Disclaimer:

The Characters and World were created by Gosho Aoyama. I do not make any profit, the only reward I get from writing this, are the comments my readers leave behind.

Relationships:

Ran x Shinichi (past to present), Shinichi x Kaito (future)

Chapter 1: Two years

Finally weekend. Not a nice one, mind you, since the weather forecast promised storm rain and the apocalypse. But it did mean he was released from the slow process of rotting his brain by relearning elementary stuff. If he could at least read some interesting books or other stuff. But he had tried – and failed – since not only the teacher had been a bit cross with him for not paying attention (So what if he could still answer the questions simply by splitting his attention 1 to 99?), but Haibara had scolded him for his suspicious behavior and he had a three hour lecture about appearing to be a normal kid. And normal kids didn't read highschool to college class books.

So now he was stuck (mostly) with doing things either in an underhanded way, like copying books on paper (which would make it superfluous to bring a book to school, since he would have to read it if he copied it by hand) or having them on his phone (and nearly getting caught 'playing' in class and getting scolded by Ran. Right.). Or simply enduring the torture.

He was still a bit twitchy from their last run-in with the Black Organisation, however things had cooled down again and his paranoia begun to settle a bit.

The night was dark and stormy, as promised, when Conan, sitting on the windowsill in Professor Agasas house contemplated about what his life had become. By now about two years had passed, since he found out about the Organisation that had shrunk him that fateful day in Tropical Island.

Since then he had been hiding. Living his life as a child with the mind of an adult at his childhood friends - and at the same time romantic interest – home. Even now it sometimes was hard to believe, even though he saw the proof every time he looked into a mirror.

An almost soundless sigh passed his lip as he looked away from the outside, where rain was splashing against the window and let his feet dangle before he quietly slipped back to the ground. With a rueful smile to his reflection in the glass, he turned around and tiptoed back to the room where he had a futon on the floor next to Haibaras bed. The former Black Organisation member was sleeping peacefully. While sleeping, Shinichi thought, she really looked like a kid. He did know that, if Ai ever found out that he thought her to be quite cute while sleeping, the demon she actually was when awake would make his life hell.

Slipping under the cover and pulling the blanket up to his chest, he lay down on his back and crossed the arms behind his head. Two years of his life, gone because of his insatiable curious mind and reckless... no, arrogant behavior back then, thinking himself invulnerable.

Restless he rolled to his side and closed his eyes, trying to banish the almost depressing thoughts by thinking about other stuff. Elementary school was easy, but he had become fond of the kids that had so persistently burrowed their way into his heart. Even though Ayumis crush was kind of disturbing, since she was so much younger then him, in mind and body, and despite Gentas recklessness and Mistuhikos jealousy, they had formed a close group. Dare he say it? It was almost fun to be with them. Kinda.

The next morning began with a splash of water to his face.

"What the -?!" abruptly sitting up he found himself face to face with teal colored eyes of the smirking demon child. Oh great. She was awake. Non of that normal child vibe visible anymore.

"Morning Kudo-kun." she said, standing up and slowly walking out of the room "It's getting late." standing on her tiptoes to put the water gun she had used on him on a shelf before adding "I thought I would help you out since you didn't get up on your own and apparently forgot to set your alarm." Throwing one last smirk over her shoulder she was gone, while Conan was still rubbing the water from his face. Evil. Pure. Evil.

It was still relaxing to sometimes be able to loose the childish mask he had to war almost constantly, which is why he quite enjoyed being at the Professors house. At times like this he could read or learn the things, that someone his mental age would be challenged by. It was his way to keep up with school stuff from his life as Shinichi Kudo. It was a lot harder to stay up to date and the things he could spy on occasion in Rans books or school-notes were far and few in between. When he was still in high school, he had been ahead of his classmates. He did fear how much he time he lost would set him back.

"Ne, Haibara..." sitting on the couch and rereading 'The Sign of Four' he passed a glance at the girl calmly drinking tea while typing something at her computer "..."

"Out with it, Kudo."

"... I was just wondering if you made any progress with the cure..." Conan mumbled while fixing his eyes to the text. It had been a while since he last asked. His eyes stayed at the same spot, he feared and anticipated the answer, so he could hear the pause in Haibaras typing, before it continued. There was a long silence and Conan almost decided that Ai wouldn't answer his question, before she spoke.

"Not much progress. I've told you before, the cure we have works. Temporary. I still need to find out the original composition of the APTX to make a final cure."

Conan remained silent and listened to her typing, knowing that she wasn't finished yet. He didn't ask her often, that was because he knew what she would tell him since the words rarely changed. Still, from time to time he needed a reminder, to make himself believe that it was possible to return to his old life.

"The reason why I can't give you more of the temporary cures is, that it's extremely stressful for your body to change not only once, but twice in such a short time. The fewer temporary cures you take, the better, since it is very much possible that your body will exhaust itself if they are used too often."

Another long pause.

"... I'm sorry, Kudo. It will probably still take a long time to get a final cure. The process to make the APTX 4869 took years. Years before I actually worked on it myself. The cure... will probably take a lot of time to make too."

Giving a low hum he turned the page without really reading anything, before closing the book with a snap and setting it to the side.

"Thank you." he said and saw her peer over her shoulder to him. Managing a small smile he shrugged his shoulder in a slightly helpless gesture.

"I just needed to hear it again." he did know that he was reminding her of the past she would rather forget, and was kind of sorry that he brought it up again, but it did help him to hear she was working on it and hadn't given up yet.

"Anytime." came her almost cold reply as she turned back to the monitor.

Shaking his head he grabbed his book and left her to her own devices, before his breathing annoyed her enough to make her do unspeakable things to him.

Later that day he found himself walking home.

After entering the apartment above the office he threw an "I'm back!" into the living room and was greeted by Ran from the kitchen.

"Welcome home! How was your sleepover?"

"It was cool! The Professor showed us a new Game. It's too bad that due to the flu the others had to stay at home."

It was now his day to day life to play the child he was in body to the people around him. Sometimes it was confusing. It was hardest to act like a child, while on a case. There were very few instances where he could simply show his true self. The safest it was with Agasa and Ai, both who obviously knew about his secret. His parents were rarely here, which he preferred, but he knew he could count on them. Then there was Hattori, who had also become a close friend. Even though that guy was far too honest and a bad lair to boot. Lastly there were the Kaito Kid heists. It had actually become one of his favorite pastimes to attend, since not only could he – in a safe environment since Kid insisted on his no hurt policy – apply his mind to uncover the tricks and mysteries the magician masterfully constructed. The chase was also often interesting. Not only that, the criminal had at times helped Conan out, pretending to be Shinichi – not that he was grateful for some of these moments, but it had saved him from being uncovered - or helping catch the criminal. He wouldn't call them friends, but they weren't enemies either.

On that note, Shinichi thought, it seemed as if Kid had send a new heist note and it made front-paper news again. He couldn't help the tendril of excitement that shot through him, since the last time Kid showed his face had been almost two months ago.

Stretching his neck to read the papers that were still being held in Kogoros Hands, he found the note that was being shown on the picture and burned it to his memory, so he could copy it on a paper later. The time and date was already obvious to him, though the location and target eluded him for now.

A glance into the kitchen showed Ran at the stove, wearing an apron and humming to a melody in the radio. It made him smile to see her like this, even if he missed her terribly, he was glad to see her in a good mood. Reminding himself to phone her soon he sat on the couch and and fiddled with his notebook, where he put down Kaito Kids new heist note and thought about it.

When the sunlight's glory is gone,

a dove will happen to wing on,

to the moonlit, starry sky.

There is no rest for the wicked.

Well, Conan thought, nibbling on his pencil. The riddle was actually straight forward this time. sunlight's glory gone, meant when the sun set. So. At sunset. The next two lines probably indicated the target. A dove, moonlight and starry sky. All three could also stand for the Magician thief, who probably owned a few of the animals himself, if the time where he dressed as Shinichi Kudo and became a bird stand was any indication. The last sentence... either hinted also at the target but it could also stand for Sunday, since that would be a day for rest. Normally. If a wicked thief didn't send heist notes to a certain poor police department and said department didn't have to get up and chase the magician around the location.

Conan leant back and closed the small notebook, he would have to look up if any interesting jewelry arrived lately. Going to his room to use the laptop would have to wait until after dinner though.

For now he was relatively sure that the moonlight magician would steal the target next Sunday at sunset. Plenty of time to get to know the location and target himself.

A/N:

This is my first time trying to write a story. I hope I have not bitten of too much by making my first work a multi chapter fanfiction.

As things stand, I have a rough idea where I want to go, but to get there I will still have to fill in a lot in between now and then.

The first few chapters stand, however I cannot promise you that I will not change something later on for a purpose in the story later on.

I am German so there will probably quite a few mistakes in the text (though I tried to read it over several times). If you find some, please point them out to me so I can correct them later on :)

Lastly: Since I don't know my update speed yet, be prepared for slow, irregular updates. You have been warned :3