The Accompanist

Chapter 20: Mr. Umari

"Mr. Umari... That's you, isn't it?"

The figure behind him gritted his teeth. "Listen. Don't follow me. It's too dangerous."

"Answer the question!" Tears were pouring down his face, his heart racing, fists clenched. "Please..."

"I'll answer your question... But in exchange, tell me why I had to come back to Japan to find my daughter and wife in dire straights?"

It was him. And for some reason, the gentle and kind man he once knew seemed to have vanished under the same façade that Sayaka wore to shove him away. "How... Why are you here? I thought... We all thought you died."

"Boutarou... As much as I would like to sit down and explain all of that to you, your father's life is in danger. I promise I'll explain later. But I don't want to knock you out... So just stay put and don't move."

Mr. Umari released his grip on Boutarou's wrists. And with that, Boutarou fell forward and onto the ground, choking on grief and confusion.

. . .

As a former guns smuggler across international borderlines and Nobuyuki Utsushima's, or, as the public knew him, Naoki Kamikaze's, right hand man, Mr. Umari was taken aback at the state of things in Japan. He walked through the hallways with his head low, passing practicing students, making his way to the chairman's office. Map data was provided the night before by Shiki's father Shizuki, so traversing the corridors wasn't much of a hassle. Knocking suspecting people out on the way would be much more troublesome.

His first day back and he was already cleaning up one of Nobuyuki's messes. And to top it off, he had been seen by Boutarou. Judging from his reaction, he was still close to his daughter. And while it irked him that the oaf's son and the oaf himself had somehow managed to let his daughter and wife fall into the hands of an evil organization, he couldn't deny it was partially his fault for getting caught with weaponry on his way back to Japan, landing him in jail for 10 years.

Of course, he had requested this be kept private and covered with his death. If word got out about the organization, his family would be in even more danger than they were now. They would live a troublesome life, getting shamed by the neighbors and Sayaka's classmates. They would be constantly running in fear of people who targeted Mr. Utsushima coming after them as well. His wife could handle it. His daughter... not so much. And Boutarou was still too young to act as their protector. Nobuyuki was just too busy.

He wasn't planning on showing his face to them... At first. But after sitting in jail for 10 years, he was beginning to regret his decision. His wife knew that he wasn't dead. But Sayaka was too young to fake her emotions. And knowing her stubborn personality, the truth would come out of her mouth one way or another. So he hid it from her.

And now, Boutarou knew.

Breathing a sigh, Mr. Umari stopped in front of the door to the chairman's office. He would count to ten before bursting down the door, just like he always did. Unless of course, the situation on the other side was clear before that.

Ten.

"Ha. You really thought you could pull a fast one on us, eh?"

Nine.

"You have what you want. Shoot me and let Saeko-chan go."

Eight.

"Naoki-kun! What are you saying!"

Seven.

"Heh. I have nothing. You still have a daughter to watch ov--"

Six.