The Accompanist

Chapter 38: A Chance

Katsumi peered down the long hallway through blurry vision and heavy eyelids. He'd had a rather long night.

Mrs. Umari came by and treated all of his wounds for free like it was the natural thing to do. He'd never really had anyone patch him up before. And it only convinced him that the world he'd been living in up until now was that much more messed up.

After she left him to his own devices, he tried to get some sleep. Leaned his head back against the wall. And just when he was on the verge of drifting off, all he heard amidst the silence was, "stop.. I can't..." And other sounds he knew all too well.

Part of him considered staying outside to ward off other adults as payment for what he'd put her through. The other part of him was sleep deprived and couldn't bring himself to fall asleep to that.

But wandering into another hallway didn't do him much good. All he did was run into Mr. Umari who was pacing, a death glare in his eyes.

Katsumi sat down on the bench with a sigh. "If it bothers you that much, go interrupt them."

"Do I look like a fool to you?"

"No," said Katsumi, closing his eyes. "You look like a crazed stalker." It wasn't his place to say any more. But thanks to the comment, Mr. Umari finally stopped pacing.

Katsumi drifted off after that, but every time someone shuffled by in their hospital slippers, the scraping sound brought him to attention. As if an 80 year old man trying to use the bathroom was any sort of threat.

And so, when the light peeked into the monochrome hallway, Katsumi let out a disgruntled sigh and stood to his feet. His legs were sore. It was time for a walk.

With his arm and hands wrapped up with proof of his injuries, he wouldn't be much use as a guard. Boutarou and Mr. Umari had it covered anyways. Anyone from the dark side that tried to sneak in and hurt her would be arrested or severely injured.

Just as he was about to enter the hospital lobby, he eyed a man with a familiar ring. Katsumi ducked his head and kept walking. Mr. Umari could take care of him easily. But it seemed like Sayaka wasn't the man's target, because the next thing Katsumi knew, his arm was throbbing and he was forced into a wall.

"Mr. Kurata is giving you one last chance."

"It's a chance I don't want," Katsumi spat, his heartrate kicking up. Mr. Utsushima wasn't here. Mr. Umari wouldn't notice what was happening. If this man had a gun, he was as good as dead.

The man pressed his thumb into Katsumi's injury, but he didn't wince. He wouldn't. Not when someone treated it for him.

"Kidnap the girl and shoot a video with her," he hissed with foul breath, "or all four of you will meet your tragic ends."

All four of them meant Boutarou, Sayaka, himself, and Sayuri. He could care less about Boutarou, but he owed a debt to Mr. Utsushima. And so he decided to buy some time at the risk of his life. "If master was going to kill me, he would have done it already. I'm not falling for the same trick twice."

The man growled under his breath. "Look. Kurata-sama is going insane. He's at his whit's end. If you don't do something about the girl, we're all going to get in big trouble."

"Let him get in trouble then. Stay out of it."

"He's threatening my wife and kids!"

"Then you shouldn't have asked him for drugs or money or whatever it was you wanted in the first place," hissed Katsumi with a deadly glare. He yanked his arm out of the man's grasp and couldn't suppress the wince. "I don't have anything to do with him anymore. If you want to kidnap her, do it yourself. But good luck. Her overprotective boyfriend will find a way to send you to jail the second you step foot in her hospital room."