Chapter 7: Little Friend

Conan was happy for some sleep after he was sure Hattori and Amuro were gone. The professor didn't mind at all and he noticed when he woke that both of them must have taken naps of their own. Dinner was short and simple, since Haibara didn't take that much time to prepare it.

They all waited, very much awake when the sky went from dark blue to some iridescent hue that it didn't normally take on. Conan was the first to take a step outside, looking around and hoping they would really be safe. That wolf had said they weren't the main course but that they'd be great snacks if she so wanted it.

"Hello, Tantei-kun."

Conan spun, sure he had just looked to his left and seen nothing nor heard anything after he'd scrutinized his right. He'd tried to make sure everything stayed in his peripheral vision but somehow the white clad thief had found a way to sneak up on him.

He had to lean back and take a few calming breaths. "Don't do that to me."

Kid tipped his head, unable to hide his face as well when everything glowed. "I'm not afraid of giving you a heart attack. Why so on edge?"

"Let me guess, you're one of us that haven't been getting attacked. Of course, you don't live around here and you don't know him well enough." Conan felt his heart rate slow down to something more normal and he pushed off the wall, facing the Kid with his hands in his pocket. "So what are you doing here? I take it you didn't just come to say hello."

"No, but I've done so in the past so I wouldn't go assuming." Kid moved his hand, making his cape flutter ever so slightly with no wind to do it for him. "What, exactly, is going on here?"

"I have a broad idea but if you wanted this conversation you should have come by earlier. I have a few things I want to test out." He needed to observe how the creatures here worked. That involved finding one that couldn't easily turn on him and watching how it acted.

"Oh? You have other pressing matters at this time?" Kid looked around. "I don't see any."

Conan wasn't going to put up with any of the thief's snarky remarks. Leaving him with little idea what was going on with this world wouldn't help either of them though. "You want your answers, they'll have to wait until real time is back online again. For now just get in that house and stay out of my way. We're pretty sure homes are hard to get into." And I don't want you killed if something decides to be lethal.

"Ordering me around now, are you? I think you have as much idea of this time as I do so I've decided that I'm not going to go inside. If you're staying out then it must be safe enough and I've been out here the last few nights anyway."

Conan let out a breath. He didn't think he'd be able to shake the other and he had partially been the reason he'd gotten involved so why not?

"Before that however," Kid intoned. "What happened to your hands?"

He'd all but forgotten about them after last night. Looking at his hands, Conan was able to examine the black on them once more under this strange light. Maybe it was the light that was a catalyst for everything here. It would make a lot of sense. "If you see something black don't touch it or this happens." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "And no, it doesn't come off."

Kid's lip turned up in a smirk. "I didn't mean to pry. Thank you for that information." He turned to look around the dead street. "Care to explain what you're doing while I silently follow you or are we both going to act as if neither of us were here?"

"You talk too much for me to ever think that." Conan let out a breath but there was a smile on his face now. Kid wasn't a bad person and he was likely just as uncertain and scared as the rest of them. "I really will explain what we know to you but first I'm trying to find one of those shadow creatures. You didn't see any, did you?" Odds were the Kid had been on the roof and had a good view of the neighborhood before dropping down.

The thief shook his head. "Afraid not, though I passed a few on occasion before now. I figured it was best to keep my distance so I did… to an extent. Why? I don't think they can be caught."

That was, of course, where the thief's mind had gone. Conan thought that would be pretty intriguing. Catch one of them… No. It was risky and he had a feeling that it would be too loud or hard to keep still to not garner attention. "No, I just want to watch. I want to figure out what they do." He already knew they were after Amuro but what did they do otherwise? Were they just like a mirrored version of animals or was there some bigger picture here?

"That sounds fun and very time consuming if we do things your way." Kid pointed to the sky with his thumb. "Want a lift? We'd have a better view from above."

Conan snorted. "There's no wind. That means you're glider doesn't work and you only used it to-"

Kid grabbed him and Conan was able to hear the cape flutter around a few second before falling to the ground. Or at least, he thought it had been from it falling. In actually it was probably from them putting distance between themselves and the cape, having risen a dozen feet or so in the air.

"Ah!" Conan grabbed Kid's arms were they were wrapped around him, feeling them fall back to the ground a foot or so before getting higher. He looked around quickly, his heart racing, to see that Kid had, somehow, acquired a pair of translucent white wings. They were more than double the owner's size and reminded Conan very much of an eagle picking up a mouse – him being the mouse.

"Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"You idiot! You could have told me you were doing that!" Conan yelled from his trapped position, one hand in the air threateningly.

"I could have," the thief agreed. "But where would the fun have been in that?"

Conan growled to himself as the thief used the wings much like a bird would. The difference was it was somehow easy for him with no wind where a bird would typically ride the air currents. He felt himself shuffled a bit as they went down the street.

"What the heck was that?"

Conan frowned and stared up at the thief who could only poorly hide his identity from him at this angle, not that he hadn't seen his face as closely before. "What?"

"You growled at me." Kid raised and eyebrow, easily able to look down. "That's not exactly normal."

It wasn't as if he had meant to. Conan had found it had become a response for whenever something had annoyed him. He usually kept it quiet but it had happened more than enough times for him to notice that it likely wouldn't be something he could control. "I can't help it. It's nothing for now." He really didn't want it to be a trait he couldn't shake at some point in the future.

"O… kay," Kid said slowly, flying further on with him and making his own breeze. It was easy for Conan to keep his eyes open and clear at this speed, though he noticed something he hadn't on the ground, wiping his eyes.

"There are a lot of bugs up here."

"Sorry about that. Being frozen in space and tiny it's kind of hard to avoid some of them." Kid dropped down a few dozen feet. "Only certain areas are really bad."

Conan made him slow and come to as much of a stop as he could in the air when he found one of the shadow creatures a short time later. From the height they were at, all he could tell was it was something that walked on four legs. Kid refused to get closer, stating that it would be able to smell them if they did so, to Conan's ire, they stayed hovering far too high for him to get a good look at anything while they watched where the creature went.

It was boring, Conan decided after at least half an hour of this. From the way it moved and its speed he'd judged it to be a raccoon. All it was doing was walking around the back alleys, checking out crevices and examining any discarded items like a raccoon would. The difference would be this one didn't eat, or didn't have to eat. Hattori's warning came back to mind and he wondered if eating here wasn't something that needed to happen. It wasn't a long enough time period for him to test it out on himself.

"I'm going to find something else," Kid decided, taking off with him. Conan nodded, not unhappy with that decision. They flew around a bit more, the wings intriguing Conan as much as the creatures did. He wondered that, if they somehow mentally controlled this power, it wasn't somehow an extension of themselves. If that was true he wondered if they could edit what they were able to accomplish. That didn't make sense though or they could easily have Amuro change his own power and get himself off the dinner menu.

It didn't take them long to find a pair of shadow squirrels running along the power lines. They stopped and watched them for a bit, much slower since they were near the same height as them. All they did though was wander around the lines, come together for a few moments, and then part again.

"I don't know why you're so scared of these things." Kid went ahead of the squirrel's path, landing lightly on the wooden part of the post and dropping him. Conan had to catch hold himself, not wanting to risk the active lines even if time were stopped. Touching stilled lightning still had enough power to kill someone with a few electrons.

Kid didn't have the same fear, his wings disappearing as he started to walk across the line and near one of the squirrels that had stopped its advancement, watching Kid in return. They both seemed intrigued at one another and Kid bent down, lowering his hand. "Come here little guy."

The squirrels looked at each other with dark, shadowed eyes, before one stepped forward.

"Don't touch it," Conan warned, trying not to yell it in the silent night. "They have that blackness too."

"I'm wearing gloves, detective." Kid bent down and Conan couldn't see him well. He touched the squirrel, smiling to himself as it pressed into his glove as if wanting to be pet. "I don't think you mean us any harm. I wish I could speak with you." The squirrel lowered its head and Kid brought his glove to himself, looking it over. "Tantei-kun, do they always leave that black mark?"

Conan had no idea. He'd had that one lion in his mouth and no one said he was walking around with black lips so probably not. "You know, maybe it's only when they wound you. I'm not sure how that works."

"I see." Kid placed his hands forward, beckoning the squirrel onto them. He stood with it in his hands, turning and walking back to Conan before sitting on the wooden beam. "It certainly doesn't act like a normal squirrel. I'd never have been approached by a real one, affinity for animals or not."

Conan looked over at the shadow squirrel, trying to situate himself better, reaching out a hand and watching the squirrel pull away, hiding partially behind Kid. The thief laughed. "It's okay, he won't hurt you. Trust me."

The thief's words, to Conan's surprised, seemed to be taken to heart. The squirrel moved forwards on his lap, coming across the space on the pole that separated them. Conan was slower this time, reaching forward and petting its head, the squirrel seeming to enjoy it. Conan smiled. As crazy and confusing as this world was, that was pretty cool. "I wonder if it's only the carnivorous ones that attack."

"I don't know. I haven't gotten this close to one before now. I figured if something went wrong, at least you were here." Kid waved his hand to the other squirrel that had stayed where it had been on the wire. It came forward at his call, jumping to the other line and walking over to him, settling itself on his lap where the thief pet it. "Since we've observed enough for the night I say we head back. I don't have my cape with me, as it gets in the way of the wings. I won't be able to fly us back when things return to normal."

Conan nodded, checking out the 'squirrel' more as he stroked it. It didn't seem bothered when he pet it on the stomach or tail and he could see fine fur and features that were bone-for-bone a replica of a real squirrel.

"Of course I don't think I can pull you away from them so how about this," Kid tapped his shoulders. "Will you two come back with us? We're just going for a little ride and my friend would like to have a look at you for some reason. I on the other hand just like your company."

Both squirrels took all of a second to contemplate this before perching themselves on either side of the Kid's shoulders. Kid smile to him as Conan stared in surprise and was lifted up by the thief, once again being taken into the air. The arrived back at the agency minutes later and Kid took a few seconds to put the squirrels down and retrieve his cape before he and Conan were both sitting with the two shadow creatures outside the door.

Conan, having had the squirrel he was petting curl up with its tail around itself and find a comfortable position on his leg, had to wonder how these were so docile when the ones he had encountered before were so vicious. Was it the wolf? It was very possible the bigger and more powerful controlled the weaker ones to do what they wanted.

The time was almost over and Haibara likely only opened the door to see where he was when she peeked her head out. Seeing him with the squirrel asleep on him and the other playing around Kid's top hat washed away any anxiety she'd had on her face. "What in the world are you doing?"

"Ah…" Conan scratched the little rodent behind the ear. "I'm not sure." He had planned on observing them. He supposed that was what he was doing now.

Haibara came forward, closing the door behind her. She had her hands on her hips and stared down at him, uncertainty there.

"She's a friend too," he heard Kid say before there was a yelp and Haibara had her hands on her head. The squirrel Kid had likely placed there ran down to her shoulders before it could be knocked off and then jumped to the floor. It turned, looking up at the girl as if expecting something, probably to be pet.

That was all she needed before she was on her knees and touching the thing, a mix of amazement and curiosity there. Conan looked up to see Kid smirk and wondered if the thief knew about her love for small fluffy creatures. Then again, that was a weakness most girls had, so maybe it had just been a guess.

"I wish I had gotten some answers. Instead I have more questions." Conan pet his own squirrel, staring at it with lidded eyes. It seemed benign, as did the time here in general when things weren't attacking him. He'd still like to close it off from the real world but maybe it wasn't a bad thing. It was unnatural by his own standards but Hattori had been in it for years now. It hadn't hurt him. So many questions, so many possibilities. Conan felt his head start to hurt. Right, Akai. He was supposed to talk to him. It looked like that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. Maybe he could talk Kid into coming back here again and getting the man to come over as well. Haibara would be uncomfortable but he was too confused to be trying to figure this out on his own.

The squirrels seemed to wink out and the light around them vanished just as quickly, the pale moon a weak substitute. Conan blinked his eyes a few times and got to his feet. Kid was still there, his arms folded and waiting for the answers he had promised him. He'd need to reveal more than he had to Haibara, to make sure the thief didn't do anything he didn't want him to do, but that would have to be another day.

Conan let himself back in the house, seeing the professor with a cup of something warm. He wanted something to drink as well. This conversation was going to take some time and he was getting tired of repeating it. With the power the thief possessed though, it would be more helpful to have him on reserve than it would be to let him leave with nothing.

"Sit down. Hakase, don't spit that out and can you please make us all something to drink?" They could at least be hospitable and Conan needed Kid on his side. With the sleep he'd gotten earlier he wasn't tired and Conan sat on the couch, telling the thief what they knew of the time, what had happened, and what they were trying to do now. For his part the thief masked his features well. That or he was just too tired himself to be showing off much.

"If they were only after him and we weren't just attacked, maybe it's that they can't beat us. The bigger creatures took you on that night but maybe it was because they were just that – bigger creatures. I would think the small ones would be afraid of us though and run off."

"Yeah, that has me puzzled too." Conan took a sip of his coffee, leaning back on the couch. "They were a bit scared of me until you said something. I wonder if you can influence them."

Kid tipped his head. "That would be something. If I can I wonder if it works on the ones that would attack you too, or just the ones that are indifferent or weaker."

"I want to test it tomorrow, if you don't mind coming back." Conan was riding on him lending his help, even temporarily, to them.

Kid just grinned and ticked his finger at him. "You owe me. I don't owe you a thing and I really do have plans. Not tomorrow, but I will be free the night after."

That was more than Conan was expecting anyway and he nodded, happy that the thief had accepted. He had been afraid when he'd first started talking that this was the last that he'd see of him. Tomorrow then he'd walk around with Akai and see what he could see from the shadows. Being unseen would be better than stalking around as a dog, though together both wouldn't be bad.

"I still wonder what you said before. If the blackness is something from them attacking someone, I wonder if it has something to do with blood. It didn't seem that touching them left any kind of mark."

Blood? Conan hadn't considered that. It would be their blood that came in contact with the creature then that created the blackness, or taint. He had to wonder how the portal was made then. If someone had really died back in that cart it would make sense. Since no one had he wasn't sure blood was the key. "I don't know. Since that thing said that only a 'true healer' could take away the blackness it makes sense that it's from a wound."

"Right, those questions. I have someone who might actually be able to help with some of them. I don't know if she's a healer but she'd know more about this than I do."

Conan frowned, opening his eyes wider when it faded and he looked at Kid. The thief dealt with magic but it wasn't real magic. He'd never though he'd have any connections to this type of real magic before or it would have been the first thing he'd asked him. "Can I ask those questions?"

Kid flinched just slightly around his eyes. "That's overstepping boundaries."

Meaning that this woman knew either the thief or the person the thief was under the top hat. Conan got a bit angry and heard himself growl again. Without the stillness of the blue time it didn't travel as far. "I don't care about whoever you are right now. There's a man out there that I hope is still alive and creatures that don't care if they have to kill me in the process. Give it to me as a clue if you have to, indirectly, but you are not keeping me away from someone that might be able to help me with all of this."

The thief was tense and he moved slowly when he did finally move. He put a leg across the other and was staring at him with serious blue eyes. "Something is wrong with you."

Conan was taken aback, frowning again. "What do you mean?"

"I mean this isn't how you normally go about solving a problem. You're right, it's important. I'll talk to her in the morning. I don't want to break into her house and she'd be ticked at me for waking her up this late anyway. In the meantime," Kid stood, keeping that hard gaze on him. "You fix whatever's wrong with that head of yours. I'm not putting my two cents in with the losing side because it's too stupid to notice something's up."

The thief walked out and Conan crouched down a little, baring his teeth once the thief's back was to him. He blinked his eyes a few times when the door was closed, the object of his anger gone. What the heck?

He covered his eyes with his hands and leaned back on the couch. Kid was right. He was surprised he hadn't noticed it before. The growling was one thing but Conan had found himself getting angry over the simplest things. He'd been ready to… to bite the thief for insulting him like that. "How bad am I?" he asked no one in particular.

"Pretty bad," he heard Haibara say, no uncertainty in her voice. "But not in any bad ways. You're still yourself if that's what you're worrying about. I think you just keep a little more of bow-wow with you now."

That was a horrible thing. That time was somehow affecting this one. Hattori had said he had his visions outside of that time. Kid was one thing. He had wings. That wasn't unnatural for him in this time at all. What would happen with Akai-san he wasn't sure, but he was sure invisibility didn't translate into being a walking time bomb about to attack someone the second they got you mad. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Haibara shrugged. "I've been seeing things that weren't really there but they don't bother me much. They're usually see-through and I can ignore them. Whatever part of that dog you bring back with you is still you, just in dog form. If I had been afraid something bad was happening I would have pointed it out. That, and I've only seen you once in that time. I didn't know that I should be looking for dog traits to show up while I was around you."

Right, Conan hadn't told her anything. The only one who'd been with him since the beginning and would notice any big difference was Hattori, and he was now in Osaka. He hadn't said anything and that guy was way too concerned with his well being not to have mentioned it if he was asking him to leave. Conan let out a breath, relaxing. It was just an animal's nature. It was something he could easily control and he was sure he wouldn't be attacking someone unless he really meant to.

"Now that that's settled I'm heading to bed. We still have school tomorrow and, unlike someone, I don't plan on skipping." Haibara got off the other couch and headed down to her room. Conan watched her, thinking. Maybe he should go to school too, just to make sure no one started asking where he was. He let out a breath and got down himself.

"See you in the morning, Hakase."