Chapter Twenty-Six
"Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you'll see them all around you."
-Jon Bon Jovi
The mirror crashed to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces as Ruri tried to hide her face.
"What... happened to me...?" she said through her hands.
Conan and Ai shared a look.
"We're not sure," Conan told Ruri, looking away.
"It's probably a side effect of being poisoned by whatever you were poisoned with," Ai turned to her computer.
"Do you know what I was poisoned with?" Ruri asked, still holding her face.
"I have no idea," the little girl told the distraught girl. "But I'm a scientist. As long as I have something to go off of, I can do something about it."
"But... what if I stay like this? A boy..." Ruri mumbled, remembering the familiar and yet not familiar face in the mirror.
"You're significantly shorter than Kudo, but the clothes seem to be ok..." Ai told Ruri as they tried to find some suitable clothes in Shinichi's room.
Ruri, now having a male body, wouldn't be able to wear the dress that Aoko had picked for the "date" with Touma. So, Ai had suggested she wear some of Kudo's clothes. The boy of course, had been a little hesitant at first, but after seeing Ruri's broken hearted face, he relented.
So that brought them to now, as Ai rummaged through the drawers and closet for something close to Ruri's body size.
"Here," Ai tossed a simple black turtle neck sweater to Ruri.
Ruri caught the sweater and quickly caught a pair of pant Ai tossed as well.
"Hurry up," the little girl said, walking out of the room.
Ruri quickly slipped into the sweater and pants with a little bit of difficulty. Of course, she was still in panties so it was more than a little odd to see something where nothing should have been there.
Not to mention, it was tight. Uncomfortably so.
Sighing and doing her best not to touch that area, Ruri managed to put on the clothes.
She walked out of the room and fiddled with her shortened hair. Everything basic about her face had stayed the same. Blue eyes, brown hair, kind of rounded face. The only things that obviously changed was hair length and eye shape. Her eyes were still awkwardly feminine, but slightly sharper.
Ruri walked into the living room where Conan, Ai, and Agasa-hakase were waiting.
"So, I suppose you have some questions," Ai sighed.
Ruri nodded.
"I was a scientist for the same organization that guy who kidnapped you was from," she told Ruri. "I created the poison that shrunk both me and him."
Ai jabbed a finger in Conan's direction.
Another nod.
"I'm really Kudo Shinichi. I was turned into a little kid when I tried to expose a deal made by said organization," Conan explained.
"Ok... But what do they want with me?" Ruri asked.
Conan and Ai looked at each other.
"We're not sure yet," Conan said, shrugging.
Ruri sighed and leaned back into her seat.
"You're taking this awfully well," Ai commented.
Ruri shrugged, unsure what to say.
"Would you mind introducing yourself? Since two-thirds of the people in this room know next to nothing about you," the little girl said.
"My name is Yukihisa Ruri. I'm 17 and a regular high school student going to Ekoda High," Ruri told them.
Everyone in the room sat in silence for a while. Then something dawned on Ruri.
"Do you mind if I make a few phone calls?" she asked.
The two teenagers turned children shared another look and shrugged.
"I don't see why not," Ai told her. "As long as you don't reveal anything about us or the organization."
"I didn't plan to," Ruri assured her.
Agasa-hakase guided Ruri to a telephone and patted her shoulder.
"I'm truly sorry about this," he said before walking away.
As soon as he was back in the other room, Ruri dialed the first number she could think of. Kaito's.
"Hello?" he answered.
"It's Ruri," Ruri said.
"Ruri?! Where have you been?! You've been gone for a week! No one was able to contact you!" he yelled, making Ruri pull the phone away from her ear.
"I'm fine. I just had something to take care of. I'm at a friend's house right now," Ruri told him.
Kaito was silent for a little while. "Don't do that again," he told her.
"I'll try," she smiled.
"You worried m- ...everyone."
"I know. I'm sorry," Ruri apologized.
"Call Aoko, 'kay? She's been depressed since you went missing."
"I will. She's the next one I'll call, I promise," she told him.
"Good. And... Ruri?"
"Yes?"
"Glad you're ok."
Ruri was stunned. A few tears fell down her cheeks.
"Un."
Aoko's call was a little more yelling and sobbing on the phone, but soon, that was resolved as well.
Hakuba's call was a little less yelling and more lecturing. But he too expressed his happiness that Ruri was alright.
"Get all your calls done?" Conan asked, surprising Ruri.
Ruri nodded, wiping a few tears away.
"Good. We have some things to talk about."
Ruri followed him back to the living room and sat in the same chair.
"Kudo said he trusts you to keep our secret," Ai commented to the Ruri.
Ruri didn't know what to say.
"But for now, since we know that the Black Organization tried to get rid of you, you'll have to go into hiding."
The girl turned boy didn't answer.
"We'll have to forge a citizenship and a new persona for you," the little scientist huffed.
"I'm sorry," Ruri mumbled.
"Don't worry about it. You may come in handy," Ai waved the apology away. "So pick a name."
"... Natsuki. Tsukino Natsuki," Ruri told them, after a while of thinking.
"Are you sure? You won't be able to change it after the citizenship is forged," Ai warned.
Ruri nodded.
"You certainly seem to like the moon," Agasa-hakase commented, smiling.
"It... reminds me of someone. And I'm also a romantic," Ruri shrugged, grinning.
"Tsukino Natsuki it is," Ai smiled.
"By the way. Do you have somewhere to stay?" Conan asked.
Ruri paled.
Hey. Hey guys. I GOT ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE! I actually intended to go with the heterochromia thing but all of a sudden, Kuchizuke Diamond (Yamada and the 7 Witches)started playing on my player and I was like, HOLY CRAP, I'VE GOT IT. I love that show. I like anything with genderbending, really. So that was the story of how I was inspired to make this a really bad crap-fest. (Please don't hate me) Also, I realized about halfway through writing this that I would need a much larger physical change in order to not have the B.O. immediately recognize Ruri and kill her. And thus, that reinforced the genderbending idea. I love Honto Yajuu. So much. I can't wait to write the next chapter. Also, quick possible future chapter(s) warning. Possible yaoi fluff. Nothing serious. Just some, "oh god, is that really a dude, he's adorable, what is wrong with me, am I gay" stuff. So, if you are homophobic or don't really want to read that stuff, don't worry, it won't really have anything to do with the main plot line. It's just nonsensical fluff that I feel the need to write because I love creating awkward situations.
NEXT CHAPTER: MASTERING BEING A BOY
DFTBA GUYS! :)