The world was spinning when he came to, his battered body throbbing from the battle with the strange machine that had ambushed and attacked him. A voice, a little girl's, was speaking in a language he'd never heard before, small hands gripping his shoulders and shaking him. Slowly, the meaning became clear.

Are you alright?

Slowly he sat up, moaning as he grabbing his head. His cap was gone, though he thought he could see it in the hands of another child, this one older and around his age. He couldn't tell if this one was male or female. The voice from before had stopped and its owner cocked her head at him, babbling in that foreign language. With a nervous smile he hoped was friendly, he finally responded.

"I-I'm fine. A bit sore, but fine."

The girl blinked before grinning, turning to her friend and saying something quickly before turning back to him. "You speak English!"

He scowled. "English? What's that?"

"What you're speaking!"

"No, I speak Eaglelandian… Wait, where am I?"

The girl's blue-green eyes narrowed as she scowled in confusion. "You're in Japan." Slowly she cocked her head again. "What's Eaglelandian?" Before he could answer her grin returned. "What's your name?"

Japan… He'd never heard of a place like that before… He frowned before shaking it off, once again smiling. "I'm Ninten."

"I'm Shiho! And he's Aniki."

xXx

Ninten woke up to sun shining right in his face, the sound of traffic already noticeable in the streets below. With a tired yawn the shrunken male sat up and rubbed at an eye while inspecting his surroundings. A combination of living room and office, a desk situated in front of a wall of windows and shelves lining a wall to his right. Nobody seemed to be up yet, or if they were up they didn't seem to be in the apartment complex.

He sighed, running a hand through his messy, short black hair. He'd really lucked out when he'd run into the girl. What was her name again? Ran? Yes, that was it. He shook his head as he remembered her smile, her kindness and acceptance. "She wouldn't last one day in our life, Aniki," the small agent mumbled softly, staring out the window at the city surrounding him. He wondered briefly where his partner was…

Something leaped into his lap and he looked down, blinking at the small, dusty blue kitten that looked at him with bright green eyes. Before he could stop himself he smiled and scratched its ears. "And what would your name be?"

The kitten purred, closing its eyes at the touch. Glancing around the room again, Ninten inhaled and stared at the cat, allowing his psionic energy to gather as he activated his long ignored telepathy to read the animal's mind. ("This feels so nice… Goro-chan could sit here all day and have this human kitten scratch his ears…")

"Goro-chan, huh?" He grinned, watching as the kitten's eyes fluttered open and gazed at him curiously. Despite not using his telepathy in years, he still seemed to have a natural knack for it, a talent he no doubt got from his great grandmother. With a chuckle, he scratched Goro's ears again. "Don't be afraid. I just happen to be able to read animal minds."

("Really?") the kitten 'said', cocking his head slightly before meowing in what Ninten took to be a happy way. ("No one's ever been able to understand Goro-chan before! Not even Ran-sama! Only Eri-sama is close and she doesn't listen very well sometimes.")

"It's a human thing," Ninten stated, shrugging lightly before picking up the kitten and standing. "You mind showing me around? When Ran-san brought me here, I sort of fell asleep immediately."

("Goro-chan would love to show you around!") Goro leaped out of his hands, tail swishing back and forth as he sat up on his hind legs and gazed at the human again. ("What is your name?")

"Ninten."

("Ninten-sama! Goro-chan will make sure to remember that!") Making a motion similar to a nod the kitten walked off, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to make sure Ninten was following. A few minutes later and the tour was finished. Just outside the office was a staircase which lead to two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. A count of the beds had revealed three people living in the house, Ran and her father as well as a child of roughly seven, if the clothes he had scene in the corner of one of the rooms were to be believed. He doubted Goro's 'Eri-sama' lived here, as one of the beds had been messy and a few sake bottles were strewn about.

As he checked the fridge for something to eat for breakfast, he decided to question the cat about the family living here, mind already determining an explanation for why he was supposedly homeless. "Hey Goro-chan, it's only Ran-san and her father here, right?"

Goro didn't even look up from his spot on the counter, where he was washing his ears. ("Yes. Ran-sama and Kogoro-sama. And Ran-sama's friend Conan-sama. Eri-sama lives in another building with me, though she's currently out of town and Ran-sama is taking care of me.")

He figured as much. He shut the fridge, settling on an orange that he immediately started to peel with his fingers. "Could you tell me more about this Conan?"

("He was entrusted to Ran-sama because his parents were too busy to properly care for him.") The kitten paused in mid-lick, nose wrinkling slightly. ("He's a bit odd for a human kitten. He talks about things most human kittens shouldn't talk about.")

"What kind of things?"

("Adult things. Death and murders. Kogoro-sama doesn't seem to find it weird though. He mostly find Conan-sama annoying.")

Ninten sucked on an orange slice in thought, mulling over the information. Was it possible this Conan was the same as him, shrunken by some mysterious force? It was too big of a coincidence for most peoples' liking, but he knew from experience anything was possible. Swallowing the tangy morsel, he picked out another. "Does his odd behavior bother Ran-san at all?"

("Sometimes. I'm not usually around much to see though. Most of what I'm telling you is from what has happened in Eri-sama's home.")

"Any other people who I can talk to then? Or animals?"

("I smelled rat on him once. Many rats. Bitter man-made smells too. I'm not sure where you would find them though.") Green eyes blinked before the kitten meowed happily and leaped off the counter, bounding towards the stairs leading to the office. Common sense declared that someone had come home and Ninten followed, stopping at the top of the stairs as he saw Ran looking down at Goro, who was pawing at her leg. As the teenage girl giggled she looked up, smiling at Ninten.

"You're up! I just got back from the store if you're hungry."

He shook his head, showing the half finished orange in his hand as he looked to the side. Why did girls fluster him so much? With Vermouth's constant teasing, he would have thought he could handle the opposite sex by now. "I, uh, hope you don't mind."

"Not at all, Ninten-kun. You can help yourself to anything as long as you're with us." She adjusted the bags in her hands, continuing up the stairs and walking into the kitchen. "Would you mind helping me put these groceries away?"

"Hai." Carefully setting the orange on the counter he proceeded to take the items of food out of the bag, sorting them into piles as he glanced at the currently older girl. "Ran-san, is it just you and your otousan living here?"

Ran gave an affirmative hum, placing some vegetables in the fridge. "Yes. Us and Conan-kun."

"Conan-kun?" He faked a curious frown, handing her a bag of sweet peas. "Is he your brother?"

She laughed. It was a friendly sound, much different from the smug and confident laughs he knew. "No, he's just staying with us for a while. He has become family though." Ran smiled down at him, suddenly tugging his cap playfully. "Too bad you couldn't meet him. He's at Hakase's with his friends. Though you're welcome to come with me to pick him up later if you want. I promised to take them out for lunch."

"That would be…" He trailed off, thinking the suggestion over. He didn't really know much about this boy, though Goro's words had definitely sounded like they'd fit an older teen more than a mere child. Something sounded oddly familiar though, the fact that this Conan talked about death and murder striking something in his mind he couldn't quite place, yet gave him a bad feeling all the same. The agent crossed his arms and scowled in thought, trying to coax the answers from his subconscious.

"Is something wrong, Ninten-kun?"

"N-Nothing!" he stuttered, hurriedly flashing a grin and waving his hands in front of him. As she continued to stare he nodded. "Er, sure. If-If it's not too much trouble I would enjoy coming with." The girl smiled, turning back to her work, and he sighed in relief before going back to his thoughts. Death and murder… What kind of people were interested in such topics? To his knowledge, only the Black Organization members and people working for the law were fans of such a grim topic, though he hadn't heard of any Organization members vanishing recently. Besides Sherry of course…

Ran's voice sounded and he blinked, smiling up at her. "I-I'm sorry. What was that?"

"I asked if you could tell me a bit about yourself," the teen responded, frowning softly and placing a hand to Ninten's forehead. The boy could feel his cheeks heat up slightly, his body tensing at the touch. "Are you feeling ok, Ninten-kun? You seem distant."

"I-I'm just n-not good with g-girls!" he cried, voice cracking slightly as he pushed the hand away. No doubt his face was bright red now and, to make matters worse, Ran was laughing again. This time at him. He hoped she wouldn't tease him now. He got enough of that from Vermouth. Not wanting to give her the chance he hesitantly cleared his throat. "Well… I'm from America. A small town called… Podunk. You won't find it on a map, so don't bother. It's a really small town."

"A small town, huh? A large city like Beika must be frightening."

"Tokyo more so," Ninten added, reclaiming his orange and tearing off another slice. "Anyway, I…" He paused, chewing the slice in his mouth as he thought up a reason for why a fourteen year old American boy would be in Japan. "I…" Why was this so difficult? Agents had to be good at lying if they were to be of any use. "Uh…"

Ran suddenly smirked, tugging his hat again. "Does Ninten-kun have a girlfriend back in Podunk?"

"N-No!" The exclamation came out as a squeak and his blush was renewed. Silently he cursed the female race and their love of getting under a guy's skin and, not thinking, he continued, his words rushed as he clamped his eyes shut. "I-I-I'm here with my mom!"

"Your kaa-san?"

He nodded, mental kicking himself. Why did he have to claim he was here with someone? Now Ran was going to ask to talk to his supposed mother and inform her of where her son was. There was no telling what she was going to do to him when she found out he was lying through his teeth. What if she kicked him out? Or worse, what if she handed him over to the police as a run away and they found out he didn't exist in this world? He resisted a shuddered, once again reminded why he owed the Organization his life.

He blinked, a plan suddenly hitting him. Slowly he smiled and nodded at Ran's question. "Yeah! We kind of got separated last night though. See, I wanted to go to the store because I had seen this really cool baseball bat earlier. None of the clothes I brought were clean though, so mom let me borrow her coat and told me to buy a new outfit while I was out. Only… Only…" He bit his lip, gulping as he remembered the close call he had had at the crime scene. "Only that lady got shot and-and your otousan yelled at me. I got scared." He shrugged as he finished, inspecting the girl for any sign that she had caught his life.

Luck was on his side as she smiled, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's ok, Ninten-kun. Otousan just gets a little excited when he's on a case." She gasped lightly before tightening her grip slightly, worry filling her eyes. "Does your kaa-san know you're alright? Do you want to call her and tell her where you are?"

Just what he had been hoping for. He nodded, giving her another smile. "If-If it's not too much trouble. But… er, can I talk to her in private? She can be a bit embarrassing…"

"Of course! Just use the phone on otousan's desk downstairs. He's out doing who knows what with his latest paycheck." She huffed, crossing her arms and muttering under her breath. Ninten took this as his cue to leave, walking down the stairs and shakily opening the door to the office. He couldn't believe he was dragging her into this mess. Honestly, he knew he could have come up with a better lie. This was all Ran's fault for deciding to tease him. Sighing in irritation, he picked up the phone and dialed.

He didn't have to wait long, as she picked up immediately. "Who is this?"

Great, just the mere sound of her voice was enough to fluster him. "V-Vodka."

"Vodka?" There was a moment of silence. "Where are you? Do you have any idea how worried Gin is? Why haven't you been responding to his calls?" She hummed, a smug sound that never failed to cause the male to break into a sweat. "What have you been doing?"

"I, uh, sort of lost my phone."

Another moment of silence. "You sound different Vodka."

"You don't know the half of it," he muttered, adjusting his cap and sighing as he leaned against the desk. "Look, could you tell Aniki I'm alright? You know he wouldn't pick up since it's an unknown number." As the words left his mouth he realized that despite how much she annoyed him, it was a very smart move calling Vermouth. His earlier plan of calling Aniki himself would have never worked.

The woman hummed again. "Do you want me to send him to your location… No, he can't at the moment. The boss has him doing an errand. Would you like me to pick you up?" The question was asked in a purr and he winced, cheeks aflame for the third time that day.

"N-No. J-Just… I-I…"

"You really do sound different." Her voice was serious now, with a slight hint of curiosity. "What exactly happened when Gin lost contact with you last night?"

He buried his face in his hands, head pounding as he merely thought of his misadventures that had led him to Ran's apartment. "I-I really don't know. It's all a blur. I remember going with you and Aniki to that bar… Polestar, was it?"

"Yes, that's the bar." She paused. "Did you drink too much?"

"No. I don't think so. If I had, Aniki would have taken me back to base to sleep it off."

"Can't you remember anything else? What is your most recent memory after Polestar?"

He hesitated, staring at the cars driving in the street below as he debated whether to tell her about the shrinking incident. No doubt she would tease him and try to use it to her advantage… He shook his head. No. This was a serious matter and even Vermouth, as teasing and playful as she was, knew when to get serious and down to business. He inhaled and tightened his grip on the phone.

"You can't tell Aniki. Not until after his mission. I don't want him worrying."

"Worrying? Vodka, what the hell happened?"

"As I said, I don't know. But I woke up in this alley and…" He inhaled again before sighing, running a hand through the hair under his cap. "I-I somehow… shrunk. De-aged or something."

Silence. He waited, growing steadily uneasy as the silence continued. For a brief moment he wondered if she even believed him. If he had been her he wouldn't have. After all, how the hell did an adult shrink back into a teenager? It went against the laws of nature and defied all sense of logic. Well, this world's logic anyway. Back on his world, with murderous hippies and zombies, it would fit in perfectly.

"Where are you?"

He jumped slightly, surprised that she had actually responded. "This-This girl's house. Mouri Ran."

"Angel?" Before he could ask she continued. "What did you tell her?"

"That I'm Kasper Ninten, on vacation with my mom. She, uh, thinks I'm talking to her now."

More silence. As he opened his mouth to make sure she was still on the other side a sudden string of curses stopped him, causing him to instead hold the phone away from his ear. Once the phone was quiet again he carefully brought it back. "Vermouth?"

"Damnit Vodka, why did you have to end up in the same building as Silver Bullet!"

"Silver Bullet… Wait, what do you mean… Are you…" He grit his teeth. That… That… She was hiding something. Something big that he just knew would make Aniki erupt in a rare fit of anger and shoot the blonde before she could say anything to save herself. But what? Or maybe he was just overreacting and it was just her being as secretive and toying as she usually was. He growled. "Why the hell do you have to be so damn mysterious?"

She sighed. "Have you met Conan-kun yet?"

He blinked. "How do you know about-"

"You're better with faces. You'll realize once you see him." She hummed once more. "It's… best you stay away from base for a while, ok? You'll understand why when you…" Vermouth trailed off before speaking again. "Tell An… Ran that kaa-san had an emergency and would really appreciate it if the kind people who let you stay the night would watch over you until it's settled. I'll keep in touch. Oh, and Vodka?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Don't let them find out who you really are." A click and the line died, a harsh ring telling him that the line had been disconnected. He stared in shock, mind racing as he tried to process just what the women had been talking about. She had almost sounded terrified after finding out he had shrunken, rather than disbelieving like he had expected. Then instead of offering to help she had pretty much told him to go into hiding. Why should he? It wasn't like he was a traitor who had told a rival organization or the police about the Black Organization. Just what was Vermouth's problem? And how did she know Conan?

A knock on the door. "Ninten-kun? Are you finished yet? I'm going to pick up Conan now."

"C-Coming!" he called, hurriedly hanging up the phone and rushing to the door.

xXx

They had barely started walking and already Ninten was falling apart, Vermouth's strange words making him regret ever agreeing to Ran's suggestion. True, he would have eventually met this mysterious Conan, but this way he was going to have to act civil. He wished that he had remembered to bring the baseball bat he had bought yesterday. Sure, it wasn't the gun that he had been conditioned to depend on for the past several years, but a baseball bat had served him well back during his first real adventure.

"Are you alright?"

He jumped, glancing at Ran before biting his lip and looking away. "I-I'm just worried about mom is all."

The girl frowned. "Oh. I… I'm sure she's alright, Ninten-kun." He almost felt bad for feeding her this particular lie. The 'news' of his mother having a sudden emergency had caused her to worry and fret over him as if she too were her mother. Though it was better than the alternative. He hated to say it, but something about this girl made him want to spare her from the Organization's wrath. Leaving her in the dark was the lesser of evils.

He was sure that Vermouth had run into this girl and had come to the same conclusion. Which only deepened the mystery. When had Vermouth met Ran and why had she called her Angel?

The agent sighed. He needed to just relax. He'd think about it later, after meeting this Conan and at least getting some answers. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he shoved his hands in his pockets, humming a song his mother had taught him back when he was little, before life had gotten so complicated by aliens and other worlds. Gradually, he felt the tension melt away, his mind focused on the nostalgic tune.

"What song is that?"

He stopped in mid-verse. In his attempt to relax, he had completely forgotten that he had an audience, who was now staring at him curiously. Embarrassed he tugged his hat lower to hide his face, avoiding eye contact. "Stupid song mom taught me."

"Did she make it up?"

He nodded, hoping that that would be the end of it. Instead Ran smiled, blocking his path. "How does it go?"

"I-I really don't want to sing it. I mean, it's in English…"

"Please Ninten-kun?"

He sighed, closing his eyes. No doubt Ran would continue to pester him until he sang it. Once again his cheeks were heating up and he tried to unsuccessfully hide it with his hand. "Do I have to?" She nodded, crossing her arms in mock seriousness. He whined, ignoring that fact that now he was practically begging to the currently older teen. "But Ran-san-" She shook her head, eyes narrowing, and he winced before fully giving in. "Fine. B-But only one verse!"

She opened her mouth before shutting it, a slight smirk gracing her face. "Very well. One verse. The first."

Reluctantly Ninten inhaled, looking anywhere but at Ran. He knew she was going to make fun of him. Hell, he could still remember how years ago Ana had broken into laughter and Lloyd had chuckled when the two had caught him singing the whole song. Clamping his eyes shut and preparing for the worse, he sealed his fate.

"I believe the morning sun
Always gonna shine again and
I believe a pot of gold
Waits at every rainbow's end
I believe in roses kissed with dew
Why shouldn't I believe the same in you?"

Silence followed. Brown eyes blinked open and peeked over at Ran, who was tapping her chin in thought. Well, at least she wasn't laughing yet. He shoved his hands in his pockets, kicking at the ground. "See? Stupid."

"No. It's cute." She smiled, starting to walk again as Ninten followed. "Do you really believe those things though?"

He shrugged. "Do you?"

"Well…" She tapped her chin again before scratching her neck. "I'm not exactly sure. I mean, believing in such things… It's a bit childish, isn't it?"

"A bit…" He looked up at the sky, watching a few sparrows fly overhead. "I think there's more to it than that though. Mom never told me what the whole song meant. She said that I'd know when I knew." He didn't want to mention that he'd found out what it meant back when he had saved the his world so long ago, how it was about always staying positive and believing in your friends. The world just didn't work like that. How did you stay positive when everything around you was black? How were you to believe in your friends when they weren't there for you? When they didn't even remember how close you had been before…

He shivered, the images of a boy and a girl morphing into two other people, people he had been so close to back when he had first found himself in such a different world. When had all of that gone wrong?

"Ninten-kun?"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I just… a bad dream, that's all."

"Do you want to…" He shook his head as she fell silent. As they continued walking, she remained so, eyes staring into the distance. Content that the topic had been abandoned, Ninten stared at the city around him, memorizing where they were should he ever wander too far from the apartment. It seemed simple enough. In fact, there was the building where…

He flinched, glad Ran was too lost in her thoughts to notice. He had known the name Mouri Kogoro had sounded familiar. He and Aniki had almost assassinated the detective when they thought he had placed a tracker on Agent Kir. The hit had been called off in the end, but that wasn't what had thrown his Aniki into a fit of quiet rage. No, what had caused the rage was CIA agent Shuichi Akai shooting the only lead to who had managed to track a Black Organization member. Luckily the man was dead now. At least, he thought he was dead.

("Excuse me.")

He blinked and looked down. A bright green frog was hopping next to him, its golden eyes staring right back. Casting Ran a quick glance the boy whispered back. "What do you want?"

("You may want to save your progress. Things are about to get nasty. For you anyway.")

"Really now." He rolled his eyes. "And how would a frog know what's to come?"

("I'm no ordinary frog. My fellow frogs and I? We're special. Really special. Psionic special.")

He scowled. "This world doesn't have psionic energy. First butterflies, now frogs… Am I losing my mind or something?"

("No. You're not losing you mind, Ninten.")

He spluttered, eyes growing wide. The frog merely continued hopping. Checking to make sure Ran was still lost in her own little world, he scooped up the amphibian and looked it in the eyes. "Wait, how do you even know my name! And why are psionic creatures suddenly in a psionic world?"

("I can't really answer your questions right now. It's not time yet. You should really save.")

"What are you even talking about?"

("Again, it's not time to answer that. The time will come later. Right now you should save your progress.")

He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, grimacing briefly before scoffing. "No thanks. After the lying monkeys, I'm not very keen on trusting 'special' animals."

("Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you.") the frog croaked, hopping out of his grip and vanishing into a street gutter. Ninten shook his head, quickening his pace to catch up to Ran. Lately the entire world seemed to be conspiring to confuse his poor mind. It was bad enough that Vermouth was force feeding him riddles, now he had frogs giving him cryptic messages telling him to save. What did they mean by that anyway? This wasn't his world. Besides, back on his world it had been his dad who had asked if he wanted to save. All that had done was cause a weird feeling of constant déjà vu in some challenging steps of his journey and headaches.

"Conan-kun!" Ran suddenly called, waving an arm over her head. He'd lost track of time, it seemed, as they had covered quite a bit of distance. He wondered briefly if his discussion with the possibly-a-hallucination frog had done something to his perception of time and space as he looked around. This area seemed nice enough, a white dome like building across the street from them. As Ran continued waving, a wide smile on her face, Ninten cautiously moved closer, curious as to what this mysterious boy looked like…

The world froze as brown met piercing blue. He opened his mouth, but the words wouldn't come out, gathering and forming a sharp lump in his throat. He didn't even know what to say. Words couldn't even describe this. It was impossible. They'd killed him. He'd seen Aniki force the pill down his throat.

And yet there he stood. Kudou Shinichi, very much alive and shrunken just like him.