--------------Chapter 6: Conan's Acceptance --------------

Hours later, Conan awoke. It took him a moment to remember just where he was. He turned and looked over at Ran. He made a loving smile, careful to be quiet. The sun was just about to rise, but nobody could tell, thanks to the thick, grey clouds in the sky. The snow was coming down quickly, in thick, fat flakes that already covered the road. As Conan glanced out the window, a tickle suddenly entered his nose.

"Ah, ACHOO!" He bent over, sniffling his nose. "Oh, great," he thought, "That moron really DID make me sick."

Kazuha woke up. Still seeing that Heiji was asleep, she decided to go downstairs. Looking over at Ran, she smiled, "Still asleep, are we now?" She poked her forehead.

Ran slowly opened her eyes, "Mm..?" Getting up, she tried standing up straight. "Morning?"

Kazuha chuckled, helping her stand. "Yes, Ran," she said, trying to make her comprehend what she was saying.

Ran jumped up, "Oh." She looked down at Conan, realizing the kind of pale complexion he had today. "Conan, are you feeling all right?" she asked, kneeling down to him.

"I don't know..." he admitted, before sneezing again.

Upstairs, Heiji stirred. He heard the second sneeze just as he awoke. A smile crossed his face, "It looks like Ran and Kazuha won't be disappointed after all." He slowly got up from the bed and stepped out the door. He did his best to be quiet and not be heard, trying to hear if Conan was genuinely sick, or just had to sneeze.

Kazuha quickly shot a look up at Heiji, "You got him sick from yesterday!" Placing her hands on her hips, she popped her hip to the side, "And what have you accomplished?"

Heiji backed up, "Look, he could have caught that bug from anywhere before the few seconds I had him stand outside..."

Ran looked over her shoulder at Kazuha, "I'm sure Conan will be fine." She looked at Conan as she patted his head. "I'll just have to go to the store and bring back some soup for you."

Conan nodded to Ran, thankfully. He pulled the blanket over himself more. Looking down, he realized that he was still wearing her jacket. "Oh, Ran-neechan!" he called, "Here. You're going to need this." He took off the jacket and reached out to hand it to her.

"Oh, thank you." Grabbing the coat, she put it on. She grabbed the pink quilt that was spread out on the couch and put it on Conan. She turned towards Kazuha, "Are you coming?"

Kazuha already had her jacket and shoes on, "Yup!" She opened the door. Ran and Kazuha soon were off walking down the sidewalk.

Heiji turned to Conan. "And, uhh... I'll be right back," he said with a wink.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" asked Conan, flatly.

"Just uhh.. to go tell Kazuha something! I'll be right back!"

Conan sat up, intent on following him, when he suddenly felt a bit woozy. He sunk back down into the couch, preferring to just sit and wait for everyone to come back. "Just lock the door on the way out, Hattori!"

"Okay!" But his voice told that he was already too much of a distance away.

Heiji soon approached Doctor Agasa's house. He walked up and rang the doorbell.

Nagi groggily opened the door, but immediately grew a smile at the sight of Heiji. "It's you!" he said, surprised. He opened the door wider to let him in, as if it was his own house. "Why did you come?" he asked curiously.

"I'm looking for the girl," told Heiji, "I need her help."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Ai, walking up to the two of them, still in her pajamas.

"I uhh..." he glanced towards Nagi. "Can I talk to you in private for a moment?"

Ai shrugged, "Sure." The two of them walked through the living room and downstairs, leaving the door open.

"So what is it you want?..."

As soon as Ran was done with her grocery shopping she was already walking down the sidewalk beside Kazuha. "Heiji, shoving the kid outside in the cold..." She muttered to herself.

"Oh Kazuha, Conan will be fine when I'm done making him this soup.." Ran assured her.

Conan sat on the couch, hearing the door click open. He looked up at the girls. "Welcome back, Ran-neechan, Kazuha-nee-ACHOO!" He rubbed his nose again.

Outside the house, Heiji was approaching from the sidewalk. "I can't believe she gave it to me..." he thought, staring at the little foil packet in his hand. He could still see her in his mind's eye:

"Okay, I'll give it to you, but only under one condition," Ai had stated calmly, turning around to find something in a drawer. She turned back, holding a pill in a foil wrapper in the air. "I wanted to make a more permanent drug, so I used different ingredients in this one. The only thing is, I don't know how long it lasts. So what I need you to do is time it for me- from the moment he takes the pill, to the moment that he reverts back. Got it?..."

Heiji smiled to himself, walking in the doorway.

Kazuha was sitting on the couch. "Where were you?" she inquired, looking at a book.

Ran was in the kitchen cleaning up here and there. She poked her head out of the kitchen doorway, "Heiji, where did you go?"

"I was just getting a special medicine from Doctor Agasa. He said it's sure the make him better within a day!" He smiled and approached Conan, pulling out the pill. "Here."

Conan merely looked at him, knowing well what that pill would do. "No thanks..." He continued with his soup.

Sensing it would be bad to simply drop it in his food, Heiji persisted. "But it will make you all better! Then we can go outside and play in the snow!"

Not enjoying being treated like a kid, Conan decided to turn the tables. "But I don't want it! Medicine's icky!" He then put on the most innocent face he could muster.

Walking out of the kitchen, Ran looked down at what Conan was refusing. She wiped her hands on the apron she was wearing. She leaned forward with her hands on her knees, looking at Conan. Trying to change the subject, she immediately and randomly felt his head with her palm. "Mmm, pretty warm." She stood up. "I'll find some medicine for you, okay?" she said, turning her way to the kitchen as she pointed to that area.

"But this is supposed to be really good stuff, Ran! The professor has used it before and he swears by it! Haven't you ever wondered why he's so rarely sick?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly, looking at Ran.

"BUT I DON'T WANT IT!" cried Conan, putting on a mini tantrum for a moment. Heiji glanced at him angrily, a vein popping in his head.

"You will TAKE IT and feel BETTER..."

Sitting beside Conan, Kazuha looked over at him as well, "I wonder that too." She looked at Ran in the corner of her eyes. Ran was still in the standing position with her finger pointing towards the kitchen. She looked down at Conan. There was a pause of silence between the four.

Ran took her finger and pressed it into her cheek gently, putting her other hand on her right hip. "Y-Yeah, I do."

Kazuha closed the book shut that she was reading. "Ran, I'll help you in the kitchen."

She walked up to her as she turned her around with her arm on her shoulder, she looked at Heiji and Conan. "We'll leave the boys here."

Ran scratched the back of her head, still not knowing what was going on. "Uh, o-okay.." She walked back into the kitchen.

"Hehe," went Heiji, looking down at him again now that they were all alone. "So. What's the big deal? Can't handle being yourself around Ran anymore?" He laughed a little. Conan blushed and stared at him.

"Of course I can. But..." he looked to the now-shut kitchen door. He tried to think of a good reason to refuse it. Now that he thought of it, there are actually more reasons to be Shinichi than to be Conan in this situation. He sighed, looking down. Heiji raised his eyebrow again and bent over towards him.

"Well?..."

Conan turned his head to the side. "Okay. You're right..."

Kazuha gave a long sigh/moan. "What is with Heiji and that kid?" She turned her head towards the door. Ran was giggling softly, looking back at her. Kazuha rose a brow. "What's so funny?" she muttered.

Ran turned towards the pot that was burning on the stove, "It's just, those two act so much like brothers." Stirring the soup, she glanced at Kazuha.

She gave a slight smile. "Mm, I guess," she said, shrugging.

Ran jumped up as she hit her head with the burning spoon, "I forgot celery!" She looked up at her forehead as steam came off of the spoon. "UwaAaAaAh!" she handed the spoon back to Kazuha. "Ow, Ow, Ow," Ran said, rubbing her forehead. Kazuha laughed. "It's not funny!" shouted Ran.

Kazuha waved her hands, "S-sorry, okay, lets go get some celery." She imitated Ran putting the spoon on her head as she talked. Walking out of the kitchen, Kazuha was still snickering, looking at Ran.

Just as the girls entered the room, Heiji was helping Conan take a drink from a water bottle. At the same moment Conan looked up at them, he felt the first pound in his chest. "AHHH!" he said, grabbing his shirt. Heiji realized that they were still in the living room. He turned to the girls.

"It will take a moment for the pill to kick in. For now we should let him rest in his room for a few hours. He can call us if he needs anything." He smiled to them, then quickly picked up Conan and rushed down the hallway, Conan letting out another yell as the pain became more intense.

Tilting her head over Kazuha's shoulder, Ran quietly replied. "O-Okay.."

Grabbing Ran's arm, she was already tugging it outside of the door. "Come! Let's go, before the store closes for lunch."

Ran jumped up. "We have to hurry!" She ran down the stairs and to the sidewalk, now holding Kazuha's arm.

Heiji lay Conan down onto the bed. He quickly rushed to his bag, pulled out some adult clothes, and tossed it next to him. "Oh yeah, almost forgot." Heiji looked at his watch and clicked it, setting it to record the time.

Conan squirmed. He struggled under a blanket, and as soon as the girls were out of earshot, he let out one really loud scream...

Heiji stepped out the bedroom door, running down to the windows to see if the girls were anywhere near. Nope, the coast was clear. He turned around and looked down the hallway to the bedroom he was just in. He slowly approached it again, before knocking on the door gently.

"Kudou? Are you decent?..." he opened it slowly. "Huh? Where'd he go?!" The bed was empty, the clothes were gone, and the window was opened. This time it did not take a detective to figure out what happened with Shinichi.

--------------End Chapter 6--------------