AN: I have no idea as to why I started thinking about this AU but anyways, I present it to you in oneshot form. Please take it from me, I laughed too hard in various places while writing this. This was a lot of fun, so I might revisit parts of this AU in the future on the off chance anyone's interested.

Birds of a Feather

(AU)

Characters: Hakuba Saguru, Hattori Heiji, Toyama Kazuha

Summary: ...don't necessarily flock together.

It had started with two strange bumps on his upper back, around the area of his shoulder blades.

At the time, it didn't give him much cause for alarm. He had, after all, been thrown into a wall during a case the other day, so having some kind of bruising, even of a raised sort, really wasn't that odd. Still, he'd arranged with his housekeeper to make a doctor's appointment for him, just to be on the safe side. One must always mind one's health, after all.

It was a day later that the itching started.

Logically, Hakuba knew that he shouldn't. And yet, the temptation was almost overwhelming, even for someone such as himself, and he found himself scratching at his shoulder blades on a constant basis, even as he irritated the skin around it more and more by doing so. He wasn't certain if it was this, or whatever was already causing these strange symptoms that brought about the mild fever that he was now dealing with, but as the week went on, his symptoms seemed to get worse and worse.

What started as just a temptation to itch soon became pain, a hot, throbbing pain as if there was something pressing on the inside of his shoulder blades, trying to come out. He half wanted to just pull his skin aside and let out whatever it was that was begging to come out, but of course, he knew that he couldn't do that.

His housekeeper was concerned, saying that perhaps it would be for the best if he went to get himself checked out at the hospital before his appointment with the Hakuba family doctor, and frankly, he agreed with her. In fact, he had just been on his way there when he had been stopped in his tracks by the sound of a scream- and possibly sick though he was, Hakuba wasn't about let that stop him from looking into the source of it.

As it turned out, he wasn't the only one.

"Ya look seven shades of awful today, Hakuba."

Admittedly, he wasn't quite certain what it was that brought none other than Hattori Heiji out to Ekoda that day, and frankly, he really wasn't in the mood to deal with the hotblooded detective today. He had half the mind to leave the murder case that had cropped up to him- as much as he might not always agree with Heiji's methods of investigation, he knew full well that he generally knew what he was doing when it came to detective work, and knew that the investigation would be in good hands with him.

It was the fact that he knew Heiji would never let him live it down if he backed out of a case and left the whole thing to him that stopped him. That was something that Hakuba very much did not want to deal with. Not now, not ever.

"I've been a bit ill lately." Hakuba told him frankly, seeing no reason in keeping the truth from him. There was no shame in being sick, though he found himself doubting that Heiji had ever been so in his life. "I was actually just on my way to pay a visit to the local hospital."

"We'd better wrap up this case real quick then." Heiji asked, and the half-British detective couldn't help but note a hint of concern on his voice. So it appeared that the hotblooded detective felt something for him other than just annoyance- that was somewhat surprising, really. "What's wrong with ya?"

"A fever, mostly." Hakuba said. "There's been a strange itching sensation around my shoulder blades as well, and a localized pain within that area." Watching as a slightly strange expression came across Heiji's face, before he knew it, the Osakan had come around behind Hakuba, lifting up the back of his shirt without a second thought to get a look at things himself.

"W-wait a moment, Hattori-kun!?" Hakuba started, taking a few steps away from him, trying to tuck his shirt back into his pants again, completely losing his composure at this unexpected violation of his privacy. Even Kid was nearly so intrusive as that! "What was that for?"

"Man, ya don't need a doctor fer somethin' like this, though I admit, it's a bit late fer 'em." Scratching the back of his head, Heiji cast him a curious look. "Unless... don't tell me ya don't even know?"

"Don't know what?" Hakuba asked, eying him with suspicion, hoping that he didn't get any other strange ideas about violating his personal boundaries again. Once was enough, thank you very much.

"Ya don't, do ya?" Heaving an exasperated sigh, Heiji could only rub his forehead, as if somehow, Hakuba was the one who was causing the headaches here, and not the other way around. "Well, whatever. Let's finish up here real quick an' then we can get ya some help. Not from any doctor though."

Before Hakuba had a chance to ask why Heiji had punctuated that sentence with a loud snort, the Osakan detective had already resumed his investigation, turning his attention away from him. With a slight glower as he realized he wasn't going to get any quick answers for Heiji's odd behavior, Hakuba begrudgingly set himself to the investigation as well, eager to turn up the real culprit of the case, even as his head swam with fever.

Perhaps it wasn't all that surprising then, that he wound up collapsing. He probably shouldn't have run to the crime scene in the first place, he thought to himself, barely able to comprehend what was going on around him. He was aware that a cluster of people had gathered around him, and that there was a number of voices buzzing about- and he dimly became aware of when someone hauled him up off the ground, all but slinging him over their shoulder as if he weighed nothing.

What happened after that was a total blur, as he weaved in and out of consciousness, his awareness hindered by both fever and pain. The pain was the worst of the two, Hakuba thought when he had a moment's clarity- it was sharp and unceasing. It almost felt as if his back was tearing itself apart. It was almost more than he could bear.

He knew that he had been moved somewhere, but he didn't quite know where. What he did know was that Heiji still appeared to be around- he could catch snippets of his voice from time to time, as well as the voices of others. Dimly, he realized that they all seemed to be speaking using an Osakan accent, and he couldn't help but wonder if he'd wound up in Osaka somehow. He could barely even understand what they were saying, only able to make out snippets here and there, and what he did catch was most befuddling to him.

"-he doesn't even know."

"-more intense when it happens when they're older."

"No wonder the two of ya don't like each other."

"-goddamn feathers everywhere."

Hakuba had become so used to the sensation of pain that when that pain finally lifted, leaving behind only a dull, throbbing sensation and an exhaustion that filled him to the bone, he could barely believe it. Dimly managing a look at his surroundings before he succumbed to his aforementioned exhaustion, he couldn't help but notice that he appeared to be perhaps be in a traditional Japanese home- and in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but recall that Heiji lived in one that was very similar.

Sleep was a relief, he thought, finally giving himself over to it. It felt as if he hadn't slept in at least a week. There were still so many thoughts buzzing about in his head- like what this new weight on his back was, but he didn't have long to dwell on it. He'd think on it more when he woke up, he thought, before slipping into a peaceful, dreamless sleep, free of fever and free of pain.

"Oh, ya finally woke up."

Grimacing slightly at the sound of Heiji's voice, Hakuba slowly opened his eyes. Although he knew the sound of his fellow detective's voice right away, it took him longer to place why he was hearing it right after waking up in the morning. It took awhile before his fragmented memories finally caught up with him- that's right, he'd been at the scene of a murder when he'd collapsed all of a sudden. Someone had taken him out of there, that someone very likely being Heiji himself, he was able to deduce now.

But after that, everything was a huge blur of pain and fever. He remembered the pain lifting, and then exhaustion overcoming him. He hadn't even had the time to really question anything before he'd passed out. Now that he was feeling considerably more awake and aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was currently lying face down on a bed, his head all but buried within a pillow.

Which was odd, considering he usually slept on his back.

"Hattori-kun?" Hakuba finally spoke up, wondering if his confusion was audible in his voice. Speaking of his back, he could feel a strange weight on it that hadn't been there before. It was as if his brain was trying to process something and failing, the dots being something that were too difficult for him to connect. "Where exactly am I?"

"My place." Heiji replied simply, giving him a shrug. He'd pulled up a chair next to Hakuba's bed, and was watching him with rather curious eyes. Hakuba was unable to help but notice that he was sitting in it backwards, resting his arms on the frame of the chair. "Don't ya remember collapsin'?"

"I most certainly do, but I don't see how that resulted in me ending up in Osaka." Hakuba replied, unable to keep a somewhat dry tone out of his voice. Although he was feeling considerably better than he had been in a long while, his head was still spinning. "Did you put something on my back?"

At the way Heiji snorted at the question, an amused grin flashing over his features as he shook his head, Hakuba could only narrow his eyes. "God, ya really don't know a thing, do ya? Sucks ta be ya, I guess, bird brain."

"Bird brain?" Pushing himself up off of the bed, Hakuba couldn't help but take a sense of offense to his words. "What is that even supposed to mean, Hattori-kun?"

"An' people call me the dense one." Heiji mumbled to himself, before jerking his head towards Hakuba's back, casting a pointed look towards it, before pointing towards a mirror that hung off the nearby closet. "See fer yerself."

"For myself...?" Blinking slightly, Hakuba finally managed to steady his thoughts. As if by some instinct that he didn't know he possessed, he could feel something stretching out from his back, making a sound that he was already rather familiar with from his faithful hawk. It was also, incidentally, a sound that he should have no way of reproducing himself. Even as he pushed himself to his feet, stumbling a little from the new weight on his back, Hakuba couldn't help but feel he had a strong idea of what he was going to find, absurd though it was.

Wings.

Huge, feathered wings. The feathers that covered them appeared to be a mix of golden and tan colors, forming a pattern that reminded him once again of his beloved pet. With one hand, he slowly reached behind him, carefully stroking one of the wings in question- and with the sensation of touch that was transmitted straight to his brain, the doubt that he had that this was somehow some kind of strange prank had an end put to it.

"So ya see?" Heiji asked, that wide grin of his having not faltered once during this process of discovery. For all the world, he was acting as if this were a normal turn of events. "That's why yer a bird brain. But I suppose it can't be helped if ya didn't have any idea, I guess. I'm guessin' it's probably yer dead mother then that ya got them from. No idea why they waited this long ta come out though. Should've happened when ya were a kid."

"Why are you acting as if this is something normal?" Hakuba asked, slowly turning around to face Heiji. "Human beings normally don't grow wings. This must be some kind of dream."

"Ya want me ta pinch ya?" Heiji asked, rising to his feet, tucking his hands into his pockets. "That can be arranged, ya know. Besides, while it's true that humans don't grow wings, yer probably only part human ta begin with, Hakuba, so it's not like it's a big deal."

"No, I'm quite certain that this is the very definition of a big deal." In spite of everything, he found himself steadily growing somewhat more collected, enough to get a slight headache at the easy way Heiji was dealing with all of this. Rubbing his forehead and trying to put his thoughts in order, Hakuba carefully studied the Osakan detective through narrowed eyes. "And what do you mean, only part human? You've been talking nonsense for awhile now, Hattori-kun."

"Honestly, ya just grew wings, an' yer still actin' like that. Yer even worse than Kudo." Grumbling to himself, Heiji rubbed the back of his neck, as if considering something. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. Most people would react like ya, I guess, if they thought they were full humans the whole time. As it turns out, I guess the two of us have somethin' in common after all, other than our old mans."

"Something in common?" Hakuba asked, before making a connection. "Don't tell me that you also...?"

"Well, I'm still a bit different from ya, though. I suppose the best thing is fer ya ta see fer yerself, though." Heiji told him, ending his sentence with a quick grin. Pausing to rub his shoulders for a second, it took Hakuba a moment to comprehend what was currently unfolding before his very eyes. Suddenly he found himself understanding just how accurate a descriptor the phrase 'hotblooded' was in regards to the likes of Hattori Heiji.

As if it were the most natural thing in the world, a pair of wings unfurled themselves from Heiji's back, where they hadn't been any before. Unlike his own feathered ones, Heiji's wings were covered in scales, their hue an orange color that resembled bright flames. Scales which didn't just end on his wings, surfacing suddenly on other parts of his body- around his eyes, running up his arms, covering his hands and feet. His eyes themselves changed- though the blue color remained, the pupils slit themselves, shrinking back. It was perhaps the thick, lizard-like tail that emerged that was the final nail in the coffin for Hakuba, as for a brief moment, his brain almost entirely ground to a halt.

This was hardly a turn of events that the had been expecting. With one hand, he reached up, finally deciding to take Heiji up on his earlier suggestion, and carefully pinched himself. The sharp pain the action sent through him made it clear to him that this was not some kind of surreal dream- that this, somehow, was reality, as absurd as it was. Not only had he somehow, impossibly, grown wings, but that Hattori Heiji was also...

"You...?" Hakuba blinked, slowly coming back to his senses. No good, it wouldn't do to lose his composure around Heiji- even now he could still see that amused grin of his, a glimmer to his changed eyes that hinted to the fact that he was enjoying watching his reactions. Still, even so, that was easier said than done. "You couldn't possibly be some kind of..."

"Dragon?" A quick burst of flames burst forward from his lips as he spoke, as if to illustrate his words. They danced in the air, before quickly fading away to nothing. With a casual shrug, the tip of his tail gave a slight twitch, a playful look dancing in his eyes. "Half, on my mother's side, at the very least."

"So, Hakuba. Ya still think yer in some kind of dream?" Heiji asked, folding his arms in front of him, his amused look not showing any signs of fading from his face anytime soon. "But ya know, ya should really be glad that ya ran into me. If you'd gone to a hospital, not only could they not treat yer symptoms, ya'd wind up blowin' the lid off of everythin' fer the lot of us, an' probably windin' up becomin' some kind of test subject yerself. Ya should thank me."

"This is absurd." Hakuba couldn't help but sputter, rubbing his head. Finding himself pacing the room, his movement still somewhat unsteady due to the added weight on his back, Hakuba tried to fully gather all of his thoughts. "But this is real, isn't it? I have... and you're..."

"It's real." Heiji told him, giving him a curt nod of his head. "I'd offer ta let ya see my other form, but we don't have the space fer that here, an' it'd draw way too much attention outside."

"Other form...?" Hakuba trailed off, for a moment not processing what he was implying- but when he got it, it was all he could to heave a deep sigh, unable to help but notice that even his wings seemed to slump in response. "No, that's quite alright Hattori-kun. Just that transformation is quite enough for me today. I can't believe this."

"I can't believe a horse guy is actually a bird guy." Heiji said with a simple shrug of his shoulders, the very tip of his tail twitching back and forth ever so slightly as Hakuba paced. He'd honestly never expected that Hakuba would have ever been somehow who was on his side of the veil- but god, was he ever enjoying watching him so utterly lose his composure. "Well, don't worry though. We might not be on that great of terms, but I'm hardly gonna through ya out in the cold, Hakuba. I'll teach ya everythin' ya need ta know."

"Then I will gratefully accept that offer, Hattori-kun." Hakuba said after a moment, finally pausing in his pacing to turn his full attention back towards him. "For starters, is it actually possible to put these things away? You didn't have yours until just a minute ago, so..."

"It sure is!" Heiji reassured him with a bright smile, folding his own back up, the great wings that had stretched out behind him all but vanishing into his back, even as his other draconic features remained. Hakuba couldn't help but find himself questioning how it worked, logically speaking, and soon found his thoughts once more spiraling in circles. Perhaps it would help, in just this one instance, for him not to attempt to try and apply logic to this situation.

That too, was easier said than done.

"Don't worry yer pretty boy head about anythin', Hakuba! Ya can crash here fer as long as ya need, an' in the meantime, like I said, I'll teach ya everythin' ya need ta know!"

For some reason, Heiji's words only brought to him a vague sense of apprehension.

"Why did you somethin' like that, ya idiot?!"

"It's fine, it's fine. It's the same way my mom taught me." Patting his childhood friend on the shoulder, Heiji flashed her a grin, even as the sound of Hakuba's scream still rang out in the air, audible to them both. "Besides, it's just the ocean under this cliff, so it's not like he's gonna die or anythin'."

"That doesn't mean it's okay fer ya ta just push Hakuba-san off of a cliff!" Kazuha sputtered, almost unsure of what to make of both what her friend had just done, and also this new information that the method Shizuka had used to teach her son to fly in the first place was to just chuck him off the nearest cliff. She'd always assumed his mother had a gentler approach to teaching.

"Sure it does. He's the one who asked me ta teach him ta use 'em in the first place." Heiji told her frankly- even as he was unable to keep his amused smirk off of his face. It wasn't every day he got the chance to kick Hakuba Saguru off of a cliff, so when he had the chance right in front of him, he definitely was going to take it. Rather, he was just surprised that Hakuba had even allowed him to bring him that close to the edge of a cliff in the first place without realizing his intentions. What happened to being a sharp detective?

"Ah, he stopped screamin'." Heiji noted, his ears able to catch the sudden ceasing of the sound, something which he knew Kazuha couldn't. "Guess he figured it out."

"Or he's dead, an' ya just became a murderer." Kazuha remarked, casting a skeptical eye over towards her childhood friend.

"Like I said, there's no way he'd die from bein' shoved off of here." Heiji said.

"I certainly thought I was going to for a few moments, however." Hakuba's dry reply could barely be heard over the sound of his own wings flapping, and more importantly, the sound of his own heart pounding inside of his chest- though he imagined he was the only one who could hear that. He should have known that he shouldn't have trusted Heiji for one second- it was foolish of him to ask the half-dragon detective to try and teach him anything. Finally landing back on the safety of solid ground, Hakuba resisted the brief, very out of character, urge to kiss it.

How on earth did Kuroba manage to soar through the skies on that hang glider of his, night after night? While Hakuba wasn't the type to have a fear of heights, being that far above the ground with nothing to support him had proven somewhat more heart stopping than he'd anticipated.

Granted, being shoved off of a cliff certainly didn't help matters. Eyes catching Heiji's amused grin, he knew he shouldn't have trusted him for one second.

For better or worse, he'd found himself spending a month at the Hattori residence, coming to terms with the fact that he was, in fact, apparently not fully human- and what's more, had grown wings. Nevermind the fact that the one known as the high school detective of the west had turned out to be half-dragon. Still, he'd found his time with Heiji's parents rather enjoyable, actually, in between his kind mother, and his father, whose police work that Hakuba admired greatly. Heiji himself was a mixed bag- and today, he thought, was going to be one of the days in which he could care less for him.

Over that course of time, he'd come to learn any number of things. The first among them was the fact that yes, Heiji's childhood friend, Toyama Kazuha, was fully aware of her friend's inhuman origins, and had known since long ago. She herself was fully human, however. It didn't seem to bother her in the least bit, really, as she saw no reason as to why it should. Heiji was just Heiji, regardless of whatever kind of blood flowed through him, regardless of the fact that he could breathe fire as naturally as he could air.

Yes, of course Heiji's own father knew what the woman he'd married was, but no, he hadn't known that back when they had first started dating. He'd accepted the truth easily enough when Shizuka had confessed it to him, once she realized that their relationship was quickly becoming something serious. No, Shizuka wasn't actually hundreds of years old- she was exactly the age that she seemed to be, and had grown up among humans, as did countless other dragons, having long since blended into human society. Her parents were opposed to her marriage to a human man, but she'd been stubborn about it, and eventually, they had been forced to accept the matter.

Yes, both Shizuka and Heiji alike could turn into proper dragons themselves. The transformation seemed all the harder for Shizuka's half-human son, so he didn't like to do it all that often, not unless he had good cause to. They could both very much still speak human language even that form, something which had briefly caused Hakuba's head to reel, hearing Heiji's voice come out of a beast that all but towered over him, and looked as if he could flatten him if he so much as stepped on him.

No, they didn't know anything about his mother, other than it was unlikely that she was human. There were apparently numerous species of near-humans who possessed wings who lived alongside humans, and it was hard to say which one she was. As it turned out, winged near-humans and dragons had a long standing rivalry, with dragons claiming that they controlled the domain of the sky, and that any other beasts that challenged them for it would be swiftly brought down. Of course, in modern day, such things had been put to rest- especially once humans themselves took to the skies, creating airplanes to transport themselves. If there was one thing that a dragon applauded, it was ingenuity, and once even the wingless humans found a way into the skies, the whole matter of who owned it had become a moot point to them.

No, there shouldn't be anything that would deter Hakuba from living a normal life even now. Heiji was living as a normal human himself, after all, as was his mother. As he'd promised, Heiji had taught him how to fold away his wings, and though he still couldn't help but question the logic behind it, he was quite grateful to not have them always trailing behind him. Once he was ready, he would leave the Hattori household behind him, and return to his own life- he'd already given both his housekeeper and his father a call, using the excuse that he was working on a difficult case for the time being, and would come home when he was done.

Hakuba had no plans on telling anyone about what he'd discovered about himself. As amusing as the idea of chasing Kid with his own wings was, he knew that the plan would be foolish, and quickly shelved it.

Speaking of Kaito Kid, he'd finally figured out the real reason why as of yet, Heiji was the only high school detective that hadn't attended a Kid heist. Because yes, as it turned out, hoarding behavior was quite real- and Heiji was no exemption to this. Hakuba had pulled up a floorboard in his room to discover that the floor beneath was filled with all kinds of sparkling things- everything from glass beads, to small hand mirrors, to marbles, to a rather sizable ruby that Heiji refused to give him an explanation for as to why he had it in the first place. His father had long since forbidden Heiji from going to any place that he knew would be filled with jewels- or anything that shimmered underneath the light, really. Unlike his mother, Heiji's control of such instincts was, apparently, far from the best.

This information somehow did not surprise Hakuba in the least. Impulse control did not seem to be something that the hot-tempered Osakan had a handle on to begin with.

No, the boy from the Mouri detective agency that Heiji was on such good terms with, had no idea that Heiji was anything other than human. Nor did Kudo Shinichi, who Hakuba already knew that Heiji also seemed to be on good terms with. He'd asked about it of course, having been somewhat curious if anyone outside of the Hattori and Toyama families knew the truth, but Heiji had merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean, I'm gonna have ta tell him someday." Heiji had simply said.

Because yes, as it turned out- even though Heiji's own mother was really only in her mid-forties, it was true that dragons could live for hundreds of years. Heiji had observed that his own life span would probably only be half of that, but that he'd probably stop aging somewhere around his twenties- that certainly went a long way to explaining why his mother appeared to be so very youthful. So eventually, he'd have to come out with the truth, and confess everything to his friend, because eventually, he was going to pick up on the fact that Heiji wasn't aging like the rest of them.

Hakuba hadn't been certain what to say in regards to that, so he'd simply said nothing. He didn't envy him that conversation.

Thankfully, Hakuba's own life span would be that of a normal human's, he was glad to know. Even he had people that he wouldn't want to leave behind- in spite of everything, he'd found himself becoming rather fond of that infernal Kaito Kid- and the classmate that he was quite certain was Kid. Those around him as well- Aoko and even that curious Akako girl. And of course, his housekeeper and his father.

"Now, now, now, there's no need ta get angry at me, Hakuba." That cheeky grin of his not leaving his face, Heiji patted him on the shoulder. "Ya learned how ta fly in the end, didn't ya? See, I told ya I'd teach ya everythin' ya needed ta know!"

"When I agreed to that, I had assumed that your methods would be less Spartan." Hakuba couldn't help but observe, carefully edging away from the cliff, just in case Heiji got any bright ideas of repeating that stunt. "Thank you for protesting to his methods though, Toyama-san."

"No, it's no problem, Hakuba-san." Kazuha told him with a smile. "That idiot doesn't think the things he does through more than half of the time, honestly. Pushin' people off cliffs is a new one though." Shaking her head, she let out a long sigh, before her smile quickly returned, casting it in Hakuba's direction once more. "Well, I'll be here ta keep an eye on him if he tries ta get any other bright ideas, so ya can rest easy, Hakuba-san."

Ah yes, Hakuba thought to himself, as he caught the rather intense glower that Heiji had been sending his way ever since the very moment that Kazuha had smiled at him. That rather intense jealously of his- that, it appeared, was entirely due to Heiji's dragon blood as well.

Lord help any man who ever earnestly attempted to come between him and Kazuha, he couldn't help but think to himself. They'd be a dead man.