I am on hiatus until further notice re. fanfiction. However, I discovered some old concepts I was kicking around while backing up my data, and am deciding to clean up and publish these as a series of oneshots. Feel free to use these concepts as a springboard.

Please note I have only watched / read Detective Conan in passing since ten years ago; as such, please understand there will undoubtedly be continuity / characterization errors. These are not trivial to fix, and so consider these works to be slightly AU-ish if character inferences / references are in error.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan; work is the property of Gosho Aoyama.

Candlewick

I'm sorry, Kudo-kun. I know you must be confused why I left, but it seems like I just don't have the courage to see your face again. I reconstructed my parents' research last night, and I now leave you with my findings.

There is no cure for APTX-4869. The drug targets the telomerase-telomere reaction among other bodily functions, and is irreversible. Shorter telomeres, shorter life. Completely inhibit telomere lengthening, death. It appears the dose you took was only partially effective - it was not able to fully inhibit telomere lengthening.

APTX is not magic. While you may have reverted in form to that of a child, your body, your internal clock, is still that of an 18 year old - your intact intellect is a testament to that. Your muscles ache because they are atrophied, your voice changed because it was burned raw (causing your marked upper respiratory weakness).

And every time you took a dose of that fake cure, that damage occurs all over again.

Do you get it now, Kudo-kun? APTX-4869 isn't a fountain of youth for a few lucky individuals. It eats away at our lives - and, if you prefer - our souls. Every fake cure re-damages your body in the same way the original drug did - every fake cure further inhibits your body's ability to counteract aging, burning away your telomeres like a fire on a candlewick. Rather ironic, that the pill makes you age faster in the end.

I hazard a guess that every time you shrink - every time the drug reacts with your body - you lose a decade of your life.

Do you understand? Do you remember how many times you've taken the fake cure? Think! If only I were able to realize this ahead of time, I would have never allowed you to take those pills. But then again, maybe you would have taken them regardless, being the strong-headed fool that you are.

Taking into account the original dose that shrank you, you have about two years left.

I'm so sorry, Kudo-kun.

Ai

In the light of the monitor, a diminutive shadow crumples. The cursor slowly blinks on screen, unaware, impartial.