After they shook hands, Dick paused slightly, a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, then asked,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFwBPYralF
“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.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgFIx6tUhVK
Her tone was natural, as if it had been planned all along. No hesitation, and no special emphasis on this being a date.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtlGXJzRWFx
Just dinner. Simply dinner.
As they chatted, they walked outside. Claire turned to lock the door.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMg6dHBjRu
While doing so, she couldn’t help but glance down at the bottom edge of the doorknob—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLVK1dpWNJ4
a place where she had once scratched a tally with her nail to keep track of time.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVjLoPzClU
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,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNQVvbk2Kj
“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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFngTFAD54h
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡny2zZdfgZL
‘The long way’ = more time together?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHO2A9CB03b
Was she trying to get to know him better?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMSSb9XaJtq
But—there was absolutely no sign in her eyes that she had any particular thoughts about him.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohrl4p3qQI
That clean, clear indifference felt oddly… intimidating.
What exactly is this girl’s goal?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW5hsJWEap6
Dick had to find out.
They walked together. The shopfronts along the street glowed softly, the sidewalks neither crowded nor deserted.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9QiHWNEstN
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:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGmXzcuP8Xm
“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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLXrUewsVR
She just nodded silently.
Dick countered, “Is running a café tiring?”
Claire thought for a second, her tone relaxing a bit.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gl4ZZHBn3
“Not too bad, really. I have to prep ingredients early every morning.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyoxLPeqr3
Some customers are regulars, others just passing through.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡckVBfB6gKc
Afternoons are quieter, so I bake more then.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqSnXFgop37
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,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP5i0rowlX
but always claims he only drinks black coffee—too afraid his team will mock him for being soft.”
Dick blinked, then laughed.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYifDbG4vB
That was more real than anything they’d said so far—plus, some gossip he hadn’t heard.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58cwdf2jmI
The tension quietly melted under that small, mischievous joke.
They came to a corner.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH7J9Rps1NM
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi76QRb93YS
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:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKARIWxImj9
“You don’t mind if there’s one more person, right?”
Dick’s brain short-circuited for a second.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gmhpQ5MEw
…One more person?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8sOlX38hBL
Now?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ496578rav2
At this time of night?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXD16mdVxhD
What did she mean by “one more person”?
His mental alarms fired up—scanning the area for any tails, ambushes, anything off.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCEpTmEzuo
But everything looked normal.
Then it hit him—16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFsXcDQfwL
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHLdSAbUifr
Wasn’t she the one who issued the invite without his consent?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡScGw2cUcAu
Now she even arranged a third party?
He was starting to find her a little scary.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0uTjJgdhLj
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:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vctb26NGW
“Can I ask… um… who’s joining us?”
Claire only tilted her head slightly, giving him a look that said,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3cj9gQihRr
Why are you asking so much?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvzVihyjnL
Then kept walking without breaking stride.
“A cute kid.”
Dick: “????????”
You couldn’t blame him for being confused.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6cZzH90f3t
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?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡESYLb13SRK
Why would a child be joining them at night for dinner?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGOyDvLSjfR
What kind of parent would be okay with that?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡre2jNqEVDf
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,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQh6Oe9Ihk
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.”
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmrkC3hImEy
Just as Dick felt he needed to ask more questions to make sense of all this,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEd8dbzYeUO
Claire suddenly began looking up at the sky.
She walked while glancing upward, her gaze gliding along the edges of rooftops,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVId338v0q
sometimes pausing slightly, as if she were searching for something.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kPBNBXiLS
Dick followed her lead and looked up too—though honestly, he had no idea what he was supposed to be looking for.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAtZoUUxnG
His brows furrowed, and he couldn’t help but ask in a low voice,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRs4pOSI7m
“Excuse me… what exactly are you looking for?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSsqDT7yrt
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSEfZx7fdK
He was trying to form a logical picture,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvciVdYkP3i
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtkxry8IY1
This woman—her actions made no sense. Her words offered no context.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMOVXxOy4iI
Her plans always seemed half a step ahead,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeHueqvxz7U
but with zero warning.
Claire’s eyes continued sweeping across the sky as she replied, her tone calm and detached:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJzSVGuewxl
“Robin. I’m looking for Robin.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmYBcLpCmc
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?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiQK1ibilx
She said she was looking for Robin?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXVl18sasIi
The Robin he was thinking of?
A barrage of question marks flooded his mind:
—How the hell would Robin be here?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVw0q4AJQQY
—Why is she looking for him in Blüdhaven of all places?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdvkq4XwlNH
—She invited Robin to dinner?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBml8b4WZ8a
—Does Robin even know her?16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfvntyPE2W
—Would Robin even show up so casually…?
Too many questions surged in all at once.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeroYwwTMrp
It was like a flood crashing into his thoughts.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VwqZ5L4MY
He forgot how to breathe.
Just as his mind was about to be overturned by confusion,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU9jY80hoAq
Claire suddenly stopped walking.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2dV8ihuUFv
She didn’t say a word—just lifted her gaze toward a specific direction,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZR00rCtKwX
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,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb4eP91OYd5
a figure swung across the skyline.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKU63r1Em64
The taut grappling line sliced through the darkness like a stroke of ink across paper.
Robin.
His cape billowed behind him.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcSLnb46WAW
He hovered for a moment in mid-air,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpxiRplc27H
his form sharp and fluid, like a perfectly trained hawk in flight.
Claire smiled,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLayWipeH5T
a quiet smile filled with the satisfaction of keeping a promise.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxQmbQzm8D
She said simply:
“Found him.”16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFm0tnmMcl5
