Disclaimer: The author does not own any of the trademarks explicitly used or referenced in this story. This story was written only for the purpose of expression and fandom appreciation.

Author's note: Full transparency here. Apart fro a movie, I've barely kept up with the franchise dating back to the last thing I've posted here. My familiarity of canon and the current status of characters is spotty at best so I trust the readers to catch me on that. That said, I did not intend to restrict myself into that standard, so the characters may be ways off. This story was a result of several points of interest accrued during some really tough times that begged to be released.

Having written a handful of stories featuring Shiho and Shuichi before, I noticed I've never done a story decidedly set in the future. This one corrects that.

P.S: For those who might've read this when this was a one-shot, I simply divided it to three chapters for easier consumption. Epilogue is at Chapter 4.

"I search for your heart, pursuing my true self." - Shihoko Hirata

Dinner with Cassette Man - Chapter 1

"Say... Were you the one who asked Mr. Black to make that offer?"

Seen.

"Still alive? Or just too busy?

Seen.

"Hello?"

Seen.

"..."

Seen.

"Can you please cut the crap and stop avoiding my questions for once?"

"I'll think about it… Over steak. My place."

He didn't play fair. He never did. Not even through instant messaging.

That was how Shiho Miyano summed up her relationship with Shuichi Akai until now. It only took him a few visits to get a thorough read on her, like an annoying player who has broken far too many hearts for his own good. Sometimes, he even acted as though he knew her better than she knew herself. Not that there was a lot written in her book considering how strict her upbringing was, for a lack of a better way to describe growing up within the Organization. Even when she gained some semblance of normalcy as a first grader, all he had to do was stalk her for a little while to update his file on her.

But her? She barely knew him at all. She knew none of the guises he wore in front of her, for that matter. If he wasn't staring daggers at her whenever she dared step into his yard, he always seemed to drop off the face of the earth without giving her so much as a chance to ask about the truth. Hell, she didn't even know what his real name was until after she figured out that he was the FBI agent Kudou-kun spoke so highly of. And that was well after he'd moved in next door to her and exchanged over a dozen recipes with Professor Agasa. He'd staked his life to protect her more than once and ensured she was completely absolved from the horrible things she did as Sherry, when all she gave him in return was grief for mutual losses.

Shuichi Akai, Dai Moroboshi, Rye, Subaru Okiya, or whatever his name was…. He just did whatever he wanted and left her in the dark each time. He didn't play fair. He never did.

"I seriously hope I don't regret this," Shiho told herself, narrowing her eyes at Shuichi's apartment door as if waiting for a slightest creak. She knew he wasn't around to answer the door, having been informed prior that he was still at work. She tried asking what kind of case he was presently involved in, but he stopped replying at that point. Typical of a man who who chose to go back to the US before she could say anything to him.

Of course, Shiho didn't fly all the way from Japan just to see Shuichi. Only lovelorn fools in terribly-written derivative films do that kind of crap. In truth, the FBI had offered her a position at their crime lab, and in two days she is scheduled to meet James Black to formally talk about it. They made it clear that it wasn't a caveat for her exoneration, and she didn't really see any reason to dismiss the offer prematurely other than the likelihood that Shuichi had been the catalyst of it. It was a hassle getting in touch with him since everyone played dumb about his contact details. Eventually, wih some "suggestion" concerning his diet, Professor Agasa sold him out, and she was finally able to confront the federal agent about it. Instead of confirming or denying it though, he had the gall to invite her to dinner.

For the record, although it's been a long time since she had steak no thanks to Professor Agasa's alarming cholesterol levels, she wasn't so starved for a thick slab of beef that she'd accepted it just cause. If dinner was the only way she'd get him to sit down long enough for her to finally be able to give him a piece of her mind, then so be it.

That aside, she was also kind of curious to see how he was doing now that they were all but ready to put the Organization behind them.… Not that she'd ever tell anyone that, especially Shuichi.

Leaning her back beside the door, Shiho fished for her phone. "It's rude to invite a lady to your home, only to keep her waiting by your doorstep, don't you think? To think she even bothered to dress up," she messaged him, purposely exaggerating on the last bit. For her ensemble, she'd put together an audible - olive peacoat layered over a gray sleeveless turtleneck top, a black skirt and a pair of brown Chelseas. A little much for a simple steak dinner with a man she once swore to never forgive, but she didn't hate him so much that she'd dress sloppily. For a moment, she played around with sending him a selfie to see how he'd react. Immediately realizing how ludicrous that would be, she settled for a good snapshot of his front door.

His response came exactly a minute later.

Seen.

Shiho rolled her eyes. She'd anticipated a response like that from him, but it was still a tad annoying when it finally came. In hindsight, the other photo probably would have suffered the same indignity. "Letting myself in," she said in another message. This time she didn't bother waiting for any activity on his end and slid her phone back in her bag, pulling a spare key in its place. Composing herself with deep breath, she was about to unlock the door when she caught an image of a man with a grocery bag in hand closing in from the corner of her eye.

In that instant, her momentum halted.

"I thought I'd warned you about stepping into my territory," the man's familiar gravelly voice pierced through the emptied hall, confirming she wasn't just being caught up in nostalgia.

The young lady formerly known as Sherry almost wanted to gasp. The first time he crept close to her stealthily, she dropped a poor test tube to its demise. Although she had since managed better control over her reflexes as evidenced by how the key didn't slip from her fingers, she still couldn't quite detect his presence consistently.

"Says the big bad wolf who invited me in," she shot back at Shuichi.

"Guilty as charged," he replied. "Been waiting long?"

"About twenty minutes." Shiho said as she turned to appraise her former neighbor. He had on what she assumed was an everyday set: a pale blue button-down shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, faded black trousers and leather shoes. His kempt hair was a tad longer than she'd imagined, much closer to the Subaru's caramel locks, while his signature skullcap and leather jacket were nowhere to be seen. Her imagination might be playing tricks with her, but it felt as though she was staring at an amalgamation of Shuichi's many faces. "Are you sure you weren't just hiding down the hall the whole time? How long have you been watching me?"

"About ten seconds, tops. Just got back, actually." His tone sounded eerily casual, like watching her backside was routine for him. "Saw your message on my way up. Got excited to see you for myself so I ran up the stairs…."

"All the way to the top floor?"

"All the way to the top floor."

"Ridiculous," Shiho chided, looking away so he wouldn't notice the blood rising up on her cheeks. "In Japan, you could've gotten accused of murder for doing that."

Shuichi smiled wryly. "Which reminds me…. I still owe you for bailing Camel out that time."

"Oh, please... Thank Inspector Megure instead for getting the culprit to slip up at the expense of his own dignity. I did nothing but observe then." How ironic that the phrase that ultimately caught the culprit also summed up Kudou-kun's stance whenever she asked about the skilled federal agent he was working closely with at the time.

"I suppose I should." Shuichi said before digressing. "You sure you're okay with steak or should I get something else? Not a lot of cake shops in the neighborhood though."

"Steak is fine," she replied. "Can I at least expect anything more than flank though?"

"Rib eye, actually," Shuichi raised the grocery bag, as if to humbly brag. "I splurged."

"Oh my…" Shiho's cheeks kindled an even rosier tint. Again, she didn't agree to this for the steak. She appreciated having normal blood pressure and was not a fan of saturated fat, among other things. But rib eye was a different story altogether. "I hope you know what you actually know how to cook it."

The federal agent homed into her eyes solemnly. "Do you trust me?"

"...Of course not. But I feel for that expensive meat you're about to waste." Shiho looked away, flustered. "….Anyway, are you going to let me in or not?"

"Pardon me, princess," Shuichi said, pulling a key holder from his right-hand pocket.

Shiho frowned as she moved away to let the man unlock the door to his home. "I didn't fly here so you could keep calling me that."

Chapter End.