Hi!! Well, here you have chapter 3 for you to enjoy!! Ummm... don't know what to say... oh yeah: many thanks to those who review!! ^__^ you kept me alive long enough to write down this chapter ^__~

Standard disclaimers apply, and non-standard ones too. Don't want anyone to sue me. Nope. No money in pockets.

Read, enjoy, and review!! ^__^

Chapter 3: Fear...

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Heiji couldn't sleep. And the worst part of it was that he knew why... and whose fault it was.

'Damnit... why does she have to... be around me so much?'.He was spread on one of the beds in his and Shinichi's room, jeans and t-shirt still on. Nealry half an hour had passed since he got into the room... he'd already unpacked his things, taken a look at the room -pretty much the same as the girls' one, but with the living room at the right and the bedroom and bathroom at the left, which meant--

"-you AHOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!"

Yeah, which meant only a wall separated his bedroom and the girls' one.

Heiji got up and headed to the living room. Hopefully, a cold glass of water would make him some good. He opened the little fridge under the TV. Water, water... there it was. A small bottle, so no need of a glass. He drank up half of its content and left it back in the fridge, then sat on an armchair.

'I guess I really am an ahô to her...'. He looked at the bedroom. No sound came from the other side of the wall, though he was fairly sure Kazuha was yelling off not very nice words about him. 'She doesn't understand-'. His thoughts stopped as he heard a sound coming from the door. 'Finally! It was about time.' The door opened and Shinichi entered the room, seemingly not surprised to find Heiji awake.

"Boy, are these walls soundproof! When Ran opened the door to her room it was not so silent...", he said, grinning.

"You bet... but the big shout was loud enough to go through the wall.", Heiji replied, not looking at him. Shinichi smiled at that. The Osaka boy then got up from his seat, and went to wash his face at the bathroom. Shinichi went after him to their room, and began unpacking. As he finished, Heiji came out, wearing the lower part of his pajamas and ready to sleep.

"What took you so long there? Wasn't Neechan letting go of your tongue or what?", he asked. Shinichi smiled, gritting his teeth.

"I think you're not one to be making these kind of jokes, ahô.", he replied.

Heiji sighed. "Ok, ok, I get it."

"Don't you think we haven't noticed? You were completely avoiding her all the day. What's up with you?". He began changing clothes also.

"It wasn't only today." Seeing Shinichi stop at that, he sat on the bed and went on. "I've avoided her since... the accident last week. Since she got out of the hospital."

"And... may I know why?", he said, sitting on the bed too. That was going to be interesting.

Heiji lowered his head. "I... don't know... she... fell and... I just couldn't do anything because they were following us... then the police got them, and I went to her, and held her and took her to the hospital, and there she wouldn't let go of my hand...". He stopped. He didn't want to talk about it!!!...

Shinichi noticed his doubts. "You know, it helps talking it out to someone... I know it first hand. You were the only one I could talk to when I was Conan, so I can listen now, k?". He smiled. "Come on, I don't know what happened at all except from what you told me, and that wasn't much, to begin with."

"Fine, I'll tell you..." Heiji said, looking at Shinichi and smiling resignedly. "When I wasn't being chased anymore, I hurried to Kazuha. She was on the road, and conscious, already walking to me. She had a hand in her chest and her head was bleeding, and I told her not to move, but she kept on...and only stopped when I was in front of her. Her legs wouldn't obey anymore... so I caught her and carried her to the bike. Kazuha told me her neck and back didn't hurt, so I took her to the hospital myself.". He softly laughed to himself. "I even remember her telling me not to look at the nurse that much while she was being carried off to the room and I had to sign the admission...".

His face grew serious again.

"When I got to the room she was in, she was already clean and dressed with a yukata, and a doctor was with her. He saw me come in, and told me that she was fine except for some bruises, but had to remain there for the night in observation in case they hadn't noticed internal injuries. Then Kazuha thanked the doctor, and he patted her head and left. I went to her side, and sat on the chair that was near the bed... then I asked her about her head. She smiled, and pushed aside her bangs to show off a stitched injury. 'It's only one stitch', she said. 'In two days I'll only have a bruise.'.I asked her if she had any more bruises, and she put her left foot out of the sheets to show me a bruise on her ankle. 'And your chest?', I asked her. She smiled," Heiji smiled too, remembering that moment, "and told me she wasn't showing me that one until we got married. Of course, I didn't say anything more...". Shinichi grinned widely at that. Heiji went on, ignoring his friend the best he could. "Then, she suddenly took my hand. She asked me if I would stay near her until she fell asleep... she closed her eyes and her grip loosened a bit a few minutes later... and I leaned my head on the bed. I woke up the morning after, when she was getting dressed in the bathroom. She told me the doctor had already visited and that we could leave whenever we wanted to, so I waited until she was ready and we left. Our parents couldn't come because of all the work they had in the police station, so we left in my bike again."

"And, that's all?" Shinichi asked, seeing he wasn't talking anymore. "It was nothing more than an accident! Is that why you now act as if she didn't exist? I say that's not fair for her."

Heiji laid on the bed looking at the ceiling, and let out a long sigh.

"That night... I had a dream. About her... all the times she's been in danger... when we nearly fell off a cliff, when we were kidnapped, when she was made a human puppet by that american guy... when we were small... and... I just couldn't bear any more seeing her in pain..."

"And don't you think she's suffering even more this way? Hattori, wake up!", Shinichi nearly yelled, and Heiji turned to look at him. "You think I don't know how you feel?", he continued, "I hurt Ran way more than I thought possible to hurt someone, but at least I had a reason to do it. But you... you're just running away from her, and you're not yourself if you run away from pain. Think about it.". Shinichi laid down and went under the sheets.

"You know what?", Heiji told him after that, "I think I need some sleep to power up my coward feelings", he sighed, giving Shinichi a smile. The Tôkyô boy smiled back at him.

"By the way, I didn't get to thank you and Tôyama for your help... thank you, Hattori."

"Does that make me have to thank you for giving me advice?"

"G' night..."

"Hn", Heiji grunted, and also closed his eyes.

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"I see... but only because of an accident..."

Ran was sitting on her bed, Kazuha in front of her, listening to her friend. Well, at least she was calm now... when she had returned from her... um...stay... with Shinichi, not long after going out of the elevator they heard an unmistakeable 'AHÔ' come out of her room. And when they got to the door and opened it, a shower of yells got to them, and she had to be very fast saying goodbye to Shinichi and closing the door if she wanted the guests of the other rooms to keep sleeping. She found Kazuha on the bed, yelling and yelling some more about the 'heartless boy next door'. When she saw Ran, the volume of her voice lowered, until she managed to mutter a "Hi, Ran". They'd been talking since then, Kazuha explaining her friend how her situation came to this.

"I think he's afraid.", Ran said.

"But afraid of what?? It's not the first time I get hurt, and probably not the last!"

"That's it." Ran somehow understood Heiji. Somehow, he reminded her of how Shinichi thought about her and dangerous situations, but... there was the small difference on the level of danger. Even then, it was so cute, having Heiji worried for her childhood friend to that point! Ran couldn't help but let out a smile.

"Aaaahhh! How can he be so-so... ahô!!

Ran sweatdropped. "Well, I'm sure Shinichi must have talked with him, so the best we can do is wait until tomorrow and see if things get better, don't you think so?" Yeah, Shinichi had surely talked to Hattori-hun by then...

"Yeah... maybe you're right.", Kazuha answered. She went under the sheets and leaned her head on the soft pillow. "I'm a bit tired now... let's sleep, ok?".

"Ok... good night, Kazuha-chan", Ran said, also leaning down and making herself comfortable. She was about to switch off the light and fall asleep--

"Wait!". Kazuha suddenly got up and took again a sitting position. "Now that I remember...". A very malicious smile found a way to her face. "I wanted to ask you something..." Heh, no way she was going to sleep without having her talk with Ran...

"Uhh... and that would be...?". Ran was scared now... Kazuha was one to be taken seriously when she asked certain things...sweatdrops ran down her face.

"Just how far have you gone with Kudô-kun???"

'Oh, no...' Ran blushed to no end. That one would be a long night...

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Don't know what to say here... already said it all up there... well... enjoyed the chapter?... ummm... review?? Yeah, that's it. Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^__^

Aichan