Cracks in the Ship

Characters: Heiji and Conan
Theme: Food Tasting

A/N: Part of this idea here was originally intended to be a subplot for Under the Coat of Red Paint and I thought it can also be written as a standalone. Currently spamming all these short drabbles to get some motivation and muse to write more goodie KaiAo AU stuff too boohoo...
Ps: Not exactly the HeiShin that one reviewer was asking about, but oh well hehe

Conan fiddled with his plastic fork, brows slightly creased at the cute Hello Kitty ribbons imprinted on the utensil. Ran would appreciate this if she was here, and if she was here, he might not have minded as much about his crappy fork that was barely capable of fulfilling its uses when it could only scoop out two strand of noodles from the bowl.

He wearily glanced at his companion who was sitting just across the table.

"This sucks." Heiji wrinkled his nose while stirring the messy goo of his melted chocolate parfait, his metal spoon clanking loudly against the poor glass. "Everything sucks."

So here they were, inside this Hello Kitty Theme Cafe, where it was mostly populated with groups of highschool girls and couples, except for them. Two men— or perhaps on the brighter side— A man and a child. It was somewhat a good thing that Conan wasn't in his true form because he would rather not at the current moment. But besides being in such a ridiculous location for the both of them, he couldn't believe the reason they were here for. Not to investigate a crime or keep checks on the BO. They were doing food tasting.

Food tasting.

Conan pushed his kid meal aside and slumped further down in his seat. "I guess they focus more on the decoration than the taste."

"Let's go." Heiji began digging inside his wallet as he moved out of the booth and to the cashier. Conan was more than glad for this to end as he jumped off his seat and scurried for the exit.

"Saying I'm sorry is much easier, don't you think?" Conan shook his head when he noticed how Heiji was frowning incredulously at the receipt when he finally walked out of the cafe.

"What are you even talking about? It's not an apology meal." Heiji muttered and shoved the receipt into the back of his pocket. "It's just a treat."

Conan raised up his hand and counted off his little fingers. "We've visited four cartoon cafes that you thought Kazuha might like, and you're doing these crazy food tasting just because you want to make sure she likes the food." He added a pointed look.

"It's call preparation, even if it had been an unproductive one." Heiji sourly admitted before glancing at his watch. "Kazuha and Nee-chan should be done with their shopping, I guess."

"Well I hope they are because I refuse to go to another of those cafes with you."

"Next time when Nee-chan craves for Takoyaki, don't come asking me which stall is the best."

"Ran's taste is simple; As long as it's Takoyaki, she'll eat it."

Heiji smirked and eyed down at Conan, his smug smile unwavering. "Let's see about that. You'd never know about those crazy pregnancy cravings."

Conan choked onto nothing but air as he thumped his fist onto his chest to get his composure back. "Wha-What the hell are you saying?"

The dark-skinned detective hummed nonchalantly to himself and strolled towards the direction of the shopping mall where Kazuha and Ran were. "Just saying ya. Anyway, I've decided. I'll bring Kazuha to that Gudetama Cafe."

After all these time, it was now easy for Conan to sync his steps with Heiji despite his much shorter legs. "I thought you said the rice was too hard?"

"But the curry isn't bad." Heiji nodded to himself. "And Kazuha doesn't hate curry."

Conan gave a dry laugh "Doesn't hate."

"Ok. That settles." Clearing ignoring Conan's remark, Heiji grinned and slapped a hand onto the child's head, ruffling his hair to a mess. "After we meet up with Kazuha and Nee-chan, you'll say you're craving for curry and I'll suggest that place."

"Why me?" Conan slapped Heiji's hand away with a snarl. "Besides, their rice is really hard and the kid's meal only have rice. I'm not eating there."

"But they give a free complimentary colouring book whenever you order a kid's meal. Good to start saving up for your future child."

"I can afford a hundred of colouring books for my own children at my own expense, thank you very much."

"Children, eh? You sure did plan far ahead."

Later that evening, the four of them dined at the Gudetama Cafe. Kazuha did enjoy the treat and Conan did get the complementary free colouring book too. He kept it inside one of the drawers of the desk in his house's library. (Let's just hope the papers didn't become yellow by the time he turned back to his body in the end).