Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Shinichi Kudo could safely say that today had been a good (albeit boring) day as he strolled down the street towards Beika park in his shrunken form. He had just got out of the elementary school and the weather was clear. There was a light breeze that made the temperature just perfect.

Clasping his hands behind his head, he inhaled deeply before exhaling. After all the events recently he desperately needed to destress. He could feel the stress of his new double life giving him a headache and just wanted a moment of peace before going back to performing on a metaphorical stage to fool Ran.

He even managed to shake the kids that were so determined to be friends with him. It wasn’t that Shinichi didn’t like the kids, far from it. They’re naive and innocent outlook on the world was refreshing. They were just a bit too much at times.

‘Well,’ he thought as he stretched out and turned into the park, ‘I have some time before Ran is going to expect me back, so I might as well start on my book’.

Surprisingly, the park was fairly empty. With a grin, Conan hurried over to a nearby bench and sat down. Sitting his book bag next to him, he reached in and pulled out the latest book in the new detective series he’d started. He’d been waiting months for this book to come out! Even in his older body he would pass the book store almost daily to see if it had been released yet.

With a big grin, he flipped the cover over to the first page-

And immediately stopped when a huge chill went down his spine.

Conan quickly closed the book and set it off to the side before throwing himself off the bench and darting his eyes around. He didn’t feel like someone was watching him. The air had become thick with… something. He had never felt anything like this. Even the men in black who poisoned him didn’t give off an air this intense, that included the one with silver hair, and he had possessed a murderous chill to him that Shinichi could practically feel. No… this was different.

Conan grabbed his book and shoved it back in his bag before throwing it over his shoulder and taking off. As a detective he didn’t believe in the supernatural. He knew that there was no such thing as ghosts, zombies, or anything along those lines. What he did believe in was human evil. Despite being only 17, he knew he had seen things that would give his high school classmates mental scars and make them have nightmares for months (and possibly the rest of their lives) about.

Being a detective meant that he would approach every situation as logically and calm as possible. Finding the answer and if possible to give families closure. There was only one truth after all. That was the mantra he had always repeated to himself. After running around the park, he stopped near the center by the fountain. As he caught his breath, he noticed there were a few passing people near the fountain, but he couldn’t make out anything out of the ordinary. He had felt anything since that brief but intense chill. Conan was adamant that he didn’t make it up.

He cast his eyes back around the bushes near the edge of the sidewalk and did catch something this time. It was a flash and barely there, but he had seen something blue and black disappear into the green leaves.

Curiosity peaked, he dodged a jogger and made his way over to the bushes. He shoved the leaves aside as he pushed his way into the brush before stopping at the other side. What appeared to be a small stuffed animal that looked like a cat lay just beyond it on it's side. It was a bit smaller than an adult cat and had a strange black and blue flame color scheme with two tails. It honestly almost looked real. It was an odd toy, but he didn’t keep up with new toys for kids these days anyways. Someone had probably accidently left it behind. The person couldn't have gone too far considering he just saw it move a moment ago.

Conan felt his eye twitch.

He got worked up over a dumb stuffed cat!? He was sure Sonoko and Ran would be bent over from laughter if they could see his pathetic state right now.

Honestly.

Even when he was trying to relax he just kept making himself paranoid.

He hadn’t seen anyone else around that could have dropped it, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask if some little kid had dropped and lost their toy.

‘Why me...’ Conan thought with a half-lidded glare as he reached down to pick it up, when it started to move.

The eyes that he hadn’t even bothered looking at before were staring at him.

Before he could even yelp in surprise, the small figure swung a tail around his ankle and tripped him backwards. He landed hard on the ground and as he was trying to register what had just happened, the thing jumped on his chest with claws extended. He froze up completely unsure of what to do, his normal calm demeanor dashed by the sheer craziness of the situation. It seemed to register that he was not a threat and slowly backed off of him, before moving a few feet away to sit down calmly, continuing to study him.

Conan scrambled up to his feet and watched the creature like one would a rabid dog. His mind was working over time to try and give an explanation for what was going on in front of him. Obviously this thing in front of him wasn’t any kind of normal animal, but it was alive so… what was it? Unfortunately for Conan, his mouth seemed to be on a disconnect from his brain due to shock and all he could say was,

“What the hell?”

The creature seemed to regard him in amusement for a moment before a soft female voice reached his ears.

“Such harsh words for a little one.”

Wait.

Hold on.

That was the cat creature that just talked.

Nope, he was definitely dreaming. He must have fallen asleep when he had started to read his new book and his stressed brain had given him one hell of a fever dream. That was the only possible explanation he could come up with for why a blue and black animal with 2 tails that looked like it was on fire was talking to him at the moment. He reached up and sharply pinched his cheek. The jarring pain grounded him for a moment before he was hit with the truth. This wasn’t a dream.

“My apologies little one, I didn’t mean to startle you”, the small creature's voice brought him back from his mind that was drowning in confusion.

He crammed the problems in his brain into a small box and pushed it into the corner of his mind. He would unpack that later. Shinichi had so many questions that he was almost unsure of where to start. So, he just decided to start with the most obvious one first.

“What exactly are you?”

Yellow and green eyes (heterochromia he thought idly) took him in again. The blue and black of it's fur was flickering softly and the two identical tails were slowly swaying behind it in an almost hypnotic way.

“I am one of the great Sage of Six Paths hopes for a brighter tomorrow. One of the nine tailed beast spirits. Tasked with helping guide this new world toward a future where all life can peacefully co-exist, and to help and protect humanity."

Okay, that answered literally nothing-

“I suppose if you are searching for a name you may call me Nibi. It seems to be the name that you humans have given me over the years."

Taking a deep breath, he was struck with the realization that he was still standing just passed the bushes from the main walkway. This was a conversation that he was having in public with a blue and black cat.

He idly wondered if this is what Ran was talking about in regards to his ‘Kudo Luck’. He didn't mean to get caught up in more life changing events again, he really didn’t.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair and sparing a glance down to the small blue cat figure at his feet. So why was it that when he was content with nothing happening for once, did the universe decide to drop another bombshell on him?

He couldn’t stop the groan from escaping as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Damn it, his headache was back.

Chapter Text

It took a lot of effort to convince the creature (he still didn’t even know what it was!) Nibi, that it was safe to come with him back to his old house. It clearly didn’t trust him and honestly, he could say the same of the monster cat... However, he knew that this conversation had to happen somewhere else. He also really didn’t want to get caught by someone else like this. Not when he was still trying to make sense of it himself.

After pulling a few books out of his bags to sit on the ground, he motioned Nibi to come over. The monster cat climbed in and settled down with Conan pulling the book bag cover lightly over it. The dual-colored eyes watched him even as they disappeared under the roof of his bag. Taking another deep breath, he picked up the bag slowly and carefully and slid it on his back. He reached over, picked up the extra books and began a quick walk back to his house.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He hoped that he didn’t look as suspicious as he felt turning the corner and passing by Doctor Agasa’s house. After quickly glancing around to make sure no one was watching him, he quickly pushed the books through the bars of the gate, then opened and pushed the gate shut behind him. He jogged to the front door with the books under one arm and swiftly unlocked it with the key they had hidden near the entrance. He swore that if his mom hadn’t married his dad, she would constantly lose everything. She was always leaving something behind.

‘I guess that includes me too,” he thought bitterly as he closed the door behind him.
He made his way to the library as he gently set the bag and kid books on the table.

“Alright, we’re clear,” he grumbled while pulling out the chair to the desk and sitting down. He definitely wasn’t ready for this, but he couldn’t deny that his curiosity was getting the better of him. Nibi didn't seem to hold the same regards and calmly stepped out from the bag and onto the desk sitting towards the back.

Just from appearances, he could guess that it was some kind of Nekomata. The split tails and fire gave it away. That didn’t bode well for him either since they were supposed to be malicious and violent spirits. He was a detective dammit, he didn’t believe in the supernatural. That was in pair with his luck too if he was honest.

“I can sense that you have many questions,” It (she? It definitely sounded like a girl) began in a soothing tone. “As do I, I am unfamiliar with this dimension and its inhabitants.”

That was-

He quickly shook his head. He added that train of thought to this box of later problems. Ignoring Nibi’s curious gaze, he carried on.

“Could you start with why you were in the park when I found you? Where did you come from?” Conan began his interrogation immediately.

Eyes filled with mirth seemed to mock his current inability to keep neither his focus nor his mouth shut. “Would you prefer to hear the whole tale?” Nibi asked him patiently. “I promise you it’s not short.”

That was a loaded question. The obvious answer would be yes, but he wanted answers that made sense so he would have to take this a bit slower. He felt like he was going to need as much information as he could get.

“I’d like the full story, if possible, even if it might take a while. I’m still struggling to understand this as well,” he admitted rubbing at the back of his neck.

The creature was silent for a moment before starting. “Near the beginning, before even my creation, there was a fearsome beast called the Juubi. Its power, seemingly without end, wreaked destruction across the lands and laid waste to a great many lives. Until a powerful being known as the Sage of Sixth Paths, saw this chaos and destruction and feared it could be the end of humanity and the very world.”

His eyes followed Nibi as it paced the length of the desk and it continued before Conan could add any input.

“He used his chakra, his life energy if you will, to split the Juubi into 9 parts. Each part was given its own personality and contained a piece of the Juubi’s power.”

Nibi stopped directly in front of him.

“These parts became known as the Bijuu or the tailed beasts. The Sage entrusted the nine bijuu with guiding humanity and creating peace for the world. He wished to have a future where all life could live in harmony.” The calm demeanor suddenly shifted to one of agitation.

“However, humans eventually broke the peace by warring over the powers of the tailed beasts. Seeking to use the power for their own selfish greed, they committed countless atrocities in the name of their own peace. Then one day, a man came looking for us beasts, claiming that he too could create a better world by offering our power to neighboring lands.” The words trailed into a hiss, “We were captured, given away as prizes and locked in human jinchūriki.”

‘Jinchūriki?’ He wondered with his fingers curling around his chin and eyes wandering down towards his lap. He wasn’t familiar with the term.

Conan finally found his voice and a chance to intervene, “Hold on a second, you said that this Sage of yours, left the beasts to balance power and create peace, right?” His eyes glanced up to meet Nibi’s, “If you're that strong, how did you get captured in the first place?”

Nibi’s eyes narrowed further.

“In your language, the word ‘jinchūriki’ roughly translates to ‘the power of human sacrifice.’” He stilled. The word sacrifice gave him a very bad feeling.

“By binding us with wood and subduing us, the man, a descendant of the very sage who gave us life, sealed our bodies and powers into human vessels who would attempt to wield our powers. However, our chakra was not meant for humans. Needless to say, they failed most of the time. Failed vessels tended to… expire.” An almost dark satisfaction danced in Nibi’s eyes.

“For years, we tailed beasts were thrown from human to human as they used our powers to wage war and cause more chaos. For a long time, this is how it stayed, us Bijuu called monsters and trapped by the very beings that we were created to protect.”

Nibi’s twin tails lashed back and forth in agitation.

“Once again, only a few years ago in my world, more humans seeking to create their own version of peace, pulled us from our human prisons and sought to combine the bijuu’s powers to once again create the Juubi. They sought total control over the world and were determined to seize the power necessary to make it happen.”

To this he could relate some of the history of his world to.

Human history was full of people who committed many horrendous acts for what they believed in, leaving countless innocents to pay the price for it. Useless wars that went nowhere. There was certainly no shortage of lunatics in the world.

“Once more we were captured, but some resistance fought the group in order to stop the rebirth of the Juubi. In the end, they failed and the nine bijuu were combined once more, leading to the Juubi being reborn in the world. After a long fight, a small group of heroes among the humans managed to defeat the Juubi and destroy it, releasing us tailed beasts again.”

Nibi bowed its head slightly in solemness.

“It was decided that our power was too great a temptation for humanity and we were separated once more. This time it was made so that our powers would never cross paths again, by sending all nine of the tailed beasts away.”

Conan’s eyes widened.

“By away, you mean here… don’t you?”

“Yes, that is correct. Each Bijuu was sent to a different world to ensure their powers stay separate. The only exception was the nine tailed fox who was chosen to stay back in our world,” Nibi said with a tone of finality.

Conan leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together a little stunned. This was… a lot to process.

Other worlds?

All powerful monsters?

That sounded like the crap Ran would read in a fantasy book when she was a little kid. But even he couldn’t deny the proof in front of his eyes. This wasn’t some dream, this was real.

As Conan pondered his next question, Nibi decided to ask one instead, “Based on your reaction to what I've said so far, I can guess that this is beyond the normal for your world. I can only feel a minuscule amount of chakra in the air. So why have you taken that form?”

Conan jumped a bit at the sudden question. Startled, he nervously laughed at the question. “What do you mean ‘form’? I’m just a kid as you can see.”

Nibi said nothing for a moment before sitting back down and staring intensely at him. Conan could feel the small beads of sweat on his neck at the look.

“You are clearly no normal child that I am certain of. However, in a world that lacks the ninjutsu of my world, I am unsure of how you have managed to de-age to this state.”

He poorly hid a wince at the statement. “Is it that obvious?”

Nibi let out an undignified snort and reached a tail out to lightly tap the top of his head. “Please little one, a being as old as I has seen most of what the world has to offer. This would not be that unusual. I may have not met many human children over my years, but you can't fool me.” Their mouth curled into a small smirk.

“Your acting could also use some work,” Nibi added amusingly.

Conan pouted, his acting wasn't that bad! Sure, his only interaction with kids that were his (physical) age was only limited to the last few days, but he had to have picked up some of his acting skills from his actress mother!

He paused for a moment, “Hold on, if you knew I wasn’t really a kid then why do you keep calling me little one?”

Nibi gave him a look that he could surmise was judging though their face didn’t really change.

“Child, I am over a thousand years old. Even the oldest among you humans would be young to me.”

Conan awkwardly laughed and folded his hands behind his head. “Well, I guess I couldn’t hide it from you after all. I guess it's about time I introduce myself.”

He grinned as he said, “My name is Kudo Shinichi and I’m seventeen, but I’ve been going by the alias Edogawa Conan since I was shrunk. Although, I’ve only been like this for a few days now.” He scratched his cheek sheepishly.

Nibi smiled at him and lightly waved a tail in greeting. “A pleasure to meet you. How would you like me to address you little one?”

He groaned rather dramatically and playfully glared at the cat.

“Just Conan is fine, but I'm guessing that the little one nickname is going to stick around. I need to get more used to my new name, so I don’t slip up in public.”

Nibi merely nodded and lightly smacked him on the shoulder with a tail. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you dodge my question from before. I asked how you came to be in the body of a child, I still expect an answer.”

The shrunken teen turned serious at this and straightened up. “Well, I'm not exactly sure myself, but I’ll try and explain the best I can.”

He looked pensive as he began.

“About five days ago I was on a date with my childhood friend at an amusement park when I saw some shady men dressed in black making a dangerous deal behind a building. As a detective, I was curious and listened in to try and get some evidence against them, but I made a mistake and didn’t notice the second man sneaking up on me from behind.” He had a faraway look in his eyes, clearly lost in the fresh memory.

“He hit me on the back of the head with something; I almost passed out on the ground. I could still hear them as he talked about trying a new drug that was meant to kill and leave no traces behind. They force fed it to me and quickly left. It was easily the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced,” he added on rather honestly.

“After that I woke up like this. I’ve been hiding, attempting to get my body back and staying off the men in black’s radar. So far I haven’t found anything, but I swear that I won’t stop until I find the antidote, fix my body and bring those men to justice.”

Conan looked at Nibi with conviction and finality at the last sentence. The cat had been calmly observing him during his story without input.

Nibi’s response to the end of his tale was to narrow their eyes and hiss out, “It seems no matter the world, humans are just as cruel and ruthless as ever. The strife they leave behind befits no one but hurts everything.”

He wasn't sure how he felt about Nibi’s hatred and distrust toward humanity. Sure, the story that he was told about the humans of their world had made it deserved, but to lump all humans (including the humans of his world) in the same boat? He personally knew people that sought to make the world a better place just for the sake of other people, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. It didn’t sound like a topic that they were close enough to talk about. He needed to change the subject.

“If you don’t mind, I have a couple more questions too.”

Nibi silently tilted their head and prompted him to continue.

“I didn’t want to be rude, but do the Bijuu have genders? I feel bad that I keep calling you ‘it and they’ in my head.” Now that he said it out loud, it did sound embarrassing.

Nibi’s body rumbled with unexpected laughter, and he blushed in embarrassment. Great, now he was uncomfortable.

“The sage of six paths created us to be chakra-based creatures, not biological ones. Some bijuu choose to go by a certain sex and others could care less. Many of us never really cared how humans saw us anyways.” Both tails were swaying behind them in what he could guess was merriment before they added, “Personally, I’ve always thought of myself as a female, but I'm sure that you already drew your own conclusions when we met.”

An amused look was sent his way and he grumbled at the mocking statement and turned away huffing. He turned back to give a snarky remark and ask one of his bigger questions but was met with the sight of an empty desk.

Nibi had vanished.

Chapter Text

Conan stood up so fast the chair he had been sitting on had been thrown to the floor. He had only looked away for a moment! There hadn’t been a sound either, only the normal quiet of the room. He cast his eyes around the room.

It was as if she had simply disappeared.

“Is something wrong?”

He startled violently and almost tripped backwards over the chair. He whipped his head back in front of him at the desk. That voice was unmistakably Nibi’s, and it had come from the same spot where she was sitting right next to him. So where was she hiding?

“Alright you got me, now come out. That little stunt almost gave me a heart attack.” Conan sighed in relief, patiently standing there waiting for her to reveal herself. He was impressed with the speed in which she hid herself. It stayed quiet for a moment.

“I’m right here, little one. I haven’t moved anywhere.” The disembodied voice of Nibi emanated from the desk in the same polite, if not calm, tone she had used before.

“What do you mean ‘haven’t moved’? You're clearly not sitting on this desk to me!” He stated in annoyance as he peeked under the desk and after finding nothing there started opening the drawers.

Something softly smacked him on the back of his head as he was bent over in the drawer causing him to quickly stand back up.

Nothing.

“I'm intrigued; can you really not see me?” The voice of Nibi asked curiously.

Conan slowly shook his head.

He was a little freaked out by the apparently now invisible cat. If he was being honest though, this was probably the least strange thing to happen to him lately out of everything he’s learned. It was somewhere down the list underneath mystical drugs that could de-age people, the existence of other worlds and apparent all-powerful gods.

Huh.

Maybe Ran really was on to something about his luck.

“Earth to little one, Conan? If you're having an existential crisis at the moment, I’m going to have to ask you to put that on hold.” The semi-sarcastic comment brought him back to the issue at hand.

“You didn’t list spontaneous invisibility as one of your inherent powers, so I'm going to guess you don't know what's going on either. You seem more like a ghost than a cat.” Conan said as he reached down and with a grunt, began pulling the chair back up.

He prayed to every new god, that he previously didn’t believe in, that he wouldn’t stay like this for long. Not even a week and he was already tired of everything being bigger and taller than him.

Suddenly, the chair was yanked up and he stumbled, almost falling backwards for a second time. He glared back at the desk after hearing Nibi’s soft amused laugh.

“Hah hah, very funny. You're a riot,” he deadpanned. Nibi gently prodded him forward with a flick on his hand with what he assumed was her tail.

“Come closer little one, I promise I'm still here.”

With a half-hearted glare, he leaned towards the desk and outstretched a hand. He was met with the same feeling as before. Between his fingers was a soft fur-like texture. It was a little strange. Based on her appearance, he expected her body to be almost untouchable with the fire patterns quality.

“Seriously, do you know what’s going on?" He asked, taking his hand back.

The room was quiet for a moment and for a second, he wasn’t sure that she was going to respond.

“I’m not entirely sure, but I might have an answer. Is your world familiar with the concept of chakra?

He nodded his head and took a seat once more.

“Yeah, actually. To us it’s only theoretical of course. It's the supposed centers of energy in your body, different points in which life energy flows. It's debated in different religions how many there actually are.” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You mentioned it before, so I'm guessing that chakra to you is a source of power in your world.”

“Correct, little one.” Nibi’s voice sounded pleased at how quickly he was picking it up.

“In our world, chakra is created by mixing two separate energies. By combining these energies, spiritual and physical, one is able to harness and use the power of chakra. Humans of my world used it for a multitude of things, including using it to perform elemental techniques, enhance their physical abilities and so much more.”

Conan uncrossed his arms and stretched out, laying his palms flat on the desk and leaning in. “So, you're telling me that even the normal humans of your world could do stuff like shoot lightning from their hands? Or even control fire and other attacks using elements?” He said that a little disbelievingly.

Even the regular people from Nibi’s world, (not even gods) could do things like control the elements with what was basically magic? He would not pout about never getting the chance to do something like that, he wouldn't.

Nibi hummed a satisfied answer.

“Yes, humans experimented very much with chakra in order to discover new ways to use it.”

Conan sharpened his stare at the empty air above the desk where Nibi was sitting. “Okay, so you think that chakra is somehow making you invisible?

“In a way,” she said cryptically. “Ever since I manifested in this world, I’ve felt the leftover residue of the chakra that brought me here. However, that chakra has dissipated over the short time since my arrival. All I can sense now is the small amount within myself.”

Nibi sounded troubled as she continued, “I’ve lost a massive amount of chakra from the migration to this world. So much so that even though my body is made of pure chakra, I can actively suppress it with little effort. Just a moment ago, I tried to suppress that little amount I had.”

He was starting to see where this was going.

“So, your saying, by actively suppressing your chakra, you can turn invisible? I’m going to guess that by using chakra you should become visible.”

Nibi began to appear in front of him, a little too close actually, and he leaned back into the chair in surprise. She had faded in almost like a heat mirage while wearing a satisfied look on her face at his deduction.

“I'm impressed little one. You picked up on that very quickly.”

He smirked a somewhat smug grin at her words of praise.

“If you don’t mind,I also have just a few more small questions of my own before I am satisfied,” she added.

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“What is an amusement park exactly? Some type of training ground?”

Conan had to choke the laugh down that threatened to escape and slapped a hand down on the desk. He cleared his throat but couldn’t stop the smile. So much for those thousand years of wisdom. He hoped he didn’t look as rude as he felt before pushing on.

“No no, an amusement park is what it sounds like. Just for amusement. People go there to relax and have fun.”

Nibi slightly tilted her head to the right as she then asked, “And what is a detective?”

“Well, a detective's job is to solve mysteries that other people can't. I take the clues I gather from whatever it is I’m trying to solve and use it to get to the truth. It’s what I’m good at.” He added with an air of arrogance.

She merely nodded her head in understanding before thanking him for the information.

He took a deep breath as he sat there digesting everything he had learned over the course of the last-

He looked at the grandfather clock.

45 minutes.

Conan rubbed a hand down his face in exasperation. He also needed to head back soon, Ran would be wondering where he was if he was gone for too much longer.

He lowered his hand to see Nibi silently watching him.

Now the question became what to do.

“So, what did you want to do? You said yourself that you’ve been stuck with humans and denied your freedom for so long. Did you want to just roam around and check this world out?”

He expected her to jump at the chance to finally do something for herself, so he was fairly surprised at her next comment.

She kept her silence for a moment longer before answering, “While it’s true that I’m finally free after being trapped for all these years, I’m curious to see this so-called truth of yours. You say you wish to return to your normal form and bring these enemies of yours to ‘justice’, yes?”

He nodded vehemently.

“More than anything. If not just for me, then for everyone else that they've hurt.”

She seemed to accept this answer before she met his eyes and spoke in honesty.

“Very well. I wish you good luck as we travel this path together.”

Wait, what-

“H-hold on, why do you want to stay around me?! You just said that you pretty much despise all of humanity, you're free to go wherever you want to!” He stuttered, stunned at the rapid change of pace.

“Hanging around me means that you're going to be seeing a lot of people.” Conan’s voice got a little quieter as he added, "Besides, I’m human. Shouldn't you hate me too?”

Nibi seemed rather unimpressed by his rapid-fire questions as she rather smartly smacked his arm in irritation with a tail. He took a half-step back and lightly cursed under his breath at the sharp pain, holding his arm.

Conan glowered at her before incredulously asking, “What was that for? It was an honest question!”

She ignored his whining and glared at him in annoyance.

“You claim to be good at putting together clues and finding answers, however, that question you asked me just now proves that you have much to learn. That much is obvious.”

As he stood there, he felt his eyebrow twitch at the jab but refrained from saying anything.

“Tell me something child, if I despised your company that much, why am I still here?
Now that I have the freedom you say I do, why do I choose to sit here and converse with you?”

The question was asked rather rudely which surprised him. It was a first for the overly polite cat and his question seemed to somehow offend her.

He only thought about it for a moment before snorting out, “Well I mean, I was the first person you ran into when you got here. So, I kind of guessed that you needed information, rather than any sort of companionship that I could offer.”

Nibi still looked somewhat irritated but chose to answer him.

“I may have a distaste for humans, but my ability to identify good souls among you humans has not suffered because of it. I can tell you are kind and wish only to help. In a way, your actions remind me of the sage of six paths.”

Conan’s eyebrows shot up at that. He knew that she respected the man that was basically her creator, but to be told that he even loosely resembled that? Based on what he’s understood from their conversation, that was a huge compliment.

“Since I’ve been sealed away, I was only granted the ability to see the world through my host and never free to roam the world as I once did. Now however, I can choose my path moving forward.”

She was almost purring out the admission.

“I wish to see how your journey plays out. You are one of the very few humans that I might consider calling a friend. Good company at the very least.”

He… wasn’t exactly sure how to answer that. Okay. He could deal with this.

“Thanks, I guess,” he started a little flattered from the sudden compliment. “If you're sure about this then we’ll have to set some ground rules.”

After hearing no complaints he continued, “First of all, no revealing yourself to anyone. You have to promise me you’ll be careful. There are plenty of people that would do anything to use your powers for themselves.”

She hummed for a moment in agreement. “That is something we can agree on. I would rather avoid dealing with more… annoying humans if possible.”

“Also, if people can hear you even when you’re invisible, you should probably refrain from talking when we're not alone.” He already didn’t sound like a kid when he was solving cases, he didn’t want to look like he was crazy talking to himself too.

After she also agreed to the second rule, he remembered a big problem they would have.

“Darn it, I forgot about cameras!” He cursed his forgetfulness, only now realizing that pictures and cameras would be a big deal.

“Cameras? Those human boxes that can capture pictures? That shouldn't be a problem.” She assured him calmly.

“‘Shouldn’t be’? Why?”

“Because only living things can produce and interpret what chakra is. To you, I have this form. If I were to walk in front of one of these ‘cameras’, my form would most likely be distorted.”

Conan cupped his chin in thought, “So the camera would see it as interference. That's… incredible.”

Nibi went to continue when she was cut off by the sound of the front door being unlocked.

Conan turned his head to the entrance of the library so fast he was surprised he didn’t get whiplash. He grabbed his bag and quickly shoved the books back in, ducking under the desk and out of the direct line of sight of the door.

Conan held his breath and waited.

“Shinichi-kun, are you in here?”

He quietly groaned and gently let the back of his head hit the desk.

“Yeah doc, I’m in here.” He answered back, standing up. A quick look at the surface confirmed that Nibi had vanished again.

“I shall follow alongside you little one.” Came the whisper.

Well, at least she was listening to him, somewhat.

The professor walked through the doorway and frowned upon seeing him. “My boy, what are you doing here? Ran-kun called asking if you were at my house, she’s started looking for you.”

Conan spared a glance at the clock, finding it later than intended.

Uh, oh.

Flinging on his book bag, he bolted past the professor and down the hall. With a quick, ‘thank you’ and ‘please lock the door’, he passed the door and out the gate. The sun was already setting, and he was definitely late.

As he ran down the street, he was assuming that Nibi was following him, not that he could see her and even hear her footsteps. Cats always tended to be pretty quiet.

As he rounded the corner to the detective agency, he hoped that Ran wouldn’t kill him too badly.

She was supposed to be making curry tonight after all.

Chapter Text

Conan wondered what he was doing with his life, as he ate his bento box and watched ‘The Great Mouri Kogoro’ try and shave on a bullet train. He had fallen asleep in the doorway, drunk, last night and Ran had to almost pull him out the door so they wouldn’t be late.

Uncle had been invited for the day to attend a wedding for one of his close friends. Ran, of course, had been excited to go see it and dragged him along as well, saying that he was too young to stay by himself.

She seemed to have done a complete one-eighty after last night. Sure, she had scolded him for sure after coming back late last night but she had been more worried than angry.

Small mercies at least.

He could also feel the small, almost phantom touch of Nibi’s head touching the side of his foot every once in a while.

She must have chosen to lie on the ground next to him after they boarded. There weren't very many people on the train, but he guessed that she didn’t want to venture too far from him. Not that he blamed her of course.

Conan kicked his feet back and forth and kept eating as he also looked at his new shoes. The professor had given him some new kind of super kick sneakers. They were supposed to make anything he kicked be a weapon itself.

He reached up to also feel his improved glasses. Apparently, a hidden microphone had been added. The professor had assured him that they would come in handy, and he was certain they would.

‘If they work that is’, he laughed to himself.

Loud laughter could be heard behind him, and the three children that he had been more or less forced into being friends with, came running down the middle of the carriage. They began excitingly playing on the seat behind him and generally making a lot of noise.

‘Children…” Conan sighed internally, trying to finish his lunch.

Uncle had apparently agreed with him, complaining about the kids. He was wondering why they had to watch them when their parents should have been there. Ran, having no complaints about it, reached over and cinched his tie tight around his neck, effectively choking him.

Conan was trying to ignore the circus around him but was ambushed by the kids demanding that he go play and explore with them. He also felt Nibi slide more under his chair at the approach of the kids.

He watched the kids run off down the aisle and heard Uncle complaining once more about their parents. Only this time, he was complaining about Conan’s too. His non-existent parents.

Shit.

“I’ve gotta use the bathroom!” He explained in a hurry as he turned and ran off towards the door at the back of the car, cursing the men in black as he did so. It’s not like he wanted this to happen. It was their fault he was like this!

As if summoned, the door opened and two men in black clothes walked out, looking really familiar. They walked down the aisle, passing Ran and uncle, and took seats farther back towards the front, leaving him standing in the doorway stunned.

A slight nudge on his leg brought him back to reality and a hushed voice made its way to his ears.

“Is that who you’ve been searching for?” And after a quick glance around to see if anyone had heard, he nodded.

“Yeah, looks like it,” he whispered back just as quietly.

They were literally right there! This was his chance to get some of those pills that shrunk him in the first place, and once he was back to normal, he would take those guys down for good!

He slowly made his way back down to his seat, sat down and waited. He felt Nibi slide into the seat with him, making herself comfortable while they waited for the men to make their move.

After a while, the men stood up and headed out towards the door. Conan looked over and noticed that Ran was distracted by the view. Taking the chance, he quickly got up and chased after them.

He carefully followed them to the second floor of a dining car and noticed that they were meeting with someone. After letting out a ‘che!’ In annoyance, he backed up into the stairway. He couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying, and he didn’t have a way to get the glasses' hidden microphone over to them. He reached down to grab a piece of gum for the mic when he remembered something.

‘Wait a minute’, he thought mentally face palming. ‘I do have a way to hear what they’re saying.’

Looking down towards his feet, he quietly asked Nibi a question.

“Hey, could you do me a favor?”

The murmur came from a little bit to his left, “What would you need?”

Conan looked around the corner, back to the top of the stairs where the men had entered.

“Could you listen in on what those men in black are saying upstairs? I can’t get close enough to hear them without making them suspicious,” he asked. He would not admit to begging.

“I suppose that is easy enough. Very well, I shall return shortly,” came the reply that moved around him and silently headed up the stairs. He followed her up and softly opened the dining car door for her. He met the eyes of a confused waiter and awkwardly laughed, closing the door after a moment, giving Nibi a chance to slip through.

Conan stood there for a second, contemplating his next move. He didn’t want to go far because he needed Nibi to be able to find him, and to explain to him what they were talking about. However, the longer he was gone, the more likely Ran was to come looking for him.

With a soft groan, he decided to stay put. He’d find some convincing lie to give to Ran later.

Kicking back against the wall, he waited.

Thankfully, he didn't end up waiting too long. After about fifteen minutes, the men came back down the stairs, turning the corner and almost running into him. He took a step back in fear and after looking up at the faces of his declared enemies, he paused.

“Move brat.”

The cold voice was not the same as the one from the park. Neither was the face, on either of them. They were similar, but definitely not the same people.

It wasn’t them.

With a full body sigh of frustration, he stepped out of the way, letting the men pass him. Curiously, he noticed that the briefcase the taller one was carrying was different from the one they had brought in.

‘Damnit.’

He was back to square one. A few moments later, he felt a slight nudge on his leg.

After waiting a second to make sure he was alone, he swiftly asked the air, “What did you hear?”

A soft snort, then, “I see you waste no time, little one.”

Conan rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Yeah, yeah. You did a great job. Can you tell me what they said?”

He didn't get a response immediately, but he could hear the disdain in Nibi’s following answer.

“You're not going to like it. I didn’t hear the start of the conversation, but those humans wearing black were making a deal.”

“A deal?” He was really starting to hate deals.

“Yes. The men were talking to a young female, bartering with information about gold. The female handed over a large sum of your human currency in a case and the men exchanged it for theirs.”

‘So that's why the cases were different,’ he thought with a hand cupped under his chin.

“They then told her to ‘call them’ once she needed it opened. I’m unsure at how she would summon them from a distance, but I digress. I’ve seen those types of humans before, I doubt they’ll let her live.”

He agreed with that, “Yeah, it would just be easier to take the money and kill her to keep that information quiet. They don’t seem like the kind of people to leave loose ends. Any idea-”

He was cut off at the sound of the door adjacent to him opening. A familiar brown head leaned out, eyes widening at the sight of him.

“There you are Conan-kun! We were all getting worried when you were taking so long to go to the bathroom. I guess you were just exploring the train huh?” She sighed in relief before smiling at him again and looking around in slight confusion, “Who were you talking to Conan-kun? I thought I heard someone else with you just now.”

Well shit.

“O-oh, I ran into a nice lady who was talking about where she was going today! We talked for a little bit, but she had to go back to her car because we were getting close to her stop soon,” he stuttered out, a hair from complete panic. His quick words were accompanied by frantic arm motions.

He felt Nibi slip past him, and he guessed that she went through the door that Ran was holding open, leaving him by himself against Ran.

Traitor.

Ran ended up dragging him back to his seat after their conversation. They ended up passing the men on their way back, as they did, he felt it. A slight brush, barely there, on his leg.

Ah, so she was still listening to them. Whatever more information she could gleam from them about how they planned to kill their business partner would help.

Conan really was grateful for her help. He’d have to make sure she knows that. She had enough problems trusting humans as it was.

As he sat down and leaned back, he thought more about the lady that had switched cases with them.

Conan just wished that Nibi had been given more time to describe what she looked like. He would have liked to try and talk to her to get a read on what this lady was like.

With a deep breath, he held in a snort of irritation and forced himself to relax, waiting for Nibi to make the next move. He really didn’t like waiting. He always prided himself in being the first to take action and get the job done.

‘Look where that got me,’ he thought in a deadpan, remembering why he was in this situation in the first place.

Curse his pride sometimes.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he got no warning when she leapt up onto the arm of the seat and bumped his hand. He startled so badly that he almost jumped out of his seat, if not for Nibi holding him back. Ran looked at him in concern, but he awkwardly waved it off as falling asleep.

Nibi leaned over and whispered into his ear almost inaudibly, “Some type of explosive.”

He stilled.

Of course it was a bomb! Why wasn’t that his first guess! They switched cases with the lady and gave her a bomb, knowing that when she opened it for the information, she would take herself out.

“That’s not all,” she continued. “They said it will explode at 3:10. If it gets a big enough shock, well, same effect. They also claimed that it could explode when she ‘calls’ them about the information.”

His lips twitched into a scowl, and he gripped his pant legs tighter.

Poor lady never had a chance. They never had any intention of holding up their end of the deal in the first place.

He had to find that bomb!

He jumped out of his seat and turned, only this time to be caught by the back of the shirt by Ran.

“Conan-kun, please don’t run around so much! We're almost at our stop,” she kindly, but sternly said. He looked back at her in disbelief and as he was about to respond the intercom for the train went off.

“Now arriving at Nagoya, I repeat now arriving at Nagoya.”

He quickly glanced back at the men and saw them swiftly get up and walk to the door. Ran had released his shirt and was preparing to finish their conversation when he took off. He tore after the men hoping to reach them, when he also heard a thud on the ground behind him. With a fast glance over his shoulder, he noticed that Ran had somehow tripped while trying to chase him.

Putting his guilty feeling aside for the moment, he passed the carriage door and stood at the entrance for a moment. They would not get away! The men were making their way onto the train platform with haste, and he scrambled to run after them.

Or he would have.

If Uncle had not chosen that moment to come from the opposite carriage, he might have made it. The man reached over and picked him up off the ground quite roughly. Shaking him as he asked, “Did this short trip already fry your brain brat? This isn’t our stop yet. We got another half an hour to go.”

Dangling there, he uselessly kicked his feet in an effort to get free. Conan pointed an arm after them, “But they-,” before biting his tongue.

No one would believe him in this body anyways, and based on Uncle’s reaction, he was right.

Kogoro raised an eyebrow and looked at him like he was crazy. Conan cursed up a storm in his head, but his mouth only replied with, “Never mind.”

He wouldn’t be able to get the men to confess, yet. That would come later, and now, even with the men gone, he couldn’t relax yet.

He still had a bomb to find.

Uncle was still holding him after the doors closed when the man suddenly jumped on one foot and dropped him.

“AHH! The hell was that?!” He angrily hopped up and down as he held his foot in pain. He looked around in irritation before looking at Conan sitting on the floor.

“Hey brat! Did you see what hit me?”

He rapidly shook his head. “I didn't, Uncle. You should be careful though. People leave loose luggage around all the time. You might hit some.”

Uncle grumbled that he was the detective and that he knew that, before turning and walking towards their car. He watched his feet like a hawk to make sure he didn't hit anything on the way back.

Conan sweat dropped. He wasn't sure how the elder Mouri was ignoring the fact that there was no luggage lying around.

The ‘great’ detective opened the door and was mostly pushed out of the way by Ran. She was in the middle of asking where her young charge was, when she saw him just behind Uncle.

Ran scolded him for running off again and grabbed him, as they all headed back to their car. The light touch of a tail around his arm told him Nibi was following as well.

Conan could feel his eyebrow twitch. At this rate the bomb would explode before he even got a chance to see the unfortunate soul who made the deal.

After waiting a few minutes, he begged Ran to let him go thank the ‘nice lady’ who had generously spent her time talking to him earlier. He told her that she would be departing soon, and he wouldn’t get the chance again.

Ran had hesitated. She clearly wanted him where she could see him, so she knew he wasn’t getting into trouble. In the end however, her kind heart won out. She told him to be quick and to be gone no later than fifteen minutes.

And after thanking her enthusiastically, Conan bolted down the aisle towards the door. He reached up and opened it, stumbling a bit when Nibi pushed herself into the back of his legs to avoid another passenger coming through.

Conan entered the next car and closed the door. He turned, only to come face to face with the newly formed Detective Boys.

'Great,' he thought in annoyance.

They smiled and playfully greeted him.

“Conan-kun! You gotta have something fun going on right?” Ayumi’s voice was first.

“Let us know if you find another case to solve!” Genta chimed in next.

He mentally sighed. Were these kids the only ones that were going to believe him? He could feel Nibi’s tail trying to pull his leg along. Well, he had no choice now.

Conan ended up telling the kids he was playing a game. That they had to find someone on board who was doing the most exciting thing, in which the kids enthusiastically agreed.

This was how Conan found himself entering a non-smoking cabin after walking through quite a few others. Nibi’s tail was a guiding lead to the ‘exciting thing’ he was looking for.

Sure enough, as they passed a well-dressed lady, Nibi yanked fairly hard in her direction. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Ah, so it was her. Conan took observation of the other occupants of the cabin.

Two people sitting close by her, and three more towards the front.

Conan smirked. This gave him an idea.

After walking a couple steps out of the hearing range of the other passengers, he turned and told the kids this is where they would hold their little competition. They would ask some of the passengers in this car what they were doing today, and the person with the most exciting story wins.

He took the chance to whisper down at his feet as the children cheered, heading off to the other passengers.

“I’m going to distract her, you grab the case,” was all he said, and without waiting for a response, he approached the suspect. The lady seemed nice enough and he had no problem cheerfully asking how she was doing. She gave him her full attention as she kindly responded to the questions that he was asking her.

As they talked, he was discreetly watching the case in the seat next to her slowly starting to move. He prayed that she wouldn’t notice the case suddenly gaining a life of its own.

It very quietly shifted forwards and tilted down, almost hitting the floor, before it got pulled under the seat it was sitting on.

Conan smirked. He opened his mouth to finish out their talk when loud voices from the front reached his ears. It seemed Genta had annoyed one of the passengers. As the lady turned her head to look at the distraction, Conan saw this as his chance.

He took off towards the back of the cabin and yanked the door open. As he held it open, he saw the suitcase come floating down the aisle, seemingly of its own accord. The lady was still distracted by the increasing spectacle the kids were putting on and hadn't noticed yet. He had to hand it to the kids, they made one great distraction.

As soon as the suitcase passed through the door, he closed it quickly and took it from Nibi.

“Great work! That was perfect!” He praised her as he inspected the case. There was no glaring issue with it, which was good.

“Question is, how are we going to get rid of it?” He pondered out loud as he stood there.

The answer came almost immediately. “Why don’t you just destroy it outside this ‘train’ as you call it? It can't damage anything from outside.”

“Well yeah, I thought about that, but my kick alone wouldn't be enough to detonate that. I'd only be able to get it through the window. We can’t have this thing near the tracks for another train to pass by.”

A snort.

“Little one you forget who you're talking to. I can blast it with enough chakra to destroy it.”

His brows furrowed in confusion, “But you said before that you barely have any at the moment anyways. Are you sure you can do it?”

“Have a little faith in me, would you?”

Conan chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head with one hand, “Sorry.”

He straightened up.

“Ready?” He asked as he leaned down and turned the dial on his shoe.

Her response was to fade into view. With smoke faintly coming out of the sides of her mouth, she motioned to him with one of her tails. She looked every bit the legend she was supposed to be. He nodded determinedly.

“Go!”

After a quick step backward, he ran forward and sharply kicked his right foot out, sending the case flying right through one of the train's windows.

The case had barely gotten a few meters outside the train, when an honest-to-goodness fireball the size of his head shot passed him and out the same window.

The fireball hit the case head on. The ensuing explosion violently shook the train. The blast was massive, easily enough to have blown the train to pieces.

Conan staggered for a moment, grabbing onto Nibi before he fell. The train stopped shaking and for a second, he was speechless.

It was one thing to hear about the elemental powers she had explained. To see it however, now that was incredible.

Conan grinned hugely as he regained his footing, “Okay, that was awesome.”

Nibi turned to look at him, revealing a somewhat tired look at his comment and let out a huff, “And you doubted me.”

With the danger now passed, Conan released a large sigh and sank to the floor with his hands splayed out behind him. Nibi only watched him quietly with her head tilted in mild concern. He just smiled, “I'm alright, just happy that the bomb is taken care of. We only got one more thing to do.”

Whatever Nibi had been about to respond with was cut off by the door behind him slamming open. Ran came into the car, eyes wide with fear before she caught sight of him. She visibly relaxed in relief at his apparent safety with a hand clasped over her heart. Sadly, it seemed that his luck for getting away with stuff today had run out as she took in him and the broken window.

With her hands thrown to her hips, she leveled him with a glare.

“Conan-kun, please tell me you had nothing to do with that blast.”

One of his hands rubbing the back of his head and a strained laugh was the only answer he gave.

After that, the express train was brought to a halt. Inspector Megure and his men began their investigation into the explosion and after a convincing testimony from Conan, arrested the business lady for her part in the deal. It had turned out that the men planned on using the information for themselves and just wanted the money. About 100-million-yen worth.

Unfortunately for the men, they were tracked down and arrested after some work by the police. An emergency police inspection line had caught them before they could get far. And just like that, the case had been closed.

They may have been late for the wedding, and he may have been grounded for a bit, but he had managed to save the train and the people on board. In the end, that's all he really cared about.

And as the train started back up again and began moving, he sat in his seat and reached down under the guise of tying his shoe to whisper to Nibi where he thought she was.

“Thanks, Nibi. I mean it.”

Strangely enough, he didn’t get any type of response back.