22-year-old Sherlock Holmes was sitting in his new flat on Baker Street, alone as usual. He had recently graduated from college, and while he had had a few "friends" there, they rarely contacted one another now. He mostly kept to himself, helping the police whenever they needed him, which he had been doing for about 4 years now, but not very often. He had been rather bored for the past few days, not having even a case to read about and try to solve. The young man sighed, ruffling his curly brown hair.
Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ring. Sherlock stood up and walked to the door, opening it. No person stood there. The only sign that someone had been there was a large FedEx crate, with the words "FRAGILE" printed on it and small holes on top of it. Sherlock raised a brow as he noticed that the address wasn't his. This crate was supposed to be shipped to a man named Murdoc Nicalls... How had it ended up here?
The detective was about to turn around and walk to his phone to call about the crate, but his curiosity got the best of him. He peeked into one of the holes on top of the box... And he saw a... Tiny girl. He stood up, rather startled, and rubbed his eyes. Surely he was seeing things, right? Just as he was about to take another look, the lid of the crate popped open and the tiny girl jumped out. She was Asian (seemingly Japanese) and had short black hair. She wore a long red coat and strange, space-like headphones.
Sherlock stared at her in surprise.
"Hello..." he said, not sure what else to say. The girl tilted her head, clearly not understanding him.
"Noodle!" she suddenly said. Sherlock figured that must be the only English word she knew. Or one of the only ones, anyway. And Sherlock knew many languages, but not Japanese. This was a bit of a problem.
Suddenly, the girl grabbed an electric guitar out of the box and began playing, which just surprised Sherlock even more. She was rather good at it, but the young man was too shocked to admire it much. This was one of the most bizarre things he'd ever seen... No, this was the most bizarre thing he had seen. This was either a prank or a dream. No, the girl seemed very tired, and her hair was rather messy. She seemed like she had been in that crate for a while. He had to be dreaming... Right? Yes, this was all a dream. But still, it wasn't a bad dream, so Sherlock saw no need to attempt to wake himself up.
Once the girl stopped playing, she grinned up at him, as if asking if she did good. Sherlock managed to smile and nod.
"Yes, you did very good," he said, nodding and giving her two thumbs up to signal that he thought it was good. She seemed pleased by this, grinning even more. Sherlock couldn't help but smile a little.
The girl then pointed at him, then at the name on the package, seeming to ask if that name belonged to him. Sherlock shook his head no. The girl frowned, sighing. This was followed by a yawn.
"... Tired?" Sherlock asked, folding his hands and resting his head on them, signing sleep. The girl nodded.
"Hai," she said, rubbing her eye. The young man stepped aside and pointed at his couch, raising a brow. The girl smiled sleepily.
"Arigato," she said, bowing slightly and walking to the couch. She curled up on it and almost immediately fell asleep as Sherlock brought the crate inside and closed the door.
The detective sighed softly. He knew he'd have to get her out of here as soon as she woke up. It wasn't that he hated her, or children in general, but he knew he wasn't built for caring for a child for any long period of time. He'd have to get in touch with Murdoc Nicalls. At least he was able to think well in this dream... And it felt rather real... But it couldn't be real.
Sherlock looked at the girl. He heard her stomach rumble as she slept... Alright, he'd let her sleep, eat, and then he'd send her off. But there was one problem... Sherlock didn't have much of anything to eat. He had already filled the fridge with whatever body parts he was using for an experiment, and there was hardly any food in the cupboards. He really needed to go grocery shopping...
"Maybe one day I'll get a flatmate who'll do it... I really hate grocery shopping," Sherlock thought. "It's so tedious."
After looking through the cabinets and finding either expired food or canned vegetables, Sherlock decided to go and get takeaway. He glanced at the clock. It might be rather crowded today... Oh, well. The girl would probably sleep for a while. He'd be back before she woke up.
Sherlock put on his coat and walked out the door.
After what seemed like an eternity, Sherlock had finally returned to his flat. He had gotten the girl some noodles... It was the only English word she could say so perhaps she liked them.
He blinked in surprise when he noticed the couch was vacant. He was just about to call for her when he saw her run out of his room. She seemed relieved when she saw him, and revealed that she was happy to see him by running over and hugging him tightly. Sherlock blinked in surprise, but patted her on the back with his free hand. He led her to the kitchen and put the bag of food on the table, taking out the container of noodles and putting them in front of her. She gasped happily as he handed her chopsticks from the bag. She quickly began eating the noodles.
Soon, she was done eating.
"Arigato," she said, smiling and sipping some of the tea Sherlock had made for her while she was eating. Sherlock nodded once, smiling. Once she was done drinking, she sighed, looking at the FedEx crate. She looked back at Sherlock, bowing slightly, smiling. She then frowned, seeming to realize something. She pointed at Sherlock, a brow raised. Sherlock quickly figured out she was asking what his name was.
"Sherlock," he said. She grinned.
"Arigato, Sherlock-san," she said, bowing again. She then hugged him quickly and ran back to the crate, closing the lid on herself. Sherlock blinked. Her hand poked out of it and pointed at Sherlock, then at the front door. Understanding, Sherlock walked to the crate and picked it up, carrying it outside. She was rather light, so it wasn't too difficult.
He heard a beeping noise, then heard the girl speaking. A moment later, a FedEx truck arrived. A man stepped out, grabbing the crate and carrying it into the truck. And then they drove off...
The mysterious little girl was gone...

A/N: Hello, Reader! Sorry if Sherlock seems a little bit OOC. I figured he was a little different when he was younger, haha. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this! It's been a while since I've written a fanfic, even longer since I've actually published one, so constructive criticism is appreciated.