Page 146 of Fumiko and the Finicky Nestmate
With a deft flick, he extracted a lime green ring. “You favor this color,” he said to Uncle Jackie.
“Usually. It’s good of you to notice.”
“I pay attention to what is important to Akira.”
“Aren’t you dashing?” Jacques offered his hand.
The ring made it past his knuckle with only a little coaxing. Still holding on, Suuzu repeated, “What terms?”
“I will cherish him as my own, and I will protect him with my life. He will become so dear to me that returning him to you will break my heart. Again.”
Suuzu warbled a soft cadence. “Are you offering your devotion?”
Uncle Jackie’s smile was a trifle forced. “Argent may have suggested something of the sort.”
“But … you’re his man,” Akira protested.
“And I will be again,” countered Jacques. “But for the foreseeable future, I am your man.”
Akira waited for Suuzu to protest, to argue. But their sacrifices were similar, and some semblance of balance was met. Reaching for Akira’s hand, as well, Suuzu said, “Agreed.”
Juuyu paced through the gallery with Argent at his side. The fox said nothing, leaving Juuyu to his task.
Nothing had changed. Of course, there was no reason to expect any alteration. What scanty evidence they’d collected suggested that the Gentleman Bandit had abandoned the Amory the same time they did. “Nothing,” said Juuyu.
“I concur.” Argent’s fingers tapped his thigh. “Let us not be stinting. According to Akira, they ate their meals in the courtyard.”
So Juuyu searched for any hint of Akira’s Tabi-oji while Argent quizzed the reaver guarding the gallery entrance. Although Juuyu cataloged every red item in sight, not a single flower petal remained.
“He is not here,” Argent said.
“Nor has he been here,” agreed Juuyu. “Not recently.”
They moved into the lobby, and Argent began spinning small sigils. Juuyu watched long enough to guess that they were for pollen detection. They drifted toward the high ceiling, half-lost in sunlight, as sly as their crafter.
Wanting to be just as thorough, Juuyu stopped and slowly turned in place, searching for any variation. Again, his attention snagged on all things red—exit signs above each door, logos at the beverage refill station, poppy-themed reusable bags at the gift shop, baseball caps on the children in a school group.
Had anything been added since the team’s extraction? And then a more important question clamored for attention—hadn’t something been removed?
Juuyu strode to the information desk and placed his hand on its nearly empty ledge. The woman on duty glanced up with a smile. “May I help you?”
“Can you tell me what became of the botanical gifts that were here two days ago?”
“All of those bouquets were dropping so many petals, we had the cleaning crew clear them out. We did keep the cards, of course.” She indicated the few remaining potted plants. “And these.”
Juuyu could see it. He could even understand it, but he was having difficulty fathoming it. “It should not be possible,” he whispered, awash with a horrible certainty.
Argent drifted over, checked the tag on an overflowing philodendron, then on the dwarf orange tree. “Something amiss?” he inquired lightly.
“Yes. No. Yes.” Juuyu spread his hands in a plea for help. “I know how he is doing it.”
Fumiko wanted to give Juuyu a good gift. Something that was just for him and not a repurposed memory from her trove. “Is Akira back?” she asked.
Zuzu shook her head and handed her a fat purse. “Will you wait?”
“No. I want to do this quickly.” Fumiko smiled a little. “But it would have been nice to hold his hand.”
“I can go farther than I let on, but ….” Zuzu shook her head. “I do know better, even if they think I don’t.”
