Err… so this was going to be just a short drabble but then yeah… I got into it. This may go about 3-5 chapters, so I hope you guys don't mind! Enjoy!

TOAK Chapter:

Alternate Universe Chapter

Pandora Academy part 1

Shinichi stood on the sidewalk in front of his new school, staring at it with a sense of rising dismay. Since he had been shrunken by the Black Organization and told that there was no cure for his new 'condition' in the body of an eight year old boy who he had hurriedly named Conan Edogawa, he was forced to face the inevitable. He would have to grow up all over again with the mentality of a seventeen year old high school student while attending elementary school 2nd grade.

With each little kid he saw passing by him, he felt his hope of ever returning to normal dim time and time again. Surrounded by little snotty eight year olds with a child's mentality… how would he ever make it through life?

Still, he now had the support if not misguided love of Ran and her father behind him, as well as the friendship of professor Agasa, the only one who knows him for who he actually is. Then there of course was the fact that he was a detective. Surely he could somehow get back into the thrill of the hunt?

Realizing he had been standing there unmoving for the past ten minutes, he took a deep breath and started forward through the front doors of Tokyo Academy and dorms.

That's right, dorms.

This was a boarding school where he would remain until his thirteenth birthday when he would move to the middle school high school Academy and dorms.

God help him… he whispered as he grabbed the handle of the room marked 1A and swung open the door.

Glancing around, he was honestly surprised to see the low number of students in the class. Thinking perhaps he was late, he glanced at his watch to see it only a couple minutes until class started. Strange, he thought to himself, he had transferred in the middle of the school year, so it's not like it's the first day when students are always running behind.

Confused and also a bit curious, he spied around the room for a seat to sit in. Spotting one at the very back next to a boy with blonde hair whose face was buried in a book, he hurriedly moved towards it and placed down his things.

The other boy didn't even react to his presence.

"Uh, hi," Conan greeted with a smile, "I'm Conan Edogawa."

The boy with the book slowly closed his book and turned, staring at the other for a moment before smiling and stretching out his hand in a very mature manner.

"My name is Saguru Hakuba, a pleasure to meet you, Edogawa-kun."

Shinichi blinked, a bit surprised at the stiff and frankly very formal tone for an eight year old child.

"Uh nice to meet you to, Hakuba-kun. Are you the son of Superintendent Hakuba of…"

"Yes," Saguru cut him off, "I am."

"O-okay."

Not sure what else to say, he glanced the book the boy had been reading and noticed it was Sherlock Holmes, his favorite.

"Oh you like Sherlock Holmes too?"

Hakuba's eyes widened.

"You do too?"
Kudo nodded, smiling.

"I definitely love him. I enjoy all the stories Arthur Conan Doyle wrote about the Great Detective, but my favorite would probably be the Return of Sherlock Holmes arc, when he first comes back after the fall with Moriarty. I really love that phase of the story."

"Me too! And when he…"

The two got into a heated discussion about Sherlock Holmes and hadn't even realized that the other students in the class had vanished from the room until moments later a thick mop landed on Hakuba's head and a cackle of what Shinichi could only describe as evil laughter ensued.

"Shut it, thief!" Hakuba shouted, launching his pencil at the boy who had appeared beside them.

The other boy merely leaned to the side as the pencil whizzed by his head, a large grin still stretched across his face.

"Saguru, you were supposed to join us in the cafeteria for a club meeting!"

Hakuba glanced at the clock and a guilty expression crossed his face.

"Sorry Aoko, I honestly forgot. I was talking with the new student here about…" he paused, "something important", he finished with a cough.

Aoko rolled her eyes and the other boy just laughed, shaking his head.

"Important my butt. Holmes is that important?" he asked.

Shinichi couldn't help the glare he sent at the other boy and the kid stopped laughing, his eyes widening when he noticed Hakuba and the newbie glaring at him.

Hands up, he took a step back in surrender.

Aoko just sighed and turned to Shinichi.

"You must be the new student I heard we are getting. My name is Aoko Nakamori and this guy behind me," she jerked her thumb at the kid now strangely juggling random objects (where did he event get those?) behind her, "and that's Kaito Kuroba."

The kid called Kaito stepped up and snapped his fingers, presenting Shinichi a yellow rose with a large smile.

"I am Kuroba Kaito, Magician extraordinaire. Pleasure to meet you, newbie."

"Kaito, that's rude!" Aoko shouted, chasing him with a mop (and where did she get that from?).

"Sorry, ignore those two. They never stop. Guys, this is Conan Edogawa."

Aoko froze and placed her mop beside her like a military bayonet.

"Welcome," she grinned, "I'm the head of our class and the head of our club, so if you need anything, don't hesitate to let me, Saguru, or Kaito know."

Shinichi glanced at the wild haired boy who was now pinned in the corner of the classroom like a spider watching its prey. A shiver ran through him at the thought. He never could stand spiders.

"So what exactly is your club?" he wondered aloud.

"Oh," Aoko blinked, "I thought it would be obvious what with my being the head of our class. We are the student council."

Shinichi honestly thought he was hearing things.

"Of the entire academy?" he whispered.

"Uh yeah?" Kaito asked like it was obvious.

"But there… I mean… this school goes up to age thirteen doesn't it?"

Aoko nodded, looked confused.

"So?"

"I just… you are all only eight right?!"

"Eight shmate," Kaito said as he waved his hand as though clearing the air of something bad, "you can ask any teacher here, we are the student council leaders and we hold the highest grades of the entire academy."

"Even you?" Shinichi asked, only able to stare.

"How rude!" Kaito yelled, though he didn't look offended in the slightest.

Aoko and Hakuba sighed.

"I know it's shocking," stated Saguru as though he had sucked on something sour, "but he actually is the one with the highest grade."

Shinichi snapped his head to the boy who he had thought was the class clown. The other seemed uninterested in Shinichi's curiosity and instead teased the girl by flipping her skirt which of course, started another round with the mop.

TOAK

His thoughts swirling, he began walking towards the room he been assigned to sleep in and wasn't really paying attention when someone suddenly smacked into him, knocking them both to the ground in a heap.

"Ouch, watch where the heck you're walking brat!"

Shinichi looked up, blinking. "Uh, sorry?"

The kid in front of him had long blonde hair and narrowed eyes. He gave Shinichi a chill and not the good kind of chill. Dressed in all black, the kid stood back up and started forward, his hands in his pockets of the black jeans he wore and a scowl permanently etched across his face. He didn't even say anything as he purposely stepped on Shinichi's bag and moved down the hall as everyone else dodged him as though he had a bubble around him, keeping people away.

Staring after him, a girl stopped and helped him up.

"Are you okay?"

Nodding, he stared up at her and froze. She was quite pretty, even for a kid what with her long flowing blonde hair and crystal blue eyes.

"I'm Vermouth," she replied with a smile, "you must be new to not know to get out of Gins way. I apologize if my brother was rude to you."

"Ah, it's okay," he quickly replied, fighting down a blush, "So, err, he's your older brother?"

She blinked.

"Younger actually. We are twins and I was born first."

Shinichi stared.

"Oh."

She grinned. "It's fine, it's hard to know which of us is older and younger, what with how tall he is and how short I am."

Shinichi found himself smiling when she smiled. "Yeah…" he whispered before he cleared his throat, "I'm Conan Edogawa and yeah I am new here."

She shook his hand and gave a small smile.

"Well I am sure I will see you around, Conan Edogawa-kun. Later."

Waving, Shinichi could only wave back as the strange girl vanished down the hall.

"Wow, you either have really good luck or really bad luck attracting the attention of both Gin and Vermouth like that."

Shinichi turned and stared at a dark skinned kid standing there by the door he had been about to enter.

"I'm sorry, and you are?" Shinichi asked, a bit testy.

The kid smiled in friendly open manner.

"Ah, sorry. I'm Heiji Hattori. You must be Conan Edogawa?"

Shinichi nodded.

"That's right."

"Cool. I'm your roommate" the boy grinned, "I hope we get along."

As the kid vanished into their room, Shinichi could only pray his time here would become meaningful in the end.

TOAK

Sitting on his bed in the corner, reading –surprise, surprise- Sherlock Holmes by light of the lamp beside his bed, he noticed a sudden strange sound in the hall. Curious, he placed the book down on the table and started towards the door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice whispered.

Shinichi turned back to see Hattori watching him with open eyes, a hint of fear in his eyes, "some people look and never come back. You saw how small our class was… why do you think that is?"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes and turned towards his roommate.

"You are telling me kids are missing and people aren't taking note?"

Heiji's own eyes narrowed.

"I'm telling you kids are missing and people aren't trying to take note. Outside this school, there is limited contact and only if the child within the school wishes to meet with their parents or families. If the child doesn't wish for it, the child can be here in this school basically until they graduate and only then would someone take note. However, if the child fails their courses and must stay another year or another semester, disappearances can be hid for some time."

Shinichi frowned.

"What happens to them?"

"No one knows. Word is that only a select few have ever escaped the halls at night and those few… well, they aren't normal."

"Who are they?"

"You met most of them today."

Conan thought back on everyone he had been introduced too and felt his eyes narrow even more.

"Aoko, Hakuba, and Kuroba?"

Heiji nodded. "And Gin and Vermouth as well."

Shinichi stepped closer to his roommate.

"How do you know this?"

Hattori turned away with a deep swallow.

"I too escaped the halls."

Shinichi pulled out his desk chair and sat down.

"Tell me more."

TOAK

"We need to talk," was the first thing Shinichi said upon arriving at the classroom the next morning to find Aoko, Hakuba, and Kuroba sitting around at the desks.

The three glanced at him and sighed.

"I am guessing you heard the noises last night?"

Shinichi nodded.

"Hattori told me a little, but he wouldn't tell me everything. He said whatever it is stalks the halls at night and kidnaps children. The teachers are frightened of it and won't even try to figure out what it is taking kids and I heard only you guys and a couple others escaped them. Whatever they are…"

"They are… not normal," Aoko whispered.

"I got that," Shinichi deadpanned, "how are they not? What are they? People?"

Hakuba and Kaito shared a glance.

"Not really people per say," Hakuba stated hesitantly, "they are like… monsters."

"Monsters…" Shinichi repeated, "What do you mean? Can you describe something you saw?"

The two looked at Kaito who stared back unseeing. Shinichi wondered if this meant only he had seen one before.

Kaito sighed and looked up.

"Tonight, I will come to your room and knock only three times. When you hear that knock, let me and some others in. We are the student council, but for more reason than just our grades."

"I don't…"

"If you want to know more," Kaito cut him off, "Wait until tonight."

TOAK

Shinichi did as they asked and thought all day through class what it could be that they would tell him, but for the life of him, he couldn't imagine a monster. Shinichi prided himself on being a very logical person and if monsters existed, well… there had to be a logical reason behind their appearance.

At night right around eleven O'clock, three knocks sounded on his door.

Hattori watched him from his bed as Shinichi made his way to the room's entrance and opened it, allowing Kaito, Aoko, Hakuba and surprisingly, Vermouth, to slip inside.

"Alright, let's talk," Kaito replied as he took a seat on Shinichi's bed next to Aoko and Hakuba sat on the floor. Vermouth took the desk chair and Shinichi sat down beside Hattori on the bed opposite his own.

"Long story short, the student council here was once just that, a student council for exceling students. Then the disappearances started two years ago and the council was the first people it took. Since we were all in kindergarten, we knew nothing about it until we arrived here in the first grade last year. Upon my entering," Kaito explained, "I learned about the monsters of the night and became curious."

"Kaito is my roommate," Hakuba explained, "and I went with him, since I was also curious. I am, as you say, a Sherlock Holmes fan. I couldn't resist the mystery."

"I wanted to go with Kaito," Aoko explained.

Vermouth surprisingly also spoke up.

"We are a year older than you guys, but my brother and I also heard about the disappearances and didn't care about the rumors much until my brother's best friend Ray -his girlfriend- Akemi vanished. We went looking and that's when we also saw the monsters."

A knock on the door startled them and Hakuba jumped up and moved to it.

"Yes?" he called through the door.

"It's Ai."

Opening the door, a small girl with blonde hair and a serious expression walked in.

"Ah, this is Shiho Miyano, Akemi's little sister who is in your grade."

"Don't call her Shiho though," whispered Hattori into Shinichi's ear, "she hates it. She goes by Ai."

"Nice to meet you, Ai-san."

Ai ignored him and moved to where Vermouth was and sat down, her arms crossed.

"I heard about the impromptu meeting. Decided I would come."

"Glad to have you, Ai," Kaito said in a serious tone which was rare for the joker, before he turned to Shinichi.

"This is what we saw..."

Kaito, Hakuba and Aoko sneaked down the hall… the darkness around them thick and tense. Kaito narrowed his eyes on the sounds he heard up ahead and Hakuba behind him stiffened and wrapped a comforting arm around Aoko who was shaking with fear.

"I want to go back," she whispered.

Kaito turned to her, his eyes serious.

"It's too late now, Aoko. I told you when you wanted to come what we were doing. Stick it out."

Aoko went silent and Hakuba glared at his roommate, but he knew the other boy was right. They didn't have a choice after having come so far.

Sneaking forward as silently as they could, Kaito came to a sudden stop. The other two behind him slowed and hunkered down as he knelt and bent to peer a bit closer.

The three could hear the groans and the sound of something growling, but they couldn't see what it was that was hiding in the shadows of the lockers.

"I'm going to get closer," Kaito whispered.

"Kaito no!" Aoko whispered back desperately, but the boy was already gone and the two watched closely as Kaito suddenly appeared on the top of the lockers like magic.

Peering down, Kaito stared in horror at what he found as two large gold eyes turned and looked right at him.

Kaito screamed and this caused Aoko and Hakuba to scream as all three took off down the hall. Whatever it was they had found chased after them and right when they were sure it was going to get them, hands reached out and pulled them into a room and that was how they met Vermouth, Ai, Ray, and Gin.

Shinichi frowned.

"So wait, what exactly did you see?"

Kaito stiffened.

"It wasn't human. It looked like an animal. In fact, I thought it was perhaps a bear or something that had snuck in when I first looked at it, but when I saw its gold eyes and the sharp pointed teeth…" Kaito shivered, "I will tell you what it was. I think it was a werewolf."

"A werewolf…" Shinichi repeated in doubt. That would mean the supernatural was real and he just couldn't accept that yet.

"Surely there had to be another explanation."

"I am only telling you what I think it was," Kaito explained, "then again, I suppose I have seen stranger."

Shinichi frowned.

"What do you mean?"

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" he asked, a bit nervously.

"Conan-kun, what did people tell you when you were sent to this academy? That it was a normal school?"
Conan nodded, confused.

"A dorm and private academy."

The others shared a look that sent a bit of fear running through his system. What were they hiding from him?

"Conan Edogawa," Ai said and she stared at him with an intense look of concentration, "No, Shinichi Kudo, welcome to Pandora; the school of the supernatural."

And Shinichi could only gape.