A firm click could be heard as the Osaka detective snapped his phone shut with an aggressive sigh, only to turn sadly to a small photograph on his bedroom desk. It depicted him wearing his sax cap, his arm slung round his companion as they posed for the camera. The other teen was the same height as him, his pale white skin a stark contrast to Heiji's dark colouring.

The other Teen's neat hair was a deep brown, a stubborn (and distinctive) cowlick sticking up, and his bright blue eyes were sparkling with a mixture of joy and sorrow. They were both smiling at the camera. Heiji knew the picture would look perfectly normal to anyone else, but he knew Kudo. The other teen had been too pale that day, and noticeably slower on the deduction front too. It had been worrying.

     Kazuha sighed from the doorway as she watched her childhood friend mope about. She knew what Kudo-kun meant to Heiji, and she knew he was... well, Ran-chan had said 'undercover' and 'not doing too great health-wise'. But that didn't explain why Kudo-kun hadn't called Heiji in over a month now. From what she'd gathered, the eastern detective was usually dutiful in at least calling Heiji every day.

     She guessed it must be hard on them; especially as the teenager wasn't stupid enough to fall for what she'd been told. Ok, so she was fairly sure Ran-chan and Heiji hadn't lied to her ( Heiji was awful at lying. She'd know if he was). Omitted things, left out key information, yes. But outright lied? No, they hadn't lied. Or at least she thought they hadn't. She had a nasty feeling there was more to all this than Kudo-kun being sick and undercover.

     The dark skinned Osakan noticed his childhood friend standing there in his bedroom doorway, but paid her no mind. If she wanted his attention, she'd already have it, no doubt. He was worried about Kudo, about Conan. Last time they'd actually seen each other, Kudo had been his proper age; having taken a temporary antidote to appear his rightful age of 17. But... but he'd.... he'd....

He'd collapsed twice in agony, clutching at his chest so hard his fingernails had drawn blood. Kudo had been weak, thin and he'd been barely able to stand, let alone walk. Kudo had also had a mild fever —well, mild for him anyway— and he'd been noticeably slower on the deduction front too. Maybe not so much that a stranger or even Kazuha could tell, but slow enough to bring up concern in both himself and the Neechan.

Heiji had pulled him aside to talk after the second time Kudo collapsed and explained his fear. It seemed the antidotes were no longer functioning properly, as they were clearly unable to restore Kudo properly. Maybe it was because he'd built up too much of a resistance to them and maybe it would be better for him to just not take the temps for a while.

When Kudo had heard that... well... much to Heiji's shock, the Great Detective of the East, a person of Heiji's own age that he looked up to... had broken down in tears and told him just how much pain he was currently in...

...it had hurt Heiji to see his best friend so... so vulnerable. Not weak. Kudo was never weak. Not even as a seven year old. He couldn't quite remember how, but that day had ended in him confessing to Kudo; which... could have gone better really. Both in sense of timing and reaction.

The end result was a very patient Neechan explaining why Kudo was so spooked by the confession, after she'd calmed Kudo down of course. (He'd gone straight to her after Heiji's confession. He somehow knew Kudo saw Neechan as more of a mother figure and sister figure than that of a potential girlfriend. His time as Conan was clearly changing him, though whether for the better or worse was still out for debate.)

After that, Kudo had quietly explained that he'd only give a concrete answer once he was certain of whether Haibara could create a permanent antidote or not. It wasn't a flat out no. But it hadn't been a yes either. And that worried Heiji. Especially as he felt there was something Kudo wasn't telling him. Something significant.

It was killing Heiji inside to see how lonely Kudo was, despite being surrounded by others. Heiji didn't really do the whole friendship thing; he had trouble making and keeping friends for a start; but that simply meant he knew how lonely it was being above averagely intelligent. It was probably even harder for Kudo, with his corpse magnet power and looking all of six, despite being nearly eight now. (At least physically anyway.)

      It was hard enough for Heiji at a crime scene; the police had trouble taking a (nearly) eighteen year old seriously after all; so Conan probably had it ten times worse trying to work with officers at least twice his size who probably just couldn't take a child seriously. He had seen a few Tokyo officers take him seriously, though. But from what Kudo had told him, that was more because that particular group had been exposed to Conan from pretty much day one and had even seen him drop the act once or twice in a pinch.

     (Of course, Heiji had absolutely no idea that Ran now knew about Conan being Kudo. But then, that was Ran's fault since neither Ran nor Conan wanted Heiji to slip up more than he already did. So they'd deliberately kept him in the dark. It also helped Conan to have Ran around at a crime scene because the officers tended to take Mouri's daughter seriously. Not that Heiji knew any of this.)

     "Heiji?" Kazuha's voice broke through his worrying, causing the dark skinned detective to jump with fright. He'd forgotten she was there. Heiji turned to his best friend, waiting for the inevitable yelling she usually started with when he ignored her presence.

     It never came. Instead, the dark haired young woman walked into his room (uninvited as usual) and right up to him, a little too close for Heiji's liking really. She looked mildly worried. Or at least he thought she did. He'd never been great at reading Kazuha's facial expressions. He took a step back, putting a more comfortable distance between them.

     "Heiji, I'm sure Kudo-kun's fine. Ran-chan did say he wa' undercover an' all. I know you don' like bein' hugged, but you look like you need one, 'Kay?" Kazuha reassure him, the warning at the end needed because she knew Heiji strongly disliked physical contact with others most of the time. (Though that had never been the case with Kudo-kun or Conan-kun, had it? Huh. Strange. Maybe it was because of Conan-kun's mysterious past?)

     Heiji flinched ever so slightly as his friend pulled him into a sisterly hug, before relaxing and hugging her back. A sobbing sound made them both tense up, and the dark skinned detective realised with horror that he was the one crying.

     Kazuha's grip tightened marginally, though never enough to make her childhood friend feel trapped. (Because a trapped Heiji was a dangerous Heiji.) she didn't know why Heiji was crying, why he was upset, but she could give an educated guess. It probably had something to do with Kudo-kun and how the Eastern detective could vanish so far off the grid that Ran-chan claimed not even Interpol could find him.

     (Which ok, for most people, she wouldn't believe it, but after finding out the FBI knew Conan-kun personally... which had been more than a bit of a shock... well... she could believe it. The child detective and Kudo were related after all, and Conan-kun claimed to get a lot of things from his older cousin.)

     Heiji spent a good five minutes just crying quietly into Kazuha's shoulder before he felt marginally calm enough to let go of her. He couldn't quite shake his worry though. He'd had a momentary flash of sensation saying 'something's wrong' and that had the poor Osakan spooked. Something was going to happen, and not in a good way, only he didn't know why or who or when yet. He scoffed at the supernatural often, but he certainly believed in it. His premonitions, or whatever they were, were fairly reliable. That and there were some things science just couldn't explain. Like kudo's parents.

     "Wanna talk about it Heiji?" A harsh sniff and a shake of his head gave her the answer.

     "No offence Kazuha, but ya wouldn' understand" Kazuha had the distinct impression that if she hadn't just witnessed Heiji's little crying fit, she'd have been fooled into thinking her friend was perfectly fine right now. Her friend was either a brilliant actor, or incapable of expressing his full range of emotions. She also had a feeling that Heji was always hiding how he really felt, bottling it up so he wouldn't worry anyone.

     "It's 'bout Kudo-kun. Isn't it?" H had a strong feeling that wasn't actually a question, for all it sounded like one. Heiji nodded.

     "He's... he's sick Kazuha. Ya remember last time he wa' here? When he passed out?"

     "Aaaa... Ran-chan looked scared. She's never scared. Jus' how bad...." Kazuha trailed off, not sure how to phrase it without upsetting her friend again. Green eyes softened at her awkwardness, as he ran a dark hand through even darker hair.

     "We don' know. Kudo... won' tell us. His parents don' even know he's sick. Doctors say he's healthy... but healthy people don' get random pain an' pass out or look like they jus' crawled out a morgue. He... I don'... I don' wanna lose him, an' he's hidin' from a bunch a real nasty criminal's too. I'm scared for him. What if he can't defend himself if they find him?" The Osakan detective paused to breathe, only to hiccup into more sobbing. Damnit! Why was he still crying?

"Heiji..." Kazuha exclaimed softly, suddenly afraid for Kudo-kun and her best friend. She'd never seen Heiji so... so scared for anyone before, and it was frightening to see. She had a horrible feeling somewhere deep down that if anything were to actually happen to the Heisei Holmes, Heiji would break. Irrecoverably.

"Sorry Kazuha." Heiji finally whispered hoarsely. He felt just a little ashamed of his crying fit, but felt all the better for it. He noticed with embarrassment that Kazuha's shoulder was now rather damp. "Weren't we supposed ta be goin' somewhere today?" Kazuha shook her head in mock exasperation.

"Aaaa. Now come on Heiji! We're gonna be late!" She agreed, pulling him out of his room by his arm with the sort of strength that had Heiji mildly concerned about bruised wrists. Two bento appeared, balanced on her free hand as she dragged him along.

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The room was dark; so dark that navigating it was impossible; but that didn't really bother the prisoner or their companions in the slightest. Unfortunately, the trio were used to being held hostage. As usual, the smaller of the three had been snatched first; an easy target for the six foot something criminal really.

Her two companions were gagged and bound with duct-tape, but the criminal had left her free to move around. Actually... no that wasn't true. She'd simply been shoddily bound with rope. It was actually really easy to escape from the loose bindings; she had too much practice not to find it easy (Which said an awful lot about her life. Didn't it?).

Carefully, so as not to disturb the guard on the other side of the door to her dark prison, the eight year old girl felt her way over to her two companions, who were both still out cold. Ran-oneesan was the first she found; Sonoko-oneesan would never, ever wear an orchid pendant like the one currently under her fingers. She didn't know why she'd been kidnapped along with Ran-oneesan and Sonoko-oneesan, but she knew they had to escape.

She almost pitied the man standing guard to their dark (probably) windowless room. They'd picked the wrong lot of hostages. Ran-oneesan's binds were easily cut through (at the back, to make it look like the tape was still on.) as were Sonoko-oneesan's. Conan-kun would be here soon with Ai-chan and the others, if they could follow the clues she'd left behind for them like she'd been taught.

She was unfortunately rather good at leaving clues behind for her friends to find, having had quite a few times to practice over the last two years what with being kidnapped every month or so. She hadn't even been suspected of anything this time! In fact, she'd heard one of the men (there were at least three.) worrying over why she'd been asleep for so long; they needed her alive after all. It should have been scary, but it wasn't. Not anymore.

She'd pretty much played possum the whole way to wherever she was now, and felt just a little triumphant that none of the bad guys had noticed she'd never been knocked out in the first place. A faint sound of footsteps made Ayumi scuttle back to her own bonds, shrugging them back on like a too-big jumper. Ran-oneesan began to stir.

Ran came to with a soft groan, just a little irritated with herself as her predicament came flooding back to her. Sonoko was next to her, still out cold, though that was fairly normal; Sonoko could sleep through anything once actually asleep. The karate champion wriggled her wrists and ankles, getting a feel for what was binding them. Huh. Duct-tape. Already cut duct tape.

"Ayumi-chan?" She called softly, voice almost a whisper. A faint scuffling sound and a small hand on her knee answered her. "Did you cut the tape?" Her voice was barely audible, but she was sure the little girl Conan-kun was friends with could hear her clearly.

     "Shhhh!" The little girl hissed back, glancing towards the faint sliver of light that indicated the door. (not that anyone could see that in the dark.) Ran dutifully shut up to listen, hearing the faint rustling of fabric as the three of them breathed, though that was almost drowned out by Sonoko's snoring. She could also hear heavy footfalls moving away from the room, in a way that suggested the person was going up a flight of stairs. They had time.

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Kaito paused, one foot hovering just above the step beneath it, listening very carefully to the distant sound of much heavier footsteps heading towards him. His passenger shifted their weight ever so slightly on his back to make it easier for the Magician Thief to run should it be necessary. A hurried inventory check told Kaito he had enough smoke and sleep-gas pellets for two if he was careful about it, but he wanted to save them for emergencies.

The footsteps came closer, and Kaito prepared to either flee or fight, depending on whether the guy had a gun or not. The scary not-child on his back tensed slightly, though Kaito couldn't understand why. He soon got his answer.

     Conan swung down from the Magician's back just as the criminal rounded the corner, dodging out of sight with practiced ease just as Kaito leapt back and hurled a smoke pellet at the floor. An angry shout told Conan where to aim with his ball, and a hefty thump and hiss confirmed the shot as the ball connected with the criminal hard enough to knock him down and stun him.

     By the time the smoke had cleared, Kaito and Conan were nowhere to be seen, the only evidence of their passing being the bound and gagged criminal propped up against the wall, a Kid caricature doodled in sharpie on his forehead. The white duct-tape binding him had little football's printed on it.

     They made it up four more flights of stairs before the next incident, though as Kaito (Kid, Conan had to remind himself) was disguised as the man they'd taken down a few floors ago, they avoided any suspicion quite easily. Conan wasn't Kid level just yet, but he could still pull a convincing act if needed. It was shortly after that that was a problem.

     The brains of the group was decidedly not happy that his 'partner-in-crime' had left his post, even more so that he hadn't just lobbed the brat out a window. Conan and Kaito had been more than ready to dodge a few bullets or a blade of some sort, but... that hadn't happened. No. The criminal had snatched Conan from the disguised Kid's arms and shoved him out the room with a firm order to go back to his post, which Kaito had reluctantly obeyed at a nod from the time detective.

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     Conan glared at the man holding his leg, ignoring the pain as the criminal's death-grip bruised and broke the skin beneath deceivingly sharp finger-nails. Ok, so it did hurt, enough for Conan to know he wouldn't be walking on that leg for a while, But that was nothing compared to the pain of changing to and from Shinichi, so he didn't see the point in complaining. He did not hear the faint cry of his friends far below as they spotted him dangling there.

     He wasn't stupid. Far from it. As Shin'ichi he'd been frighteningly bright for his age. And that had only gotten better (or worse, depending on how you looked at it) with Conan. Horrifyingly intelligent for his age, even considered equal to his older self by those not in the know, so he knew what was going to happen. How could he not?

     On the bright side, one guy was actually Kaitou Kid in disguise and the other was duct-taped to a door several floors down and probably only just coming round from being knocked out. That left only one guy. Who just so happened to be the one cutting off circulation to his left leg whilst dangling him out over a roughly twelve storey drop.

     So... as far as rounding up criminals went, not a bad day really. Shame he was dangling head first over a rather scary looking pavement, his only safety line the bruising grip of a hand attached to a thief-turned-murderer. Theboy sighed. Just another day in this messed up life of his.

     /Geez Tantei-kun. Can you go five minutes without being involved in a case?\ A rather cheerful yet worried voice chirped. It came not from one of the nearby windows, but from a telephone wire at about head height with him as he was right then.

     "Tama-chan!" The not-child exclaimed softly.

     /Way to state the obvious, Tantei-kun. Master's assigned me to you, because I'm one of the smartest in the flock.\ The bird paused, apparently realising something. Conan saw the one-legged dove from the corner of his eyes, and noted that she looked... afraid.

     /You don't have wings like Master.\ Tama-chan sounded horrified at this realisation. Did doves have any concept of falling? Of flightlessness? Of... of...

     "No, I don't have wings Tama-chan." Conan stated, aware that the bird was watching both him and the man holding him. His voice was murmured so the man couldn't hear him, but even so, he lowered his voice more when he spoke again. "If I fall..." It was an open question, though Conan didn't know if Tama-chan would understand that. Was she smart enough to figure out the answer?

     /You go splat. I'm not stupid. Master showed us what happens if his wings stop working by using a dead egg. No chick to hurt. But it still stuck with us. None of Master's doves want to see that happen to a human.\ The dove stated, looking nervous. Conan smiled softly, going rag-doll limp as the criminal shook him so violently his Detective Boy's badge flew off and fell to the ground. Both boy and bird stared as the tiny electronic badge shattered into tiny pieces.

Conan mentally groaned as he stared at the badge with a detached sort of horror. Hakase was going to be upset about that. That was the latest design as well, one that the other kids hadn't seen yet. At least they could add 'not very tough' to the list of issues with it. (It was a happier thought than dwelling on his i isn't demise.)

     /I'm getting Master. Just... don't die. Master's Lady Feather say's you're too special to lose.\ The dove rushed out, horror in her voice even as she spread her wings and took off in a panicked flutter, heading for the nearest open window. Conan frowned at that. Kaito's... Lady Feather? Did Tama-chan mean Hakuba?

     He twisted his body slightly so he could scowl at the man still holding him, feeling just a little worried. Usually the smart ones tried to take him out as soon as they could, so what was Big Ugly waiting for? He was clearly the brains of the operation. Conan broke his scowling stare to look all around, trying to spot the reason for the criminal's odd behaviour.

That was when he spied his friends (And that was still a strange concept to him. Socially inept Shinichi had friends.) leaving direct line of sight in a hurry, chased by Haibara. He looked up (Or was it down?) at his feet and the hand holding him, then at the man the hand was connected to. He had a horrible feeling he knew what was preventing the man from dropping him.

     "I won't do to those kid what was done to me, so count yourself lucky Boy. You get to live for a little longer." The man told him, not realising the boy in question had already figured this out. Conan snorted, causing the man to nearly drop him, before the up-'til-now mute detective decided to speak, no hint of fear in his voice, despite knowing he was very likely about to die. He made sure to sound as calm and as curious as he could, for maximum effect.

     "Ne, mister. We both know I'm going to die soon. I want to know who I'm going to be haunting. What's your name mister?" As he'd predicted, his tone unnerved the criminal, even if just a bit. Conan mentally smirked and turned up the unruffled, uncaring tone to unnerve him some more. "Death isn't that bad mister. I just wish you'd tell me your name." The criminal thought for no less than a few seconds with genuine fear on his face, before coming to a clear conclusion.

     Dead people didn't talk to the cops, and young children like this boy weren't smart enough to leave dying messages, so he guessed he could give this brat his wish. It wasn't like the kid would be able to rat him out after he'd hit the pavement. Not from this height anyway. A sinister smile graced his lips as he told the boy his name, just as he let go of the brat's leg. "Nanagia Misao. Good riddance brat."

     He turned away from the window to laugh at the child's suddenly scared face, so he did not see the smug look on his face. He was just pleased he had one less person around who could identify him to the cops. The fall was too short for even a fast writer to scribble a message, and too long for the boy to survive, so he was safe.

     ...Conan didn't make a sound as the guy let go, instead managing to produce a pen from a hidden pocket with a sleight of trick he'd learnt. He scrawled the characters for the guy's name on his left forearm. Huh. His enhanced senses and speed were an advantage after all. Shame he was about to die really. Damnit, Heiji and Ran we're going to be so mad at him.

     /Stupid boy. Think bird. Mistress gave you this gift for a reason, ba'arou.\ A voice cawed angrily at him, and time seemed to
Slow
To
A
Stop.