Here's the next installment for the Side Effects Include fic. Hope you enjoy it. If you notice any spelling errors or mistakes, please just let me know. Thanks for reading.
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Shinichi stood at the back of the gallery and checked his watch once more. 10:55, five more minutes until the KID heist. Just enough time to take his vitals once more. He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and flipped to a blank page, then started the process, starting with his pulse rate first. He was well familiar with the process by now, having done so numerous times for Haibara over the past few months.
It had started a few months ago when Haibara had told him she had found the antidote, but was reluctant to give it to him. She couldn't be certain that it would work, or that it wouldn't at least leave him with some unpleasant side effect, so they decided together to go slow. So instead of producing a final antidote, she made numerous temporary cures, each one lasting longer than the last. The first one had only lasted an afternoon, and he had remained at the professor's house the entire time under strict observation. As the duration the antidote was effective grew longer, Haibara upped his activity. Sometimes the tasks were as simple as going to the grocery store or kicking a soccer ball in the backyard, but other times the activity was more strenuous, such as running on a tread mill and lifting weights. The idea was to test how the antidote would stand up to any situation.
Which was why he was currently at a KID heist.
He wasn't nervous at all. Sure it had been two years since the Black Organization had poisoned him shrinking him to the body of a child. Two years since he was forced to hide as Conan in the Mouri household in order to take down the ones who had done this to him and had done worse to so many others. Two years since he had last talked to his best friend, Kuroba Kaito, other than phone calls and texts.
His best friend, Kuroba Kaito, who he had known since he was ten and both of their schools had gone on a joint field trip together to the aquarium. Somehow, and he still to this day wasn't sure how, he ended up being the one to hold Kaito's hand, leading him through the aquarium and covering his eyes when it all became too much for the other student. They had been friends ever since.
Then Conan had happened and he was forced to lie low as a grade schooler, hiding his true identity from everyone he knew. Even Kaito didn't know Conan's true identity. He was sure Kaito could take care of himself, but if anything happened to his friend…no it was best to be cautious and keep Kaito in the dark.
But the Black Org was finally taken down, and Haibara's temporary cures were showing promise. The temp cures just needed a little more testing, hence the heist. Tonight would be the first time he had seen his friend face to face in two years. No, he wasn't nervous. Really, he wasn't.
Okay he might be a little nervous.
He finished taking his vitals, all normal as usual, and put away the notebook. A glance at his watch told him the heist was due to start within the next thirty seconds. His heart rate picked up speed and he couldn't help but start counting down.
At eleven o'clock exactly an explosion sounded from the middle of the gallery and glitter began to rain down from the ceiling. Mocking laughter echoed around the room, its source indistinguishable.
"Find him!" Nakamori bellowed at his men, and Shinichi sighed as officers began to scramble around in confusion looking for the thief.
Shinichi turned his attention back to the case that housed KID's target, a large blue gem called the Mermaid's Song, only to see that the gem was gone. He turned his head frantically, looking for signs of the thief.
"Boo," a voice whispered into his ear.
Shinichi jumped and turned around like a startled cat. "KID," he hissed while rubbing at ear, facing the smirking thief.
"Welcome to the show! I trust you are enjoying yourself?" KID asked with a showman's bow.
Before the teen detective could answer, Nakamori had finally spotted KID and roared an order at his men, sending a stampede of officers in Shinichi and KID's direction.
"That idiot is going to get me killed!" Shinichi turned to run and avoid being trampled by the taskforce, but felt himself instead pulled back against KID's body.
"I have a better idea," Shinichi felt more than heard KID say. Then KID threw his cape over the two of them hiding them from view for a moment. When the cape dropped out of his line of sight, they were no longer standing on the ground floor of the gallery, but rather instead were on the balcony of the second floor overlooking the first.
"How did you do that?" Shinichi asked in surprise, then he felt like slapping himself. "No wait, let me guess; magic."
"You know me so well," KID teased. "In that case, I trust you know what comes next; I get away with the jewel and you stare in awe as my glider carries me away."
"That's not going to happen this time," Shinichi growled and lunged at the thief. KID let out a joyful laugh and turned to flee, Shinichi just behind him.
KID ran for the stairs and began the climb for the roof. Shinichi followed with a bit more caution, leaping over the occasional trip wire. It was a long climb and by the time they had reached the top, Shinichi was breathing heavily trying to regain his breath. KID on the other hand barely showed any signs of being tired, most likely because he hadn't had to put as much effort into dodging booby-traps since he knew their location.
"Impressive, as always. Too bad your efforts are wasted. I'm still going to get away with the jewel," KID mocked the detective.
"I'll catch you this time," Shinichi smirked.
Shinichi couldn't see KID's face, but he could feel the change in the thief's demeanor and heard his voice soften, "I didn't realize you were back in town."
Shinichi relaxed a fraction and he allowed himself a small smile, "I only just arrived."
"And the secret case you've been gone on that you can't even tell your best friend about?" KID questioned.
Shinichi winced, "You know I would tell you if I could…"
"Yeah, yeah it's for my own protection," KID's tone clearly told Shinichi what he thought of that, "but the case, is it done? Are you home to stay?"
"Not yet, but I'm close. Very close."
Kaito was clearly disappointed, "Okay. But when this case is finally done, I want you to tell me where you have been these past two years."
Shinichi opened his mouth to reply but clamped it back shut when he felt the jolt of pain go through his body. No, no, no! I should still have another hour, Shinichi thought furiously.
"Shinichi?" KID called out with a hint of concern.
The clouds moved out of the way of the full moon in that moment bathing the entire roof top in moon light. Shinichi turned his back to the thief looking for a spot to hide. Steam started to rise from his shoulders and he couldn't help the sound of pain that escaped from his lips.
"Shin-chan!" Now KID was definitely concerned. He took a few steps toward the detective, intent on helping somehow.
"Stay back!" Shinichi growled out between groans of pain, then he turned back to the staircase and ran. He had caught the thief by surprise and made it down a full flight of stairs before he heard KID following him. He bit back a curse and opened one of the doors that led into the hallway of one of the floors. He had to find a place to hide. His clothes were quickly becoming too large for him, and the pain of the transformation was making it hard to move.
He tried a couple of doors; the first three were locked. He tripped on his pant leg, and impatiently kicked them off. The jacket with the too long sleeves came next. Now down to nothing but an oversized shirt, he tried the forth door. Thankfully, it was open. He quickly ducked inside what turned out to be a janitor's closet.
The door closed behind him leaving him in darkness. The transformation was almost complete by this point and he settled down to wait before he decided his next move. He heard the stairwell door open and knew KID had followed him. His clothes! He had left them outside! He reached up to the door handle and silently clicked the lock shut, praying that KID would assume he had gone farther down the hall and continue looking.
He knew when KID had reached his clothes, he heard the footsteps pause and heard the rustle of cloth as the articles of clothing were picked up off the ground.
"I think I know what's going on here, but I would appreciate it if you would come out and confirm my theory for me." KID said.
Shinichi, now turned Conan, gulped and moved farther back into the closet.
"It's no use hiding, I know you are in there. There's a sock closed in the door."
Conan cursed and looked down at his bare feet. He knew he had lost his socks in his scramble to hide, but hadn't realized one had been closed in the door, acting as a flag alerting KID to his position.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to know the truth," it sounded like KID was leaning against the door.
Conan sighed and began to shuffle back to the door, preparing to open it. It was no use hiding anymore, KID could pick the locks any time he wanted. He slowly began to reach for the door handle when KID continued.
"I know why you have been gone for the past two years, and why you felt like you had to hide the truth from me, the truth of your new identity I mean. But I'm afraid I figured out your secret. I just hope you understand I only want to help. I want you to know that it's not your fault that you are…"
Conan's hand paused, waiting for KID to say it, for all of his secrets to be found out.
"That you're a werewolf."
Conan's eyes widened in shock, and he couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling out of his mouth. "That's the most ridiculous thing you have ever said!" Conan laughed. He couldn't stop.
KID snapped out of his shock and picked the lock on the door. Instead of finding his best friend-turned-werewolf as he had expected, he found tantei-kun wearing nothing but what appeared to be Kudo's oversized shirt, laughing his ass off. "I don't understand," KID said clearly confused, which just caused Conan to laugh harder.
Conan finally finished laughing and replied, "Take me back to the Kudo mansion, and we'll talk. You need to get out of sight anyway. Don't forget you are currently in the middle of a heist."
KID had no choice but to obey.
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"So you're actually the chibi tantei-kun that's been chasing after me in your place?" KID asked in disbelieve.
"Don't sound so surprised, you thought I was a werewolf," Conan reminded him.
"Considering you didn't start showing signs of your transformation until the full moon came out from behind the clouds, it made sense. It would explain your disappearance for the past two years. That could have been the time you were bitten and transformed, and you had to go into hiding to learn to handle your new furry identity. It would also explain why you couldn't tell me where you have been the past two years," KID reasoned.
"There's only one major flaw in deduction, detective Kaito; werewolves aren't real," Conan said.
"We don't know that for sure. After all, I do go to school with a witch. It wouldn't be that farfetched for werewolves to exist too."
"I suppose it might be possible. Werewolves aren't any stranger than a pill that can turn a teenager back into a child."
"I can't believe you didn't tell me that you were Conan. I was so worried about you! I told you that I'm KID," Kaito whined.
"You didn't tell me, I figured out that you're KID myself. You only told me your reason behind it after I figured it out."
"True, but in the end I was glad you knew so that you could help me keep an eye out for Snake. Just please, don't do something like that to me again. Don't hide something this big from me, and don't disappear for two years.
"I won't, I promise."
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The next morning he went next door to the Professor's house to see Haibara. She immediately began a physical exam on him while he recounted some of last night's events.
"Everything was going fine until I began to turn back into Conan an hour early," Conan told her.
"I don't find that surprising, I can only estimate how long the temp cures will last. For me to be off by sixty minutes is no great surprise to me. It's why I told you to be somewhere safe during the last two hours the cure was effective," she gave him a mild glare.
"Now that you mention it, I do remember you saying that," Conan responded guiltily.
"Well hopefully next time you'll remember it. I already have the next temporary antidote ready, but I want you to wait a few days before you take it. I want to make sure there aren't any lingering effects from the last one," Haibara told him.
Conan thanked her and left. He walked back to the Kudo mansion and once the door was firmly closed behind him he called out, "So how long were you listening?"
Kaito stepped out from his hiding spot, "I came in about the time that Haibara was explaining why she wasn't surprised you shrunk an hour early."
Conan nodded as if he had expected the answer, "So why are you here?"
Kaito held his hand over his heart mockingly, "You wound me! Do I need a reason to visit my best friend?"
"If your best friend is Shinichi, then no of course not. But I'm Conan right now, and Ran might think it was strange if Shinichi's friend suddenly showed interest in Conan without ever having officially met."
Kaito pouted, "Fine, I'll just wait until you take the next temp cure. I was planning on being there the next time you take a cure anyway. I can help make sure another near disaster like last night doesn't happen again."
Conan glared, "I won't need a baby sitter."
Kaito ruffled his hair playfully, "And I won't be. I'll simply be a good friend watching your back. Something any good friend would do."
Conan's glare softened to slight frown, "Fine, I'll text you the next time I take one of the experimental antidotes."
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From that point on Kaito was always there when Conan took a temporary cure. He would drag the detective out of his house to try a new café, go to a music festival, a craft show, or where ever else Kaito chose to drag him that day. Basically, their friendship picked up where they had left off before the Conan incident happened. Kaito always made sure to keep track of Shinichi's condition, and he always made sure they were both safely back in the mansion before even the slightest signs of his transformation back to Conan.
There was something a little different about Kaito though. He seemed a little more prone to casual touching. A hand placed on the small of his back, a gentle touch to his arm. Shinichi tried to rack his memory from 2 years ago. Had Kaito always been like that? He didn't think so.
Not that he minded the touches. Kaito was his friend, and friends often did things like casual touching. It was just that the touching made him feel strange. It was like his skin would tingle where Kaito touched him. Maybe it had something to do with the temp cure. A hypersensitivity reaction perhaps?
Speaking of the temp cure, he had started to notice what had to be more reactions to the cure. He was reluctant to tell Haibara in case it put a setback on the final cure, but he had waited this long and he could wait longer rather than risk his health.
"Sometimes after taking the temporary cure, my heart rate speeds up for a short period of time. Or my chest will feel tight and it becomes harder to breath."
"I see, can you describe to me what you were doing when you noticed the symptoms?" Haibara asked making a note in her chart.
"I noticed it yesterday when Kaito took me to a local fair. It was pretty crowded and at one point we were at risk for getting separated, so Kaito took my hand and lead me through the crowd. That was when I noticed my heart rate speeding up."
Haibara blinked, "I see. And the chest pains and difficulty breathing?"
"We were just sitting on a bench watching the ocean and talking."
"What were you talking about, if I may ask?"
Conan blushed, "It was a little personal honestly. Kaito was just telling me how much our friendship meant to him, how happy he was to have met me, that sort of thing. Then suddenly I feel my chest tighten and it's hard to breath. I didn't tell Kaito because I didn't want to worry him, but I figured I should mention it to you."
Haibara had a strange look on his face, one Shinichi couldn't recognize. She was frowning, but it seemed forced as if her face wanted to make a different expression instead. "I'm glad you told me, but I don't think it's anything to be concerned about." She let out a strange sounding cough, almost like a laugh, which didn't make sense because why would she laugh at a time like this? "But do please tell me if the symptoms persist or if any new ones arise."
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"Tantei-kun! To what do I owe the pleasure?" Kaito answered the phone as happy as usual.
"Kaito, Haibara told me I'm ready," Conan replied.
"…when?" he asked.
"Friday," came the instant reply.
"That doesn't give you much time. Will Conan be ready?"
Conan instantly understood what he meant. Was he prepared for Conan to disappear by Friday without anyone questioning it? "I've known those day would come for a few months now. All the necessary preparations have been made. I'll be ready."
"I'll be there," Kaito told him.
It was Conan's turn to pause before answering, "Thank you."
The two hung up shortly after.
Now he just had to tell Ran that he was leaving.
"Ran-neechan?"
Ran was currently preparing dinner. She turned with a smile when she heard her surrogate brother, "What is it Conan?"
"'Kaa-san just called me."
"That's great! Did you have a good talk?" Ran asked.
Conan's face lite up, "Yes we did. She gave me some really good news!" His smile dropped a little, "She told me her and tou-san are ready to take me home."
"O-oh. That's great, Conan. I bet you can't wait to see your parents again," Ran tried her best to smile.
"Yeah…but Ran-neechan, I'm really going to miss you," he said.
Ran bent down and wrapped the boy in a hug, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, "I'm going to miss you too, Conan."
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Friday finally arrived and Kaito, disguised as Conan's mother, arrived to pick up Conan. After giving Ran a final hug, the two set off in the direction of the train station. Once out of sight of the detective agency, they doubled back and headed for the professor's house.
"Thanks again for the help getting rid of Conan," he told the thief.
"What are friends for," Kaito replied while removing his mask.
Haibara entered the room, "Good, you're both here. Kudo, let's get started." She led them both down to her lab. Conan stepped behind a screen and changed out of his clothes and into an oversized robe. It would cover him while he transformed and was made from a light, airy material that would hopefully not add to his discomfort once the transformation began.
Once changed Conan told his companions, "I would like some privacy while the change is occurring if that's alright."
Both nodded. Haibara nodded toward a bottle sitting on the desk, a single white capsule sitting inside, then she turned to leave. Kaito hesitated a moment, "I'll be just upstairs." Then he left too.
Once they had left Conan turned back to the pill, unable to squish the tiny feeling of dread he felt. By now he had taken numerous antidotes, but he would never be able to get use to the pain he felt during the transformation. At least this time would be the last.
He swallowed the pill down and prepared himself. He didn't have to wait long before the pain started. He could feel his bones rapidly growing and shifting, his skin feeling like it was barely keeping up with his growing bones. It felt like he was shooting up from the ground as his legs grew longer. The sudden increase in height caused him to lose his balance and he fell to his knees. He struggled to breathe for a moment as his body grew faster than his lunges before they caught up.
Once the transformation was finally complete all Shinichi could do for a moment was stay on his hands and knees and breathe slowly. Sweat dripped down his face and small tremors ran throughout his body. He picked up a hand and studied it, taking in the long fingers that could never be mistaken for a child's hand. The hand was attached to a strong, slim forearm. He slowly stood up, feeling the muscles in his calves work, strong from years of soccer practice. There was no mistake, the cure had worked.
"Kudo, are you still breathing down there?" he heard Haibara call down from the top of the stairs.
"I'm fine," Shinichi called back. He heard the stairs creak as Haibara and Kaito descended to join him in the lab. He turned around to face them, "What do you think?" As he turned he felt the robe slip down one of shoulder exposing his collar bone. He was still panting a little from the pain of the transformation, and he could feel a drop of sweat that hadn't dried yet run down his neck to disappear beneath the robe. He was sure he looked like a mess, which probably explained why Kaito was staring at him the way he was.
"Oh come on, I don't look that bad, do I? I just need a quick shower and then I should look better," Shinichi asked feeling self-conscious.
Kaito swallowed before answering, still staring at him, "N-no, you look great."
Shinichi sighed, "You sound very convincing. Don't worry, I'm going to clean up in the professor's bathroom. Haibara do you want to take me vitals now or after my shower?"
For some reason Haibara clearly looked amused. She was looking at Kaito. "No, go ahead and clean up."
Shinichi nodded and made his way up the stairs.
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After he cleaned up, Haibara preformed a physical exam before dismissing him. Kaito of course wanted to go out and celebrate. His strange behavior from earlier was gone.
This is how Shinichi found himself at a street fair. A couple blocks near the park had been closed off to vehicles and vendors had set up booths selling homemade jewelry, food and drinks, and some were putting on performances.
The streets were packed with people. Some children ran past them and Shinichi stopped mid-step to prevent himself from bumping into one of them. The sudden stop caused him to fall back against Kaito. "Whoa there, I got you," Kaito's arms came up to grab his shoulders steadying him.
"Thanks," Shinichi glanced back at Kaito. He frowned slightly when he saw that Kaito once again had a strange look on his face.
He was about to ask what the look was about but Kaito interrupted him, "How about we get something to drink?"
Shinichi agreed and they both turned to the nearest refreshment booth. "I'll have a lemonade, please," Kaito told the male teen working the counter and held out his money for the teen to take.
The teen completely ignored Kaito and turned all of his attention to Shinichi instead. "What can I do for you?" he asked. Then he winked at Shinichi.
Shinichi blinked in surprise. Was the teen flirting with him? He ordered two lemonades and tried to hand the teen some money. "No charge today. It's on the house," the teen winked again. The teen reached from under the counter and pulled out two bottles of lemonade. He thrust one in Kaito's direction, but gently placed the other directly into Shinichi's waiting hand. His fingers lingered on Shinichi's for a moment longer than necessary.
"Let's head to that booth over there and get something to eat," Kaito said sounding annoyed. He grabbed Shinichi and steered him away from the booth.
"Kaito, you passed the food booth," Shinichi told his friend.
"I'm not actually hungry yet, I just wanted to get away from that jackass," Kaito grumbled.
"I'm sorry he ignored you like that, it was rather rude."
"That's not why I'm…never mind. Let's just look around," Kaito said.
They walked together not stopping at any booths yet, just taking time to look around before they stopped anywhere. Kaito was pointing at something across the street when Shinichi felt a pinch on his behind.
"YEEP!" Shinichi jumped in surprise.
"Hey!" Kaito turned around and grabbed someone by the arm. Shinichi turned around and saw the person Kaito had grabbed was another male around his age, looking terrified.
"S-sorry I don't know what came over me. I'm not normally the type to t-touch someone like that without permission first. I just felt like I couldn't resist. I'm sorry it won't happen again, I swear!" the other male was practically crying.
"Oh I know it won't happen again, because if it does, I'll break your fingers," Kaito growled.
"Kaito you scared him enough, let's go," Shinichi pulled his friend away, but he didn't stop his friend from dying the male's hair pink.
Walking down the road together, Shinichi couldn't help but notice that a lot of people were staring at him, men and women alike. If Shinichi made eye contact with them, their reactions were varied. Some blushed and hurried to look away, some gave a seductive smirk or wink, and others went as far as to make a kiss face at him and tried to beckon him over.
"Kaito? This is really strange," said Shinichi.
"How about we go somewhere else? There's this new restaurant I've been wanting to try and I'm sure it's been awhile since you have gone somewhere where you weren't expected to order off the kids menu," Kaito offered.
Shinichi gave him a relieved smile, "Sounds perfect."
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The restaurant was a bad idea.
The hostess flirted with him, their waitress flirted with him, and other customers flirted with him. Even the chef caught a look at Shinichi through the window between the kitchen and dining room, and he apparently stared for so long that he burnt their food. Maybe before that day at Tropic Land the old Shinichi would have basked in the attention, behavior he had learned from him mother, but his time as Conan had taught him to shy away from attention. Instead of enjoying the attention, he wanted to hide under the table until everyone stopped looking at him.
"Here's your tea, but I'm afraid your order is going to take a little longer because the chef has to remake it. I do apologize for the inconvenience. Once you have finished your meal, please choose any item off the dessert menu, on the house. Now is there anything else I can do for you? Anything at all?" the waitress stroked Shinichi's arm as she asked this.
Shinichi picked up his tea and took a quick sip to move his arm away from the waitress's fingers, "Thank you, and yes there is one thing. Could my friend get his chocolate milk shake please?"
The waitress blinked at Kaito as if noticing him for the first time, "Yes of course! Right away."
Shinichi turned to Kaito with an apologetic look while the waitress scurried away. While the attention made Shinichi feel uncomfortable, it made Kaito fume with obvious jealousy. After thinking about it for a moment, Shinichi thought he might understand why Kaito felt jealous. Kaito loved attention, even more so than the old Shinichi did, and he wasn't use to being ignored.
"I'm sorry about our waitress's behavior, and everyone else today for that matter. I don't know why everyone is ignoring you, but I can understand why it upsets you."
Kaito blinked in surprise, "I'm not upset by that. Ok fine, stop giving me that look, I guess it might upset me a little. But it doesn't bother me that much."
Shinichi cocked his head to the side, "Then why are you acting jealous."
It was only because they were such good friends that Shinichi was able to recognize Kaito's 'caught in the act' expression. Then it was gone replaced by his poker face, "you misunderstand my feelings. I'm not jealous that I'm not getting attention, I'm angry that you are the subject of unwanted attention. And the ones that are touching you without your consent are really pissing me off."
Shinichi smiled at his friend, "Thank you for your concern, but please don't worry about me. Still, this whole day has been rather strange. It's not unusual for people to flirt with me since I'm a famous detective, but this is insane. And the way people are flat out ignoring you is strange too. I know I'm in the newspaper a lot, but you're insanely attractive. It's strange everyone is ignoring you."
Kaito gave him a razor sharp grin, "You think I'm insanely attractive?"
Shinichi's face felt like it was on fire, "Don't focus on that part of what I said, idiot! Don't you think something weird is going on?"
Kaito frowned in thought, "I see your point. Do you have any ideas?"
"I think we need to go talk to Haibara."
"I agree, but let's wait until after that free dessert. I've heard this place has a wicked chocolate cake."
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Kaito and Shinichi sat together in Haibara's lab waiting in anticipation. Haibara had been staring in silence at her computer for the past 20 minutes. Shinichi had known her long enough to tell that she had figured out something, but she hadn't yet revealed her finding.
"Is it that bad?" Shinichi finally had to ask.
Hiabara shifted thoughtfully, "It's not bad, it's just…strange."
Kaito chimed in, "So there is something going on that's related to the antidote."
Haibara nodded, "You are correct."
Shinichi waited but when Haibara didn't continue he asked, "So what is it exactly?"
"Pheromones," Haibara finally answered.
"Pheromones," Shinichi repeated in disbelieve.
Haibara nodded, "You are secreting an unusually high amount of sex pheromone."
"No human sex pheromone has been found," Kaito pointed out.
"Apparently I just found one. Right now, many people near Shinichi will find him irresistible. He's like walking sex to them right now."
"H-Haibara!" Shinichi felt himself blush.
"You said 'many people' instead of 'everyone', meaning not everyone is affected by Shinichi's pheromones," Kaito said ignoring Shinichi for the moment.
"Well in other species, pheromones are used typically by the female to indicate their availability for breeding (Shinichi's receding blush made a comeback at this comment), but the most suitable males are the ones most affected by the pheromones. That's how it typically works in insects and single celled organisms. It's similar in humans, basically the people most compatible with Shinichi will be the most affected. Anyone not in of your age group won't be affected much, or at all. I for example do not feel anything when around Shinichi because this body is not compatible with him. I suspect the professor would be the same. Those with good genes would also be more affected because Shinichi's body is looking for the best mate to breed with."
"I am not!" Shinichi yelled out, blushing furiously.
Haibara sighed, "Not in your conscious mind, maybe. But this isn't something you can control any more than you can control your heart beat."
"You said Shinichi's body is looking for the best mate for breeding with, but both men and women were hitting on him," Kaito pointed out.
Haibara shrugged, "Than perhaps he isn't looking for a breeding mate necessarily, but a mate that will take care of him. He's a wife looking for his husband. And before you protest, Shinichi, I call you the wife because usually it's the female that secretes the pheromones in other species. I'm not sure why Shinichi is also secreting pheromones. That would require more research."
"Is there anything that can be done?" Shinichi asked sounding dejected.
"I'll find a way to fix this," Haibara promised.
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"Bahahahahaha!" the voice over the phone laughed.
Shinichi blushed and hissed into the phone, "Shut up, Hattori. I only told you to warn you to stay away from me for a little while. I didn't want you to show up unannounced and try to get in my pants or something."
Hattori's laughter slowly died down, "I get it, Kudo. Thanks for 'da warnin. But still ya got to admit, your situation is a little funny."
"Bye, Hattori," Shinichi hung up.
"So that takes care of tantei-han, what about Mouri-san?" Kaito asked.
Shinichi winced, "It would probably be best if Ran didn't know I was back yet. She might not believe me that I have…all this going on and might try to come over anyway."
"Probably for the best," Kaito agreed.
"But what about you? You don't seem affected at all," Shinichi asked curiously.
Kaito cleared his throat and turned his head away, "I guess you and I just aren't compatible."
"Yeah, I guess not," Shinichi said ignoring the cold feeling in his stomach. Why did he suddenly feel disappointed?
"Nobody else should know or need to know that you are back. So as long as you stay here inside the Kudo mansion, you should be able to dodge the side effect until Haibara finds a cure."
Shinichi didn't answer. This was worse than when he was Conan. He was trapped in his own house, and the only people that he could interact with were Haibara, the professor, and Kaito. At least as Conan and had more freedom.
"What's with the long face? I'm sure Haibara will fix this soon," Kaito said.
Shinichi stared at his hands in his lap, "The last cure Haibara made for me took two years to make. I can't stay inside this mansion for the next two years, or one year, or even a few months."
Kaito didn't answer immediately, obviously deep in thought. "Well," he hesitated, "maybe you don't have to stay in the entire time. The pheromones just attract people to you, right? People flirt with you, maybe a few of them grope you without permission, but that's it. What if we still go out, but we strategize a little better. If we see a movie, we go during the off hours when the theater will be mostly empty. You want to go out for lunch, we go after lunch hours but before dinner. We can make this more bearable until it's over."
Shinichi looked up at Kaito in surprise then lowered his head sighed in relief. Maybe he only had three people he could really interact with for an unknown amount of time, but as long as one of those people was Kaito, he would make it through this. Maybe he had had more freedom as Conan, but as Conan he didn't have Kaito. It made a world of difference. He looked back up at Kaito and let him see all the joy, and all of the relief, that he felt from his friend in his smile. "Thank you, Kaito."
Kaito blinked and a strange look Shinichi couldn't decipher took over his face for a moment, then it was gone. He returned the smile, "What are friends for?"
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The first night Shinichi left the house with Kaito went about as well as could be expected. They went to a 24 hour diner for a late dinner in the middle of the week. They had the place all to themselves aside from the staff. Their waitress flirted with Shinichi shamelessly and ignored Kaito completely, but it wasn't anything Shinichi couldn't handle.
The next time went about the same, and the time after that. Shinichi was almost able to completely forget about the strange side effect the antidote had given him. Almost. He missed helping the police with cases, of course. He missed the freedom of being able to come and go when he pleased and talking to whoever he wanted without worry. But for now, this was bearable.
Except things couldn't always go so well.
They were on their way to see a movie, but Shinichi noticed Kaito seemed tense. He looked at his friend silently asking what was wrong. Kaito leaned his head toward Shinichi and mumbled, "That guy behind us has been following us for the past three blocks."
Shinichi frowned. Since his time as Conan he was normally really good at sensing when he was being watched or followed. Why hadn't he noticed already? He had let his guard down. Still, maybe it was just a coincidence? "Are you sure he isn't just going the same direction as us? We haven't made any turns in the past few blocks."
Kaito hummed, "It's possible. The theater is just up ahead. We will know for sure if he follows us in, more so if he picks the same movie."
Now it was Shinichi's turn to be tense. Would the man behind them follow them into the theater? Was he really following them? They both turned into the theater, and Shinichi felt a flash of irritation as the man followed them inside.
For the first time the man called out to them, "Hey hot stuff, what movie are we seeing?"
Shinichi flushed with anger, but ignored him. Next to him Kaito tensed, but followed Shinichi's lead.
"Hello boys, what movie would you like to see today?" an older man asked from behind the counter. Shinichi felt a small wave of relief. The worker was probably an older retiree working at the theater for something to do, no way were the two compatible.
They both told the man their movie selection, the current action movie starring that one actor (Niam Leesan or something?) and headed inside.
Their stalker (Shinichi refused to admit it was his stalker) called out again, "Personally I would have chosen the zombie apocalypse movie, but this one looks good too. Where are we sitting, sugar?"
Kaito shot him a questioning look and Shinichi nodded back, "nothing to big, just something to get him to leave us alone."
Kaito nodded, "I can work with that." He snapped his fingers and Shinichi heard a yelp behind him. He chanced a look behind him and saw that the stalker was engulfed in a pink smoke cloud. He knew once the cloud had cleared, the stalkers hair would be dyed pink, but they didn't wait around to see it for themselves and entered the theater instead.
They had the theater almost completely to themselves and were able to get seats near the back away from the few other people. They were a little early for the movie and instead of previews playing, it was advertisements for the snack counter and service messages asking patrons to put their phones on silent. The lights weren't as dim as they would be once the previews started and the volume wasn't as loud yet. This unfortunately only made it easier for their stalker to find them again.
"This guy is persistent," Kaito hissed under his breath as the stalker seated himself directly behind Shinichi. His hair was wet as if he had tried to rinse out the pink color in the bathroom sink, but the pink remained as vibrant as ever.
"Hey hot stuff, how about after this movie I take you back to my place and show you a real good time?" Stalker asked sounding smug.
Shinichi wasn't sure if he should continue ignoring his stalker or if he should say something unpleasant back, but Kaito didn't give him the chance to decide. Kaito slung his arm around Shinichi's shoulders possessively and shot a look over his shoulder at the stalker, "Actually he will be going home with me tonight."
Shinichi nearly choked but his stalker stood with a huff. He grumbled something about seeing the zombie movie instead and left. Once he was gone, Shinichi turned to Kaito and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Kaito shrugged, "I read on a feminist blog that guys like that won't listen to 'I'm not interested' but they will listen to 'I already have a boyfriend.' It's not right, I know, but I figured it would be a quick way to get rid of him."
Shinichi nodded in understanding, "Good thinking. Now we can enjoy the movie."
Both turned back to the screen, but Shinichi noticed that Kaito didn't remove his arm. He found that he didn't mind though. Kaito's arm was warm and a comfort after the tension the stalker caused. The detective allowed himself to relax against his friend. If he had bothered to look up, he would have seen the warm smile on Kaito's face, but he didn't.
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After the incident at the movie theater, Kaito would pretend to be Shinichi's boyfriend anytime Shinichi received unwanted attention. If someone looked like they were planning on approaching Shinichi, Kaito would possessively sling his arm across the other's shoulder. If someone stared a second too long while they were eating dinner together, Kaito would reach across the table and gently hold the detective's hand in his. Basically, whenever someone showed interest in Shinichi, Kaito would send nonverbal ques that screamed, 'Mine! Stay back!'
It should have been strange, but it wasn't. In fact what was strange was the fact that it actually wasn't. And speaking of strange, his body seemed to be rebelling against him again. His heart continued to race and his chest still felt tight at seemingly random times, but Haibara still wasn't concerned.
Shinichi puzzled over it all while walking with Kaito to their destination, the ice cream parlor. Why wasn't Haibara concerned?
He felt fingers brush his hair behind his ear and turned to his companion. Kaito was leaning in rather close, gazing at him in concern, "You've been thinking about something for a while now. Is everything okay?"
'He's so handsome,' Shinichi thought to himself.
Wait, what?
"Shinichi, what's wrong? You just turned pale, are you okay?" Kaito was gently shaking his shoulders.
Shinichi didn't answer. Instead he was viewing the strange side effects he thought the antidote had caused in a new light. Every time his heart raced, every time his breath caught or his chest tightened, every time he felt butterflies in his stomach, Kaito was always there. Those weren't the side effects of a drug, but rather the symptoms of someone in love.
He was in love with Kaito.
Hysterical laughter bubbled out from his throat, causing Kaito to give him an alarmed look, but he couldn't help it. He was supposed to be a detective but he couldn't even figure out his own heart. What else was he supposed to do but laugh?
But another thought immediately stopped his laughter. Kaito wasn't affected by the pheromones he was unintentionally releasing, meaning they weren't compatible. Did that mean his feeling wouldn't be returned?
"Shinichi, talk to me. I'm seeing a rollercoaster of emotions flash across your face and I have no idea why you feel those things or how to help. You currently look like someone just took your puppy away. Please tell me what is wrong?"
"I-I don't feel so well, I should go home," Shinichi answered.
Kaito frowned, "You were feeling fine 30 seconds ago. Just tell me what's going on. Please, Shin-chan? You're my best friend, you can tell me anything."
Kaito gave him a pleading look. He looked so earnest and concerned, and how could Shinichi be so blind before? His friend was so sweet and caring, his beautiful blue-violet eyes full of concern and oh god he had really fallen hard hadn't he?
His cell phone chirped giving him the interruption he needed. He resisted the urge to sigh in relief but Kaito saw right through him and rolled his eyes before giving him a look that clearly said 'this isn't over.' Shinichi pulled out his phone and quickly read the text. It was from Haibara and the message simply said, "It's ready."
Shinichi's breath caught in surprise. Kaito peaked over his shoulder and read before saying, "Hey that's great news! Let's get over their right now before anyone else tries to molest you."
Kaito took Shinichi by the hand and pulled him in the direction of the professor's house. Kaito was chattering about how great it would be once Shinichi took this next antidote, but Shinichi wasn't hearing a word he said.
He was instead thinking about the antidote to stop his pheromones. Once he took that cure, Kaito would no longer need to pretend to be his boyfriend. Was he okay with that? Sure their current relationship was a lie, but at least it was a good one. But no, the truth was always better than a lie. He couldn't trap Kaito in a fake relationship for his own selfish reasons.
But he would still miss what he had with Kaito. Even if it was a lie it was probably the closest he would ever get to the real thing.
"Good we're here," Kaito interrupted his trail of thoughts.
Kaito eagerly marched them to the front door and knocked. Haibara opened the door with a glare.
"Whoa, Haibara your glare is a little darker than normal. Is everything okay?" Kaito asked.
"I'm fine, I just have a migraine right now. Turns out making a cure for Shinichi's pheromone problem was harder than I expected since there isn't much known information on human pheromones. But I was able to pull something together," She turned to Shinichi and handed him a bottle with a little white capsule inside of it, "So you take this and I'm going to go lie down for a while. Don't call me unless it's truly an emergency. You can come back tomorrow for a checkup."
With that she gently but firmly closed the door cutting off any further questions.
Kaito turned to Shinichi practically beaming, "Let's hurry back to your place so you can take that. I can't wait for this to be over."
Shinichi's throat suddenly felt thick and he found he wasn't able to speak. He nodded instead, hearing Kaito's last statement replay over and over in his head. 'He can't wait for this to be over. He can't wait until he doesn't have to pretend to be my boyfriend anymore.'
Both boys made their way back to the Kudo mansion and Kaito was quick to grab Shinichi a glass of water. Shinichi forced himself to swallow the white pill, flushing it down with the water after. After a moment he felt a coolness starting from the pit of his stomach that seemed to slowly spread throughout his body, than the feeling was gone. He felt certain that the antidote had worked, although he wouldn't know for sure until he went out in public to test it.
He found himself unable to look at Kaito and turned instead to the sink, beginning to wash the glass on autopilot. "I'm pretty sure it worked, so you can go. I can take it from here. Thank you for all of your help these past few weeks."
Kaito sighed, "Something is still bothering you, and it must be serious. Are you going to tell me what's wrong now?"
Instead of answering Shinichi blurted out, "Was it really so bad being my pretend boyfriend for a few weeks?"
Shinichi still had his back to Kaito, so he couldn't see the other's face. After a moment Kaito answered, "No in fact quite the opposite. It was some of the best weeks I've had in a long time. I loved being your pretend boyfriend." Shinichi heard approaching until he felt Kaito standing right behind him. "The only part I hated was the part where it was all pretend."
Shinichi's eyes widened and he quickly turned around to look at his friend. He knew Kaito was standing behind him but once he turned he was surprised to see how close the other was and he stumbled in surprise. Kaito put his hands on Shinichi's hips to steady him. He didn't remove his hands.
"I don't understand, you speak as if you wanted it to be real, but we aren't compatible. The fact that you didn't react to my over reactive pheromones is proof of that."
Kaito closed his eyes for a moment and seemed to be collecting himself before he opened them again, "I was able to resist your pheromones because I've had years of practice resisting you."
Shinichi felt his heart racing and some part of him noted that Kaito's hands still hadn't left his hips, "What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is that I love you. I've been in love with you for years, but I was afraid you didn't feel the same and I didn't want to ruin our friendship if you didn't feel the same way. But then you disappeared for years and I had no idea where you were only to find out you had been shrunken to a child, and I realized how much I would regret it if I never at least tried. Well this is me trying," Kaito pulled Shinichi closer until there was barely a millimeter between them. Shinichi had to raise his eyes due to their slight height difference. "I love you Shinichi. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight, as my date?"
Shinichi blinked, than found himself smiling, "I would love too."
Kaito closed that last millimeter between them and kissed him, his friend's hands moving from his hips to wrapping him in an embrace, pulling them even closer. Shinichi returned the kiss and marveled in how right it felt, like he was always meant to be with Kaito, his best friend.
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Author's request please read: I know a lot of people don't like to leave reviews because you have no idea what to say, but my last chapter for side effects didn't receive many reviews and it can be discouraging. Favorites/follows are great but nothing really lifts the spirits like a review. So I'll make it easier for you. The only thing I really want to know is what was your favorite part? And the two might go hand in hand, but did anything make you laugh? Sometimes after I write a particular scene, I think 'the readers are going to love this part,' or 'I bet they will find this scene hilarious.' But when I don't get a review, I can't tell if anyone really liked it or not. So please, if you could just take 10 seconds to tell me your favorite part, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for reading! Look forward to more coming in the future.