Sorrow hanged in the air as Conan, Ran, and Kogorou stepped out of the sad little taxi into the entrance of a large traditional house. The leaves of the tree in the front rustled in the wind. They walked toward the doorway as Hattori exited the said doorway. Conan observed his Osakan friend, Hattori had large dark circles around his eyes, his hair is a mess, and his clothes were obviously thrown on without any consideration if they matched or not. Simply, Hattori looked exhausted. And Conan could understand why since Kazuha has been missing for over a week now with no clues of her disappearance or her current location. After a week had gone by and no Kazuha showed up, Hattori had called him asking for help, briefly explaining the situation. Kazuha had apparently gone to a book signing and never returned home that night and she never sent a message of going somewhere. She was just gone, and the police force has been searching for her; it also worried him since unlike him or Hattori, Kazuha was not a person to willingly, by herself, go searching for trouble that could potentially get her killed.
Hattori walked up to them with dead and sorrowful eyes. "H-hey guys. Um, thanks for coming down here." He greeted with a small wave of his dark hand.
Ran, her whole demeanor filled with sympathy, walked up to Hattori and grabbed his hands in comfort. "We'll find her Hattori-kun." Ran promised and Conan slightly lowered his eyes. Ran had developed a friendly relationship with Kauzha, this also must be hard for her too, especially since she knows the pains of a missing best friend.
Hattori presented a soft smile at that. "I genuinely hope so too." He softly said as he gently pulled away and headed back to the house. They followed but Conan stopped shortly behind them as his ears detected a noise. He focused his hearing, honing toward the location of the noise. "Conan-kun, Conan-kun." It was his name, he turned his head where he felt a pair of eyes watching him. It had come from behind the house yet all he saw were trees and bushes.
"Conan-kun, is everything all right?" Conan snapped his head back up to find Ran peering down at him in concern.
Conan shook his head. "No, everything is all right Ran-neechan. I just thought I heard something…" Ran smiled sadly at him.
"I think we all want to hear something Conan-kun." Ran said softly, and Conan knew she was referring about Kazuha as well as Kudo Shinichi. Conan nodded and continued walking until he heard his name again. He quietly slipped away as they entered the doorway, he quietly ran around the side of the house making sure he was not visible in any passing windows. He is sure someone was calling his name or at least watching him. Once he reached the bushes, he began inspecting them. He narrowed his eyes in annoyance, he's going to have to crawl through, isn't he? He sighed and ventured into the green bushes. Please hope his clothes does not get too dirty, he really did not want to explain this to Ran. He broke through the other side of the bushes, he cleaned his glasses with his shirt.
"Conan-kun." He heard his name, this time it was much clearer and louder. Female, it is a girl who is calling his name, and based off the pitch, he determined it is a child. Weird, considering that he knew zero to no children in Osaka. The unknown girl called his name again, Conan inspected the area, there was another set of bushes. Conan gave the bushed an annoyed look. He made his way past the second fortress of bushes to find a little girl on the other side staring at him. The little girl is sitting down swamped by an orange blouse and a black skirt, clothes much too big for her; she had black hair and her face and skin are smeared with dirt. He stomach rumbled, and she flushed. He stared at her, confused.
Kazuha stared at the child before her and flushed. What was she thinking calling over Conan? How is he going to understand her situation? She has been going back and forth between her house and Heiji's house, hiding in the bushes lacking the courage to present herself to them (she was lucky enough to have enough money in her pockets to buy some food but that will eventually run out), she was afraid of their reactions-she was afraid of them not believing her. She had no idea why she was impelled to call over Conan, once she saw him all she thought was that maybe since he is such a bright child, he can see her easier or understand her easier. It was a child to child understanding, but now she is dreading her own despair, she is seventeen and Conan is seven, how would there even be a level of understanding? Sure, Conan is a smart child for his age but is overall innocent.
Kazuha blinked at the child in front of her holding out an uneaten granola bar. Kazuha slowly grabbed it muttering a 'thanks' as she opened the wrapper, jeez she was starving. "Um, who are you? And how do you know my name?" Kazuha looked up at Conan who questioned her, his gaze softly piercing through her, inspecting her for the answers he wished to receive.
"Oh, um," Kazuha played with the wrapper in her fingers nervously as she stared in those blue eyes full of confusion and interest. Birds chirped in the background. "This is going to sound really crazy Conan-kun, but you have to believe me." She said desperately, she will have no idea what to do if he does not believe her.
Conan smiled at her. "Hmph, I've seen plenty of crazy stuff." Kazuha blinked at the surprisingly mature tone in his voice, she knew the boy is mature for his age yet for some reason he sounded a bit older. As if he was an adult tending to a child, shouldn't it be the other way around?
"I'm, I'm Kazuha. Toyama Kazuha." She managed to say. The world turned silent as she watched Conan's face; he stared at her in complete disbelief and complete shock. Oh god, she knew she shouldn't have told him, of course, he would not believe her.
"Are you really Kazuha?" Conan asked softly. A hint of distress shone in his blue eyes as he stared at her while leaning forward slightly to get a good look at her.
She nodded. She is kind of surprised by the reaction of Conan, she was not sure if this is to be a good thing or not. "Yes, I am. I know its crazy, it sounds completely insane for a seventeen-year-old to turn into a seven-year-old, but it's really true." Oh, please believe her, please believe her.
Conan shook his head slowly. "No, it's not crazy, well it is but no, it's not." Kazuha blinked at him. Does he believe her? It seems like he does but she was not expecting that answer. "How, how did you manage to de-age?" He questioned and Kazuha paused at the quiet sigh and the tone of, experience?
Kazuha relayed her story, shuddering at the horror of turning into a child and the memory of her finalized death. Conan's gaze remained on her throughout the entire story, rage flashed in his eyes at the description of the blond man. When she finished, Conan sighed and leaned back against his hands closing his eyes briefly. "Yeah, I believe you're Kazuha-chan," Conan sighed. Kazuha's heart leaped for a moment at the sentence, she was so glad, yet she was concerned by Conan's reaction to her story. He seemed like he knows something. "This, it is so unfortunate that this happened to you, you do not need to be involved in this."
Kazuha tilted her head slightly at this. She gripped the wrapper (she finished the granola bar a while ago) as she questioned what he meant. Conan glanced over at her with an annoyed facial expression, but she can tell he is not annoyed at her but at something else. "I know the men you described, well except for the dead man. They are extremely dangerous men, and you are not the first victim of the drug you took Kazuha-chan." Kazuha's eyes widened at this.
"W-what do you mean?"
"These men belong to an organization, a dangerous and highly secretive one. They developed the drug they forced you to take, and many people died from this drug yet there are side effects."
"The side effect being my shrinking, correct?" She asked, knowing very well that was the answer. She felt a little sick to her stomach at hearing this conversation.
"Correct, and you are not the first person to shrink either…"
Kazuha gave Conan a questioning gaze. She was not the first person to shrink? Then who…? "Who else was shrunken by this drug?" She dared to ask, unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer.
Conan stuck his right hand as if for a handshake. Kazuha stared at his hand unsure if she should shake it. Slowly, she reached her arm outward and grasped his hand. "Kudo Shinichi. I'm the first victim of this drug, known as APTX 4869, and this first to turn into this cursed form." Kazuha stared at Conan in disbelief. Edogawa Conan is Kudo Shinichi? That was not possible, but then again as she thought about it, Conan did seem a little too bright for his age. She blinked several times, all the times she saw Conan, Conan seemed truly just like a little kid not a seventeen-year-old.
"You're Kudo-kun? Is that really true?" She could not stop the question from leaving her lips.
Conan raised an eyebrow. "And are you truly Kazuha-chan?" Kazuha paused, understanding his point and she nodded. Conan sighed. "Yeah, I am Kudo Shinichi. I've been stuck like this unable to change back."
"But I've seen you before, as a teen several times. What do you mean unable to turn back?" She blurted out remembering all the times she has seen and met Kudo, she suddenly remembered seeing Shinichi and Conan in the same room before. She unintentionally voiced that last thought out loud.
"Who you saw was me Kudo Shinichi, but not Conan. I had someone else dress as Conan for me. And I cannot permanently change back to my true self, each time you saw me I had temporarily transformed into a teen, but they don't last, and I inevitably turn into a child again."
"Then why don't you continue turning back into yourself?" She curiously asked.
Conan sighed once more. "I wish but I cannot. One, it is too much of a hassle to continue transforming like that repeatedly, you know the pain. It is easier to remain in this child form. Secondly, every time I transform back into a child or into an adult, my chances of survival decreases, and I become more immune to the temporary antidotes. Third, there are no permanent antidotes so far, so I am, well we, now, are stuck like this." Kazuha stared at him with despair, her stomach even after eating the granola bar felt empty. Does this mean she may never return to normal?
Conan looked at her and smiled softly at her knowing exactly the thoughts occupying her mind. "Don't worry though, I have someone working on an antidote for us."
Lips curled into a smile of relief. "So, what should I do in the meantime?"
Note: I realized I forgot to put the disclaimer. I do not own Detective Conan
I hope the rewrite is somewhat better. Thanks for reading.