My Dearest, Saihara-Chan

Chapter Three- A New Friend

A loud, persistent ringing filled the room. Through the haze of sleep and the noise, Shuichi heard Kaito in the distance, yelling at him to turn the noise off, somehow. Shuichi flapped his hand around randomly before it landed on the source of the noise. His phone, getting a phone call. Shuichi jammed his finger into the screen an lifted the phone to his ear. 

"S...Shuichi Saihara speaking." Shuichi yawned.

"Good morning, Saihara-kun." A cold and mature voice sounded from the other end. "Did I wake you up?" The voice continued, a hint of amusement now existent in the almost emotionless tone. 

"N-no!" Shuichi lied, sitting up in bed and rubbing his eyes. "N-no, I-I was a-awake before." Shuichi continued, beginning to chew the inside of his mouth nervously at the end of his lie. "D...did you need something?"

"No, I do not need something, per say." Kyoko responded coolly. "I just wished to inform you that at 11am, you will be meeting someone who will assist you on your case, at that cafe a few blocks down the street from the office."

"I-I will?" Shuichi asked, not sure if his still half-asleep brain comprehended Kyoko's words. A quiet chuckle came from the other end. 

"Yes. I'm sure you two will be great coworkers." Shuichi felt his stomach sink. An unknown person to help him on the case... 

"D-do I know them?" Shuichi asked, tapping a finger on the railing of his bunk bed. 

"I do not think you know her. She isn't a part of our agency, she was hired to help us from another agency that we're pretty friendly with."

 "A-ah, I see." Shuichi replied, the sinking feeling he had begun to felt moments ago beginning to sink deeper as he imagined all the ways he could screw this first meeting up.

 "I also would like to inform you that if you get into any... run-ins with the culprit of the missing detectives, you may try and capture them." Kyoko said. "But you will not be held accountable if you are unable to catch them. It is not your job to do so after all." Shuichi swallowed. A run-in with the culprit... that's a scary thought. "Well, I'll leave you to prepare now. Good bye." Kyoko said before hanging up. Shuichi slowly lowered the phone from his ear and ran a hand through his hair. Another person to work on the case with him... 

"S...Shuichi?" Shuichi jumped at the sudden call of his name, before peeking over the edge of his bed to see that Kaito was the one who called. "W...what was that?" Kaito asked, his words slurring together. 

"A-ah, it wasn't anything." Shuichi responded, shifting his body to begin his descent down from his loft bunk bed. "J-just Kirigiri-san." Kaito stared at Shuichi for a few minutes through heavy lidded eyes before flopping back into his pillows. Snoring filled the room shortly afterwards as Shuichi climbed down from his bunk bed and prepared for the meeting.

The café was busy with people on a lazy Saturday morning, all looking for a warm place to chat with friends and have a pastry or coffee. Shuichi entered the café, looking around. He didn't know who he was looking for, Kyoko didn't give him much to go off on. Shuichi took quite a while deciding what to wear. His usual detective-like uniform or something more casual. He decided on something more casual, which was a scarf, jacket, sweater. He didn't really want to draw too much attention to himself by wearing his uniform. As Shuichi was lost in his thoughts, someone came running up to him. A girl, with blond hair and light purple eyes, wearing an outfit that could be described as classy casual. "

Hi!" the girl greeted Shuichi, with a bright smile. "Are you Shuichi Saihara?" Shuichi was taken aback by the girl's outgoingness. He was used to Kyoko, cold and straight to the point mannerisms.

 "A-ah, yes... yes I am. And you are?" Shuichi responded, recovering quickly from his initial shock.

 "My name is Kaede Akamatsu. Nice to meet you!" The girl responded. "Can I offer you something to drink or eat on this fine Saturday morning? We can talk about the case later, let's get to know each other first!"

 "Eh? Ah- it's ok... I can get my own drink, thank you though." Shuichi replied, flustered. 

"Oh, ok! Suit yourself! I'll be over there when you're done getting what you want!" Kaede said cheerfully, pointing at a booth in a far corner. Shuichi nodded, acknowledging what Kaede said, then went to get something to drink, chewing the inside of his mouth again as he waited in line.

"So, I heard a lot about you from my boss and Kyoko." Kaede suddenly said after Shuichi had sat down and put his drink down on the table next to Kaede's drink. 

 "R-really?" Shuichi stammered, getting embarrassed. 

 "Yeah! I heard that you're a really hard worker, and that I should probably learn a thing or two from you hehe..." Kaede laughed lightheartedly before taking a bite out of her pastry. Shuichi kept his eyes on the coffee cup that was in front of him.

 "That... that was nice of them to say..." He said softly before taking a sip of his coffee. A moment of silence passed before Kaede spoke up again. 

 "Say- that's a pretty cool hat! Where did you get it?" Kaede questioned. 

 "Oh- um... I..." Shuichi stuttered. He didn't really expect her to ask him about the hat, it wasn't anything too special. It was just a black and dark gray cap, a much more casual alternative to the weird looking deerstalker Sherlock Holmes hat he wears with his uniform. Shuichi tugged on it so that it was a bit lower on his head.

"Did a friend give it to you or something?" Kaede continued. Shuichi latched onto this suggestion and nodded. "You look really professional." Kaede complimented him. Embarrassed and flustered, Shuichi responded,

 "Y-you too." Kaede beamed at him.

 "I feel like we're going to be great case-solving partners Saihara-kun!" 

 "Y-yeah..." Shuichi agreed. He doubted it would take longer than that to become good partners with someone on a case like this, but it certainly was plausible. Shuichi and Kaede spent the rest of their time together talking about the case and how they're going to work together.