Come Back Home || Umemiya Hajime

1

Word count: 1.1k

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Sounds of dishes bumping against each other in the sink filled the almost empty Café Pothos as Kotoha and Umemiya were finishing up after a whole shift. She had initially insisted that she was fine handling the dishes on her own, but the Bofurin boy had stubbornly picked up a dirty plate from a stack and began washing them up.

"Ume, have you heard from the uncle where I get the café's pastries?" Kotoha asked as she busied herself with wiping plates dry.

Umemiya, who initially had laser focus on scraping off stubborn residue from a pan, had paused for a moment as he tried to guess whatever it was. "Did they have problems with the flour bags again?" He had frequented the bakery for various situations, but it almost always concerned moving the heavy flour bags from the back to the kitchen. "I could drop by if it's urgent."

Kotoha felt a bit hesitant to tell him, but she figured that he needed to know the truth.

"She... she's back, you know." She noticed a slight shift in his posture, "Just a few days ago. I saw her setting up shop —the bakery —said she took a leave of absence for a whole term to take a short break from college."

"You talked to her?" Umemiya asked in disbelief.

Kotoha raised a brow at him, "What do you mean, did I talk to her? Of course I did. Why wouldn't I have a perfectly normal conversation with Fumiko-chan?" She retorted, "As far as I remember, I wasn't the one that had a problem with her."

He pouted, "Ouch, no need to go that far." He continued scraping off the pan, albeit being a little distracted this time around. "Should I try talking to her? It's been two years now. Ya think she's fine with me sticking around?"

That was true. It has been a couple of years since they've last seen each other. Fumiko graduated from an elite highschool and continued her education in a prestigious college in Tokyo. She was plenty smart, and Umemiya had admired her for it. In fact, she's tutored him a bunch of times before as payment for his help. As Kotoha opened her mouth to respond, the doors to the café swung open and in came a tall woman. "Kotoha-chan, Aki-chan mentioned that he left his handkerchief here, would you mind if I looked around for a bit?"

Oh, Umemiya knew this voice all too well.

"Uh, Fumiko-chan, yeah, um, go ahead. Yeah." Kotoha stammered, clearly panicked over the situation. She knew their history together, and she was unsure how both parties would react in such an unpredictable situation. The young café owner sure was glad that Umemiya's reflexes were quick. He had ducked down behind the counters as soon as the door swung open and he saw her familiar figure.

"Aki-chan comes by here often, doesn't he?" Fumiko striked up a conversation as she walked around and inspected every booth and table she walks past, leaning down to look under the tables. "I heard he eats here quite often, too. Does he eat complete meals?"

Still a bit panicky from the sudden adrenaline rush, she nodded quite enthusiastically, "Oh, yes he definitely does! A growing boy needs their nutrition after all." She exclaimed.

As the two girls interacted, Umemiya's chest pounded harder and harder. She was just on the other side of the wall — he could just pop his head out from under the counters and finally see her face to face. For a guy like Umemiya Hajime, people would not expect that someone would actually come to dislike him, unless they're a person of questionable morals. But this person just a few steps away from him, he knew it deep in himself that she hated his whole being. After all, it was a harsh betrayal— at least, that's how he perceived the situation to be.

"So, uh... your big brother isn't around?" Or maybe that's what he's been thinking. She must've seen him when she walked in, right? Why would she ask about his whereabouts?

Both Kotoha and Umemiya's faces morphed into that of surprise and curiosity. "You- you're asking about uh, Ume?" The young girl asked, utterly flabbergasted by even the thought of it. She vividly remembered how hard Fumiko sobbed that night that it was even unimaginable for her to even acknowledge his very existence.

"Yeah... Umemiya. I haven't seen him around— not that I need to see him." Fumiko had fiddled with the hem of her sleeves, "He's in charge of Furin now, right? I heard about it from Aki-chan. He was so excited to enroll in Furin that he asked me to help him with his uniform. I told him not to wear that shirt earlier, but he still wore it for some reason."

"Yeah, Ume is in charge of Bofurin. They did quite the renovation, if I do say so myself." Kotoha said, "Makochi has been peaceful ever since he's taken over." She saw a hint of relief washing over the taller woman's face, however she was unsure if relief was the only thing running in her mind.

"Ah, I found it." Fumiko knelt down to the floor to grab a pale yellow handkerchief under a table. "Sorry for taking up some of your time, Kotoha-chan. Would you like some extra hands? I could wash some of the dishes for you."

"No, no! It's alright!" Kotoha waved her hands around in a panic, "I got it under control, yeah? You could just go home since it'll be dark soon!"

"It is getting late." Fumiko paused for a bit, deep in thought, "Anyway, I might drop here from time to time. Let me know if you need something, yeah?"

As the two girls exchanged their goodbyes, Umemiya was itching to take a quick peek, so he did just that. Just as Fumiko was about to turn around, he had sneakily popped his head out of the counters and caught a glimpse of her. Her brown hair was shorter than before and was heavily styled with waves and pops of blonde. She used to have multiple lobe piercings before, but from what Umemiya saw, she had multiple facial ones too. Even the way she dressed up was so different from before.

Maybe it was the Tokyo air that had turned her almost unrecognizable, but deep down, he knew what he felt. After all, his heart was fluttering non-stop as he watched her exit the establishment, just like years ago.

"Well, looks like she doesn't seem bothered by the idea of you." Kotoha stated, "That's a good sign."

"Yeah, I guess it is."