34: To Become a Child

"Conan-kun", came Ran's voice over the line, "I'm in trouble… p-please help." Her voice was soft and shaky. "Where are you?" Conan asked, his cell phone in a white-knuckled grip. "Apartment eight at the Hatagaya Sakura Hotel." With a soft click she hung up. Without a second thought, Conan took off on his solar-powered skateboard. It never crossed his mind that it was odd for her to call him, a child, when she could just as easily call the police. So it was that the shrunken detective found the hotel, which was closed for renovations, and located room eight.

It was dark and with the feeling of being watched, Conan was instantly on guard. "One plus four, plus one, plus two equals… eight." Said a voice that was definitely not Ran's, yet it was familiar enough that Conan relaxed. "It wasn't very nice to make me think Ran was in trouble, KID."

Said magician appeared in a flash of smoke, his hands up in a placating manner. "Calm down tantei-kun, it was necessary for you to get here as soon as possible. I have a gift for you." A box appeared in KID's hand, "I know your secret Kudo-kun and I have come across the source of your problem." The shrunken detective scowled, but took the box and opened it to reveal several white and red pills. His eyes widened as the possibility of an antidote made hope swell in him. "I hope this helps." KID said with a soft smile.

Conan grinned, "thank you!" He shouted in excitement, running out the door to get the poison to Haibara as quickly as possible. With this he would be able to become Shinichi again!

"Haibara." Conan said hurriedly as soon as she picked up the phone. "I have a sample of the poison!" She was silent for a moment, "where, pray tell, did you get it?" "KID" Conan replied shortly. "Where did he get it?" She asked and the detective froze. "He would have needed to cross paths with one of them." Haibara said. Conan looked back at the hotel door, "I have to go Haibara." He flipped his phone shut and raced back to the room where KID had met him.

Kaito had barely held his act together through his meeting with the detective. He made his body act on autopilot as he bit down the agony he felt. Whatever that poison was, he felt like he was burning up and his bones were melting. It brought back bad memories of a stage lit with roaring flames and panicked screams as people fled and the young child, Kaito was frozen in shock and fear. It felt like he was dying.

As soon as the door closed behind his favorite critic, the magician-thief collapsed with a whimper and his body seized. I'm going to die. The thought filled him with fear and pained tears leaked from his eyes, but Kaito didn't make a sound. If he were going to die, it would be with dignity. At least I could help tantei-kun before my death, Kaito thought and smiled.

The door slammed open again and Conan reentered. The white-clad thief was lying flat on the floor, so tense that he was stiff. Pained lines were etched into his face, yet his breathing was carefully steady and his eyes were closed. Wet tear trails shimmered on his cheeks and yet he was smiling.

"KID!" Conan shouted, grabbing the magician's hand so that he could feel his pulse.

Kaito opened his eyes and his breath hitched when he saw the detective. "Go away" he grit out. Conan shook his head stubbornly, "no." Kaito grunted and clawed at his chest, over his heart. It felt like it was going to burst. "Leave." Again, Conan shook his head, "I'm not going to abandon you." Kaito's back arched as agony raced down his spine. He forced himself to continue breathing evenly and relaxed his expression. I'm dying, I'm dying, "I'm dying."

"You don't know that, you could be shrinking like I did." Conan argued.

"Or I could be dying." Kaito laughed hysterically. The harsh sound broke off as the pain climaxed. Kaito almost passed out. Steam rose from his body and it looked like his white suit was collapsing in on itself. A high-pitched keening sound escaped Kaito's lips as the last flare of agony faded.

Suddenly the room was still and uncomfortably quiet.

Conan almost didn't want to see if the magician were still alive after witnessing the horrible affects of the poison in person. Then there was a rustle of movement and the detective looked into bleary violet eyes.

The sight of the messy-haired and wide-eyed seven-year old in KID's overly large suit was somehow hilarious and endearing at the same time. Conan laughed. The child – Kaito – pouted, already falling into a role to fit his current age. "Don't laugh at me" he whined, sitting up in the pool of white silk.

The apartment door opened and the two nearly identical faux children turned to see the shrunken scientist enter with the extra pair of tracking glasses. Her eyes widened when she saw them, "statistically, the chances of KID not succumbing to the poison was less than point 000008%. That three of us have now survived it is honestly… ridiculous, but…" she smirked at the shrunken magician, "I'm glad you're still alive." Kaito grinned, "what can I say, but that fortune favors me, Sherry-san."

Haibara sniffed haughtily, "that's Haibara Ai, thank you very much."

Conan frowned in thought, "it will probably be a couple of months before Haibara can create a tested and permanent antidote, so we need to come up with a temporary name and identity for you." Kaito smirked, "such is my specialty. I could be your twin brother since we already look so similar, sent to stay with a different family friend who recently passed away!"

"No way!" Conan shouted, "I don't want to be brothers with a thief!"

Haibara chuckled, "he can't exactly be Kaitou 1412 while he looks like that." Kaito nodded sagely, "indeed, but I could be Kaitou the kid." Conan whacked him on the head. "What was that for?!" Kaito exclaimed, throwing his arms over his head while crocodile tears gathered in his eyes.

"You guys are already acting like brothers naturally." Haibara pointed out, "so it's a good cover. We could say that they separated you to try and get Conan to lighten up as elder brother and to get… we'll have to come up with a name for KID… to mature a little."

Kaito and Conan exchanged a glance. "I'm coming up with my own name." Kaito said, eying the detective warily. Conan's eye twitched, "I didn't have time to come up with a better name, so don't get started." Kaito rolled his eyes, and then adopted a thoughtful expression. A moment later he grinned. "Ha! I know! My name will be Toshiro!"

"I suppose you're using the kanji 'to steal' and 'white'." Haibara murmured.

"Yup!" Kaito crowed. "Edogawa Toshiro! Because he stole away my ability to be KID, the white-clad magician-thief!"

The two looked expectantly at Conan.

The detective sighed bodily and ran a hand over his face, "fine. I'm trusting that you will make an antidote as soon as possible so I don't have to deal with him too long." He added, looking pleadingly at Ai. She shrugged, "I could, but just because we have the ability doesn't mean that you should return to being Shinichi as soon as it's done. The organization will still be hunting you – both of you."

Conan and 'Toshiro' smirked with identical expressions of determination. "Then we'll just have to take them down", they said in unison. Haibara nodded, pulling off a backpack to hand 'Toshiro' a set of children's clothes. "I came prepared" was her only explanation. The KID uniform was then folded and shoved into the bag, which 'Toshiro' insisted on carrying himself.

Conan's clothes were slightly big on the shrunken magician as the detective was a year older than him, but they were passable. Of course 'Toshiro', perfectionist that he was when it came to disguises, made them all go shopping until he had a suitcase full of clothes along with a couple personal items that he made to look older than they were. "I am supposed to be coming from a family friend's house, not from nowhere!" He'd argued, "therefore I can't just show up with absolutely nothing." Only then were they ready to introduce Toshiro to the Mouris.

It would be an understatement to say that Ran was surprised to see two Conans enter the agency. She almost thought that she was hallucinating until Conan took pity on her, pushing his twin forward. Struck with the realization that Ran's karate was even more dangerous to him in a child's body, Toshiro shuffled shyly. "Hi…" he mumbled, then coughed and spoke up, "my name is Toshiro, um… I'm Conan's brother."

Ran smiled at his nervousness. "Nice to meet you, I'm Mouri Ran." Toshiro smiled. Conan tugged on Ran's skirt and she bent down so he could whisper to her conspiratorially. "Toshiro was staying with another family friend, but he died recently." Ran nodded in understanding and stood up, "I assume you want to stay with your brother?" Toshiro nodded hesitantly, "if it's okay… I haven't seen him in a long time." Ran put her hands on her hips, "of course it's okay!"

And… well, if Ran said it was okay for 'Toshiro' to stay, then Kogoro wasn't going to argue. If there was one thing that everyone knew, it was to not argue with the karate practitioner. And if there was any doubts to how well a detective and a thief could get along in close-quarters… Shinichi and Kaito, or rather Conan and Toshiro, managed wonderfully.

(Hatagaya Sakura Hotel is a real place, beyond that I know nothing about it. Hehehe! I can just imagine Toshiro hiding Conan's belongings around the house and leaving Conan clues to find them. In retaliation, Conan would probably… hmm… I'm not sure… maybe uncover where Toshiro's secret stash of tricks is and use his own dye to mess with Toshiro's hair color or something.)