Rated: PG
Language: English
Categories: Mystery/Romance
Title: Dirty Little Secret
Summary: Kaitou/Shinichi, Sundance/Conan. As Conan recovers from a close call after one of his cases, he and the shrunken Kaitou muse on their temporary life together while coming to terms with their situation...In more than one sense of the word. Sort of a sister-fic, spoilers and all, to As the Shadows Dance.
Author's Note: It's sort of a sister fic, or else a fanfic -of- a fanfic I did, to my As the Shadows Dance story. (It can also be a stand-alone if you squint really tiny and ignore the fact you don't know -how- Kaitou shrank or what they mean about Conan getting hurt.) It contains slight spoilers for what's going to happen later in that story, and though the rating isn't as high, it already shows a bit more. If you don't understand who Sundance is or why he's even there, check out the other story and you should understand it...If you don't want to, then a quick run-down: Sundance Kaitou, shrunken.

Dirty Little Secret

Dirty Little Secret
"Conan-kun, you're walking too quickly; wait a minute!" called Sundance from behind the bespectacled boy, waving a hand over his head.

Conan turned for a moment, looking across at the shrunken Kaitou Kid as he raced to catch up to him. He gave a mental sigh, shaking his head as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. Why did he even stop walking, anyway? It wasn't as if Kaitou would have taken it personally had he continued without looking back; if anything, it would've made him even more persistant to get his attention.

At length, once the white-clad boy had reached him, Conan began walking once again as this time, Sundance remained by his side. "What is it this time?" he inquired.

"Where are you headed?"

Conan hated it when the other chibi answered his questions with a question of his own. It bothered him when anyone did it, actually; the detective in him wanted answers when a question was posed, and being denied one made him aggravated until he finally had one!

Sundance tapped his shoulder gently, blinking. "Well?" he coaxed.

Blinking, Conan looked to the other boy, having been knocked from his frustrated thoughts. "Does it matter?"

"Welllll, it might. What if I want to go with you? If you'll let me, that is."

"When has my not wanting you to come along ever stopped you in the past? You're like a parasite sometimes."

Sundance chuckled in acknowledgement of this statement. It was true, after all; he was a bit like that. Then again, it was only because he felt an obligation to watch over him and ensure his safety. He felt as if he'd failed him once already, during the night Shinichi had been turned into Conan, and he didn't want another fiasco to occur on his watch.

It was Conan's turn to be persistant as he raised an eyebrow, asking, "You're not going to disagree or say I've 'wounded you deeply'?"

"Goodness, no! After all, Conan-kun, you're very right. I just can't help myself; it's as if I always find myself magnetically pulled to you! That's what I call animal magnatism, it is!" While Conan rolled his eyes, Sundance glanced around quickly to ensure the absence of anyone else before placing a kiss on his cheek and squeezing his hand tightly. "But, it's always been that way, hasn't it?"

Fighting back the fierce blush that had somehow risen to heat his cheeks, Conan shook his head slowly in defeat. "Whatever; at least you're starting to be more intelligent about when you decide to act like yourself."

"Yes, but can you not just imagine--someone discovers I'm who I am, and that I've not only found myself a nice little girlfriend, but that it's none other than Shinichi Kudo, i.e.-"

"Conan-kun, Sundance-kun! There you are!" Ran called, smiling brightly as she walked through the door to the two boys, leading Conan to quickly pull his hand away from the other's and glance up at her. "I was wondering where you'd gotten to; your friends are here!"

"Okay!" the tiny detective said happily. "We'll be there in a minute; we were just talking about some new games we want to try out later!"

"Alright, but don't be too long; it's rude to keep company waiting!"

As Ran exited, Conan turned his head to face Sundance with a dark glare set in his eyes. "Girlfriend?!"

Nervously, Sundance shrugged his shoulders as he stood and dusted his pants off. "It seems to fit, ne, Conan-kun? After all, I do take initiative for almost everything we participate in."

"And what exactly does 'everything' entail in that imagination of yours?!"

Deciding that now would be the best time to retreat before the brunette could get any angrier at him, Sundance raced for the door, waving back over his shoulder. He paused for a moment, only long enough to shout, "Come on, now, Conan-kun! We can't keep Ayumi-chan and the others waiting!"

"Darn it...I lost again..." grumbled the chibi, hopping up to his feet and straightening the glasses on his face. "It doesn't matter how big we are, I always keep getting the short end of the stick!"

As he wandered off towards the main room, Conan sighed. He supposed he did at least owe Kaitou for a couple things. After all, it was because of him that he'd survived the last case when the murderer had outmaneuvered him and come within inches of killing him as he had the little girl. He didn't have to save him, and he certainly didn't have to use himself as a distraction (a dangerous thing to do, given the criminal's record) while Conan used Doctor Agasa's sneakers to kick a soccer ball into his skull, thus rendering him unconscious. Heck--not only that, but he had also helped to solve one or two of the other cases so far, and he had proved to be at least worth keeping around as company if nothing else; he'd helped keep the chibi sane when he needed to talk about something involving his true identity while the doctor and Ai were too busy.

But for crying out loud, all of that was pretty much counter-balanced with the fact that Kaitou would try to guilt him into things (which usually revolved around one of the many fantasies he apparently created in his mind of the two of them during pretty much every moment of the day) whenever they were alone! Worse still, he often slipped up and made dangerous innuendos around other people as well! They were just lucky that more often than not, his little mistakes were made around Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and Genta. If Ran ever found out,...

Or, worse still, if Kogoro ever found out...

"Conan-kun!" Ayumi called happily, looking up at him from where she sat across from Sundance, who was currently leaning against the couch with a grin widely spread across his lips, more than likely in the midst of yet another of his countless fantasies.

"Hey!" shouted Genta and Mitsuhiko simultaneously, waving over at him as he dropped onto the ground by them.

"Well, hello there, Conan-kun!" chirpped the small thief, sitting straight up as he grinned light-heartedly towards him, hands clasped in his lap. "How wonderful of you to join us today!"

"Conan-kun!" Ayumi began, her expression suddenly determined. "Are you feelling better?!"

"Am I...Feeling...? Oh- yeah, I am! It was a close call, but thanks to Sundance-kun, I'm fine; I guess it was just a lot of shock, huh?" Conan laughed, smiling over at the chibi he'd managed to surprise with his subtle sincerity. Well, it was true; he was very thankful to Kaitou for saving him from the psycho. To think, he would have been killed to get back at his father if the infamous chibified Phantom Thief hadn't leaped at the chance to help him...

"Good; we were worried about you!" Mitsuhiko said with a smile as wide as Ayumi's. "It was really lucky he found you!"

You don't know how true that is... sighed both chibis mentally, exchanging a nervous smile.

"So what are we gonna do today?" Genta piped up, looking from Ayumi and Mitsuhiko to Conan and Sundance, then back again. "We can always go out to eat!"

The freckled boy groaned, rolling his eyes. "But we ate right before we left to come here!" he complained, earning a frown from his larger friend. "Besides, shouldn't we let the decision be up to Conan-kun since he's the one recovering? It's only fair!"

"Okay, okay; so what do you want to do, Conan?"

Thinking for a moment, Conan closed his eyes and pressed one finger to his chin. What did kids their age do for fun, again?

Sensing the struggle Conan was having in thinking up a suggestion appropriate for their supposed age group, Sundance cleared his throat. When the detective glanced to him, he mouthed three simple words, which Conan greatfully repeated aloud:

"Hide and seek!"

"That's a great idea!" cheered Ayumi, leaping up as Mitsuhiko and Genta did the same. "Who wants to be it first?"

"Conan-kun and I can do it!" Sundance quickly put in. "It's been a few weeks since he's been able to do much sleuthing around unlike you guys, with his injuries and all, so we should start the Junior Detective Agency back up again. And, what better way to get him back into shape for it than being it at hide and seek?"

"Yeah!" chorused the other three, while Conan simply stared, dumbstruck, at the miniature thief.

"Okay, we'll go and hide, Conan-kun! You and Sundance-kun can look for us in a minute!" squealed Ayumi, already on her way out the door with Genta and Mitsuhiko at her heels.

Lagging for a few moments to allow the others time to hide themselves, Conan and Sundance flopped down for a moment. After a few seconds, the chibi detective looked up at the young thief with a raised eyebrow. "You had to suggest the reformation of the team, didn't you?"

"Oh, Conan-kun, it makes them happy to have something that exciting to do when it helps out the community. Besides that, Ayumi-chan really likes you. I think she'd like to get to spend more time with you like back before the last case." replied Sundance.

Amused, Conan arched the brow higher as the other lowered somewhat, asking sceptically, "And you're going to let her, knowing she likes me?"

"Well, of course! She'll grow out of it eventually, I'm sure of it. Besides, we both know you're mine."

"Will you cut that out?"

"Cut what out?"

Sighing quietly, Conan replied, "Stop talking like that; it's embarrassing. Besides--what makes you think that?"

"Do you always have to do that?"

"Do what?" Damn; now the rat had him answering a question with another one!

"Must you always try to rationalize what doesn't need explaining?" explained Sundance in a whisper, so as not to be overheard by anyone who might pass by. He quickly leaned to the side, capturing the boy's lips with his own and smiled inwardly at the quiet gasp of surprise Conan gave at the unexpected show of affection. Once he pulled back, he added, "I've had you since our first meeting, just as you've had me since long before."

Conan had noticed, over the past few weeks, that Sundance refused flatly (though still secretly) to refer to Ran at all when they were alone together, whereas he felt no reason to begrudge the right for Ayumi.

In truth, the little thief had his own good reasons for this. While he was very aware that Ayumi's love was unrequited, Ran was quite a different story. Whereas the two loved one another very much, Conan couldn't very well tell her who he really was and begin a relationship with her. Not, of course, that Sundance-Kaitou would be thrilled if he could. Personally, he felt as if he was in an all-out war against the young woman for the detective's heart.

And what was worse, it always felt as though he were losing.

Even when he was still Kaitou, shortly after he'd first set eyes upon Conan as Shinichi, he'd been well aware that the girl and the high school detective had strong feelings for one another. Jealous though he had been then, he vowed to watch over the other male and keep him safe from the dangers that came with their "occupations."

As time continued, however, and as the two boys had more and more meetings with one another, the thief had started to notice a slight change in the way things were going. Shinichi (by then, Conan) still cared deeply for Ran, but he wasn't resisting Kaitou (nor Sundance's) advances as strongly anymore, either.

Still, Sundance had a deep dislike for thinking too long about the girl his object of affection cared so much for. He didn't like the notion of sharing the love Conan may have for him with her at all. In fact, it only served to make him ill and often came close to bringing tears to his eyes if he dwelled on the matter too long.

"Well, I suppose it's time to search for the others, don't you agree Conan-kun?" Sundance said with a smile, standing up and offering a hand to the chibi to help him as well.

"I guess so." agreed the bowtied boy, taking the other's hand and pulling himself up. "Where should we start looking first, though?"

"I suppose it doesn't really matter; we'll find them before too long, anyway. We always do, remember."

"Yeah. Maybe we should start rounds in the yard first. They probably didn't hide out there, but it's worth just crossing it off the list of places they could be. There's no point in putting real detective skills to use for a kid's game at this point; it's not like we're facing logically-thinking criminals."

"Oh, Conan-kun, if they could hear that come out of your mouth they would be a little offended."

In a matter of minutes, the pair had tracked down Genta in the kitchen storage closet, and Mitsuhiko under the bed in Ran's room. All that remained, now, was Ayumi. While they knew where she was courtesy of the stifled giggles that emitted on occasion from under one of the chairs in the main room, they didn't have the heart to end the game so quickly when it seemed as though she was having such a good time with it. So, the four unanimously agreed to put on a charade of difficulty in locating her.

Three rounds of the house later, Mitsuhiko and Genta slumped to the ground in exhaustion as Conan fell back onto his back, Sundance dropping to a sit by his side. God, this had gone on for long enough!

Looking down at Conan, Sundance placed his palm gently on the other boy's cheek to gain his attention as he said, "I think it's time we call off this game and 'found' our last party member."

Nodding, Conan sighed. "Summer homes sure are bigger than I remember them being." he groaned aloud, legs not complying with his desire to stand.

"We're tiny now, remember." the former Kaitou Kid whispered down at him, softly stroking his cheek with his thumb. "They were big before; the difference is, we were bigger than we are now. I think I pity any bugs or mice that try to find their way around this house."

Sighing again, Conan nodded once more in acquiescence to this. "I don't have the energy to get up."

"Neither do we." yawned Mitsuhiko, leaning to the side against Genta to get into the shade of the tree and out of the sun.

"I think we should end the game soon." Genta grumbled tiredly, earning a nod of fervent agreement from the other three boys.

"Who's going to get up and get Ayumi-chan, though?"

Genta, Conan, and Sundance all turned their heads to the youth, brows arched.

"...What?"

"I vote Mitsuhiko-kun gets her." Sundance stated in an authoritative voice. "All in favour, say aye."

Instantly, two more calls of 'aye' echoed through the garden, mingled with only one 'nay'--Mitsuhiko's, himself. However, in realizing he was outvoted, he sighed and pushed himself with a bit of effort back to his feet. "Okay, okay; I'll go get her." he said in defeat.

"That was a sneaky trick." Genta said after Mitsuhiko had gone inside, leaving the three out alone.

"It was, wasn't it?" the chibi thief said proudly, grinning.

Returning a few moments later, Ayumi in tow, Mitsuhiko yawned quietly as he looked over at his three other friends. "Our parents are waiting for us at the front door, Genta-kun." he called over to the bigger boy, Ayumi nodding at his side. "We were here longer than we thought."

"Do I have to go? I don't have the energy to stand up." Genta complained, holding out a hand to him.

Blinking, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko exchanged a glance, nervously smiling.

"Yeah, we all have to go home." Ayumi frowned as she and the taller boy at her side began to pull Genta to a stand.

"Then I guess we'll see you later, right, Conan-kun? Sundance-kun?" inquired Mitsuhiko, looking back at the two as they remained, exhausted, where they had fallen just a few minutes earlier.

"Of course!" Sundance confirmed, waving to them with a smile.

"Bye, Conan-kun! Bye, Sundance-kun!" Ayumi called back, waving to them as she closed the door behind Genta, Mitsuhiko, and herself, leaving the other two in the yard.

"Well..." said Sundance at length, sighing. "That was a rather long game, wasn't it?"

Conan nodded, but said nothing.

"I think we should probably be on our way inside, don't you? The sun's already starting to set."

Again, Conan nodded but didn't reply.

Sundance arched a brow at his companion's silence. "Conan-kun? Is anything on your mind?"

Eyes closing, the chibi detective sighed inwardly as he nodded. Still, he remained silent.

In truth, quite a bit was going through Conan's mind at the moment. Over the past couple of weeks, he'd gotten to know Kaitou- er, Sundance..- much better than he'd ever thought he would, and learned that there was a lot more to him than just his magic tricks and cunning. It was a bit confusing, to be perfectly honest; nothing really made much sense lately. Especially not after the last case he and the others had gone on, when he could have very well met his end at the hands of that jealous psycho.

Sundance was growing more and more concerned with each passing moment that he didn't receive a reply to his comments or any form of sarcastic retort for his annoying relentlessness. Was the detective not feeling well?

With a small burst of energy he hadn't been fully aware he had, Conan propped himself up on his elbows and pulled the thief down to himself, lips making contact with the other boy's for a brief few moments as his eyes slid closed once again.

Having accomplished his goal, though it seemingly came from nowhere, and having taken Sundance by surprise, he stood back to his feet and turned to the door. "Come on." he said finally, stopping as his hand rested on the door knob. "We should go in and wash up."

Finally recovering from his surprise, Sundance blinked at the boy's back, a small smile slowly beginning to cover his lips. "Right you are, Shinichi-kun..." he whispered quietly, bringing himself to his feet as well and slowly making his way to Conan's side.

Turning his head to look at the shrunken thief, Conan gave him a flicker of a smile and allowed him to lace their fingers together for just a moment before Sundance released his hand, allowing him to preceed him inside.