Ha… I'm back… and stuff… with a new story… That people are likely to sue me for… ah-ha-ha-ha… Contrary to popular belief, I have NOT vanished off the surface of the planet, just gone for a long time... Anyway...

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. Gosho Aoyama does.

"You have just one year left."

"Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me. You heard what I said, Edogawa-kun."

Conan could not believe his ears. Or rather, he did not want to believe his ears. Haibara had just called him saying that he had something urgent to talk about with him, and never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that it was something like that.

"I…" he stammered. "I only have… one year left to… live…?"

Haibara raised her eyebrow at him, then smirked.

"Oh, yes, Kudo-kun," she replied, turning to her computer screen. "You only have one year left to live. Boohoohoo."

"This isn't funny, Haibara," Conan said, clearly agitated.

"Yes, it's so sad," Haibara said, clearly enjoying herself. "My heart goes out to you. Enjoy your last year on Earth, Kudo-kun."

Conan did not say anything. He just simply stood there, speechless.

"My, my, to think you could be a detective," Haibara said, twirling her hair with one finger, "You are really gullible, you know that, Kudo-kun?"

"What is it with you and making wise-cracks at me?" Conan asked, relieved but still quite annoyed.

"Nothing," Haibara replied. But her tone suddenly became serious. "The truth is, you only have one year left to say goodbye."

"What do you mean?" Conan asked, fearing the worst.

"You did realize that I am in fact one year older than you, right?" Haibara asked, and, without waiting for any reply, continued, "Well, APTX 4869 shrunk me back to the same age as it did you, didn't it? This led me to one conclusion: That APTX 4869 does not destroy a fixed amount of cells, it destroys cells until a fixed amount is left."

Conan did not speak.

"That's why we are both seven-year-olds, despite the difference in our actual age," Haibara continued. "And since APTX is clearly still active in us, we-"

"-cannot age," Conan finished for her. She nodded.

"It's already been a year," she said, "And we've not grown a single inch. If we continue like this, people are bound to notice. The Detective Boys have already starting to suspect that I have stunted growth or something." (hahaha… far-fetched, I know)

"So…" Conan said at last, digesting what Haibara had just told him, "One year… you mean…"

"Yes," Haibara cut across him, a grim look on her face, "We're going to have to use this one year to say goodbye to everyone we know. Maybe even sooner than that."

"B-but, isn't it possible for you to-" Conan began desperately, but was stopped by Haibara.

"I know you want me to make an antidote," she said. "But would you take the risk? They may find out that something is fishy before one year is up, even. They may have already noticed that our hair isn't even growing."

At this, Conan thought long and hard. Truthfully, he had never felt his hair growing long enough for a haircut for the entire year. And the same applied to Haibara. (Hey, I never saw them get a haircut in the anime before)

"So what do we do now?" he asked. "We really have to say goodbye?"

"If this keeps up people will notice," Haibara said firmly. "Most likely your girlfriend will bring you to a doctor or something and what will you do then? The fact that a drug is making your body unable to age will be made public in no time. And when that happens…"

"Gin…" Conan muttered. "Vodka…"

"Yes," Haibara said, shuddering a bit as well, "They know about the experiments whereby the lab rats shrunk, and a medicine that makes people 'immortal' will surely catch their attention. Sooner or later, you'll get found out."

Conan was at a loss. As ridiculous as Haibara's hypothesis sounded, there was no denying that it was true. If this continued, it would just be a matter of time before the Black Organization got wind of his shrinking to Conan. There was only one option, but he did not want to choose it.

"Fine," he said at last. "I'll say goodbye to them."

First chapter, end. Well, this was more like an introduction, though… Starting next chapter things get a little complicated. Conan and Ai will have to say goodbye to everyone, making up their own excuses. Will Conan be able to tell Ran goodbye? Just a hint: Keep in mind Jodie did ask Vermouth why she could not age. That links to this story...

Sorry if this chapter sucked. Treat it as an intro. Next chapter will be better. I promise!