slightly in thought. "Although he apparently still talks to the girl who was abducted with him."

"Really?" Conan blinked.

That made sense. It would be easiest to talk to someone who had been through the same thing, especially for someone like Hattori. He could even understand it- even if he put all secrets aside, there were things that he could really only talk about with Haibara, seeing as the two of them were basically in the same boat.

"Yeah," Ran cracked a small, almost mischievous smile, "-don't tell her I said this, but apparently Kazuha-chan's a little jealous."

"Heh, really?" Conan asked.

"Yeah," Ran nodded, "-apparently that girl grew up to be really pretty. Well, I told her that she didn't have anything to worry about, but..."

Conan hummed. "Then, do you know her name?"

"No," Ran shook her head, "-Kazuha-chan said it had something to do with the color red, but she only met her once or twice when they were kids, so she doesn't really remember."

"Red, huh?" Conan asked, mentally filing the information away.

"That's right." Ran said. "But from the sound of it, Hattori-kun at least talks to her about that time, so I don't really think you have to worry too much about him."

"Yeah," Conan nodded, "-thanks, Ran-neechan!"

Ran just smiled, returning to her book. Conan watched her for a second longer, before returning to his phone. Almost on instinct, he brought up the article he'd found the day before, scrolling down until he got to the girl's picture. He was glad to hear that Hattori wasn't just keeping everything bottled up, but... for some reason, he felt even more bothered than before. Hattori wasn't exactly the type to keep quiet about his friends- so why didn't Kazuha even know the other girl's name?

It was almost like he was purposefully avoiding talking about her.

But that couldn't be right. He didn't even purposefully avoid talking about him, and he actually needed to be kept a secret. Why would he do it for this girl?

...oi, oi- it couldn't possibly be because it was Kazuha? That would mean Hattori and that girl were...

No, no. That definitely wasn't it. It had to be something else.

Idly scrolling through the article again, Conan paused, a slight frown crossing his features. That was odd... he hadn't noticed it yesterday, but it wasn't just Hattori and that girl who had never been named in the article- it was the cult as well. A quick check of other articles written around the same time revealed the same thing- all of them just said that the kidnapping had been committed by a cult, without specifying what cult.

It was almost as if someone was covering the information up.

But that couldn't be... right?

"Ahh~, they're gone."

"Can't be helped," Heiji said, letting out a loud yawn, "-it's not like they can just stay in Osaka forever."

"I guess not." Kazuha said. "But I thought fer sure we'd get through this visit without a case. I guess I was askin' fer too much."

"Sounds like it." Heiji said, before casting a slight glance in her direction. "I still don't see why ya had ta tell 'em all that crap. The kidnapping thing is bad enough, but did ya really have ta tell 'em about the dreams?"

"What's wrong with it?" Kazuha asked. "It's not like I said anythin' that wasn't true."

"Well, I guess not..." Heiji trailed off, scratching his cheek.

After all, it was pretty hard to explain why he wanted that sort of thing to be kept a secret. It skirted too close to what he was really trying to conceal- and what with his unexpected encounter with Kudo last night, he needed all the help he could get in that department. It seemed as if he'd managed to fool him for now, but he didn't know how long that would last. No doubt he'd filed everything away into some mental compartment, just waiting for the right clues to come along and link everything together.

Crap. He'd become one of Kudo's cases, hadn't he?

"Besides," Kazuha began, a grin best described as impish on her face, "-if I really wanted, I could have told 'em all about how ya kept sayin' ya could see ghosts an' stuff when you were little."

"Idiot, definitely don't tell them that!" Heiji flushed.

"I'm jokin'." Kazuha said. "I'll let ya have a little dignity."

"Well, thanks." Heiji huffed.

Honestly- keeping this stuff a secret would be a lot easier if he hadn't been as much of a blabbermouth about it when he was a kid. Sure, he hadn't known any better then- he could have never imagined that it would have eventually lead to him being kidnapped. If anything, he'd thought it was way weirder that nobody else could see that stuff. It wasn't as if his parents had ever said anything to discourage him- even his old man had always played along.

He wondered how much of that he remembered.

"But I thought it was cute," Kazuha said, "-especially when ya tried ta tell an adult who didn't believe ya, an' ya just glared at them the whole time."

"What part of that is cute?" Heiji asked, arching a brow. "Besides, I keep tellin ya'-"

"Yes, yes," Kazuha said, clasping her hands behind her back, "-ya never actually saw anythin'. You were just doin' it fer attention. Ya've only told me a hundred times."

"Then remember it already, idiot." Heiji grumbled.

"Yes~." Kazuha said, clearly not meaning it.

Heiji just heaved a long sigh. Well, that was what he got. He could have just kept leaning into the weird kid thing, but after that incident... well, honestly he just kind of preferred if people stopped looking at him like he was some kind of bad omen.

"Well," Kazuha tilted her head, "-what do ya want ta do now, Heiji?"

"What do ya mean, what do I want ta do now?" Heiji asked. "I'm goin' back home ta go ta bed. I didn't sleep at all last night, ya know."

"Fer all the good it did ya." Kazuha teased.

"Listen-!"

"I'm just jokin'." Kazuha cut him off. "I know ya did the best ya could. I'm just glad that nothin' worse happened."

He wasn't sure what it was- her tone, or the way she wasn't quite looking at him, but either way, it was enough to make him shut his mouth. Kazuha had every reason to be worried about him- it didn't take a detective to know she'd been scared out of her mind those three weeks he'd missing. Everyone had.

Well, it hadn't been fun for him either.

"-our guardian-"

"-you didn't know?"

"-you're not-"

"-imposter."

"Heiji?"

Abruptly snapping back to reality, his hand darted instinctively towards his wrist. There was a glimmer of gold creeping down from underneath his sleeve, which he hurriedly pulled down to cover it. This thing with Kudo must really be getting to him- it had been awhile since he'd spaced out like that.

"Sorry, sorry," he gave Kazuha an apologetic smile, "-I must be more tired than I thought."

Kazuha frowned, clearly not entirely buying it. "Are ya sure that's all it is?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure." Heiji said. "So? What were ya sayin'?"

"It wasn't anythin' important." Kazuha said. "If yer really that tired, ya should head home an' go ta bed right away."

"Yeah, I might just do that." Heiji nodded. "Then, I'll see ya at school tomorrow."

"Ah, I'll be helpin' Mikiko practice tomorrow morning, so I probably won't be able ta walk ta school with ya." Kazuha said.

"She sure works hard." Heiji observed. "I thought the tournament wasn't fer awhile yet?"

"The opponent she wants ta beat is apparently super strong, so..." Kazuha trailed off. "Anyways, ya should hurry up an' get some rest! Ya got bags under yer eyes an' everythin'!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm goin', I'm goin'." Heiji said, letting out another yawn.

Well, he really was tired. He hadn't slept a wink these past two days, and that was after trekking all over Osaka the first day. Even he'd need some rest after all that. Not to mention dealing with his old man later... he wasn't looking forward to that. Even if he wasn't the one who had to deal with the cover up this, he didn't doubt his old man would have some questions for him- especially if their brief chat in at headquarters was any indication.

Sure, there was always the option of telling the truth. But if he did that...

...well, he didn't want to think about it.

Watching Heiji go, she had half a mind to stop him.

He might have played it off, but she'd seen that look on his face. He only got that kind of look when he thought about that time.

But even if she asked, he wouldn't say anything. He never did.

Clenching her fists, Kazuha narrowed her eyes. If it was anything else, she'd just force the truth out of him, but she couldn't do it with this. Not when she could still so clearly remember how shaken he had been after Uncle Heizo rescued him. He hadn't said a word for days after that, shutting himself in his room the entire time.

Come to think of it, it was around then that he'd started saying he'd been lying about the ghosts and stuff, wasn't it?

"Heizo."

"Toyama."

Heizo barely spared so much as a glance at his colleague, instead keeping his gaze fixed on the old warehouse that lay before them. It was empty now, but mere hours ago it had been packed with children- thirteen of them, all bound, tied, and disorientated. They'd been sent to the hospital to be checked out, but by now most of them had likely been reunited with their parents. It was the end of a worrisome case- or it would be, if there was a culprit.

There wasn't.

"The officers have finished canvassing the area." Ginshiro Toyama reported, a grave expression on his face. "It doesn't sound as if anyone noticed anything."

Somehow he was expecting that answer.

"And?" Heizo asked. "Any leads on our anonymous tipster?"

"None." Ginshiro said. "It seems as if the cell they used to contact us was a burner, and they likely changed their voice."

"I see." Heizo said- it was an answer he'd also expected. "And the children?"

Ginshiro just shook his head. "Nothing. They say they don't remember anything."

Heizo hummed in thought, his eyes scanning the empty warehouse. Forensics had already turned it from top to bottom, but had found no traces of anyone other than the children being there. Whoever had hidden them here was either exceptionally good at covering their tracks-

-or this wasn't the real place where the children had been kept.

"Anything else?" Heizo asked, already sensing there was. Otherwise Ginshiro would have never come out all this way himself.

"There is just one thing," Ginshiro began, "-apparently he was spotted."

Heizo closed his eyes, drawing in a long breath. He didn't need him to specify- with cases like this, it could only ever mean one person. The strange masked figure had first been spotted around three years ago, whose presence linked together cases that otherwise wouldn't have been connected. Witness descriptions seemed to vary wildly, but there was just one thing that they all agreed on.

The mask.

It was always described as a deep crimson half mask with gold patterns etched into it. The exact pattern seemed to change, but he had no reason to doubt it was the same person. He had never seen them for himself...

...but he had seen a mask like that, once before.

"Where?" Heizo asked.

"In the vicinity of one of the abducted children's houses." Ginshiro said. "Although the officer only caught a brief glance at them. They ran as soon as they were spotted."

"Does anyone else know about this?" Heizo asked.

"No," Ginshiro said, "-I told the officer who spotted them to stay quiet."

"Good." Heizo said. "We don't want this getting out."

Ginshiro watched him for a moment longer, before turning away. "You should speak with him."

"I plan on it," Heizo said, "-though I doubt he'll say anything."

"It's the one thing he stays quiet about, after all." Ginshiro observed.

Heizo merely huffed.

The floorboards creaked. She didn't doubt the noise had been made on purpose, so as to not startle her, but the consideration was unnecessary. She'd been able to hear his soft footfalls much sooner than that.

She didn't even need to look up to know who it was.

"You're late, Iori."

"Forgive me, Momiji-sama," he said, "-but matters took slightly longer to tend to than expected."

"I see," Momiji said, "-in that case, I suppose it can't be helped."

After all, she didn't know much about that world. Despite being the Ooka family heir, she was born without the ability to perceive spirits. It had never really bothered her- though it was slightly inconvenient that she couldn't go anywhere without a guard nearby.

At least hers made for good company.

"And?" Momiji asked. "Did you see him?"

"No, I am afraid not." Iori said. "I don't believe he had much involvement in this incident."

Momiji hummed, somewhat doubting that. With an incident this large, it seemed almost inevitable that the one who called Osaka his home would investigate. But in a sense, she supposed it was a good thing- this was hardly something a high school detective could solve, no matter how talented.

And if there was one thing her future husband had, it was talent.