Whoo! Second chapter~! X3 Let's see how we can torture Hei-kun this time around (jk, please don't hurt me.) I updated fairly quickly this time, due mostly in part to the fact I've had little to no homework this week…. Usually it takes me longer to scrape my brain back together and write something…. ^_^;;;;;;;; Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one!!!! As it turns out, there actually was a Tequila in the Black Organization…. But he died from… I think it was a suitcase bomb?? Idk. Anyways, my excuse for this is that the names are passed down through the org., so if someone dies, someone else gets their title. (Lazy much?)

Disclaimer: I do not, repeat, do not own Detective Conan or any of the characters in it. They belong to Aoyama Gosho-sama. The only character I own in this fic is Tequila (who will most likely not be showing up for a looong time. Tequila: -shrugs- Oh well~ Can't be helped….)

As soon as Heiji had snapped out of his shocked stupor, he picked himself up and, after making sure the officer's back was turned, began to run, grabbing his hat as an afterthought. It seemed to still be nighttime, maybe in the early morning hours, and the streets were still blissfully empty. Heiji silently thanked what little luck he had left that he had only been out for an hour or two.

He stumbled on the leg of his pants; nearly face planting in the middle of the road, kicking one of his shoes off in the process.

He kept running until he was winded, and absolutely certain that the police officer hadn't followed him. His mind kept racing even after he'd stopped, one hand braced on a lamppost, his breath escaping him in wheezes. What should I do? Heiji thought to himself, mind still whirling in semi-conscious circles in an attempt to process everything at once.

He took out his cellphone out of his pocket and checked the time, 11:30, he let out a relieved sigh, it wasn't too late to make a phone call.

He straightened up and resumed walking, punching a familiar number into his phone, kicking off his other shoe and placing his ha on his head as he did so. Heiji swallowed his anxiety as the phone rang, trying to sort out his confused mind, and nearly jumped when the other end picked up.

"Mouri Detective Agency."

Heiji took a deep breath "Hello?" he said, making his voice as childlike as possible, "'S Edogawa Conan there?"

"Yes, just a moment. Conan-kun! Telephone!"

There was some shuffling, and then Conan's voice filtered through the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kudou!" Heiji said, somewhat cheerfully.

"Hattori?! Do you know what time it is?!" Conan exclaimed, a note of irritation coloring his voice.

"Yup! Sorry, did I wake ya up?"

"No… But that's not the point! Also, what's wrong with your voice?"

"Ha! Yer the Great Detective of the East, I thought you'dve figured it out by now!"

"……Karma finally caught up to you, did she?"

"Karma?! What for?!"

"For always calling me short, we're both in the same boat now."

"Kudou, this isn't funny."

"Let me enjoy this for a moment."

"Oi, Kudou!" Heiji yelled, "Y' should be worried!"

Conan snickered, "Of what? You killing me in my sleep?"

"The Black Organization!"

There was silence for a moment, then a sigh from the other end, "You just can't stay out of trouble for long, can you, Hattori?"

Heiji snorted, "I think we both know that that one goes both ways." He retorted, shoving his free hand into his pocket as he trudged along.

Another sigh, "Are you still in Osaka?" Conan asked.

"Yeah, not fer long though. I'm catchin' the next train to Tokyo."

"Good. I'll call Agasa-hakase and ask him to meet you at the Tokyo station."

"Alright." Heiji paused. "Thanks, Kudou."

Heiji could almost hear the smirk on the other detective's face, "No problem."

Heiji flipped his phone shut and slipped it into his pocket. By now, he had walked about a third of the way to the station, even still, he hurried his pace a little.

He caught sight of his reflection in the window of a nearby shop and stopped, placing one hand on the glass, his reflection mimicking him. All of this…felt like a dream, but his head hurt too much for this to be anything but reality. His seven-year old reflection grinned cheekily at him and Heiji sighed, continuing to his destination. His fingers subconsciously played with the omamori attached to his cell phone as he shuffled along, occasionally tripping over the hem of his pants.

He entered the brightly lit terminal, put his pass through the machine, then found a place to sit down while he waited for the Tokyo bound train to arrive.

There was only one other person waiting for the train, a college student with a thin face, eyes darting everywhere in a universal sign of nervousness. Her left hand clutched her handbag in a death grip, her visible knuckle a couple shades paler than normal, while her right hand sat in her lap, her arm bandaged from hand to elbow.

Heiji frowned, there was something odd about this girl, he just couldn't put a finger on it. He belatedly realized how weird he himself must look: a seven year old boy, wearing clothes several sizes too large for him, taking the train by himself at an ungodly hour of night. He sighed to himself, reaching down and quickly rolling up the hem of his pants a few times, even tying his jacket around his waist in an effort to make his outfit a little more subtle.

The train arrived in a burst of sound bringing with it a gust of air that sent Heiji's hat flying off of his head. He made a desperate grab for it, growling as it slipped past his fingers and landed next to the girl across from him. She snapped out of her reverie and grabbed it with her free hand before it could fly away again. The train slowed to a stop, the doors opening with a 'whoosh'. The girl stood up, walked over to him, leaned down to his eye level and proffered the hat, "I believe that this is yours." She commented, a slight smile on her face. He nodded, relief flooding his veins, "Thanks, Nee-san!"

Both parties immediately began to make their way to the train, boarding it without another word to each other. Heiji plopped into his seat with a sigh; the hardest part of the journey was over.

Now, it was just a waiting game.

Besides himself and the other girl from the station, there was one other passenger: a foreign looking girl with brown hair and a stack of books in her lap. She had one open in her lap and was reading it with fevered intensity. From what he could see, most of the books in the stack were mysteries, which would explain the intensity. The girl from the station had taken out her cell phone and was texting someone with her good hand.

Heiji stifled a yawn and slumped in his seat, eyes wandering up to count the dots on the ceiling.

"Ne, little boy."

Heiji twitched at the "little boy" comment but looked up, the brown haired girl was staring thoughtfully at him. "You wouldn't happen to know what time it is, would you?" She asked with a smile.

Heiji pulled out his cell phone, flipping it open to check the time. "'S about 11:35 right now." He said, flipping it shut and returning the device to his pocket.

The girl smiled again, "Thank you." She said, smiling again. Then she paused, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but, why is someone your age riding the train alone at this time of night?"

Heiji forced a smile, "I'm goin' t' visit a friend in Tokyo!" he chirped. Well, that isn't exactly a lie…."My parents were gonna come with me, but they were too busy…"

She didn't look entirely convinced but she nodded anyways, "Is that so?" she said, a hesitant smile crossing her face.

"What 'bout you, Nee-san?"

Her smile turned sheepish, "I forgot something at work and had to go back and get it." She laughed, rubbing the back of her head with one hand, "This, actually." She said, tapping the cover of the book she had been reading.

Heiji looked at it a little closer, "'A Study in Scarlet'?" he read aloud, then it clicked in his head, "Oh! Sherlock Holmes?"

The girl looked a bit taken aback, "Yes, but how did you know that?"

Heiji grinned, "My friend in Tokyo is a big fan of Arthur Conan Doyle, he never stops talking 'bout Sherlock Holmes…"

A wide grin lit up the girl's face, "Looks like your friend and I have something in common!" she exclaimed, holding the book close to her chest, "I just love a good mystery!"

Still smiling Heiji replied, "Me too! I wanna be a detective when I grow up!" Even though I'm technically a detective already….He thought, brutally reminded of his shrinking once more.

The girl leaned over to ruffle his hair, "You keep that dream…" she said, almost sadly. Then, her smile returned full force, "What's your name, kid?"

Heiji's mind ground to a halt. Crap, He thought, Gotta think of name! There must be something in here! His gaze went to the stack of books the girl was holding. Issin Nisio, Sakuraba Kazuki, Akagawa Jiro…. THAT'S IT!

"Akagawa Kazuki!" He blurted out, quickly piecing together two names from the list.

"Cool! My name is Elle Adler!" She posed for a moment, then burst into giggles, "It's nice to meet you, Akagawa-kun."

"L-likewise!" he stuttered out, grinning shakily. Phew, thank God that one's over….

The other girl stood up abruptly, pocketing her cell phone and picking up her bag. She walked briskly to the door separating the train cars and opened it roughly, slamming it behind her.

Elle jumped, upsetting her books. She let out a gasp and scrambled to catch them all before they fell. Once she was settled again, she glared at the door the girl had exited through. "Jeez, what's her damage?!" she griped.

Again came the niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right about her, Heiji tried to shake it off, but the feeling remained.

Elle seemed to have the same suspicion, but she played it off, "Don't worry, Akagawa-kun," she said amiably, "I'm sure it's nothing!"

Somehow, Heiji severely doubted that.

The next 10 or so minutes passed in relative silence, Elle had returned to her book and Heiji was busy reviewing details in his head in a desperate attempt to figure out what might be going on.

All of that ended when a scream rang out from the next car down.

In an instant, Heiji was on his feet and running, yanking the door open and running through, Elle hot on his heels.

The scream had come from a middle-aged woman in work clothes, who was standing in front of the open bathroom door, pointing.

Inside the bathroom, the black-haired girl from earlier lay sprawled on the floor, clear signs of strangulation on her neck, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream.

"Yumiko!!" Another girl, almost identical to the victim, screamed, trying desperately to get to where the victim lay, fighting against the man holding her back.

Heiji's eyes narrowed, zeroing in on this newcomer's arm, where several red marks stood out against her pale skin.

Something was definitely wrong here, he was sure of that much, and he was going to find out no matter what.

Haa~! Second chapter done! The whole deduction show is going to take place next chap (wish me luck on writing that, this was hard enough as it is…… ^_^;;;;) What do you guys think of the name I came up with? I tried using the names of fictional detectives, but I couldn't find anything, so I just used writer's names…. Btw, this is an original mystery, I spent all day coming up with the method and proof, so forgive me if it's a little strange…. (If you look closely, there's a hint or to in this chapter, even...) Since I'm lazy, I'll come up with chapter names later.......

Please review, I like to hear people's opinions on my writing.

See you next chapter!!!