Chapter 6: Buttery Treats (and the old lady that won't shut up)

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Some hours after his odd and unexpected meeting with the green-haired guy next door, Hitoshi hears a quiet click and the jingle of keys before footsteps disappear down the hall.

He has the vague feeling that his neighbor meant it when he said he'd share, so he peeks through his cracked-open door and is somewhat surprised to find a small paper-wrapped package.

He checks the hallway for an ambush (he hopes there will be an ambush, and his disappointment at zero ambushes is a tangible thing) before scooping up the gift and retreating into the kitchen. It looks somewhat like a french pastry he's only heard about in passing.

As he leans over his kitchen counter with a fresh mug of coffee and samples the dessert with slow bites, he nods thoughtfully. With his limited expertise, he feels confident that the dessert is fully edible. He wonders if there might be another to try in the future.

In order for that to happen, though, he might have to play nice with the guy next door. He's not sure if the guy's anxiety stems more from a potential baking disaster combined with unexpected introductions, or if that's his natural state. (He's honestly not sure which might be more interesting.) If he's normally a bit more calm, then he might be able to get some decent intel about the other residents. If not... well.

He wipes a crumb from the side of his mouth and drops that line of thought before it gets much further.


His Sunday night passes with more takeout and the continued skimming of case files, but nothing really stands out to his wavering attention. He takes some half-hearted notes about the tenant files and stares balefully at his schedule for the next week. He has a briefing at the agency the next morning with a final update about the asset emplacement status for their big case, but he's not hopeful there will be good news.

If it's not immediately life threatening or worth a whole bunch of money, the Commission is notoriously slow.

He spends a few minutes to neaten his work space and feed the cats one last time before he slumps bonelessly onto his futon and puts his phone in his face to drown his irritation with videos of cats doing funny things.


Monday morning is chilly and dull as he rolls out of bed, brushes his teeth, runs three fingers through his hair as an afterthought, then throws on his capture scarf like a safety blanket.

If anyone notices how often Shinsou strides into work still wearing his pajamas, they never say anything. He keeps his uniforms in a locker there, but he's thinking it'll be a good idea to keep a set at his new (temporary) apartment so he doesn't have to stop at the agency before he heads out on his weeknight patrols.

He glances at his phone to check the time as he slips out the front door of the building. He has twenty minutes to get to the agency before the briefing is scheduled to start. He's tempted to jog the whole way there so he can show up obnoxiously sweaty and gross, but he doesn't have another change of civilian clothes on hand so he immediately discards the idea.

Next time, he thinks.

The briefing goes about as well as he expects it will: everything is horribly stalled, and they now have written confirmation from the Commission that their requested assets are currently under review by the funding board, who will not be meeting for another twenty days.

(Shinsou does not throw his briefing packet, but it's a near thing.)

He stops by a pet shop on the way back to his side-mission and buys more cat stuff. (He does not have a problem.)

It's late afternoon before he makes it home again. He squeezes in through the building's front door with boxes piled a bit too high in his arms, glancing to the side to note the café is currently empty of patrons. (He'll come back the next morning to get started on his coffee-fueled surveillance.) Somehow he manages to hit the call button for the elevator and make it back to his apartment with everything still in one piece.

the cute guy next door (might be a villain) // ShinZukuWhere stories live. Discover now