A/N: A new chapter? A new chapter! (Cheers) I've been starting to make due dates for myself, and today was the due date for this chapter, so yeah~! I had to figure out what day it was in this chapter, cause yesterday night I was so confused on how long the story had been so far. I was surprised to figure out that it's been almost a whole week already. XDDD Anyways, hope you enjoy! Sorry for repeating a lot of words, I've been doing that a lot lately. (Sheepish Smile)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.

Chapter Seven

I nibbled on the edges of the toast I was given, and sunk into my seat slightly at the feeling of someone staring at me. Kuroba Chikage sat across from me, watching me with a sparkling gleam in her soft violet eyes. I hadn't met her the days before because she had been visiting someone else, and when she got back, I had already been sent to bed by Kaito – something ridiculous about being young and needing a bedtime. Damn him. I like staying up late, thank you very much. It was currently my second day there – well, third, if I wanted to count the first night I had stayed – and this was our first meeting; at the dinner table, eating breakfast.

"I'm Kuroba Chikage; it's nice to meet you, Alice-chan, Kaito's told me so much about you." Well, as much as he could tell, granted I only met him. "You can call me Okaa-san." She giggled, looking at my face with a wide smile. I sank lower in my chair, if possible, a small blush rising to my cheeks. Great, she thought I was cute – darn it, Lady Luck, you hate me, don't you..?

I blinked and immediately started to act like Alice's persona. Well, truthfully, it wasn't an act, just another way that I acted around people when I wanted something. "Nice to meet you, too, O-Okaa-san." I ducked my head, slightly embarrassed with calling her mom. My tiny fingers tighten around the edges of my bread, and I could feel my blush getting bigger. "Oh! You're so cute, Alice-chan!" She gushed, reaching over to pat my head gently.

"Kaa-chan," Kaito-san's voice broke through my embarrassment. "You're embarrassing her." Chikage-san gave Kaito-san a pout before removing her hand. "Mou, Kai-chan, you're no fun." Kaito gave her a mock-offended look before pulling a newspaper out of nowhere – I suspect it had been rolled up in his sleeve. I internally thanked him from saving me from further embarrassment, before catching sight of something on the newspaper. Something very interesting.

"Ah, can I see that for a minute?" I asked quickly, already extending my tiny arm to grab the paper. Kaito blinked at me before giving it to me. My eyes hungrily raced across the page, and I bit my lip when I saw that I had read correctly.

'Hattori Heiji does it again!' I stared, continuing to read the very similar case. 'While on a trip to Tokyo, Hattori Heiji and Mouri Kogoro stumbled across a murder case of a well-known diplomat, Isao Tsujimura.' Could it be that…? I dismissed my thoughts and continued reading, wanting to know if I was correct. 'With precision and intellect, he sliced through the case and realized that the murderer was Kimie Tsujimura!'

I was transported here just after Heiji met Shinichi. Oh, gosh. Was this a good thing, or a bad thing?

My grip slackened, and I gaped for moment. I sucked in a sharp breath before starting back to normal behavior. Lady Luck really does hate me. "A-Ah, looks like I was wrong." I let out a nervous chuckle and handed Kaito-san the newspaper back. "I thought I saw a comic section, guess I was wrong."

Kaito blinked at me before laughing, "You're really strange, Alice."

Oh, he had no idea.

"Really? Haha, it's just a coincidence." That earned me a bit of bemused silence, and I realized I just really needed to shut my mouth. I started in surprise when the front door burst open with gusto, a teenage girl with messy brown locks coming charging in with a skip in her step. "Come on, Kaito! We'll be late!" She called, blinking at me in interest, before deciding to ask about it later, grabbing Kaito's wrist, and then proceeding to pull him out the door. He called out his farewell, and then they were gone, the house suddenly quiet except for the dull voices that could be heard from outside.

"Ow, Aoko! You're gonna pull off my arm…!" That was the last I heard of their conversation before it faded away because of distance. I heard Chikage giggle and I looked over to her with a smile. The Kuroba house was actually very homely when you're with someone. It was different from my home, which was noisy but kinda empty – it was more warm and welcoming; not that I don't feel at home in my house, but still. I dunno. Wait, school…?

"Okaa-san, what day is it?" I asked in curiosity. She gave me a slightly confused look, but answered my question without preamble. "It's Thursday." I choked on a piece of my bread, going into a coughing fit. Chikage hurried over to me, patting my back gently, trying to relieve me of the fit. After I recovered, I took in a deep breath and immediately thought of the day I had been transported here.

Let's see, it was Saturday when I was transported here, the middle of the day. Then, there was the day I walked around and met Gin and Vodka in an alley, and when I woke up and met Heiji, it was morning the next day, then I fell asleep and ran away from the social worker in the afternoon, sometime. I met Kaito after he came home from school. That's two days. Then, the day I spent with Kaito searching for my parents, him wearing a hat, and not going to school that day, most likely to take care of me; you can't exactly leave a three year old alone, after all. Another day. That means today is Thursday. It's been four and a half days since I left my world! Jeez, it didn't even seem that long – how could I let myself completely loose sense of time?

And, since that was on the newspapers, I'm guessing that that particular crime was only yesterday. No wonder Heiji didn't think twice of me being a shrunken person; he didn't know yet. Well, that's enlightening, I thought, waving off Chikage's worried hands with an embarrassed laugh. "I'm alright, I'm alright." I reassured her.

She seemed satisfied with my answer and moved to grab her empty plate, taking mine with her, and going to wash the dishes. "Ah, can I help with anything?" I questioned, getting off my seat with a hop and hurrying to her side.

"You're such a dear." She told me dotingly. "Can you help me by drying off the plates?"

"Sure~!"

ooOOoo

I was looking through phone books in the living room with Chikage when Kaito got back from school, minus Aoko. He wandered over to us, looking at what we were doing. He sat next to me on the couch, his weight pulling me into his side unexpectedly. I let out a strained noise as I pushed myself off his side and crawled back to where I was sitting before.

"Mou, Kaito-niichan, be more careful." I paused to give him a grin. "I'm only a kid." He let out a raucous laugh, nodding his head in agreement – as if to say, 'yes, I know'. Chikage laughed softly at the two of us, cooing slightly as Kaito ruffled my hair, much to my dismay. "You two are just like a brother and sister." She squealed. Maybe she was referring to our interactions, but maybe she was also referring to our slightly similar hairstyles and since I was wearing his old baby clothes, we probably would look very similar, if it wasn't for the age difference. I didn't really mind wearing his baby clothes, they were nice. Boy-ish, but that was fine. That's what I usually wore, anyways. "Ne, Kai-chan, can we keep her?"

Oi, oi, I'm not a cat…, I deadpanned internally as Kaito laughed and said that they could. Well, whatever. If it'll help my cause, I'm all for it. Might as well use it to my advantage, right? Though, I'd probably tell Kaito soon enough, after I go see the one I'm looking for.

"Oh, right. I was telling Alice-chan about your classmates, and when I mentioned Akako-chan, she said she knew her. They're related, apparently." Chikage explained to Kaito, gesturing to the phone books next. "That's why we're looking through the phone books. I don't know her number, so I thought we'd just find her here and then call her up."

Kaito – yes, I'm finally killing my habit of thinking with honorifics! – looked down at me with an unreadable face. "Related to Akako?" He seemed surprised. "You're not a witch, too, are you?" He asked with a raised brow and I chuckled. "No, no. Akako-neechan," It felt super weird to call her that. "Is only distantly related to me." Haha, hope Shinichi doesn't mind me stealing his excuse.

Kaito's face brightened and he seemed relieved. "I see, then. Do you want me to take you to her house?" He offered and I was surprised he didn't say 'her creepy mansion'. "I'm not going near it, though. I'll take you to the road that leads to her house, and then you can go from there." Ah, so that was his game. Can't blame him.

"That's fine with me! I just really need to see her~! It's been forever!" I said, giddily sliding off the couch and heading for the door. Kaito hurried after me and I realized I made it a little short of his knees. Good, I'm tall for my age. I wouldn't want to be a complete shrimp. Maybe that means I look older than three… Hm, something to think about…

"Let's go." I grinned, not minding as he grabbed my hand before I could run off ahead.

After all, if anyone could help me, it would be the – kinda – friendly local witch.

Review Replies:

To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – Yup! An update! 8D And, well, when you put it that way… (Laughs) My summer vacation just ended recently, too. (Nods) And that sucks. I hope you find more time to do all those things – somehow! I'm not sure how. XD (Grins as snowflakes falls and eats cyber cookie) Thank you~! I would wish you luck on your homework, but that review was a while ago. XDD

To: AnimeRules4 – Well, I could do that, but I decided to go through with my original plan. Conan and co. will be a big part of it, too, but I haven't met them yet. And thank you~! ^^

-Edit: Not too many here, either. I'm dreading the next chapter, though. I just know that that one is very messed up… XD;