Case File: Pandora & The Universe

Hattori Heiji

Back in his universe, he was Kudo Shinichi. A detective prodigy of the East, secretly a softy for kids, attention-seeking, and socially awkward when it comes to not-crime related or not-soccer related topics. Then he was Edogawa Conan... a shrunken body of Kudo Shinichi who wants to hide, but doesn’t bother hiding his maturity to anyone who knows nothing about his real self.

Now, he was just Edogawa Conan. He’s building up his new life with Conan’s previous life as a baseline of how he would disassociate himself from thinking he’s Kudo Shinichi. He tried getting his old identity back before, but when he witnessed the alternate-past Shinichi almost die a really senseless memory death (amnesia), he stopped.

So Conan just disassociate himself from his original identity. Just as the gem and the universe must've wanted him to do.

Conan did wonder if Shinichi’s near death experiences kept happening whenever he referred to himself as his original identity, and he got a confirmation indirectly from said teen.

The teen was complaining to Ran after Conan witnessed him almost die in another car crash that the accidents increased ever since they went to Tropical Island two months ago.

He also firmly reassured Conan when he saw the boy’s horrified expression that it wasn’t the child's fault and that he was not a curse that should stay away. It did nothing to ease the boy’s guilt.

Conan couldn’t risk killing an innocent person when he knows he’s not the one in control of how he got in an alternate universe... and as much as he wants to go back, he didn’t think he’d be able to face his own reality.

He was a coward.

But he’d save this universe if it meant he could save them by giving himself up as sacrifice. The people here deserved to live peacefully.

It was such a struggle to disassociate himself from his old identity and focus on building a new one that he forgot the most important thing in his previous life.

So when the doorbell rang on the day his guardian was out with their parents, left him with Ran to clean up the mansion, he was confused.

Ran said Sonoko was out being an heiress, and he couldn’t go back to his old identity’s memories before Conan unless he accidentally kill Shinichi so he had no choice but settle with confusion.

He heard Ran-neechan saying she’d get it, but he was too curious to continue dusting the living room, so he followed her to the front door.

The person outside the gate was none other than Hattori Heiji.

“Hattori...” He blurted out but stopped himself too late as Ran turned to look down at him.

“You know him, Conan-kun?” She asked as the guy looked at them.

Conan only nodded his head, “Un! He’s a high school detective in Osaka. I’ve seen him in the internet before.” he said, glad that he was good at improvisation.

Ran rolled her eyes, “Mou~ Conan-kun, you should really focus on something else besides detectives,” she scolded as they both walk up to the gate, “I get that it’s your dream, but it wouldn’t hurt to like something else.” she finished.

“Does Kaito Kid count?” he asked cheekily.

“No!” she said and sighed when Conan snickered, then looked at Hattori Heiji, “Hello, what can I do for you?”

“Hiya, onesan. Is Kudo Shinichi there?” The Osakan asked.

Conan blinked. Hattori Heiji was more polite in his first entrance here in this universe... or maybe it was because there was a gate separating them.