Shifting Truth

Part 13

Kogorou gave out a yawn as he sat up in his bed. The morning light shone in from the sides of the curtains, and the man grumbled out in annoyance. It was the weekend, and since he had a late night case, Ran had let him sleep in more that morning, but he was still tired.

The man stepped up from his bed, but glanced down at the futon next to him. Irene laid curled around the futon, a large lump under the blanket on it. Kogorou scoffed when seeing Conan still sleeping, though he couldn't see the boy under the blankets, but he just walked past him. Irene glanced up at him as he looked down at the lump on the futon, but she laid back down right after.

Kogorou did raise an eyebrow when seeing the lump being larger than usual, but brushed it to the side thinking it was just Conan curled up again, and he knew he was still tired as he just woke up, so he dismissed it.

He walked out of the bedroom, silently closing the door behind him, and he sat down by the table.

"Ohayou, Otou-san," greeted Ran with a smile as she peeked out from the kitchen. She glanced around for a moment, then looked at him again. "Is Conan-kun still sleeping?"

"Yeah," confirmed Kogorou with a nod, then gave out a yawn. "The dog's with him too."

"Ah, I see," said Ran with a nod. She stepped back into the kitchen, and Kogorou sat still by the table, waiting for her to finish making some food for them.

***********

Conan grumbled out tiredly as he blinked his eyes open. He found himself laying on his stomach, but his mind didn't register it as he gave out a yawn. Sitting up to his knees, he blinked when feeling cold air hit his back as the blanket fell off him. His confusion rose more as his shirt hung loose to the sides and in front of him, as if only kept together by the arms and back collar of his shirt.

Sitting on his knees, he blinked in confusion and raised a hand to hold the shirt. Looking at the edges, he could see it had been ripped apart by something from behind.

Sudden small thuds came to his sides, but he froze when feeling a foreign feeling on his back. With shaking movements, he slowly turned his head to look at the source of the sound, and he froze completely still.

************

"What the hell?!" came a scream from their charge.

Ran immediately dropped the tray she held in her hand, and she had instantly bolted out of the kitchen. In her hurry, she almost crashed into her father, who had also shot up from his place to run to the bedroom.

Loud whines from Irene were heard, and the man grabbed the door handle. "Oi, Conan!" called Kogorou, and he slammed the door open.

Flicking the light on, they froze when seeing a fluffy ball sit on the futon. Irene was whining loudly, trying to nudge her head under whatever the material was.

"C-Conan-kun?" stuttered Ran as she started towards it with wide eyes.

It was then they realised that the ball was a set of wings curled together. From first glance, Kogorou concluded it to be similar to a sparrow's, but the wings were large. Large enough to curl around the boy they were looking for.

The pair of wings trembled, and Kogorou immediately took notice of it. "Conan..." gently called Kogorou, taking a step forward, but stopping with a small distance between them.

He took notice of the small flinch the wings gave out, even with the trembling, but they parted slightly, and Conan barely peeked out to glance at him. He could see the panic in the boy, but Conan curled his wings around him again, the feathers puffing up as he trembled more. "Why... Why me?!" yelled Conan, curling into himself more. "This goes against all laws of nature! Why me?! Why this?!"