I Should Tell You
by Amm/SoulSeeker

Shinichi, Heiji, and Kaito. Each has his own secret, and each will have his own unique style of bringing it out…the ladies are in for a treat! (SR, HK, KA)

Prologue: How it Began
"I dare you."

It was quiet in Hattori Heiji's room.

If there was any sound at all, it was only Heiji, flipping another page in his newly acquired book--or perhaps Conan, flipping over another card in his off-computer Solitaire game. (Yes. He was that bored.) You could've been deaf and you would've still heard the faint sound of the ticking clock, which, against the silence, was as loud as the concert of a rock band.

Interrupting the silence, Heiji finally sighed, slamming his book shut without even bothering to stick his bookmark in to keep his place. This startled Conan a bit, though he was a master at hiding it and simply looked up at him calmly after the initial surprise had died down.

"Hattori?" he ventured softly. He silently wondered if something was actually wrong; something that made him break the peace like that.

Their eyes met briefly as Heiji made his way over to his shelf to put his book away, and after a few more moments of silence, the Detective of the West blinked at the little boy, who was still entranced by the cards sprawled out in front of him. "Shouldn't you be helping out with that case instead of just waiting here?" he asked. "I doubt that that dolt Kogoro is going to figure things out on his own, and if it doesn't get solved, you guys will have traveled all the way to Osaka for nothing."

There was a pause.

Conan didn't reply right away; he simply shrugged, a look of pure apathy on his face, and he replied without even glancing away once from the Solitaire game in front of him. "He keeps telling me to mind my own business, and no one listens to me," he explained in a frustrated tone. "Besides, I'm tired of giving him all the credit for my work. And, he's not the only one on the case—one of them has got to be smart enough to figure it all out, don't you think?"

Heiji made a face, not looking entirely too convinced, but he shrugged and went with it.

It was then that he suddenly saw Conan's fists hit the ground—in anger, he presumed. "Damn it!" he heard him cry; the boy took his hands and ruffled all the cards together, mixing them into one big pile as he ruined all the neat rows they had once been in. "Lost again…"

Heiji just laughed as he bent down and began to pick his cards back up, putting them away carefully into the box where they belonged. At that point, he didn't need detective skills to know that Conan was done with that game. "Guess we can add Solitaire to your list of weaknesses," he chuckled. "Right under singing."

The boy shot him a glare that immediately made the room silent again.

Shoving the box of cards onto his desk, Heiji returned the glare with a Look; one that broke Conan's glare in a pinch, leaving him curious. He stared at his friend with a confused air, and just as he was going to ask him what the Look was all about, he had spoken.

"Ran asked me about you again today," Heiji told him seriously. "When you guys got here and you were off with the old man."

Conan blinked at the words and the way he had said them, wondering exactly how Heiji expected him to react—because he was anything but surprised. In the end, he just chuckled and swallowed the guilt he felt quickly building up inside of him. "She always asks about me," he replied.

"So?"

"So what?"

Heiji sighed and shook his head—did he have to spell out everything? For a world-class detective, Kudo could sure be clueless sometimes. "So, don't you think you should tell her?" he asked. "You always go out of your way to keep your identity a secret—to protect her and all that…"

"Exactly," Conan butted in. "I'm protecting her. So none of the men in black will go after her."

He shrugged, backing off slightly since he realized that it was Shinichi's business—not his. "I guess," he replied. "I mean, the whole Black Organization thing—it's not really my turf. I'm just saying that lately, it seems like the secret's hurting her more than it is protecting her…you've been hiding it long enough, I think, and it can't be good for your guys' relationship. Romantic or not, you guys do have one."

No response; only a sigh. And after a while, Heiji sighed too. "I guess it's just frustrating to be in the middle of it all," he shrugged. "If I were in your shoes…I'd probably cave in and spill."

"The keyword there is if," Conan reminded him. "And you're not. Besides…" He slowly journeyed over Heiji's desk, placed facing the wall near the window, and picked something off of it. "Shouldn't you worry about your own secrets?"

His jaw dropped wide open. "My own secrets?" Heiji stammered. "What in hell's name do you mean?"

Conan snickered, holding up the magazine article—the interview with Heiji, with the adorable photo of him in his childhood years. "I mean, shouldn't you tell Kazuha?" he teased. "That she was that girl, the first person you ever loved, in Kyoto? That you still love h—"

"How did you know?" he asked, demanding but calm.

He just smirked. "I didn't," he replied. "But I do now, don't I?"

Heiji covered his mouth, a surprised expression on his face, but, remembering who he was talking to, it dropped quickly. Of course Kudo would be the one to figure it out. He snickered now, amused. Amused, at the fact that now, they both had blackmail against the other. "So what, are you gonna use that against me now?" he asked.

Conan mock-gasped, putting a hand over his chest, just to be dramatic. "Hattori, I'm surprised!" he exclaimed. "You think I would do that to you?"

"Yes," the teen replied simply.

The little one stuck his tongue out. "Well, I won't," he assured him. "I mean, you haven't used my secret against me. It'd wouldn't be fair if I didn't give you the same respect, now would it?" He winked at him, and Heiji nodded.

"Guess not," he replied. "But…"

The detective looked thoughtful, and Conan raised an eyebrow at him, suspicious now. "But what?"

He smirked that same know-it-all smirk Shinichi loved to pull, and Conan began to get anxious. Heiji loved it. "Maybe to clean the slate, we should both tell," he proposed.

"What!"

"Yeah!" Heiji nodded, as if becoming more confident in his idea by the second. "We both want to, don't we? So why don't we make a deal and just do it? I'll tell Kazuha my secret, you tell Ran yours. Then the cats will finally be out of the bag…"

Conan narrowed his eyes at the insurmountable stupidity of the situation. "Are you kidding?" he exclaimed. "That's hardly fair. If you haven't noticed, my secret's just a little bit bigger than yours, and a little more deadly."

Heiji rolled his eyes. "You can't hide it forever, you know. She's going to find out one way or another sooner or later," he guaranteed. "Why not let it be from you?"

He simply glared at him; damn him, damn the Black Organization, damn that stupid pill, damn his stupid double life. He thought of Haibara's warnings; all the possible consequences, if he revealed his secret. He absolutely couldn't give in, and he wasn't going to. And then he had said them.

The three words.

"I dare you."

Conan stared disbelievingly, and Heiji repeated it again. Now he was being dared! How did he always manage to get himself into these messes; or more importantly, how did he always manage to get out of them? He didn't say yes. He couldn't. But he didn't say no either. If Heiji wanted to tell Kazuha that she was his first love, then he could, but Conan actually had to think about this. The consequences, the pros and cons…what was more worth it?

He sighed. "Fine…I'll…"

Suddenly, the boy's eyes widened. His gaze was fixed on the window; on a white bird, perched on Heiji's window ledge. He couldn't quite tell what type it was; it might've been a pigeon, but he could see its red eyes from a mile away. He ran up to it, wanting to catch it, but of course it jolted away before he even reached the window, leaving feathers falling in its dust. He caught one, looking at it carefully. He turned to Heiji just in time to meet his eyes. "You see that?" Conan asked.

But Heiji had been staring at the magazine article again, not having paid attention. "See what?" he asked. He looked out the window and then to the feather in Conan's hand, having no idea what he was talking about.

Conan shook his head. "Never mind. I'm gonna go on a walk." He grabbed his light jacket in prep for the wind he would face outside, and stepped towards the door. "Just to think about it. It's a big decision, and I can't just make it out of the blue like that."

Heiji just snickered. "You'll end up telling her in the end," he assured him.

Conan folded his arms, surprised at his confidence. "What makes you so sure?" he asked. "I haven't told her for this long; what makes you think this little antic of yours will make me change?"

The detective just smirked. "Because I know you, I know you're dying to tell her," he told him. "And, I know you love her."

He didn't confirm it. He didn't deny it. He simply shook his head, with a smirk of his own, and he left without a single word.

Because he knew he was right.

A/N: Woohoo, something NOT challenge-related. Hehe, and before you ask, yes, the title WAS Rent-inspired. This idea came to me while I was riding into Bangkok about a week or so ago, and as the summary implies, it's a three-parter (Shinichi, Heiji, Kaito) with a prologue and epilogue. I'll also throw some credit Candy-chan's way, since I was also thinking of her "Quest for the Question" story as I thought of this.

Anyways, I hope you like the idea and stick around to see what the ladies have in store for them. Hehe. Till next time.