In the middle of a park, was Naoki sitting steadily at the swings while hurriedly eating a vanilla ice cream he'd just bought.
It was a hot, sunny day, so his ice cream was melting fast. He'd already stopped swinging to focus more on eating his ice cream, meaning there's no time to waste.
Eventually, not even the cone was left as he had eaten it all. Naoki wiped his mouth with a tissue, and resumed swinging while thinking of what he should do for today.
'Right, Saitou has a date tonight, and knowing him, he probably has nothing to wear.'
Jumping up from the swings, Naoki has decided what to do. As Saitou's best and childhood friend, he couldn't just make him go to a date wearing a worn out suit.
Pulling out his phone, he tapped a contact just newly added to his contact list.
"Hey, Alfred... yeah, can you come pick me up? I'm at the park right now."
He ended the call, and started playing games while waiting.
After a few minutes, he saw Alfred, silently walking towards him. Wearing the usual butler's outfit, and his white hair combed backwards.
Alfred looked to be in his sixties with wrinkles all over his face, and white hair to add. Yet despite this, he stood straight, elegant, and composed, like a true master butler.
"Sir Naoki, I'm here to pick you up." He said calmly.
"Of course, we need to go to the most luxurious store here, and buy Saitou a suit."
"Understood."
With that, Naoki followed behind him. Like a curious child, he glanced around, looking for something interesting as they made their way towards the car.
But alas, the park was ordinary as it could get, a wide stretch of grass with only a few trees that offer little shade, and a small playground where they had just came from.
Left with no choice, Naoki focused on thinking about what suit to get for Saitou. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't realise they had already arrived at their destination, not until Alfred called out to him.
"If you would, sir" He spoke politely, careful not to sound impatient, while holding the door open for Naoki.
Naoki nodded as he entered the back of the SUV, while Alfred moved to the front and took the driver's seat.
They drove for a while, not talking to each other. Naoki was focused on his thoughts, and Alfred focused on driving.
After a while, they arrived in front of a tall glass building stretching all the way to the sky. The name "Le marché" embossed in gold rested atop the entrance.
Wide display windows showing mannequins dressed in various colored suits and flowing gowns, surrounded by soft lighting making the clothes the focus of attention.
"Hey, Alfred. What does Le marche mean?" Naoki said, completely fumbling the correct pronunciation of the name.
"Le marché means "The market", sir."
Naoki tilted his head, blinking twice as if he's brain froze for a moment.
"Don't tell me that's it... right?"
"That's the translation, sir."
Naoki was in disbelief, a luxury store with the name "The market". Is this proof that rich people don't have any naming sense?
It felt like he'd just heard a bad joke, a terrible one. For a moment Naoki took the time to laugh.
"Sir, we've arrived at the entrance." Alfred spoke softly from the front, making Naoki pause his laughter.
"Would you like me to accompany you inside sir?"
"Ah, no thanks, I can buy the clothes myself. You can go home now, I'll call you later when Im done."
With that, Naoki hopped of the car, and Alfred drove away as requested.
Polished brass handles gleamed on the glass doors, and a uniformed doorman stood at the side, his posture straight and attentive, opening the entrance for each customer like a proffesional.
Naoki walked towards the entrance, the doorman did his job and opened the door for him.
"Hey, do you just stand here all day?" He asked, genuinely curious if it's true.
The doorman didn't answer, choosing only to smile softly, and keep holding the door open.
Naoki ignored this and just went inside, what hit him was a wave of perfumed air, all the noises from the street outside faded instantly, and a quiet melody can be heard in the background.
Rows of clothing hung in perfect alignment, allowing customers to see every detail in them.
A sales lady approached him, calm and poised, offering a practiced greeting. "Welcome sir, is there anything particular you're looking for today?"
"Yes, can you take me to the men's suit section?"
"Of course." After a short pause, she added. "Please follow me."
Naoki did as told, and silently followed along. He'd been following a lot of people like a child, so he secretly hoped this'll be the last time.
Eventually, they reached a section of the store filled with blazers, pants, dress shirts, and even ties and bowties, all in different styles and colors.
"Would you like my help in picking the right outfit sir?"
"No, I'm good." After all it's a suit for his bestfriend, nobody will know what suits him better than Naoki.
After the store lady left, Naoki began trying on different outfits himself, and looking at the dress room mirrors.
This strategy of picking the right clothes for Saitou is highly innefective as they don't have the same build, and saitou is way taller. But he's having fun so who cares?
After going around the store picking out different suits, even contemplating whether it might be better to buy something else instead, and ultimately deciding against it, Naoki finally settled on a dark navy suit that struck the perfect balance between elegance and restraint.
Happy with this decision, he went over to the cashier to buy it. As he walked back to the store front, he stopped, uncertain if he was seeing things. There, among the neat rows of designer suits and the soft hum of background jazz, stood a chicken suit.
Full yellow feathers, orange legs, the whole thing. It was displayed on a mannequin like it belonged there. Perfectly lit, carefully posed, and priced, no doubt, far higher than reason would allow.
No one else in the store seemed to find it strange. A salesman walked past it without a glance, as if a chicken among luxurious brands was the most natural thing in the world.
Of course he had to buy it. Naoki ran excitedly towards the chicken suit, eyes gleaming as if he'd just won the lottery.
And, as if blessed by lady luck, he found there's not one but two chicken suits, the other behind the first one, like a treasure in plain sight.
The first chicken suit has yellow feathers, and the second having white. Naoki grabbed both, and immediately head off to a random dressing room.
The suits acted like big puffy jackets with the zipper at the front. It covers your whole body up to the neck, and the hood had acted as the chickens head with the beak and eyes.
The chicken feet, you wear as shoes, bright orange, and squeaking with every step.
Squeak, Squeak, Squeak.
Naoki ran around the dressroom, making the shoes squeak with every step, giggling like a child who'd found a new toy. But it seemed he was having a little too much fun as he slipped, crashing into the mirror on the wall, and sent it tumbling down with a sharp crack.
Naoki clutched his head, the impact from the fall sent a wave of pain to his skull. Looking up, he saw the cracked mirror lean to the side, and a... silver box with lots of wires? Where the mirror used to be.
A soft red pulse flickered at it's edge, and a red timer in the center counted down twenty eight minutes and four seconds.
"Oh, it's a bomb... WAIT IT'S A BOMB!"
"S-sir, are you okay? I-is there actually a bomb there? I'll call the police."
"W–wait, don't!" Naoki panicked. This store had at least eight floors; if everyone started running, they wouldn't be able to evacuate in less than thirty minutes."
Wait, why was he assuming that the whole building will collapse from a single bomb? Well he was panicking so his mind over exaggerated a bit, and there might be more bombs as well.
In his mind, Naoki had to think of an excuse, and he had to think of it fast.
"I said it's the bomb," he said, calm and confident. Not a trace of guilt in his voice, none of that nervous edge you'd expect from someone lying.
"What?" The sales lady asked reflexively, confusion can be heard from her voice, she even completely forgot to be polite.
"This outfit is the bomb." Naoki repeated with the same confidence in his voice.
"It's... slang... yeah, you wouldn't get it."
"O-oh, sorry sir, I seem to have misunderstood. If you'll excuse me, I'll get going."
After the sales lady left, Naoki slumped down to the floor, resting for a bit.
'Wait this is no time to rest, the bomb is still here.'
First, he should call Alfred, despite his looks, Mr. Watanabe said that he's a soldier as well, even having a squad of his own.
They can diffuse the bomb and evacuate the citizens without having them panic. So Naoki got to working.
Calling Alfred went without a hitch. In the meanwhile, he needs to check if there's any other bombs in the building.
He hanged the cracked mirror on the wall, hoping nobody would enter, at least for thirty minutes, and peeked out of the clothing room.
In the room beside him, someone else peeked their head out. A middle aged man, even more cautious than him.
They locked eyes, and for a moment stared at each other, then the man flew out of the room, the same metal bomb with the same timer that read thirty minutes, clutched in one hand and dropping a suitcase as he went.
Naoki snatched the suitcase on the floor. Luckily, it was already opened. Inside was two more of the same bombs, he ignored it and quickly stuffed the clothes he had brought before snapping it shut.
He then immediately chased after the man. He was pretty big, and wore a black jacket, so he was easy to spot.
The man rushed to the store front, heading straight towards the exit. Naoki followed, wich kind of annoyed him, but he had no choice this time.
For his size, the man was abnormally fast, zig zagging through the crowd with practiced ease.
He dashed toward the exit while Naoki lagged behind. The doorman tried to stop him, but he was easily pushed aside. By the time Naoki reached the cashier near the front entrance, he didn't forget to toss over his card before heading outside.
He finally spilled out onto the street, looking left and right as if deciding where to go. Naoki stumbled out seconds later, clutching the suitcase, heart beating fast.
The man with the bomb was already off to the distance, and the doorman, out of breath, gave up the pursuit.
Naoki prepared to chase after him once again, he couldn't stop this pursuit, after all the man still had a bomb.
Catching his breath one last time, Naoki ran towards the man, this time he's not stopping until he catches him.