Ran Woke to the sound of Shinichi calling her name, pleading for her to wake up. Her vision was still a little hazy, but she was more than able to make out the wide blue of her childhood friend's eyes as they sparkled with worry and relief.
"Ran! I'm so glad you're alright!" Shinichi said. "How do you feel?"
"I feel like I just got trampled by a bunch of angry rhinos." A high-pitched voice responded with what she wanted to say.
Ran blinked. That wasn't her voice just then…right? Her voice wasn't that high in pitch, and yet it had just spoken what she had been going to say, and had tried to say. Her friend made a tight expression, as though confirming a suspicion of his. Sitting up, she winced at the pain in the back of her head and brought a hand up, then froze. Ran lifted her other hand and examined it.
The appendage was smaller than it was supposed to be, like a child's hand. Finally her brain registered that fact that her clothes were hanging very loosely off of her body, like they had suddenly become several sizes too big. But that couldn't be the case - people just don't shrink, it was a scientific impossibility!
And yet, as she stared at Shinichi's concerned expression, it was the only conclusion she could come to.
"Let's head to my place and see if Dr. Agasa's home." Shinichi murmured.
She nodded in agreement and took the offered hand, noting how big it was not in comparison to her's.
The pair were greeted with the sounds of an explosion and a broken wall as they neared the Kudo and Agasa residence. The man in question stumbled out from the wreckage of the now ruined and smoking wall, or what remained of a wall.
Dr. Agase was a single, middle-aged inventor with the whimsical heart and the creativity of a child. He always had some sort of revolutionary new idea for an invention in mind, but they blew up (literally) in his face between 95 and 99% of the time. The sounds of explosions, as well as the eccentric and spontaneous nature of his parents, were the reason Shinichi had long ago developed the ability to sleep like the dead.
"Ah, Shinichi! Hello!" Agasa greeted, getting up.
The teen in question smiled and raised a hand in greeting.
"Hey doc, we've got a problem and you're the only one with any hope of helping us." He replied.
Agasa gave him a quizzical look, then shifted his gaze to the person next to him.
"Oh? Who's that?"
Ran pouted. She had no desire to be reminded of her current set back any more than what was strictly necessary. And even that was more than she wanted.
"Well.. that's what we need your help with. This girl holding my hand is Ran." Shinichi said. "You're an inventor with a background in chemistry, you're our best shot right now at turning her back."
The older man blinked, mind slowly digesting this little ball drop.
"Shinichi, this isn't an elaborate prank, now is it?"
"No Doc, unfortunately I'm serious."
Agasa let out a sigh and then smiled. "Well then, I think the two of you should come in and give me an explanation."
"So, after the second guy caught you spying on his partner's transaction with the businessman, he his you over the head and then fed you an untested poison meant to kill without leaving a trace. But, instead it reverted you back to the physical age of 6, this is correct?" Dr. Agasa asked.
Ran nodded. "Yeah, and then Shinichi found me and we came here."
"Doc, please tell me there's something you can do." Shinichi said.
Agasa shook his head somberly. "Without a sample of the poison, there isn't anything I can do. You can't make a cure without the base poison."
The pair deflated in despair.
"And the only way we'd be able to do that is by tracking the bastards down!" Shinichi groaned. "Which, given the situation right now, is gonna be next to impossible."
Ran let out a groan of her own, resigning to the fact she was now trapped in a tiny and frail body.
"Unfortunately, it's all we can do at the moment." Agasa agreed.
"So, have you given a thought to an alias Ran can use?"
Agasa's question caught the two off guard.
"That's right, the men in black think you're dead right now, we can't let them know Mouri Ran still breaths." Shinichi mused.
Ran chewed on her lip. Her friend was right, at the moment it was too dangerous to use the name 'Mouri Ran' in public, they'd need to come up with a new one for her. As well as figure out what to do moving forward.
"Well, we can say she's a distant relative of mine who's been sent to stay with me for a while," Agasa offered. "Of course, since my place is unfit to house a child, and I myself would be unable to provide the attention necessary to care for a young child, I've talked my good friend Kudo Shinichi into watching her for me."
Shinichi let out a squeak while Ran willed the floor to eater her up at that very moment.
"Bad idea- very bad idea!" Shinichi responded.
Ran nodded in agreement.
"Really?" Agasa asked. "How so?"
"Ran's still a teenage girl!" Shinichi all but yelled.
"The Kudo manor is more than big enough to ensure Ran has her own room," Agasa pointed out. "besides, this way she can stay close to you and keep you out of trouble.
The pair blinked. Shinichi's counterargument had been flimsy at best, and the good doctor did have a valid point. Shinichi was a trouble magnet, always had been. Because he valued his own safety and health seconds to the health and safety of those around him, she'd had to become his protector of sorts to make up for it, since he was now too weak to keep his own ass unharmed. Living under the same roof would ensure she'd be more than capable of at least keeping his fragile health in check.
But it was still awkward to think about- the two of them living together. And then there was that other thing.
"I don't trust my dad enough to leave him alone." Ran said.
"Just have Shinichi spend more time with him then." Agasa said. "In fact, I'd recommend that course of action, he'd be more than capable of keeping Shinichi safe as well, and he is a detective."
Ran pursed her lips. Well, it was a solution.
"Okay then, I guess all we need to do now is come up with a new name."