Author's Notes:
1_ Disclaimer – If I owned any of this besides the plot I wouldn't be writing a fan fiction about it, would I? This disclaimer will apply to the entire story so that I don't have to keep reposting it.
2_ This will be a chapter fiction, however sometimes I might have to update in drabbles or it could end up being weeks in-between updates.
3_ This will be a shonen-ai and possibly even a shojo-ai (I'm still debating the shojo-ai part) – you have been warned!
4_ I have not watched the anime series (either one), I've only read the mangas and seen a couple of the DC movies, as such I will be following events and names as they happen according to the manga.
5_ I apologize in advance, I don't have a ton of time to devote to research about the Japanese culture, so I will be using what I DO know mixed with American culture – if this causes any confusion or hurt feelings I am sincerely sorry! *bows*
6_ I do like to use some Japanese words in my fanfics, if there is anything you're not sure about just ask as I'm always willing to help a fellow fan!
7_ Comments, critiques, suggestions and questions are all welcome and I will do my upmost to respond back!
PLOT SUMMERY:
When the cure for the apotoxin-4869 causes a mutagenic effect and an unexpected incident occurs at a Kaitou Kid heist, can Shinichi handle suddenly having to live a quadruple life? Eventual Shinichi/Kaito
Is it Fate?
With a deep sigh a small boy shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and stared at the newspaper stand he was standing next to as he waited for someone. Intensely blue eyes hidden behind overlarge glasses stared at the dominating headline that covered the entire front page "The Computer Hacker Murderer Strikes Again!" It was difficult for a casual observer to know what the boy was thinking about, but for those who had come to know Edogawa Conan they could tell he was both annoyed and fascinated with the publication.
If only I wasn't trapped in this kid body. He thought for the millionth time with a depressed sigh. He was sure that if he was his true self, the High School Detective Kudo Shinichi, he would have been able to at least GO to the crime scenes and quite possibly crack the case before another person died. As it was, being a first grader didn't qualify him to be invited to something like that, despite the incredible report he had developed with the Beika Police Department. For once he cursed his luck that hadn't allowed him to end up near one of the murder scenes – usually those things had a nasty habit of always occurring when he just happened to be in the immediate vicinity – and that The Idiot Detective that he was currently staying with had somehow managed to break his leg, leaving him unable to leave the hospital to help on the cases. At least Hattori had been called to a previous scene that had occurred close to where he lived, which had allowed Shinichi to become privy to details unknown to the general public. What Hattori had discovered had been unlike anything either detective had ever encountered before, so it was no wonder to either of them that the regular police officers hadn't been able to solve it and why it still stumped both of them.
Up until a week ago the murders happened in random parts of the country, Shinichi thought, trying to piece the facts that he did know together, but the last three have occurred in Tokyo within the last two days. On the scene Hattori went to it was obvious that someone had tampered with the room, since according to the guy's neighbors he was a slob, but his apartment had been spotlessly clean with no fingerprints left behind – not even the victim's. On top of that his computer was left behind but the inside components had all been removed, leaving behind an empty shell; something that was both incredibly clever and risky to do. Clever because a motherboard and memory drive were easier to carry around than the full tower, but risky because a small nick on a sharp corner would leave behind DNA evidence, not to mention the time it would take to do all of that. Frowning in thought Conan brought his left arm across his chest to help brace his right elbow as he cupped his chin with that hand. Also there was no media of any kind left behind at the scene, digital or print, but apart from that nothing else was stolen and according to Hattori the guy had had some incredibly expensive video equipment. The oddest part of the whole situation was the victim himself; the doctors had been unable to determine the cause of death. Despite being a slob he had been very fit and healthy and by all rights should have been still alive, except he obviously wasn't anymore.
Even now, three weeks later Shinichi still got a deep chill in his heart at that piece of information, he knew of a poison that had been created for just such a purpose and had even been the first victim of it. Granted he hadn't physically died, but he might as well as have - he couldn't go back to being Kudo Shinichi until both the organization that had done this to him was brought down as well as a permanent antidote was created. Although there was no proof as to the culprit all of Shinichi's instincts screamed that THEY were behind the serial murders.
Strange and unusual murders in quick succession with the same MO and with excessive scene clean up; check.
Deadly poison that left no trace of itself after the victim died; double check.
A dozen victims with no other obvious connections to each other apart from being computer hackers whose data was all stolen; triple check.
Four recent crime scenes discovered within four hours of each other that ranged from Tokyo, Osaka, Shibya to Hokkaido with no possible way for them to have been done by the same person and with no manifests of any suspicious people going to or from each scene – which hinted at a large and well organized group; the final nail in the coffin.
Infuriatingly though he couldn't do anything with this information apart from pass most of it (he only left out the part about him being poisoned and shrunk by the same poison) as well as his suspicions as to the motive behind the homicides on to the FBI, who couldn't do much themselves either. Not until they could determine the next victim BEFORE they became the next victim could they act on any information that they may or may not get from said person, and absolutely nothing could be done about finding an antidote to the poison without having a sample of said substance. And for his part, the only thing he could do is to keep his eyes open and try to continue to put the pieces together without being too obvious as to what he was doing.
"Conan-kun!" Snapped out of his thoughts, Conan turned to face the owner of the voice and instantly put on his happy Conan mask at the sight of the Shonen-tantei running towards him, Ayumi-chan out in front and waving enthusiastically to her crush. "Sorry we're late, Genta-kun slipped into the mud and had to go back to change." The little girl explained breathlessly while the larger of the two boys behind her grinned sheepishly and scratched at the ten yen-sized bald spot on the left side of his head.
"That is why I told you to slow down a little the first time." The smaller, almost nerdish boy said with authority and crossed his arms over his chest while putting on his best superior-than-thou attitude.
"An' I said that if you hadn't taken so long in the first place I wouldn't have felt the need to rush!" The larger boy huffed angrily, almost looking for a minute like he wanted to pound Mitsuhiko into an even smaller superior-than-thou pancake.
"Maw, knock it off already you two!" Ayumi-chan said with exasperation, having apparently already listened to this 'discussion' before. "Where's Ai-chan?" She inquired suddenly, instantly destroying Mitsuhiko's airs with the abrupt change in topic.
"She, Takagi-san and Sato-san went to go get the snacks and save our seats already since we didn't know how late you were going to be." Conan explained as he led the group of three real children inside the crowded movie theatre he had been standing outside of. "Hakase couldn't make it, he had to take his Beatle in for repairs and Ran-nee-chan has a karate match to go to. Shiratori-san and Kobayashi-sensei are also here but the three detectives might have to leave early to help work on the Hacker Murders." He finished the last bit as an after-thought to which Ayumi-chan giggled, obviously getting the point that their favorite police detectives and teacher were going out on a date without actually going out on a "date".
Once they had gotten settled and were watching the movie - a cheesy wannabe detective movie in Shinichi's opinion - any other thought of the predictable plot was cut off from his mind as he felt both of his arms being grabbed by the two girls who sat on either side of him at a particularly graphic scene. Blushing slightly from the unexpected contact, he glanced fondly at Ai and Ayumi with a small smirk cutting through his indifferent expression; although it was more of an expression an older brother would use rather than a friend or romantic interest. Without warning he felt his mind freeze cold and an instant sense of horror leapt his senses into overdrive as he felt hostile eyes briefly pierce the back of his head. Next to him Ai also stiffened in blind terror, but this time not because of the movie – she had felt them too, the poisonous eyes of the Black Organization as they slithered over the unsuspecting audience.