The phone clock's neon-blue digital numbers read eight thirty.
This is fairly the latest that Umie's woken up, and all the more reason why she's thankful it's the weekend. No school. No work.
Umie locks her phone and sets it under her pillow. Nari's soft snoring is the only sound in the room. Outside the side has risen and birds chirp. Umie carefully climbs down the ladder and walks through the second-floor hallway down to the bar. She gazes at the room, soft rays of the sun poke through the blinds.
Something about a place so early in the morning makes Umie happy. She softly smiles, despite the fact that they're being held captive in such a place. Umie exhales deeply, when a though occurs to her. No one is up this early, Boss doesn't open the bar until late afternoon. Quickly and quietly, Umie goes back to the room and changes into her exercise clothes.
The moment she leaves the bar, Umie instantly begins to speedwalk to the end of the block before taking a sharp turn left out into the main neighborhood. She walks faster and faster, until she's sprinting. Pumping her arms, she runs along the sidewalk until she reaches the first light, wincing as a headache pounds at her temples. Once the light turns red, she jogs across the crosswalk and keeps going. Sweat materializes on her forehead and she can feel drops from behind her ears drip on her neck.
Huffing and puffing, she doubles over, hands to her knees for a moment. Music blasting in her ears, Umie walks on until she reaches a small tunnel under the bridge near the small lake. There she presses her back against the moist stone and slides to the ground. Tears stream down her cheeks, and a weight settles on her chest, like each question is piling there. Tension builds inside until she can't stand to hold it in anymore – she has to cry, or scream, or . . .
Umie can't do any since she's in public and her scream could alert locals of some kind of murder. So she merely clenches her hands into tight fists, her nails digging into her palms and tears seep from her eyes. None fall on her cheeks, but still when she stops, her eyes are watery and her palms have deep crescent shapes.
She keeps jogging until she gets to the corner where she would turn to head towards her old high school. Her music blares in her ears as she jogs steadily down the sidewalk. With her energy hyped up, she screams when she feels a hand grab her shoulder. Umie instinctively whirls around, smacking the hand off.
"Whoa, whoa easy." Kenshi says.
"Kenshi? You scared the shit out of me!" Umie huffs.
"Sorry, sorry. I tried calling you, but you had your earbuds in." he points.
Umie nods and pulls them out. "Look I know you're assigned to watch me, but I just went for a run" Umie starts defending.
"Hey, hey I wasn't stalking you if that's what you're thinking. I was just in the shop and saw you run by." Kenshi clarifies.
"And you stopped me because you thought I was running away?"
"No. But even if you did run away, we've already determined any possible places you'd run to." Kenshi says. Umie takes a cautious step back. "And if you run to anywhere not on our list, Takuto will figure it out in no time."
"That's quite the threat."
"I think it's more like being informative." Kenshi smiles. "And besides, living at the bar might just be the safest place for you."
"Why?"
"I'll tell you when the time comes." Kenshi says.
"When the time comes? What are you a Japanese sensei?" Umie mocks.
"Just trust me."
"That's asking a lot." Umie says bitterly. With that she turns away and continues on her walk. She listens to the footsteps catch up with her and Kenshi's shadow casts over her as he walks with her. Umie has to resist the attempt to plug in her earbuds and ask him why he's following her. "Any reason why you're following me?"
"Well I need to pick up some things and they just so happen to be in this direction." Kenshi smiles.
"Oh." Umie nods.
"When do you start work?" he asks.
"Not until eleven. This'll give me a reason to shower since I didn't get the chance last night."
Finally she parts her way from Kenshi at the grocery market and heads back to the bar. She can hear dishes clinking and silverware chiming, signaling that he's getting ready to open up shop. Nari should be up by now, but she had better not be in the shower.
Umie heads upstairs and hears the shower going, and internally groans. With her body still sweaty, she's irritable; so she bangs on the door.
"Nari! Hurry up I've got to get to work!" she shouts.
"Who're you shouting at?" Nari asks her.
"You! And I -" Umie's eyes widen as she turns around. "Wait, if you're here, who's in there?"
Nari shrugs her shoulder. "I thought it was you since you already out of bed."
Just as she said that, the door opens, releasing steam like the breath of a dragon. Takuto steps out with a towel around his waist and another drying his hair. He looks to the girls, Nari's face red while Umie cocks an eyebrow at him in surprise.
"What are you doing here?" Umie asks.
"I needed to shower. Oh, and about the hot water, I don't think there's enough." Takuto grins.
"That's fine I just came from a jog. You know what let me give you a hug."
"No! No!" Takuto blocks her off, annoyed.
Umie chuckles, "As charming as always." She bitches. Then she walks into the bathroom and states her annoyance with a reassuring slam.
"And you think I'm rude?" Takuto says as he heads down the hall.
"I – I don't know why she's like this." Nari stutters.
"What's wrong with you? That hamster fall off the wheel?" Takuto provokes.
"Y-You're so mean!" Nari blabs. She then whirls around heading back into the room.
"Hey!" Nari turns around, trying not to stare at Takuto's bare torso.
"When do you start work?" he asks.
Nari's about to reply when she remembers how he's supposed to be the brains. If he managed to find her house – the thought giving her a chill – why not smart-mouth him back.
"Figure it out." Nari replies, then heads into the room to ready for lifeguarding.
There's something about warm water and being alone that makes it easier to think.
Umie can feel the tension slide off her shoulders and swirl down the drain with the grime and sweat. Her muscles relax, and closed up in the small warm space, she feels safe.
Shutting off the water off the stepping out of the shower, she wraps her hair in a towel and pulls on another around her body. Umie gathers up her dirty, sweat-stained clothes. She leaves the steamy, warm bathroom, huddling into her towel as she passes through the frigid hallway and makes the ten-foot trek to her room. She shut the door behind her and, looking around, noticed that Nari hadn't bothered to close the curtains after she left. With a grunt, Umie drops her clothes into the hamper and goes to draw the curtains closed.
Sitting at the edge of her bed, she unwraps the hair from the towel-turban and pats it to soak up the extra moisture. She sets the towel aside and reaches for the metallic green hair dryer on the vanity desk and flicks it on to the lowest setting. Normally she'd let her hair air-dry, but seeing as how she's farther from work, she needs to time crunch a few things. With her free hand, she picks up her cell from the floor, plugged into the wall outlet to charge. Typing in her passcode, she checks for missed calls and texts. At least one text from her mom telling her to text her when she's at work.
Umie sighs. All things considered, it didn't surprise her.
After nearly drying her hair, Umie combs through it and outs it in a simple side braid. Securing her nametag to her shirt, she grabs her purse and hurries down the steps. As she's about to leave, her phone rings. She finds it's Katie and answers.
"Hello?"
"Hey Umie, it's Katie. Glad I caught you before you left. I was wondering if something has happened." She states.
Umie pauses, a chill tingling her spine.
"W-What?"
"I mean this was so sudden, I was just wondering if something personal had happened that caused you to quit." Katie explains.
The chill spikes up Umie's back.
"What?!"
As she retreats back into the bar, she leans against the bar counter, the phone still pressed to her ear. She tries to calm herself as she rubs her forehead.
"Uh, Katie listen I, I'm so sorry about this-."
"It's okay, if it's personal you don't need to explain yourself. I just wanted to call and explain to you about the final days of your schedule as well as your paycheck and such. We can talk over the phone or we can set a day that you're free to come in."
"Okay. Okay, um . . ." Umie stutters. "M-mind telling me what happened?"
As she listens, she hears a door click and Boss walks out with a set of napkins in each hand. A fiery bomb of anger explodes in her stomach.
"Okay." Umie says stiffly. "Thank you, I have to go, but how about I call you to set up the scheduale?"
"That'll be fine, just call whenever; although I will not be here on Thursday or Friday." Says Katie.
"Okay, that's fine. Thanks Katie, and again, I'm really sorry about all this."
"Not a problem." Katie chimes. "You have a good day."
"You too, thanks. Bye."
"Everything all right, Umie?" Boss asks as he finishes setting the napkins in their metal holder.
Umie folds her lips in, but smiles, a cold chuckle escaping her lips. "Hmm, funny you should ask, I'm about to head to work when Katie calls me and asks me if I quit."
"Huh?"
"What is going on?!" Umie suddenly shouts, slapping her palms on the counter. "Katie said that a very flirty-sounding man call her up this morning and said that Umie Estoque has run away to France, so please accept her resignation from Target?!"
"Huh?" Boss quirks a confused eyebrow at her. Either he wasn't bothered by her yelling, or he didn't care. "You heard it was a 'flirty' guy, and you came to me first?"
"Surprising to us both, you were the first one who came to mind." Umie snarls.
"Hmm," Boss smiles. "I see."
"This isn't funny!" Umie screams, her voice loud enough to scratch her throat. "Call back now and fix it!"
"Calm down, calm down. Look, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do." Boss coos.
"Why not?!"
"Because. Look at this." He places a piece of paper on the counter. A map of the local area, including Downers Grove and Woodridge.
"What the fuck is this?" Umie growls.
"I looked it up according to your birth date. It's your direction fortune." says Boss.
"What does this -?"
"The bar is here, right? And see? Target is right here." Boss points to a gold star on the map. Umie remains quiet. "That's an unlucky direction."
Umie's never felt such anger boil in her stomach before. If it weren't for Nari and her parents, Umie would grab that knife at the end of the counter and shave of Boss's stupid goatee.
"That's your reason?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"What?! You shouldn't underestimate directional fortunes." Boss defends. "If you travel in an unlucky direction, it can ruin you, seriously! This is for you." He hands Umie a smaller version of a ragdoll. Button eyes, stitched smile and a blue overall dress.
"What is this? It looks like something you fetched from an asylum."
"It's a good luck charm, to protect you." Umie looks to him, gripping the doll's neck in her hand. "It'll protect you from any unlucky event . . ."
Umie instantly rips the doll's head off and chucks it at Boss. Before it even falls to the ground, she rips the map up and crumbles it.
"Hey! What was that for?! That was rude!" Boss exclaims.
"You're luck I'm not ringing your neck!" Umie shouts back.
She whirl around and storms back upstairs. She throws off her work clothes and switches to a tank top and shorts with her black sneakers. Tearing her hair down and throwing it up into a messy bun, she grabs her ipod and phone.
As she heads back downstairs, a pinch of guilt hurts her chest a she sees Boss picking up the remnants of the doll, but it instantly deflates the moment their eyes meet.
"Where are you going?" he asks.
"Fuck off." Umie growls as she heads for the front door.
"Umie, wait!"
"I said fuck off!" she pushes the door open with her hip and rushes out into the humid air.
The sound of cicadas is the first thing to reach her ears. She takes out her ipod and plugs in her earbuds. She clicks until the finds her song, then blasts it at nearly full volume. Guitars and crashing drums fill her ears, half of the singing replaced with screaming. The music blares full force.
"Let's start a Riot! A Riot! Let's a Riot!"
Umie keeps her gaze at the ground, feeling herself entering that concentrated state of mind. Her scowl face still showing, though now it feels like it's effortless to make. She wants to scream, or punch something, or break something. Instead, she has to settle for harshly kicking a stone into the road.
She's just crossed the street towards the Starbucks on the corner when she nearly crashes headfirst into a hard muscled body.
"Whoa, sor- . . ."
"Estoque."
Umie pulls out her earbuds, the roar of the singer's voice loud over the minimal bustling of people.
" . . . Kenshi."
"Walk!" Nari calls to a group of children.
Wrapped in their Disney and Transformer beach towels, they scurry off into the locker rooms to head to the vending machines. A local radio station plays "Bang Bang" as some adults leave for the hot tub room or to use the restrooms. The lifeguards of the pool had just called an adult swim, so all the little kids are heading towards the vending machines for a snack. A majority of the pool has young women who mostly just lay on their chairs to tan, leaving the pool open.
"You know I can rap Nicki's part." Nari says to Dawn.
"Really? Let's hear it."
Nari laughs. "It's Myx moscato, it's frizz in a bottle. It's Nicki full throttle, it's oh oh." Nari giggles. "And that's it."
With not many takers, and her skin on the point of setting ablaze, Nari takes off her whistle and sets it on her chair as well as her preserve and sunglasses. Her friend Dawn checks the registry while Kevin checks the temperature. With it being only eleven o'clock, the pool's majority crowd has vanished.
"Hey Kevin!" Nari calls.
"What?"
"Do you know magic?" Nari smiles broadly.
"Nari, don't."
"'Cause 'alaca-DAMN!"
Dawn bursts into a laughter as Nari laughs at Kevin shaking his head. Nari dives under the surface and swims until she passes the rope leading into the shallow end. She feels the water's movement over her face and nearly sighs as she feels it cool her heated face. She breaks the surface and spews out the chlorine. Stepping up the ladder, she heads back over to her chair and pats her face dry.
"Hey Nari," Dawn speaks.
"Yeah?"
"Since we're slow, you want to take your lunch?"
"Really?"
"Yeah, Kevin and I can handle when the break's over."
"We will?" Kevin calls as he scours the opposite side of the pool.
Nari laughs and thanks Dawn before she heads back into the locker room. She pulls on her staff shirt and takes down her hair, and pulling on her flip-flops. Navigating her way out the front door, she barely makes it past the gate when a voice calls her.
"Hey Nari!"
She turns to find an old schoolmate jogging his way up to her. Jon.
"Hey Jon." Nari pulls a smile.
"You off work?" he asks.
He was a bit of a nerd, and a weird one at that. His glasses, which Nari just knew they were fake, make his eyes smaller and it looks like he's never had braces. He had a thing, and probably still does, for Umie, and asked Nari once to Turnabout back in high school.
"No, I'm just getting lunch. Just trying to figure out where to go." Nari says.
"Mind if I tag along?"
Nari fights back a cringe. "Sure." She answers.
As he follows Nari to the parking lot, Nari tries her best to listen to what he's saying, but overall just wanting to get back to work. The thought didn't occur to her until they arrived, but Nari drove to work, and with her lunch place in mind, and Jon tagging along, she'd have to drive him.
"What should we eat?" Jon asks.
"I was thinking sandwiches." Nari answers.
As she unlocks the car, another voice calls her.
" . . . Hey."
Nari perks her head up and looks to find Takuto standing near the bumper of her car. Hands in his pocket, Nari can see a silver Malibu parked behind him. Nari goes rigid.
"Takuto?!"
"I've been standing here waiting for you to notice me! Do you even have eyes?" he growls in annoyance.
"Sorry, I was busy!" Nari snaps back.
Takuto glares at her, and yet Nari can't get past the feeling of relief that he showed up.
"So, what? Do you want something?" Nari ask with irritation.
"W-Who's this? You're boyfriend?" she hears Jon ask. His tone a mixture of nervousness and intimidation.
"Oh, sorry Jon I forgot you were there." Nari says. "And no, he's not."
Just as the words leave her mouth, Nari feels Takuto's hand wrap around her arm. Like wrap; his long fingers coiling all the way around her bicep.
"Wha-! What are you doing?!" Nari demands.
Without looking, he drags Nari over to the Malibu.
"Nari?!" Jon calls.
"Where are you taking me?!" Nari demands once more.
"Get in." Takuto demands, though still he urges Nari inside.
Without sparing her a chance to apologize to Jon, Takuto gets in on the other side, revs the engine and pulls out of the parking lot. Nari expects his turns to be sharp, but they're smooth and controlled as they enter the main road and head straight.
"What an idiot." Takuto says after they pass the first stop sign.
"What? Me?"
"That moron." Takuto rephrases.
"Don't be mean!" Nari defends. "Why do you think that? Though he is wimpy, you don't know him."
"Well I guess some guys have to fall for a girl like you, huh?" Takuto slyly smiles.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Nari snarls at him.
Takuto focuses on driving, and Nari notices his driving is smooth as well as his turns. She reflects back to how he grabbed her. It wasn't harsh like she expected, he didn't even shove her in the car, she stepped in despite his order. He may have a smart mouth, but at least he's not violent.
". . .hungry." he mumbles.
"What?"
"I'm hungry."
Nari snickers. "Okay."
After turning left and then right, Takuto ends up driving them to a pizzeria. Nari's slightly confused as he said he wanted Italian. Takuto leads her inside, holding the door open for her, and picks a booth fit for two. Nari holds her phone in her hand, nervous and eager to text Umie about what's happening, but she doesn't go on break for another hour.
"Have you decided yet?" Takuto folds his menu as their waitress, a thin young woman with straight-up-and-down figure, hovered close to the table. She wore red lipstick and a matching headband lined with silk flowers. Her dull expression reminded Nari of the blank look seniors got during the last few weeks before graduation.
"I think so." Nari says.
"The Veggie Napoli." She and Takuto say in unison.
Takuto glares at her, and Nari stares back with annoyance.
"Okay, I'll get that in." the waitress says after she jots down their order.
When she leaves, Nari pulls her lemonade towards her. Taking a sip, she swirled the pink liquid with her straw. The ice clinked against her glass, the sound seeming to drown out the thrum of the low chatter around them.
"You can tell she was trying not to laugh." Nari comments.
"Who cares?" Takuto retorts.
"I've never really met someone who likes their Veggie Napoli before . . ." Nari says. "I guess we do have similar tastes."
"It's annoying." Takuto says as he takes a sip of his green tea.
"I know, right?" Nari chimes. As she watches him text something on his phone, she realizes that they're alone. And since the Black Foxes weren't very forthcoming with much information before, or rather they didn't get the chance to explain, Nari decides to use the moment wo ask them everything she wants to know. There's no way he can say no.
'So, um . . . about mine and Umie's grandfathers . . ." This catches Takuto's attention, as his eyes drift up to her and he locks his phone. "I . . . we . . . don't know anything about them. So, did they create such amazing things?"
"Why else do you think we're after them?" Takuto answers. Umie can feel a vein bugle out of her head in irritation. Still she takes it in stride.
"This just doesn't seem real." She shrugs her shoulders. "I mean, we got kidnapped, we're being held hostage, and are on the hunt for priceless treasures. Sounds like an anime."
Takuto shrugs. "I guess it makes sense if he died when you were, what five?"
"Almost nineteen years." Nari mumbles, her gaze shifting in thought.
"Well, they both left behind a lot of things for science and the fine arts." he explains. "They were the original "Partner's in Crime.""
Nari leans forward in curiosity.
"Back when they were alive, science wasn't advanced like today, and the fine arts weren't understood well." He continues. "All the equipment back then was very, crude. Despite all that, it's said there's still no one who can rival their accomplishments."
"It's actually kind of funny. Umie always talks about how there's no one in her family who was into art as much as her. Like her parents aren't, so this is actually cool."
"And it's why everyone is after their creations."
"This is crazy." Nari chuckles. "They sound so, important."
"Haven't you ever seen their stuff?" Takuto asks.
"No, I don't think so."
Their food arrives, and even after the waitress leaves, they don't touch it.
"Shame. Maybe you two could've gotten inspired and taken after them." Takuto says. "Who knows, with your brains."
"Jerk." Nari grumbles.
"What, you got something to say?"
"Why are you so rude?" Nari bluntly asks.
"Well, it's true, isn't it?"
"We only met yesterday! You don't know anything about me." Nari snaps.
"I know everything about you." Takuto counters. His face darkens, a frightening gleam in his eye.
"What?"
"You told me to figure you out, so I did." He suddenly smiles slyly. "I found your house didn't it? And how do you think I knew where you worked?"
"Okay, that's seriously creepy." Nari says.
"What I don't understand is, you both work at a museum but you can't even recognize your grandfathers' own works?"
"We volunteer!" Nari rephrases. She decides to take a fork and stab at her pizza. "And I'm just working in the back rooms. Umie sits at the desk and takes calls. We don't every really take the time to explore."
"But even if you look at art, you don't think anything of it?" Takuto asks, taking a slice of the pizza.
"Well Umie always talks about you can feel the emotions of the artist and how they felt, something like that."
"Well at least she has her grandfather's blood in her. Maybe she can become their successor instead."
"It's weird to think there are so many people interested in their things."
"Oh, before I forget," Takuto chimes. "We need to stop at 'Le Renard Noir'."
"What for?"
"Something."
Nari rules out asking him more and changes subjects. "So that place it like your headquarters?"
"Yep."
"Huh." Nari picks at her straw wrapper.
Takuto suddenly goes quiet and Nari can't help but watch him eat. He looks so concentrated, it's, disturbing. As Nari finishes her slice, she smiles.
"Hey, Takkun?"
Takuto flinches. He suddenly starts to cough, hard.
"Whoa, whoa!" Nari exclaims. She pats Takuto's back hard. When she sees him glaring, she can't help but giggle. "I'm a lifeguard! I can help!"
He still coughs, and tries to talk. "You shouldn't talk to people when they're eating!"
"What?! You're saying it's my fault?!"
Takuto coughs again. "And . . . don't call me Takkun!"
"Sorry. I just heard Hiro calling you that, so I just assumed."
Takuto keeps coughing, his face reddening.
"Jeez, choke on your food a lot? Calm down." Nari pats his back harder.
Finally he calms down enough hand takes a drink of his tea. Nari exhales heavily in relief and sits back down in her seat.
"Jeez, you scared me there. And you ate half the pizza." Takuto shrugs, but smiles. "So, what do you want? Because I doubt you came here just to eat lunch with me."
"Of course not." Takuto snorts. "Like it'd want to see you unless I had to."
"Jeez, harsh." Nari glares.
"There's a mission tonight." Takuto says.
Am I supposed to go? Nari thinks.
"Obviously. You need to go."
Nari flinches. "Jeez, you just read my mind."
"I can't read minds, dope. But your face is easy to read, though." He says. "We'll meet at the bar."
"Okay."
"See you."
"W-Wait!" Nari stutters.
As she fetches her wallet, the waitress walks over with change. "Here you go, mam and be sure to come again."
"Uh, thank you?" Nari says taking the change.
Takuto already paid?
"How much do I need to pay back?" Nari asks.
"Don't need to."
"Oh, well does this come out of an expense account or something?"
Takuto looks to her confused. "Huh? No, course not."
"Oh." Nari says getting up. "Okay."
"You're in the way."
"What? Oh!" Nari looks to find a line behind her at the register. She apologizes to the woman behind her and gather her things.
"Come on. Let's go." He calls from the door. When Nari catches up to him, he places his on the small of her back, urging her to walk. Nari can't help but smile shyly as she thinks about the possibility that he could secretly be a gentleman.
Outside, darkness had stolen over the harbor while early dry leaves filtered down from branches, sprinkling on the brick walkway. Mottled sunlight glistens on still waters, mingling with the slightly warmer glow emanating from the tall lamps and storefront windows. Shoppers, walk around, swatting away bugs, sunglasses hiding their eyes, and hurried toward doors that would lead them to cool air. Above, troops of puffy-cheeked clouds waited in the sky, frozen in place.
"I need to get you to the bar before I see you off to work."
"What for?"
"Don't worry it's nothing bad." Takuto says with a hint of irritation.
They arrive at the bar before hours and Takuto leads Nari through the bar, his hand grabbing her arm. He leads her downstairs of the bar, and when she expects it to be dusty filled with barrels and crates and cobwebs, instead she finds a room that looks like it was extracted from the Capital of the Hunger Games.
There's all kinds of technical equipment around the room, boxes and old keyboards and towers and switchboards. Concurring one wall is a desk with a console of radio switchboards and a keyboard at the center. Around it are monitor screens, but the main one is the only active one. Speakers surround it with along with smaller green screens that mimic a heart monitor.
"Whoa . . ." Nari says. "Never would've expected this."
Of the two seats, Takuto takes a seat in one and holds out his hand.
"Give me your phone." He demands.
"What? What for?"
"You too poor to have one?" he smirks.
"I am poor, but I still have one." Nari sneers.
"Then let me have it."
Nari scoffs and hands him her phone, tempted to bop him upside the head.
"This model, huh . . ." he examines it.
Nari watches as he pulls out a retractable cord from one side of the monitor.
"Wait, what are you-?!"
Suddenly a window pops up on the main computer screen and Takuto instantly begins typing on the keyboard at ridiculous speed. Nari watches as another window pops up and this one is green with numbers scrolling up the screen, like he's hacking into it. This thought makes Nari's stomach queasy.
Then there's a couple beeps and a ding, and the screen drops down, then so does the second one. Takuto detaches the phone and the cord retracts back into the side of the screen. "Here." He says.
"What did you do?"
"I reprogrammed it." he bluntly replies.
"Repro-! What?! You can't do that?!"
"I just did."
"What - ?!" Nari checks her contacts, messages, photos, and everything seems the same. Nothing seems changed, and Nari checked everything. "Nothing seems different."
"Course it isn't."
"Then what's different?"
"I don't know."
"Pshhh! You don't know!" Nari stutters.
She looks and finds Takuto with a rather scary smile. He's up to something.
"Let's head out. We're done here." He says getting up from the chair.
"Well, hey wait!" Nari calls.
Suddenly her foot catches on one of the boxes. "Oww!"
"Stop tripping on everything. Idiot." Takuto snarks.
"Then try cleaning up a bit, huh? And add more lights, how can you even see?"
"I come down here all the time. I'm used to it." he answers. "Now come on, get up."
Takuto holds his hand out and Nari half expects him to take it away last minute, causing her to fall again. But when she reaches for it, he stretches further and grabs her hand first.
"Thanks."
Frankly, Nari is surprised. With his personality, one would think that he doesn't have a nice bone in his body, but then again, Nari know better than to judge someone so soon. You never know what they're going through.
"I'll ask Boss to put more lights down here." Takuto says as he leads her up the stairs.
"Thanks." Nari shyly smiles.
"Only because I really don't want to babysit you. The last thing I need is reporting to the team that you died because you're clumsy."
Nari chuckles as she follows him out.
"I'll drive you back to work." He says.
"Thanks." Nari smiles.
Umie sits at a swing set, the tip of her sneaker kicking up wood chips. Kenshi leans against the metal post after returning from a call on his phone. His face is stern.
"Boss told me everything. He made you quit your job, huh?"
Now that Umie had a chance to cool off, she feels ready to cry.
After bumping into Kenshi, and telling him about her job issue, he took her to a local park where he let her be alone while he made the call.
She folds her lips in and nods in reply.
"I'm sorry Umie." Kenshi says.
Umie shakes her head. "Why. Why would he do that?! How is that his business?!"
Kenshi stays silent, his fingers tapping his phone still in his hand. He looks down and away before glancing at Umie again.
"I need to get it back. I need to call Katie and make up a different lie and then maybe -" Umie stutters.
"Wait, wait. Slow down." Kenshi suddenly stops her. She looks up and Kenshi steps in front of her kneeling down. "I'd like you to wait."
"What?"
"When this is all over, I'll make sure you get your job back. I promise. But for now, can't you just accept the situation?" Kenshi persuades.
"Why? Why should I?!" Umie's anger suddenly growing.
"I . . . can't tell you that." Kenshi submits.
Umie coldly snickers and springs up from her seat. "Of course." She growls.
She begins pacing up and down the wooden border between the playground and a blacktop. She constantly rubs her hands together and takes deep breathes to calm herself, her need to break something growing. But instead, tears fill her eyes and she sits down on a platform and cries. She fists her hands and braces her head between them, elbow to her knees. She ducks her head low to avoid having Kenshi seeing her face all red with eyes puffed and nose congested.
Umie huddles closer into herself, practically hunching over as she cries. She hears Kenshi's footsteps and turns her head away to avoid his gaze. Still, she feels his arm wrap around her and pull her towards him. His hand rubs her back as she tries to catch her breath.
"Look," he coos to her. "I promise I'll tell you when the time comes."
Umie snorts. She wipes her face with the heels of her palms and tries to take deep breathes. Kenshi gently smiles at her. Basically . . . she has no choice but to go along with this.
"But what am I going to do for money?" Umie asks.
"That's right. Well, you still live with your parents." Kenshi says.
"Yeah, but if I ask for money, they'll go like all, "What about the money you have?" Umie quotes.
"I guess."
"Yeah."
"Okay then. Come on. Follow me." Kenshi smiles.
"What? Where are we going?"
Kenshi takes Umie's hand and takes her to his car where he drives them off to town.
He parks in front of a large building, a fancy sign posted on the side wall of the entrance. Umie leans out the window.
"What is this place?" she nervously asks. "It looks fancy."
"It . . . kind of is." Kenshi smiles. "This is my family home as well as restaurant."
Umie's eyes widen. "Wait, you live here?! And you own a Japanese gourmet restaurant?!"
"Well, technically my mom runs the place." Kenshi rubs his hair.
"Seriously?!"
"Yep." Kenshi smiles. "We have a lot of stay-in servants so the palce is always lively. Come on in."
Umie nervously follows Kenshi inside. He has her waits at a table while he heads in back. Shortly after, he calls Umie in back. A woman of about mid-forties with a diamond-shape face, brown hair pulled up and dressed in a kimono stares at her.
"Hire this girl? To work here?" she asks.
Shock punctures through Umie as she realizes Kenshi asked to get a job for her. Not to mention his mom owns the restaurant. So he just asked his mom to hire a girl she never met to work at her high-end restaurant. Umie feels self-conscious as she adjusts her clothes, tempted to fix her hair.
"Haven't you been in a bind since a waitress quit?" Kenshi reminds. "What do you think, Mom? Atsumu recommended her."
"Oh, Acchan sent her? So she worked at Le Renard Noir before?"
"Yeah, something like that." Kenshi nonchalantly lies.
"I, I'm really about all this, I didn't expect him to do this, mame."
"Oh don't be dear. You looks adorable. It shouldn't be a problem. I'll hire you."
"R-Really?!" The shock on Umie's face must register, as well as a little bit of fear.
"Something wrong, sweetheart?"
"I, I'm just surprised. I didn't expect to get it on the spot." Umie forces a smile of excitement. "Thank you, just thank you so much!"
"Oh you can call me Satoko. My pleasure." She smiles.
"Good for you, Umie." Kenshi smiles.
"Don't looks a gift horse in the mouth." Umie mumbles to herself.
"So how did you two meet?" Satoko asks as she goes towards a thin closet.
"Oh . . . um . . ."
"I met her yesterday, actually, at Le Renard Noir," Kenshi covers. "She said she didn't have a job so I thought I'd bring her here."
"Oh I see. Quite the shame. I thought your flower had finally bloomed." Satoko sighs.
"No, no! It's not like that. Right Umie?" Kenshi says.
"Yeah, yeah. We're just friends." Umie defends.
"See?"
Satoko giggles. "Well, you're very direct aren't you? Personally I'd prefer Kenshi to date someone honest like you."
"Awww, thank you." Umie smiles.
Kenshi sighs. "How many times do I have to tell you, Mom? I'm not interested in love or getting married."
"Well getting married it a bit far off, but you don't want to fall in love?" Umie asks.
"Nope."
Umie is shocked. Kenshi seems like the kind of guy whom tons of girls would be after. He's bound to have had at least a couple of girlfriends. Maybe just some type of bad experience made him not want to date.
Umie tries not to focus on it as she follows Satoko towards the back room.