Disclaimer: still own nothing!
Heijis POV
The next day came and I woke up on the floor of my hotel room in my sleeping bag (futon?), I saw the wall clock display that it was early in the morning and the memories of the previous day and the unconscious kid came to my mind.
I got up quickly to check on him, and what I saw wasn't the best. The kid was sleeping with nightmares, his face contorting in apparent anguish and pain whilst beads of sweat roll down his face, making it shiny under the ceiling light.
I shook him awake when the whimpers from his nightmare became more audible which reinforced my theory of a violent past.
"Wake up!" I yell in his ear causing an interesting reaction from the unknown 'John Doe'. The unknown child suddenly snapped awake with wide eyes before getting up and taking a battle stance on the bed. He grabbed my collar with one hand whilst his other hand was forming a fist and aiming straight for my face. The fist stopped short of breaking my nose as the 'John Doe' blinked into awareness.
"Sorry…" he chirped in a cheeky childlike tone.
Throwing off my growing suspicions for a moment I answered him in the most logical voice for a situation like this which is a 'friendly big brother' voice.
"Its okay kid, my fault for waking someone up from a nightmare, at least your feeling better, you looked like sh..." I cut myself off mid-sentence when I remembered I was talking to a six year old.
"You looked poorly last night." I finished with a satisfied smirk, knowing that I dodged a bullet if Kazuha ever found out I almost swore in front of a little kid. I shudder at the thought. (he is whipped big-time, LOL)
I plastered a fake smile on my face as I answered him and I saw him giving me an evaluation with his eyes, much like I do with suspects. I promptly added that to my growing lists of clues about the kid.
As I was adding that to my list my stomach growled and his followed suit, I blushed madly but the kid remained indifferent as he allowed a small smirk to play on his lips. "Do ya want some food?"
Conan POV
'This guy is weird' I thought to myself after seeing his obviously fake smile. He did save me from my mothers incessant cackling which seems to plague my dreams whenever I don't kill a person. 'I'm messed up.' I thought to myself. 'He would be dead by now if I was in my proper body instead of…this…' A small frown graced my lips in thought of my 'little' predicament.
Ours stomach grumbled in chorus and a large blush appeared on his dark skin whilst I remained unfazed by the noise. "Do ya want some food?" He asked with a fake grin that never met his intelligent and suspicious eyes.
"Sure." I said in an optimistic child voice which made me internally cringe.
"Lets go to the restaurant…what did you say your name was again?" he asked as if the thought just occurred to him which it obviously didn't, 'Let's play.' I thought with a evil internal smirk.
"Mummy told me not to give my name to strangers." I state in a matter-of-fact tone with a childish octave that no doubt made me sound like a complete brat.
Seemingly conceding to the point he dropped to my 'new'eye level, the strange teenager did the fake smile again and looked as if he had taken my bait which filled me with mirth.
"…why don't we play a game then? You tell me your name and I'll tell you mine, sound fun?"
'…is this guy for real.' I mentally deadpanned, '…but…I could use this.'
"Sure." I say in fake optimism, "That sounds like lots of fun, I love games!"
"Well then, let's play while we walk to the restaurant." he stated with mock enthusiasm and a condescending tone.
I resist the urge to roll my eyes and tear his throat out at the thought of be treated like a child, 'Right…still not used to that.'
"…I'm Edogawa Conan." I chime my chosen name knowing that 1) always stick to the same name in an alias when your in the same area and 2) I'll escape this obviously inquisitive teen after I get some food.
"Nice to meet you Conan, my names Hattori Heiji." he answered with the first genuine smile since we first met but I froze as my mind processed his name.
"Hattori Heiji, THE Hattori Heiji, Great Detective of the West?" I asked/shouted.
"The one and only!" he states with an inflating pride and giving me his analytical eye again as we continue walking.
Heijis POV
'I'm so great even kids from Tokyo know of me…well suspicious kids, but kids none the less.' I thought smugly, 'But how does a little six year old know of the crimes I solve, 99% of them are murders.'
I started giving him the analytical eye as we made our way to the hotel restaurant and ordered two full English breakfasts. I decided to ask questions to break the ice, so to speak, with the mysterious Conan.
"So Conan," I start, "Why were you sleeping on a bench in the park till you got a fever and pass out?"
"I…um…was waiting for my…mummy and she told me…to wait for her…but I don't know where mummy went.", he said with a wavering voice and tears in his eyes, "Do you know my mummy is?" he asked me with his head tilted to the side whilst simultaneously giving me puppy-dog eyes, which made my heart melt as I felt a desire to rush in and comfort the boy, 'Cute kid.'
I stopped myself mid-thought, 'I AM A MAN, I DO NOT THINK THINGS LIKE CUTE!' I berate myself mentally whilst Conan looked at me with a startled and curious expression.
'Damn, I must be making a weird face.' I sweat dropped.
"So…" I start awkwardly as the waitress walked up and presented our food with a bored and indifferent expression, "Will that be all, gentlemen." she asks in monotone.
"Thanks." I mutter which she shrugs at. I looked towards Conan and could have sworn I saw an evil look in his eye for a second before it was covered up by a childlike innocence.
"Thanks so much, lady." Conan says in enthusiasm which gets a smile on her face and looks like she wants to gush over him, she disappeared for a moment and came back with a free drink which, much to my chagrin, was my favourite.
'Kids…so damn lucky…' I thought in bitter jealously.
We ate in peace and I managed to get questions in at some points about Conan's situation. His answers had several inconsistencies and at times seemed made up on the spot. This just made my suspicions grow for the kid.
A news report came on which caught my attention and I missed the malicious look that Conan had adapted onto his face as he glared at the television, glancing between me and the screen.
"The infamous Kaito Kid has sent out a heist note for a few days from now at the location of the Vampire Jewel and police officer Nakamori Ginzo has once again vowed to stop the phantom thief. In other news a murder has taken place at a hospital in central Tokyo of a young boy name Shinto Tanaka who was admitted to the children's ward two weeks earlier for major burns after an arson attack, a second young boy by the name of Conan Edogawa went missing earlier the previous night and is wanted for questioning by the police in relation to this brutal crime." The news reporter stated in a professional monotone.
'CONAN!' I thought after a minute of shock and turned around only to find that the young boy, who apparently has a connection to a murder, was no longer sitting with me. I paid for our meals and headed outside of the restaurant to make my way to the hotel.
'Talk about dine and dash.' I thought in anger at my being in a stupor and allowing him to escape. My ego inflated and I thought smugly, 'This looks like a job for the Great Detective of the West.'
Conan POV
'Hattori Heiji, THE HATTORI FUCKING HEIJI!' I growled mentally.
'Of all the people, in all of Japan to find me, it had to be Hattori Heiji.' I complained whilst no doubts looking like a disgruntled child, which is half right.
"Well, at least I escaped him, and I am feeling better." I say cheerfully which gained me a few odd looks from passers by.
'Right well lets head home and clear out before Ran reports me missing, hope I'm not too late.' I thought with wary determination.
I strolled to my apartment with confident steps, which is necessary since much to my dismay, if I don't I would be mistaken for a lost child….'Which is still weird.' I added as an afterthought.
As I neared my home of six years I stopped abruptly as I spotted Ran near the front door of my apartment wondering half dazed with what I assume to be worry since she has no other reason to be in front of my apartment which is on the first floor. (Second floor for any people who speak American English, just so there's no confusion.)
My gaze softened at her blank expression and I couldn't help but think how cute she looks flustered like that. And I couldn't help my next thoughts of, 'Sweet innocent Ran', I sighed audibly at the hopelessness of my situation but no-one paid me any mind.
She was knocking worriedly and repeatedly on my front door in her stupor before the landlord called security to take her away, it warmed my heart when they succeeded because I know they couldn't take Ran under normal conditions.
I felt a sudden pang in my chest as she was escorted out passed me, and didn't give me a second glance in her apparent grief induced stupor, that pain in my chest grew...
A small, yet growing pain, invaded the back of my mind, growing with every heartbeat, with every breath, with every movement until I fell to my knees onto the unforgiving floor. Clutching my head as the pain !KEPT GROWING! I tried to keep from crying out as HER laughter filled my head. I couldn't think, couldn't hear anything but that sickening LAUGHTER! For a moment, the strange familiarity of the laughter was comforting in the PAINPAINPAIN in my head, but with that horribly disturbing thought I was able to push back, push everything back! The pain, the laughter, and those thoughts.
I got up from my position on the floor shakily and tried to reassure myself that everything was fine with a mantra of, 'Nothing is wrong. Nothing is wrong.' over and over again whilst I walked to my front door and unlocked it, taking comfort in the familiar surroundings until I had regained my peace of mind.
'Time to get to work.' I thought with determination.
A/N: well, that's a fun chapter, Conan is mentally unstable, Heiji is loosing his manliness, and Ran is an emotional wreck. I love messing with characters lives, *evil smile* muhahahahahahaha. Anyway, sorry to any shippers but it's not a Conan/Heiji pairing, it's more of a small bit of little bro/big bro stuff. Also for anyone that cares, I would like to mention what happens to agase hakase, he wont be making an appearance as I don't think I can write him well enough, so he dies of natural causes years before the story starts, might be a mention somewhere in the future of his 'parents crazy professor friend' however, but that's it. The review challenge on the last chapter didn't work out so well, but it still stands as long as no-one answers it. Please enjoy and R and R.
I would also like to thank once again RoxyConan-Kun for doing the beta; you're the best, dude. *This is the Beta: Thank you for reading our story!*