A Different Path
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan, Case Closed, or any of the characters therein.
AN: Have no fear, your update is here! Several of you wonderful reviewers have expressed curiosity as to whether or not Shinichi will be joining Shiho in a state of chibification while at Tropical Land with Ran. This chapter will answer that question!
Also, some of you have expressed concern about Haibara not being as cold, and being more open with information, than in canon. The reason is simple: her sister Akemi is still alive. She is not as cold, because she still has hope to save the last member of her family. She is more open with information, because she is desperate to save said family. As long as that hope remains, expect to see more of her playful, teasing side, and less of her depressed, pessimistic side. (Both will still be present, though.) And it still remains to be seen if her actions will be enough to keep that hope alive.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I will be drawing elements from both the anime and the manga for this story. For example, the title of this chapter references something that happens in the anime, but not the manga.
And now, I present to you, the most suspenseful chapter yet!
Last time:
'Maybe it is best to get a good night's sleep first. This way, I can make sure that my mind is clearer, so I do not leave out any important details. Rushing too quickly against the Organization will only ensure failure. I have to do everything I can to help him, if there is to be even a chance of saving Onee-chan. If I am right, and Gin was telling the truth, then we have time before she will be in danger.'
'After all, if her mission is to last for months, then it is not like one more day is going to make a difference, right?'
Chapter 2: But For a Broken Shoelace
Shiho quickly decided that she had had better mornings. She woke up not to her alarm clock, but rather to the sounds of someone moving around outside her room. As if that were not enough, she was not in her usual bedroom, nor in her usual nightgown. The weirdest part, though, was how the room and bed seemed to be bigger than they should be.
It was then that the events of the previous day came back to her. Confronting Gin. Taking Apotoxin-4869. Becoming a child again. Running away from the Organization. Finding Kudo Shinichi…
'And then falling asleep before I could tell him anything useful. Definitely not one of my best moments.' Scowling, she glared downward. 'Stupid child body… wait, what am I wearing?' Tossing her blanket aside, she couldn't keep her eye from twitching in annoyance at the magnifying glasses, pipes, and deerstalker hats that covered her sleepwear. Even someone like her who had never been a fan of the books could immediately tell what character was represented. 'Ugh, it practically screams Sherlock Holmes. These pajamas must have belonged to that detective when he was younger.'
Looking out the window, she only became more annoyed by how low the sun was on the horizon. She may have had to get up early to work at the lab, but she had never been a morning person. Deciding that she may as well get up so that she could discuss things further with Kudo, she got out of bed. Not seeing any point in putting on the over-sized clothing she wore before, and having nothing else to change into, she left the room in the borrowed pajamas.
The guest room was on the second floor, so she made her way down to the kitchen, where the noise seemed to be emanating from. When she arrived, she found her host working on a simple breakfast of rice and fish.
Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Shinichi saw his miniature client enter the room. "Good morning, Miyano-san(1). I made enough for both of us, so feel free to take a seat. I'll be done in just a moment."
Watching his deft movements as he finished up, Shiho felt the need to comment. "You seem to have had quite a bit of practice at this. Judging by the fact that I have yet to see either of your parents, and the fact that you never asked their permission before inviting me to stay the night, they must not be home very often."
Shinichi looked surprised, before a grin spread on his face. "That's right. Looks like you could be a detective yourself."
Shiho rolled her eyes. "Hardly. It is a scientist's job to make observations and draw conclusions from them. I merely applied those skills to a less scientific situation."
The conversation waned as they ate. When they finished up, Shiho spoke once more. "As pleasant as this has been, we have more important things to discuss." Shinichi's face turned serious as he collected the dishes. He gave a nod for her to continue. "Last night, you came to an erroneous conclusion. I was not poisoned by them ones I worked for. I took Apotoxin-4869 myself." Seeing the detective's shocked expression, she pressed onward. "It was for the sake of my sister, but I have to go back a bit for it to make sense."
Shinichi sat across from her, giving her his full attention, so she continued. "Like myself, my older sister Miyano Akemi was practically raised by the Organization, but she had never been content being one of their pawns. The day before yesterday, I overheard one of the other agents, codename Gin, on his phone. My sister had apparently made a deal with 'that person', the Boss of the Organization, in order for them to let both her and myself cut ties with them. However, no one escapes the Organization. They planned to double-cross her from the beginning. Gin, the top assassin in the Organization, was tasked to kill Akemi after she completed one final mission.
"My emotions got the better of rational thought, and I confronted Gin about it yesterday morning. It did not go well. I was chained up in my lab, and had a choice: wait to discover what fate 'that person' decided on for me, or use the single APTX-4869 pill that I had hidden to try and save my sister. After all, compared to me, my sister was not very important to the Organization, so with my death, she might be spared."
She was interrupted by a snort. "If what you have told me about this Organization is true, then even with your death, they probably would have still killed your sister. However, you're not dead, and that means we still have a chance to save her."
Feeling her hope swell at the detective's declaration, she showed the first real smile since she arrived. "Thank you."
Shinichi was surprised at how much that smile changed the face that had only been serious or sarcastic up until that point. Shaking the thought out of his head, he said, "We need to get a lead on them before we can find your sister, though. Any idea where to start?"
Shiho thought for a moment. "The building where my lab was would probably be the first place to check. Unless they purged it due to my escape."
"Purged…" Shinichi said with a frown, before reaching for the morning newspaper that he had set on the counter after he collected it when he first woke up. "It wouldn't happen to be this building, would it?"
Shiho took the paper. Sure enough, the front page story was about a building that had burned down overnight, the picture revealing it to be the same building her lab had been in. "Yes, that is the building. The Organization is ruthlessly efficient. They have grown as large as they are because they never leave loose ends. This was the only place I ever worked for them, so I have no idea where else to start looking."
Shinichi brought one hand to his chin as he thought. "Then our best bet would be to get a lead on one of their members."
Shiho spoke up here. "The members with codenames are the most important, but also the most dangerous. One way to find them is that they always wear black, unless they are in disguise for a mission."
"Black, huh?" However, he was pulled violently from his thought by the sound of the front door opening, and an annoyed female voice calling out.
"SHINICHI! Aren't you ready yet?! We agreed to meet up to go to Tropical Land at 10 a.m.!"
Looking at his watch, Shinichi went wide eyed and grimaced. Sure enough, it was already 10:05. Trying to jump up from his chair, he only managed to trip over it and fall on his face, causing Shiho to look down at him with an amused smirk.
It was this scene that Shinichi's childhood friend Mouri Ran walked in on. Ran just stared at the fallen detective for a moment. "Um, what happened?" Then she noticed the 'young' girl still seated at the table. "Oh, who is this?"
Shinichi jumped back to his feet. "Oh, this is the daughter of a client. Her name is, uh…" His eyes quickly darted around the room looking for inspiration. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ran, but he couldn't rely on her to keep Shiho's identity a secret without explaining everything, and that would put Ran in danger, too. Then his eyes landed on a book he had left on the table the night before. It was a foreign mystery novel by Sara Paretsky, featuring the character V.I. Warshawsky, and the fact that the book was upside-down gave him an idea. "Her name is Ai, Keihi Ai." He could practically feel the glare coming at him from the shrunken scientist, for bringing up that name again. "She is in danger from some people targeting her parents, and they want me to keep an eye on her until the criminals are caught."
Ran frowned slightly. She had really been looking forward to spending the day with Shinichi, but she could hardly fault him for protecting a child. Then a smile lit up her face as an idea struck. She walked over to 'Ai' and leaned down to her level, not realizing how much it annoyed the other girl. "Well then, why don't you come with us? We were just about to head to Tropical Land."
"Pass." Ran was surprised at how quickly she responded. Most kids would jump at the opportunity to go to an amusement park. "I wouldn't want to interrupt your date."
Both of the full-sized teenagers blushed at that, and Shinichi responded. "It's not a date! I just sort of lost a bet to her."
"Yeah, yeah." Ai's face turned serious again. "You may not have any leads, but make sure you watch out for black clothing."
Shinichi nodded, and he and Ran headed to the door. Just as they were putting their shoes on, Ai showed up again. "I don't suppose you have any clothes I could borrow, do you Kudo-san?"
Looking at her, Shinichi realized that she was still in the pajamas he lent her. "That's right, you weren't able to bring any extra clothes. Well, none of my mom's stuff would fit you, but if you don't mind wearing boy's clothes for a bit, you can find some of my old clothes in the closet of the guest room. We'll get you some new clothes tomorrow."
Ai nodded and was about to leave when she noticed something. "Onee-san(2), you should get a new shoelace. That one looks like it is about to break."
Ran looked down, and sure enough, one of the laces on her sneakers was almost worn through. Shinichi said, "Don't worry, I'll get you a new one."
Once that was taken care of, they headed out. Shiho couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong, though.
Ran was worried. Shinichi had been able to solve the murder on the Mystery Coaster fairly easily, but he had been acting oddly ever since they got on the ride. He kept glancing at the two strange men in black ever since they showed up, and now that they were leaving the crime scene, Shinichi seemed worried about something.
Shinichi turned to her. "You go ahead Ran. I have to take care of something, but I will catch up with you in a bit." With that said, he headed off in the same direction those two suspicious men had headed.
Ran hesitated a moment, before an uneasy feeling swept over her, like she might never see him again. She started to chase after him, only to stumble. Her old shoelace would have broken, causing her to lose him as she fixed it, but her new one held, and she was able to follow Shinichi through the park.
Shiho couldn't take it anymore. All day, she had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen. Now, she decided that she had had enough waiting around. Dressed in a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket, and a ball cap, she headed out to find the detective that she had placed her faith in.
By the time she reached Tropical Land, it was already getting dark. She knew that there was a possibility that Kudo had already left, but she had learned to trust her instinct over the last couple of days. So, she set out to find him.
Shinichi peeked around a corner, and saw one of men in black from the coaster. He was talking to an overweight man in a suit. He could not hear everything that was said, but he could make out enough to tell that the man in black was blackmailing the business man over actual gun smuggling!
He took out a disposable camera, made sure the flash was off, and took a couple of pictures. Just when he was about to leave though, another voice called out behind him. "Your detective game… IS OVER!" and then a sharp pain as something solid – probably a metal pipe – came down on the back of his head.
Falling to the ground in a half-conscious daze, the next few moments were a blur. There was a feminine cry of "Shinichi, no!", several sounds of flesh impacting flesh, and finally the sound of a more solid impact. Then, someone else fell to the ground in front of him, blood matting her long brunette hair. 'It can't be… Ran!?'
Before his thoughts could get any farther, though, their assailants spoke once more. "The little brat was tailing us, and his girlfriend has some decent power in those kicks." Shinichi recognized the voice as belonging to the man with platinum blond hair, whom the other had referred to as 'Aniki'.
"Should we kill 'em?" The other asked.
"No, No guns! The police are still around from that earlier mess. We'll use the gift that Sherry was kind enough to leave us with, before falling victim to stupidity. We'll let this detective brat be our first human guinea pig. His girlfriend can be the second." Shinichi felt something slide into his mouth, before a liquid was poured in, forcing him to swallow. "Sayonara, Tantei-san!(3)"
There was peace for a moment, as the men in black left. Then, the pain in his head was replaced by a searing agony throughout his entire body, causing him to cry out. Judging by the cries coming from beside him, he knew Ran must be undergoing a similar torture. Something Shiho had said the night before came back to him. 'Still, it is better than an agonizing death, I suppose.' This must have been what she meant.
Just when he thought he couldn't take any more, darkness enveloped him, and he lost consciousness.
Shiho felt like she had run all over the park, and was just about to give up, when she heard a strangled cry from nearby. Fearing the worst, she ran to investigate, only to run into someone as she turned a corner. Due to her current form being much smaller, she fell while the person she hit stayed standing. Rather than a hand up, though, the person only gave her five words.
"Watch where you're going, brat."
Shiho froze. There was only one man she knew of, that spoke with that particularly malicious tone. Hoping that she was wrong, she opened her eyes, only to see black boots, and an equally black trench coat. All these things taken together, and it was too much to be a coincidence. It had to be him.
Gin.
Shinichi was surprised when he woke up. This was mostly due to the fact that he woke up at all. Sitting up, the first thing he noticed was that there was a group of policemen around him. 'This is great! If they can catch those men in black while they still have the money from the blackmail, there is no way they can get out of it! I just have to tell them which way they went, and… wait, why do they seem so big?' Then it hit him.
'Before this morning, I did not think that adults could spontaneously get smaller.' 'It was due to that accursed drug.'
Looking down at himself, he saw that it was as he feared, his clothes pooling around his much too small form.
As if that were not enough, a voice spoke up from beside him. "Sh-Shinichi? I-Is that you?" Looking to the voice, he saw Ran.
The only problem was that the last time Ran had looked like that, they were seven years old.
AN: Wow… I love giving a good cliffhanger, but I almost feel bad about this one. I guess that means I just need to get the next chapter out faster, huh?
Now, before any of you ask 'But isn't the possibility of surviving less than one percent? What are the odds that both Shinichi AND Ran would survive it?' There is a reason for this, but you will have to wait for next chapter in order to get said reason. Sorry. Feel free to guess, though. If anyone gets it right, they will receive recognition at the start of next chapter.
Until next time, ja ne!
Notes/Translations: (1): -san: Formal way of addressing someone. Equivalent of Ms./Mrs./Mr.
(2): Onee-san: a formal way of addressing an older sister, or a young woman whose name you do not know.
(3): Sayonara, Tantei-san!: means 'Goodbye, Mr. Detective!' I just think it sounds better in Japanese. ^_^
Any flames will be used to like Gin's cigarettes.
