That Shrinking Feeling (Ch 4-6)
Chapter 4- Dinner Conversation
Conan ate as quickly as he could manage during dinner, not talking much. Ran, not fond of the silence, attempted to break it.
"So….Conan…What was in the package?" She asked casually. "Did you like it?"
Conan nearly choked, but managed to swallow the mouthful. "Oh, it was some Sherlock Holmes books, a late birthday gift from my parents" Conan lied, smiling. Just then, Conan thought he heard the toilet flush, then the tap running in the bathroom. Both Moore and Ran looked towards the hallway, and then Conan quickly mentioned "Oh, it's probably the neighbors, I heard they got a new toilet. It's kind of loud."
Conan then heard a door creak, some light footsteps, and then his bedroom door creak before the noises stopped. Luckily, Ran and Moore had not noticed these latest sounds.
"Anyways, after dinner, could I visit the Professor's house?" Conan asked Ran. "I want to show him my new books."
"I don't see why not" said Ran, smiling. "Just don't stay too late."
"I wont!" called Conan, as he hurried to the kitchen, to put his plate in the sink. He then grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, and returned to his room.
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Chapter 5- Room and Board
"Back" said Conan, as he sat on the mattress for a moment, and handed Heiji the bottle of water. He had difficulty opening it, and then passed it back to Conan, whom opened it and returned it to Heiji.
"Thanks" said Heiji, in his unusual new voice. He took several gulps before stopping and replacing the lid.
"Anyways, sorry Heiji, but I don't think you can stay here. I doubt Moore will take kindly to the presence of an infant; I'm lucky he even let me stay. There is Agasa's place though; perhaps he will let you stay…
"Aww, man, not Agasa's place, not with that little girl there…The least she'll do is laugh, now that the Great Detective of the West is in diapers…She might even use me for experiments…" Heiji said. He was a little bit better at talking now, but worry was evident in his baby voice.
"She isn't that bad" said Conan.
"Cant I hide here?"
"No, sorry…You'll get caught at some point, and I doubt I'll have a good explanation for it. You would have a better chance at Agasa's."
"I guess so" said Heiji, giving up on staying at Moore's.
"Anyways, does anyone else know about this?" Conan asked, and Heiji shook his head.
"I think Kazuha told my dad though, that I've gone missing or something, and chances are he sent out a search party. I sent a text message, saying 'I'm fine, call off the search, I'm hung up on a case, not sure when I'll be back.'"
"That should do, for now" said Conan, nodding his head as he thought about it. "I told Ran that I was going to Agasa's after dinner, so I'll take you over now…Oh, and I didn't call his house during dinner, so they aren't aware of this yet." Conan folded up the box flaps, got to his feet, and carried the box to the front door.
"I'm heading over now, I'll be back soon!" Conan called to Ran, as he put on his shoes, picked up the box, and left the apartment.
Once in the quiet neighborhood that Shinichi and the Professor lived in, Conan opened the box up a bit.
"Almost there?" Heiji asked, tempted to peek out.
"Just about…Hey, I just noticed, you really are lightweight" Conan said, laughing.
"Shut it" Heiji whispered, as he lowered into the box and pulled one of the flaps closed.
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Chapter 6 - Agasa's Place
About two blocks away from Agasa's house, the cardboard box flaps started rustling again, and Heiji poked his head out in a panic.
"I think I left my wallet in my pant's pocket, it had my credit card, health card….Anyone could find it, from thieves, to the Black Organization…If the Syndicate has it, there's a good chance they'll try to track me down with the information or something." Heiji explained, worried.
"Perhaps…" said Conan. "There's also a chance someone in the search party found it or something. Try calling home later, and seeing if they have it. Ah, we're here!" said Conan, opening the front gate and going inside. He went up to the doorbell, rang it twice, and both Ai and Dr. Agasa came to the door.
"Oh, I didn't think I would be seeing you again so soon, Edogawa" Ai said, surprised by his sudden visit.
"Yeah, sorry about the sudden visit, Professor" Conan said.
"No, it's alright Shinichi, anytime…What's in that box there?" the Professor asked.
Conan reopened the box to find Heiji, faking sleep, in hopes of hiding embarrassment about his current condition, as well as to avoid being centre of attention.
Conan sighed. "It's a baby….Wake up, sleepyhead, you aren't fooling anyone" said Conan, gently poking the infant's cheek.
"Why is there an infant with you? Was Ran babysitting or something?" Ai asked, as she moved a lock of hair on Heiji's face off to the side. "Aww, he's cute" said Ai, smiling, as Conan tried to suppress the urge to laugh.
"No, actually…He came in this box that I got just now, in the mail…" Conan said, feeling somewhat guilty, as if he was the sender.
"Someone mailed you a baby?" Ai said, shocked.
"Who would do such a thing?" gasped Agasa.
"He would" said Conan, indicating the infant, whom was still pretending to be sleeping. "Mailed himself to Moore's place in a package addressed to Conan, it was his only way of getting to Tokyo in this current situation…Alright, cut it out Heiji, I know you're awake. You never fall asleep that quickly."
Heiji finally opened his eyes and sat up in his box, looking up at Conan with a 'darn you' look, then fixing his hat to cover his face.
"That's Heiji!?" said Dr. Agasa, shocked.
"But…How did he get so small, if APTX 4869 only turns people into kids, not infants?" Ai asked.
"He said earlier that the organization gave him two pills." Conan answered.
