Oh well, our protagonist has been summoned.

You weakly say internally as you rub your eyes from the slumber. But once your hand landed on the floor, you felt a stone-hard texture instead of your fluffy bed-

"HUH???" You look at the ground to find yourself sitting on a stone bench. You quickly look around, now with wide eyes, to see that you're now in a park.

At night.

All alone.

"Oh my goodness..."

You mumble in shock, as your genius brain is no longer thinking straight while slowly panicking-

'Okay, think , think now-'

You're no longer in your bed, you're no longer with your inventions...

But you do believe you heard some kind of click from one of them before sleeping-

'Wait....

.

.

.

I can't believe it worked...'

'OMG IT DID WORK???'

As much as the invention's success somehow wasn't shown as false hope, you pretty much don't have the guts at the moment to make a happy dance, it's freaking dark in this park...-

Like, you're literally far from home, in terms of time period-

'Wait, I feel kind of barefooted-' You slowly looked down to find yourself that were still in your casual outfit with white long-legged socks but without your black boots-

Oh woah, you're still in the same outfit you used while you were sleeping lol-

'I'm gonna have to look on the ground carefully when walking... gotta find some store or something, at least some newspaper where I can see the date I'm in-' You whispered as you slowly walked on the park's sidewalk, relying on the street lamps to guide you to an exit.

Suddenly, a silhouette appears in front of her, flashing from nowhere to the left. Then disappearing-

"....?!"

'Was that just me seeing some illusion...?'

Only silence responded her internal question.

'Eh,,,, then that's just my hallucination...'

You continue to walk as the light is your now only hope to give you at least a path to somewhere through the dark. You felt like you have been entering through a dim-lighted maze from the park after walking for a few minutes, until you finally found a glimpse of a sole, small building from afar.

A convenience store.

'Sussy that this convenience store is located in the middle of nowhere, in a maze- but where else can I go? I'll just quickly check it out if there's a newspaper-'

You carefully walked on your way to the automatic entrance- I mean, normal entrance doors to feel the soft cool air brushing through your face from a fan as the doors opened-

You slowly scrunched your face a bit, smelling something funny....

'It seems no one is doing a proper job in taking out the expired items.... Wait, there's no staff worker in sight???'

Nonetheless, you lightly hurried to enter deeply and looked around for some magazine section in the halls- you sigh in small relief at the found shelf and started studying in each magazine and newspaper covers...

"1920- 1920's??!! WAIT, THAT MEANS I'LL SEE MAIDENS WEARING FLAPPER DRESSES????" Gosh you love that period... Well, due to the fashion and the music at that time of course."

"Best and awful day of my life.... I might witnessed the Great Depression if I'm VERY near the date-"

*CLINK*

"Oh, it seems someone has entered the store by how the bell from the entrance got shook- here I thought this place is just running up mysteriously with no one around-" You quietly whispered, until a light high-pitched voice responded back.

"Not going to lie, I would say the same."

You lightly flinched and turned to where the voice is to see a young, brunette-haired boy. He has hair pins that resemble like cat ears- wait, he's wearing an outfit with so many pockets-

Is that even trendy in the 1969???

"Ah...-"

"Are you from around here?"

"Nope, to be honest....?"

The brunette haired boy grinned in amusement as he chuckled lightly, not pretty much buying it as he takes note of your clothing.

"You seem pretty unsure, miss, hehe,,,!"

"Are you from around here...? You don't seem to be from this.... year?"

"Mmm... Yeah, I'll say the same to you as well-"

The boy turned around to go from shelf to shelf around the convenience store, but kept conversing with you the entire time. He mindlessly made sure to speak loud enough as he gets a little farther and farther by the shelves. You only stood still while lightly peeking from behind the shelf you were in to see where he's passing, he looks like he's in a hurry from something....

"and why are you not wearing shoes may I ask...? Are you okay?"

The boy suddenly peeked out from the shelf that was two aisles away to see your almost barefoot feet- your white socks are getting dirty from the long walk apparently...

"Oh! That... I lost them on my way here... eh.... Don't worry about me, I'll somehow buy new ones...-"

"...."

The cat-like boy stops himself for a moment as he kept his position when he was about to stuffed a bag of cookies into one of his large pockets- as if he was considering about something...

Then, he sighs, concluding his decision unspokenly. You merely tilt your head in confusion, not sure what is on his mind out of the sudden.

"Don't worry... I'll help you get a pair! But first I need to take mmm... some more stuff here...." You can hear him shuffling some bag to open it before pushing other extra packages of snacks into it-

"W-Wait, there's no need to buy shoes from some stranger you just met- it's really not necessary???" You quickly responded out of surprise, waving your hand around at the boy to assure. It's getting hotter by every second, so you take out your silk scarf from your neck and place it under one of the newspapers from the shelves so it doesn't fly away from the wind. You calmly relax near the store fan's radius.

"Hehe... I simply just know a fact that you literally are not from here either... There's no way you would be able to buy shoes if you don't even know where the nearest shoe store is in this big mazy of a city!

....Plus, I wouldn't miss the opportunity to be a gentleman with a cute girl like you~!"

'...HUH???' You internally exclaimed. "E-Eh...."

"Oki, let's move now!" The boy fixed his full pockets before quickly holding your hand to guide you to the exit- He guides you to the left and turned to the corner-

A middle aged man was right in front of you both.

"Eep!" You immediately cling onto your companion's side, getting jumpscared.

"A-Ah...." The brunette boy said, getting caught off-guard by your sudden closeness. Yet, he kept his cool demeanor in front of the man, "Okay, old man, here's your food-" The brunette exclaimed at the figure that was standing over you both, you see your companion taking out the same paper bag with the bags of cookies in it.

Wait. You could see one of their tags.

They're all expired.

The man that was in front of you didn't hesitate to snatch the bag before throwing a shiny object at your partner(who gladly catch it smoothly) and walked away quickly, leaving you confused while your companion looked pleased at the exchange.

"Don't mind about that weirdo, I just found him sitting in this side of the store before I entered- he must be some broke guy from a bar-" The boy mindlessly explained through whispering as he examine the shiny object; a diamond ring.

You peek from your shoulder to glance at it from the companion's twiddling hands before turning away, uninterested by the object.

"I wonder how did he got such expensive item them...." You muttered.

"He probably was rich before, and then got broke." He responded once again, unhesitatingly.

"Oh, by the way- The names Alban, !"

"Ah nice to meet you, Alban-kun! My name is Y/N...! You may also call me Yin."

Alban repeated your name twice quietly as he continued to walk with you following behind. He then looked back at you with a big smile, you can imagine invisible cat ears fluttering quickly with excitement.

"Y/N! What a pretty name~! Come on, Y/N-san. Is dangerous at night, so we should head quickly~" After he say that, he started to accelerate his pace a little bit.

"But Alban,,, aren't you going to pay all of those cookies...?"

"Hehe,,, I'll tell you a one thing about me later~" Alban makes a shush finger motion and places it in front of his lips when implying the term "thing".

What a strange night we have here...

___

"So, Alban... How did you get here?"

You walk quickly, but also make sure that you are carefully not stepping on any unexpected glass (or even poop-/ref) with your shoe-less feet.

It's been 40 minutes since you and Alban have been starting to walk on your way to the nearest shoe store.

"I was... minding my own business."

"Let me guess... You were also stealing something at that moment?" You giggled quietly.

You just learned that Alban is actually known as a Phantom Thief, so no wonder he was stealing stuff at a convenience store without hesitation.... Security cameras and shop door scanners didn't exist yet until 1940's and 1960's.

Stealing in this era must be, therefore, a piece of cake for him- Alban also assured before that he have wondered around longer enough to be familiar with a few surroundings.

"I couldn't help it, that diamond was so shiny and was literally calling my name- I could already hear it in my head...!" Is amusing how Alban still raises his hands to place them on both sides of his head in distress as he still walks smoothly.

"Until I got sucked into some strange hole, which brought me here for unknown reasons-

Well, I actually come from the future... Or depends how close your timeline is with mine, Yin-san."

"....Mm, well, I'm from 2022."

"2022??? You're v-v-very old- I mean, you're at least a couple of decades before me, heh...!!!"

Alban slightly panics as he slaps his own mouth with his two gloved hands, nervously correcting himself and trying not to look rude- you just looked at him with an amused smile.

"Alright, Alban-kun, quit joking, we're pretty much roughly the same age still, silly,,,," You chuckled

"B-But, does it still mean I have to call you "senpai"???"

Gosh, not gonna lie, he looks super cute whenever he gets surprised hehe-

But then, the idea of being called "senpai" feels out of the place, so not for now.

"Nah, calling me Y/N is already fine! No need to do so."

Your brunette companion merely scratches the back his neck bashfully as a response, he then quickly shrugs it off as he prepares himself for something. You tilt your head for like the 18th time of this night-

.

.

.

Alban jumped up to a brick wall smoothly, and climbed on it effortlessly....

Like a cat.

"Are you a super cat???"

"???"

"Are you???"

Alban chuckled slightly before reaching his hands for you to grab so he can lift you up. You gladly grabbed them, feeling him quickly lifting you up for you to get to the other side of the not-so-tall wall.

"People don't call me "Albanyan" or "Alban Neko" for no reason. I'm already used to those nicknames."

"Alban-Neko??? Omg, that sounds so adorable what-?"

"Rjdjjdjjjmsmsmwwmmwm,,,,," Alban suddenly starts to use his hood to cover his face. Despite how dark it is yet there are some street lamps remaining in the road, the moonlight barely shows you his flustered, embarrassed look. You simply giggled once more.

"Oh, We hit jackpot." Alban said as he whistled lightly at where he stopped in front of. You almost bumped your head into his back but fortunately stopped to see what he's looking.

A clothing shop next to a shoe store.

"Wait for me at that bench from over there, I'll go get the shoes and other stuff for you!" Alban suggested as he points at the bench that is across from the two stores and is right next to a streetlamp.

"Other stuff? You're also going to take clothes...?" You nervously asked as Alban smiled at you in reassurance. "But isn't that too risky...?"

"Don't sweat it- There's a reason why robbery cases increase in this time period! (which doesn't assure us at all, Alban- :c ) w-wait no- just do not worry, okay? I'll be back before you know it." Alban reassures more under his breath as he squeezes your shoulders gently. You looked at your toes silently before nodding, still feeling anxious about the idea but believes that he's indeed a professional, sneaky thief for reasons.

Alban pretty much is right in terms of his choice in also stealing at the clothing shop, actually- People will start looking at you strange if you keep wearing your modern casual sweater and jeans in the streets... in 1920's!!!

To be honest, you're just so sure you're going to miss wearing sneakers for a while...

"I'm back- I also brought a handbag, to keep your clothes of course!" (ALBAN, OMG WHY DKDKMSMSM-)

"Eh... Oh, okay." To be honest, there's nothing to argue about that as you motion a thumbs up, making Alban looked more happy.... Tskr-

But then, his expression suddenly look as of bashful.

He quickly hand you the clothes that where in the handbag and then sat next to you in the bench. You contemplated for abut before opening the bag...

To see a decent skirt. With the decent length and all-

You're now raising an eyebrow at Alban who is now looking shy for who knows why-

"D-Don't look at me like that! I have no idea what you prefer to wear, so I just try to determine the choices of how casual you prefer to wear depending on what you're wearing right now- I mean!"

"Chill, Alban, chil,,,- This is actually perfectly alright- Never knew you have at least some.. sense of fashion for a thief who only focuses on how flashy an object is- :)"

"Hey- don't underestimate me! I actually find this skirt pretty cute actually- I mean-"

"Yeah yeah-" You're literally sweat dropping while trying to give your nervous buddy a comforting smile, giving pats to reassure that you're actually pleased with the pieces of clothing.

There's also plain coat- useful when it's windy. And a slightly formal shirt along with other more spares that are the same. Let's not forget about new long legged socks, but in different colors instead.

"I couldn't bring Nike shoes sadly... not surprised that it's not here anyway- all I mostly found at the shoe store were heels- but I manage to find a pair of flat shoes...."

"Ah, great choice actually, I would get kill if I ever use tall heels- ngl...."

"...Hehe!"

You were smart enough to not step on neither of those shops- who knows someone can see you clearly as you were one who's the least black-covered out of the two of you.

"Oki, Y/N-san, Let's quickly move to a different eh... avenue? Do they still call that here?"

"I guess??? Why so confused? ówò"

"I have no idea either actually- we have flying cars and distorted road paths for a reason in where I am-"

"Ah okay- But wait-"

"???"

"Why are you holding the shoe store's sign?"

"I'm borrowing it, it was so shiny by its bright lights on the letters-"

"Good boy, that bright sign actually annoyed me-"

___

//Meet a new companion!//

// A Phantom Thief from the future with exceptional stealth. He's a free yet mischievous spirit who is hard to pin down. //