Haruka stood in front of her mirror, adjusting the oversized trench coat she borrowed from Sayuri. The collar was popped up dramatically, sunglasses perched on her nose despite it being mildly overcast. A plastic ziplock bag hung from her fingers—inside it, the now-legendary candy wrapper. Momo sat at her feet, looking very unimpressed with the red ribbon she had tied like a detective badge around his fluffy neck.
"Operation Hoodie Recon is a go," Haruka announced seriously, pointing toward the door like a captain sending her troops into battle. Momo blinked.
The two of them marched outside, Haruka holding the leash like a mission rope and Momo trotting ahead, blissfully unaware that he had been dubbed an honorary detective.
Her phone buzzed. Yuki.
Haruka picked up the video call. "Agent Haru reporting for duty."
Yuki squinted at the screen. "Why do you look like a suspicious off-brand spy?"
Haruka adjusted her glasses. "This is fieldwork attire. Momo and I are tailing a suspect."
Yuki sipped her matcha with a smirk. "Still on the hoodie guy case?"
"I have a lead," Haruka said, holding up the candy wrapper dramatically.
Yuki raised a brow. "You're tracking a man by candy wrapper?"
"Technically, Momo is," Haruka said proudly. "I'm just his emotional support."
Yuki laughed. "Good luck, Detective. Try not to get arrested."
With that, Haruka set off toward the streets she remembered from the night before, letting Momo lead.
Ten minutes in, Momo found a squirrel and decided that was more interesting. Then a pigeon. Then a snack wrapper.
Haruka groaned. "Focus, Momo! Candy wrapper guy, remember?"
Momo barked once and sat in front of a convenience store like it was a crime scene.
"No suspects here…" Haruka muttered. "Unless Hoodie Guy turned into a popsicle fridge."
Momo gave a soft growl, his ears perking up as he turned sharply toward the alley beside the convenience store.
Haruka followed his gaze. The narrow alley was shrouded in mist, the air colder as she stepped closer. A flickering streetlamp overhead buzzed, casting long, dancing shadows against the graffiti-stained walls.
And then—footsteps.
Slow, deliberate, echoing through the alley like a ticking clock.
Haruka froze, instinctively clutching Momo's leash tighter. Her breath caught.
From the fog emerged a silhouette.
Tall. Composed. Mysterious.
A gust of wind lifted his coat just enough to make it flutter like a cape. The faint click of polished shoes echoed with each step forward. His face was obscured by the low-brimmed fedora he wore and the collar of his dark trench coat turned high, shadows cutting across his features like he walked straight out of a noir film.
In one gloved hand: a silver briefcase.
"Kaito?!" Haruka blurted out.
"Detective Ishikawa," he said solemnly, voice low and dramatic. "We meet again."
Haruka blinked. "What are you wearing?"
"Don't question the uniform," he said, stepping closer.
He stopped halfway through the alley and tilted his head up, the light finally revealing the familiar face beneath the shadows—but now framed in pure mystery.
Kaito lowered his sunglasses, peering at her with a faint smirk. "You weren't followed, were you?"
Haruka blinked. "W-What?"
He motioned her over with two fingers, voice low and cryptic. "Quick. Before anyone sees."
Momo trotted ahead eagerly. Haruka, still caught between curiosity and sheer disbelief, followed him in.
"You've been searching, haven't you?" Kaito said as she approached. "The man in the hoodie."
Haruka swallowed. "You–you know where he is?"
Instead of answering, he placed the silver briefcase on top of an overturned crate. With one dramatic click, it popped open.
A soft glow from a tiny LED strip inside the lid lit up the contents—like a hidden vault.
And there it was.
The hoodie.
Folded neatly inside, like evidence in a high-profile investigation.
Haruka's jaw dropped. "No way. No actual way."
She reached toward it hesitantly, as though touching it might trigger a laser alarm.
"How…?" she breathed. "How did you get this?"
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say some people owe me favors."
Her eyes narrowed. "That sounds illegal."
"Not technically," he replied, lifting the hoodie with reverence. "But close enough to be exciting."
Haruka accepted it like it was a sacred artifact, holding it delicately in both hands. "This is exactly the one… the texture, the candy scent, the—wait, is that a dog hair?"
"I may or may not have retrieved it from a classified location," Kaito said cryptically.
Haruka stared at him, suspicion growing in her eyes. "What are you, part of some secret organization? Did you hack into a hoodie database?"
Kaito simply smirked. "Would you believe me if I said… yes?"
She stared harder.
"No," she deadpanned.
Kaito turned, the trench coat swishing behind him like he was about to walk out of a spy film. "Still going to keep the case alive?"
Haruka clutched the hoodie. "This case will never be abandoned."
"Good." He stopped at the edge of the alley, glancing back one last time.
"Meet me again tomorrow," he said. "Things will get exciting."
And with that, he vanished into the fog, the flickering streetlamp above him sputtering once before going dark.
Haruka stared after him, hoodie in hand, heart pounding like she'd just stumbled into an anime's plot twist.
"…He's definitely in a gang," she whispered.
Momo sneezed.