I really like Heiji and Shinichi/Conan's friendship and the way they communicate as well as relate to each other.

I prefer Shinichi and Ran as a couple as well as Kazuha and Heiji!

However, I like to read about the boys' friendship. So, I have decided to write this story.

It is pretty OOC, so I am to be blamed, if the characters are too weird.

And thank you so much for Lilliane Matake for beta-reading this story. Your work is awesome! Thank you for synopsis and title too ^^

Warning: Canon pairing, bromance (I guess?), OOC.

Disclaimer: Aoyama-sensei, I'm borrowing your characters for awhile, okay?

"Friends Are Made By Fate"

When someone wants to be friends with a certain stranger, what should he do?

Should he just introduce himself to him and spontaneously start talking to him?

Or should he just begin by saying something simple but straightforward, like "let's be friends?".

So, how is it that someone could simply be friends with another person?

How could you even consider someone as your friend?

What if you took him as your friend, but he did not take you for one?

There is also a case where your best friend does not open up to you. Can you still consider him, as your best friend?

For some reason, these particular questions had been spinning around in Heiji's mind a lot lately. That was an exaggeration, it just began this morning.

He stared at his supposed friend, or should he say, rival? Probably both.

It was the shrunken Detective of The East, Edogawa Conan, also known as Kudo Shinichi, to a certain few.

The nerdy kid wearing those huge glasses was talking and smiling innocently at his babysitter, caretaker or guardian... or he could even say, his childhood friend and current crush, Mouri Ran during the dinner. Heiji could sense that Nee-chan probably knew that Kudo, or well Conan-kun, was forcing himself to look fine and perky as always, because behind this facade, Kudo looked out of it.

Surely enough they were suppose to be happy. After all, it was not a daily occurrence that the lousy famous Sleeping Detective receives free VIP hotel rooms at the Karuizawa. A hotel famous for their marvelous service and the number of celebrities as well as political leaders that have enjoyed their services.

At the day of their departure to the famed hotel, Heiji and Kazuha just happened to drop by at Mouri's front door, with the intention to surprise them. Not surprisingly, they ended up tagging along, or to be frank, dragged along.

"Kudo, what's wrong? Ya' looked down today," said Heiji to the shrimp boy, after he walked off from Ran once the dinner was over.

"Nothing," answered Conan with a tight smile, as he passed Heiji.

Of course, that smile was enough of an assurance that the little detective was indeed out of it that day. He could not have fooled Heiji. After all, Conan stayed silent emitting a dark aura when no one was talking to him.

When Nee-chan was around, all the silence and dark aura was brushed off like dust, replaced by a happy child-like facade. Conan just did not want to worry his lovely crush more that she was already worrying about him, faking a smile seemed like a good idea to prevent more worry.

Frustratingly, Heiji did not know why Kudo was depressed. He had a hint or two on why, but of course, there was no actual proof on whether he was right or wrong. Kudo never actually talked to him about his feelings, especially when he felt downright sad.

It had happened countless of times before, even when they were talking regularly on their cellphones. He always shrugged him off, refusing to open up or even give a hint on what was going on with him. It was always the same pattern, each and every time.

Heiji would usually ask him, "What's up Kudo?"

He shrugged it off, creating an excuse, usually a terrible one like, "I'm having a sore throat".

Heiji pushed him a bit more, to make him open up, but to no avail.

Kudo would just ignore it, or simply hang up with another excuse.

"Ran is asking for me, got to go."

"The old man is drunk again, I got to make sure he is okay."

And the excuses just kept on piling up. If it was literally rubbish, it would have been a huge mountain pile.

Heiji was trying to be an understanding friend. If Kudo did not want to talk about it, he would just let it go and stop pushing the topic on him.

Patience is indeed a virtue, but it also has a limit.

Heiji had enough of the 'not-opening-up' scenarios. Everyone knew Heiji has a short temper, him being patient for such a long duration was like a new record! Achievement unlocked.

Although, he had quite enough of Kudo's attitude towards him, he knew that Kudo never really opened to him. Yes, they were close. Very close in fact. However, whenever Heiji even touched any sensitive topics, Kudo never responded to him honestly.

He knew that it was a trait of Kudo's to not open up to anyone, especially when he was truly upset. Apparently, everyone experienced the same thing as he did. They were brushed away.

Kudo would just be silent and the aura of depression just hung on him like a parasite.

Doesn't that mean he just bottled up his feelings?

Isn't that bad?

What is he experience an emotional break down or something?!

Heiji cannot help himself as he thought of what could actually happen to his best friend. He was worried sick for him.

No one likes to feel helpless when their friend is upset, but then again, Heiji did not know how to make the shrunken detective open up to him. Heiji did not know where to even begin.

With slight frustration seeping through his calm facade, Heiji ruffled his hair.

A sigh escaped his lips as he hesitantly, turned to Kazuha, who was just a few feet away.

She was animatedly conversing with Ran with big grins on their faces. Words such as 'spa' and 'make up' as well other similar words were picked up by Heiji's sharp hearing. Deductively, they were obviously going to enjoy themselves with spa treatments at the spa built in the hotel. The hotel really did have great service, thought Heiji.

"Oi, Kazuha, come're for a minute!" Heiji called out to her. He was trying to be serious and not to call her silly names.

"Whaaat?" Kazuha replied with annoyance as she turned towards him. He gestured her to move closer to him. He did not want to ask such an embarrassing question in front of Nee-chan.

Well, it was quite embarrassing to him anyways, even if he was the one who was going to ask about it.

With confusion written all over her face , his dearest childhood friend approached him.

"What's wrong, Heiji?" asked Kazuha.

"Well, I have this one question..Well.. Just say that you have this... whatchu' call it. Reserved? Yeah. Reserved friend? You consider him your best friend but he never opens up to you! Especially when he is depressed! What are you like, suppose to do? Well, what would you do?"

After phrasing the question as such, a slight blush appeared on his cheeks, getting redder with every moment passing.

Kazuha blicked once then twice. She tilted her head as she asked Heiji, "Have you hit your head or somethin' Heiji?".

Heiji's immediate reaction was his face turning red with anger as he replied, "Of course not, Idiot! I'm serious here!".

He felt like slapping himself right there and then for looking like an idiot to ask such a stupid question. He was just so lost on what to do or on who to ask for help. So of course, his best source of help for such soft matters of the heart, was Kazuha.

Kazuha looked at him for a few moments before she smiling warmly at him.

"Well, it's hard to be friends with someone like that. If it was me, I would just wait for him to cool off while reminding him that I'd be here if he needed me," Kazuha answered thoughtfully.

"What if that doesn't work? What do I do then? I mean, what if he never opens up to you, like ever?" he asked, a bit frustrated. After all, that was what he had been doing for the past months.

Kazuha eyed him with apparent worry, but fortunately, no questions were asked.

"Then, I will open up to him first."

"Eh?" exclaimed Heiji, not expecting that answer at all.

"It is safe to assume that 'your friend' is a boy right, Heiji? Boys are silly, they are always thinking about their 'precious' pride. So, most of the boys feel embarrassed to share his problems with anyone, even his friends. There is one way though to overcome this problem. You should try and earn his trust. But first, you need to show him that you trust him as well," Kazuha explained thoroughly to him.

Heiji was a tad bit annoyed with the way Kazuha was talking about boys. However, she had a good point, so he just restrained himself from saying a word or two about girls.

"If he had known that you trust him enough to be able to share your problem with him. He would trust you with his problem as well," said Kazuha smiling at her childhood friend.

Heiji looked dead serious as he listened to her explanation.

"Hm.. so it is completely unfair to him, if I wanted him to open up to me, when I never did the same to him?" he asked the ponytailed girl.

The girl just looked at him with expression that screamed, "Are you an idiot?" and shook her head.

So that was the problem.

It was true that Heiji did ask for Kudo's help in a few cases, and it went both ways as Kudo also did ask for his help in bringing down the Black Organization.

Nevertheless, Heiji rarely shared his personal problems with Kudo.

Now that he thought of it, he never did share any of his personal problems with the other detective.

So, obviously, Kudo had done the same to him.

"Of course! So, is that all you wanted to ask?" Kazuha questioned him.

Heiji grinned at her. Now, he knew for sure, on what to do in this situation. He quickly turned and ran off to find Kudo.

"Yeah! Thanks! You are quite a genius at times!" Heiji shouted in reply. He heard Kazuha distinctly shouting something back at him but Heiji did not care to stop and listen.

There was a problem though, he thought. Heiji slowly stopped running.

He was a problem-free person...

His life was in peace, even if he had always been greeted with a murder case first before anything else could happen, whenever he goes out, but that was not a problem. So, what exactly could he share with Kudo?

IoI

Focus to the present time, don't think about the past or the future.

When someone is having problems, it is some how easier to think that way.

Past was painful, future was scary.

At least the present was only a tad bit bitter.

Conan was trying hard not to think too deep on how his life is going at the moment. The only he was trying his best to focus on was his main goal, bringing down the Black Organization. Period.

But you know, at times, it was so... hard. Sometimes, he just.. can't..

Conan jumped when something hot was pressed on his cheek. He spun fast in reflex but relaxed immediately when he saw Hattori grinning widely towards him with two hot canned drinks in his grasp.

"Geezz... it is cold here, Kudo. Couldn't you think of a better place to sulk next time?" joked Hattori as he sat beside him. They were on the rooftop of the hotel. That place was usually used for sunbathing and open cafeteria, but since it was evening, there was only the two of them there.

Conan accepted the hot canned drink that was offered by the Osaka detective.

He looked at it and frowned a little as it was only tea.

He was currently longing for a hot coffee currently.

"There is no cases now, I don't see a reason why you would need to drink coffee this evening, even though I know you like coffee," Hattori answered, although Conan did not say anything.

Conan glanced at his dark skinned friend and shrugged.

"Sorry Hattori, but I really want to be alone right now," he said, solemnly watching the stars above slowly appearing as the sky became darker, as night has fallen.

He did not see Hattori's face and he knew that he was a little harsh, Hattori must have been a bit hurt.

After a few moments of silence, Conan took this as a hint that Hattori was being stubborn as always. So, he stood up, ready to walk off, in search for another secluded place to be alone.

"To be honest Kudo, I just... er.. kinda want to talk to you about my... problem."

Conan stopped abruptly, and turned around to face his friend.

He was a little surprised, if it was something like a case, Hattori would have talked about it earlier.

"It's not about any case," Hattori stated before Conan could reply.

"About 'her'?" asked Conan referring to Hattori's dearest childhood friend.

"No, not about her either. Just... a personal problem...," replied Heiji slowly, unsure.

Conan tilted his head, Hattori never shared his personal problem.

Well, nothing serious anyway.

The only time when he actually conversed seriously to him was just when they were handling a case together or discussing about Black Organisation.

He was quite curious, so Conan chose to sit back and listen.

Just maybe, hearing Hattori's problem could distract him from his own troubling thoughts.

Noticing that Conan had decided to sit beside him, Heiji started to talk.

"You see... I never considered myself as a social impaired person. Not that I think that I'm a freak. Maybe, just a bit unusual than any other ordinary person. I can get along with people quite well and I haven't made any enemies until now."

Conan listened tentatively. As Hattori talked, he definitely refused to meet his eyes.

Maybe he was embarrassed to share his personal problem. It filled Conan with mirth, but he held it down for Hattori's sake.

"There is also that idiotic girl that stuck with me every time so I always think I'm fine. But, you see... I..."

Heiji paused. Conan waited, and he continued.

"I never really had any close male friends..."

Conan gaped at the dark skinned Osaka detective.

That was indeed a bit of surprise for him.

He knew that Hattori is a short-tempered person and sometimes, he is too hot-blooded but he was really friendly.

Conan always observed that the Osaka detective could get along with a lot of people easily.

So, of course, Conan had always thought that Heiji must have a lot of close friends in his hometown.

So, he never actually expected this of him.

"It's weird isn't it? Even Kazuha has a close friend. But I only... can be close with her," said Hattori followed by a pause.

Now, Conan could see that Hattori was depressed.

"Oh but, I can get along with my classmates very well. With my friends in Kendo club too. I never thought that making friends is hard but... Somehow... I don't know... Whether the others are actually avoiding me, or am I unapproachable?...It is just... that.. I don't have any close friend besides Kazuha."

"You mean, even though you can get along with your classmates. You can't blend well with them?" probed Conan.

Hattori nodded and sighed with a hint of exasperation.

"Weird isn't it? Even Kazuha scolded me once, 'go and make friends' or something like that. Even my parents had asked me, why do I never bring any friends home besides Kazuha," Hattori continued.

"But, I have tried my best to befriend my classmates, to get closer to them or hang out with them, but you see, they kinda never understood how my head works, how I talk or even whenever I got excited about cases, they never understood them as well... Of course, they kinda admire me, but they never bothered to get close to me... so..."

Hattori paused again and stayed silent for a few moments.

"Like a beast that don't herd together, huh?"

Conan turned to see Hattori's shocked face.

Then that dark skinned detective smiled bitterly. "Yeah, somethin' like that..."

Conan then smiled bitterly.

"I go through the same thing."

Hattori stared at him but Conan just looked down. He understood that very well, because he was no different than Hattori. He could be friendly with a bunch of people, but no one was able to get close to him besides Ran.

He had also tried quite hard to blend well with people his age but...

He was like a plain freak that simply couldn't mix with them...

Some would often say that he was too cocky, some others say that he was too smart for his own good and the rest simply complained that he was too hard to follow.

He was only able to converse freely with Ran, his parents, Agasa-hakase and some policemen but other than that, He didn't really have any other close friends besides Ran.

"There were times when I wonder what it feels like to have a close male friend, you know. Fooling around together or just doing something a girl won't understand...," Hattori continued.

Conan nodded.

"Yeah, I know... I wonder about it too...From time to time."

Silence embraced them yet again. It was a comfortable silence which both of them enjoyed.

"It is not only me that thinks we are friends, right, Kudo?"

Conan turned his head in shock and stared to Hattori.

His friend was trying to smile but it looked weary...

"Of course not," Conan replied back. He smiled at the Osaka detective but surprisingly Heiji didn't smile back to him. He looked dead serious at him.

"Is it true that you consider me as your friend, Kudo?"

Conan nodded, a little embarrassed. Although, he wondered why Hattori looked so mad.

"Then, let me say this as your friend..."

Heiji paused and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and Conan felt something bad will happen-

"AHOU! STOP MAKING ME WORRIED!"

-to him. Conan was stunned to hear Hattori's wrath towards him.

"You are not alone! Ya' hear that, not alone! I'm tired of being helpless. Not being able to do anything whenever you go into depressed mode. I know it's hard, I can't even imagine how are you feeling right now, but you have me okay!? Maybe I can't do anythin' but at least I've ears, ya' can talk to me! You can share your burden with me, okay?!"

With that, Heiji stopped for a second but continued again.

"Do you know what it feels to see yer' first close male friend upset so many times but ya' can't do anythin'?"

Conan just stared into Hattori's eyes.

He didn't know...

He never knew that he had always made Hattori worried.

"I never even asked ya' to talk to me, I don't mind if you share your problem with someone else that you probably trust but... you don't. Right!? Yes, you have made Nee-chan worried because you never told her the truth, but you also drove me insane for being silent with your troubles."

"You have only asked for my help with cases or your confrontation with Black Organisation. But, you have never shared your feelings... You..."

Hattori shut himself up again, but Conan could deduce the continuation of Hattori's sentence.

Did he feel that Conan was taking advantage of him?

Maybe it was because Hattori had connections to the police, or because Hattori was a detective like him.

But, he never considered him a friend, just Hattori Heiji, not the detective, not the son of head police officer...

Of course not, Conan never tried taking any advantage...

Okay, maybe he was taking advantage but he never forced Hattori to help him.

In addition to that, he never called Hattori only when he has a problem...

No, yeah, he rarely called him besides calling for help but-

Conan wanted to say anything to respond to Hattori's words, but he could see that Hattori's anger had burned out with every word that came out of his mouth, so he went silent.

"I always believed that you will take down Black Organization. I never really worry about you since you can take care of yourself but..."

Hattori stared at Conan's eyes deeply.

"I'm quite afraid that you might get crushed with your own bottled up feelings... Hell, if I were yer' position, I would've totally have gone mad..."

Conan stared down and bit his lips.

He couldn't say anything...

He didn't know what to say...

"You can share your burdens with me a little, Kudo... If you trust me that is."

Conan trusted him of course. He trusted Hattori...

He even let that Osaka detective knew about his identity.

He let him be close and be friends with him, he had shared so many things with him, they even had saved each other's lives countless times but...

Opening up... was so hard... he just never knew how... he never did that, not willingly at least.

Then there was silence yet again.

Hattori did not say a word and Conan could not find his voice to speak. Their eyes did not meet but they did not move either.

"I know, opening up to other people is hard... So, I tried to open up first but... Well, my problem looked pathetic compared to yours...," Hattori finally talked again followed by a dry laugh.

However, Conan understood Hattori's problem.

He just...

Then Hattori's laugh stopped.

"It is genuine though..."

"I really consider you as my first close male friend..."

"I don't know if it is same to you but..."

Hattori pushed his index finger gently to Conan's chest. "I will stick with you until the end, Kudo."

Hattori grinned, it looked a bit bitter. Maybe because he thought that his friendship was just one-sided, or maybe because Hattori thought that only he that actually considered them as friends.

Then Hattori got up and walked off.

Conan wanted to say anything, anything...

'Thank you!'

'I'm sorry.'

Just anything, but his voice would not come out...

No, he could not afford it if his friendship with Hattori was broken.

It is only with Hattori he could talk about mysteries, only with Hattori that he could be Kudo Shinichi again, and it is only Hattori that he trusts...

"I'm tired."

Heiji stopped and glanced back at Kudo.

"To be honest, I'm just... really tired," Kudo mumbled.

Heiji could not see his face well because of the big glasses and his long bangs.

"I'm tired of lying, deceiving,...everything..."

Heiji approached his little friend slowly. Kudo only looked down, he was not able to see his expression at all.

"I really want to get back to my old life. I'm tired living like this... I always wonder 'why me', every single time I look at my reflection on the mirror. I even start to lose my self... I don't know who I am, Edogawa Conan or Shinichi Kudo? I want it all to stop...,"

Conan's hoarse and cracked voice made Heiji felt his friend's sadness, even just a little bit of it.

"But, I can't do that. I mean, I have to be strong. I can't be weak, who knows if those bastard in black are lingering around me right at this moment."

Heiji closed his eyes. So, it was true after all. Kudo always forced himself to look cheerful, until it was a bit off. He hardly looked down, but after being companions with the boy for months, Heiji started to see past his mask.

Kudo is the Great Detective of the East, but he is still a normal teenage boy like him. Even though they are kind of weird and probably too smart for other ordinary teenagers to actually comprehend, but either way they are still teenagers.

Most people do not even treat them as adults, but here was Kudo, trapped in the worst condition that Heiji could have never been able to imagine until, he met Conan.

Due to that fact, Heiji was in constant worry.

Even though he never admitted it, but his mind always ponder about Kudo's condition when he was back at his hometown. He wanted to be able to stay at Kudo's side and assist him in every way possible but he also knew that Kudo could take care of himself.

He would stay put in Osaka unless Kudo calls him up or something else came up.

He cannot be always by Kudo's side, and it made him wonder on how Kudo was able to stay sane this entire time. Through calls or short meet-ups, he would catch a glimpse of him whenever he looked down but he never questioned it and Kudo never mentioned a thing.

But at last, Kudo told him, not everything but at least a bit of his depressing thoughts. Even only by a tiny bit.

Heiji could not take away all of Kudo's sadness and burdens. His mind still had a hard time understanding his words. But with all his sincerity, he would try... he would like to share the burden, if it meant making his friend feel better.

"Idiot."

After some time, Kudo finally turned to him. His eyes were a little glassy and his expression looked like he was in despair. It bothered Heiji so much that he wanted to smack rhe boy's face.

"You are capable of being tired and that is proof that you are a human," Heiji stated.

"But...," Kudo murmured weakly.

Heiji just sighed loudly.

"And more than that, you are feeling tired because you are trying to hold up the whole world on your small shoulders," added Heiji.

Kudo frowned to him, a face that looked a little bit better than the previous expression.

"I'm not trying to take the world's burden on my shoulders," he tried protesting to no avail.

"You are. I know you are, just shut up and listen to me," Heiji scolded the scowling boy. Kudo looked at him with doubt but he shut his trap.

"To be really honest, I can't even imagine how you are feeling being stuck in this hellish situation but.. I don't think it is wrong to complain from time to time," Heiji explained.

Conan looked down yet again as fiddled with his fingers feeling unsure.

"Even me, I admit that I had plenty of peaceful days, including the ones with cases. But, there is always that one day that everything just seem so worthless that I don't even wanna get out of bed, Kudo," added Heiji with a slight smirk which Kudo responded with a roll of his eyes.

"I deduce that condition of your could be caused by ordinary drowsiness,"he stated indignantly.

Heiji just laughed. Well, at least his friend was able to make a simple joke.

"But, it's true, Kudo. Even me, there are many people in school that don't even like me, they don't even try when I think about it now. They talked behind my back, often saying that I'm cocky or I'm just using my father's postion... Most of the time, I ignored them or beat their asses. Well it depends on my mood but well... there are times it feels too hard. Especially when someone keeps mentioning that the only person that could stand me is Kazuha," Heiji said with a sad smile.

"I mean, look at me with my little problem. Even I can be down with that. How about you? I don't think no one will blame you if you feel down. It just means your body and mind just probably needs a break from all those stressful thoughts," he alaborated.

Kudo just looked sideways and smiled faintly.

"I guess you have a point," he replied.

"Just make sure whenever you feel down, someone else watches your back," Heiji poked Kudo's cheek with a big grin plastered on his lips.

Kudo pouted for a bit but then smiled.

"Somehow after talking to you, I think I was just worried about something silly...," he said with a shy smile.

"Well, the main and pretty much the only point is that you are just tired," said Heiji.

'But if you are tired of everything, that's a sign of depression...,' thought Heiji to himself.

The Osaka high schooler did not want to wonder what would happen if he let Kudo be depressed longer than this... Will he commit suicide? Sounds like a joke, but it is not even close to funny.

"It also means that you, my friend, need a break," Heiji added again. Conan only laughed sheepishly.

"You made it sound so simple," Kudo said with a smile. He did not understand how but he felt that his burden has lifted off elsewhere.

"How about this, you could come over to my home next week? Just for a day would be enough, I will give you a tour around Osaka," suggested Heiji thoughtfully, but Kudo just shook his head. It sounds fun, but as an elementary kid, he could not travel to Osaka alone and it was way too tiring to make up more lies to get past Ran.

"I'd take that offer for another time," Kudo replied.

Surely then, he noticed something and smiled faintly.

Was that the reason why Heiji always come to Tokyo so frequently? Was it because he was worried or that he only wanted to hang out with him?

Heiji nodded, feeling a bit disappointed but he accepted it, figuring that Kudo had a damn good reason to decline. He looked at the stars shining ever so brightly, after the all that 'spilling-out-the-truth' business, the stars shone brighter somehow.

"How do ya' feel?" Heiji asked Kudo once again.

Kudo smiled to him.

"A little better," he answered.

"Just a little, huh?" Heiji asked again.

"Well, it's too hard to open up and spill everything so suddenly...," Kudo said with eyes displaying various emotions. Heiji just kept silent and decided not to push him.

He had pushed his friend enough... he would not mind waiting again until Kudo open up more to him.

"You can take it easy. I ain't goin' nowhere," remarked Heiji.

"You will go back to Osaka the day after tomorrow though," reminded Kudo sarcastically.

"Oh, are you gonna miss me Kudo?" teased Heiji.

"You bastard. No, I won't miss you. At all."

Heiji just laughed and Kudo joined him.

Deep down, Conan still felt sad. His burden would not be lifted off in just one night.

However, he should learn to share his burdens little by little with his friend. He was not alone so why bother bottling up his feelings alone? There was always this stupid Osaka detective that accepted him regardless his appearance and thoughts. He felt that, even if something bad happened to him at the end, he still could have a place to come back to...

As long as he could be himself around Heiji maybe he thought that, he would be fine. Yeah, fine..

He could never share something like this with Ran, he did not want her to worry about him as if he is on his death bed. Sometimes he could share it with Agasa-hakase but the age gap was too big so he could not connect well at all.

Ai was simply out of the question, if Conan admitted that he was tired of chasing down the Black Organitation, what will that paranoid girl do? Even if she looked tough on the outside, she was surprisingly fragile in the inside.

He stared at Heiji, he was really glad that this friend wanted to stick with him. He was so glad that Heiji had forced him to spill his guts out. He was so damn glad...

"Aw... The tea has gone cold... Let's get back to our room Kudo," Heiji sighed, he shook the half-empty can of tea. Then he stood up and glanced at Kudo, seeing the little detective doing the same.

"What will we do tomorrow? I hear the girls are gonna go shoppin' around, I don't have any interest to go with them...," Heiji said emphasising on the word 'any'.

"Hm... I don't know... Do you wanna go hunting for delicious food?" suggested Conan.

"And here everyone thought I'm the one who has the bottomless pit of a stomach," Heiji chuckled.

Well, he was not as bad as Conan's fat friend, Kazuha had told him on how that kid spent all of her allowance with his gigantic appetite, but it was still a fact that Heiji eats a lot.

Conan just laughed softly beside him.

"Uhm... Thank you."

Heiji turned to him with confusion expressed on his face.

"For what?" he asked.

"For... everything, I guess," Conan mumbled incoherently.

Heiji grinned then scratched his head, not exactly knowing what to say.

"Somehow it is more embarrassing to hear you say that," he said nervously.

Conan just smiled warmly.

"Okay, let's race to our hotel room. Whoever loses would have to buy lunch for tomorrow!" Heiji stated suddenly, covering up his shy self.

"Eh, suddenly-"

"Go!" Heiji started to run, leaving the Conan with a shocked face.

"Wait, you are cheating!" Conan shouted but then smiled. He did not even bother to catch up Heiji. Since he did not mind treating him tomorrow at all. Even though he could easily predict that Heiji would probably eat until all of his money is spent... Well, it was not such a big deal.

Conan stared to the outside of window. The stars looked brighter here than in Tokyo, shining with little light at dark sky, like small ray of hopes at the darkest day.

Though, Heiji was associated better with hot things... like, Sun, Conan chuckled.

"I consider you my very first close male friend too... Hattori," he murmured with a smile of amusement.

End

So, that's the end

Almost forgot, I put some japanese words here, it is the translation (but I bet everyone already know the meaning of these words).

Nee-chan – older sister, how Heiji called Ran

Ahou – idiot

That's all.

But, I want to make a sequel, about how Heiji is the one who would be depressed and troubled and then Conan/Shinichi could cheer him up ^^

Please review if you are interested in reading the sequel.