It would surprise most people to hear Kazuha had been a quiet, shy child.
What does this have to do with the present though? Nothing, right?
Heiji would've said the same thing.
/Behind the Mall/
'Dammit, dammit, dammit!' Heiji thought as he raced around, looking for the guys in black suits that he'd been trailing just a freaking minute ago. Where did they go? He was right behind them just like Kazuha was right behind him—
Where the hell was Kazuha?
Over the frantic beating of his own heart, Heiji heard a small, frightened wail.
/_\
Later, he found it was appalling simple to figure out what had happened.
He'd been chasing two guys in black suits, they had fit the description of Kudo's Black Organization to a tee, and Kazuha had been trailing along right behind him, oddly mute after he had very seriously told her to keep quiet. He'd thought about leaving her behind, about sending her home, but that had seemed dangerous to him. After all, didn't Kudo get caught unaware because he had no one to watch his back? Besides, what if one of them recognized her and realized he must be around somewhere? Or, an even worse thought, what if someone, not even the Black Organization, just anyone, saw her walking around by herself at sundown and they hurt her—
Better to just keep her where he could keep an eye on her, he'd decided.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. He wishes he'd sent her home.
She must've seen something he hadn't, must've followed it, thinking to herself that she couldn't risk making a sound to alert Heiji. They must've have seen her somehow. Yes, somehow, someway, they must've found her…
But when he finally tracked down that piteous crying noise, all of that was a million light-years away. It came from a bundle of clothes on the other side of a maintenance shed and seeing that, Heiji thought he had it all figured out. Another addition to the League of the Terminally Short. But…would Kazuha really be sitting there crying like that if she found herself in a seven year old's body?
"Kazuha?" He called softly. The crying stuttered and stopped and the bundle moved.
No, she wouldn't, he discovered.
The child that stood was nowhere near being seven years old. He would give her five years max, though he was really leaning more towards three or so. He could remember what she'd looked like at five, and he remembers she was a tall kindergartener, all the girls were. The T-shirt and jacket she'd been wearing—green, like her eyes—were huge on her now. They hung sideways off her shoulders (along with her bra, which he decided not to look at rather quickly) and just brushed the ground on the lower side. Her white skirt lay around her ankles once she stood and he figured the elastic of her underwear must be just tight enough to keep them on, thank goodness. Her hair had fallen out of the ribbon that was no longer tight enough to hold it and her eyes looked sleepy and dazed.
She sniffled and stumbled towards him, fat tears rolling down her face.
When she reached him, she grabbed his pants and clung tightly to his leg, whimpering slightly.
"Kazuha?" he repeated, his voice more incredulous. She looked up at him.
/_\
"Come on, Kazuha, won't you at least talk to me?" Heiji asked the little girl currently seating in his lap. She was bundled up in her jacket and several other people on the train were giving him dirty looks after seeing the child's bare feet. He glared right back until they turned away and went back to trying to convince his chibified best friend to speak to him.
The little girl just looked at him and sniffled again. He sighed and pulled his backpack a bit closer to him, their stop was coming up. For the third time since he got on the train, he thanked the kami he hadn't taken his bike today. He couldn't have possibly driven with her on there, no matter how awesome he was.
Finally, it was his stop and he shouldered the backpack and scooped the little girl up, hurrying out before the doors closed. After that, it was a short trip home and he was gratified to find no one else there.
When they entered his house, he went straight to the kitchen, not even pausing as he threw the backpack containing the rest of Kazuha's clothes by the door. He sat her on a chair and then pulled one up to sit opposite of her.
"Well, don't you want to talk yet, Kazuha? You aren't fooling me, you know." He said and she blinked at him. Slowly her eyes filled with tears and she started to cry.
That really did it for the Osakan detective, he couldn't handle tears. What did he do? He stood over her, hands fluttering about, afraid to touch her and afraid not to and why was she crying?
One small hand crept up under her hair and Heiji pushed the locks up to find a large dark bruise on her head, dark enough he could see it despite her copious amounts of hair. Someone had hit her, hard, and he was near positive as to whom. Still, it didn't explain why she wasn't talking to him, dammit….
Wait.
Heiji let her hair go and dug around for his keys. When he found them, he clicked on the tiny penlight and shone it into her eyes. The pupils were different sizes.
"Shit, a concussion?" Heiji said to himself. "Kazuha, do you know who I am?"
The little girl trembled. "No-hic-yes-sniff..." she gasped out in between sobs. They were the first words she'd spoken all night and Heiji was stunned to hear the little girl voice. He hadn't heard that voice in forever. He'd forgotten how different she'd sounded; the change had been gradual the first time around.
Heiji really felt like a louse, now. This whole time, he had figured Kazuha was just scared and feeling a little spiteful, not talking to him and all. She was mean when frightened, he wouldn't put it pass her to give him the silent treatment just to mask how terrified she was. Now, though, he had come to the startling conclusion that Kazuha should've had more questions about being turned into a little girl. He felt slightly like a kidnapper.
"Shh, shh, it's going to be okay. My name is Heiji and everything is going to be just fine, Kazuha-chan." Heiji said, picking her up and putting her in his lap, trying to comfort her a little bit. He wasn't really good with kids, but he could try. He had no clue what he was going to do, though, none at all.
He bounced his knees up and down and dug out his cell phone. It rang and rang, but then…
"Moshi moshi?"
"Hey, Kudo?"
/_\
"Can I help you sir?" a young saleswoman asked the dark skinned man currently cursing as he tore his way through the children's department's collection of girl's clothes. A little girl wearing an oversized t-shirt clung to his leg and it was obvious that something very strange was going on.
The boy's head jerked up and she realized he was even younger than she'd thought at first glance, probably not even out of school yet. "What?" he said impatiently.
"Can I help you find clothes for your…" she trailed off, eyebrow quirking up. The boy blushed.
"Y-yeah. I'm, um, baby-sitting her for a friend and her clothes got ruined. What size does she wear?" he said, pushing the little girl forward a bit with one hand. The child squeaked and clung to his legs.
"How old is she?" the saleswoman asked.
"I don't know, three or four? Does it matter?" he scowled.
"Kids as young as her usually have their clothes sized by how old they are." She explained before pulling a simple orange and yellow dress down off a nearby rack. "I'd say to go with 4T, better to have things a little big that a little small and her mother will appreciate the growing room. Did you need anything else?"
"Some sandals? And some underwear, maybe?" the boy said, blushing slightly as he took the little dress from the woman. It was only then she realized the child was wearing a pair of slightly-too-large slippers instead of shoes. The woman gave him a look.
"House scuffs? Really?" she asked before she started to walk further into the children's section. She plucked a pair of white sandals off a shelf and grabbed a three-pack of underwear before handing them to him.
"It was all ruined." He emphasized.
"Let's ring you up, sir. They've got a family bathroom around the corner, you can change her there." The woman said, looking at him bemusedly.
He picked the girl up and sat her on the counter as the saleswoman checked him out. She didn't bother to correct him, he obviously didn't know any better.
"Oh, wait, these too." The boy said, suddenly, putting a packet of elastic hair-ties on the counter as well. She rung him up and he took the bag and the girl and walked away.
The woman wished him luck and went back to work.
/_\
'Well,' Heiji thought as the train to Tokyo hurried down the tracks, Kazuha asleep in his lap, her head pillowed in the crook of his arm, 'at least she looks more normal now.'
And, in the sense that the others on the train were looking at him with more minor disapproval than outright disgust, she did. She could be any little toddler. The yellow dress fit her nicely, he'd have to remember what size she wore—the woman said 4T, right? Whatever that means—and the white sandals seemed to be snug on her feet.
But when he thought normal, he really meant it more like 'she looks like Kazuha'. Of course, Heiji doesn't quite remember exactly how his best friend looked those first couple of years, how could he? He does remember what she looked like around five, though, and six and seven and eight, etc., etc., ad infinitum. And he remembers pictures he's seen of Kazuha from this age, too. Still, there is one thing missing and he has no clue how to fix it.
Despite popular belief, Kazuha hadn't always worn her hair in a ponytail. Up until they were about seven years old, she actually preferred wearing her hair in high pigtails. She'd liked the way they bounced when she walked. Once they reached about seven, though, everyone started saying pigtails were for babies and Kazuha reluctantly switched to a ponytail. Heiji remembers complimenting her on it the first day she wore it to school because he wanted her to cheer up. She'd worn it that way ever since.
All of that being said, every one of Heiji's early childhood memories of Kazuha had her with her hair in pigtails.
That's why he bought the hair-ties, only to discover….he really has no idea how to put hair up. He tried it for a minute or two, the toddler sitting with remarkable patience as he tried to pull her hair up, but it just wasn't happening.
Maybe the little scientist girl that hung out with Kudo could put them up? Or Neechan. Then again, how would he explain have a toddler with him to Neechan without blowing Kudo's secret sky-high? Problems, problems.
His phone beeped then and he pulled it out to answer it.
"Moshi moshi?"
"Hattori." Came the too-serious little boy voice. "How far away are you?"
"About an hour or so, near as I can tell." Heiji responded, trying to speak quietly. "It is dark outside, you know."
Kudo ignored the snide comment. "And? Anything changes?"
"I got her some better clothes to wear over, but she still doesn't seem like the old Kazuha, if that's what you mean. I'm letting her nap on the train."
"Good, Haibara said to let her rest if she would. Still, are you sure about the age? I mean, you don't really hang around kids all that much, Hattori."
"Look, I hang around you plenty and you're already a shrimp, and she's smaller than you by a good bit. Not to mention, I remember when Kazuha was seven, she was taller than me and I wasn't the shortest kid in class." Hattori said, defending his position. Kudo was all sorts of stumped about how Kazuha had ended up younger.
"Okay, okay, I believe you, I just don't understand it."
"Well, that makes two of us. Hey, how am I getting back to Agasa-san's?" Hattori asked suddenly.
"Walking?" Conan tried, wondering at the question.
"Through Tokyo, at night, unarmed, with my arms full of concussed toddler? Does that really sound like the best plan to you, Kudo?" Hattori asked, a sarcastic bit to his voice.
"Point, I'll see if Hakase will come get you. Call when you're close. Ja ne."
Heiji closed his phone and leaned back with a sigh, his eyes drifting about, first out the window and then to the child in his lap.
'Kazuha, I'm so sorry I let this happen to you…'
/_\
Agasa did pick them up at the station and, when they got back to his house, Heiji remembered something long forgotten about his friend. She had been a very, very shy child.
He really doesn't know what happened to turn her into the harpy who yelled 'ahou' at him in public places and forced her way onto his motorcycle and, sometimes, just plain into his life. Not that he minded, but it made it really easy to forget how she had been when they were little, sticking to his side tightly, hiding behind her mother's legs whenever they went anywhere. If she knew you, you were a safe thing to hide behind to avoid the eyes of all of the not safe people of the world that her otousan fought. And it wasn't just adults, either. Fellow children were also scary and Kazuha never really made many friends when she was little because she just couldn't imagine playing with someone she didn't know, because what if they didn't like her or she didn't like them or a million other things.
What could have possibly reminded Heiji of this, though?
Two words.
Haibara Ai.
/_\
"Don't you want to play with me? I have a dolly." Ai tried for what felt like the billionth time, attempting to get the toddler (and she was a toddler, not a small seven year old like Kudo had thought while he spoke to Hattori over the phone) to unglue herself from the Osakan detective's legs. She'd tried everything thing from toys to candy to ice cream, but nothing was working.
The little girl's head shook the tiniest bit, her face burying itself into the folds of the fabric clutched in her hands.
"Please?" Ai asked, moving a little closer. "I'm very lonely; no one will play with me."
The child sniffled and backed further away.
Finally, the small scientist sighed and looked to Heiji, who regarded her with a curious and slightly bemused look on his face.
"Let's try this, you sit there and hold her in your lap." Ai said and Heiji nodded.
A few minutes, a few vials of blood, and more than just a few tears later, Heiji came to the startling confusion that the grade-schooler/scientist was actually a vampire.
After that, they left the little bloodsucker to her samples and the Professor proceeded to confirm Heiji's tentative diagnosis of a concussion, though according to the man, it really wasn't serious enough to require hospitalization as far as he could tell.
"One thing that puzzles me is the memory loss." Agasa remarked as the toddler began to drift off.
"You mean it is not because of the concussion?" Heiji asked and Agasa shook his head.
"Normally, if someone with a concussion loses their memory, it is the memory of how they got the injury and maybe a couple of hours before that. Losing years is not a common occurrence." The older man explained.
"I think I've got it." Kudo remarked, hopping off his nearby perch to come closer to the group in the living room. "Imagine if you woke up, no memory of the last few hours, in a toddler's body and in considerable pain. A logical response for the brain at that point would be to assume all your grown up memories were an elaborate dream from a head injury and so, it would ignore them all together in favor of self-preservation. Finding a trustworthy adult to take care of you would be top priority."
"So, she's just repressing it, then?" Heiji asked, feeling his worry diminish.
"I'd guess so. She seems to remember you somewhat, at least. That must be a good sign, right?"
"But she didn't know who I was." Heiji said despondently.
"Didn't she? It seems to me that she must think she knows you somewhat or she never would've let you anywhere near her. The run around she just went through with Haibara basically proves that. She might not know who you are, but she knows she knows you." Conan pointed out.
Before Heiji could open his mouth to answer, the door from Haibara's lab opened and the tiny scientist emerged, a strange expression on her face.
"Wha—" Conan started, only for Haibara to cut him off.
"This is not my drug." She stated calmly.
"What do you mean it's not your drug?" Heiji exclaimed, a sudden terror gripping his heart. If it wasn't the same, then what chance did Kazuha have? The little girl in his lap blinking sleepy eyes at him, she'd been well on her way to dreamland until he'd shouted.
"Calm down, Hattori-kun, and let me explain." Haibara said, sending him an annoyed look. "It's a very similar compound. I'm very glad you got her here as quickly as you did. It was either defective pill or some sort of new strain of my drug. There are one or two compounds that are present in abnormally high concentrations." Suddenly, the girl smiled. "This is exactly the information I needed to create a cure. I suspect I will have one finished by the end of the week."
Kudo's sudden whoop of joy startled everyone, though no one more than the little girl in Heiji's lap, who was suddenly clinging to him very tightly, wary eyes trained on the bigger kid who was jumping around and yelling like a crazy person.
The little girl whimpered and Heiji awkwardly wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay, Kazuha-chan. Kudo is just a little excited, that's all."
"Oniichan, what's going on?" she asked in a small voice.
Heiji's heart clenched a little. 'Oniichan' she'd said. He'd never been Oniichan to Kazuha.
"Remember than bump on the head you got?" Heiji said and one of the child's little hands crept up under her hair. Heiji gently tugged the hand away, she shouldn't be touching it. "That little girl thinks she knows how to make things better again. It's going to take her a little while, but then you'll feel better, okay?"
The little girl sniffled and nodded, tucking herself closer against Heiji's side. The teenaged detective let her, tightening his grip appropriately. How did he get into these kind of messes?
"Regardless, I think you should stay here until we can get Toyama-san back to her old self. Don't you agree, Hattori-kun?" Haibara seemed to be finishing a thought as Heiji tuned back in.
"Stay here?" he prompted and, with an annoyed look, Haibara reiterated.
"Rather than create some ridiculous cover story for both of you, one for why Toyama-san isn't home and one for why you have acquired a toddler than looks like her, I think it would be better if you created one ridiculous cover story for the both of you and stayed here in Tokyo until we get this sorted out." The girl said.
"Since I'll be back to normal if everything goes as planned, tell them you're working on a case with me and Kazuha insisted on coming along. That sounds reasonable enough, right?" Kudo added, grinning.
"Sure." Heiji said, starting to dig around for his phone.
"It sure will be nice to be me again." The bespectacled boy said wistfully.
"I bet." Heiji responded, firing off texts to his and Kazuha's fathers. Wouldn't want to interrupt them in the middle of a case or something.
Kazuha yawned and blinked heavily.
"Why don't you let Kazuha-chan get to bed, Hattori-kun? She's had a trying day, after all, the change especially is very exhausting." Haibara suggested.
"Yes, you can take the guest room and Kazuha-chan can share with Ai-kun." The professor said with a paternal smile in the toddler's direction.
Heiji paused and shook his head. "She can share with me, I don't mind. Besides, I get the feeling Haibara-san hasn't had much experience with little kids like this and Kazuha was a real shy, skittish kid. Besides that, she had nightmares. I remember her spending the night and waking up screaming." Heiji's lips pulled up into a grin. "Nearly gave me a heart attack just about every time."
"You're going to share a room with an amnesiac, little girl version of your female best friend?" Kudo's eyebrow rose skeptically from behind those stupid glasses of his.
"Keywords being 'amnesiac' and 'little girl', what kind of sicko do you think I am? Besides, I don't think you have any room to talk Conan-kun." Heiji shot back, more than a bit past his wit's end.
The boy blushed and Heiji took the victory with a tired smirk. "Haibara-san? So you have any sort of pajamas we could put her in? I'll buy her a couple more things tomorrow, she can't wear the same thing all week."
"Certainly, follow me." Haibara said, leading the way to her room, calculations running through her head, chemical formulas and quantities collecting, and dispersing as her mind ran through possibilities.
/_\
The next morning, Heiji dressed Kazuha in the same dress as the day before and left the professor's house with the toddler in search of clothes. Even if it was only for a week, she couldn't wear the same outfit every day. His plan was simple right now, so simple, he was sure it couldn't fail.
Step 1- Take Kazuha to department store.
Step 2- Convince saleswoman that he is both pathetically lost and also empathetically not Kazuha's father.
Step 3- Get saleswoman to tell him what to buy and in what size.
Step 4- Escape department store.
And it is precisely because his plan was so simple and fail-proof that it absolutely had to fail. And he knew exactly who to blame.
Dammit, Kudo.
/_\
"Hattori-kun!" Heiji heard from behind, Kazuha's little hand tight in his as they walked down the street.
Heiji turned and there was Ran, a reluctant Conan being dragged behind her.
"What are you doing in Tokyo, Hattori-kun?" Ran asked cheerfully. "Is Kazuha-chan with you?"
The little girl looked up at hearing her name, stepping a bit closer to Heiji. In that moment, Heiji got an idea.
"It's funny you should ask that, Neechan." Heiji said, ignoring the terrified look on Kudo's face. "I'm here on a case and this little girl is a big, important part of it. Right now we're calling her Kazuha-chan to throw off the bad guys."
The look on Kudo's face was priceless. Heiji tried to suppress his grin.
Ran looked suitably convinced, but her face creased in confusion for a moment before she spoke again. "But why Kazuha-chan?"
Heiji looked sheepish. "They asked me what we should call her and I kind of blurted the first name that came to mind. Besides, she looks a little like Kazuha as a kid."
"So where are you and Kazuha-chan going now?" Ran asked, falling into step besides Heiji as they continued walking down the street. Kazuha was walking so closely to his legs that it was an effort not to step on her, so Heiji leaned down and picked her up, missing the surprised look on Ran's face.
"These are the poor girl's only change of clothes and she's going to be here at least a week. I've got to figure out what size she wears and stuff." Heiji said.
"Me and Conan-kun were actually about to go shopping ourselves! Why don't I come with you and help you out? I bet you have no idea how to dress a little girl, do you, Hattori-kun?" Ran smiled.
"That'd be great, Neechan!" Heiji said. Yes, this meant he didn't have to convince anyone he wasn't a dad!
Or did he?
Heiji tried to imagine what they looked like. Two young adults, probably too young, walking down the street. The man is holding a little girl and the woman in holding a little boy's hand. A happy, but young, little family.
Dammit.
/_\
"You want me to put her hair in pigtails?" Ran asked after they'd returned to the Mouri's apartment.
"What's wrong with that? She wants her hair in pigtails, don't you, Kazuha-chan?" Heiji asked the little girl. The child looked shocked for a moment before her face lit up in an excited smile. She nodded her head vigorously before wincing. Her hand started to creep up under her hair, before Heiji stopped it.
Ran giggled to herself. Kazuha, the real Kazuha, of course, was so lucky to have Heiji. He was going to make a great dad.
"Here, why don't I teach you how to do it? You have to take them out before bed and it's practically that time already." Ran offered.
"Hear that, Kazuha-chan? Neechan's going to fix your hair." Heiji said, plopping the toddler in a chair. Ran pulled the hair into two little pigtails easily, explaining to Heiji as she did.
"So that's how you do it. I couldn't figure it out." Heiji said, picking up the now-pigtailed little girl.
"Oh, she's so cute!" Ran exclaimed suddenly, her fingers twitching from the desire to grab the child and hug her. The little thing was so shy, it would probably terrify her. "You're right, she does look just like Kazuha-chan!" Suddenly, Ran's face darkened like a storm cloud and she turned on Heiji. "Hattori-kun, are you sure you aren't hiding something?"
Heiji laughed, nervously. "L-like what?"
"Did you and Kazuha-chan…" Ran trailed off and behind her, Kudo broke down into hysterical snickers.
"Did we wha—No! No, no, a million times no! With that aho? This kid is at least three years old, Neechan!" Heiji exclaimed, suddenly horrified.
Ran was all flowers and rainbows again. "That's good, then!"
Kudo was going to get a shinai in an uncomfortable place if he didn't stop laughing.
/_\
"It's taking a little bit longer than I expected." Haibara said solemnly. "It should be done by next week. You'll probably miss Christmas, but I would expect you both to be home by New Year's Day."
/_\
Earlier that year, late during the summer, Heiji had been out with Kazuha. He doesn't remember what they were doing—it really didn't matter—but he does remember looking over as they walked past a park. The wind had blown and stolen Kazuha's ribbon as it did. Her face was shocked as her hair was suddenly flying around her face. Lightening quick, Heiji's hand had reached out and snatched the ribbon out of the air. He handed it to her and she laughed, fighting the wind as she tried to pull her hair back again.
Heiji doesn't know what it was about that moment, there'd been a million like it in the past, but something about it, about the way her hair had framed her face, about the way she'd laughed, or the way the sun slanted through the trees to shine on her face. He doesn't know what made him look twice.
But something did and he found himself wondering what Kazuha was doing for Christmas, if she would like to go out for dinner, if she would wear a necklace if he bought her one. He wondered about all of those things and he thought about it. He wouldn't take her anywhere fancy and the necklace would have to be something simple, something that would go with anything, because she'd probably wear it all the time. He thought he'd like for it to be green, because it would match her eyes.
He pondered over it for many months. He didn't really think about why he was pondering such a thing, even if deep down he knew Christmas was a couples' holiday. He knew what asking Kazuha to dinner on Christmas and giving her a nice present would look like, what it would have to mean. But he just didn't think about it. Kazuha was his best friend, after all.
He never got his chance to ask her, but the necklace was still in his room.
/_\
It was Christmas and it was snowing. The Detective Boys came over to Agasa's to play and it didn't take a genius to realize Kazuha wanted to play too, even if she was wary of the bigger kids.
"Oi, Kudo!" Heiji called to the little boy crouching behind the professor's car with Ayumi. Behind the bushes on the other side of the yard were Genta and Mitsuiko. Ai was inside, making hot chocolate for when all of the children—she'd primly included Kudo in that category, much to Heiji's amusement—finally came back in, soaked and freezing.
"Time out!" Conan called loudly as he trotted over. "Yeah?"
"Can Kazuha-chan play with you?" Heiji asked, nodding his head towards the little girl sitting inside in her snow gear.
Conan smiled. "Sure, want me to ask her to?"
"If you would." Heiji said.
Conan reappeared outside a minute later, his hand held by the toddler. Her pigtails, pigtails Heiji had tied up himself that morning, just as he had for the past week, bounced as she ran alongside the older kid, a big grin on her face.
Heiji wondered what was more ironic, that he technically was spending Christmas with Kazuha, or that she was currently more excited to see Kudo.
/_\
Heiji didn't really know a thing about brushing hair. His own hair was easy to take care of; he didn't really have to do anything to it. According to Kazuha, though, girl hair took a lot of work to look good, even if it was just a ponytail. Girls had all sorts of problems with their hair and he wouldn't know one if it jumped up and bit him on the nose.
But he could remember that Kazuha had once said she had to brush her hair a hundred times to make it pretty and, while he figured she was probably exaggerating, what if she wasn't?
Every night, after he got Kazuha washed up and into pajamas, he sat her down in front of the TV and took out his brush. He brushed her hair exactly a hundred times.
Long after the end of the fiasco, he was still finding silky smooth strands of hair in his brush. It rarely failed to make him smile.
/_\
When Haibara said that Heiji should stay with them until she had figured out the cure, Heiji had mistakenly thought that meant they would take care of Kazuha, that they had a clue about how to handle small children.
Haibara certainly didn't, though, and neither did the professor or Kudo, for that matter. On the subject of child-watching, Ran was really the only person he had to turn to, but he couldn't tell her everything. So it fell to him.
Every morning, Kazuha woke up early—little kids often do—and shook Heiji awake.
"Niichan, it's time to wake up." She'd say until he opened his eyes. She'd wait until he sat up before speaking again. "I have to go potty."
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he would take her to the restroom and, while he was there, change her into her clothes for the day and tie her hair up into her pigtails. He'd pull on his own clothes then and the two of them would head downstairs. Heiji would fix breakfast for them, cereal and toast, with orange juice for her and coffee with tons of creamer for him. Heiji didn't like bitter things, but he'd become dependent on caffeine for waking up in the morning a long time ago. Kazuha used to scold him for it.
Then, they would find something to do. They'd go to the park or see a movie. Sometimes they'd go to the bookstore or the library and he'd read silly, childish books to her. They'd find things to do and, when they got back, Heiji would poke his head into Haibara's laboratory.
"Not yet." She'd say before he could ask. "Soon." She'd add as an afterthought, bent over her microscope, combining chemicals, or looking at streams of letters and numbers on the computer.
Then lunch and after that, it was TV time. Most of the time, Kazuha fell asleep an hour or two into that and Heiji let her sleep as long as she would, since nightmares often interrupted her sleep at night. Terrors of black suited men and bodies covered in blood. Some, when recounted to him, Heiji recognized as particularly gruesome cases he'd solved, others, he had no idea about and just sincerely hoped that she had made them up.
Overall, they lived out normal days for a toddler and a teenager.
Maybe that's why it turned out to be so hard.
/_\
Haibara emerged from her lab, tired, but triumphant. In her hands were three pills, two blue, one yellow.
"I did it."
/_\
Haibara Ai contemplated the blue pill in her hand. She'd given Kudo his, with a warning to make the appropriate arrangements and excuses and clear instructions to take it in her sight. The little yellow pill had gone to Hattori, who she cautioned not to give it to the toddler-Kazuha just yet. Haibara needed to talk to Hattori-kun before he gave the child anything. All that remained was hers.
But did she even want it? What life was there for Miyano Shiho? No friends, no family, and a price on her head. Meanwhile, Haibara Ai had a whole group of friends, a kindly old grandfather to take care of (as it was definitely not Agasa who was taking care of her), and a life as a normal, if not reserved, first grader. First graders' lives have barely begun. In first grade, you can do anything, be anything.
Ai pulled out her lockbox, placed the pill inside, and locked it back.
Maybe another day.
Then again, maybe not.
/_\
"I have some sedatives," Haibara started without preamble, "completely child-safe, I assure you. It would be best for her not to be awake during the transformation, wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm fine, how are you?" Heiji mumbled grumpily under his breath before answering. "You're probably right, I would much rather her not have to go through that conscious."
"And, another thing we must consider is her memory. There are three potential outcomes. One, she wakes up and remembers everything, her former life and the past two weeks she has spent as a child. Two, she wakes up with no memories of being a child. Three, she wakes up and still doesn't remember being a grown up. Of the three, the second option is the most favorable, but we must prepare for the other two."
"If she wakes up still thinking she's a kid, we could claim amnesia for real and take her around and try to jog her memory." Heiji offered up and Haibara nodded.
"And if she remembers everything?"
"Why don't we let her go first? If she remembers everything, then showing her Kudo's transformation might help her understand how serious this all is." Heiji said after a moment's thought.
"That is acceptable." Haibara said, turning on her heel and walking away.
"Yeah, I'll see you later!" Heiji called from behind her, annoyed. Haibara just smirked.
/_\
"Alright, Kazuha-chan, I just need you to take this pill for me, please. It's very important." Heiji said, kneeling in front of her. The pill was chalky and white and Haibara has assured him that she would be out within thirty minutes or so and that she would stay that way for at least the amount of time it'd take her to get big again.
The little girl eyed the pill warily before turning to him with betrayed eyes. "But-but…" Suddenly, the child flung herself at him. "But Kazuha-chan doesn't want to leave Niichan!"
Heiji's arms were filled with crying child, whose fingers fisted in the material of his shirt. Through her sobs, Heiji managed to make out that she dreamed he would give her a pill and make her go away.
"Kazuha-chan…" He started.
"No! Nonononononooooo!" she wailed.
"Kazuha-chan, I promise you, I'm not going to leave you, okay? I promise. Even if I die, I won't let go." Heiji said and something flashed behind the little girl's eyes. She backed away and took a shaky breath.
"You promise?" Kazuha asked, wiping at her tear stained cheeks.
"I promise." Heiji repeated and offered the pill again. She took it this time and, with one last look at him, swallowed it.
Ten minutes later, she was asleep and Heiji put one of Agasa's huge t-shirts on her and a pair of Kudo's sweatpants from next door to preserve her decency once she was big again. Then, with a quick prayer to whatever deities that might be listening, Heiji washed the little yellow pill down her throat.
The change began almost immediately and, while the child did whimper, and while her face was creased in pain and slick with sweat, she did not wake. Haibara observed the transformation, for once, not burdened with Kudo's normal flailing and screaming fits and thought how interesting it was, that changing into a child produced so much steam, but changing back did not. Perhaps the material to regrow was being pulled from the very air itself? How interesting.
Finally, the girl looked normal and she no longer tossed about in unconscious pain. Immediately, Heiji began to shake her lightly.
"Kazuha, oi, Kazuha. Kazuha, wake up." Heiji said, hands on her shoulders. Her head lolled back. "Kazuha. Aho, wake up. Kazuha. Ka-zu-ha."
The girl's eyelids began to flutter. "Hei…ji?"
She sat up slowly, the heels of her hands rubbing at her eyes to clear them.
"Are you ok, Kazuha?" Heiji asked. He was far too close to her, very much intruding on her personal space, but the look in his eyes convinced her not to complain. Something about him looked...fragile, somehow.
"Yes, Heiji, what's going on? Ow, my head…" Kazuha fingers sought out her temples, a huge headache blossoming in her skull.
"I'm just…I…" Heiji seemed to be having trouble getting his words out and Kazuha saw Conan, the professor, and the little blonde girl leaving out of the corner of her eye. "Well, would you like to be knocked out as well, Ku—?" Kazuha heard the girl start before the door shut behind them.
It was then that the impossible happened. Hattori Heiji began to cry.
It wasn't like in the movies and it wasn't the first time Kazuha had ever seen Heiji's tears, but she couldn't comprehend it. Why? What was wrong?
It started out as just a wayward tear that he hurriedly swiped away. "Kazuha, I—" he sniffled as she watched warily, unsure of the person before her.
"I just—" his voice choked and Kazuha suddenly found herself trapped against him, his head buried in her neck—why was her ponytail undone?—, his tears dampening her skin. "I'm so glad you're okay—!"
He cried quietly and, while Kazuha didn't quite understand why he was so upset, she did her best to wrap her arms back around him and reassure him everything was ok.
She could hear her name in between all the incomprehensible sounds he was making and somehow his head ended up in her lap, soaking the soft fabric of the oversized clothes she was wearing. He sat up after a long moment, his nose almost brushing hers and his eyes were startling in their intensity. He leaned closer and she could feel his breath against her face.
Then his hands came up from behind her and neatly tied her hair into its normal ponytail.
"There," he said, looking relieved. "I can finally see you."
Then, on the floor in the professor's house, Heiji took a leap of faith that really wasn't a leap at all. A hesitant step, maybe, wary of things to come, but brave nonetheless.
So he closed the distance between them, his hand sliding underneath the ponytail he had tied for his best friend in the world. The time for best friends was over now, his lips said, slanted as they were against hers. Now would be a time for something else, something as firm as the pressure of lips on lips, as shy as the gentle breath that blew across her face as he pulled back, and as bright as the shine in his eyes that said what he never really could.
And that was this girl's happy ending.
/_\
A follow up will be added soon. Thank you for reading.
-katie and Kirby
PS: A pic of child!Kazuha that I drew is on my livejournal, which can be accessed through my profile.