After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGN2KukczVy
“So… do you have any plans on where to go?”
Claire nodded. “Let’s head to Queen Street. There’s a nice American-style diner there.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ93oI3eRoJZ
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQ93QSnd36
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTr0XXD0p3R
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX2E9fqQw3D
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXxLyihYfm
That mark was long gone, as if it had never existed at all.
Claire finished locking up and turned right.
Dick frowned slightly, watching her back as he said,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxgUZyTJfB
“Isn’t Queen Street to the left?”
Claire nodded. “I know. But I want to take the long way.”
She said it so matter-of-factly, without any explanation.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJURz4DjAka
Her tone was as casual as saying, “I feel like drinking something hot today.”
Dick tried to make sense of it, to interpret the logic.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkxvKyYzgx
‘The long way’ = more time together?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvC6beOarK
Was she trying to get to know him better?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSae0HpwcP
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrlr1GUm3p
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2UvRRVYAm
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJUEnEda0Z
Warm orange streetlights stretched their shadows out behind them.
Naturally, the conversation began.
Claire asked, “Is being a police officer really busy?”
Dick nodded and gave a textbook answer:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYflqXgVXq
“Workload’s heavy, pace is fast. But we work in shifts, so we get rest. Our precinct’s got decent security—less hectic than other districts.”
Claire didn’t call him out on the vague, PR-style response.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6koS4NecSN
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLqB7ESBxf
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvkqykiC9pq
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UdvJPA520
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75qkzc9kwr
It’s tiring, sure, but you get used to it.”
Her voice was steady, but when she mentioned “regular customers,” the corner of her lips twitched slightly—like she’d remembered something funny.
“Your precinct chief drops by almost every day. He loves hazelnut lattes,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPC8AVwxfd1
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB7KvE72O01
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHiwRu4NdQc
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0DobAuATL
There stood an old motel with a flickering porch light and faded signage. Claire suddenly lifted her head and looked up at the upper floors.
Dick followed her gaze.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1qhEkCEkm
There was nothing. No lights, no movement, not even a stray cat.
Then Claire turned left toward Queen Street without a word, her pace steady, as if she had already seen whatever she needed to see.
Dick looked puzzled and caught up with her. “What were you looking at just now?”
Claire turned and looked at him, her expression calm, voice equally so:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FMrb4ow6k
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv7mZaSgSi2
…One more person?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPZvfOAXlbZ
Now?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNOumq7QgYB
At this time of night?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyh25c2dPO
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfBW3GmlTmF
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYUFxMGxxmh
she meant someone was joining them.
This woman had planned a three-person date.
Is this a trend now? Or have I officially lost track of how modern dating works?
Dick glanced at Claire, who kept walking like nothing was wrong, and he couldn’t tell anymore who was leading this whole situation.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSgUMXmuRK
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIBQrU6holS
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnNMHteZlv
Not dangerous—but the kind of scary where you could never guess her next move.
Dick tried to keep his cool and picked up his pace to match hers.
He lowered his voice and tried to sound casual:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv13vPWYHLB
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdJcqtW8wHa
Why are you asking so much?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmylhgOyN7F
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgGkgNhkmc
She said it so naturally, but his brain was entering meltdown.
He quickly calculated her age, build, manner—she didn’t seem like someone who had a kid.
So… whose kid was it?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPol1WOGS5X
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PLThT85sl
What kind of parent would be okay with that?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YXuiCZruF
Or… maybe the kid wasn’t hers at all?
The whole thing was getting weirder by the second.
As they walked on, Dick started to seriously wonder if he’d accidentally stumbled into some underground recruitment process,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa2VRKdqln
or if this was all a carefully disguised evaluation.
This woman’s actions were completely outside the bounds of any logic he’d ever associated with “ordinary people.”
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvaiOcPQ6ex
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsglAmhET2
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5q7O8fDZY
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4hX8HWW5KE
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBP5ohsitjp
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bJAvzb7Zp
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3iEY4gKtr
Didn’t you just say a cute kid was joining us?”
He tried to keep his tone steady, but his brain was already running at full speed.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFCzha4JLe
He was trying to form a logical picture,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oIKljSnd2
but every clue felt like a kite with a broken string—pulled once, then gone with the wind.
He began mentally evaluating her mental state.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1F077QXXu
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMteQaSepDG
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaM5DQTho5
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoKPdNYYxC
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGi57eNedie
He’s joining us for dinner.”
Dick felt like his brain exploded on the spot.
He jolted where he stood, stopping in his tracks almost instinctively.
Robin?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtAtGktbLqo
She said she was looking for Robin?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLL9nHk8KeA
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5fWFm1EeK
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWy5yv80ZY
—She invited Robin to dinner?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiH3HOYeDt
—Does Robin even know her?42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdliHR4mz5r
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlU4VFIbm35
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1C8CvB4Pqm
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6coe5PXEO2
Claire suddenly stopped walking.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1MNhCKh4yR
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQBqbYbdvBy
and her eyes lit up.
Dick followed her line of sight.
Up on the rooftop of a tall building at the corner, shrouded by the faint veil of night,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKBwP3BccQd
a figure swung across the skyline.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ24P96W1M64
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcUR2Q0sCi
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxLVwJ8zLr0
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMl09xhJtmT
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1BTqnHJ2u9
She said simply:
“Found him.”42Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aK74rSBsX
