Umeko fell into a new routine. She spent her days working at the restaurant, but now instead of retreating up to her room after closing she went with Tadashi back to his and Mai's. Yumiko made a point to drag her out on Friday or Saturday usually, but otherwise her routine was consistent. The young couple lived in a small apartment just about a mile from the restaurant, and by now Umeko knew the route with her eyes closed.
Every night, she set herself up on their couch and watched over the baby, little Hoishi. At first, Mai and Tadashi had tried to convince her she didn't have to, they were happy to get up with the baby at night. But Umeko brushed off their concerns, saying she was more than happy to help. Tadashi worked over an open flame every day and Mai still had therapy patients to work with every day. Umeko's biggest concern was not spilling hot tea on herself.
Besides, with her nightmares getting worse every day, she needed the excuse to avoid sleep. Every night, Umeko would set herself on their couch with a steaming cup of tea, she had her own little collection of tea bags in their cabinet now, and a book. She'd sit in the quiet, ignoring the shapes that moved in the dark corners, she was just tired it was just her mind playing with her, until she heard the baby stir.
The second she heard a whimper, Umeko was on her feet and hurrying to the second bedroom. Hoishi would perk up at the sight of her, a whimper or a gurgle bubbling past her lips as Umeko would scoop her up. She'd cradle the baby in her arms or bounce her on her hip till Hoishi was giggling and tired again. The times she wouldn't go back to sleep, Umeko would bring her back out into the living room with her.
She'd wrap them both snuggly in the blanket and read to her. It didn't matter that most time she was reading history texts or classic literature, the sound of her voice would send Hoishi to sleep soon enough. Then Umeko would ease her back into her cradle and retake her position on the couch.
She'd catch an hour of sleep here or there, but never more than three or four hours. Mai had begun to work with her in the hours between when she arrived at the apartment with Tadashi after work and when the couple went to bed. Umeko had been reluctant to discuss anything too specific at first, but after the first month she started to open up.
They were sitting in the living room, both holding steaming mugs full of chamomile tea. Mai had a small notepad next to her, though she rarely took notes on their sessions. Tadashi had taken Hoishi for a walk in her stroller to help get her ready to sleep later.
"When did the nightmares start?" she asked gently.
Umeko fidgeted in the armchair, looking at her mug.
"I've always had them I guess," she shrugged, "But they got worse when I became a teenager."
"And you've had them ever since?"
"They got better for a while," red hair and gold eyes flashed in her mind, and Umeko took a large sip of her tea.
"But they've restarted recently, since your move to Tokyo," Mai finished.
Umeko nodded.
"Do you think it has something to do with your previous boyfriend?"
Umeko went stiff as a board.
"They're not about him," Umeko mumbled.
"Then what are they about?" Mai pushed.
"My father," Umeko blurted before she could stop herself.
Mai's eyes sparked, recognizing the importance of the confession.
"Alright," Mai scribbled something in her notepad, "lets discuss this further."
Umeko blinked back to the present, looking at the book in her lap. She shut it with a sigh, putting in on the coffee table. She pulled her legs up on the couch, pulling the throw blanket more snuggly around herself. Maybe she'd try to sleep for a few minutes, just until Hoishi needed her.
Fushimi couldn't help the scowl on his face as he sorted through the heap of files that had been sent to him. Why he of all people was put in charge of going through any and all information related to Kobayashi Umeko was beyond him. He hardly knew the girl, really didn't give a fuck whether she was in Shizume or not, and had much better things to do with his time than this.
He had taken the video Awashima had sent him of the girl boarding a bus in the Shizume bus terminal, and had since been working on tracking its route. It stopped in three smaller cities before its final stop in Tokyo, and Fushimi had spent the entire day on the phone bickering with the transportation authority in each one. The only way he could think of narrowing down Kobayashi's whereabouts was to find video footage of her exiting the bus.
This was no small feat. Each city had a major bus terminal, with thirty plus cameras in each terminal. Not to mention, the city transportation authorities were being a pain in the ass about turning over the footage. He needed to go through the footage of every camera in every terminal individually, and it was taking hours. Fuck, he was going to be here for days.
He'd finished viewing the footage for two of the stops already, and had moved on to working through the footage of the Tokyo bus terminal. The terminal, being particularly expansive and in the country's capital, had an obscene number of security cameras.
He noted the time at the bottom of the screen of the footage he was currently watching, noting it was well past the hour Kobayashi would have arrived in that terminal if it was in fact where she'd departed. Closing the file, he opened the next one. His eyes flickered across the screen as he looked at the terminal from a new angle, sharp eyes looking for any sign of the woman in question.
There was a knock at the door of his office, and without permission the door opened. Hidaka's mop of dark hair appeared around the threshold, his brown eyes showing curiosity.
"How's it coming?"
Fushimi just grunted in response, turning in his swivel chair to regard his fellow clansman.
"What do you need Hidaka?"
"Ah," Hidaka stepped forward, offering Fushimi the tablet in his hand, "I need you to sign off on this."
Fushimi's scowl grew if that was possible, and he snatched the device from Hidaka's hand. Hidaka wasn't sure, but he could have sworn the third-in-command was mumbling something under his breath about 'stupid kings' and 'making him do too much work' and 'damn flighty women'. As Fushimi continued to grumble, Hidaka looked over his shoulder at the monitor.
"Do you really think we'll find her?"
Fushimi shrugged, his eyes not looking up from the report he was scanning.
"What does she look like again?"
Fushimi reached blindly behind him, eyes still not leaving the tablet as he shoved a photograph towards him. Hidaka took it curiously, taking in the picture of the girl grinning at the camera. She really was pretty, he could see why the Red King would be so opposed to letting her go. Not that he blamed her for leaving; HOMRA was nothing but a bunch of thugs and Suoh was as unpredictable as he was violent.
His eyes flickered back up to the monitor still running the security video footage, and suddenly his eyes widened.
"Fushimi-san."
The boy ignored him.
"Fushimi-san!"
"What?"
Hidaka pointed at the screen, "Isn't that her?"
Fushimi whipped around so fast his glasses slid down his nose, and he pushed them back up quickly as he leaned towards the screen. Sure enough, being carried away by a sea of people, was Kobayashi Umeko. Fushimi's eyes widened.
"Get the Captain."
Umeko blinked in surprise, "Wait seriously?"
"Yup," Yumiko chirped, "I moved to Tokyo when I was eighteen, been here ever since!"
"But you grew up in Shizume?" Umeko asked incredulously.
"I already said yes Umeko-chan," the brunette chuckled.
It was almost closing time, only two tables occupied in the restaurant. Umeko and Yumiko were lounging against the counter, waiting for each of their respective tables to finish eating before clearing away the plates.
Umeko had been in Tokyo just shy of nine months now, and not once in that time had Yumiko mentioned she grew up in Shizume.
"But yeah, I go back pretty often to see friends and family and stuff," the brunette continued to ramble as she whipped down a recently vacated table.
"I'm going in a few weeks, if you wanna come with me?" Yumiko asked, and Umeko was grateful she wasn't looking at her or else she'd see the way Umeko went stiff as a board at the suggestion.
"Ah, I don't think Risa-san will let both of us take off work," she reasoned, and Yumiko pouted but didn't fight her logic. Umeko let out a sigh of relief.
"Umeko-chan!"
Umeko perked up at the sound of her name, looked at the kitchen door as Tadashi's head popped around the corner.
"We're starting to run low on some of our baked goods, can you come make a few more batches?"
Ah yes, her new unofficial role as chief desert maker was calling.
"Coming," she called, pointedly ignoring Yumiko's dejected look at being left to cover all the tables in the restaurant alone as she slipped into the kitchen. Her life might be a shit show, but at least she'd learned to make a decent muffin.
Going into bar HOMRA felt like entering a volcano ready to erupt at any second. An apt analogy for the king that resided within, Munakata thought. Fushimi dragging his feet next to him made him think his third in command agreed with him. Or maybe he just thought this whole thing was a waste of time, as the teen was apt to do.
The bell above the door chimed merrily as the two entered, and Kusanagi looked up from behind the bar in surprise.
"Munakata-san," Izumo called, "fancy seeing you here. You too Fushimi."
"Good afternoon," he replied politely, sending Fushimi a look when he didn't say anything.
"Hey," the teen said glumly, his shoulders slouching even further if that was possible.
"We come bearing some good news," Munakata smiled, "Fushimi."
Saruhiko grumbled something under his breath neither of them could really hear, but put the laptop he'd brought with him up on the bar top.
The screen came to life, pulling up the saved clips from the Tokyo bus terminal. The brunette spun the laptop so Kusanagi could see, and the blond leaned in closer to the screen.
"Top left corner of the screen," Fushimi said, and Izumo let his eyes go there.
And sure enough, barely visible because everyone around her was a solid foot taller, was Umeko. She had a wide-eyed expression on her face as she took in the terminal, her feet merely carrying her along as she took in her surroundings.
"Holy shit," Izumo breathed, "You found her."
"Not quite," Munakata countered, "there are over 9 million people in Tokyo. Knowing her general location is of little help."
"I've been looking for records of employment," Fushimi spoke up, turning the laptop back towards him and typing something in, "or doctor or tax records. I even checked the prisons and morgues."
Izumo had to swallow around the lump that formed in his throat at the thought that Umeko's body had been sitting in a mortuary this whole time, alone and unclaimed. He took comfort that at the very least that wasn't the case.
"Kobayashi Umeko is like a fucking ghost," Fushimi grumbled irritably, his fingers flying across the keys as he started another analysis of Tokyo's civil records, "either that or she's living on the streets."
"Try searching Shimada."
Munakata turned in his seat, regarding Mikoto coolly over the rim of his glasses. The red-head was leaning against the banister, his shoulders tight as he inhaled the cigarette burning between his lips.
"Does that surname have significance to her?" the blue king questioned, but Mikoto only shrugged.
"It was her mother's maiden name, she mentioned it once," was as far as he elaborated, his boots echoing against the wood floors as he crossed the room to look at Fushimi's computer.
There was a search engine running that took up most the screen, but next to it was a screen shot of Umeko in the bus terminal, he figured for facial analysis or something like that.
The image was slightly grainy, but her features seemed to burn into him as he took her in. He took in her arms tucked tightly into her sides, her wide eyes and that downwards twist on her lips he knew meant she was afraid or overwhelmed.
His chest ached at the thought of her alone and terrified and feeling like she had nowhere to go. Of her feeling like her home had been taken from her. Fushimi had said there were no records of her in hospitals or morgues, but the utter lack of records was equally as concerning. What if she really was living on the street somewhere?
He had to push that thought aside immediately.
Fushimi eyed Mikoto warily. Even now, he found the idea of the red king having a girlfriend ridiculous. During his time as a member of HOMRA, Fushimi had seen Suoh with women, and plenty of them. They never lasted more than a day or two in the bar, and he'd never seen Mikoto look truly interested in any of them. He'd bed them and cut them loose, simple as that.
This Umeko though seemed to have the typically stoic man completely tangled. Sure, maybe the red-head had never actually had a woman leave him since before he'd always been the one pushing them away. This seemed to be more than that though. Suoh Mikoto was so obviously in love with her it made Saruhiko nauseous.
The man was a king, he was supposed to set his priorities around that. And yet here he was, stirring up a damn shit storm in the city just for the possibility of finding her.
Fushimi blinked out of his thoughts as Izumo leaned over his computer again.
"This isn't SCEPTER 4's information system."
"That is correct," Munkata pushed his glasses up his nose, "It is the Usagi's."
"What's that old man have to do with this?" Mikoto scowled.
"His Excellency seems to believe finding Kobayashi-san will help stabilize your sanctum," Munakata explained, taking in the sour look on Mikoto's face with amusement, "He granted SCEPTER 4 temporary access to their information system for that reason."
"That old man needs to keep his nose out of other people's business," Mikoto scoffed.
"The Gold King is the sole reason we have any leads to begin with," Munakata narrowed his eyes, "it would be wise of you to remember that."
"Mikoto," Izumo cut in, redirecting the red-head's focus on him, "you know we need to find her quickly."
"Meaning?" Munakata pressed.
Izumo sighed, reaching into his pocket to reveal a slightly cracked but otherwise intact PDA. The blond tapped the screen a few times, and the telltale green of the JUNGLE server lit up his face, reflecting off his glasses.
"This is Gojo Sukuna's PDA," the bartender explained, "and we found this on his mission board."
Izumo held out the PDA, and Reisi took it curiously. He was familiar enough with JUNGLE's server from his own research to recognize a mission board, though seeing one through an administrator's account was a new experience for him. There, posted at the top of the board and only a week old, was a mission. More specifically, it was a bounty.
LOCATE AND DETAIN KOBAYASHI UMEKO - 20,000 POINTS
"Oh," he blinked, "this complicates things."
"That's putting it lightly," Izumo snorted, taking the PDA back when Reisi offered it to him.
Munakata looked at the tablet in front of him quietly, his fingers drumming against the surface of his desk. It seemed Kobayashi Umeko's location had finally been discovered, and his eyes glanced over the file quickly as he planned.
It seemed the girl had procured a job and an apartment at a small restaurant in central Tokyo, and had been quietly living there since her arrival as Shimada Umeko. Once the gold clan's national surveillance system had picked up on her, it'd kicked up a decent amount of information on her. Her looked at a picture of her with a brunette woman, grinning widely at the camera. The brunette's name was Watanabe Yumiko and it seemed the two were close friends, if the number of pictures with Umeko in them on the girl's social media page were any indication.
Umeko had set up no social media pages herself, and even if she had the fact she was now going by Shimada still would have slowed them down. Munakata hummed slightly as he leaned back in his chair, wondering how best to approach this situation.
Suoh Mikoto was a loose cannon, guided by his own prerogatives and nothing else. He'd push the clans of Shizume to the brink of war, all over this one woman. Since he learned from HOMRA a week ago that JUNGLE had put a search mission out on her, he had no doubt Suoh was going to be more volatile than ever. Munakata had no doubt that if he did anything short of going directly to Suoh with this new information, the red-head would take his actions as hostile.
The ravenette scoffed.
Ideally, he could convince her to come back, and would be able to avoid letting Suoh loose on their country's capital with his control hanging by a thread. On the other hand, bringing her back and just dropping her on Suoh's doorstep could lead to equally as many problems.
And of course, this all hinged on whether Umeko had any intentions of coming back in the first place. Considering JUNGLE had put a target on her head, he guessed she didn't have much choice really. Even if she didn't want to reunite with Suoh and the rest of HOMRA, doing anything but would leave her in far more danger.
Munakata could only assume Hisui wanted her to rattle HOMRA and push Suoh's control even further. This of course would not do, considering the delicate condition of the red king's sanctum.
With a deep sigh, Munakata decided he needed to figure this out himself.
"Umeko."
"Yes?" she hummed, not looking up from her notepad.
"There's a guy over by the window."
"Is that so?"
"He requested you by name."
Umeko lifted her head slowly, suddenly becoming aware of the presence that had filled the room. She knew this feeling, this overwhelming power of a king.
Deep blue eyes peered at her from below long black bangs, and her breath hitched as Munakata lifted a hand and waved jovially at her. But she knew better, especially with types like him, that even the slightest suggestions were really thinly veiled commands.
"Yu-chan cover my tables," she untied her apron slowly, handing it over to the brunette slowly. Yumiko just watched through nervous eyes as her friend walked slowly over to the table, pulling out a chair across from the strange man.
"How'd you find me?"
"You underestimate me?"
She narrowed her eyes slightly into something that didn't quite qualify as a glare.
"You see Umeko-san," he sighed, leaning forward, "I doubt you realize it, but you've caused quite a stir."
"What do you mean?" she asked, already feeling the icy tingle of dread fill her stomach.
"You've managed to get four kings involved in your search and recovery. Do you know how significant that is?"
Umeko's eyes slid shut for a moment, taking a deep breath through her nose. As she released her eyes slid open again, but she didn't let herself flinch at the steely look in the blue king's eyes.
"When's the last time something like this has happened?" she finally asked.
He chuckled dryly, "I don't know. I don't know if this has ever happened before."
Umeko fought back the urge to vomit, instead looking out the window to steady herself.
"How is-" she cut herself off, instead going with a safer question, "He's been looking for me?"
"Tirelessly, and he's driven himself half insane in the process. That's the main reason I, along with the gold king have gotten this involved. Everyday his Weismann level is rising; if he doesn't start to push down his power again he'll lose control of it. The state of his sword of Damocles confirms it. Umeko-san, he could destroy the entire city, kill millions."
She didn't want to hear this. It made her chest constrict with guilt, when the reason she had left in the first place was because she thought it'd be what he wanted.
"What would you do to him? If he got too unstable?" her voice wavered against her will, and when her eyes finally went back to him, he could see her resolve waning. She was so close; all he needed to do was give her that last push.
"We'd have to imprison him permanently, probably on a constant regiment of heavy sedatives."
"Don't you dare!"
The restaurant went silent as Umeko glared down at him, having jumped to her feet in rage. Noticing the unwanted attention they were getting she slowly sat back down, waiting for the chatter to pick back up before she continued much more calmly,
"Don't you fucking dare do that to him."
He raised an eyebrow at her use of language, but quickly figured that a year away probably had changed a lot about her. Just not too much he hoped.
"Then you need to go back to him. Throughout his entire time as a king, his Weismann level was never as steady as it was when you were with him, Umeko-san."
She crossed her arms over her chest, squeezing the skin on her forearms tightly as she starred out the window.
"I just-" she swallowed, "I didn't think he wanted me anymore, so I left."
He softened slightly, watching the insecurity filter on and off of her face.
"Umeko-san," her eyes flickered to him, and he couldn't help but smile when he saw the warmth that had always intrigued him before still swimming in their expressive depths.
"I think you can rest assured, Suoh wants you very much."
Neither said anything for a while, both just starring out the window at all the people passing by.
"Not to put any more pressure on you," Umeko looked back to regard Munakata as he leaned back in his chair, "but I believe your being here is dangerous for you as well."
"What do you mean?" she blinked.
"The Green Clan, JUNGLE, has put a bounty on your head. I believe they mean to use you as bait to further provoke Suoh."
Umeko's eyes widened, her mouth falling open slightly before snapped shut.
"Do they know I'm here?"
"Not yet, but it is only a matter of time."
Another heavy silence fell over them.
"Tell him to come here," she stood up, pushing in her chair behind her, "Tell him I'll talk to him here."
Munakata didn't let the overwhelming relief show on his face as she paused in her departure to look back at him.
"When should I expect him?"
Well, he wouldn't talk to Suoh till tomorrow, then no doubt the red head would spend a solid day trying to kill him for not telling him where she was the moment he found out, then it would take him another day to get here so…
"In the next three days or so I'd say."
Something flashed through her eyes too quickly for him to decipher, and then she was already turning away and heading back towards the other waitress he'd requested to fetch her for him earlier.
"Feel free to stay as long as you'd like," she called over her shoulder, although they both knew he'd be leaving immediately.
'What an interesting girl,' he couldn't help but think as he pushed the door open and started back down the street.
Munakata was braced for the absolute worst. Suoh Mikoto was utterly unpredictable on a good day, and telling him that he'd had the location of the object of his obsessions for over a week now and hadn't told him was sure to make him snap.
Munakata had wanted to tell him in the SCEPTER 4 building, where he'd have the most control over the situation. Alas, the odds of getting Suoh to willing enter the government building was as likely as the red-head not trying to rip his head off after this conversation.
The park he was sitting in was small and lightly trafficked, and Munakata figured it was the best he could do in regards to damage control. The blue king took a deep drag of the cigarette between his lips, blaming his return to the bad habit on the man he was about to meet.
A flare of energy at the periphery of his senses alerted him that the red king had arrived, and he dropped his cigarette with a sigh, grinding out the butt with the heel of his boot.
"What do you want Munakata?"
Said man raised his head, looking at the red-head who now stood in front of him.
"I have information for you," he replied simply. Mikoto sighed irritably, but after a second sat down next to him on the bench.
"I found her."
Mikoto's shoulders went stiff, his head tilting to regard the ravenette out the corner of his eye.
"I went to visit her actually, just yesterday. She says she's willing to see you if you go to her," Munakata pulled a folded piece of paper out of his inner coat pocket, Umeko's address printed neatly on it, holding it out between them.
Now, what Munakata had been expecting to happen was Suoh immediately aiming a flame wrapped fist at his head and the subsequent destruction of this park. To his surprise though, after a few seconds Mikoto only took the slip of paper from him and shoved it in his pocket.
"Thanks," Mikoto said honestly as he pushed to his feet.
"You're not angry I withheld her location from you?" Reisi asked, genuinely intrigued.
Mikoto only shrugged, his fingers tracing over the smooth surface of the paper in his pocket, "Not really."
"I see," Munakata blinked, before a small smile pulled at his lips.
Mikoto ignored the look, turning on his heel and leaving the park, his fingers turning the paper in his pocket over and over. For the first time in ten months, he knew where Umeko was. Sure, the fact Munakata kept it from him made him seethe, but that wasn't his priority right now.
As of this moment, his only thought was of reaching Umeko, his beautiful little woman, and doing whatever he had to to bring her home.
He'd just kick Munakata's ass later.
Alright people, the stage is officially set for the reunion. Next chapter will be when it all goes down! Also, how does everyone feel about me adding a little JUNGLE action into this mix? Please tell me your thoughts! The more reviews I get the faster I'll post the next chapter!