A/N: This chapter is kind of a filler, but kind of not. It's complicated. It's mostly about me getting used to the idea of being shrunken and in the Detective Conan world. Enjoy? This chapter took a while, I started a few days ago, because I was working on another story at the same time, so I got confused at which words I used in which story… Yeah, so if I repeat words a lot, I'm sorry. .
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.
Chapter Four:
I blinked. He blinked. The silence ensued before he strode forward carefully, trying not to scare what appeared to be an injured child. Heiji's voice was low and soft when he started talking to me, soothing my slightly frazzled nerves at suddenly meeting another character. When he got close enough, he scooped me up gently into his warm arms. I shivered at the sudden warmth; the cold hadn't been apparent to me until warmth was presented. Despite myself, my hands clenched the fabric of his jacket tightly. The adrenaline was finally wearing off from before and I suddenly felt very tired and confused to an extent.
He said nothing more as he whipped out his cell phone with one hand and dialed 110. He informed them of the body. It all kind of floated through my head before I stopped trying to understand everything and leaned my head against his shoulder – it was surprising comfortable. My eyes fluttered shut and I felt his large hand smoothing down my hair; he was still murmuring comforting words, well, I think they were comforting words – they were more of just a drone. A jumbled up mess of familiarity, warmth, concern, and also unfamiliarity all in one.
My eyes opened again after I heard footsteps coming closer to the two of us. I stiffened but relaxed again when I heard a semi-familiar voice talking to Heiji from behind my head. It was Otaki-san – I confirmed this by lifting my head briefly to look over my shoulder. Otaki looked at me. "Who's this little girl, Hei-chan?" His voice was gravelling but homely.
"I don't know. She was here when I came here. She may be related to the man, but it's unlikely. They look completely different." He explained, shifting me in his arms while explaining. "I'd ask, but I don't know if she's in shock. She's also injured." How rude, I'm not in shock. At least, I don't think so; this was the first time anything so…Strange and violent has happened to me. Hmm...Maybe I am in shock. My thoughts were interrupted as I was taken away from Heiji's warm arms by a paramedic; apparently they had come, too, thanks to the high school Osakan.
I was placed on top of one of the stretchers in a sitting position as the man took off the scarf I had applied to my forehead, eyes widening slightly at seeing the large gash – at least I think it's large; it sure feels and hurts like it's large. The man leaned down to his package and took out some disinfectant stuff and bandages. The disinfectant stung and I flinched even though he was being gentle. "Sorry about that." He apologized. "What's your name, little girl?" He inquired softly. I froze. Shoot, I hadn't thought of that yet. For heaven's sake, I had been denying that I was in the Detective Conan world until I had that unfortunate encounter with Gin and Vodka.
"Err...Alice..," I was surprised by how childish my voice sounded in my ears. It didn't even sound matured at all. Weird. The paramedic smiled at me and placed those little tape-strip-like bandages over the gash before putting a cotton one over it. He stood up and took his bag, stopping and thinking for a minute. "What's your last name, Alice?" I'm pretty sure panic flashed through my face because he patted my head in what was supposed to be – I think – reassurance. "It's okay if you don't remember." Oh. Well, thank you for that idea, Mr. Nice Paramedic. I can consider that. A smirk adorned my lips internally. That was a perfect plan. The man checked my vitals, using a small flash light on my eyes to check for a concussion; nothing, thank goodness.
The man left me to go talk to his colleagues about something and Heiji approached me again with a friendly smile; I stiffened in anticipation to the onslaught of questions that was bound to happen. Time to put my current little-girl role into action, I guess. He took a seat at the foot of the bed I had been placed in the middle of, turning to talk with me face to face.
"Are you okay?" He asked me, trying to gain my trust for the interrogation; I was, after all, a little girl who probably witnessed the man commit 'suicide' and got attacked by someone. I was still uneasy in his presence, though. It was strange seeing someone in real life that is a character in my favorite anime. Very strange. I nodded meekly, trying not to ignite the head pain anymore than it was. He flashed me a boyish grin and I couldn't help but smile back; he wasn't any different from how he was in the anime, I'm not sure why I was so worked up.
"Your name is Alice, right?" I nodded. "Can you tell me what happened, Alice?" I once again nodded, taking a deep breath and finally speaking up again. "I remember my daddy taking me somewhere and then he hit me on the back of my head. I woke up when I heard a loud bang and saw the man beside me, dead. Then I stayed there until you got there." An abusive father who had abandoned me; an okay story. Not the best I could have come up with, but it was a good enough cover up story for now. I couldn't exactly tell them that my parents didn't exist in this world; then they would see me as a traumatized child in need of psychiatric help due to shock and other things. No thanks.
Heiji nodded and brushed my hair back. "You speak quite well for your age …you're three, right?" I almost choked on the air. Three?! A small squeak escaped my mouth and he gave me a curious look as my mouth opened in surprise and realization. That's right. The Apoptoxin de-ages you by ten years; I was thirteen and therefore, now I'm three. This is great, just great. How am I supposed to do anything in the body of a three year old? Geez, even Shinichi is at least seven. I nodded at his question – not much else I could do, considering I am a three year old currently.
"The police are going to take you to social services, but until then you'll be in police custody." He explained and my teeth clacked together soundlessly. Social services wanted to find me a new family, but I already had one waiting for me somewhere – and I am certainly not going down without a fight! "But my mom…," My tone was too harsh for a child and I face palmed internally. I tried to make my voice quieter and quiver. "What about my mommy…?" Haha, I have to admit, that was pretty good.
Heiji backed up and told me he was going to go talk to the police about that before getting up and leaving me on the white stretcher. It was comfy, surprisingly enough. Squishy and soft and not too firm, but firm enough in case of spinal injuries and such – an interesting combination. I laid back and my eyes shut, the drowsiness catching up to me once more. Before I knew it, I was safe in the haven of my dreams.
ooOOoo
I woke up in the arms of someone unfamiliar; social services immediately jumped to my mind and my eyes snapped open to look up at a professional woman. Fight or flight instincts kicked in and I chose both. My legs immediately started kicking the off-guard woman right before I sunk my teeth into her shoulder – the only spot close enough to my mouth to get a good grip. She yelped in pain and I was dropped to the ground as I continued my attacks by scratching close to her eyes; she shut her eyes harshly as she tried to avoid my sharp nails – children have very sharp nails now that I pay attention.
I stood up from my bum and started running in the direction of…Somewhere. The woman behind me called for me to wait and tried to run to catch up with me but her outrageously tall heels stopped her from running too quickly; she didn't want to sprain an ankle, obviously. If I was wearing those shoes, I certainly wouldn't want to run in those things. They looked freakin' tall, man. I noticed with glee that my bag was currently clenched in my hand, dragging across the floor but still with me; I was worried I had left it behind. I also noticed how I was changed into fitting clothes now; a skirt and a girly shirt.
A manic cackle left my mouth as I rounded another corner, leaving the social service lady behind in the dust. I hope she didn't lose her job for losing me, but oh well; if I could get away, any grumpy child could. Not good for the job description, I mocked in my head before turning another corner and another before stopping short and checking my bag. Everything was still inside and I let a relieved smirk adorn my lips.
Good, everything that is need is here then. Time to get to work.
Review Replies:
To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – Wow, that's stupid on how they only allow one review each chapter. O.o and it's good to be a slow writer, its better because slow writers make fewer mistakes in grammar and punctuation and stuff. I have a billion of typos all around, I think. I once read a chapter I had written a long time ago and nearly shoved my head into the nearest wall. It was terribly written! D:
To: Tsukiko95 – Thank you, I think you are an amazing writer as well. ^^ Your 'ending up in DC-world' story was what first inspired me with this idea. And yup! I couldn't resist the urge to shrink myself! XD
To: kuttiepie3 – Thank you. ^^
-Edit: Not much here, either… XD;;