Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito!
Thought / Dream / Event from the past
[Voice from the past]
"Dialogue"
On Screen
Option Button
=Phone Call=
Written
Emphasis
※Notification / Unread Mail/Report※
Dangerous tone / Magic Incantation
The Paikaru Incident
"Achoo!"
=Geez, calling when you're sick.= Ran's voice came out of his Shinichi phone, as also known as his Naito Shin phone.
He used the same phone for Shinichi and Naito Shin because Gin broke his original Shinichi phone, and he didn't bother buying a new one for Shinichi because Megure-keibu already know that he was Naito Shin. He did buy a new one for Conan though, and he also used it as his Naito Shin Nisei phone because Megure also knew that Conan and Shin Nisei were one and the same, so he didn't see a point to have 4 different phones - one for each of his Persona, when he could get by with just 2. The only reason he even bought one for Conan was merely to create the illusion that Conan and Shinichi were not the same person, which was a necessary thing to do.
"Well, sorry." Conan said using his Shinichi voice, carefully hiding himself in a dark alleyway near the Agency to prevent anyone from seeing a kid talking in a teenager voice, "I will make sure to not call when I have a cold next time".
Why he bothered to call Ran when Ran already knew that Shinichi was Conan? Simple, to present a Show for Kogoro - who would see Ran talking to Shinichi because Shinichi always called the Agency through the land-line. It was a sure way to make sure that Kogoro was present when Ran and Shinichi talked through the phone, since Kogoro spend almost all of his free time at the office in the Detective Agency, waiting for a client to come.
=Well, I guess I don't need to ask how you're doing now.= Ran's voice replied dryly, before a sound of the doorbell rang in the background. =Ah, a customer? Talk to you later then, Shinichi.=
"Bye." Shinichi replied before closing his phone and walked out of the alleyway. By the time he entered the street, his Conan mask was firmly in place once more.
He walked the short distance to the Agency and then to the Office, wondering who the client was. He blinked at the sight that greeted him though, because there was no way the teenager was the client.
"Oh?" The said teenager noticed him, then blinking his eyes a few times, "Mini Kudou?".
Conan pouted due to being called Mini Kudou before sneezing, which deepened his pout. "I know that I looks like Shinichi-niichan, but I have a name you know!" He protested like how a little kid normally would.
"Okaeri, Conan-kun." Ran said as she walked in with a tray in hands, and two cups of tea on it.
"Tadaima, Ran-neechan." Conan replied with a smile, before he sneezed again.
"You caught a cold too?" Ran asked in concern as she put the cups onto the table, one in front of the teenager and one across from him.
"I have a weak metabolism, unfortunately." Conan said with a sigh, before pointedly looking at the tan skinned teenager wearing a baseball cap, "My name is Edogawa Conan, so don't call me Mini Kudou again".
Ran sighed this time. "Again?" She couldn't help but ask, "Each and everyone of them. Why are the people who knows of Shinichi always calling you a Mini him?".
"It's not my fault." The teenager raised his hands in surrender, "I couldn't help but blurt it out when I saw that he's an exact replica of when Kudou was a kid, just with glasses".
"Your name please, Onii-san." Conan retorted to him before blowing his nose with a tissue, "I have introduced myself, it's your turn".
"Oh! Right." The teenager saluted him with two fingers then, "Nice to meet ya, Boya! I'm Hattori Heiji, a High School Detective from Osaka. If Naito Shin is known as the Meitantei of the East, then I'm known as the Meitantei of the West".
"Don't call me Boya!" Conan hissed like an indignant cat, before blinked when he remembered that he was Conan and not Shinichi at the moment, "I'm sorry. It seems like the cold is messing with my mind and making me grumpy".
"Don't mind it." Hattori waved it away, before sipping on his tea. "Anyway, Nee-chan." He addressed Ran then - he had been calling her Nee-chan because she had been treating him like her own Little Brother all these years, though her reason for doing that was her own, "Kudou is Married to Kuroba, right?".
"Yeah." Ran answered with a confused look, "You attended the party, remember?".
"I know." Hattori raised his hands again, "I'm just wondering because, when I visit your school earlier today to see if I could find you or Kudou there, Suzuki-han told me that Kudou hadn't been in school and you're probably hiding him, since you're his Girl." He explained with a confused look on his face, "Why would she say that when Kudou is Married to Kuroba?".
As one, Conan and Ran sighed in defeat and slight sadness, surprising Hattori.
"Well, you know … it happened because of the incident about a week ago." Ran began to say as she sat across from him, while Conan sat beside her, leaning his head down onto the table.
"A week ago?" Hattori asked for further explanation.
"Sonoko and I went shopping a week ago, and we were having fun too." Her melancholic expression then darkened as a fire-y aura suddenly surrounding Ran, "But then this stupid purse snatcher ran passed us just as we arrived in front of the elevator, the man bumped onto Sonoko and it pushed her down." She then picked up a nearby newspaper - from the day before - and rip it to pieces in an effort to prevent herself from punching through the wall again, "The bastard didn't even look back when we screamed!".
"Then, did he got away?" Hattori asked seriously.
"Not for long." Conan answered quietly, without raising his head from his folded arms on the table, "As soon as we knew that Sonoko-neechan would be alright, we hunted down the guy and Ran-neechan beat him all the way up to the next day".
Ran made a ball out of the ripped newspaper and dropped it into the trash can with a huff. "Sonoko woke up not long after we returned to the hospital." She continued with the story, "At first everything seemed perfect, but then she asked … 'Who is Kuroba?', 'Why do you call him Shinichi-kun's Husband?', and 'Isn't Shinichi your Husband?'. We called the Doctor then, and we found out that she has a light retrograde amnesia." She sighed sadly before downing her tea like a drunkard would drink their beer, she slammed her cup back onto the table and breathed out heavily.
"Sonoko-neechan remembered almost everything." Conan picked up from there, looking aside while playing with a nearby pen - rolling it away and over to himself, "The only memory that's lost to her is about Kaito-niichan, or rather, her memory got mixed up".
"She remembered about Kaito-kun when I said that Kaito is the boy we met during our School Trip to Osaka, where we also met you and Kazuha-chan." Ran explained further, "But she doesn't remember when Shinichi and Kaito-kun explained about their engagement, so she believed that the one who would marry Shinichi is me. Later on, when I tried to tell her that Shinichi's Married, but she firmly said that it's only Shinichi's excuse because he's having an early cold feet".
"Shinichi-niichan even called to confirm the fact that he's Married to Kaito-niichan." Conan added to the information, "Unfortunately, Sonoko-neechan convinced that Shinichi-niichan is lying, that he's only making it up to stop people from teasing him".
"The Doctor theorized that maybe deep down, Sonoko really wishes that Shinichi is dating me, because in the past, she kept saying that we're like a married couple." Ran finished with the explanation, before cheering up as she remembered something, "The Doctor also said that it wouldn't last long though, a month is the longest before Sonoko would remember everything in the correct order. After all, the hit she got on her head wasn't too hard".
"I see." Hattori breathed in relief, "That's good".
"Yes, and I have explained what's going on to our classmates, so they agreed to keep quiet when Sonoko calls me Shinichi's Girl." Ran told him with a smile, "Anyway, why are you here?".
"Well, Nee-chan." Hattori began to explain as he rummaged around his bag for something, "I have always wanted to be a Detective, and now I finally got the recognition from the people and media alike." He then poured something into a glass and put it down in front of Conan, who looked at it in confusion, "To cure your cold." He grinned at Conan as he said that.
"... Thanks." Conan finally said in answer before he began to drink the unknown liquid, deciding to trust Hattori's words since Shinichi considered him a good friend - albeit a distant one since they have only been exchanging Emails in the past.
"I know just how good is the Naito Shin, so I want to see if I finally reach his level." Hattori continued his explanation to Ran, "After all, if I manage to solve a case faster than Naito Shin, then it's a proof that I'm the best Detective in the world. Thus, I came here to see if you know where Kudou is since he seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth, and then we can have our Battle of Deduction".
"Hoe?" Conan let out when everything became either two or three in his eyes.
"Huh?!" Ran caught him before he could fall over, "Hattori-kun! What did you give him?!".
"It's Chinese Liquor, Paikaru!" Hattori declared as he pulled it out of his bag, "I heard that drinking could help with a cold, since it warms your body." He then stood up to offer it to Kogoro, "That's right, why don't you keep it? I'm underage and my Parents don't like alcoholic drink aside from Japanese Sake".
"And yet you gave it to a kid…" Ran sweat dropped at his logic.
The knocking on the door interrupted them then, and they looked over to see a strict looking woman wearing a sunglasses, who then complained about their hospitality and demanded to get it over because she was in a hurry.
She introduced herself as Tsujimura Kimie, the Wife of the Diplomat Tsujimura Isao, and she came to ask Detective Mouri to investigate her Son's Girlfriend. Her reason was because the girl seemed to be too perfect, thus she wanted to see if there was a flaw somewhere. Then she asked them to come with her, so that they could discuss the detail with her Husband, since it would cause a scandal if a Diplomat like her Husband was seen coming into a Detective Agency.
"Alright, I'm coming too!" Hattori declared with a grin, "It will be less suspicious if Occhan here comes with a kid than alone, right?".
"You're right, let's go." Kimie agreed easily before turning around to leave.
"You too, Nee-chan." Hattori invited cheerfully, "Who knows, if you got stuck in a case, maybe Naito Shin would come to safe the day, and then I can have my Deduction Battle with him".
Naito Shin nara koko ni irun dakedo*… Ran and Conan couldn't help but think as they watched Hattori and Kogoro left to follow the woman.
(*AN: It means 'Naito Shin is here though', if I remember correctly.)
"So, up for the challenge?" Ran asked Conan with a side glance.
"Doesn't matter either way." Conan muttered as he stood up, "We still have to go and makes sure Oji-san doesn't make nonsensical accusation again, and to stop Hattori before he makes a strange theory about Shinichi's whereabouts".
"We need to ask one of your Parents to show up as Shinichi wherever they are at the time, probably while helping Naito Shin to solve a case too." Ran said decisively as she stood up as well, "We need to stop this rumor about Shinichi disappearing off the face of the Earth".
"Be ready to get me to the Hospital once this is over though, I feels worse thanks to that Paikaru." Conan grumbled as he blew his nose again.
XXXXX
"Curse my curse, striking now of all time…" Conan hissed in helpless anger.
Tsujimura Isao didn't answer the door to his Office, so his Wife opened the door with her own key, and they found him looking asleep with an Opera music on. When the Wife tried to shake him awake, he was unresponsive and fell over to the floor instead. Worse was when Hattori went to check his pulse, he didn't find any and declared the man dead.
"Call the Polices." Conan told Ran as Kogoro ordered the other people in the house to not come into the room, and then told the Wife to not move either.
"On it." Ran replied as she speed dialing the Polices, with her Father explained what was going on in the background, while Conan went to investigate.
The body's still warm and the lips are starting to turn purple. Conan thought as he examined the body, before noticing the tiny red dot at the base of the man's hairline. He looked around and saw a needle not too far from him, and just when he was about to take a photo of it with his phone's camera, something collided with his head.
"Oww…" Two voice moaned out, and when he opened his head, he saw that it was Hattori whom he bumped heads with.
"Stupid kid, move it!" Hattori said as he picked Conan up, before handing him over to Ran, "You gotta watch him more carefully, Nee-chan." He told her seriously, "You shouldn't show dead bodies to little kids!".
Instead of understanding, he got twin deadpan look instead.
"What?" He asked with blinking eyes.
"Hypocrite." Conan muttered dryly.
"You saw dead bodies when you were a kid too, Hattori-kun." Ran sighed to him, before putting Conan down on his feet, "It would do you good to remember not to underestimate any kid from the Kudou or the Kuroba Family line too, distantly connected or otherwise".
"Poison, pricked with a needle at the base of his hairline." Conan told Ran as he steadied himself, his cold was killing him.
"Wakatta." Ran replied simply.
"Eh? He is Kudou's relative?" Hattori asked in surprise, "Better yet, how did he get that with just a glance? When your Detective of a Father didn't even get it?".
"Yeah, Shinichi and Conan-kun have the same Great Grandfather." Ran said in confirmation, "Also, Conan-kun didn't just see, he observe. Otou-san unfortunately never take any case seriously enough, unless his loved ones are in danger." Then, she got an idea. "You know, Hattori-kun." She smirked at Hattori, "If you can't defeat Conan-kun in Deduction Battle, then you have no hope in defeating Shinichi".
"Oh? Him?" Hattori looked at him then, "Are you his Apprentice or something?".
"Naito Shin Nisei." Conan muttered with a nod of his head, "I won't have any competition with you though".
"You're just afraid." Hattori replied with a teasing smirk.
Conan ignored him.
XXXXX
"You okay?" Ran asked him in worry when she saw him clutching his chest.
"Yeah, I just need to finish this case soon." It was Shinichi who has spoken, and his condition must have been really bad until he couldn't keep up his Conan mask like that, "I almost get it, just a little more".
Just as he figured everything though, he collapsed.
"Oh, no!" Ran gasped as she cradled him with one hand, then used her other hand to check his temperature, only to gasp again, "He's burning up!".
"Call a Doctor!" Megure ordered one of his men - who did it right away, before noticing something, "Huh? Where's Hattori-kun?".
Ran ignored it as she turned to the Diplomat's Son and his Girlfriend. "Excuse me, is there somewhere he can lie down?" She asked them urgently.
"My room is at the end of the hallway." The Son answered, "He can use my bed".
"Thank you!" Ran replied as she carried 'Conan' out of the room, she passed Hattori on the way - who hurried over to the Office, saying that he knew the trick and the criminal.
Shinichi caught a string on Hattori's left hand, and immediately knew that his fellow Detective had arrived onto the wrong conclusion.
"Hang in there, please." Ran pleaded as she used her sleeves to wipe his sweat, "The Doctor will be here soon".
Stupid cold holding me down at a time like this. Shinichi thought in annoyance. "More importantly… Ran…" He had to stop Hattori from arresting the wrong person, "Stop … Hattori…" A chain of cough halted him then.
"Shinichi…" Ran looked at him with desperation in her eyes. Honestly, watching his little self looking so pained like that terrified her, and she wanted to tell him not to talk, but she knew it must be important if he pushed himself like that.
"He's wrong…" Shinichi continued once his cough subsided, "No… trick…".
"No trick?" Ran's eyes sharpened, despite the worry in her whole being, "There's no trick involved?".
"Go." He told her, "You can…" He coughed again, but fortunately, Ran understood and nodded.
"Hold on, I will be back soon!" She cried out as she ran out of the room.
No trick? She thought as she hurried over back to the Office. If there's no trick involved, then the only one who can do it is that person! Oh the nerve she has.
XXXXX
Shoot. My body is burning up!
This reminded him of that night. The night Gin fed him the poison that had shrunk him.
Is the Poison acting up again? Shinichi felt that that was a legitimate fear. Am I going to die like this?
He couldn't even think anymore, as the only thing he could do at that moment was holding in the scream that was trying to jump out of his mouth.
XXXXX
"... which means, the only one left is the one who came after 2 PM, and was watching TV next to this study." Ran heard the tail end of Hattori's deduction, "You!".
"What?!" She heard the Father-in-Law's voice replied.
Oh dear, he really got the wrong person! Ran thought exasperatedly. Must be because he's focusing more on the competition than the case itself!
"Matte, Hattori-kun!" Ran barged into the room, surprising them, "You got it wrong! The Father-in-Law isn't the killer!".
"What?" Megure-keibu asked in confusion.
Hattori snorted. "I know you probably want to buy time, so that kid can have a go at solving this case." He confidently said that to her, making her wanting to strangle him, "Don't worry, we can have our competition again next time. For this case, I have solved everything, and I have the proof here." He then showing them the 'proof' and went on with his deduction. "However, the catgut you threw away in the Japanese Room didn't disappear!" He declared after he finished, "Well? Am I wrong, old man?!".
"Heh… I guess you really can't do bad things…" The Father-in-Law said in defeat, "That's right, it was me… The one who killed my Son Isao … was me…".
This time, Ran wanted to strangle the old man for confessing to a crime that he didn't do. Before she could open her mouth to object, someone beat her to it.
"No." Shinichi's Naito Shin voice cause her to snap her head to the doorway, and gaped in disbelief when she saw that Naito Shin was really there - as in his teenager self and not his shrunken one, "That's wrong".
"N- Naito Shin?!" Megure-keibu cried out in shock.
Everyone would probably think that he was shocked to see Naito Shin appeared suddenly - they were shocked too, after all - and they were right, but only half right actually.
"Is your Uniform in the Laundry?"
If it was an anime, everyone would probably fall over that time.
"Keibu…" Naito Shin sweat dropped, before shaking his head, "No, my Uniform isn't in the Laundry, I just forgot to bring it with me today".
Which explained why he only wore the Monocle part of his Uniform, and the Top Hat being replaced by a normal black cap.
"Oi." Hattori called out in annoyance, "Forget the Uniform. You appears so late, and suddenly saying that I'm wrong? Are you serious?".
"No, I'm not Sirius Black." Shinichi said with a deadpan, "Of course I'm being serious here, Hattori." He continued with a smirk, "I'm saying that that ridiculous theory of yours is 100% impossible!".
"Wh- what was that?!" To say Hattori was shocked would be an understatement of the century - well, maybe not the century, but definitely of that moment.
"Shin, I don't know why you think he's wrong, but his reasoning and trick are perfect." The Inspector told the Shin, "We even tried it out with my pants." He then went on explaining what they had tried.
"Sounds make sense, I have to admit." Shin said in agreement, "But only sounds like it. Check your pant's pocket, is the key really go in? I heard the key was in the victim's inner pocket".
"Of course it did!" Hattori exclaimed as he put his hand in the Inspector's pocket and pulled it inside out, only to gasp with everyone else in the room - well, except for Ran and Shin. "H- how come?" He asked in disbelief.
"Because the Inspector was sitting down." Shin told him, before explaining his reason of why that particular fact ended up making the trick failed.
"Then, what's this?" Hattori showed the catgut and needle, "I found it in the Japanese Room".
"It's another trick that the criminal set up." Shin told him bluntly, "Regardless of where the Father-in-Law would be at the time, he would still be blamed, because a set of catgut and needle had been planted beforehand in the trashcan of each room in this house." He then pulled out an evidence bag, in which many roll of catgut and needle set could be seen, shocking them.
"I told you, the Father-in-Law isn't the killer." Ran grumbled to Hattori.
"How did you know that?" Hattori asked her with blinking eyes.
"Naito Shin Nisei." Ran answered while crossing her arms, "He said that no trick is involved, thus I knew who the killer actually is".
"No trick?" Hattori and Megure-keibu asked in confusion.
"Yes, the trick to this closed room is actually there's no trick involved." Shin confirmed for her, "In fact, this closed room murder is in actuality not a closed room murder at all".
"Not a closed room?" Hattori repeated in bewilderment.
"Ojou-san." Shin looked at Ran, "Please be kind enough and remind Hattori-kun here the scene in which you came into upon entering this room".
"First off, Mr. Isao looked asleep in his chair." Ran said thoughtfully as she remembered the sight that she had seen, "A stack of book on the table, in front of him, and a bit into his right but our left. Then … an Opera was on." She blinked as it clicked, "Huh, so that's how … the book and the Opera were prepared to deceive our sight and hearing!".
"Looks like you figure it out." Shin nodded his head in approval, "Indeed, the book was to cover up the victim's expression upon being pricked by the needle, and the Opera was to cover up any noise the victim made in his pain".
"Th- that's ridiculous." Hattori said with a laugh, "Just whose ears and eyes were supposed to be deceived?".
"You, Hattori." Ran answered him firmly, "Along with the rest of us, for this murder was done right in front of us".
"Ri- right in…" Hattori's eyes moved on their own accord to the criminal then.
"Yes, the criminal is the one who was the first to approach the victim upon entering the room." Shin pointed dramatically at the Wife, "It's you, Tsujimura Kimie-san!" He declared firmly, causing quiet the shock to everyone else who haven't figured it out yet, then he revealed the proof that would make it clear that the Wife really was the killer.
The Wife's key could be opened too, and inside it was a groove where she had kept the needle. He also voiced out his intuition that the reason for murder was inside the photo in which containing the photo of Isao and his Wife when they were young. It was then that the Wife confessed that she was Yukiko's - the Son's Girlfriend - Mother, as well as why she killed her Husband and why she wanted to shift the blame to her Father-in-Law.
"Takayoshi-san. It's no longer my place to say this, but…" She glanced backward to him and Yukiko, a sad smile on her lips, "Please take care of Yukiko".
"H- Hai!" Takayoshi replied as he held his crying Girlfriend.
"I see… she was so mean to her Daughter so nobody would realize that they were related." Hattori said quietly in understanding, "It was a murder for her Daughter's happiness and revenge for her former Husband." He then glanced at Shin, "Isn't that right, Shin?" Only to widen his eyes when he saw the other Detective leaning on the bookshelf while coughing heavily, "Oi, oi… Kudou?".
"Shut up, call me Shin." Shin told him once his cough was under control, "Besides, it's just a cold, so don't worry".
"Speaking of…" Hattori began curiously, "How do you know so much about the case?" Then his expression went deadpan, "Don't tell me, Suzuki-han was right and Nee-chan had been hiding you?".
Ran chose that moment to look away, causing Hattori's eyes to widen.
"I admit to have a stalking tendency." Shin admitted to stop Hattori from crying out whatever he got in his head, causing the tan Detective to snap his head back to Shin with wide eyed look.
"You? Stalking?" Hattori questioned in disbelief.
"When I remembered all the time I got kidnapped or injured due to a case… and seeing just how small my Cousin is…" Shin then cupped his face with his hands while adopting an exaggerated fearful look, "Considering Co-chan has the same curse as me, what if he got kidnapped? What if someone with a grudge against me decides to go after him? What if he got hurt when chasing after a criminal? What if…" And he went on, muttering what if this happened and what if that happened.
Hattori sweat dropped seeing that.
"Shin." Ran cleared her throat while sweat dropping as well, causing Shin to pause and blinked before looking at her, "Calm down, Conan-kun is just sleeping at the other room".
"Right." Shin said as he finally calm down, "Anyway, because I'm very worried about Co-chan, I often listening on what his Spy Mic had caught".
"Spy Mic?" Hattori blinked slowly, not understanding.
"It's a part of the Spy Set that Kaito, Shin, Conan-kun, and I have one each. Kaito did the coding of the Application, while Agasa-hakase and his friend handled the hardware part." Ran explained as she showed her own Spy Set to him, "Each Set included a Spy App, a Spy Mic, and an Earphone. The App is installed in your phone, and only you can access it since you need to enter 3 Passwords once you opened the App. The Mic is this small…" She then pulled out the Mic part of her phone's accessory, "And you have the Earphone".
Shin tapped on his Earphone. "When the App and the Earphone are turned on, you can hear what's caught by the Mic, and everything is auto recorded just in case it would be needed as evidence later on." He took over the explaining, before looking at Ran, "Ran, I think I heard Co-chan is puking in the Bathroom".
Which was actually a code for, 'I'm going to revert soon, so please go to the Bathroom to be my Alibi'.
"Ack! I forgot!" Ran then hurriedly walking out of the room, "Conan-kun!".
"Anyway." Shin continued as he showed his App to Hattori, and it could be seen that he was listening to the Mic under NSN. "As you can see, I'm currently listening to what Naito Shin Nisei's Spy Mic is catching. It can be done because each Spy App could connect to each other through either Bluetooth, Radio, or the Internet Connection".
"Handy." Hattori whistled in amazement.
"Yes, and I was in the area when I noticed that Co-chan had turned on his Mic." Shin went on after nodding his head in agreement, "There a notification for such thing, you see. Kaito set it up that way for my sake, so I could be less worried about Co-chan".
"So when you heard that the kid had collapsed, you came here to take over the case?" Hattori asked then, and Shin nodded in confirmation - even though that wasn't what actually had happened, he just agreed to keep his cover. "Man, so I was wrong from the start." Hattori sweat dropped in realization, before smirking at Shin, "Well, I was wrong through and through this time. Good job, Naito Shin! Your reasoning was one better than mine".
"Baarou." Shin smirked at him, "There's no win or lose in this, nor higher or lower." He told him as he pushed himself off of the bookshelf, "There's always only one truth".
Hattori was left staring at Shin in amazement, he was definitely impressed. "You're right about that." He finally said after a moment, and was trying to act cool in front of his Idol - not that he would admit it to anyone, even himself, "I got too caught up in the challenge".
A stab of pain at his heart made Shin go still, then - thanking his high pain tolerance - he looked at his watch. "Ah, I have to go, my ride should be here now." He then waved backwards at Hattori as he walked out of the Office, "See you again, Hattori".
"Ah!" Hattori jogged to catch up, "I will see you off…" But Naito Shin was nowhere to be seen by then.
XXXXX
"That was close." Shinichi - back as Conan now, but still didn't have the mental strength to put on his Conan mask - muttered as he came out of the toilet, back in his Conan clothes too. "Hm?" He blinked as he saw how pale Ran was looking, "What's wrong? You're pale".
"That sounded painful." Ran muttered in answer.
Shinichi didn't know how to respond to that, before he noticed that his cold was still killing him. "Ran? Has the Doctor arrived yet?" He managed to ask, just before he fainted.
"Conan-kun!"
XXXXX
Thanks to that fiasco, Conan was bedridden for three days. Hattori Heiji went home sometime during the time that Conan was unconscious, and the Diplomat Murder Case caught the news attention. The credit went to Naito Shin, as usual.
"What are you staring at?" Ran's voice pulled him out of his thought, "Have Otou-san done something stupid again?".
"No, I'm looking at the Paikaru." Conan answered as he looked at the bottle of alcohol that was on the desk, near the sleeping Kogoro's head, "I don't know how I returned to my real body, but I know it has something to do with the Paikaru".
"Want to try it?" Ran asked him curiously.
"Maybe just a glass." Conan replied after a moment of thought.
So, Conan drank a glass of Paikaru, but he didn't return to Shinichi, so they came to the conclusion that Conan had to have a cold first before it would work - and it was something that Conan never wanted to try again.
Suffering such a terrible cold once was enough, thank you very much.
Line~Line~Line
Finally! Hattori Heiji entered the picture!
Well, I hope it's to your liking. Thank You for reading! I'm looking forward for your review ^ ^
Fragments of Imagination