Why was he doing this…?

It’d been two weeks since he’d graduated from Ekoda high, finishing his GED at not quite but NEARLY at the top of his class. Two weeks since he’d seen the so-called friends (they were more like acquaintances, really) in class. No one had contacted him since, but he’d never expected them to. 

Really, since leaving school, things had never been quite so lonely, and it upset him. He had no one at home, no friends, and not having the grueling Japanese school schedule left him with far too much free time to be happy or healthy. Especially with so many decisions to make.

And time was running out.

That was why he stood in front of Kuroba Kaito’s house that afternoon, nervously fumbling with his keys before trading them for the pocket watch. Hakuba glanced at it, then at his wrist watch, then the door, then his pocket watch again before snapping it closed and slipping it back into his pocket once more. He could do this. He was Hakuba Saguru, after all; famous international detective. Young prodigy. A genius. Wasn’t he? 

Regardless of their actuality, Hakuba felt like a fool as he knocked on the front door. An imbecile, even. Why this person? Kuroba had more reasons to despise him than most, but he was the only one that he could think of who might be remotely intelligent and honest enough to help him. It wouldn’t end well, he knew that. He wasn’t welcome at the Kuroba’s door, but he waited anyway. Waited and hoped, fidgeting with the collar of his dress shirt.