Chapter 7:
It was Friday morning. The alarm clock rang, and Conan turned it off. He got out of bed and walked into the kitchen, where Kogoro was having coffee, and Ran was eating breakfast. They were both having a conversation.
"So Ran, there's going to be a funeral on Tuesday for that detective boy that had it coming for him. You can take off from school and go there if you want, I'm sure lots of his little fans will be there for him."
"Sure....I will go...." She responded softly as she saw Conan walking into the room. She walked over to him so Kogoro couldn't hear their conversation.
"Shinichi, you get that antidote and turn back to regular fast. If you don't change back by Monday, I don't know what will happen."
"Don't worry, Ai has been up all night working on it, and she told me she is almost done already. Everything will be fine."
"I hope so..."
About 10 minutes later when Conan was dressed, the doorbell rang. He answered it, and it was Ayumi.
"Hey Conan!" she said. "Come on, let's walk to school! We don't want to be late."
Conan sighed and looked at Ran as she laughed at him for walking to elementary school with a little girl.
"Oh Conan, I heard that you knew that guy who died, I'm really sorry."
As they walked out the door, Amy kissed Conan on the cheek again. Ran was infuriated by this, and as an automatic reaction, she stepped on Ayumi's foot."
"Ow!" She screamed. "Why did you do that?"
"I'm sorry. It was an accident." said Ran, trying to hide her anger.
Conan then put his hand in Ayumi's as they walked away. He smirked at Ran, and then laughed at her quietly.
"See you after school, Ran!" he said mockingly.
Ran's face turned red, and she slammed the door.
"What's her problem today?" said Amy, seeming a little afraid.
"She is just a little sad about her friend's death." Conan replied. "She will probably be over it by the end of the day. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you, Ai has a cold and won't be coming to school today."
"I hope Ai is wrong about Gin," thought Conan. "The police still haven't called, so everything must be okay...I hope...."
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Conan got home from school, and saw Ai waiting in Ran's home. He ran in excitedly.
"You have the antidote!?" he asked happily as he walked in the door.
"Well, I have figured out the perfect formula, but unfortunately, this would take days to make, and I do not have the necessary ingredients. If I really put my mind to it, then I can have it ready in two months."
"Are you kidding me? I have to change back before the funeral, or I will never be accepted back into this world! Why would it take that long to make?"
"This may sound strange, but the antidote is made from a special kind of rice, along with some other ingredients that I will not have access to. And it must be fermented for several weeks to take its true effect. Sorry Kudo, but there is nothing else I can do."
Ran and Conan paused.
"No, there has to be some way....." thought Conan. Suddenly, a thought hit him like a ton of bricks.
"Did you say fermented rice? Sake is made from that! One time, a friend brought over some sake and gave me a very small amount as cold medicine, and I remember I changed back to normal for about twenty minutes! Ran, don't you remember that?"
"Yeah," she responded. "We still have almost the whole bottle in the top cabinet."
"Are you trying to tell me that the antidote has been right under our noses this whole time...?" said Ai, now a little irritated. Conan laughed in embarrassment. "I guess so!" he said, as he began to back away from Ai.
Ai walked up to Conan and grabbed him by the collar. "So I just stayed up all night and day working for nothing!? .....Err....oh well, just go grab the antidote and change back before I decide to beat the crap out of you for this..."
"Wait a second, I remembered I had an even larger dose afterward, and nothing happened! Agasa told me that I had built up immunity or something, so I pretty much forgot about that after that. So how is this going to work?"
"Hm, that does happen with some sicknesses, and I guess your body system thought that this was a 'disease' of some sort. I have special medicine that you can take to lower your immune system for a few hours. It's a type of steroid, but will not have any major affects if you only take it once, so it's safe. Just drop one of the pills in the poison. I brought them and some other medicines just incase."
"Uh, Ran, please go fetch the sake!" said Conan, nervous and relived at the same time.
Ran walked over to the cabinet in the kitchen, and was about to open it when she saw the bottle of sake sitting out on the table.
"I guess dad decided to have a little drink this afternoon while I was at school." She thought.
Ran brought in the bottle, and handed it to Conan.
"Okay," Ai said. "I will try to explain this in way you two can understand. There is certain substance sticking to your cells, which brings them back to a childhood state, and forbids you to even age. This substance is almost identical to a natural substance originally in the cells, and that is why it would be undetectable in an autopsy. This poison affects certain blood types differently. One effect is to turn into a child, and the other is to die painfully."
"I have the same blood type as Shinichi, so then wouldn't that mean I can turn into a child also?" asked Ran.
"Yes, but I don't think you will want to. The process of shrinking and the process of changing back to normal are both extremely painful. Now let me continue. The antidote will only take effect in large amounts, or else this substance I told you about will prevail over it. Kudo, you should know about this, since you told me that you shrunk again only twenty minutes after returning to normal. The antidote should take effect fifteen minutes after being taken. Based on my calculations, you can only turn back to normal by having exactly two cups of sake. No more, and no less. Any less and you will change back temporarily."
"What will happen if I have more!?" asked Conan.
"Even the slightest bit more and you will begin to age a rapid rate. So fast that you will die of old age and rotting only 2 days after taking it!"
Ran and Conan both yelled at the same time in shock and fear. "WHAT!?"
Ai started laughing hysterically. "Sorry, I just wanted to see your reactions to that! I was kidding. If you drink more than that, then the only thing that will happen to is you'll get drunk for a little bit. That was for making me stay up all night, Kudo!"
Conan looked at Ai angrily. "Let's just get this over with..." said Conan as he walked into the kitchen to get a measuring cup.
Conan quickly poured and drank the two cups. "I will just slip on a pair of my real clothing from my regular age, go into my bedroom, lie down, and wait. Now Ran, last time I took this, you saw how much I was in pain. Now no matter how much I scream, don't come in. Only come in under the condition that I call for help. Trust me." And with that, he headed toward his room.
"Shinichi, wait!" said Ran. Conan turned around to hear what she had to say.
"This may sound weird, but I think I am actually going to miss having Conan around. It was like having a sweet little brother to always keep me company, and add a little excitement to my life. Now it will just go back to me and my dad.....can you please have Conan say goodbye to me?" she asked kindly.
Conan smiled happily and looked at Ran, then cleared his throat, and began to talk like a little kid again. "Guess what Ran? My parents are finally well enough to take care of me again! I live kind of far away, so I don't think I will be able to visit you. But don't worry, I will always remember you, it has been great staying here! Tell your dad I will miss him also! Goodbye." Ran smiled, and almost shed a tear.
"Oh, brother." said Ai, who was sitting on the sofa watching this whole thing.
Conan waved goodbye, cringed in a slight pain, and shut the door behind him as he went into his room.
