Andie here! Sorry for being so late! My exams are taking most of my time DX Again, I thank you all for reading. Special thanks to Abe Lincoln Lover, olcrian, ToyamaKazuha, abcalfs, bakakonekochan, dreamingfifi, euroteres, sCyanide and superjunior101315 for Favorite/Following my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)


Chapter 3: Well, This Might Be Interesting

It is a nice, fresh Saturday morning, considering the awful weather of the previous day. Kaito wakes up comfortably and looks at the window in his bedroom. Everything looks fine, but there's still something odd. He looks around until he feels a slight shift besides him, and looks at the warm bundle resting at his side. There is Conan, pressing his forehead lightly against his ribs, panting gently with a stuffy nose, his little hand barely holding a handful of his nightshirt, warped around with the covers.

Kaito is a little surprised at this. He didn't think the kid would actually snuggle him while asleep, even less with that kid being his stubborn Tantei-kun. 'It's probably because he is sick. Besides, it's not like it was a conscious action.' Kaito quickly reasons.

He notices Conan is abnormally warm. Kaito props himself with his elbow carefully, as the kid is still latched to him, and places a hand in his forehead. 'Still got a fever, huh?' He slowly removes the child from himself and puts a pillow in his place, while he sits in the border of the bed. The boy hugs the pillow against his body immediately after it makes contact, clearly enjoying the feeling of the cool material against his face.

Kaito smiled gently at the kid. He never thought a day would come were he'd see the little detective looking as vulnerable and innocent and child-like. Kaito had the urge to search for his camera and take a few photos that would be perfect blackmail later but decided against it.

Standing up, he headed towards the bathroom. After taking a shower and changing, he glances at Conan 'Not woken up yet' he thinks, passing by. He goes to the kitchen and get's some cereal and a toast. While finishing his breakfast a knock is heard at his front door. 'That's probably Aoko' he looks at the clock in the wall, it marked 8:43. "Coming!" he stands heading to the door.

He opens the door to find Aoko waiting eagerly outside. "Hey." he greets.

"Good morning, Kaito." Aoko smiles.

"Good morning. You sure seem energetic." he comments.

"Well, I wanted to see how the little boy was doing." she explained "I hope you took care of him last night." Aoko glares.

"Yeah, he's still asleep in my room." Kaito sweat drops at her sudden change in demeanor. He opens the door further so she can step in.

"I see. I brought some medicine in case." she says, putting her bag in the table of the living room and seating in the couch.

"Good. He still has a fever, that kid." He says, seating across her like last night. Signaling with his head the door of his room.

"He hasn't waked up even once?" Aoko asks concerned, looking towards the door.

"No. You want to see him?" he asks.

Aoko nods and they head to his room. They open the door and gaze at the figure lying on Kaito's bed. Conan's still hugging the pillow but seems to be stirring.

Kaito suddenly realizes something and puts on his best poker face, trying to hide the panic slowly crawling up to him. 'How could I be so stupid!? What if he recognizes me!? What if he attacks!? Well, he doesn't have his belt, or power shoes… or glasses now that I think about it. Weird. BUT WHAT IF HE STARTS YELLING "KAITO KIIIID!" OR SOMETHING!? AOKO WILL KILL ME!'

Aoko quietly heads towards the bed and sits lightly at the edge. Conan starts coughing a little before opening his eyes slowly. He starts looking around before his eyes land on Aoko. He stares confusedly at her. "Hey boy, how are you feeling?" She asks.

He stares at her a little longer before answering "My head hurts…" he whispers, his voice a little raspy.

She places her hand in his forehead "You still have a slight fever." she says, mostly to herself.

He's eyes never leaving her face "Who are you?" he tentatively asks.

"My name is Aoko. My friend Kaito found you last night passed out in an alley. We took you to his house. You're in his room right now." She explained, Kaito appearing behind her.

The boy then stares at Kaito, confusion still clear in his eyes. After a while, Kaito starts getting nervous about the boy looking at him. Was he caught? The boy then closed his eyes and took a hand to his head with a low whine.

"Ugh…" Conan groans. 'What's this…? Everything is so foggy… I feel horrible… I can't even see straight…' the boy complains in his mind, pressing his hand a little harder to his forehead.

"Your head hurts a lot?" Aoko asks at the boy. Conan only nods his head slightly without opening his eyes. "Kaito, could you bring water and a cloth?" She requests. This seems to wake Kaito from his trance-like state. "Ok." he blinks before answering.

A minute later Kaito appears with a bowl of water and a folded cloth and hands them to Aoko before sitting on the other side of the bed. She then proceeds to dip the cloth in the water, wrings out some water off it and places it on Conan's forehead. The child visibly relaxes a little and a soft smile appears on Aoko's face.

She then starts stroking the boy's hair lightly. Conan was a little surprised by the action but stayed still otherwise. Normally, he would have complained, if it wasn't for the fact that he was supposed to act like a child, or because he was sick and drained, or because it felt incredibly nice against his painfully throbbing head. He opens his eyes after some long minutes.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Kaito speaks for the first time. "You've been asleep a long time now."

Conan looks at him, and now that he can see him properly, is shocked to see the great resemblance between the teen and he's older self. He pulls down the questions nearly leaving his mouth and nods instead, sitting up slowly and ignoring the slight twinge of pain coursing through his head.

Kaito isn't sure if he has been discovered or not yet, but he would act his part the time it's necessary. He and Aoko stand up; Aoko helps the boy out of the bed. He tumbles a little at first, feeling a light dizzy spell, but then straightens up.

"So, what's your name?" Aoko asks while taking hold of the child's hand, the three heading to the kitchen. "Conan" the child answers slowly, looking up at her. "I see. Nice to meet you" Aoko smiles, leading him to the kitchen table.

"Nice to meet you" he replies while sitting down. "Would you like some pancakes, Conan-kun?" Aoko asks. "Yes, please." Conan says before a small coughing fit hits him. He suddenly sees a hand placing a glass of water in front of him. He follows the arm up to look at Kaito. "Here." the teen offers.

"Thanks." Conan takes the glass and gulps down the water. Kaito sits beside the boy while Aoko prepares the pancakes. "So, Conan-kun, where do you live?" Kaito asks carefully. Conan eyes the teen silently before answering, "In Beika." He has an odd feeling about being in this place. Not danger, but something he can't place his finger upon.

"That's nowhere near where I found you." Kaito hums. Maybe he could try and trick the boy's sharp mind, keep it far from the heist. "What were you doing in that alley? It was closer to Ekoda than Beika." Aoko intercepts in the conversation, bringing the pancakes with her.

Conan stares at his freshly made breakfast, searching his brain for an answer. "I… I don't know." he is honestly confused. One minute he was Shinichi Kudo, chasing Kaito KID in Crown Hotel and the next he is back as Conan in the house of a stranger that claims found him abandoned in an alley.

Conan suddenly pales. That's it! He transformed! And right in front of KID! He remembers falling unconscious, with the KID taskforce approaching them. He also remembers KID's trembling last words. "T-Tantei… kun…?" Could it be that KID took him and left him in that alley only to be found by these people later? Could it have been to help him? So they wouldn't discover him? Or was it something else?

The child's sudden change in demeanor made Kaito uneasy but he was able to hide in without much effort. "Hey, what's wrong?" Kaito asks. Conan snaps out of it "Ah! No, no, it's nothing! I was trying to remember but I really don't recall why I was there! Maybe I got lost and passed out because of my cold." Conan explains with a loud, childish voice.

"You should eat and rest a little; maybe you'll remember something later." Aoko suggests.

"Um!" Conan nods happily before starting to eat, his childish façade on. The three of them chat lightly while Conan eats. After he finishes Aoko gives him some medicine and they leave for the living room.

Kaito turns on the TV, news on the Kaito KID heist from last night appear immediately. It shows an interview with Inspector Nakamori after the heist where he proudly declares his victory over KID, showing the Elysian Tear to the camera.

"When will that ridiculous thief stop messing with us?" Aoko complains, frowning deeply "He doesn't even steal anything; he's only making fun of dad!"

"Dad? Nee-chan, Inspector Nakamori is your dad?" Conan questions, looking at her. "That's right. My full name is Aoko Nakamori. My dad is the one who returns the jewels KID steals." she explains.

"Hmm, maybe he is searching for something; KID." Conan quietly reasons.

"Huh?" Kaito and Aoko say at the same time, now paying full attention at the kid, even through for entirely different reasons. Aoko, because she is interested in his logic, and Kaito, because the child's actually right.

"Maybe he is searching for something." Conan repeats, "I mean; he goes through the trouble of doing those elaborated heists, but he always returns the jewels. I think that's a little too much for just fun. He probably is searching for a specific object, and since none of the ones he's encountered before is the right one, he returns them."

"Huh… Yes, that makes sense…" Aoko looks thoughtfully at the child. "Wow Conan-kun, you're really smart! I guess I'm always so mad at him all the time that I don't really try to figure out why he does what he does."

Kaito stares at the boy "What do you think, Kaito-nii-chan?" Conan asks. "Yeah, maybe you're right." he replies "Never really thought about it either."

"Well, that's enough of that thief. Conan, why don't you call home? They must be worried about you." Aoko concludes.

'That's right! Home! Professor! R-Ran!' Conan thinks nervously "You are right, Aoko-nee-chan!" the boy exclaims. "Your phone is in the night table in my room." Kaito says.

Conan thanks him and he hurries towards the bedroom, almost tripping with the oversized clothes. He enters the room and looks around for his phone. As he spots it, he quickly realizes that is Shinichi's phone. 'I can't call Ran with this; I don't have my bow tie. I left Conan's things with the Professor. Ah! The Professor!' he thinks.

When he opened the phone he realized it was off. 'Hmm, maybe it fell or something' He turns it on and quickly calls the Professor.

"Shinichi! Is that you? Where are you? Are you ok?" the Professor's worried voice booms from the receiver.

"Professor! I'm fine, don't worry." Conan tries to calm the other down.

"What happened? I was trying to call you but it wouldn't connect." The Professor says.

"Ah, it was turned off." The shrunken teen explains, "It seems I turned up unconscious in an alley near Ekoda, KID apparently left me there and some people found me and took me to their home. Right now I'm at some guy named Kaito's house in Ekoda. He is friends with Aoko Nakamori, daughter of the Inspector."

"I see. How are you feeling now, Shinichi? You still sound hoarse."

"I'm better. I had a fever this morning, and my head still hurts a little, but I'll be fine." Conan replies while looking around the room, "There's been something though."

"What is it?" the Professor questions, sounding curious.

"I've been having an uneasy feeling since I awoke here." the boy starts "It's nothing dangerous, it feels more like when I still haven't finished solving a case, now that I think about it. Like something is missing."

Conan then notices a huge framed picture near the end of the room. 'Huh? That's always been there? How could I not notice?' he thinks. He gets closer to the picture only to freeze in shock. It's a picture of Kaito KID! 'What is the meaning of this…!?' he stares at the picture.

"Conan-kun!"

Conan jumps and snaps his head towards the door only to find Kaito leaning against the door frame. "Are you done?" He asks.

"A-ah! Almost!" Conan replies, feeling like a deer in the headlights.

"Hurry up, then." Kaito says before turning and leaving.

"Shinichi…?" the Professor says carefully from the other end of the receiver.

Conan then snaps his head towards the huge frame again only to find a different picture. This time, there is what seems to be a magician, dressed in black, in the middle of performing a trick. He smirks, 'I see…'

"Professor, tell Ran that I'll be staying at the house of a friend." he says, the smirk still large on his face.

"Huh? What happened?" the poor Professor asks confused, feeling completely clueless and left out.

"Don't worry, I'll keep in touch." Conan then hangs up and heads to the living room.

'Well, this might be interesting.'


I hope you liked this chapter. I'll try and upload more chapters this weekend. So, please review and tell me how you think the story is going so far.

New Universe Returns: He will eventually. Hopefully sooner than later.

euroteres: I'm happy you like it so far. Maybe this chapter will give some lights?