The Accompanist

Chapter 16: Mr. Utsushima

Boutarou didn't know how long he stood, back to the wall, holding Sayaka against his chest. He didn't know how long it had been since her limp arms came up around him and balled the fabric of his hoodie into her hands. He didn't know how many times his thumb grazed through the roots of the hair at the base of her neck.

But when Shiki opened the door, he was so startled that he nearly killed him. If there wasn't a safety on the pistol, he would have.

"...Chill dude... It's just me."

He breathed out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. 

"...Her mom is alive." Shiki's eyes fell to the blob of long black hair in Boutarou's arms as he instinctively held her closer. "Someone called my phone. Personally. I guess they have some crazy technology wizard on their side... Or maybe ours is just a double agent. We have until 3pm to find Mrs. Umari. Or we have to call up your dad and trade him for her... Seems like Sayaka was just their bargaining tool to get to Mr. Utsushima after all."

"3pm..." Sayaka's voice was but a mere whisper. "Practice time..."

"I'm not letting her--"

"I know. We're doing all we can to find her. I need Sayaka's phone to at least attempt to track Katsumi's location... Although, if he knows the person he's dealing with is good at technology, that will probably lead us right into a trap...But we have to start somewhere..."

Boutarou opted to give Shiki the gun rather than let go of Sayaka as he fished her phone out of his pocket. When the prompt for the passcode appeared due to facial recognition failure, he typed in his own passcode put of habit. And it unlocked. 

He blinked a few times, wondering if it was a glitch. But nevertheless, he handed it over.

Shiki took one look at the cracked screen and squinted. "Did he... send a picture?"

Sayaka nodded under Boutarou's hand, her breaths coming in short gasps. "Onsei... Parent teacher... Conference..."

"Of course... The headmaster..."

"Shiki..." Boutarou closed his blue eyes. "Tell me you have a plan."

"I'm... I'm thinking," he said, handing Boutarou back the phone. "If they're holding her hostage inside of the school under the guise of a parent teacher conference, she must have been passed out in that picture. They won't kill her. Not until they leave the school. There are too many kids around. It would attract too much attention, even to fake hauling her out in an ambulance."

"Maybe you should do your thinking quietly," said Boutarou, as Sayaka's grip on his hoodie grew increasingly tighter.

"Fine." Shiki crouched down and pressed both palms together, raising his pointed index fingers to his lips. After a short silence, he slowly began to speak. "We'll put someone on the roof with a gun... And two people at every exit."

Suddenly, the door opened. In seconds, the gun was swiped out of Boutarou's hand, safety clicked off.

Boutarou threw his other arm around Sayaka and turned his back towards the door to shield her, squeezing his eyes shut. 

But when the only sound in the room was a sigh of relief from Shiki, he hesitantly lifted his gaze.

In walked a man, his natural blonde hair scraping against the top of the doorway, ducking inside due to his towering height. Bright blue eyes stared down at the three young adults, a half-smile and amused eyebrow raising at the girl in Boutarou's arms. 

"Yo."

Boutarou's entire face twitched. "...Dad?"

"It's been a while," said Mr. Utsushima, palming Shiki's pistol slowly down towards the ground. "Sorry for startling you, but I appreciate not being shot. Shizuki called and said Mrs. Umari was in a pinch?"