Hi! Thought I'd let everyone know that I am in the midst of writing my first Detective Conan story, but it doesn't feature Conan/Shinichi though, instead it's my favorite character of DC sharing his exploits with a certain thief we all know and love. I based this off the few Hattori Heiji eps (one being the Famous House Murder), a bit of the cool Magic Kaito manga, and the third movie (which to my knowledge is the only time Heiji and Kaito are both in) I've seen. I haven't really decided where this will fit in the DC timeline, but then again, who knows how time passes in that seriesE^_^ Compliments and comments are expected, as I imagined I made a few mistakes here and there, and any flames can be attributed to me not knowing what exactly happens yet (though I hope to change that soon). Detective Conan and any characters mentioned belong to Aoyama-sama, a certainly respected creator of this cool series, and any others that have rights to Conan. Now, on with the story before I babble any more...

With Friends Like TheseE

Unexpected Acquaintances

"Yet another boring day," I thought to myself as I walked home from my father's office in the Osaka Police building. You know, I hate going there sometimes, he always insists on parading me around the building, telling everyone about my cases. I guess I don't mind, I know my father is proud that I'm a good detective, except I don't enjoy seeing some of the looks a few of the seasoned officers give me there, but Father walks by, either ignoring them or not noticing. I was getting the distinct feeling that Father was grooming me to succeed him, even teaching me how to bow to his superiors. He just doesn't get it sometimes that although I do like to solve cases, I just don't think I want to be a policeman. I adjusted my favorite baseball cap and sighed, "Heiji Hattori, you are just being led about by the strings," I thought to myself, knowing it was true.

My walking usually leads me past the museum every day, so I don't pay much attention to it, most of the time my mind is occupied on one of the many cases my father just 'happened' to have pop up or that basically come my way. This particular day, I noticed a somewhat familiar person just standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at the museum, his blue eyes scanning the statues that adorned the front entrance, the dark brown hair blowing slightly in the breeze. "Kudo?" I asked quizzically as I drew nearer, but received only a puzzled glance from the stranger.

"I'm sorry, you must have me confused with someone else," the person said politely, bowing slightly. "I have never heard the name 'Kudo'."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I shook my head, feeling slightly embarrassed, "You just look like a friend of mine I haven't seen in a while." I walked around the other person, feeling his eyes on me the whole time, somehow getting the impression that I was being 'studied'. As I turned the corner to the next street, I noticed the stranger walking towards the stairs to the entrance, still examining everything, which I found a little strange. After some moments, I shrugged, figuring the guy was just an architect or something, and headed to my house a few blocks away. However, I was still puzzling over the encounter as I reached my house and opened the door. Something had not seemed right, though, it had seemed like there had been an amused look in his eyes.

About an hour later, after I had eaten evening meal alone, the weird feelings had not eased, and I could not figure it out, so I decided to call my friend and still rival(sort-of), Shinichi Kudo. I knew I had to be careful, since I was only one of the trusted few who knew Kudo's secret, having found out about it during a case we both had been involved in. I tried calling the Mouri Detective Agency in Tokyo, but the girl who answered said that Conan-kun was at Professor Agasa's. Before I could hang up, she quickly asked me the question that I knew she would ask, if I had seen Shinichi. Knowing it had to be hard on Ran, Shinichi Kudo's girlfriend, I had to lie like always whenever I heard from Ran and tell her no, that I had no clue, but I would keep my eyes out for him.

I next called Professor Agasa, and was greeted by none other then the very person I was trying to reach. "Moshi-moshi, this is Professor Agasa's house. Who is calling?" said a small childish voice that I instantly recognized. I said one word, "Kudo?" Almost immediately, he shouted that he was on the phone to the other children I could hear in the background. "What is it, Hattori?" The child's voice suddenly dropped several octaves, until it was in a more serious sounding tone just like his normal voice. I told him about my father's usual trip with me to his office, thinking that although Kudo's father is the same way with showing off his son's talent, Kudo should be thankful that his parents live in America for the time being. I then told him about the strange person I had seen near the Osaka Natural Museum, and that I was just making sure that he hadn't reverted, since the young man looked a bit like him.

"Looks like me?" Kudo gasped and went quiet for a moment. "I didn't know he had resurfaced so quickly. Ran mistook him for me a few months ago, but I didn't see the resemblance." He seemed to be talking to himself, almost like he was reasoning out his thoughts.

I blinked, "Who are you talking about, Kudo? I take it he's someone you are after then?"

An impatient sigh greeted my words. "Hattori, you can be so dense sometimes. There's only one person that you could have seen today, and that's Thief #1412, also known as the Kaito Kid."

"Come on Kudo, I've never really ran into him like you have..." Then it dawned on me, he was scoping out the museum! "Umm... I'll call you back later, Kudo..." I heard Kudo shout my name before I hung up the phone, and grabbed some of my gear that I use when I am investigating, I guess being a policeman's son does have its benefits sometimes. I left a message on Kazuha's machine, since there was no one home and she could be trusted to give the message to my father(he never seems to find the notes I leave him), and quickly made my way back to the museum.

It was almost dark by now, and the museum was only minutes away from closing, when I snuck into the doorway. No one saw me, which was good, since I've gotten in trouble with my dad when I was caught solving my cases (even if he does encourage me). Basically, he just wants me to solve it in broad daylight surrounded by other policemen, but what criminal would stay around in a situation like that? Then again, I did go on the tour when this first opened, Father insisted on me going, so I did know where all the motion detectors and other alarms were too, which was a big plus. I waited til everyone had left, and carefully made my way around the museum without setting off anything or attracting the nighttime guard's attention. I walked around the wings, wondering what it was that the Kaito Kid could be interested in. Examining all the exhibits wasn't giving me any ideas, until I got to the main exhibit. There, sitting in plain view and surrounded by protective glass(and probably many laser-type alarms) was the largest amethyst I'd ever seen.

I walked around it several times, wondering if this was what the Kid was after. I remembered from Father's recent dealings with the mayor, when he had spoken of a large jewel that had been on loan from America, and the police would be on guard tomorrow as it was unveiled to the general public. A sudden noise coming up the hallway alerted me to remember that the watchman would be patrolling in his usual rounds, so I ducked behind a tapestry to evade notice. I waited until I heard his footsteps die away, then peeked from my hiding place. Someone else was walking closer now, but softer, I could barely hear the quiet tap-tap of the shoes as he approached. From one of the skylights that were letting in the moonlight, I saw him. Dressed in his opulent white tuxedo and tophat with his monocle flashing every time he looked to where I was hiding, he was sneaking towards the jewel, looking now and again for the guard. That was when I made my move.

"Kaito Kid, Thief #1412, I'm taking you in," I said in a low authoritive tone, flashing my small light at him, hoping to sound like a policeman. It apparently didn't work, as he turned around, a smile appearing on his face. "Ah, the Osaka Police chief's young son, Hattori Heiji I think. Imagine my surprise to find you here," though the way he said it made it a false truth. He had known I would try to catch him from the moment I'd spotted him, it suddenly occurred to me. "You know, I bet you're hoping to do better then that detective Kudo Shinichi and catch me, huh? You must not like playing second fiddle to him."

It stung, surprising me by how much it still rankled on me. I thought that I had suppressed the jealousy far enough, maybe even killed the rivalry when I had found out about what had happened to Kudo. It felt somewhat petty to try to compete with him now that he had an added burden on his hands as he tried to work on being a detective without drawing the attention of his friends(especially his girlfriend Ran) or the enemies that had made him how he appeared to be now. I was trying not to let my building anger show, but I guess some of it leaked out as I replied, "Chigau, I don't compete with Kudo anymore, I--" He interrupted me by holding up a hand, "Quiet, do you want that guard to come back? Anyway, that little kid has never caught me yet, much less anyone else, so I'm not really that worried."

'Little...??' I thought, a chill running up my neck, 'so he knew Kudo's secret too?' No wonder he wanted to catch the Kid, you never knew what the Kaito Kid was up to, for all I imagined, he could tell Ran Mouri about Kudo's 'whereabouts' anytime now. I sighed, feeling some of my anger fade away as I went into detective mode, "That's fine and all, but you're still coming with me, I know my father would be very interested in seeing you." I reached for his shirt, and he wasn't making any move to escape, only starting to smile more, when something whistling behind me caught our attention.

That something then landed between us, and I faintly heard a steady hissing noise coming from it. I could tell from Kaito's shocked expression that this wasn't his doing, but before he or I could do anything other then look at each other with puzzled faces, whatever it was hissing finally found its way to my lungs, as I fell to the floor, followed by Kaito. My last observation before I lost consciousness, was that the Kaito Kid apparently wasn't the only one interested in the jewel.

To be continued...