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A few days later, at Teitan Elementary...
Hana Fumei and Haibara Ai were walking down the school hallway with their backpacks on, led by their new homeroom teacher. Haibara Ai—that's the name of the girl with the light brown hair. But Hana was already used to calling her "Ai-chan."
They walked side by side. Ai glanced at Hana and asked cautiously, "Are you really a kid?"
Most people would be weirded out by a question like that, but Hana didn't find it strange coming from her. After spending a few days with Ai, he already knew a bit about her backstory.
She used to be a researcher for a certain shady organization. Her real name was Shiho Miyano. For some messed-up reason, the organization eventually locked her up. Then she secretly took a drug called APTX4869, which ended up shrinking her body back to a child's form—and that's how she managed to escape. Supposedly, there was another guy named Shinichi Kudo who also took the same drug, but Hana hadn't met him yet.
"I'd love to try that drug too," Hana said with a shrug, looking helplessly at Ai. "But I've never even seen the stuff. And besides, aren't you the one who helped invent it? Don't you know exactly who's taken it?"
"I don't believe you," Ai said with a suspicious look. "No way a hitman could be a kid this young."
Hana stuffed his hands into his pockets, not bothering to explain.
To be honest, when Dr. Agasa first asked about his background, Hana hadn't planned on telling the truth. After all, a hitman's rule number one is to never expose their identity. But then Dr. Agasa pulled out the clothes Hana had been wearing when they found him, gave them a little shake, and—boom!—a bunch of throwing knives, poison darts, steel balls, and shuriken spilled out. And since Ai had already confessed her own situation, Hana had no choice but to admit he was a hitman too. Though he still kept quiet about the part where he got turned back into a kid.
Honestly, even Hana himself had no idea what had happened. Last he remembered, he'd been fighting the Shadow Emperor in a battle to become the number one assassin. It seemed like they'd both gone down together?
"It's because no one would believe it that makes a kid hitman so scary," Hana said after thinking for a bit, trying to come up with a good excuse.
Ai frowned, lost in thought, then gave a small nod and dropped the topic.
Meanwhile, inside the classroom, a group of kids were chatting excitedly.
"I heard we're getting another transfer student!" Ayumi said, clenching her fists in excitement as she shared the juicy news with her friends.
"Huh? Really?" Genta was shocked—so much that his chubby body gave a little wiggle. The guy was definitely getting more than enough nutrition; he was way bigger than the other kids in their class.
Mitsuhiko also looked surprised. "We haven't had a new student since Conan showed up…"
He was talking about the boy who had just set his backpack down at his desk—big black-rimmed glasses and the air of someone way too mature for his age.
Curious about the new transfer student, Ayumi started imagining all sorts of things. "I wonder what kind of person they are!"
Genta smirked in a weird, pervy way. "Hehehe, I hope it's a cute girl!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Mitsuhiko wagged his finger disapprovingly. "No, no, no. It doesn't matter if they're a boy or a girl. What really counts is if they're a nice person." Pretty impressive insight coming from a kid.
"Hey, Conan!" Ayumi turned to the boy who had just sat down. "What do you think the new kid will be like?"
Conan looked a bit fed up, like he couldn't quite connect with the younger kids around him. Propping his chin on his hand, he muttered lazily, "Probably some bookworm."
"So you think it's a boy then?" Ayumi asked innocently.
Conan was caught off guard. Bookworm = boy? Wait, are you saying I look like a bookworm?
Right then, the door swung open and Ms. Kobayashi, their homeroom teacher, walked in with two students behind her. Instantly, all the kids turned to look at the girl with her—Ai. The boys lit up like Christmas trees.
"Ah! It's a girl! She's so cute!"
"Wait, huh? There's two of them? There's a boy too?"
"Whoa! That boy looks so cool!"
"....."