askkudoushinichi:

“Probably pointless to ask, yeah,” he answered with a small smile, arms still comfortably tucked behind him, the perfect picture of ease. Though underneath his casual aura he was still very much paying attention to the details. As per usual.

The nickname had caught his attention however. It had been awhile since anyone had used it. It had been awhile since anyone had called him anything at all, actually. As far as ‘Shinichi’, that is.

“Around here it was ‘Heisei Holmes’. The other is yours to keep. I thought everyone had forgotten, though. It’s kind of nice to hear that again,” he added with a chuckle. “As you can imagine, I don’t really get the kind of publicity I used to. No more tabloids for now. But as for food…

"Hmm, today’s special is the cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches but I would actually recommend the French Dip with au jus. It’s a little heavier but you get more for your money and it’s warm.”

“French Dip sounds fine to me,” Hakuba said, considering the particular food only after the fact. Protein was good, but it did sound heavier, yes, and he often had difficulty eating in situations where he wasn’t at ease. Which included having lunch with his idol. Though, he could always get the rest to go– that wasn’t too awfully awkward, was it? 

And then there was the matter of the titles. “The Heisei Holmes and the Modern Day Sherlock Holmes sit together in a cafe called Poirot, discussing books, tea, and how good we are at analyzing each other.”

Hakuba smirked, then, attempting to force himself to relax. Things weren’t going to go any better if he stayed so tense, after all; it would serve them nothing. “I think our networking is going quite well so far, don’t you?”