Authors notes:
I can't stand looking at this chapter anymore so I'm just gonna post it.
Well… if you liked the last chapter then maybe you'll like this one too.
I feel there's a little bit of out of character moments, especially for Kudo… but considering the circumstances that's hard to avoid… plus I don't know how to write him, to begin with so… T-T

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

The Lycanthropy of a Shrunken Detective

Chapter Five

It wasn't a secret that this venture into the mountain city had been Hattori's idea. Something about getting away from the city to "help Conan relax." Conan had doubted it at first thinking it had been some sort of trick to pull him into a mystery, but low and behold Heiji had legitimately just been worried about him.

From what Ran said he and Kazuha had won tickets to a mountain resort and both insisted it was perfect timing since there was a break from school happening. Just like the first time Hattori called him just to chat Shinichi was genuinely surprised.

The day they got here though Conan had been skittish and moody. It had been okay on the train, he'd just been a bit whiny then, but as the day grew longer Conan began to see shadows. He became snappy and paranoid, convinced they were being followed. Before anyone knew it he'd run off. Hattori was still- if not more- worried about him now. In fact, he'd spent a good part of the afternoon after lunch badgering Conan into taking him to where he'd first entered the forest. Reluctantly Conan gave in.

He kept dragging his feet though. Asking Hattori random unrelated questions. Like if he knew what the small mountain village's gross income from tourism was- or if he'd noticed the bike shop just across the street and begging that they stop and look at them. He'd even insisted on stopping for a late afternoon snack. He was still extremely hesitant to actually get involved.

"What are we doing here Hattori?" Conan grumbled rubbing his tired eyes trying to act uninterested. The sun had sunk low but was still just over the mountains. The shrunken teen stood in flip-flops on the edge of the forest with the other detective. He'd lost his tennis shoes the night before along with a few other items. He figured if nothing else they could retrieve them.

"We're goin' to retrace yer steps after ya disappeared last night." Hattori said. "Oh, and the blood ya rolled in was just deer. Not a trace of human in it."

Conan grunted trying not to show how relieved that made him feel. "I told you it wasn't human."

"But ya weren't sure."

"No, I just wasn't sure what it was! Idiot!" Conan growled. Taking a huffing breath trying to calm the sudden flash of frustration and embarrassment. "It could have just as easily been a boar or a goat…"

Heiji gave Kudo a side glance after that little rant but his friend wasn't paying any attention to him as he fought back another yawn. He was acting like he didn't care but Heiji could tell something was off. He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It was almost like Kudo didn't want to help. Heiji couldn't for the life of him figure out why though.

Still, the little detective had been about as moody as a mule for the last couple of weeks so it was possibly just a continuation of that. With that in mind, the Osaka detective decided to just let it drop. "Okay… so ya say ya entered the woods here?" Heiji flicked on his flashlight illuminating the sign for the start of the trail. It wasn't quite dark yet, but it soon would be.

Kudo nodded but didn't verbally answer. Shrugging Hattori moved in. They followed the small trail for about a kilometer before Kudo stopped staring at a small gap in the trees. "What is it Kudo?"

Hesitating the shrunken detective licked his lips. "I… uh… think I left the trail here."

"You were still small then." Hattori said examining the foliage. The branches from just below his waist and up were undisturbed, while the lower branches did show signs of breakage.

"Y-yeah."

Heiji glanced back to see Kudo gripping his scarred arm and giving the vegetation a pensive look. "Well, let's check it out." Heiji said pushing forward.

Together the two left the marked trail and Heiji glanced around as he walked before he noticed a small tree snapped in half. He went over to it. "It broke when I leaned on it." Kudo said monotone. "It was getting hard to breathe."

"You were changing." Heiji guessed without question. Sure he was right.

Kudo said nothing. Heiji followed the path of least resistance from the broken tree a small shoe print in a bit of mud told him he'd picked the right direction. It wasn't too long before he spotted something red up ahead.

Squinting he moved closer to it, not sure what he'd found. The moment he picked it up he knew exactly what it was though. "Oi, I found your bow tie!" Heiji smiled as he handed it to his fellow detective.

Kudo played with it a bit before speaking threw it. "Yo, my name's Hattori Heiji and I lo~ove Kazuha." Kudo mocked.

Heiji tried to snatch the object back scowling as Kudo dodged. "Oi! I told ya ta stop mockin' my accent!" He stumbled as Kudo stashed the bow in his pocket. Spinning on the spot he yelled in Kudo's face. "And me and Kazuha are just friends!"

"Sure you are." Kudo chuckled, his eyes flashing slightly. "You're such a child."

Irritated and read as a tomato Heiji tripped over a branch before he could shoot back a retort. As frustrating as that was it gave him a moment to breathe. He glared at his diminutive rival. "Stop tryin' ta distract me, Kudo!" Heiji snapped looking ahead, he stopped, frowning.

There was something green and white on the ground. Shining his light to get a better look Heiji realized it was fabric. "Was this yer shirt?" Heiji asked. "Looks like someone took it through a shredder." Heiji looked to see Kudo frozen his face losing color almost immediately.

Well, that was a strong reaction. Instead of pressing Kudo Heiji decided he'd just see what the evidence had to say. Walking a little farther he found a small clearing. Kudo's shoes lay at the edge torn to tatters, exposed wires proving they were more than what they'd appeared to be, now completely useless laying next to another pile of fabric. Kudo's pant's it seemed. Heiji always found it odd that Kudo never seemed to rip out of his clothes when he grew, always seeming to have time to get them off, but this was extreme.

Shaking his head he decided it wasn't important at the moment. Just a step away he found Kudo's watch the clasp was snapped but otherwise it was still working. Heiji tossed the item over to its owner and studied the open space. Kudo quietly dug his belt out of the torn fabric of his shredded pants and stepped back, a deep frown on his face.

Heiji was focused and followed the boy's old print's as they sunk deeper and deeper into the mud. It seemed Kudo had started crawling at some point. Clawing at the earth in pain as his body seemed to have been struggling to shift sizes. It wasn't long before he found a bright blue string. Kudo's stitches lying in the mud and a splash of blood. As Heiji continued his green eyes widened. He wasn't seeing what he thought he was. Little child hands and dragging legs slowly growing and then shifting into massive clawed paws.

He glanced back to see Kudo hadn't moved from where he'd backed off too. His eyes hidden by his hair and a deep frown on his face. Heiji stopped once there was no trace of humanity in the tracks he was following. There he found Conan's glasses resting innocently on a leaf just beside the mud. Open and somehow intact. With a shaking hand Heiji picked up the eyewear. "Kudo…"

A bird shook the leaves nearby as it flapped its wings. There was a tense energy between the two. Heiji wasn't sure what to say.

Suddenly Kudo's brittle voice broke the natural ambiance."I didn't just dream it, right, Hattori?" Kudo's childlike voice asked with a quiver. "Heh…" Heiji turned to watch as Kudo drug a hand through his hair looking up to the canopy of the tree's his brow's knitted and his eyes wet. "I- I don't know what I want you to say…Confirm the crazy theory I came to this morning… or tell me that I somehow just turned into Kudo and had a really, really, bad hallucination. I honestly don't know which is scarier. On one hand, it would mean monsters are real, on the other… I've somehow lost my mind. Hattori… wh-what is the evidence telling you?"

Heiji swallowed. His heart was beating like crazy. His deductive mined was processing the information fast enough but the logical side wasn't. The evidence was pointing to only one thing. It was impossible- as impossible, if not more so, then his silly alien theory from the evening before. Oh, but how Heiji now wished that theory were true. This… this was not something he'd ever imagined- how the hell was he supposed to help Kudo with this?

Abduction was like whoosh and done. They could make jokes about aliens not understanding what a detective was but this was like a permanent curse! Curses weren't laughing matters… and it was so much harder to deal with things when you couldn't make light of them.

No! That wasn't the problem here! What the evidence was suggesting- it was fantasy! Fantasy!

Heiji began to pace as he went through everything he knew. Kudo had been acting strange since he was bitten by that wild animal. Which now that he thought about it Kudo did say it wasn't a bear…

Nearly a month ago…

Heiji sat on a couch in the Mouri Detective Agency's office as Ran brought out some tea. "Thank you for coming, Heiji." Ran's smile was strained.

"Of course," Heiji said. "I would of been out here the moment I heard- but there were some major test happening in school and, Mom and Kazuha were forceful."

Ran chuckled at that. "It's okay."

"So where is he anyway?" Heiji asked looking around half expecting to see the glaring child already there.

Ran looked up and Heiji followed her gaze. "He's in his and dad's room." Ran sighed. "I've been worried he's been having nightmares but he's refused to tell me anything."

"Probably too prideful." Heiji said. "Don't worry. I'll figure him out for ya." Heiji stood.

"Ah." Ran stood with him. "Just-" Heiji stopped at the door, as Ran hesitated, looking to her confused. "He's been… sensitive."

Heiji blinked. That didn't make any sense in his head. Shrugging he headed up the stairs. "Well, either way, I'll get him talking."

Ran smiled a bit, as she stopped at the foot of the stairs, more relaxed. Heiji glanced back to see her standing there watching him her hands gripped together anxiously. "What is that moron thinkin'?" He mumbled to himself. "Causin' that girl so much worry."

The door was shut when he reached the room and Heiji knocked twice before opening it.

It was dark, the curtains closed, and on the small futon on the floor was a lump of blankets. Kudo had positioned his cast in a manner that had it resting on the right side of his pillow while his other hand pulled the left side down. "That doesn't look very comfortable."

There was a flinch and an irritated mumble. "Shut up."

"Well, that's one hell of a greetin'."

"What are you doing here Hattori?" The exasperation in the boy's voice told Heiji that he knew exactly why he was here, he just wasn't happy about it.

Heiji answered him anyway. "For ya, ya moron."

"Idiot."

"Having nightmares about the bear attack?"

"It wasn't a bear."

"That wasn't a no."

Conan sat up, glaring at the taller teen, his casted arm shifting to rest against his stomach. His hair was a mess and dark circles were under his eye's. "I'm fine Hattori."

"Like hell ya are!" Heiji stomped over to a dresser where he knew Conan stored his things. "Get dressed." He said throwing a set of clothes at the mock child.

"Why?" Kudo asked with a defeated voice as he struggled to pull on the clean shirt.

"I'm gettin' ya out of this buildin'." Heiji said smiling. "We're goin' to have a guy's day out."

"Please, spare me." Kudo said flopping back down burying his face in his pillow.

"Na ah!" Heiji grabbed Kudo by his good arm dragging him to his feet.

"I don't want to!" Kudo whined.

Heiji blinked surprised. "Oi, Kudo, it's just us two up here. Ran can't hear us, ya don't have ta act like a child."

"I'm not acting like a child!" Kudo snapped. "I don't want to go!"

Crossing his arm's Heiji gave Kudo a searching look. "Why not?"

Kudo took in sharp breaths, clearly trying to calm down. "It's too noisy."

"Too noisy?" Heiji asked.

"Yeah…" Kudo glared at him daring him to tell him he was being dramatic. "Not just noisy but bright, pungent, and… it's like overstimulating. I can't handle it right now."

"Yer going back to school in a few days and ya can't even go out with me?"

What Heiji could only decipher as fear flashed across the smaller's face only to be replaced with defiance. "I don't have a choice." Kudo said a slight growl in his voice as his fist balled. "I'm trying… I really am… but it's too much. I keep snapping at Ran." The look on his face when he said this was broken. "I don't know why…" He rubbed his eye's quickly.

Kudo was clearly upset by the way he'd been acting. Heiji could tell he didn't want to be doing this. "Look." Heiji said slowly scratching just under the brim of his hat. "How about this, you go out with me, we'll take it slow. Go to a park or someplace quiet. If you get overwhelmed I'll bring you back."

The shrunken detective hesitated before he finally nodded.

"It'll be alright." Heiji said leading Kudo out the door. "Ya just wait and see."

"You don't understand." Conan said following slowly.

They were back within the hour greeted with lukewarm tea by an unsurprised Ran.

Present Day…

Heiji shook the memory away. The breaking point that day had been when a train rocked past the park they were in. Kudo had been sitting on a bench the whole time. Heiji was irritated because his offer for soccer had been shot down and he was running out of ideas. Suddenly, Kudo was curled up and begging for it to stop… Heiji called it a day then.

Oversensitive hearing and smell, if Heiji wasn't mistaken… Prone to irritation… overall emotional really… Last night had been a full moon… just like the night Kudo had been bitten…

Heiji shook his head again coming to a slow stop. "Ya… ya have the shittiest luck Kudo." Was all he eventually managed to croak out.

The small broken chuckle he got in response was not comforting. "Tell me about it." The two were left under a heavy silence before Kudo continued his voice shaking. "As if reliving my childhood wasn't hard enough now I have to do it with a monthly furry problem. Well, if the stories are true anyway… so far they've been… accurate enough."

Heiji found himself chuckling as he folded Conan's glasses and stuck them in the pocket of his brown blazer. Okay so maybe they could find a few jokes in this mess. Taking a shaky breath, Heiji looked at Kudo seriously, feeling the initial shock and underlining fear begin to fade. This was Kudo. "So… I guess you really weren't attacked by a bear."

The false boy snorted. "What was your first clue?"

Heiji glanced at the ground stuffing his hand's into his pant pockets. "So… What did happen last night?" He looked up studying Kudo carefully.

Kudo shrugged as he put his watch in his pocket not looking at Hattori. "I really don't know for sure… I have flashes here and there… Of me running… Of the moon… but it's all fuzzy and disjointed…" Taking a moment to breathe he continued. "When I first ran away I thought for some reason a Black Organization Member was chasing me…" Kudo distractedly picked leaves off of his muddy belt. "Then I was chasing them into the forest. I was chasing shadows… I'm pretty sure I was hallucinating…"

Taking a deep breath he continued standing straiter, looking as if he were delivering his final deduction on a case, being blunt and as straightforward as possible. Only a tremble in his hands as he slipped on his belt hinted at his trepidation. "The pain hit soon after entering the forest. It was a lot like changing sizes… my limbs were on fire. My heart was beating like crazy. I ripped through my shirt when a sharp pulsing pain shot through my chest. Then I was on the ground somehow… I tried to stand… but everything hurt… using the tree's I managed to make it to my feet, but then like a wash I felt like I'd exploded… for a moment everything went black and I found myself gasping on the forest floor again. I tried to get up. I didn't feel safe. I felt like… I was being hunted. So I kept trying to move… but it was hard. My heart and body kept spasming. I knew I was changing… I think the last coherent thing I saw was my hand getting bigger… then… claws…."

Heiji nodded, acknowledging that what he'd heard matched up with the evidence, but mostly letting Kudo know that he was listening. "I came to with warm flesh in my mouth-" Here Kudo stopped swallowing deeply as he took a nervous glance at Hattori before looking away again his whole body was trembling. "My hands… They were in its stomach… I- I panicked. I didn't know what was going on. I…tripped trying to get away from the body, slipped in the blood and mud…" He chuckled listlessly. "More than once actually… I didn't know what it was… just that it had fur… then I stumbled for a bit trying to… I don't know… find you guys… but then my exhaustion took over and I collapsed." Kudo's shoulders dropped as he finished speaking, rubbing his face vigorously.

"W-well-" Heiji stopped as his voice cracked feeling his blood run cold at what Kudo had described. "I guess it's a good thing we came out here. Ya, uh, ya might a killed someone's pet otherwise."

Kudo's hands balled into shaking fist. "Or someone." Kudo glared at his feet and Heiji could just feel the self-loathing rolling off of him.

"Hey, hey." Heiji made his way back to his Tokyo friend placing a hand on his head, resisting the urge to ruffle his hair. "No one got hurt. It's okay. We know what's goin' on now. Ya got me, and Ran, we won't let ya hurt anyone."

Kudo shook his head. "H-how can I tell Ran about this!?" He gripped his shirt with his right hand as his left curled desperately around his scarred arm and he took a step back. "I can't tell her! And not just because I'm a monster! Hattori when I turned back I was Shinichi! I- I can't- if she find's out… oh god!" Kudo curled into himself. "This is so much worse. So, so, much worse! Hattori I… I don't think I can stay with Ran anymore!"

Heiji blinked in surprise. "What?"

"It's bad enough that I endanger her and her dad just by being with them… because They'd kill us all if They ever found me. I can't- what if I k-kill her? I couldn't live with that. This is just too-" Kudo stopped his breathing becoming ragged.

"Calm down… look Kudo… I don't think leavin' Mouri is a good idea. She supports ya like no one else can. Why don't ya just tell her-

"I've TOLD you why I CAN'T!" Kudo screamed glaring up at Hattori. The other took a step back in shock as Kudo snarled. The boy's eye's flashed from a sky blue to ice as his irises widened darkening around the rim's. His canines were visibly sharpening as his body shook.

"C-calm down Kudo. I'm just trying ta help ya." Heiji held out his hands in a placating manner.

"I NEVER ASKED YOU FOR HELP!" Kudo was literally growling now. Eyes going wide with shock he stopped gasping as dark brown fur broke out across his neck and arms. "No. Nononono!" he gasped wrapping his arms around himself as his breath became strained. "This can't be happening! This isn't real!"

"You're goin' all w-

"Don't say it!" Panic was in his every breath and his every move. "Ahh! There has to be another explanation-

"Kudo. Breath." Heiji took a step forward stopping just outside of touching the other.

"This can't be real- I can't be shifting into- into- I thought this was only supposed to happen on full moons!" He whimpered.

"Ju-just try ta calm down. Breathe. Look, we don't have ta tell Ran. We'll figure somethin' out. Okay? Maybe ya can come live with me for a while…" Heiji didn't think that would work but he had to say something.

"Idiot." Kudo gasped, apparently aware of how unlikely it would be.

Heiji's shocked look melted into a thoughtful one at that as he put a hand to his chin. "I remember reading somewhere that strong emotions could trigger a change as well." Heiji said easily then made a small sound as he refocused on the issue at hand. "So calming down really would be in our best interest."

There was a small laugh from Kudo. "That goes without saying." Then he squinted up at Heiji through one eye he was forcing open through the pain. Amusement flitting through his features. "You read about werewolves?"

Heiji felt his face go red. "It was a fantasy novel! Kazuha said it was good…"

"You're giving me advice form fiction?" Kudo groaned curling more as he seemed to either be laughing or crying. Knowing him Heiji assumed it was the former.

"Ya got any better ideas? 'Sides, I thought all text concerning werewolves WAS fiction!"

"No…" Kudo moaned falling to his knees. "No better ideas."

Heiji kneeled down and without any thought began rubbing Kudo's back. The boy stiffened at first but he slowly began to relax. The fur slowly retreating and his breathing evening out. "There ya go. Nice and easy now." Sightly stunned that his impulsive action had helped, Heiji breathe a sigh of relief.

"Shut up." Kudo mumbled to the ground. Heiji could see the red on the boy's ears and figured he was embarrassed. Well, better that than a furry ball of fury. He chuckled.

Glaring up at the green-eyed detective Kudo snapped. "What?"

"At first I was thinking it'd been easier if ya'd been abducted by aliens because I could tease ya about bein' probed but with how shitty this situation was I didn't think there was any way to make light of it…"

Kudo was giving him a look of incredulity. "What?" His face seemed to be asking him why he'd want to do such a thing.

Heiji ignored it. "I think I was just in shock, ya know, because I just remembered there are plenty of furry jokes out there."

Kudo's face did go red in anger this time, but to Hattori's delight, embraced rage didn't seem to spark the boy's transformation quite like furious fear had. He had no idea what the hell the two of them were going to do about his furry situation but for the moment they could still tease each other and that gave the dark-skinned detective hope even as he dodged irritated little kicks aimed for his shins.

Authors notes:
So… yep… there is a lot that Heiji understands and deducts in this chapter that I don't actually mention or point out… but maybe he'll bring it up in the future?
Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter… so far it's the longest for the whole story…
Don't worry, Thursday will have an update too...

Thank you for reading!

(Words used 4005. Original date posted 01-07-2018)