partners in crime. || [saimota]

one || obligatory cutscene.

Black high heels clicked across the tiled, beige floors of the penthouse.

Kyoko Kirigiri's long lavender hair swished behind her as she made confident strides towards a set destination.

Several pair of eyes not-so-subtly gazed over to her as she walked past. They couldn't help it—Kyoko visiting the penthouse was definitely a rare occurrence, so one could only wonder what sort of business she had here.

Despite all eyes on her, the woman continued on. She continued on until she reached a pair of elevators, where, with a gloved hand, she pressed the "up" button, causing the elevator on the right to open. She stepped inside and chose her desired floor, waiting as the elevator sent her up.

When the doors opened again, Kyoko was greeted to a spacious and luxurious living area.

Two men occupied this space; the first one was rather short and sported a blonde buzzcut, sitting at the counter of the connected kitchen off to the far left. When the two locked eyes, Kyoko gave him a slight nod as greeting, and he gave an acknowledging nod in return.

Kyoko then directed her attention to the other man. This man was much taller and had spiked-up violet hair with a small goatee to match; this was Kaito Momota. He sat on the armless grey couch towards the far right, where Kyoko was standing. When he finally noticed her presence, he grinned at her and gestured for her to sit down next to him.

Kyoko had to stop herself from turning an internal eye-roll into an external one. Nonetheless, she obliged and took a seat.

"Momota," Kyoko began, and Kaito's grin grew wider. "Why are you asking to recruit another outsider again?"

Kaito's smile fell slightly. "I just think we need another member, that's all! You know, change up the dynamics a bit. Don't you think so?"

"No," Kyoko bluntly replied. "Momota, you and your team doesn't need another member. Especially when considering the things Kuzuryu tells me about you all."

Kaito gave the man at the counter a brief side-eye before looking back at Kyoko. "Okay, look. Here's his profile." He gingerly picked up the manilla folder that had been sitting on the glass coffee table in front of the couch and handed it to Kyoko.

Kyoko raised her eyebrow as she opened the folder and examined its contents. "This is... surprisingly thorough. Did you gather this yourself?"

"Of course I did!" Kaito exclaimed, sounding slightly offended. "I'm taking this seriously, y'know!"

Kyoko didn't respond and instead opted to continue studying the profile.

"He's pretty tech-savvy," Kaito commented, pointing to a certain spot on the profile. "Graduated college with a bachelor's degree in computer science. That'll come in pretty handy during missions."

Kyoko hummed thoughtfully before looking up at Kaito. "Yes, his skills are impressive, but his personality holds him back. His lack of confidence and preference towards being alone may be a hindrance."

"We could work on that!" Kaito insisted. "I mean, we weren't perfect when we first joined, right? And we're still not—but we've gotten better personality-wise to an extent!"

Kyoko hummed again. "Fair enough, I suppose." She paused, a small smirk grazing her face. "Although, I'd have to disagree with you getting better since you've joined. I believe you've only gotten more annoying."

"Hey!" Kaito huffed, crossing his arms. "You gotta give me a little more credit than that!"

Kyoko chuckled, "I'm only teasing." She then looked down at the folder and up at Kaito once more. "Hmm... I can see that you're serious about reciting this person."

Kaito pushed his fists together, grinning again. "Hell yeah I am!"

"So, I'll allow you to bring him in for an interview. However, this is the last time I'm saying yes to this. I'm being serious, Momota."

Kaito practically jumped up from the couch, beaming from ear to ear.

"Thanks, Kyo—Kirigiri! You won't regret this!"

He ran over to the elevator as if he was about to enter it, then suddenly stopped himself. "Wait, where am I going? I live here." With an awkward chuckle, he turned around to face Kyoko.

Kyoko shook her head and chuckled, standing up as well. "Well, I suppose this is the end of this conversation, then. Let me know when he's ready for the interview."

"Will do! See ya later, Kirigiri!" Kaito stepped aside to let Kyoko reach the elevator.

Kyoko pressed the button for the elevator and the doors opened, allowing her to step inside. "I'll see you later, Momota. Goodbye."

The two shared a wave as the doors closed and the elevator took Kyoko down

-

Author's Note: Remember that one one-shot I posted on here? The one under the name "Law and Disorder"? Yeah, here's the main story I was talking about. I've had this story brewing in the drafts for way too long (like, a YEAR), so I hope it's been enjoyable so far.

So, I plan for this to be 100 chapters. Is it way out there? Yes, definitely. But I've decided to split them up into arcs—10 arcs, with 10 chapters in each arc. This chapter is just a prologue of sorts, and stuff will begin to pick up next chapter.

Okay, yeah! I hope you enjoyed, and will let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading, and if you're interested in chatting about this story (or just talking to me in general), feel free to find me at strawberrymixt on Tumblr!