28: I Promise!

Shinichi's POV:

     Kai leads the others into the living room, whilst I head to the study/library with Mitsuhiko, the detective boys too busy admiring his basic magic to pay any attention to me and Mitsuhiko. Once safely in the study, surrounded by doves, my friend spoke up.

    "Shinichi-Niisan? Or is it conan?" He asked accusingly. It wasn't a question. Wait. Had he figured that out on his own? Or had he seen me..... change? I look at him in disbelief, unable to form any coherent words. If this is Haibara's doing, I'm slipping a sedative in her drink and letting Kaito practice some of his tricks on her. (Something she'd probably kill me for, and if this was her doing, then I suppose it's better than the chilli powder, or was it an irritant? That she put..... as revenge.)

I was going to deny it, tell Mitsuhiko such an idea, that a child could also be a teen, was ridiculous, when he smiled nervously, in a way that made me shudder. I nodded to my friend silently, leaning against the door and asking how he knew. Why he even knew really.

"You keep telling us that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. Ne, Conan?" I smile, he was quoting one of my favourite lines from Sherlock Holmes. "Well, I kinda always knew you were weird, no one else at school is as smart as you, I mean, how many of us seven year olds can spend a whole lesson asleep and still get top marks? Also, the way you behave is more like ran-oneesan or heiji-Niisan. I saw you use that bow tie of yours to make hakase's voice once, and your way of thinking makes us detective boys feel stupid, when we're actually top of the class not counting you." Mitsuhiko has put as much thought into this as Ran did. Why am I surrounded by people with above average intelligence? But why am I not surprised? I suppose the detective boys were bound to find out eventually.

"Shinichi-Niisan? I saw you, as we came in. You were conan. No one else saw. I won't tell them." I guess there's no hiding it anymore. I was planning on telling him and the other two anyway, when this was all over. I sigh, kneeling down so I'm face to face with my young friend. I produce a pair of glasses from my pocket, focusing for the briefest of moments, and I'm conan again. Mitsuhiko smiles, laughing quietly.

"You're a pretty good actor, Shinichi-Niisan."

"Mitsuhiko, just call me Shinichi." I tell him, putting my glasses on. I was debating wether to just show the others, but something told me Haibara and Doyle would throw a fit. I change back to Shinichi, feeling a familiar pain run through me as I do. No. Not now. We're so close...

"Shinichi-Niisan?" Mitsuhiko asks me worriedly, as I clutch my chest. This wasn't like my usual panicked changes. It was different. I looked to my friend, fear evident on his face.

"Get Kaito, hurry!" I managed to cry, as another wave of this oh so familiar yet unfamiliar pain raced through me. Mitsuhiko noticed the urgency in my voice, and raced out of the study, shouting for 'Kuroba-San'. She warned me I thought bitterly, wishing I'd listened to her now. My vision was getting blurry now, but I felt the warmth of someone pressing their body close to me, and as my hand touched long fur, I realised wolf-chan was beside me. Was I laying on the floor? Or was I still knelt down? I'm confused, disoriented. I know I'm in the study/library, but all I'm really aware of is how much pain I'm in.

"Oi, shin~chan? shin~chan!" It Kai's voice, but it's distant. I can't stay awake for much longer. Wolf-chan is whining, and the last thing I know before I black out is the warm arms of Kaito wrapping around me. I'm sorry Kai, it's too much. I know I'm a Baka.

Kaito's POV:

The detective boys were scarily bright. I mean, they put most kids their age to shame, but I guess that was just shin~chan's influence. I'm in the middle of one of my favourite tricks (which much to my dismay was figured out by the little girl yoshida-chan.) when the third 'normal' member of their little group appeared, shouting my name.

"Kuroba-Niisan! Library. Hurry. Shinichi......." he gasps out, fear on his young face. I don't question him, I don't even finish my trick, much as I love magic, I do a neat backflip, launching myself over the heads of all five children, turning and racing into the library.

"Shin~chan? Shin~chan!" I exclaim in fright, when I see him just lying there on the floor, staring up at nothing. Wolfchan is lying next to him, leaning softly against his side. He's Dead still, not moving. I almost panic. Almost. The gentle rise and fall of his chest reassures me slightly, as I kneel beside him, scooping him up in my arms as I check his pulse.... my eyes widen, and I let my famous poker face shatter.

"Shiho-San!" I scream, not caring about giving away the devil- girl's name. All I care about is my preschools detective, my rival, my critic, my love. His eyes flicker closed, as I cradle him in my arms. I don't notice ai-chan beside me, so wrapped up in my fear and concern for my boyfriend I wasn't even aware of anything else. I jump, startled, as the mini-scientist speaks.

"RAN ONEECHAN, CALL AN AMBULANCE. NOW!" She shrieks, turning to me and shaking her head. She lowers her voice so the other children, Doyle included don't hear her. "We can't help him here. I told him his body needed to adjust to his condition slowly. But he didn't listen. He never does. We'll be lucky if he makes it to the hospital." No. No, no, no,no, no,no, this isn't happening. I mean, it never really occurred to me before, but I realised I'd always expected it to be the other way around, after all, shin...Shin~chan didn't make himself a big white target every few weeks, and wasn't a wanted criminal.

Ran-chan rushes into the room, a paramedic beside her. They try asking questions, but right now I'm too distraught. I vaguely hear ai-chan's voice in the background as they load my boyfriend into the ambulance, me by his side the whole time. He's not changing, but he's got the same pain stricken expression, even though he's actually unconscious.

Narrators POV:

The paramedics notice the boy's appearance immediately. They were both big fans of detectives, and followed the exploits and rumours of Kudo Shinichi and nemurino Kogoro closely. An identical looking boy was holding him in his arms, a weird expression on his face. One of them was Kudo Shinichi, obviously, this being the Kudo residence, but neither paramedic had ever heard of the young detective having a twin. The older paramedic, a middle aged woman, turned to the young girl, who was apparently baby sitting, and seemingly in charge.

"Gomen, but who are they?" She questioned, as her colleague helped the two teenagers into the ambulance. She was pointing to Kaito and Shinichi. Ran smiled sadly, remembering her silent promise.

"The sleeping one" ran said, gesturing to the crying ayumi and genta, and the white faced Mitsuhiko, implying she wanted to try and keep them calm. Ish. "Is my friend, Kudo Shinichi. The crying one, yes I know he doesn't look like he's crying, but he is, is our friend. He's been helping Shinichi with cases the past few weeks." Ran spoke calmly, but there was a dullness in her eyes that betrayed her concern, not that anyone except Hattori/ Doyle noticed.

"Are any of those children relatives? If so, they can ride with him, but only two." The female paramedic asked, as her colleague prepared to shut the door. Ran looked at Haibara and Doyle, a silent question on her lips. Suddenly, much to the paramedics surprise, a brindle greyhound suddenly races up, an assistance dog coat and harness on. Ran frowns. One of Kuroba-Kun's many tricks she supposed. The paramedic went to ask whose dog it was, when the young dog sprang forward, into the ambulance, sitting obediently next to the two boys. Before they could protest, the smallest of the three boys walked up to the ambulance and climbed in, blowing in Kaito's face to get his attention. The teen grinned softly, his genius mind already figuring out the plan, despite being in mild shock.

"Mitsuhiko-kun, I didn't realise you knew how to do that!" Doyle exclaimed, when the other boy started to tap out English letters onto kuroba's hand. The magician smiled cheekily, turning away slightly before tapping out a response, going back to holding Shinichi's hand afterwards. Mitsuhiko turned to the paramedic and asked if he could let him come along as a translator. Ran almost started to laugh. This was certainly Kid, but what on earth was going on? The paramedic nodded, shutting the door, despite knowing full well not even assistance dogs should be in the vehicle. They sped off, Haibara running to get hakase to drive them to the hospital, Ayumi, Genta and Doyle sitting in the back, ran in the passenger seat, and hakase driving. Haibara politely refused to go, claiming to despise hospitals. And Kudo-San.

Once they were out of sight, Haibara whistled, wolf chan appearing, a small container in her jaws. It contained eleven little capsules. Three red and white, four yellow, three blue and white, and one tiny pink one. The mini scientist grabbed her emergency rucksack, which contained some spare clothes and a couple of other things that she thought could be useful. Securing the rucksack to her back, and putting the case of pills in a zip up pocket, she hopped onto Wolf-chan's back, as the big dog was already laying down for her.

Arthur's POV:

Wolf chan clipped me into a bright yellow thing, that felt like the high wire harness but not. I wagged my tail ecstatically, knowing what to do when I realised this was an assistance dog harness. Wolf-chan must believe herself to be too big and weird for the hospital car. She huffs at me, ordering me to get a move on, so I use my racer legs to run outside, and dash to master Kaito's side, Shinichi-San lying scarily still. I sit down quietly next to master Kaito, glad to have something to focus on. I got so bored usually. And when I get bored I want to chew stuff.

Master Kaito runs his hand through my short fur, staring at nothing and everything. He's not saying a word, and I don't know hand signals like Wolf-neechan, so what do I do? I guess I have to learn new things. YAY! I flinch as the hospital car screeches loudly, racing away faster than me! The little boy who can use hand-talk taps something out on master Kaito's hand, is it because the man in the flashy jacket is here too whilst the lady drives? Master Kaito nods at the boy, though he's facing away. What sort of game is this? Shinichi-San is still, scary still. I want to bark at him, nip his ear, lick his face, to wake him up, but my harness means I have to be a calm dog, not the puppy I am.

I think we arrive, because the door opens and two white coats reach in to grab Shinichi-San, master Kaito letting them. The little boy pushes my harness handle into master Kaito's hand, getting out of the hospital car after. Master Kaito follows clumsily, asking me realise I was supposed to actually lead him around. Was master Kaito pretending to be blind? I follow the little boy, not really knowing where to go, but he seemed to know where to go so.... Grrrrrrr, I wanna play, I wanna chase a ball or learn some more! Wolf-neechan promised to teach me to read! I'm getting bored!

     "Mitsuhiko!" A voice called out, my ears pricking up as I see the boy smile. We're all waiting by a set of doors, master Kaito still staring blindly ahead. I push my nose into his hand, my ears are smoothed, making me growl softly in a dog version of a purr.... I loved my ears being smoothed. A white coat noticed me sat beside master Kaito, and asked why a dog was here in the icy-you ward, whatever that meant. Master Kaito, being the amazing actor he was, ignored him, but the Mitsuhiko boy tapped on his hand, translating as he tapped a response. How does master Kaito know how to tap talk anyway?

     "This is Arthur-Nii and his Dog, also called Arthur. He can't hear you or see you well." The boy explained, the two other kids and the mini teen not saying a word. (Did I mention that they were here? No? Sorry). Wait. Where was mini devil lady? I looked up at the whit coat, sniffing his outstretched hand and turning my head in disgust. He smelt like the scientist who shrunk me. Grrrrrrr. I don't growl though, it's rude. Or so wolf-oneechan says anyways. Master Kaito taps more on the Mitsuhiko boy's hand, the little detective translating.

    "Arthur is Arthur-nii's assistance dog. He was visiting Shinichi-Niisan. They grew up together. Arthur-Nii needs Arthur to help him, that why theres a dog. There's another assistance dog too, her name is Wolf-chan, but she's too big for the ambulance." I wag my tail and offer a paw, when the white coat turn to me and master Kaito, then I nose master Kaito's hand, guiding it to shake the white coats hand. I hope I'm playing the part right. What if I'm not doing it right?

Narrators POV:

   The doctor in charge looked at the famous teenager with mixed feelings. Whilst the boy wasn't in immediate danger, there was something odd about him. The few tests he'd managed to do (someone had called in from a medical school telling them to wait for them) indicated an unknown poison, but how it was affecting him he had no idea. He was kind of frustrated, because all he could do was keep the nationally famous teen stable.

    A sudden commotion at the doors made him look away from the teen, a young lady, about eighteen, walking through the doors. A huge white three legged assistance dog walked by her side. The doctor walked up to her and asked her why she was in a restricted area. The young lady smiled at him and produced a set of papers. A glance at them made him double take. He looked at the papers carefully, realising they were authentic.

     "I'm the medical school graduate in charge of his condition. How long has he been like this?" The strawberry blonde asked, though she already knew, considering she was the one who ordered ran about earlier. After a hurried conversation, Haibara too a shaky breath. She had no idea how they were going to react, but the FBI were on her contacts list in her hone, should she need them.

      "He was a victim of an experimental drug, stolen by the crime organisation he was trying to bring down. I'm the only expert on that drug. After all, my late parents created it. I can't say anymore about it I'm afraid.  But I can give him this:" she said, holding up a little pink pill. "It reduces the intensity of his symptoms, but it's only temporary. I'm just sorry The permanent antidote isn't ready for humans yet." The white dog suddenly nudges the young lady's hand, as the girl's legs suddenly give out. She swears.

    "No, no, no, I'm fine, honestly. Wolf here will help me in a minute." Miyano shiho assures the man, before the white dog noses her to her feet. The dog is stronger than it looks, as miyano was practically forced to her feet. The young scientist explains a bit more about the detective's condition, but leaves out the more sensitive details such as the changing into a child thing.

    🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊TIME SKIP🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺🕊🐺

     Shinichi's POV:

I hear voices around me, but it's all confusing. What happened? Last thing I really remember is Mitsuhiko telling me he'd discovered my secret. Where was I when that happened? Right, that's it, I was in my house, in the library. Wait, how long have I been like this? I feel heavy, it's hard to move, but the voices around me are clearer now, I can hear what they're saying.

"Ne, Kaito-San?" That voice is familiar, is that Mitsuhiko? Kai answers.

"He's conan, isn't he? He'll be ok, ne?" Wait, what is he on about?

"Hmmm, yes, he'll be ok, but he can't do what we planned now. No, I can't tell you. But it looks like I'm going to have to change our plan a bit. He's going to be here for a week at least, until he's strong again."

"Uh, Kaito-San, why do you treat me like an adult? I mean, I'm still in elementary school!"

"Shin-chan trusts you, and....." I can't take it anymore, I have to tell mitsuhiko myself, it's not up to Kaito! I feel really weird, but I manage to wrestle my eyes open and move slightly. Itai! That hurts. Oh, that's right! Haibara warned me, but I didn't listen. Wait. If that was true, that meant.... was I in my room? Or a hospital?

"That's.... enough....Kai....." I wheeze, shocked at how hard it was to talk, like I had a bad cold almost. Both Kai and Mitsuhiko turned to look at me, joy and confusion on their faces.

"Shin-chan! Hell, I was so worried! You just.... just..."

"Shinichi-nii, you just dropped dead in front of me. Haibara-San managed to get you breathing again, but she called an ambulance. I tried to stop her, but she just turned to me and told me she knows too...." Mitsuhiko finished, as Kai was silently looking at me with worry. I chuckled weakly.

     "Can anyone....hear us?" I asked, coughing as I did. I noticed the odd sensation around my face, and realised I had an oxygen mask on. Again. Mitsuhiko shook his head. Kai assured me we were safe.

   "Ok. Wait.... why is Arthur...." I asked, as the brindle dog made his presence known by sticking a cold nose in my hand.

   "Kaito-San pretended to be deaf-blind. Arthur is the assistance dog. I know how to use deaf-blind signs...." Mitsuhiko trailed off. I laugh quietly. It was so like Kai to use a disguise like that, after all, who would guess that a deaf-blind person was Kaitou-kid? After all, rumours had surfaced that Kid looked like me, so....

   "Shin-chan? We need 'Conan' for this to work, but with you in here, who? We can't exactly...." Kaito trailed off, aware of the seven year old listening curiously. I looked at him, considering the risk. I didn't want any of them involved, but it wasn't like they weren't already associating with Conan was it? I think Kaito realises what I was thinking, because he gives me a funny look.

    "You can't be serious!" He exclaims, revealing a shard of emotion before forcing his so called poker face back on.

    "Think about it Kai. He's almost the right height, he's as bright as him, and most importantly, is a good actor, though he pretends not to be." I say, Mitsuhiko giving us a completely lost look.

    "But....." Kai started to argue. I cut him off.

    "We can trust him. I promise."

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