ICED WITH VIBRANT colours and topped with classic, rainbow sprinkles, the old woman's order for her grandson's birthday cake looked delightful. Satisfied after observing its contents, she closed the box back up, once again directing her gaze towards the girl behind the counter.

"I hope it's managed to meet your expectations," Y/N said, placing a small business card front face-down on top of the box and pointing to the printed text at the bottom. "Otherwise, we've also got a refund poli—"

The woman clicked her tongue, dismissing the girl's words with a wave of her hand. "Oh, don't be silly." Having already paid beforehand, she picked up the box, ready to head back home. "There's no need for refunds. It's marvellous!"

A small smile made its way onto Y/N's face. "In that case, I'm glad it was up to your standards. Thank you and have a nice day!"

The woman chuckled heartily in appreciation. "You too, sweetheart."

The girl watched her as she opened the door to leave, just as another customer stepped in—one she had never seen before. She was sure of that, because her bakery was a small, family-owned business that only really was popular among those who were already regulars.

The youth was evident on the man's—or perhaps boy would have been the better word—features; while the structure of his face was sharp, there was definite baby fat still on his cheeks, giving him a more boyish look. If Y/N had to take a wild guess, she'd conclude that he couldn't be much older than twenty-five.

Upon his dark hair rested a brown cap—though it wasn't sitting straight. She wondered if he knew it was wonky, or if he'd set it like that on purpose. Whatever the reason, it caught her attention before the rest of his... questionable outfit.

As he neared the counter, Y/N halted her train of thought with a single shake of her head, sending a smile towards the man... or boy. "Welcome! How can I help?"

He looked at her, blinking innocently a couple times before his attention moved to the display. He'd clearly not made up his mind yet, because he was thinking hard. Y/N considered giving him a few recommendations since he looked a little torn between all the different options, but soon enough, he seemed to have figured out what he wanted as his green eyes caught the donuts on the tray.

"Hmm... five—no, six of those donuts..." he began, tone indicating that he was not yet done. Then, with a sudden excitement that Y/N typically only ever saw in children, his attention shifted to the other end of the display.

"Oh, oh! And a dozen of those cupcakes! And another dozen of the cupcakes next to them too." With a second thought, he then added, "And a box of chocolate chip cookies... with an extra cookie inside. These macaroons too!"

As he went on and on, Y/N was thankful that her memory was good enough for her to remember everything he was saying. She began to take out everything he'd wanted from the display, positive that he'd just ordered ninety percent of her bakery.

Placing everything into the designated boxes they came with, she piled them on top of each other and picked them up, almost unable to see anything in front of her due to how many boxes there were. "Will that be all—"

Y/N cut herself off as she turned back to place the boxes on the countertop, only to find the boy staring at the glass display at the front of the bakery. Today's special! was written on the blackboard above, underlined an arrow pointing to the delight that sat in the small display below—a two-tiered chocolate cake with a recipe Y/N had spent hours perfecting.

He turned to her, and even from the distance she was a, Y/N could practically see the stars in his eyes. Perhaps she'd misjudged his age after all.

The boy called out from where he was, "This too!" Then, he made his way back to the counter, hands in his pockets and an unbothered smile on his face.

Once the girl had counted the cost of everything up, she said, a little hesitantly, "Um, okay... that'll be... twenty-six thousand yen." She felt awkward asking for such a large payment—no customer had ever bought this many things at once.

But the boy only nodded and held up a finger, indicating that she should wait. He reached into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out his phone, searching through his contacts before selecting one.

He waited a moment as the call went through. Then—

"ATSUSHI!" he yelled into the phone. "CAN YOU COME AND PAY FOR MY SNACKS?"

He doesn't even have money on him, and he still ordered all this stuff? Y/N almost scoffed, but resisted the urge to do so when she realised it'd be rude. Is he serious? I wasted all my time and energy for nothing?

Y/N didn't even know what to say at that point—she couldn't understand this customer at all—so she just waited silently while piling the boxes into four separate bags.

Not long after that phone call, a male with light grey hair and heterochromatic eyes walked into the bakery, stopping beside the boy. Y/N guessed that this was the Atsushi the boy had called over the phone.

Immediately upon his arrival, he gave the girl an apologetic smile, as if he knew of the boy's antics already. "I'm sorry if Ranpo brought you any trouble."

Y/N's gaze wandered over to the dark-haired boy, whose name she had just learnt was Ranpo. He didn't look sorry at all as he munched happily on a cupcake, icing smeared all around his mouth.

"So... what'll the price be?" Atsushi asked, the masses of bags unsettling him just a little bit.

"Twenty-six thousand yen," the girl repeated slowly.

Atsushi blinked once. Then twice. Y/N could've sworn she saw tears well in his eyes. He took a deep breath and reached into his pocket, pulling out a small coin bag.

Was this how he planned to pay...?

He opened the zipper and turned it upside down, a couple coins and a five thousand yen note that'd been folded one too many times falling onto the counter. It was the most money Atsushi had ever carried on him at any given time.

He chuckled nervously, glancing at his coworker from his peripheral vision. "Ranpo, perhaps I wasn't the best person to call for such a large payment."

Ranpo remained silent and nonchalant, already on his second cupcake.

Atsushi sighed, shoulders drooping in defeat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, jamming the buttons in a certain order he'd clearly memorised. Holding it to his ear, he waited for the receiver to pick up.

A moment passed by before the receiver picked up.

"Kunikida, hello..." Atsushi spoke nervously. "You see, there's been a bit of an emergency..."

A few minutes later, yet another acquaintance of Ranpo and Atsushi's stomped in with a green notebook in his hand, and Y/N could practically see the fumes coming out of his ears, tips of them red. Still, she couldn't deny that at first glance, he looked a lot more stern and put-together than the both of them combined.

"What is so important that you had to disrupt my schedule?!" the man asked Atsushi harshly, seeming to have completely overlooked Ranpo's presence.

"Eh, well, you see..." A bead of sweat raced down Atsushi's temple. He pointed to the man beside him, then to the bags on the counter, then finally to Y/N, who could hardly process the disorder unfolding in front of her.

Kunikida composed himself, letting out a deep breath, then clearing his throat, a calm expression overtaking his features as he pushed his adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "I see." Turning to Y/N, he pulled out his wallet. "How much will the total be?"

For the third time that day, Y/N repeated, "Twenty-six thousand yen."

It was almost like the man's soul left his body for a few moments, before he calmly reached into his wallet and withdrew three notes, the paper crisp and unfolded, handing them to Y/N. "Keep the change."

From beside him, Atsushi eagerly whispered, "Does this mean I can take my money back?"

The man pinched the bridge of his nose then nodded, clearly not wanting to be here. Atsushi excitedly took his money—and coin bag—back, glad to have saved the five thousand yen.

Kunikida turned around and without addressing anyone in the bakery—neither his coworkers, nor Y/N—he took his leave.

Silence then settled like early-morning fog in the bakery.

Atsushi looked exhausted. "Sorry for that..."

Y/N looked back at him, unsure how to respond to him. To be completely honest, she didn't fully mind the chaos that had just occurred since she'd made about a day's worth of money in under an hour, thanks to Ranpo and his undeniable sweet tooth.

"Uh... it's fine," she finally said. "Don't worry about it."

A smile broke out on Atsushi's face as he let out a sigh of relief. Y/N had to admit that it was simply adorable.

Atsushi added, "If there's anything we can do to make it up to you, don't hesitate to stop by the Armed Detective Agency!"

Y/N recognised the name of the agency immediately as it wasn't too far from the bakery—either on the next street, or the one after, if her memory served her correct. Not to mention it was the same agency that had taken care of the Port Mafia shooting a couple years back—one she could never fully recover from, due to its unfortunate outcome.

So they're detectives, Y/N thought silently.

At that realisation, the cogs in her head began to turn. Her eyes widened the slightest bit as she glanced at Ranpo once again, finally connecting the dots.

Could he possibly be the same Ranpo that came up on the news from time to time? The detective that practically carried the agency with his crazy power?

The tabloids had clearly forgotten to mention that he was a sugar-obsessed man-child with the mental age of a five year old—maybe younger.

"Atsushi," Ranpo groaned, interrupting Y/N's train of thought. "Let's go! My legs are tired. Can you carry me?"

Atsushi sighed and reluctantly lowered himself so that Ranpo could climb onto his back. Y/N briefly wondered how he was strong enough to carry a grown man (though he acted more like a child) and the four bags in his hand at the same time, until she looked down and saw... tiger legs?!

What in the world?!

Atsushi noticed her bewildered stare and laughed lightly. "It's my ability—I can turn into a weretiger."

Y/N had heard of abilities—special powers that not many were gifted with. They could be used for harm just as easily as they could be used for good. The death of her father was proof of that.

She slowly nodded. His ability would explain how he had enough strength to carry Ranpo as though he was nothing more than a feather.

The weretiger gave Y/N a small smile. "Until next time."

"Bye-bye!" Ranpo exclaimed, waving at her. Then, he looked down at his coworker and pointed straight ahead. "Go, Atsushi! Go!"

And as she watched Ranpo and Atsushi's retreating figures, Y/N couldn't help but let out a tired breath, relieved for once at the emptiness in her bakery.

What an eventful day...

She couldn't wait to go home today and take a long, hot bath.

─── ⋅✧⋅ ───

so that's the first chapter. if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote :)

also, i'll be uploading the edited chapters as i go, so any inconsistency with things like capitalisation or really minor details between chapters that i have and haven't edited will probably have to be ignored until i finish editing the whole book, which i do plan to do in due time.

once again, tysm for reading!! <3

[edited, 06/11/22]