~Mouri Detective Agency~

The two parents stared at the young girl in equal shock at the words she had just spoken and the voice with which she had spoken them. The girl smiled at them, still holding the bowtie up to her mouth.

"How di-"

"Professor Agasa" Shinichi interjected "its an invention of his. It's a bowtie that allows the user to mask their voice and speak at any pitch or frequency. Its come in handy over the last two years." He smiled at them while they tried to piece together what had just happened.

"Who are you two?" Eri asked eerily, sounding almost afraid of the impending response

"That's Conan and his friend from school" Kogoro declared half-heartedly "But what's this about a voice-changing bowtie?" He stared at what he thought was a nine-year old boy, waiting for an answer. Finally Eri broke the silence

"Wait" she uttered curiously "you two look exactly like…." She hesitated then pulled out her purse. She scrolled through the pictures she kept in her wallet until she finally found what she had sought after. She held up the picture and compared it to the two children before her

"Kogoro!" He jumped at the shrill way she screamed his name

"Huh?" he responded blankly

"Come look at this" So he walked around from behind his desk, seeming agitated at the thought standing beside his wife.

"What?" he said shrewdly

"Look." After a moment of comparison, a look of utter astonishment came over his face. He looked as if he could have passed out, but then his wife whispered

"They're exactly the same aren't they?" They both pressed their faces together and analyzed the picture once again, this time checking for the most minute details.

"But…but that's impossible. They're identical. Completely identical." They both looked up from the picture and stared inquisitively and the two young faces

"Who are you? And why do you look so similar to my daughter and her friend?" Eri had now taken a much graver tone. She appeared ready to apprehend the two kids she thought to be imposters or pranksters.

"Answer me!" The two children looked at one another and then back to her.

"Okasan?" Eri stood dumbfounded at the use of that word again "Do you remember about a year ago when I came by your office to remind you that it was the anniversary of your first date with Dad, and I found your wedding ring in that vase full of paper balls and I thought you were hiding it. Then I found that picture of you and another man and I jumped to the conclusion that you were having an affair, but it was actually just a misunderstanding and you had gone to see a specialist for your cat?"

"What's this?" Kogoro roared in jealousy

Now Eri was in a state of pure terror. 'How could she know that' she thought to herself. 'How could she possibly have that kind of information about my life? And in such great detail?'

"Have you been spying on me?" she screamed threateningly at her. Just then she realized who she was screaming at: a little girl who looked exactly like her…

"No" she whispered helplessly to herself "it can't b-" before she could finish, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed on the floor. Kogoro picked her up promptly and carried her to the couch. He looked back at the two kids, who had run to her aid.

"Okasan!" the little girl screamed as she shook Eri at the shoulders, hoping to jar her back to consciousness. Meanwhile the young boy had gone to grab a wet rag. He returned with it and handed it to the girl. "I'm sorry okasan, I'm so sorry. Shinichi this is your fault!"

"My fault?" the now puzzled child responded "How is it my fault?"

"Because YOU were the one that said we should play it cool and let them figure it out. Now she is unconscious and he is….having a heart attack" Her voice softened as she set her eyes on her father, who instinctively had wrapped his hand around Eri's and now sat mere inches away from her waiting eagerly for her to regain consciousness. For the first time in many years, her father was genuinely worried about his wife and went to no measures to hide it.

"Otosan" she paused and waited for him to acknowledge her "Otosan". Her voice wad grown louder now, demanding his attention. Finally in a bold and uncharacteristic fashion screamed "Otosan look at me!" Kogoro slowly turned his head, and saw the faint signs of tears in her eyes.

"Otosan….you haven't held okasan like that in so long." The room fell silent as he looked at the girl in disbelief. 'How would she know?' he continued to wonder 'How could she possibly know about my wife and I unless…' He took a deep breath and locked eyes with the young girl. The truth was there and it was undeniable.

"Ran…." He muttered, still not completely confident in his words "is….is that really you?" Instantly she jumped into his arms and he caught and held her.

"How did this happen to you? Who did this?"

"It's a long story and I think it's better if he tells you" she motioned over to the boy accompanying her, who aside from the lack of glasses and different clothes looked exactly like Conan.

"Are you…." He faltered in his accusation before finally continuing "Kudo?"

"Yes. I'm the high school detective, Kudo Shinichi!"

Once pleasantries were aside Kogoro insisted on hearing every last detail of the story that had changed both his daughter and her friend into children. As he heard the story of how he had been used all this time by Kudo to solve cases, and why he could never remember any of them, he couldn't help but feel ashamed for all of the glory he had enjoyed. When the story reached its end and he had heard all the details of his daughter's transformation, he felt a sudden urge to pin the little runt down and beat him senseless. But he instead turned his focus back to his wife who had, without their knowing, come to halfway through the story. Now the room fell silent once again and they all stared at one another clueless as to where they would go from there.

"So all this time" Eri said softly "that little kid I thought was just helping out turned out to be the mastermind behind all of your magnificent deductions. How do you feel about that tantei-San?" She looked over at Kogoro connivingly, twisting the dagger that had already burst his ego.

"I think its time I go back to the force" he muttered in a defeated tone. Just when he thought he couldn't feel any lower, his wife wrapped her arms around him and said

"And I think it's about time I move back in" Kogoro sat mystified at what Eri had just said. He knew despite his fronts, this is what he had wanted for some time. He nodded at her in joyful approval and he turned to embrace her fully when they were suddenly interrupted

"There's something else you need to know" Ran said to them in a low and almost mournful voice "we've decided to move to America with Shinichi's parents"

Her parents stared at her in frustration and began to yell various overlapping objections at her

"You mean to tell me after all this, you're going to leave? You can't! How are we supposed to let you leave the country in the state you're in! Its not even an option! No! No! NO!" Ran and Shinichi looked on as her parents lost there minds, not in any degree of shock, mind you, they had seen this coming.

"Calm down please. Look its better if we go somewhere where we won't be recognized. Besides, we would still visit and call." Her parents, now in a more tame state, considered what their daughter said and, with heavy hearts consented.