"Hi Yuki, I hope you've done well in the last ten years... Takeomi is getting married to your Aunt soon. I remember her liking my brother years ago... I find it interesting that she's your aunt... the world is a small place." You stare at the next part of the message. Your eyes are relaxing a bit.
"If you're reading this, then that means you're in Tokyo... if that's the case, then you should go back home." Your eyes widen to the last part of the message. You scan the sentence, a heavy feeling in your chest.
"What? What does the rest say?" Baji asks. You look at Baji, then back at the letter.
"I have tried to forget about you, but sometimes things end up reminding me of you anyway. I hate it honestly, but I also like it at the same time. I'm afraid that I will hurt you if I come across you again... I'm tempted... I've been tempted to find you again. I refuse to go to Osaka because of this. Please don't come looking for me, and don't allow me to find you." You take a deep breath.
"Please live a happy life, Yuki..." You furrow your eyebrows. "Why does this sound like a subtle threat?" You ask.
"That's because it is." Baji replies.
"How do you know?" You question, slowly looking back at him. Baji stares at you for a bit before sighing. He pushes himself from the desk and rubs the back of his neck.
"Don't worry about that... thank you for reading that to me." Baji walks from the back.
"Im going somewhere real quick." Baji says, walking out the front door. Chifuyu sighs and shakes his head again.
"There he goes again." He sighs. You look towards Chifuyu, who is holding a different cat in his hands.
"I never thought you'd own a pet shop..." You softly say, looking down at him. He looks up at you, then nods and smiles.
"I wanted to work with animals for a long time... so, yeah." He cheeses. You nod and sit beside him. "Wanna pet her?" He asks. You nod, petting the top of the cat's head. The cat leans in to your pets.
"She loves being petted." He smiles.
"So cute." You bubble. He nods. You continue to pet the cat. Chifuyu watches your hand. His eyes follow your arm and stop at your eyes.
"You look a bit different... but still pretty." He smiles.
"You look good still also." You smile. Chifuyu laughs and slowly looks down at the cat. You can see the redness appearing on his ears.
"I guess... I'm old..." He sighs.
"Old? We are the same age... wouldn't that make me old too?" You sigh. Chifuyu raises an eyebrow and then shakes his head a few times. "Wow... calling me old is so mean..." You teasingly frown.
"Gah! No!" Chifuyu shakes his head constantly. The cat leaps out of his hand and runs to a corner of the room. Chifuyu quickly gets up, walking towards the cat. He tries to pick up the cat but the cat quickly jumps away from him. He sighs, looking towards you.
"She does this a lot, like it's some kind of game... Baji is better at catching her than I am." He huffs.
"Let me help you." You say standing up.
"Thank you." Chifuyu says in a soft tone, quickly walking towards the cat.
Draken goes through papers at the desk, sighing a bit as he reads through them. The sound of the door opening causes him to look up. His eyes widen when he sees who it is. He narrows his eyes and stands up.
"Kokonoi." Draken huffs.
"Nice shop you've got here..." Kokonoi softly says, looking around the shop.
"Yeah..." Draken nods, his eyes still focused on Kokonoi. "I'm surprised that out of all people, you were the one who decided to show up here."
"Just curious... I can possibly do some shopping... maybe." Kokonoi looks back towards Draken.
"Yeah? What are you curious about buying?" Draken asks. Kokonoi stops at the desk, looking at Draken.
"Information."
You dive under the desk, grabbing the cat.
"I GOT HER!" You shout.
"Good! Good! Bring her out." Chifuyu smiles at you from beside the desk. You hit your head underneath the desk as you try getting up, accidentally letting go of the cat. The door to the shop opens. You look up to see Chifuyu staring at the door. His eyes widen, showing a bit of fear in them.
"...Chi-" Chifuyu motions you to keep quiet. You close your mouth, looking up at him.
"Uh, hi... may I help you?" He asks. You listen as someone steps closer to the desk.
"This is cute. I didn't think Baji would work in a place like this." Their voice says.
"Mm... are you looking for Baji?" Chifuyu asks.
"Something like that~" The person replies. "I heard Yuki is back in Tokyo... have you seen her?" They ask.
"Yuki? I haven't seen her, no... maybe Baji may know." Chifuyu says in a calm tone. You look towards a hole in the desk. You look through it to see the person. Its a man with rosey pink hair and light green eyes. His eyes are like a seafoam color. His eyes dart towards yours. Your eyes widen when he stares at yours.
"Are you sure?" He asks, slowly looking up at Chifuyu.
"Yes... ah." The cat jumps out from behind the desk and towards the door. Chifuyu leaps forward, grabbing the cat. The cat hisses and smacks Chifuyu a few times. "Hey. Don't get mad at me... if you weren't running away from me, then I wouldn't have to grab you this way." Chifuyu sighs. The person looks towards the hole in the desk and sees your eye gone. He looks at the cat, staring at the cat's grey eyes. He sighs when looking back at the desk.
The sound of the door opening causes him to look towards the door.
"Sanzu?" Baji glares at him.
"Baji." Sanzu repeats in a low tone.
"Is there something you need?" Baji asks.
"No... Just wanted to check out this place... was thinking about getting a pet." Sanzu smiles.
"Yeah?" Baji huffs.
"Mm... but you didn't have the one I wanted." Sanzu says, walking towards the door. "Thank you, Chifuyu." He walks out the door, the door closing behind him. Baji looks out the window, watching Sanzu get in a car and the car pulling away. Baji sighs and looks towards Chifuyu.
"Where is she?" Baji asks. Chifuyu points towards the desk. Baji sighs when he sees you crawl out from under the desk.
"Who was that?"
"..." Baji stares at you for a bit, then towards Chifuyu.
"I will tell you later... we should go..." Baji motions.
"So you're leaving again?" Chifuyu looks at Baji with narrowed eyes.
"I'll be back... I'll bring some stir fry back if that makes you feel better." Baji says helping you up. You brush your knees, looking towards Chifuyu, who has the cat in his arms.
"Fine." Chifuyu sighs. "I'll see you later, Yuki." He smiles. You and Baji walk out the door. Baji gets on his bike thats resting by the side of the building. You get on behind him, holding on to him. Baji pulls off, driving down the street.
Sanzu watches from the car. He sighs, resting his elbow on the door of the car and resting his head on his fist. "I thought he was smarter than that..." Sanzu sighs.
"Mmm..." Kakucho hums. "Wouldn't Mikey get upset if he finds out what you're doing?" He asks.
"Possibly... Just means he can't find out." Sanzu leans back and sighs. "It's better this way... don't need the liability to show up again."
"He's looking for her, too though."
"Mhm... but I found her before he did, that's all that matters." Sanzu replies.
"Mm... Alright. What now?" Kakucho asks.
"Follow them." Sanzu answers. Kakucho nods and pulls off.
TO BE CONTINUED FEBRUARY 22ND!