Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait! I really needed to take a break, and I wasn't exactly in the condition to write either, so this chapter got horribly delayed. Forgive me for that.

Please enjoy!


Kaito looked at him like he was fire that has just scalded him. Conan supposed that this was to be expected, so he tried not to feel bad about it, but the more the magician stared at him, wordlessly, his Poker Face gone completely, the harder it got to ignore the burning feeling in his chest.

"You…" he started in a raspy voice. "You don't know what you're saying." Conan only frowned at that. It used to be such a relief that the thief didn't treat him like a child even with his current body, and now there he was, doubting him. He was a tiny bit annoyed.

"I know exactly what I'm saying." he said, looking into the other boy's eyes. He wanted to seem confident, even though he didn't feel like that at all. And maybe it worked, because Kaito just gave him another dumbfounded look, his cheeky teenager self and the overconfident thief persona nowhere to be seen. When he leaned closer, Conan forced himself not to lean back, and braced himself for the answer he was going to get.

"Do you mean that?" He sounded… wary. Of Conan, of the situation, of everything that concerned the two of them. It was as if he was talking to a criminal, interrogating him. For a moment, Conan wanted to become pocket sized again, he wanted to become "Arthur" again, or turn back time and never meet the thief like this. Still, he kept his act up, and nodded.

"I do." There was finality in his voice, but for some reason, it didn't bring relief, just some bitter taste in his mouth, and a heavy feeling in his chest.

"You have lost your mind." Five words, one sentence – that was all it would've taken to pierce Conan with dread, if not for that soft smile on Kaito's face. "Completely, entirely… you're a fool, Kudou Shinichi. Do you really trust me that much?"

"I…" Oh, how much he wanted to say that he did, and it annoyed him to no end that he couldn't. And not only that – he began to worry, to fear, and the resolve his forced upon himself was crumbling under the other boy's stare. Something told him this wasn't a good idea. Something else told him it was the best he ever had. Which one was he supposed to believe?

The bitter chuckle he heard broke him out of his thoughts. Kaito still had the same smile on his face, but maybe this was the first time that Shinichi was hit by how fake it was. The magician didn't look hurt, sad, worried, just mildly amused – and now he couldn't see what was happening behind the mask. It was the most perfect Poker Face he ever showed. It wasn't even terrifying anymore, just painfully sad.

"It's fine" he said quietly.


The next day for Conan, again, started with him being on his own. No wonder, as it was a Monday, and Kaito had apparently school. So it was perfectly natural that he wouldn't be at home at 10 a.m., but Shinichi found it quite annoying.

So, while grumbling to himself and simultaneously denying the fact that he was, in fact, grumbling, he marched down the stairs to the kitchen. His breakfast was there again, bread with butter and honey, but he found no note next to it. Nor on the fridge. Something dark and heavy seemed to settle on his heart, as he frantically ran through the house, to find anything – no tiny bits of paper with endearing messages on them anywhere. The books and DVDs remained where they were – looks like Kaito didn't even touch them.

The house, despite the pleasant, late spring weather, felt cold, and for the first time ever, so unwelcoming that Conan wanted to run away. A day before he was only joking, but it seemed like he was in a cage, and the one who kept him inside didn't even want him there.

The night before, after their little chat, they were both completely silent. There was a barrier between them, made of nothing but air, yet it seemed to be stronger than any brick wall. Or door. Like Kaito's, that was locked after he went to sleep – he didn't even wait for Shinichi. With no other choice, he went to the room he woke up in that day, right after he took a quick shower, and fell into a dreamless sleep after what seemed to be hours.

He got spoiled, it appeared. Almost three weeks, enough to make him get used to smiles, to hugs, to laughter, to caring… And honestly, it annoyed him. Just when he finally accepted his feelings, and finally gathered his courage to… say something about it, even if it wasn't a confession… And the damn thief decided exactly that time to separate himself entirely from Shinichi. All because he failed to say that he trusted him.

He couldn't hold back the groan as he thought about it, while he slowly went back to the kitchen. He didn't even want to look at food, but since he figured that starving himself would do him no good, and also, just a tiny bit because it was Kaito who prepared it for him, he climbed up on the chair, and started eating. He only ate half of his bread when he realized that he wanted to drink something, but there wasn't anything for him on the table. He spotted the milk on the kitchen cabinet, though, so with an annoyed huff he climbed off the chair.

While it wasn't so bad as being pocket sized, having the body of a small child still came with limitations – access to high things, for example.

"I'm 18 and I still need a damn chair to reach everything…" he grumbled. Finally, chair in place, he climbed on it and stood up.

And right in that moment his vision flickered. White spots danced in front of him, blinding him, making him dizzy. He reached out, but only blindly, to hold onto something, but his limbs shook terribly. He felt weak all of sudden and he wasn't aware of what he was doing anymore.

The sudden wave of pain in the back of his head was the last thing he felt before he blacked out completely.


Beep. Beep. Beep.

Thin sheets, unwelcoming bed, awful clothes, the smell of disinfectants, and the constant throbbing in his head woke Shinichi up. And the constant beeping. His eyelids were heavy, he couldn't really lift them up yet, so he focused on the things he felt and heard – and he decided that he didn't like any of it.

He couldn't quite remember what happened, but he was almost one hundred percent sure that he was in a hospital. As soon as the thought hit him, he forced his eyes open. The light – white, cold, unfriendly – blinded him for a moment, but when he could see again… Yup, a hospital room.

He didn't see anyone in there, not a doctor, or a nurse. Kaito was missing too. He was getting worried. He didn't know what happened to him, which hospital he was in, did others know that he was there…? So many questions, they made his head hurt.

"Oh right… my head…" he mumbled to himself. As he raised his palm to touch the back of his head, he found a bandage there. It must've been pretty bad, he thought with a wince, when the throbbing got stronger.

And then he saw it. A bouquet of blue roses, standing in a vase, on the table next to his bed. And among the blue petals and shining, green leaves, something white peeked out – a card. Slowly, carefully, Shinichi reached out to get it. There wasn't much written on it, and there was no signature either, but he realized who left it there for him.

I trust you, said the card. Shinichi didn't understand at first what it was supposed to mean, but it became awfully clear when the door opened and people, like flood, filled the room.

"Conan-kun!"

"Ku- Conan!"

"Conan-kun!"

Ran… Hattori… Ayumi-chan, Genta, Mitsuhiko…

He swore his heart stopped for a second, and not only because he met them again. He figured it out.

I trust you not to tell them. Goodbye.