"Outoto!" a female voice cried. Shinichi looked in shock as his classmate- a girl named Yukimori Sakura- dashed into view, promptly hugging him tightly. "I was about to call security to help me find you! I was so worried!"

Still in shock, Shinichi made no response as one of the police officers asked, "Is he related to you?"

His classmate nodded. "Yes, he's my little brother, Shori-kun. We got separated in a crowd almost an hour ago." She then squeezed him again, crying, "I looked everywhere for him!"

"Well, be more careful next time," the police officers said as Sakura scooped him up.

"I will. We're going home now. Thank you for finding him!" She then started to walk away, carrying him. Once they were out of earshot she dropped the energetic mask and asked, "Do you have any idea what just happened, Kudo-san?" Shinichi shook his head. Sakura sighed. "You should probably see for yourself." She set himself down in front of a glass door.

Shinichi looked at his reflection and gasped, "I-I shrunk! But- how?" It clicked. "Wait, the poison!"

Next to him, Sakura nodded. "Yeah. It does that."

"How did you know?"

She shrugged. "Saw it happen. And I'm in a similar situation as you. Not really a teenager," she added at the end.

"Really? But they said it was untested."

"I got an earlier version of it. Made them think the victim self-combusted."

"How did you-"

"I had help." She sighed. "You got yourself into quite a mess, meitantei. Those people you followed are part of a massive sydicate, one that is very difficult to track and almost impossible to prove it's existence because- well, you found out why."

"Because they kill everyone that finds out?"

She nodded. "Or blackmail them, if they can buy their silence that way and the person is useful to them in some way. Police and government officials is what I've noticed for the most part. Been working on trying to bring them down for the past three years." She sighed. "And look where that's gotten me."

"So, it's hopeless?"

"Nah. You're the Heisei Holmes. I bet with you on the case, we'll bring them down in no time! And get a sample of the poison they used on you so we can create an antidote to get your body back." Her optimism seemed slightly forced, but Shinichi chose not to point that out.

She looked down at him. "But first, Kudo Shinichi has to disappear. If They learn that he's still alive, they'll go after him and finish the job. Not to mention, everyone he's close to will be at risk. Especially that female friend of yours."

"So, what do we do?"

She sighed. "I currently don't have the resources to fake your death, wouldn't be advisable since you plan on returning anyways. But we can at least create an alias for you, help you hide until we can take them down." She paused. "But first, let's head back to my apartment for some rest. We can start planning in the morning."

Shinichi woke up in the middle of the night, panicked. Even more so when he remembered the men in black and Sakura's warning. Then he remembered that he was in Sakura's apartment- it was 2 bedroom and he was in the spare- and he was safe there.

But he was still wide awake. He might as well get a glass of water, he figured, hopping out of bed and making his way to the kitchen.

"Having trouble sleeping?"

Shinichi jumped, almost dropping the glass of water in his hand. "Yukimori-san! You scared me!"

She shrugged. "Comes with years of being stealthy. Kind of a habit."

"Oh."

The brunette leaned against the wall. "You should go back to bed. A child's body needs at least roughly nine to eleven hours of sleep. Make sure you get that much."

When Shinichi actually woke up for the day, Sakura had already prepared breakfast for them- toast, eggs, some fruit, a green salad and tea. She looked up from whatever she was doing on her tablet. "Ohayou."

Shinichi yawned. "Ohayou," he said sleepily. "Where's the coffee?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I don't drink coffee, normally. And neither should six-year olds. It will look very strange, so I would suggest you get your caffeine fix elsewere. I have some matcha, it's easier to make and a lot better for you."

"But with less caffeine."

She laughed. "That or go without any caffeine at all. Your choice."

Shinichi sighed. "Fine. Give me some."

Once Shinichi was a bit more awake, Sakura actually started to discuss plans with him. "I was thinking we could say you're a distant relative of Kudo Shinichi- to explain the resemblance- but also the child of one of my family's friends. Have any ideas for a surname? We can work on your alias' given name later."

"Ikari?"

"What about Hatsu?"

"Ametsuchi?"

"Gushiken." Shinichi glared at her.

"Hakuryu?"

"Chiura."

"Tsukino?"

"Koide."

"Umon?"

"Karasu."

"Naru?"

"Junko," they both said at the same time. (A/N: Yeah, we know that's not the cannon name, but this is an AU for crying out loud!)

"Which knaji should we use?" Shinichi wondered. "Pure?"

"Nah. Let's do truth."

"What about your first name?" She paused. "Conan!"

"Eh? Why? That'll make me sound like a foreigner."

"Yeah, but see it works because it's true that Kudo Shinichi likes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, but Conan is less obvious than, say, Arthur so it's less obvious. We could say your father is a big mystery fan and was obsessed with Sherlock Holmes when you were born."

Before Shinichi could respond, someone knocked on the front door.

Alyssa: Hi everyone! So here's the meanings of the surnames they were trying out (in alphabetical order cuz Alex is SUPER orderly. Kinda stuffy. Like Hakuba!)

Ametsuchi- heaven and earth

Chiura- thousand wisdoms

Gushiken- strong willed

hakuryu- white dragon

Hatsu- beginning

Ikari- anchor

Junko- pure/order/moist/true child

Karasu- raven

Koide- small, rising

Naru- become

Ryuzaki- can mean "Sleeping dragon"

Tsukino- of the moon

Umon- heaven gate