DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE CONAN.

Unexpected Allies

Story by Blue Salamander

~Chapter 1: The Shrunken Female Detective~

"Takagi-kun?"

A voice called, but no response.

"Takagi-kun?"

Second time, but still, no response.

"Takagi-kun!"

After a shout, the man, called by the name of Takagi Wataru, finally responded with a jump. Takagi looked around, and found his superior, Megure Juzo, staring at him.

"Ah... Megure-keibu! What was that again?"

Takagi's response made Megure frown. It was clear that he wasn't aware of his surroundings. Even though he answered back with a cheerful smile, Megure wasn't a fool to be deceived. He was a veteran officer who was capable of looking through the young, inexperienced officer's act, and Megure knew exactly the reason why.

After Takagi had came back from that case, he was behaving like this for the whole time, spacing out for a long time and not being able to focus on anything, and not only his superior, but also every other co-workers knew it wasn't just from the injuries he got. Everyone was starting to worry about him.

That case had made Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department turn into a serious mess, as if there was a war broken out here. It wasn't just because the young officer got brutal beaten, or because the department had no idea who the true culprit was. An officer became missing after that case, and that itself made it thrown into a huge uproar. However, the problem was that the missing detective wasn't just a detective.

The missing detective was none other than Sato Miwako, the idol officer that is respected by everyone in Tokyo Metropolitan Police department.

As the time went one, Superintendent Matsumoto decided to step in for himself, ordering everyone to find the missing officer no matter what it takes. After hearing such a devastating news, everyone began to hold a huge search party, especially male officers, who were overreacting too much and literally searching everywhere. However, they had no luck.

This case was much more worse than the one when Takagi got kidnapped. While there was few leads sent by the criminal himself to track down his location, this time was different. Nobody knew a single thing about where she was. Even Takagi, who was found with some severe injuries, told them that he didn't know anything about her whereabouts. Actually, they weren't even sure that it was even a kidnap. It might be a murder case, abandoning her body somewhere far away. The officers just hoped that it wasn't the latter. One thing sure about this case was that there was no way Sato was slacking off her work. Her phone was found broken where that case took place, so whatever happened, it was clear that she couldn't contact with her department. Seeing that, Shiratori had suggested to find any lead where the phone was found but still, officers couldn't find anything else to help them locate her.

Going back to our young officer, Takagi looked as if he desperately wanted to help with the search, but Megure declined his proposal. He wasn't in shape, both physically and mentally. Instead, Megure ordered the injured detective to stay behind and do some paper works, but Takagi was having trouble concentrating, mostly spending his time spacing out, like he was doing earlier.

With a sigh, Megure finally opened his mouth.

"Takagi-kun, I think you should go home and have a rest."

Takagi's eyes went wide open. "B-but Megure-keibu! I'm fine! Look, my head stopped bleeding now..." He argued, pointing at his bandaged head. However, Megure shook his head.

"I'm not talking about your physical shape Takagi-kun. You don't look fine to me. I think you really need a break. After seeing you in that state, even Matsumoto-keishi suggested me to give some break for few days."

"I agree too Takagi-kun." Shiartori, who was listening to the whole conversation, intervened, giving a nod. "Go home, you aren't being any help now."

Takagi paused for a while. After taking a look at his face, showing mixture of emotions, Megure and Shiratori looked at each other. Seeing him in such a state, they were both concerned about him. They knew how Takagi and Sato were so close to each other, and how Takagi cared about her so much. Shiratori, the one who fell in love like him, was especially concerned about him. Although he could understand how Takagi was feeling, Shiratori wanted him to think rationally rather than being stubborn. Thankfully, after giving some thought, Takagi seemed to comply.

"I understand. Megure-keibu, Shiratori-san, thank you for worrying about me." Takagi nodded, pushing his chair back. Shiratori gave a sigh of relief when he saw Takagi packing his bag.

Megure gently put his hand on to his injured subordinate's shoulder.

"Don't worry about Sato-kun. We will try our best to find her."

With that, he left, with Shiratori following him after giving a glance, full of concern. As Takagi left the room, all the officers couldn't stop glancing at Takagi. Although most of the male officers, especially the members of "Sato Miwako's Line of Defense" group, were jealous about winning the department's greatest idol heart, they were also Takagi's co-workers; they couldn't stop caring about him. Since they had always kept an eye of him to bother the romance between Takagi and Sato, they knew how the two cared each other so much. They thought Takagi's sadness was incomparable to theirs.

Takagi went down the parking lot. On his way, he met Chiba and Yumi, who couldn't say anything better than "cheer up." Being one of the closest officers with him, they both had noticed his unusual behavior long time ago. In their eyes, it seemed that the disappearance of Sato Miwako seemed too much for the young officer to handle.

However, actually, what others thought Takagi's feeling was very different from the truth. Indeed, Takagi was having a hard time concentrating on his work, but that wasn't because he was deeply saddened about disappearance of his girlfriend. It was something that he saw during that case. After witnessing such an strange and abnormal event, he couldn't stop thinking about it.

And that was the reason why he couldn't tell anyone about what happened during that case.

Takagi soon arrived where he car was. Before going inside the car, he looked around, making sure that nobody else was near him. Confirming that, Takagi opened his car and sat on the driver's seat. As he started his car, he took a glimpse at the back seat. Surprisingly, there was a small girl, wearing adult sized clothes that clear didn't fit her. Strangely, despite the age difference, she looked so much like the missing officer, Sato Miwako.

No... the girl didn't look like Sato Miwako. She was actually the one.

After the car went far from the department, Sato finally crawled out under the car seat to sit properly. They all let out a sigh of relief. It had been such an anxious time to hide the truth from the officers. Sato wiped her sweat from her head. She did not want to reveal what she had become to anyone else, other than Takagi who had seen everything back in that case. She didn't want to make things more complex. Being in this question already gave her a headache.

"You came quicker than I expected." Sato said, as she comfortably sat on the seat. "Did Megure-keibu let you out early?"

"Well... yes Sato-san," Takagi answered, stuttering. He wasn't used to the shrunken form of his girlfriend. "I couldn't concentrate on my work today, witnessing the strangest incident in my life."

"If you think like that, what would you think I feel like?" She gave a sigh. She held up her arms and looked at them alternatively. It felt extremely awkward to see her usual clothes was so big. "Who would think that getting back to the child can actually happen? I thought this kind of thing can happen in comic books or animations." Sato said, letting out a sigh.

"Ahh... Well..."

Sato rolled her eyes. "Never mind..."

She crawled to the edge of the car to get some fresh air. She opened the car window, and gazed at the night view of the city. Sato needed some time to organize her thoughts. Things were so screwed up around here. Turning in a child? Seriously, how could this happen?

As the car drove through the street of night, looking out at the window, Sato recalled back the case few hours ago, where all this mess started.

After getting a report about strangers in an abandoned factory, Sato arrived with several police officers. Although this kind of job wasn't for her division, most of the officers in charge were out. Since she was the one closest to the scene, Sato took the job.

For an efficient investigation, she spilt up with the others. She chose to investigate alone. At that time, she didn't think it was a serious case. Even if she had to fight with them, she though she could handle them alone.

"Thinking back Sato-san." Takagi spoke, waiting for a traffic light to change. "I think it was bad idea to go in that place by yourself. You should have some officers accompanying with you."

Sato gave back a flat stare. "Shut up, I already realized that."

True, she never knew that little bit of arrogance could turn her into like this. She already knew that was the biggest mistake she had made in her life. Takagi didn't have to remind her. With a sigh, she turned back at the window.

"The light changed."

"Oh, right."

As Takagi continued to drive, Sato continued her flashback.

As she investigated the old factory, she heard few strange noise. The female officer quietly approached. She peaked through the open gap of the door, and saw an old man, a woman, and a big man wearing sunglasses. Except the woman, they were all holding black suitcases. Sato's eyes went wide. She knew who that old man was.

The man's name was Keniyoushi Natsmua, a wanted man. He was both a serious drug addict and greedy dealer, doing whatever it took to gain what he wanted. For sake of his money, he never hesitated to use foul methods like selling drugs with unnecessarily high price, even to teenagers. With the money he earned, he bought more and more drugs, doing them by himself and sold the leftovers to buy more. The Task Force members were searching for him everywhere, but he was a cunning man. Natsuma always managed to escape whenever polices were dispatched. Although Sato's division wasn't in charge of catching Natsuma, since she heard her colleagues in other division complaining about how he was so good at fooling them.

'So this is where Natsuma was hiding!' Sato thought. 'But who are they?'

Sato soon felt a chill when she saw the woman and the man in black coats. Somehow, she had a feeling that they were much more dangerous criminal than Natsuma. Not wanting them to notice her, Sato quickly turned off her walkie-talkie. Instead, she took out her phone and began recording their conversation.

Keniyoushi Natsuma opened his suitcase. Seeing such huge amounts of money, Sato lightly gasped.

"Is this enough for you?" Natsuma asked with an evil grin.

"Oh my, you really worked your way through this." The woman mockingly said. "I thought you were getting short of money."

"Shut up and take my money!" He impatiently shouted. Sato gave a closer look at him. He wasn't in a good shape. The veteran officer quickly realized that Natsuma was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. From what the woman said, it seemed that Natsuma's business wasn't smoothly going on. He didn't have enough money to buy drugs for his satisfaction.

"I want them NOW!" Natsuma yelled, reaching out for the man's suitcase. However, the man quickly took them away. Seeing that, the woman gave a sigh, taking out something from her black coat.

"Keep your voice down." She calmly responded. Surprisingly, she took out a handgun, point at Natsuma's forehead. "Do you want anyone to find out about this deal?"

Her voice gave Sato a chill. Even though Sato had faced so many female criminals during her career, she had never seen such a dangerous woman like her. She was a venomous snake, beautiful but wielding a deadly poison. Seeing her, Natsuma couldn't also do anything, but to tremble in front of the deadly threat. His craving had disappeared for a while, consumed by fear.

The woman lightly smiled, seeing him shut up. She soon turned to the fat man. They exchanged glanced, and the man gave a nod.

"Now," He said, holding up his suitcase with a smirk. "Hand us the money to finish this quickly."

Natsuma nodded with a bright smile. His desire for pleasure once again took control. With a grin of madness, Natsuma hastily handed his suitcase and happily accepted the other. Natsuma's smile widened when he opened it. There were several books, but when he opened one, Sato quickly realized that they weren't books. They were well-made containers that had drugs inside them. Witnessing what they were doing, Sato had no reason to keep listening to their conversation. She turned on her walkie-talkie, contacting other officers to come to this area as soon as possible.

Afterwards, Sato dialled to Megure. She knew she would need more backups if she wanted to catch the two in black coats. Whoever they were, they gave a feeling that they weren't like anything that the young female officer had faced before.

"This is Sato. I have found some suspicious looking people in... Gah!"

Before she could finish, a handkerchief covered her mouth. Sato felt her energy drain. It didn't take long for her to realize that the handkerchief was wet with drug, probably a type of an anesthetic, but she couldn't do anything as numbness took control of her body. Soon, she collapsed. Her vision was starting to fade, soon consumed by darkness. However, her strong will refused to let her consciousness go. In the void, Sato could hear another sound of collapsing body and several footsteps approaching her.

"Oh, who is this?" Sato heard a feminine voice asking. Strangely, it wasn't the voice she heard earlier.

"A fly." An unfamiliar voice replied. Sato tried to open her eyes, and saw a man with long silver hair. Before he could notice her, Sato's eye got heavier again, falling into the darkness. "I saw several police cars along the way. Probably that fool's shouting lured them."

Then, Sato heard a loud stomp. She heard her phone crumbling into tiny bits. "Tch, what an incompetent brat. Things have just got messier."

"Then anki, why didn't you use your gun?" Sato heard the voice of the big man. Hearing that, she heard a laughter from the feminine voice.

"Walker, if Gin used one, more polices will come, and we don't want to make things more complex than it is now."

"Gin... Walker..."

Sato mumbled, repeating those names. She didn't want to forget the names who turned her like this. How couldn't she notice that 'Gin' person coming? Was he a veteran killer? Whatever she was, she couldn't let dangerous people like them freely roaming around. Deep inside, Sato vowed to make them pay with the name of the law by handcuffing them and sending them behind the bars.

"Uh... Sato-san?" Takagi called, snapping Sato out of her own thought. "Sorry for disturbing your thoughts, but is that 'Gin' and 'Walker' the ones who made you faint?"

"Yes, but I was barely holding on to my consciousness, so 'faint' isn't the right word. They drugged me." Sato bit her lips in frustration. "And they weren't the only one. There was another one. I remember name was Vermouth. Did you see them?"

"No Sato-san... I was attacked by thugs hired by Keniyoushi Natsuma."

"Come to think of it, how are you?" Sato asked, worryingly looking at his bandages. "You really got seriously hurt from that case..."

Takagi turned around, giving a light smile. "I am fine Sato-san, thank you for worrying about me."

"But..."

"Don't worry. It's nothing compared to that Copycat case. Really."

"If you say so..."

After that, Takagi turned back, continuing to focus on his driving. As he turned the steering wheel, he winced in pain. Takagi glanced at his wounds. It was true they have gotten much better, but the pain wasn't completely gone. A red light stopped his car, giving Takagi a time to think back to the case.

While Sato was in such a great trouble, Takagi wasn't too far away from the abandoned factory. He was taking a break inside his car. Few minutes ago, while Takagi was buying some snacks, he heard people shouting out "thieves!" As an officer, Takagi couldn't ignore that, and quickly went back to work. Takagi chased the culprits, all wearing a motorcycle helmet, who soon hid himself inside a nearby club house. Luckily, the group of our cute little detectives, who called themselves as "Detective Boys," was passing by, who agreed to help when they heard the situation. Although Edogawa Conan, the strange boy who outclassed even the most veteran officers, did most of the job, the children helped him to narrow down the suspects. Finally, they revealed the true identity of the burglars, who were infamous teenage thugs for doing notorious acts like smoking, bullying and taking other's money.

As Takagi was eating some snacks he bought earlier, Takagi got a call from Megure.

"Yes Megure-keibu?"

"Takagi-kun! I heard that you are near were Sato-kun went to investigate. Is that true?" Megure shouted in despeate tone, interrupting Takagi. An ominous feeling crawled from inside. He felt something was going wrong.

"You mean... the abandoned factory? Yes, it only takes a minute by my car."

"Then go now! Sato-kun is in trouble! She witnessed an illegal drug trafficking, and after a grunt, she doesn't respond to my call!"

Takagi's eyes widened when he heard that. He nearly dropped his phone. The young officer froze in fear, with his heart racing in panic, screaming. His senses shut down. His surroundings became empty and deadly quiet, not being able to hear what his superior was saying.

"...Takagi-kun? TAKAGI-KUN!"

A shout rescued his conscious from swarming emotions of angst. However, his heart was still shouting, echoing with anxiety. The tension made his whole body shook. Swallowed in agony and angst, he barely managed to respond with a trembling voice.

"Y-yes?"

"Takagi-kun! Keep your self strong!" Megure shouted. "There is nobody available to take this job! Takagi-kun! Go! I will send backups right away, but for now, You are the only one who can save her!"

The superior's words made Takagi bring back to his senses. Deep inside, he was feeling fear. However, his powerful will and heart of the young officer managed to turn the apprehension into resolution. Takagi was a strong man inside. To save his beloved one, he couldn't let his torment took control of him.

"Yes Megure-keibu!" He answered with a determined voice.

Takagi instinctively knew that he had no time to waste. He quickly hung his phone off and put his siren on. As he started his car, he violently stepped on to his car pedal. As his car madly drove through the street, his torment was still torturing him with swarming anxiety. What if he was too late? What if Sato was... Takagi winced, shaking his head in denial. Sato was one of the most talent officer in his division. With her combat skills that even overpowered some male officers, there is no way she could lose so easily.

However, even with his denial, he couldn't shake of his panicking anxiety coming deeply inside him. The only thing he could do was to beg for her safety. When he arrived at scene, he slammed his car door and ran. His eyes were madly searching everywhere.

"Sato-sannn!"

He shouted, calling his beloved one's name.

"Takagi-kun?" Sato called, snapping Takagi out of his own flashback. "Remember you shouted my name loud in the factory?"

Takagi almosted jumped out of his seat. "You heard that?" His face turned bright red.

"Of course." Sato said. "Your voice echoed all around in the abandoned factory."

Takagi turned away from her, trying to hide his blushing face. Sato giving a light smile. She clearly heard from that voice how the young officer deeply cared about her, making her grip tightly on her fading consciousness.

"But..." Her expression darkened. "That was why you got caught, right?"

"Uh... yes." Takagi replied with an awkward chuckle. "I thought I would die at that time."

"Why didn't you use your gun?" Sato asked. "You could use it for a warning shot."

"Uh..." After a pause, Takagi answered. "Because I left it in my car?"

Sato rolled her eyes. "You are an idiot."

A swing of a bat made Takagi groan in pain. Takagi barely managed to stand up, but his whole body trembled from the wounds. He felt his body screaming in pain, but it didn't matter for him. As muscular thugs surrounding him slowly walked to the beaten officer, they grinned, proudly holding up their metal pipes and bats. Takagi was rapidly breathing in and out and whipped off his blood dripping from his mouth. He felt a droplet of blood rolling down from his head, but he didn't care. He tried to step forward, but he soon clutched his stomach in pain.

"Damn it…"

Takagi grumbled. He glared at the approaching goons. This wasn't good. Not only he forgot to bring his gun with him, but he also wasn't a fighter like his girlfriend. Worse, he wasn't in shape to safely escape from them. A men came close to him, holding up his pipe to deal a final blow. Takagi tightly closed his eyes.

"Takagi-kun!"

With a shout, Takagi heard a sudden gun. He opened his eyes, and saw a bullet hitting the pipe out of the attacker's hand. Takagi turned to the direction where the bullet flew. He saw Shiratori holding up his gun with few officers behind him. The officers soon rushed to arrest them.

"Takagi-kun, are you all right?" Shiratori yelled, running towards his faltering co-worker. He gasped when he saw Takagi covered in wounds. Shiratori helped Takagi to get up, giving his arm."Oh my god, look at you! It's a miracle that you are still in consciousness."

"I'm fine Shiratori-san..." Takagi replied. He gently shook off Shiratori's arm and walked forward. "I-I have to rescue Sato-san..."

"Takagi-kun, you are in no shape to do so." Shiratori called. "Don't be so reckless."

"Shiratori-san... If it was Kobayashi-sensi was in this situation... what would you do?" Shiratori froze. Knowing his answer, Takagi smiled. "I would do... the same thing."

"You are really reckless as ever Takagi-kun..." Shiratori gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, it seems that that's all Natsuma hired, so there won't be much danger. However, I will have to keep an eye on those thugs. I can't give you any back ups for few minutes."

"I will be... fine."

"I'll follow you once they are all arrested, taken to the car. Don't do anything reckless before I come. Know when to retreat."

Takagi nodded and headed to the opposite exit. He could pain crawling up his body. However, he knew he didn't have time to waste. He couldn't let his injury stop him from finding his beloved one. Clenching his stomach, he slowly continued his search.

Soon, he heard Sato's high-pitched scream. Takagi's eyes went wide. He never heard her screaming so loud. Takagi's heart was racing with panicking. He rushed, ran towards the direction where the voice came, completely ignoring the screech coming from his body.

"By the way Takagi-kun," Sato called. "How did you find me?"

"I heard your scream."

"What? Did I scream that loudly?" Sato asked in shock.

Takagi gave a light chuckle. "Your scream echoed all over the factory. But... What made you scream that loudly Sato-san? I was panicking when I heard you."

"The drug that made me look like this." She pointed at her chibi form. She continued after grunt, recalling back to the incident. "It hurt like hell. It felt like my body was being burnt alive. Come to think of it, I haven't told you the details of that part yet. Well, the story goes on like this…"

'Was that... Wataru?' Sato thought, hearing Takagi calling her name. Sato tried to open her eyes, but her body refused to listen to her, completely intoxicated by the anesthetic. However, the voice of her boyfriend seemed to help her hold her consciousness.

"Oh dear, looks like one of the flies are here." Sato heard the woman's voice, said calmly. "I think we should leave this area quickly."

"But Vermouth, we can't leave them alive." The voice of the big man, apparently named Walker, said. Sato heard a sound of gun loading. "Should I shoot her?"

She heard the woman, Vermouth, giving a sigh. "Again Walker, it will lure those flies. We don't have a silencer with us, so Gin, any ideas?"

"Looks like we'll have to use this." The voice of the 'Gin' guy was heard. "The drug that our traitor Sherry made."

"Oh, that stupid drug?" Vermouth responded. Sato noticed a small disdain in her tone, as if she hated using it. With a sigh, Vermouth soon complied. "Looks like it can't be helped. We don't have much choice."

"Walker, feed this to stupid drug lover." Gin ordered. "I'll take this one."

Sato could feel Gin clutching her head, forcefully feeding her a cup of water. With her benumbed body, she couldn't resist it. She also felt something else going down her throat, along with the water.

"I'm done here." Gin said, putting Sato's head down.

"I'm done here too, anki." Walker replied.

"Alright, let's go."

After the conversation, Sato heard footsteps, going away time by time. As the sound completely disappeared, Sato tried to open her eyes. The effect of the anesthetic was starting to fade. Sato tried to move her body. She could move it, a little by little. However, as soon as she was trying to move her body, a sudden heat rushed from inside. With widened eyes, Sato collapsed again.

Unfortunately for her, another effect of drug was taking in place. Her body twitched, sweating from the heat. She could feel her breath getting shorter and shorter, and her heart getting faster and faster. Sato clutched her chest, the source of her ache.

'Wha-What did they feed me? A poison?'

She struggled. Her vision was starting to fade. She could feel the temperature rising, intensively, as if she was burning alive. As an unbearable pain quickly took over her body, she screamed in agony and blacked out.

"Sato-san? SATO-SAN!" Takagi yelled. Sato soon snapped back the the reality. She blinked, looking at him. She saw Takagi's face. Sato could feel his concern through his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Huh?"

"You looked extremely painful when you were talking about the part where you got drugged." Takagi replied, still having that tone full of worried. He felt her voice shaking, reflecting her fear and anguish deep inside her heart.

"Sato-san, you don't have to tell me everything. If the memory from that case makes you feel pain, I won't force you."

"Oh… I'm fine. Thank you Takagi-kun. I'm not scared or anything, it's just that thinking back to the case made me recall the pain. It was an experience I never want to experience ever again, but I am traumatized at all. You know me." Sato warmly smiled at the warm-hearted officer. "By the way, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, what it is?"

"How did you the child was me at that time? I don't believe I ever showed you my childhood photo." Sato asked. "There is no way you could know this was me. If people see a child that resembles someone they know, they will never think that the child is the one. They will merely think that the child looks like the one."

Takagi gave back a smile. "You are sharp as always Sato-san. You are right. Normally, that is the case, but" He continued after scratching her head. "Actually... I saw you shrinking in your kid form."

"Is that why?"

Sato laughed loudly. However, Takagi could only give an awkward chuckle. That was one of the most strangest thing he saw in his life. Seriously, imagine yourself seeing your beloved one getting shrunk, right in front of your eyes! Even the existence of extraordinary smart seven-year old kid with glasses couldn't take the cake for that one.

"Sa-Sato-san?! SATO-SAN?!"

Sato slowly opened her eyes as she heard Takagi's voice. In her blurry vision, she could see Takagi, shaking her as he was looking at her, concerned. She rubbed her eyes, try to see clearly vision. Takagi looked as if he was greatly shocked, as if he saw something horrified, like a ghost. Sato's eyes went wide when she saw numerous wounds and blood.

"T-Takagi-kun? What happened to you...?"

Sato froze before she could continue. That wasn't her usual tone of her voice. At that time, she thought only because she hadn't completely recovered from the drug. She didn't notice what happened to her yet. Sato tried to stand up, but she soon faltered, as a sharp pain rushed from her body.

"Sato-san!" Takagi shouted. He lowered himself, supporting her with his arms "Are you alright?"

"Yeah... I think." She replied.

Sato could feel her body shaking, lacking any energy to even support her body. The drug had drained most of her energy. She could feel intensive fatigue attacking her body.

"But Takagi-kun, I think you should worry about yourself more than mine...huh?"

Sato paused. She looked up at Takagi. Even though she was standing up, Sato felt Takagi being excessively taller than he usually was.

"Hey Takagi-kun? Why are you so call now?" She asked, looking puzzled.

"Uh... Well..."

Takagi couldn't continue. He didn't know what to say about her condition. It was apparent that she also had no idea something terrible and extraordinary happened to her. Takagi scratched his head, trying to finding ways to explain her own situation to her. There was no way she could believe him. As he panicked, he soon found a mirror, stuck up on a wall. Seeing could explain this situation much more than by a mere word.

"Uh... Sato-san, can you sit down for a moment?"

Sato gave a clueless nod. She sat down as she saw him taking down a mirror. She wondered what he was doing. As he walked towards her, holding a mirror, he sighed. This might be bit cruel, but he had no choice.

"Sato-san... You might want to take a look yourself."

Takagi showed it to her. As Sato took a look at her own reflection, she blinked. She held up her arm, and saw herself in the mirror doing the same. She slapped herself, and herself did the same. After grasping the situation, Sato jumped back, along with her own reflection.

"What?!" Sato yelled.

She rubbed her eyes. However her own reflection hadn't changed. She slapped herself, but it was no use. The mirror was showing herself, but it wasn't the usual adult form. It was a girl, only about seven-year old kid. Sato began to panic. Soon, she looked up at Takagi.

"Takagi-kun! Am I hallucinating?" She desperately asked.

"If I'm not hallucinating too... No." Takagi answered with apparent hesitation. Sato fell on to her knees. Takagi couldn't find any word to make her cheer up. If he was in that kind of situation, he would do that same. Who wouldn't react like this, if an adult suddenly see himself as a kid?

Just then, something struck in her mind. Sato sharply turned back, remembering that she wasn't the only one who got drugged. Seeing the crazy drug lover's body, Sato tried to walk towards him. However, a shrill pain made her fell.

"Sato-san!"

"I am fine Takagi-kun." She turned to Takagi responded with a smile. Then, she turned back to Natasuma's body. Sato crawled to him. Forcing her body, she checked his body. Sato's eyes went wide when she touched him. She hurriedly checked his pulses and breathing, but she couldn't feel anything.

"No way..." Sato mumbled. She quickly turned to Takagi. "Takagi-kun! Check this man, now!"

"Huh...? Ah, yes Sato-san!"

Sato stepped back as Takagi came close to check Natsuma's body. She hoped that she was mistaken due to her exhaustion, but unfortunately, the veteran officer was right. Takagi shook his head. Keniyoushi Natsuma was surely dead.

"Damn it..." Sato grumbled, clutching her fist. Sato never wanted anyone, even a notorious criminal like him, dead. She hit the floor with frustrated groan. "That freaks! How can they do this! Wait..." Sato took another look at the corpse. "Does that mean... I could have turn out like this?"

"Sato-san!" Takagi called. "We don't have time to think."

The two soon heard several footsteps, approaching this room. Takagi turned to Sato. He instinctively knew whoever they were, he couldn't let them see her. If they were another cahoots of Keniyoushi Natsuma, they would surely kill her, and Takagi wasn't in shape to protect her.

With that in mind, Takagi lifted his shrunken girlfriend. Before she had anytime to protest, Takagi gently put her down behind a stack of oil drums. "Sato-san, stay hidden here. Do not come out." He gave his car key to Sato. "I will stall some time for you. Hide inside my car whenever you get the chance."

"Wait, Takagi-kun!" Sato shouted, clutching the end of his trousers. "You are in no shape of fighting!"

"And so are you Sato-san. You are a kid now." Takagi said, cutting off her words which made Sato froze. He gave an assuring smile. "I will be fine. Just stay hidden."

Sato tried to argue, but she soon paused. She was no longer the strong officer she was. She was now a helpless child, unable to protect even herself. With a grunt, she compiled. "Alright... But I won't forgive you if you die, Takagi-kun!"

Takagi gave a nod. As Sato hid behind the oil drums, Takagi walked towards the middle of the room. He braced himself when he saw the door opening, but he soon brightened up when Shiratori and other officers came inside the room. Sato sighed in relief.

"I think giving my car key was a wise decision." Takagi said, after finish talking about that messy case. "You had a place to stay hidden."

"Yeah, I have to agree on that one." Sato replied with a nod. "If you didn't, I could have got caught by them. When I was hiding under the car seat, I heard a strange engine sound. When I glanced through the car window, I saw three people going inside the car, the big man I saw, and the one with long silver hair. Judging by the voice I heard, the one with the silver hair was Gin, while the one with fat body was Walker."

Sato paused, having a moment of thought. "But what is bothering me is that there was also a woman going inside the car. I never saw her before... I think she is Vermouth, but what about the woman I saw with Natasuma? Where did she go?"

"Maybe she already left."

"Yeah... Probably." Sato replied, but she wasn't fully satisfied. There must be more, but she couldn't think of anything better. She quickly decided to move on, leaving that thought for another time. "Anyway, I hid under the car seat the whole time so that nobody could find me. Well, you could find me if you glance inside the car, but they were trying to get out of the scene. They wouldn't have time to look inside a car."

"So you managed to creep into my car without letting anyone notice." Takagi said. "Wow, you really hid well Sato-san."

Sato just gave a shrug. "This kid version is not bad at hiding, although my clothes are useless now, dirty and torn from all dragging. I definitely need some new clothes."

"Well, we are going to shopping district to buy some clothes. I don't have your size at home. Sato-san, do you remember your size when you were a kid? I remember seeing a kid clothes shop near here..."

"Alright, then where are we going?" Takagi asked.

"No, you are not going in there." Sato snapped. "Shopping comes later. We might run into people we know. You understand?" After seeing him nod, she continued. "And for the answer to your question, I'm not so sure, but I do remember buying some clothes for Ayumi-chan's birthday. Maybe her size will fit mine. Anyway, take your car to your apartment."

"E-ehhh?" Takagi sharply turned back, looking very pale. His face turned red. "You are going to my house?!"

Sato gave a smirk. "We need a place to discuss this mess, and your house is a perfect place for this. You live alone right?"

After their arrival, Takagi went to his kitchen to bring some foods. Sato patiently waited in the living room. She sat on a couch. She took a glance at her feet. She felt extremely awkward to see her own feet unable to touch the ground.

"It feels so strange..." Sato muttered "My feet can't touch the ground."

"Well Sato-san, you are a kid now." Takagi said, bringing some tea and snacks. "I brought some tea and snacks for you Sato-san. Want to try it?"

"Wow, thanks Takagi-kun." Sato said, munching some snacks.

"So Sato-san, correct me if I'm wrong." Takagi said, sitting next to her. "You got a call about strangers in the abandoned factory and saw an illegal drug trafficking. Before you can finish calling Megure-keibu, this 'Gin' person knocked you down with an anesthetic, and after they heard my voice, they fed you another drug, which turned you into a child."

Sato gave a nod. "You got most of the part correct, but you left out one fact: Keniyoushi Natsuma got drugged too."

"About that..." Takagi scratched his head. "According to the forensic investigation, Keniyoushi Natsuma died from sudden illness."

"WHAT?!"

That almost made Sato choked on her cookie. She quickly gulped down some tea to calm herself. After that was all sorted out, she folded her arm to think. Natural death? That wasn't right. She was very sure that she heard Gin ordering Walker to feed the same drug to Natsuma.

However, that explained few parts that was bothering her for the whole time.

"That actually make sense... I was keep wondering why they left me and Natsuma like that. That Gin and Vermouth seemed to be sharp and smart, but leaving the victims drugged is too risky, since forensics can easily find out what kind of poison they used to kill them. This could help the task force to narrow down the culprit, especially when the murderer used rare drugs. The ones they used on me sounded like they weren't type of drugs that can be seen naturally. However, if the drug was meant to cause the victim's death to look natural..."

"Ah, the forensics wouldn't found out the victims, or even the face the victim got murdered!" Takagi exclaimed, completely getting what Sato was saying. However there was still few things that he didn't understand. "But Sato-san, if the drug was a poison to look the victim's death natural, why did you turn out like this in the first place?"

Sato thought for a while. That was the most part bothering her. Getting a person shrunk wasn't a normal case. "Did forensic team say about Keniyoushi Natsmua's death in detail?"

"They say that harmful cells and pathogens took over the body, destroying most of the immune system. I don't know much about science, so I really don't know the details more than that..."

Sato scratched her head. "I don't know heading anything about science, so I can't deduce on that part. However what I can say for sure is that they don't know anything about this side-effect, or else, there is no way they could left me like this."

"Wait a minute Sato-san," Takagi interrupted. "If such kind of a drug exists, why doesn't anyone know about it?"

"Either the chance of turning out like this is extremely low," Sato replied, pointing at her child form. "Or the people who fed the drug is extremely dangerous people, so that they are hiding to protect both themselves and their relatives, or both."

"Wow Sato-san," Takagi commented. "Looks like we got caught into something big."

"We did," Sato said with a nod. "Now, we need to plan about the future."

Sato let out a sigh. She bit her lips. It seemed that she had to do the same thing she mentioned earlier: hiding to protect her family. Although she wasn't the type of person to stay hidden, she couldn't bear to lose her mother; losing her father was enough. She needed a place to stay, but there was none that she could think of.

Seeing Sato in such an angst, Takagi spoke. "Sato-san, you don't want to lose your mother, right?"

Sato turned to him and gave a sad nod.

"Then I think you can become my fake relative." Takagi said with a smile. "I can lie people having distant cousin living in my house for some complex issues."

Sato's eyes went wide. "Y-You sure Takagi-kun? But... this is my investigation! I can't put you at risk!"

Takagi gave a shrug. "I saw everything thing Sato-san. I'm in this no matter what you say. Besides, you can't really do anything with your shrunken form. I know you are strong, but not when you turned to seven-year old kid."

Sato gave Takagi a stunning look. Why would he be so willing to help her? It would be such a burdensome and dangerous case that wouldn't do Takagi any good.

"Takagi-kun... But why?" She asked. "I might not be able to turn back to my usual self. Is that ok for you?"

Takagi gave a light chuckle. "It was a poison which made you small, right? There must be an antidote that will turn you back to an adult. Even if you can't turn back, I can wait few more years."

Sato paused, surprised by what he said. She soon turned her head away from her. She could feel her head blushing. "Seriously Wataru.. You sound like a pedophile!"

"Ehh?!" Takagi shouted, taken back. "I do?!"

Sato loudly laughed at his reaction. "Just kidding! You are so easy to tease, Wataru!"

"Geez, Miwako-chan..." Takagi scratched his head as Sato couldn't stop laughing. "Anyway, so... What should I call you? I couldn't call you Sato-san in front of the public."

"Well, I don't really like this idea, but I'll need a fake identity." Sato grumbled, trying to come up with a good name She wasn't a creative person. Her brain was for cases and mystery, not something creative like this.

"Hmm... How about Tomoe Mami?"

"I really have a bad feeling about that name..."

"If you say so..." Sato took a moment to think of another name. "Kyubei Shiro?"

"I don't like the feeling of that family name." Takagi replied.

"Urgh! Then how about you give me a name?"

As Sato looked at her with annoyed expression, Takagi took some to think of a good name. "Hmm... How about Hiruma Saya?"

"Hiruma… Saya…" Sato paused, mumbling that name. Soon after, she gave a satisfied smile. "I like it. Alright, from now on, don't call me Sato Miwako in front of the public. Call me Hiruma Saya. Can you do that Wataru?"

"O-of course Miwako-chan! But how are you going to plan on investigating them?"

"Well I'm a kid now, so I can do to anything without arising suspicion…"

"But Sato-san, if you are not at school at your age, isn't people be suspicious? I mean, if you really want to have your true identity hidden, you need to act like a kid."

"You want me to go to school in this age?" Before she finish her protest, she thought of something... entertaining. She grinned. "On a second thought, I think it could be a good idea. Takagi-kun, can you help me to get in to Teitan Elementary School?"

"Why do you want…" Takagi thought of something before he could finish his words. "I see, you want to be with the Detective Boys and Conan-kun right? Since they get caught up in cases a lot, we can contact each other very easily. Right?"

"Yap" Sato gave a nod. "But that's not the only reason."

"Eh?"

"Looks like my second childhood won't be boring."

Sato smiled, thinking of one, bespectacled boy who never failed to amuse her.

A/N: Completed rewriting the first chapter.

Welcome to my first DC fanfic. I haven't seen any fanfic shrinking Sato, so here it is!

1) Sato x Takagi pairing is my second favorite other than Shinichi x Ran pairing. Third is Hattori x Kazuha, but they are not the main in this fanfic. Oh, but don't be mistaken, I WILL DEFINITELY PUT THEM IN THE STORY. Kaito x Aoko? Honestly, I don't know. Kaito KID will definitely appear, but Aoko... Well, I'll try to put them too.

2) Q: Isn't Walker actually 'Vodka'?

A: He is, but in Japan, Vodka is pronounced as 'Walker.' Sato doesn't know about this yet.

3) I don't like repeating the main story, having Takagi waiting for Sato while she is actually near him! So I thought, "what if I let Takagi to know the truth from the beginning?" He saw Sato shrunk, so he is naturally in the BO investigation. NO, HE ISN'T A PEDOPHILE.

4) The reason I wrote why Keniyoushi Natsmua died in sudden illness was because Haibara (Shiho) didn't really explain in detail how APTX4869 works, so I had to think of something and came up with two hypothesis after seeing a Korean wiki site called "Enha Wiki Mirror".

APTX4869 activates apoptosis of cells and enzymes called telomerase. According to Gin, the drug leaves barely any trace behind, so I thought that it may make the dead victim seemed to have died naturally.

1. The telomerase of APTX4869 makes the normal cell into cancer cell and make the effect to cells to multiply out of control. If there are leftover cells which didn't get effected by the enzyme (telomerase), the drug induces apoptosis of them.

2. Or the APTX4869 activates telomerase to make harmful cells or pathogens to multiply rapidly and induces apoptosis of immune system, killing the victim. Some pathogens can survive in hight temperatures anyway…

If activation of telomerase and apoptosis works in other way in either hypothesis, it only shrinks the victim's body except the central nervous system. Since in the series, nobody except Shinichi and Shiho (...but maybe that 'sister from outside of the domain' is also victim of APTX4869. Read the Another Note 5 for more info) got this side-effect, so I thought the possibility of happening this is extremely small.

Don't ask me the detail, I'm not that bright. I like science, but I'm not that good.

I had to choose one. Although I like the first hypothesis better, I don't think I can't describe it. I can't imagine a human filled with cancer cells, with other cells died of apoptosis. Eww, gross. In that case, I'll have to change the rating from T to M. I really don't want that.

So I wrote this fanfic with second hypothesis in mind. Next time Haibara, explain it well enough so I can write more easily!

5) Why am I rewriting everything? MY STORY GOT MESSED UP. Thank Sera and 'sister from the outside of the domain' for that

I have to rewrite things. That 'sister' isn't in the anime yet (2014-01-12), so I suggest you to read the manga. Sera also messed up the story too, since she has too many secrets! I have few hypotheses about her, but I can't be sure. Anyway, I'm rewriting the whole story.

Well, that's all! See you around!

Sincerely,

Blue Salamander (wink)