"Lighten up a little, Hattori." Shinichi leaned back comfortably in the booth. Hattori was straying in the area for a while, so (being the good friend she is) Shinichi decided to treat him to lunch at a local cafe. "I'm sorry you got duct taped to him, but that gives you no excuse to mope."

"I'm not mopin' about tat anymore." He crossed his arms. "I'm mad at ya."

"Me?"

He rolled up his sleeve. Band-Aids were placed on a few red, swollen areas. "Ya ripped off the duct tape so hard tat my arm bled!" Shinichi snickered. "It's not funny!"

"It sorta is, Heiji." A girl sitting next to Hattori chuckled. Her hair was in a ponytail tied with a ribbon. She spoke with the same Kansai dialect as the dark-skinned detective.

"Ah, Kazuha-chan, don't be mean." Ran was seated next to Shinichi. She slapped Shinichi's arm. She winced. "You could've taken it easy on him."

"Sorry." Shinichi shrugged.

"So, ya got stuck to a stuck-up Brit?" Kazuha looked to Heiji, smirking.

Hattori rolled his eyes. "I'm just happy that Kid taped his mouth shut, too." A few girls looked to their table, the name 'Kid' peaking their interest.

Shinichi took a sip of her coffee. She looked out the window, not paying any attention to the conversation anymore. All she could think about is when Kid's next heist was going to be. Will they confront each other again? Should she bring a soccer ball?

"Oi, Kudo!" Hattori hit the table softly to get her attention.

"Ah, what?"

Ran sighed. "Geez, Shinichi. Pay attention. Heiji-kun asked if you faced Kid on the roof."

"Yeah, I did. Can I have another coffee?" Shinichi held her cup up to a passing waitress. She nodded and took the cup.

"Did ya try to catch him?" Hattori looked at Shinichi skeptically.

She just rolled her eyes. "No, Hattori. I didn't try to catch him." She retorted. "We sat and talked about the view and roses." She said it sarcastically, but in reality it was actually true. What has this world come to?

Shinichi's stomach felt funny thinking about their conversation. It wasn't a particularly good feeling, but at the same time, it wasn't bad. Just... fluffy, for lack of a better word.

"What happened?" Kazuha asked taking a bite of her meal. "Did ya almost get him?"

"I got pretty close, I guess. When I cornered him though, he just jumped off the roof and flew away." Shinichi sighed.

The waitress returned with her coffee, asking if she wanted milk or sugar. Shinichi denied both offers leaving her slightly confused.

"She likes it black." Ran forced out a laugh.

"I see." The waitress replied, walking away.

"You know," Shinichi's tone became more serious, capturing her friends' attention. She drank from her cup again. "I think-"

She was cut off by a woman's shriek. "He's dead!" She wailed. People around her jumped away from their table. The workers began to panic. "Call *119!"

"-that the Kid heists are more entertaining and less stressful than homicides." Shinichi finished groaning. "I just had to open my mouth." She stood up and walked toward the woman's hysterical sobs. Hattori was quick to follow.

"Oi, Kudo. It ya's curse."

"I'm not cursed!"

"Really?" He questioned. "Everyday I use ta hear from Nee-chan tat 'Conan saw another person die today.' and 'I'm scared Shinichi's habits are rubbin' off on her.'" Hattori said trying imitate Ran.

Shinichi's eyes darkened. "Don't ever do that again."

Hattori grinned, though it was quickly replaced with a frown as they came across the table with the lifeless body. His frown was then replaced with a scowl as his eyes met with a cocky Brit's.

"Hakuba?" Shinichi asked somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Yeah, what are ya doin' here?" Hattori repeated in a colder voice.

Hakuba completely ignored Hattori and said to Shinichi, "Some friends of mine dragged me out here." He looked back. "Actually it's more like one friend and an idiot."

"I know what you mean, Hakuba. Ahoko really is stupid." A boy with messy bedhead came up to Hakuba and rest his arm on his shoulder. His face held a mischevious grin that Shinichi swore reminded her of Kid. She brushed it off, though, since a lot of things have reminded her of the white magician recently.

"I'm pretty sure you're the idiot, BaKaito." A childish voice rang out. A girl with spiky hair walked from the crowd of gasping people. "Anyway, l-let's go. I don't wanna see a dead body today!" She pouted.

"I'm afraid you can't leave just yet." A heavyset man wearing a hat calmly made his way to the scene. "I'm not accusing you of anything, but I'd rather you stay."

Shinichi quickly slid behind Hattori. "I'm not here." She hissed. The Osakan nodded and slipped his own hat on her head. Shinichi took her hair and tucked it into the hat. "Thanks." She mumbled and backed into the crowd. She could not let Megure-keibu see her. He knew her better than Nakamori and he would ask questions. Questions that could possibly endanger his life.

Panic set in as Megure seemingly looked her way. She lowered the rim of Hattori's hat. Don't see me, don't see me. "Ah, Heiji-kun." Megure called. Shinichi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hello, Megure-keibu. How ya been?" Hattori grinned, but still glanced back at Shinichi nervously.

"I've been fine. What brings you here?"

"Ah, Ku- er Kazuha dragged me to Beika. Ya know, she missed Nee-chan, or somethin'." Hattori laughed awkwardly. Shinichi rolled her eyes. He sucks at lying.

"That's not true, Heiji." Kazuha appeared with Ran, "We came because-"

Hattori quickly covered her mouth. "Because we heard the food was good here!"

"Heiji-kun? What's wrong? Didn't we come here for Shin-"

Still holding his hand over Kazuha's mouth, Hattori stuttered ,"Y-Yeah! We came fer the *truth! If the food was really as good as everyone was sayin'!" Kazuha, a little more than slightly irritated, bit down hard on Hattori's hand.

"Yowch!" He quickly pulled back his hand. "I'm bleedin' again!"

"We came because Kudo-chan invited us! Or did ya forget, ya idiot!?" She yelled angrily.

Megure's eyes widened. "Kudo-chan is here!?" He began to looked around for her. "Where?"

"Shit." Shinichi silently cursed. She found her way out of the crowd. Just as she was going to go through the door, Hakuba stopped her.

"Kudo-san. It'd be strange if you didn't notice Megure-keibu is looking for you." He held her arm.

Shinichi began to pull away from the Brit. "It'd be better if I just left."

"Nonsense."

"N-No. I really need to go."

"Megure-keibu!" Hakuba ignored her protests and called for the inspector. Megure turned to the teen detective. He held up Shinichi's arm. "Kudo-san's right here."

Shinichi began to mumble her whole vocabulary of swear words. "Let me go, Hakuba." She glared at him as she squirmed in his grasped. Hattori's hat fell off in her struggle.

He looked at her quizzically. "Why?"

"Because you doing what you're good at." Hakuba's hand was swiftly ripped away from Shinichi's arm. Kaito stood in between them. "Making people uncomfortable." He said clearly annoyed.

Don't touch my new detective, Tantei-san, Kaito thought angrily. He picked up Hattori's hat and dusted it off. "For you, Ojou-chan." Not wanting to blow his cover, Kaito began calling her by her old nickname. With his own little Kaito twist of course. He had to be casual with the ladies.

Shinichi gratefully took the hat. "Thank you... BaKaito, was it?" She asked with a slight smirk.

Kaito let out an laugh. "No. Kuroba Kaito's the name." He smiled.

Megure was getting closer. Along with Ran and Kazuha, who were definatly going to ask her why Hattori was lying. "O-Okay, Kuroba-san." She began to open the door and leave.

"Kaito. Skip the formality." He followed her out.

"Alright. Then, thank you, Kaito. I'll see you." She ran away from the cafe just as Megure got to the door.

"Kudo-chan, wait!" Megure called. He was curious and need to ask her some things. Why was she gone for so long and where did she go?

"Uh, Megure-keibu," An officer, Takagi, began, "People are starting to get restless in there." He pointed to the crowd, still hovering by the dead corpse.

Megure sighed. He'll question her later. "Alright." He looked to Kaito, who was still staring at where Shinichi had ran away. "You'll need to come back in." He said to him.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." He walked back into the cafe. "Why didn't you want to be seen, Meitantei-chan?" He mumbled to himself.

Shinichi's fist pounded against her door. She gritted her teeth in frustration. "Always, always running away. Always hiding." Her fist unclench end and sank to her side. "I'm sick of this."

"Excuse me?" Shinichi quickly turned to the voice. Subaru-san stood at her door, groceries in hand. She sighed.

"Oh, I forgot you were here." She held the door open for him. "Where were you yesterday?"

"Out." Subaru simply said. He calmly walked to her kitchen and frowned at the dirty coffee mug in the sink. "You drink a lot of coffee, but have you actually eaten anything yet?"

Shinichi nodded. "I was just out for lunch."

Subaru looked at her. "Be careful." He said in English. "You wouldn't want anyone to see you, now would you?"

Shinichi closed her eyes. "No. I was careful." She responded in a thick accent.

Subaru smiled. "Good." Japanese took over again. "Would you like to help me." It was more of a command than a question.

Shinichi sighed, then smiled. "Sure." She grabbed the bag nearest to her and unloaded its contents. "I'll pay for this."

"No need." Subaru dismissed her. He began to put the meat in the freezer.

The continued to work in silence. Shinichi would give him occasional sideway glances. "You know," Shinichi began, breaking the quiet moment, "when are you going to tell Sera who you are?"

Subaru paused as he began to put away the rice. "When the time is right."

"I see." Shinichi gave him a skeptical look. "Whatever you say-"

"Shinichi!" Ran's voice echoed throughout the manor. Shinichi stiffened. Oh, God, help me. Ran stormed into the kitchen and grabbed Shinichi's shirt collar. "Where'd you go?! Why'd you go?! You promised not to do that anymore!"

Surbaru sighed and left the kitchen to let the two childhood friends sort out their issues. He walked into the living room and turned on the television.

"Ran. I'd appreciate it if you weren't so violent." Ran's eyes softened and she let Shinichi go. Shinichi sighed. "I don't want to face Megure-keibu yet or solve any mystery homicides." It'd be too dangerous if my name got out.

Ran blinked. It took her a moment to process what her best friend just said. She... didn't want to solve a mystery murder. Kudo Shinichi, renown highschool detective, didn't want to solve a murder. She couldn't even believe it.

"W-Why not?" Ran asked.

Shinichi shrugged. "I just got back from a few tough cases. I guess I just want a break." And go crow hunting...

"I see."

"Yep."

"Oi, Kudo." Hattori waltzed into the kitchen with Kazuha behind him. "Ya doin' okay?"

Shinichi nodded. "What happened to you?" She pointed at his bandaged hand.

"Didn't ya see?"

"No." She lied.

"He was bein' annoyin' and a bad lier so I bit him. Simple as tat." Kazuha said proudly. Shinichi held back a chuckle. She actually saw it happen and it was still funny.

"So why were you lying to Megure-keibu, Heiji-kun?" Ran asked sitting down at Shinichi's table.

Shinichi slipped next to Hattori. "He knew I wasn't in the mood for all this murder mumbo-jumbo, so he covered for me." She answered for him.

"Yep!" Hattori agreed. "I-"

"Might just want to be quiet now," Shinichi whispered the next part to him, "because you suck at lying."

Hattori shrugged. "I'm tryin' my best."

Shinichi sighed. "I know, I know. Thank you really. I appreciate it. You're risking a lot for my sake."

Hattori shook his head. "Don't even worry 'bout it, Kudo." He grinned. "I got ya covered."

Warmth flooded Shinichi as Hattori told her this. He really wasn't a bad friend. He was her best friend, in fact. Shinichi smiled. "Thanks." She murmured.

"Shinichi-chan?" Subaru called from the living room.

"Yes?" Shinichi made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room where the television flashed.

Subaru didn't need to say anything. Nakamori-keibu was on the screen, holding up and piece of paper. "I'll get you this time, Kid!" Nakamori bellowed.

And on that piece of paper was a riddle and the infamous Kaitou Kid doodle.

*911 in Japan is 119
** Shin means truth in Japanese

A/N: Hah... Filler...

Well, final exams are finally over! But I'm not done with school yet, oh no. Not even close (that's a lie, I'm pretty close..).

School and... other things will be going on this week, so you might not see an update for a while. Sorry... I can't control these thing! TTATT

And finally, to Guest1813: I didn't feel pity for them either XD