Disclaimer-The only thing I own is my character, Umi. :3

Shinichi looked at his hands and examined himself in the mirror. He still looked like him.. This is good. This is very good. So, he had his life back in order. For the most part. Now all he had to deal with were his classmates and the schoolboard. He winced just thinking about the school admin. His classmates were just people, but the schoolboard.. Well, no one was exactly sure WHAT they were. They were just... some omnipotent, omniscient THING that seemed to rule over students lives and make them hell. So far, their plan was working.

He stopped by Ran's house to wait for her. They usually walked to school together. After a few minutes, he went upstairs to find Ran sick. "I'm sorry, Shinichi," she said.

"Just get better," he said, "I'll drop by after school to see how you are. And, of course, to give you the work you're missing out on."

She nodded. "Thanks."

Shinichi continued on his way to school when he saw a new person, wearing Teitan High's uniform, look around, look on a piece of paper, and wander off.. in the.. opposite.. direction.. of the school. Shinichi waved. "Hey," he shouted, "New Teitan High girl!" She turned around and blinked. "Za?" she said, pointing to herself. Shinichi nodded and she walked to him.

"You are headed towards Teitan High, right?" Shinichi asked. The girl nodded energetically.

"YEP! I'mma JUNIOR! ... Or at least in America. I don't really know what exactly I am here.. I think this says 'just go to the office, and you will be assigned there.' Am I right?" She held out the piece of paper.. Which was actually a.. napkin. Shinichi looked at it. The thing was so smeared and crumpled he couldn't really make it out. "Say, what did you use this for," he asked, regretting it the instant it slipped out of his mouth.

"Hm.. That one... I think I had to fish that one out of the garbage after my brother threw it away... Or maybe it was the one the cat tried to eat.. Or possibly..." She looked at it again. "Oh, wait, nevermind. This was the one my sister used to clean the table with! Thank goodness she didn't get a hold of my directions," the girl said, pulling out a clean, neatly folded piece of paper from her pocket.

Shinichi looked at it. The map was accurate, and so were the directions.
...
How did this girl start getting lost?

"You know you were headed in the wrong direction, right," Shinichi asked.

"I was?" She blinked. Was she just stupid or so directionally challenged she could get lost in a cardboard box?

"Anyways, I have to find some excuse as to why I was missing for a year or so," she said, trailing off in thought. Shinichi looked suprised. She was missing as well?

"I got it! Welp, I gotta go to school! See you later, tator!" she said, starting to run off.

"Wait," Shinichi said again. "I need an excuse too..."

She looked at him shrewdly. "Were you a missing person? Or were you just skipping school?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I was.. missing...?" Shinichi said hesitantly. Never had he seen anyone's attitude change so quickly. Other than probably his mother's and possibly Ran's.

The girl studied him for a full three minutes before smiling again and holding out her hand. "Okie dokie! In that case, I'm UMI!"

Shinichi took it, sighing and shaking it. "I'm Kudo Shinichi." Already, he regretted asking for her help.

"Okay then, Kudo-chan-"

"What's with the -chan?"

"I'm in a higher grade than you."

"Um.." Should he tell her how the Japanese language worked..? Probably. He was about to say something when she started drawing in the ground with a stick. 'What's that,' he thought to himself.

"This," she said, "is a diagram. My excuse is going to be that I was kidnapped and dragged overseas, only to have a group of European monkies kidnap me from the kidnapper and raise me for a month. After running away from their wierd customs and habits, I stumbled upon a very prestigeous man commiting a rape, and then murdering the woman. Of course, he couldn't have any witnesses, so he had to kill me. So, I spent the rest of the year in hiding and protective custody. The man finally got caught not too long ago. And just so you know, the man and his doings are real. Just look it up in Europe. It was front cover news for at least a week."

Shinichi shuddered. She was coming up with his excuse? No thank you. Beam her up, Scotty, because he didn't want to babysit, and she sure as hell would have fun in the spaceship.

Author's note: A-ah, chapter one of what is planned on being three chapters long. Just for your information, this was all done on two hours of sleep in 48 hours and a bit of sugar-laced coffee.

person a: o.o how much sugar? And how much coffee?

me: .. um... Look! A BANANA! points

person a: ...