Authors Notes:
First of all, thank you for taking the time to look at my story and continuing to the first chapter! I have it planned that this story will update every Thursday, but I figured technically I haven't posted the first chapter yet… and it's practically Christmas anyway!
Second, I have not studied the Japanese language… I don't know how to use the -san or -nee-chan or what the other honorifics mean or how to use them properly… so as you may have noticed I'm not going to use them… sorry. I will be trying to show the terms of endearment or respect to the best of my ability but in an English way… it'll be like a sad dub trying too hard to be relatable to English speakers… only… not... because it was never in Japanese, to begin with… ;-_-
Third, I am not going to be doing much in the way of the Osaka style of speaking form Hattori and Toyama and the like. It'd be as if Kudo were trying to write this story or something if I did… We're all better off with me just doing some small things here and there mostly 'ya's" replacing "you's" "ta" replacing "to" and a few dropped g's at the end of "ing" words…

Oh, and I forgot to mention, this is my first Detective Conan story… so if things are off… sorry, let me know and I'll do better.

Warnings: Foul language… blood and violence. Animal mutilation… and murder… you know how it goes.

The Lycanthropy of a Shrunken Detective

Chapter One

One month later…

If there was one thing Hattori Heiji was sure of it was that Kudo Shinichi was not a killer. He wasn't naive. He knew everyone was capable and Kudo probably even more so than most. If he wanted to, Kudo would be the one man Heiji could see actually getting away with it. The thing was, though, Kudo valued life above all else. He mourned its loss even when the life taken was that of a cold-blooded killer. No. If Kudo were pushed to kill, for whatever reason, he would not hide it. He would probably even cuff himself, the moron.

So, when Heiji found his eastern counterpart curled up asleep in the brush, shivering and covered in blood and mud, he was a bit more than shocked. Especially since it was Kudo as his true teen self and not his child-self "Conan" that he had found.

It was the first sign of the high school detective that Heiji had seen in thirteen hours. When Conan had run off the day before (he still wasn't sure why) he, Mss Mouri, and Kazuha had looked tirelessly all night for the boy. Conan had not really been himself for days… or no… weeks now (not since he'd been bitten by that wild bear) and his disappearance hadn't sat well with any of them. Hell, it was largely because of his odd behavior that they'd come to this small mountain village to begin with!

Heiji shook his head with a frown and knelt onto one knee to check on his friend. Bloody mud, it seemed, was all Kudo was wearing as his breaths came in sharp gasps as if he were in pain. Maybe Kudo was somehow attacked and some of the blood was his own… but there was an awful lot of it.

Kudo's cool blue eye's opened slowly and seemed to go in and out of focus. "H-Hattori…?" A raspy voice greeted him. "Wh-what…why- where?" Blue eyes flitted back and forth taking in his surroundings like lightning. It was a matter of seconds before he was sitting up examining his arms/his legs/his body, as his eyes slowly widened at the sight of all the blood. "What is all this?"

Heiji felt his frown deepen. "Was hopin' ya could fill me in on that. Look's like ya rolled around a murder scene."

Kudo's wide eyes shot to him. Slowly, he shook his head looking deeper into the forest. "No…" Kudo swallowed hard and Heiji glanced in the same direction before settling his focus back on the other. Kudo just said. "It's not human…"

Heiji squatted, evening out the strain on his legs, as he slipped off his green jacket and placed it over Kudo's shoulders. "So… what is it then?" He locked his serious green eyes with the uncharacteristically shaky blue of the teen before him.

Kudo's face was growing paler by the second. "I don't… I don't know. I don't-" Kudo shook his head and went to bury his face in his hands only to freeze again at the sight of blood.

Heiji was trying to sort out the reactions he was seeing in his equal. Kudo was clearly in shock. His body was trembling- but that could have been from the chill of the early morning. His answers were unusually unobservant and vague.

Then there was the whole not being a child aspect going on. Heiji knew there were bigger things to worry about but couldn't stop himself from asking. "How are ya big anyhow? Did ya take a pill? Ya haven't been sick far as I noticed."

Kudo shook his head his eyes distant. "No… no… no…" He pulled the jacket tighter around himself his pail fingers digging into the fabric. "N… no."

Hesitant to agitate Kudo more Heiji asked softly. "Should… should I call the police?" He wasn't sure what was going on yet and if Kudo turned back into a kid while they were being questioned it would be bad… he also didn't want to get the police involved with his friend if he could help it. There were too many things that could go wrong. Namely unsavory people getting wind of Kudo being alive.

The detective of the West was not surprised when Kudo shook his head. "No. Un…" Kudo's head fell as he gripped the jacket tighter his fist trembling with the force. "I don't think I'll be Kudo for long a-anyway." He hissed as pain filled his face. His body stiffened and his eyes were wide as his mouth parted in a silent cry.

"Oi! Kudo!" Heiji knew what was happening but it still had him on edge. They were not that far into the forest and the sun had been high enough for a while that a flashlight wasn't even necessary. He could clearly see the pain on his friends face. "We need to get ya somewhere safe. Hold on." He moved to help Kudo to his feet and the teen gasped as his blood boiled.

"Ah… It hurts."

"I know…" Heiji said uselessly. He really didn't but he'd seen it enough times to understand that it did. Kudo was not the type to complain, yet, he was never able to hide when he was changing.

"Always like this." Kudo gasped. "Feels like…m- milting."

"Just… just hold on okay. Oi, Kudo, ya hear me?" The Osakan detective let out a curse as Kudo's legs gave out and his breath hitched. He could feel the heat from the teen as his body's molecular structure shifted.

Suddenly, Kudo was screaming and Heiji was terrified, as he held his friend, feeling him shrink in his arms. This was the closest he'd ever been when the shift happened. He'd heard it more than once but he'd never actually seen it let alone felt it happening.

Just as quickly as it occurred it was over and Heiji was holding a small child about six or seven in size under his jacket. Standing Heiji bundled Kudo into the sports jacket and cradled the smaller teen in his arms as he fought back his own trembling emotions. All that could be seen of Kudo was a tuft of sticky dark, almost black, brown hair peeking through the top of the jacket. Silently glad for the heavier material Heiji took a deep breath and began to make their way back to their hotel. His long legs would make relatively short work of it. After a few steps, his nerves began to leave him. Heiji glanced down at his much smaller counterpart letting out a tired sigh. "Damn, Kudo…"

There was a weak chuckle from the balled-up jacket in his arms and a tired breath. "Sorry... Hattori..."

Shaking his head Heiji just trekked on. "What- what should we tell the others?" Kudo asked nervously.

"The truth, hopefully." Heiji mumbled.

"I wasn't planning on lying... outright, anyway." Kudo mumbled back and Heiji rolled his eyes to that. "It's just... Ran will freak if she sees all this blood... I just want to kinda give fair warning, I guess. So... any ideas?"

Heiji grimaced and grunted. "They're not at the hotel right now... we can clean ya up a bit before they see ya... but I think we're just gonna have ta deal with them freakin' out a little Kudo... I found ya in a bush for heaven's sake. And ya still haven't given me a straight answer as to why yet either." He glared at the bit of hair he could see feeling Kudo squirm a bit.

The mini detective let out a tired sigh. "It's not just that I don't want to tell you Hattori... it's... foggy. Like... I can remember bits and pieces... but I don't- I can't grasp... every time I try and think about it... it slips away... I- I..." Kudo fell silent. There was a lot to that jumbled mess of words. Kudo was clearly hesitating for some reason. Still convinced the other might have been hurt somehow Heiji went to ask if he was okay only to be interrupted as Kudo continued. "I don't know if I'm even human anymore..."

"Hu?! Course ya are! What else would ya be?"

Kudo was silent for a long time and Heiji could feel little fingers balling through the jacket into his shirt. The hotel came into view and they were in the lobby before Kudo whispered a response to the question he had nearly forgotten he had asked. "A monster."

Authors Notes:
Hattori is one of my favorite characters from Detective Conan (which surprises me because I usually don't like mirror-like characters). For this reason, there is a good amount of the story in his POV but… I honestly feel like I write him poorly… but I won't get it right if I don't write it! Er… anyway...
*awkwardly side steps away*

(words used 1423. Original date chapter posted 12/23/2017.)