Internalities

Trapped into going to one of those stupid "gather all detectives to solve an old mystery in a creepy mansion" things with Hakuba, Kaito was planning to lay low. But of course, Conan not only shows up but gets amnesia. With the mystery looking more personal by the minute, and with no one there but Kaito knowing Conan's true identity, Kaito finds his hands uncomfortably full.

Note: this ch has been revised to clarify that Kaito and Conan do not actually hate each other. Sorry for the confusion.


Ch. 1 Nice to meet you

"Hakuba… please." Kaito groaned for the billionth time that day, almost in tears at this point. "You can't seriously be this evil. You can't make me go to this. These things are dangerous I'm telling you."

The other teen, however, was completely unmoved by the distress of his classmate. "Kuroba-kun, are you going to go back on your word on spending the weekend with me then? I thought you promised to do so to clear your name of being KID, once and for all."

Kaito scowled at that, because it was true he had agreed to spend a weekend with his classmate detective during any weekend of Hakuba's choice, so long as it overlapped with a KID heist. The weekend chosen would be unannounced until the day of, so Kaito would not have a chance to back out of it, and would not be able to back out of the heist if he were really KID like Hakuba was so adamant on believing.

Granted, Hakuba was right, but Kaito wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing. Kaito was the great Kaitou KID after all, and he wasn't about to let any sudden absence of himself stop any of his heists. It wasn't as if Jii was too shabby with magic, being the assistant of the legendary Toichi Kuroba, and Hakuba didn't know that Kaito's mother was a skilled phantom thief as well. Not to mention, she was a phantom thief that owed him a big favor for that Ryoma treasures exhibition fiasco.

However, he hadn't expected it to fall on a three day weekend, and not to mention, a weekend where Hakuba had been invited to go to one of those stupid "gather all detectives to solve some grand old mystery in a creepy mansion" things.

"Hakuba, you of all people should know." Kaito continued his whining, "People die at those things. Seriously, I'll spend the weekend with you but could we please not go to this event?"

"Kuroba-kun." Hakuba cut him off coolly, with an equally icy smile. "Please, you are making Baaya wait. Surely you wouldn't be so rude to a lady."

Clenching and unclenching his hands, Kaito sighed for one last time before gathering his things and stuffing them into Hakuba's fancy car. Staying with one sharp detective for one weekend was one thing, staying in a suspicious mansion with who knows how many more detectives was another. He had tried that once disguised as Detective Mouri, and he had barely escaped. It was fun while it lasted, but he never wanted to do that again.

However, this time he would not be disguised as anyone else. Kaito wasn't sure if he liked that very much, but at the very least this time he would not be doing anything out of the ordinary. Kaito would lay low, and not do anything that deviated even remotely from the law. He would sit around and pretend to be the not so bright friend that had reluctantly tagged along with the genius high school detective. Kaito mentally crossed his fingers and hoped against hope that Lady Luck would smile upon him at this time of dire need and make sure that neither the Osaka detective nor the pipsqueak detective showed up to this thing.

Especially the pipsqueak. He thought. At least Hakuba could distract Heiji Hattori and hog all of his attention. They seemed to have a special sort of hate for each other after all.

Unfortunately for Kaito though, the pipsqueak seemed to have a special sort of hate for him, and Kaito had to admit, the feeling was mutual. The terrible thing about this though, was that unlike Hattori, who seemed keen on avoiding his objects of hate like a normal human being, pipsqueak seemed keen on seeking out and destroying them.

Well, they didn't actually hate each other, but they were a healthy thorn in each other's sides. It was a friendly sort of hate; the fun kind that exists between close friends or siblings. However, amicable hate or not, that didn't mean Conan didn't have the potential to be KID's downfall.

Now that he thought about it, Hakuba seemed like a pretty nice guy in comparison. At the very least, he had never had to doubt his classmate's sanity.

Kaito figured he could never be too careful though. Besides, although Kaito himself was not well known, his unique surname may not go unnoticed by a bunch of detectives. KID or not, he did not want them coming down on him like a bunch of vultures the moment they found out he may be a magician like his father. That much, he trusted Hakuba would understand. "Hakuba, at least give me this." Kaito sighed, getting in the back of the car behind his classmate. "I don't need a bunch of detectives breathing down my neck and trying to deduce every one of my magic tricks, so let me go as Kaito Kuroda for this weekend."

"I can heed to that request." Hakuba answered without hesitation. It's not as if the teen planned to trap Kuroba this weekend into revealing what he suspected to be his criminal identity. He was just going to keep him in a place where there was no way the magician could escape and make it to the planned KID heist. If the heist turned out to be horribly botched or canceled, that would be one more hint towards his 'Kuroba being KID' theory, and if Kuroba tried to escape the isolated mansion without being noticed, he would have a close to impossible time doing so. Hakuba knew the other minds gathered there were just as sharp as his, and Kuroba would have the disadvantage of having had arrived as himself this time, and not as someone else.

Kaito brooded in the backseat of his classmate's car, not bothering to make small talk with the other two people in the car sitting in the front. That was fine with both of them though. Hakuba had never been a talkative person anyway, and Kaito was not really talkative with Hakuba so the silence was not uncomfortable. Instead, the magician watched the scenery outside the car flash by as they went further and further into the mountains. He really didn't get why Hakuba and a bunch of detectives had decided to take this stupid invitation from Jirokichi Suzuki anyway. Apparently the crazy old man had found a mansion that was rumored to house a large jewel, and had hired a bunch of detectives to try and find it so he could use the jewel as bait to lure KID out. However, Kaito knew that rumored mansion held no jewel, mainly because he had seen the information about the house in one of his father's old files. Apparently it was true that sometime in the past, the house had held a jewel, but it was now long gone.

Kaito assumed that the gathered detectives were probably there more in the hopes of catching KID than some stupid jewel that may or may not exist. If Kaito hadn't known the mansion held no jewel anymore, he might have voluntarily shown up to swipe the jewel before them. Although Kaito had been involuntarily roped into to going to this event, KID would be no show, and there would be no jewel.

Finally pulling up at some creepy, western style mansion, Kaito hopped out of the car once it stopped as Hakuba gracefully stepped off. Both boys thanked the old lady for the ride, and promptly took out their luggage. After they saw off the old lady driving away, they both turned to go into the building, still not striking up conversation. Kaito duly noted the familiar looking gaudy cars lining the parking space in front of the mansion. Just as he was hoping to god that the one unfamiliar one wasn't a rental car that Detective Mouri had come in, his hopes were immediately shattered as a large crash from inside the building pierced the silence along with a high pitched yell.

Kaito paled, wishing that high pitched yell was not who he thought it was, for more reasons than one. Giving each other a look, both Hakuba and Kaito bolted towards the building to see what had happened.

000

There was something wrong.

There was something seriously wrong.

It was dark. Where was he? Oh his eyes are closed no wonder it was dark. Were those voices? Who's voice is that? Shinichi groggily thought as he cracked open his eyes. He blearily noted that he was in a dimly lit room, and there were two figures by the bed he was lying in. One was old man Kogoro, who seemed to be chatting quietly with some woman Shinichi didn't know. Eh, Ran would love this. Shinichi thought sarcastically as he imagined the reaction his childhood friend would have from knowing her father was flirting with other women again.

The unfamiliar woman seemed to immediately notice Shinichi had woken up, and peered over at him. "Thank goodness you're awake." She said, smiling with relief. Shinichi noted the lady was dressed strangely. She had on a white lab coat and smelled of chemicals. Not a medical doctor. Shinichi thought absentmindedly, his mind automatically starting to dissect her person. Veterinarian? No, considering those chemicals I smell… forensics expert?

Shinichi tried to speak, before being met with a sharp pain at the front part of his head. "Ugh" he groaned, accidentally flinching instead of speaking like he meant to. Had he hit his head? Was that why he was confined in his bed surrounded by… wait… come to think of it, why was old man Kogoro, of all people watching over him?

"What happened? Where am I?" Shinichi managed to groan out, and then coughed a little. And what the hell is wrong with my voice? "Why are you here with me, old man? And who are you, lady?"

Kogoro gave him a mildly annoyed look, but it was clearly mixed in with a bit of relief seeing as Conan seemed to have come to, sass and all. "I was invited to this mansion to solve the mystery of the hidden treasure within it, and I had to bring you here with me because Ran had plans to spend the weekend with Sonoko."

Shinichi frowned at the strange explanation. What the hell?

"And you, being the brat you usually are, ran amok as soon as we got here and got some large vase falling on your head, knocking you out." Kogoro continued, misunderstanding the confused look Conan was giving him as confusion about how the boy had landed in this bed, unconscious. "You should really thank Ikumi-san here since she was the one that tended to your head injury after all."

"I think we've met before, but it was only once after all." The lady, who had been introduced as Ikumi, spoke up as she smiled at Conan. "I remember you very clearly though, Conan Edogawa. It was brilliant how you came up with that plan to lure out the murderer at that Karasuma mansion."

Shinichi managed to smile weakly, about to correct her that she must have mistaken him for someone else, because he sure as hell didn't know anyone with a funky name like Conan Edogawa, didn't know anything about a Karasuma mansion, nor had he ever met this woman, when his razor sharp brain stacked up the details that had been taken in during the short time he had been awake, and alerted him to shut his mouth because something was terribly, terribly wrong.

The room was way too large. His throat didn't hurt, but his voice had been way too high pitched. Kogoro was treating him like he needed supervision. He had been called by a different name. Shinichi tried not to shake as he tried to pull himself up to get to a sitting position, only to stumble back down as he lost his balance. Ignoring the worried looks his awkward movement got from the other two adults in the room, Shinichi pulled himself up again, being successful this time.

He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he scooted back to lean against the headboard.

Still trying to stay calm, he slowly opened his eyes again to examine his hands.

Tiny. Child's hands. Early primary school? His mind automatically outputted as he looked at them. He wiggled his fingers to make sure these impossibly small hands were really his. Unable to stop the trembling that was creeping up into them, Shinichi put his now tiny hands onto his thighs, grasping the bedcovers. He then proceeded to wiggle his toes, noting how far away from him the movement the toes made happened. Short legs. My height is somewhere between 110 to 120 cm. Shinichi knew that estimation range was huge considering the ratio, but he was still sitting down so it couldn't be helped. He noted with satisfaction that the estimated height range was consistent with the average height of the age range analysis he had immediately made by looking at his hands.

I've turned small or younger? Shinichi tried to bite down the fear that was building up within him. Panic didn't help. Panic never helped. Stay calm. THINK. Kogoro and the lady were treating him like a child. So younger. What had Kogoro said about Ran and Sonoko? They were going somewhere by themselves for an entire weekend, and old man Kogoro didn't look any younger from the last time Shinichi remembered him, so it seemed everyone else was still the same age.

The other lady had called Shinichi 'Conan', and Kogoro hadn't batted an eye at what Shinichi had thought was a mistake. So I really am 'Conan'? Which meant Shinichi really should know this woman, and really should know about this Karasuma mansion murder case.

Something was missing. Actually, a lot of things were missing. What had happened? The most likely culprit… time?

"O… old man Kogoro, or, Ikumi-san." Shinichi spoke again, trying to get used to his young voice. "What day is it?"

Kaito nonchalantly observed the ceiling as he lay down on the bed in the room that had been prepared for him. When he and Hakuba had arrived at the mansion, they had apparently come just in time to witness the aftermath of the one and only Conan Edogawa being attacked and knocked out by a falling vase. Granted, it seemed the head injury was minor, and the forensics lady detective knew how to treat it, so she and Detective Mouri had quickly taken away the little boy to some room to lay him down.

Meanwhile, deciding Kaito didn't want to spend that much time with detectives who were probably filing away every little bit of information they were exposed to by the second, he had turned in to his bedroom to leave the others to their devices. Kaito wasn't here to solve the mystery after all, so he figured he would sit still until he made sure Tantei-kun was really okay.

The other detectives that had turned up were the same ones from the Karasuma mansion case, sans the one that had died, Ogami, and the one that had killed him, Senma. Although the numbers gathered were smaller, and the risk of the mystery less deadly this time, he knew the car loving Mogi, the sciency lady Ikumi, his classmate Hakuba, and the mini Kudo were nothing to sneeze at. There was Mouri too, who, although admittedly not as sharp as the others, was smarter than he acted.

Kaito didn't like not being on the offensive, hiding away in his room like a coward, but he had a terrible feeling about this mansion mystery case. Although he was no Akako, Kaito knew when his intuition was saying bad, something bad was about to happen. He sighed, "Are you awake yet?" he muttered to himself, addressing the little boy he knew wouldn't be able to hear him. At the very least, he hoped the bad feeling wasn't connected to the detective with the worst luck Kaito ever knew. The boy had hit a worrying part of his head after all.

As if his prayers had been answered, Kaito heard a sharp rapping on his door. Considering there was only one person familiar enough with him to not knock politely, Kaito didn't bother to get up out of his bed when he shouted a response. "What do you want Hakuba?"

The door opened, revealing his unamused classmate. "Get up, Kaito. Conan-kun has awoken." Hakuba then paused, before giving him a knowing grin. "Come to think of it, you've never met him before have you? The famed KID killer, Conan Edogawa."

"No." Kaito responded, "And KID killer or not, like you, this boy has also never caught the great KID, and never will."

Hakuba raised an eyebrow at the snarky comment before smiling again. "We shall see about that." He then gestured to the boy to get up from the bed. "Now come, let us get you two introduced. I am sure he would be pleased to meet you."

"What do you mean by that? What would a little kid find interesting about meeting a random teenager like me?" Kaito grumbled, pretending to be reluctant as he rolled out of the bed and trudged over to the door to follow Hakuba.

"I'm sure he'll find you interesting." Hakuba replied, starting to walk as he led his classmate over to the living room where the others had gathered. "He is the famed KID killer, after all."

Kaito rolled his eyes, refusing to take the provocation and denying for the billionth time that he was not, in fact, KID. Although it was true pipsqueak might find him suspect of being KID, considering his face and all, Kaito was not going to give him any proof. One thing about being a great detective was that they were smart enough to know that they couldn't stick you out to the authorities without solid proof.

"Hey, let me go to the restroom first. I'll catch up to you soon." Kaito said suddenly, before leaving an exasperated Hakuba. If Kaito was going to enter a room as himself with Tantei-kun watching, he wanted to enter the room unnoticed, so as to have the moment to observe the detective before the inevitable mutual meeting.

Shinichi stood quietly in the living room, trying to keep his calm while he continued gathering as much information as he could about his predicament. What he had gleaned so far about his current situation was that Shinichi had lost quite a bit of time. He had lost several months worth of time, and obviously during that time period something insane had happened, and Shinichi, for the life of him, was still having a hard time figuring it all out.

Right now he was, incredible as it was, 7 years old. Shinichi now went by the name, Conan Edogawa, and went to Teitan Elementary. He was currently living with Kogoro and Ran for some odd reason he didn't know yet, and Kogoro didn't know 'Conan' was really Shinichi. Do I exist in this world? Shinichi thought fleetingly, before shaking his head. Although he had to swallow the impossible situation that Shinichi had become young, or had become trapped in a young boy's body, he still didn't want to think of that terrifying possibility yet.

If I really am me, then 'Conan Edogawa' is a fake name. Shinichi continued thinking, 'Conan Edogawa'… that is kind of fitting if I was the one that came up with the name.

He was jolted out of his thoughts, however, as Kogoro gently tapped him on the shoulder. The man would have slapped the boy on the head, but Conan was sporting an injury there today so he would be nice. "Hey, everyone's here now. Let's get introduced now since you might not remember them all."

Shinichi watched as he saw a teenager walk into the room, joining the other people that were already in the living room with him. 17 to 19 years old. Shinichi thought upon seeing the new occupant of the room. Half-Japanese, Half-….European? Considering the way the boy held himself, and the manner of dress, this was no American. Teenage detective? I don't know him… but he is here with the famous Mogi, and this Ikumi, who are obviously both very sharp. Perhaps this teenager's jurisdiction is elsewhere…

"Introduced?" Hakuba spoke, quirking an eyebrow as he observed the other occupants of the room. "Mouri-san, I believe we have all met before." He then looked behind him to see if his classmate had joined him yet. Pretending not to be surprised that the sneaky teen had, in fact, already entered the room unnoticed, Hakuba gestured towards Kaito. "Well, save for my companion here."

Shinichi's eyes widened, and his world stood still for a long moment as he locked eyes with the teen the foreign looking teenager had referred to. Ironically, among this gaggle of people, the one person who Shinichi or 'Conan' had supposedly never met, was the only familiar looking one.

The teen in question had locked eyes with him and had given him a warm smile reserved for little children, but Shinichi barely noticed the friendly gesture.

"You're… are you…?" Shinichi's grip on his sanity suddenly started feeling very fragile as he failed to voice out what he really wanted to say. Me? He was afraid to know, but Shinichi had to know. He had to know if Shinichi was not who he believed himself to be anymore, and that someone else was now him. "Shinichi Kudo?"

At the declaration, the expression of the teen with his face froze, and then darkened immediately with worry before slipping back into a more neutral one. Shinichi felt those sharp eyes, so similar to his own, silently searching his face. The accused look-alike didn't answer. Shinichi couldn't tell if the other boy was too shocked for words or was waiting for 'Conan' to say more.

Little did Shinichi know, he was right. Kaito was both too shocked for words and was waiting for 'Conan' to speak again, hoping against hope that this was some sort of bad joke or a poorly sprung trap.

TBC