I Woke Up In A Completely Different World! 103 Everhand: 8105

A couple of blocks away from the port and into the market, I was greeted by stalls and friendly Elves trying to sell me something. People selling fish may not know where Yuuna was, so I walked around until I found a cobbler working on shoes outside his shop.

Kenta: "Scuse me, is there anyone named Yuuna 'round here?"

Cobbler: "Yuuna? Hmm… I may have heard the name. It sounds familiar."

Kenta: "You know where I'd find her?"

Cobbler: "No, but I know she had a place near a bar. I think it was called Aki's Hub. It's somewhere in the south."

I hit the nail on the head!

Sort of…

Kenta: "Where's that?"

Cobbler: "I don't know it well… it's all the way in the Historic District."

Well, I could've landed in the Historic District, but it was 50-50 odds for me to get it right. Can't be a bad thing now that I'm almost certain Yuuna's still in the city.

Walking in the direction I was pointed to and gawking at the architecture, I inevitably end up in the Historic District. After walking aimlessly and getting myself lost, I forced myself to stop at a shop and ask for directions.

Kenta: "D'you know where Aki's Hub is?"

Woodworker: "That's down the street here and turn right."

The further I go into the Historic District, the more traditional it gets. Almost all of the buildings were townhouses and a good number of them seemed like they were converted to shophouses.

The place called "Aki's Hub" was no different. It turned out to be a nice, quiet spot that would be a good place to hang out.

Aki: "Welcome to my hub! Have a seat and relax!"

Kenta: "Scuse me, you know where Yuuna is?"

Aki: "Yuuna?"

She narrows her eyes and looks at me suspiciously.

Aki: "She doesn't live around here anymore."

Kenta: "Oh… is that so…"

I take a seat, rest my head in my hand, and sigh deeply.

Kenta: "I'ssa dead end…"

Aki: "Do you know her?"

Kenta: "A long time ago, ya."

Aki: "Why are you looking for her now?"

Kenta: "She's my kiddo's mom apparently."

I really should've planned things out more accordingly. A Plan B would've been nice to have since I'm back at square one.

Aki: "Well, if it helps… I hear she has moved to the Brewer Estate."

Kenta: "Wish I knew where that was."

Aki: "It's in the Linden District."

Kenta: "Really? I was just there."

Great, my feet hurt already.

I already had got a sense of the place and headed back into the Linden District, asked around, and found myself in front of the Brewer Estate.

I walked around the gates and the possibility of n.o.body being available hit me. You have the front gate, closed, and another 25-ish yards to get to the front door. How am I supposed to knock?

The gate could be opened, but am I supposed to do so?

No point in letting a gate stop when I already made it this far.

So, I opened the gate and walked up to the door, giving it a good 3 knocks before taking a step back.

Kenta: "Ello?"

When the doors opened, a middle-aged, formally dressed, redheaded woman came out. She gave me stink eye, which made second guess Aki's claim that Yuuna was here.

Unless I really wasn't supposed to open the gates.

Woman: "Can I help you? Better yet, what are you doing here?"

Kenta: "Who're you?"

Woman: "You're the one that's on my property. That should be my question."

Kenta: "I'm Kenta. I'm here for Yuuna Hisakawa."

Woman: "Well, she's not available."

Kenta: "Is she elsewhere?"

Woman: "Yes. Try the local market if you need her so badly."

Well, it might be more walking, but at least it's still in the same district. So, I sucked it up and went on my way.

But, as I dreaded, once I finally returned to the market, there was a carriage and a couple of guards blocking off the street keeping the crowd that has gathered from entering.

Guard: "The market is temporarily closed."

Kenta: "It was open earlier."

Guard #2: "It was... but someone was just murdered and here we are. Until our investigation is done, n.o.body is allowed in or out."

To h.e.l.l with this!

I figured maybe a section of the market was closed and I went around to the other entrances, but there were also closed off. I sighed and sat at a nearby bench, relieving my legs and feet of hours of torment.

I'm ready to call it a day.

I brought money, but if this keeps up for more than a few days and I'll be sleeping on the streets.

Lady: "Kenta?"

When I turned my head to the direction of the voice, I immediately recognized who it was.

Kenta: "Yuuna?!"

Yuuna: "It's really you!"

Kenta: "Yuuna… you look… young? You haven't aged a bit…"

So this is Yuuna Hisakawa…

She sits right next to me and places the groceries between her legs.

Yuuna: "How long has it been? Like 22 years!"

It feels like hasn't pa.s.sed when I look at Yuuna. She always took care of her skin and I thought she was always self-conscious, but she still looks 20!

Kenta: "Ya, that's right."

Yuuna: "I almost didn't recognize you. What have you been up to?"

Kenta: "Just got here… 'n well, stuff."

Yuuna: "Wow, I can't believe it's actually you."

Kenta: "You look the same."

Yuuna: "What… You… Whatever happened to you? You disappeared that night. I remember we were going to run away together to Coria."

Kenta: "I got arrested."

Yuuna: "For what?"

Kenta: "Everyone said I raped you."

She ran her hand to her mouth, shocked.

Yuuna: "Why would they—!"

Kenta: "Who else?"

She looks away and into the streets.

Yuuna: "My father is a sc.u.mbag. The people I know are trying to take everything from House Hisakawa."

Kenta: "That's nice, but I can't get back the years I spent."

All these years and I thought Yuuna knew I was in prison. What a mind-bender of a situation this is.

Kenta: "I also have a daughter? Is it true?"

She looks up to the sky and sighs.

Yuuna: "Yeah, she's all grown up now."

Kenta: "I'm sorry."

Yuuna: "For what?"

Kenta: "I shoulda helped raise a kid."

Yuuna: "Uh—no! Don't apologize! It's really not your fault."

She reaches into her bag of groceries and hands me an apple.

Kenta: "Thanks."

Yuuna: "You know, she kept asking about you when she was a teen."

Kenta: "She has? Ain't Takeo her dad now?"

Yuuna: "She did think he was for a while, but Tak was an a.s.shole. He yelled at her when she was 12 and said things like, "you're not even my kid."

Kenta: "Cool guy."

Yuuna: "Something like that can leave a large impression on someone at her age. It went as far as Kanna to stop calling Tak "dad."

Kenta: "It leave one on you, too?"

Yuuna: "It did. I told him the truth. The only reason I was still married to him was that my mom benefited from the allegiance we supposedly created by getting married. In reality, he's nothing more than a business partner."

I can't imagine how toxic that environment must've been for her and that kid.

Kenta: "That's horrible—uh—not horrible, but harsh?"

Yuuna: "I know, it's fine, Ken."

Kenta: "But… why're you telling me this?"

Yuuna: "Maybe it feels good to get it off my chest after all these years."

Kenta: "Oh… you went 'n let it bottle up for so long."

Yuuna: "Yeah, I can be a b.i.t.c.h to someone that deserves it."

Kenta: "I… also heard what happened to Takeo 'n his funeral."

Yuuna: "You have? Well, it's a shame, really. I think the reason they didn't let me attend the funeral was to be petty."

She chokes up but quickly composes herself.

Yuuna: "So much has happened these past 2 years alone, I'm glad I got to tell someone about it."

Kenta: "Never have?"

Yuuna: "Hm, I did tell some of it to someone else."

Kenta: "Who?"

Yuuna: "A certain someone I had a fling with."

Kenta: "You cheated."

Yuuna: "In hindsight, it was a horrible move."

Kenta: "Why?"

Yuuna: "He treated me like a person and made me feel heard. I was blinded by rose-tinted gla.s.ses and I didn't really realize the gravity of what I did until he disappeared."

She sighs.

Yuuna: "It's a secret we plan to take to the grave."

Kenta: "'N Kanna? Is she good?"

Yuuna: "She turned out better than me. She's engaged to her boyfriend."

Kenta: "She's already engaged?"

Yuuna: "Well, it's complicated."

Kenta: "How?"

Yuuna: "Do you know about House Omeo and House Hiyashi?"

Kenta: "Ya, from my sis. Why?"

Yuuna: "After a debacle caused by my father, he decided to try and get Kanna married to Patriarch Nishimura and almost succeeded. The only way to prevent it was to have her get engaged to her current boyfriend. So that happens, father loses his temper and threatens everyone in House Omeo. House Omeo allied themselves with House Hiyashi, House Hisakawa's rivals, and they sent a very long letter basically saying House Hisakawa's time is limited and started buying out the businesses they owned… Or, the important ones at least."

Kenta: "Hiyashi. Omeo. I see. They both hate Hisakawa."

Yuuna: "Pretty much."

These House Omeo boys sound serious. Yuuna and my daughter might be affiliated, but I want to stay as far as possible. I've been in enough conflict for one life.

Kenta: "House Hiyashi really ally with a new house? That's odd, innit?"

Yuuna: "A lot has changed in 22 years and House Omeo is growing exponentially. There are even rumors that they got territory in Hei'an."

Kenta: "That true?"

She smiles.

Yuuna: "Not really. The rumors are just getting out of hand. The furthest their reach extends to is Phia."

Kenta: "So, territory? They Quinduo? Is that why they're tight-lipped?" [1]

Yuuna: "They're shady, yes. But they're not on the wrong side of the law."

Kenta: "Why stay in shadows then?"

Yuuna: "A number of reasons. One of them is to protect their members from people like my father."

Kenta: "'N the patriarch?"

Yuuna: "Actually… I think it's better if you meet him. He's nothing short of amazing."

Kenta: "Meeting… I want to meet Kanna."

Yuuna: "Of course, she'd be happy to meet you. I don't know where she is currently. We were just shopping when she wandered off with her future husband, but we still live together. She'll come around if we wait at our home."

Kenta: "It's Brewer Estate, ya? Aki told me."

Yuuna: "Aki? From the Historic District? I should give her a gift for helping you."

...

Author's Notes:

[1] - The Quinduo are Ostroven's variant of the Yakuza.