A/N:
An early update for everyone! I'm going to be in the bubble pit for the next week fighting for Nozza so have this until I return from war ^.^
Another Way Out - Hollywood Undead
There was a knock at the door come Monday morning. Nozomi would honestly rather face Eli' anxious wrath than deal with the sea dragon that was on the other side of the door. She was seriously contemplating abseiling out of her bedroom window with her bed-sheet for support, but she forgot that Umi was also a trained archer.
Nozomi just had to bite the bullet and open the door. There was Umi, standing in a navy blue blazer over a white shirt and jeans. Her hair was tied into a ponytail, and all of her piercings were present.
The look in her brown eyes reminded Nozomi of a sniper, and her lips were straight, no sign of emotion. Nozomi felt as though she was staring at a snake - any sudden movement and she'd be dead.
The two just stood there, staring at each other. The only noise was the heating. Finally, Nozomi spoke first.
"Umi-chan, g-"
She didn't finish her greeting. Umi raised her tattooed hand and struck Nozomi across the cheek in one swift movement. The sound echoed, and Nozomi didn't even have time to register what had happened until the stinging pain creeped through her senses.
"Kotori was crying the entire car ride home at one in the morning," Umi's voice was low and dangerous. Nozomi could do nothing but blink.
"We were out all night looking for you, and you had the nerve…" Umi didn't continue, she just looked at the ground with utter disgust. Her piercings glinted when she shot her glare back up into Nozomi's eyes.
"I'm trying to force myself to look at you…"
Nozomi felt as though Umi shot an arrow into her heart. Umi, one of her closest friends, was genuinely angry at her - and she deserved to be. Nozomi blinked slowly, and then shrugged.
"You're also an idiot," Umi deadpanned.
"I am aware," Nozomi grinned lightly.
"A brainless halfwit,"
"Yes indeed"
"A very bad influence"
"On the money with that one"
"Not to mention you lack self-respect and any common sense,"
"Was that everything, Umi-chan?"
"You're riding in the backseat," Umi deflated and folded her arms. The koi fish swimming upstream on her arm. She stared at Nozomi's attire, not expecting her to wear white shirt, a black sweater on top with a red tartan skirt.
"...You've been listening to punk music again, haven't you?" Umi raised an eyebrow as Nozomi threw on a leather jacket.
"You bet," the tattoo artist winked back at the piercer, who only sighed softly.
"You look like a delinquent school girl,"
"And you look like my teacher who also doubles as a phone-sex operator," Nozomi took in Umi's attire with twinkling eyes. Umi blushed furiously, brows furrowing.
"Hurry up, we need to pick up Rin. Is Kusuda meeting us there?"
"Yes she is," Nozomi picked up her bag and lit her e-cigarette, then skipped out the door.
Nozomi stayed in the car while Umi went into Rin's place. The white leather of the backseat rubbed against her stockings awkwardly. Nozomi leaned out the window, puffing out the synthetic smoke as her mind wandered off.
The artist was snapped out of her wispy thoughts by the her apprentice climbing into the backseat and grabbing her shoulders.
"Rin-chan!?"
Rin began to shake Nozomi violently. Her eyes were glazed, and she was blinking a lot. Her eyebrow piercing twitched with the motion.
"YOU'RE A FUCKING IDIOT!"
"I know! But this hurts!" Nozomi tried to pry the ginger's hands away, but Rin was far stronger, despite being younger. Her flannel sleeves were rolled up, to expose the tattoos of koi fish and cats on her arms.
"YOU HAD ME UP ALL NIGHT IN PANIC ATTACKS, DAMMIT!"
"I'M SORRY!" Nozomi wailed, losing all self control and swatting Rin in the face. Her voice was wavering from being shaken so violently.
"Rin, get off Nozomi, she's not worth it," Umi's cold words struck deep, and Rin turned to glare at the piercer.
"You were out all night looking for this dipshit and you're going to defend her?!"
"Believe me, I want to kill her three times over, but she is our boss and we need her alive for this mess," Umi placed a hand on Rin's shoulder and yanked her back away from the cowering Nozomi.
Rin gave Nozomi one final glare, then yanked the e-cigarette out of Nozomi's mouth.
"Hey!"
"Shut up, I need a puff after dealing with you," Rin settled herself in the shotgun seat, legs up and arms folded, and took a long drag. Umi had untangled herself from the cluster in the tiny car and sat in the driver's seat.
"Rin, you are not to kill Nozomi. I will not kill her, so neither will you," Umi turned to look at the youngest person in the car. Rin grumbled, her face stuck in a permenant sour expression as she blew out smoke from the e-cigarette.
Umi inhaled a few deep breaths to ensure she had the right mind space before starting the car.
"Can I have my e-cigarette back please, Rin-chan?"
Nozomi's small voice made Rin peg the device back at Nozomi.
"You're such a shit, Senpai."
Kusuda Aina, sitting cross-legged on the orange couch, was looking through her phone when Nozomi, Umi and Rin showed up. Nozomi saw her blue Mini outside the law firm, which made Umi whine, because trying to find a decent parking spot was an absolute nightmare.
"You took Umi-chan's spot," Nozomi sat down next to Kussun, and Umi and Rin bowed politely. They had never met Kussun before, but Rin had done her research.
The apprentice was currently ignoring Nozomi, and sat on Kussun's other side while Umi checked in with the receptionist.
"So, you're still in the doghouse, Non-tan?" Kussun ignored Nozomi's earlier quip and turned the page of her magazine.
"Eli-chan looked extremely upset to see you on your own doorstep like some lost dog."
Nozomi ignored this and pulled out her phone with a short sigh. Rin ogled Kussun's dotwork on her arms.
"Kusuda-sama, is dot-work really difficult?"
Kussun looked at the apprentice with a smile, "It's just time consuming, Rin-chan. Has Non-tan not taught you that yet?"
"It's only been a few months," Rin scratched the back of her head, feeling her undercut that was turning rather fluffy from her hair growing back.
"I'm currently learning the basics on pigskin, and I've been working on small designs. Nozomi-senpai is making me do characters from the Japanese alphabet, and Kanji. Lot's of Kanji, actually."
Kussun raised an eyebrow and a sly grin curled onto her lips.
"She's doing what I did with her. Smart girl, getting you to start on Kanji. I'm guessing it's so you don't make the same mistake she did."
Rin's eyes shone, just as Umi took a seat next to her. Nozomi instantly stiffened up.
"What did she do?" Rin ignored Nozomi trying to change the subject with something about documents. Kussun held up a hand to silence the artist.
"A rather large man came into the store one day, and wanted the kanji for something or rather, but she did the wrong Kanji."
"Did she now?" Rin's expression was akin to that of the Cheshire cat. Kussun nodded, "Yes. Now, the foreigner is walking around with the Kanji for 'dumb swift' on his back."
THUNK
Nozomi's phone plummeted to the ground. Her blood ran cold while Rin let out howls of laughter. Umi held a hand over her mouth to stifle her chuckles. Kussun looked over at Nozomi, who had turned a bright red.
"Non-tan is lucky that it was a foreigner."
Rin let out more howls of laughter, and Nitta walked out of her office with a smile on her face.
"Good morning! Glad to see you all seem rather chipper."
The office had not changed in anyway since the last time they visited. Kussun introduced herself to Nitta, and the two began talking like parents who had picked up their children from daycare. Umi and Rin sat on either side of Nozomi again, with Umi staring daggers at the artist. Nozomi had had enough, and glanced over at the piercer.
"Umi-chan, are you still angry at me?"
"Of course, I'm seething with rage," Umi's lips quirked into a grin, making the tone of her voice seem an illusion.
"But the fact that you tattooed 'swift dumb' onto someone is the funniest thing I've heard all day."
Nozomi groaned, she'd never hear the end of that. Rin was gleefully tapping at her knees, the cheshire grin plastered onto her face. Kussun stood behind Nozomi and placed a hand lazily on her shoulder, continuing the image of a parent with a delinquent child in the principal's office. Nitta sat in her leather chair and reached under her desk. She pulled out a stack of folders and documents.
"So, I did some digging since your last visit, Tojo-san."
"And?" Nozomi's crossed her fingers. Nitta's smile was wry.
"There's very little evidence for you to prove Hoshizora-san's innocence. It's very hard to combat against a document that wasn't signed, and those suing have some powerful lawyers-"
"Who's suing again?" Kussun interrupted, ignoring Lily White's sorrowful expressions. Nitta blinked, then answered with company name.
Instantly, Kussun raised an eyebrow.
"So they have a right to go through private records and show them to other companies which have no relation to a body art studio whatsoever?"
Nitta gulped, "W-Well, they don't really have that r-"
"In turn, they are breaking the law with that."
"Y-Yes, but-"
"Then we can counter their prosecution," Kussun said matter-of-factly. Umi whirled around to look at the older artist.
"B-but they're prosecuting us!"
"Umi-chan, they did something morally wrong and not to mention illegal," Kussun had a permanent smile on her face.
Rin was the next to pipe up, "Kusuda-senpai, there's no way we'd be able to counter! We have no cavalry except for Nitta-san!"
"Not only is that offensive towards Nitta-san, but your analogy is wrong," Kussun softened her tone for the youngest person in the room. Nozomi continued to frown in thought. It was a very dangerous move to counteract such big-shots, but she didn't have any other option.
"Is it possible, Nitta-san?" She asked the lawyer.
"It is, but we'd need to really build on that. I can have a look to see if they've done this to anyone else," Nitta took out a pen and wrote down a note for herself.
"Now, the other thing is we need to have a look at the past records for both of your tattoo careers," Nitta nodded towards Nozomi and Rin.
"Tojo-san, you have done a lot of tattoos, but Hoshizora-san, not so much."
"That's true," Umi fiddled with her pierced ears again. Rin sighed, and put her head in her hands.
"Yeah, I've only done Kayo-chin's and Nozomi-senpai's, not a l-"
Nozomi's heart stopped. Everything turned into white noise as her blood ran cold. Her hands started shaking as the realization dawned on her. The cone of silence stayed as she reached out to touch Rin's shoulder.
"R-Rin-chan," she could barely say her apprentice's name. Rin looked up, eyes blinking.
"What did you just say?"
"I said I've only done Kayo-chin's tattoo and the one behind your ear, Senpai," Rin moaned, not realising what she was saying. Nozomi's mouth dropped open as she raised a shaky hand to her ear. The Russian word tucked behind her ear made her breathing shallow.
'хорошо'
Umi too, gasped.
"Nitta-san, the tattoo Rin did on Hanayo was not her first one," Umi explained, barely able to contain herself while Nozomi's eyes started to glaze over and tears began to brim. The lawyer quickly scurried through the pile of documents, and stopped after five seconds. She pulled out a piece of paper and placed it on the desk.
"That's is the document Non-tan signed to allow Rin-chan to tattoo," Kussun peered at the document on the table over Nozomi's bowed head.
"There's also this," Nitta, who was flipping through a booklet, had found the page she was looking for and pushed the booklet towards the other four to see.
"This is a booklet regarding the standard procedure for an apprenticeship in a body art studio. Obviously, it differs, because everyone does it differently, but it does state that once the apprentice has performed a tattoo, they should be able to perform tattoos freely without their master's supervision."
Nozomi threw her face into her hands. Umi couldn't help but sigh with relief as Rin burst into tears. The piercer instantly tried to gain some sort of composure.
"That takes some stress off this, but what about the current tattoo? The form wasn't signed by Nozomi, but it was by Hanayo."
"Umi-chan, you're missing the point," Kussun was reconciling Nozomi by patting on her shoulder.
"Rin-chan doesn't need Non-tan's signature for Hanayo-chan's tattoo, if we can find the original document of Rin-chan tattooing Non-tan. There was a document, yes?"
Kussun squeezed Nozomi's shoulders.
"If you forgot that document, you'd be royally fucked, Non-tan."
Nozomi could only nod.
"I-I can look," Nitta quickly flew through the document pile again. Umi had made sure to give Nitta access to all of their documents prior to the meeting.
The piercer placed a hand on Nozomi's shoulder and gave a weak smile. They might be able to have some ray of hope. The tension thickened to be suffocating for them as Nitta dug through the pile of documents.
She stopped, and with trembling hands, pulled out a piece of paper.
"This is the document."
Rin sniffled loudly as the document was pushed over the table.
"That's Non-tan's signature. I'd recognize that chicken scratch anywhere," Kussun remarked with a smile. She moved from out behind the crying Nozomi to kneel next to Nitta's desk.
"The pamphlet you've got there also states that after the first tattoo performed by an apprentice, they are deemed able to perform tattoos without their teacher's signature. As long as the client signs the forms, and the teacher is present, they can tattoo."
"So...I'm innocent?" Rin blubbered from behind her hands. Kussun nodded.
"Yes, Rin-chan, you're innocent."
Rin bounded up the stairs to her apartment, and practically kicked down the door. Hanayo, in the kitchen, let out a squeak of terror when Rin bolted towards her and scooped her up into her tattooed arms.
"Rin-chan?!" The childcare worker was incredibly confused as she was twirled around and placed back down on earth. Rin chuckled and hugged her tighter.
"I'm innocent!" the apprentice's voice hitched again as she buried her face into Hanayo's shoulder.
"You're what?!"
"Innocent, nya!" Rin pointed to her own neck.
"That wasn't my first tattoo! Nozomi-senpai was my first tattoo!"
Seeing the confusion on Hanayo's face when Rin pulled back, she took her girlfriend's hand and led her to the couch to explain. Maki had just walked in the door with Nico, and the two sat in on the explanation.
Umi opened the door to her home, and went downstairs into the kitchen area. Having dropped Rin and Nozomi off at their homes, she had time to think about everything in the car. The euphoria buzzed around her as she placed the car keys down on the bench.
Honoka and Kotori were at the table, going over a heap of pamphlets for wedding venues.
"I would love this temple, but they seem very pricey," Kotori tapped at a blue pamphlet, and Honoka moved in to peer at the place.
"Wow! It's so pretty!" Honoka gushed. The two didn't notice Umi slip into the kitchen and open the fridge. She took out a bottle of water, wrinkling her nose at the amount of soft drinks that Honoka had bought from the supermarket.
She couldn't keep the sour expression on her face for long, because the smile crept back onto her lips. Umi turned around and beamed at her fiance and best friend.
"Oh! Umi-chan!" Honoka instantly looked up. Umi held the bottle of water tightly as she made her way to sit down at the table and kiss Kotori on the cheek.
"We might be able to win the case," she beamed brightly, and was in such a state of euphoria that she didn't hear her phone vibrate in her pocket until Kotori pointed it out.
*Spanish soap opera music plays in distance* ESCANDALO!
Also, as a heads up, every tattoo artist determines when their apprentice is ready to start tattooing differently. I'm going off what my best friend told me about being a tattoo apprentice. Everyone does it differently.
Thanks again for all the reviews! I do read them all, and they warm my little wannabe-punk heart :3