Disclaimer: not mine.

On the other side

Everything started on a Sunday night. Pr. Agasa was reading and I was working on an antidote. I was completely oblivious of the outside world and I didn't notice the stray cat entering through the window. She's a friendly cat who sometimes visits me and spends time on my lap. I wasn't expecting her that night so when she rubbed herself against my leg, it startled me and I jumped. It startled the cat too and she jumped onto the table, spilling the chemical products.

Of course my roommate rushed to help me. Maybe he shouldn't have. The chemicals were starting to smell weird and he didn't notice the stool I use to stand on when I'm working. He stumbled and fell. Something exploded on the table and shards of glass went through my lab coat's sleeve. Pr. Agasa was now lying onto the floor. I rushed to the ventilation system, I opened the windows and then…

Then I felt a sharp pain. My heart was rushing, I was covered in sweat and I felt my bones were starting to melt. No, no, no. The experimental antidote had entered my bloodstream through the cut on my arm. Worst timing ever!

I managed to grab the phone. I didn't want to call the paramedics so I left Conan a message and rushed to the bathroom. He had to come as soon as possible and take care of Pr. Agasa.

Then the pain went away. I was back into my teenage body. I grabbed a dress, a lab coat and I put them on quickly, then I went to check on Pr. Agasa. Thankfully, he was breathing. Great. What to do now?

Then the door banged open and Conan entered, closely followed by Ran Mouri and a man in a white coat. Oh no, no, no. Why did he have to bring all these people?!

"Hi!" I said. "Could you please help me? This man had a bad fall."

The man nodded and started to examine Pr. Agasa. It was obvious that he knew what he was doing so I managed to get closer to Conan and to whisper:

"I told you to come alone!"

"Sorry," he said. "I was having dinner with Ran and Dr Araide. He insisted to come. Did you test your last antidote without me?!"

"Actually, it was an accident."

"But it works!"

He sounds elated, which irritates me. Doesn't he notice that his friendly neighbour is lying unconscious onto the floor? Does he know about priorities? Then Ran walks to me and says:

"I don't think we've met before. I'm Ran Mouri, a friend of Pr. Agasa, and this is Conan."

"Nice to meet you. I'm… I'm a distant cousin of Pr. Agasa."

"Are you related to Ai Haibara? You look exactly like her!"

"She's also my cousin."

One more lie. I lie all the time. Thankfully, Ran doesn't look remotely suspicious.

"Is she here?" she asks.

Shinichi interrupts us:

"She's at a sleepover with Ayumi, you see? It's a girls only night."

"Maybe we should phone her?"

Great. Now I grab the phone and I pretend to call my younger self/imaginary cousin and tell her not to worry and to carry on with her sleepover at Ayumi's. Let's hope that the real Ayumi never finds out about this.

A meow interrupts us. It seems that the cat is still here and hiding in a corner, still terrified. I grab her, I pet her and I'm about to get her out of the house when the doctor walks to me.

"This man needs to go to the hospital," he says. "Will you come with us?"

I glance. Pr. Agasa is now standing on his feet. I'm about to say yes, even though I feel uncomfortable walking into a public place in my teenage body. What if the Organisation spots me?

Thankfully, my roommate protests:

"I'd prefer you to stay here and clean this mess as soon as possible. Anybody could get hurt."

I agree. Everybody leaves and I stay alone. I clean everything, I throw away the broken glass and I feel stupid. How could everything go that wrong?

Shinichi sends me a message later. He says Pr. Agasa seems quite OK and he told Ran I'm Kate Agasa, Dr. Agasa's half-American cousin so I need to stick to this lie. One more lie. One hour passes and then someone knocks at the door. It's Pr. Agasa and the cute doctor again. Did I say cute doctor? I guess I was too worried to notice before but he's really good looking.

"Everything is OK, Ms Agasa," he says to me. "Nothing's broken. He'll just have to take some painkillers for a few days."

What a relief! I would have never forgiven myself if something wrong happened to him.

"Thank you," I say.

"Are you hurt?"

I remember I rolled my sleeve and now he's staring at the cut on my arm. It's still red and swollen. I shook my head.

"I'm fine."

"Let me clean and disinfect this, at least."

"You don't have to do this."

"Please. I became a doctor so I could help people."

Is he a genuinely nice person? I feel they're just as rare as unicorns. Anyway, I guess cleaning my wound wouldn't hurt. We sit my roommate in a comfy place and I promise I'll make dinner soon. Then the doctor follows me into the bathroom and I hand him the antiseptic. He treats my arm and he says it doesn't look bad yet I should call him if it's still painful tomorrow.

"Your cousin told me you're a biochemist," he says. "Maybe we went to the same college."

"I don't think so. I studied in the United States."

"Did you? This sounds great!"

He asks me questions and he sounds like he really cares for the answers. I feel weird. I can't help staring into his beautiful eyes. What's this weird feeling in my stomach? Butterflies?

He leaves and I make dinner. Then the professor says good night and goes to bed with a book. I lie down too. I can still feel the doctor's warm fingers on my arm.

He really has nice fingers.

To be continued…