Hello my fellow bibliophiles, I've returned to the land of the living somewhat unscathed.

I could've updated earlier but I recently got a concussion (mild) and hadn't noticed till last week, a week after I got hit in the face. Then came the inevitable- I had to start packing and unpacking to move to my new house and then the start of competitions and championships just passed. Yes, a very hectic and exciting week had gone by. I'm finally free! Thank you for the favorites, follows, and reviews!

I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito.

Maybe he should have chosen another location to live in. Maybe he should have just gone over to the United States with his parents to seek out the FBI. Maybe he shouldn't have gone after the men in black in the first place. Conan stared unseeingly at the pristine white bed sheets, gripping the dark blue blanket that 'Jii-chan' had given to him sometime after Kuroba had gone to school, before the elderly man headed back into the kitchen to finish cooking breakfast for them. The shrunken detective hadn't slept that night, just like the first couple of nights after he left Beika, leaving himself susceptible to paranoia's embrace, allowing it to bend his mind to his will. Nights like this were hell.

No doubt about it.

Kudo Shinichi would have never been subjected through these sorts of ordeals. Shinichi was safe from paranoia, despite the large and intimidating mansion that he'd managed and lived in once his parents had left him be. And all this due to Shinichi's connections, both personal and professional, with the police department and the other detectives whose names that not even Conan could recall anymore. All in all, Shinichi was safe.

But Edogawa Conan had no one thus far with such a repertoire as that 'meddlesome brat' and his 'interfering with the crime scene' crap that the Beika Police Department had labeled him as with the exception of Megure-keibu. He couldn't help but scoff at the thought. And who had been the one to hold their hands and lead them to the perpetrator? Kogoro obviously, he thought sarcastically.

Agasa-hakase was the only person that he could truly trust. Involving his longtime friend and neighbor as less as possible other than providing Conan the technology possible to continue his career and keeping his new identity from being blown was a must. But anything more would be jeopardizing the scientists' life with the men in black still out there. The faux child shut his eyes tight and shuddered, Kami, they were still out there. And once they found out his, Conan's, true identity and his accomplice in masking his trial-

-the sensation of the warm, liquid slithering down porcelain pale skin-

-slipping between the tattered, fleshy remains of what should have been fingers-

-hollowed eye sockets-

-silver bullets coded with sweet, warm, crimson-

-like the pathetic insolents that you are."-

"Conan-kun, are you awake?" a voice called out. Conan flinched at the unexpected presence and smothered a whimper that had been about to make itself known. The ravenette frowned at the uncharacteristic reaction before humming an affirmative.

'Jii-chan' cracked open the door, stepping inside with a tray held firmly in his hands, then making his way over to him. The shrunken detective unconsciously tightened his grip on the sheets as the man made his way toward him. Cerulean irises took this time to analyze this stranger, noting that he carried himself with an air of confidence, well equipped with muscles that would suffice for someone that of in his early to mid-forties, but obviously in his fifties judging by his facial construction, his calloused hands indicated that he worked as a mechanic and he tailored clothing meaning that the man probably ran a shop somewhere in town and was well off judging by the quality of the material of his suit.

"Good morning, Conan-kun." The elderly man smiled gently at Conan as he set the tray aside and removed the thermometer from its place beside his medicine.

"Good morning." Conan replied.

"Open up.", he said. The shrunken detective complied, waiting for a moment before the device beeped to life and was removed by the man. 'Jii-chan' shook his head, 'tsk'-ing at the number blinking up at him. The gray haired man glanced up and eyed him before shaking his head.

"Did you sleep at all, young man? You need to rest as much as you can to get better," 'Jii-chan' scolded lightly. Conan shook his head at the elderly man's question and successfully executed a pout, sheepishly plucking at the smooth material in his grasp to spice up his new cover's personality. The detective inwardly scowled at the situation; it vaguely reminded him of a similar event that occurred between his father and a bed-ridden seven year old Shinichi. 'Jii-chan' chuckled slightly and proceeded to remove the now dry cloth from his forehead to re-wet.

"When will Kaito-nii-chan be back?" Conan glanced in the direction of the guestroom's bathroom where the elder was bent over the sink. 'Jii-chan' was upright again once he rung the cloth of excess water, briskly striding over to him with a cup full of water in the other hand. Conan glanced over at his nightstand and blinked owlishly at the missing glass. He must have been really out of it to not notice the missing item.

"He'll be back by three at the latest. It's ten at the moment.", 'Jii-chan' replied absentmindedly. He was reading the medicine's dosage instructions.

"What's your name, ojii-san?"

"My name is Konosuke Jii. I'm Bocchama's uncle in a way. I used to help out his father out in his magic shows." Conan hummed in understanding as he reached over to grab his glasses from beside the lamp. An abrupt burning, sharp pain lashed out from his abdomen leaving him to grasp at the area in an attempt to ease it. He hissed upon his hand making contact, shutting his eyes and clenching his teeth shut to prevent anything else from making itself known. Large, warm hands gently grasped his bruised shoulders, drawing his attention enough to open his eyes and stare in fright into the stern gaze of the elder.

"Sit up, scrunching on into yourself like that will only make the wound worse.", he ordered. Conan shook his head frantically. No, he had already tried last time but that had only made it worse and…..and he couldn't breathe-

"I know it hurts but you have to trust me," 'Jii-chan' said, "-you'll end up injuring yourself internally. I have enough experience to patch you up. You don't want Bocchama to know about this, now do you?" Conan shook his head and reluctantly unfurled himself from the uncomfortable, fetal position panting as his heart speed up and hands shaking from the scare. 'Jii-chan' frowned as he reached over to inspect the wound, the frown deepened when the shrunken detective flinched at the move, feeling apprehension creep in on him.

"May I examine it? I need to look at how bad the wound is.", he said gently. Conan bit his lips in uncertainty before nodding. The detective internally berated himself; he had never reacted this way before! He needed to get a hold of himself.

"Did you get into a fight of some kind?"

"I….I….um…I was trying to go to the store when some really big guys came and started kicking me around…it was….it was really scary.", he admitted. Konosuke Jii nodded in understanding as he gingerly probed at the area earning a whimper from Conan. The shrunken detective eyes widened slightly.

"Does Bocchama know about this?", the man asked. Jii held a grave expression as the raven-haired boy shook his head.

"I couldn't feel it on the way here, ojii-san."

"Adrenaline fended off the pain. You were lucky that Bocchama had brought you home before it started to hurt.", the elder replied. Conan nodded, any normal teenager would've freaked out then and there but he seriously doubted the magician would've reacted that badly. But he was lucky; he'd rather have to suffer the pain here then out on the streets for someone else to have picked him up to either whisk him away to the hospital then to the orphanage or to sell him. He would've been too vulnerable for comfort.

"Please don't let Kaito-nii-chan know, ojii-san. He's done lots of nice things for me like tell me stories, showed me around, and took me in. I don't wanna give Kaito-nii-chan too much trouble! He even has Aoko-nee-chan bullying him with a mop!", Conan replied 'worriedly'. They were weak arguments, he knew that, but from what reactions that he had seen exhibited by the Shonnen Tantei this statement would've fit his 'age group' and 'logic'. But his second to last statement was true; he didn't want to cause Kuroba too much trouble while he stayed over. He watched curiously as Jii smiled softly and extended his hand to pat his head.

"Then it'll be a secret between us," he stated firmly. Conan mentally sighed in relief, surprised his little plea had worked successfully. He quirked a brow as he watched the elderly man open his mouth again, "-but you must promise to me that you'll tell me when it hurts and allow me to treat the rest of your wounds." The faux child gaped openly at him as Jii grinned at his reaction.

"You didn't think that I would catch that, now did you?", Jii teased. The younger of the two shook his head slightly, his mind racing a mile a minute as he attempted to find reason. Each conclusion getting crazier and crazier as anxiety burst forth before shrinking itself as he came to a more rational conclusion. Idiot, he thought, it's so simple. The only way Jii could possibly know would be if-

"How then?"

"Well, I've seen some children come to my shop with their parents. While I took measurements, they would get uncomfortable or look like they hurt in a certain place." As he explained, Jii took the opportunity to examine his shoulders and arms, "-and this would also happen with the children I usually donate my customer's old clothing to or some of my old clothing lines." The shrunken detective pursed his lips as he nodded. Jii vaguely reminded him of Agasa-hakase. Agasa-hakase would routinely visit the orphanage in town after he received some old clothing from his relatives in Tokyo to take over.

"You're really nice, ojii-san, thank you." He really meant this. Conan gave the elderly man a small smile as before returning his gaze to his blanketed lap. He didn't catch Jii returning his smile or his eyes clouding over in sorrow.

"You're quite welcome, Conan-kun."

It had been both exhilarating and terrifying. The feeling of the chase was still fresh on Kaito's mind by the time he made it to his first period class, albeit a little late. It was alike in the sense of when Aoko would chase after him or when he pranked his classmates and teachers. No, it had been completely different. He could only grin insanely at the thought. He was the new Kaitou Kid, the famed Phantom Thief and the same thief that Aoko's father was obsessive over and out to get. The brunette shook his head at the irony of it all. Nakamori-keibu had been his father's closest friend, other than Konosuke Jii apparently, and his nemesis. Violet irises snapped up from his English homework to his childhood friend, amused by her cutely wrinkled nose and her dark brown hair framing her childish face.

"How is Conan-kun?" she asked bluntly. Kaito leaned back in his chair and brought his hand to scratch at his cheek.

"He's doing fine. He's in bed with the cold, a family friend's looking after him.", he replied smoothly. There was no need for Aoko to know about Jii, it would be beneficial if no one knew of the man or the story behind his random appearance into his life. The teenage girl nodded in approval as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"So are you finally going to tell me what happened with him? He looked terrified at the station.", she said. Kaito glanced around the room momentarily, satisfied that no one was around; he leaned forward slightly. Aoko decided to sit down in the seat in front of him to listen.

"I'm not entirely sure if he was abused by his parents or not but he didn't seem that bothered around adults, wary like children usually are. I'm hoping he just ran away, rather than being hurt by his own flesh and blood." he speculated. Aoko hummed as she tapped her index finger on his desk in thought before replying.

"I'm not sure that's the case. My father's been on cases of child abuse and sometimes the children would hide, too well even, that they've been hit. But back at the station, he looked alright. Other than the fact that he was sick." she replied. Kaito nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, that was kinda new. The first time I saw him, he was sitting on the bench near my house, reading the newspaper. He was resting from the looks of it and without a jacket or gloves to keep him warm…. Aoko, he was just wearing a dress shirt, a thin jacket, and shorts before I gave him my stuff." Kaito refrained from describing how the boy had looked close to death as Conan had sported blue lips and fingertips that also coupled with the dark circles under his eyes by the time he had come back to the location. Other than his 'promise' to Conan yesterday morning, there had been a reason behind buying food for them and his close proximity with the child. Keeping him warm as much as he possibly could and feeding the boy with a good enough portion to give him some energy.

"I'm just glad that you picked him up before anyone else did." Aoko shuddered. The other brunette couldn't help but shiver at the thought of a potential kidnapping.

"Yeah, thank Kami-sama."

"So when can I visit him?"

"I suppose sometime next week. At least he'll be better by then." Kaito replied. Give or take a week, he thought, Conan was going to need all the rest he needed to keep up with his childish best friend. The girl frowned slightly in a questioning manner as she cupped her right cheek to lean against the desk's smooth surface.

"He's going to live with you?"

"I hadn't planned it at the time but-", before Kaito could finish, the magician watched as his childhood friend grin slyly and jab her finger at his chest.

"-an' you got attached, didn't you?" the girl replied. The magician reluctantly stole his gaze away from her and glared slightly at the classroom's wall to his left, cheeks burning, and a scowl marring his normally grinning face. Aoko could only giggle at the expression; it resembled that of a child having been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Typical Kaito.

"So what?"

"Aren't you going to tell your mom? I don't think she'll be that ecstatic to find some little kid in her home and hearing that he's been living with her son throughout her trip." she replied. Kaito ruffled his hair, a habit he never got rid of, as he grinned sheepishly.

"I'm gonna call her tonight and explain. And I don't think she'll be complaining much about it, she's always wanted another kid in the house." The magician replied. Aoko shook her head at this. Only he could say something about this crazy situation with that sort of relaxed persona. And who wanted to raise another little kid when she already had one whose been living under her roof since birth? And one who's always causing trouble too? But she knew better, he seemed more apprehensive about it than he let on.

"So, what do you think about being an 'onii-chan' now?" she asked. The teenager opened his mouth to reply but had been caught off by the next period bell signaling the end of lunch and the start of English class. He pouted childishly and winked back at Aoko.

"I'll tell ya later, alright." He said. Kaito leaned back in his chair and opened his book up to the next chapter lesson as their teacher arrived. The brunette hummed, how could he really explain the feeling he was having just by thinking about being Conan's 'Kaito-nii-chan'? Violet irises tracked his teacher's movements as he continued his train of thought.

'-Nakamori-chan, please read page two-hundred and thirty-five's passage."

"Hai!"

The magician blocked out the poorly read English passage and returned to the matter at hand; his brand new part-time job as a Moonlight Magician and how he was to go about it, this and the answer to Aoko's question. Would he even be a good role model for this kid? Would the kid even like him taking on the title of 'onii-chan' once things were official? How did he even feel about all this? The brunette had taken to acting on his emotions to help the six-year-old at the time, not even thinking about the responsibilities that came with taking care of a little 'chibi'. He thought back to the boy's content smile earlier that morning and smiled softly at the memory. He had been relieved to see the pained expression wipe off his face that instant and felt warmth building within his person. He had felt giddy at getting such a reaction. Just like when he would perform magic shows for his classmate's younger siblings occasionally or at the park, something his father had once done.

"Homura-kun, you're up!"

"Hai, sensei!"

Again, he ignored it. He'd already read and memorized these passages for today's lesson after riding off the adrenaline from the previous Kid Heist, he had had nothing else better to do. Thinking about the craziness of this situation had been impossible to go about yesterday and he wasn't going to start today. He still hadn't gotten over the fact that he was the original phantom thief's legacy and supposed to go after a magical jewel of some sort.

"Seiki-kun!"

"Hn."

Kaito thought back over his encounter with the sapphire-eyed child and felt his eyes widen as he reviewed over the boy's body language when he had interacted with Aoko. Sapphire eyes widening in shock and fright as his childhood friend approached, taking to hiding behind Kaito's leg in an attempt to get away-

'Kami, I'm such an idiot,' he thought. The identity of his abuser could very well be female or possibly resemble the female Nakamori, but the latter seemed a bit more probable, considering the similarities that most people shared with one another despite their lack of relation. That and he hadn't seen this type of reaction come out of the little kid when they were being treated by the waitresses or female shop owners when they went on their tour. He felt dread pool in the pit of his stomach; Kami-

"Kuroba-kun!"

"Hai, hai, sensei!" he called back cheerfully. He flipped onto the next page for the new passage and scowled in distaste, what an uninteresting book. The teen decided to dish out an apology to Conan once he went back home and maybe make it up to him. He finished the passage with ease and settled back into his chair. Kaito turned to look out the window and doze off after another unfortunate classmate's name had been called up to read the damned text. His head perked up at attention as what felt like five minutes had passed as the school bell rang.

He was home free, which meant-

"We'll continue where we left off with on Kashi-kun. Finish the worksheets that are currently being handed out and have them in by tomorrow, no exceptions. We will also be taking a quiz on the previous chapter before finishing this chapter. Am I clear?"

He took a moment to process his teacher's speech and shook his head good naturedly. The magician grinned mischievously as a screech from the back of the classroom overcame the noise of students conversing or bickering.

"T-This-These are-!"

"FROGS!"

Did he mention that he happened to be helping out the science teacher with the 'dissection' labs earlier today?

I've always liked the idea of MK delving a little bit into Jii-chan's role as Kaito's assistant blooming more into a grandfatherly role in fanfiction rather than leaving him alone. I feel like you can do so much more with his character.

Oh and the frogs? Well, I did something similar to this when I was a little kid at a science camp when I was in sixth grade. Except it had been baby squids and ink that covered the students. No one ever really suspected me since I always stayed in the background and I had to stain my shirt with the ink to actually accomplish the prank too. I happened to have been a problem child at the time...uhm. You guys can make a wild guess at what the frogs were used for, this is Kaito we're talking about.