A Small Problem

Disclaimer: Don't own Detective Conan. (:

Summary: Akai Shuuichi is faced with a.. small problem.

Notes: Mel72000 made a point and caused me to realize I may not have been completely clear in the last chapter. I know very well that Mizunashi Rena was supposed to kill Shuuichi in order to secure her cover, but in order to work with my plot, I completely disregarded this. I hope that this doesn't put any of you off too much.

Edited.

Shima Ryousei, as was customary by now, received the attention of the whole class. That wasn't to say that he enjoyed it. In fact, when anyone tried to talk to him, he made a point to ignore them completely. He paid minimal attention to Kobayashi-sensei, and by the time lunch rolled around, no one really seemed to like him at all.

He decided that he would be completely content just eating by himself, but Conan wasn't going to let that happen. Curiosity alone drew the bright child to the shrunken FBI agent's side. He wanted to confirm what he was thinking, that Shima Ryousei was indeed Akai Shuuichi, but the other children wouldn't allow him the moment of privacy.

"Conan-kun, what are you doing?" Ayumi asked from behind him as he was about to speak to the other boy. He turned, trying desperately not to show his annoyance at the interruption. He found the entirety of the Shounen Tantei standing behind him, including Haibara who was looking quite satisfied.

"I'm talking to Shima-kun, what else?" he replied as if it were obvious, because it sort of was. Genta made a face at his response.

"Why bother? He obviously doesn't want to talk to anyone," he said, clearly already having made his judgment of the boy.

'He probably just isn't used to talking to small children,' Conan found himself thinking.

"Maybe so," he turned to the dark haired 'boy' again, earning a raised brow from said boy before continuing, "But you shouldn't just give up before you even really try." He found himself smirking this time.

"Conan-kun's right," Ayumi agreed, as he had expected from her, and the girl took a step toward Shima.

"My name's Ayumi!" she said enthusiastically, "and this is Genta, Mitsuhiko, and - "

"I already know the brown haired girl," Shima interrupted, glancing at Ai briefly before returning his attention back to Ayumi. "I'm staying with her for the time being." The rest of the Shounen Tantei held looks of surprise on their faces, including Conan. So this was why Haibara was being so smug before, and how she knew there would be a new student. Conan didn't need to ask anymore. He was almost positive that this boy before him was a shrunken Akai Shuuichi.

"Ai-chan, why didn't you tell us?" Ayumi exclaimed, looking a little offended that the girl hadn't informed her. Ai gave a tiny apologetic smile to Ayumi, the little girl was hard not to like.

"Gomen, I just wanted it to be a surprise," she explained. Sometimes it amazed Conan how gentle Ai could be towards Ayumi. Ayumi smiled back at Ai, and accepted the apology. She turned back to Shima, Genta and Mitsuhiko still standing unusually quiet and (secretly) fuming behind the two girls. Who was this Shima that he could get away with being so rude? And what was his relationship with Haibara? (You can only guess which thought belonged to whom.)

"Do you want to hang out with us after school?" Ayumi asked him. He looked thoughtful for a moment, but after sparing Conan a quick look, he shrugged his shoulders. Ayumi smiled brightly and cheered, already making plans for what the group was going to do that day, and expressing her hopes of there being a case so that they could see whether or not Shima was fit to join the Shounen Tantei. Ayumi originally wanted to just outright initiate him, but Mitsuhiko and Genta were quick to decline and suggest that he prove himself worthy.

So as soon as class was out for the day, the Shounen Tantei raced to their locker with Shima in tow, praying that there would be a case within. To Ayumi's disappointment, there was none. Conan felt the need to roll his eyes, but resisted as they trudged away from the school.

"I'm hungry," Genta complained as they walked down the street, to no one's surprise.

"We could stop here," Shima spoke up suddenly, effectively capturing everyone's attention as he pointed to the small stand selling various small snacks. Genta made a face that seemed a mixture of anger and distress.

"My mom wouldn't give me any money because I spent so much on food last week," he said, longing written clearly across his appearance as he stared at the food in front of him.

Shima shrugged, "I can pay," he said simply, catching Conan completely off guard. Was this really the Akai Shuuichi he knew? Before, he was purposely estranging himself from the rest of the class, and now he was being unusually nice. He was thoroughly confused as Genta's face lit up. As Shima paid for the food, it was obvious that he had already won over Genta. Mitsuhiko was now alone in his distrust of the boy. Haibara seemed content as ever standing next to Conan, surely not knowing anything more than he, but enjoying it nonetheless. Sometimes Conan thought she just liked to watch him try.

The group continued on as Genta received his food. He ate happily and Ayumi chatted about what they would do next. Mitsuhiko suggested visiting Agasa hakase to play games, but before a decision could even be made, a man stumbled out in from of them from a building they were passing. Conan immediately picked up on the way he staggered and the fact that he had just walked out of an abandoned building. Before their eyes, the man fell to his knees, and then flat on his stomach. It was then that they could see a knife jutting out from the man's back.

Time stopped for a total of three seconds before realization seemed to strike them all. Ayumi yelled out in surprise, and Conan immediately instructed Haibara to call an ambulance and the police before running off inside the building. He was followed closely by Shima, though for the first minute of running this was unknown to him. It was as he reached the main room in the building that he noticed. He turned to Shima, blinking.

"What are you doing here?" he asked stupidly. Shima rolled his eyes.

"Kids shouldn't be running off after potential murderers alone," he explained simply, confirming to Conan that Shima was most definitely Akai. He didn't respond as he looked around the room. There were two ways to go, the stairs by the wall or continuing on to a different room.

"Well then, since you're here, do you want to split up? You go up and I'll search the back," Conan said, pointing at the door.

Shima gave him a strange look, raising a brow, "I hope you don't think I am that stupid that I would take the upstairs when it is far more likely that the culprit is downstairs. There is no fire escape in this building, so the likelihood that he would escape from the second floor is slim." Conan smirked. Shima had caught him, as he had expected. He nodded and motioned for him to follow as he headed towards the door, taking small but quick steps.

Opening the door slowly so as to remain as silent as possible, they were met with a dark hallway. They were given two ways to go, and Conan turned to Shima with a tiny smirk.

"Now we can split up," Shima said, giving Conan a nod before walking off in one direction. Conan watched him for a moment before going the opposite way. He didn't have time to be worried about what might have been ahead, and instead focused everything on the task at hand.

Uhh.. short. Kind of. But I've set things up for a good next chapter, don't you think? I can just feel it.

Thank you all who reviewed! It's good to know that many of you are interested.