Okay, as promised, two chapters per week, the first one coming on every Monday.

As you might have noticed, I have this terrible habit that I leave out words - I might type fast, but my mind is always faster, so it happens occasionally. If you ever notice something like that, please, go ahead and tell me, and I'll correct it right away! Thank you ^^

JarayZ, there's nothing weird about it, Akako is awesome! My favourite is Ran, but I totally get how you feel ^^
Kensy Echo, yes, it was totally Aoko :) She'll show up later as well.
Neonkoi, yeeeeaaah, Haibara... I'm actually afraid of writing with her. I'm such a rookie in the DCMK fandom, I don't know her that much... But of course, she'll appear later on.

Aaaand about the antidote... It was mentioned in the prologue, but... I didn't pay too much attention to it, mostly because all I wanted to write about was pocket Shin-tan being adorable. However, I will explain it later on. Sorry if I confused anyone with it ^^"

And this is getting awfully long again, so just... Please enjoy! ^^


The next day Shinichi woke up to the unbearable pain in his stomach. He curled up, pressed his palms to where it hurt, but it did little to ease his suffering. Before he noticed, small, pained whimpers left his mouth, and his eyes filled with tears. He truly felt like a child then, in his mind begging to someone to help him.

He heard the blankets moving next to him, and moments later a terrible bedhead emerged from the white blanket-cocoon. With a shake of head, the brown mess of hair shifted, and Shinichi was able to see a pair of unfocused, blue eyes, staring at him in confusion. He couldn't look at them for too long, though, as he felt another wave of pain in his stomach. He curled up even more, forehead almost touching his knees.

"Arthur? Hey, Arthur, what happened?" Shinichi felt soft fingertips touching his back and arms, as Kid asked him with a raspy voice… He couldn't even bring himself to answer, forming words required too much energy, and he was as powerless as a bird beaten down by a hailstorm. He still struggled to at least say that he was in pain, that he needed help – nothing left his mouth but whimpers.

He felt himself being raised up then put on a soft palm, then he felt the other boy's breath tickling his neck as he asked in the lowest whisper: "Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?" Shinichi tried to point at his stomach, but there was no need in the end – when they heard a loud growl, they both knew what the problem was. "You didn't eat anything yesterday, right… And before that…"

Kaito all but jumped to his feet, making sure that he didn't drop Shinichi, then ran all the way to the kitchen. When they got there, he put his little guest on the table, and went to look for anything that could be edible. He also got the smallest plate he could find, and a knife to cut up the food to match Arthur's size.

He decided against bread and butter, he didn't want to give mere crumbs to the other. He looked for vegetables and fruits, those at least had some juice too – Arthur must've been thirsty as well. He found cheese too, so he put it on the plate as well. Damn it, why didn't he tell him earlier? Kaito fumed as he cut up the things he could find, the knife barely avoiding his own fingers.

Meanwhile Shinichi laid down on the table, then curled up again. How could he be so stupid? He was so busy with being worried about his shrunk state (and the thief, his traitorous mind reminded him) that he forgot about food completely! Now he was in pain, useless, and completely at his rival's mercy! If the guy decided to cut him up with the knife he was holding (it was as tall as Shinichi, for God's sake!), he wouldn't have the energy to even avoid the blow, let alone run.

But his thief seemed to have no such intentions, as he made his way over to his pathetic form. He wore a mournful expression instead. Maybe this was the first time ever that Shinichi has seen him like this, not even pretending to be okay.

"Here you go. Eat slowly, you don't want to upset your stomach even more." he said, voice low, but full of restrained tension. Not that Shinichi could care, the moment he spotted the food, he grabbed it and began to eat. Later he would scold himself, because he didn't even stop to wonder if it was spiked, but at that moment the only thing he cared about was making the pain stop. It didn't take too much, five slices of apple and a little cheese was all he needed – he left half of the food Kaito prepared.

"Next time… next time don't wait until you're in pain." Kid said quietly, and took the plate away with shaking hands when he saw that Arthur was done eating.

That day he didn't talk to Shinichi at all, but prepared food for him at least 5 times.

"So he can be caring after all…" Shinichi thought to himself with a little guilt in his heart.