Page 71 of Fumiko and the Finicky Nestmate
Akira handed him the menu in Japanese. “Maybe if you help me, we can make it through all of them.”
“In exchange for stories of your father?”
He jammed his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry. That was presumptuous of me.”
“It is all right to be greedy sometimes.” Tabi-oji tucked the folded paper into his sleeve. “Share with me, and I will share with you. Please, order our meal.”
So Akira stepped up and ordered the Mettlebright, adding two bottles of tea to the tray.
While he chatted with the cashier, Tabi-oji lingered at his side, a serene expression on his face as he gazed out over the lobby.
“Ready?” Akira peered around. “Do you want to sit in here? Or try for a spot outside?”
“The day is pleasant.”
So they found a round table in the courtyard, where the sun was bright, but not too warm, and a light breeze ruffled the scalloped edges of their umbrella.
Once the sandwich was divided, Tabi-oji asked, “What do you know about Naoki?”
“Not much. I was still in diapers when we were bundled off to Saint Midori’s. The sisters let Sis and I stay together, but Midori’s is an all-girls school once you get past elementary classes. So I moved to a boys’ school nearby.”
“You were both alone?”
“Not really. I made friends. And our uncle arranged for visits.” Akira chewed thoughtfully. “That part’s a little strange. Argent looked into our family tree. I guess there’s something unique about our bloodline or something. But there’s no papers. Nothing. Anyhow, the man I always thought of as Uncle Saburo is actually just a lawyer. Sis called him uncle out of respect, but he’s not a blood relation.”
“You were not … neglected?”
“No, no. I had Sis, and she had her job at Midori’s. And then Suuzu and Argent happened.” Akira pulled threads of cabbage from his sandwich. “All that to say … the only real record we have of our parents is Tsumiko’s memory.”
“And what did she have to say?”
“Umm … Dad was patient and kind, and he loved plants. She says she used to play with the stones in the trays that held his bonsai collection.” Akira thought back. “Other than that, he seemed to be a scientist or something. Maybe? I mean, he had to be a reaver. Or an unregistered reaver. There’s almost no other way Sis could be a beacon, otherwise.”
“Almost,” agreed Tabi-oji. “What kinds of things did you want to know?”
Akira shrugged. “Was he as kind as Sis remembers?”
“He has always been unfailingly kind where his children are concerned, but with the rest of us …?” Tabi-oji laughed. “I would call Naoki stubborn. Very sure of what he believes is the right course. And something of a rebel.”
“Was he a reaver?”
“He is a reaver, yes. Though he essentially vowed out.”
Akira couldn’t imagine leaving the In-between once he was a part of it, but he wanted to hear Tabi-oji out before plaguing him with questions he might be about to answer.
“The home into which you were born was indeed filled with plants, but there were far more books. Naoki is the studious type. A scientist, yes, but also a researcher.”
“Tsumiko is that way, too!” Akira was ridiculously excited by this hint of a family resemblance. “She’s been studying all kinds of old books lately, scriptures and prophecies and legends and things. Anything, really, so long as there are dragons involved.”
Tabi-oji’s jaw worked. “Dragons?”
“Yeah, umm … it’s a long story.” He took a big bite of sandwich.
Unfortunately, Tabi-oji simply waited for him to chew and swallow. “Why is Tsumiko interested in dragons?”
“Mostly on account of Kyrie. Her son. I mean, he’s adopted, but he’s hers. She’s a good mom.” With a small smile, he shared, “All the kids, the crossers who live at Stately House, they call her Lady.”
“Dragons are dangerous,” Tabi-oji whispered.
