［ house of cards. ］

[ bitter black gloomy blue ]

❧

The cool evening breeze blew the hairs of the middle-aged man as he strolled along the streets that were slightly crowded with people. A cup of coffee rested in between his fingertips, hot steam still blowing from its mouth. The man brought the coffee up to his dry lips and took a generous sip before sighing. The beverage rejuvenated his tired body; it was a long hard day for him. After all, the man had recently upped his rank in the department, and is now working as a police detective.

Which wasn't really what he wanted, but he went along with it anyways.

The robbery case three months ago is still on, they say, he thought to himself as he made his way out of the crowd and proceeded to walk down the small flight of stairs leading to his shared abode. He stopped and sat on the second last step, wanting to just rewind and retrace his memory for the sake of his work before stepping back into home.

They're telling me to delve back into it, but it's gonna be a tough one. He took another sip of his coffee. Three months and the thief could have went out of the country. His name was.. what, Okita Yuutaro? Gosh, Yuutaro, why you gotta make my life so difficult? He sighed again as he took yet another sip, a more bigger one, from his coffee. He still wasn't that experienced in collecting information about someone, especially a long-wanted culprit. He ought to have some help, but he doubted that people would help him.

"Okita Yuutaro..." Hirotaka wondered out loud, to which someone, or something, responded to him. He felt the soft furs brush his right foot, and he turned to see a bright-eyed black-furred cat warming up to him. It gave him a purr of trust, and he didn't mind it. After all, cats were something he had always liked.

"Let's see..." He murmured as he took his phone out from his pocket and opened a document that his acquaintance had forwarded to him. It contained the victim's form of evidence that was written down from her spoken explanation, which included the appearance, approximate persona and traits of the thief, in this case Okita Yuutaro.

"Once again this appearance part is outdated, can't be relied on anymore..." The man said as he scrolled through the document pages. It was a bit of a tough spot to catch the culprit; he and the victim had an online relationship that lasted for half a year, and then met up and officially got together. Unfortunately the ship didn't sail too far, and it ended in just four and a half months. Quite a vague description given from the victim herself.

"Cat, do you think Okita Yuutaro should be caught as soon as possible?" He said as he lifted the cat up with ease to his shoulder height. The cat did nothing but merely yawned. "Well, that's a nice reaction you've got there." He mused as he put the cat down and proceeded to drink his coffee again. It had gone a bit cold, but otherwise still drinkable.

Online dating, huh? He formed the thought, causing the gears in his head to knock into movement. Could there be a chance that Okita Yuutaro doesn't exist?

"Okita Yuutaro... and search..." Hirotaka mumbled as he typed the name into his search engine. Multiple results showed up, with many social media platforms spotted with the name "Okita Yuutaro". He went into a dating platform called Vinder, and a profile of the man popped up in front of his eyes. The profile picture showed the man in casual wear with an all-too blinding smile eating a bowl of noodles. The description read:

22 and single, obviously. Loves dogs. I'll be the chopsticks to your noodles ;) I like a girl with a free spirit, and it would be great if you like dogs, seriously! I'll love you forever ♡♡♡

"I don't get people who love dogs, seriously.." The man muttered as he furrowed his brows. "Also, the pickup line makes me cringe. I wonder why people are interested in online dating anyways..."