So, someone is going crazy with angst (you know who you are) and I can't exactly leave it at that, so I might... make this story a bit darker. Pfff~ Or maybe not.

Another chapter where nothing really happens, but... Please enjoy!


Shinichi stared at Kaito for a full minute, before he dashed out, towards the bathroom. He felt fear mixing with excitement inside him, as his soles hit the floor under him, as the ceiling was suddenly a lot closer, and Kaito's house didn't feel as enormous as it did before. When he tried to enter the bathroom, he realized he could actually reach the doorknob, and watched as his fingers curled around it, before he threw the door open.

He stood on his tiptoes, his mind already returning to Conan, and tried to see himself in the mirror. No matter how he tried though, he could only catch the sight of a brown cowlick peeking out from behind the cabinet. That is, until a pair of strong hands held him up higher.

His eyes widened. The boy on the other side of the mirror, not quite Conan yet, not without his trademark glasses, stared back at him with a surprised and somewhat terrified expression. Still held up by Kaito, he raised a hand hesitantly to touch his own cheeks, his nose, his forehead.

"This can't be…" he whispered, and shuddered. "This is… a dream, right?" He didn't like how shaky he sounded, and how vulnerable he looked, but that slight displeasure was washed away by the relief at the thought that he was one step closer to being normal. Even if he was hanging like a ragdoll in Kaito's hands, too numb to do anything. He looked at his feet, his hands, saw them tremble, saw how they were really his… "Pinch me, please."

He couldn't quite understand why he got so emotional, why he couldn't calm down. For all he knew, he might have to spend years as Conan, he might not return to his real body ever again. Just because he wasn't so tiny anymore… He was still far from being safe.

Shinichi barely registered as Kaito made him sit on the cabinet, and started wiping his eyes with a handkerchief.

"Now, now, no need to cry…" he said in a soothing voice. Crying? Was he crying? The thief just pinched his nose with a soft smile. "You'll be fine." They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Kaito took a big breath and broke eye contact to put him down to the ground, then turned away. "Let's have breakfast, okay?" He didn't wait for Conan as he hurried down the corridor and the stairs.


Saying that Shinichi was worried would be an understatement. He was way beyond that already – there were so many things he needed to settle, to explain still. He didn't realize it before, but back then he was a little bit relieved that it would be Haibara who would play his role, so he wouldn't have to face Ran yet. But if he turned back into Conan, there would be no reason to drag the girl into this (not to mention that she would downright laugh at him for being a coward).

And then there was Kaito. Shinichi wasn't so vulnerable anymore, he could actually walk on the streets, and function like a normal human, even if his current body gave him limitations. He didn't have to stay with the thief anymore. He could go back to the professor, catch up with Hattori, turn to his parents, or even crawl back to Ran, it didn't even matter who he would stay with, because one thing was clear: it wouldn't be Kaito. Normally, that is.

But the more he looked at him – first waltzing around the kitchen with a damn apron, looking unreasonably attractive and housewife-like, then sitting down with him and eating breakfast, trying to lick the jam off his hands, because he ate like a little child, messy and clumsy, but also adorable – Shinichi realized that this situation was anything but normal. He wasn't supposed to notice these things, wasn't supposed to care. But he did, and the fondness he had for Kid flared up inside him again. And honestly, Kaito wasn't helping either, giving him weird looks every now and then. Sometimes he seemed sad, other times thoughtful, and then there were those times when he had this odd smile on his face, that Shinichi wasn't sure how to interpret. At one point though he must've thought of something unpleasant, because he tensed all of sudden, and his appetite was almost completely gone too. It seemed like he just tried to force the rest of his breakfast down, before he eventually gave up and waited for Conan.

When they were finished, Kaito went to clean the plates and put away the food they left. The little knives and plates were clinking together in his hands – they were shaking terribly. Beneath his Poker Face were the slightest hints of distress, and Shinichi almost missed them – Kaito's eyes betrayed him in the end.

"Is something wrong?" It took a few seconds before his words reached Kaito, and even then he only got a low, absentminded hum as an answer. The thief started pacing back and forth between the kitchen and the living room. He looked like he was deep in thought, but he also seemed worried, and even somewhat… angry? Conan narrowed his eyes at him. When was the last time he was this pattern?

Eventually Kaito returned to his room, telling him that he can just watch TV or something. When he was gone, Conan, simply out of curiosity, checked the front door – it was locked, as he expected it. So were the windows in the house, and in a way so that he couldn't open them. The only way he could escape if he broke the glass – and that would make a sound, Kaito would hear, then he would find and catch him before he got too far. It wasn't like Conan wanted to run anyway – he just wanted to test how careful Kaito was with him.

Around noon Kaito appeared again, looking just as distressed as he did before, if not more. He only made food for Shinichi, he himself didn't even eat anything. When he was done, he left again, quietly apologizing. He was so out of character that Conan decided – he needed to investigate this. He was in the middle of sneaking around the house, when it hit him: A heist! When Kaito was like this the last time, it was just before his heist. What worried him more was, however, the way the thief ended up afterwards. He still couldn't forget the blood smeared on his white clothes, it haunted him like a ghost.

So there he was, trying to find a way to either stop the magician, or make sure that he wouldn't do anything stupid. The latter was kind of impossible, as he couldn't quite follow him like he would've pocket sized. Stopping him it is. The question was: how? He didn't have his watch anymore, and he doubted that knocking him out with something else would be easy. Should he beg him to stay? Shinichi had to let out a chuckle, just because of how ridiculous it sounded. Shinichi did not beg, and Kid did not listen to begging. Nothing came to his mind.

With a huff, he sat down on the couch, swinging his short again legs back and forth. The TV was humming quietly in the background, while he was trying to think. He fell asleep though, and without coming up with a good idea.


When Conan opened his eyes again, the whole house was dark. It was late already. With a soft groan he sat up (apparently he somehow fell to his side and didn't wake up), and almost got tangled in the blanket that covered him. Paying no mind to it, he got up. He had to find Kaito, he had to-

The front door creaked, and Shinichi turned so quickly towards the sound that his neck ached. He saw a dark figure in the doorway with a cap on their head, and sports bag hanging from their shoulder. The person noticed him, and seemed to watch him. And then they put their bag down and walked over to Conan. They walked silently and like a cat, they were almost predatory. Shinichi could only see their face when they were only a step away. Even then, their eyes were hidden under the cap, but know he knew perfectly who he faced. That grin was enough.

"I should've drugged you…" the boy in front of him murmured.

"You think I'd have fallen for that trick again?" he asked defiantly. The soft laugh he got in return made him shiver.

"Oh forgive me." He was downright purring, as he raised a hand to caress Shinichi's cheeks. "Well then… it's bedtime for you, Tantei-kun."

The last thing he saw was the pink smoke embracing him.