Part VII: Return to Form

The world came back to me in shades and blurs of light. But, even before I opened my eyes, I felt that something was off.

That something had changed…

"Ah! So, you're finally coming around!" came a warm, cheery voice. A voice I recognized…

"Pro…Professor…?"

I coughed and tried to sit up, my head swimming with nausea and disorientation.

"Not so fast!" the professor warned. "You might want to take it slow for now. At least, until you've had some time to acclimate."

"A – acclim—?"

A wave of vertigo overwhelmed me. I groaned and doubled over, fighting to calm my leaping stomach. The afghan blanket that had covered me slid to the floor and I realized I'd been curled up on Professor Agasa's battered old couch, wrapped in one of his oversized bathrobes.

"Here, my boy, drink this." I heard his kindly voice again, and I felt him press a warm, smooth teacup into my hand. I breathed in the soothing fragrance of bittersweet green tea and spicy ginger and took a long, slow sip.

"There, now," he said. "I'll bet you're feeling better already."

The Professor's house had always been a bit of a cluttered mess, with pieces of equipment and the specialized tools he used on his inventions scattered all around. But, as my breathing evened out and my vision began to clear, I realized the busy space seemed smaller and more cramped than usual. Even his familiar couch seemed to have…shrunk…?

Moving slowly, cautiously, I uncurled my legs and set my feet flat on the floor...the floor my toes hadn't been able to reach since my transformation...

"It's not the couch…" I realized, staring in wonder at my legs, my arms, my hands. "It's me…! I-I'm—!"

"Shinichi—"

"Professor!" I exclaimed and jumped to my feet, delighted to be speaking in my own voice, to view the room from my own height. "Professor, I'm me again! How…how did this happen? What did you do?"

The professor regarded me through his glasses, his expression deeply concerned.

"I? But… Oh, dear," he muttered, his gray mustache seeming to intensify his worried frown. "Are you telling me you don't remember what happened last night?"

"Remember…?" I shook my head, struggling to think back…past the woozy haze that still clouded my brain…

But, the professor was still talking, his expression drawn and somber.

"I wish I could take credit for restoring you to your proper form," he said, "but I must confess, it wasn't me. I merely followed the distress signal that was sent out when you activated that blue bowtie I gave you. It led me to a construction site right in the heart of the city, and that's where I found you, unconscious. You were lying on a pile of sand, already in this form. And, you seemed to have torn right through your clothes!"

"What?" I glanced down at the bathrobe, opening it to reveal the tight, tattered remains of Conan's child-sized shirt and short trousers.

"I laid out some fresh clothes for you," the professor said, indicating one of my own familiar suits draped across a chair. A suit I used to wear back when I was the famed high school detective, Shinichi Kudo. Before I'd ever heard of Gin or Vodka, or the experimental poison that had turned me into Conan Edogawa. "I fetched this from your house while you were sleeping. You go ahead and get changed. I'll see if I can find us something to eat."

The old man got up from his chair and took my empty teacup, heading toward the kitchen. I watched him go, my heart quickening as I realized, whatever had happened to me last night, the professor and his inventions had, again, saved my life. Not once, but twice.

"Professor Agasa," I called to him. "Thank you."

"You just get dressed," he called back, already clattering pans and plates. "Once you're feeling more like yourself, I'm sure your memory will start to return. Then, we can both get to work on this mystery."

To Be Continued…


Hi everyone! I'm back from the whole novel workshop and it was AWESOME! I got some extremely insightful and encouraging feedback on my original middle-grade sci-fi novel and I'm already working on the revisions. Next up: Agent Queries! Yikes! But, if it works out, who knows? There might be a book out there with my name on it in two or three years! :D

Wish me luck, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really appreciate your patience with my slow updates! Thank you, and please review! :D