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truth behind glass

Summary:

Your mind had always been empty ever since the first chapter of your life started and you'd survived this far without truly knowing who you truly were. The past, whether it was dark or full of good deeds, was buried deep somewhere in your brain and it was simply impossible to dig them out. But what if you met someone from your past? Pursuing him was obviously the only choice you had to regain back your story.

Notes:

Please read before proceeding! This story may contain mature content at times, angst, and is only written for fun because I'm a huge detective conan fan. Please don't expect any accurate medical condition that is mentioned in the story because google is my only best friend haha. Do enjoy the forbidden romance between Gin and MC?

Chapter 1: edogawa conan, the other shinichi.

Chapter Text

    The last thing you could remember was a soothing warmth against your lips. And then there was something cold inside your mouth, a coldness that you had to swallow despite your confusion and a sharp prick on your arm.

    That was all you had as your memory.

    When you opened your eyes, you were staring at the white ceiling, the colour making you rather nauseous than comfortable. Your mind stayed empty like a blank canvas that had yet to be painted on, no stories left behind your trails. You couldn’t even remember your name and it was until the police officers came to explain the situation to you that you understood you had amnesia — apparently, an old man known as Professor Agasa stumbled upon your unconscious body and he was the one who brought you to the hospital, as well as calling the police.

    “[name] Karasuma.”

    Even when you uttered that name as many times as you could, it sounded unfamiliar. It was a stranger’s name, not yours but the sight of your identification card proved that it was indeed your identity. You were [name] Karasuma and you currently have no recollection of your own memories. Where were you? What were you doing? What was that cold sensation running down your throat? What about the oddly comforting warmth on your lips? What was that sharp prick then? When you looked at your own arm, you could see a tiny dot, one that could fit a small needle in.

    Were you drugged then?

    “—ell, I would love to help but we really have no information about them. We looked through the database and even asked some people around the area, they have no idea who they are. I could put out a face and wait for their relatives or someone who knows then to come but until then, I really can’t do anything.”

    “Then can they stay in the hospital?”

    That was Professor Agasa’s voice, you recognised.

    The police shook his head. “I don’t think they will allow them to stay any longer than a day. They don’t have any money for them, the least we could do is ask for a full report of their condition which is… not good. Look, they seem to have a heart problem from what I was told by the doctor. Seems like they will run more tests for it but apparently, the heart is failing day by day. The doctor will explain the situation to you but aside from the heart issue and amnesia, nothing is really making them stay in the hospital.”

    “Then where will they go?”

    “Probably nowhere.”

    “Then.. can I let them stay at my place until then?”

    “Well, that’s your choice, professor. I’m not stopping you but you should take note that this person could be anyone. Might even be dangerous though I highly doubt they can even run with their heart condition. If you’re sure about it, I will register them under your care in the meantime. Should there be any news, I will give you a visit.”

    “Thank you, officer.”

    Once the police officer’s footsteps faded away, Professor Agasa came over and explained the situation to you. Being a stranger, you were hesitant to accept his generous offer and you did make sure Agasa was fine with your presence in his house. You had nowhere to go and truth to be told, you were terrified. A part of you wondered where you could go after being discharged by the hospital and all you felt was lost. Like you were roaming through the woods for days and you couldn’t find anyone nor anything, you were just so, so lost.

    So you followed Agasa’s footsteps as if he was your grandpa.

    He didn’t mind and he was rather overjoyed when you mentioned that you wanted to help with his creations. It was an advantage for him after all. You were intelligent and observant, perhaps you weren’t a detective material like Kudo Shinichi but your brain worked like a scientist. From there on, Agasa introduced you to Shinichi and eventually, you grew to know Ran and Sonoko. Ran and Shinichi were inseparable so it was not surprising that you knew both of them but Sonoko would usually just butt into the conversation, that was how you grew to like Sonoko’s bluntness.

    “Good evening, Professor Agasa.”

    Agasa smiled at you as you came through the front door and slammed it lock. “You can just drop the formality already. You have been with me for months now.”

    “Professor Agasa just has a nice ring to it.” You chuckled.

    “Geez, nothing I say will really change your mind. Anyway, thank you for the groceries, you can just put everything in the fridge. I will sort everything out later, don’t worry.” Agasa suddenly took his dry raincoat from the coat rack and searched for something in his pocket. “I am going out to buy dinner, is there anything that you want? Gosh, where is my wallet though?”

    You grabbed his wallet from under the open magazine and handed it to him, a cheeky smile on your face. “Don’t want me to cook dinner tonight?”

    “Oh! Thank you, you’re a lifesaver, I swear. I feel like eating the noodles from Colombo tonight so let’s just take it easy for today. If there’s anything in particular that you want to eat, just send me a text message. If not then I will buy the same food as mine.”

    “I don’t mind at all!” You shouted from behind the fridge, forcing in the slices of meat into the freezer. “You can just get the same thing. Ah, but I do want the pudding for dessert. Colombo has a very soft and sweet pudding.”

    “Alright, did Shinichi contact you?”

    “No, I think he has a date with Ran at the amusement park today. Heard he made a promise with her so that’s why they’re dating now. I did tell him to give me a call so that I know what happened during the date.”

    “Haha! Tell me about it later!”

    “Will do.”

    Click.

    Once Agasa went out of the house, you were then left behind inside the house alone, bathed in silence and tranquillity as the clock continued ticking. You took a good look at the clock and made a mental note that it was getting rather late. Surprisingly, Shinichi did not give you a text about the date — perhaps he decided to not listen to you after all? Disappointed, you heaved a sigh and focused on the gadget that Agasa was working on. Though it completed a few days ago, there were a lot of issues with the gadget — the power was off, the heating was too strong and it was simply a gadget with too many defects.

    You unscrewed the plate and removed the old battery, exasperating dramatically when you found out the battery was indeed burned. Dismayed and frustrated, you shook your head and quickly replaced the battery, only to realise another mistake in Agasa’s gadget.

    "Ack! He forgot the LED light. No wonder the light wasn’t working, I thought the wires weren’t working." You mumbled to yourself. “The LED lights should be somewhere in the drawers, if I remember correctly.”

    You stood back up and looked into the drawers by the open windows. While searching for the LED lights that were scattered all over the inside of the drawer, not arranged even nicely in the box, you caught a glimpse of someone trying to climb over the gate by Shinichi’s house. Curious enough to stay there longer, you squinted your eyes and gasped loudly when you realise who was trying to break into Shinichi’s house.

    It was a mere child in the middle of the rain.

    "What a troublemaker."

    Completely distressed, you grabbed the umbrella by the entrance, literally ran out of the house and skidded just in time to face the naughty kid. You opened up the umbrella while sprinting towards the kid, protecting you from the heavy rain. Despite running for only a few metres, you were already wheezing in pain — your heart pounding against your chest in a hurry. Even when your chest felt tight from all of the running and your face was full of cold sweat, you still managed to grab the boy from the gate before he could fall.

    "Hey! You shouldn’t do that!"

    "Let me go!" The boy struggled in your grasp before gradually slowing down when he registered your familiar voice. He finally realised who you were and stared back at you in shock. "You—"

    "You could have gotten hurt, little boy." Carefully placing the child back onto the ground, you gasped for air while making sure the umbrella was covering the two of you. You forced a strained smile to the boy and squatted down to meet his eyes. "Oh, no. You’re already injured, little boy. There’s blood on your head, are you sure you’re okay? Did something happen? Do you know where your parents are right now? Perhaps you know their numbers so I can give them a call—"

    You suddenly let out a harsh cough.

    "Oi, are you okay?! You idiot! You shouldn’t have run out like that! Especially when it’s raining!" Your eyes widened as the boy unexpectedly scolded you with a worried expression. It seemed oddly familiar. "You know your heart is—"

    "Hey, kid, how do you know?" You blinked.

    "I’m not a kid. It’s me, Shinichi!"

    "Shinichi?"

    You stared at the boy with an indifferent look. “My, that’s an interesting joke coming from a child. Did Shinichi hire you to do this prank because he wants to get back to me? I just asked him for an update from the date, not his life—”

    “I’m not joking, you idiot!”

    “Wow, you sure are a rude kid.”

    The boy, who deemed himself to be Shinichi, raised his voice in rage. "I’m Shinichi. Kudo Shinichi, junior at Teitan High School! Just believe what I said already!"

    Unable to immediately believe what he just said, you only stared at him in wonder. You tilted your head in confusion. "Well, anyone would know that. Shinichi is popular after all. He’s not the high school detective for nothing." You smiled kindly. "Kids shouldn’t lie, you know. I know you admire him but getting into his house uninvited is not a nice thing to do. If you want, I can ask him to meet you instead."

    "I’m telling the truth! That’s it, I know everything about you. You are Karasuma [name], an assistant working for Professor Agasa. You were found unconscious by him and you lost all of your memories, which is why Professor Agasa took you in.” He pointed at your face. “That’s right, you also have an old scar on your nape!"

    You instinctively reached out and traced the scar on your nape, staring at the boy in shock. Feeling slightly insecure with how much he knew about you, you swallowed the discomfort in your throat. It wasn’t an everyday topic to talk about an old scar to anyone so only the people who you were close with knew about the scar. It wasn’t a nice-looking scar, it was hideous. Jagged and unable to heal at all, the colour was literally popping out of your skin tone. Normal passers-by couldn’t catch a glimpse of it either because you would always smack a heat patch right above the scar.

    "But only my close friends know about it. I—"

    You kept quiet and narrowed your eyes on the boy. True, he could be Shinichi if Shinichi didn’t tell him anything about you. You doubted that Shinichi would have the time and effort to pull a prank on you either — he wouldn’t be that childish, right?

    “Are you really Shinichi?"

    "That’s what I have been telling you, idiot!"

    "Ah, I suppose only Shinichi would call me an idiot. You do sound a lot like that mystery geek and you kinda look like the younger version of him too." You commented with a rather entertained grin. "But then, if you are Shinichi, what happened to you tonight—"

    "Hey!"

    Hearing the familiar voice, you turned around and saw Agasa running down the street towards you. A panicked expression flashed across his face when he confirmed your presence in front of his house.

    "What are you doing in the middle of the rain?! It’s not good to stand out in the cold like that. I bought the food so let’s head back in and— Eh?" Standing beside you, Agasa eyed the child in perplexity. "Who is this kid? Do you know him?"

    You nodded and quickly rushed the two of them into Shinichi’s house. "For now, let’s head back in!"

    Agasa furrowed his eyebrows, "Head back in? Why are we entering Shinichi’s house?"

    "I will explain it! Just go!"

    "Wha—"

    As you ushered the rest of them into Shinichi’s house, you quickly slammed the door shut and took the bag of food from Agasa’s grasp. "Thank you for the dinner, I will hold onto them here. You should hurry up and take off your jacket before you get a cold, Shinichi. Do you have any spare clothes here, Shinichi? Clothes that could fit you, I mean."

    Agasa screamed in shock as Shinichi only scoffed.

    "What did you call him? This little boy is Shinichi? Did you hit your head somewhere out in the rain?" Agasa narrowed his eyes while taking off his jacket, which you took without him asking for it. "Are you sure this boy isn’t Shinichi’s relative and you’re just mistaking the name? Did your amnesia return?"

    Shinichi growled. "I am Shinichi. I witnessed an illegal trade, more specifically gun smuggling, at the amusement park tonight. The men in black knocked me unconscious and gave me a weird drug! And then," His eyes twitched in agitation and cussed under his breath. "I was shrunken into this seven years old body."

    The professor stared at you with a disbelieving look. "Don’t tell me you believe what this kid is saying."

    You sighed while watching the younger Shinichi taking out a child’s outfit from the drawers. "I didn’t believe it at first. I simply saw him trying to sneak into Shinichi’s house and stopped him. Then he started saying he is Shinichi. He even said everything about me that strangers wouldn’t know."

    "Are you sure Shinichi didn’t expose you—"

    "I wouldn’t do something that dirty!" Shinichi scolded as he fixed the red bow around his white collar. "I told you, I was drugged and ended up shrinking into this body."

    "Assuming what you said is true, how could someone just shrink into a child? It’s obviously a childish lie."

    "What I am saying is—"

    You took a seat on the desk and took out the pudding, brain whirring to get a gist of the situation. While Shinichi was trying to beg Agasa to believe him, you took a bite of the pudding. It sure sounded impossible for a man to shrink into a child but that was merely because it wasn’t a normal thing at all. It wasn’t a cycle that was supposed to happen. Humans aged which was why getting back into a child’s body was out of the question. But what if science managed to revert back the process of ageing?

    What if?

    "It wouldn’t be impossible. Judging from the shrinking process, that means Shinichi’s bones are smaller and his muscles are weaker than before. His cells are probably no longer as mature and developed. That proves apoptosis, a programmed cell death, has occurred. Not only that, as we age, our chromosomes and cells would continue to replicate until we die. As a result, the telomeres would shorten throughout our life." Your eyes suddenly landed on Shinichi as everyone’s attention was now on you. "If you have turned into a child, your telomeres must be longer now. The enzyme, telomerase, holds the key to delaying or perhaps, even reversing the ageing process but it has yet to be scientifically proven. Basically, telomerase affects the ageing process by lengthening the telomeres which will add back the lost DNA from replication. Unfortunately, the activity of the enzyme is insufficient to completely restore the lost DNA and stop the ageing process. Hence, we will still age."

    Agasa frowned. "So what you’re saying is—"

    "Yes, there’s a chance that Shinichi’s telomeres are longer now with an extra help from a component inside the drug. It has reversed the ageing process for him."

    Shinichi nodded with a grin. "I see. As expected from you. You are the best! I knew you could find an answer to this."

    "So this is really Shinichi?"

    "That’s what I have been telling you!"

    You hummed as you shoved yet another small spoon of pudding into your mouth. "But what I said wouldn’t be much help either way. You’re still stuck in that seven year old body, Shinichi. My explanation only gave you a basic idea of what’s happening inside your body."

    "Come on! You and Professor Agasa are geniuses, right?" He grabbed Agasa’s jacket and tugged him closer. "It would be a piece of cake for the two of you to work together. You could just make an antidote and bring me back to normal!"

    "E—Even it would be impossible for me! I couldn’t do anything without knowing the content of the drugs, Shinichi."

    When Shinichi looked at you, you could only shake your head in defeat as well. "I’m sorry, it would be hard for me to create an antidote without knowing the content too. A science nerd like me wouldn’t know everything, you know. If Professor Agasa couldn’t do anything much about it, I’m sure I wouldn’t be helpful either. It’s very likely that this drug you’re speaking of has been researched in a huge team and for a very long time."

    "Then I just have to find these men in black and bring back the drugs for you two, right?!"

    Agasa agreed. "Yes, if you bring back some of the drugs, we two might be able to do something about this."

    "But is it a good idea to do that?" Shinichi and Agasa turned around to look at you. "From what Shinichi had explained, they are smuggling guns, right? It wouldn’t be easy to just smuggle guns. They must be in a group or even worse, an organisation. Besides, they tried to kill Shinichi with an unknown drug, you know. Where did they get the drugs? Did they buy it from the black market? Or did they create those drugs on their own? Regardless of where they obtained the drugs, the fact that they have this kind of drugs shows that they’re not just your regular criminals."

    Shinichi blinked. "So—"

    Agasa’s firm grip was suddenly on Shinichi’s petite shoulders. "That’s right, they’re right! You should be careful about this. And more importantly, you must not tell anyone else who you are, including Ran! If they know you’re still alive and that you’re Kudo Shinichi, they would come looking for you again! They might even kill you, Shinichi, which is why you can’t tell anyone around you. They will be in danger too, for knowing about the men in black as well as the drugs. Remember this, Shinichi, this issue is between us and you only!"

    Shinichi’s eyes darted from Agasa to you. "I—I got it."

    Just as you took another bite of your pudding, a familiar, feminine voice suddenly bursted loudly inside the house.

    "Shinichi! Are you in there?!"

    It was obviously Ran’s voice that you knew very well. Though you weren’t as close to her as you were with Shinichi as his neighbour, you believed that Ran would still label you as her good friend. In fact, Ran had always been inviting you to hangout with her and Sonoko so there was simply no way you would mistake her voice as someone else. However; you were indeed taken back when Ran stepped into Shinichi’s house, almost causing you to choke on your pudding.

    "You could have at least call me when you got back home! The door is not locked properly either!"

    Agasa pushed Shinichi to the desk."Quick! Hide!"

    Right after Shinichi hid behind the desk, Ran ran into the study room and halted when she saw the two of you in there. "Oh, Professor Agasa and— Hold on, what are you two doing here? Is Shinichi at home right now?"

    "Long time no see, Ran!" Agasa greeted her loudly, intelligently avoiding answering her questions.

    You grinned awkwardly and waved your hand at her.

    "It’s good to see you again, Professor Agasa." Ran shut the door and looked around in awe. "The number of books here would never fail to amaze me. All of them are mystery books though."

    "That’s because Kudo Yusaku is a mystery novelist."

    Agasa nodded. "That’s right, it wouldn’t be surprising."

    Ran chuckled. "No wonder Shinichi is a detective maniac."

    "Shut up." Shinichi mumbled.

    Hearing the unfamiliar voice behind the desk you were sitting on, Ran raised her eyebrows. "What’s that?" She took a step forward and tilted her head, trying to catch a glimpse of who was concealed by the furniture. "Hey, what are you hiding? We have been friends for so long and you’re now hiding things from me?"

    You shook your hand and raised your hand, biting the plastic spoon with a rather stiff grin. "N—Nothing important at all—"

    Unfortunately, you weren’t hasty enough to avoid Ran from inching closer to the desk. "Ah!" She caught the shrunken Shinichi trying out his father’s old glasses and squealed in awe. "What a cute kid! Who is this kid? Do you know this kid?"

    "A distant relative!"

    "A kid I found on the street!"

    Agasa and you looked at each other after shouting in unison — both of you had screamed out different responses. Receiving a suspicious expression from Ran, you shrieked in shock and clasped your hands together. "I—I mean, I found him on the street wandering without knowing he is Professor Agasa’s distant relative! Haha!"

    Shinichi glowered at you for messing up.

    Agasa smacked your back hard, causing you to choke and cough. "Haha! That’s right! This kid was wandering around without anyone with him so he got lost, hahaha."

    "I see. Say, what is your name?"

    "My name is Shi—" Shinichi managed to stop himself from spilling out his secret in time, his eyes darting over to the books behind him. "Conan! Edogawa Conan! Yep, that’s my name!"

    Ran furrowed her eyebrows and hummed. "Conan?"

    "Yep! My father is a fan of Conan Doyle so.."

    Agasa suddenly nudged Conan and whispered into his ear, earning a glare from Conan. "Why did you even choose such name?" He sighed and patted Conan’s back lightly. "Ah, Ran! Do you think you can help me look after this kid? His parents recently got into an accident and I have to be the one taking care of him. But you see, I’m not good at taking care of kids so he is not that fond of me, actually, haha. I’m always busy tinkering dangerous things at home too so it might be slightly dangerous for a kid like him. I was hoping you could look after him for me instead."

    Conan flinched and looked at Agasa in worry. "Oi!"

    "I don’t really mind but I will have to tell my dad."

    Conan shook his hands to dismiss the idea of him staying at Ran’s place for the time being. However, he immediately stopped when Agasa told him in a hushed voice. "Look, Ran’s place is a detective agency. It’s a good place for you to find more information about the black organisation."

    "Oh, I see!" Conan grinned and immediately rushed up to Ran’s legs. "Ran-neechan! I want Ran-neechan!"

    You sneered at Conan and poked his forehead. "Bias."

    Conan scoffed. "Shut up."

    "But," Ran looked at you. "Can’t you look after him?"

    "Ah," You smirked at Conan who was looking at you sideways. "I don’t think this kid would like me more. Shin— Conan prefers you rather than me, you see. I’m sure you can take care of him better than me. Besides, I think Conan will be the one looking after me instead. My body can’t handle looking after another one, haha."

    Flustered, Ran bowed down. "I’m sorry for not thinking about that earlier. Well, I guess I will look after Conan from now on." She smiled at Conan.

    Conan bobbed his head happily like a child.

    "Since Shinichi is not here, I suppose I should head back home. Professor Agasa, if Shinichi gets back home, would you please tell me? I..." Ran forced a pained smile despite the veins popping out of her forehead. "Really want to kick him for leaving me alone tonight."

    While Ran was ranting to Agasa, you hurriedly grasped Conan’s shoulders and lowered down your voice. "Shinichi, remember that your body is no longer the same. Do not do any dangerous actions especially when you’re trying to catch a criminal. Do you understand, Shinichi?"

    Conan sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

༺═──────────────═༻

    After Conan and Ran had left, you went back to Agasa’s house to focus back on the project he had. The professor immediately focused back on the gadget, complimenting you when he found out you had fixed it completely. You took out the two boxes of spaghetti and placed them onto the kitchen counter.

    "Thank you for fixing it. Next, I just need to fix the power so that it won’t explode and let out smoke again."

    "Professor Agasa, why not take a rest first before finishing the project? You just came home running and you’re still drenched." You smiled at him. "The food is already cold. Do you want me to reheat them in the microwave?"

    Agasa blinked and chuckled. "Okay, okay. Thank you."

    "Change your clothes first, Professor Agasa."

    Making sure Agasa went back into his room to change to another dry outfit, you quickly placed the food and heated it. When the microwave rang briefly, you took out the box, placed it on the counter and this time, reheated your own food. Agasa, now in his dry pyjamas, came out of his room right after you placed the fork next to his food. Without hesitation, Agasa sat down on the chair and immediately gobbled up his food. Days in Agasa’s house were never boring, really. Even watching the ketchup got onto his face was amusing to you.

    You chuckled and got your food ready. "Geez. Slow down, Professor Agasa. You will choke—"

    And Agasa ended up choking.

    "I told you, didn’t I?"

    You laughed with mirth and ate your food, having the tomato sauce all over your mouth. Busy slurping the warm noodles, you took an empty piece of paper and a ballpoint pen. You popped open the cap and started scribbling on the paper as if it was a natural habit of yours. Sketches and writings about the new, odd gadgets were scrawled over the paper messily, as if you were simply warming up your hands and brain. Interested, Agasa peered over the kettle to watch what you were scribbling, somewhat understanding what you wrote.

    Agasa raised his brow. "What are you doing?"

    "Just sketching on what gadgets would be useful for Shinichi. You know him very well. Mouri Kogoro is a detective and he would have some jobs. Knowing him, Shinichi would just follow him and get the job done on his own." You breathed out in annoyance. "That Shinichi is too stubborn to listen to my advice."

    Agasa shook with laughter. "That’s true. Then what gadgets do you have in mind?"

    "Hmm, maybe a pair of shoes that would generate a shock of electricity and force when used. When he kicks something, the impact would be stronger than what a kid would cause. Since he is good at soccer, I don’t think he would have difficulty trying to kick. Oh. A tranquiliser dart hidden in a watch would be good too. Most of the detectives movies have those, right?"

    "Do you think he would really help Mouri solve the case?"

    "Shinichi probably will definitely do that."

    Even Agasa dropped his head down. "I suppose so."

    "That guy is unpredictable sometimes, I can’t understand him at all. Then adding a voice changer would be useful too. How troublesome. He sure knows how to make people worry over him." Letting your hand moved gracefully across the paper, your eyes eventually softened. Affection and worry glazed over your dull eyes. "But then again, if I can help him by doing this, I will do it. I’m always a burden to everyone, I want to at least do something to help him. It feels good to be of help at times like this."

    "Nonsense! You’re not a burden at all." Agasa grinned cheekily. "In fact, you have always been helping me a lot. My gadgets have been sold without a hitch because of you. Just you wait. One day, I will create drugs which can help your condition as well. I will create anything that can help you."

    You resisted the urge to tell him that it was impossible. After all, even those doctors couldn’t describe your condition very well. The disease remained unknown, all they knew was the fact that your heart was extremely fragile and it was failing day by day. The medication you got was merely drugs to calm down your heartbeat which can soothe the chest pain slightly but it only helped to an extent. If they can’t help you, can Agasa help you then?

    Do you even have the time to wait for him?

    "That sounds great." You forced out a smile. "If you can create a drug that could magically make me better, I will be your assistant forever. I will wait until that day then."

    "Hmm, just a thought but maybe your condition is related to your amnesia? Something could have happened before you were here but you forgot about it."

    Looking rather glum, you nodded. "I suppose that could be a possibility. Waking up with nobody looking for me is odd but I guess it takes time for me to find someone I once knew. Ahhh, but I wonder what really happened to me. I’m super curious."

    Agasa nodded and brought the two empty boxes that once filled with delicious food to the sink. "You will probably remember soon. Just relax and take your time!"

    You cocked your head and looked at your own hands in wonder, pondering on what you had touched before you lost your memory. "What was I doing before it happened or maybe, who I was. Where was I? How come I would wound up in the hospital, professor? What if my personality was different from who I am right now?"

    "You’re just thinking too much about it."

    "Haha, maybe I am."

    You smiled playfully, observing Agasa’s large figure that moved back into the living room for his gadget. Slumping against your seat, you laid your head on the counter and closed your eyes. You let your thoughts wandered in your mind, drifting off to the men in black that Shinichi mentioned. Men in black. Shinichi said they were dressed in black and were involved in the illegal gun smuggling. You wondered who they truly were.

    Men dressed in black.

    Men in black?

    Opening your eyes, you blinked in confusion and scowled. Why did that sound so familiar? Why? You held your head and clenched your jaw, finding yourself in cold sweat after worrying over the men in black. There was something bothering you about those words and the more you tried to imagine men in black, the worse your headache had gotten. No, it’s just a coincidence. That’s all. There’s no need to sweat over this.

    "Can you help me with this? I can’t seem to get it to work properly." Agasa called for your name. "The light is working but the electricity is not generated now."

    You hurriedly rose from your seat and placed the discomfort in the back of your mind. "The electricity is not generated? Is the source not working properly? Ah, did you even put in the source in the first place?"

    "Oh! You’re right!"

    "Geez, professor. You should make sure you have placed everything into the back." You sighed and briefly checked the clock. "It’s getting late. Are you not getting any sleep soon?"

    "I will, soon! You should head to bed now and rest your body. Getting enough sleep is important for health."

    You flashed a grin at him. "Then, good night, professor.”

    Getting into your room, you got your bed ready and took a good look at the calendar. A big red circle was drawn on Wednesday, indicating that you had yet another health appointment on that day. It would be a depressing day yet again but nevertheless, you could make it through just like usual. You sighed, got into bed and noticed the bottle of pills laying by the corner of your pillow. Heart feeling heavy with disappointment, you took the bottle and stared at its content.

    Pills and pills, not that they were going to help your condition in the first place.

    "I was looking all over for it. I guess I need to make sure it’s in my backpack as always." Placing the medicine aside, you closed your eyes. "Good night and have a sweet dream to me."

    And with that, you fell into slumber.