Chifuyu was ready and in his neat suit he wore last time he went to the mask party, then he walked up the stairs to Eve's room as he finished fixing his sleeve with the afternoon light shining from the windows.
"Eve, are you ready yet? Mister Clark and Charlotte are waiting for us," Chifuyu knocked on her door.
"I'm almost ready," Eve called out from inside the room, then opened the door to reveal herself in a blue gown.
"This is the one you got with Charlotte?" Chifuyu was scanning the dress.
"No, it's another one I already have." Eve was fixing her hair accessories, before she stepped to walk down the stairs.
"Do you need help?" Chifuyu noticed she was struggling to lift up the back part of her gown.
"Oh, thank you." Eve thanked him when he grabbed the gown to lift the back part of the dress, helping her step down the stairs easily. "Is Dad out investigating?" Eve asked him when they left the house.
"Apparently there's a thief he's chasing right now," Chifuyu smirked, knowing how easily he could catch the thief on his own and Taylor refused to ask for his help. "Your old man insisted he can catch him on his own, 'Don't underestimate the police' he said, so I gave up on offering my help." Chifuyu shrugged with a half-smile.
They joined Charlotte and entered the event held at Clark estate, it was another house as luxurious as Charlotte's that amazed Chifuyu, he walked around the hall observing the expensive decorations.
"Don't even think about it, mister." Eve nudged his back.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Chifuyu gave her a look with his brows furrowed.
"I know you know exactly what I'm talking about," Eve grunted.
"Eve, look. It's your fiancé," Charlotte pointed to the gentleman who entered the room, making both Chifuyu and Eve turn their attention the same direction as the rest of the crowd.
"Bonjour, honoured guests." Victor immediately approached them and let his parents lead the event, "You're wearing the same suit as the mask event," Victor noticed Chifuyu was wearing an attire he's not new with.
"I don't really go to events, and I'm not intending to attend more after this." Chifuyu placed his right hand on his hip.
"Is that so?" Victor smiled, before turning to Eve and caressed her cheek. "You're really beautiful as always, Evening." He gave her an affectionate smile that made her blush.
"U-Uh, t-thank you." Eve was flustered.
"Oh, you're wearing the earring Charlotte gave you~" Charlotte reached to Chifuyu's left earlobe when she noticed he was wearing the silver earring she gifted to him.
"Yeah, it's really cool and I like the charm." Chifuyu grabbed her hand to lower it as he smiled to her.
"Hehe, your hand is really warm." Charlotte chuckled, while Eve paused and sank back into her own thoughts.
"Come to think of it, Chifuyu-kun never praised me, not even once..." she thought as she played with a small bit of her hair, "I wonder why...?" she was genuinely curious.
"Chifuyu, how do I look?" Charlotte asked him, stepping a few steps back to let him see her from top to bottom.
"You look nice," Chifuyu smiled.
"That's it?" Victor found another opportunity to tease the 17-year-old.
"I'm really bad with words..." Chifuyu scratched his hair as he averted his eyes, "I find it easier to act than to say whatever I feel," he admitted with a shameful half smile.
"Really~? Charlotte thought you're a smooth talker," Charlotte said innocently.
"Complimenting is harder than talking my way out of things," Chifuyu lightly sighed, before he suddenly paused and lightly wheezed.
"Chifuyu-kun?" Eve was confused why he froze.
"W-Which way is the rest room...?" Chifuyu asked Victor in a frail voice and a small smile.
"Just to straight down the left hallway and turn to the right," Victor told him.
"Thank you," Chifuyu bowed, before sprinting to the direction Victor pointed to.
"Does he need to go that badly?" Charlotte giggled, "Let's go to the balcony, Eve. Victor told Charlotte the view there is nice," she grabbed Eve's hand as she smiled.
"You go ahead, ladies. I have to stay here in case my parents need me," Victor waved his hand.
"Okay," Eve agreed.
"Yay~, let's go." Charlotte dragged Eve all the way to the balcony at the edge of the hall, then looked out to the nice view of Paris from the balcony as the cool afternoon wind blew their hairs. "It is really pretty, whoa~" Charlotte's eyes sparkled in amazement as Eve stopped next to her.
"Charlotte, you're awfully interested in Chifuyu-kun, are you?" Eve decided to feed her curiosity.
"Yeah, he's a really nice gentleman. Charlotte really likes him," Charlotte responded openly with a smile, but Eve paused in confusion. "Charlotte wants to know more about him, maybe even take him out to dinner sometime." Charlotte said as she looks back to the view.
"Huh...?" Eve was speechless.
"Charlotte feel Chifuyu is very nice to be around, don't you think so too?" Charlotte's pure radiation made Eve struggle to find words to reply with.
"Y-Yeah, I agree." Eve stumbled on her own words.
"You have Mister Victor, and Father is always nagging how Charlotte should find a fiancé too..." Charlotte sighed, "Do you think Father will agree if Charlotte choose Chifuyu to be Charlotte's fiancé?" she asked to Eve with a shy smile, her question made Eve froze. Then averted her eyes to her gown, for once gloomy in front of Charlotte.
"Choose to be your fiancé...? That's not fair... I didn't get the option to choose who I want to be with..." was the words Eve wished to be able to speak out loud, but she kept it in her head.
"Eve?" Charlotte was clueless, and Eve jumped her head up to face her.
"I-I don't know, because I don't know Chifuyu-kun's opinion about that..." Eve forced a smile on her face, appearing awkward.
"Are you telling Charlotte to ask Chifuyu about it?" Charlotte tilted her head, her pigtails swaying.
"I-I..." Eve doesn't know what to say, her hands trembling in anxiety.
"There you are," Chifuyu made the two girls turn to him.
"Speak of the devil!!!" Eve screamed in her head.
"Mister Clark wanted you girls to go back inside, the dance session is about to start." Chifuyu approached them.
"You're going to dance with Charlotte, right?" Charlotte ran to him, giving Eve no space to breathe, she was surprised how Charlotte could easily forget the previous topic.
"I'm not really a good dancer, but if you want to, I'll do my best." Chifuyu smiled.
"Yippee~" Charlotte cheered, "Come on, Eve. Mister Victor is probably waiting for you," she turned to Eve.
"R-Right," Eve agreed, following Charlotte back into the hall.
"Wait a second," Chifuyu stopped Eve by grabbing her shoulder, then placed his hand on her forehead and slightly furrowed his brows.
"H-Huh? What?!" Eve was flustered, her ears burning.
"You're not sick, right? You are kind of quiet like yesterday," Chifuyu furrowed his left brow further, showing his concern.
"Wha-? No, I'm not sick." Eve moved back shyly.
"Okay. Just come to me if you're not feeling well, alright?" Chifuyu told her as he began walking back to the hall, "I don't want your old man to yell at me just because I ignored you, he gets annoying when he lectures." He rolled his eyes.
"Tell me about it," Eve snickered, followed him to the hall but lightly bumped into someone passing by after Chifuyu left the balcony area. "I-I apologize," Eve opened her eyes to look up at the gentleman she bumped into.
"It's alright-" the man froze at the same time as Eve, then they shared a shocked expression as they looked into each other's eyes.
"Eve?" Chifuyu slowed his pace when he noticed Eve was not following him anymore, and he raised a brow when he saw Eve and a gentleman about 3 years older than her were staring at each other.
"Eve...?" the gentleman seemed shocked to see Eve.
"R-Roland-Nii-san...?" Eve also had the same stunned expression on her face, "Y-You're here! I missed you!" Eve didn't know what else to say to express her joy, but the 19-year-old young man looked away.
"Good to see you, sis." Roland didn't want to make eye contact with her.
"I haven't seen you in 4 years since you moved out, Nii-san... H-How are you?" Eve asked, but awkwardness quickly silenced both of them.
"You've grown, you're no longer as short as I remember."
"You're tall too, Nii-san." Eve was glad the gentleman remained outgoing, but Roland gave her a cold glare a moment later.
"I hate you, Eve." He said with a chilling tone that made Eve frightened.
"Excuse me," Chifuyu stepped in and placed his arm in front of Eve, moving her away from Roland and behind him.
"A Japanese?" Roland was alert, "Who are you?" he questioned Chifuyu.
"I have the same question for you, monsieur." Chifuyu responded with a sharp gaze.
"Chifuyu-kun," Eve tugged on his coat.
"Chifuyu? Tsuguha Chifuyu?" Roland seemed to have heard of his name before, it was clear to Chifuyu that the young man was hiding his shock. "You're the young virtuoso investigator people are talking about? The one working for my dad?" he asked Chifuyu.
"Your dad?" Chifuyu paused.
"He's my older brother, Roland Anderson." Eve told him.
"What...? Gee, you could've told me sooner..." Chifuyu lowered his arm, lowering his guard.
"Nice to meet you, Tsuguha-san, call me Roland." Roland finally smiled.
"Why were you scared of your brother, though?" Chifuyu ignored Roland and asked Eve.
"U-Um, well..." Eve was stuttering, "It's nothing, just a joke between us." She chuckled nervously as she looked down, and Chifuyu dazed to her with a straight face for a few seconds.
"I see," Chifuyu knew she was lying, but decided not to press her about it.
The gentlemen and ladies bowed to each other, and the dance started the same time as the music. Eve had her hand in Victor's and they began to dance, but she occasionally glanced to her brother standing at the edge of the hall, smiling and watching her.
"Nervous about your brother?" Victor broke her daze with a smile.
"S-Sorry, Victor." Eve was ashamed, "Not really, I just wasn't expecting to reunite with him here." She sighed.
"I met him a few days ago and invited him to this event," Victor told her, "Is that a bad idea?" he had a hesitant smile on his face.
"It was you??!!!" was what Eve wished to had screamed out loud, but she stomached it and sighed heavily. "C'est bon, Victor..." she didn't know what else to say.
Chifuyu was dancing with Charlotte when he noticed a man entering the hall through the opened balcony, then suspiciously moving through the crowd without anyone noticing but him. Chifuyu slightly furrowed his brows as he tried to identify the man, and he quickly recognized the suspicious man walking through the crowd, trying to reach the window across the hall.
"How did he end up here...? What was the old man thinking?" Chifuyu rolled his eyes in marvelment.
"Chifuyu? Something wrong?" Charlotte broke his daze, noticing they had stopped on the dance floor for a few moments now.
"Oh, apologies." Chifuyu smiled awkwardly, "Say, why don't we try a different way of dance?" he asked as his awkward smile turned into a confident one, as if he had something in mind.
"D'accord! Take the lead," Charlotte was innocent enough to fall into his plan, and Chifuyu began to dance off route from the other dancers.
"What is that couple doing?" a gentleman dancing with his partner was distracted with Chifuyu and Charlotte, and Chifuyu suddenly stepped away from Charlotte, releasing her with only the tip of her hand on his palm.
"Veuillez m'excuser," Chifuyu smiled as he bowed in front of her, Charlotte tilted her head in confusion as the suspicious man emerged from between two couples next to Chifuyu. There was merely a second since the man appeared and Chifuyu launched a kick to the man's abdomen, catching him in surprise with no second to react and the man fell to the floor next to Chifuyu as he lowered his leg. The loud thud from the strike and the man falling to the floor made everyone in the hall stop to turn to Chifuyu, before looking down to the man unconscious on the floor.
"What's going on?!" Victor's father, Mr. Clark sped up his steps to approach Chifuyu in the middle of the moving away crowd.
"Don't worry, this man is Oscar Kent. He is the on-the-run thief Detective Taylor Anderson is currently hurtling," Chifuyu gave the middle-aged man a smile.
"You're the youngster working for him, aren't you?" Mr. Clark raised a brow.
"If you could be so kind, please contact the detective to convey this man. I will make sure he's secure until he comes," Chifuyu dodged the question he's secretly tired of, hiding his mild annoyance with a smile.
"Alright, let me call him." Mr. Clark decided to give up getting a response, knowing how arrogant the 17-year-old is from the storied told by his friend, Taylor Anderson himself.
Police cars arrive to the scene almost immediately, the event was quickly disbanded and there was only the Clark family, Eve, Charlotte, and Chifuyu left at the location. Chifuyu stepped outside to see Oscar transported to the vehicle, meeting Taylor outside at the same time, who appeared to be out of breath and upset for some unknown reason as he was wiping his sweat with a napkin.
"In the end, you couldn't catch him without my help. Right, old man~?" Chifuyu teased Taylor with his mischievous smile, nudging the detective's arm.
"Shut up," Taylor was upset because of the fact Chifuyu ended up catching the thief, "I'll show you next time, I'll catch a runaway thief before you know it." Taylor fixed his coat as he puts away his napkin.
"I'll be looking forward to it, being dependent on me is not always good either." Chifuyu suppressed his laugh as he walked a few steps forward, stopping after three steps. "I want to see that you can do the things we succeeded in the past without needing my help, that would make me happy." His smile suddenly turned into a solemn one, once again, his mood swings confusing the detective.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Taylor furrowed a brow.
"I really mean it; I want to see you being successful without my help someday." Chifuyu's solemn smile stayed, still not turning his head to the detective as the afternoon wind blew his black hair. "I hope that day comes soon," he turned his head with a big grin on his face, the afternoon light reflecting from his silver earring. The ambiance he was radiating made Taylor know there was a meaning behind his words, but for some reason, it was something that concerned him instead of annoying him.
"Why am I feeling uneasy all of a sudden...?" Taylor placed his left hand on his chest, and gripped his shirt as he looked down to the floor. "What's that supposed to mean...?" he repeated his question, but in a troubled tone. It was at that moment when his left wrist was in his sight, noticed that his watch was not there.
"You finally noticed~?" Taylor rapidly looked up to see Chifuyu dangling his watch with his right hand, with a mischievous smirk on his face.
"Hey, give it here!" Taylor ran to Chifuyu, but Chifuyu swiftly dodged him by moving to one direction.
"You never learn, do you, old man?" Chifuyu chuckled, then jumping to the big stone wall that surrounded the estate. "Au revoir~" he had the same smug smile on his face when he disappeared out of sight, leaving Taylor helpless on his stand.
"What is up with him...? I seriously don't get him..." Taylor sighed heavily, giving up and knowing he would have to wait for Chifuyu to return the watch himself.
"Dad?" Eve was behind the detective, had walked out of the house to meet her father. "Where's Chifuyu-kun?" she asked him, looking around for the teenager.
"He ran off with my watch," Taylor had a hopeless tone on his voice.
"Again...?" Eve sighed, placing her hands on her hip. "Get your ears ready, Chifuyu-kun, I'm going to scold you when I see you." She pouted.
Chifuyu slowed down his pace, stopping on a roof of a tall building before looking up to the afternoon sky with the wind blowing his black hair, his silver earring swaying as it made a settle noise. He had Taylor's watch in his hand, then gripping it in his hand without taking his eyes off of the sky.
"Why did I say that to him? I sounded pathetic," he was mumbling to himself, "Maybe I just wanted to make sure... that everyone will be fine without me..." the dim red sunlight was reflected in his blue eyes, giving it a warm glow.
"Hey, Fuyuchi!!" a familiar voice calling his name made him slightly flinch, then looked down to see Lucas waving to him from the sidewalk. "You're on your way home?" Lucas asked him with a smile, and Chifuyu jumped down to approach him.
"Yeah, I don't want to stay dressed like this any longer." Chifuyu grunted.
"Ng? Isn't that Detective Anderson's watch?" Lucas noticed the object in Chifuyu's hand.
"Oh, yeah. I'll give it back to him tomorrow," Chifuyu placed it inside his coat pocket.
"You got to stop with your foxy hands, Fuyuchi..." Lucas sighed.
"This was my only option to escape from him," Chifuyu said in a tone that was nearly a mumble, "See you tomorrow then, Lucas." He approached the house close to them and was preparing to jump.
"Wait!" Lucas stopped him before he could launch himself into the air, "Can I come with you?" he asked with a hesitant smile.
"To my house?" Chifuyu tilted his head slightly.
"Yeah! Can I...?" Lucas begged, Chifuyu averted his eyes to give it a thought before sighing a moment later.
"Alright, don't go around telling the others where I live though." Chifuyu said with a somewhat reluctant tone, "I'm trusting you," he gave Lucas a look that tells him he really meant what he said.
"I promise I won't tell anyone," Lucas nodded his head aggressively.
"Come on then, it's easier to get there through higher grounds, my route." Chifuyu jumped up to the roof of the house he was previously going to jump on.
"H-How is that 'easier'...?" Lucas doesn't understand, but followed his friend anyways.
Lucas doesn't know the location was far or was Chifuyu's high-ground route a shortcut, but Chifuyu stopped on a flat-roofed 3 story house where the view of Paris was admirable. There was a construction as big as a small one-story house on the flat roof, decorating the roof along with a hammock, plants, and a few wooden benches.
"Welcome to my home, Lucas." Chifuyu started taking off his coat, to hang it up on the ropes with a hanger.
"So, you just live on someone's rooftop?" Lucas was confused.
"No, this is my family's house. But I took all my belongings and decided to just use the rooftop," Chifuyu responded, walking out of the small house on the roof already changed into a white dress shirt and loose trousers.
"Why?" Lucas turned to him curiously, but Chifuyu didn't turn to him, having a depressing look on his face instead.
"The lower levels are a bit of a mess, you know?" his response was in a cool tone, but it showed that he doesn't want to be pressed further about the topic. Lucas entered the small construction as Chifuyu was putting away a box, looking around and stopping in front of a family picture placed on a shelf near the fireplace, placed next to a brown stuffed bear whose right arm was sewed to its body with noticeable yellow threads.
"This bear looks kind of funny; the yellow thread doesn't match at all..." Lucas mumbled with a smile before turning to the picture next to the bear. "Is this your family?" Lucas scanned the picture as Chifuyu cooked water to make tea.
"Yeah, it was taken 5 years ago when we just got this house." Chifuyu's response was more relaxed that time, allowing Lucas to feel relieve.
"You look really young here," Lucas touched the young boy in the picture with his index finger, while Chifuyu was switching his earring to the one he used to wear. "Your father looks really cool; I was wondering where you got your swag from." Lucas snickered.
"Hmph, ever heard of the saying 'Like father, like son'?" Chifuyu had a smug on his face.
"Your mother is really pretty, and you have a little sister too... No wonder you're so good with children," Lucas was admiring the family picture, feeling the love in the family. "Ng? This earring..." Lucas noticed a familiar silver earring attached to the samurai's right ear in the picture.
"It's the one I'm wearing now," Chifuyu had a mild smile on his face as Lucas turned to him, "My father gave it to me just a day before his death," Chifuyu touched the chain of his silver earring, rubbing it between his thumb and index.
"You really look like your dad with that on, the only difference is that you have short hair." Lucas chuckled as he approached Chifuyu.
"Oh, right. I only have Okonomiyaki for dinner, is that okay with you?" Chifuyu remembered.
"You're letting me stay for dinner?!" Lucas's eyes sparkled.
"Why wouldn't I...?" Chifuyu wasn't expecting his reaction.
"Well, because you seem to not like have visitors here, I thought you're going to make me leave soon." Lucas scratched his hair with a small smile.
"My home is my hideout, you know? Of course, I would want it to remain confidential." Chifuyu turned around to his fridge, "But I'm fine with letting a good friend know," he said as he took out a container.
"I feel so special..." Lucas was touched, sparkles were around his teary eyes.
"Just make sure you don't come here without me knowing, you have to let me know if you want to visit or even stay over, got it?" Chifuyu gave his best friend a playful sharp look.
"Right! I'll remember that," Lucas saluted.
A few moments later, Chifuyu was having dinner with Lucas on the carpet laid out on the rooftop, enjoying both the food and the cool breeze at the same time.
"The atmosphere here is so nice... Warm food and warm tea with cool breeze at outdoors, you have good tastes, Fuyuchi." Lucas was enjoying himself.
"I'm glad you like it here as much as I do," Chifuyu smiled before taking another mouthful of food, and Lucas paused to watch Chifuyu use chopsticks. "What's wrong?" Chifuyu was confused of Lucas's abrupt pause.
"How does chopsticks work? I don't get it," Lucas gave Chifuyu a stupid smile.
"You want to try?" Chifuyu smirked, before standing up and walked back into the house to come out with another pair of chopsticks. "Here, give it a shot." He handed the pair to Lucas, who took it hesitantly from him and tried to imitate Chifuyu as Chifuyu sat back down on his spot.
"This is impossible..." Lucas was struggling to grab a piece of Okonomiyaki with the chopsticks, his exertion entertaining enough to make Chifuyu laugh.
"Your grip is not bad, Lucas, I'm sure you just need to get used to it." Chifuyu told Lucas, just a second before a loud snap startled the both of them.
"Ack..." Lucas had snapped the chopsticks in half, "I-I'm sorry, Fuyuchi..."
"How did that even happen...?"
"Whew~! Your cooking is as good as Miss Evening said, Fuyuchi." Lucas cheered when they finished their food, "Thanks for letting me have dinner with you, pal." He grinned to Chifuyu while Chifuyu was sipping his tea.
"Thanks to you too, Lucas, for joining me." Chifuyu thanked his friend back, "Thanks for coming too, I was doubtful at first, but having you here makes it fun." He had a truthful and warm smile on his face, messaging to Lucas that he was genuinely happy.
"I'm glad to hear that," Lucas grinned back to his friend, as the moon's light started to flood the town.
***