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Chapter Text

Tonight is a quiet night, or it's just Haibara's thoughts. She saw the outside window open as she left the room. Haibara gently walked to the table and poured herself a glass of water, always looking towards the window.

It is now September, the weather has turned to autumn and is cold. Especially at night, the temperature drops significantly, and strong winds blow piles of leaves in front of the house.

Fall is the worst time for people with allergies, Conan isn't allergic, in fact he's not sure.

His nose turned red and burned every time he snorted, and Conan occasionally sneezed and shivered. His small figure sat on the roof of professor Agasa's house. Cold, lonely and small.

It was strange that he chose to climb up here through the window instead of using the usual way.

It's just... Conan wanted to distract himself with something else. The cold can help him stop sinking into dark thoughts. He could stay here until morning, Haibara and the professor had both gone to sleep.

Or not? Conan didn't know.

He wondered if anyone would come find Conan when he thought about that again...

No. No.

Conan shook his head away from that, he wasn't done yet. Conan couldn't allow himself to think about that, the black organization was still there, they would continue to harm everyone.

Give up was a word that shouldn't be used for a detective.

"Actually, sometimes it's okay if we give up temporarily, Shinichi."

Conan startled from where he was sitting, a soft blanket draped over his shoulders. Dr. Agasa sat down next to him, his sleepy eyes looking at him with affection.

"Professor Agasa..."

"It's four o'clock in the morning, Shinichi." He said softly.

Conan looked at him, looking down sadly, "Oh."

Agasa shivered slightly, not knowing whether it was because of the boredom in his beloved nephew's voice or the cold weather. He bent low over his sweater, placing his hand on the child's cold hair.

Ignoring the small startle, not looking at the wide eyes, Dr. Agasa smiled, "Can't sleep?"

Conan blinked, tension falling from his small shoulders. "Yes, I think so?"

The professor hummed in response, his fingers sliding into the boy's scalp, gently scratching it and comforting the boy. Conan didn't complain about that, he nestled deeply into the blanket, his head tilted to feel that touch.

"It's cold out here."

Conan made a sound as if he understood, snuggling close to him like a small cat purring to be petted. Professor Agasa chuckled and patted his head, "Do you want to come inside? We can talk over a cup of hot coffee."

The silence lasted after that sentence, Agasa nervously glanced at him, he couldn't see his expression as he kept his head bowed. Suddenly, Conan replied hoarsely.

"That sounds good."

Agasa smiled awkwardly, his arm hovering a bit before deciding to hug Conan. Conan didn't return the hug, but his body still relaxed as the older man pulled him into his arms.

Agasa led him back, feeling restless the whole time as the boy didn't say anything.

Instead of staying with Ran and Kogoro, Conan suddenly came here to sleep today. At first they didn't agree when Conan had just suffered a concussion and injury from the previous case, but regardless, Conan still appeared at his door at eight o'clock at night.

The child said not to worry about them, he was sure he had convinced Ran. Professor Agasa doubted it, because of Shinichi's smile he didn't dare ask further.

He let Conan sit on the chair, hurriedly went to get him coffee while exchanging glances with Haibara nearby. Haibara nodded towards him. Okay, she can handle this.

"Kudou."

"Haibara."

They looked at each other, the blanket covering Conan made him feel like he was the weaker one in this staring battle.

"I'll go get new bandages." Haibara sighed, surprised to be the first to retreat.

Conan raised his eyebrows and looked in the direction she went, "New bandages?"

"Your hand is bleeding, idiot." Her voice rang out from behind the door. Conan flusteredly raised his hand, wincing as the bandage on his left bicep was turning red.

Gunshot wound. Conan still clearly remembered the burning and painful feeling when the bullet went straight into his right arm, blood flowing down from where it hit and staining his clothes.

Takagi was the one who carried Conan when they caught the criminal. Under the dizzying vision of Conan's concussion, he could clearly see that his blood had stained Takagi's shirt and hands.

He didn't know how many times he had stained their clothes with his blood. Conan laughed to himself.

"Shinichi."

Conan looked up and saw a worried look from Professor Agasa. He grabbed Conan's left wrist, where his small fingers were stained with blood. Conan blinked and looked down at the wound on his right hand. The wound is bleeding.

Haibara walked up from behind the professor and placed the first aid kit on the table. Agasa looked at her, Haibara pursed her lips at him, took Conan's left arm and brought it closer to her.

They changed his bandages in a stifling silence. Haibara closed the first aid box, took a breath and took the coffee cup from the professor's hand to stuff it into Conan's hand.

Conan frowned at her. Haibara rolled her eyes then glanced back, snorting and looking at that cup of coffee. The coffee cup emitted hot steam, warming Conan's fingers. He exhaled, lifted the cup with both hands and drank.

The coffee cup fell onto Conan's lap, its warmth gradually spreading throughout his body. Conan hunched his shoulders, gently exhaling a shaky breath.

His body ached as he leaned towards the table. In his fading vision, he saw Haibara approaching him, her gentle voice coming from Conan's shoulder as her arms reached around his neck.

"Go to sleep, Kudou."

Conan's head fell onto Haibara's shoulder, Dr. Agasa's large fingers placed on his head again. They talked to each other without even confirming if Conan was listening.

"Shinichi needs to see a therapist."

"He won't like that idea."

Haibara gently stroked the back of Conan's neck, and the hakase stroked his hair.

"Does Kudo often touch his wounds?" Suddenly Haibara's voice turned serious, the heavy air between them making him wince.

Haibara's fingers traced circles again, until Conan stopped frowning, they continued talking to each other.

"I don't know. We should ask Ran about that."

"I don't think she'll know."

"Yes, after all, this is Shinichi..."

There was a prolonged silence between them. Exhaustion gradually took over Conan, the coffee cup was removed from his hand. Conan groaned softly again because of the pain in his biceps, the hands on his neck and head stiffened.

Haibara's fingers moved down his back, the professor slid his hand along hers, their warmth transmitted to Conan's back, gently soothing him.

"Go to sleep Kudou, you can temporarily rest today."

There was no day he could rest, the black organization was still there, they would take advantage of his weakness.

But what strange thing made him listen to Haibara?

For the first time, Conan decided to stay away from his own burden.

Chapter Text

Kaito Kid watched Conan let out a shaky breath as the call ended. The little detective touched his hand, where blood was still flowing out from the cut from the bullet.

Both bullets had only cut through, neither of them had hit him completely. Kid snorted, assessing Conan's injuries from behind.

In just a few seconds, he completely disappeared from the position he had just been standing on.

Conan thought his arm was just dislocated. After trying to hold onto the boat with his injured arm, more blood flowed out than before. His entire arm was almost dyed red by his own blood. Conan grimaced and gently shook away the blood.

That action made him nearly fall on the spot.

Conan had just forgotten that his arm had been twisted, oh and the blood from the cut on his forehead was blurring his vision quite a bit.

After trying to get back into the boat, he was immediately discovered by the Detective Boys as soon as he entered. They all looked scared when they saw him, Conan didn't think he was that bad.

Ran ran up right behind the Detective Boys, her eyes wide open and looking back and forth from Conan's arm to his forehead. Her slender fingers threaded their way into his hair, gently stroking it up to take a closer look at his bleeding forehead.

"Don't worry Ran - neechan, it's just a small cut." Conan tried to smile to reassure her. On the contrary, Ran was even more worried.

"Cut? Small? Conan - Kun told me who stabbed you?" Ran frowned, pain and sadness clearly visible in her eyes. Conan's chest hurt every time those eyes looked at him.

"No one." He shook his head, curled his eyes and smiled brightly, his hands automatically hidden behind him like a cowardly child.

Ran squinted, "Conan-Kun..."

"Ah! Conan - Kun, your hand!"

Conan flinched back as Ayumi grabbed his arm. Ayumi flinched too, but she didn't let go of Conan's hand when he tried to pull it back, Conan frowned as he saw the child's hand stained with his own blood.

"Brat, who the hell are you in trouble with again?" Kogoro stood up from beside them, his eyes fixed on Conan with an annoyed expression, but he couldn't hide the tension and worry on his face.

"Haha, it's nothing." Conan tried to pull his hand back, which he couldn't do when Mitsuhiko was also holding it and was clumsily wiping the blood off with a handkerchief.

The others glared at him, including Haibara. Her look was clearly mocking him, something like: Obviously they don't believe it, of course Kudo.

Conan rolled his eyes. While Mitsuhiko gave the bright red towel to Genta, he received another wet towel and decided to give it to Ran. Ran looked at the children, smiled in thanks and then used it to wipe Conan's face.

Conan let her wipe, quietly pouting.

"Let's go, this kid needs to be taken care of before dinner is ready." Jirokichi, Senior Advisor of Suzuki Financial Group, let out a soft sigh. He walked away, leading the way for the others to follow.

The wet towel was not enough to wipe and hold the blood that continued to flow, Ran gave it to Genta so he could throw it away.

Conan blinked, groaning slightly as Ran pressed the handkerchief against the bleeding cut on his arm. She pursed her lips, looking up at the same time Conan was lifted off the floor and sat neatly in Kogoro's arms.

"Can you keep it like that for a while?" Ran said softly.

Conan tilted his head in confusion, hesitantly replying. “Ah, ah yes…”

He replaced his hand there, pressing the light blue handkerchief against the cut to stop the bleeding. Kogoro adjusted his arms, he held the small body in his arms, moving with the group. Conan felt his face turn red as everyone kept glancing at him while he was being carried.

His legs were fine anyway, Conan had enough energy to run a few laps around the soccer field right now, so why did he have to keep carrying him like that.

Noticing the uncomfortable movement in his hand, Kogoro grumbled, "Don't move."

“But I can walk by myself-”

“No.”

A few people spoke up in unison. Conan wrinkled his nose, let out an uncomfortable groaning sound as he pouted and was forced to accept being carried.

After returning to the care room, Conan discovered that the person who was tied up before was no longer here. Maybe someone saved her? He would consider asking Inspector Megumi about that later.

"Sit still here, brat." Kogoro laid him down on the bed, Ran walked over right after he stepped back with cotton and medicine in hand.

She started with the cut on his forehead first, telling Conan to continue holding the handkerchief over the remaining wound.

Most of them had left while Ran was taking care of Conan, but the detective boys, Kogoro, and even Sonoko remained in the room. They tried not to glance at Conan too much.

Sonoko sighed into the phone, Conan looked up at her, she glared back at him. "You made Ran worry sick, brat."

"Sonoko." Ran turned to remind her.

"Let me tell him Ran." Sonoko frowned, angrily stood up and waved her hand at Conan. "This brat needs to know who he is. Stop playing that dramatic detective game, brat. Okay, everyone knows you're cool, so stop trying to prove it."

"I don't." Conan frowned, his hand unconsciously tightening the handkerchief that was almost completely red.

"You don't? Really?" Sonoko scoffed, "Stop lying, you never listen to anyone. How should I put it, Ran?"

"Sonoko, please stop."

Sonoko continued with a giggle, "Bad kid? That's right, a bad kid who doesn't listen to adults."

Kogoro frowned.

"Sonok-"

"I did it to save you!" Conan shouted to everyone's surprise, he jumped off the bed to grumpily wave his arms. "I had to do it to save all!"

"You don't have to do that." Sonoko narrowed her eyes.

"Oh well." Conan growled in response, "If I don't do it, no one else will."

"Stop acting like that, brat." Sonoko groaned softly, Ran beside her tried to calm her down.

Kogoro frowned and the Detective Boys glanced at them in confusion. Haibara was the only silent one.

Conan asked her back, "Like what? Tell me."

"That you can handle it yourself."

Conan frowned and looked up at her, snorting as he laughed dryly, "I am."

"No, you're not."

"Why not?"

Sonoko's eyes roamed around the room, glancing at everyone and then back to Conan. Her strong gaze made his stomach ache.

"You can ask everyone for help."

That was the worst idea Kudo Shinichi could think of. Conan tried to hold back a groan, but it seemed to fail as the detective boys looked at him in surprise.

"I don't need it."

"No? Look brat, you still don't know why I'm doing this?"

Conan raised an eyebrow at her, Sonoko snorted in annoyance, her arms crossed and her eyes averted to avoid Conan.

And then Ran decided to join in with an embarrassed smile, she said.

"She's worried about you, Conan-Kun."

Oh.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh." Ran chuckled softly, glancing at her father. “Can you sit back on the bed again?”

Kogoro blinked, taking a few seconds to understand the signal his daughter had sent. He bent down, but didn't pick Conan up right away, waiting until he hesitantly nodded before carefully lifting him back onto the bed.

They continued to clean his wound in awkward silence.

The arm wasn't dislocated, which was a good thing. Conan glanced at his torn shirt and thought about how he would have to throw it away. He didn't know how many shirts he had to throw away because of himself.

Then they went into the dining room, before Conan had noticed Ran had split off in the middle and gone in another direction. When he found out that she might be with Kid, Conan rushed out, ignoring all the bewildered calls from his friends.

"Hey, brat!" Sonoko caught up with him, quickly walking into the elevator right after Conan.

Kid had escaped. That bastard!

Conan tries to use his childish voice to convince Ran to tell him what Kid did. She didn't answer.

And what is that about??

"How boring." Sonoko groaned and turned around to follow Ran. "Let's go, brat."

Conan raised his eyebrows. Didn't Sonoko wonder about that?

Why is he the only one who cares about this?

The elevator closed as soon as the two girls entered, Conan stayed outside, eyes squinting. The wind blew his hair forward, and a white figure appeared under the moonlight.

"Meitantei." Kid greeted with a characteristic smile.

"Kid." Conan growled at him. "What did you do to Ran?"

"What did I do?" Kid innocently tilted his head, giggling as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, "I didn't do anything to your sister, Meitantei."

Conan raised his eyebrows, Kid hummed at him.

The thief leaned towards the moon, the white color of his outfit always standing out in the night sky. The blue light of the moon shined in the corners of that suit, Kid turned to Conan and smiled.

Conan was confused with that smile. He couldn't see the thief's expression.

"Anyway, I'm glad you're okay."

Kid pulled down his hat, with a little sound and behind his damn light. Kid completely disappeared from Conan's vision.

Conan still stared at the place where Kid had disappeared, frowning.

"Brat!"

The elevator returns with an angry Sonoko and a worried Ran. Conan was startled, shouting. "A-Ah! I'm coming!!"

High above, a tall, thin figure sat cross-legged. His cape blew in the direction of the wind, Kid smiled, looking at the small figure of his favorite detective.

Chapter Text

Kid's fear of fish was something he tried to hide very well, to the point of having to bury it deep into his subconscious so that no enemies would know about it.

But today, it was too much for him to bear.

Kid gasped, burying his head in his knees and trying to control his breathing like he always did.

Today's theft was a disaster, he never thought that someone would put gems and two damn big fish tanks in the same room. Not to mention the trap was also dropped into an aquarium, what kind of trap is that?!

This bastard's trap is worse than Suzuki Jirokichi's billion-dollar trap!

He got the gem, but instead of hiding into the crowd or disguising himself as someone else like usual Kid hid in the bathroom, having a panic attack like a loser.

His stomach churned and the nausea pushed up his throat. Kid bit his lip to push it down. If he didn't leave quickly, someone would discover him here.

Kid hugged himself tightly, he would send a small apology to Meitantei later to show respect for being an opponent. They had prepared for a confrontation after Conan pointed out his magic trick, but then it was impossible when Kid hurriedly ran away.

The door opened in Kid's panic and despair. Someone would find out, Kid, who was completely dressed in white tried to shrink himself and wished that the other person wouldn't notice the presence of another person in here.

"Kid." A familiar voice rang out.

Great, Meitantei is here. That little detective will kick a fucking ball at his head and hand him over to-

"I won't kick a ball at your head." Conan said from behind the closed door.

Kid blinked, looking up at the door in confusion. Did he say that out loud?

“Your voice sounds terrible.” The detective continued, a soft noise coming from him as he pushed his skateboard. “Are you okay?

Okay? Of course he's okay!

Kid swallowed the saliva down his dry throat, his cold face shattered into a heap after this. "O-of course I'm okay, Meitantei."

God, his voice was terrible!

A pensive sound answered him. Kid pursed his lips, fidgeting when the detective didn't say anything.

"You...aren't you going to arrest me?" He finally asked hesitantly.

"With a damaged state?" Conan asked back at the thief, shaking his head. “I didn't.”

Meitantei wasn't going to arrest him? Kid felt like Conan was pitying him, and he hated that.

"You looked a little scared when you saw the fish tanks, and immediately panicked when the trap activated." Conan deduced, pushing the skateboard back and forth, then "So if I'm not mistaken, you're afraid of fish Kid?"

Fucking detective.

Kid didn't reply, frowning at the other's presence.

The silence between them was broken once again. This time it's Conan.

"I see."

See? You see what?

"Meitantei, I don't need your pity." Kid groaned, he could see Conan's raised eyebrows on the other side.

"Pity? I don't pity you Kid." Conan looked offended, the sound of footsteps showed that he was walking around to check things out.

"Oh really?" Kid scoffed, "What are you thinking, a suggested plan for a trap in the next heist, right?"

Conan didn't respond and Kid took that as an excuse to continue while hiding his trembling, "Leave it in the aquarium?"

"What? The aquarium has so many ways to escape." The detective seriously commented and the thief weakly smiled at him.

"What about in the middle of an aquarium?"

“No, neither of us want to chase each other underwater, especially you.”

Kid snorted, nodding. “Agreed.”

"So a room surrounded by fish tanks?"

The footsteps stopped.

“That’s ridiculous.”

"It's not that bad."

"It does."

"Alright, great detective." Kid chuckled, somehow this strange conversation had calmed him down. Perhaps he should thank the detective for not taking advantage of this situation. "Why don't you try to give your opinion?"

Conan remained silent for a few minutes as if he was really serious about it.

"I'll let them think for themselves." He shrugged, grumbling and continuing to move. "Anyway, the traps are really annoying."

Kid tilted his head in surprise, not realizing how hurt his voice was. "You're not taking advantage of it?"

The footsteps stopped again, the detective frowned.

"Take advantage of what?" Conan asked.

"You know." Kid replied, frowning.

"It? No, I didn't do that." Conan shifted a little, a gentle sense of security vibrating through that childish voice. "Even though I might tease you about it, I guarantee I won't."

"You guarantee?" Kid was surprised again, did Meitantei just make a promise to him? This isn't some joke, right?

"With all honor." Conan said firmly, and Kid knew. Knowing that the detective had placed his trust in his hands.

"Oh..." Kid blinked, his earlier discomfort gone in an instant. The little detective's presence became strangely comforting, Kid snorted. God, he's going to cry.

"Thanks." He said softly.

"No need." Conan continued to move, Kid heard the sound from that special glasses. "Besides, you should go immediately, they'll probably rush in here to check."

"I will." Kid nodded, slowly standing up, his body still shaking slightly from the panic attack just now.

He pushed the door open and saw Conan standing at the door, his back turned to him and his glasses were on to monitor the noise outside. A warm feeling of gratitude flared up in the thief's chest again.

"Be careful with the main room's ventilation ducts, they're quite loose and will cause you to fall into the trap." Conan narrowed his eyes.

"Got it." Kid grinned and winked at him. "I will remember this moment forever Meitantei. You were really adorable when you helped me."

Conan shivered and growled softly, but Kid knew there was no harshness in it. "Get lost, thief."

Kid snorted, looking up and stopping when the detective's familiar skateboard hit his leg. There's a strawberry candy bar on it.

"After a panic attack your body will be exhausted." Conan explained as he analyzed something through his glasses, completely ignoring Kid's surprised face. “I don’t want to have to help you any more if you slip into some damn place.”

Kid smiled, a truly cheerful smile. "You don't have to do that, my dear Meitantei!"

Conan groaned, turning around in annoyance and not surprised when Kid was no longer there. The skateboard floated back towards him, the gem was placed on it, pressing on a piece of paper.

He frowned and picked it up.

Thanks Meitantei.

No offense, but honestly I like chocolate better.

With Kid's familiar symbol.

Chocolate? Conan tilted his head to look at the vending machine outside.

In the next heist, Ran was a little surprised when Conan bought a chocolate bar from the vending machine. Normally if it wasn't given to him, she had never seen Conan bring sweets with him.

After all, because Conan was still a child, Ran didn't question it. Sometimes after the robbery the chocolate bar would disappear, but sometimes it would stay in the refrigerator and disappear in the next robbery.

And Kid, the confrontation between you and Meitantei had gradually turned to pleasant conversations on the rooftops, and it was definitely after that little detective's threat to kick a soccer ball at him. The thief also enjoyed having Conan drop chocolate into his hand every time they talked.

"You look like an Easter bunny, Meitantei."

"What?" Conan frowned, half of his childish face hidden under his warm scarf.

Kid smiled, peeling off the chocolate bar. "Nothing."

The detective looked at him with annoyance.

One day, Kid wondered why Conan was so good. Conan asked him "good what?"

"Comforting others. You're really good at it Meitantei. Maybe you should study psychology instead of detective." Kid said honestly with his usual sarcastic tone.

Conan grimaced, "I'd rather bite my own foot."

"How rude." Kid chuckled, "But I'm serious."

Conan swung his legs, looking down. Kid sat next to him, numb with the comforting feeling of being next to him.

The city below their feet was bustling with activity, helicopters moved back and forth but neither of them were detected. Kid tapped his fingers on the cement floor, humming because he was bored.

"Have you ever thought about disappearing?"

Kid looked quickly, a strange calm contrasting with the weight the detective had just thrown at the thief made him stiffen.

"Meitantei..." His throat was dry and tingling.

"Like you want everyone to forget about you completely." Conan leaned back, the image of the city clearly visible through his dull eyes.

Then he chuckled, putting up a defensive wall once more with an innocent smile. "Don't worry about it, I was just wondering anyway."

Kid gulped, he knew, knew Conan clearly only said that so he wouldn't have to worry. Conan wasn't naive, he was smart and mature.

Conan wasn't a kid either, he was Kudo Shinichi, the famous high school detective who had recently disappeared.

"Meitantei, that's not a... cool thought." Kid forced a characteristic smile, he was trying to put a mask on his panicked face.

Conan looked at him, blinked and smiled. "Right?"

The detective clearly knew his true face. Kid nodded, his finger moving to rest on Conan's head. "Yes."

Conan leaned over to brush his hand away, pushed Kid and sarcastically said, "Then I regret it a bit."

Huh?

"Regret what?" Kid tilted his head curiously, smiling sincerely when he saw that relaxed expression. "Is it because you didn't meet me earlier?"

Conan shrugged, he curled one leg up onto the roof and enjoyed the cool night breeze. And then dropped a big bomb straight at the thief. "For not leaving the bullets in the gun and throwing the knife out."

Kid paused. The smile on his lips faded, "Meitantei?"

"Trust me, it sucks." Conan hummed, "I know you've had the same thoughts Kid, so I really advise you not to do it."

"What the hell does this have to do with me Meitantei?" Kid winced.

"I don't know." Conan snorted, "You have all the characteristics for someone in that phase."

"What?- yes, I certainly do. But Meitantei, this is your problem, I think I heard what you said very clearly!" The thief grumbled, throwing his hand away to show his exasperation.

"Hmm?" Those innocent eyes glanced at him.

Kid winced, "I mean, damn it---!" He interrupted himself with a gasping sound. His favorite critic just confessed that he tried to commit suicide!

"Kid-"

"No Meitantei," Kid interrupted him, "Leave my problem alone, I'll rush down here right now if you don't tell me the truth."

Conan snorted, looking unimpressed by the idea. "You have-"

"Forget it."

“…”

"Okay." In the end, the detective had to agree because of that stubbornness. "What do you want to hear?"

"Everything!" Kid quickly corrected when Conan frowned at him, "Not everything, just the things you want to say."

Conan pursed his lips, his body slumping.

He tried to tell him with hesitant words, Kid patiently waiting for him to find the words to express them one by one.

They were on the roof for nearly an hour, surprisingly no one came looking for them. The helicopters had left, the police cars had retreated, and the citizens had begun to disperse.

Kid took the chocolate from Conan and the detective took the diamond back from him. They said goodbye to each other gently and tiredly.

The next time, when another heist happened, Conan was a little surprised when Kid gave him a can of coffee. After that, the exchange between them became a habit.

Ran felt even more strange when the refrigerator had more coffee. Maybe she should ask Conan.

Chapter Text

Youkai - have appeared since ancient times, they originate from stories and urban legends passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation.

In modern times, it's not uncommon for urban legends to still be very popular. Many people joke that if they go to abandoned temples, they can sometimes meet Youkai.

In fact, most Yokai reside in temples.

Heiji is not someone who often pays attention to these stories, to him the cases are much more interesting than them.

Until he actually met a Youkai.

The golden charm popped out of his hand, flying in front of the Yokai. The creature's black wings folded neatly behind its back, its geta made no sound as it landed.

The Youkai hummed thoughtfully, squinting its eyes as it analyzed the torn charm. Heiji blinked rapidly, rubbing his eyes two or three times to confirm that he wasn't hallucinating after missing his afternoon nap.

The creature remained there even as he rubbed his eyes a thousand times, then it glanced at Heiji, piercing his mind with that cold and sharp gaze.

The Youkai's shadow spread out under the moonlight, its large jet-black wings shining a sparkling blue. The ice pit in that gaze seemed like it could cut him into pieces.

A story passed down by word of mouth from the village people flashed through Heiji's mind.

Tengu - in the village, people spread the legend about a Youkai deep in the village, located in a temple that had been abandoned for many years. It is said that the creature brings blessings if you sincerely ask for it.

Bad guys often have to be wary of this legend because many people are deranged and say that Tengu wants to kill him.

In the middle of the village, people have also created a temple to worship this god. The village elders still say that this god only hangs around that abandoned temple, and will sometimes go down to the village, pretending to be human.

The Tengu in the village drawings or books usually wore robes like a monk or priest, had a large body with a red face, a long nose, wide wings and held a giant fan.

But the Youkai in front of him was not like that, except for the outfit and large black wings, it looked like a male between 17 and 20 years old, and on his right cheek there was a scar.

"You're not them." Tengu opened his mouth, his young and deep voice made Heiji even more suspicious that the Youkai in front of him was not real.

"You..." Heiji gulped, after all he didn't dare take too many risks if that Yokai was really a god. "Not like a Tengu."

"Hmm?" Tengu tilted his head, his left earring tilted, his hand raised to his chin, "You mean those drawings?"

Heiji nodded. The Youkai narrowed his eyes, curling his lips in response. "Unfortunately, I am indeed that Tengu."

"But you're not like them." The detective frowned, the Youkai's smile making him shiver.

That smile widened as the Tengu suddenly moved in front of him, his gaze cutting deep into Heiji's anxiety. His tone drifted, cold and gentle around the shrine, "Oh, is that so~?"

Heiji remembered the origin of Tengu from ancient times, Tengu was originally an evil Youkai, it ate people and liked to harass monks, but later it softened and became a god of protection and blessing. But no one said that all Youkai, in short Tengu, would change completely like that.

In the village, there were many unsolved cases that the villagers said were punishments from the Tengu god himself, Heiji came here to investigate those cases, he was sure that there were many clues that guaranteed that the killer was a complete human.

But he couldn't guarantee his safety when he accidentally disturbed a Youkai that could kill him with just a flick of his fan.

"You should think so." Tengu suddenly stepped back, giggling and waving his wings. Heiji looked at him in confusion, the Youkai moved to his right.

"This is the 21st century, you know." he said, shaking his head and sighing. "Youkai like us have to change just like you humans."

Huh?

"So... You changed like that to blend in with humans?" Heiji hesitated.

"That's right, you humans have a lot more interesting things than our old-fashioned societies." Tengu walked away, brushing past Heiji's back and around to his left. The large wings moved with his steps, gliding lightly through the foliage. "I also like humans more than Youkai."

Heiji blinked, the Youkai walked towards the shrine, its clawed fingers brushing towards the apple placed on the plate on the rickety wooden table. "Not completely, but compared to them, I see what I like more about you guys."

A Youkai that likes humans?

Tengu took the apple and ate it, turned to the tree Heiji had pulled down the charm at that time, narrowed his eyes as if analyzing something. He raised his hand, ran his claws across the tree trunk covered with scratches, his wings jerked up, Youkai jumped back in surprise.

Heiji gulped, Youkai ignored him and turned back to touch the tree trunk. As if he realized something, he turned around and asked, "What day is this?"

Heiji frowned in confusion, "What?"

"What day is this?" Tengu repeated.

"April thirteenth. What's wrong?"

The look from Youkai frowned, he pulled his hand back to his sleeve, one hand went to his chin, "Shit, They've already started to move."

"They?"

The Youkai looked at him, Heiji shivered as he said, "An organization called the black organization.

-------

"Detective."

"Detective."

"Detective!"

Heiji gasped and sat up, looking up at the man who was shaking him anxiously. It was still dark, the only light around them was from that man's lantern.

"Are you okay?"

Heiji nodded, wincing at the headache that had just come.

"Great, we thought you were lost." He breathed a sigh of relief and helped Heiji up, "I didn't expect you to end up here."

Up here?

The ruined temple lay behind them, all the glowing lanterns at that time were broken and torn, Heiji grimaced and tried to remember.

The man helped him down the steps. The last thing he noticed was the half-bitten apple lying haphazardly next to the tree trunk full of scratches.

They gave him a makeshift bedroom, Heiji flopped down on the bed, face down on the pillow, and groaned.

"What kind of night is this?" Heiji grumbled, the headache making him uncomfortable.

It was clear that it was not a dream, that apple was definitely eaten by that Youkai, and the talisman on the tree had also disappeared.

Heiji still remembered their conversation, that Youkai said something to him before he passed out.

What was that...

"The Black Organization?" Is that right? He wasn't sure either. He tilted his face to the wall next to him. Heiji continued to mutter to himself, "What the hell is that organization?"

Or maybe it was just him thinking he was talking alone.

"They're creating a drug that kills people." A black bird replied to him, Heiji looked over in confusion.

It flew in and landed in front of him. "I've been following them for months."

The bird raised its wing to its beak, a habit similar to that Youkai. "It seems like one or two people used the drug but," it looked down, Heiji could recognize those blue eyes, "it caused them to shrink instead of die."

There was a moment of silence between them as the gears in Heiji's head turned, before the detective jumped up and shouted, "Shrink?!"

The crow flew away from him a bit, "Geez, you're talking too loud."

"Sorry." Heiji snorted, "But did you just say shrink?"

"Yes, I did." The crow breathed out, "I remember one of those two was the one who created the pill."

"Wait, wait, how did you track them?" Heiji interrupted, the headache pushed aside as a thousand questions raced through his mind.

The crow looked at him unimpressed, "I'm Youkai, remember?"

Oh, right...

"Wait, are you that Tengu?" It was only now that he noticed the hairless scar on the creature's beak.

"Who else?" He replied angrily, "Are you really a detective, idiot?"

"Hey, rude!"

The Youkai waved his wings disdainfully.

That night Tengu told him about what he knew and why he was sealed in that tree trunk, all from one organization. The Black Organization, they had discovered that there was a supernatural force watching them so they sealed the Yokai.

But what they did not expect was that Youkai was able to dodge half of that spell and just slept instead of completely disappearing into the tree trunk. The scar on his cheek was also cut by the guy who sealed him. Youkai said the scar cannot disappear even though the wound has healed.

He also said that he did not participate in the cases in this village, it is true that Tengu did curse the bad guys but his curse never killed them, Tengu's curse is the opposite of what he brought. Instead of luck, the Tengu curse brings bad luck, making people unable to die and forever immersed in the consequences he must endure.

Thanks to Youkai, Heiji quickly found the perpetrator of the mass murder in the village. Heiji had to admit that Tengu would be a good detective if he were human, Youkai's intelligence and sharpness were evident in every word he said.

After that, Heiji had to rush to Tokyo because of another case. He left at night and didn't have time to say goodbye to Youkai.

Leaving behind a small regret, Heiji headed straight to the case. He went to the backyard of the house where the murder happened, muttering about some obscure clues, and then got help from a black bird.

A talking black bird...

"Tengu?!"

Heiji shouted, the police and people inside frowned at him. Heiji apologized to them and hurriedly ran out to the yard, whispering to the black bird perched on the tree. "Oh my god, how did you get here?!"

"I could be anywhere." The bird shrugged, jumped down and transformed into the man Heiji had seen before, his wings and earrings disappeared, his body wearing a police outfit. "And I could be anyone."

Heiji gasped in surprise, following the Youkai in bewilderment, muttering, "I didn't remember Tengu being able to transform."

"Can't turn into all of them," Tengu walked towards the fish pond there, "But I learned from some Youkai how to turn into humans and some tricks to impersonate humans."

"That's impressive." The detective exclaimed, walking back and forth to get a closer look at Yokai's completely human appearance.

Tengu glanced at him, snorted proudly but then quickly turned back.

Once again Youkai helped him solve the case, Heiji left with a black bird on his shoulder as everyone looked at him with strange looks.

"Right, do you have a name?" The detective asked.

"Shinichi, Kudo Shinichi. That's the name my caretaker gave me." Youkai replied, the voice echoed in Heiji's head.

"Kudo? I know some famous people with the same last name as you. Do you know them?" Heiji tilted his head curiously.

"No." Shinichi shook his head, "The Kudos I knew died seventy years ago."

"Oh... sorry." A feeling of guilt rose in the detective's chest, he felt bad for bringing up that memory for the Youkai.

"It's okay." The Youkai reassured him gently.

"...But aren't you worried?" He continued to ask. The crow glanced at him, Heiji turned onto another path, still holding the phone in his hand as if pretending he wasn't talking to a bird. "I mean the people in that village, you're the god they worship, remember?"

"They'll be fine." Shinichi replied softly, "They've been fine for decades anyway."

"Huh?"

Youkai sat down, dropping a sentence at Heiji. "Tokyo is a familiar place for me."

Heiji blinked, letting the words sink in. Finally stuttering in surprise, "How many times have you been down here??"

The crow pondered for a moment, then leaned in to answer, "Seven times a month."

"What??"

"Bookstores often update books every few months." Youkai chuckled, his eyes lighting up when he mentioned something he loved, "Especially Sherlock Holmes, it's hard to buy all his books."

"Sherlock Holmes?! You came down here just to buy books?!" Heiji pretended to gasp, not realizing he was laughing as they overcame the awkwardness from before.

"Oh come on, of course I do other things too." Shinichi raised his eyebrows, "You think I'm not bored? I've been alone... for hundreds of years."

Tengu's voice trailed off.

Hundreds of years? This made him grimace, "That sounds really bad..."

"Yes, very bad." The crow muttered, turning away, "I've seen too many things happen..."

Living for hundreds of years and watching people close to him die, watching thousands of haunting things happen.

Before Heiji could apologize again, Shinichi interrupted, "It must be weird for you to know that anyone can be a Youkai."

"No, I mean-" Heiji frowned, "I don't think I'm used to it yet."

"Then get used to it, detective." The Youkai nodded.

"That's easy to say, stupid crow."

"Hey, I'm not a crow."

"Yeah, yeah, you should still do something about it, my friends and everyone will stare at me if I go around with a black crow on my shoulder." Heiji grumbled, Youkai snorted at him.

"I can turn into a human."

Heiji continued to interrupt him, "With that Kudo surname? A bunch of tabloid reports about you being the illegitimate child of people with the same last name as you will spread like crazy."

This was going to be difficult, Shinichi rolled his eyes, narrowing his eyes and focusing on an idea that wasn't too bad.

"Hey, turn there for a bit." The Youkai pointed to a small alley, Heiji looked at him confused but listened and walked in.

They entered the alley, Shinichi jumped down onto his shoulder and to Heiji's surprise, the Yokai transformed into a child. Same hair and eyes but a child, a real child!

"Alright." Tengu wiped the glasses Heiji couldn't understand where he got them from and put them on, adjusting them to fit his big eyes and the scar on his cheek.

"From now on, just call me Edogawa Conan."

Conan smiled, "I have a fake identity in this name."

Chapter Text

Conan blinked at his bloody forearm, three cuts stretching from his finger to his bicep and showing no signs of the bleeding stopping. The biggest cut was on his bicep, blood soaked through his torn shirt.

Conan frowned, did he have to throw away another shirt?

The police would be here in a few minutes, and his bloody fingers were making it difficult to hold the phone.

The hostage wasn't injured, just a few scrapes. But well, Conan thought people would yell at him for three hours at the hospital because of... this.

Except for his left arm which was bloody and clearly not healthy at all, his right arm was broken, his knee was scraped with another cut on his right calf and a blow to the head, causing a mild concussion. Three broken ribs? Probably, and a bullet wound in the thigh.

Wow, this time the damage to the body was really terrible.

The kidnapper was already unconscious over there, Conan shot him with an anesthetic needle before taking out his phone to clearly inform everyone.

His phone screen was covered in red blood stains, Conan squinted and frowned at the number of calls from others.

That's a lot.

The more he pressed down, the more Conan didn't think that him disappearing for more than twelve hours would make everyone so worried. Kid had another heist tonight, it's a shame to miss out on being able to catch him again.

Every time Conan pressed, his fingers ached, the pain spread down his forearm and then his body, gradually pulling down the remaining sanity in him.

His vision blurred clearly, the pool of blood at his feet grew larger and larger. His breathing slowed considerably, Conan's legs began to tremble.

The last pain he felt was his knee hitting the floor, the calls and police cars outside sounded like the sound from a piano set, like the last Sonata No.14 he heard.

------

Amoru rushed into the building, kicked down the door leading to the place where Conan had given him the address, only to find that smart kid lying in a pool of his own blood.

Gasps rang out behind him, their gasps filled with panic and anxiety.

He could still clearly remember the boy's hoarse voice and his labored breathing over the phone, even from a distance, just from the sound, everyone knew that Conan was not okay.

Lifting him up from the pool of blood, Amoru grimaced at Conan's condition. The kid's skin was too pale, his hair was messy with wounds all over his small body. His breathing was shallow, so obnoxiously shallow.

Anger flared in Amoru's chest, his throat burning from it.

Just looking at these wounds, he could already guess what that bastard had done to Conan. He dared to do that to Conan, daring to assault a seven-year-old child.

How much pain has he had to endure?

How strong was the boy that he could still stay conscious enough to contact them?

He shouldn't be that strong. At that time, Conan's voice was so calm, like he was sure that they would come and he would be okay.

Akai suddenly put his hand on his shoulder, Amoru looked at him, looking at those hard, uncomfortable eyes. He growled, slapping his hand away and picking Conan up.

Conan needed immediate medical attention, and if there was anything dangerous involving the child, Amoru would personally punch the guy who did this to death.

Blood covered his clothes and hands but Amoru didn't care, the only thing he cared about was the child's life.

Sato rushed out to follow him, she was the one who jumped into the driver's seat after Amoru and Conan got in.

The sirens of the police cars blared loudly, Sato drove quickly to the nearest hospital. Conan's shallow breathing sounded like thousands of needles piercing her heart.

The cars quickly avoided them, she had never driven at such a dangerous speed before.

But who cared?

The tires screeched loudly on the road. Amoru jumped out of the car as soon as they stopped at the hospital gate. Everyone around jumped in surprise when Amoru carried a bloody boy and shouted for a doctor.

Sato gasped, the chaotic sounds outside were surprisingly clear, her stomach growled in pain. She wanted to vomit when she looked at the back seat, the row of seats that she had carefully dusted were now all red.

She looked up, swallowing the nausea down her throat.

For the first time in her time as a police officer, Sato was so afraid of blood.

There were four hours left before Kid's show started.

Sonoko wasn't excited about it, not at all, she even forgot that Kid was performing tonight.

The nurse and doctor pushed Conan into the emergency surgery room. Sonoko watched Ran follow and kept cheering him on while her face was wet with tears.

Conan didn't open his eyes, he didn't have the awareness like he did then to look at them. He had too much blood, too much blood for a child.

Sonoko looked up, Amoru was standing there with his hands still bleeding, his suit was also covered in blood. His body was motionless and heavy, as if the blood was his and not from a child.

Looking over to the operating room door, Ran was sobbing in Kogoro's arms. The man held his daughter tightly to his chest, his face full of pain and confusion. He bit his lip and turned to the lights of the operating room.

The red light.

The surgery had begun.

Sonoko was there, wishing that Makoto was here so she could be in his arms, so she could cast her fears and worries on him.

She had never said this to Conan but...

brat, please be okay.

Akai bit the cigarette butt, bit it until it was broken, then threw it away. Takagi looked up at him, saying nothing about how Akai hadn't lit a cigarette since then.

They found ropes, knives, sticks, guns, and blindfolds at the scene. All of them were stained with blood. Megumi carefully put each item into a bag, each one he picked up making him think about what it had done to Conan.

What did that child have to endure?

The FBI were around them, Conan's blood was carefully examined, and no one said anything about how scared they were.

It was too bright?

Maybe...

"The victim has regained consciousness!"

Everyone looked up at the same time. The police officer who had just informed them jumped aside in surprise as they all rushed through the narrow door.

The victim was sitting in the car, also startled as they rushed towards her. The nurse beside her almost knocked over the first aid kit, glaring at them.

Apologizing for that, Megumi asked her about what had happened there, wanting her to tell him everything she remembered.

She pursed her lips, her throat still sore from screaming and crying too much, her body aching from the anesthetic in her blood. Putting aside the fact that the kidnapper had clearly not injected her or forced her to drink any anesthetic, she sniffed.

No matter how much her throat hurt, she had to tell them, let them know how wonderful that child was. And how his brave, intelligent, and comforting existence would always be engraved in her mind.

"He saved me from a knife attack."

They all stiffened as she spoke. She looked down at her bicep, where there was only a small bruise, and smiled. "He tried to push me away but got stabbed instead."

Her words trailed off at this point, her smile fading as she turned her attention to the fingers on her thigh.

"He kept pushing me away." She said, "He protected me even when he was obviously bleeding and was a child."

They grimaced, this was not uncommon. Conan's tendency to sacrifice is always a problem they want to stop for a long time. Every time they participate in a dangerous case, the list of the most seriously injured people must always have Conan there.

Got shot by a gun.

Bomb.

Hypothermia.

Blood loss.

And a million other times.

Why does that boy like to jump into trouble?

"I don't remember clearly, but he tied up and dragged the child away after tying me to the post." Avoiding the unpleasant looks that were clearly not aimed at her, she said. "I was so shocked, he came out covered in blood and pointed his watch at me."

The woman suddenly stopped as if realizing something, she suddenly looked up, "His right arm must have been broken, I saw it when the boy grimaced and his arm was bruised! He hit his arm!"

They saw it, and not just his arm, his body had too many bruises.

Too many...

"Fuck!"

"Scissors!"

The Moonlight Sonata played with a softer melody, the pianist stood up after finishing it.

They walked forward, stepping on the thin transparent water. Each step made a gentle sound like a walk on the beach.

Sand gradually appeared in the place where the pianist walked.

"The blood vessel has burst!"

"Quickly stop the bleeding!"

Their bare feet stopped halfway, they blinked and smiled as they looked down.

The fine sand drifted out to sea, the white seagull flew down, gently took the shell from the child's hair and spread its wings to fly away.

"Hey, focus!"

"Give me the needle!"

"Keep the scissors there!"

"Get..."

"J..."

"..."

".."

----

Kid's performance went as planned, strangely enough, he didn't see his favorite critic, the two girls, and the sleeping detective today. It felt a little boring that his performance didn't include the little detective.

Ignoring that, Kid swung his legs over the side of the building and hummed his recent favorite song. Intentionally letting the helicopters find him, Kid waved brightly at the first helicopter that noticed.

Nakamori kicked the door open with the task force and Jirokichi behind him. Growling while Kid chuckled enjoying the sight of them all sweating, panting, and taking quite a while to find him.

They were too slow, Kid had given them a clue since the little detective wasn't here, it would be a little boring to end it with him winning alone, right?

But well, they are still too slow compared to the little detective.

Nakamori gasped. As soon as he gathered his breath to speak, he was interrupted by a phone call from one of the people behind him.

"Who?!" Inspector Nakamori shouted angrily.

"Ah, it's me..." Jirokichi blinked, taking out his phone to answer.

Kid watched the expression on the Suzuki Financial Group's senior advisor's face change from confusion to surprise, the man lowered his voice, "That child?"

They fell silent, now the crying of Suzuki's only granddaughter was becoming clearer. This was quite strange, Kid remembered that girl was always cheerful during his performances.

Jirokichi looked up at them, and at Kid. His eyebrows furrowed, "Kid killer..."

"Tell that brat not to come here." Nakimori snorted, took out his handcuffs and proudly shouted, "Because the one who arrested Kid today is Inspector Nakamori!"

The thief crouched down, preparing for his planned escape. As Nakamori moved closer to Kid.

"He won't come again."

Jirokichi's words made them all stop, Kid raised his eyebrows in confusion.

Jirokichi lowered the phone, looked at him, looked at Nakamori, looked at all of them. His voice was soft and had a bit of regret, sadness in it.

"Kid killer is dead."

Kazuha hugged him tightly as his legs lost strength, Heiji held the phone to his ear, his tearful eyes didn't look anywhere. His lips trembled as he made a sound.

"Kudo."

Kazuha heard his painful voice and could only hug him tighter. She didn't ask why he called Kudo, because Heiji was breaking down.

Kazuha didn't have as much affection towards the child as Heiji, but she couldn't hold back her tears. Tears for Heiji, who was broken like that in front of her for the first time, and for a child.

"No, no Kudo, you can't just leave like that!"

The phone slammed into the wall.

"What about them?!"

She clenched her fists so hard it hurt.

"What about those unfinished plans?"

Her voice gradually trembled, then suddenly became harsh.

"What about Ran?!"

"You said you wanted to get back together with her!!"

Haibara shouted. Agasa didn't go to hug her, he was too saddened by this death. His beloved child had left before him.

The Detective Boys cried a lot, their parents could only hug them and comfort them. They didn't know what to do now, Conan was a member and a friend too important to their child and now...

He left.

It was raining that day.

Maybe the heavens also felt sorry for a child.

A teenager with too many things to do.

The pianist picked him up, brushing the sand off him.

The boy moved, they adjusted their hands. They stroked the sandy locks of his hair from his shoulders.

Looking at the child sleeping peacefully in his their arms, the pianist walked away, bringing with him a smile and flower petals scattered on the water.

Their voices hummed like lullabies:

"Sleep well, little detective."

The funeral was held in a heavy rain. There were many people there to mourn, and victims from other cases also came, including the same kidnapped girl. She looked so guilty there, no one could blame her, and no one could tell her to stop feeling guilty about it.

Ran collapsed when Haibara told her the truth, the truth she had believed. Sonoko and Eri hugged her tightly. Kogoro gritted his teeth, looking away.

Conan was dead, and Shinichi was gone too.

Shinichi was a caring person.

Although he was a bit grumpy and arrogant, Ran could always rely on him when she needed him.

So why was he gone when she needed him the most?

Shinichi was kind and cheerful.

He always did things his own way, always putting others first. Unlike his occasional annoyance, he was too kind.

Sonoko and Shinichi often argued. Right now, she wished she could yell at that bastard again.

The one who stole his job was gone, and that annoying little freeloader was gone. So why is Kogoro unhappy?

Yukiko hugged her husband tightly, the pain in their chests tearing as they watched their son's small body being put into the incinerator.

They have too few photos of the whole family.

Shinichi loved books and was independent.

He always smiled brightly when they gave him gifts.

So why wasn't he smiling now?

Was the boy really self-sufficient or did he simply have no one to rely on?

Kudo's mansion has now lost its owner, Akai stands in front of the house. He stood there for a long time, then quietly left, disappearing into the heavy rain that day. The next day, Yusaku received the key to the Kudo mansion, and he smiled sadly at him.

That detective always had his own plans.

Akai could trust him.

But he wondered, why didn't he have a plan of his own?

Kid stared at the newspaper about the detective's death, his trembling fingers gripping the paper tightly. His face was buried deep in that large newspaper.

"Oh, it's that boy." Akako looked at the newspaper and sighed. "He's so young."

Kaito didn't respond to her, nor did he avoid her like he usually did. Akako tilted her head, blinking. "Do you know that boy?"

The newspaper lowered, Kaito smiled softly, a bitter and sad smile. He replied softly, "yes, i know him."

The Kid Killer is a nuisance to Kid, but they are also friends, and will always be a worthy rival to Kid.

Mentantei always kept an eye on everything.

Kid and him always had wonderful fights together. He had always felt lonely before the detective appeared, and the detective had told him his real name, placing his trust in the palm of his hand.

He also wanted to return that trust, but it seemed too late.

Heiji was silent, silent all that time, but Kazuha knew. Knowing his trembling hands always holding hers, how his fear of losing another person was clear through his frowns.

Shinichi was highly competitive.

He was arrogant and always got into trouble.

Shinichi was a friend to them, and now, he was gone.

Sera put her head down on her knees, trying very hard not to cry loudly in the funeral procession. But when her two brothers came to her side, Sera cried a lot.

Thinking about that, tears welled up in her eyes, Sera pursed her lips. She cried too much at the detective's funeral.

Shinichi would probably laugh at her weakness, right?

Shinichi was smart.

He explained a lot of things to Sera.

So now Sera has questions, why doesn't Shinichi explain to her?

Amoru collapsed on the side of the road in a daze, letting the rain wet his shirt, letting the umbrella fly away, he still didn't care.

Conan's blood felt like it was still on his hands, and it was painful.

Conan liked coffee and books.

Now it was Shinichi, he didn't seem to have changed much to Shinichi he heard.

After all, he was still the detective, the ruthless detective who left them.

Amoru was lonely again.

Vermouth gently burned Conan's photo, then dropped it in the ceramic box next to her. Quietly looking down at the pile of newspapers that she had torn up.

A new cartridge is inserted into the gun.

Shinichi is a silver bullet.

The gun couldn't fire without a bullet, but there were still five more bullets here.

And it would be pinned to the person who had taken her most precious silver bullet.

Ayumi snorted and leaned against Haibara, Haibara silently hugged her. She looked at Genta and Mitsuhiko, both of whom had to apply ice to their eyes because they were crying so much. Haibara sighed.

Shinichi is a selfless person.

He still accompanied Haibara despite the fact that she was the one who created the pill that shrunk him. Together they planned to defeat the black shirt organization.

But now, those plans would not be completed.

Conan was a protector.

They all knew him now as Shinichi, the famous high school detective they always saw in the newspapers and on TV. He always protected them like a brave big brother.

And now he was gone, he could no longer protect and lead the Detective Boys.

The pianist sighed beside the piano, their fingers tapping on it in boredom.

The seagull flew up, the pianist looked over in surprise, blinked, and smiled brightly.

Megumi put away the documents, the cases that Shinichi was involved in were neatly placed in a corner.

Shinichi is a brave man.

He didn't know when he had appeared in cases. He remembered that the boy did not waver even when facing a gun barrel on his forehead.

But as they say, courage often goes hand in hand with recklessness.

Everyone in the police station placed flowers on that file, each flower they placed had a different meaning.

Conan and Shinichi were the same, they were one. They might be different in some places but they were always the same person.

At Kudo Shinichi's grave, many people came and placed flowers.

The seagulls pulled him to the pianist. The boy followed them in confusion, his eyes wide as he stood in front of the piano.

Conan was kind, Shinichi was too.

"Did you sleep well, Conan-Kun?"

Shinichi was smart, Conan was too.

He stuttered, the pianist chuckled.

Conan was brave, Shinichi was too.

"It's time to go home."

Shinichi was considerate, Conan was too.

He looked at the pianist in confusion.

Conan was important, Shinichi was too.

"Everyone misses you, little detective."

A flock of seagulls threw up their arms. Conan was startled, the seawater rising to his knees.

The pianist told him not to resist. Conan frowned, holding his breath as the seawater slowly drowned him.

They are one after all.

-----

Kogora jumped out of bed, gasping for breath. He turned around, stiffened because the floor was empty, there was no futon, no pillows, and no Conan.

That's right, that brat...

"Oji-san."

Kogoro thought he was crazy, he thought his ears were malfunctioning. God, maybe he should stop drinking because of this.

Did he drink last night?

That brat's funeral was only three days ago and he could already hear his voice. He must be crazy.

"Oji-san, it's time to wake up."

Kogoro blinked quickly and looked up.

Conan, no, Shinichi stood in front of him. His hair was neatly combed, his body was soft with baby fat still on his round cheeks, he looked fine, completely fine.

No blood, no bruises, no cuts, stabs or gunshots. Most importantly, he was still breathing!

Shinichi was startled when the old man rushed towards him, what was he going to do?!

Did he do something wrong? Or was he going to get revenge for him badmouthing him to Sergeant Takagi in the previous case??

How did he know?!-

"Ah!"

Kogoro hugged him tightly, Shinichi blinked, frowned and blinked a few more times to confirm that he was just hugging him.

"Oji-san?"

The man hugged him tighter, Shinichi was confused. Kogoro was not a good person at expressing emotions and feelings, he had never hugged him that tightly.

That weird...

"Dad!-"

Ran opened the door so hard that the whole building shook, but Kogoro still hugged him tightly regardless. Shinichi wanted to ask her to save him, but his words were completely choked when they looked at each other.

Those teary eyes wrinkled, Ran sobbed and then, like her father, rushed forward to hug Shinichi tightly.

Shinichi stiffened, his whole body was surrounded by two adults, squeezing so tightly that it was difficult to breathe. Ran was crying behind his back, and Kogoro moved his hand to his head and snorted.

Wait, snort?

Don't tell me the old man just cried!

Ran prepared many dishes for him, too many dishes compared to daily breakfast, and why are there favorite dishes that only when he is Shinichi he dares to eat a lot here??

"Drink less, okay." A cup of coffee was placed down at the same time as Kogoro's coffee.

Ran gave him coffee?!

"Hmm... I heard you want to go to some book exhibition, right?" Kogoro suddenly asked.

Shinichi blinked, hesitantly replying to him, "Yes?"

"Hmm..." The old detective looked up from his coffee cup, curling his lips, "Where is it?"

Wait, what?

Kogoro let him go to the Sherlock Holmes book exhibition?!

What day is this? What wonderful day is this?!!

Shinichi was so excited that he trembled, he immediately took out his phone to check the address without noticing that Ran and Kogoro were both giggling lightly at the other end of the table.

It's nice to see the Shinichi they know being childish again with something he loves.

Ran wouldn't let him walk to school, absolutely not letting him walk alone like he always did. Shinichi didn't understand why she did it but hesitantly accepted it.

They rode on Sonoko's car to his school, Sonoko patted his head while they were in the car and suddenly hugged him when he got off.

Okay, that's new.

As soon as he got off the car, Shinichi was immediately attacked by the detective kids, they cried and hugged him. Haibara suddenly hit him on the head and told him he was a damn idiot, what the hell??

The kids, including Haibara, clung to Shinichi and started asking him more advanced questions, things that only a middle schooler, or high schooler, would understand.

Haibara didn't do anything to stop them, she clearly looked like she was enjoying Shinichi's annoyed and confused face.

Shinichi forgot to bring lunch, Amoru suddenly appeared at school and stuffed a large Bento box into his hand.

Akai and Sera fought to drive him home. Sera admired her brother very much and Shinichi had never seen her so stubborn towards her brother.

"It has to be me!" Sera shouted, pointing her finger at her face. Akai rolled his eyes and ignored her.

Haha, what's wrong with you two?

"Hey sweetie."

Shinichi turned to the person who called him, it was a schoolgirl. She smiled brightly and put a bag of homemade cookies in his hand. Shinichi was confused when her two hands pressed his hand into the bag and gently said, "To thank you."

Thank you for what?

Suddenly a figure nearby caught his attention, Shinichi was alert, his hand raised to press his glasses.

Suddenly that suspicious guy disappeared.

??

"Conan-kun, do you want to go eat cakes?"

Shinichi looked up, Sera and Akai smiled at him, the detective boys all smiled, Haibara slightly raised her lips. Even this student smiled too brightly.

He raised his eyebrows, "...Okay?"

Heiji suddenly appeared with Kazuha at the bakery, he pulled him aside and hugged him tightly with the brightest smile.

"Hattori! You crazy guy, let me down!!"

"Nuh uh, no way Kudo. You'll get in trouble again." Heiji pouted and shook his head, Shinichi glared at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Heiji just laughed, Kazuha laughed too. Shinichi squirmed in the detective's arms, frowning. What was wrong with these two today?!

Shinichi finally had some peace.

Or not.

"See you later, my dear silver bullet."

Shinichi frowned as Vermouth waved at him while clearly stuffing someone into a car. The guy looked quite similar to the suspicious person who had been following the high school girl.

The police were nearby, maybe he should report it to them before he acted on his own. Okay, let's be a kid.

"Lieutenant Takagi, what are you guys doing here?"

Everyone jumped in surprise, Conan noticed it, paused for a few seconds before ignoring it and recounting that he saw a kidnapping.

They were about to rush into the car when he spoke, but then stopped and asked, "What did the person who was kidnapped look like?"

"Yes?"

What the hell are you asking, Takagi?

Why does Megumi or Sato, or whoever, look so serious??

"Umm..." Shinichi used his innocent childish voice, not noticing that they suddenly smiled slightly at that action. "Male figure, over 6 feet tall, looks to be around twenty to twenty-four and... ah, he has light blond hair like a foreigner, dressed in the same style-"

"Ah, then leave him alone." All the policemen got out of the car.

??

"Want to go get coffee with us?" Megumi sighed, tilting her head.

Why are you giving me coffee too?!

"I heard there's a new library cafe that opened nearby-"

"Yes!"

All the policemen smiled, "Alright, then let's go."

That cafe was really great, it was hard to see detective books intact in cafes like that!

Shinichi then used his skateboard to run away from the argument about who would drive him home again.

There was a familiar-looking car following him, Shinichi slowed down his skateboard. The car window was also rolled down, the tension making him shiver.

"Hello Shin-chan!"

Shinichi rushed into the car, "Why are you two here?!"

Yukiko pulled him into her arms, giggling, "We just miss Shin-chan!"

"Don't lie to me." Shinichi groaned, Yusaku looked at him through the glass from the driver's seat, smiling.

"We're not lying."

They took him to many places he wanted, Shinichi noticed how his parents suddenly took an unusually large number of photos. They carried cameras everywhere and always took pictures of him when he wasn't looking.

What were these two doing?

The three of them hung out until the evening, then they took him to Kid's performance.

Hey, hey, how did they know he was going to come here?

Ignoring how Sonoko and the others didn't complain about Shinichi going around looking for clues, even Nakomori didn't scold him when he touched the diamond. That man just frowned!

Oh my god what the hell.

Shinichi tried to focus on the clues that led to the thief. He found Kid in the staff storage room, Kid looked happier than usual when he came here.

"Mentantei! Nice to see you!!" The thief smiled brightly. The detective frowned at his unusual radiance.

"Kid, give me that diamond back." Shinichi growled, bending down to touch the button on his shoe.

"Here you go." Kid suddenly threw the diamond at him, Shinichi quickly caught it.

He stopped, looked carefully, stared. What was this thief up to? Was this a trap?

"It's real, Mentantei." Kid grumbled, crossing his arms, "Why don't you trust me?"

"It would be crazy to trust an internationally wanted thief." The detective immediately responded, clutching the diamond. A strange mixture of emotions welled up inside him.

He sighed, today had been strange enough. "Tell me, what are your intentions?"

"Mentantei is so observant!" Kid chuckled, suddenly bending down.

Shinichi stepped back, only to be confused by the bottle of warm water Kid handed him. The thief placed it in his hand, "There's no poison."

"It's going to be cold and rainy tonight, Mentantei." Kid said, stepping back, "You have to be careful."

Glaring at the white figure that had just jumped out of the window, Shinichi took a breath.

Okay, what the fuck happened today?!

Chapter Text

Heiji snorted and pulled his knees up to his chest, staring at his scratched, bleeding knees.

His father would scold him for it. Heiji shivered slightly when thinking about how his father's face would react to this appearance.

But first, he should try to stand up and ask for help from any nearby police officers.

They were currently on a case, Heiji was chased away by his father when he kept hanging around the scene. He just wanted to help! Heiji is a smart boy, he can do it!

He even solved the cases of missing dogs and cats in the city. It wasn't the first time he saw a dead body, so why did his father have to be so strict?

Their relationship hasn't been good lately, and father becomes especially annoying whenever Heiji wants to get involved in a case.

Today's situation was just an accident. Heiji followed his father to Tokyo at first just to meet an acquaintance, but then had to stop the trip because of a murder.

He tried to mumble the clues he had, raising his hand to count them like he was doing math.

"Hmm?"

Heiji was startled from where he was sitting, he quickly backed away and looked up. Then he saw in front of him a high school student, one of the three suspects.

He remembered the police called him 'Kudo'. Kudo has enough evidence to prove that he had nothing to do with the victim other than just a few random conversations. But in the end, that guy is still a suspect, Heiji is best not to get close to him.

Kudo tilted his head slightly to look down at his knees, raising his eyebrows, "Did you fall?"

Heiji backed away, shaking his head. "No."

“Really?” Kudo narrowed his eyes suspiciously and sighed. "You can't hide it, you know."

To his surprise, the student bent down and used a handkerchief to wipe the blood from Heiji's knee.

"You'll need to wash it, kid."

Heiji blinked. Kudo finished wiping his blood, turned away to look for something, then bent down again, "Okay, there's a faucet nearby."

He slipped his hand under his armpit, lifted Heiji off the ground, then carried the bewildered child to the tap and washed him. Although it was a bit stinging, it didn't really hurt when Kudo carefully rubbed his dirty skin gently.

Kudo then took out some bandages from somewhere in his bag, and applied them to Heiji's knee and the scrape on his cheek. Heiji blinked, Kudo picked him up again, adjusting him to sit on his arm.

He carried him back, everyone turned towards them as soon as they appeared with different reactions. Heiji looked up, his father standing with the policemen were staring at him.

He pursed his lips and lowered his head, leaning against Kudo involuntarily. Kudo didn't say anything, continuing to keep Heiji in his arms.

Kudo was a very smart guy, Heiji couldn't help but stare when Kudo pointed out things he had noticed. His way of reasoning attracted everyone, even his father. He was also really kind to pay attention to what he said.

Since when did Heiji move from Kudo's arms to sitting on his neck. From this high position he felt like an adult, someone who was being noticed by everyone.

And just like that the case was quickly solved, Heiji was returned to his father but he had time to pull Kudo back to ask for his full name.

"Kudo Shinichi." He said, smiling and patting his head.

Heiji grinned. From then on, every time he returned to Tokyo, Heiji tried to find that guy. It turns out that finding him is not difficult when Shinichi is often unlucky enough to get dragged into cases.

------

"You look more grown up than in the photo."

Shinichi looked up from his newly bought detective book and blinked at the man in front of him.

"Kuroba - Jasan." He smiled, placing the book on top of two other medical books and standing up. "You just got back?"

"Yes, sorry for not telling you in advance." Tochi smiled back, hiding his hands behind his back as mysteriously as ever.

Kuroba Tochi was his father's younger brother, and Shinichi had not known about his uncle's existence until he saw Tochi's performance when he was ten years old.

Shinichi memorized every feature on the magician's face, took out newspaper articles about him, and compared them to his father's face.

Knowing that his father would quiz him if he asked, Shinichi insisted that his mother come to the performance again. There, he secretly ran away from his mother to find Tochi.

When Shinichi asked him, Tochi did not look surprised but was quite interested in the evidence he had brought. It turned out that they were indeed brothers.

Even his mother didn't know it, Shinichi hid his proud expression and began to get to know his uncle. His father seemed pleased that his son had found out for himself.

He met Chikage, who was supposed to marry Tochi. a woman not much different from his mother. She often pinches Shinichi's cheeks every time they visit.

They met occasionally, and a few years ago the couple had a child, Shinichi had seen the child a few times when he was one to four years old.

After that, because of his parents' careers and his uncle's career as a magician, they hadn't seen each other for four years, and they only talked through letters and phone calls.

This was the first time in four years that Shinichi had seen his uncle.

Shinichi said, "As long as you don't disguise yourself, it's okay."

Tochi chuckled, "Bad memories?"

"Yes, they're like children." The student snorted in annoyance as he thought back to all the times his parents had planned to tease him.

"They always are." Tochi nodded in agreement.

"Isn't that right," Shinichi smiled, leaning over a bit to notice the tiny lump behind his uncle's back, "Kaito-kun?"

The small Kaito jerked from where he was standing, Shinichi could see the boy swallow and grab a corner of Tochi's pants before stepping forward, flashing him a bright smile. "Shinichi-niichan!"

Kaito waved his hand, his small fingers encircling a white rose, blooming in front of him. He held it out, "Kuroba Kaito, nice to meet you!"

Truly the son of a great magician.

Shinichi let himself smile, he reached out and patted Kaito's head the same way he had patted the little Heiji the other day.

"Kudo Shinichi, nice to meet you, Kaito."

Kaito is adorable but really a big trouble.

Shinichi was asked to look after this little devil for two weeks, and in those two weeks he had a right heart attack tens of thousands of times.

His parents at home were already a disaster, but Kaito, oh my god, this kid needs to be taught about being careful with what he does!

At first, although Kaito hid it well, Shinichi could see the boy's worries through every little gesture, so he tried to make the kid more comfortable.

Kaito stuck close to him every time he wasn't in school. Unlike Shinichi, he didn't like books, he liked unexpected and fun activities.

So he always had magic tricks to surprise his cousin.

Shinichi opened his eyes, a familiar weight pressed against his chest. He pushed the blanket away, his hand hovering a bit before dropping it onto the little devil's soft, messy hair.

Kaito made a sleepy sound, leaning over to avoid the light outside. Shinichi looked at the boy, sighed, and turned to the side, letting Kaito lie next to him, giving up on the idea of ​​throwing him on the bed like every day.

Pigeons flew out of the cage from the garden, flying up and down the window. They cooed, flying next to Shinichi.

"Morning." Shinichi greeted, rubbing his finger lightly on a pigeon's chin. The pigeons shook their wings at him, their feathers falling onto the blanket and sheets. Shinichi didn't complain, after all this wasn't a rare occurrence during the week.

"Please keep eyes on Kaito while I go to school, okay?" he said, the pigeons nodded in response.

Shinichi quickly got up, cleaned himself up, and cooked a simple breakfast for both of them before eating his portion and going to school. He didn't forget to leave a note on the plate of pastries in case Kaito didn't notice.

Before having to babysit Kaito, Shinichi had a weekly study schedule that took him a lot of time, including the summer like now. He also didn't come home that often, so some neighbors thought no one was home.

Shinichi started living alone since he was twelve, in his perception, his parents were always busy. As a good kid, Shinichi never dared to depend on his parents for anything, he did everything by himself.

If he needed something related to signatures, he would ask Dr. Agasa, that man was really kind but a disaster with that strange research.

He had been alone for almost five years. And now he was living with someone else, his cousin, Kuroba Kaito.

It wasn't that Shinichi didn't know how to take care of others, but the feeling of having someone waiting for him at home made him... want to go home more.

Evening classes were canceled, afternoon clubs were divided into even days instead of the whole week. Shinichi also missed three days of regular school because Kaito hurt his leg after the boy gave him a heart attack with a magic trick of walking upside down from the ceiling.

The thought of having to say goodbye to the kid in two days made him feel a bit sad, they sometimes argued but Shinichi honestly liked that cousin.

Maybe in the next two days he would take him to try some famous places they hadn't been to.

Those two days wouldn't happen.

The glass cup fell to the floor, shattering on his favorite carpet. Shinichi dropped the phone on the table and rushed forward to catch Kaito before his knee hit a pile of glass shards.

He hugged him tightly, protecting him from the painful emotions. Kaito broke down inside him, sobbing and hugging Shinichi tightly as if his cousin were the last lifeline.

They hugged each other in a mixture of grief, pain, anger and sadness for one person. A person has left forever.

Kuroba Kaito's father and also his uncle.

The next morning Chikage hurriedly contacted him to pick Kaito up. Shinichi handed the boy back to her in awkward silence. As he rubbed her hand to comfort her, Chikage looked at him for the first time in their meeting, she smiled sadly and left.

The house returned to its original silence, the pigeons hurriedly followed the Kuroba family's silhouette. Shinichi glanced at the only remaining pigeon perched on his shoulder, noticing that its beak held a chrysanthemum.

Chrysanthemum - Gratitude, words of thanks.

His eyes softened, the little pigeon rubbed against his neck. Shinichi picked up the small piece of paper tied to the stem of the flower. There was a lovely name written there.

"Did he leave you here to look after me, Mary?"

After that, he also lost contact with the Kuroba family. There were several times when Shinichi asked his parents about them, but in response they just shook their heads at him.

He met Heiji again in another case, that boy was like a curious puppy who always followed Shinichi and kept asking him questions with those cute sparkling eyes.

Shinichi doesn't remember him ever having an attraction to children, so why has the number of these little tails increased?

A few years later, Heiji introduced Kazuha to him, and the boy even brought another detective named Hakuba. Shinichi would not admit that he liked this new boy because they shared a common interest in Sherlock Holmes.

Shinichi heard that in his area, there was a police officer who had just quit his job and was preparing to move to open a private detective agency. He had only met the man's ex-wife and had seen him and their daughter a few times.

She was a girl the same age as Heiji and the others, and they had never seen each other face to face. Besides, Shinichi had no intention of getting to know anyone in the area other than Professor Agasa, so he ignored them.

Until the girl clutched his white coat with her big, teary eyes and stammered, begging him to save her father.

Shinichi, who had only intended to go back to get his things and then forgot to take off his doctor's Coat, as well as the person who had no equipment on him and had been an intern at the hospital for three weeks, immediately ran to Mouri's house with her.

Luckily Mouri only had food poisoning from eating fake food. Even though he wasn't an official doctor, somehow after Kogoro woke up he had to listen to Shinichi's rant about his condition and how he made this little princess named Ran worry.

Kogoro listened to him scolding in a confused state.

Finishing his lecture, Shinichi waved his shirt and left as if he hadn't almost kicked down Mouri's door and scolded a man the same age as his father.

And then added the tail. Four.

Ran brought along Sonoko, the granddaughter of the Suzuki corporation. The kid didn't seem to like him much.

He was wrong. Five tails.

Sera, the child... like Heiji. Six tails. The guy named Akai seemed to enjoy watching his sister curiously surround Shinichi as they searched for clues.

The number of tails didn't decrease, but instead increased and divided into different age groups, Shinichi had gotten used to greeting more than a dozen people on the street every day.

Eight years passed quickly.

-----

At Dr. Agasa's side appeared a strange girl, her name was Haibara. That girl is extremely cautious with him and everyone. Shinichi had a few theories about that child but still chose to stay silent.

A group of other children who were Haibara's friends also followed him and asked his opinion on things they didn't know. Shinichi repeatedly said he wasn't a detective, and it never worked with anyone.

"Shinichi-sensei."

Shinichi tilted his head back, looking dejectedly at the phone the intern gave him, which was an article about the next robbery of a recently returned thief.

Kaitou Kid, right?

He raised his eyebrows, "Kid?"

"That's right, this time it's a diamond that originated more than 100 years ago. It's said to bring immortality to the owner." The intern excitedly read the article back to him.

"It's just a rumor." Shinichi closed his eyes, the bright lights of the hospital causing his eyesight to decrease a lot.

"But it's still older than all of us!" She said, scrolling down to the information section at the bottom of the article and then blinking excitedly. "Will you come, Shinichi-sensei?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm busy."

"You don't have any surgeries tonight."

Shinichi snorted, "Doctors always have to be available, and I'm the professor."

"And you're a detective too, Sensei."

"I'm not."

"We all know that."

"..."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, snorting. "I have a schedule tonight."

"Eh, how boring..." The intern pouted in disappointment.

Not paying attention to her, Shinichi left the reports behind and left the room. He went straight to the smoking room, the name tag with the words "professor" hanging around his neck became prominent in the empty hallway.

Shinichi passed the group of people smoking there and entered the private room.

There were two doctors inside, they immediately noticed him. Shinichi nodded and they responded with a small nod.

The tensions from both positions, professor of Tokyo Hospital Number One and detective, have caused Shinichi to fall into crazy thoughts many times. So sometimes he will smoke.

He knew it wasn't good for his lungs, but well, it was better than any other way to relieve stress. Especially for someone like him who always has to see corpses, blood and pressure from everyone.

The number of times a day he had peace could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand, if not including the number of times he fainted from overwork.

Putting the cigarette in his mouth, Shinichi tasted the spicy taste of the smoke slowly fading in his throat, he glanced at the nearby clock.

It's only six thirty-two at night. His break time would start in less than half an hour. Shinichi pondered about dinner. He needed a simple and unremarkable meal. After all, he didn't have the energy to cook after being on duty at the hospital for two days.

Kudo's house currently has two black pigeons, they are Mary's children, she and the father pigeon passed away last year due to old age. He didn't need to feed them because pigeons preferred to fly freely after all, and Shinichi had installed an automatic feeder there.

Let's see... curry for dinner isn't a bad choice.

He just hoped no one would bother him tonight and let Shinichi have a romantic evening with the pile of wonderful detective novels he never got the chance to read.

He will never fulfill them. Shinichi stared at his phone, taking in an irritated breath. God, he was going crazy!

"Kudo-niisan!"

"Hattori..." Shinichi puffed on his cigarette, this energetic kid always liked to bother him whenever he wanted to rest.

"Did you read today's article?" Heiji's excitement was so intense that even Shinichi could see that the boy would shake his shoulder if they talked directly.

"Hmm?" Shinichi pretended to reply, he didn't expect to be invited for the----

"The next Kaito Kid robbery! Hakuba and I have a plan to catch him, but we need your opinion, so are you free tonight?"

--- Kid's robbery...

Wow, why is he so unlucky?

"I don't..." Shinichi paused, Heiji was still eagerly waiting for his answer and even over the phone he could hear Hakuba's suppressed breathing nearby.

...Hakuba just returned to Japan and Heiji just visited Tokyo, right?

Shinichi was stuck between two choices, one was selfish for himself and the other was for the kids. He closed his eyes, pinched the tip of his nose and unconsciously bit the end of his cigarette.

"Well, yes, I have free time."

"Great!- No," Heiji pretended to cough, "I mean, see you at Suzuki's mansion."

The detective hung up immediately, Shinichi raised his eyebrows, his lips curling into a thin line. These kids sounded more excited than he thought.

Okay, Kid's robbery huh. He's never tried going there, so maybe he should still be a little private, after all, too many people know him.

Shinichi put out his cigarette and threw it in the trash. He needed to finish some reports before the robbery happened.

This was the second theft in a month, the previous times it had been on every front page online and in the newspapers so it was no surprise that this place was more crowded than an Olympic match.

Shinichi leaned over to squeeze in close to the sealed area. Heiji from afar immediately noticed even though Shinichi was wearing a hat. He jumped out of the barrier and rushed out, excitedly pulling Shinichi in.

Seeing him, Hakuba stepped forward and greeted him, a bright smile on his lips. Shinichi greeted back, suppressing the urge to reach out and ruffle the boy's hair, he snorted.

"Old man!!"

Under the surprised faces of many, the only granddaughter of the Suzuki Group rushed out and hugged the mysterious man who had just appeared. Shinichi caught her, wrinkling his nose but not looking at all displeased, he sighed, "I'm not old yet, young lady."

Sonoko giggled and let him go.

Ran appeared from behind, with a lovely smile. Shinichi smiled too, "Isn't Detective Mouri here?"

"He does, but he's arguing with Inspector Nakamori inside." Ran lamented, "They keep claiming that Kid is Sonoko's uncle or one of those policemen."

Thanks to Shinichi's help and suggestions, Kogoro has been solving many cases lately. In fact, Kogoro is quite an excellent person in Shinichi's opinion. That uncle just needs to pay a little attention and maybe even better than the detectives he knows.

Shinichi would occasionally pretend to talk to give him hints, but everyone knew that he had found the culprit, so well, it was hard to stop them from calling him a detective instead of a doctor.

They pulled Shinichi in and introduced him to Inspector Nakamori, who initially doubted whether he was Kaitou Kid in disguise.

Of course, under their discomfort, the inspector also decided to withdraw.

Heiji and Hakuba began to tell him their plan, Shinichi nodded to listen, and if no one was paying attention he would glance again and focus on a servant.

Kid appeared quite impressive, Shinichi wasn't lying. It was a bit difficult to figure out that thief's magic trick.

"Ah, it's surprising that you found me so quickly this time Inspector Nakamori..." Kid turned to him, a small frown on his face. "You're not him."

"No, I'm not." Shinichi smiled under his hat, "Nor Hakuba or Heiji."

Kid stopped, moving a little. "You're not a detective?"

"Not exactly." He replied, shrugging. "I'm a general practitioner, and a Professor of Emergency Medicine.

"Oh, that's impressive." Kid laughed, twirling around as if dancing back and forth under the moonlight. "Did my show attract you, meitantei?"

"Meitantei?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow, "I'm not exactly a detective, you know."

"And I came here because my kids wanted to." Shinichi snorted, Kid chuckled and moved.

"Your kids? That sounds cute." The thief commented.

"And you found me." Kid leaned over, the corners of his lips curling up, "I can even see your entire explanation of this amazing magic trick."

"You really have good eyes." The doctor sighed, "So will you return the diamond?"

Kid always returned the things he stole, Shinichi knew that through the words of the interns, and those detective kids.

"Here, it's not what I was looking for." Kid threw it back, tilting his head curiously, which reminded Shinichi of the pigeons. "You're not going to catch me?"

"I will, but not tonight." Shinichi caught the diamond and stuffed it into his jacket pocket, "I'm too tired so I'll probably save the confrontation for another day."

"That's good to hear. See you next time, meitantei." Kid took the brim of the hat, Shinichi shivered as he felt a strange sense of familiarity in the thief.

A feeling he had long forgotten...

After that meeting, Shinichi decided to occasionally appear at the robbery and was always the only one who met the thief last. He tried to push away the feeling of familiarity many times when they talked.

One night, the thief wondered why the young detectives kept calling him 'nii-san'. Shinichi explained to him that it was because he was older than them. The thief was silent after hearing this. He muttered something before rushing into the sky.

What a strange action.

There was also a theft today. After finishing his shift at nine o'clock, Shinichi came to pick up Heiji. The boy planned to stay at his house for a few days to play, on the other hand, Kazuha also went to Mouri's house and stayed there.

During the hour, Heiji told him about the theft, including one feature that especially caught his attention. The thief seemed startled by the fish tank located in the same trap room, everyone guessed he was just surprised.

Kaito was also startled by fish, the kid was afraid of fish so Shinichi never took him to the aquarium.

There was some kind of connection there. Shinichi needed more evidence to prove that this thought wasn't just a guess.

There must be something...

The sound of thunder outside pulled him out of his thoughts, Shinichi glanced outside. Oh, it's raining.

He decided to put his thoughts aside to focus on driving. Heiji by his side was always talking, regardless of whether the older person listened to him or not.

The car drove into the yard, Heiji jumped out of the car and rushed to his porch, calling out to Shinichi who was calmly opening the umbrella. "Hurry up Kudo-niisan!"

"Okay okay, be patient, kid." Shinichi grumbled, opening the door for Heiji to enter his house.

Putting the umbrella aside and locking the door, Shinichi moved to the kitchen, brushing past Heiji who had flopped onto his couch and stretched like a lazy cat.

"Hattori, go change your clothes." He reminded, pulling the curtains and pushing the glass door open with the intention of checking the birdcage in the backyard.

As soon as the glass door was pulled over two panicked pigeons rushed at Shinichi, trying to pull him away using their beaks. Shinichi shook his head from the shock and stuck his head out, squinting to get a better look at what was making them so urgent.

He saw Kid, the real thing, panting as he was caught in the bushes. An unmistakable scent of blood mixed with the smell of rain, Shinichi stepped outside.

"Hattori, get me the first aid kit from the kitchen cabinet, drawer two, on the left."

"Huh?" Heiji looked up, blinking in confusion.

Shinichi bent down, unhooking the torn paraglider, fumbling in the dark to find a way to remove it from Kid. The rain soaked his clothes and hair, he slid his hand down to the thief's waist, checking to see if he could lift him without causing any injuries.

Kid groaned as he lifted him, Shinichi stopped, frowning because the thief was lighter than he had expected. He carried the thief into the house and saw Heiji still standing there, eyes wide open.

"Go get the first aid kit, it's in the kitchen." He repeated, the detective startled, awkwardly lifting his feet and hurriedly following his instructions.

There was a gunshot wound to his shoulder and some signs of broken bones, Shinichi carried him into his room because something told him not to let Heiji know the identity of the thief, at least not yet.

Heiji was extremely unhappy when Shinichi locked him out while he treated the thief, he wandered around the hallway and began speculating about Kid's true identity.

---

Waking up with pain spreading throughout his body, Kaito groaned and buried his face deep into the pillow. He curled up into the soft blanket, preparing for another sleep that would come with the pillow and blanket...

Wait, what?!

"Stay still, Kid."

Kid tensed, panic rising in his throat. Where was his monocle? Where was his hat? Where was his white suit? And his cloak! Where were they all?!

"Or should I say Kuroba Kaito?"

Kaito felt his face turn pale, he bit his lip, trying to suppress his fear and clumsily covered it with his usual mask.

"H-haha, what are you talking about? Who is Kuroba? I'm Kid..." Kaito blinked, blinking so fast that he didn't notice his lower lip trembling.

He gulped, trying again, "S-Shinichi - nii-"

Shinichi's eyes softened, he breathed out and placed his hand on him head, stroking those familiar tangled curls. "You kid, you just scared me."

His voice was gentle and familiar. It sounded like the voice of someone he had recently met.

Meitantei?

Right? So his feeling was right, meitantei was the person his brother was looking for.

That's right, why didn't he realize it? Shinichi was smart, Mentaitei was smart too. Mentaitei is a doctor, his cousin is also a doctor. Shinichi clearly hadn't changed at all from the past, still the same way of speaking, still- oh god he was getting off topic.

Despite his image, Kaito let himself cry in front of him, his emotional turmoil bursting like a soap bubble when Shinichi approached and pulled him to him.

The warm feeling from this brother has never faded. Kaito remembered when he was a child, he remembered that wonderful time of less than two weeks.

When Kaito had a nightmare in the middle of the night, he was so scared and screamed so loudly that he woke up Shinichi. His cousin then rushed over from the next room, pushing the door open so hard that he scared both him and the pigeons in the room.

His pajamas were disheveled, his hair was messy in several different directions. Shinichi frowned, Kaito remembered that first week his brother didn't like the pigeons appearing in the bedroom.

They always leave feathers behind, and that will affect their respiratory tract.

Kaito knew that he had both disturbed Shinichi's sleep and revealed that he had let the pigeons fly in every night, so he became more panicked.

Shinichi was very irritable at that time, but then he let Kaito sleep with him. Kaito initially thought that his ears had a problem, so he sat there for a while, and when Shinichi didn't come back, he curiously crawled out of the room.

His room was still open, Kaito tiptoed over. Shinichi was sitting on the bed. Seeing him, he lifted the blanket and made a sleepy snort sound.

He hesitated for a while then closed the door and climbed into his bed. Shinichi pulled the blanket up for him, placed his hand on Kaito's chest and gently patted it. He didn't say anything, nor did he scold him for the pigeons following him in.

Kaito lay comfortably in his brother's arms, feeling like the whole world couldn't do anything to him.

Like Shinichi was a hero who hurt his knee for three days after sliding down the floor to catch Kaito falling upside down from the ceiling.

The person who would blindfold him every time they passed something fish-related, who pretended not to care but still took time out of his day to take him out. Who would go out and come back with a cake. Who didn't like it but still let the pigeons run free in the house and didn't forbid him from doing magic tricks.

The person who comforted him all night the day his father passed away.

Kaito clung to his cousin, taking advantage of the fact that he didn't dare to push him away due to his injury to not let him go. It was with great difficulty that they met each other again. Kaito even thought Shinichi had gone abroad because of his conference photography article in America.

Moreover, before that, he did not dare to meet him in this terrible situation.

Two black pigeons flew down and sat around them, Kaito looked at them, "Black pigeons?"

"They're Mary's children." Shinichi explained, one of them seemed to confirm his words and nodded and tilted its head.

"They're not pretty like her at all." Kaito quipped, without any malice, "She should have a white mate, not a black one."

"Hey, rude." The doctor flicked his forehead, Kaito chuckled and touched the swelling that his cousin had flicked him.

The two pigeons fluttered their wings, definitely unhappy about the comment just now. Kaito shivered at those eyes, whispering apologies to them.

The fingers on his head moved, Shinichi tried to smooth those hairs out. "So, why-"

"Kudo-niisan!!" Heiji kicked the door open, panting, blinking in surprise. Shinichi didn't look at him, Kaito grimaced from behind his cousin.

"My door!" Shinichi jumped off the bed.

"Kid!?"

"Detective, why are you here!?"

They shouted in unison. Heiji growled, "Why can't I be here? I should be asking you that question you asshole."

"Hey, I'm not an asshole, and I have a right to be here." Kaito crossed his arms, annoyed.

"What?" The detective raised an eyebrow.

The thief snorted, a sly smile spreading across his face. "Yes, we are cousins."

Huh?

Heiji blinked repeatedly, he turned to Shinichi, who was mourning over his door, then turned back to Kaito, doing this for nearly ten times.

"You two look exactly alike." He finally muttered, trembling. Kaito was amused by his reaction, giggling.

"Stupid detective~" The thief mocked.

Heiji spat at him, "Fucking thief."

"loser"

"Fool."

"Crook."

"Fuck you."

"No, fuck you-Ouch!."

Heiji was slapped on the head by Shinichi, he groaned. "Why did you hit me?"

"Still asking? You broke my door." Shinichi irritably pointed at the door that was still lying there. Heiji turned around, embarrassedly rubbing the back of his neck.

"You too, Kaito."

Kaito who was gloating from the bed was suddenly called by his name, Shinichi crossed his arms and glared, "I have a lot to do with you later, you annoying brat."

Heiji laughed at the thief from beside Shinichi.

Then he turned back to Heiji, startling him. Shinichi stopped, raising his eyebrows, Heiji smiled innocently again. He sighed, "Watch him while I make dinner."

"Tantei-niichan?"

"What?"

Kaito and Heiji shouted in unison, Kaito sent out a bunch of rejection signals and Shinichi completely ignored it, leaving them in the same room.

They couldn't kill each other anyway.

"Kaito, put that damn gun away, and that katana too Heiji."

Chapter Text

His throat burned from the constant coughing, the persistent coughs that seemed to want to pull his lungs out. Conan panted against the stairs as his vision blurred from the pain.

The coughing started in the morning and continued without stopping until now, Ran and Kogoro had always noticed it, Ran had intended to let Conan rest but because he firmly refused, she stopped.

Kogoro looked at him with furrowed eyebrows. Conan ignored him, hurriedly got his shoes and went out first.

And now he's like this, coughing violently like a sixty year old man and about to fall.

Great, Shinichi, what a fun start to the day.

Conan could feel two pairs of eyes looking at him, a shiver ran through his body. The taste of iron was pushed to the tip of his tongue, nausea suddenly rising from his throat.

Conan choked on the thickness of it, he coughed violently into his palm. Everything in his throat was pushed out by the cough, wetting both hands.

Blood spread through the gaps on his small fingers, Conan blinked in surprise and looked at his now bloody hand with a confused look. He was startled when he was suddenly lifted up.

"Fuck!" Kogoro grimaced, hurriedly taking out his phone to make a call while his other hand hugged Conan tightly to his chest.

Ran pushed the handkerchief to his nose, Conan looked up at her in confusion. When he saw her frightened and worried face, he realized that his nose was also bleeding.

But he didn't feel any pain!

Before, there was, but now there was no pain even when he kept coughing into the bloody handkerchief.

Conan blinked, white spots began to appear in his vision. The chaotic sounds around him seemed to be torn into many different noises, the last person he saw was Amoru who had just rushed out of the cafe with a panicked face.

-----

That brat coughs too much in the morning, Kogoro observed from his coffee cup, Conan sitting next to him couldn't even spread jam on his bread as his coughing kept stopping him.

Ran exchanged a worried look with her father, Kogoro put down the coffee cup and newspaper, then snatched the bread from Conan's hand.

The child looked at him bewildered while he spread jam on the bread for him. Kogoro wrinkled his nose and handed him the bread with jam.

"Ah, thank you Oji-san." The child took it with a weak smile.

He didn't even finish the bread because of his cough, Ran had offered to let him take a day off but Conan refused.

His coughs echoed throughout the room as Conan ran back and forth to get his things, he rushed out of the office before Ran. Ran called out to him but he didn't seem to hear, his daughter sighed as she was about to say goodbye to him but was stopped by the painful sounds from outside.

The coughs shook Conan's body, the child leaned against the wall to catch his breath and suddenly put his hand over his mouth. He was sure he heard a sound coming from Conan.

Ran stepped down, anxiety and fear pushed to the peak when both of them saw many bright red drops falling onto his feet.

Kogoro cursed, he rushed down and grabbed Conan, lifted him up and quickly called the nearest taxi. Ran followed him, pushing the handkerchief at Conan.

The blood kept flowing, the coughs still came out gently and the handkerchief Conan was holding could not contain all the blood. Kogoro felt the small body on his chest slowly tilt.

Amoru hurriedly flowed out of the cafe, Azusa right behind him. Kogoro almost forgot about them, he grabbed Conan but was startled when the handkerchief fell from his hand.

"Conan-kun!"

"Conan!"

Conan fainted in his arms with a pale and bloody face.

The world seemed to stop in front of him, there was only Conan, Conan was bleeding, Conan was injured.

Before he could think about anything, they were at the hospital as fast as they could, no one questioned Amoru's car, no one cared that the way he drove could kill them.

The only thing they cared about was that Conan was still coughing up blood.

The doctor took Conan from her father's arms, Ran stared at his blood-stained shirt, terrified of it and turned away.

Amoru tried to calm them down, but the way he stared at the examination room showed that he was extremely worried too.

Sonoko rushed to the hospital when Ran explained to her why she was absent from school. Sonoko didn't like hospitals, it was a place with the most strange people, as well as a place where she could see victims being pushed in there with their bodies covered in blood and disfigured.

"Ran!"

Ran was startled from where she was sitting, she looked up at Sonoko, her face wrinkled. Sonoko moved to hug her friend, not realizing her fingers were shaking as she realized the handkerchief Ran was holding was stained with blood, "That brat will be fine."

"He will be fine Ran." Sonoko managed to say, "Because he is the most smartest brat I know."

Yes, he will be fine.

That brat always has a way of dealing with it like he always does.

Kogoro and Amoru blinked repeatedly, Ran and Sonoko frowned. The doctor snorted at them.

"Pneumonia?"

"And lack of Vitamin C." The doctor added, looking down at the medical records, "Don't worry, pneumonia is only mild, and the child's Vitamin C deficiency is almost severe."

"He can be discharged after today." He sighed and glanced at Conan who was lying on the bed, receiving a blood transfusion for the amount of blood he had lost. "Restrict him to vigorous exercise, pay attention to his surroundings when bringing him home. I will prescribe Vitamin C for the child after you pay."

Kogoro blinked, "Ah... yes. Thank you, doctor."

The doctor looked at him, a worried look appearing as he pursed his lips. "But that's not the serious thing right now."

They froze in their positions.

The doctor continued, "Conan seems to have lost his sense of pain. He woke up while we were examining him, when asked where he was in pain, Conan replied that he didn't feel any pain after coughing up blood."

"So we tried a few small experiments."

The doctor's voice was like a terrifying sound to them. Ran felt Sonoko's gasping sound beside her ear disappear, the only thing she could hear was the doctor's words.

"We call it 'congenital insensitivity to pain'" The doctor swallowed, frowning. "This is a congenital disease, in a case as sudden as Conan's, we haven't found the reason yet."

"We will try to find the reason." He looked up, looking at them with a serious look, "So from now on please be careful with him."

---

Conan knew about congenital insensitivity to pain, which was a congenital disease that made the patient unable to feel pain.

Contrary to some foolish people who thought it was beneficial, this disease was a torture for those who had it. It causes them to lose their ability to defend themselves, making them more likely to hurt themselves.

He had met such a girl in a case, she walked normally to the hospital with her right arm almost severed from her body. Her face showed no pain when they touched her wound.

The doctor said that she even asked for no anesthesia. But because her staring at the doctor while they were doing surgery would make the surgery unfavorable, she was still anesthetized.

Shinichi watched her move around in the hospital after the surgery, he grimaced and showed discomfort when her arm kept bleeding. And how she only found out about it when they told her.

He never thought that one day he would be like that.

Conan listened to Ran's explanation, blinked and looked down, "Oh..."

Ran pursed her lips, hugged him and cried. Conan could only hug her back and comfort her with clumsy words.

They brought him back after a day, somehow the news of Conan having congenital insensitivity to pain had spread to everyone's ears. They became more careful around him, always watching him wherever he went.

This makes Conan uncomfortable. He can't find clues when there are always many pairs of eyes watching him every day.

The cough is still there, sometimes Conan still has nosebleeds or coughs up blood. But eventually it became less intense.

Haibara confirmed to him that the illnesses he suffered from were not simply normal, but that it was the pills that did it. It's strange that other side effects appeared later.

The pill Conan took was the first trial version, Haibara was unsure of its side effects. So she was extremely worried when she learned that his illnesses would still be there without an antidote.

Regardless, Conan continued to be reckless as usual and caused them to have tens of thousands of heart attacks.

Kid didn't know that until the robbery that night. While he was hiding in the crowd to identify the gem, Kid noticed the unusual behavior of the people around the Mentaitei.

Ran kept an eye on Conan's every move, the only niece, Sonoko didn't look too excited as she continued to join Ran in advising Conan to go home.

The sleeping detective, Kogoro scolded the police officer who had just picked Conan up, Inspector Nakamori, who clearly didn't like the Kid killer as the kid kept taking away his job of catching Kid, looked around, while carefully patting Conan's back.

Occasionally he hesitated and wanted to push Conan into Ran so she could bring the child home, but stiffened when he coughed.

And Conan, uh, Mentantei didn't look too good as he coughed every now and then, took tissues from everyone around him to wipe his nose and mouth and then tried to get away from them to check for clues. His expression didn't look like pain but more like discomfort.

It was strange and noticeable. Maybe Mentaitei had a cold? Kid would take note of that when their duel began in a few minutes.

"KID!"

Kid giggled as Conan grabbed his skateboard and followed him, ignoring the panicked sounds of the people around Conan and the excitement from the people outside as they played a game of cat and mouse with each other.

Mentantei surfed after him, his coughing slightly aggravated as they glided past the dusty staircase, which was filled with broken furniture that had yet to be repaired and could hurt someone if touched.

They finally stopped at the roof, Kid standing on the edge of the building and waiting for the critic to appear to question him. A few minutes later the door swung open, revealing Conan on his familiar skateboard.

"Kait-" he suddenly choked on something and coughed into his fist.

KID turned around, "Oh, Mentaitei, you should take care of your health..." his words slowed as he looked at the little detective.

Conan's fist and lips were bloody, a bright red stream of blood was flowing from his left nostril. Conan frowned, grabbed a handkerchief and wiped them then stopped, the frown turning to a raised eyebrow as he held out his hand.

There was a bleeding tear on the detective's bicep, a scratch slightly larger than normal. KID stammered, not realizing that his face was contorted by it, "Are you okay, Mentantei?"

Conan wiped the blood off with the handkerchief, then squinted, "It's the big glass fish tank that broke on the stairs."

"Huh?"

"I rubbed it there." Conan rubbed hard at the wound, KID grimaced as the detective muttered. "That's why I felt a little cold when I slid over it."

Blood soaked the handkerchief, Conan switched to another one, continuing to press hard on it with a calm and thoughtful face.

Something was wrong here.

Why did Mentantei suddenly cough up blood and have a nosebleed?

Why didn't he wince even as the edges of the tear were slowly bruising.

"Don't you feel pain?" KID asked hesitantly.

"Hmm?" Conan snapped out of his thoughts and looked up, "Pain?"

He shook his head, giving a strange smile, "I don't."

The strangeness was reaching its peak, KID was startled by Nakamori's voice coming from the speaker below.

"KID, whatever the hell you're doing, don't do anything to the child!!"

Why does it sound like he's harming the Mentaitei??

Conan glanced at the direction of the sound, clicked his tongue, and grumbled softly, "They're worrying too much."

KID looked back, looking at his arm that was still bleeding and the slight coughs in his voice. He frowned, "I think I need an explanation, Mentantei."

Conan looked at him, raised his eyebrows, "Is it necessary?"

"Yes, you should know you just scared me." Kid replied seriously. Slightly shuddered at the way Conan moved his torn hand with a calm look.

The detective shook his hand, blood spraying down with his action. The cut wasn't too deep, but it still cut into a blood vessel and tore the skin and flesh. Surrounding the cut, the skin had gradually turned purple, drops of bright red blood soaked his entire hand.

God, this was scary. Kid wanted to turn away immediately, but he needed a proper answer to this situation.

Conan sighed, "Pneumonia, Vitamin C deficiency, and congenital insensitivity to pain."

The excitement from the robbery completely left KID's body.

"I was just diagnosed this morning."

Ran almost fainted on the spot when Conan came back with a pile of bloody handkerchiefs and a bandaged forearm.

"KID bandaged me." Conan returned the gem to the inspector and explained how he got the wound, "I'm not sure, but there are a few broken glass aquariums on it."

"Who would put a broken aquarium in this damn building?!" Kogoro angrily shouted.

After that, the museum had to clean up the broken items there.

Conan was immediately taken back to have his wound re-examined, and well, the next day the whole class was in a panic because of Conan.

Originally someone who usually hid his injuries, Conan couldn't do that now when he didn't even know he was in pain.

That afternoon, a student brought hot tea. It was in a small thermos, and because he was afraid of getting burned, the child turned to Conan to pour it for him, because normally if they couldn't do anything, they would ask Conan, who could always do everything professionally.

But then he stopped when he remembered that Conan's hand was injured. Regardless, Conan took the tea from the child and poured it into the cup for him, the detective gently pushed the cup back, "There."

The student blinked, hesitantly, "Ah, thank you Conan-kun!"

Conan smiled, "You're welcome."

Ayumi handed the lid back to Conan, who took it, and was about to close the lid when a student who was playing around suddenly bumped into him. Conan quickly pressed the lid back so it wouldn't burn the detective boys.

But on the contrary, "Conan-kun!"

Conan's fingers were burned, the whole class panicked looking for the teacher. Ms. Kobayashi rushed in, her face turned pale, and she dragged him into the medical room. There, they kept telling Conan to calm down, Conan blinked, expressionlessly watching the two teachers clumsily bandage his finger.

Conan wasn't scared, nor was he worried, he didn't feel any pain anyway.

Takagi stopped, hurriedly running to pick Conan up right when he fell down. Conan looked up at him, blinking like an owl.

His knee looked really painful as the thin skin peeled off and got dirty. Takagi pursed his lips, he hurriedly lifted Conan up.

Conan was definitely hiding from his guardian, he needed to take care of the child before that person came back. Ignoring the child pouting the whole time.

Akai looked down at Conan's feet in confusion, the child's socks were soaked in blood. It seemed like the source of the blood was from the shoes.

He bent down to pick Conan up, Conan was a bit startled, he turned to Akai with a confused look. "What's wrong Akai-San?"

Akai took off his shoes, revealing his bleeding heel.

The socks were stuck to his heel, normally pulling the socks off would cause a very painful wound. But for Conan, it was nothing, he blinked as he looked at the severed skin stuck to the socks, surrounded by a mixture of dried and fresh blood, "Oh."

Akai frowned, he didn't like the boy's reaction. The child was losing his defenses and emotions to the wound. And judging by the way the wound was acting, it was already there.

"You should be more careful, boya." Akai reminded, holding the child and walking away.

"Ah, yes." Conan hesitantly replied to him.

If the child kept not reacting like this, one day his emotions would become numb.

Sonoko sat down next to Conan. The boy curled up on the chair like a lazy kitten. She smiled softly, gently stroking her fingers through the bandage in his hair.

Conan had suffered a slight concussion while chasing the culprit, no one knew he was beaten until he passed out.

Normally they would have noticed Conan was injured by the way he grimaced, but now it was impossible.

"It makes people worry so easily, brat." She muttered.

Ran gave Conan a handkerchief, Conan smiled and thanked her, then used the handkerchief to wipe his nose.

Conan still wouldn't stop bleeding, they had given him enough Vitamin C, but the blood continued to flow down his chin. The doctor said that he was getting better, but to Ran, she didn't see it that way.

He kept getting injured, it seemed like the amount of injuries must have doubled from before. Ran hated the way Conan watched with wide eyes as she treated his wounds.

Somewhere she still expected Conan to have a reaction to pain. Because pain was a very necessary feeling for humans, without it, humans would lose contact with almost everything.

Haibara didn't take her eyes off the detective for a second, just a few minutes ago, just those damn minutes, Conan had scared her and Professor Agasa.

Mouri pushed the detective to her and the professor to look after when they had to go to a party. Conan wasn't allowed to go, especially after the time he left the party with a few bruises because people pushed him when the murder happened. So now he was here, being watched by two pairs of eyes.

The professor left his seat, looking at Conan one last time before going in to get the necessary things. He's only going for a little while. Conan is a seventeen-year-old boy. Even though he's often in danger, he still has the mind of a teenager.

A teenager who is also the best young detective he knows.

Conan looked up from his book to see Haibara also leave, when he was alone in the room he could finally breathe. The gazes of those two people always stared at him like wolves hunting for prey, scaring Conan so much that he couldn't even read a page of the book properly.

Putting the book on the table, Conan sighed. The people around him were becoming overprotective of him, and he couldn't stop them when he couldn't protect himself either.

His body was covered in various wounds, old ones on top of new ones. This made Conan stand out wherever he went, especially to those who had children or liked children. Seeing a child covered in wounds made them very heartbroken.

So his parents thought the same, right?

His parents already knew, they only came back to Tokyo to see him once, hugged him, and then left. There were no words of comfort, no help, no encouragement.

Kogoro and Ran didn't seem happy with their actions.

They say they're busy, they're always busy. They've been always busy since he was fourteen.

When he was Shinichi, he always had to return to that quiet house with a suffocating feeling. He didn't dare to go around the house, usually he just stayed in the library and the bedroom.

At family activities, Shinichi is always there alone. If he gets injured, he has to handle it himself. Ran always worries about him, on the contrary, Shinichi often avoids her at those activities. He was jealous, Shinichi hated the way he was jealous of his own friends.

He was jealous of the way Kogoro petted Ran every time he picked up his daughter, jealous of the way he protected Ran. Jealous of Sonoko when she was always pampered and loved by everyone. He was jealous of people whose parents cooked lunch for them, jealous of how everyone had their parents by their side.

Occasionally there were a few children in the same situation as him. Shinichi didn't say anything, but if that child was injured, no one would know he had just left to buy another bottle of water.

No one knew he walked past, pretended to bump into that child and then shoved a bottle of water into his hand. They just thought he was arrogant and rude.

Sometimes Agasa would go to the parent-teacher meetings for him, but sometimes Shinichi would go himself. The teachers therefore exempted him from many parent-teacher conferences.

Eri and Kogoro didn't like him, Shinichi knew that so he rarely saw them. He knew they were just protecting their daughter from a detective, a reckless and trouble-making brat, a teenager who had taken her father's detective job.

And now he's causing even more trouble for them by being a freeloading brat who likes to cause trouble.

Conan shook his head and sighed, putting down his hand holding his chin to try to reach for the book.

Forget it, read a book and stop thinking like an immature kid, Shinichi.

His hand stopped in the middle of the table, Conan frowned and stared at the bleeding wound on his hand. If he remembered correctly, it was a gunshot wound, it seemed that pressing the wound against his thigh while resting his chin had caused it to open.

He needed to change the bandage because the bandage was clearly no longer holding the blood. Conan looked around, blinked, then jumped off the chair and then almost fell because he lost his balance.

Forgot, he was treating his leg tendons.

Snorting and pushing himself into the chair, Conan carefully moved close to the object so he could catch himself whenever he lost his balance. Groping to the bathroom, Conan walked in, raised his hand and pushed himself onto the washbasin to open the cabinet. He held onto the sink with one hand to stop himself from falling, and reached for the bandage in the cabinet with the other.

Then he hobbled back to the couch, the bandage now stained with blood. Conan wrinkled his nose, took out the scissors and cut off the bandage.

Throwing it aside, he used a wet towel to wipe away the blood, taking one sheet after another until the wound was clean and then switching to cotton. First, he had to apply medicine and then cover it with a layer of cotton before wrapping it.

He moved the scissors and cotton to the bullet wound, placed it on the wound and applied medicine. Suddenly the cotton fell out, Conan blinked.

His fingers holding the scissors were shaking violently, probably because of the unhealed cut on that arm.

Putting the scissors aside, he exhaled and decided to sit there waiting for his hand to stabilize. Conan rolled his eyes, dealing with wounds in the past always made him painful and scared.

Shinichi was afraid of pain like everyone else.

He has typical fears that he always tries to hide, not wanting anyone to dig them up. He used to be afraid of corpses, also very afraid of blood, knives and bullets.

Afraid of his own house, afraid of the family photo in the living room.

Pain? What did it used to be like?

He couldn't remember it anymore.

Conan lightly mocked himself, looking down at the untreated bullet hole under his arm. Squinting, with a strange thought, Conan sat up straight and lightly pressed his finger into it.

He remembered the first time he had treated a bullet wound himself. Normally Megumi would have forced him to go to the hospital, but that day Shinichi was shot when no one was looking. So instead of going to the hospital to get checked or find someone, Shinichi foolishly hid it and went home.

He came back with a damn bullet in his stomach, it's okay, Shinichi has experience with this. He hadn't taken any proper medical courses, but he still forced himself to know them as a detective.

First he needed to take the bullet out, clean it, see if it needed stitches and apply medicine. Finally, he covered it with cotton and bandaged it.

The bullet wound had started to heal, the tingling sensation that always occurred when the wound healed. Conan lightly scratched his fingers there, frowning at how easily his sensitive skin was torn.

There was no pain, Conan remembered that the doctor at his weekly check-up had said that his throat was swollen from coughing too much. So he was forced to limit his speaking, and was forbidden from touching anything cold or spicy.

He said that the swelling was really severe, normally if he had to talk in that condition he would feel pain and burning in his throat. Conan didn't know, he talked to everyone and only knew that his voice had become much hoarse, because he didn't feel any pain.

Blood flowed from the new tear, once again wetting the bullet wound. Conan squinted, he had heard some people say that stimulation would cause instincts to rise...

Maybe it would work.

The new skin was roughly pressed down by Conan, creating a slimy sound and a nauseating image for those who looked at it. Blood was pushed out of the wound, dripping down his forearm.

Not enough.

This is not enough to make him feel pain.

More, more.

"Shinichi!"

"Kudo!"

Conan blinked and looked up at the two, Professor Agasa tightly grasped his left wrist, where the small fingers were dyed bright red. Haibara grabbed Conan's shoulder, her eyes wide and trembling. They looked frightened by something.

"What?" Conan hoarsely said, tilting his head in confusion.

Both frowned immediately. Agasa stroked his face and slowly lowered his beloved nephew's arm, careful not to touch those bloody fingers. "You just scared the hell out of us, Shinichi."

Conan raised his eyebrows, Haibara let go of his shoulder, clicking her tongue. "Stupid."

"Hey!"

Haibara rolled her eyes, glancing at the pile of bloody first aid bandages on the table. Frowning with annoyance, "Idiot."

Conan glared at her, Haibara didn't care, turned to get another first aid kit. Dr. Agasa sighed, sat down next to him and caressed Conan's head as if he were a lonely and smart child who often came to ask for his autograph that day.

"Please don't do that again, Shinichi." The professor said softly.

"Do what?" Conan looked up at him. Agasa just smiled sadly, pushing his large fingers through the kid's hair.

"Nothing."

Haibara returned with the first aid kit, she took Conan's hand, treating his wound in silence. Both of them were extremely quiet after that.

Even though Conan made a few moves to attract them, they just looked at him, smiled at him or raised their eyebrows. No one said a word after that until the Mouris came back.

They had said something to each other while Conan was in the bathroom, something he didn't know and it seemed serious as both Mouris looked at him worriedly.

Ran let him use the TV freely, Kogoro paid for him to buy books. They carried Conan everywhere, never leaving him for even a single step. Conan knew this, they were trying to distract him, to stop thinking about the crazy things that started biting his neck every time he was quiet.

Conan snorted, wrapping the stained paper in a clean piece of paper before throwing it away. Azusa looked up, Conan smiled back at her worried look.

"Do I brush dust on you?"

"No." Conan shook his head, "It's just a normal nosebleed."

"Is that so... then do you need anything else Conan-kun?" Azusa smiled back, putting the broom aside and snatching the cake from Arumo's hand to place it in front of him.

"No, thank you Azusa-neechan!" Conan looked excited with the lemon cake, he smiled brightly at her. Azusa happily enjoyed watching the child eat.

Amoru glanced at her, pouting slightly as he turned away to get some water.

Conan had lost weight from illness, he was already a skinny kid. But now, he was even thinner. Amoru placed the cup of water next to the plate of cake, Conan thanked him and bent down to continue eating his favorite cake.

They smiled, looked at him and didn't ask about the new bandages that appeared on Conan's body.

Someday, Amoru would go ask who hurt Conan later. Regardless of whether that bastard had been punched in the face or not, Arumo would still punch him in the face.

He didn't know, didn't know that among those bastards there was a perfect one who could avoid all of them. A person that only Conan and Shinichi knew.

Themselves.

Conan looks fresher recently, everyone is happy with that. He was still the lively kid who always made them worry, but he was no longer so quiet. He smiled, grinned when he was around them.

Haibara looked at him suspiciously, but Conan ignored her. She always looked at him with that look.

Conan was still Conan after all, right?

Uh, definitely...

Wiping the blade clean with alcohol, Conan carefully wrapped it in wrapping paper. He stuffed it into a trash bag and took the trash bag with him, saying he was taking out the trash.

He was successful, people were no longer overprotective of him. Conan could finally breathe, ran out of the protective cage and then got stuck in another cage. The cage he had created for himself.

Putting the trash bag down, Conan exhaled, leaned over and was startled by a strange woman.

The woman bent down, observed him, then sat down and smiled, "What are you doing here, little one?"

Conan frowned, "I'm taking out the trash."

"Oh, what a good boy." She smiled under her big hat, a faint scent of seductive perfume wafting through the air.

"But also a bad child."

Huh?

The woman leaned over to rummage through her bag, took out a small candy and placed it in Conan's hand, "Here, for you."

Conan looked at her, squinted his eyes, then was slightly startled when the woman stood up. She brushed off her tight dress, pulled up her hat and smiled at him, "The bandage on your arm is a bit obvious, silver bullet."

Vermouth?!

The little detective ran after Vermouth and lost her in the crowd. He frowned, exhaling in annoyance. Damn it, she escaped again.

Why did she appear here?!

Limping back to the detective office, Conan raised his hand to throw the candy into the trash can. As soon as his hand moved, he stopped, dropped it, and held out the candy in front of his face.

The lemon yellow color of the candy is dazzlingly iridescent. Conan's sleeves slipped down, the bandage around his wrist thickening with each passing day.

And why did she know about it?

The candy was left in his pocket and would not be touched.

Conan leaned against Heiji, the detective looked down at him in surprise, smiling when he saw his friend had just fallen asleep. Although Shinichi had narcolepsy, he always fell asleep on planes and helicopters, but this was still a rare sight.

Whenever Conan fell asleep, he would become cute and soft. Unlike the smart and strong child everyone usually saw, Conan slept like a cat.

He liked to lean on someone he felt safe with, curled up and slept in the warmth. Heiji wondered if Shinichi was like that, he had never really noticed Shinichi's sleeping posture anyway.

Kazuha watched them, smiling with amusement. Conan has been sleeping a bit too much lately, right? He deserved it anyway, so it was fine.

KID walked up the stairs, not surprised to see the Mentaitei swinging his legs over the edge of the house on the other side of the door.

He smiled as Conan sighed, looking out at the city dejectedly. "Evening, Mentantei."

"Hey." Conan greeted back, not looking at the thief.

"How was tonight?" He asked, moving to the detective's side.

Conan shrugged, "Still the same."

"Still not allowed to participate in my heist?" KID chuckled, the little detective glared at him.

"You'll still find me anyway." He muttered, lowering his eyes then looking up again. "Why do you still want to meet me?"

"Hmm?" The thief put his finger to his chin, tilting his head, "I can't ignore my favorite critic who's sick, right?"

"Oh stop it." Conan curled his lips, "You're just looking forward to a confrontation."

"You really know me Mentantei." The thief didn't deny it, sitting down next to him.

Conan stopped participating in the investigation of KID's robberies because of his illness, but he often appears here, giving everyone hints about how KID does magic tricks and then leaves. Sit in a certain room or building and be sure that Kid will come find him.

The injuries on his body were much less than before, Conan began to develop the habit of wearing long clothes more because of them. So not many people knew he was injured anymore.

"So you came again and returned the diamond?" Conan asked.

"Yes, because this is not what I was looking for." KID nodded, handing the diamond over.

Conan took it from him, not noticing the thief stopped by the new bandage on his wrist. He snorted, "I'll return it."

"Alright." The thief smiled, quickly covering his gaze from that strange place.

The detective snorted, turning back to look at the city. Listening to the shrill sound of the police sirens below and how the helicopter couldn't see them in this out-of-sight position.

"You seem to like going up to the roof lately." Kid suddenly asked, resting his hands on his thighs to support his chin. "I remember the day you went up to the roof even when it started raining. It was pretty weird, you know, Mentantei?"

Ah, that day...

"I know." Conan sighed, leaning forward so he could look down better.

KID squinted, suddenly remembering that rainy day. When KID left in the rain, he saw Conan standing so close to the edge of the building, that just one step would cause him to immediately fall. His smile slowly faded. "Mentantei, are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I?" The detective hummed, sitting up straight to stand up. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, smiling at the thief one last time. "I'm still okay after all."

Mentantei left, leaving KID with questions.