I've always liked the number three.
Anyway, this chapter is just a hair shorter than the preceding ones. Hope you enjoy all the same, just one more chapter before we hit the end of this burst of chapters.

Chapter 3: Acceptance

School was predictably boring.

I was kind of interesting to see how the teaching methods for primary school teachers had changed I guess but even so it's not as if they were going to teach anything I didn't already know, and several of my new classmates had circled around me and just wouldn't stop badgering me with a near endless barrage of questions.

The kids mean well, whether they're trying to make a new friend or trying to make sure the new transfer student doesn't feel lonely, but it's such a hassle.

Why did you move here? Where did you move from? What's your favourite colour? What kind of anime do you like? Do you like Kamen Yaiba? Do you like dogs or cats more? What does 'Conan' mean? What's your favourite pokemon? How did you get your hair to stand up like that? Can I wear your glasses?

It went on and on. Barely stopping when the teacher started class, only to start back up again for the walk home. I was only spared when they needed to take a turn I didn't.

'My parent's got involved with something dangerous and now I'm living with a detective that's looking into the case, I don't know the details.'

In a way it was actually kind of helpful that 'Shinichi' had given me a run-down about what my backstory would be if anyone asked.

I have no intention of telling him that though. It's not like it helped with everything, I still had to make up various things about this new 'Conan' person I was playing the role of, but it wasn't particularly difficult. I could mostly answer honestly when it came to questions about my opinions, any other questions I can just make up an answer or dodge if it's too personal.

Still, why am I even doing this?

Why would Shinichi arrange schooling for me anyway? I know he said that the cure requires me to be sick for it to work well but can't I just pretend to be homeschooled until then? Better yet, if he's going to be just flagrantly skipping school why can't I? There shouldn't be any need for me to have formal documentation unless he's expecting that I'll have to stay like this for a long time.

I made a mental note to ask him about it but when I got home I didn't have the chance, but when I got to the house he seemed to be on the phone.

"Yes, yes, I'm aware that you can't just-" He lets out a long exasperated sigh, "You think I haven't considered that? It'd be reckless at best and at worst it'd just get me killed."

Well that's definitely a suspicious conversation that I wish I could hear the other side of.

"Look, I'm not afraid of death but I'm not ready to just up and die for no reason, can you just falsify the report for me? I- yes, I know but… fine, fine I'll trade you some helpful information if you would just-" He glances over at me and covers the phone, "Do you mind?"

Not even going to let me listen? Even if I ask why he'll just tell me that it's because 'the less I know the better' or just some more of that time travel nonsense.

Begrudgingly I headed to my room and started to work on my homework from primary school, it was mind numbingly simple so I let my thoughts wander as I work.

This 'Shinichi' hasn't really done anything that would prove he's me from the future, rather, he's hardly done anything at all. I haven't seen him solve any mysteries, I haven't seen him prepare to do anything about that evil organization he was talking about, and I definitely haven't seen any evidence that he's telling the truth about having an antidote for the poison that I was given.

But if he's not me from the future then it's strange that he immediately knew that I was Shinichi Kudo given my current form, unless he witnessed what happened. The theory that he could be working with those two men in black I saw at tropical land still rattled around in the back of my mind, that could explain why he seems to know a good bit about them but he's so unwilling to tell me any of it, and why he's so insistent on me just going along with what he says without any kind of rational explanation.

But if he is with them what exactly is his goal?

Is he keeping an eye on me after their poison failed to kill me? I suppose it's possible they might want to collect data in an environment as close to my normal life as possible if they wanted to find out why I was affected differently than their test subjects. And because I was stuck as a child he was able to be certain that if he disguised himself as me then there was no chance that the person he was pretending to be would show up out of nowhere.

Or... this could be some long unnecessarily complicated plan to steal my identity, if that's the case it certainly seems to be working. He doesn't even act that much like me, but if he lays low for a while like he said he has been then people may forget what Kudo Shinichi was like before all of this by the time that he starts attending school and making public appearances again.

It's not an awful plan if that was what he was going for… but there would be little reason to keep me around, much less turn me into a child. I don't believe that keeping me around would be able to do anything for them unless they ran into a situation where they needed my actual memories but that seemed unlikely and it's not as though Shinichi had even asked me to give him any of my account passwords so far, he just started using my things without any delay. Turning me into a child would only serve to take away my claim on my original identity, but that was more easily done by just killing or kidnapping me, with me still around though stuck as a child I could probably convince someone I was myself if I displayed knowledge only Shinichi Kudo would have though I would then find myself tasking with proving that Shinichi doesn't have that knowledge because otherwise they'll just assume he told me.

I sigh, finishing up the homework.

Nothing's making sense lately, but even so, life goes on.

Shinichi makes dinner, he continues to be a surprisingly good cook. Apparently cutesy omurice wasn't the only thing he could make after all. He's a better cook than me, but I think that if I were Twenty-seven like he claims to be then I'd be better at it than he is.

Over dinner I try to get back to the Q and A from before, "So… why do I need to go to school. Couldn't I just skip or be homeschooled?"

"You hide a tree in a forest, not a flowerpot." He mutters noncommittally between bites.

"No one would believe I'm Kudo Shinichi if you're standing next to me, stealing my face, name and voice… I shouldn't need to hide if you're actually going to give me that antidote, I won't be stuck like this for long enough for it to be suspicious if I'm not blending in with the other kids." I retorted.

"I don't know how long it'll be till you're immune system is compromised enough for the antidote to work, and I don't know for sure that it will be permanent for you- it's an educated guess at best and if it's not permanent then it'll be good for you to have your role as Conan ready to fall back on until I can get in touch with someone that can help try to complete it for you."

I frown. It was fair enough I suppose. Making sure I had a solid backfall just in case I found myself stuck longer than originally intended.

"It'll also be good for you to establish that Conan and Shinichi are different just in case something happens to me and you find yourself no longer having someone else to point at and say 'no, he's Shinichi."

I blinked, sure I had thought about the fact that it was very dangerous that he was taking on my identity when the organization supposedly would want to kill me if I were still alive, but I had never really thought about the possibility that something might actually happen to him.

What is he doing when I'm not looking? How dangerous is it?

"I-"

He interrupts me. "Please, just put up with it, I know it's annoying having to act like a kid all the time but bear with me, okay…?"

Eventually I go to bed. I wake up, have breakfast, go to school, come home, eat dinner, go to bed again. Days pass, then weeks.

Little by little things change.

I started actually becoming friends with some of the children in my class. We made a little team that solves mysteries called the shonen tantei dan (young boys detective club) even though one of the kids is a girl. I wanted to be called the beika street irregulars but I was outvoted- kids these days just have no appreciation for the classics. We would solve small time mysteries together after school, mostly just missing cats and little puzzles the professor made for them but we've actually run into a few real cases so far and the kids don't seem to be traumatized yet, they might have what it takes to be real detectives one day.

Ran stopped by the house every now and then, Usually to hang out with Shinichi. I felt really awkward having her treat me like some kid she barely knows, but I understood that it would be for the best to not try to tell her the truth- even if Shinichi were lying about this being involved with a massive organization it's still dangerous in it's own right that these people can try to kill someone suddenly and without remorse. Eventually she got used to me and started treating me the way you might expect someone to treat a younger relative. She would get me little snacks, and talk to me whenever Shinichi was focused on something else. She would ask me about my favourite toys or shows, she even brought me a coloring book one day. It was a strange new dynamic with her that I hadn't really been ready for, and I honestly couldn't say whether or not I was really comfortable with it.

In the beginning I always hated when people would call me cute. I hated that people could just pick me up without warning. I hated that I could hardly reach anything without something to stand on. I hated the way that people would assume that I couldn't understand things just because of my apparent age. I hated how limiting the options for children's clothes were. I hated having to sit through hours of primary school. But as time went on I became accustomed to my new lifestyle, I adapted. At first I'd always react anytime Ran or someone else called out to Shinichi, but with time that too was a habit I could repress.

I became used to being Edogawa Conan.