Shinichi quirked his brows curiously at the nasty tone taken when addressing the other detective, and he couldn’t help but chuckle lowly. Of course, he vividly remembered how the two detectives got off on a terrible foot, with Hakuba insulting Hattori’s credibility as a detective, but he was sure that since it had been awhile since they had all convened, that it would be ‘water under the bridge’.
…Clearly, that wasn’t the case.
He watches as Hattori tried to pull himself together, clearly cracking under some sort of pressure he could not identify. It was… strange seeing him act this way. For him to lie so blatantly and act like a blushing schoolgirl. Maybe things with Kazuha weren’t going as well as he assumed… Well, his reactions were certainly… cute in a way.
“Hm? Me and Ran?” Shinichi repeats as he looks up, being pulled from his thoughts and he scratched behind his head with a gentle sigh. “Mm, no. We both – after the whole situation with me being Conan and finally telling her everything… we just decided to be only friends. She’s still mad at me… Not that I blame her.” He quietly said, clearly hurt by the memory.
relief. he felt relief. and he was such an awful friend for even feeling that way. he coudn’t sense an ounce of sadness for shinichi’s situation with his childhood friend. in a way, he’d seen it coming; no one could have blamed the girl for making the decision she did. the lie was awful and shinichi was at fault for never listening whenever he was told to just tell her right away.
still, heiji didn’t notice the way his lips had lifted into a smug grin, almost victorious, and it took him a second for realization to seep in, for the grin to drop and an awfully crafted pokerface to take over. this was no laughing matter -- his friend must have been upset, being shot down by the love of his life. the term alone made him gag on the inside.
“ uh, i’m sorry ‘bout that, kudou. ” he answered, awkward, unsure. he had been tossed a million miles out of his comfort zone; cheering someone else up wasn’t something he was good at. and so he lifted his hand, let it rest on the detective’s shoulder. “ but hey, one door closes, another one opens. that’s how the sayin’ goes, yeah? ” smooth. real smooth.