partners in crime. || [saimota]

three || curiosity didn't kill the cat, thankfully.

The next day, Shuichi continued on with his mundane routine, as per usual.

Well, except with a lot more wandering thoughts about the strange encounter he had with that man the day before. The whole thing felt like a weird dream, and Shuichi was almost ready to dismiss it as one, but...

Shuichi examined the card Kaito had given him while in the comfort of his small apartment that evening. Er, well, it was less of a card, and more just an index note with a phone number scrawled on it.

Was he really going to take Kaito up on his offer? Sure, Shuichi did say that he wanted something exciting to happen in his life, but becoming a secret agent? And that was assuming what Kaito told him was even true—it wasn't like there was any concrete proof, after all.

Shuichi stared between the card and his cell phone, which laid in his lap, for a long moment. He then glanced up, catching a glimpse of a certain degree lying against his bedroom wall.

Screw it. If it turned out to be a fluke, then at least he'd have an amusing story to tell the manager tomorrow at work.

And so, Shuichi opened the "call" app and slowly punched in the number on the card. Taking a deep breath, he hit the green dial button. A few seconds of dial tone passed, and he briefly considered hanging up and pretending this whole thing never happened, but the person on the other end picked up at that moment.

What he didn't expect, however, was that person to start speaking in a country accent—and a godawful one at that.

"Howdy! You've reached the Kobayashi residence! How can I help ya?"

Though the person on the other end couldn't see his face, Shuichi was a hundred percent sure that his voice appropriately conveyed the amount of disbelief he felt. "What?"

Did he call the wrong number? A quick glance down at the card debunked that theory, and Shuichi's finger started hovering towards the "end" button to hang up. Another voice suddenly spoke up at the last moment.

"Shuichi? Is that you?"

A beat.

"...Kaito?"

Kaito chuckled. "Yep! It's me. Sorry 'bout that! Just a safety precaution. Can't have just anyone stumbling upon a secret agent organization, ya know?"

"...Right."

"So, you've changed your mind about joining the HOPE, then?"

"Yeah. But I want to know more about I'm getting into before I join."

"Of course! I already planned on taking you to meet the founder of the HOPE for an interview. She'll tell you everything you need to know."

"Oh. Ah, well... When do I get to meet her, exactly?"

"Meet me in front of your apartment building tomorrow at noon, 'kay?"

Shuichi's eyes widened. "How do you know—"

Shuichi could almost see Kaito wink through the phone. "I'm an agent, remember?"

-

Shuichi still couldn't believe he was actually doing this.

He sat on the porch steps of his apartment building, overlooking the small lot. It was fairly empty—it was a Monday, so most people were at work—with only a couple of people loitering around. Plus, the less witnesses, the better.

Kaito had told Shuichi not to bring anything but "the clothes on his back", meaning he, unfortunately, couldn't bring his phone with him—which, um, didn't instill much confidence that this was going to go well.