"Good morning, Shiho-kun!" Agasa greeted as she wandered into the living room.

She yawned. "Good morning."

"You don't have any plans this afternoon, right?"

"Just working on some more job applications…why?"

"Great, I'm going to take you and Furuya-san out to lunch today!" He smiled.

Shiho gave him a stink eye. "Why?"

"I promised I'd take him out for a meal to show my appreciation for helping around the house, remember? We're going to meet him at Dondy's during his lunch break."

"You can go without me, it'll be expensive paying for all three of us." Shiho shrugged.

"Now Shiho-kun, that would be rude! He helped you a lot as well, with the antidote and all." Agasa huffed. "Besides, I thought you liked spending time with Furuya-san."

"I never said I liked…" She looked away. "He did help with the antidote, so I guess I'll go."

Shiho turned away. "Ah, but Hakase…" She smirked as she disappeared into her room. "Since we're eating out, you'll be having a light breakfast, got it?"

Agasa hung his head in defeat. "Got it…"

.

.

.

After spending some time on her cover letter, Shiho got up to change for lunch.

She put on an off-shoulder top, jeans, and wedge shoes along with some gold jewelry. Rummaging through the makeup bag that Yukiko gifted her, she smiled at the note before applying some natural style makeup.

'...Ammo, huh?'

"Shiho-kun! Are you ready to go?"

"I'm coming!"

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.

.


Shiho and Agasa arrived first, sitting together on one side of the table.

"We'll do three waters with lemon and three medium spicy chicken curries, extra white leeks, please." Shiho said as she handed the menus back to the server.

"Shouldn't we wait for Furuya-san?" Agasa asked.

"It's faster this way, right?" She said as she rested her head on her chin. "That guy's running late, after all."

"Ah, speak of the devil!" Agasa raised his hand to get the attention of the man who had just entered the restaurant.

"Hi you two!" Rei called out, earning admiring looks from the other customers. He was dressed in his new teal suit along with a navy button down shirt, perfectly accentuating his physique.

"Sorry I'm late, I got tied up at work." He said as he sat down.

"Don't worry about it." Agasa smiled. "That's a nice outift, Furuya-san!"

"Thank you! Shiho helped me pick it out."

"I did?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Well, not physically, but I did listen to those tips you gave me about fashion. See? I'm wearing teal." He grinned, unbuttoning his suit jacket.

"I guess it's a good start, Rei." Shiho feigned disinterest, although the fact that he took her suggestion to heart and looked so good in it managed to make her stomach turn into a butterfly habitat.

'Shiho? Rei?' Agasa thought to himself, looking back and forth between the two.

"It's not a big deal." Shiho shifted her eyes to Agasa, knowing immediately what he was thinking.

Agasa chuckled. "You know, when she was living as Haibara Ai, she only let Ayumi call her by first name. Even Shinichi doesn't call her Shiho! She must have quite a soft spot for you, Furuya-san."

"Is that right?" He smiled brightly at Shiho.

Shiho narrowed her eyes at his glowing expression. She knew that particular brand of smile meant he was going to tease her mercilessly about it later.

"Here's your food!" The server placed the plates down in front of them.

"We already ordered for you - the same food as last time," Shiho explained. "I hope you don't mind."

"Ah, my favorite! You know me so well." Rei grinned. "I am in a bit of a time crunch since I'm on lunch break. Speaking of which, how's the job hunt going?" He asked as he took a bite of food.

"No luck so far…" She sighed as she sprinkled leeks onto her plate. "But that's not surprising. It's hard in general to find work nowadays."

"I'm sure you'll be able to find something soon." Agasa assured. "I'll be going to a week-long conference in a few days, I can ask around about job positions while I'm there."

"Thanks, Hakase." She smiled. "I appreciate it."

"Mm, delicious!" Agasa exclaimed as he enjoyed his food.

"Thanks for inviting me to lunch, Hakase." Rei said as he drank some water. "I've tried making a similar curry to this at home, but I never seem to get it quite as tasty."

"Oh, I'm sure yours tastes great! You know, Shiho made a wonderful meal for me the other day. I think you're rubbing off on her."

"Yes, she showed me a picture of it! It looked delicious."

"It wasn't anything special, I just followed a recipe online…" She mumbled.

"Don't be modest, you're rubbing off on me too." He chuckled, fixing his collar.

"Ah, excuse me, could I get a container to go and the bill?" Agasa asked a nearby server.

"Done already?" Shiho asked.

"I have a few errands to run, I'll save the rest of this for dinner." He explained as he transferred the food into a plastic container.

Agasa put some cash down before getting up. "You two stay and enjoy the rest of your lunch. Bye, Furuya-san!"

"Bye Agasa-hakase, thanks again for the meal!"

"..."

"Well, it looks like this has become our regular spot now, huh?" Rei grinned as he continued to eat his food.

"I guess." Shiho shrugged as she squeezed some lemon in her water.

She tucked some hair behind her before taking a sip.

Rei couldn't help but admire her as she did the littlest things.

"You look really beautiful."

She choked a little on her water, not expecting to hear that.

Rei handed her a napkin, holding in a chuckle. "I wanted to say it earlier but, in front of the professor…"

Shiho lightly tapped her lips with the napkin, trying to hide her blushing cheeks.

Rei playfully cupped his face with both hands. "And me?"

Shiho laughed. "You look very pretty, Rei."

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.

The two chatted a bit about their weekend. Shiho showed him her phone wallpaper, telling him about the game and her day with the kids.

Rei talked about going shopping and taking a stroll around the park, deciding to not mention Akai.

"By the way, how's the antidote been on you?" He asked as he finished his plate.

"Mm, I should be fine now."

"Does that mean we'll be doing another jogging session soon?"

"I think I'll pass…"

"Aw, don't tell me you're giving up already. If you don't feel good again, you can always rest at my place." He winked.

"Precisely why I'll pass…" She sighed as she also finished her meal. "Now that you mention it, I still need to return your clothes."

"Don't worry, I can pick it up anytime!" He said as they both got up. "Actually, there's something I want you to do for me."

"And what makes you so sure I'll do it?" She said, exiting the restaurant.

"Well, since you have SUCH a sweet spot for me…"

She pinched his arm in annoyance.

"Kidding, kidding!" He playfully waved her hand away.

"I was wondering if you'd like to dog sit Haro for me while Agasa-hakase is at his conference."

"Dog sit?"

"Mm! I'm sure he'll enjoy having some company while I'm working, and I'm sure you'll have fun with him too."

"It does sound fun, but I feel like I should still get something in return..." She smirked.

"A home-cooked dinner each night when I come to pick him up?"

"A free meal, a cute dog, I guess it's not a bad deal…" She smiled. "Sure, why not?:

"Great!" He grinned. "I better get back to work now, see you later!"

Shiho waved goodbye. 'Damn, I really do have great fashion sense…' She clicked her tongue as she watched him speed walk to his car.

Being in a good mood, Shiho decided to do some window shopping at the nearby Fusae Campbell store and take a stroll in the area before heading home.

.

.

.


"I'm back…"

"Welcome back, Shiho-kun!" Agasa said as he ate his leftovers.

"So, what kind of 'errands' did you run?" She said sarcastically as she took off her shoes.

"…Giving you and Furuya-san some space?" He chuckled. "I know when I should leave two young people be, I was your age once too, you know!"

Shiho playfully rolled her eyes. "By the way, I'm going to have Rei's dog here while you're at the conference. You don't mind, right?"

"I didn't know he had a dog! That's fine." He nodded. "Also, I'll be sure to stock the fridge before I leave so you'll be good on food for the week."

"That's ok, I can just shop for ingredients myself. He'll be cooking dinner in return for dogsitting, so I'll just grab whatever ingredients he'd like to use that day."

"You and him will be alone in the house together?"

"Well, not alone…" Shiho chuckled. "His puppy Haro will be there too."

"I don't know, Shiho-kun… A date outside is one thing, but alone here…"

"There have been NO dates!" Shiho quickly corrected. "Besides, it's not like that."

"Alright, I trust your judgment, Shiho-kun." Agasa crossed his arms. "But I'll leave a stun gun watch for you! You never know…"

She sighed. "If you insist."

'Now that I think about it, Agasa-hakase doesn't know I've already been to Rei's apartment.'

Shiho gulped nervously.

'I guess I'll keep that to myself…'