No one should ever be so lucky, but Hakuba had managed, somehow. He looked around the mostly empty living room and gave a sigh, wiping his brow with the back of his hand, then looked over toward the adjoining kitchen. It was a small place, only two bedrooms, one bath, and no washer and dryer, but it was nice. They could have afforded a better place, probably, but this one was nestled right between the university and the metropolitan police station, close to a train line, and in a charming – and safe! – neighborhood. 

The blond took stock of the moving boxes that were still scattered around the floor, only half of them opened, and even less unpacked. It was a lot to be doing so soon after exams, but there wasn’t a lot of time before the next term. Really, they probably should have waited to move in together until the spring, but once the impulsive idea had been sprung, there was nothing to stop the pair of stubborn detectives. 

Besides, neither of them could ever back down from a challenge, especially not when it was so terribly exciting. 

“Shinori-kun…?” Hakuba called, scratching the side of his head as he checked his watch, pulling himself away from the boxes marked with the kanji for ‘dishes’ and ‘linens.’ “I think now would be an excellent time for a break, don’t you?" 

He wandered into the little hallway, nearly tripping over one of the many boxes marked ‘books,’ then put his hand over where they hoped to have a stacked washer/dryer installed in the upcoming months, smirking at the ugly, tattered wallpaper that they still needed to tear down. 

"I thought we could take a little drive… perhaps go look for some better curtains, like we’d talked about? Perhaps blue, or…” Hakuba poked his head into the bedroom that they’d designated to be their joint office, looked around, then started to the room where the bed was, still only a mattress with headboard, legs, and other parts leaned against the wall.

“Darling, where did you go?"