partners in crime. || [saimota]

two || hey, quick question: what the hell?

Author's Note: Yay, I've finally finished the next chapter of this story! Nothing much else to say here except, I hope you enjoy!

-

In all honesty, being an adult wasn't as exciting as some people made it out to be.

Case in point: twenty-three-year-old Shuichi Saihara was currently wiping down the counter of the local diner he worked at.

Don't get him wrong, though, it wasn't like he hated his job. In fact, he enjoyed the decent pay and slow hours. But, there was just something about it all that Shuichi couldn't help but find... boring?

And it wasn't just his job, either; his everyday life wasn't much better. It was the same exact routine each day: wake up, go to work, go home, go to sleep... Rinse and repeat.

It was all so boring.

"...Shuichi? Are you alright?"

Shuichi snapped himself out of his thoughts to see the manager of the diner (AKA, his boss) standing directly in front of him, a concerned look on her face.

"Oh, um..." Shuichi awkwardly scratched his cheek. "Y-Yeah. Just thinking, I guess. Sorry, I'll get back to work..."

The manager chuckled. "No, it's alright. Business is pretty slow, anyway—not that that's anything new."

Shuichi only nodded in response, but he was internally wondering how in the world that could be, the slow business; the food was actually pretty good, based off the few times he'd ate it. Homemade, too. And it wasn't like they were unclean or unhygienic or anything like that. Maybe it was just a product of circumstances out of their control.

Suddenly, a phone rang, and both Shuichi and the manager swiveled their heads towards the shrill noise.

The manager sighed, turning back to Shuichi. "It's probably my boss. Don't wait up for me; I'll probably be a while."

Shuichi nodded and waved the manager off as she disappeared into the back. Roughly a few minutes later, a man entered the diner, the chime of a bell alerting his presence.

He was rather striking, appearance-wise, with his spiky violet hair and matching goatee. The only contrast he offered was the casual clothing he wore—a plain white T-shirt and black sweatpants.

Shuichi didn't think much of it at first—well, except maybe the fact that someone actually decided to visit the diner in the first place. It wasn't until Shuichi had grabbed a menu and set it down on the counter, where the man had taken a seat at that he'd opened his mouth and said something that caught Shuichi off-guard.

"Shuichi Saihara, right?"

Shuichi blinked. "Huh?"

"You're Shuichi Saihara, right?" the stranger repeated. "Twenty-three years old, attended Tokoyo University, majored in computer science?"

Shuichi took a step back. What? He definitely didn't know who this man was, so how—and why—did he know who Shuichi was? Shuichi gave the man a strange look. "Who are you, again?"

The man was unfazed by his question, however, and simply flashed an ID. "The name's Kaito Momota—I'm a member of the H.O.P.E."

...What?

"You're... what?"

"The HOPE." The man—Kaito—must've noticed the blank look Shuichi was giving him, as he continued with, "Oh, right. My bad. I should clarify—we're an organization made up of secret agents."

Okay, when Shuichi said he wanted more excitement in his life, this was not what he meant. Secret agents? Yeah, no, somebody had to be playing a prank on him or something. And even if this man was telling the truth, why would they even want to recruit him in the first place? It wasn't like he had anything special or interesting to offer.

Shuichi squinted at Kaito, examining him for any signs that he might've been intoxicated. Unfortunately, that assumption rang hollow. Shuichi internally sighed; guess he'd have to entertain this ridiculous secret agent notion.

"Uh, right," Shuichi spoke, trying to think of the right thing to say. "And what exactly does a secret agent organization want with me?"

"We were looking to recruit you, actually," Kaito explained matter-of-factly.

Shuichi blinked—he'd done that at least fifteen times since this conversation started. "Recruit... me?"

Kaito grinned. "Yeah! They saw that you have hella impressive computer and tech skills, and they thought you'd be a great addition to the team."

Shuichi's gaze dropped to the ground, his lips dipping into a frown. "I... I don't really do... that anymore."

"Huh?" a confused Kaito questioned, prompting Shuichi to explain.

"I just..." Shuichi began fiddling with his fingers. "I'm not as good at computer and tech stuff as you think I am." If he was, he would actually be working at a related job, and not have his computer science degree collecting dust in the corner of his room.

Shuichi glanced up just enough to notice Kaito was frowning now as well. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course you're good at it! I should know, considering I saw you firsthand."

"Wha—?"

"We went to the same college, you know. We didn't share any classes or anything, but I did peek on you a few times while you were in the campus library. Like I said, it's impressive."

Shuichi opened his mouth to retort, but no coherent sentences came out. "I..."

Kaito sighed, beginning to stand up. "Look, I won't force you to make a choice or anything, but... Just consider it, alright? And if you do decide you want to join, you can call me."

Kaito pulled something out of his pants pocket and placed it directly into Shuichi's open palm; Shuichi couldn't help but realize how warm Kaito's hand was. He looked down to see a small card in his hand.

Shooting Shuichi one last grin, Kaito spoke. "I hope to see you later, Shuichi." He winked, and with that, he swiftly turned on his heel and exited the diner, the bell chiming once again.

Shuichi stared blankly at the door, still trying to process what had happened. How—Why—What?!

Thankfully, he didn't have to try and dissect it all right there and then, as sound clack of approaching footsteps grabbed his attention. Shuichi quickly stuffed the card Kaito had given him into the pocket of his pants, though he wasn't exactly sure why he did it—it wasn't like he had anything to hide.

He looked over to see the manager return, arms crossed with an annoyed expression on her face. "Well, it wasn't my boss," she told him. "Just someone asking me a hell of a lot of questions. At least I'm getting a gift card out of it."

"Ah, really? That's... nice, I suppose," was all Shuichi replied.

As soon as she walked away, however, Shuichi furrowed his brows. What the hell? Why would someone besides the manager's boss be calling from the phone in the back? And then, it hit him: did Kaito have something to do with that?

To be honest, Shuichi still wondered if that encounter had actually happened; if he had actually, genuinely lived through it. Eventually, he concluded that everything was moving too fast for him, and that he would figure it out later.

-

Author's Note: Don't ask me what the initials of the HOPE stand for because idk (yet)