Author's Notes: I'm sorry it took so long for the next update! TT A TT I've been really busy with school, as well as another bad case of writer's block. So yeah, not a very good combination. I'm still busy with school, but I'll try to squeeze in some writing time every now and then so I don't take too long, again. However, even if I do take a really long time to update, I will never abandon this story, or any story I'll be writing in the future, for that matter. Just wanted to throw that out there. :)

So.. The response from the last chapter really surprised me. O_O In a good way though. Haha. I hope you guys will like this chapter too. I finally got around to moving the plot a little forward. XD

Thank you for the new alerts and favorites! And thank you very much to AyameRose, SaraMatta, Eevee1118, MinaSuzuki, Guest, ChibiConan-kun, CJSakura, Mage of Hope, Mokuren no Ken, Shara Raizel, Clare, uuuuuupdatepwese, Okuri Soji, Nima, and Meow-chan for reviewing! :) That's the most reviewers I've had for a chapter. :O Anyway, thank you very much to you lovely people! :)

Guest: Don't worry. Heiji will be fine. :)

Clare: First of all, thank you for your review. :) Next, I'm sad that you stopped reading this, but thank you for reading it anyway, though I would be glad if you picked it up again. :D As for the things you mentioned, I see your point. However, I've written everything so far for a reason. For example, the HeiShin vibe that you mentioned shall be resolved in this chapter. Regarding the sudden crying, as you said, most of the population would probably feel horrible at being turned into the opposite gender. But that's my point. Shinichi already turned into a kid and got turned back after several years. Now he gets turned into something else, his opposite gender nonetheless, and a little part of him's scared that it'll take the same long time for him to turn back, or even worse, never. Add to that everything his body's going through because of the sudden gender change, such as hormones and stuff. I could go on and on, but I shall stop right here for now. It would be interesting if we could discuss this more through PM though (assuming that you're still reading this). But yeah, thank you again for your review. :)

uuuuuupdatepwese: Issues regarding..?

Okuri Soji: Awww. Thank you very much! :) Here's your update! I hope you keep enjoying my story. Once again, thank you! :)

Nima: Temporarily stopped, but I kept on writing whenever I could. Here you go.

Meow-chan: ..you shall see with this chapter. Hehe.

Warnings: Female Shinichi, shounen ai, and perhaps OOC-ness.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan in any way.

Chapter Thirteen: Blast from the Past

Jaw set in determination, Heiji held Shizuka by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. To him, time began to move oh-so-slowly and his pounding heart could not get any louder. Until finally, the words left his mouth.

"I like you, Shizuka."

With that, he slowly closed the distance between their lips..

..only, he couldn't bring himself to really do it, so he ended up kissing her cheek instead.

Once the deed was done, the two remained looking at each other for a few moments before Heiji felt his face heat up and he finally looked away. His hands that held her shoulders firmly earlier now grew slack until they completely released her. A million thoughts were rushing into his head, the first and foremost being why the heck he did something as stupid as confessing to one of his close friends, who happened to be originally a guy!

He was about to apologize, walk off, say it was only a joke, anything, but before he could do any of these options..

"Heiji, I.. I'm sorry.."

For a moment, he was at a loss for words. Not a moment later, he heard himself laughing, earning him a confused look from his companion.

"Sorry 'bout that, fer the sudden laughin' and the..thing..I said earlier, I mean," Heiji said sheepishly and scratched his head. However, it might have seemed like he was now trying to brush the whole thing off so Shizuka's stare didn't diminish in the least. Sighing, he cleared his throat and tried to gather his thoughts.

"Shizuka, I.." Pause. "Yer not lettin' me outta here until I explain myself, huh?"

"Pretty much," she replied. This time, she was the one who looked away with a slight tint to her cheeks. "I just want to know why, okay? Why..me..?" she trailed off.

At this, Heiji just blinked. Did she really not know what people saw in her? 'Never mind. I forgot, this is the detective who's as dense as a brick when it comes ta attention directed at her,' he thought and sighed, which, unfortunately for him, Shizuka noticed. And so he just gave her a small smile before he finally began his tale.

"Ya' see, Shizuka.." Another pause, this time accompanied by a deep breath and another scratching, this time of his cheek. "Don't kill me or anythin', but initially, it was 'cause ya' have the same name as my mom.."

With that, he waited for his words to sink in and elicit a reaction from the girl before him. After mere seconds, he got what he pretty much expected, which was basically:

"WHAT?!" Accompanied by a flabbergasted look.

Before she could add anything to that though, Heiji raised his hands in a defensive manner and attempted to calm his friend down. "Like I said, don't kill me or anythin'!"

When he saw that she did seem a bit more relaxed, or at least not extremely shocked/scarred, he proceeded to further explain himself. "So yeah, at first it was 'cause ya' have the same name as my mom. I'm not sure if Kuroba did that on purpose though.

"But 'cause of that, that first night that ya' dressed up as a girl, I just.. I dunno. S'like I had the sudden urge to watch out fer ya' even more.." he trailed off and upon realizing what he said, he added hastily, "Of course, I looked out fer ya' even before then, 'cause yer a friend, y'know?" He then gave a sheepish smile which was then returned with a still-confused look, so he just sighed for the nth time and continued. "Err, yeah.. After that, with ya' becomin' a girl an' all, I guess the whole 'lookin' out fer ya' just stuck 'til I didn't even notice that I was slowly likin' ya' already.."

This time, the Kansai detective decided to stop before he embarrassed himself further. Why was it so hard to talk about feelings anyway? Trying to hide his blushing face, he first sneaked a glance at his companion, only to find out that between the two of them, he wasn't the only one with a red face.

They both stayed silent for a while, with Heiji mainly waiting for Shizuka to react to all that he said. After a few minutes, he got his wish.

"Heiji.." she started off sounding a bit uncertain. "Thank you..and I really mean it. I've never had anyone say such things to me.." The tint to her cheeks resurfaced as she remained looking away. However, once she gathered herself and took a deep breath, she continued, this time looking at Heiji in the eyes, "But what I said earlier still remains. I can't accept your feelings. I'm sorry.."

To Heiji's surprise, hearing those same two words that meant he was being rejected didn't affect him as much as awhile ago. Yes, he still found it unfortunate that his feelings weren't reciprocated, but at least he was given a clear answer. Perhaps explaining how he ended up liking her helped a bit and now he felt free; he wasn't hiding anything from her anymore.

"S'ok," he replied with a genuine smile. "I pretty much figured that'd be the case anyway."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean ya' and-" Realizing where his train of thought was taking him, he suddenly stopped and tried to brush off what he was about to say, unfortunately failing. "Um, never mind," was all he managed in the end.

As he expected, she gave him a sharp look and proceeded to get him to continue what he was about to say. Good thing he was thinking a bit more clearly now, so no room for saying things that he would later regret.

Still, it was nice. For a moment, it was as if everything was back to normal between them: kidding around, laughing together, annoying each other. It was as if he hadn't just crossed a line in their relationship. They still were, and it would most probably stay that way for a long time, friends.

'An' that's how it's supposed ta be,' he thought.

After some time, he was nudged on the shoulder and someone called out, "Heiji?"

"Hattori-kun?"

Somewhere, someone was saying his name, but he wasn't sure who exactly it was.

'Shizuka..?' the back of his mind wondered. But then the back of his mind also reminded him that that was not how she normally referred to him. So who..?

Slowly blinking open both eyes ('When did I even close them?' he thought.), he caught the image of something brightly-colored fluttering near his face.

'A..ribbon?'

Once his mind was able to register that it was not Shizuka who was in front of him, he suddenly sat up straight and tried to comprehend what was going on, which was basically a somewhat-familiar girl with said ribbon in her hair sitting across from him.

That was also when he realized that he was currently sitting under one of the many trees in their school garden. When did that happen?

Blinking his eyes again, though this time it was more because of confusion, he tried to say something, but the girl beat him to it.

"Ah, I'm sorry," she said, blushing a bit and scooting away from the Kansai detective. "I didn't mean to surprise you or anything. I just wanted to know if you're alright."

"Uh. Yeah, I'm alright. Did I doze off, or somethin'?"

"Pretty much."

"Do ya' know how long I was out?"

"I'm not sure. I was just walking by and then I saw you. I thought you might have suddenly passed out," she said, concern clearly evident in her voice.

At this, Heiji couldn't help but feel both embarrassed and touched that a complete stranger (And she happened to be a cute girl too!) was concerned about him.

..or maybe not a total stranger after all.

"Hang on. Aren't ya' that girl who gave me a bento on my birthday?"

If the girl was already blushing, she turned a bit redder at the question. At the same time though, she looked delighted. "You remembered?"

"Yeah. That..wasn't 'cause it was my birthday though, right?"

He was met with silence, so he continued.

"Ya' knew it was my birthday?" he asked, his eyebrows shooting upwards in disbelief.

"Um. Yes?" she replied, looking at anywhere but the boy before her.

Heiji let that little piece of information process first before he attempted to come up with an acceptable answer, which ended up being:

"..oh."

With that, awkward silence reigned between the two of them, neither knowing how to continue from that point.

After some time though, Heiji began again, this time sounding apologetic, "Sorry 'bout that. I just..I didn't know what ta really say, I guess."

"It's okay.." the girl replied quietly.

This made the Kansai detective feel bad because she now seemed a little withdrawn, unlike earlier. Still, he wanted to satisfy his curiosity so he asked the question that had been nagging at him. "So..how did'ja know?"

To his surprise, instead of hesitantly answering, she took on a more confident tone, even looking at him in the eyes. "I just do. I also know other things, such as you wanting to be a great detective in your father's eyes, which I think you are now slowly being able to fulfill. I also know that your mother is sweet and nice, but there are times when you were afraid of her because she's excellent at kendo, which drove you to also learn the sport. I could say many other things about you, Hattori-kun, though I admit I'm not that updated anymore."

The more that she said, the bigger Heiji's eyes widened in disbelief. Because really, what could he reply to that?

'What're ya' talkin' 'bout?!'

'Stalker!'

'Are ya' from the Black Organization?!'

None of these responses seemed fitting enough, especially when he took into account how serious the girl appeared while she spoke. So instead he asked, "What do ya' mean 'not updated'?"

This time, the girl looked sad as she shook her head. "You don't remember, do you.."

Once again, Heiji felt bad. He was about to apologize again but suddenly stopped when the girl's action seemed to stir something in his memory.

All of a sudden, his mind was flooded with memories of a young girl he grew up with when he was still a child. This girl gave him a good luck charm and she also happened to have her hair up in a ponytail tied with a yellow ribbon (sometimes orange or other bright colors) that would flutter when there was a slight breeze or whenever she moved her head. The same girl who moved away when they were far too young, leaving only memories that were eventually forgotten, but now resurfaced.

At the realization, he turned to the girl who was currently in front of him. He must have had a completely shocked look on his face, but even so, the girl didn't seem to mind. In fact, her face was slowly lighting up, as if she knew that he was slowly recognizing her.

"Yer.. Yer.." Heiji racked his brain. What the heck was her name?! He could finally remember the face, but not knowing the name was much more frustrating, especially when it was already at the tip of his tongue.

As if sensing that he was having a hard time, the girl gladly helped out. Perhaps knowing that he now remembered her was enough, for she was smiling and her eyes were shining as she nodded and stated her name.

"Kazuha. Toyama Kazuha."

"Wishing you were there, in her place?"

Shizuka turned with a start at the sound of the voice. Seeing the thief's teasing grin, she simply turned her back on him and started walking down the corridor. But of course, he followed her.

She had been looking at the scene unfolding in the garden outside the school building, namely Heiji and a girl from another class, from one of the windows overlooking the area. What started out as an awkward conversation soon turned into a more relaxed and familiar one. At least that was how it looked like to Shizuka. She couldn't hear a word the two were saying, but she knew enough from their body language how the atmosphere between them suddenly changed.

"Did something happen between you and Hattori?" Kaito's voice broke into her thoughts again.

"No," she replied a little too quickly, which she regretted. But if Kaito noticed, he didn't give any indication. "Hmm.." was all he replied, but this did not make her feel any better, especially since knowing him, he had many things in mind that he just wouldn't say.

They remained walking in silence, Kaito a few steps behind Shizuka, until they finally reached their classroom door. Before entering though, Shizuka stopped, which then prompted Kaito to stop as well.

"Kaito?"

"Yeah?"

She thought for a moment about what she wanted to say, but then decided against it. After all, whoever Heiji wanted to befriend was his own business, and the same goes for whoever he wanted to like.

Suddenly remembering his confession, to her nonetheless, Shizuka couldn't help but blush. That was totally unexpected. But what's done is done. She honestly felt bad about turning him down, but at least she was honest and didn't leave him hanging or hoping. She was pretty sure he was at least grateful for that.

'And now he actually seems to be moving on. A bit faster than I expected, but at least he's moving on,' she thought, a small smile on her lips. From what she saw between the two earlier, she could tell that there wasn't anything serious, yet, but if that ever did happen, Shizuka was hoping that the girl would be able to give Heiji the happiness she knew her friend deserved; the happiness that she knew she wouldn't be able to give him.

At the thought, Shizuka felt her smile slowly slip. She could never really give anyone happiness, huh? First it was Ran, but she kept letting her childhood friend down. At least now Ran had someone whom she deserved. Next was Heiji. She turned him down, but there was now someone who seemed capable of giving him what she couldn't.

And then there's Kaito.

Turning to look at the thief, she found him staring at her, his brows knit together in confusion and concentration, as if he was trying to figure out what was going through her mind.

For a fleeting moment, she thought about everything that the two of them had been through. She wondered if, despite how crazy their relationship seemed, would they still work out?

The thought passed just as soon as it came. Shizuka shook her head vigorously, trying to rid herself of that horrifying thought.

'Why did I even think..me and him!?' she thought, incredulous.

Unknown to her though, her action surprised and worried her companion.

"Shizuka, what's-" Unfortunately, Kaito didn't get to finish his question. Neither was he able to put his hand on her shoulder as he intended, because Shizuka already backed away, a hand over her mouth in surprise at where her thoughts were going.

Kaito reached for her again, but she flinched, causing the thief's hand to hover in midair for a moment before he finally pulled back.

Somewhat surprised by this, Shizuka looked up at her friend's face, only to see his Poker Face completely in place. Smiling, he said, "I understand if you can't tell me. Just.." He paused and for a moment, the mask cracked a little, allowing Shizuka to see the genuine concern reflected in those normally mischievous purple orbs. He continued, "I'll be here, alright?"

And with those few words, he turned and walked in the direction the two of them just came from. However, his steps might have grown fainter the further he walked away, but the loud thumping of Shizuka's heart in her ears did not diminish in the least.

The rest of the day was spent in awkwardness. Shizuka still couldn't bring herself to talk again to Kaito after what went through her mind earlier. It didn't make her feel any better that he clearly showed his concern for her, yet here she was, avoiding him like his concern was completely unwanted.

For what seemed like the hundredth time that day, she sighed.

..which didn't really go unnoticed.

Dismissal came and Shizuka was glad that she didn't have work, hence more time to think things over in the peaceful confines of her apartment. But wishes for peaceful moments never really did come true for her.

"Shizuka-chan?" came the voice that stopped her initial plan of just bolting out the classroom door so she wouldn't be held back by anyone. Well, not exactly, but you get the point.

Facing the speaker, she was not-at-all surprised to see none other than her childhood friend Ran looking at her. "Yes, Ran-san?" she replied.

"I.. I just wanted to talk," came the shy reply. This manner of speaking from the other person was new for Shizuka; Ran was usually more cheerful and bright. For her to be like this, something must have happened.

"Talk about what?"

"I don't think this is the right place.."

Looking around, Shizuka saw that, true enough, their classroom didn't really seem to be the most appropriate place for what would seem to be a serious and private conversation. In addition, the students might be leaving one by one, but all their close friends were still there and currently watching the two of them. Unnerved by the stares, she sighed and agreed with the suggestion of talking some place else.

And so they found themselves in the bedroom-slash-living-room of her apartment.

Once refreshments were served and offered, the two teens sat across each other in silence, holding a cup of drinks in their hands. Shizuka was still quite distracted from everything that happened. But this, her childhood friend sitting right in front of her and wanting a serious talk, still managed to make her a little worried. Did something happen to Ran?

Contrary to Shizuka's thoughts, Ran finally spoke up, "Shizuka-chan, are you alright?"

Shizuka blinked. That..was totally not what she expected. She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it after realizing that she didn't really know what exactly to reply.

Seeing this, Ran said, "It's alright. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. I just want you to know that if you have any problems, I'll be right here to listen." She added with a smile and a slight blush, "Plus, I kind of owe you for that time on the roof.."

This time, it was Shizuka who smiled. Ran was such a sweet girl. However, the boy-turned-girl wasn't sure if it was appropriate to tell her about what was bothering her. Also, if ever, where was she to begin?

After a few moments of deliberation, she took a deep breath and gave her answer.

In the end, Shizuka didn't say anything and pretended that everything was alright. She felt bad that she was once again lying to her childhood friend (though this time it was regarding a different thing) but really, she would rather sort her thoughts on her own, especially when it came to affairs like these that simply..baffled her. Plus, she didn't really want to burden Ran with all of her confused thoughts.

And so she tried to ignore the hurt look that passed Ran's face, which was soon replaced with a happier one as the conversation turned into more of an idle chatter. Shizuka could feel the awkwardness hanging in the air though, and she was also sure that the idle talk did nothing to ease both their minds.

After some time, Ran deemed it time for her to go home. However, she had just stepped out of the other girl's door when she suddenly stopped and gave the other a meaningful look. Shizuka wanted to ask her what was wrong, but she was pretty sure she had an idea on what that look could have meant: Ran felt bad that she wasn't trusted enough. Shizuka wanted to explain herself but didn't know how. And before she could get any words out, Ran bid goodbye and left.

Overall, Shizuka felt like the most horrible person in the world.

Heiji felt like an awful person. Well, he actually wasn't sure if he should, but he still felt like it.

It had been a few days since his birthday. That was one of the most memorable days of his life. Despite not being able to spend it with his family, he got to spend it with some close friends, and that was a great thing in itself.

That being said, that night was memorable for one more thing: it marked the day that he confessed to Shizuka and got turned down. He had no regrets though, or any ill feeling towards his friend. He was just glad that he didn't have to hide anything from her anymore, and that nothing seemed to have changed between the two of them.

..at least, that's what he thought.

As far as he remembered, the rest of that evening was fine. They were talking and joking around, like usual.

So why was she suddenly avoiding him, again?

And not only him, but Kuroba too. He was pretty sure that the thief didn't confess to her like he did ('Or did he?') or did something stupid enough to make her blatantly ignore him ('Since he always does stupid things anyway.').

'So what gives?' Heiji thought, thoroughly confused.

He wanted to talk to her. He really did. But what was he supposed to say? He didn't even know what the problem was!

Not knowing what to do, he almost wanted to pull his hair in exasperation.

Keyword: Almost. A hand on his shoulder made him stop in the middle of his inner monologue-slash-turmoil.

Turning around to see who it was, he was somehow surprised that it was one of the two people he was just thinking about. And what that person said surprised him even further.

"We're meeting up after class and heading over at Hakase's place," Kaito said. As if answering the unasked question hanging in the air, he continued, "Haibara has some updates on the Black Organization's activities."

Author's Notes: So yeah, a bit of plot development which, as I said, will move further in the next chapter, which I am already working on. Hopefully, school doesn't keep me too busy.

Reviews are greatly appreciated, and so are constructive criticisms, ideas, suggestions, and whatnot. I'm open to pretty much anything, except a few things. For one, I would appreciate it if you guys don't cuss at me because I'm taking too long to update. I'm still human and I still have other important things to do. And as I said, I'll never abandon any story that I'm writing. So yeah, I hope you guys understand.

That said, thank you to everyone who's still reading this! :)