Title: Exp. 05 (Formerly: Wolf-Boy)

Author: Manetsu

Summary: Misc. AU: Conan disappeared, but returned a week later with an obviously fake excuse. But what the hell's UP with him now?! He's acting Weird...

Disclaimer: Detective Conan belongs to Gosho Aoyama.

Rating: PG, for General Content.

Notes: 9.10: Has decided to be productive and get two chapters out in one day. Will probably post tomorrow though. Inspiration: Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat. 9.11: Got four paragraphs done yesterday. Meh. (Edit: No, this has nothing to do with Werewolves or Wolf's Rain, though the sixth chapter is inspired by Wolf's Rain. It's a great show, isn't it? By the way, note the inferences to the Black Organization's Genetic Engineering Labs. They want to create the perfect human, remember? If they have to bend the rules a little to get to that goal, they won't hesitate to.) Inspiration: Nothing in particular.

9.10-11.04


By the time Conan got out of school, he had completely forgotten about the present that Brandy had mentioned. After she had said that, she had started on about how weird the others were, and she had started making dog jokes. When he had calmly informed her that it was not dog, but wolf, she had giggled and kept on going, after which he had had to shut her up.

Needless to say, that particular scar would be hard to cover up.

That had cheered him up for a while while Brandy had bandaged her arm. Then she told him that he still had to go in for a "check up" the following day and make sure he burned all the extra energy he had now. Then she had looked up at the sky thoughtfully and remarked, "And eat small meals. If you stuff yourself you won't have to eat for weeks, and that would look VERY suspicious."

And Conan hated being lectured. Especially if it was by a girl a year younger than him.

So he had stormed out of the building the second the bell had rung, obviously not watching where he was going...

And almost tripped over a little puppy.

After swearing under his breath for almost a minute while he took out some tape and gauze to cover up the wound on his ankle, he took a closer look at it, and fell over with shock. It was a wolf puppy! The small black creature yipped at him as he took in the silver-white tips on it's ears and paws, and it's white muzzle and underside.

'It looks just like...!'

Shaking this particular thought out of his head, he remarked, "Brandy, you have a sick sense of humor."

Conan took the puppy in his arms, and looked around at the surrounding trees and fences. She must have -

'There!'

Not five feet from where he stood, there was a scruffy brown cat twitching her tail on a fencepost. Her wild fur was blowing slightly in the early-spring wind, and her bright-blue eyes were shining with glee. Her grin rivaled that of a Cheshire cat's, and there was a black bow around her neck. The white, teardrop shaped tag had a black paw-print on it, just like on Conan's black shirt. And... yes, a small 02 on the flip side.

Just like his. But his said 05.

Conan gave the cat an annoyed look and started to walk away when he heard a small tinkle from behind him. Looking over his shoulder, he saw another collar; but when he picked it up, he realized this one was smaller, and the tag said Property of Kudo Shinichi.

Conan smiled and tucked it into his pocket. He'd put it on the puppy when they got home.


Mouri Ran was worried. Conan's teacher had called to ask if he had come home for a while during recess, because he'd come in late looking quite upset, and he snapped at anyone who tried to talk to him. Now he was late coming home. She sighed.

Of course, the fact he hadn't come home after being gone a whole week and going straight to school was very odd too. Plus she'd just gotten a call from a doctor on the other side of town saying he had an appointment to check to if he was okay after having a twenty-four hour stomach-flu. She'd never heard of "twenty-four hour stomach-flu."

Currently she was sitting on the couch, looking out the front window for him. Her dad was laying half on his desk and half on his chair in a stupor. She sighed again.

"Hiyo, Ran, I'm home!"

She flipped around. The voice had come from the stairs, but she hadn't seen or heard anyone come in!

"C-conan-kun? I-is that you?"

He opened the door and set his bag on the table.

Looking around, he commented, "Yeesh, it's a dump in here. What did you let the old man do while I was gone?"

"Conan-kun! You've been gone a whole week, and all you can do is tell me how bad a housekeeper I've been?"

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, with his head cocked to the side. "Sorry."

She realized he had grown a tiny bit while he was gone, and he wasn't wearing his glasses, or his bow tie. Her eyes widened slightly.

'He looks so much like Shinichi...'

Shaking her head and banishing all thoughts of her absent boyfriend, she chided, "And what have you done to your hair? You look like an American rock star!"

"My cousin took me to a barbershop and I decided it would look cool."

Huffing, Ran went over to him and dragged him to the kitchen, where she proceeded to make him eat a bowl of miso soup. She then continued her interrogation.

"Which relatives, Conan? Why didn't you go there when you came here in the first place?"

"I was visiting my cousin twice removed, Kuroba Kaito, and his friend Koizumi Akako. When I came here, I didn't know Kaito lived in Tokyo. Plus he's a magician and would have ended up giving me a heart attack if I'd lived with him for two and a half years, with all his pranks and tricks."

"Okay... So what's happened to you eyes?"

"Not sure. I got some of Kaito's glittery stuff in them. I think it might have been expired flash powder."

"Wouldn't your eyes have blown up?"

"Kaito told me that they wouldn't, and they feel alright."

"So who's Koizumi Akako?"

"She's a witch."

Ran looked at him, exasperated, "Don't say that about anyone, Conan. Where are you manners? Did you leave them at 'Kaito's' house?"

"No, really! She's a dark ritual sorceress. I think I even saw a black demonic bunny with wings at her house. Actually it's more of a mansion, but who cares?"

"Conan, I've never met these people! I'm just making sure you're alright!"

He looked at her, slightly amused. He opened his mouth to say something, before thinking better of it, and shutting his mouth. Annoyed, he stated, "I'm absolutely fine, Ran! I've never felt better in my life. Really." And he got up to get more soup.

She stared at him.

What had happened to her cute, polite little Conan-kun?


Mouri Kogoro had no idea what had gone on as he slept. So he was quite confused when he walked into the kitchen to see Ran sitting at the table and staring at Conan, who appeared to have gone Goth and was sitting across from her. Being the sensible person he was, he immediately assumed that someone had replaced the boy, and asked, "Who're you?"

Conan stared at him for a moment before whacking his head on the table. Which didn't really help the situation, because then his bowl of soup flipped over and decided to get in his hair and fall to the floor. He groaned and went to get a wet towel to clean up his hair and the floor, after which he looked Kogoro straight in the eye, sighed, and said, "I'm Conan, remember? The kid that's lived with you for a couple years now?"

"You're...different."

"Ask Ran. I'm not about to explain again."

"He's been with his distant cousin Kuroba Kaito, apparently. And Koizumi Akako."

"Oh."

"Dolt. You actually forgot me? You're pathetic," Conan commented coldly. He got up to get more soup before continuing. "Kaito hadn't seen me since I was five, and he still remembered what I looked like, even thought I've chance a lot since I was a toddler." He sniffed contemptibly.

"So you're saying I'm dull?!"

"Exactly. See, he finally gets it, Daisuke."

A small yip from the floor announced the presence of the little puppy neither Ran nor Kogoro had noticed, but had been following Conan around the house since he had held the door open for it.

"What's that?" demanded Kogoro, pointing at the puppy.

"It's a dog, Kogoro-jii. You know, those things with four legs that bark?" said Conan, smiling charmingly.

"Don't be smart with me! Where'd you get it? Is it sick?"

"If you absolutely must know, another of Kaito's friends, Kari, got Daisuke for me. She thinks I need someone to talk to."

"What breed is he?" asked Ran, kneeling down to pet Daisuke.

"He's a mix; A fourth German Shepherd, a fourth Border Collie, and a fourth Malamute. B- Kari got him in America."

"She just gave you her dog?" Ran asked, sounding a little flabbergasted.

"Yeah. She's got a few."

Ran went back to petting the dog, who was now on his back. After a minute or two, she stopped suddenly and asked, "What's the other fourth, Conan-kun?"

"Err... Um- well-"

"Conan-kun," interrupted Ran calmly, "Is this dog part wolf?"

"Uh... Maybe. But it's okay!" Replied Conan nervously. "Wolves are really smart and loyal to their pack, and Daisuke sees me as his new pack, and the Border Collie, German Shepherd, and Alaskan Malamute blood makes him more tame, smart, and strong."

Ran stared at the dog.

Kogoro stared at Conan.

What the hell had the boy been doing?!