(⌐▨_・)ﾂθ ●

Shinichi froze like a deer in headlights, the color draining from his face. The last thing he remembered was passing out, a shout, and something else that just wouldn't come to mind. But why did Kazuha know? His heart racing, adrenaline and fear pumping through his veins, he threw himself into Conan's role. "Kazuha-neechan, what are you talking about? Shinichi-niichan didn't come with us on this camping trip."

Kazuha gave him a quizzical look. "Shinichi-kun, we're at Heiji's house. What're ya talkin' 'bout?"

It was his turn to be confused. Why would they be at Hattori's? What happened to the camping trip? Kazuha might be trying to get information out of him, trying to catch him off-guard. Or maybe she was testing him, making sure that he was still intelligent. Either option was disconcerting. "Why do you keep calling me Shinichi-niichan's name? Why am I at Heiji-niichan's house? Where's Ran-neechan? I want Ran-neechan," he whined, pulling out the scared-and-confused card. Until he could gather more information, playing innocent and immature seemed the best course of action.

It was an embarrassing but necessary ploy. Shinichi knew nothing here. This room looked like it was in Hattori's house, now that Kazuha mentioned it, but he didn't recognize this room. The clouds out the window implied he was at least on the second floor, and the stale air meant a rarely used room. Bare-bones and bland, the furniture felt like a temporary installment, and faded paint on the walls pointed to piles of boxes. Dim lighting came from a single bulb overhead, a chain dangling from it. This room was once a storage room on a higher floor, but it had since been cleared out.

"She ain't here, but—" Shinichi changed his breathing to hiccuping, frantic bursts, fake tears welling in his eyes. Kazuha pursed her lips, looked around for something, and her eyes landed on the door. "Here. I'll go get Heiji." She rose to her feet, started out the door. "Ya stay here. I'll be right back, Shi— er, Conan-kun." Shinichi sniffed like he was about to cry, keeping the mask of Conan up until he was sure she was gone.

"Now, what in the world happened to me?" he murmured to himself. He knew Conan's body and could remember what it felt like to be at Shinichi's full height. Right now, he was neither of them. His arms were too thin, and he knew just by the feel of them that his legs didn't have any substance, either. He was taller by at least a few inches, maybe more. And was that a voice crack earlier?

"I need a mirror," he said to no one in particular. There it was. His voice had deepened, but not to Shinichi's voice yet. He could still reach Conan's tone of voice by using his nothing-to-see-here-I'm-just-a-kid voice, and he almost sounded like Shinichi if he dropped his voice just a little. Just to be safe, though, he should use his bowtie to make any calls.

Speaking of his gadgets, his watch wasn't on his wrist. Where it should've been were a few red dots, healed over days ago. Injection points.

Pulse racing again, he examined the injection sites for infection. They were clean, precise. No one would notice them as soon as he put on his watch. In fact, Shinichi himself wouldn't have noticed them if someone hadn't had the idea to take off his watch while he was out. He never took off his watch. Maybe when he bathed, but even then it was within arm's reach.

Absentmindedly noting the fact that he was wearing a very large shirt that was not his own, Shinichi threw off the covers and began searching his body for other injection sites. He found two on each thigh, three on his right shoulder and two on his left. With thirteen total, Shinichi could only wonder with dread what had been put into him.

Up the stairs came someone on crutches, or a crutch, singular. The click, thump, click, thump indicative of an irregular gait sounded from the other end of the house, growing closer with each passing moment. Looking around frantically, Shinichi saw his phone on the other side of the room. He darted over and grabbed it, dashed back to the bed and pulled the covers over himself. If all else failed, he could throw the phone at this person's head and make a break for it. With any luck, his fever from last night wouldn't affect his ability to run.

The footsteps stopped at the door. Bracing himself to run, Shinichi waited for the person to enter, casting a little glance over his shoulder. A gentle knock on the door, and a towering figure appeared in the doorway. "Kudou? Kazuha said ya're up."

"Holy s***, Hattori," hissed Shinichi. "You scared the living h*** out of me." The curses came off his lips too easily, the stress loosening his tongue.

Hattori laughed. "What, did ya think I was some sorta killer?"

Shinichi didn't smile. "I'm twelve years old sitting in your house and there are needle injections sites in at least thirteen different places that I could find. Oh, yeah, by the way, Kazuha-chan seems to know exactly who I am. Explain all of this. Now."

Heiji walked in, and Shinichi realized the cast for the first time. "When did you break your leg?"

Heiji gave him an odd look. "Kudou, I fell outta that tree. That antidote thing didn't do something to your brain, did it?" He sat next to Shinichi's bed.

Shinichi dragged a hand down his face. "How should I know? I haven't taken one in months. Haibara still won't tell me the progress she's made. Obviously, though, something happened, or I wouldn't be twelve. Any ideas?" He looked at Hattori who was frowning in thought, staring intently at Shinichi's face. "What?"

"Kudou, what's the last thing ya remember?" Heiji asked carefully.

Shinichi barely resisted the urge to groan. "Don't tell me."

Heiji nodded, grimacing. "You were out for a week. An' b'fore that, ya walked 'round for a day as your big self."

"And I remember none of it," finished Shinichi. He started rambling. "Oh, s***, what did I do. What did I say, what happened for that entire day. I don't know anything. Now that you mention it, it's bits and pieces, but—" he still managed to withhold a groan. "You were there, right? There were other people. I can just ask what I screwed up while I was myself," he grumbled.

Heiji hobbled into the room, lowering himself to the ground and falling back on his bottom to sit, using his crutch for balance. "Come on, don't be like that. While you were big, ya slept most of the time. Ya were sleep deprived, hungry, and ya still had a fever. Ya stuck 'round me most of the time. Don't worry, ya didn't do anything real stupid."

"Then explain why Kazuha-chan knows."

Heiji shook his head, scratched the back of his neck. "That wasn't your fault. The first antidote ya took wasn't complete, so the little nee-chan had ya take a second one. Kazuha's dad drove you, me, an' Kazuha back home, but the second antidote wore off 'bout half an hour from my house."

Shinichi sat up, letting his head fall backwards. "There was a murder. We solved it?"

"Akagi Taichi-han was murdered by his wife, Akagi Mina-han, because he didn't save her late sister from a drunk driver when he could have."

"She stabbed him with a knife and dumped his body in a boat. She was originally going to make him swallow bleach, but he foiled her plans. The final piece of evidence was the swapped phone calls," Shinichi flopped his head down again, nodded slowly. "And Kakei-san got taken in for questioning because he was threatening to kill Akagi Mina-san. "

"I can give ya the court date, if ya want."

"No, that's fine." He gritted his teeth. "I can remember a case but not the d*** things that I did. I'm never taking that antidote again." Another thought occurred to him. "That doesn't explain these dots all over me." He held out his arm to Heiji, showing him the injection sites. "Yes, I know what they are, but I'm tired of saying 'injection sites.' Red dots work just fine in normal conversation," said Shinichi stubbornly.

"Ya know it ain't correct, though." Heiji snickered when Shinichi huffed. "Don't worry 'bout those. The little nee-chan came a few days ago an' tried ta see if she could figure out why ya're not Conan or Kudou."

Shinichi put his arm back down. "And what did she say? Anything?"

Heiji shrugged. "Not a clue. She's gonna come by soon, though. Kazuha called her ta tell her ya're awake."

Shinichi grimaced again. "I acted like Conan with Kazuha-chan. I think I scared her a bit."

"Nah, she's fine." Heiji waved his hand.

"But, how much does she know?"

Putting a hand on his chin, Heiji frowned. "I kinda took a backseat when the little nee-chan was tellin' everybody everythin'—"

Holding his hands up in a 'T,' Shinichi cut off Heiji. "Timeout. Two things: who is 'everybody' and what is 'everything?'"

"Everybody's Okan, Oyaji, an' Kazuha. They know ya're in some pretty serious s***, an' they know ya're Kudou an' Conan. The little nee-chan told 'em how dangerous those men in black are an' that she used ta be one of 'em. From what I can remember, there wasn't much else."

Shinichi wrinkled his nose. "I'll bet your dad didn't react too well to that."

"Yeah, he didn't like the idea that some crime syndicate's sittin' right under his nose an' he can't do a thing about it." Heiji sighed. "He said he wants ta grill ya fer everythin' ya know, but Okan talked him out of it. Kazuha decided ta be the one ta watch ya most of the time, so he couldn't start interrogatin' ya from the moment ya woke up."

"I really scared her," said Shinichi, his eyes going wide with realization. "To know everything, then I just went full-on Conan with her." He facepalmed. "Fabulous."

"Look, everyone's been worried 'bout ya fer a long time. I'm surprised Kazuha let the little nee-chan get close ta ya. She was bein' worse than nee-chan, in terms of over-protective." Shinichi quirked a smile at that, and Heiji brightened a little. "Ya didn't scare her. She's better than that."

Looking down at his legs, Shinichi sighed. "I guess I should go apologize."

Heiji scrunched his eyebrows together. "Apologize? What for?"

Shinichi stared at him like it was obvious. "You had to listen to me."

Heiji stared back like he was an idiot. "Kudou, ya're stupid. I don't care about that— no one does. I'm just glad ya finally woke up."

"But the— the shouting. I should be able to control it. I can keep my mouth shut. I didn't this time and you had to listen to it," Shinichi gritted out angrily, twisting the sheets under his hands.

Heiji's voice was softer. "Look, it seemed like it was worse this time around with shrinking. Somethin' went wrong, Kudou. The little nee-chan said your body's been dealin' with more 'cause of that antidote. Ya've been unconscious for a week, ya passed out before ya grew, ya got stuck halfway like this, and ya lost your memory from then, too. Ya've been through a lot, Kudou. Don't ya think it's a reasonable deduction that maybe shrinkin' was just... too much ta hold in?"

Shinichi kept his eyes on the sheets on his legs. "Hattori, if I go screaming every time, someone is going to hear and someone is going to find out. People want to send me to the hospital just by seeing me when that starts. The past four test trials Haibara gave me, I didn't make a sound. I'm used to this. I should—'

Heiji groaned, and Shinichi snapped his head up. "Geez, Kudou. I'm tryin ta tell ya, just cut yourself some slack. You're f***ing shrinking, it's okay if you're not dead silent when you're f***ing shrinking." He fixed Shinichi with a weary, knowing look. "Got it?"

Shinichi didn't answer.

Heiji groaned again. "How 'bout this? We swap places. I'm the one who got poisoned, I'm the one lookin' like death every time I show up, I'm the one trippin' over myself ta make sure Kazuha's not worryin' 'bout me. You gonna look down on me 'cause I lose ten years in a minute and shout 'cause of it?" He stared Shinichi down.

"See, but Hattori, I'm used to it," Shinichi argued.

"I'd be used to it too," Heiji shot right back. "If that little nee-chan thinks you're awful, wantin' ta get back ta Ran-chan, she should be thankin' her lucky stars that it ain't me runnin' 'round at half my height," he said, a glint in his eye. "Ya're polite. Ya ask for an antidote, she tells ya no, ya accept it. Me? I've never taken no for an answer."

Shinichi regarded Heiji. "How much do you mean that?"

"Which part? 'Cause I meant every word," he answered firmly, crossing his arms. "Ya're no god, Kudou, death god or otherwise. Ya're human, I'm human, we're all just human. So quit thinkin' ya're 'supposed ta' be able ta do stuff ya can. You can do what you can do. Got it?"

Shinichi just kept looking at Heiji. "How long have you been holding onto that?" he asked quietly.

"Since the day I knew who ya really were," Heiji said a little bitterly, looking away. "Shoulda told ya a long time ago, but every time I thought 'bout it, it wasn't a good time."

Shinichi quirked a smile. "But I'm a captive audience now, so you can say whatever you want."

"Pfffft. If anyonesa the captive audience, it's me. I'm the cripple here," Heiji said overdramatically, standing up with the help of his crutch. "Come on, Kazuha's waitin' downstairs, waitin' ta see if ya're alright. Can ya stand?"

Shinichi tested out his limbs, slowly rising to his feet. His legs were a little shaky under his weight, but he could manage. "Yeah." He didn't betray his unsteady gait to Heiji, waking ahead of Heiji to get to the banister in the stairs before Heiji caught on.

He'd woken up as Conan for the first time and been off and running (out of necessity) in less than half an hour. He should be fine walking down the steps, never mind the deepladen fatigue and lingering soreness and bone ache

He could manage. He had to, and so he would.

(⌐▨_・)ﾂθ ●

Shinichi came down the stairs, followed closely by Heiji. Kazuha, her hands folded together, her chin resting on her hands, looked up as they came down. She sat a little straighter in her chair. "Sh— Conan-kun. How're ya feelin'?"

He scratched his cheek. "Ah, actually, you don't need to call me that. It's fine now. I just.. panicked when I woke up."

Kazuha's shoulders relaxed, her hands falling to her lap. "Okay. Ya startled me there, ya know. I guess ya were out when To-san an' I found out, but I thought ya woulda—"

"Wait, her dad knows?" Shinichi looked up sharply at Heiji. When he nodded, Shinichi rubbed his temples. "My apologies, Kazuha-chan, but I have only a vague idea of what you're referring to."

As Heiji sat down next to her, she shrugged her shoulders. "Well, ya were in a lotta pain, I guess."

Shinichi shook his head. "I mean I have no memory of it at all. I do not remember anything from when I was at my full height." Her eyes widened in realization. "I've lost my memory of the entire event."

"Don't worry 'bout it. Heiji an' I can fill ya in on what ya did," Kazuha assured him, the sentence weird in her mouth.

Shinichi nodded, but it didn't look like he really heard her. "And, ah, I'm sorry," he said, almost pitifully.

Heiji hefted his crutch up onto his shoulder and tried to whack Shinichi upside the head. "I told ya, ya don't need ta say that."

Shinichi ducked his head, both in guilt and to avoid another head smack. He flopped onto the couch, crossing his arms. Kazuha looked between the two of them. "What're ya sorry for? Ya didn't do anythin' wrong. And Heiji, quit tryin' ta hit Shinichi-kun. He doesn't need a lump on his head," she scolded.

Heiji set the crutch down, but he still glowered at a reclusive Shinichi. "This ahou thinks he did somethin' wrong 'cause ya heard 'im shoutin'."

Kazuha gave Shinichi an odd look. "It ain't your fault. It ain't anyone's fault. Ya don't hafta apologize."

Shinichi curled in on himself tighter. "Look, I know that, but it's just—"

"Kudou, I swear ta the heavens, I will throw this crutch at you if ya finish that sentence," Heiji threatened, hefting his crutch again.

"Heiji," said Kazuha sharply, yanking the crutch from his grasp. "Not a chance in h***."

Shinichi cringed as he explained himself. "I don't like it, but it's not something I like other people to see. You can't do anything to help and it's just... something that happens. I don't like doing that to people," he said, red rising to his cheeks.

Kazuha looked at Heiji, but she completely directed her words to Shinichi. "Ran-chan's lucky. She's got a teddy bear for a husband."

Shinichi choked, sitting up on the edge of the couch. "We are not—"

Heiji ignored Shinichi, grinning mischievously. "Yeah. it's a shame he doesn't remember what he did ta Ran-chan in the dark. We could hear the noises through the car windows."

The red on Shinichi's face went three shades deeper. "I wouldn't do that, you [insert favorite choices of colorful language]!"

Kazuha pulled out her phone as if struck by a sudden thought. "So ya don't remember Shinran?"

Shinichi groaned, the red beginning to fade from his face. Apprehensively, he asked, "Who or what is 'Shinran?'"

"It's your ship name with Ran-chan."

He raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure I want to know, but I'll ask anyway. What is a ship name?" he asked.

Heiji grinned like an idiot. "Dang, Kudou, have ya been livin' under a rock or somethin'?"

Shinichi leveled a glare at Heiji. "If this is some pop culture reference, please remember that I spend most of my time around six and seven-year-olds whose idea of gossip is the latest Kamen Yaiba episode. My connection to the actual world is news channels and whatever Sonoko says is happening at school."

Heiji winced, smiling. "We have a savage Kudou on our hands." Shinichi pressed a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "A ship name's when people get put together in a relationship, like with you an' nee-chan. Your names get smashed t'gether. So, the two of ya are 'Shinran.'"

"And I'm supposed to remember this why?" Shinichi asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he covered his mouth with a hand. "Oh, no. What did I do with Ran."

"Ya promised ta tell her stuff 'bout the case ya're supposedly on," said Kazuha, scrolling through her texts with Shinichi on her phone. "I got some of the details outta ya while we were drivin' back ta Heiji. Heiji tried ta ask, but ya threatened him with some kinda audio recording?"

"That's a story for another day," Shinichi said dismissively. "I actually promised that? You're positive," he said, almost a question.

Kazuha nodded, a flicker of concern across her face. "If ya don't believe me, ya can check your history. Ya've got your phone, right?"

Pulling up his phone, he turned on the screen. "I grabbed it from… oh, s***."

Heiji snickered. "That's a weird place to get yer phone from."

"Shut up, Heiji." Kazuha elbowed him in the side. "Shinichi-kun, what's wrong?"

With a groan, he held up his phone screen for both of them to see. "Forty-two missed calls from Mouri Ran," he said as they read it to themselves. He slumped back into the couch, making himself very small in the couch cushions. "She's gonna kill me."

(⌐▨_・)ﾂθ ●

Haibara held a flashlight up in front of his eyes. "Follow the light with your eyes," she ordered. Shinichi obeyed wordlessly, accustomed to the pseudo doctor's examinations she put him through. Thankfully, she was almost done.

She nodded with satisfaction as she set down the light. "Well, your fever is gone. I don't have to worry about that." She glanced at her notes. "What I am concerned about is this amnesia. You say you don't remember anything?"

"He remembers the details of the case," Hattori said, answering for Shinichi, "but he said it gets fuzzy 'round the time Ayumi-chan went missin'."

Shinichi glared at Hattori. "He can talk for himself, thank you."

Haibara raised an eyebrow. "Did he miss anything?"

With a sigh, Shinichi shook his head. "No, he's right. I can remember bits and pieces, but it's all a blur for the most part. It's like when you get stoned and can't remember a thing."

"See what you can do about that. Perhaps focusing on what happened around the case will help. If you try to think of what events are connected to the pieces of evidence?" Haibara nodded to Hattori. "You should be able to help him with that."

Shinichi frowned. "Are you sure that'll work?"

Haibara rolled her eyes. "No, I'm not. I can't be sure of anything without an MRI, and I don't exactly have that sort of equipment just laying around in the basement, now do I." Shinichi winced. "You should know by now, Kudou-kun. You get my best guess. For the most part, that's all science is."

"Sorry, I know." Shinichi held up his hands in surrender. An instant later, the look of guilt was gone. "What about this? Any ideas?"

She deadpanned, throwing a look to Hattori. "Didn't you tell him anything?"

Shinichi nodded, a sheepish note in his voice, "He did, but I wanted to hear it from you."

"And you call yourself a detective," she muttered, loud enough for Shinichi to hear. He opened his mouth to protest, but she continued before he could. "I don't know what exactly caused the partial effects of the Apotoxin, but I have an educated guess. Since I last spoke with Hattori-kun, I've determined that the cocktail of drugs you have in your system is keeping you from reverting to Edogawa-kun. That combination includes the Paikaru."

"And what drugs are in my system? Please tell me you were the only one who put them there," he said, just short of begging.

Haibara, raising an eyebrow, looked again to Hattori. "He found the spots where ya took his blood, an' he ain't convinced he doesn't have somethin' else in 'im," Hattori explained.

"It's possible," Shinichi argued. "I was unconscious for eight days. You can't tell me there's no possibility that someone snuck into the house and— oh, I don't know, drugged me while I was out."

Hattori gave a long-suffering sigh from where he sat as though they'd had this conversation before. Knowing the two, it was likely they had. "I promise, someone was always watchin' ya. Ya were never left alone while you were asleep."

Haibara nodded. "He's right. There's nothing in your body that I didn't put there. I gave you a drug that destroys the Paikaru antibodies and another that would enhance the effects of Paikaru. You didn't know they were there." Shinichi's mouth dropped open, and he glared at her again. She kept talking to prevent him from verbally retaliating.

"In two weeks, it would have completely destroyed the antibodies and then I would have told you about it. My plan was to give you a vial of Paikaru, about ten milliliters, and that would have lasted you for three transformations, if there had been sufficient time between them. A day or two was ideal. Unfortunately, that idiot Nakano-san had the same idea of cold medicine as this Osaka numbskull next to you."

"Hey!" Hattori protested.

"Don't try denying it, Hattori-kun, you know as well as I that drinking alcohol on top of a cold is an awful idea," Haibara said coolly. "Thanks to that, five weeks' worth of calculations went out the window."

"Is there anything good about this?" Shinichi asked hopefully.

"In fact, there is." She looked up from her notes to look at Shinichi. "The samples that I took from you, after letting them sit for a few days, have no signs of any of the drugs."

Shinichi gripped the edge of the table. "So, this isn't permanent."

Haibara nodded. "With any luck, your body will naturally purge itself of all traces of the antidote in twelve to fourteen days."

Shinichi groaned. "I can't wait that long. I've been gone for a week, what are people going to think? Ran's probably worried sick, and Occhan never takes it well when someone disappears on his watch."

Hattori laughed humorlessly. "Don't worry 'bout that. Conan-kun's parents're about as spontaneous as yers. They picked 'im up from Mouri-occhan's detective agency the day ya got back from the campin' trip."

"You and I went back with hakase a day early due to your intense fever. The story is that you felt better on the way back, so hakase left you at the agency before he left to attend a conference. He got quite the shouting at from Mouri-san when he and I showed our faces again." A ghost of a smile flitted past Haibara's face. "To make our lives easier, your father— yes, I'm talking about Kudou Yusaku," she said to Shinichi's frown, "has promised to try and convince Edogawa-san to let his son come back to Japan. Evidently, Edogawa-kun's parents thought he was getting too sick too often and took him back to America."

"At least we don't lie when we say I'll go home when I'm feeling better," Shinichi muttered. He hung his head in his hands. "Don't get me wrong— I'm grateful that you've helped me keep my identity a secret. I just… don't like lying."

Turning his head, he looked again at Haibara. "You said there's no way to speed it up?"

She pulled a face. "Technically, that's not correct. Despite my better judgment, I analyzed the drugs in your system and can theoretically recreate the cocktail that's affecting you. If all goes well, I'll have something neutralize the cocktail in a few days."

"Would you?" he pleaded. "I can't do anything like this." He tried picking up the pen from the table, but his fingers shook too much to keep the pen steady. It clattered to the floor, and Haibara picked it up. "See? My motor skills and muscle just disappeared."

"As you said, your condition is similar to when one consumes ridiculous amounts of alcohol. That might have something to do with the enhancement of the Paikaru," Haibara said, examining the pen. "I'll see what I'm able to do, but you know exactly what I want in return."

Shinichi sighed, a reluctant grin creeping onto his face. "Of course. I'll get it."

"I'll contact you as soon as I've finished it. As always, I make no promises."

"Thanks, Haibara. I mean it."

"What do you plan to do in the meantime? I can't have you running around like a madman." She said, packing up her equipment. Hattori picked up a stethoscope, trying to help, but she shot a Look his direction. "Don't. Touch. Anything."

He set it down nervously. "Yes, ma'am."

The grin dropped off Shinichi's face, a thoughtful frown taking its place as his hand came to his chin. "I want to find out what I did while I was myself. Hattori's going to tell me what he can…" he looked to Hattori for confirmation, and the other detective nodded. "...but I'm probably going to have to call other people and ask them what I did. The Shounen Tantei-dan was there, right?"

Haibara nodded. "They were very worried about you when you were in the process of transforming. Your temperature was dangerously high. They'd be happy to hear from Edogawa-kun. Maybe call in his voice and ask what 'Shinichi-niichan' did while you were sick. They'll happily brag about solving the case without you."

Shinichi snorted. "Of course they will. I'm just worried that I did something stupid while I was myself."

Haibara didn't even look his direction. "You? Do something reckless? Perish the thought."

"Shut up, Haibara."

"Heiji? Can I come in yet?" Kazuha knocked on the bedroom door as she entered. "Occhan an' Oba-chan 're gonna be home in 'bout an hour."

Hattori gave Shinichi a sympathetic smile. "They're gonna want ta ask ya whole lotta things. If ya want ta wait upstairs, I can tell 'em ya're up first, then ya can come down. I don't know how they're gonna react."

Shinichi looked at him skeptically. "I thought you said they just wanted to know if I was okay."

Heiji scratched the back of his neck, smiling nervously. "About that."

Shaking his head, Shinichi held up a hand. "I'll deal with them myself. You held them at bay while I was asleep. It's my turn, now."

Haibara tucked away the last few items into her backpack. "I'll be taking the next flight back to Tokyo. I'll be gone by the time Shizuka-san comes back. Give your mother my best," she said to Hattori. He made a noise of acknowledgment and she left with one final warning.

Pointing a finger at Shinichi, she said, "If you go outside, I will know."

Shinichi nodded, and, as soon as Haibara was out the door, Hattori gave a low whistle. "An' I thought nee-chan was scary."

A pair of hands lifting him from behind, Shinichi yelped, looking over his shoulder. "K-Kazuha-chan?"

"Oi, Kazuha, what're ya doin'? He ain't a sack of potatoes, ya know." Hattori tried to stand to stop her, but she'd already dragged a stunned Shinichi to the door.

"Oh, like ya're one ta talk. I'll have ya know that I had a very nice talk with Shinichi-kun while he was tall—"

"Hey!" Shinichi shouted in protest. "I'm not that short anymore."

"—and he's gone an' forgotten all of it. I'm gonna remind 'im 'bout our little chat, an ya aren't gonna say a word ta anyone. Later, Heiji."

She dragged Shinichi down the hall. He protested, struggled, tried to weasel out of her grasp, but his muscles had atrophied too much. He couldn't do a thing as she hoisted him onto her back and walked down the hall. She went in the last door, further from all the others and furthest from the front door. Setting Shinichi down, she closed the door behind them.

Shinichi flopped on the guest bed. "Kazuha-chan, I appreciate your efforts to help me get my memory back, but I—"

"This ain't 'bout that," she said plainly.

He lifted his head to look at her. "What?"

"This is about Ran-chan." She held out his phone (Shinichi phone) to him, and he took it, confusion on his face. "Whether ya remember it or not, ya promised ta tell her somethin' 'bout yer case. It's been nine days, an' she hasn't heard a thing from ya." She pressed something red into his hands. "Ya're gonna need that, too. I took it from Ai-chan. If anyone asks, it fell out of her bag b'fore she left."

Shinichi looked between the phone sitting next to him on the bed, the bowtie in his hands, and Kazuha standing in front of him. "Kazuha-chan, I—"

"Need ta call Ran-chan. She got involved in a bombin' three nights ago. Call her now." Kazuha walked back out the door, closing it behind her with a click.

Swallowing, Shinichi turned the dials on the bowtie, murmuring a test phrase to ensure it worked. Holding it with one hand, he turned on his phone with the other hand. With a deep breath, he pressed speed dial number two.

Calling Mouri Ran, chirped his phone.

He waited.