AN: I've been working on the latest chapter of Collapse, but I don't think I'll finish it tonight (probably tomorrow, though!) so in lieu of that, have this oneshot that I've been tinkering off and one with for awhile. I've always really liked that one moment from the Naniwa Serial Murders case, involving Heiji and his prophetic dream, so I decided to write something exclusively about that. It's got to be a pain in the ass to have dreams like that when you've got a friend like Kudo Shinichi.

Until next time!

The Future's Nothing But a Pain

Characters: Hattori Heiji, Edogawa Conan

Summary: Some might call it a gift, but to Hattori Heiji, it was nothing more than a serious pain in the ass- especially when you had a friend like Kudo Shinichi.

He was no stranger to waking up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, nor was he any stranger to ominous dreams, full of ill omens. He'd been having them ever since he was a child, after all, more than enough time to get used to them. If there was one thing that was different lately, it was the sheer amount he'd been having- and even that, he knew the source of.

This was the first time, however, he had done so outside the comfort of his own home, in the presence of someone outside of his family. It was a fact that he only became dimly aware of as the dark room suddenly lit up, indicating that someone else had turned on the lights. He must have let out quite the cry in his sleep, if he had been able to stir Edogawa Conan in a way that that detective agency's uncle's snoring couldn't.

Running a hand through his hair, finding that his forehead was damp with sweat, Heiji took in and let out a long, deep breath. With it, he felt the cold grip of his nightmare begin to fade- though it didn't disappear entirely. It would linger, always there in the back of his mind, ready to haunt his vision should he so much as close his eyes. There it would stay, until it was time for it to go.

Until the future that he had been an unwilling observant to had either come to pass, or had proven itself to be false. When that would be, even he couldn't say. The dreams were never that direct.

He couldn't really call it a gift, not even during the times in which he would admit to having such a thing. He still didn't half believe in his own ability, falling outside of the realm of logic as it did. Just because they had proven themselves to be true on countless occasions didn't mean...

"Oi, Hattori. Are you okay?"

Ah, that's right. He wasn't alone tonight. He and Kazuha had gone to Tokyo, and were spending the night at the Mouri Detective Agency. Now that he was a bit calmer, he could remember that much. Of all the places to have one of those blasted dreams, it had to be around Kudo, of all people. He'd mentioned them to him in passing once, but it wasn't as if he'd given away anything further to him back then. That guy had probably already completely forgotten about it.

"It's nothin', Kudo. Just a bad dream. Sometimes even I have 'em." Pulling his hand away from his head, Heiji flashed him a smile, not missing the pale color of his face. He must have given him quite a fright to have him show that kind of expression on his face- not that he couldn't understand it.

Plagued with waking nightmares as he was, the sound of someone that he considered a friend crying out must have sent his heart racing, jolting him awake in an instant. He didn't even look the least bit sleepy, alert and wide awake- that was more than he could say for that detective agency's uncle, who was still fast asleep, snoring away, not the least bit disturbed by the things that were happening around him.

"It didn't sound like just a bad dream, Hattori." His concern was audible in his voice and apparent in his expression, and frankly, Heiji felt touched by it- as much as he was almost embarrassed to be on the receiving end of it. "You were acting more like you saw a ghost, if anything."

"Don't be an idiot. We both know there's no such thing in this world." Heiji told him lightly, the edge of his grin working to stay as such. It was easy to say that, and act as if there weren't times, at the very edge of his vision... no, no, he couldn't be thinking about things like that, not with Kudo around. "An' of course I was afraid. Nobody likes seein' a nightmare. I'm sure even the great Heisei Holmes has them every once in awhile."

There was a pause there, as if there was something else that he wanted to say- but instead, Conan simply let his lips curl into a smile, a faint laugh escaping from him. "I can't deny that. Still, you gave me a scare there, Hattori. I thought that something terrible had happened to you."

"Sorry, sorry." His smile turning apologetic, Heiji rubbed the back of his head, letting out an awkward laugh. "Was I really that loud?"

"No, it wasn't that you were loud. It's just..." Conan noted, a hand straying up towards his arm- and for the first time, Heiji took notice of the slowly fading remains of the imprint of someone's hand on it. "You gripped my arm so tightly, I almost thought you were going to break it for a second."

"Ah..." Pausing there, Heiji's hand froze where it was, for a moment, finding himself at a loss in regards of what to say. Of course he had done something like that- after he had seen a vision like that, there was no way that he wouldn't reach out for the person that it had been about, even unconsciously, not when they were right next to him. "Sorry, Kudo. Hopefully it won't bruise."

"You don't have to worry about something like that, Hattori." Conan told him, shaking his head. "Do you want to tell me what your nightmare was about? I can at least hear you out."

"There's no need fer somethin' like that. Besides," Heiji reached out, playfully ruffling his friend's hair as he ignored the grumbles it earned him, "...I've already forgotten what it was about."

It was a lie, of course. His memories of it were far too vivid to go away. But that was alright- perhaps fortune had smiled on him for once, because the fact that he was here by his side now meant that he could protect him. There were too many times lately when he had glimpsed futures that he could do nothing about- especially when it came to Kudo Shinichi.

All he could do was wait, and brace himself for whatever happened. But if he was here with him, then there was no way he would allow something like that to happen. If he could prevent it with his own two hands, he would.

It wouldn't be the first time that he had broken apart a future like that with his own power. Nor, he suspected, would it be the last.

They had been plaguing him ever since he was a child, after all- these strange dreams of what he eventually came to understand were of the future. Bad futures, without fail, ones filled with pain and suffering, enough to cause him to wake up in tears most nights when he was still young. Enough to make him take shelter underneath his mother's blankets, to cling to her in hopes that they would pass.

But he wasn't a child anymore, and though they might jolt him from his sleep, they didn't induce the terror they once had. While he had never come to understand the reason why had been cursed with this so-called gift, he'd begrudgingly come to accept that he nevertheless had it. Sometimes, he suspected that perhaps his mother knew a bit more than she was letting on, but if she did, she wasn't telling him anything, and frankly, he wasn't interested in asking.

But even so, he'd sure been having a lot more of them lately. That, at least, he knew the cause of- he was sitting right next to him, after all.

This troublesome high school detective next to him, the one using the alias of Edogawa Conan. Honestly, what a pain in the ass it was to be friends with someone who kept finding danger for himself everywhere he turned. Sure, Heiji knew full well he had a reputation for doing very much the same himself- but it wasn't as if Kudo was kept up at night by nightmares about him. Besides, the scale of the trouble that they found for themselves was vastly different.

He sure as heck didn't have some sort of shady Organization looming over him, and frankly, he was grateful for it. He had enough problems as it was already, he really didn't need to add anything further to them. When it came to his dream, there was only one person's future that never showed up in them- and that was his own.

Conan, for his part, gave him a look that told him he was thoroughly unconvinced by that statement. Leave it to a fellow detective to see right through him. "Somehow I get the feeling that's not really the case. I know you're the type who doesn't like talking about this stuff, Hattori, but..."

"Idiot, of course it's really the case." Heiji reassured him, flashing him a broad grin. Kudo had enough to worry about as it was- if he learned that he was actively having nightmares about him, that would just be one more thing on his plate. "Anyways, it's too early ta be awake right now. Go back ta bed, ya squirt."

It wasn't as if he was going to get any more sleep tonight, but that didn't mean that anyone else had to suffer because of him. At least one of them needed to have had a good night's sleep, considering the case that they would deal with tomorrow.

Sending his friend one last, long skeptical look, Conan heaved a sigh. If Heiji wasn't going to talk about it, he couldn't exactly force him- and now that the sense of urgency had passed, he was starting to feel sleep pull at his eyes once more, emerging as a loud yawn. "Fine, fine. But if it happens again, we're going to talk about it."

"Yeah, yeah, I got ya." Watching as his shrunken friend made his way across the room to turn the lights back off again, Heiji's brows furrowed together. If he didn't miss his guess, the glimpse of the future that he had seen this time had everything to do with the upcoming case. Briefly, he almost considered rescinding his invitation- but he knew that doing so now would only draw suspicion from him.

Since there was no way he could convince Conan to stay behind at this point, he would just have to do his best to keep an eye out for him. In order to ensure that future never came to light, he would do everything in his power to protect his friend- hopefully without him noticing a thing.

He might not understand the reason that he had such a cursed gift, but perhaps it wasn't entirely so cursed when he could put it to good use by changing the future. After all, what use was the ability to see the future when you couldn't even use it to save the life of your own best friend?