Conan was having similar difficulty coming to terms with his ability. He'd stumbled and stuttered over his explanation to Ran, on account of waking up screaming at the flood of memories-not-his-own. He'd then dozed off at the breakfast table, woken up with another scream, and somehow bolted past oochan and out of the detective agency completely, only to realise that he was in Poirot when he came back to his senses, a red eyed raven on his knee.

A short conversation with Raven-chan -in whispers so certain blonde monsters couldn't overhear- and he was heading back up to Ran and his breakfast. Raven-chan had been very apologetic for the lack of warning, and had even given him a not so cryptic warning about what might happen next. He'd managed to tell Ran what was really going on whilst disguising it as a story about the weirdest scary dream he'd ever had, in what was a blatant attempt to keep oochan in the dark.

Oochan seemed to accept Conan's 'scary nightmare' at face value, especially as Conan had used his 'nervous, teary, kiddie' act to throw the older man off. It was so far from the creepy little kid Conan knew he seemed to be that it was convincing. It was fun to make Oochan uncomfortable too, which was a bonus, if he was being honest. (Even Ran joined in with making her dad feel out of his depth. Evil, evil, lovely woman.)

Oh, and if he had a chat with Hakuba-nii via the new mind-link at the same time, that wasn't anyone's business but his own. He could freak out properly and think it over later, after he arranged a trip to Osaka for himself, Haibara and Ran. (He needed to see Heiji. He'd gone so long without talking to his not-yet-boyfriend that he was worried the idiot would show up on his doorstep if he didn't do something. That and he felt like he should probably let the other detective know about the new state of normal around Tokyo.)

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Ran had understood Shin'ichi easily enough, despite his Conan-act and deliberately vague explanation of his 'scary nightmare'. For some reason, her first thought wasn't 'oh for the love of...' or 'as if things weren't freaky enough' but 'damn, now I owe Sonoko a cake buffet trip because Shin'ichi is psychic after all.' That said an awful lot about the crazy in her life really. Didn't it?

The crease in her young charge's brow told her he was probably thinking something entirely different as he spoke —he may have even been talking to Hakuba-kun using this new thought thing they had at the same time— though she knew he was fully aware of what he was saying.

    Otou-san grumped at him, something Ran was sadly used to at this point, then ignored the younger detective in favour of daydreaming over his morning coffee. The faces her father pulled when day-dreaming always amused her, even if they did also annoy her at times. Conan-kun sent a mutinous glare at Otou-san as he took a sip of coffee, and Ran sighed. This family had a strongly upheld rule that Conan-kun was too hyper for coffee, but she had promise her 'young charge' that Shin'ichi would not go without his morning drink.

     After they'd finished breakfast, Ran prompted Conan-kun to get dressed, smiling as he lit up at the silent promise that held. She could practically see the word dancing around in his head. Coffee, coffee, coffee! When he was ready, she led him out of their home and to the park, where she brought a strong cup of motor oil... ah, sorry, black coffee. The not-child drank it almost as soon as it had cooled enough, a look of bliss on his face.

     Ran smiled at him, gesturing for him to go ahead, knowing the not-child probably wanted to practice his new gift. He dashed into the thick foliage nearby, a brown blur shooting out of a tree just a bit further down the path, causing Ran to smile. Last night, he'd explained that taking off and landing were really hard, but the actually flying... well, it felt natural and he found he could even hover. She was impressed, not that she'd ever admit it. Shinichi had picked up the basics of flying faster than pretty much any real fledgling ever.

     She watched as the mottled brown bird showed off to a flock of sparrows (shouldn't they be fleeing from him?) and did some pretty fancy aerobatics, before he returned to her, with a soft cry that sounded almost like their tap-code for Catch. She readied herself, not sure if he did want her to catch him, but was glad she'd been prepared, as a brown feathery bullet barrelled into her chest. How on earth did he manage to make his bird-face look guilty?

     She was glad that their Tap-Code was almost second nature to them now, because at least Shin'ichi could still talk to her, even when he was super tiny and covered with feathers. He blinked at her, his beak clicking a little as he ruffled his feathers.

     /put me on your shoulder or something please Ran? I want to see what people think when they see me, especially as you don't have any of the right gear for handling hunting birds. I'm also not ringed like a pet or wild Peregrine Falcon so... it might be best to find out what people think now in case it's important later.\ Ran ran her hand over his feathers to show she'd heard him, then carefully picked him up and placed him on her shoulder, where he gripped at her clothes with his deadly little talons. The Karate Champion continued to walk along as if having a small bird of prey on her shoulder was an everyday occurrence.

(Which wasn't the case yet, but she could see it becoming a frequent thing. Her friend-turned-love-interest-turned-little-brother seemed much happier as a bird, though that might be because she couldn't read his expression so well.)

It didn't take long for someone to notice her and her feathery friend; and it was just Conan's luck that it was a little girl from his class who Ayumi-chan didn't like. (The younger girl had dragged Ran aside one day to ask about what she should do about the other girl in her class that had a crush on her crush.) (Conan, just like his teen self, was utterly oblivious as usual.)

The little girl saw Ran first, practically dragging her poor father over to them as she recognised the older girl. She seemed to look around for Conan, before her eyes set upon the puffed up bird on Ran's shoulder. She squeed at him, pointing and almost dancing on the spot.

     "Onee-san! Ne, ne, onee-san! That's a really really pretty bird. What is her name?" The bird on her shoulder managed to convey his annoyance at being called a girl with nothing save an almost imperceptible change in the way he was gripping her shoulder. Ran was mean enough to chuckle. a series of clicks from the birds beak.

     "He's a boy." She corrected gently, her shoulder twitching in such a way that it threw the avian detective off balance enough that he was forced to spread his wings in a desperate flurry. He somehow didn't fall off or take off. "He's called Merlin-kun, and I'm Mouri Ran. Aren't you one of Conan-kun's friends?" Her sweet, motherly tone had the bird on her shoulder gently nudging her with his head affectionately.

     The little girl nodded, her father looking increasing bewildered. "Hai! Naomi is Hosoi Naomi. Yoroshiku, Oneesan. Can Naomi pet Merlin-kun? Does Merlin-kin bite?" Merlin wasn't an animal (Mentally anyway) so he probably wouldn't appreciate being smothered by a child. And Ran had a feeling that the Avian Detective would probably bite if he had to. He subtly shifted so he could take flight should he need to, and Ran instantly picked up on that. She probably knew him too well by this point, to notice such tiny little things.

"He's not really mine, Naomi-chan. He belongs to my friend whose gone on holiday. I don't know if Merlin likes to be petted by strangers, so I can't let you. Just in case Merlin hurts you. Sorry." The little girl visibly deflated at that, but Ran's mind was set. She couldn't risk Conan like that, even for a cute, pouty little girl.

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Conan... Sorry, Merlin, when he had feathers -he had to remember that damnit!- noticed how his classmate visibly deflated at Ran's words, and felt slightly guilty. He considered his options for a moment, before tipping off of Ran's shoulder and taking flight, almost crashing into the ground but recovering at the last minute with frantic wingbeats.

A few careful, forceful beats had him going up a bit too far, before he folded his wings and dropped like a stone to hover right in front of Naomi-san's face, not too close, but still almost in her face. Merlin felt the air gliding over his wings and the effortless way his body kept him airborne, and tilted his head to one side to consider little Naomi-san's gleeful face.

"Is Merlin-kun showing off for Naomi?" The little girl asked with a giggle, as he maintained a steady altitude of about three feet. (It was surprisingly easy to hover, despite having been a bird for less than a week. Maybe he was just naturally good at it?) he tilted his head the other way and stared with his sharp, unblinking eyes. The little girl giggled louder, her father just standing there bemused.

     "Oneesan... Merlin-kun reminds Naomi of Edogowa-kun, only Merlin-kun is waaay cuter. What does Edogowa-kun think of Merlin-kun?" Merlin continued to hover as the child paused and seemed to consider something.

     "Edogowa-kun's too grown up to like cute things, ne, oneechan? So why does Edogowa-kun like-like Haibara-san?" A missed beat of the wings had Ran outright laughing at him, and Merlin turned in the air to glare at her with too-blue, unblinking eyes. Why did everyone think he liked Haibara of all people. She was far, far to creepy.

     "Ano..." a man cleared his throat, trying and succeeding in gaining Ran's attention. The teen raised an eyebrow at him, much to Merlin's amusement.

     "Mouri Ran. Edogowa Conan's guardian and big sister figure. Nice to meet you, Hosoi-san." She greeted, answering an unspoken question before the girl's father could even think of it. She glanced at her watch suddenly, made a disgruntled face and apologised to both father and daughter before snapping her fingers at Merlin. Merlin didn't quite understand, but he had a feeling he should listen to his Neechan, so he beat is wings once-twice and followed her dutifully.

     Ran apologised to him as soon as she was out of earshot, explaining that she'd arranged to meet Sonoko today and had somehow managed to forget that fact. Merlin carefully hovered above her shoulder as she paused, trying to land properly but not quite managing on the delicate and too small perch that was Ran's shoulder. She gently ran a soft hand over his wings as she plucked him from the air, smoothing the feathers in a way that felt... right to his bird-senses.

     /Need some girl time with Sonoko and maybe Sera-san?\ He asked, making sure to click his beak at the same time in their special tap-code. Ran looked guilty for all of four seconds, before smoothing her expression into her usual, cheery calmness.

     "If you don't mind, Shin'ichi." She murmured softly, and Merlin understood. He needed some geeky-guy time with Heiji and/or Kid sometimes, so it had to be the same for Ran. Only there was likely to be far less crime and far more... frills in their conversations. Ugh. Frills....

     He could at least practice landing and taking off on his own, and maybe even try the mind-link thing again, whilst flying this time, if he was feeling brave. He took off as Ran threw him in the air, taking to flight as easily as walking.

     The wind felt good as it rushed over his feathers, his speed building gradually as his powerful wing-beats took him higher and higher. The turn of speed still amazed him, the clarity of the world just so much clearer as a bird,even at this speed, despite him having 20-20 vision as a human.

     It was probably even faster than his skateboard at full power, and twice as fun with the extra dimension added. A few sharp twists and turns; his attempt to see just how manoeuvrable he was; and he was heading towards Ekoda. He wanted to see if he could find Kai-nii's doves or Watson. They were good company, and even had some insight to crime scenes, having been witness to a few whilst flying around and curious enough to watch the outcome.

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     "Ran! You're late!" Sonoko exclaimed, looking just a little wary as she searched all around for the Chibi Corpse Magnet and his creepy little cohort. Ah. Her best friend was all alone. Perfect. They could have some much needed girl time after all. Without Sera-chan interrupting with subtle flirts that went right over her best friend's head.

"Sorry, sorry. Conan-kun had a bad dream." The sweet hearted karate champion apologised, though Sonoko didn't quite buy it. The glasses Brat didn't have nightmares. He was far, far too composed and creepy to have nightmares. Not even gory, horrific murders had that freaky child flinching, so Sonoko couldn't quite comprehend what Ran had said. However...

Sonoko waved off the apology anyway. 'Conan-kun' was a perfectly valid excuse for being late. Even without a murder in sight. Sonoko sighed to herself as she glanced at her best friend. Ran would make an excellent parent one day. (If only Shin'ichi-kun wasn't off gallivanting who-knew-where. Though she doubted the detective Otaku would ever make a good father.) (didn't stop her daydreaming though.)

Ran led the way to a chic little cafe down one of the less well known streets, one she'd apparently been to with Shin'ichi-kun once or twice. Sonoko wasn't stupid and knew what that really meant. She wasn't sure she wanted to know who was murdered here or how, but if it led to nice little places like this, she could forgive the detective otaku somewhat. Sonoko placed their orders and paid; it was Ran's turn next time; and settled down to wait, observing Ran whilst keeping up a light conversation on the best type of fabric for a practical dress compared to the fabrics used for showy dresses.

Sonoko wasn't stupid, not by a long shot... ok, so she wasn't anywhere near Shin'ichi-kun or Hattori-kun's level, and Ran was closer to them in intelligence than the heiress... but she was still a bright girl. And... She knew Ran almost as well as she knew herself. Which was maybe a little too well by this point.

Tiny worry lines and the slightly defensive stance her best friend took as she talked. How the other teen was shooting subtle, worried looks out of the window. The very deliberate subject change when she started speculating about the girls in the glasses brat's life. All the subtle things and tiny details that most would miss. They all told Sonoko that it hadn't just been a bad dream on the brat's part. That there was something Ran knew that she was keeping from everyone.

Their cakes and drinks arrived, and Sonoko couldn't contain herself any longer. She had to ask, even if Ran didn't want to talk about it. "Ran?" A fork hovered halfway to the holders mouth. "Is Chibi-kun really ok? I don't think you've ever mentioned him and nightmares in the same sentence before." Soft blue eyes hardened to ice as they zeroed in on her and Sonoko had a sudden moment of de-Ja-vu as an image of Shin'ichi-kun wearing the same glacial expression popped into her head briefly.

Ran seems to think about her answer carefully, chewing on a mouthful of fruit parfait as she did. "Iei. He's fine Sonoko. He really did have a bad night. It's just... well, he's different to other kids Sonoko, though I think we've all noticed that." Sonoko couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that. Yes, Conan-kun was far too mature for his age and far too creepy and clever to be a normal kid, but she'd assumed this was a given when you were basically a carbon copy and blood relative of Kudo Shin'ichi.

(It also said a lot about a child's luck and or skill when police officers took the seven year old more seriously than the adults around him at crime scenes. Of course Conan-kun wasn't a normal child.)

"Sonoko." Ran's voice had lowered significantly and the tone was one Sonoko felt she couldn't just ignore. "Conan-kun told me why he was sent to live with Shin'ichi this morning. He was vague about it in front of Otou-san and made it sound like he had a nightmare instead but..."

"But I was finally honest, ne Neechan." Sonoko jumped so violently at the chirpy, familiar, creepily childish voice that she fell of her chair. She glared at the culprit, his glasses glinting in the cafe lights in just the right way to make him look downright sinister. A familiar cowlick stuck up rebelliously at the back of his head. Sonoko stared. He'd appeared from thin air! How?

"Ah!" Sonoko exclaimed, picking herself off the floor and dusting herself down. "Damnit brat, don't make me jump. You're creepy enough as it is!" The predatory grin radiating from the boy told Sonoko that was probably the wrong thing to say.

"Is that with or without my Shinigami Stalker and supernatural senses?" He chirped, sounding waaay too cheerful and way too childish suddenly. Sonoko paled. The boy had to be joking. Right?

"He's joking Ran. Right?" The other girl shook her head.

"I wish. He can't go 48 hours without stumbling upon a murder, he can hear the difference between Ai-chan's and Ayumi-chan's footprints from the other end of a full football pitch and he can understand birds." Ran explained softly, looking down at the boy by her side. Conan-kun nodded. Sonoko wasn't quite sure if she believed them, but Ran rarely lied and Conan-kun seemed to be eying her warily.

"So... what does that make the Chibi here? More of a freak than Shin'ichi-kun? What..." Sonoko trailed off as the boy tapped Ran's knee, allowing the older girl to pick him up without complaint. Silently, Ran parted the hair on the back of his head to reveal a twisted line of bald skin that could only be a scar.

It was actually a good thing they were in a secluded corner of a quiet cafe, because Sonoko couldn't help but splutter incredulously. Scars like that... you didn't get scars like that by falling from a tree or playing soccer. Did the brat really have nightmares? She held her hands up, halting any speculation on where such a scar had come from.

"I'm going to guess at 'hit by a criminal' and leave it at that Chibi-chan" A frankly glacial Look was sent her way for that particular nickname, "because I don't think..." The heiress was cut off by Ran, who swept a hand in an aborting motion. Sonoko's mouth clamped shut. She glanced at Ran's charge, seeing the tenseness in his shoulders and almost afraid.

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Conan put on a rather convincing act of being tense and nervous for Sonoko, glancing at Ran out of the corner of his eye every few moments. Sonoko seemed almost worried about him. Which was what he wanted. "Don't worry Sonoko-neechan. It was a bad guy. Kaa-san sent me to Shin'ichi-niichan and Agasa-Hakase to keep me safe. We don't want the Bad Guy to know I'm still alive." He almost whispered, knowing he'd sound scared and shaky to the teen he'd consider a friend.

Sonoko seemed to come to the conclusion he'd wanted her to, paling significantly whilst looking anywhere but him. Of course, Conan had edited the truth to fit Conan's backstory rather than Shin'ichi's but it was still the technical truth. A faint tickle in the back of his mind had him grimacing at Ran. A quick, tapped out warning to Ran before he allowed his mental wall to slide slightly.

*Edogowa-kun?* The thought sounded hesitant, and Conan sighed. Sonoko shot him a funny look, whilst Ran just smiled sympathetically.

*Hakuba-nii?* The shrunken detective thought back, blatantly ignoring Sonoko's question of 'Ayumi-chan or Ai-chan.' (He May or may not have grumbled to the amusement of the two teens that he'd rather be shot again.)

*Kaito insists I try... and practice this... this telepathy thing. But it's freaking me out because it's something that I can't explain logically.* Conan mentally snorted.

*Its called a Mind-Link and why does that freak you out when knowing I can turn into a bird and that I'm really the age regressed Kudo Shin'ichi doesn't?* Conan mused, verbally deflecting Sonoko's insistence that he give a straight answer pertaining her previous question.

*Where are you anyway, Edogowa-kun? I'm in Kaito's house in Ekoda-Chou. You can't be too far right? Isn't this... Mind Link thing limited by distance?*

*Not everything is like the stories Hakuba-nii. I'm on the other side of the city in Beika-Chou right now, trying to deal with creepy teenage friends who think Conan and Haibara are destined to be together. She's eight. Mentally, I'm not.* He felt Hakuba pause at that, and scowled at Sonoko. No, he did not like-like Ayumi-chan. Yes, he'd rather get shot again that even think about like-liking Haibara, and yes, the strawberry blond would most certainly dissect Sonoko if she suggested anything of the sort.

*...*

*Hakuba-nii. I don't think you are feeling well are you? Go do normal stuff for a bit. I've got a teenage girl to frighten.* He felt the Brit detective's surprise at that.

*Edogowa-kun. How do you cope? All of this... it's almost too much for me to to process. How could we have been wrong all this time?* Conan noted the lost tone of Hakuba's mental voice, the curiosity there marred by his confusion. Conan took pity and sent a mental picture over, using an actual memory of a photograph to do so.

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     Over in the Kuroba household, in the Kid Cave, Saguru blinked in surprise. A fuzzy blur of colour had appeared in his head, like a faded memory not quite remembered. Even as he thought about it, it came into crystal clear focus, and he made an aborted sound in his throat as he realised with startling clarity that this was one of Edogowa-kun's memories.

     Two children stood side by side, one a six year old strawberry blonde with a stony faced glare, the other clearly Edogowa-kun. Behind them were four teens; one he thought might be Mouri Ran due to her likeness to Nakamori-chan, a strawberry blonde he couldn't quite place the face of, a sadly familiar dark skinned teen that Saguru really wished he hadn't met and a face that he'd had to look twice at. (Which was a strange sensation when it was all in his head.)

     He'd seen childhood photographs and young-teen pictures of his idol, and he knew that Kaito looked like him, but it was startling to see Kudo Shin'ichi in a non case related photo. Especially as he knew that the teen had to have been Kaito in disguise that day, because the real Kudo Shin'ichi was stood in front with a scowling little girl.

     Then there were the Division One officers of Beika-Chou, Megure-keibu, Takagi-keiji and Sato-keiji, all of whom Saguru knew only in passing. Oh, and a crazy looking, blue eyed woman with curled light brown hair that almost reminded the blonde of Chikage-baachan.

     *support network, however oblivious they may be. Everyone in that picture except Megure-keibu knows I'm me, even if they haven't actually confronted me about it yet. Though I think Sonoko-neechan is trying to pretend she doesn't know. Or maybe she's in denial. Talking of Sonoko-neechan.... I've got to go. She's starting to get a bit out of hand with her attempts to pair 'Conan' off with girls he knows, and Ran-neechan is too busy laughing to be of help. Ja ne, Hakuba-nii!* Saguru blinked as the mental connection faded into nothingness, only a distant, lingering warmth any indication to having a mind link at all.

     It felt empty. Not having Edogowa-kun's mental presence. But then warm hands were smoothing the creases in his brow and dragging him back to reality, calming him somewhat even as Nakamori-chan appeared with the dreaded Mop, three bowls of rice and a cup of what Saguru could smell was his favourite blend of English tea.

     A wan smile as he accepted the bowl and cup, not quite calm enough to feel hungry but taking small bites of rice anyway. They all ate in silence, and Saguru was impressed at how neither teen pressed him for details, and equally impressed at Nakamori-chan's cooking. The vegetable and fish rice was just right for his tastes, and he could see Kaito's vegetarian rice was also made to suit the mad magician's tastes.

     .....when Nakamori-chan failed to press him for information even as she left for her home next door, despite the curiosity dancing in her eyes, Saguru was mildly surprised and more than a little amazed at the self control the girl had. Maybe she was less impulsive than she pretended to be? Actually... now he thought about it, really thought about it, Nakamori-chan was actually a fairly good actress. After all, hadn't she basically admitted to knowing Kaito was Kid from almost the start?