Detective Conan and Assistant Arthur. Chapter 1.
~}I{~
'Conan' and 'Arthur' were oddly impressed by how… Reliable and efficient Kudou Shinichi was over the past week. Aside from the more 'technical' aspects of their new identities, the teenage detective managed to get all the two needed to prove they were 'Edogawa Conan' and 'Hirai Arthur'.
It was… A little unnerving that a teenager did something that their former employer did almost daily without all the resources they had… Even if it was also impressive…
Speaking of their former employees…
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"Finally! Some progress!" a tech stated out loud as they quickly clicked on the email from one of their informants. Eager to get at the recent photographic evidence of the recent location of the missing agents, codenames Gin and Vodka.
The latter wasn't of much importance but the former… The guy was a high-ranking and highly valued member of their Organisation. Getting him back was a top priority, and a direct order from Rum.
But as soon as the digital photograph was clicked on, the entire email became corrupted and was deleted faster than the tech could register what had happened.
The next thing to happen was a red alert for a data breach sounded and all the computers turned on without anyone being there. The tech watched in horror as the computers were pulling up files by themselves and the data within those files were being deleted by some unseen program.
Of course, the tech and five others who rushed in tried to stop this mass deletion, but to no avail. It wasn't until one of the techs watched the deletion fully, they understood why no one could stop this attack.
Their system was infected with their own Night Baron Virus. One that appeared to have been programmed to seek out files with specific words and then delete the files with those trigger words of any kind.
The only thing these people could do was try to back up any data that this Night Baron Virus didn't hit, but that wasn't happening quickly enough and then even the back-ups got infected. Soon enough, all the files that they were trying to protect were gone, forever…
Oh, the higher-ups aren't going to be happy about this…
~}I{~
Arthur smirked as he quickly started deleting the history of the library's computer he was using.
Granted, the library computer automatically deletes the history every time the current user logs out, but one could never be too careful. Especially this kind of project.
Conan couldn't help but stare in amazement at what he had witnessed. He watched the whole thing from over Arthur's shoulder the entire time, and he still couldn't believe how easily the other wrote the Night Baron Virus code, the fake email, and then sent it to their former employers. The silver-haired now pre-teen glanced around to make sure no one else was close enough to see what was going on.
Thankfully, it was an off day at an off hour, so no one was around aside from the librarian and Kudou Shinichi. And those two were too far away to see what they were doing.
"And… Done~," Arthur said with a smirk as he logged off the computer.
Conan couldn't help but whisper, "Good job. That should erase any files with our codenames."
Arthur stood up from his seat when he said softly, "All files with our codename will be deleted, including any images." He pushed in the chair when he added, "And they have no hope of recovering any of that data."
Conan smirked when he said, "Perfect." He glanced at the teenage detective when he whispered, "Now we don't have to worry about them finding us, but that brat…"
Arthur puts the other on the shoulder when he whispers back, "I know, but we don't have much of a choice. Plus, he is helping us…"
Conan knew that that was true. As much as the silverette hated the fact that he was uncomfortably close with someone who was buddy/buddy with the police, he knew it was probably the safest place for them. How ironic…
Arthur pushed up his (temporary) sunglasses when he told the other, "He's still a kid, but…"
Conan nodded at the unanswered statement before saying, "Keep your guard up around him." Arthur had to agree with the silverette.
Shinichi walked up to the two as he said with a smile, "Good news, you are officially members of the Beika Public Library." He handed them their new library cards when he added, "And here is your proof."
Conan took the one handed to him and stared at the neatly typed name printed on the card. Edogawa Conan. His new name. His new identity. His new life.
Gin's assassin instincts kicked in as he glanced over at the library card in his partner's hands and saw the name 'Hirai Arthur' on it. 'Conan' blinked to subside that part of him, the part that will always be there.
'Arthur' pushed the sliding sunglasses back up in place when he got out, "Thanks... Shinichi-niichan…"
Conan couldn't help but grumble out softly, "Do we have to call you that? We're a lot older than you "
The teenage detective playfully ruffled the silverette's hair when he commented in a cheerfully menacing tone, "Unless you want people questioning why a kid is calling a teenager by a younger suffix, you probably should stick to -niichan for me and -neechan for Ran~."
'The brat is enjoying this too much,' Conan thought as he ducked out of the teen's reach. He shoved his library card in his pocket and said as he fixed his hair, "Cht! Fine! But only in public!" Conan glanced around to make sure no one else was around. Which, thankfully, no one was.
Shinichi gave the shrunken men a toothy grin when he told them to follow him to their next destination.
~}I{~
After a day of errands, the trio finally returned 'Home'. Dinner was leftover beef stew from the night before. The shrunken men had to admit, the food was still good the next day. They even ate a second bowl of the stew, and they have never gotten seconds of anything before!
As Shinichi placed the used cutlery and bowls into the dishwasher, he told the two, "You know that you're going to start helping with the cooking, right?"
Conan and Arthur somewhat saw that coming… But…
The silver-haired now pre-teen glanced away as the shade-wearing one stated wearily, "Um, I can do that, but… Aniki… Well, what he can cook is edible at least…"
Shinichi raised a brow at this.
~}I{ The Next Day }I{~
Neither Conan nor Arthur were sure about what to think of this Agasa-Hatake person…
All this guy seemed to do was make weird inventions to sell… But at least that showed that he was good with technology… To an extent…
Arthur poked at the weird assortment of metal, trying to figure out what it's supposed to be. It made a sound similar to a Coo-Coo. The shrunken man raised a brow at the thing before he backed away from it and re-joined Conan and Shinichi with Agata-Hatake.
The Doctor of Technology, as he likes to call himself, presented some gadgets for the three to use. Most didn't work, but the ones that did…
Arthur slid the transition sunglasses on. The glass adjusted to the current light. Arthur blinked his mis-matched eyes as he realised that while it was brighter than he was used to but it was a manageable level. He couldn't help but say, "Hm, they're a little heavy, but they're great for me."
"Ah, that's good," Conan stated as he looked at the transition sunglasses. He knew the other was picky about shades. The silver-haired now pre-teen then had a flat expression before he looked at the Professor when he asked, "How are transition sunglasses an invention? They aren't anything new."
Agasa-Hatake moved his left hand so that his index finger rested on the upper part of his own glasses and his thumb was holding the lower part when he told Arthur, "Rub your finger and thumb like so, and you'll see." He moved his index and thumb the same way one would adjust a camera lens.
Arthur didn't understand what this was about, but he repeated the action. More to humour the old man than anything. To his shock, the left lense zoomed like a camera did. "What!" Arthur vocalised as he closed his right eye to get a clearer view of this effect, then stated, "Whao! It's like a built-in scope!" He turned his attention to the computer monitor on the other side of the room, and was stunned that he could see and read what was on the screen so clearly!
Conan raised a brow when he asked, "Really?" as he watched the other experimenting with the gadget.
Shinichi couldn't help but tell the inventor, "This isn't what I had in mind when I asked you to make a pair of transition sunglasses for Arthur." He had a 'why did you add that?' expression plastered all over his face.
Agasa-Hatake shrugged when he said, "Perhaps, but I figured I would give them something they could use and get some better feedback on some of my little inventions." The older man had a sheepish grin at that last part. He then added, "The 'scope' isn't the only thing I put in those glasses~."
Conan wasn't sure what to say about THAT, but Arthur replied with, "I guess I can do that, as long as I can keep these transition sunglasses at least. They filter the light just right! Not too dark and keeps enough of the light off my eyes!" The bulkier now pre-teen shut off the 'scope' and just admired how the sunglasses didn't completely darken everything but just enough to ease his hyper-photosensitivity (1) to a comfortable level. He's never been able to find a more perfect pair of sunglasses before, both his time before he became Vodka and after.
Agasa-Hatake gently tugged at his moustache with a proud smile when he said, "It was a challenge, I admit, but my geniusness managed to come out on top."
Shinichi couldn't help but state snarkily, "Which you wouldn't have done if he had needed to have an actual prescription lens. You're not an eye doctor."
That deflated the professor's somewhat inflated ego.
Conan glanced around the 'lab' to get a better idea of what the older man dabbled with. From what he could see right away, it was mostly junk, funky gadgets, or stuff to make tasks easier. The shrunken silver-haired now pre-teen could logically surmise that this inventor was not a successful one… Conan glanced at his companion when he thought, 'Still, he was able to create a custom pair of sunglasses with a particular specification and add some extra features that could be of use. So, he is not a completely worthless inventor.' The silver-haired now pre-teen knew he needed to keep an eye on this 'Professor'.
That was when Shinichi asked the elderly man, "By the way, did you complete what I asked you to do?"
Agasa-Hatake smiled when he nodded and replied, "Yup! Conan-Kun and Arthur-Kun will be starting Tentai Jr High next week without issue."
Both the shrunken men froze when they heard this and couldn't help but vocalise at the same time in shock, "Say what?!"
~}I{~
Conan most certainly did NOT like what was transpiring.
Not only did he and Arthur have to pretend to be pre-teens, but they, apparently, needed to attend Jr High school too!
This was NOT what either of the two would've expected. Also…
}{
Shinichi pushed his full plate away when he commented dryly, "Oh, now I get why Arthur used the words 'edible' when he described your cooking." He didn't want to add more to that, but he couldn't stop himself from acting on his emotions. The teenage detective just couldn't eat what Conan made…
The food wasn't that bad, but it was nowhere near good. Not a lot of flavour and the texture felt a little off. It was edible, at least, and that was about it.
Arthur wirily glanced at his silver-haired companion, who didn't seem amused by this whole thing. Conan clicked his tongue when he retorted, "Be thankful I don't cook with poison."
Shinichi commented dryly, "To be honest, I think poison would add some much needed flavour to the food."
Conan was quick to snap, "Urusei (2)!"
Arthur only kept quiet during this entire thing, knowing he couldn't do anything to help or harm.
~}I{ One Week Later }I{~
By the time Conan and Arthur started Teitan Jr High, they had everything they needed for said school. Especially uniforms that fit.
Of course, Conan looked annoyed and disinterested in the students in their new classroom while Arthur looked nervous. Their 'given' names were written on the blackboard behind them as they introduced themselves. Of course, Arthur tried to be as polite as possible despite his nervousness, but Conan's tone made it sound like he would rather be someplace else.
After a few seconds of silence, a few of the classmates burst out in unbritated laughter as they commented on how weird the new kids' names were.
Conan glared at the class when he growled out in aggravation, "Is there a problem you'd like to explain?" The cold glare from his eyes was enough to make the class so quiet.
Arthur placed a hand on the other's arm when he vocalised softly, "Aniki…" Conan glanced at the shorter before he folded his arms and let out a huff.
The teacher told the two new students to take the free desks, they did so without a fuss.
}{
Shinichi checked his cellphone for any new messages before he pocketed it and thought about the situation with the 'children' in his care. It was certainly an unconventional thing, for sure, but he knew that they were better off staying with him than the alternatives.
As class began, Shinichi's mind wandered to why he took in a pair of killers.
The two have been de-aged into pre-teens and had no one but each other in their corner. They had no home, family, allies, and hardly any money… They wouldn't have been able to survive the way they were, or at least last long enough before their former employers found them and killed them.
Shinichi wanted to take that Organisation down. From what he's been able to subtly pull from the two shrunken men, this Organisation was big and had a lot of resources, and used those to do illegal things from the Shadows… Especially murder…
Shinichi took in a breath before he thought in a hopeful manner, 'Also… This would be a good chance for them to start a new life. I hope I can help them with that.'
}{
Conan couldn't remember his school days outside the education that was given. Not because he wasn't interested in the people around him… Okay, maybe that was the reason why. But this was going to be a pain to endure.
'At least I'm not in this alone,' Conan thought as he glanced at Arthur, who was taking notes on the current class lesson. That made the now preteen realise that he should do the same, so he opened a notebook and did just that
}I{ Lunch }I{
The shrunken duo kept together as they ate lunch. Pretty much sitting at Arthur's desk to do so. And if they had their way, they would have avoided all the kids nearly teenagers, but…
"So, where are the two of you from?" one of the female classmates asked the now pre-teens.
Conan glared at her while Arthur was more taken off-guard at the Question. The heterochromatic of the two weakly offered, "Uh, Japan…"
The girl giggled when she said, "I figured as much, but where exactly are you from?"
Conan scoffed before he stated coldly, "What does it matter? We don't live there anymore."
"Aniki," Arthur scolded sternly.
The silverette retorted with, "What? It's not of any importance, so it doesn't matter." He shoved a piece of cooked beef into his mouth, not understanding why this was turning into a conversation.
Arthur let out a sigh before he told the girl, "We travelled around Japan a lot, so we didn't really have a place to call home until recently."
It wasn't a complete lie, yet it wasn't the full truth. Half truths. much easier to keep track of, and no reason to cover it up.
Conan shot the girl a glare when he stated coldly, "Now that your questions have been answered, leave us alone."
Well, that certainly made her leave…
Arthur gave the silverette a look when he stated flatly, "Really, Aniki?"
Conan let out a huff before he replied, "What? We don't need to talk to anyone more than needed to get through the day."
Arthur sighed, knowing that the other was technically right. He picked up his water when he said, "Maybe, but it might be good if you… Pull back on the aggressiveness." Arthur then took a sip of his water.
Conan let out a low grumble as he continued to eat. He did think about the other's words. The now pre-teen then thought, 'Arthur does have a point… But…' He shoved some rice into his mouth as he thought, 'I don't have a clue how to interact with brats… Let alone try to act like one…'
Yeah, no, Conan wasn't even going to try to do the latter- But maybe he can put some effort on the former… Only so he could blend in. Okay, yeah, Conan can do that. If he can think of that as a type of mission, he can find a way to complete it.
'Hmm… That can work,' Conan thought before he finally told the shade-wearing now pre-teen, "Fine, I can try…" He glanced towards the window when he muttered, "Can you help remind me of that?'
Arthur nodded when he said, "Sure, Aniki, I can." He used his chopsticks to pick up some of his lunch and ate it.
}I{
Once the school day had finally concluded, Conan and Arthur packed their things and got ready to leave. However, before they could even take a step outside the classroom, they were blocked by a few of the other students. Not out of malice, but out of friendliness… Too much of it…
Conan grabbed Arthur by the arm when he snapped, "Sorry, but we have someplace we need to be. Promised our guardian we'd be on time." The silverette then pulled the bulkier now pre-teen out of the classroom and past the other students.
The two made their way to the shoe locker to switch their indoor shoes to their outdoor shoes. But, they needed to find their assigned shoe lockers first.
"Was mine 103 or 130?" Conan asked as he looked between the two shoe lockers in question, trying to remember which order the numbers were.
Arthur opened his shoe locker, #127, when he said, "130. Ours are close to each other." He took his outdoor shoes and placed them on the stone floor as he slipped off his indoor shoes.
"Ah, thanks, Arthur," Conan said as he moved to shoe locker #130. He opened that locker and was relieved when he saw his outdoor shoes. onan did the same thing the other now pre-teen as he slipped out of his indoor shoes.
They placed their indoor shoes in their assigned shoe lockers, on the upper compartment of the locker. Then slipped into their outdoor shoes before they left the school. After they could no longer see anyone from Tentai Jr High, Conan finally stated in annoyance, "They could've waited until we got 'settled' before bombarding us with their stupid questions."
Arthur looked up at the silver-haired Now pre-teen when he said, "Very true, but they were trying to make us feel welcomed." He let out a breath when he added, "Though, it would've been nice if they didn't do it all at once." Arthur glanced at the silverette when he got out softly, "You were overwhelmed, right?"
Conan avoided eye contact when he grumbled out, "Too many people," The silverette was never a people person. He could handle small groups and be fine, but large groups with more than eight people was too much for him. And the class he and Arthur were in was a very large group… Too many people… People he didn't know… People with faces he's never going to remember…
"We're here," Arthur stated when they came to a building. Conan glanced up to see the words 'Mouri Detective Agency' written on the windows on the first floor of the building, right over a cafe on ground level.
Conan clicked his tongue before he stated, "Remind me again, why did we have to stop here?"
Arthur moved towards the stairs towards the Mouri Detective Agency when he stated, "Ran-neechan wanted our help to 'whip her dad into shape so he can actually do some work', or something along that line. Plus, Shinichi-niichan thought it would be a good idea for us to help the guy with the agency. Somehow."
Conan was skeptical about this whole arrangement, but they didn't have much of a choice. He followed the other as he thought bitterly, 'Yet another person who's too close to the police…'
It was still ironic that the closer the shrunken duo was to the police, the safer they were from the Organisation. There wasn't a reason they would ever think to look at the police unless they had confirmed info to do so, therefore, they wouldn't check the police and their allies in Beikai.
Arthur pulled the key to the office out of his pocket, along with the keyring it was attached to, and unlocked the door.
Conan raised a brow when he asked, "They already gave you a key to the place?"
Arthur glanced at the other when he said, "It's Ran-neechan's key, and she's loaning it to me until a copy can be made." He opened the door when he added with a bit of a sly smirk, "She would've given it to you, but you're still spooked from the first meeting." The bulkier now pre-teen then walked into the detective agency.
Conan wanted to rebuttal that, but… He knew that he couldn't without sounding unreasonable… The silver-haired now pre-teen let out a sigh before he followed the other into the office when he thought, 'If I were in my original body, she wouldn't be a threat.'
Arthur clicked his tongue at the mess of beer cans around the floor near the desk one Mouri Kogoro was sleeping at.
Conan let out a huff as he moved to 'gently' wake the so-called Private Investigator as Arthur started on collecting the cans for recycling. The silver-haired now pre-teen hooked his left foot on one of the legs of the chair the sleeping detective was sitting in, and effectively kicked it away from its spot, causing Mouri Kogoro to fall right to the ground with a loud thud. Arthur couldn't help but cringe at this when he saw.
Of course, Kogoro yelped at this as he rubbed his sore spots before glaring at the silver-haired pre-teen and snapped in anger and annoyance, "Oi! What was that for? I was having a nice dream!"
Conan clicked his tongue when he retorted bitterly, "Ran-neechan asked us to help whip you into shape, so we're doing just that, old man."
Arthur tossed a can in a plastic bag when he added flatly, "Plus, it's the middle of the afternoon… Shouldn't you be working rather than sleeping?"
Kogoro let out a huff as he moved to retrieve his chair and said, "Haven't had any clients all morning or the afternoon." He placed the chair at its usual spot at the desk. Kogoro then sat down when he stated bitterly, "Not like anyone appreciates my talents…" He propped his elbow on the desk and rested his chin on that palm. The self-proclaimed detective just stared off to the side, somewhat wondering why that Kudo kid took these two annoying brats in.
Conan rolled his eyes as he walked towards the small fridge to get a drink as he thought, 'Given that he doesn't have any 'talent', I can't say I'm surprised he doesn't get any clients.' He opened the small fridge to see what was there, and clicked his tongue in annoyance at all the cans of beer hoarding the space inside.
Arthur tied the bag and hauled it to a corner of the office to be taken out later for recycling. He let out a soft sigh as he wondered how often the so-called detective drank to have this many cans of beer laying around. Arthur then thought as he glanced at the office, 'Then again, it doesn't seem like he has much else to do if clients aren't coming by…' The now pre-teen could think of a dozen of useful things to do while waiting for another job, but some of those wouldn't track here.
Conan handed Arthur a can of cold before they sat on the couch and turned the tv on. They flipped through a few channels before they found something that appealed to them.
Kogoro stared at the two pre-teens out of the corner of his eyes, debating on what he should make them do to keep them busy. But he didn't have anything in mind and he doubted these two would be easily tricked, or be interested in some kind of treasure hunt. Kogaro let out a sigh as he pulled out today's newspaper and started reading the current events.
It wasn't long before the shrunken duo's first case in their new lives knocked.
~}I{~
To be continued.
~}I{~
1… This is the other headcanon I have for Vodka. I mean, come on, the guy wears sunglasses at night and in dark places, that HAS to be a major visual impairment unless you are hyper-photosensitive to light!
2… Urusei is Japanese for "noisy" or "so noisy", but the way it's sometimes used is like the words "shut up".
~}I{~