By strawbeby
"Dad, Where are my sunglasses?!" Rachel Moore yelled from behind her closed bedroom door. Conan had asked to borrow them for him on a recent assignment to help solve it. The case had dealt with lasers and eyes or something like that (a lot of technical stuff that was way beyond not only her own knowledge, but also college level knowledge) and her father had had them when he solved it. And she needed them back.
Richard Moore rose his head from the TVs glare then said with a waver in his voice, "The little pink bunny stole them from me because he needed to ride his bicycle to the moon to get some milk." Then he gave a large and repulsive belch, pointed in the way of Conan's room, and then returned his full attention to the glowing screen, which was showing a headache commercial. Rachel noticed the large number of recently emptied beer cans on the coffee table in front of him.
That was stupid, thinking I could get an intelligent response of out dad. But just in case I'll check with Conan. Rachel knocked softly on his closed door and asked "Conan? Are you in there?"
The little boy who looked the age of seven sat up, after being hunched over his bow tie. He quickly shoved the bow tie that concealed a voice immolator away under some sheets that he slept on. Then he stood up to quickly open the door.
Conan Edogawa stood before her with his hair and clothes slightly ruffled. He was always a great comfort to Rachel, especially when she felt particularly lonely for Jimmy Kudo. Conan always knew just what to say to her, like he could read her mind. But at the moment he just looked like any other seven-year-old, with the exception of his school uniform and unusually large glasses.
"Have you seen my sunglasses?" Rachel asked.
Conan thought for a moment, then replied, "Yeah, I have them. Richard almost sat on them when he sat on the couch." Actually I just forgot to return them when I borrowed them to solve the case. But that's my little secret. "They're in my bag. Hold on a sec' please." He got up and retrieved them from their hiding place in his bag and gave them back to Rachel. "Here 'ya go. Why do you need them anyway?"
"I'm leaving tomorrow for my school's spring break trip. A whole week of sun, sand, and relaxation. I'm leaving you boys alone around a stove, but I really need this break. We've been swamped with work lately," Rachel replied
Oh yeah. That stupid trip. They give it every year for honor roll students, but it always somehow gets rigged so that anyone who wants to can go. There's usually a lot of hooking up going on because on the last night there's a stupid ball/dance thing... Conan started to pout over the trip's stupidity (actually he was just jealous, wanting to go and be with Rachel as Jimmy) when he realized that the girl was still in the same room. So he put on a wide grin and said, "Sounds like tons of fun! Can I go, too?"
Rachel grinned and said, "No, Conan. It's only for high schoolers. Maybe in a few years you'll be allowed to go. But for right now, stay seven-years-old and let me finish packing in peace." Then she turned around and went to the door to leave.
Conan's face fell but then gave himself an idea. "Okay, Rachel. Then can I go to Dr. Agasa's in a couple of minutes? He said he's got a surprise for me."
Rachel looked back and smiled and the excited looking child before her. "No problem, Conan." And with that Rachel left the room and closed the door behind her.
Perfect. I'll just ask if I can spend the weekend with the Doc and sneak into Serena's car when she comes to pick Rachel up. It's a two-hour drive, so nobody will want to come pick me up or take me back. Then I can just ward off any drooling animals that come Rachel's way. I mean someone has to be there to help her. And what am I to do? Trust Serena? Ha! Conan sat back down and took his bow tie back out. It had broken during the last case (a real hooter. Inspector Megure thought that Richard had inhaled some helium) but this time he wanted to see if he could fix it himself. He corrected what he thought was the last wire then headed over to Dr. Agasa's to ask the Doc if he fixed it right. He wasn't about to test it himself and have it blown up in his face like many of the Doctor's experiments.
Irony was on Conan's side when he arrived at Dr. Agasa's house, because it turned out that Dr. Agasa really did have a suprise for him. He tried to look like himself and not excited when Conan first arrived, but the Doc is a terrible actor so Conan knew that there had to be something going on.
Finally, Conan couldn't take it anymore, and he shouted, "O.k. Doc! There's something going on here! Now out with it and tell me what it is!"
Dr. Agasa giggled slightly and said (in his own heavy European accent), "Well, Jimmy, I have good news and bad news." He chose this time to inhale deeply to torture Conan a bit longer. "The good news is that I have found a way to return you to your body." Dr. Agasa, pleased that he let his secret out finally, started grinning like mad, because he knew how badly Conan wanted to return to his own body, speak in his own voice, be believed, look his age, and tell Rachel how he really feels in his own true self.
Conan froze with disbelief. Be in my own body? No acting like a kid necessary? No more bumbling Richard to lead me on cases? No more talking through that stupid voice immolator just to have a conversation with Rachel in his own voice? But what about... "Wait... the bad news. The catch. What's the catch, Doc?" Conan asked
"It's temporary in most cases. In cases 1 out of 1000 the blood's transformation stayed permanent. But in most cases it usually lasts a week or 2 then you'll return to being a kid again. And it can only be used once. If it's used anymore, then my tests on your blood have shown that it will, bluntly speaking, speed the cells up and explode."
By the end of the explanation Conan's head was spinning. Blow up? I won't know exactly when I'll shrink back? When would I use it? I just need some time to think. "Dr. Agasa, do you mind if I think about it for a while?"
Dr. Agasa's face changed from the giddy look to a look of concernment then he said, "No problem, Jimmy. Just call me up when you make your decision. But he wasn't sure if Conan had heard all of it though, because Conan was already halfway out of the door.
Just as Conan was arriving back at the Moore residence, he heard the telephone ring. He ran to pick it up. "Moore Detective Agency," he answered.
"Conan? This is Serena. Is Rachel there?" the voice on the other side of the connection said.
"Sure. Let me get her," Conan replied. He handed the phone to Rachel (who was right next to him, after running to get the phone) then he crept into the other room and slowly picked up the extension of the phone line. When Serena calls, it is always something worth listening in on, though I do sometimes get caught and Rachel has to punishes me. But it's what any good friend would do.
When he picked the extension up, the girls were already busy talking about the beach trip.
"Well, I heard that that new foreign exchange student is going to be there.," Serena said. "And I heard that he is cute. And courteous. And he volunteers. And he's foreign. And he's buff."
"Serena, you know that I don't really care about a guys looks. I mean, what if he personality stinks? No hobbies? No wit? No charm? No way!" Rachel said. Conan secretly smiled at this perfect description of himself. Except that she doesn't care about my looks. Excuse me but I'm hot. When I'm seventeen I mean. (Mr. modest!)
"Hello?! Rach, did you not here me say that he volunteers? And I heard from someone who is close to him that he loves little kids, he totally recycles and all that junk, and anyone who comes in contact with him ends up having a WAY better day from laughing so much." Serena sounded so smug, having this very important, very inside information.
"He does sound pretty nice," Rachel said. "But why are you telling me?"
"Another thing that I heard: He's seen a picture of you and he's heard all about you and now he's totally into you! Probably because all I ever say about you is good, you goody-two-shoes!" Serena giddily said. Conan didn't like the direction that this conversation was heading. I mean who wouldn't love Rachel? She's beautiful and smart and can whip your butt any day of the month. But this Mr. Perfect-exchange-student guy seems too good to be true. And why doesn't Serena want him if he's so fabulous?
"I don't know," Rachel said. "I haven't even met the guy and he's already into me? Sounds kind of creepy. That's my girl, Rach!
"Aw, come on," Serena whined. "You're still hung up on that stupid Jimmy Kudo, aren't you? He seldom calls you from that oh-so-important case that he works on and when he does it's only for like 2 minutes and you always practically memorize it and then you recite it back to me. Face it, Rach. He skipped town. He's a jerk. A no-show loser, who flirted with you maybe but didn't want to back it up. So he up and left, probably to find another girl, leaving you to kiss the dust." Conan boiled with anger at this girl who was messing up his good name just to get Rachel to go out with another guy. If he was only in the same room with her she'd get a mouth full of strength stimulizer tennis shoe. But he held his tongue so he wouldn't get caught eavesdropping and so he could get some more information on this Ryan dude. "And," Serena continued. "Ryan's not some crazed stalker. He just says that you have a look of a model. And that you have blue diamond eyes."
"Really?" Rachel said sarcastically. "And how do you know so much about him?"
"Well, he's kind of a distant cousin of mine, and he's kind of living here at the moment." Conan could practically hear the grin that fell on her face when she revealed this very important fact. And now he knew why Serena wasn't furious that this Mr. Perfect liked Rachel and not her.
"SERENA!" Rachel exclaimed. "Why are you choosing now to tell me this?!"
"Because if you had known right off the bat that he was a wealthy heir to an oil well company then you would've taken an immediate disliking to him. Come on, Rach. I mean, how bad can he be? I'm really not lying. He's just your type. Nice." Serena told her friend. No Conan thought. Her type is Jimmy. Jimmy Kudo, world famous 17 year old detective, childhood best friend of hers, and the only guy she's ever going to like is her type to be exact.
"I guess he can't be all that bad. I'll meet him. Even if it is just for you," Rachel said. Hello? What about me? Jimmy? The one you are supposed to be in love with! Don't give up Rach!
"Fabulous! You'll love him! Trust me!" Serena said. Sounds like a dangerous idea to me. The girls then started talking about the clothing that they were going to wear, the shoes that they were going to bring, the fact that Richard actually let Rachel buy a bikini (it was revealing but not that revealing, like some that were made only to fit the need of a person who doesn't want to wear one at all), and all other things that Conan was just not interested in. Deciding that he wasn't going to get anything else worth listening to in this "Chic talk", he set the reciever slowly down and walked back to his room to ponder his decision.
As he collapsed on the floor he began to think of his choices. The obvious one that was hopping like a rabid pink elephant in front of him would be to use the antidote now. Go to the beach for a week, be with Rachel, and then return to being Conan for who knows how long. He wasn't really worried about Mr. Perfect. Rachel sounded like she said that just to please Serena. But he could really make Rachel fall in love with him, being so perfect and all....Okay so it did worry him a bit. But it wasn't only him. It was all of those other raging balls of hormones that call themselves teenage boys. Rachel went to school with them but it isn't the same sitting next to a person in algebra compared with sitting next to the same person while watching a gorgeous sunset. Or when they are wearing a tiny, form-fitting bikini... And Rachel hasn't seen him for, what? 6 months. That's a long time. But still. He didn't know when he'd catch those men in black. It might take years. And what if a situation popped up that was absolutely necessary that he is Jimmy and not Conan. He didn't know what Rachel would think of him having to "disappear" again, maybe being even more ticked at him than she was to begin with (what the heck went through her mind she didn't know. She might even be thinking that he ran off to join the circus, for all he knew about how girls thought he's only tried that once and that was when he was really six. She even went with him until they discovered that they couldn't join the circus without crossing the street, something they were not allowed to do without an adult or their babysitter). Anyway...back to the real topic.
Another choice was to save the antidote until later when he really needed it. A situation could pop up, for example Rachel committing suicide (or more likely threaten to kill Dr. Agasa for Jimmy's whereabouts) or if Inspector Megure thought that he was dead and didn't believe that the phone calls were real. Situations that would really need Jimmy to be in his own body. The downside would be the when faction. What would decide for him to use it? He could end up using it at one time then have it end up as not the right time at all, instead needing to use it more in the future. And he couldn't use it again could he? It sounded really painful to die that way. Imagine your blood cells just rushing around and then exploding because you were injected with something that's actually really toxic. Or he could wait too long and not get the chance to use it until he caught the men in black.
Then there was another choice that didn't really appeal to Conan, but he had to accept it as a fact and consider it alongside of the others. He could never take the antidote. What if the Doc's calculations are wrong and instead of when he used the antidote the second time, the first time that he used it it would make his blood cells explode. Or what if the antidote messes up the original poison and when he really does catches the men in black and retrieves the poison, the antidote that will be especially made to fit that poison won't work as well or even at all. The antidote that the Doc is offering now could completely alter the chemical formula of the toxin injected in him, and then he would never return to his original body. The downside of avoiding the Doc's antidote altogether was obvious though. He could almost guarantee that he would lose Rachel. She was losing hope as it was, even with Jimmy's phone calls, and brief "appearances". Even if he got a hold of the poison today, there's no way he'd get the antidote in less than 3 months, and Conan had a feeling that this will take a long time to catch those men in black. Rachel will have given up by then, or Conan would be fiercely miserable because he knew that the reason she refused to give up and be happy for the moment was all his fault. But this would happen eventually no matter which road he took. The others might give him some more time, but not much.
After a few hours trying to corner even the tiny possibilities (he had even thought about asking the doc to shrink Rachel instead and "not be able to find the antidote" but as soon as he thought it he nixed it then scolded himself about being so selfish) he realized that supper time had come and went and his stomach was not happy. So he went into the kitchen to fix himself a snack (maybe Rachel still kept some vanilla ice cream and he could make a sundae for himself). But on his way to the kitchen, when he was still going over the hard decision, he heard a sniffle come out of a room. To be more exact, Rachel's room.
Conan backed up and peered inside. What he saw could make even a military veteran cry (or at least that's what he thought). Rachel was kneeling next to her bed, with her elbows on top of it, and her head laying in her hands. Clearly she was crying over something she really cared about. The room was silent, except for Rachel's soft sobs, for about a minute when she started talking, startling Conan.
"Jimmy, where are you? Are you dead, lying in a trashcan or a ditch somewhere? No, not you. You're too smart to land yourself dead. Then you're on that same stupid case aren't you? Why can't you see me? Why can't I see you? Am I just not that important to you? Are you purposefully trying to hurt me? Well, guess what, Mr. Know-it-all? It does hurt! You are avoiding me, and I feel like you left me for the trash man, like yesterday's news. But guess what else? I love you Jimmy Kudo! But I'm letting go. Go be a jerk with your fans! I don't care! Play these stupid games with me? Fine! Just don't expect me to come running when you come back though!" She ended on an especially lout burst of sobs and Conan decided to just let her, because he now knew that he had something important to do.
Conan walked to the nearest phone extension, the one that Rachel had used just that afternoon in fact. He picked up the receiver, listened to the ring tone, dialed the number that he was calling, then listened to it ring a couple of times.
Dr. Agasa answered it, "Hello?"
"Doc," Conan replied. "It's me. Listen, how soon can you have it ready?"