A/N: Hello people! How have you been? How about a COMPLETELY random update? Yay~~~

legalronin just updated her fic Lady Justice and she totally inspired me, tugged on my Saito x Tokio heartstrings so I farted this out: Neighbours AU; not a one shot. I know, I've done this pairing to death, but I can't stop. So have at it.

I do not own RK or its characters blah blah blah.

"Let me guess, another jar?"

The man stood at the threshold; behind him was his apartment; in front of him the hallway…and his neighbour, in all of her domestic glory: mismatched socks to the knee, hair a complicated mess and clothes so baggy and worn they couldn't be allowed to leave the apartment complex, nay, the floor!

She averted her eyes, a slight blush rising already. It was always unnerving when he stared her down like that, but she was used to it by now.

"…yes." She finally admitted, smile wide and apologetic.

His smirk never subsided but was masked by the perfect sigh. Uncrossing his arms, he held one out. But when she didn't hand him any jar, he was confused. "Well, where is it?"

"In my apartment, where all my jars are…obviously."

Suspicion immediately gripped him. "You always bring them to me; what's different this time?"

"It's more than one…"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

She rolled her eyes dramatically – a gesture that deeply offended him as he was the one supposed to be doing that, thank you very much – and clicked her tongue. "Telling you. Please come help me with my many jars that rest on the top of my counter that are too many and too heavy to carry all the way out here."

Eyebrow still higher than normal, he closed the door of his apartment and followed the woman to hers. She was always intrigued by how his footsteps were always so quiet in contrast to hers…and he was at least 30 centimetres taller than her! He, on the other hand, was always intrigued by the things she'd ask him at all sort of hours.

"You're having a party or something?"

"Oh? Am I not allowed? Or is it you will arrest me if it gets too noisy, officer?"

He snorted. "Wouldn't you like that…?"

She opened her own door and from the narrow corridor they found themselves in the hallway of her apartment. It was small and led to an open space that was the living room and kitchen, all in one large room.

"Being arrested? No, thank you." They slipped their shoes off by the door. "I want my record clean; remember, I am a respectable doctor." His snort didn't go unaddressed this once. "I am!" At his obvious disbelief, she pouted that adorable way that she thought was intimidating. "I'll have you know, despite my age, I am well-respected and trusted member of the medical community of Tokyo."

"Who can't open a single one of her jars on her own; or connect her new TV; or work her way around her car. Do you have weak wrists, doctor Takagi?" She pursed her lips, sending him a glare. "Oh? Well, if I'm wrong, I can just go-!"

"No!"

Damn, he called her bluff. She needed him. "No, stay; open the jars."

He had already reached her counter faster than her, fiddling with the food stuffs. Honey, various types of marmalade…she was "baking huh?"

"Yeah."

She still wouldn't look at him directly when it came down to why she had assigned this task on him, what was up with that? Now he was even more curious. "Must be a hell of a cake if you need all these…or are they many smaller ones?"

He still did what she asked: unscrewed all the lids and after opening them, simply put them back on.

"What's up with all these questions? It's the first time you've ever showed such interest in my jars."

"Well, you act strange so I act out of the ordinary in return." Seven jars, all opened in the span of mere seconds. "There, all done. Can I go now?" It was late, after all and maybe today he had his day off, but tomorrow he had a very busy day.

"No wait! I have to use a certain amount, but then I won't use them again for a long time so you'll have to put them back on. Only this once, please don't make it so hard to open them again. It's you I bother again anyway."

"It's not my fault you have weak wrists."

She coloured. "I don't have weak wrists!"

"Then maybe I'm just too strong."

"Oh please."

And that was the last thing she said for a long time, as she started looking for Tupperware, scales and other cooking essentials.

He'd never admit it, but he actually did it on purpose, tightening the lids too much so she'd have to come a-knocking to loosen them again. So he simply took a seat in one of her kitchen chairs, hand on the table, supporting his head idly. He caught a glimpse of his fringe as a straight tuff of hair fell in his eyes; he needed to cut it again. They'd complain at the precinct again if it got too long.

As he watched her fuss about mildly entertained, he stole a glance at the open jars of marmalade on the counter, not more than an arm's length away…eyes darting back and forth, finally he did it: flicking one lid of, he sampled the contents with his finger. Hmmm, orange; his favourite flavour.

"Hajime!"

Of course she saw him. "Tokio," he matched her.

"Don't do that. And don't do it again."

"Why, I'll spoil it? With so many preservatives and-"

"Yes, I know, I'm a doctor; doesn't matter. Just don't do it."

"Whatever." As if she never spoke, he flicked the lid off of another jar and sampled some more! Hm, this one was strawberry, not bad.

"Saito, I swear to god!"

She rounded on him, brandishing whatever she was holding; he chuckled, finally satisfied with her reaction of threatening him with a spatula, and stood. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving; done with the dosages?"

"Yeah, just a second."

She took both of the marmalades he tasted and dumped each in a different container, while she weighed them one by one. "There; all done. You can close them again."

He very purposefully made a show of how few times he twisted the lid back in place – and yet, he knew he gave it a good squeeze and it'd trouble her later on – and put them back in their place. "Thank you, Hajime."

"Two times in one night you used my name, I'm honoured." Her smug look rivalled his and he couldn't help but offer her a sincere smile. "Goodnight Tokio; hope you midnight baking goes well."

She didn't have to see him out; he knew the way. And between the two of them, formalities were scarce anyway, considering their entire acquaintance and how it kicked off…making the walk to his apartment, he felt a little lonely at her absence.

Hm. That was a thought for the morning, definitely not now that he could turn around at any moment and do something stupid, nope, no, nuh uh…he sighed. Why did his parents have to buy the certain apartment? He shook his head and entered his apartment. Taking off his shoes, he dragged his feet to the admittedly comfortable couch he loved ever since he was a child and plopped down. Though he wasn't in the mood for the movie he was watching anymore, he still pressed play; he simply made a mental note of the minute he was on.

.

The sound of knocking jolted him from his near-sleep! He looked at the watch on his wrist; 01:38. Huh. That was too late. The knocking was heard again though, so it wasn't his imagination or an accident. He frowned. In his line of work things like these were suspicious yet, he didn't have a bad feeling. Still, he took his gun with him as he walked to the front door just to be safe. He braced himself by taking a calming breath. And then…

He opened the door!

Only to find a red-eyed, red-cheeked smiling Tokio up at him with a large baking pan in her hands. Now he wasn't an easily surprised man, but this he did not expect. "Yes?" He sounded just as tired as she looked still, she had the willpower to be pleasant; where she found it, he'd never know.

"I baked a cake."

"I can see that."

She seemed to be berating herself then—if she had an available hand, he was sure she'd smack her forehead. "I mean, I baked you a cake. Here. This is for you."

He looked at her for a very long time; so long, in fact, she started feeling uncomfortable. "Um, it's kind of heavy and it is getting pretty late, so if y-,"

"Thank you," he cut her off, feeling all out of sorts "I'll take it."

He really must have sounded strange because despite her sleepiness, she looked up at him wondered. "Thank you for the cake," he schooled his voice in his usual baritone, forcing his face in his casual smirk "I'll taste it and make sure it's up to par."

She glared. Well, tried to, because it only looked like she was about to fall asleep standing and then proceeded to wave him off. "Aha, goodnight Saito." She didn't even wait for a reply, she turned around and left.

She missed his smile. "Goodnight Tokio," he called out.

He didn't shut his door till he made sure she was safely inside her home.

A/N: Please leave a review on your way out and let me know what you thought!