*cackles evilly*

Well, crap.

Shinichi sighed deeply as he finally willed himself to slowly open his eyes, fighting off the last dull thuds of the splitting headache and slight light sensitivity that always wound up accompanying his shrinking back into Edogawa Conan. He also knew as he took in the details of the wooden ceiling that this was most likely a guest bedroom of some sort at Hakuba Saguru's home, and that he'd also probably shrunk back down into his child-sized body right in front of his fellow meitantei's eyes. What the hell had happened? Sure there had been a somewhat established pattern of the temporary antidote seeming to work for a shorter and shorter amount of time with every new use, but a mere two and a half hour duration was more than a little on the ridiculous side.

It was then that Shinichi recognized the ring tone he'd chosen for Conan's phone insistently coming from his left, and he also realized that both of his cell phones had been placed on a small nightstand by the bed he was resting in. With a sudden burst of irritation at his current situation and what had happened Shinichi reached over and answered the phone. "What do you want?" The ire in his tone was barely contained, and the professor's response certainly didn't do much to improve Shinichi's mood.

"Finally! We've been trying to get a hold of you for at least an hour. You have to be careful! According to Haibara-san, that antidote I brought for you to take was mistakenly taken from the remains of an older experimental batch. She thinks that it may have lost a quite a lot of its potency over time-"

"Well it would have been fantastic if you two would have realized that and called me about it before I wound up passing out at Hakuba's doorstep clutching my chest while trying to escape as it began to wear off." Shinichi didn't feel the need to add anything else; he knew the professor would quickly pick up on the implications- and the fact that it was Conan's voice on the other end of the line.

After a few seconds of complete silence, Agasa finally responded in a somewhat panicked tone. "Oh no! Don't tell me that you-"

"Yes, I did." Shinichi's eyes narrowed as his timbre grew somewhat cold and laced with irritation. "And just why did I get a cure from an old batch in the first place?"

"Well," came the rather sheepish reply, "I grabbed it from the wrong right hand drawer-"

Shinichi felt his eye tic a single time before he willed himself to calm down and begin focusing. The damage had already been done, after all; it was time to make the best attempt he could to control it. Besides, Shinichi knew that Shiho would chastise Agasa far better than he could for the mistake (if she hadn't put him through the wringer about it already, that was.) "I see. Well, I need you to come get me since I was supposed to be over at your house. Bring some of my clothing, too; tell Ran I fell in mud or something." He hopped out of bed and ruefully realized that he was wearing his now very large white dress shirt as makeshift pajamas before searching for and finding his carefully folded pants that were on a chair in the room. This was followed by Shinichi pulling the piece of paper with Hakuba's address on it out of the pocket and reciting the address so Agasa could write it down.

He finished pressing the end button on his cellphone just before a light, polite knock came from the other side of the door. Shinichi quickly jumped back into the bed before calling "Come in"; he didn't like the idea of someone seeing him sweep the floor with a shirt that had fit him perfectly only hours before.

"I thought you might like to borrow these." Hakuba Saguru's voice echoing faintly from the other side of the door was followed by a small set of light blue formal boy's clothing flying through the air and landing in a loose, haphazard heap at the foot of the bed. "Shiori's always been a terrible pack rat, but it seems like that trait came in handy this time. You can come back to the library when you're dressed."

As he began to pull the clothes on, Shinichi was at first deeply grateful, then somewhat puzzled as to why the half-Brit seemed...well, so completely unperturbed about the fact that a teenager had physically turned into a child right under his nose. Saguru's behavior especially puzzled Shinichi because he knew that such a bizarre event must have piqued the other meitantei's highly developed and honed curiosity. As he finished dressing Shinichi was still wondering how the hell he was even going to begin and try to explain his dramatic age reduction and the whole back story of Edogawa Conan's creation. With a deep sigh, he opened the door and walked towards what he hoped he was remembering correctly as the door to the library they'd been in when the antidote had begun wearing.

"That's an...interesting medical condition you've got there, Kudo-kun."

Shinichi had found the room after all, judging by the fact that it looked like the same book-encased room they'd been in earlier and the fact that Hakuba was also occupying it. Shinichi resisted the urge to let out a bitter-sounding and very sarcastic 'Ha, ha' in reply to the blonde as he reluctantly made his way to the couch and hopped up into it before turning and facing Saguru. "You're not exactly going to find it in any medical book or journal." Shinichi followed this dry sentence by looking down and offering an array of said books and journals spread out all over the large coffee table Hakuba had apparently been recently poring over a rather pointed glance.

"I thought as much, but it never hurts to try and do research." Saguru leaned back and gave Shinichi a slightly puzzled stare before taking a sip from the teacup in his hand. "I'm still in somewhat of a state of disbelief. People...people don't just shrink, Kudo. If I hadn't watched you turn back into a child with my own eyes I would never have believed it." The blonde then shook his head, apparently still somewhat in a state of shock. Not that Shinichi blamed him, of course. "So...what exactly did happen to you?"

"Actually, you could say that it's more along the lines of what didn't happen to me." Shinichi decided that since Saguru had given him the opening, he'd explain at least some of it before Agasa arrived- he supposed the other boy deserved that much after what was probably a rather major shock to the system.

"What didn't happen to you? What exactly do you mean by that?" Saguru polished off his tea and began to straighten up some of the medical books and journals he'd laid out all over the table, eventually picking up a stack and heading towards the bookshelves.

"I was supposed to die." Over the quiet sound of Saguru reshelving the books and journals Shinichi continued. "If you want to go back to the very beginning, it started the day that I helped solve a murder over at Tropical Land. After the police arrested the murderer, I followed some men that were dressed from head to toe in black to a blackmail exchange at a secluded area of the park." He shifted uncomfortably before adding "After the meeting began I made a nearly fatal mistake- one that should have been fatal, actually. I tried to get pictures of the blackmail exchange to give to the cops and that allowed one of the men in black to get the drop on me from behind and knock me out. Then that same guy force fed me what was supposed to be a deadly poison that wouldn't leave any trace behind."

"Except that instead of the stuff killing you as was intended, it de-aged you back into a child - physically, that is." Saguru shook his head slightly as he re-assumed his position on the couch across from the love seat that Shinichi was sitting on. "It just sounds so completely unbelievable..."

"That's exactly what happened." The other boy let out a sigh. "I've tried to be extremely careful and not let too many people at all know who I really am. I've been living with Mouri Kogoro and his daughter, Mouri Ran at Mouri's detective agency using the name of Edogawa Conan since I woke up in this body. Of course, neither of them knows who I am."

"So why did you take the risk of coming here tonight? I'm sure you're hiding your identity from almost everyone and and using that pseudonym for very good reasons. And how...how did you become your normal age again? I presume some sort of antidote for whatever they used that isn't permanent?"

"Precisely. Of course this afternoon is the shortest time that it's ever lasted. I use the antidote very sparingly because every time I take it the stuff works for a shorter and shorter amount of time." He paused and looked squarely at Saguru. "And you can thank that stupid thief for me being here. He called me on my unlisted number- how he managed to get it I have absolutely no idea- and backed me into a corner."

"So that message..." Saguru sighed before rubbing his temples lightly. "I should have known. I thought that it was exceedingly odd that you had called me out of the clear blue sky to discuss the kidnappings, especially when you seemed to have vanished so suddenly and thoroughly from the public eye. Of course, now I know the whys and hows of that, as completely and utterly defiant of logic as the those reasons are." He poured a fresh cup of tea and offered Shinichi tea or water, Shinichi gratefully taking some of the latter. "That call I got that led to this meeting was Kaitou Kid using your voice, wasn't it? I should have thought of that possibility immediately- he'd naturally be interested in figuring out whatever is going on since he seems to be the primary target of the kidnapper or kidnappers."

"Yeah, it was him. Believe me, I wasn't too happy about it at all. He was so damn smug..." Shinichi kicked the couch lightly. "But if he really is being pursued by the same group that tried to kill me, he's in very real danger. The group is ruthless and also has connections in some very, very high places. If we can figure out what they want with him, though, it would be a start...You're an expert on the guy, right Hakuba-kun? Do you have any ideas for who Kaitou Kid really is?"

"Actually, you've already met my prime suspect. At least in passing." Saguru rose up off the couch and grabbed another thick book from the shelves. "You remember that magician we were discussing earlier, Kuroba Toichi?"

"Yeah. My parents knew him, actually- I very vaguely remember going to his funeral after he died. Do you think he faked his death or something and came back to restart his career as Kid after all this time had passed?"

"No, I don't think so. What I theorize is that a relative of his has assumed Kid's mantle, most likely to try and draw Toichi's killers out. But who knows if that's the actual reason? I tried asking Kid why he stole once, and he just mocked me." Saguru's irritated tone was also reflected in his eyes momentarily. "Well no use thinking about that now. Back to the subject at hand- I think it's a relative of his. A very specific blood relative to be precise." He flipped to a page and pulled out a photo of the guy Shinichi remembered tripping over him the day before. "Kuroba Kaito, Kuroba Toichi's only son. And the current Kaitou Kid if my suspicions are correct, and I'm certain that they are."

"So why haven't you ever acted on them?"

"Evidence. Or lack thereof." Saguru let out a sigh before he returned the photo to its place and placed the binder back where it belonged. "You've seen how he operates. Kid plans out his crimes with far too much deliberation to actually leave any evidence behind. The gloves and hat aren't entirely for show although Kid certainly does cause quite the crowd to gather at his heists."

"No fingerprints and a minimal chance of hair evidence being left behind," replied Shinichi as he gave Saguru a knowing look and received a nod in reply. "Does Kuroba know that you suspect him of being Kid?"

"Of course he does. He's too intelligent not to have picked up on it by now and to be frank, I haven't exactly been subtle about my suspicions to him either. The ironic part is that when I first starting attending school part-time in this country so that I would be closer to Kid's heists I actually wound up being placed in the same class as Kuroba of all things."

"Saguru-botchama, your...guest's ride has arrived." Shinichi could tell from her tone and slightly pale skin that the older woman was still recovering from the shock she'd no doubt endured.

"Thank you, Shiori. Please show Conan to the door. I'll be doing some research in here if I'm needed."

Shiori gave both boys a puzzled look before nodding and escorting Shinichi to the door without a word, willing herself to only glance down once with that same curious look at the young boy walking beside her who was really a teenager...somehow.