Back in his apartment, the inspector had some trouble. He looked at himself in his bedroom's mirror in identical clothes to the ones he wore when he first met Wendy, travelled on a train, and now had for dinner with Erza. Giving himself a one-eyed stare, he looked at his wardrobe, which was filled with multiple sets of the same suit he had on. On a nearby trash can one could find the bloody bandages he took off, no longer needing them after the wound sealed itself shut when he arrived home.
"What to do?" he asked his reflection, patting the hat on his head, "I can leave the scarf here, but should I leave my hat? I didn't think Erza would agree, but then again, she knows she needs to enjoy herself. Hmm… I can possibly use the hat and put it on a chair. My, I guess this is the price of being the one stuck with all the emotions. Haru Alter is attached to headwear, like I can't let my forehead get cold."
He told himself with a slightly embarrassed smile before shrugging to his image, "That said, you look good."
Turning his head without losing his smile, he tipped up his hat to look better at the one before him, "Oh my, and you are here because…?"
His guest approached him with a sway of wide, womanly hips, "Because you left a mess that the council is breathing down my neck for."
Chuckling through his nose, he approached the woman, "Sorry, Ultear my dear. I really didn't think me getting involved would get so… chaotic. I just wanted to stay on the sidelines, honest."
"Says a man who doesn't bother locking his door." She answered with a small smile.
Rubbing the back of his head, he smiled sheepishly, "Come on, you didn't expect me to not notice you walking behind me, right? I couldn't ignore the sound of your heels. I'm used to them at the office."
She was surprised he knew that she had been trailing him, but after a second she wasn't, "I forgot you're an oddball of many odder skills."
"I'll take it as a compliment." He said with a good-natured smile and a polite bow, "So, are you really here because of the council not liking me that much?"
"Among other things." She started, "Keeping the fact you had a golden key, one pertaining to the Spirit mage you were investigating for a trial, and that you happened to get a hold of is something to look into."
Giving her the benefit of seeing him sigh tiredly, he answered swiftly, "What did you expect?" he looked her in the eye with both closed like a squinty-eyed fox, "Being at the wrong place at the wrong time is normal. I just happened to call that woman to talk to her about what happened, it wasn't my fault she was so hellbent on making money by taking on a mission alone. It wasn't easy to keep her safe either, but I managed to prevent the ones that dealt with her from taking all of her keys."
"What if I knew more details?" Ultear asked, hoping to see him show anger, shock, or fear. When she got none, she continued, "I heard someone informed her targets of her actions."
"It wouldn't surprise me." he started, "Being a mage means someone makes enemy, and there were plenty of other girls in guilds that hated her guts. Last but not least, she was never pleasant to be around."
"I'm informed you fought to keep Aries' key safe, too." She started, "You arrived right at the moment of her death and were barely able to escape with her key."
"Pretty much since I'm not much of a fighter." He lied expertly.
"Sorry if it feels like an interrogation, I just didn't expect you to keep details from me." she told him softly.
Putting on an ashamed face, he gave her a one-eyed stare, "Sorry… After everything that I saw Aries endure at the hands of that woman, I just felt powerless. Is there ever a moment like that, in which you know a bad thing must be done to help someone? Well, I know you got your reasons to do what you must, Ultear. However, I just couldn't stand Aries being thrown around to any man like a chewing toy to some mutts."
Something he said hit too close to home for Ultear, whose eyes flashed with the image of a young girl, "I see you're still someone who clings to their emotions."
"At times it's all I got." He told her with a one-eyed grin, "So, is there anything you'd like to know? I'll try to answer your questions as honestly as I can."
"I think I'll take my leave." She sighed and turned around, eyes closed, "I don't know why I ever doubted such a simpleton like yourself."
He winced overdramatically, "Ouch! That was actually good to hear but it still stung, Ultear!"
After chuckling through her nose, she left with a sway on her hips, "It's part of the job, I can't let you be too complacent."
Once she closed the door, he sighed and put on his hat, smiling cheekily at his reflection, "It's not complacent, it's confident, but not overconfident, my dear." He looked at the key still in his shirt's breast pocket, "A guy like me can't get comfortable. Having a life as a complete person without bothersome things is not easy." And he showed his mirror his true colors with a foxy smirk, After all, my plan to get rid of that rotten Karen and free Aries from her wasn't easy to pull off, but it worked out. Shame I couldn't get the other keys… the things I do to keep a normal life.
The sound of an alarm clock shook him out of his train of thought, so he rushed out of the door after grabbing his wallet and hat. With a hand keeping it in place the inspector raced to the spot where he would meet his lovely red-haired date. After getting into his moped and driving faster than any officer of the law would be happy with and using any necessary shortcut, he arrived at the place of his choosing.
"Alter, it is nice to see you." Erza gave him a beautiful smile, dressed in an elegant dark blue dress with no sleeves and a few frills adorning it.
He panted as he sat with her at a table in an outdoors Italian restaurant, bowing his head slightly with his hat on his chest, "Sorry I'm out of breath, I was caught off guard by one of my superiors and hurried here." He gave her an apologetic version of his charming, one-eyed smile, "At least I didn't make you wait, did I?"
She smiled and handed him a menu, "Not at all, though I ordered our drinks. I hope you like red wine."
He chuckled slightly, "I'm more of a green tea and sake guy myself, but I do appreciate good wine with good food."
She closed her eyes and rested her elbows on the table, leaning her head forward with a smile, "I didn't know this place existed. Maybe I should have let you take me out when you offered before."
He snickered, "Come on, I'm the one that's supposed to tease." He put his hat on a chair and skimmed through the menu, "And I didn't try to get to know you more with good food for nothing. I mean every good thing I say about you, Erza-chan. Direct and all, you're still the best mage Fairy Tail has to offer when it comes to your personality."
She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear and closed her eyes, trying to look classy but he noticed her blush, "I'm still not as strong as I'd like to be. Besides, I thought we would be talking about each other more. As much as I like my guild, I would like to get better acquainted with you after seeing all you did for Lucy and Aries."
"You may be praising the wrong kind of man, though." He waved dismissively, "I may have tried to look good, but I was mostly a burden to you by letting that reaper disappear from your sight. Add to that the fact I was supposed to meet with Aries-chan's slaver and how that concluded, and you should see I'm not the kind of man you would be happy with."
She closed her eyes and put on a straight face, "True, but I still chose to be here. Even if you are an odd one at best, you show your emotions in bizarre ways that I find… refreshing." Looking at her glass of wine, she sighed nostalgically, "Trying to put a smile on hard times, holding on to something you desperately want… Your eyes tell me of such a thing. Maybe it's my artificial eye that lets me see it, or it could be the experience I had meeting people like you. I can tell you have a burden in your life, yet the way you try to move past it makes me think you're still a good man deep down."
He whistled, Two ladies reading me easily… I mustn't let my guard down near them ever again, but still… quite the pretty ones to notice me. He beamed at her, "I sound awful, though. Even sad and clingy. Are you sure a guy like that should go out on a date with you?"
Erza's eyes widened, and she looked away in shame, "No! I didn't mean it like… Sorry, by no means did I want to offend you! I was just speaking my mind…"
He chuckled and waved friendly at her, "Worry not, Erza-chan! It takes more than words to hurt my ego. What you say does hold truth. I'll admit I want something bizarre yet simple, and that I cling to it too much." He showed her a charming, warm grin with his teeth nearly flashing in the light, "A peaceful life without worries in which I can be my true self, that's my biggest ambition."
She turned to him, slightly dumbfounded at first before a chuckle came to her lips, "I guess I should have expected that from someone as calm yet openly emotional as you. You are one big contradiction, but that is life, I guess. To have a life without having to worry about anything…" she closed her eyes and slid a hand to her shoulder, "I wouldn't mind living that."
He tilted his head to the side, "Do you want to… talk about it?"
Opening her eyes a bit, she looked at him and nodded, "You could say I cling to my past. I wish I could move past it, and I basically have. However, there's a part of me that feels attached… shackled to it."
He gave her a reassuring smile, "We can't change the past, but we can change who we are however we want."
Smiling softly at him, she continued, "There were those dear to me that I wish to see again, and… one in particular that I…" he would've teased her to break the tension, but he kept his mouth shut seeing her eyes. The pain in those orbs that she barely managed to keep down told him enough, "I wish I could have changed some of the things I did for the better, no matter what."
"Are you talking about Siegrain?" he asked seriously, "I know you and the boss don't see each other eye to eye without some sparks flying. You can be honest, but I'll shut my yap about the topic if it bothers you."
Giving him a small smile, she gave him her answer, "Thank you, but it's not him. It is someone that looks like that man. To see them is like seeing the same, but they can't be."
Seeing how the conversation was going south, Alter tried his best to reverse it, "I won't pry further, then. I'm sorry I brought up bad memories."
Shaking her head, she put on an apologetic smile, just showing how desperate she was to put the matter behind her, "No, it's okay. Let's order something and change topics, we need to cheer ourselves up, right?"
He put on his best smile, "That's what a date is for, or so I'm told." He got her to giggle a bit and he smiled back, though inwardly he was grinning maniacally, Siegrain, I always suspected you. I guess I got my new target sooner than I expect—
And his thoughts came to a screeching halt at the sound of a voice, "P-Please stop!"
Erza's mood soured immediately, "Phantom Lord…"
Alter thought of said guild as arguably worse than Fairy Tail. While it's true that they didn't cause as much property damage or gave him more paperwork than needed, they were cartoonishly monstrous. He even pictured the guild's leader Jose twirling his string mustache like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. However, it seemed that he had the perfect opportunity to deal with at least one of them, so he took it.
"Excuse me." Alter's soft words angered the male Phantom Lord mage, but he was lucky because Erza had been a second away from smashing his head through the wall into the floor.
The man wasn't happy to see him, though, mostly because he was having fun groping his date—although victim would fit her more, "Hey, why don't you go kiss the council's ass?!" he barked at the inspector.
Keeping his one-eyed smile, Alter chuckled softly, "Good, you know who I work for. That should make this easier, then."
The mage grinned smugly, wrapping his arm around the girl to pull her closer, "Can't you see we're having a good time? It's nothing to worry about if she doesn't say anything about it!" he grinned and pulled the girl closer, licking her face. Alter watched her shiver, but she averted her eyes from him while the Phantom Lord member spoke, "She's just shy that I like getting personal!"
And Alter clapped once, clasping his hands at the end with a close-eyed smile, "I guess not, but what I can do is tell you something important for you and your boss." He sat in front of the two, "I dislike trouble in any way, shape or form. We can be reasonable here. After all, we as men just want to enjoy the company of pretty girls and worry about nothing at all, am I right?"
The man grinned wickedly, "Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about! Finally one of you uptight guys makes sense!"
"Yeah!" Alter cheered too, grinning widely, "And if your girl's having fun, you should too!"
Erza was shocked at Alter's words, but didn't do anything, He's either baiting him or playing with him, but why? she watched curiously.
The mage scratched his chin, "Damn right… Heh, for an inspector you're not so bad. I thought you were a pansy for hanging around those Fairy Tail wusses."
Alter snickered a bit, "It's funny that you mention it." He leaned closer to the man and, in a split second, yanked the mage by his collar to be joyful grin to terrified expression with him, "You see, I am a guy with a couple things he enjoys in life. You coming here, treating a girl like a cheap carnival toy, and acting like this while it's my job to make sure you don't really takes away the flavors of my meal."
The mage gasped as Alter's grip on his collar started to choke him, "Guh… You bast—" and he couldn't get another word when Alter held his jaw tightly.
"I am interested in a proper apology." He kept his warm grin, opened a single eye, and didn't ignore the man grabbed a fork, "Should you really try that? I'm just having fun with you and talking, am I not?"
The mage ground his teeth, "You asshole…"
Chortling smoothly, Alter let go of the man, "We were talking, anyone here will attest of that. So, if you feel like you should attack me, do so. It won't change the fact you attacked an inspector. You can try to fool around and say that your girl is with you because she wants to, but I can try to be a pain. And I mean you haven't heard me singing karaoke, but I'd be a real pain. So, what'll it be?"
The mage had had enough, "Smug prick!"
In a split second, Alter had grabbed his wrist when the fork was an inch from his eyeball and expertly judo-tossed the guy over his shoulder into the ground.
Casually, he took the fork off his hand and put it back on the table, "Please don't toy with this, it could be dangerous."
"You little shit!" the mage growled but found a delicate looking but insanely strong fist going at him to backhand his face to send him into a nice little sleep, courtesy of the inspector's redhead date.
When he fell, Erza flexed her fingers, "You never cease to amaze me." she told him and approached the shocked girl, "Here, let us get you out to someplace safe. You can file a report with the inspector here."
"How about after our dinner?" Alter chirped in, "If the lady wouldn't mind joining us. My treat."
"I… yes, thank you…" she leaned close to him, feeling safe.
"Are you sure?" Erza asked him with an amused smile, "Three's a crowd, as they say. You couldn't say you went on a date like that, more like you hung out with friends."
He put a hand on his chin and nodded thoughtfully, "Yeah, and saying I dated two ladies at once would be rude to you two, ungentlemanly even."
The redhead chuckled through her nose, "Once again, you still amaze me."
"Thanks, I try hard to not look bad before you." He bowed his head slightly to her, using the right angle to hide the fact he was pocketing the beaten up mage's wallet.