Chapter Fifteen

Chapter 15

Well, That Wasn’t Supposed to Happen

Shiho's POV

*First person with two chapters in a row. Not even Shinichi's gotten that yet… -_-*

The first thing I did, was look around me, so naturally I noticed that the handcuff was no longer on my wrist, and that my labcoat was probably more than ten sizes too big for me. What the hell? How'd it get so long?

I stood up, and I could hardly reach the handcuff still hanging on the railing. It wasn't my labcoat that had gotten bigger; I had shrunk. No way! I tested the APTX 4869 so many times, it's certain death! Why didn't it work for me? I had asked for death, but I had been the only one to not get it. How was that fair?

There was no weapon I could commit suicide in the room. And it would be pretty hard to break my skull by banging my head against the wall. I slumped against the wall, and started crying when I heard footsteps running down the hall. My natural instincts took over, and I ran to the air conditioning grate so conveniently located at ground level.

"Was that Sherry?" Vodka's voice blared through the locked door. "You better answer me Sherry, or you're in for a hell of trouble!"

Opening the grate, I climbed in, and repositioned it well enough so that Vodka wouldn't notice it at first glance. I noticed a turn, and I crawled through as fast as possible. Just in time too; somebody slammed open the door, creating a huge blast of noise in the silence.

"She's not here," Gin said. Gin, Gin was here? I shivered in my hiding spot as I crawled further. "How could she have escaped?"

"I'm not sure, aniki," Vodka stuttered. "I heard her scream and rushed right here. I didn't have the keys, so I went to you and…"

"Initiate a search for Sherry! And when you find her, bring her to me. I'll put a bullet in her head this time instead of just a fist." I crawled even faster through the maze of cooling vents. A right turn here, left, straight, anything to get away from Gin. I didn't want to die by his hand.

I reached an empty room, and I recognized it, it was my lab. And there a window that led to the outside. Now that I was small, I could probably get through. I took off the cooling vent cover and entered my room. No sounds from the outside; they must have thought I couldn't possibly have been stupid enough to go back to my own lab. Well, I was desperate.

It was surprisingly easy to escape, a jump to the countertop, a push to open the window, and another jump to land outside. It wasn't until I was out, that I realized it was raining, and that it would be hard to run with such large clothing. But I had no choice, I had to run.

Run where? I had no friends, no parents, no relatives. Who could I even bother to trust? A newspaper flashed in my mind. Famous High School Detective Shinichi Kudo Found Murdered. A photo of a girl crying at the crime scene, the caption below naming her Mouri Ran, daughter of Mouri Kogerou, a detective at the Mouri Detective Agency. She had lost someone too. In that instant I knew where I would go. To Mouri Ran's house.

My lab was next to a bus stop, could I possibly have just 1000 yen on me? Reaching into my lab pocket, I found my purse, which Gin and Vodka hadn't thought to remove. The bus pulled up, and I climbed in, paying the bus fare.

"Do you happen to know where Mouri Detective Agency is?" I asked the bus driver, who looked at me suspiciously.

"This bus stops a couple of blocks from it. Wait four stops, and then get off." I took a window seat, and then noticed my reflection. I didn't realize I looked that young. The girl staring at me couldn't be more than six years old.

"We are both god and the devil. We shall raise even the dead from the grave…." I recalled Vermouth saying. The ultimate goal of the Organization, to bring the dead back from the grave. The ultimate goal of the APTX 4869. It hadn't brought me back to life, but I was once again a child. Score.

"Girl," the bus driver called. "You're getting off here."

"Thanks." I hopped off the bus, and it was now pouring. Looking at the map, Mouri Detective Agency was probably only five minutes away.

Then my stomach growled, and I noticed the burning thirst in my throat. I hadn't eaten or drunk anything in over twenty four hours. And the rain made me freezing in my thin shirt and rain coat. Could I even make it that far?

No, I can! I convinced myself. A right, a left, and then Mouri Detective Agency!

I ran down the street, and then took a turn, nearly colliding with a dark-skinned boy, and a pale-faced girl. They were holding an umbrella, and bent down to help me up. "Are you lost?" The girl asked. "We could help you home."

"No," I told her. "Could you show me to Mouri Detective Agency. I need to see Mouri Ran."

"What do you want with her?" asked the boy.

"Now, now, Heiji. She just wants help. We just left there, I'll walk you back."

It was more bearable under the umbrella, but the wind chilled me to the core. "So, what's your name, little girl?" The girl smiled at me.

"Shiho Miyano," I blurted out without thinking. Shit, I should have thought of an alias.

"Shiho," she repeated. "That's a cute name. I'll call you Shiho-chan, is that okay?"

"It's perfectly fine." Why would she even bother? Nobody had ever called me by the 'chan' honorific in my life. Just Sherry. Only my sister and occasionally Gin or Vermouth would refer to me as Shiho. But Shiho-chan gave me a warm feeling inside, so I let it be.

When we arrived, the girl knocked on the door, and a teenage girl opened the door. "Kazuha-chan, did you forget something?"

"No, not at all, Ran-chan." So this was Mouri Ran. "This little girl said she needed to see you."

"It's very important," I started. "I can tell you who murdered Kudo Shinichi, and other things. That's why I came here, I want to help."

Her face contorted with surprise, and something like fear. "Who are you?"