{Back to the Convenience Store, which is no longer 'owner-less' when morning came}

"AAAAAAGGGGGH!!!! YOU WHAT???"

An angry manager exclaims at an alarmed male staff from the background, raged at the fact that all the shelves are nearly out of stock in the store with no single cash filled in the register box are the first things that he sees in the morning.

"I'm so sorry, boss! I swear I last saw one of the junior staff taking her turn with the night shift after me so I left- I never knew she would just leave the store unattended!!!"

"EXCUSES EXCUSES, YOU SHOULD HAVE CALLED ANOTHER PERSON TO HELP HER- WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE??? LETTING A WOMAN WORK AT A STORE ALL ALONE AT NIGHT??? SHE PROBABLY GOT ROBBED OR EVEN KIDNAPPED- AND THEN A BUNCH OF ROBBERS BROKE IN FREELY AND TOOK EVERYTHING- HOW CAN I ONLY HAVE ONE SINGLE DAY OFF WITH MY DAUGHTER IF I HAVE INEFFICIENT STAFF WORKERS?!

YOU'RE FIRED!"

*TAP TAP*

The two figures slowly turn to the double doors to see who was knocking slowly from the entrance, they quickly unlocked the doors for the professional who may have know any clue on how to find the culprit-

He resembles as a fox, wearing an orange detective style hat and sunglasses as he possesses a pale brown hair. His neon blue eyes are covered by the round sunglasses, making him look like he has a blank look as he has a round lollipop on his mouth.

He intimidatingly walks past the two people without batting an eyelash on them and straightforward inspects the crime scene.

The man kneels on the floor and inspects every single detail in the floor and the shelves for any tracing of dirt, hair, or a slightly noticeable fingerprint with his magnifying glass.

He suddenly scoffs, making the manager and staff that were watching from behind jump back slightly.

"That motherf*cker must be wearing gloves and more coverage to even drop any lead... Ugh" The detective inaudibly growls frustratedly under his breath looking at the ground as he closes his eyes, attempting to come up with an alternative plan as he sucks on his lollipop with a focused look.

"Were there any similar cases that happened before, Detective Rias?" Manager carefully asked with slight concerned.

The person addressed as "Detective Rias" finally looks at the manager, and smoothly took out a portable notepad out of nowhere to check what he have discovered so far for the past few hours. He makes a click sound with his tongue.

"I found a similar case at the Sir Sastre Boutique and some "shoe store I forgot the name of it but was next to that clothing shop anyway" according to some passerby who first noticed the crime scene location's changes- the owners of those stores reported that some of their sales went missing in the same night...

How... Mysterious..."

"...????"

"OI, IT WASN'T EVEN PUN INTENDED YOU KNOW?! BAKA?!"

"Ah Y-Yes! It isn't...-"

The Detective has been busy, known for cracking some of the country's most difficult cases. However, there's one particular case he has been keeping his eyes for months on end...

The Phantom Thief Case.

There was a notorious unknown thief that left almost no traces at every crime scene they went, making it impossible for anyone to figure out who this person was...

But surely, it'll be much simple for the detective once he tries his alternative strategies that are under his sleeve.

He has a keen sense of smell akin to a dog.

The detective quickly gets back to work and started looking deeper, even on every other shelves that were hiding sneakily.

Until he stops at the newspapers stand.

He sniffs and sniffs, until he gets tracked of dark chocolate.... and a very rare scent...-

Lavender.

He can imagine a green hill in the background along a field covered in a bed of lavenders.... As a matter of fact, he have never smelled a perfume that has lavender on it.

Right before he starts to unconsciously linger more for the scent, he feels his hand bumped on a soft item.

A designer scarf made out of silk.

He blankly looks at the scarf in his own gloved hands before inching his face closer to it to sniff it... Lavender scent is coming from it.

"It seems I found leads... very mismatched lead."

___

// Companion(s) Equipped! //

// //

___

{Back to you & Alban}

___

Once again, you and Alban pretty much got to the small, slightly noticeable habits every time you wonder around the city and everything 1969 has in its glory. Alban would frequently try to go through obstacles, walls, high places, and loopholes with his stealth while trying to give you a hand whenever there are certain obstacles you aren't capable to reach.

Eventually, you both find a public restroom for women at a bar after a couple of hours of walking. Despite that it's past midnight, the bar is still open and filled with a few customers, at least it maintains a modest number of crowd at the moment.

"Sometimes, I tend to remind myself that unisex restrooms are not much of a thing in this time period...-"

Alban replied while letting out a looooong whiny sound as he stays seated in a wooden chair, literally sitting the chair backwards while waiting for you to finish dressing up. He honestly suggested the idea with innocent intentions, as it would be easy to just hide in the restroom too and wait for you at where the sink counters are. He was lucky enough to sit in a corner where there's less people to stare at him.

Plus, is kind of embarrassing how he's also holding the handbag for you as he's waiting- but he'll actually let that pass in this kind of occasion like the sweet boy he is-

"How do I look?"

Alban's eyes widen before he excitedly turns around to see you getting out of the restroom.... Despite that he's sitting right now, seeing your hair dance gently while you're walking gracefully like an angel towards him causes his legs to tremble slightly.

Not gonna lie, you wearing the 1920's attires makes him question how are you capable to fit gorgeously with this timeline's beautiful atmosphere.

"...How come you always look pretty with whatever you wear?"

"Huh...? Oh yeah- This coat is actually pretty though, not gonna lie...-" You densely responded as you admired your outfit one more time before sitting on the booth that was next to Alban's chair.

"Oh wait, you forgot something-"

"....?"

Alban quickly takes out the flat shoes he got for you previously from the handbag- he just realized that you didn't bring the shoes with you.

"Oh right, forgot to bring them lol-"

Before you even get to grab the pair of shoes from his hands, the brunette was already kneeling in front of you and already holding one of your feet to guide it into one of the shoes carefully. It leaves you speechless how gentle he is when he's helping you wear the shoes- but that's not mostly the case-

Even if a blank expression was only present in your face, you can feel the slight heat in your cheeks by the sight of Alban kneeling for you.

"Here you go, Cinderella~!" He clapped his hands as if he just finished a job, wearing a satisfied grin.

"Hehe, very smooth there, sir."

"Y-Yeah."

The male ends up taking a sit next to you at the booth. Not knowing what else to say, you both stay silent for at least a minute to enjoy the jazz music the performers are playing.

"Does people in your timeline still know about Disney princesses?" You asked, remembering about Alban's previous comment.

"Well, some do, some don't... Disneyland still exists, but Disney is not a very popular topic in those days..."

"Are you a fan of Disney?"

"Disney...? Mm.... I find it okay...." Alban thought for a bit as he scratches his chin with his gloved finger, before turning towards you. "How about you?"

"I'm neutral with it. Though I don't like the unrealistic "let's get married even tho I just met you few weeks ago or less" typical troupes the films usually show- yet, I still watch the films by how well illustrated they were made..." You replied as you brush your coat to make it look neat when you're sitting.

"...Understandable!" The cat boy nodded, his face looks as if he's having a train of thoughts... probably thinking about his home.

You also pretty much feeling a bit homesick after wondering cluelessly and letting someone be your only source of guide instead for who knows how long- but is honestly just a couple of hours that have passed. There must be surely some way to at least find materials and build another portal-

Right?

"Hey... Y/N-san?"

"Just Y/N, Alban."

"Ah okay... Y/N."

"Yes?"

"You said you are an inventor, right? Why do you like... inventing stuff? I mean, what makes you passionate about it?"

"That's a good question.... Let's just say, I pretty much have a twisted sense of creativity- the feeling of changing things from unsolvable to solvable... Is satisfying, feels like I have achieved something only few are capable to."

As you ramble on about your works and the many everyday life problems you were able to help in solving, Alban can only do nothing but listen attentively, finding your words interesting and appealing enough to focus on for the moment.

Having Alban near you makes you realize how he smells like a soft scent of dark chocolate....

Unconsciously, he places an arm on the border of the booth behind your head, getting himself too comfortable than he was before... When was the last time he was able to rest without running away from troubles all the time?

Right when he is internally wondering, the calming atmosphere was shattered by a ring bell from the entrance.

You are just politely ordering a glass of water(which turned out to be actually for free-) from a waitress before catching a glance of an eccentric fox hat...

"Hey, Al. That guy wears orange like you- except he looks like a dog."

"Huh?"

Alban lazily opens back his eyes to glance on the right from the corner of his eyes.

'Oh sh*t.'

The Phantom Thief quickly stands up for where he sat, leaving you half-confused at the sudden reaction-

"What's wrong?"

"Hide me- he's searching for me."

"Wait what...-"

"He's a detective, he has been chasing me for the past few months-"

"Oh, okay-"

You actually don't know how to feel about this- scared? Nervous? Confused? Your brain just knew that Alban would understandably get chased by some cop or all that jazz for the amount of times he's stealing-

After all, he just freaking showed you a secret garage where he drops everything he sto- found as shiny. *sweatdrops*

You are sure of yourself that you're pretty much not scared- why should you? Even if you're acquaintances with a phantom thief, doesn't mean you have anything to do with the missing objects.

Alban gives you a quick thumbs up for good luck before quickly sneaking to the male's bathroom to hide in one of the doors, you just vibe quietly in the spacious booth. It seems the waitress has come back with your glass of water. "Thank you, miss."

"No problem, sugar." And she just leaves.

Oh, you feel a tap on your shoulder.

"Excuse me, ma'am- I would like to ask a couple of questions."

And that's when your fingers are starting to sweat-

You slowly turn around to see the same man with the fox hat-

Oh goodness- he's actually handsome upclose??? Help???

Judging by what he is wearing, he's wearing a white jacket hanging on his shoulders- and holding a magnifying glass in one of his waist pockets.

Yep, he's indeed an eccentric, handsome detective-

"Oh- lovely night, sir. Did anything out of ordinary just occurred? I haven't read the newspaper yet." You greeted with the lovely smile you can hold up to the man.

"Ah, yes. Let me enlighten you-" The detective replied quietly out of the sudden- he was talking from smooth to shy tone for some reason.

"My name is Mysta, Mysta Rias. I work as a professional detective in this country. There were latest cases of stolen goods similarly implying that they're all the same work of one phantom thief on the loose..."

"Oh my... That's terrifying...-"

It is, especially when you're the one who sees the thief in person committing some of the said cases-

"Ah... Would you like to sit here?" You calmly ask as you just noted that he is the only one standing besides the bar workers who are serving the drinks.

"Oh, I really don't want to occupy the seat-"

"I'm not waiting for anyone, sir." You giggle lightly, making the detective gets slightly flustered.

"Ah, if you insist-"

He fixes his throat behind his gloved hand before taking a sit across from you. He takes off his hat from his head and places it on the table, before his sunglasses to the crown of his hair. Showing sharp eyes that are glancing at your sitting figure along with a smile that contrasts with his blank look from before.

You can feel your stomach get tickled with butterflies....

"So... by the looks of it, you don't come here often, li'l lady? I haven't seen you here before."

"Ah, well... I just moved here, I'm looking around at the moment."

"Oh, I see now-" Mysta commented as you sweat by how his sharp eyes are now observing your every movement, yet you fortunately are able to keep your cool as you finish drinking your glass of iced water.

"Have you seen anything suspicious lately, miss-"

"Y/N."

"Y/N... yes." Mysta mumbled as he leaned back with his fingers intertwined with each other on the table.

Alright, time to choose cards carefully-

"To answer your question, I'm afraid no... I haven't seen anything unusual besides street lamps flickering and an abandoned convenient store I was checking on for groceries- it was already nearly empty of stocks when I arrived there...."

Wait, that kinda sounds a bit suspicious???

"It took me a few hours to get get to the store and then get out of the maze, to be honest...-

Okay, that sounds a little bit more better...

"Ah, that convenient store..." you can hear the fox detective mumble before seeing him nod in understanding.

"This scarf must have belonged to you, then."

The brunette fox fixes one of his sleeves, showing a familiar silk scarf from under it... That's your scarf!

"Oh goodness- my scarf! I was looking for it the whole time! I must have left it back in the store..." You confirmed as you covered your gapping mouth with a hand with an astonished look.

"How did you know it belonged to me?"

You are about to grab it before thanking, but the detective must have other plans and pulls the scarf slightly away from you. You stop and look at him with a confused expression, pure confusion indeed...

"Lavender... The lavender scent." Mysta starts as he then looks down at the sloppily folded scarf in his gloved hand.

"I can smell that similar lavender from you and the scarf."

"Ah... Wow... I didn't know my scent would be that strong... Does it bother you?" You sweat drop as you nervously smile from the statement Mysta made.

"No- more like the opposite... I've never smelled lavender as a person's scent other than the rare plants I see in the flower shops." Mysta explains. You just stare at him without saying anything.... You didn't knew perfumes like lavender are not yet one of the most sold in this year.

"...Excuse me, here's the scarf." Mysta clears his throat once again before handing your scarf to you after that.

"Thank you so much, sir..."

"Mysta, call me Mysta please."

"Then please call me just Y/N."

"Alright, Y/N." Mysta nods, notably looking a little more awkward in the process but you still appreciate the discussion you're both having.

"Thank you... Mysta." You smile softly with gratitude and slight astonishment... Usually, anyone would steal an expensive designer scarf rather than trying to return it to its rightful owner- not that you wouldn't afford another back in your timeline.

Mysta stares at you for a bit before looking away for a second, then shifting his gaze back to you. He seems to try to open his mouth as if he meant to want to talk more. Until he finally gets something to say.

"By the looks of it, you seem pretty cold from the long-time absence of your scarf.... There's no meal eaten or dishes placed on the table besides the empty glass with ice you recently just drank.... You haven't eaten dinner yet."

Ah-

"Ah yes... I have been busy on finding items to buy that I forgot to buy myself some food." You calmly respond to his thoughtful question, tilting your head as you now wonder how this will go on until Alban is safe to leave from his hiding spot.

"It's pretty much past midnight, so drinking something alcoholic won't allow you to return back home smoothly, a warm, non-alcoholic beverage would do- let me invite you for a meal and a drink to warm you up, take it as an apology for disturbing you out of the sudden." The detective smoothly offers whole giving you a friendly smile.

"Oh please-"

"I insist, woman-" The mood on his face turns dark with a dramatic persistence...

Oh boy, that escalated a bit-

"Excuse me." Mysta calls out for a waitress as he goes to facing you with a grin. "A hot drink for the lady- Chamomile Tea would do."

"Alright...- what else?" The waitress writes the order down and then asked in case.

"What would you like to eat, Y/N?" Mysta asks.

"Ah... Some spaghetti with french fries on the side doesn't sound bad." You admitted as you raised at the menu to see the dishes and the prices- you picked one of the meals that is not too extravagant yet not cheap.

"I'll have the same as her." Mysta concludes his order to the worker, who nodded before leaving to place the orders.

Ah...

___

"Ah- oh well, some time has passed. Is my cue to get back to my office-"

You are packing some spaghetti leftovers in a container a waitress give you as you see Mysta drop a decent tip on the table. You look up at him with an understanding look.

"Ah, oh well... It was pleasant talking with you. Good night, Mysta!" You bid goodbye as you smile lightly at the brunette detective. He stops on his tracks from making his way to the exit before taking out something from beneath his shirt.

He sneaks a card on your hand, before winking at you as he wears his hat back. You look at him with a puzzled look before glancing at it.

.

"Call me later, hun~"

"????!!!"

You cannot help but turn red out of embarrassment by the unexpected, bold request-

.

.

.

.

Yet, little did you know...

Mysta just knew that you're suspiciously hiding something... Or someone from him.

___

// Meet a new companion! //