Written July 26 2021
Posted on Wattpad September 4 2021
Posted here January 7 2021

A small sense of shock filled Conan as he regained consciousness, he'd been knocked out. But why was he still alive? Surely there'd been more than enough time for him to be killed while he was out. The tiny sleuth quickly realized that he didn't recognize his surroundings, he was in a tidy room that had its walls covered in shelves that contained countless books. He actually recognized a fair amount of them since the majority of said books seemed to be crime and mystery novels. The wheelchair in the far left corner caught his eye, it was an expensive looking model.

Conan sat up, the pastel blue blanket that's been covering him pooling in his lap as he did so. He wasn't restrained, and the door of the bedroom that he was in was opened just a crack. Wherever he was, it didn't seem that he was trapped. Had he gotten rescued by a good samaritan? That seemed highly improbable. Maybe his kidnapper had just brought him to some random house? But why hadn't he been restrained.

The sleuth quietly hopped out of the bed, absently noting that his clothes were different than what he'd been wearing. That meant that his newly acquired tracking devices had been disposed of before he'd even gotten the chance to see if they actually worked.

"Oh hi!"

Conan blinked in surprise when someone who looked like a slightly younger and messy haired version of himself as Shinichi pushed the door open. The teen didn't look hostile, it was actually quite the opposite, the other looked very friendly. Conan took note of how the other was holding himself up with just his elbow crutches, portraying an illusion of him standing "Why am I here, and where am I?" Conan cautiously inquired. He still had his power shoes on, which was odd. He wouldn't use them against the injured teen unless he had to.

The teen smiled, it was a kind but also a bit mischievous "I kidnapped you to stop you from being stupid and getting yourself killed" He entered the room a bit, just enough that he wasn't blocking the door "I also may be able to help you with your height problem"

Azure narrowed "I don't know what you're talking about" If he was the one who'd kidnapped him, his disguise abilities must be phenomenal. The current appearance of an injured teen was a great choice, he'd unknowingly dropped his guard. Conan eyed the juggling ball that was just peeking out from under the bed, it should be sturdy enough. Having forgotten that he'd already blown his cover, Conan quickly activated his power shoes and kicked the ball at the kidnapper's left crutch to startle them. It would buy him a few seconds as the kidnapper fixed his posture. To his surprise though, the other actually fell down, hard.

"I didn't think you'd actually attack me..." The kidnapper was grimacing, legs sprawled under him awkwardly as he pushed his upper half up with his arms.

Conan's face soured with regret "I thought it was another disguise..." He was a horrible person. The shock of the other falling had made him pause.

"Fair enough..." The injured teen answered, frowning as he examined the now broken left crutch. The impact had travelled up to his arm, it was already starting to bruise around the harness. He took in a breath before meeting the sleuth's gaze "I am on your side, the Crows hurt people close to me, and I've already unshrunk someone before" He paused "My name is Kuroba Kaito but I prefer to just be called Kaito" Kaito added on.

"The Crows?" Conan was somewhat reluctant to believe the other, but... There was a chance that he was telling the truth. He could live as himself again.

Kaito nodded "Their real name is unknown so I just call them that since they're dressed in black and kill so many people" He manually moved his legs with his arms to prevent the blood flow from being cut off "They're powerful and have agents planted almost everywhere" Indigos narrowed as his tone suddenly became angry despite not rising "Why did you return so close to your old life?! Do you want everyone you know about to die?!" The last part came out as a low hiss "I was just a fan of your cases, yet I managed to figure out who you were"

Conan paled "I-" He didn't know what to say.

Indigos softened "Sorry, I just really hate it when people die and seeing someone as smart as you being so stupid..." He let out a sigh "You were probably confused so you going back is understandable, but you shouldn't have stayed there. Being put in the newspaper right after Kudo Shinichi disappears? Seriously?"

"I have nowhere else to go" Conan stated, looking thoroughly chastised. He completely understood where Kaito was coming from "What else was I supposed to do"

"Keeping your head down for one..." Kaito sighed "You're not going back there, you will be my long lost half sibling that I spotted as I passed an orphanage a few days ago. A blood test was done as a joke, but the match was enough of an incentive for my guardian to adopt you too" Conan's dumbfounded expression was funny "Edogawa Conan will go back home to america and a little after that proof of Kudo Shinichi's death will be found"

"You can't just decide that!" Conan hissed "Ran would be devastated!"

Kaito nodded "The truer the grief, the safer everyone you care about will be. Your friends and family need to mourn you. It's cruel, but I made sure to fake the other person who got shrunk's death as well" Kaito pursed his lips "They had a 12 year old daughter and no wife, now he's himself again and living with his daughter once more" He licked his lips "I didn't legally exist until around 4 years ago, you can't take too many risks when it comes to the Crows"

Shoulders tense, Conan could tell that Kaito was speaking the truth "What happened?" Why would it be safe for that other person now compared to before?

"I'll tell you everything, because I don't want you snooping around and getting yourself killed"