Went over this story. It's now... July 23rd of 2013

IT NEEDED IT. I had all the Case Closed names, I had no idea how to use honorifics... it's better now. Short but at least better

...

Chapter 1: Lions and Tigers and Bears… Oh My!

"Come on Conan. Hurry up!" Ran yelled as she ran towards the ferris wheel. Conan wasn't sure if she was running because she was excited or because the kids seemed to get in trouble whenever they got to far ahead.

"I'm coming." I think it's so funny that she still gets excited over these rides.

"Why did I have to come along?" Mouri complained. He took a cigarette out of his pocket and I kicked him in the shin.

"Ouch! Why the Hell did you do that you little punk?!"

"You shouldn't smoke at an amusement park Ojisan." I smiled at him as he tried to grab at me. As long as I was expecting it, it was easy enough to get out of his range.

"Gets me out of bed… can't smoke…. can't drink. Humph."

For once, I had to agree with him. I'd rather be at home right now.

I caught up to Ran along with the members of the Shounen Tantei. Ayumi had also talked Haibara into coming.

"And why do I have to watch all you little brats again!"

"Dad, knock it off. You know how bad they wanted to come with."

"Humph."

"Hey Ran," I grabbed her coat. "Why did you want to take us to Tropical Land?" It was strange. The last time he was here with her… a lot happened. She seemed to really want this trip back to. He didn't know why. The kids coming along tore away any of those reservations he had about Ran's choice in venue. She didn't seem sad…

"Well, that's easy. There have been so many cases lately and we never seem to go out and just have fun."

"Ahaha. I guess you're right." Hattori had a point. I did seem to draw bad luck but then again, it could be Mouri.

"Come on Conan, I want to get on the ride." Genta grabbed my arm and hauled me onto the ferris wheel.

It was one of those old kinds of ferris wheels that I didn't think existed in carnivals and fairs that anymore, that still swung back and forth. I was a little surprised to see one here if only because they had the huge one in the back and another one seemed really unnecessary. It hadn't been here when Ran and I had visited. I wondered if it was something the manager of the park decided to put up for a short time.

Ayumi had already jumped in and Genta had grabbed me so I had no choice on who I got to sit with. I barley managed not to trip over the first step when I was thrown in second. I didn't even have a chance to argue before the guy operating it started to set it in motion, and maybe, just a little, I was disappointed I didn't get to go with Ran.

"Hey Conan! This goes really high doesn't it? You can see the whole park from up here!" Ayumi leaned over the side to get a better view.

"No. You know what really makes this ride fun?" Genta started to shake the cart as I turned to him to answer. Now I'm not scared of heights or anything but me and Ayumi weighed so little compared to Genta I thought he was going to throw us out.

"Oi! Stop it!" I yelled at him as I held the bar tightly. Why was I so short? I could barely reach the thing. The least they could have done was put a seatbelt in.

"No way! This is the best part!" He continued to shake the ride violently. Ayumi didn't care but she was holding the bar just as tightly as I was. Hehe. Kids.

"Genta, they'll kick us out if you keep doing that!" I tried to reason with him. Other's hand done it before him for years and the carts had never given under the weight but I didn't want to take that chance that maybe we'd be the first unlucky group. Not very many kids had his weight to throw around.

"No way! They can yell at us but it's not like we're going on it again."

I was shocked at how much the ride was shaking. I really was. If anything I was afraid that we'd get flipped upside and fall out than I was anything else. If I were bigger I wouldn't have been worried but there was so much room to slide around that I couldn't let go of the bar and lean back or I really would fall out.

"Hey guys! Quit shaking the seat!" Ran yelled up at us.

"Aww." Genta stopped. He knew better then to disobey Ran. She could get really scary.

I sat back with a sigh and tried to move as little as possible. We still had half way to go and I didn't want any more movement than necessary. Ayumi leaned forwards and almost gave me a heart attack.

"Chill out Conan. It's not like were gonna fall or anything."

Hm. I wasn't so sure. The ferris wheel looked pretty old. I didn't think it could stand up to a few Gentas.

I was so relieved when we got off the ride. I sat down at the gate while Ran got off with Haibara and Mitsuhiko.

"Hey kids, don't mess with the rides, okay?" She looked at us sternly. Even I got a scathing glance and I didn't do anything.

"Yah, yah" Genta brushed her off.

"Funny" came a whispered voice from next to my ear, "The great detective can't stomach a little five minute ferris wheel ride."

"Don't worry about me," I mumbled back. My voice was steady but I noticed my hands were shaking. Man, I really was getting soft. Maybe Haibara had a point. It'd never been scared of heights before, even without the security.

We started to go over to a small roller coaster. I couldn't go on any of my favorites anymore because of my new height. The little ones were still pretty fun though. Being small gave the childish rides more thrill- or at least, it made the drops seem bigger. I couldn't wait for the day I could go on the normal ones again. Hopefully it wouldn't really take me growing up again.

Just then a large man tripped over me. His knee hit me in the side of the head and we both went down.

"Ouch." I rubbed my head, wincing as I did.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." He turned around to face me. From our scuffle it was already apparent to me the guy gave me a bruise. I'd accidentally touched it a little too hard. The headache that was coming on didn't help matters.

Ran paused. She was at the head of the group and didn't see me fall. I could still kinda see the others nearby though.

"I'm alright," I murmured. I tried to get up too fast and almost fell.

"I didn't mean to run into you kid. Are you sure you're not hurt?" He reached out his hands to catch me but there was no way he was fast enough and I had already caught myself.

"Tadashi, watch where you're going," a woman's voice scolded from behind him.

She was young, maybe in her early twenties. She had soft brown hair halfway tied up. Her eyes were a beautiful green and, being as she was not much older then I really am, looked pretty… good.

"Conan, what happened?" Ran had come back and grabbed my arm. I tired not to blush when she did that since my thoughts weren't exactly pure at the moment.

"Oh, it's nothing. He only bumped into me a little." I smiled, trying to not seem so obvious.

"Oh, eh, I think I broke your glasses," I heard the man say. I looked as he raised the lenses. One of them, the one with the tracking screen, was cracked and the frame was slightly bent.

Well, looks like Hakase would be working on those for a while. I'd have to get the spare from him.

"That's okay. I'll get them fixed." I grabbed them away from him and hung them on my shirt with the good side. I looked at Ran and then away. Maybe sitting next to her shouldn't happen anytime soon while I wasn't wearing them.

"Hi, I'm sorry about that little boy. My name is Oshiro Tadashi," the man said. He wasn't that much older then the girl. He had a narrow face and thick russet colored hair that hung layered at the sides of his face.

"And I'm Hitomi" the woman said afterwards. She put her hand on my head and mussed up my hair. "Sorry about my boyfriend. He can be a little clumsy sometimes."

Ran took this time to spin me around and make sure I was okay. She touched the bruise and I had to brush her hand away. Hey, it hurt. She was also a little closer than I would have liked her and I started blushing again. "I'm okay, really."

Ran nodded and stood to face the others. Her stare wasn't as inviting as her words, though it looked like she was more worried than anything, and I was fine, so that would go away soon. "Hello, I'm Ran." She introduced herself and the rest of our party.

"You know, we're about to go to the boat ride. Do you want to come with?" Hitomi offered.

"Yay, a boat ride!" Ayumi started shouting. The others didn't look too excited until she spoke up and they turned to her.

"A boat ride would be nice," Haibara added. All of a sudden the others were game for it.

"Lets go on the boat!" Genta added.

"I-…I-…" Mitsuhiko's enthusiasm started to deflate slowly. "I'd rather not." He started to turn white.

"Quit being such a scaredy cat" Ayumi said, dragging him forward so he didn't have any chance to slip away. I leveled my eyes and felt an ironic smile on my face. Poor guy looked like he was going to be sick. It must have been all the cotton candy they ate earlier getting to him.

"Well, it looks like that's settled. The boat ride's over there." Hitomi pointed to the left of where we were heading.

"As an apology for my boyfriend, how about this?" Hitomi gave me a kiss on the forehead and put me up on her shoulders. I was happy that no one could see me blush from up there. Her jacket felt damp under may hands as if she'd gone on a water ride earlier and wasn't fully dry. Huh. It was the end of the day and night had fallen a while ago. Her boyfriend didn't look like he was wet.

Hitomi kept me on her shoulders as we waited in line. It was getting pretty chilly so there weren't many people left. Maybe I was keeping her warm. The damn clothes made me shiver too though and I huddled closer to her, feeling my eyes close slightly. That was weird. It was chilly, but nothing to… to make my body so tired.

I heard the mumble of voices around me but couldn't focus on anything. I must have drifted off because Ran had me in her arms when I opened my eyes.

"Maybe we should start heading back."

"NO! We want to go on the boat!" Genta complained.

"Please!" Ayumi and Mitsuhiko chimed in. He must have changed his mind or gotten over his upset stomach.

"It's okay. I'm awake." I stretched out and showed her I was up. I didn't know what made me tired in the first place. I had been up late reading. There was no other time to get in the books I wanted without her hovering otherwise.

Ran put me down as we drew a lot closer to the front of the line. A good deal of the people that had been ahead of us vanished while I was out of it. It was only a few minutes until we got into the boat. Hitomi and Tadashi were in the front and he had his arm wrapped around her. Ran and I sat next to them.

"Why do I have to sit with the kids?" Mouri didn't seem to be having a good time. He hadn't even gone on the ferris wheel with us. Ran didn't bother to reply. I couldn't voice my own sentiments, though the stifled yawn probably gave them away.

The boat ride was pretty simple. It went through lit up tunnels with beautiful scenery and music playing. Each tunnel had a different theme all surrounding the seasons. The tunnel opened in places to let in the sky. We just passed fall and winter and were heading into spring when a cell phone went off.

Tadashi's phone rang as we were entering the tunnel. Hitomi and Ran turned on him. It was screeching loud for some reason and the tunnel echoed the noise back since there was no music playing yet.

"Why do you have that on when we're on a ride?" she chided him.

"I'm sorry. Kazu was supposed to call when he wanted to meet up so I kept it on." Oshiro Tadashi looked at the caller ID.

"Huh, That's weird." Tadashi made a shushing signal at Hitomi and us before picking up. "Hi mom, what do you want?"

We were all looking at him. Even the people in the back leaned over to listen. I smiled at the kids in a leery kind of way. What was with them? Could they at least make it not so obvious?

"What?!" Tadashi screamed. Hitomi was so shocked at his sudden outburst she bumped into Ran and she, in turn, knocked me out of my seat.

"I'll be right there," he said hastily into the phone and hung up. "I've got to go," he told the rest of us. He climbed out of the boat and started back the way we had come, walking through at least four-in-a-half feet of water.

"Wait, what happened?" Hitomi followed him out. "Tell me!" she pleaded as she tried to keep up.

"My dad's dead!" His shout was ten times as loud as his phone had bee. I wouldn't have been surprised if all the people on the ride and within 50 meters outside could have heard him. "They say someone killed him!" He was frustrated but waited for Hitomi to catch up. I was already on the side of the boat and quietly made my way into the water. Agasa-hakase didn't tell me if my shoes were fully waterproof and I was hoping I wasn't going to short them out.

The water was deep for me so I swam under the surface. I didn't want Ran stopping me in any case. Tadashi's brief phone call normally would have just had me on my way, but with Ran there and without my glasses, I was up for a reason to vanish. Helping someone out with a murder couldn't hurt either.

"Conan?" I heard distantly behind me. There was no way that she could catch up to me now. I'd have to call her later. I'd also have to call the Professor and get the other set of glasses.

"What happened?" I heard Hitomi ahead of me. They weren't that much further.

"They say they found my dad dead at home. Poisoned. I can't believe that! How could someone have killed him? Why?" I could hear the despair in his voice but the anger overtook it.

Another boat was coming and they barely made their way around it. I dove underwater and swam beneath it. It was tight but they don't want their boats hitting the bottom.

I heard splashing behind me. Shit! She actually followed me? My detective badge was going off but I couldn't hear it underwater. If that thing didn't short out I had to figure my shoes were good. The Professor really went all out. Funny that the other half of his inventions were junk.

Tadashi and Hitomi made their way out and I followed closely behind. If they hadn't been in such a hurry they would have noticed me. My soaking wet clothes made getting out and running after them hard and they were able to fight against it better than I was but it didn't bother me much. My wet socks were the most annoying.

We made our way out of the park and I lost track of Ran. If she was still following me I couldn't see her. I hadn't heard anything since the splashing back when we were in the tunnel, though I hadn't really turned back going through the park and there was enough noise around me to drown her out.

They called a cab over and I snuck in behind Hitomi as it was taking off. The cab was making its way down the street when she noticed me. I didn't really have anywhere to hide.

"Oh no, Tadashi. That boy followed us. What should we do?"

He looked at me and I stood up, putting on my innocent smile. I had no excuse this time since Mouri hadn't joined them but whatever.

"We can't turn back…" Tadashi quickly debated to himself. I didn't really think he'd turn back. He'd gave the address and orders fast enough and I doubt they'd leave me on the side of the road. "Kid, do you know your phone number?"

"Yep." What kid, even at my current age, wouldn't know their phone number?

"We'll call his parents to pick him up when we get home," Tadashi decided. As if that weren't a stupid course of action in any normal circumstances. It seemed like a kidnapping from the outside, and they were virtually strangers. The guy was really upset though. Hitomi put me on her left, near the door, as she leaned into Tadashi.

"Are you okay?" she asked, gently grabbing his hand.

"Yah, I'm sorry Hitomi. This day was supposed to be perfect and my father seemed so happy that we were getting married. I just can't understand it."

Oh they were getting married. That must have ruined their wedding plans. Maybe I shouldn't have followed them. Ran was going to kill me for running off anyway, might as well stay at this point though. It also got me out of any more stupid rides.

I sat down and tried to stay out of their way during the cab ride. I was dying to know details, to get the facts, but there's a time and a place for everything.

We reached their house and they got out arm in arm. I followed them out the door and closed it, looking back at the cab.

"Hey, what about my fare?" the driver demanded out the window.

"Oh, sorry about that." Tadashi walked back over and pulled out some bills without even counting them. I looked him over as well as his wallet. He didn't seem well off enough to be doing that but that only struck home more the affect this had on him.

I headed up with them to a nice two-story house. Nothing fancy. If this was a robbery gone bad, there were other homes in the area that were larger. We went in the front door, which I took a look at, and passed several cops and up to the second floor. There were two other rooms and a bathroom before they stopped in front of a door. Both looked normal to me.

The last room was where the body was.

Tadashi rushed over to his father with Hitomi holding him. He was very upset and was fighting with one of the officers who tried to stop him. It was still a crime scene. There was a tech in the room, checking the carpet, that was pushed out of the way. The body was sprawled out in the center of the room, no obvious signs of a struggle anywhere I could see.

The deceased was in his late fifties. He was overweight and his black hair was thinning on top. His body was twisted and his facial muscles were all taunt and pulled back.

It looked like he died of suffocation but there were no marks around his neck and, with how big a man he looked to be, it would have been pretty hard to get a bag or hold his mouth and nose closed long enough to kill him against his will.

"Conan. What are you doing here?" Megure-keibu walked into the room with Shiratori-keibu and Takagi-keiji.

"Oh, hi." I scratched the back of my head and tried to look innocent. Usually Oochan or the kids were around to make the excuse of coming with them. By myself I looked a bit suspicious.

"I hope you didn't touch anything," Shiratori-keibu murmured.

"I can't believe there's another one. Which one is this?" Takagi-keiji asked the Inspector. He seemed to be comparing something in his notebook and having trouble getting things in order. I frowned.

"This one has a lion on him."

"A lion?" I asked. Another one? A serial murder? But what was it about a lion?

"Yah. There's been a rash of homicides from all over. It seems the murderer has come to Beika now." Takagi-keiji lifted the man's shirt. Underneath was a lion's head cut into it. The blood was dry, indicating it was done after his death.

"Hey, quit messing with the crime scene," Shiratori-keibu yelled at Takagi who immediately dropped the shirt to rest back over the mark. I put my hand to my chin, visualizing the image and it's position.

"But why a lion?"

"Because we've got a homicidal maniac on our hands." Takagi-keiji let out a sigh as if he'd been at this for a long time now. "Nothing connects. We've been calling them the Dorothy Murders. People from all over Japan have been killed over the past year, all of them flawed according to the killer's logic. Kinda. A few we weren't sure on."

I looked at the dead man in front of me. The lion. What significance did it have in The Wizard of Oz? He needed… courage. Okay. How did that fit in with this man? And what kind of person would do something like this?

"Inspector" Shiratori-keibu had finished speaking with another Officer. "Oshiro Takuma was a small time business owner. From what we know, he wasn't a very outgoing person. His wife, Nomori SOMETHING, left him last month after sixteen years. She says it was because he was too placid. Apparently they'd been having arguments for some time. He apparently wouldn't defend her when another man tried hitting on her. She's got a solid alibi. She was working at a business in the city."

"Why target this man, though?" I asked.

Megure-keibu sighed. "There's been no connection between the killings. They only link up to the main characters from The Wizard of Oz. We've found victims with scarecrows- represented as crosses with a bird on them, tin men- represented by an ax, lions, and Dorothy is represented as Toto, the dog. Actually, it was an Inspector down south that figured out the connection."

"So the killer murdered Oshiro Takuma because he was cowardly?" I only half said it as a question as I thought aloud but it was answered anyway.

"Precisely. There's no other connection and more the thirty victims have turned up throughout Japan. This killers a crafty one."

"More then thirty?!" Jeez, this guy must be good to out step the police for so long. And to have so many victims… "Do you know how he was killed?"

"We're not sure but we think it was Strychnine. The victim looks like he died of suffocation but there's no strangulation marks. Strychnine leaves the body quickly but there should be small traces in his blood steam. It's an awful way to die and one of the killers favorite methods." Megure-keibu looked more worried than he normally did. I didn't blame him. Why hadn't I heard about this killings before though? Was the killer that dangerous that it never made it to the press?

I looked the body over again. Yikes. Strychnine poisoning often involved lengthy and painful seizers and the victim wouldn't die for sometime.

"Is this the first case in Beika?"

"Okay, enough out of you." Shiratori-keibu dragged me out of the room. I'd already figured out what I wanted. Now I needed to see what I could dig up on the other victims. If the killer had left some type of clue, I'd find it.

"Does Mouri-kun or Ran-chan know where you are?" Megure-keibu asked me as I was being escorted out.

"Ah."

" I'll give them a call then. Stay out of this room and don't leave until they come get you. The other rooms are off limits too." Shiratori-keibu started calling Ran as I walked out of the room. Even as I walked away from him and downstairs, I could hear her screaming.

"…When I get there he is going to be in so much trouble!…"

…

I sat on the couch to wait for her. Occhan would surely get involved with the case and I'd find out more. Whatever they were keeping to themselves, they'd likely share with him, to get his- my- help. I shivered.

Oh right. I had jumped into the water at Tropical Land. I didn't notice how cold I'd gotten in the wet clothes. It was the beginning of fall and, while a trip there wasn't bad, walking around soaking was. I sneezed. Great, I must be getting a cold.

…

"Conan-kun!" I was woken up about ten minutes later by Ran busting open the door. Again I didn't remember falling asleep. I yawned sleepily and rubbed my eye.

"What on earth did you think you were doing? Why did you leave in the middle of the ride?!" She marched up to me and grabbed my wrist. I noticed that her sweater was wet. She had followed me in. I felt kind of bad about that. She must be as cold as I was. She still looked so pretty though.

"I'm sorry, Ran-neechan," I murmured. My voice came out so quite it must have loosened her up. I smiled a little at her. How nice of her not to fling me off the couch like it looked as if she was going to.

The rest of the group ran into the house.

"Conan-kun, why'd you run off?" Ayumi and the others started asking questions, all the same one just with different words. Before I could even defend myself I started sneezing again.

"Ah, Conan-kun… Let me see if I can't get you a sweater." Ran was so nice. Even when she's furious at me she still thinks about stuff like that. I really wanted that sweater too. It was freezing in here. Her touch was so warm compared to the air.

"Conan-kun, why'd you leave?" Genta yelled at me. "We didn't get to stay because we had to find you. I missed all the rides!"

"It was getting dark anyway, we couldn't have stayed much longer." My voice came out coarse and quiet.

Ayumi pushed herself up on the couch next to me and put her hand on my forehead. I felt myself blush. There were so many girls touching me today, even if this one in particular was too young for me… and always would be, not matter what I looked like.

"Do you feel okay? You don't have a fever."

That took me aback. I felt sick and cold; I also felt a headache coming back on. It was strange I hadn't developed a fever yet. Maybe it was one of those colds where you don't get one. I'd had those before when I was little.

Ayumi continued to move her hand down my face where it felt cold against my cheek. She drew it away quickly with an intake of breath. I looked over at her with my half-closed eyes, wondering what was wrong.

"That's weird. Your face is burning hot but your forehead isn't."

I put my hand up to my face. The difference in temperature wasn't great but there was a difference. "That is weird." I mumbled to myself. Maybe it was just because she'd got my heart racing for a second there and I'd been thinking some pretty weird, scrambled thoughts that even I couldn't fully remember. I just knew they had followed the thought about having all the girls attention on me. I thought of it as all, that was, until the last girl that hadn't touched me yet, did.

Haibara made herself known at that point. She came up on my other side and put her hand gently against my face too. Due to feeling sick and Ayumi still in contact with my skin, I hoped Mitsuhiko and Genta didn't notice how red my face got.

She put her face right up to mine as if she were going to kiss me. My reaction time was slow but I heard the others gasp. I was bright red now. Then the weirdest thing happened.

She smelled me.

Haibara took my still wet shirt and smelled that too. She looked underneath the collar and finally looked at my hands. I felt like some puppet that she was looking over. It was hard to move and impossible to fight her.

She had my palm face up in her hands when I noticed it was red. When she rubbed her thumb against the flesh it felt slightly raw, as if someone had put sandpaper against it. I winced a little. When did that happen?

"How strange," Haibara spoke. The others were staring at her, almost as lost as I was for once.

She smelled my hand and shook her head.

"What?" I asked her outright. My head was spinning too much for me to concentrate.

"We've been at Tropical Land all day so maybe you touched something here. Whatever the case, it seems you might have come into contact with chloroform."

Haibara rolled up my sleeves. "It seems you've only touched it but you must have been somewhere where it was concentrated to get these symptoms." She put her hands up to my throat. "Though you are truly sick as well."

I gently pushed her hand away and jumped off the couch. Though a little dizzy, I made my way back up the stairs to the room. chloroform should have left traces. If Oshiro Takuma was knocked out with it, the forensics guys would have noticed. Anyone could have done this then, they didn't have to overpower him.

The Inspector, Shiratori-keibu and Takagi-keiji were still there along with Mouri. I have smiled in an 'I knew it' kind of way. I hadn't been close enough before to hear what they were taking about. Damn it. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I hadn't even seen him pass me down stairs.

I went over to the victim and looked for the same irritation marks. I also smelled around his face without trying to make it to obvious. I sneezed, turning away at the last second, sniffling a little as my nose became irritated.

Though it was hard for me to smell, there was no sign that this man had been anywhere near any chloroform. There was no scent I could pick up, though I would blame that on my nose if I was wrong, and a chemical like that left irritation marks. Even slight contact would redden the skin.

"Stranger and stranger," I heard from behind me. The whole gang had come in and was leaning over my shoulder. I let out a breath of a laugh. Oi, oi. Didn't they know this was a murder scene? They eve bypassed the cops.

"Hey, what are all you brats doing in here!?" I heard Mouri yell when he spotted us. "Get back down stairs right now!"

Mouri practically kicked us out of the room along with deafening us. I stood outside the door and thought. I hadn't gotten any new information on the case either and more questions had come up. Maybe whatever I touched had nothing to do with this case. If so, then I had to wonder where it had come from. chloroform wasn't the easiest thing to get a hold of and it was obviously in the hands of someone who couldn't be responsible for it. If it lead to another murder, I had to find out. No one uses chloroform for a practical joke.

"Conan-kun, there you are," Ran said, coming out of one of the bedrooms. I looked up and saw Hitomi follow behind her, looking depressed.

"The family had some old clothes put away and we were able to find a shirt that might fit you." In her hands Ran had a long-sleeved, light pink shirt, with a white flower in the middle. It was obviously a girl's shirt.

"Sorry, but none of the guys kept there old clothes." She looked at me apologetically. I could hear everyone giggling behind me. Really? I'd rather deal with the cold.

"That's okay, I'm dry already." I tried to sound convincing but Ran grabbed my shirt and felt how damp it was. She sighed. I resisted sighing as well. There was no way she was getting me into that. The pajamas were bad enough, but this was a pink, flower power, girly shirt!

"Just come here." Ran grabbed my hand and led me into the bathroom. "You kids should go wait downstairs," she said as she closed the door behind us. I heard Genta laughing the loudest. How about Mars? Maybe that would be far enough away for me not to be seen. They should wait there.

Ran reached over and started to take off my shirt.

"Hey, I can do it myself" I tried to tell her but my voice was so quiet I didn't think she heard. Her cold fingers brushed against my body as she took the shirt off over my head.
"Conan, You're really burning up. We should get home." Her worried eyes made my heart ache. I smiled back at her, not trusting my voice to be reassuring. It was just a cold. I'd hopefully lose the rest of the symptoms in the next few hours. I should probably shower too.

She took a towel and tried to dry me off as best she could. She dabbed at my shorts to, to try and help them dry. I was happy she hadn't come in with pink shorts too. While a shirt could fit a few sizes bigger, shorts would be harder. I didn't even want to think about her trying to get underwear for me.

Ran put the girl's shirt on me and dried my hair with the towel. The dry clothes felt so much better but there was no way I was going to look at myself in the mirror. I didn't even want to walk back out the door after. If only I had a jacket, I could try and hide it. It was still too warm out though for that.

I took the chance to wash my hands to make sure there was no chloroform left on them.

"Come on Conan-kun, it's late. I'm going to go see if dad can drive everyone home." Ran grabbed my hand again and led me back downstairs. It didn't really hurt and she hadn't noticed it was irritated, but it stretched my skin in way's I couldn't fully feel and I tried to focus on that and where it had come from instead of how I was dressed.

"Now all of you stay still while I go get my dad."

"So did you find anything out?" I heard Haibara ask. The others were still laughing and Genta had fallen against the wall and was holding his sides. I closed my eyes and shook my head. Doing so made it hurt terribly. I went to touch my forehead and felt the lump I'd gotten earlier.

Ran came down with Mouri a few minutes later. Both of them were quiet and didn't say anything as we took off. The kids weren't so quiet. I was only a shirt. They should learn to shut up about it. Ayumi was the only one who tried to stop laughing and it looked like she only pulled it off because she was worried about me. Her touching my hand as we were leaving at least stopped the giggling behind me though I could feel glares on the back of my head.

Takagi-keiji was left with the duty of taking us home because Mouri had taken a taxi and we wouldn't be able to fit. With no space in the car, even with him driving, Ran had to hold me on her lap in the back seat. If I didn't feel embarrassed before, I did now.

I couldn't stop myself from blushing but the growing fever kept me safe. She held me gently against her chest. It was so warm and I felt so worn out. The day at the amusement park, with no small help from the chloroform, made me incredibly tired. I felt myself dropping off to sleep. I was still wondering where I had picked it up when the world went black for a few minutes.

Then Takagi slammed on the breaks.