Authors Notes:
To your question Neyane, It's not fleshed out, and I wasn't planning on doing full-on flashbacks of the time right after the attack to present time. Rather just leave impressions of what happened from what the characters say and such… but since it's something you're interested in I'll see about writing more on it, but considering how I've got the story written so far it may be a while. We'll see…
Like I said before the story's all planned out, I just need to flesh it out. Get characters to act like themselves in some scenes and hope their actions don't change too much later on…

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

The Lycanthropy of a Shrunken Detective

Chapter Two

Heiji had dutifully sent a text to the girls letting them know he'd found Kudo as he shut the door to their room. He then made a beeline to the bathroom. Kudo- no Conan, he needed to start thinking of the boy by this name with the girls on their way- was barely responsive as he was sat in the tub. He hesitated for a moment wondering if he should say anything. Shaking his head Heiji grabbed the shower head pulling it down from its hook and turned it on adjusting the temperature away from his friend.

"Wait..." Ku-Conan croaked as Heiji began running the water through his hair. "P-pictures... shouldn't we...?"

"I'm not taking pictures of ya naked and covered in blood Kudo." Heiji snapped immensely irritated with the very notion. Detective protocol be damned. "Don't worry... the jacket'll be enough evidence... I'll even get it checked after we getcha cleaned up... okay?"

The child-sized teen stared blankly at the stained jacket discarded on the floor before stiffly nodding.

Gently, Heiji lathered soap in the boy's hair. "Kudo…?" Heiji hesitated, the lack of protest or embarrassment on Kudo's - Conan's (damn it!)- part had the larger teen even more worried. He was really bad at this comforting junk. It was a struggle finding something to say that might snap Conan out of his depressive state.

Conan blinked then looked at Heiji blankly for a moment before another blink brought focus back to his eyes. After studying the darker skinned teen for a moment the boy gave a weak smirk that didn't reach his eyes. "What is it big brother Heiji?" He asked in a slightly pitched voice.

Fighting the urge to brain Kudo for pulling the cutesy kid card- even if it was half-hearted- Heiji took a calming breath… and sprayed the boy in the face instead. Kudo sputtered and Heiji took a small washcloth handing it to him. "That's creepy as is, don't do it with yer face covered in blood!"

Slowly Conan wiped his face down his eyes drawn. "Sorry…"

"It's okay…" Heiji said, Kudo's face making him feel a little like he'd just whipped a puppy. This wasn't good, he was making things worse (and he was thinking of him as Kudo again). Conan was alway's so strong-willed. He'd walked through hundreds of murders… so it was surprising to see him so shaken over just blood.

The difference he guessed was that it was on him and neither of them had an answer as to why. Or at least not an answer they were willing to admit to. Heiji frowned remembering the little detectives whispered words. "Hey, Conan, what did ya mean, earlier, when ya called yer self a monster?" Heiji busied himself as he waited for an answer rinsing the soap out of Conan's hair scrubbing down his back. He was silently proud of himself for remembering to address his friend by his alias. The feeling was brief though as he studied Conan. The boy had looked away at the question and squirmed uncomfortably. Grabbing the bar of soap Conan rolled and mashed it between his wet hands creating brownish pink bubbles as he did so. "There has to be another explanation. Hattori, I need to just… reevaluate the facts…Its… just that as the evidence stands right now… It suggests that last night I..."

"Conan!" Both detectives looked up as the panicked cry of Mouri Ran reached them. "Conan?" She was in the bathroom just seconds later her dark blue eyes going wide at the sight of him. "Oh my god! Conan! Are you okay? Is that blood? Are you hurt?"

She was next to him in a second as Toyama Kazuha looked in with curious green eye's from the door.

"R-Ran." Conan was rapidly turning red while still doing what he could to calm his childhood friend. "I'm okay. It's...it's not human blood. It's not - I'm okay. I promise." With that Conan gave a clearly forced smile. It fell almost instantly as Ran started to help scrub the blood from his limbs.

Heiji blinked when the child-teen said, "it's not human." He'd said something similar when he first woke up. He had to wonder if it was a fact, or if Kudo was making a desperate plea. Hoping with all his might that he hadn't somehow killed someone in what the Osaka detective was thinking might be memory loss.

"I don't understand- what happened last night?" Mouri asked in worry. "Why did you run off in the first place!?"

"I've asked him about what happened." Heiji said running the water through Conan's hair again. Conan looked down into the rapidly clearing water as they spoke. "He doesn't seem to remember."

"What?"

"It's all messed up... in my head. " The voice that left his small friend was the most vulnerable Heiji had ever heard from him. "I didn't know why but I had to go... in my gut... I knew-" Ku-Conan's voice choked to a stop and he took in a shuttering breath. "I didn't want- if I stayed... you would have been hurt."

"What? Why?" Ran sounded worried but also a bit offended by the boy's words.

Heiji stiffened. He wondered if Kudo's behavior was linked to the Black Organization somehow. Everyone jumped at Kudo's response. "I DON'T KNOW!" He yelled gripping his hair as he curled up into a ball. "I just felt it instinctually! I was- All day I kept seeing things that weren't there. I was running and chasing and-

"Shhh." Mouri said softly wrapping a towel around Conan and pulling him into a hug as she rocked back and forth her cocoa colored hair falling forward and curtaining over the small false boy. "Shhh. It's okay. You don't have to explain. Just... let it out."

Heiji watched wide-eyed as Kudo gripped Ran's shirt and trembled. He wasn't bawling but he was deliberately hiding his face. It was clear he was trying his damnedest not to cry. Heiji looked at his jacket determination falling over his face. Grabbing the blood-soaked garment he headed for the door. "Oy! Heiji where are ya goin'?" Kazuha called after him.

"Ta look in ta some things stay here with Mss. Mouri and take care of Kudo."

"Wait, Heiji!"

As the door slammed behind him Heiji allowed a small cringe to pass over his face. He just couldn't think of Kudo as Conan... especially not when he so clearly needed help. And he was going to help too, the detective way.

Authors Notes:
This whole chapter is a bit… odd

sorry

(words used 1096. Original date chapter posted 12/29/2017.)