When the bird on Neechan's shoulder took flight only to vanish halfway across the room to be replaced by mini-Kudo in a puff of feathers. Heiji fainted dead away.

He didn't hear Kudo demand that Haibara-Han pay up.

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

After Heiji had recovered from fainting and gotten over the shock of a bird turning into his shrunken not-boyfriend, apparently at will, they headed into the dining area where his mother was just serving up dinner. Heiji found her relaxed attitude a little bit amusing. He also found it frustrating. Somehow.

Would she be half as relaxed if she knew she was sharing dinner with an ex-evil crazy biochemist not-child and a freaky shape shifting, Shinigami stalked, size changing genius detective? He doubted it. He was grateful to Neechan for distracting his okaahan by engaging in small talk, because the not so subtle worry she had was a bit irritating. It was as if she could sense something was up.

Conan-kun was arguing with Haibara-han over colouring pencils and the various brands and quality of said art materials, even as they picked at their meals. That was, they were arguing, until Neechan mentioned Fusae clutch purses. Conan-kun was ignored in favour of a better topic, though why the latest fashion of clutch purses was more interesting than drawing was beyond him.

     Heiji ate his meal in silence, still mulling over the total bombshell of finding out his best friend wasn't as human as he seemed. He had a lot of questions; how had it happened? why? when? Had someone made him this way? Had it been a freak accident? Were there others like Kudo out there? And how on earth did Neechan know about Kudo?

     Conan-kun was equally silent, picking at his food as usual, finger drumming a pattern onto the table. A habit he'd either picked up from Neechan or one she'd picked up from him, as she was doing the same, only with a different pattern to it. Huh. That was odd, now he listened to them. Neither tapped whilst the other was doing so.

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

Hattori Shizuka shot a worried look at her son. He seemed rather shell-shocked at whatever Mouri-chan had told him, even if he was doing his utmost to hide it from the two children currently bickering over colouring pencils and quality Arts and Crafts. The girl -Shizuka thought she was called Ai-chan- kept shooting those special, distrusting looks only a child could pull at her though, and Conan-Han knew something was up. Shizuka could see it in the much more subtle glances he was shooting at her son.

Shizuka knew her son was difficult to get along with at times, and was grateful for Mouri-chan's apparently willing friendship. There was Kudo Shin'ichi as well, though she'd never met the boy who Heiji so admired.

Conan-han too, had sort of befriended Heiji, Though from what Shizuka had gathered from her son, Heiji had met the scarily sharp child whilst looking for Kudo-han. The little boy had become Heiji's friend despite the age difference, and the woman was grateful. As she assumed Conan-han's current guardian Mouri-chan was. Both boys seemed to get along despite Heiji's social ineptness and Conan-han's apparent aloofness.

(Conan-Han was a too-bright child with a far too mature attitude. Shizuka could see that. She suspected the boy had difficulty finding and making friends his own age, much as Heiji did, and those two really were good for each other. Or she thought so anyway.)

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

After a relatively pleasant meal (in comparison to when it was just him and his parents) the two teens and two not-children to the comparative privacy of Heiji's bedroom, where they could talk in fairly uninterrupted peace. As soon as his door shut behind them, Heiji rounded on them and demanded answers. To give Neechan credit, she didn't seem flustered at all by the not so normal questions.

     Yes, as far as they were aware, Conan-kun was still human. Yes, it was fairly recent. No, he wasn't angry at the change. Yes, he was a bit miffed at being proven wrong about the supernatural. Yes, someone had done it to him, no he wasn't interested in demanding the witch responsible to change him back. He kept firing questions until he was satisfied.

     It wasn't until he was completely sure that Conan-kun (and by extension Kudo) were physically ok that something occurred to him. "Why are ya here? It's not just ta show me Kudo's new... thing is it?"

     "Shin'ichi-niichan? But he's not here Heiji-niichan." Heiji's eyes widened in fear as the sugary sweet tone of Haibara-Han and the fierce glare of Conan-kun shut him up before he put his foot any further in his mouth. Ah. Right. As far as he knew, Neechan didn't actually know about Kudo being Conan. She'd hinted that she knew sure, but clearly the two frankly terrifying not-children hadn't  told her. Yet.

     "It's ok Conan-kun. Everyone in this room already knows, ne? That is why we are here after all." Neechan soothed, shooting a fierce glare Heiji's way anyway. "And we shouldn't have to worry about Hattori-kun getting you mixed up with Shin'ichi, because you're going to see your Kaa-san tomorrow."

     Hattori paled as Kudo agreed far, far to chirpily. He prayed to whatever deity was listening that it was because Kudo was going to be in bird form most of this visit, and not what the evil-eyed-scary-not-child's presence suggested. "Shin'ichi-niichan might be coming to visit too, Heiji-niichan. But I won't be here, so there's no problem, ne?" Heiji couldn't help himself.

     "No! I... he can't! Ya said it yerself Kudo..." He lowered his voice as the weight of his fear got the better of him. "Tha next temp could really... could..." Heiji swallowed dryly. "I can't lose ya Kudo. I can't." The dark skinned teen couldn't hold in his emotions any longer, crumpling into a heap with a hiccuping sob as the dam broke.

     "It won't kill him. I wouldn't let my best and only lab rat test something if I wasn't sure it wouldn't kill him. Also, I kind of value his friendship somewhat. I have no intention of seeing Kudo-kun die, no matter how hard he seems to try on occasion." Haibara-Han stated, pulling a little pill box from her bag. She handed it to the bespectacled boy. If she cared about Heiji crying, she didn't show it.

     Heiji almost went for the rather sinister strawberry-blonde not-child. It took the combined effort of Kudo tripping him up and Neechan pinning him down to prevent him from doing so. "I'm not going to be taking it until tomorrow anyway, Hattori. Haibara's meticulous tests on my recent blood work and my recently improved health...."

"What do ya mean, recently improved health?" The Look on Kudo's face was reminiscent of a deer in headlights. Neechan made a strange, cat like sound at his shrunken best bud.

"The constant testing of antidotes didn't just affect Shin'ichi-niichan. Normal kids don't get sick as often as I do, or didn't you notice? And my body ached all the time. That can't be normal for anyone, ne?" Heiji's eye twitched in annoyance and concern.

"An' ya only thought ta tell me now?"

"Shouldn't it have been obvious, Hattori-san? Edogowa-kun was always a bit less energetic than the rest of the Shounen-Tantei. Anyway, I'm curious as to whether the bird thing is Edogowa-kun exclusive or if it transfers to Kudo-kun too." Haibara-Han grinned like a small but very dangerous shark. "And I'm sure you want to get back to doing whatever it was you were doing just before the last one wore off. It must have been something really interesting to warrant such a lovely shade of red, Hattori-san."

Heiji glanced at Kudo, who was blushing a cherry-red, much like himself. That shared memory was equal parts wonderful, embarrassing and frustrating. (What a time for the antidote to wear off though. Kudo had confessed, actually confessed, explaining why he didn't think he could be in relationship at that point but unable to keep it to himself anymore, then brushed his lips against Heiji's, before collapsing in agony and reverting back to mini-Kudo.)

The evil little scientist then loudly declared it was her bedtime, before rushing out of the room to change into her night-clothes. Kudo gave a childish, loud yawn and also declared it his bedtime, though he shot Neechan a flat glare when she suggested he share a room with Haibara-Han and herself.

     Heiji yawned himself. The not-kids were right; they needed to sleep. Tomorrow promised to be filled with falling corpses or triple homicide or something on a grand scale. After all, Kudo was cursed. (There was no other explanation for it. Kudo run into far too many incidental crimes for it to be natural.)

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     Tooyama Kazuha tapped her foot impatiently against the pavement, wondering where the hell her friends and their charges were. It wasn't unlike Heiji to make her wait, but it was a bit unusual for him not to text her.

     "Oi! Kazuha! Over here!" Kazuha rolled her eyes, then froze as she saw who was (or rather wasn't) with her childhood friend. Ran-chan had called her shortly before catching the train yesterday, just to indulge in girl talk. And warn her that Kudo-Han would be joining them today.

     Conan-kun was missing, but that was a given as he was visiting relatives today, but so was Kudo-Han. Heiji had a pinched expression on his face as if he was worried but trying not to show it. That made her wonder if Kudo-han was possibly too sick to come, or if he was stuck in a case or something. Though the poorly disguised worry sort of suggested the former rather than the latter.

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     Conan bit back a cry as a wave of intense pain and nausea washed over him. He clawed at his chest without really being aware he was doing so, the strain on his body almost too much. This part was always the worst bit. The actual change wasn't so bad, but the five minutes or so leading up to the event was torture. He bit back another cry as his body began to grow rapidly.

    He was hiding in a men's restroom not too far from where Ran and the others were meeting Toyama-chan, hoping no one would happen upon his painful transformation. Sweat trickled down his brow as Shin'ichi put some comfortable adult sized clothes on, having stripped down to his (too-big-for-Conan) boxers before the temp had fully kicked in.

     He put everything on except his shirt and jacket, pulling a small packet of wipes from his bag to clean off some of the sweat. He froze. His back felt... heavy and something had moved slightly behind him. Something soft and cool and... and... he turned his head stiffly to look. He only just managed to swallow the yell that tried to claw its way out of his throat.

     Shin'ichi closed his eyes and counted to fifty (ten didn't seem nearly enough), before looking again. He swallowed dryly. The offending white limbs flexed slightly as he focused on them. He reached out to touch one side of the cubicle he was still hiding in, fear and curiosity warring in side him as the white appendage moved at his will. He mentally cursed.

     The detective swallowed dryly again as the white limbs moved at his hesitant commands, a part of him wanting to stretch them out but unable to because of the restricted space. He didn't believe it. Even with the evidence attached to his back, he didn't believe it. It couldn't be. It was impossible. But it was.

     Maybe he should have been used to the idea that nothing was really impossible anymore. Even if some things were highly improbable. Like growing ten years in ten minutes, or sprouting huge white wings. Or turning into a bird. Could he hide them? Was it possible to just shift out of them like Conan did with Merlin?

     How long did he have to try and disguise his new... new... wings? Hattori was bound to come and get him if he took too long meeting up with him and the girls. He had to remain calm (easier said than done) and focus. He felt all along his wings, using nothing but his internal thought, searching for the same energy he'd already grown used to in Merlin.

     Several failed attempts at shifting the wings away had the Heisei Holmes realising that he was stuck with the feathery white weights. Shin'ichi sighed in frustration. He sat for a good few minutes just stewing in his frustration before a thought occurred to him. Was there a way to fold the offending limbs so they wouldn't poke through his shirt? Were they infinitely flexible like that American comic book character Archangel?

     Testing the flexibility of his wings was challenging in the restrictive space of the toilet stall, and they felt stiff and clumsy, but eventually he (somehow) managed to fold them into a rough, very fluffy rectangle on his back. They were still a bit big and clumpy, and would probably show even with his shirt on. He unfolded them and tried again.

     Third time lucky it seemed, as his wings (Wings! Holy... Shin'ichi had wings. White wings!) folded into what felt like a neat oblong on his back, the shape and weigh of it not unlike a folded backpack, but much, much thinner. It almost felt like his wings had shrunk or partially shifted away, even if he could feel the impossibility of fully shifting them away.

     (How was this his life. Seriously. He was now a mythical creature. It was not possible. Not possible! And he was thinking about it calmly. He must have gone crazy.)

     He slipped his shirt on over the folded mass of feathers, wincing slightly as the soft cotton tugged at his feather and ruffling them the wrong way. He smiled slightly despite himself. At least he wouldn't have to fake discomfort in front of Toyama-chan. He really was in a fair amount of discomfort.

     Carefully, he folded Conan's clothes and put them in the adult's back pack he'd brought with him, before exiting the toilet stall to check his appearance in the mirror. He looked pale; a healthy sort of pale rather than the sickly pale from the last time he'd been himself; his back and shoulders seemed slightly hunched due to the wings hidden beneath soft blue cotton, but otherwise he at least looked better.

     Once he'd slung the back pack up onto his back and adjusted the straps for his adult size, he really couldn't notice any physical differences, save for a slight stoop he'd adopted to make the bag rub less painfully on his hidden wings.

    He checked his watch and cursed, hurrying out of the restroom and towards the meeting place. If he was any longer, Hattori might come looking for him. Or worse, Ran might send Haibara. Now he just had to be himself, and only add a little bit of acting to the mix. Maybe later he'd have to pull one of his stumbling along but too stubborn to rest stunts, but for now he could just be himself. Which was something he used to take for granted.

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     "Kudo-Han?"

     "Shin'ichi?"

     "Kudo-kun. You are an idiot." Kudo smiled at the scary little neechan, even as Heiji himself scowled. Oh, the western detective knew the not-child was being her usual affectionate self, but it still annoyed him. Heiji eyed his best friend and rival critically, trying to gauge his health. All signs pointed to healthy, but weak, though Kudo was a good actor now, so he could just be hiding something.

    "Toyama-chan. Ran. Haibara. It's good to see you. And Hattori." Kudo winked at him, causing Kazuha to blush and Neechan to make an angry little cat noise in the back of her throat. "Ran. You're doing it again." Heiji grinned at the embarrassed look Neechan wore at Kudo's comment, straightening his face at the scary little Neechan's sub-zero scowl.

   Kudo hugged Neechan, then came over to lean heavily on Heiji. The western detective wondered what he was doing, until Kazuha asked if Kudo was alright. Ah. She'd seen him last time he was Kudo-sized as well. She was probably wondering if he was about to collapse on them again. Heiji slung a tanned arm around his friend's back.

     A soft but sharp inhale had Heiji paling slightly. Ok, so the strange feel of Kudo's back could well be due to the bag he was carrying there, but unless he had a cat or dog in there... nothing inanimate shifted under pressure like that except living things. He wasn't sure what that meant. Did Kudo have... was it possible that Kudo had wings hidden under there?

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     Shin'ichi stiffened as a tanned arm was casually thrown over his shoulders. A sharp intake of breath from both of them, as Hattori seemed to feel the subtle shifting underneath his soft blue shirt. Sharp green eyes flickered to him, relief flooding through him as he realised what that look was.

     Hattori wasn't fearful or scared, or even hateful. His eyes were filled with a soft worry and the budding love they both had for each other, even if they hadn't actually gotten round to a proper confession yet. Shin'ichi relaxed into his rival's hold slightly, both because he wanted to and it would help reinforce his cover around Toyama-chan.

     "I'm ok Toyama-chan. I'm tired, but I'm getting better. Slowly." Shin'ichi assured the girl, following along behind them to the Cafe Hattori had mentioned before they'd set off that morning. He continued to stick close to Hattori, though he no longer leaned on him.

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     Kazuha watched Kudo-Han carefully, checking his visual appearance against the memory of the last time she'd seen him. He seemed quite pale still, and the faint bead of sweat on his forehead suggested that he was probably a bit feverish, but he was nearly as skinny as six months ago, and nor did he seem to be struggling with walking unsupported. She did notice how close he was walking to Heiji though, which sort of suggested he might be worried about falling, but other than that....

     He looked healthy, compared to the last time she'd seen him, even if he did still look fairly sick, and She morbidly wondered if Kudo-Han was actually going to fully recover his currently relatively good health was only temporary.

     "We don' know, Kazuha." She eeped. She really hadn't meant to say that out loud, and Heiji probably knew that. Even so he'd replied honestly. The small girl shot a murderous glare at Heiji's hip, and Ran-chan seemed sad. Kudo-Han nodded in confirmation.

     "The current treatment has eased the pain and mostly cured the other symptoms. It's not a cure though, Toyama-chan. I'll explain more over coffee, my doctor will probably kill me if I don't eat properly." Kazuha almost laughed as Ai-chan grinned up at Kudo-Han, a chirpy little 'hai!' Causing the famous teen to pale even more.

     The little group made their way to the little cafe, finding a table for five easily enough. She and Ran-chan shared a pot of green tea for two and Ai-chan had a orange juice, whilst Heiji had a hazelnut latte and Kudo-Han ordered a black coffee. Ai-chan cheerfully ordered a kids breakfast meal, whilst Kazuha, Ran-chan and Heiji ordered breakfast sandwiches each, she noted that Kudo-Han ordered a kids meal himself, claiming he couldn't actually manage a proper portion anymore.

     Once they'd placed their orders, Kudo-Han cleared his throat. "I can't go into detail, Toyama-chan, so I'll tell you as much as I've told Ran and Hattori. Haibara knows because she eavesdropped when I explained to Ran. You already know I'm not... well. But I think you are curious as to what's actually wrong. Am I right so far?" Kazuha nodded. Kudo's blue eyes seemed to go sharp and frightening for a moment, before settling to a softer look.

     "You don't have to worry about my illness. It's not contagious unless you..." here the eastern detective paused and seemed to steel himself. "Unless my blood mixes with yours. An.. a..." Kudo-Han seemed to swallow thickly, as if to hold back his emotion. Ran-chan continued after it became apparent the detective couldn't.

     "Shin'ichi saw something he shouldn't have, and he was poisoned. One that has no antidote. He found an expert on the poison, and they've been helping him ever since. He's very lucky to still be here." Ran-chan seemed to be very carefully not saying something, and Kazuha had a terrible feeling that something was 'we don't know how much longer he has if a cure isn't found'.

     "Kudo? Ya feelin' 'k?" Heiji asked, as Kazuha saw the famous teen slump into Heiji's shoulder. The brunette shook his head and mumbled in a way that reminded Kazuha of Conan-kun. Ai-chan shot a filthy glare at her, and Kazuha suddenly felt awful for dredging up what were clearly traumatic memories for Kudo-Han.

     She hadn't meant to dredge up any bad memories, but she had, and it made her feel guilty. Then her mind helpfully processed the information he'd given and paled. Someone had tried to murder the Heisei Holmes, and the implications were that the criminal was still on the loose.

     Knowing Kudo-Han as she did (mostly from what Ran-chan and Heiji had told her), she knew the only reason the culprit had not been apprehended yet was because he either didn't have enough concrete evidence or he was using them to lure out bigger fish.

     Their sandwiches arrived, signalling the end of the serious conversation in favour of more menial things, though Kazuha kept thinking about how Lucky Kudo-Han had been. Was that why he was alway stumbling over murders? To balance out his luck? Or was it the other way around, and he'd survived purely because he had rotten luck the rest of the time?

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     Ran nudged her Osaka friend in the side as Hattori-kun and Shin'ichi excused themselves for a moment, Ai-chan pulling out her little sketch book to doodle cute cats again (probably some sort of unique code, but Ran wasn't going to speculate). Kazuha-chan seemed to be lost in thought still, though that was understandable.

     It wasn't everyday you learnt your best friends (not) boyfriend had narrowly escaped death-via-poisoning, especially when both she and Shin'ichi had implied that he might not recover. (And Shinichi's acting skills were doing their job of cementing that idea into Kazuha's head, cruel as it may seem.)

     (Ok, so the fact that Shin'ichi might die wasn't exactly a lie; if no true antidote was found, he really would have to go, leaving her to look after Conan-kun until he was old enough to not get Hattori-kun arrested. Which was a bit sad, really. Shin'ichi had lost everyone when he'd shrunk. To think he might never get the chance to get even some of that back...

     ...it hurt her. And the implication to Kazuha-chan of 'permanent damage at best' was true. Ai-chan had in no uncertain terms warned that even if she did create a permanent antidote, Shin'ichi might never be as healthy as he once was.)

     The cafe was mercifully quiet, yet it was also a bright a cheery little place, with good food at reasonable prices. Ai-chan had already eaten and was on her third page of doodles. She did wonder why it was taking the boys so long to go to the bathroom, but it was either because something had carried over from Merlin, or  because it was none-of-her-business-and-she'd-regret-it-if-she-asked.

💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎⚽️💎

     Heiji followed Kudo to the restroom on the pretence of making sure he wouldn't collapse. In reality he was dying with curiosity to see for himself the secret that Kudo was hiding beneath that blue shirt of his. "End cubicle, leave tha door open." Heiji murmured softly, turning his back in a show of respect in case anyone came in.

     Heiji kept his eyes trained on the restroom door, determined to ignore the fact that his (not) Boyfriend was removing his shirt and doing something that made a strange rustling sound. Almost like the sound a carrier bag made when scrunched up into a ball, but muted.

     "Ok Hattori." Kudo sounded almost resigned, as if he was expecting a predictable outcome. Heiji poked his head around the stall door, his jaw dropping at the sight. On his back was an oblong mass of feathers that were moving.

     Slowly, the mass of feathers unfurled and sort of stretched out into a pair of neatly folded white wings, which flexed but didn't stretch out due to the confines of the stall walls. After an endless moment, the wings seemed to compact back down into the much smaller oblong mass of feathers, their owner turning to face heiji with a nervous and hesitant smile on his face. (Which was cute).

Blue eyes met green as Kudo put his shirt back on, picking up his back pack from where he'd discarded it earlier. The Eastern Detective had dropped all pretences as soon as he was sure they were alone, so Heiji was confident that Kudo really was a lot better physically.

The wings were a bit freaky though. That Kudo had wings wasn't the freaky bit. It was the fact that neither of them seemed to be at all bothered by the fact that Kudo was an impossibility. That was the freaky thing. Heiji should be ranting about hw all this had to be some kind of freaky dream, but here he was accepting it as fact because, hey, what could be more impossible than a teen shrinking into a child?

It did make a strange sort of sense though. Some of Conan's abilities were bound to have been transferred to his adult self, even if Heiji hadnt expected that transfer to be the wings that apparently couldn't completely vanish.

The Osakan had to admit to himself that the white wings were pretty cool though. They had a darker mottling to them that reminded him of a falcon's feathers, but they weren't brown, obviously. Folded up behind Kudo, they stood as tall as he did, but compacted down, they were no more than a small. Block of feathers that really weren't noticeable unless you knew Kudo as well as Neechan did.

Heiji idly wondered if kudo could fly like that. Could he shift into that tiny but fierce little bird like that? "I can't shift like this Hattori. I've tried, but I can't. The wings don't shift away either. And i think Koizumi-san has messed with my sense of reality because this really should bother me but it doesn't."

Kudo rolled his shoulders as if to get more comfortable, a wince that suggested to Heiji that the shirt was pulling as the hidden mass of feathers on the other detectives back. Kudo glances around the restroom, piercing blue eyes seeing the world in a way Heiji knew was different to everyone else.

"Kay, Kudo. We can figure i' all ou' when we get back ta mine. The dojo 'as a high ceiling so less chance of ya bein' seen if ya wanna test out ya new... gear. Lets get back ta the girls." Heiji replied, matching Kudos soft speech, though as Kansai-ben was (apparently) a softer accent and dialect, his words probably sounded just that much softer.