AN: So, here I am, with a brand new story (again)! Although to be frank this idea has always been churning in the back of my head in some form or fashion for quite some time now, but it's only now that I've really figured out a manner in which I'd like to tell it. If I could add a third genre to this story, the tag would probably be sci-fi because it does dabble with some sci-fi like themes, which will become clear once we get to that part of the story. Anyways, it's one that I'm looking forward to telling, so I hope everyone looks forward to reading it!

As always, don't forget to review, especially since this is the start of a new story! Your thoughts are what really keeps me pumped and motivated to keep on updating, so don't hesitate to tell me what you think, or to share your predictions! Then, until later!

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Chapter One

Initial Onset

In hindsight, perhaps he should have been more concerned about the persistent cough that seemed to plague his friend much sooner.

"Geez, what's that look on yer face fer? It's almost like yer not even happy ta see me, Kudo!"

As Conan let out a long, exasperated sigh, he looked up towards the person who had somehow or another managed to worm his way into his life, managing to somehow become his best friend before he'd even known it. It was strange to think that there was a time that he hadn't known the one known as the high school detective of the west, Hattori Heiji, and even stranger still to think that time had only been around a year ago now. That broad grin of his that had become so familiar to Conan was plastered on his face, an eager look in his eyes that told him that he had something to tell him.

"I am happy to see you, Hattori, I just wish you'd give me some advance notice, rather than just show up out of the blue." Conan said finally. "So? What brings you all the way out to Tokyo today? From the look in your eyes, there's obviously something."

"That's right!" Heiji's grin only managed to grow all the brighter, as he eagerly nodded his head. "There's a case, a case! A really interestin' case!"

"And? You want me to solve it with you?" Conan asked. Well, it wasn't exactly like he would say no. Kogoro hadn't really been getting much work lately, and Conan was growing somewhat bored. A case might very well be just what the doctor has ordered. There was only so much of first grade schoolwork he could stand. Without the chance to stretch his brain a little with some casework, he almost felt like he'd revert into a child in mind, as well as body.

That was most definitely an exaggeration, but that was what it felt like sometimes.

"You've got it right!" Kneeling down in front of him, Heiji reached out a hand, ruffling Conan's hair much to his shrunken friend's great annoyance, seemingly oblivious to the fact. "How about it, Kudo? Ya wouldn't even have ta deal with that uncle from the detective agency hangin' around this time. Just you an' me."

"Is this why you chose to confront me in front of the Professor's place, then? Exactly how long were you planning on waiting out here for me to come along anyways?" Conan couldn't help but ask. He'd been on his way to the Professor's when he'd been all but ambushed by Heiji.

"Well, I figured ya'd come around eventually." Heiji told him. There was something in his tone that told Conan that he hadn't actually thought it through that far.

That was the first time, Conan recalled later, that he'd heard Heiji cough. It was more of a fit of them really, rather than a single, simple cough, one that left him gasping slightly for breath once it was over. Naturally, at the time, he'd been concerned, but...

"Oi, are you alright, Hattori?" Conan asked, a deep frown on his face. "That didn't sound very good. Are you coming down with something?"

"Just a summer cold, probably." Heiji said after a moment, flashing him a quick grin- though Conan couldn't help but notice that it didn't seem quite as strong as his previous one had. "S'not anythin' ta worry about."

"Do you want some cold medicine?" Conan asked. "The professor always has some around. And don't worry, I'll make certain to get you the real cold medicine." He told him, briefly recalling that one incident where he'd ended up with the Apotoxin antidote instead of cold medicine. In the end it had more or less worked out for him, given the kind of culprit they had been dealing with, but well, it was definitely not a good idea to give someone the antidote to something they weren't even suffering from.

"Nah, it's okay. I already took some." Heiji promised him, pausing briefly to cough into his hand again- this one, blessedly, only lasted for a second. "It's really just a cough, mostly."

"Honestly." Conan heaved a sigh. "Only you would come all the way out here when you're sick just because of a case."

"Shut up, idiot. Don't try an' pretend ya wouldn't do the same thing. 'Sides, I'm not really sick." Heiji said, casting him a skeptical look. Knowing that he'd more or less caught him out, Conan could only give him a slightly sheepish one in return. "Anyways, ya wanna go check out this case with me? Of course, it's here in Tokyo, otherwise I would have called ya out ta Osaka myself."

"Alright, count me in. You are going to give me the details before we get there, right?" Conan asked.

"Well of course I am!" Heiji promised him, standing back up straight, coughing into his hand once more as he did so. "An old friend of a friend of Otaki-han's was murdered a week ago, an' apparently the police are still puzzled about the case. They're pretty sure they know who the murderer is, but the problem is that is they can't prove it, an' they can't solve the trick behind the locked room murder. That's where we come in, naturally."

"I see." Placing a hand on his chin, Conan briefly found himself lost in thought- not even noticing for a second that Heiji had started walking ahead of him. With a slight start, Conan hurried to catch up with him, casting a glower at those long legs of his. If he had his own body back, then it wouldn't be that much of a problem- Heiji was only a little bit taller than him when he was in his real body. But the height difference between Edogawa Conan and Hattori Heiji was needless to say, vast.

Seeming to notice that the shrunken detective was having trouble keeping up with his pace, Heiji slowed it down a little, giving him a small smile as Conan easily caught up to it. Said smile was broken by another pair of coughs, and he couldn't help but grumble a little. It probably was just a summer cold, but it was also one he'd been fighting off for the past two weeks. That in itself was nothing unusual for him- but it didn't really make him feel badly enough to cause him to want to rest in bed. His mother had been very insistent that he stay in bed for the first week after he'd developed it, but by week two, he was sick and tired of that, and had decided to take the first chance he could get to leave the house.

Which was, incidentally, this case. He'd basically blasted out of the house before his mother could even stop him. Doubtlessly she had already made a very annoyed phone call to his father, but it didn't matter. It wasn't like either of them would come out all this way to get him just because of a slight cough.

And a mild fever.

And the occasional fits of exhaustion.

But other than that, it was pretty much nothing to worry about! Nothing that he couldn't handle, at any rate. Granted, it would probably become trouble if it turned into a full blown sickness- he'd never handled being sick very well, as somewhat embarrassing as that was to admit. It had been that way ever since he was a child- while he was generally pretty resistant at catching things in the first place, whenever he did catch something, it always hit him hard. It was, quite frankly, rare for him to recover quickly from a sickness, and he was almost entirely down for the count the entire time while he was doing so- which could often last up to two weeks, at the very least. There had been a time during middle school when he had caught the flu and was in and out of for the duration of a month- that had been pretty unpleasant. As far as he could remember, he'd basically gone to sleep, and woke up an entire month later, his memories of the time so fuzzy that he could barely recall anything.

Besides, it just wasn't in his nature to lie around all day and do nothing, especially when he was otherwise pretty healthy. If he actually got sick, he'd mind himself then, but until then, there was a case in front of him, and he was going to solve it with his best friend, and there wasn't any force on earth that could get in the way of that- not even the gray clouds that lingered overhead, bearing with them a threat of a summer storm.

In hindsight, he probably should have stayed in bed.

Not that it would have actually done him any good. What was to come, after all, was basically inevitable.

"It's really comin' down now." Heiji observed, peering out the window behind him. The case had more or less been wrapped up- only loose ends needed to be tied up now, he thought to himself, catching sight of Detective Takagi escorting the murderer to a police car. And they'd been so cocky when they had first been called to the scene of the crime, so certain that they'd gotten away with it, so assured of the fact that even if the police suspected him, they had no way of proving it. Wiping that smug look off of his face was the sort of thing that Heiji lived for, and boy did it feel good.

"Did you bring an umbrella by any chance?" Conan asked, twitching open the curtains, casting a slight frown up at the sky.

"Do I look like I have an umbrella on me?" Heiji asked, spreading out his hands. He had to quickly recall one however, as another coughing fit flared up. This time, Conan couldn't help but notice, it seemed to last longer, and had been more powerful than his previous fits- of which he'd had any number of while going over the crime scene. He'd actually been interrupted in the middle of giving his deduction by one.

It was starting to worry him, frankly.

"Are you quite alright, Hattori-kun?" Megure himself couldn't help but be more than a little concerned. The Osakan high school detective that he knew was usually the picture of perfect health, but today's Heiji actually managed to look somewhat pale- which was a feat, all things told. "You've been coughing pretty badly ever since you arrived here."

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Waving off the older man's concern, Heiji flashed him a quick grin- one that looked slightly haggard. He was starting to feel a little worse for wear- perhaps he had actually pushed himself too hard. Maybe he should consider taking a nap before trying to hop on the train to head back to Osaka. "It's just a summer cold."

"It doesn't quite sound like a summer cold to me." Megure noted with a frown, glancing down at Conan, who shook his head, telling him that he didn't know himself. "How's your temperature? Should I call for a doctor?"

"No, no, that's not necessary." Heiji was quick to reassure him, even as he coughed into his hand again. His temperature had gotten a bit worse, he thought to himself, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. He actually didn't really like people worrying over him all that much, especially if he didn't know them as well. "I'm really fine, Inspector. I'll just find somewhere ta lie down fer awhile before I head home."

"Do you want to come over to the Professor's house, Heiji-niichan?" Conan piped up. "I'm sure he'd let you borrow the couch for awhile, if you need it."

The professor's place was closer to here than the detective agency anyways. He did briefly consider inviting Heiji over to his own house- but Subaru was still there, and he wanted to avoid the two of them meeting if he could help it. If Heiji found out that there were things about his investigation into the Black Organization that he was keeping from him, it probably wouldn't end that well. The last thing he wanted was to have a fight with him over something like that.

It was out of concern, mostly. Heiji had a bad knack for finding trouble all on his own, the less he was involved in dangerous situations like the ones dealing with them brought him, the better. Not only would Kazuha likely never forgive him if he allowed something to happen to Heiji, he'd never forgive himself either.

He would very much like for Heiji to still be around when he was finally able to go back to his original body, after all. The detective of the east and the detective of the west working together, side by side to solve cases was already something that had happened countless times- but that was something only the two of them knew. As much as he never admitted it out loud, he really did want to work cases with Heiji in his real body, not in this diminutive form of his.

"Ah, that might be a good idea, Ku- no, Conan-kun." Heiji told him, flashing him a small smile. "I'll probably feel a lot better after a quick nap. M'probably just tired."

"Well, if you say so, Hattori-kun." From the way he was still frowning, Megure didn't seem entirely convinced- but he was willing to let it go if the boy himself insisted. "If you're looking for umbrellas, I think there's one you can borrow downstairs, at the front desk of the hotel."

"Oh, thanks!" Heiji gave him a quick nod, before glancing down towards the small boy next to him. Blinking for a moment, he swore that for a brief second, he actually saw two of him. Maybe he really did need that nap, he thought to himself, steadying his vision again, now only seeing one pint-sized detective before him. "Let's go, Conan-kun!"

"Sure, Heiji-niichan!" With a chipper nod of his head that didn't betray the worry he was feeling on the inside, Conan cast an assessing look towards the Osakan detective. Megure was right, he was looking a little more worse for wear than he had been when they'd arrived here. Had he pushed himself a little too much?

If that was the case, then a good rest was just the ticket. If worst came to worst, he could convince Heiji to spend the night, and to go back to Osaka tomorrow morning after he was more well rested, and ready to face the train ride back home.

It was Conan who ended up asking for the umbrella at the front desk, as Heiji quickly found himself dealing with another coughing fit. Holding up a hand and silently promising the increasingly worried Conan that he was just fine, he could only wait until it passed, mentally timing it.

Thirty-one seconds, exactly.

Taking in a breath, Heiji took the umbrella from Conan, the pair of them walking out into the summer storm. Popping open the umbrella, Heiji flashed him a grin, motioning for him to stick tight next to him so that he wouldn't get wet.

It was easier to keep pace with him this time, Conan couldn't help but note. Maybe he should consider getting Ai to check him over when they got the Professor's place. Pulling out his cellphone to let the aforementioned portly professor know that they were coming, and to get some cold medicine ready for Heiji, and perhaps some soup, if he had any, Conan spared another glance up towards his rival, faintly hearing the sound of his coughing even through the pouring rain.

"You're sick, Hattori." Conan said pointedly, making sure that his voice was loud enough so that it could be heard over the rain.

"M'not." Heiji grumbled, stubbornly resistant to the idea. Sick meant lying around in bed for at the very least, up to two weeks, and he'd already spent a week in bed before this. Frankly, he was already tired of it. Sick also meant barely having any awareness of his surroundings and becoming virtually totally dependent on whoever was taking care of him, and that side of him was the last thing that he wanted to show his rival, of all people. "M'fine, Kudo. It's just a summer cold."

"Hattori." Conan's voice was sharp, his eyes narrowing. "This isn't something to be stubborn about. You need to take care of your body. Even I rest when I'm sick."

Glancing down towards Conan, the stubborn Osakan detective finally let out a slight sigh- one that caught in his throat as another cough halfway through. Once it passed, he let his shoulders slump somewhat, realizing that his friend probably had a point. He was probably coming down with something after all.

"Fine, fine." Heiji grumbled, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "Yer right, Kudo. I do feel like I'm comin' down with somethin'. I'll be good an' rest properly when we get to that professor's place, alright?"

"That's good." Giving Heiji a swift nod, Conan felt a slight vibration from his pocket, pulling out his phone to check on it. It was a message from the professor, telling him that he'd gotten out the medicine- and had made certain it was the real stuff this time- and that he had some chicken soup heating up as they spoke. Satisfied with this, Conan tucked it back away.

By the time they had arrived at the Professor's, Heiji's coughing had gotten pretty bad. Hurriedly escorting his still coughing friend inside, Conan lead him towards the couch, carefully sitting him down on it. A worried look crossed Agasa's face the moment Heiji entered his door- he apparently hadn't been expecting it to be quite this bad, and he hurried to go get the medicine, preparing a cup of water to take it with.

"Here you are, Hattori-kun." Agasa told him, offering him the glass of water. With a slight nod of his head, Heiji took it from him, accepting the pair of pills- store bought cold medicine this time, rather than the Professor's own invention- and swallowed them, washing them down with the water.

Letting out a long sigh once they were down, Heiji did seem to feel a little better- or at least, he thought so. "Thanks. Sorry fer the trouble."

"It's no trouble at all." Agasa told him simply. "Shinichi, why don't you go ahead and get the chicken soup off the stove? It should be about ready by now."

"Sure thing, Professor." Conan said, heading over towards the kitchen. "By the way, where's Haibara?"

"I believe she's over at Ayumi-kun's place today." Agasa told him. "Apparently she's helping her housesit for a few hours while her parents are out. She should be back in a few hours. Why do you ask?"

"I wanted to see if she could look over Hattori." Conan told him frankly, pulling out the stepstool so that he could get up to the stove in the first place. Switching off the heat, he pulled the soup pot off of the stove, and went to fetch a bowl to put it in.

"I don't need the little Neechan ta look over me, Kudo." Heiji told him with a slight frown. "Like I said, it's probably just a summer cold."

"It seems worse than that, Hattori." Conan noted, casting a doubtful look in his direction, before he busied himself pouring some soup into a bowl. "You've been getting worse and worse all afternoon. It wouldn't hurt to have someone look over you."

"Geez, ya sound just like my old lady." Heiji grumbled. Well, he could understand why he was worried- he'd never actually seen him sick before, so he had no idea how bad it could get. "It's really probably nothin' serious, Kudo. I've never handled gettin' sick all that well, ever since I was a kid. It probably just seems more serious than it actually is. Put some faith in me, Kudo, I know my own body well enough."

His argument was less effective, he couldn't help but note, when he ended up punctuating it with another coughing fit.

"Well if it gets any worse, we're taking you to see a doctor- and Haibara's checking you over either way. No arguments, Hattori." Conan noted, a sharp tone to his voice as he carefully brought the soup over, setting the bowl down on the table in front of him. "It's a little hot, so be careful."

"Honestly," Planting himself in the chair across from Heiji, Conan watched as he took the bowl of soup in his hands. "Case or no case, you should have stayed home if you weren't feeling completely well. It's no good to push yourself like that."

"Like I said, it had mostly just been a persistent cough up until now." Heiji noted, a tight frown on the Osakan's lips. "'Sides, my old lady already had me restin' in bed fer about a week, an' it wasn't like it was makin' me any better. Since I wasn't gettin' any worse either though, I thought it would be fine. S'not my fault that it waited until I got all the way out here to flare up like this."

Doing what could best be described as shoving a spoonful of soup into his mouth, a strange look quickly crossed Heiji's face, which only grew as he swallowed down a second one. "Are ya sure this soup is still good? It kind of doesn't have any taste."

"I just bought it the other day, so it should be fine." Agasa noted with a frown. "Your taste buds might be slightly off since you have a cold."

"Really?" Heiji frowned a little, shrugging his shoulders. Well, that sounded reasonable enough, even if he'd never lost his sense of taste during any of the previous colds he'd caught- and even if this seemed more than just slightly off. "Well, if ya say so, that's probably right, but..."

"Just concentrate on eating and getting some rest for right now, Hattori." Conan told him. "You're welcome here for as long as you need, until you feel better."

"Mm." Making a small face, Heiji couldn't help but think that it was rather difficult to do just that when he couldn't actually taste the soup worth a damn- it just felt like he was swallowing hot, flavorless water. Still, Conan was probably right, as much as he hated to admit it- he should probably eat up and get some rest.

What he had told Conan was the truth, after all- nobody knew his own body better than him. And now that he had stopped being so stubborn about it and actually listened to it for a second, he couldn't shake the distinct feeling that something seemed not quite as it should be.

Well, hopefully whatever it was, a good nap would clear it right up.

"I was wondering why Hattori-kun was asleep on our couch." Ai observed simply, casting an eye towards the sleeping figure of the high school detective in question, who had apparently conked out there like a light three hours ago, and had been sleeping soundly ever since then. When she'd arrived home to find the living room darkened, and Conan and the Professor speaking in hushed tones, for a moment, she had been worried that something was terribly wrong.

Thankfully, that didn't appear to be the case.

"He says it's just a summer cold, but I don't know, Haibara." Conan said with a frown, watching as Heiji turned in his sleep. He'd tossed a blanket on him a little while ago since it looked like he was shivering, but now he'd started to look like he was sweltering instead. "I'm a little worried about him."

"I'm sure he'll be just fine, Kudo-kun." Although she was quick to reassure him of this, there was something about the way that Heiji was drawing breath that she didn't quite like. Something about the rhythm was off. "He's always seemed the hardy type to me."

"No, it's actually the opposite." Conan glanced over at her. "He told me himself that he apparently doesn't handle being sick very well. Well, granted, he didn't exactly elaborate on what that means, but I think I can sort of guess."

"Really?" Blinking slightly, Ai allowed a frown to grace her features. "Well, in that case, I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to give him a quick exam. It would really be better to take him to a real doctor though."

"Yeah, if it comes to that, I'll have the Professor drive him to a hospital." Giving her a curt nod, Conan carefully switched on one of the lights nearest to the couch. The man in question had stepped out for a moment to buy some odds and ends, just in case Heiji needed to spend the night. As the light filtered in behind his eyelids, Heiji stirred a little, but didn't quite wake up. "Hattori, wake up for a bit. Haibara's here."

Reaching out to shake his shoulder, Conan couldn't help but notice that his body seemed rather hot- a quick check of his features told him that he seemed a little flushed besides that. Was he possibly coming down with a fever?

"Hattori, wake up, I said!" Conan told him again- and this time Heiji did stir at his words, blue eyes flickering open. Groaning a little, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, taking a second to place exactly where he was.

"Oh, Kudo." Heiji spoke, blinking slowly, letting out a slight yawn. Glancing over at the nearest clock, he noted that he'd been out of it for three hours- and yet for some reason, he still felt completely wiped. "Mornin'. I see that little Neechan is back."

"Yeah. How are you feeling, Hattori?" Conan asked, opening up his mouth to protest as Heiji got to his feet, stumbling a little as he did so. If anything, his friend actually looked worse than he had before he fell asleep- there was something to the cloudy, glassy look in his eyes that he really didn't care for. While he had said that he didn't handle being sick well, Conan couldn't sure if that was part of it or not- he really probably should have asked Heiji to elaborate, in retrospect. "You really don't look too good."

"Mm." Blinking slowly, Heiji cast a glance down towards Conan, squinting at him as the shrunken detective seemed to dance in his vision. After a moment he managed to focus again, once again only seeing one of him. "I've been better."

"Haibara says that she'll give you a quick exam." Conan said, glancing down towards the basement stairs, which she'd just headed down a second ago. "Do you think you can make it downstairs?"

It was almost eerie, seeing him like this- it was as if all the fire within him had been doused, not even the slightest flicker of it left. Was this lack of energy normal for him when he was ill? Was it abnormal? Maybe going to the hospital really would be the best idea.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it." Heiji reassured him, reaching down to lightly pat him on the head. There was no real pressure behind it, his hand somewhat limply lying on Conan's head, lingering for a moment too long, before he finally moved it away again. His breath seemed to come out in short, shallow rasps, though at the very least, it didn't appear as if he were coughing anymore.

Narrowing his eyes as Heiji literally seemed to drag his feet as he walked, stumbling a little at the top of the stairs, Conan half wanted to tell him to stay put where he was- that Ai could come up here to him, rather than he down there to her. Quickly hurrying behind Heiji, he noted with a slight bit of relief that his steps seemed to grow steadier- perhaps he had still been half-asleep. He made it down the stairs without any problems, where they both found Ai waiting for them, having donned her white lab coat as a matter of formality.

"Take a seat, Hattori-kun." Ai instructed him, motioning towards a chair that she had pulled out. All but collapsing in it in a way that made Ai's eyes narrow, she exchanged a quick glance with Conan, before picking up a thermometer. "Let's start by taking your temperature."

"Mm." Taking the thermometer from her without much protest, Heiji stuck it in his mouth. His head felt kind of fuzzy, and it was harder for him to concentrate than it usually was. Granted, his attention span had never been all that great whenever he wasn't dealing with a case to begin with, but he seemed to be having trouble just keeping thoughts in his head at the current moment.

So much so that he barely noticed when the thermometer beeped at him, telling him that it had finished taking his temperature. It was only Conan's insistent voice that snapped him out of his daze, and Heiji slowly reached up, pulling the thermometer out of his mouth. For a moment, he squinted at the numbers, his vision blurring to the point where he couldn't even read them, before he found it taken out of his hands by someone- he couldn't really tell who it was, actually.

Something was wrong.

He had some concept, some idea, that someone had just exclaimed something in shock, but he couldn't tell which of the shrunken teenagers it was at the moment, nor what it was that they were saying. The static in his head only seemed to be increasing by the second, and he felt his eyelids flicker, growing heavier and heavier by the moment.

When he collapsed, he barely even registered it.

"Hattori! Oi, Hattori!" Conan called out, a bolt of cold fear surging through him that for once had nothing to do with the Black Organization. "Wake up, Hattori!"

"Kudo-kun, we need to call an ambulance right away." Ai advised him, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. "Hattori-kun is running a dangerously high fever right now. He needs immediate medical attention. I'll do what I can for him now, but he needs to see a real doctor as soon as possible."

"R-right." Almost numbly nodding his head, Conan found himself digging out his phone, dialing up the number of emergency services. He'd instructed other people to call for an ambulance countless times in the past- but this was the first time he had actually called one himself.

And it was for his best friend, no less, who currently lay on the floor of the professor's basement, collapsed into a heap, his breath coming out in hot, labored gasps. In the back of his mind, he dimly noticed that Ai seemed to be performing some sort of first aid, as he began to tell the woman who had answered the phone what was happening. He barely even cared that she started treating him like the child that he sounded like almost as soon as he started talking to her- at the very least, she was listening to him, and promising to send aid his way straight away.

Usually when it came to emergency situations, Conan was the one who found himself in control of them- sharp and level-headed no matter what the circumstances. He'd managed to keep himself together even after he'd been shot, but now, he couldn't help but find everything happening in some sort of blur. This was a situation in which he was utterly powerless- he was a detective, not a doctor, he knew nothing about sick people. He'd started when Ai shouted at him to go wait for the ambulance by the front door, and had found himself moving on instinct in response, dashing up the stairs.

It wasn't until he watched the emergency technicians race into the professor's home, that he snapped back to some form of reality, taking in a sharp breath. Finding that there was a hand on his shoulder, and someone by his side asking him a question, he noticed that it wasn't one of the people who were riding on the ambulance, or even the Professor, but rather, it had been Okiya Subaru- and from the looks of it, he'd been trying to get a response from him for some time.

"Haibara's fine." Conan found himself croaking out after a second, dimly realizing that the commotion had doubtlessly drawn the disguised FBI agent out. He'd been tasked with watching this place, after all, it was to be expected. "Haibara's fine, Subaru-san. She's fine."

Narrowing his eyes at the young boy's incredibly uncharacteristic behavior, Subaru knew full well that even if the girl he had been charged with watching was alive and well, something else was very much wrong. But from the way the bespectacled boy in front of him was behaving, his gut feeling told him that it had nothing to do with them.

He'd never actually seen the boy known as Edogawa Conan acting like a vulnerable child before- but that was very much the expression he wore on his face now, as if the life had been sucked out of him. He couldn't help but find himself more than a little concerned, even if it wasn't something that had anything to do with his line of work this time.

"Then, what's wrong?" Subaru asked. "Did the Professor collapse?"

Shaking his head, Conan felt his breath catch in his throat for a moment, before he swallowed, finally steeling himself once again. He couldn't just keep being in a daze- that was the last thing he needed to be in under these circumstances. He had to be alert, had to be ready to do what he could, to answer any questions that he was asked. That was what he could do to help Heiji in this situation. The ambulance was here now, and the emergency technicians were with Heiji as they spoke.

Everything would be fine. Heiji would be just fine. It was far too early to panic. Get it together, Kudo Shinichi. This was hardly the kind of situation that he needed to fall apart in.

"My friend collapsed." Conan finally managed to get out, breathing slightly easier than before. "He's been sick since this afternoon, but he suddenly got a lot worse. I don't know what's wrong with him, Subaru-san."

"I'm sure the doctors will figure it out." Subaru reassured him, watching as Conan finally seemed to collect himself. "You don't have to try and solve medical mysteries too."

"Right. You're right." Conan said, slowly nodding his head. As he heard the sound of footsteps coming from within the Professor's house, he watched at the technicians reemerged, Heiji's still unconscious body having been placed carefully on their stretcher. It was the second time that he'd watched him be rushed into the back of an ambulance, and the situation was far more dire than the first.

And considering that the first time this had happened was back when he had been shot, that was saying something. Heiji had managed to laugh off his injury back then- Conan could only hope that the same would be true for his friend now.

"Go with him." With a slight nudge from Subaru, Conan glanced up at him. "I'll contact the Mouris for you. You're worried about him, are you not?"

"Right. I should, you're right. Thank you, Subaru-san." Flashing him the best smile he could manage under these circumstances, Conan hurried into the ambulance, allowing the technicians to pull him up inside, too short to get in it without any assistance. For once he accepted the help without any complaint. Now was hardly the time to be bothered by other people treating him like a child, he thought to himself, as he watched an oxygen mask being placed over Heiji's face.

As the ambulance doors closed behind him, he could just make out Subaru pulling out his cellphone, and the form of Ai, just making it up to the doorway. As the shrunken scientist took notice of the man, she couldn't help but direct a suspicious glance towards him, even in spite of the circumstances.

Still, he was probably just drawn out here by the sound of the sirens. He did live right next door, after all.

"Edogawa-kun appeared to be very shaken." Subaru noted, typing in the phone number to the Mouri Detective Agency into his phone. "What happened?"

"His friend collapsed." Ai said, her tone coming out sharper than she intended. Letting out a slight sigh, she felt the tension wash out of her shoulders- this wasn't the type of situation in which she should be suspicious of him. He probably was just trying to help right now, regardless of whatever his real identity might be. "He was running a dangerously high fever, and his breathing was abnormal. His heart rate was too quick, as well. Something is clearly very wrong."

"I didn't catch the name of his friend." Subaru noted, his finger hovering over the call button, mildly impressed but simultaneously unsurprised by the rundown Ai had just given him. "If I'm to call Mouri-san to inform him of the situation, then I should probably know the name of the person who collapsed, correct?"

"Hattori Heiji." Ai supplied him, the sound of the sirens now becoming distant as it raced it's way towards the nearest hospital. She'd performed first aid as best she could- now all that could be done was leave it up to the professionals. "His name is Hattori Heiji."

"The high school detective of the west, is it?" Subaru couldn't help but note, the faintest of frowns on his face. Naturally, he'd heard about the Osakan detective's reputation before- as well as his connection to the owner of the house that he was currently residing in. This marked the first time he'd ever actually seen him, however, if only ever so briefly.

There had been something about that face- something that tugged at a distant part of Subaru's memory, even just from that brief glimpse. It wasn't that he felt he'd ever met the high school detective before- if anything, the faint memory it stirred within him was of a face that belonged to a man at least twenty years Hattori Heiji's senior. And yet even so, except for the indications of age, the two were virtually identical.

He couldn't deny that it bothered him, but he couldn't quite place a name with the half remembered face. It must have been something he had only heard of in passing, then- but nevertheless, he would look into it in the near future.

But for the moment, he had a rather important phone call to make.