"So...do you have a girl you like, Conan-kun?"

The small, bespectacled boy blushed and put his hand behind his head. "Eh,
maybe a little."

"You should tell her."

He looked up at her, and smiled a small, strange smile. "I think I will,
maybe...as soon as I can." Then, he gave her a sly look. "What about you,
neechan? Do you like somebody? Maybe Shinichi-niichan?"

The tall brunette smiled, looking at the sky. "Yeah...I really do. I think I
really do like that detective freak." She giggled, then smiled down at her
companion. "Well, I'm still gonna kick his ass for making me worry tonight."

She walked on in silence for a moment before realising her young charge
wasn't following. "Conan-kun?"

The boy stood silently, just on the edge of a streetlight's glow, eyes cast
downward.

"Conan-kun? Are you alright?"

He looked up, then, and something burned in his eyes--something that made
her nervous. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. But I have something important to tell you."
He looked around for a minute, nervously. "When we get to your place,
though."

"H-hai..."

----------------------------------------

JUDGEMENT CALL

a Meitantei Conan fanfic

by the Eternal Lost Lurker

Meitantei Conan and all related trademarks property of Aoyama Gosho,
Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Funimation. Used without permission.

----------------------------------------

"You can't tell ANYONE, Shinichi. Not even Ran-kun. Nobody. They'd be in
danger..."

*Barou...they'd be in danger anyway. It's not like those guys would leave
the people who know me alone if they found out I wasn't dead...*

The small detective looked at the tall, cheerful girl walking slightly ahead
of him, and sighed wearily. *It's better if she knows. I don't want her
involved in this, but...I know that idiot; if I just disappear without a
trace, she'll cry and act all sad and I just don't want that. And if those
guys come after her, at least she'll be ready for it...*

They walked up to the building housing the Mouri Detective Agency and
residence just in time to see a taxi peel away from the curb. "Otousan must
be off to play mah jongg tonight," Ran commented. "Well!" she added brightly
to the small boy, leaning down to smile at him, "We'll have the place all to
ourselves tonight, Conan-kun!"

He smiled up at her, acting every bit the young, innocent child he wasn't,
and followed her upstairs.

Once they walked into the apartment on the third floor and removed their
shoes, however, the act dropped. "So, Conan-kun, what was it you wanted to
tell me?" Ran asked, turning around.

He crossed the room, hands in his pockets, and stood directly in the center,
a serious, intent look on his face--a look that was hauntingly familiar.
"C-Conan-kun? What...?"

"My name isn't Edogawa Conan," he said softly, in a completely different
tone of voice than he had been using to date.

"...what?" she asked, blinking.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Barou! Who would have a stupid name like that?
Didn't you see the books I was leaning against when you asked me what my
name was? Edogawa Ranpo, Conan Doyle...I made it up on the spot out of
panic."

Ran blinked. "But...why would you...?"

"Conan" removed his glasses and tossed them to her. She yelped and struggled
to catch them without dropping them. "Mou, Conan-kun..." She blinked.
"Matte...there's no lenses in these."

"Of course not. They're my dad's...I was using the empty frames as a
disguise to keep you from recognising me."

"Recognising...?" Ran looked at the boy closely, noticing his sharp eyes,
messy dark hair, and hauntingly familiar features. "What...?"

"I'm sorry I tried to lie to you, Ran," he continued, "but Hakase thought
it'd be a good idea if you didn't know...but I got to thinking about it on
the way here, and I think he's wrong. I think you need to know what happened
to me tonight. So I'm not gonna lie."

"Wh--what...?" Ran blinked at the boy, sitting down in front of him. "What
are you talking about...who are you...?"

He rolled his eyes. "Barou. You should have figured it out by now. We grew
up together; I know you're smart enough that you couldn't have forgotten
what I looked like when I was really this little." He sighed. "You were
right to warn me about following those guys. I really stepped in it this
time."

"Following what--who--" Ran began to have a VERY bad feeling, almost as bad
as earlier, when she had warned...

...when she had warned Shinichi...

...oh no. NO. Oh, NO...

Those cloudy blue eyes didn't carry the wry smile the small boy aimed at
her. "Ran...it's me. Shinichi."

"Liar..."

"We went to Tropical Land today for a date. I promised you because you won
the karate tournament."

"Liar..."

"I bought you a coke and led you to the place where the fountains went off
at that specific time, remember? And we opened them and got ourselves
sprayed..."

"Liar...!"

"We went on the Mystery Coaster, and there was that murder...the woman with
the bruises on her thighs killed the man sitting behind me, with a piano
wire hidden in her pearls..."

"LIAR!" Ran screamed, standing up and drawing her hand back as though to
strike the small form in front of her.

"And then I left you, to follow those men in black, because I thought they
were suspicious. Turns out, I was right. I witnessed a blackmail deal, but I
screwed up. One of them got the drop on me, knocked me over the head." He
turned and showed her the angry lump on the back of his head where he'd been
struck, then turned back to face her. "They fed me a poison that was
supposed to kill me, then left. But...that drug didn't kill me. Somehow,
it..." He shrugged and gestured at his own body. "I don't know how or why,
but it did THIS to me. Hakase's gonna try to make a cure, but..." He sighed.
"I don't even trust him to make a toaster that works, much less a drug to
fix this kind of..."

Ran dropped to her knees. "Shinichi? That isn't really you. Please...tell me
that isn't really you." Tears welled in her eyes.

"I wish I could. Believe me, I wish I could. But it is, Ran. It's me."

"But...why...?"

"Because I screwed up. I'm a complete idiot. And now I'm gonna have to act
like I'm really dead, and live a pretend life until I can get my real body
back and take down the bastards that did this to me."

Ran's eyes hardened suddenly. "You won't have to do it alone. I'll be
there."

"Oi, Ran...I don't want you involved."

"I don't care what you want, Shinichi. I'm going to help you, and you can't
stop me. Besides..." She gave a small, shaky laugh. "There's really not much
you can do in your situation, is there?"

He glowered at her. "Just because I'm little doesn't mean I'm helpless, you
know."

Suddenly, her hands flew to her mouth and her eyes widened. "Oh my god...I
told you...on the way here..." Her face turned very red. "I said those
things..."

Shinichi turned red as well, and looked down and to the side. "Yeah,
well...when I said there's a girl I like...I meant you. You know that,
right?"

She stared at him. "Really...? You mean that, Shinichi?"

He snorted. "Barou. Who else would I say that about?"

Suddenly, the air was forced out of his lungs as he was pressed in a tight,
crushing hug. "Shinichi..." Ran's tears fell hot on his face. "We'll get
through this, together...I promise..."

"Ran..."

"I love you, and I'm not letting go. Ever."

"Actually..." The shrunken detective coughed. "Right now...letting
go...would be good..."

Ran blinked. "Eh?"

"Suffocating...breasts..."

"Eep!" The tall girl's face reddened like a tomato, and she very nearly
flung the boy across the room. "Shinichi! Don't say perverted things like
that..."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Don't try to kill me with those things, then."

"You little..."

"Eep!"

The ensuing chase lasted for several minutes, and ended in a fierce tickle
fight. When at last both had exhausted their energy, Ran lay sprawled on the
floor, with the diminuitive form of Shinichi laying on her stomach, her arms
encircling him protectively.

"I really do love you, Shinichi. And...we'll get through this, together. I
promise."

"Yeah...I just hope I don't get your or anybody else hurt because of my
stupid mistake."

"Everybody makes mistakes, Shinichi. It's nothing to be embarassed about."

A long, poignant silence.

"Well, okay, I admit not everybody makes one THIS big..."

Another long, awkward silence.

"Why don't I just shut up before I say anything else stupid?" Ran suggested.

"Good idea."

And so ended the first night of Shinichi's strange new life as a small boy
named Edogawa Conan.

*But,* he mused as he drifted off to sleep in the arms of the girl he loved
more than anything in the world, *at least I'm not alone...*



~fin~



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