Disclaimer: I do not own MTNN and any of its characters.

Just a Friend of a Friend

"And that makes it twenty thousand yen of debt. Wow, Yako... Since when are you so tight on money? Maybe I should start counting the interests...." She whistles as she finishes counting the sum of her borrowed money. Her friend almost burst out the coffee she just sipped.

"Y-you can't possibly do that! You don't know what I'd gone through just to be able to eat a simple, decent meal these days! I even had to cut the numbers of meal I take each day to just four times a day!" Yako explains desperately, tears rolling down her cheek.

"Haha... But really, since you're back in Japan again at last, why not just have some nice meal at home? That would surely cut down your expenses, right?"

Terror suddenly painted the detective's face. "Well, you could say that, since Miss Sanako had won a lottery to go on a world trip for two month, my mother had been cooking by herself, and the kitchen had been..." Her voice is getting more distant as she portrayed her used-to-be kitchen. Her vision drifts away as she continues, words about 'radiation' and 'dangerous chemical' sometimes heard between her whispers.

"Okay, okay! I get the point! Geez, it's always about food when you're around, huh? Seems like the world-famous detective will always be just the same Yako I know." She grins at her friend.

It has been a year since she last saw her best friend, but Kanae feels as if she had just met her yesterday. Not to mention that the first word she uttered when they first meet after those times were to borrow some money for food. The same old Yako will never lose her appetite, no matter how famous, how incredible she gets as a detective. Just like the old times, Kanae thought as she watched her finished her tenth piece of apple pie (or was it her thirteen, she wonders).

"But you know, being as famous as yourself, how come you're having so much trouble with money that you have to borrow some from me? I thought you'd have clients lining up to pay you with everything, or something like that..." She spoke of her mind while sipping her coffee, paying no attention to her suddenly missing cheesecake.

"I don't always have trouble with money, you know. It's just that I have this sudden huge expense thanks to that sadistic, ignorant demon suddenly breaking the plane I was on. Thank God no one was harmed..."

"Thanks to what?" She raised an eyebrow, picking up the word 'demon' among her lines. Or were her ears playing tricks on her?

"N-nothing!! Anyway, what about you? How're you doing with that boyfriend you mention in your email?" She quickly changed the subject, obviously evading the suspicious look Kanae was giving her.

"Oh well, I broke up with him long time ago. He was just some jerk I found on the internet, anyway. Uttering some sweet words before ended up trying to smuggle me for some petty money." She sighed at her own failure in romance. None of those blind dates have ever worked out well, but she just never learns her lesson, it seems.

"Hey, why don't you hook me up with one of your client? I'm fine as long as they've got good face and wallet, you know." She teased, grinning. Her best friend opens her mouth in protest but was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Is that you, Katsuragi?"

Both girls looked at the voice's owner. A man a bit older than themselves stands a few feet from their desk. His features are those of a grown up man, yet his face hold a somewhat boyish appeal. His black suit seems kind of out of place in the atmosphere of the café, not to mention doesn't suite his young looking face. A pair of glasses covers his eyes, but still doesn't hide the boyish look of his face. Cute, Kanae thought at first glance.

"It IS you! Long time no see, eh? I heard about you in the news, you know. Seems like you've gotten pretty famous." He grins, casually walking towards them. He stands beside their table, and Kanae can't help but to notice the laptop he was carrying.

"Higuchi-san! I'd never thought I'll see you here! How's the police department doing? Looks like you've been doing pretty well yourself." She moves her seat, gesturing to him to sit beside her.

Kanae just stare at them as they chatted away. She clears her throat, reminding them of her existence.

"Oh! Sorry, this is an acquaintance of mine from the police department, Higuchi Yuuya-san. Higuchi-san, this is my best friend, Kanae." She introduces them to each other.

"So... You're a cop or something? What is a police officer doing in a small café like this?" She starts, trying to make a conversation.

"A detective, actually. Just taking a break from some paper work. Office formality just doesn't suite my personality, I guess." He sighs and scratches his un-itchy head. "Beside, the people from the office said that the cheesecakes here are top notch."

"Yeah... Tell me about it..." Kanae looks at her empty plate in vain. Yako looks away at her comment.

"Anyway... It's soo nice meeting you again, Higuchi-san. You sure are starting to look like Usui-san now. Your dedication, I mean!!" She quickly added as shock and depression fills his expression, hands ready to throw his own glasses out of the window.

"Oh, speaking of Usui-san, how is he—?" Her words are cut by the ring of her phone. Her happy expression suddenly turns into a gloomy one, and sometimes terrified one, as she spoke to the other side. She sighed as she closed her phone.

"Um... Sorry about that. Looks like I should really leave now. See you around, Higuchi-san. And I'll call you later about my debt, Kanae. Bye!" She rises from her seat and bow down a little before leaving in a hurry.

The two of them just stare at Yako's disappearing figure and stay silent for a few moments. Kanae's face twitches as she just realized that she left without paying her own bills.

"What's wrong?" His voice brings her back.

"Nothing. It's just that she seems to forget to pay her own bills, again." She sighed as she glances at the pile of plates at the other side of the table, trying to decide whether to put it in her debt as well or not.

"Seems... rather expensive... Want me to help you pay?"

"Nah... I'll just put it in her tab. I'd better get going too. Nice meeting you, Higuchi-san." She stands and was about to pay when she realizes something. She had already treated Yako for lunch earlier, and not bringing her credit card is absolutely not helping the situation. She curses a little as she feels the thinness of her wallet.

"Pardon?" Higuchi raises an eyebrow, looking at her with questioning look.

She freezes for seconds, before finally deciding to swallow her embarrassment down. "Sorry, but... Could you... I paid for her lunch earlier... and well... You know..." She can feel her ears heat up as she mutters nervously. Her eyes wander away, unable to meet his eyes.

He chuckles at her muttering, making her felt even worse. To have to borrow money from someone she just knew is simply too embarrassing.

"Just leave the bills. I'll take care of it." He winks at her, reassuring.

She bows down deeply a couple times before leaving the table, muttering her gratitude as she does so. She glances back at him as she reach the café's door and find him waving and smiling at her, and she could feel herself blushing. She hastily leaves the café after giving him a quick wave, trying to erase her embarrassment as she walk away.

Oh well, it's not like they're going to meet again. After all, he's just another friend of a friend of her.

A.N: Just a little story about the two characters that I thought had never met in the real story, or did I missed the fact? In the 24th episode of the anime, I see them speaking to each other but I don't remember seeing them ever meeting each other. If anyone knows in what chapter/episode did they meet I'll really appreciate it if you tell me. Anyway, please tell me what you think of the story.