Phew, here's chapter four! This one covers both Conan and Heiji's Code of Love and the Kamaitachi Inn for our little interlude into canon. It's a bit shorter than the last three chapters, but I didn't want to overly stretch it out or waste too much time rehashing canon. Next chapter we start the kuchisake-onna arc!

As always, thanks for reading!

(don't) believe what you know

chapter four

there's no such thing as kamaitachi

The next few weeks passed so normally, he almost didn't believe it.

Sure, his old man had asked him a few questions about the case the next time they saw each other- a day after the missing children were found. He'd been so tired that he'd apparently slept through the entire day, only waking in the early hours of the next morning. He'd naturally kept his mouth shut, but his dad had given him one of those looks, that said he knew more than he wanted him to already.

Honestly- and here he'd thought he'd get to avoid it this time, seeing as he wasn't the one in charging of cleaning up this mess. Damn that Iori. Even when he wasn't actively trying to make his life more difficult, he still managed somehow.

Thankfully there weren't any other incidents after that- at least, not in Osaka. Or Tokyo, for that matter. He wasn't exactly in a hurry to head to Kudo's neck of the woods after everything that had happened. They had exchanged texts a few times after that, and things had seemed pretty normal, but...

...well, he wasn't about to let his guard down. Not with Kudo.

At the same time, it wasn't like he could avoid him forever. Knowing him, that would only make him seem even more suspicious. He just needed the right excuse...

The excuse, as it turned out, found him.

He was just wrapping up a murder investigation with Otaki when he'd gotten a call from one of those kids that hung around Kudo- the Detective Boys, if he remembered right. They'd said something about Kudo being almost in tears over being unable to figure out a code. Which probably wasn't right, but it was pretty funny to imagine.

The code in question turned out to be one cooked up by drug dealers to indicate the time and place of their next meeting using station numbers. It was pretty interesting, if he was being honest, and it was almost enough to make him forget everything that had happened a few weeks prior. For his part, Kudo didn't bring it up at all- of course, that might just be because the kids were around. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing you discussed around children- even children who ran into way more murder scenes than they should.

(Which was none, incidentally.)

Or well... the whole thing was fun, until he saw her.

And then he'd proceeded to blurt out the single stupidest possible thing he could have, on top of picking a fight with a bunch of narcs. Honestly. Kudo could have at least tried to warn him they were actually cops.

(He probably had but... well, he was going to ignore that.)

At the very least, he'd somehow weaseled his way out of consequences of the first, although he'd had to sit for what felt like an hours long lecture from his old man for the second. But all in all, he'd call the day a victory- he'd gotten through the whole phone call with Kudo without anything weird, so maybe he'd file that stuff he'd learned about him away just a little bit further in his head than before.

No matter what, from now on, he had to act as normal as possible around Kudo.

He could do that. He could totally do that. He'd been doing it this whole time! There was no reason why he couldn't keep doing it just fine. Just because he knew about the kidnapping and the dreams, it didn't mean things couldn't go back to how they'd been before.

...right?

...yeah, he didn't think so either. But he could at least try.

"What do ya think yer doin' ta my Kazuha!?"

Conan grinned to himself, replaying the recording one more time. At least he knew for sure now the reason Hattori hadn't told Kazuha anything about that other girl wasn't because he was secretly in a relationship with her. He hadn't thought that was the case, but...

...then why had he never told Kazuha anything about her?

Shaking his head, Conan put the thought aside. Short of asking Hattori directly, he had no way of getting answers- and something told him he wouldn't exactly be forthcoming on the matter. He was clearly hiding something, but...

...honestly, he had no idea what it could be. He'd mulled over it these past few weeks, but hadn't come up with any answers. He'd searched for information here and there, but between the mystery girl on Sera's phone and the fact that Amuro seemed to be sniffing around the matter of Akai's 'death', it had honestly fallen pretty low on his priority list.

Besides, it was Hattori they were talking about- whatever this secret was, he doubted it was anything dangerous. It was also possible he was just overthinking everything. He'd spent so looking at shadows that he was starting to see them even in places they weren't any. Sure, there was that weird dream, but the more time that passed, the more it really did seem to be just that- a dream. Hattori had acted pretty normal since then anyways.

...well. Normal for Hattori, at least. How was it that he'd been turned into a child by a mysterious international criminal organization, and Hattori was the weird one?

He wasn't sure even Holmes could solve that mystery.

"And then she- wait, Heiji, are ya even listenin'?"

Turning on her heel to glare at her friend, Kazuha paused in her tracks. It was clear as day that he wasn't listening to a word that was coming out of her mouth, but he also wasn't even looking at her. He'd come to a stop a few feet behind her, his head turned towards to the side. Following his gaze, she cocked her head.

What was he even looking at? There was nothing there!

"Heiji!" Kazuha called out again. "Hey, Heiji! I'm talkin' to ya!"

With an abrupt jerk, he finally turned to look at her, a sheepish expression on his face. "Ah, sorry. I spaced out fer a second there. What were ya sayin'?"

"Geez," Kazuha pouted, "-I was tellin' ya about what one of my underclassmen in the Aikido Club told me today. But since it's obvious ya weren't payin' attention, maybe I'll just forget about it."

"Don't be like that Kazuha." Heiji pleaded. "I really didn't mean ta ignore ya."

Kazuha frowned. "Well, if ya insist..."

"Ah, but speakin' of clubs, I just remembered I forgot somethin' in the club room." Heiji said. "I have ta go back an' get it. Why don't ya go ahead?"

Kazuha's brow twitched. Here she was, about to forgive him for being a flake, but now he was turning around and leaving? And after she'd waited for him and everything!

Honestly. And to think a few weeks ago, he'd been ready to face down a whole bunch of narcs for her. Well, they hadn't known at the time they were narcs, but...

...not to mention the thing he'd said. He'd denied it and everything, but she knew what she'd heard!

"Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Kazuha asked. "We're almost halfway home already."

"I'd like ta, but the thing I forgot was my cellphone." Heiji admitted, scratching his cheek.

"Are ya stupid?" Kazuha asked, more miffed that he'd forgotten the charm attached the phone than she was the phone itself. "How did ya forget somethin' that important?"

"Sorry, sorry." Heiji apologized. "Ya can finish tellin' me yer story later."

Heaving a sigh, Kazuha folded her arms in front of her. "I guess ya can't help it. I'll wait fer ya."

"Thanks!" Heiji flashed her the kind of smile that was hard to stay mad at, before hurrying down the street. "I'll be right back!"

Kazuha let out another sigh. Honestly, he could be so-

-a shiver abruptly ran down her spine, a sudden gust of cold wind chilling her to the bone. For just a second, she thought she could see something out of the corner of her eye...

...and then it was gone, taking the cold wind with it.

Frowning, Kazuha rubbed her arms to get the lingering chill out. What was that about? It was almost like something had just passed by in a hurry. It wasn't thinking about snowing, was it? It was too early for that!

"Ah!" She exclaimed in dismay, catching sight of her uniform skirt out of the corner of her eye. There was a rip towards the hem. "No! When did that happen?"

"Geez," she puffed her cheeks, picking at the ruined edge of her skirt, "-this sucks!"

"No, you must have something- and you're going to bring it to me."

"Are ya alright, Heiji?" Kazuha asked, tilting her head. "That's third time ya've sighed today. I thought ya would be a little more excited about seein' Conan-kun an' Ran-chan again."

"Of course I am," Heiji said, "-we haven't seen since they visited Osaka last."

"Then why do ya keep sighing?" Kazuha asked. "It doesn't seem like yer very excited ta me."

"Who knows?" Folding his arms behind his head, Heiji leaned back in his seat. "Maybe it's because a certain someone said somethin' they shouldn't have the last time we were all together."

"An' I've already apologized fer that!" Kazuha huffed. "Don't tell me yer worried about things bein' awkward? Ya know those two aren't like that."

"Idiot, I'm not worried." Heiji insisted.

Well... he wasn't worried about that, at least. Given the choice, he'd rather come here alone- but that damn Kudo had gone and done something seriously underhanded. Of all the things, recording that stupid line he'd blurted out on Ebisu Bridge... he definitely needed to get him to delete that before it got back to Kazuha. He hadn't worked so hard to throw her off the scent to have it come bite him in the ass now.

And if it what it took was a case, then it was a case he'd get.

Given the choice, he'd prefer to work this one alone, but it actually might be just what he needed. Sure, his clients this time weren't exactly human, but he was absolutely certain the one who had stirred up the trouble was. He wasn't sure why they were pretending to be a kamaitachi, but if past experience was any indicator, they were probably planning on doing something bad.

...well, either that or they were just trying to boost this inn's popularity.

What better way to throw Kudo off the scent than another fake supernatural incident? If he could get him to delete the recording at the same time, it'd be killing two birds with one stone. When he thought about it like that...

...this trip just might be worth taking- blackmail and all.

(But seriously, a recording?!)

He'd take that back. This definitely wasn't worth it.

Youkai Hunter Yamamura? What was with that crap? He doubted that asshole had a single ounce of spiritual talent. And the way he kept talking down to them, that mocking grin on plastered on his face...

...just once, he'd like to show that bastard what a real youkai was.

The shiver that ran down Yamamura's spine was just from the cold. It made him instinctively reach for the prayer beads he had hidden in his pocket, but it was definitely just from the cold. Youkai weren't real, after all. Even if it felt like there was an evil spirit at his back that was trying to curse him, they definitely weren't real.

Nope. No sir. No youkai here.

"Hattori?"

With a surprised flinch, Hattori abruptly looked back at him. "Sorry, Kudo. I spaced out fer a second there."

"Are you alright?" Conan frowned. "That's not like you."

Not unless he'd noticed something- but even when he followed where his gaze had been moments ago, the only thing he could see was the wall surrounding the outdoor baths. There was nothing there that looked as if it could be related to the case- the only thing out of place was the fact that the snow in just that particular spot had been disturbed. Since Hattori hadn't brought it up, it probably wasn't related...

...but he still filed it away regardless.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Hattori flashed a reassuring grin. "More importantly, what were ya sayin'?"

"We should probably catch up with others." Conan said, gesturing towards the annex's back gate. "If we leave Yamamura alone for too long, there's no telling what he'll say."

"Ya've got a point there." Hattori agreed, with a not so subtle twitch of his brow. "Especially around the girls. Speakin' of which, I kind of want ta check out the room they were helpin' ta decorate before all of this."

All of this was a murder, designed as if it had been done by a kamaitachi, rather than a flesh and blood human. It hadn't fooled him for a second, but Yamamura at least seemed pretty thoroughly convinced. Honestly, what a pain- why did the inn have to be in Gunma? At least Yui had the decency to not let her fear of ghosts get in the way of actually being competent.

(Well... it wasn't like Yamamura's fears were what made him incompetent.)

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Conan nodded. "We might be able to find a clue there."

Hattori quickly agreed, already heading for the annex's back gate. Conan lingered a moment longer, doing another quick survey of the outdoor bath, committing the scene to memory. No matter what the culprit wanted them to believe, this was definitely the work of a human- and he intended to prove it.

Youkai weren't real, after all.

Turning on his heel, he was about to follow Hattori when he caught the sound of snow falling. He glanced over his shoulder just in time to catch some snow fall from the wall-

-right at the spot Hattori had been staring at earlier.

"Kudo!" Hattori called out from beyond the gate. "Ya comin'?"

"I'll be right there!" Conan called back, casting one last long look towards the fence before he hurried after Hattori.

It was probably just the wind. It had just started to pick up.

It definitely wasn't just the wind.

No doubt that was what Kudo was thinking, and he intended to let him. He'd already caught him looking once- he couldn't afford it happening again.

Even if there were more of them now.

As much as he was trying not to look at them, it was hard not to notice that much. He could still see them out of the corner of his eyes, could still hear them chattering away. They didn't speak in human language, but that wasn't exactly a barrier for him. At the very least they stayed outside, so he'd been able to ignore when he'd been inside the inn, but now that they'd left it... well, all he could do was try and drown them out.

Well, since they had been the ones to contact him in the first place, he guessed they had a right to be here. He'd just have to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't try anything once the culprit was revealed. After all, she'd been posing as one of them, and had even committed a murder in their name- there were probably some that didn't take too kindly to that.

But if they did... he'd just have to stop them- without attracting attention to himself. He could probably manage that.

(Probably.)

But right now, they had a murder trick to recreate- and a culprit to snare. He could concentrate on the youkai that had swarmed the inn to watch later.

(Oh yeah, he still had to get Kudo to delete that recording too. Couldn't forget that.)

It was well past midnight when the sound of something scratching at the window woke him.

Cracking one eye open, Heiji turned his head slightly in that direction. He could make out the shadow of an animal just outside, pale yellow eyes glowing bright against the darkness. Heaving a sigh, he sat up in his futon, casting a quick glance in the direction of both Kudo and Kogoro.

Good. Still asleep.

They'd ended up spending the night in the inn as planned, although with Kazuha mad about the whole Ebisu Bridge thing, they'd ended up in separate room. That was probably for the best- if Neechan woke up and saw something like this, she'd probably wake the entire inn. He'd just got done proving there weren't any kamaitachi.

Hopefully there would be less people trampling through the forest in search of them now- especially with their mating season coming up. Kamaitachi mothers were vicious when it came to protecting their young.

Yawning, he pulled off the covers, quietly getting up. Going to the window, he opened it. The kamaitachi met his eyes, before directing his attention to the forest just beyond the inn. There he could see several glowing eyes peering out from the darkness, an even bigger gathering than what he'd seen earlier by the outdoor bath. Beyond them, several spirit fires danced, swaying between the trees.

They were clearly expecting him.

Heaving a slight sigh, he gave the creature a silent okay, before turning back to glance at the other two occupants of the room.

Still asleep. Hopefully it would stay that way. The detective agency Uncle probably wouldn't think anything if he woke up to find him gone, but Kudo... that would be a troublesome one. He could always ensure it, but...

...nah. It didn't feel right to keep doing that to him. He'd already paid him back for that one time he'd tranquilized him. That was enough. Plus, who knew what would happen if he did it to Uncle? Kudo dosed the guy enough as it was.

Quietly making his way back to his futon, he retrieved his mask from where he'd hidden it in his bag. Slipping it on, he turned back to the window- and then he was gone.

He woke with a shiver.

Groaning, Conan blearily sat up in his futon. Had someone opened a window...?

Glancing in that direction, he grumbled as he noticed the window was slightly ajar. With a yawn, he got up to fix it, having to stand on his toes to pull it shut. Turning around to go back to bed, he paused, his eyes drifting towards the futon on the very end.

Hattori was gone.

Now considerably more awake, Conan frowned. Where...?

Maybe he'd just gone to the bathroom. His futon was still warm when he touched it, so he couldn't have been gone that long. More pressingly though, his bag was unzipped- when they'd gone to bed-

-it had definitely been zipped.

Conan's frown deepened, his curiosity overtaking him. Grabbing his cellphone, he peeked out into the hall. It was empty, and a quick check of the nearest bathroom proved that it was empty too. Quietly making his way down the hall, he kept his eyes open for any sign of Hattori.

There were none.

He even checked the entrance, quietly sliding the front door open, but there wasn't so much as a single footprint in the snow. Sliding the door shut, he turned around. Had he just missed him?

This was starting to remind him a lot of the last time he'd slept over at Hattori's.

With his brow set in a deep furrow, Conan made his way back to their shared room. Hattori's futon was still empty- but he'd almost expected that. Narrowing his eyes, he stood over the end of it, before his gaze slowly drifted toward the window. It had definitely been closed when they'd gone to sleep. He couldn't have...?

No, no. Sure Hattori was weird, but was he really leave through the window in the middle of the night weird?

...well, it wouldn't hurt to check.

Standing on his toes, he quietly opened the window, shuddering slightly as it let in a burst of cold air. In his futon, Kogoro shivered but didn't wake, just clutching the blankets closer to himself. Heaving a faint sigh, Conan glanced out the window...

...and was felt his brain do the equivalent of a record scratch.

There, in the snow, were human footprints.

Oi, oi- seriously? He hadn't actually expected there to be anything there. He hadn't really left from the window, had he? In the first place, this was the second floor- he would have had to jump to get down, and while Hattori was definitely pretty athletic, that seemed like a lot of trouble to go through when he could have just used the front door.

So why go out the window?

Peering out the window, he squinted into the darkness but couldn't make anything else out. For a brief moment he entertained the thought of going to look for him, before he just as quickly dismissed it. Sneaking out at night into unfamiliar woods sounded like a recipe for disaster, especially since his wristwatch flashlight was out of batteries.

He'd just have to wait for him to come back.

Heaving a sigh, Conan carefully slid the window shut, making sure to leave a slight crack like he'd found it earlier. In the meantime...

Quietly making his way towards Hattori's futon, he peeked inside his bag. There was nothing that looked out of the ordinary in there- but he couldn't help but notice he'd left his phone behind. That wasn't the only thing he'd left- his coat was still hanging from the rack, and his shoes had still been sitting where he'd left them at entrance.

He hadn't seriously gone out in the snow in nothing but the robe the inn had provided? Even Hattori had a little more common sense than that.

With a frown, he made his way back towards the window, taking another peek outside. For just a moment, he thought he could make out several bright lights coming from the forest- before he blinked, and they disappeared just as quick.

Was it just his imagination?

Shaking his head, he focused again on the footprints- only this time, he noticed a strange indention in the snow next to them. It almost looked as if some animal had been sitting there, but it didn't look like any animal prints he was familiar with. As he thought, something about this really was weird. Maybe he really should- but no. Wherever he'd gone, Hattori would have to come back eventually. There was no guarantee he'd find him even if he left now.

The best thing for him to do was wait.

He'd already started to doze off when he finally heard the quiet sound of the window opening. Instantly snapping awake, Conan forced himself to stay still, pretending he was still asleep. It was quiet for a long moment before he heard the soft sound of feet touching the floor. Peeking out slightly from underneath the covers, he could just make out the shadow of a person falling across the room.

Had he seriously come back in using the window too? Leaving was one thing, but how had he even gotten back up? It couldn't have been an easy jump, even for Hattori.

"No problem," he could hear Hattori softly whisper, "-glad I could help."

Who was he talking to? Resisting the urge to lift the covers higher so he could see better, he waited for whoever it was to respond. But instead Hattori just slid the window shut, quietly crossing the room- probably heading for his futon. Maybe he'd been on the phone?

No, he'd left his phone behind.

Then who was he talking to?

From underneath his covers, he could just make out Hattori burying something in his bag, before letting out a loud yawn and lying back down. A few moments later, he could make out the sound of his soft breathing- had he already fallen asleep?

Pulling his own covers off, he sat up. Hattori didn't stir- it looked like he really was asleep. Conan huffed, slightly jealous of his ability to do so that quickly.

Lifting his gaze slightly, it fell on Hattori's bag. He hadn't been able to see what he'd hidden, and for a moment he was tempted to get up and check. But no matter how quickly he'd fallen asleep, he was confident that Hattori would notice if someone tried to rifle around in his bag during pre-dawn hours- all the more so if he was actually hiding something in there.

But what?

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

Conan's brow furrowed, the strange dream he'd had in Osaka once more coming back to the forefront of his mind. It couldn't be...

...but if it was, that would mean that hadn't been a dream. But if it hadn't been a dream...

...then what the hell was that?

He waited for Kudo to lie back down before cracking an eye open. What, so he'd hadn't been asleep. He hadn't even realized.

That could be a problem.

Closing his eyes, Heiji quietly huffed. And after all the trouble he'd gone through to make everything seem like Kudo's definition of normal. If he'd noticed him coming in through the window...

...well, there was nothing normal about that. Not for Kudo, at least.

But what's done was done. He'd just have to at least try and do damage control in the morning. Then again, depending on how much he'd seen... maybe he had to give up on that idea. Maybe it really was just a matter of time before Kudo uncovered his secret, like his fortune had said. They didn't call him the high school detective of the east for nothing.

That didn't mean he'd make it easy for him, not when he'd spent literal years hiding this from people who knew him even better than Kudo did. He'd figured out Kudo's secret on his own- he didn't doubt his rival could do the same.

Well, as long as he could get past his own beliefs, that was.

This felt wrong.

It felt wrong... but he was doing it anyways. Double checking to make sure Hattori had actually stepped out, Conan cast a glance towards his bag. Maybe just a quick check...

"What are ya doin'?"

Conan's shoulders jerked, looking up at Hattori with a doubtlessly guilty expression. He'd been caught with his hands in the proverbial cookie jar- or in this case, hovering over the zipper of his sports bag. He quickly snatched his hands away, allowing a nervous bubble of laughter to escape.

"Nothing!" Conan said, shooting to his feet.

"Nothin'?" Hattori asked, arching a brow. "It looked an awful lot like you were tryin' ta sneak through my bag."

"Of course not!" Conan laughed. "Why would I do something like that?"

"Good question." Hattori agreed. "Why are ya?"

Conan opened his mouth to insist again that he hadn't been, before snapping it shut. There was something in Hattori's gaze- it almost felt as if he was testing him. Had he perhaps noticed that he was actually awake last night?

If that was the case...

"Did you go somewhere last night, Hattori?" Conan asked, meeting his eyes.

"Yeah," Hattori said to his surprise, "-just fer a little walk."

"Out the window?" Conan asked.

"Don't know what ya mean," Hattori said, grabbing his bag by the strap and hanging it over his shoulder in one smooth motion, "-I used the door just like anyone else."

Conan frowned, but he didn't have the proof to refute it. It had snowed again just after dawn, erasing the footprints outside the window. Hattori probably knew it too, otherwise he wouldn't have said it with such confidence.

Damn, this was frustrating. If he'd known this would happen, he'd wouldn't have deleted that recording so easily.

"Hattori," Conan began, locking eyes with him, "-are you keeping something from me?"

As questions went, it was pretty direct, but he didn't like all this beating around the bush. Not when Hattori was involved. They were supposed to be friends.

"Me?" Hattori arched a brow. "What about ya? I know yer keepin' stuff from me, Kudo. Ya don't seriously expect me ta believe that nothing's happened with that shady organization since ya called me about that reporter neesan, right?"

Conan flinched. It was a derailment tactic, and he knew it, but that didn't make it sting any less- especially because he was right. He had been keeping things from Hattori. Between everything that had happened with Bourbon and now the possibility of a new organization member lurking in the wings, things had definitely been picking up speed lately.

"That's..."

"So there really is somethin'." Hattori said. "Spit it out already, Kudo. I thought ya trusted me."

"It's not like that!" Conan protested.

It wasn't like that at all. He just didn't want to see him get hurt. Thinking back on it, it had been reckless to ask him for help back at that Halloween party, but he didn't have as many options back then as he did now. At least the FBI knew what they were getting into. It was literally their job, after all.

"Then what is it?" Hattori asked. "Ya don't think I'm good enough?"

"Like I said, it's not like that." Conan said, quieter this time. "And what about you? Don't think I don't know you're just trying to change the subject."

This time it was Hattori's turn to flinch, his grip on the strap of his bag tightening slightly. "So what if I am?"

Conan shut his mouth, unable to come up with a good answer to that. He hadn't expected Hattori to admit it so frankly.

"Besides," Hattori continued, arching a brow, "-if yer so curious, figure it out yerself. Yer a detective, right?"

Conan blinked, looking up at Hattori in surprise. "What?"

"What, ya don't think ya can?" Hattori asked.

"Of course I can." Conan said, almost on reflex. "I just thought..."

"Thought what?" Hattori asked, cocking his head. "That I'd try an' hide it more? There's no point, not when ya've already taken a bite. I knew ya too well fer that."

Conan huffed, but he had a point. Even though they'd been on the back burner, his questions about Hattori's kidnapping case had still been there. Unable to help himself, he felt a familiar smirk turn up the corners of his lips.

"In that case," Conan began, "-you're on."

"That's more like it." Hattori beamed. "But seriously Kudo, riflin' through my stuff? An' I thought the recordin' was bad."

"Speaking of which-"

"No," Hattori said firmly, "-that's out of bounds."

Conan squinted, watching him for a long moment- before he shrugged. "Fair."

"Good," Hattori nodded, adding after a moment of hesitation, "-but seriously, her ringtone?"

"It wasn't my idea!"

Well, that could have gone worse.

The fact that Kudo tried to sneak a peek in his bag confirmed that he'd definitely been awake when he'd returned to the room- but at least it also proved that he hadn't seen everything. If he'd actually seen the mask, he suspected he'd be answering a different batch of questions entirely. He stopped him in time, but...

...well, it was only a matter of time.

Heaving a sigh, he cast a glance in Conan's direction. They'd be going their separate ways this morning- he and Kazuha would be returning to Osaka, and Kudo would apparently be going with that Uncle from the detective agency and Neechan to somewhere in Nagano proper- something about sightseeing. Knowing Kudo, he probably wanted to head straight home so he could be start looking into things, but it seemed as if he would have to wait.

That just left...

Glancing in Kazuha's direction, Heiji heaved a sigh. He'd somehow managed to pull the wool over her eyes about what he'd said back on Ebisu Bridge- again- but now she was angry at him all over again. Well, he could sort of understand why, but...

...there was no way he could actually confess to her.

But that didn't mean he wanted her to be angry with him. He'd been kind of hoping she would cool off overnight, but well... he guessed he'd just have to work on that too.

Although first he had to survive the ride back to the station. Whose idea was it to ride with fucking Yamamura anyways?!

In front of the inn, Yamamura shivered.

"Oh, Shinichi, you're back! How was Nagano?"

"Frankly so much happened, I don't even know where to start." Conan said, handing him a box as he entered. "Here. I brought you a souvenir."

"Oh, thanks, thanks!" Agasa Hiroshi beamed, taking it gratefully. "Still, you were gone for a bit longer than I'd expected."

"Yeah," Conan said, "-Uncle made a detour after we visited the inn that took longer than expected. I'll tell you about it later."

And what a hell of a detour it had been- Inspector Yamato getting framed for murder was one thing, but that section chief... he just couldn't get him out of his head. His description fit Rum's a bit too closely for him to entirely be comfortable, and the way he'd talked about him... Sleeping Kogoro's bag of wisdom?

Maybe he had been acting a little bit too freely in Nagano.

"Come to think of it," Conan glanced around, "-is Haibara not here?"

"She's down in the lab." Agasa replied. "Did you need her for something?"

"No," Conan shook his head, "-actually, I was hoping you could look something up for me, Professor."

"Look up?" Agasa asked, even as he headed to retrieve his laptop.

"Yeah," Conan nodded, "-I need information about a cult that was active in Osaka nine years ago."

"Nine years ago?" Agasa asked. "That might be a bit difficult, then."

"They likely dissolved around that time too." Conan said. "Their leader died in an accident, and most likely several other members were arrested at the same time."

"Arrested?" Agasa asked with a frown. "What for?"

"Kidnapping."