Detective Conan: The Yellow Sheets Alibi (Part 4)
Summary: After going to visit Professor Agasa and Haibara, Conan must confront the fact that he can no longer dress himself and that he may be forced back into diapers.
Notice: This is part 4 of Detective Conan: The Yellow Sheets Alibi. Check out parts 1-3 before reading. Or don't. Your call I guess.
Author note: Wow. I just realized wasn't registering my line breaks, rendering the last few chapters a frantic mess of pacing issues. Well I went back and fixed them and added these o-o-o-o things to note time and scene changes.
o-o-o-o-o-o
"Conan...Conan, wake up."
Conan wanted nothing to do with the waking world, all he wanted was sleep. His body was smaller than it should be and drugs were making their way through his system, confusing every cell in his body. But he knew he needed more sleep.
"Conan, wake up. You wet your bed again," Ran said, shaking the boy.
Conan, still half asleep, did a sensory check. He felt his body being shook by a hand on his shoulder. He felt a cool air going all down his body, a sign he was missing his blanket. Then he felt the dampness on his lap and began to wake up a little. He kept reading signals. He felt his legs were especially cold, a sign he wasn't wearing pants. He heard a female's voice and concluded it was his girlfriend, trying to wake him up so that he wasn't lying in his own urine any longer.
He opened his eyes and saw the blurry image of Ran, on her knees and gently shaking him awake. "Ran? What time is it?" he asked, still more asleep than awake.
"Don't worry, it's time to get up anyway. Let's get you in the bath," Ran responded. She put a hand behind Conan's back and gently pushed him to a sitting position.
"I need sleep…" he softly protested. His mind was starting to grind into action. He remembered Haibara saying that if the medicine were to make him grow back to his normal size he would need plenty of sleep.
"You can sleep later. I'm taking you to a doctor, sweetie," she responded.
Conan's brain kicked into overdrive. His eyes shot wide open and he saw Ran's concerned face clear as day. He looked down and saw she had removed the blanket from him, leaving the wet spot he left on the towels clear as day.
Towels? He didn't remember putting those down. Then he saw his wet, particularly colorful undies. He put his hand to the front of his underwear and felt around. They were thicker and they had Doraemon prints. And they were especially yellow.
"Why am I…" he started to ask while examining his underwear.
"You had a little accident last night, sweetie, so I went ahead and changed you into something thicker to sleep in," she said. "You slept right through it."
Conan looked into Ran's eyes with horror. She changed his underwear? She saw his privates? And he didn't even remember? He brought his legs up and curled into a ball, his face hidden by his arms. She had seen his privates on occasions where they'd bathed together but he was always in control and able to express some amount of modesty. The thought of Ran having free reign over his body mortified Conan.
Ran patted Conan on the back. "There, there. There's nothing you could do about it. We're gonna get you to a doctor today and figure this out."
Conan's head shot back up to look at her. A doctor? That could be bad. Who knows what medical horrors APTX 4869 inflicted on his body. And what of Haibara's new drug that affects the growth of his organs and his chemical makeup? Conan thought fast.
"Dr. Agasa?" Conan asked.
"No, a medical doctor. A pediatrician," Ran replied.
Conan was ready for this. "But my parents always took me to The Professor. Besides, since you're not my legal guardian wouldn't the doctor's fee be a lot?" Conan pointed out. Ran was Mouri's daughter, after all, and as such Conan knew the money issue would stick. He may have been overplaying his hand as a child but he couldn't risk a regular doctor examining him.
Ran thought a second. "You might be right, we'll go to The Professor first and see what he says."
Conan smiled. A small victory but his first in the last couple of days. Ran smiled back, then looked down at the wet spot Conan was sitting in and grimaced. "Hurry and get cleaned up, you'll catch a cold if you stay like this"
Conan shot up and nodded, giving a quick "yes mam," before leaving the room, exposing the yellow-stained backside of his Doraemon training pants as he walked away. Ran smiled again. She couldn't help but think the boy was kind of cute when he was being vulnerable.
o-o-o-o-o-o
Conan washed up in the bath. He was ashamed, he was embarrassed, he was worried, but most of all he was tired. He stole a glance at the clock as he was making his way to the bathroom and calculated that he only got 8 hours of sleep, well below the 12 or so he'd gotten the night before.
Adding to the sleep deprivation he'd noticed something else as well. His abdomen had a constant, low level of pain running through it. He bent over to give a more thorough cleaning to his privates, which needed it most, and felt the pain only increased. Any movement he made that used his core seemed to add a little surge of pain.
He finished up early and stepped out of the bath, wincing as he came to a standing position. He remembered what Haibara had said the night before about her having trouble getting dressed. He really did NOT want Ran to have to help him put on his pants but he remembered the conversation he'd had this morning. She changed him less than 12 hours ago, with or without him asking her to. Would it be so much to ask for a little more help?
He attempted to dress himself anyway. Ran had laid out some clothes for him as he was soaking in the bath. First thing's first, he went for his underwear. Conan sighed as he examined her choice of underwear. 'More Doraemon training pants,' he thought. 'I can't really blame her.'
Conan bent over to slide his leg through but the pain became intense as he hunched over and lifted one leg, making him lose his balance. He dropped his foot back to the ground and took a deep breath. He was determined to at least do this part.
Conan dropped his Doraemon training pants on the floor and used his feet to spread them then stepped into the legs. All he had to do was repeat his move of catapulting forward and bringing the training pants with him as he came up. He prepared himself and lunged forward.
Once he was low enough to grab his underwear the pain caught up with him; it was a pain unlike any he had experiences since he was first forcefed the drug that got him into his regressed state. "AHHH!" he yelled in pain, falling to the floor and hitting his head.
"Conan!" he heard Ran yell through the door. She was fiddling with the doorknob.
Conan was dazed for a second but he answered swiftly. "I'm fine!" he yelled, lying naked on the bathroom floor.
The door swung open anyway. Conan looked up at Ran and began to push himself off the tile but Ran acted too quickly.
"Oh my god Conan, what's wrong?" she said with concern as she swept down and lifted the naked boy off the floor.
Standing completely nude in front of his girlfriend was too much for Conan. "My-I can't-don't-uhh," he couldn't seem to find words, all he could do was use his hands to cover his boyhood. Ran didn't even seem to notice that he was fully exposed, she stared right into his eyes with nothing but a deep concern.
Conan sighed. She'd seen him before and if things continued this way she would see him again. He accepted his fate.
"I need help...putting on my pants," he said timidly.
"Eh?!" Ran exclaimed.
Conan realized he'd not told Ran about this symptom yet, so he confessed, "It hurts to bend over. It's why I wasn't wearing pants last night during bed."
"Oh…" Ran said. She wasn't expecting Conan to ask for help like this but she knew it had to have been hard for him to ask. She fixed her expression and said earnestly to the boy, "I understand. We'll ask The Professor about this when we see him."
Conan smiled. By now he was sure Ran wouldn't mind helping but there was still a nagging feeling in him that she might nag him about it.
Ran looked down and grabbed his underwear. She pulled up and stopped at the knees. "You hands…" she said, unable to go any further with Conan protecting himself like he was.
Conan hesitated. A look of fear entered his expression as he frantically thought of how to move his hands away while still obtaining some modesty. Ran got the hint, she looked directly at the ceiling with some amount of intensity.
Conan moved his hands away, keeping an eye on Ran to be sure she didn't look. "Okay, ready…" he said bashfully. Ran pulled his underwear up the rest of the way. Conan felt relief as the snug cloth cradled his modesty, allowing some sense of decency to the scene.
In comparison to the ordeal with his underwear the pants were marginally less embarrassing. He felt some shame as she zipped him and buttoned him, though. He could have done that himself but he felt pushing that point would make him seem even more wanting for maturity. He did insist on putting on his own shirt, however. He hardly felt any pain in doing that.
o-o-o-o-o-o
A short walk later they arrived to see Professor Agasa already out in the garden. "Good morning Ran, Conan. I thought I'd catch you out here since Haibara is still sleeping." Conan was jealous, the medicine was still coursing through him and leaving him wanting nothing more than to go back to bed.
"Good morning," they replied. Conan immediately shot a gaze at The Professor and added, "It's been a while since my last check-up with you, hasn't it Doctor Agasa?" He wanted to get ahead of the lie before anything else came up.
The Professor chuckled. "Come in, come in," he said, "I made tea." After Ran entered he looked down at Conan and winked.
The three of them sat around the coffee table sipping tea. Professor Agasa started, knowing full well what the answer may be, "So what seems to be troubling Conan?"
Conan's cheeks grew red and he focused on his tea.
"Well…" Ran glanced around the room and took on a quieter tone, "he's been having accidents."
"You don't say?" Professor Agasa said calmly. His nonchalant tone removed some of the embarrassment from Conan.
"He wet the bed yesterday and twice last night. He's been having to go more frequently during the day, too," Ran added. Conan was glad she left out his mishap on the train.
The Professor acted like he was deep in thought. "I have an idea but let me get a blood sample," he said as he got up and opened a drawer. He mocked Shinichi but put on the act for Ran by saying, "If you're brave for the needle I might just get you a lollipop."
Conan smirked at him until The Professor pulled a needle from the drawer. It wasn't particularly big and Conan had gotten plenty of shots but this one filled him with dread for some reason. He put on his smile again, trying to look brave as Professor Agasa rolled up his sleeve and started applying alcohol to his arm. Conan looked at the needle again and started trembling. He closed his eyes and turned his head away, only to open them a few seconds later when he felt something on his head.
It was Ran, brushing his head affectionately with one hand like petting a scared kitten. Conan began to tear up looking into Ran's eyes. 'Not again,' he thought. He knew he had no reason to cry and nothing to fear but his childish impulses got the best of him. He found a distracting comfort in Ran's touch, however.
Then he heard, "There, all done." He looked back towards The Professor surprised, tears still in his eyes.
"See, not so bad," The Professor said while disassembling the needle and storing the blood. "It will be a few hours before the tests are finished."
The Professor seemed to show no sign that anything was abnormal so far as Conan could tell. He figured the blood test was for Haibara once she woke up so she could figure out how the medicine was working. He was glad to have The Professor on his side to help him hide the real reason from Ran until The Professor turned to Ran and said, "May I speak to you privately in the kitchen for a moment?"
Conan couldn't help but shoot a worrying gaze at Professor Agasa. 'Traitor!' he thought.
"Wait here, Conan, I'll be right back," Ran assured the child as she stood from the couch and followed The Professor to the kitchen.
"I have something to confess," Professor Agasa started. Ran looked at him quizzically. "I brought you in here because Haibara has been having the same symptoms."
"Oh dear," said Ran.
"I'm afraid I should have mentioned something before you left Conan here but the doctor I took Haibara to said that it wasn't very contagious," Professor Agasa lied.
"So what's wrong with them?" Ran asked.
"It's a simple bacteria that affects their digestive tracts," he lied again. Then he told her what she actually needs to know, "You've noticed the excessive production of urine but I'm sure he's also having trouble bending over," Haibara had told him yesterday that Conan was having that symptom already. Ran's nodding seemed to confirm Haibara's report. "And maybe you've noticed him sleeping more and being more irritable?"
Ran thought for a second. "Now that you mention it, yeah he's been sleeping longer. And he's cried a few times in the last couple of days, something I never see him do."
"As I thought. Well I'll run these blood tests today and examine Conan more but in the meantime, talking as one caretaker to another, might I suggest getting him some incontinence briefs?" Professor Agasa poseted.
"You mean diapers? I'm not sure Conan would go for that…" Ran said, worried about upsetting Conan even more in his sensitive state.
"Well if the symptoms continue like Haibara's did," The Professor said, knowing full well that it would, "it wont be long until he doesn't even notice the urge to go."
Ran bit her lip, then realized something. "Wait, so Haibara is wearing them full time?"
"Not anymore." The Professor said. Then he retracted a bit, "Well, not entirely. I suspect the symptoms will peak in 4 or 5 days before Conan starts to regain control. At the moment Haibara is in pull-ups during the day. If she's vigilant about it she can stay dry for quite a while."
"And what if he's not getting better in a week?" Ran asked.
The Professor gave Conan the out he needed. "If that's the case I will call Conan's parents and they will take him back to America to see a specialist." If the medicine worked they'd need a way to separate Conan from Ran but they wouldn't know if the medicine is having any positive effects until at least a week from now.
The Professor saw the concern in Ran's eyes. In all his plotting he'd forgotten how kind and caring she was and how much she had grown to love the boy. He put a hand on her shoulder and comforted her by saying, "But let's worry about that if it comes. For now we should make sure Conan stays comfortable and dry." The Professor took out a pad and started writing down a list of supplies, including wet wipes, lotion, baby powder, pull-ups, and diapers. "Go to the pharmacy and pick these up. Meanwhile I'll run some more tests on Conan and see if I can't talk Haibara into letting him know he's not alone."
Ran smiled and took the list. "Thank you, Professor."
When they exited the kitchen they found Haibara was awake and Conan had fallen asleep. The boy laid curled up on the couch while the girl stood next to him. She looked up at the two grown adults when they entered the room and gave a small smirk while putting a finger to her lips. "Shhh, he's sleeping," she said. "But I think he had an accident."
"Oh no," Ran said, quickly walking in front of the boy and noticing a wet spot had already formed on his pants. The spot manifested as a blot on the front of his trousers and a series of streams leading sideways down to his pocket and pooling up in a puddle on the couch cushion. The pool had spread far enough up so that it wet his shirt as well.
Haibara let out a small chuckle. She knew what Conan was going through but she couldn't help but enjoy the boys misery to some small degree. Her joy was cut short when Ran shot a gaze at her then looked knowingly down to her crotch where underneath her pajama pants a thick diaper bulged out. Haibara flopped her butt on the couch and pulled her shirt down some.
Ran shook the boy gently and he opened his eyes. This time Ran didn't even need to say anything, he looked at her and felt the wet sensation on his crotch. He deplored the fact that he was getting used to waking up wet but then he became aware of his surroundings and realized Haibara was watching him from the other couch.
He sat up straight and pulled down his shirt to cover the wet spot (unwittingly mirroring Haibara who was still trying to hide her diaper bulge) but from the look Haibara was giving him he knew she had already seen everything. He was about to say something when Ran interrupted, "It's okay, she understands," she said, grabbing Conan's hand. "Let's get you cleaned up."
Conan was pulled up from the couch by his hand but wasn't able to remove his eyes from Haibara, who giggled at the usually composed Shinichi looking so distressed. She'd let him in on her secret, of course, but not in front of Ran. It was embarrassing enough that Ran saw her sagging diaper bulge, she didn't want the full extent of the problem known.
As Ran lead Conan to the bathroom she stopped and turned to The Professor. "I'm so sorry to ask, but might you have some spare clothes that could fit him?"
Professor Agasa thought for a second. "Well he and Haibara are about the same size," he said. Conan shot a terrified look at The Professor which caused Haibara to burst out laughing, only to throw her hands over her mouth when Ran shot another angry gaze at her.
The Professor quickly retracted the thought. "No no, that wont do will it? He can borrow one of my shirts, he's small enough so that it should be enough to cover him until you get back with some clothes."
"Thanks, and sorry about all this," Ran said, looking to the couch before bowing to The Professor.
Conan followed suit and said "Thanks" before attempting a bow, forgetting that such movements caused him great pain. He shot back upright and put his free hand on his gut.
As the two left the room Professor Agasa turned to Haibara and said, "You're going to have to tell him today, you know."
Haibara sighed. "I know, but when this started happening to me I had no one but you to confide in. It's just nice to know that the mood swings and bathroom troubles weren't all in my head. If I told him the symptoms up front it would have messed up the experiment."
The Professor nodded. "Well Ran is going to get him some supplies today, which means he's going to be with us for a bit. How many accidents did you have on your second day of the medication?"
Haibara remembered back to that day. Her cheeks flushed deeply trying to remember, she had spent much of the day in tears and in her fragile state of mind she had tried hiding her accidents from The Professor. She gave up counting. "Too many…" she said.
Professor Agasa frowned. His suggestion to let Conan borrow Haibara's clothes wasn't well received but he may be forced to borrow some of her padding out of necessity. But he'd worry about that once Ran left. "Well how about last night?" he asked.
Haibara sighed and stood up, which made her sagging diaper obvious again.
"Well while Ran is helping Conan let's go ahead and get you changed," he said, the last word visibly shooting a dagger into the girl's heart. "Sorry! Let's get you ready for the day," he corrected himself. Haibara sulked back to her room with The Professor in tow.
o-o-o-o-o-o
This was starting to become more routine for Ran than Conan was comfortable with. Ran silently stripped off the boy's wet pants and underwear and he stepped out of them. She placed the clothes in a plastic bag to be washed later. The only time she spoke was to say "arms up" so she could take Conan's wet shirt off.
Ran turned around and grabbed the shirt Professor Agasa had lent them but when she turned back to face the boy she could see the scene was getting to him. He was completely exposed, his hands at his sides in clenched fists as he willed himself not to cry.
Conan gritted his teeth and tried his hardest to suppress his emotions but he found himself feeling intensely embarrassed and upset anyway. His inability to control his emotions only made things worse and he couldn't bare to look Ran in the eyes. All he could do was stand perfectly still and pray this would be over soon.
Ran slid the oversized shirt over Conan's head. He made no effort to raise his arms up and slide them through the sleeves, he just stood there, tensely, with his eyes closed. "Listen Conan," Ran said, "the Professor is going to do more tests on you this afternoon and he'll tell you what's wrong with you. In the meantime I'm going to go out and get you some clean clothes. I'm also going to buy you something to help with your accidents."
This caught Conan's curiosity. "Like what?" he asked quietly, his eyes opening to look at her.
She knew Conan was too smart for this but she tried to sugarcoat it anyway. "Special underwear," she said with a lame, fake excitement.
Conan clenched his eyes closed and tears started pouring freely down his cheeks. 'Diapers?' he thought. 'My first grade body is too old to be in diapers, let alone my 17-year-old mind!' He didn't want diapers, he didn't want a caretaker, he didn't want to be a child. All he wanted was for this all to end.
Ran swooped in and embraced the child in a tight, loving hug. Conan cried in her shoulder for a good long while, until his sadness eased and he was ready to face The Professor and Haibara. They were his greatest friends and confidants, surely they could help him understand what was going on and get him through this ordeal.