Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.
TMPD Antics
By Taliya
LXVII: Hattori and Kuroba
The hairs on the back of Kaito's neck stood on end, and the Division Three officer scanned his eyes around to search for the source of his unease. He blinked upon seeing Heiji staring rather intently at him. "What?" he barked more harshly than intended, slightly unnerved by the Osakan's gaze. The two had been paired up on a case regarding a theft-turned-murder.
Heiji started at Kaito's rough inquiry. "Nothing," he answered, his eyes sweeping off to the side to watch the forensics team cleaning up the last of their tools. The body had already been bagged and taken to the morgue.
Kaito eyed his friend and coworker somewhat suspiciously. "You've been kind of twitchy around me ever since that KID heist. You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," Heiji replied, his body language indicating he clearly did not want to talk about it.
"This doesn't have anything to do with me being KID again, does it?" the theft detective asked, irritation in his voice.
The Division One officer shot Kaito a glare. "No," he snapped somewhat peevishly.
Kaito scowled, his mood dropping to match Heiji's. "Then what? You've been acting like a spooked filly every time you're around!"
Heiji growled as he snagged Kaito's arm and hauled him away from anyone who might over hear. "I'm still pissed as hell that KID got one over me," he eventually admitted after a few moments of tense waiting on Kaito's part. "I'm a national champion in kendo, and I couldn't land a solid blow once on the asshole!"
The Division Three officer stared for two seconds before he burst out laughing, clutching his stomach and hunching over.
"It's not funny, you fucker," the Osakan snarled, riled beyond simple vexation and well on his way to becoming truly angry.
"Oh give it up, Hattori," Kaito sputtered out between bouts of mirth. When he had calmed down enough to talk, he said, "That was your first time going toe-to-toe with the thief, right? It was only expected that he'd make a huge spectacle of it—he has a new detective to add to his collection!"
"Co—Collection?!"
Kaito giggled delightedly. "You know—like Pokémon? 'Gotta catch 'em all!'?"
Heiji stared, dumbfounded, before he sighed and gave in to weak chuckles. "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around, where we catch him?" He shoved the other detective in the shoulder. "You're such a weirdo, Kuroba."
"As if you'd have me any other way," Kaito simpered in reply.
The Osakan laughed. "Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have a built-in Hakuba annoyer."
Author's Note: Happy April Fools' Day! I do so love Heiji and Kaito interaction, though nothing too foolish here. They are so fun to write together. And sorry for the long wait. I've been grappling with writer's block for the past several months, and I hope this spell is finally coming to an end. I hope you enjoyed it.
Completed: 01.04.2016