I stared at the professor. "That can't be possible!" I scoffed. "No way am I aging backw-"
The words died from my lips as I turned around and looked in the big mirror that hung on the wall. It was true. I looked a little younger than I had a few hours ago, when I had put on my jacket in front of my mirror in anticipation of going to Tropical Land.
I looked down at myself. The cuffs of my jacket seemed an inch or two longer than usual, and as I shuffled my shoe, I noticed that they seemed bigger too. I shook my head. No, it wasn't my clothes that had grown; it must be my body getting smaller.
"Doc, what'll I do?" I asked, looking back at him. "How is this even possible? It feels like something out of a book!"
Agasa led me towards a chair. "Now calm down, Shinichi," he said. "The good thing is that you haven't lost any of your smarts, right?"
I nodded and sat.
"So right now we need to decide what to do about these persons in black, correct?" stated Agasa.
"Well, they looked pretty deep in criminal activity to me," I said, finally feeling a little better. After all, being a detective was what I was good at. Sniffing out the criminal is actually enjoyable.
"And I'm pretty sure that they believe that I'm dead," I continued. Suddenly a thought struck me. "Oh no, Doc! If those men in black find out that I'm still alive, it could result in serious trouble!"
Professor Agasa's face became worried. "You are right, Shinichi," he said.
Before Agasa could say another word, there was a sudden pounding on the door. Both Doc and I jumped, our nerves already on edge. I was cautious as I approached Agasa's front door.
"Shinichi, what if it is… Them?" Agasa asked. He hovered behind my shoulder, his 'latest invention' now forgotten.
"Well, I think I can drive them off, unless they have guns," I answered nervously. "Like they did at the park," I muttered to myself.
I prepared myself as I opened the door to… Ran?
"BAKA!" Ran yelled in my face.
I grinned in relief. That was a mistake.
Her face reddened. "You idiot! All of a sudden you just left me at the park, and I felt like I would never see you again, and I had to go all by myself, and my dad was all like 'Oh, did your friend ditch you?' which you did, and then when I called a bit later you didn't answer, and then I had to come over here by myself again, only this time in the rain-" Ran had to stop her oncoming torrent of speech to catch a gasp of air.
I took the advantage and quickly said, "Sorry, Ran."
Ran blinked and seemed at a loss for words. She swept inside and sat on the couch.
After Agasa hurriedly ran to get a towel and a cup of tea, I sat next to Ran.
"I was worried about you," Ran finally whispered, her face white.
I was caught off guard.
"Well, I'm, um, fine, as you can see," I said. I tugged at my collar. "There's just this one little problem."
"What?" Ran asked, curious. "Hey, wait, you look sort of different," she said before I could answer. "Did you get a hair cut or something after you left the park?"
"Ah, yes, the park," I said. "Well you see… I was kind of fed a poison there, after I left you." I crossed my fingers and hoped that wasn't too blunt.
"What!?" Ran cried. "You're joking, right?"
"Um… no." Yep, definitely too blunt.
"You- you're not going to- to- to die, are you?" Ran was white again.
"No, luckily I don't think it's going to complete what it was meant to do," I answered, trying to calm her down. "But…"
Ran looked at me with narrow eyes. "With a detective, there's always a 'but'." She sighed, exasperated. "But what?"
"But it has this weird side effect or something." I said, swallowing. I really didn't want to keep this new and terrifying secret from my best friend, but would it hurt her if she knew the truth? I definitely did not want to put her in danger.
Luckily, Professor Agasa came in at that exact moment.
"Earl Grey, or Mint?" he asked her, handing her a towel. "I just started the tea water, but I wasn't sure what kind you wanted…" He trailed off, seeing both our expressions.
"I assume he told you that he's regressing in age?" Agasa said pointedly.
Ran stared in shock at him, her eyes moving rapidly from him to me.
I mentally smacked myself in the head. Smooth move, Doc. Now it didn't matter if the truth put her in danger. She knew it.
Suddenly Ran grinned and slowly got up. "Oh, wow, this is such a weird dream," she murmured faintly. "But I'd better be waking up soon, I have a lot of things to do tomorrow." She smiled dreamily at me and started towards the door.
"Ran!" I exclaimed. "This is not a dream!" I pinched her arm for extra measure.
Scowling at me, Ran sat down on the couch again. "Well, then, would you care to tell me what exactly is going on here?"
I told her everything I knew between the time I left her in the park and when she came banging on the door. Afterwards, she sat in a daze.
"This is so surreal," she said to me. "How is this happening to you? I don't want it to happen to you! What if you disappear before my very own eyes?"
Startled, I looked up at her. I never thought of that. What if I did just keep going back in age until I did not exist? It was freaky thought, and I didn't want to ponder on it for long.
"Well, all I'm sure of is that I'm not dead and that I gotta do something about these stupid men in black," I said firmly.
Ran smiled and pulled me to my feet. I was annoyed to notice that she was already a little taller than I was.
"Well then, I'll help you! So will Professor Agasa, right, Professor?" Ran said determinedly. "But for now, you need to get a few hours of sleep. I'm sure that solving a case, getting poisoned, and then learning that you are aging backwards can't be good for a guy," she added softly.
"Don't tell me that you're already feeling that motherly instinct now that I'm a year younger than you," I complained.
Ran snorted and shook her head, laughing. She pushed me onto one of Doc's cots that he usually sets up for full night experiments and then went with the professor to heat up the forgotten tea water.
I grimaced at her retreating form. I really did feel exhausted, though. So with the promise of help and the burden on my chest just a little lighter, I covered my eyes with my arm and dozed off.