#nikaylasarae

Kogoro closed his eyes, unable to properly vocalize how decadent the taste was. Sweet, savory, like eating food created by a Goddess. He swallowed, tears pricking at the corner of his eyes. How could he have gotten so lucky? "Yoko-chan, this is beyond heavenly." He managed to say, lightly touching her hand.

Her smile of delight had his heart fluttering in his chest. She clapped her hands together. "You really think so-"

"Ojisan."

She asked, eyes lighting up. "-Should I get you another slice?"

Kogoro twitched in confusion. Ojisan? Why would Yoko-chan be calling him Ojisan? He looked down, surprised to find his cake was already gone. When had he eaten the rest of it? He shrugged, patting his stomach, and grinned. "I will always have room for another slice of your divine cooking, Yoko."

She laughed in delight and leaned in brushing his cheek with her lips. But instead of being a soft warmth, the touch radiated like a burning coal. Kogoro jerked away with a startled cry, rubbing at his cheek as the sensation of liquid fire seemed to radiate all the way down to his toes.

Yoko twirled away from him, seeming to not notice his reaction.

"Ojisan!"

"I'll just grab more from the oven!" she said.

There it was again. Ojisan. Why would Yoko be calling him that? Weren't they on a first name basis now? Even if they weren't, she'd never called him Ojisan. It had always been Mouri-san before. "But...you just set the cake on the table...” 

"No, silly, that one's the entertainment!" She said giggling, her back to him as she bent down to look in the oven.

He blinked and looked to the dessert, and sure enough, the cake was moving of it's own accord, alternating between spinning like a top and rocking back and forth like a seesaw. Huh, that was...weird. How had Yoko managed to-- He jerked backwards with a startled curse as the strawberries on top suddenly spewed a shower of golden sparks right at him. The embers burning his clothes and his skin as they landed. He cried out, trying to pat out the burning flames, but his hands were slow to respond. "Yoko!" He called out to her.

She turned to him, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Mouri-san!"

"What's the matter, dearest?"

"The cake!" Kogoro tried to explain, but got no further as the strawberries on top of it took off like little mini rockets, zooming around the room before targeting his face. Kogoro yelled, ducking under the table to avoid the mini missiles, his cheek scraping against the rough gravel floor.

Where had the tile gone?

"Mouri-san please! Get up!"

Yoko's voice pleaded with him, and he looked up to see her suddenly kneeling in front of him, gripping his shoulders. Tears running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." she apologized. She tugged at him roughly, and he winced as his burning skin caught on the pieces of rock. "The cake wasn't supposed to do that!"

No it wasn't. But that wasn't her fault. How could Yoko have known?

"Otosan, Please! Wake up. I can't carry you like this!"

Her voice cracked as she reached out for him. She sounded so young now. Not quite herself. Again she tugged at his shoulders, trying to get him to move.

He frowned, not budging. Yoko shouldn't sound so young, the voice wasn't hers. He blinked and she'd shrunk in size. A child, bright blue eyes wide with fear as she reached out for him. For her father.

"Mmmmfine." he mumbled in response to her pleading tone. He had to help her. She didn't need to carry him. He would be fine. She was the one upset. He needed to comfort her. Save her from the exploding flying strawberries. "Don'na cry." He didn't like seeing her so sad, so helpless. He tried to grab her hands, but his own weren't responding. "It's not your fault that the strawberries were miniature rocket bombs."

Bombs? Why was that...

She bit her lip, blue eyes shimmering with tears.

"OTOSAN, WAKE UP!"

Yoko-chan vanished, the kitchen exploding in a series of golden red fireworks that blinded him.

NO! YOKO! Kogoro wordlessly yelled in the darkness, his eyelids feeling like anvils were attached to them as he struggled to get them open. Yoko. He had to save her! He thrashed, cutting off another scream as the rest of his body cried out all at once, different parts suddenly competing for the prize of most injured. No, he would have to face that pain later. He couldn't succumb to it. He needed to help-

Kogoro reached out blindly, knowing he was supposed to be holding something...someone...protecting...who? Someone was in danger...him...and Yoko...no...Ko...ko...co...Conan! Kogoro inhaled sharply, forcing his eyes open just as his hand encountered another on his shoulder. "Conan?" He whispered hoarsely, struggling to get his eyes to focus on the face swimming above him.

Conan scrubbed at his cheeks, damp with tears and fresh blood, his hand covered by an oversized jacket sleeve. "Oto-" His voice cracked on the word as he tugged forcefully at Kogoro's shoulders, moving him half an inch if that. "We have to move. Now. Please!"

Kogoro stared at him uncomprehending. Why did they have to move? Why was Conan bleeding? There were no exploding strawberry rockets here. His eyes roved past Conan's trying to piece it together. Behind the boy was a large column of fire. It's crackling edges giving off heat. It was a bit large for a campfire. Those flames...flames...Wait, explosion. Explosion! That wasn't just a dream!

Kogoro jerked upright as memory returned, yelping as he jarred his legs, the pain sending him back to the ground again, struggling to breathe. His broken legs. Bomb, explosion, Shinichi, Conan. It all rushed back.

"Ojisan!"

The crack of another explosion shook the ground as a fresh column of black smoke climbed into the sky. Kogoro inhaled sharply. They had to move! Get away from the mansion!

He rolled onto his stomach, the sting of a thousand torrid cactus needles in his legs confirming that there was no way he would be able to walk again today. "I'm fine." He said, his throat feeling like sandpaper as Conan knelt in front of him, the jacket swamping his child's body.

Conan raised an eyebrow and Kogoro grimaced at using Shinichi's favorite turn of phrase. It was obvious he was not fine. "I'll manage." he corrected quickly. "Move, boy." His words were punctuated by another explosion behind them.

Conan flinched. "This way." He urged, tugging Kogoro's sleeve. "To the tree over there."

Kogoro looked up long enough to see which direction the boy was pointing before he pulled himself forward, once again army crawling through the grass. "Got it. Go brat, I'll meet you there."

Kogoro turned his attention to the large tree about twenty yards away from the mansion. He could do this. He'd crawled through a hole in the ground easily enough, this would be a walk-crawl in the park in comparison. Nice big open spaces, soft grass. But the tree only seemed to get further away whenever he looked up. Kogoro's lungs heaved for air, his arms shaking from the strain of dragging his body along the lawn. Come on. He could do this, Conan was probably already there, waiting impatiently for him to reach the tree as well. He looked up again, squinting to see the boy, but frowned, pausing in his own trek to the tree as his searching gaze couldn't locate him. Shouldn't the boy have gotten to there already? Where was he?

Kogoro whipped his head around, his heart in the throat, searching for the boy. There! A yard and a half behind him was Conan on hands and his knees, struggling to crawl in the oversized jacket. Well one hand and knees. Conan had one arm up to his chest holding it there, to keep from jarring his injured shoulder.

Kogoro mentally hit himself on the head. Why hadn't he remembered sooner! Shinichi had torn his feet walking barefoot in that debris field. The boy probably could walk about as well as Kogoro could at the moment and it was obvious the boy was worst off with crawling, with how he inched along, sweat dripping down his face..

"Here, boya." He reached out a hand to Conan. "I can carry you on my back." That would save the boy from having to struggle with the jacket.

Conan looked up, eyes glinting stubbornly. "I can manage just fine, Ojisan." He said jutting out his chin, edging past Kogoro.

Kogoro dragged himself in front of the boy. Oh no, not this time. He wasn't going to let Conan have his way. "Doesn't look like fine if you're behind me. Come on, I can carry you." He reached out again, but Conan leaned just out of his reach.

"You'd probably collapse if I sat on you." Conan retorted. "Your arms are hardly holding you up now."

Kogoro grimaced. Well that was true, but that wasn't going to stop him. "Brat, you don't have a choice. Come here."

Conan shook his head, trying to crawl faster, but the jacket was hindering his limbs. "I got this."

They both didn't have this. "Don't make me ground you from the next twelve murder cases, boya."

Conan hesitated, narrowing his eyes at Kogoro. "You can't keep using that against me."

Kogoro growled, using a surge of energy to lunge at the brat, grabbing him by the jacket. "I can if it works to get you to do what I want." He really doubted he could prevent the boy from getting into crime scenes, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try. "Get over here son, and let me help you for once."

Conan stiffened, his soot streaked hair hiding his face. "I'm fine." he mumbled, reluctantly allowing Kogoro to pull him closer. "Better off than you."

Kogoro snorted. "With how much you've yo-yoed in height today, I highly doubt that."

Conan choked off a laugh. "Maybe you're right." He conceded, finally relenting, getting onto Kogoro's back. The boy's good arm wrapped around his neck, while his other hand gripped the back of Kogoro's shirt.

Kogoro reached back to adjust him so that Conan was more centered on his back so he wouldn't fall off. "Good, if I wasn't, I'd consider throwing you across the lawn. That's much quicker than you crawling at a snail's pace." Speaking of pace. Kogoro heaved himself into motion, working to move faster than that too. It wasn't easy. Conan, while usually light enough to pick up with one hand, had become heavy enough to make Kogoro feel like he was trapped under the rubble again. Kogoro gritted his teeth, forcing that memory away and concentrating on placing one shaking arm in front of the other. Nearly there. Nearly there. "Still hanging in there, Conan?" He gasped out.

Conan tightened his grip on Kogoro in response. "Yes."

"Good," Kogoro groaned, collapsing underneath the shade of the tree. "You're heavy, get off."

"I'm not that heavy!" Conan denied, quickly slipping off of him. "It was your idea in the first place for me to get on, Ojisan!"

Kogoro rolled onto his back, painfully pushing himself up into a sitting position to lean against the trunk of the tree. "If I hadn't you'd still be at the base of those stairs."

They both froze as a loud groan met the ears, the scream of metal shearing in half growing louder as the whole front wall of the mansion seemed to shift forward, it's blackened frame teetering in place before it fell outwards like a performer taking their last bow, plummeting onto the stairs with a crash that shook the earth.

Kogoro had Conan in his arms before he realized he'd grabbed the boy. "Oh, Kami." He whispered, wide-eyed staring at the huge cloud of dust the wall had kicked up. "We could have been under that." If Conan hadn't woken him up, if they'd decided to wait within.

Conan trembled in his grip, not protesting the tight hold. "You could have been on those stairs if I hadn't pulled you down them." He said, voice wavering. "If you hadn't woken up in time."

They both cringed as the other three walls followed the first in collapsing. The back wall falling into the burning remains of the mansion, while the two side walls fell outwards smashing bushes, decorative fountains and...

"There goes the car." Conan mumbled.

Kogoro stiffened and let out a groan. Why had he parked the car so close to the house! Though it wasn't like he could have driven them away from here in his current state. "The rental place is not going to like that." He ran a hand over his eyes. They'd already been barred from half a dozen other rental places in the city because of events like this.

"That's what? The seventh car we've damaged so far this year from them?"

"Something like that." Kogoro exhaled, wrapping the jacket tighter around the boy, ensuring he was protected. Hopefully the manager would be understanding...again. "At least we're alive to explain things to them, though." Kogoro leaned back against the tree, resting his head there. "Thanks to you, Conan."

Conan shifted in his grip, finding a comfortable position resting against Kogoro's chest. Snuggled up in the jacket as he was with his eyes nearly closed, he almost looked like he was peacefully sleeping. Almost. "It wasn't...I'm just glad you woke up." He whispered.

Kogoro smiled fondly at the boy, ruffling his hair again to Conan's mumbled protest. "Only because you called me Otosan." How could he refuse a child's call for father? "I never expected you to think of me that way, boya. Yusaku-san may not like that." He teased through a tightening throat. It was probably a slip of the tongue really, but thanks to that slip, he'd woken up in time.

Conan stiffened, and Kogoro nearly thought he could feel heat coming off of the boy as he ducked his head, hiding his face. "Yusaku-san is Shinichi-niichan's dad, not Conan's." he mumbled.

Kogoro raised his eyebrows, warmth rising in his chest. "I see..."

"And...I...I...I think...as Conan..." his hands gripped Kogoro's shirt, as sirens sounded in the distance. "You're an alright father to have...Otosan."

Kogoro blinked rapidly, fighting at the warmth that seemed to be filling him. Gently, Kogoro squeezed the boy as the first of multiple firetrucks roared onto the scene, screeching to a stop in front of to the burning remains of the mansion. "You're an alright son to have, Conan." He managed to say over the lump in his throat as he rocked the boy. He cleared his throat. "Just stop messing with my crime scenes and you might graduate to a good son."

Conan cut off a laugh, relaxing. "Guess, I'm stuck being an alright son then."

Kogoro smiled. With all that Conan had done to get the two of them out alive, he wouldn't have it any other way.

This Fic was Inspired by: "Snuggling with my jacket, peacefully asleep." Part of an 'I Found You' writing prompt list on AngelicSentinel's Tumblr blog.

Stillebesat Speaks:

I just want to take a moment to thank you all for joining me in this fic experience! You reading, favoriting, following, and/or commenting on this fic has been such a delightful highlight to my days! Thank you all for taking the time to do so. I really appreciate it. :D And if you have any questions, comments, or just really want to chat, feel free to message me! I'm totally game for conversations. :)

He wouldn't admit that the tightness in his chest was from anything but the weight of rubble on top of him as he heard no response. Licking dry lips he tried again. "BRAT!" He called out, not sure how far his voice actually carried. Had the kid already gotten himself free? He was rather resourceful for a nearly eight-year-old. Perhaps he'd already gone for help. Still... "CONAN!" He tried to not let worry enter his voice. Despite what he said, the brat was still his responsibility. What would Ran do if-

He was saved from wondering exactly how she would react by a muffled voice to his right.

"Ojisan."

Kogoro twisted his head, relief washing through him as the soot darkened brat pulled himself over a pile of rubble, slipping down to Kogoro's level. "About time you answered, brat." Kogoro grumbled, shifting his shoulders to better see him. "You okay?"

Conan nodded, his blue eyes wide and worried. He was missing his own suit jacket, his shirt and pants torn and singed. Plus his glasses. The boy looked much younger without those frames on, familiar too, though Kogoro couldn't place why.

"Better than you, Ojisan." He said, his own voice as hoarse as Kogoro's. The kid lightly rubbed his head where blood had caked down his hair and dried. "I got myself free."

Well, the brat did seem to have all the luck in that regard. Getting himself out of situations where other people would have died. "Can you get yourself out of here?" Kogoro demanded, doing his best to meet the freeloader's eyes. "Go get help."

Conan frowned, his eyes looking far older than they should have on such a young face, as he studied the situation. "I...I don't think help would get here in time." He whispered.

Kogoro growled. That was not what he wanted to hear. The Great Sleeping Kogoro had faced and survived far too many life and death situations to die here! "So you can get out. Go. Go get help."

"Ojisan."

"Brat. GO."

"Mouri-tantei, there's no time!" Conan snapped.

Where had he heard that wording before? Kogoro shook the feeling of deja vu from his thoughts. He glared at the brat. If his hands weren't pinned by his sides, he would have given the freeloader a good thunk on the head for wasting time. Kogoro knew his time was limited. A wrong shift in weight above him and he'd be squashed flat. "Unless you can suddenly lift this rubble on your own you little four-eyed squirt," he growled, knowing full well that the kid couldn't. "You will get out of here and find help!"

Conan's eyes flashed and he lowered his head, hands clenching and unclenching.

"Go, Conan." Kogoro said, softening his tone. "You can't help me just standing there." He knew the brat was capable of many things, but this? No. There was nothing the kid could do for him here. "Go." He urged again in the softer tone. "Go."

Conan shook his head, looking up to meet Kogoro's eyes, determination in them as he came to some sort of decision. "No, Ojisan, I'm not leaving." He said, his usually higher pitched voice lowering. He reached into the pocket of his jeans pulling out a small vial.

What was a tiny bottle going to do? "Brat."

"There's no time for me to get help." Conan interrupted, still speaking in a lower register, as serious as when Ran had been kidnapped and they hadn't been able to find her right away. Kogoro had rarely heard it. "But." he uncapped the vial and dumped the mysterious contents into his mouth, swallowing. "I promise, Ojisan. I can help you now. I'll get you out."

"How?" Kogoro demanded unimpressed, not daring to hope the boy was actually speaking truth. What could be in that bottle that would convince him that he could help get Kogoro free? It was delusional. A child, get him out? The boy must be suffering from a concussion or more serious head injury if he believed that that was even remotely possible.

The boy grimaced, rubbing at his chest, as he moved forward, pulling off his torn shirt in the process, letting it drop to the ground. "Just be ready to move, Ojisan, when I say so. I don't know how long I'll be able to hold this up." He kicked off his dress shoes, and knelt. His breathing hitched as he placed his hands on the concrete pinning Kogoro down.

Kogoro turned his head with the brat's movements, frowning at his odd behavior. "Brat."

"I know what I'm doing, Ojisan." He flashed one of his sugary smiles in Kogoro's direction.

Kogoro's hands clenched. He really wished he could thump him. What sort of plan was this! The shrimp could barely lift a full pitcher of water, let alone a pile of rubble. "How hard did you hit your head, boy?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm fi-" he cut off, one hand grabbing at his chest, inhaling sharply, before lowering his hand back to the concrete. "Fine. I'll be fine." he managed, looking away from Kogoro, though he hunched a bit more.

Was it his imagination or was there steam coming off the boy? Kogoro wiggled his fingers, about the only movement he could do in his current predicament. "You're not fine if you think you can lift this rubble off of-"

Conan cut him off again as he groaned, lowering his head to rest against the concrete. Kogoro could see sweat beading on the boy's skin and his concern flared higher. "Oi, brat you're not fine!" And Kogoro was more than helpless in doing anything about it. Ran would be devastated if Conan ended up in the hospital again.

Conan gave a quiet painful chuckle. "No. But I'm used to th-" he cut off biting back a scream. "To this type of pain." He managed, drawing steadying breaths. He flashed another smile, more tense than the first one to Kogoro. "Get ready, Ojisan."

Kogoro flexed his muscles as best as he could. It was hard to doubt the boy's confidence, even if the sweat pouring from the child's tiny body told another story. "You better be right about this, brat." He didn't need the boy getting himself stuck trying to get him out. Then they'd both be helpless.

Conan flashed another pain filled smile. "I usually am." He said all confidence even if he looked awful. That was steam that Kogoro could see coming off his sweat drenched body. His chest moved up and down in quick shallow breathing as he adjusted his position, placing one shoulder underneath the rubble holding Kogoro down. "Ready?"

For what? The boy to faint on him? Kogoro kept the comment to himself, as he readied himself to pull himself out of this. "Yes." Despite how impossible it all seemed, he did trust the brat to know what he was doing. He was a smart kid.

Conan's body spasmed and he threw back his head as an ear piercing scream tore from his throat.

Kogoro tensed, flinching away from the agonized cry. Yet he couldn't help but stare, words dying in his throat, his mouth dropping open as Conan...he couldn't believe...no, it wasn't. But the boy. The brat. He was growing right before Kogoro's eyes, shooting up in the fastest growth spurt Kogoro had ever seen. And as he grew, the weight of the rubble on Kogoro's back lessened, stirring him into action. Right. MOVE! He forced his arms up and pushed himself onto hands and knees, only to freeze as a wave of agony rushed up his legs, a familiar pain he'd experienced before in one of them. Broken. He hadn't realized before now because he hadn't been able to move them.

He gritted his teeth. Move Kogoro! He reached out dragging himself out from under the rubble, cutting himself on shards of glass and other shrapnel as he pulled himself to relative safety as quickly as he could. "I'm clear." He called, twisting his body to lean against a different pile of rubble. He looked up in time to see the debris that had trapped him collapse to the floor, sending up a cloud of dust.

Working to keep his legs as still as possible, Kogoro pulled himself into the hole. His breathing quickly grew haggard, his tongue feeling the sting of his teeth whenever he jarred his legs too much. The space was more than narrow, it was claustrophobic. Wires catching in his clothing and hair, shards of concrete jabbing into his arms. His shoulders brushing either side, while the splints seemed to catch on everything little thing; meaning he was constantly having to edge backwards and forward to free himself from whatever they'd gotten stuck on.

How had Shinichi managed to do this just wearing his jacket? The boy had to be a mess of cuts and scrapes now and, Oh Kami. Was the space getting tighter? He could feel the ceiling of the tiny tunnel pressing against his back, bringing back the all too fresh memories of him being trapped earlier. What if the ceiling collapsed on him again! The boy wouldn't be able to get him out by magic strength then. No, Kogoro would be a pancake, flatter than a pancake really. Was that the sound of the ceiling beginning to collapse above him? He couldn't quite hear over his gasps for air.

How had the brat managed to keep crawling through this! Kogoro pressed himself as low to the ground as possible, inching his way forward. He shivered as something cold trickled down his back. Water? Sewage? Gasoline? He remembered smelling it when he'd come to earlier. Was that why Shinichi was anxious to get them both out of here? Had he seen something Kogoro hadn't? Was the place going to explode again?! His fingers scrambled at the rubble as he jerked himself forward away from the cold trickle. Fifty feet. Fifty feet. It hadn't seemed that far, but by Kami, he'd been crawling for a mile already!

"You're almost there, Ojisan. Just a few more feet."

Kogoro jerked, crying out as he slammed his head into a metal pipe above him. Brat! He rubbed the back of his smarting head, cursing under his breath. Not even near him and the boy was still causing him grief.

"Ojisan?" The boy called out once again.

Kogoro growled, lowering his hand. "I'm coming, brat. One of us isn't as skinny as the other." He pulled himself forward, sucking in his stomach in hopes it would make the space feel less tight. It didn't help. But Shinichi's voice sounded close. He had to be almost out.

Shinichi chuckled. "Need to go on a diet, old man?"

Kogoro rolled his eyes. "You got a way to shrink me too, brat?"

"Not anything that isn't incredibly painful." Was his quiet response.

Kogoro winced at the boy's tone. The retort had just slipped out. "I'll pass then. Got enough on my plate already with my legs." He replied, trying to figure out a way to dig himself out of that particular hole. Just exactly how painful was it for the boy to change sizes? He recalled Conan's screams when he'd grown and winced. Okay, it had to be as bad as the boy had said. Extremely painful. Shinichi didn't strike him as the type to scream when he was in pain-well he hadn't even cried when recovering from that bullet to a stomach as Conan, so for him to scream while changing- Kogoro ducked his head, pressing his cheek to the ground as he inched through a tiny gap created from fallen pipes. His scrambling hands met Shinichi's overly warm ones as they clamped around his wrists.

"About time Ojisan." Shinichi stated as he dragged Kogoro from the hole. "Did you actually get stuck?"

Kogoro carefully rolled onto his back, meeting Shinichi's eyes as he rubbed his wrists. Oh, it felt so good to draw in a full breath of air. To be out in the relative open again. "No." He denied a bit too quickly. Not really, he'd gotten out hadn't he! He'd done just fine for not being able to use his legs.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow, his blue eyes standing out on his flushed, grime covered face as he crouched down next to Kogoro, double checking the splints and readjusting the alignment on the right one. Shinichi didn't believe him. Kogoro could tell that much.

"Well, hopefully that's the smallest gap we'll have to go through." The boy said instead of pointing out Kogoro's lie. Again, another change in the boy. He had liked proving himself right before. No matter what the cost.

Kogoro had to fervently agreed on that point though. They just needed to get down to the first floor and out. It shouldn't be too difficult, if the rest of the building was in better condition.

Kogoro raised himself onto his elbows, studying Shinichi. He frowned, noting the boy's hands seemed to tremble a bit more in their work. "You okay, kid?" He grimaced. It was a dumb question. A really dumb question considering their predicament. But Kogoro was right in thinking that the trek through that hole hadn't been easy for Shinichi. There had to be at least a dozen new bleeding cuts on Shinichi's arms and legs. Who knew how many more were on his torso as well with it hidden by his ragged jacket.

"Fine." Shinichi replied with an air of distraction as he retightened each splint.

Kogoro rolled his eyes. "I'm beginning to think you don't know the meaning of that word, boy. You hardly look fine."

"You should look in a mirror."

"If I look as bad as I feel I won't be surprised." Kogoro replied sitting up, reaching out a hand to feel Shinichi's forehead before the boy could pull away. "You're burning up." The brief contact was enough for him to tell that the boy had warmed up drastically in the time it'd taken them both to crawl through the hole.

Shinichi grimaced, rubbing at his forehead where Kogoro had touched him. "I know, but I'm...I'm as fine as I can be until the effects of the pill wear off." He straightened, jerking his head to the stairwell. "Let's get you out of here, Ojisan."

Kogoro glanced to the stairs leading upwards, and frowned, there was something wrong with that image though he couldn't place what, beyond that it was only half there. The outside railing had collapsed, leaving a jagged parody of an actual staircase in place. He turned his focus back to Shinichi, unable to hide his worry. "Can you even carry me now? Up that?" The boy didn't look well at all, his face held a fine sheen of sweat.

Shinichi's eyes flashed. "I carried you this far haven't I?" He asked jutting out his chin in a stubbornly familiar way.

How had Kogoro not pieced together before that Conan was Shinichi? They had the same tenacious streak in their mannerisms. Right. It was because normal people didn't normally shrink.

Kogoro took a breath, pretty sure he was about to waste it. "We can wait here you know. Let you rest for a bit." The boy should be lying down, not using all his energy to get the two of them out of this disaster.

Shinichi shook his head just as Kogoro expected him to. "I'm getting you out, Ojisan." He repeated, his hands clenching.

Yep. No surprises there. Kogoro rolled his eyes, wishing the boy wasn't standing just out of reach so he could knock some sense into him. He reached up, grabbing onto a jutting piece of concrete. "The moment you drop me, boya, I'm making you sit down."

"I'm not going to drop-!"

"Just saying, brat." The moment Shinichi couldn't hold him was the moment they would stop and wait for rescue. That was that. No matter what the brat said. He drew in a steadying breath. "Let's get going before you keel over, Shinichi." He pulled himself to his feet, biting his tongue to keep from crying out as he worked to keep the weight off his more painful right leg. Not that Shinichi let him stand for more than half a second before he was there, again lifting Kogoro into a fireman's carry.

"I got you." He reassured him a bit breathlessly.

But who has you, Shinichi? Kogoro thought, twitching as Shinichi shuffled them to the stairwell. The boy was radiating heat like a furnace now. That wasn't a good sign. It had to not be a good sign. The boy had said an hour before he became Conan again right? Was the heat a symptom of it wearing off? Kogoro gripped Shinichi's good shoulder as the boy made it to the first stair. He looked upwards and realization of what was wrong with it finally hit him. "Why are we going up, boy?" He demanded. "The exit's downstairs. You're at the wrong stairwell." They'd been on the second floor of the mansion when the bomb had gone off.

Shinichi paused turning his sweat drenched face to Kogoro. He cracked a smile, not at all patronizing, but understanding Kogoro's confusion. "I'm not, Ojisan. The bomb blew a hole in the floor. We fell two stories to the basement."

Oh. Kogoro looked upwards again, tensing as Shinichi began to climb one slow step at a time, keeping as close to the wall as he could. The stairs groaning alarmingly under their weight. "How did we survive that?" A bomb that strong...shouldn't they both be dead? If not from the explosion, then from the fall and rubble?

"I...used the... inflatable soccer ball of mine to block most of the explosion." Shinichi managed, gripping tightly onto the remaining handrail as he swayed. "I...I don't know after that..." He moved again, his breathing accelerating as he climbed faster. "Something struck me... from behind and... I blacked out."

"Inflatable...wait." Kogoro shifted uncomfortably on the boy's hot shoulders. Once they reached the ground floor he'd make Shinichi put him down. The boy needed to rest. "Don't you have other little toys?" he demanded as they neared the top. "A what was it-a badge? You and your little friends talk into them all the ti-"

Shinichi stumbled then, his body flashing inferno hot, his knees colliding with the next step as a painful scream once more tore from his throat. Shinichi doubled over, sending Kogoro flying off his shoulders and nearly plunging over the railless side of the stairs as he clutched at his chest.

Kogoro just managed to grab onto the handrail as he tumbled, his arm too screaming in protest as he nearly jerked it out of it's socket. His legs joining in on the agony outcry as they smacked down on the edge of the stairs, his feet dangling over the broken side. Kogoro briefly saw black from the pain, but he kept enough presence of mind to keep a hold onto his jacket Shinichi was wearing, preventing the boy from tumbling over the side as he curled up in a ball, fingers digging into his chest.

Kogoro's heart stopped. "Shinichi!" He yelled, shaking the boy. No response. Kogoro leaned forward. Come on! Come on! "You can't just!" Was this normal? Was this normal for him to faint! Did he faint?! The boy shrank another six inches to Conan's size as Kogoro frantically tried to check for a pulse, but his fingers were shaking too much to be sure he was feeling a heartbeat. The jacket swamped Shinichi now, making his limp form appear all the more like a broken puppet. "SHINICHI!"

Kogoro tore at the oversized jacket, checking to see if the boy was still breathing and flinched as it revealed all too clearly the injuries he'd sustained. Lacerations and bruises covered much of Shinichi's body. His feet in particular were jagged and bloody to the point where Kogoro had no idea how the boy had been able to walk. Plus his shoulder definitely was not looking good, all torn up and bruised.

Yet, to his relief, Shinichi's chest moved up and down in quick shallow breaths. Unconscious then. Kogoro sat back, passing a rough hand over his eyes to clear his blurry vision. After all that screaming, he couldn't blame the boy for fainting. Kogoro inhaled, remembering to breathe again as he tenderly pulled the now oversized jacket around the boy before Shinichi could catch a chill, cradling him close.

"Stupid brat." He muttered, brushing his fingers over Shini-no Conan's? -Gah what was he supposed to call him now?!- grimy forehead. "I knew you weren't fine." He'd known it, but hadn't done more to stop the boy, even when he'd seen potential signs. "You shouldn't have tried so hard to push on." But he understood why Shinichi had tried. Wanting to get them both to safety. The boy had been right in the pill not lasting as long as it was supposed to. Maybe. Kogoro glanced around for a clock before he could stop himself. How much time had passed? An hour? Or under an hour? Who knew.

Kogoro exhaled, ruffling the unconscious boy's hair. After dealing with Shinichi for the last little bit, it was jarring to suddenly be staring at Conan again. The boy looked even more frail now. Tiny and pale under the layer of grime from the loss of blood.

Kogoro frowned, tsking. He'd told the boy that he'd make him rest once Shinichi dropped him, but under the circumstances in which Shinichi had done so...they couldn't just sit here and wait for who knew how long for a rescue. Shinichi was right. They needed to get out of here. Now.

Shini-Cona-gah! He'd just call the boy Conan. Small body. Conan. Large body. Shinichi. He could keep that straight. Conan desperately needed medical attention. While Shinichi could handle his injuries as a teenager, Kogoro doubted the boy would be as capable now that he was a kid again.

"Alright, brat." Kogoro looked around again, gauging the situation. He couldn't walk, the boy couldn't carry him now, unconscious and as small as he was. "Let's get out of here." Thank Kami, they were only a handful of steps away from the top. Alright, first priority. Reach the top of the stairs without dropping the boy.

Kogoro took the jacket, using the main body of it to wrap Conan up firmly like a caterpillar in its cocoon. Then he pulled the sleeves under one arm and over the opposite shoulder to create a sling, just managing to tie it in place. It made a makeshift cradle for the boy, allowing him to keep Conan steady against his chest. Alright. Now. To climb the stairs.

Cautiously, Kogoro grabbed the railing with one hand, using the other to push against the step, as he lifted himself up, inhaling sharply as he put weight on his legs. Agony. Especially in the right. He quickly lowered himself back down, panting heavily. Okay. Putting weight on his right leg wasn't going to work. But at least the left could tolerate it.

Gritting his teeth, checking once more to be sure Conan was secure, he grabbed onto the railing again with one hand. Taking a steadying breath, he pulled himself up, using the other hand and his left foot on the stairs to lift his body up to the next step, doing his best to keep weight off the right leg. It hurt. Oh Kami, it hurt. But the lighting in his left leg was nothing compared to the nuclear explosion his right would be if he used it. Kogoro grunted as he cleared another step. He could do this. He glanced back to Conan's unconscious form. He pressed his lips in a determined line. He could do this. For Conan. He could do this. One slow step at a time.

Kogoro paused to wipe his sweating palms on his pants so he could get a better grip on the railing. It really was a good thing they'd been nearly at the top when Shinichi had collapsed. He doubted he could have climbed the entire flight of stairs in this manner.

Finally clearing the last step, Kogoro let go of the railing and slowly laid down, wincing at the rubble digging into his back, but too tired to care. His hands came up to Conan, holding the boy against his chest as he worked to get his breath back. "Made it up, boya." He remarked staring up at the missing pieces of ceiling. He could see up into the fourth floor it looked like, the roof itself appearing to still be intact. He didn't like the look of it though. There were broken pipes everywhere, hanging wires, cracked beams and definitely more piles of concrete mixed in with shards of glass. "This would have been much faster if you'd been the one climbing you know." Kogoro lifted his head to look at the listless boy, brushing his cheek, smearing the soot there further.

As much as Kogoro wanted to take a long break, he didn't dare risk it. Shinichi had wanted them out of the mansion, and seeing how damaged the first floor also was only convinced Kogoro further that the boy was right.

Sitting up with a groan, he kept a hand supporting the boy as he scooted his legs around so he could better assess the damage. Honestly, it hardly looked much different from the basement. Piles of rubble and broken furniture everywhere, with the remaining walls leaning at odd angles. No wonder the ceiling was crumbling. The supports were failing everywhere. Really, the only difference Kogoro could see between this floor and the basement was that there was more light streaming in through the broken windows in the distance. Or was that the entry way? He couldn't tell for sure from here.

He rubbed his nose as the scent of gasoline again permeated the room. It got his heart racing once more as he remembered the cold liquid trickle down his back when he'd crawled through the tunnel. Was the gasoline scent coming from his shirt or elsewhere? Better to assume elsewhere and to get them out of this death trap before the gasoline found a live wire.

He readied himself to head towards the light, and had only begun to scoot his way across the floor using mostly his hands when Conan suddenly moaned, attempting to move in the cocoon that Kogoro had created from his jacket. Kogoro froze, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. After all the strain the boy had gone through, he'd thought the boy would be conked out for the rest of the day.

Using one arm to support the boy, Kogoro used his other hand to brush at Conan's bangs. "I got you, Conan." He said reassuringly, even as his eyes darted around the destroyed building. "You're alright."

Conan's eyelids fluttered,"Otosa-" he trailed off, glazed eyes struggling to focus on Kogoro's face.

Kogoro stamped down the sudden swelling of warmth in his chest. The brat was just confused. Any boy would want his father after the trauma he'd just been through. He'd probably expected Kudo Yusaku, not Mouri Kogoro.

"It's just me, boya." Kogoro said, giving his uninjured shoulder a light squeeze to reassure him. "I got you."

Conan sighed, closing his eyes as his head began to loll.

Kogoro reached up to support the boy's head guiding it back to rest against his chest. "That's right, Conan. Just rest." The boy had done enough for today.

Conan frowned, eyes opening halfway to again try and focus on Kogoro. "Oto-Oji-Ojisan." He mumbled hoarsely, his shoulders twitching uncomfortably. "Can't move." His eyelids fluttered again, nearly closing. "Tight."

Kogoro firmly shoved the rising warmth in his chest aside. Of course the brat would complain about Kogoro's work on keeping him secure. He rolled his eyes. "Hold on." He tugged at the main body of the jacket, loosening the wrapping around the boy. "Better?"

"Mmmm" The boy gave the slightest of nods, eyelids sliding down.

"Good. Just rest for now, boya." Kogoro said using a soothing tone of voice that had often worked to send a fretful Ran back to sleep when she'd been Conan's age. He really didn't need the brat fully waking up and refusing to cooperate. Shinichi had been stubborn enough. He didn't need Conan insisting that he could still help. Kogoro kept an arm around the boy to ensure that he didn't wiggle free as Kogoro again began pushing himself across the floor. "You've done enough. Rest."

The boy's eyes fluttered, and he craned his head to look around. Kogoro reached up turning his head back to again rest against his chest. "You're safe, just rest. I got this." He repeated.

Conan mumbled disagreement. His small hands snaking up to push weakly at Kogoro's now much larger ones. "I can-"

"You can just sit there and rest, Conan. I'm not letting you walk another inch on those feet." Kogoro interrupted firmly. "I got this." How had he known the boy would insist on trying to help? Mentally he gave himself a point. At least the boy was still mostly predictable as Conan or Shinichi.

Conan squinted groggily up at Kogoro, struggling weakly against Kogoro's firm hand keeping the boy's head against his chest, mumbling in protest. "Bua myhr growing tha wreng weay" he complained.

Kogoro frowned, relaxing his hand, not quite comprehending. "What was that, brat?"

Conan took a deep breath, wincing, his hand moving to his injured shoulder, lightly holding it. "Wrong. Way. Ojisan." He enunciated slowly.

Kogoro's eyebrows shot up and he looking around with confusion. "How would you know!" The brat had hardly seen where they were! He'd been heading towards the sunlight. That should have been a clear enough indication that that was the right way.

A small smile tugged at Conan's lips even as his eyes closed again. "Stairs...face...wrong way...from front." he mumbled. "Odd. I noticed it."

Kogoro briefly pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're a weird one, Conan. No one notices that!" But he trusted the boy, even as groggy as he was, to remember which way the exit was. He doubted the 'Heisei Holmes' would get lost in a building. Even a large bombed out mansion like this one. Obligingly he switched to scooting the two of them the other way, into the darker portion of the building. "You better be right about this." he grumbled for the boy's benefit. "In case you hadn't noticed. This way is darker. The light is behind us."

A smile tugged at Conan's lips. "Hole in ceiling." He replied less groggily, his eyes remaining closed. "Bomb was there." His hand dropped from his shoulder to his chest, rubbing at the point over his heart carefully.

Kogoro paused, glancing to the light in question, squinting his eyes. Nope. He had no idea how the boy could tell that that was the case. He exhaled, giving Conan a worried look. The boy touching his chest had meant a size change was eminent. He frowned. No, that wasn't right. Shinichi had rubbed at his chest too just after growing. It probably meant nothing more than the boy was recovering from suddenly being a different size.

Kogoro shook his head forcefully focusing back on the task of getting them both out. He continued moving, scooting them as best as he could around the piles of rubble or over them in some cases, without jarring his legs or Conan. Kogoro had never felt more like a snail then he did now. Frankly, a snail probably would've already made it out of the mansion by now with how often he had to pause to get his breath back from jarring his legs.

"Hang in there, Conan." Kogoro said, reassuring himself as well as the boy as he once again paused to get his bearings. The crumbling walls weren't helping at all in giving him direction. Whole doorways had collapsed in on themselves, making it difficult to tell just how many rooms they'd already passed through.

At least Conan was heeding his words to rest. He had that to be thankful for. "We're nearly out." Kogoro murmured as he scooted forward once more. He had no idea how close they were. In fact, it looked like... He rolled his eyes upwards in exasperation as a large floor to ceiling mound of rubble confronted him. Great. Just great. Another barrier. It looked like the floor above had collapsed. So went their exit.

"Why?" Conan asked quietly.

Kogoro glanced down in confusion, surprised that the boy was still awake, as he continued to head to the collapsed wall. "Why what?" That was their way out. He was sure of it. Perhaps they'd be lucky and find another tunnel that they could crawl through like the one below them.

"Why are you calling me Conan, Ojisan?" The boy asked, the glazed look in his eyes having faded, leaving him able fully focus his soul piercing stare on Kogoro.

A shiver ran down Kogoro's spine. Somehow the boy managed to make that stare seven times more intense on his childlike face than his teenager one. It was creepy. How had he not noticed that stare before on the boy!

Kogoro snorted, hiding his unease, as he used his arrival at the wall as an excuse to look away from the boy's piercing eyes. "Well, you're small again aren't you, brat?" He said, slowly feeling his way along the wall of rubble. Come on. Come on. Please, Lady Luck, be with them now. Let them find a way through this barrier.

"Yes...but..."

"But what?" Was that a fissure there? Kogoro again passed his hands over the space. Reaching in. Yes. There was a crack here. Not a tunnel. But a gap between the standing wall and the rubble. He even thought he could see a glimmer of light down it. Yes!

Conan dropped his head to his chest. "You...know...now." He said keeping his voice low.

Kogoro shook his head, frowning. The space was narrow. Too narrow to scoot through. "So?"

"You were calling me Shinichi before."

Kogoro exhaled and looked down at the brat, ruffling his hair to the boy's irritation. Conan quickly ducked away from his touch, mumbling a complaint. Good. He was alert enough to remember he didn't like that. "You don't tell everyone your name when you're small right? For protection?" Kogoro asked, gritting his teeth as he reached upwards to a chunk of concrete pulling himself up onto his left foot. He balanced there, using one arm to support Conan. He barely waited for Conan to nod before continuing. "I can keep it straight that you're Conan right now and not Shinichi." He leaned against the wall. Working to keep his breath even as sweat trickled down his face. Small body. Conan. Large body. Shinichi. Easy to remember. Gods he needed a drink. A place to rest his burning legs. At this rate his left leg would soon join the right in feeling like an exploding volcano. "I won't risk your life or my daughter's over saying the wrong name at the wrong moment." The boy had worked hard enough to keep them safe. Had caused himself further injury just to get Kogoro out of the basement in their current situation in of itself. He could do the boy a small favor in return and keep his identity secret.

Conan suddenly buried his face against Kogoro's chest. "You don't want me to...leave after this?" He asked in a near whisper, trembling in Kogoro's grip. "For your safety?"

Kogoro blinked taken aback. He'd thought? But. A chill raced over him. It was a valid concern. If this had happened earlier...Kogoro grimaced, brushing Conan's cheek, causing the boy to flinch, and look up, blue eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

Kogoro's chest tightened further. The boy really believed he would do that? After all this? Just because he knew now that he was Shinichi? Kogoro lifted Conan so they could look eye to eye. "No. I don't." He said firmly, keeping his stare steady.

Conan's gaped at him. Eyes widening. "You don't?" He repeated in disbelief.

Kogoro rolled his eyes and lifted the brat higher to sit on his shoulders, pulling the sleeves of his jacket loose in the process. "Hold on." He told Conan, as he squeezed them both into the narrow gap. It was tight. Tighter than the tunnel below had been. He couldn't even turn his head really. He sucked in his stomach, doing his best to think skinny as he edged his way carefully forward. The only benefit to this tiny space was that he didn't need to put weight on his right leg to keep his balance and stay upright.

Conan's short arms wrapped around Kogoro's head clinging to him. "Ojisan?" He asked quietly.

Kogoro edged a hand up to grip one of the boy's ankles, keeping him steady. "I'm not going to kick you to the curb, boy." He growled. "I may not be the best of fathers, but I'm not heartless. You still need looking after and you said yourself there's no one at your home to care for you." He tightened his grip on the boy. "If you've managed to keep us safe for the past two years, you can continue keeping us safe now. I trust you to know what you're doing." Had he not been thinking that since he'd woken up trapped in the basement? The boy was resourceful.

Conan sniffed, one hand leaving Kogoro's head briefly. "I-I won't let them harm you, Ojisan." He promised his voice wavering. "You have my word."

Kogoro had to smile at that. Honestly, the image of Conan standing up against harden criminals wasn't the easiest thing to picture. But somehow the boy had managed to do so in reality and had kept them safe.

Though, as Kogoro carefully edged his right leg over a jagged piece of wood, he did have to wonder...how many of the incidents they'd experienced over the past couple of years had been because of this mysterious group Conan was trying to find? He pressed his lips into a thin line. He should save that question for later when they were both recovered.

He paused to free the splint in his left leg from a prong of copper before continuing to edge them through the crack. Still, he had to wonder though. "Conan. Do you think these people that you're hiding from...did they set up this bomb?" He asked. Had it been a trap for them from the start? A fake client to lure them in with a fake case? The woman on the phone had been offering to pay a rather large sum of money if they could come to her and solve her problem here, just beyond the outskirts of the city.

Conan gripped Kogoro's head gently, resting his own head on top of Kogoro's as the ceiling sagged down low. "It's...they've used bombs before to destroy evidence of their existence and eliminate threats to them." He said a tinge of worry in his voice. "But...you shouldn't be on their radar anymore." He mumbled, half to himself.

"I was on their radar? How? When?" Kogoro asked, frowning.

Conan shivered. "A mistake I made early on. It's been a while, Ojisan. It doesn't matter now."

Kogoro tensed. "Of course it matters! When was I in danger?! What exactly did you do that convinced them they needed to target me?"

He could feel Conan flinch. "Mouri-san...please." He said quietly. "I can't...I can't tell you. The more you know..."

Kogoro tsked, not liking that the boy had reverted to calling him Mouri-san. That was something Shinichi did, not Conan. He gripped the boy's ankle tighter. "Let me guess, the more I know the more danger I'd be in?"

"Exactly."

Kogoro bit back a yelp as he jabbed his right knee into a corner of concrete. He cursed, edging along quicker, ready to be out of this narrow space. "So how much danger am I in now?" he asked wryly. "Since I now know your other name, brat." How could he be in any more danger than they were in right now, trying to escape a bombed out building without dying in the process?

Conan shivered, his leg twitching in Kogoro's grip. "So long as...as you treat me as Conan still...it shouldn't change anything."

That should be easy enough. "Great, then when we get out of here, I'm throwing you across the lawn."

That startled a laugh from the boy. "Only if you can catch me, Ojisan."

Kogoro relaxed. There, the boy was back to Ojisan. Good. "Oh, I'll catch you, brat. I always do." Especially when the boy was focused on a crime scene. Kogoro breathed a sigh of relief as his reaching fingers found open space. Finally! He pulled them free of the fissure and immediately dropped onto a chunk of nearby concrete with a groan, getting his weight off his left foot as quickly as he could. Even if he could kind of walk on one broken leg, he didn't want to stand on it for longer than possible. He leaned against the wall, conscious of Conan still sitting on his shoulders. "I do expect you to warn me now though, Conan." He said, "if these people come near again."

"I..."

"If you refrain from doing so, you little four-eyed squirt," Kogoro said, exhaustion making the threat less intense in his voice as he searched for a suitable punishment. "I'm going to...ban you from every single crime scene for six months."

Conan stiffened. "You wouldn't do that to m-Wait, you still wouldn't kick me out if I didn't tell you!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

Kogoro snorted and leaned his head back to look up at the kid's face. "For the last time, Conan." He growled, hoping this would be the last time he'd have to make this point. "Like it or not, I did agree to look after you and I'm going to keep doing that until you 'return to America,'" He said with air quotations. "So stop worrying about me kicking you out and worry about-"

A soft whump in the distance followed by a dull roar that quickly grew louder had Kogoro turning in time to see a wall of red and orange fire coming straight for them through the fissure.

"That." He breathed.

Reacting on pure adrenaline, Kogoro grabbed Conan off his shoulders, pressing him tight to his chest as he pushed off the concrete slab, breaking into a dead run, ignoring the nuclear warfare exploding in his broken legs in favor of outrunning the wall of flames coming up fast behind them.

Weaving and dodging through the rubble, Kogoro made for the light streaming from the entryway they'd come through just hours before. The once pristine room now in blackened disarray, the doors hanging off of their hinges.

With the heat of flames scorching the back of his neck, Kogoro didn't stop to mourn the damage. He darted through the broken doors into the blinding sunlight and promptly tripped over a toppled pillar, sending both him and Conan rolling down the stairs that had lead up to the mansion.

For some reason, hearing Shinichi refraining from calling him Ojisan now felt wrong. Especially after the boy had just stated he valued Kogoro's life, the Mouri Kogoro, the man Shinichi hadn't liked at all, over his parents.

Kogoro frowned and shook his head. "You're injured too, Shinichi-kun. You can't carry me with that shoulder." He may not know how badly it was injured, but with how Shinichi flinched whenever he had grabbed the arm connected to said shoulder, it had to be painful. Not to mention the boy's other cuts and scrapes that the jacket now mostly hid. They both shouldn't be moving until help arrived. But he doubted those injuries would stop the boy. Shinichi had a familiar stubborn glint in his eyes that Kogoro knew all too well. Conan had had it often whenever he'd tried to kick the boy out from crime scenes. So despite his misgivings, he lifted his hand for Shinichi to grab.

"It's no big deal, Mouri-san." Shinichi said, failing to hide a wince as he twinged the shoulder in question while grabbing Kogoro's hand.

Kogoro raised a skeptical eyebrow. Fine huh?

"I can still walk," he added defensively. "You can't."

Sure. Walk barefooted. Over broken glass, concrete, metal, and who knew what else, plus carry Kogoro's own weight? "You still need your own treat-" Kogoro yelped as Shinichi pulled him to his feet. He reached out to grip Shinichi's arms with the intention of never letting go as he put his full weight on his legs. He couldn't catch is breath from the radiating agony coming from his limbs. Quickly he lifted the right one off the ground to get some relief from the exploding volcano trying to take up residence there, while the left only felt slightly better as a ball of liquid fire.

Shinichi didn't let him stand for long. "I'll get treatment when I shrink again." He said, somehow removing Kogoro's vice-like grip on his arms as he pulled him into a fireman's carry, giving Kogoro blessed relief from standing.

Even though he was reeling in his own agony, Kogoro caught Shinichi's muffled cry of pain as his weight settled on the boy's injured shoulder. "A-any bandages I put on now will only fall off then."

"Sh-Shinichi-kun," Kogoro managed to say as the fire in his legs died down, unable to keep the concern out of his voice as he tried to get back off. The boy was going to hurt himself worse. It was amazing he could stay standing, the boy shouldn't be able to carry him as is. He shouldn't be strong enough. Shinichi'd said temporary strength. Not everlasting strength. "We can wait here."

Shinichi tightened his grip on Kogoro, preventing him from moving. "I'm fine. It's not-"

"Not safe to wait." Kogoro grumbled, full of misgivings for not trying harder to get off the boy. But...he didn't want to face standing on his legs again, nor did he think Shinichi would allow him to get off without fighting to keep him on. So he held still instead to prevent himself from jostling the boy.

Kogoro glanced upwards, not missing the creaking of the ceiling above them with the occasional pitter-patter of falling debris. Was Shinichi always this fool-hardy-yes, yes he was. He remembered the boy getting shot in the stomach, as well as kidnapped, and trapped in other buildings with bombs and fires. "I got it the first time." He muttered as he did his best to avoid putting too much weight on the boy's injured shoulder.

Shinichi nodded, relaxing when Kogoro went still. "Good. Let's get out of here."

Kogoro couldn't help but hold his breath as Shinichi wobbled, convinced he was going to collapse before the boy began walking them through the rubble. Surprisingly Shincihi didn't struggle as much as Kogoro expected him to. Only Shinichi's fingers tightening and releasing on Kogoro's limbs indicated how often the boy stepped on something sharp.

Did the boy really care so much for him? Mouri Kogoro? To risk further injury to get him out of this place? Ran he could see if she were here, but him? Kogoro stayed silent only for another minute before he stated "You can't mean that."

"Mean what?" Shinichi huffed.

"That you care for us more than your parents. They're your parents Shinichi-kun." It bothered him to hear that. It wasn't like Kogoro had been the most...welcoming of the freeloader in his house.

Shinichi chuckled and shook his head. "You know...I actually forgot to tell them. My parents." Shinichi admitted. He glanced to Kogoro before he returned his focus to the rubble around them. "I've been on my own for so long, it never occurred to me to give them an update on my...condition. We don't keep in constant contact since Dad's always traveling to avoid his editors." He twisted, sidling them sideways through a narrow gap, doing his best to avoid jarring Kogoro's legs. "So I was as surprised as you were when Edogawa Fumiyo showed up. I hadn't known she was my mother."

Kogoro tensed, both in disbelief and because his right leg had just been jarred by an outcropping of pipes. "You went off with a stranger?!" He exclaimed half-strangled. This boy was more than foolhardy! Hadn't he just said he couldn't let those people find him?

"Yes. Because I couldn't risk you and Ran getting hurt, Mouri-san." Shinichi replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If that woman was with the people who poisoned me...my only hope was to convince them that you had no idea who I really was so that they would leave you two alone."

Kogoro couldn't help himself. He thunked the boy on the head, causing him to yelp and stagger, nearly sending them both tumbling into a pile of broken concrete. Kogoro jerked his hands up, hitting the concrete with them before their faces could. He pushed them away from the pile as Shinichi regained his balance.

"What was that for!"

"You're an idiot, that's what that's for." Kogoro stated. "Go off with a complete stranger! Someone who could have killed you." He glared at the boy. "And not even tell us that you were in trouble. What if you had died!" It made him feel sick just to think about. He was supposed to be watching this brat.

"Then you wouldn't have known, Mouri-san." Shinichi replied, adjusting his grip on Kogoro. "You both thought I'd gone off with my mother. And I couldn't tell you she wasn't her. If she was a part of Them, she would have killed you on the spot." A tremor ran through the boy's body. "Besides, why would you question if I never made contact again? I'm a freeloader am I not? I would no longer be a burden to you." He glanced to Kogoro and then away, "You'll be glad to see the last of me when Conan finally 'returns to America' to live with his parents."

Kogoro huffed. Truthfully, he hadn't questioned it. He'd been glad for the brat to leave then, but that was over a year and a half ago when they'd first met Edogawa Fumiyo. "Well...that's hardly...true...now." Kogoro couldn't picture it actually. Conan had become such a part of their lives after two years that the thought of him leaving brought a pang to his chest.

Shinichi paused, wincing as his foot hit a jagged copper wire. "It's not?" he asked raising his eyebrows as he looked to Kogoro, disbelief clear on his face.

Kogoro looked away as the boy began cautiously moving once more. Well, it had seemed like the freeloader would be living with them for forever and even if he grumbled about it constantly...he no longer minded it. The boy had his helpful moments. "You're not...so bad...when you're not meddling in my investigations."

Shinichi chuckled quietly as he paused at a partially collapsed wall. "Well...I can't really help myself with that."

"No, no you really can't." Kogoro agreed ruffling the boy's hair with a fond smile. He really couldn't.

Shinichi made a small noise of protest, moving his head to try and dislodge Kogoro's hand.

It made so much more sense now why Conan was so acute at crime scenes. Why a six, well now nearly eight, year old could face death so calmly. Why he was so knowledgeable. His information didn't just come from 'something he saw on TV.' Shinichi already had known it from personal experience, from years of studying crime scenes with his father and through books.

"Do you think you can crawl, Mouri-san?" Shinichi asked drawing Kogoro from his thoughts, only now realizing that the boy hadn't moved away from the wall. "The wall's covered most of the doorway, I can't carry you through it."

Kogoro looked up to see that indeed the remaining wall was leaning dangerously over them, covering their potential exit. It took him a moment to locate the doorway in question, and narrowed his eyes when he did. A tiny hole at the base of the rubble. It hardly looked like they would be able to crawl through the narrow opening, let alone know if it would have an exit on the other side. It seemed more like they'd be wriggling through that tiny space instead of crawling.

"I can manage." He said finally, wondering how Shinichi could be sure it was a tunnel. Regardless, he'd already dragged his broken legs once today, he could do it again, especially if that meant giving the boy a break from lugging his weight around. Besides what other option was there? Who knew if there would be a second exit even available if they looked.

"Good." Shinichi bent over, letting Kogoro's feet touch the ground. Kogoro couldn't help but let out a cry of pain as once more he put weight on his legs, his hands gripping Shinichi's shoulders hard enough to bruise them as he fought to keep his vision from tunneling.

Shinichi winced, biting back his own yelp. "Easy, old man." He gritted out as he helped to lower Kogoro to the ground, getting the weight off his legs as quickly as possible. He pulled away from him once Kogoro was stable, massaging his shoulder with a grimace before the hand drifted down to grip at his chest. "I'll go first to make sure the path is clear for you to come through." He said wiping fresh sweat from his brow.

Kogoro narrowed his eyes not liking that idea, but the boy was in better condition. If only by the tiniest of margins. Just because Shinichi had working legs didn't mean that the rest of him would be alright. He was after all, just wearing Kogoro's jacket, that would hardly be any defense against whatever he might encounter in that crawlspace. "Be careful, boy," Kogoro said instead of arguing. They'd both have to go through the tunnel, might as well be the boy first.

"As careful as I can be, Mouri-san." Shinichi said flashing him his confident smile.

Kogoro tensed and grabbed the boy's arm before he could move. Making an impulsive decision. "You can call me Ojisan still, Shinichi-kun." He said, squeezing lightly. He kept eye contact as he fought to keep the frown of concern off his face. Shinichi felt...warmer than he had two minutes ago. "I don't mind." He really didn't. It was bugging him to hear the boy being so formal with him.

Kogoro winced, maneuvering himself so that he could lay a hand on the boy, trying to see the extent of his injuries. His head was turned away from Kogoro giving him a good view of the blood covered shoulder the brat had used to lift the rubble, though with the grime, it was hard to tell if he was injured to the bone or not. "You could have killed yourself, pulling a foolhardy stunt like that!" But he hadn't. It looked like the shoulder was the worst thing the boy was dealing with. Relief filled Kogoro. The brat was lucky like that.

"I cou-couldn't let you die, Ojisan." The brat managed, his voice hoarse from screaming, but now much deeper than his kid voice. It sounded so familiar too. How though?

Kogoro exhaled, ruffling the boy's hair, careful to avoid the head wound. The brat made a noise of protest anyways, pulling away. "I can't say I'm not grateful, you freeloader, but that was risky." It should have been impossible, this all was impossible. Conan had grown up right before his eyes! "How did you even manage to grow?! Why would you even think that would work in the first place?" This wasn't a superhero movie. How could something in a bottle do this?

Conan shivered. "When I'm a kid," he spoke, his voice gaining strength and sounding all the more familiar. "I feel like a coiled spring, compacted. So I thought that if I were to grow quickly that spring would release and give me temporary strength stronger than I would normally have at this size because of the energy expanded." He coughed, moving a hand underneath his torso to rub at his chest. "I'm glad it actually worked."

When he was as kid? Kogoro frowned wishing for a drink. The brat made it sound like he did this often. No, he had said he was used to this pain of growing. So he did do this often. But when? Why? How had he and Ran not noticed these 'growth spurts?'

Speaking of that. Kogoro shrugged off his own torn and dirty suit jacket, tossing it onto the brat to give him a little bit of covering. He couldn't let the boy, ah young man, wander around the bomb site completely naked.

"Thanks, Ojisan" Conan whispered, pushing himself up to kneel as he took the jacket. Without looking up, he slipped it on, wincing as he lifted the injured shoulder. It wasn't a perfect fit, Kogoro was more broad in the shoulders than older Conan, but it worked well enough to cover him. However, seeing the blue jacket on Conan only made him look all the more familiar...

Kogoro narrowed his eyes and leaned forward, biting back his own cry of pain as he jarred his broken legs. Right. He was injured too. Conan's grown up appearance had distracted him from that particular issue. He took Conan's chin and lifted it up so he could get a good look into the boy's grime covered face before he could jerk away.

Kogoro inhaled sharply, which resulted in his own coughing fit from the dust in the air. No. That wasn't possible. "Shinichi-kun?"

Conan-no this was Shinichi, he knew the boy too well to mistake him for another, flinched. He opened his mouth, probably in denial, but ended up exhaling running a hand across his blood streaked brow. "Yah...Oji-ah, Mouri-tantei" he said, reluctantly meeting his eyes as he dropped his hand. "It's me."

Kogoro gaped at the boy, trying to fit it all together, before reflexes kicked in and he thumped the brat, albeit lightly, he was injured, on the head. "THE WHOLE TIME?!" he hissed. "HOW!" Teenagers were not supposed to shrink down into six-year-olds!

Shinichi cut off a yelp of pain at the contact, and jerked out of Kogoro's reach, scooting down to his feet. He rubbed his head as he knelt there, examining Kogoro's legs like they were the most interesting thing in the world. Purposely avoiding eye contact. "I can explain late-"

"I can't walk." Kogoro interrupted bluntly, gritting his teeth as Shinichi prodded cautiously at his limbs. Now that he was out of immediate danger they could wait right here for rescue. "There's plenty of time, you conniving little freeloader! How in the world did you become a child! Is this some elaborate joke? How dare you invite yourself into my home-"

"Oji-Mouri-san," Shinichi ran a hand through his hair, shooting Kogoro a frustrated but understanding look. "I know it's a lot to take in, but I only have about an hour, if" he emphasized the word. "I'm lucky, and when it comes to this, I am not, before the pill wears off and I shrink to Conan again." His tone briefly went bitter. "I need to get you out of here before then. We don't know how stable the rest of this place is." He grabbed his-Conan's shirt, it would never have fit Shinichi as he was now, and two mangled pieces of piping and set them on either side of Kogoro's right leg to make a splint.

Kogoro frowned, glancing upwards to the remaining ceiling above them. Even as he looked, a section of plaster broke away, shattering into a million pieces as it landed. The brat had a point, but that didn't mean he was about to let Shinichi off the hook. "You can talk and splint my leg at the same time, Shinichi-kun." he growled. "What do you mean shrink? When did this happen?"

Shinichi exhaled, his shoulders slumping even as he reached out with his good arm to pull some electrical wiring from the rubble before turning his attention back to the shirt, his nimble fingers tearing it into strips. Though, Kogoro noted that he kept the injured shoulder as still as he could. "I'm not masquerading as an almost eight-year-old for fun, Oji-Mouri-san." He said finally. The words coming out reluctantly. His blue eyes flickered up to Kogoro's then back to the bandages he was creating from Conan's shirt. "I shrank...that day when I took Ran to Tropical Land."

Kogoro narrowed his eyes, intent on the boy, looking for lies as he worked to remember that day. He did. Vaguely. Ran had been upset Shinichi hadn't come home, gone to find him, and just as Kogoro was dashing out the door for his first real case in months, had returned with the little brat. His eyes widened and he jerked upright, promptly regretting the action, but stubbornly refused to lay down as he grabbed the brat's arm. "Does Ran?"

A flash of pain crossed the boy's face, and only then did Kogoro realize he'd grabbed the boy's injured arm, jarring the shoulder. Shinichi removed his arm from Kogoro's grip, pushing him back against the rubble. "Careful." he muttered, his eyes flickering up to Kogoro's and then away as he shook his head. "She doesn't know." He grimaced, pushing up the sleeves of Kogoro's jacket as he readjusted the pipes against Kogoro's right leg. "She suspects me from time to time...but I haven't told her." He picked up the wire to tie them in place to keep the entire limb straight.

Kogoro hissed, trying to remember to breathe as his fingers dug into the rubble when Shinichi moved his leg. That meant that the brat had hid this secret from both of them for nearly two years. TWO YEARS. "What happened on that date?" He got out through gritted teeth. How could the brat have left a teenager and come back a child?

"It wasn't a date." Shinichi responded automatically and Kogoro snorted with disbelief. Sure it wasn't. He'd seen how the boy had looked at his daughter.

Shinichi hunched his shoulders, but quickly relaxed them, moving one hand up to lightly touch the injured one. "But, I left Ran to investigate-" Shinichi shook his head, dropping his hand back to the pipes, needlessly adjusting them. "And ended up getting poisoned because I was careless and got caught eavesdropping..."

Kogoro bristled. "Poisons don't-"

"This one did." Shinichi interrupted. "I know they usually kill or make you sick,"

And Kogoro knew that the boy would know his poisons. After as many murder investigations he'd been at as Conan, let alone as a teenager, it would be shocking if he didn't. "But it...shrank you, instead?" He threw up his hands. Really? A shrinking poison? Who'd ever heard of that? No one. "You can't expect me to believe that!"

The corner of Shinichi's mouth twitched upwards. "It's a...very, very, very rare side effect, and I wouldn't have believed it myself, but I'm living it. And you witnessed it did you not Oj-Mouri-tantei?" He raised an eyebrow towards the detective.

Kogoro had to give him a point there. He had seen it for himself.

"Instead of me dying, I shrank. And I've been trying since then to get back to normal, and find the peo-" A tremor ran through his arms and he paused in splinting to rub at his chest. "So far things like this," he absently pointed to himself as he wound the wire around Kogoro's leg to keep the pipes steady, "have only been temporary. There hasn't been an antidote created yet that can return me to normal permanently." He finished tying up the splint, double checking the knots in the wires before he moved to Kogoro's left leg.

Kogoro shook his head, wishing he had a beer to help him process this. The boy had been shrunk to a child, and his first thought was to find the people who'd done this?! As a CHILD?! It sounded too unbelievable to be true. But the boy was right. He had seen the results. Kogoro frowned. So the vial had contained one of those supposed antidotes? How many of them did he carry around? Did he go around growing whenever he needed to? It seemed so unreal. To the point where he almost considered this all to be a pain induced hallucination. Kogoro quickly dismissed the idea. This didn't feel like one or act like one. His hallucinations usually had Yoko-chan in them and a distinct lack of broken legs, crumbling buildings and boys growing into teenagers in the blink of an eye.

Kogoro crossed his arms staring the boy down. "So you shrank and chose to leech off of My resources at My home to find these people and this supposed cure!?" He demanded. "Why not go home to your parents?" He blinked, frowning. Wait a minute. "Who was that Fumiyo woman then?" She had cut him quite the check that first time they'd met and sent more money every so often to look after the boy.

"Edogawa Fumiyo is my mother in disguise." Shinichi said glancing at Kogoro again as he took two smaller pipes and placed them on either side of his ankle picking up the bandages to wrap it together.

Kogoro's eyes flashed. His Mother!? "Why the charade then!" He exclaimed again grabbing the boy by the arm, only remembering to let go when Shinichi inhaled sharply. "If your parents already knew about your size issue, why have they not come to take you back perm-"

"Because I didn't want them to take me." Shinichi interrupted, edging further out of Kogoro's reach. "Ran's told you my parents moved to America when I was fourteen. I had no one at home to go home to when this," he gestured to himself. "Happened." He fiddled with the remaining torn bandages made from his-Conan's shirt. "Trust me. You weren't my first choice, Mouri-san." He looked up, his eyes dark. "I did return home first even though I knew no one would be there to help me." Shinichi ran a hand through his mussed up hair, pushing up the sleeves of Kogoro's jacket to keep his hands uncovered. "And I was too short to be able to open my own gate when I got there."

Kogoro leaned against the rubble, shoving away the hint of sympathy trying to grow in his chest. Instead choosing to focus on piecing a timeline together. The boy had returned to his mansion of a house, but hadn't been able to get in, so what had... "Ran found you there." His daughter would have gone to Shinichi's house first to check for him.

Shinichi nodded, taking up more of the wire. "Yes. I wouldn't have come with her if I could have found another way. I didn't want her getting hurt by Them if word got out I was still alive." He pushed the sleeves up again, looking pensive. "And Ran knows me so well...how could I hide that I was myself from my best friend?"

That was true. The two of them had been inseparable growing up. Ran would have known that Shinichi was Shinichi pretty quickly, even as impossible as the situation seemed. Honestly, how a simple pair of glasses had kept the boy from being discovered was beyond him. Kogoro glowered. Well he had been fooled. He'd never noticed a thing. "Yet you decided to risk her life anyways," he growled, hiding the niggling worry worming itself into his chest. How much danger was this boy in? Again he dug his fingers into the dirt as Shinichi moved his leg slightly to be able to wind the wire easier around his leg to hold the splint together

"It wasn't a decision made lightly, Oji-Mouri-san." Shinichi shook his head. "I had had my neighbor, Agasa, already willing to help me out." He said, methodically checking to make sure the wire was keeping the pipes tight against the leg.

Kogoro gritted his teeth at that, eyes widening in fury. The professor was in on the secret too?!

"I had already dismissed going to Ran," Shinichi continued, before Kogoro could speak, again glancing to him. "Back at Tropical Land when I first woke up. I was going to call her...but then I couldn't figure out how to explain this and I didn't want her getting hurt." His face took on a pensive look before he lowered his head.

Kogoro leaned forward, tense. He didn't want her getting hurt?! But here he was with them. "So what changed? Why did you decide to involve her?" He bit off. "Involve me?"

Shinichi flinched, though his hands were steady as he worked. "When she suddenly showed up looking for me...Agasa reminded me that you're a detective," For once, Shinichi didn't sound like he was mocking Kogoro's capabilities in being one. That was new. "And if I was going to find a cure, find the people who-" he cut off again, biting his bottom lip. "I would need a way to access leads to Their crimes, find cases involving...Them...and the best way to do that was to live with you." He met Kogoro's eyes once more. "If I left with my parents, I would never find the leads I needed to solve this..." he broke eye contact suddenly, focusing back on Kogoro's legs. "...this never ending case." His fingers went white on the wire.

So the brat had risked their lives simply to satisfy his own ends for a case. Kogoro wanted to see red. After all that they'd done for him. Fed him, clothed him, housed him, and he risked their lives! "The case Ran says you've been away on? This is that case? You being a kid?" Kogoro gave a derisive snort. "What happened to your mighty 'solve the case in a day' streak?" He remembered that all too well. Kogoro blamed the high schooler for his lack of work back then, though he knew the boy hadn't been the cause.

Shinichi's eyes flashed, before his face went blank. He finished with the wire, using the last of the bandages to ensure the ends wouldn't dig into Kogoro's leg. "I usually solve murders, not shrinkage." he retorted. "It's not like I can search for solutions publicly. The people who did this to me think Kudo Shinichi is dead." His shoulders slumped. "At this point he might as well be." he mumbled so quietly Kogoro barely heard it.

His chest tightened a bit. He'd never heard Shinichi so...dejected before. Almost it cooled the anger burning within.

"And if they find out I'm still alive before I can take Them down...they'll come back to kill me, and everyone around me for good measure."

"So you chose to risk me and my daughter's lives to keep your absentee parents safe?" Kogoro growled the small bit of sympathy he felt vanishing as his temper flared once more. "Are our lives not-"

He followed on instinct, shadowing his KID suspect as Kuroba easily moved through the crowd, threading through the throng of people like they weren't even there.

Saguru frowned as he less skillfully wound his way through the crowd. He could have called out to him, but Kuroba had been actively avoiding him ever since the accident at the KID heist.

Not that anyone else would have realized it. But there had been a distinct lack of barbed words tossed his way, and the level of pranks pulled on him in the classroom had been drastically reduced. Enough to keep up appearances, but not enough to antagonize his injuries. Which, since none of his classmates had known he'd been unconscious in the hospital for three days, let alone suffering from some fractured ribs and a broken arm...meant that Kuroba had access to knowledge he shouldn't have.

After all, Saguru had specifically requested a cast that would be light weight and that he could hide under his shirt sleeve. He'd been careful to move normally, yet Kuroba had avoided those injuries flawlessly even as he pretended he knew nothing.

He didn't know nothing though. Saguru was sure of it. He'd studied Kuroba enough during class, and, if he was KID, at his heists to be a good judge of Kuroba's body language. His classmate may be able to hide the emotions on his face, but his eyes and body told him that Kuroba wasn't doing well. There were faint bags under those blue eyes, hidden by light makeup from his fellow classmates, telling the tale of sleepless nights. The way his fingers constantly twitched as if adjusting the aim of his grappling gun, probably meant he was remembering Saguru's fall. The way his shoulders shifted into the slightest of hunches whenever Kuroba looked in Saguru's direction, it all told the story of regret. Regret that KID hadn't been able to prevent Saguru from getting hurt. That his 'no one gets hurt policy' had been broken that night.

Saguru exhaled. He really needed to set the record straight. Though with Kuroba denying that he was KID, it wasn't going to be easy.

Yet somehow, the Gods seemed to smile on him, for there was no line for the Ferris Wheel when Kaito got into an empty Pod, moving to the far side to look out into the distance. Which meant that Saguru too could slip inside without Kuroba realizing he was approaching. The doors clicked shut two seconds later, and Saguru leaned against the pod in quiet relief. It was just the two of them. Which meant.

"Hey." He said, and couldn't help but smile as Kuroba jumped, whirling around to face him. He saw the flash of panic on his classmate's face before the mask jumped back up.

Kuroba groaned, looking heavenwards. "Hakuba." He said like it was a curse. Normal for him. "You couldn't have waited for a different pod?"

Saguru shrugged, pushing away from the wall, flinching as it jarred his ribs. He noted the flash of concern in Kuroba's eyes, the way his hand twitched before he could stop it. "Not when I needed to talk to you."

Kuroba frowned. "To me? Why?" He asked crossing his arms. "I'm not letting you copy the assignments you missed while you were on your little trip. Go ask Aoko."

Saguru shook his head, taking a seat. "It's not that. Though I do have a favor to ask of you, if you wouldn't mind."

Kuroba raised an eyebrow. "Depends on the favor." He said warily.

"It's nothing strenuous. I just want you to pass along a message for me." Saguru replied.

"A message. To who?"

"To KID." Saguru said shrugging, and wincing again as it jarred his ribs. "You're his biggest fan right?" he added as Kuroba stayed silent, probably wondering why Saguru wasn't accusing him yet again of being KID. "I figured you may have a means of passing a message to him."

Kuroba turned his head away, his features in shadows. "Why not talk to him yourself at his next heist?" He asked and Saguru relaxed.

At least Kuroba was willing to go along with this charade of a conversation. They both knew he suspected him of being KID, but at least in this way he could get his message to the thief without it implicating anything on Kuroba's side.

"I doubt he'd stick around long enough for me to say anything."

Kuroba snorted, fingers twitching again. "Considering your goal in life is to capture him, I could see that."

Saguru nodded. "Exactly." Though in reality it would be that KID would be avoiding him because he felt guilty for what had happened to him. "Hence why, if you could reach him. Please give him my thanks." He said watching Kuroba intently for a reaction. "For saving my life at that heist."

Kuroba turned abruptly, hands coming down to grip the railing around the inside of the pod. He stared out to the amusement park below. "I doubt he'd think he deserves it. Your thanks." He said quietly.

No exclamations of surprise. No questions about what happened. Saguru mentally congratulated himself. It wasn't proof, but it did show that Kuroba knew more about Saguru's 'mini vacation' from school than the rest of his classmates. "If it weren't for him and his actions, I would have fallen to my death, Kuroba-kun." Saguru replied, rubbing his arm. "For that I am grateful. A broken arm is nothing compared to being laid six feet in the ground."

Kuroba winced visibly at that.

Saguru stood, and crossed the distance between them, placing his left hand on Kuroba's shoulder, turning his classmate to face him. "You may not know this." He knew Kuroba knew everything. "But if it weren't for his grappling gun wrapping around my arm, and jerking me to a stop, I would have died. So what? I may have had it broken in the process. I may have slammed into the wall and cracked a few ribs as well as ended up in a brief coma. But I'm alive." He squeezed Kuroba's shoulder. "So please, tell him to stop beating himself up about it. He saved my life. And I'm grateful to him for it." He kept eye contact with his classmate, hoping that he could see that he meant what he said. He held no grudge against the thief.

Kuroba slumped suddenly against the wall, head bowed. "I-I'll see what I can do." he mumbled.

Saguru smiled with relief, letting go of his shoulder. "Thanks, Kuroba-kun." He said moving to the opposite end of the pod to give Kuroba some space. He didn't know what else to say to his classmate now that he'd gotten his message across. And with the Ferris Wheel just stopping at the top of its journey...it meant they had approximately another three and a half minutes before their pod would reach the ground.

Saguru exhaled slowly, so as not to disturb his ribs and sat down in the seat nearby. Well, at least he'd a little bit of quiet here, up above the noise of the crowds.

He looked up in surprise as Kuroba sat down across from him. Kuroba shrugged at the silent question and tilted his head, a careful light in his eyes. "Does it hurt? Your arm?" he asked. "That grappling hook can't have been gentle."

Saguru quirked a small smile. Did Kuroba know from experience? "It hurt worse a few days ago, when the wounds from the hook were fresher." He raised a placating hand as Kuroba winced. "Sorry. It's fine. The drugs have taken the edge off."

"It's going to scar though."

"Yah, I suppose it will. But I'll be able to still use my hand. It didn't get any tendons and the muscles will heal with therapy."

Kuroba grimaced, looking away again. "Well...I suppose it beats being dead." He remarked.

Saguru nodded, "or shot. I've heard that hurts worse."

Kuroba raised a hand to his chest, rubbing it in an absent gesture. "Ha. You get shot often, Hakuba?"

"No, you?"

Kuroba rolled his eyes, dropping his hand. "Why would anyone want to shoot a magician?"

Hakuba snorted. He could name a few people. Namely the shadow ones that occasionally attended KID's heists. "I dunno, I've thought about it a time or two."

Kuroba turned to Saguru looking at him with wide innocent eyes. "You have?" he asked in surprise. "Why?" The slight smile tugging at his lips told Saguru that Kuroba definitely knew the reason why.

Saguru shrugged, again wincing. He needed to stop doing that or his ribs would never heal. "Come on, Kuroba-kun. After all the pranks you've put me through in the past six months, you'd want to shoot yourself too if you were in my shoes. My dry cleaning bill alone is through the roof. And that's not just your pranks. I deal with KID's too you know."

Kuroba shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Use baby powder for mine." He offered after a moment. "If that doesn't work, use lemon juice."

Saguru blinked. Was that advice for just Kuroba's pranks? Or had he also given him the solution to KID's as well? He'd have to test it out and see. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks."

Kuroba shrugged, glancing at Saguru again with that careful light in his eyes. "You're welcome I suppose." He hesitated as the pod came to a stop at the bottom. He stood abruptly. "And," He grimaced shaking his head before he offered a more genuine smile. With a gesture of his hand, a small container appeared on his finger tips. He handed it to Saguru. "This is...is from KID." He said his shoulders tensing as he did so. "Rub that on your arm nightly, it will help with the scarring, Hakuba."

Saguru took the container, surprised at the gesture. "Again, thank you, Kuroba-kun." He said popping it open to check out the cream within. Was this one of Kuroba's homemade tinctures? Aoko had mentioned that he had a variety of creams on hand for when his magic tricks went wrong. The fact that he was offering one to help Saguru out. it said a lot. Especially when his classmate had just stated it was from KID.

Kuroba shrugged. "Don't mention it." He said moving to the door as it slid open. He glanced back to Saguru. "Ever."

Saguru nodded at the thinly veiled warning. Kuroba was extending a little bit of trust in doing this, placing himself at a slight risk of discovery. Though Saguru had, from the start, no intention of using any information he may have gained from their conversation against Kuroba. This moment had been about easing KID/Kuroba's guilt. Nothing more.

Perhaps, Saguru thought as he watched his classmate disappear into the crowd, perhaps getting injured was the start of a different sort of relationship between them. No longer as enemies...but maybe as friends.

Only time would tell.