When Xiǎomíng lost contact with Ryouma, he knew he had to pivot. He could still make the rescue work with his meager skills. The problem now was, where to start?
He looked at his phone, contemplating whether to contact Midoriko. If he messaged her, would she freak out? Probably. Would her freak-out affect the plan? Definitely.
Plus, there was always a chance that Ryouma could pop out of nowhere at a crucial time. He was the strongest sorcerer Xiǎomíng knew. Ryouma could hold his own and handle anything that came his way. He'd be fine… Wouldn't he?
Xiǎomíng put his phone away, deciding to tell Midoriko what happened when they met up again. For now, he had to prove his worth as an apprentice to such a powerful Master. He had to show how far he'd come.
After shedding the bellhop uniform and slipping out of the hotel, Xiǎomíng wandered out onto the streets. Sure, he could wait around for Midoriko to arrive and track her location from Ryouma's phone, but what if something went wrong with that? If there were only some other way for him to find the location…
Xiǎomíng stopped in his tracks. What if I tracked down the kidnappers instead?
When he stabbed the sorcerer with the needle infused with his qi, Xiǎomíng knew the effect was temporary. He got lucky being able to sense the guy when he returned to Osaka the night before, but surely he'd removed the needle by now. Right?
Unless it snapped off.
Xiǎomíng smiled to himself. They were very thin and fragile needles, barely thicker than a strand of human hair. He'd stabbed the guy deeply without a care for the angle, so the needle was already primed to break.
The qi in the needle would fully dissipate in a day, but there was still a chance for him to find it. Xiǎomíng closed his eyes and centered himself. He inhaled deeply, then let out a long exhale.
It was faint, but he could feel his qi resonating not far from where he was.
His feet carried him to a cocktail bar barely a fifteen-minute walk away from the hotel. It was only midday, and the posted hours indicated the place was closed. Above it were offices.
For all he knew, the needle could be in a trash can somewhere inside the building. Was the guy even in there? If he was, then what floor?
Closing his eyes again, Xiǎomíng tried to feel the resonance from the needle. Even if it did lead him to the sorcerer, there was no guarantee it would lead him to Itoko. But it was enough for him to at least try.
This doesn't seem right… Xiǎomíng furrowed his brows in confusion. He opened his eyes and scanned the building directory on the outside, looking for an answer.
"Ha! It's not there…" he mumbled to himself. He was sensing the qi underground, but the building had no basement level listed.
There was something secret down there—maybe even Itoko was down there. All he had to do was find a way in. Maybe if he hung around the building, one of Shishiba's men might even pop in or out.
Xiǎomíng's glamour wasn't perfect like his Master's was, but he'd gotten pretty good at copying other people's faces.
***
"You agreed to take me to Itoko. So why the hell are we here?" snapped Midoriko. After arriving in Nagoya, she followed Akira to the yet undisclosed location, which turned out to be a cocktail lounge at the edge of the nightlife district.
"This is the place," he said, sighing. Akira opened the door and ushered her inside. "Just act natural like you belong in this place, and follow me."
The inside was dim, lit mainly by backlighting on the bar with small table lamps no brighter than candles providing ambient light throughout the small establishment. As they walked through, Akira nodded to the bartender, who nodded back to him, giving her a sense of déjà vu from the time he'd brought her to that restaurant to meet her father. This place must be a front for something, she thought, looking around.
It was still early in the evening, so the place was only sparsely populated with customers. Were they also yakuza-affiliated? Nobody seemed to spare her and Akira a passing glance as they walked with purpose towards the back of the lounge.
He opened a door labeled "Staff Only" and led Midoriko down a service stairwell into a basement. Sitting in a folding chair next to an unmarked door was an older man in a janitor uniform, smoking a cigarette. Like he did with the bartender, Akira nodded to him too before they passed through the door.
Midoriko's jaw dropped as they stepped onto the floor of an illegal casino. It didn't appear open yet, but dealers were setting up their tables while a bartender in the corner polished glasses behind the bar.
"Keep going," Akira murmured, tugging her along. "We're not there yet."
They walked through the casino and through some double doors into a service hallway where they were immediately met with a chaotic scene.
Men were crowded around the entrance of a room, yelling. Someone yelled to make an opening, and the ones blocking the doorway parted. Two men emerged from the room carrying a third, unresponsive one.
Midoriko's stomach dropped. She shrieked Itoko's name as she flew past the men and into the room.
In the middle of a stark white room with only a toilet and a cot was Itoko, lying unconscious on the floor. Midoriko dropped to her knees at the child's side, checking for breathing and a pulse. She was still alive.
"W-wake up! Itoko, wake up!" she yelled, pulling the limp child into her arms and shaking her. Midoriko glanced up to see Akira standing in the doorway, looking pale. "Wh-what happened?! You said she was safe!"
She continued shaking Itoko while cradling her as Akira yelled at the other men standing around. Evidently, she'd attacked the man that they were hauling away before, and in the scuffle was injected with a sedative.
If it were magic, she could try to undo the spell. But what could she even do to wake the child up from a drug-induced slumber? Midoriko looked around the room helplessly until she locked in on a familiar face.
Standing near the door watching her was a young man with a familiar, round face. His hair was slicked back, and he was wearing a suit, but there was no mistaking it.
What is Xiǎomíng doing here?!
He held a finger to his lips. Was he in disguise? Was that why his presence seemed to go unnoticed amongst the others?
From a breast pocket, Xiǎomíng produced a small needle. He strode across the room with purpose, pricking the needle into the top of Itoko's head as he passed by. Then, he began cleaning up a tray of food that had spilled onto the floor as if that had been his intent from the beginning.
Midoriko looked at the needle, then looked at Xiǎomíng. He glanced over his shoulder and gave her a slight nod. She couldn't ask him what he'd done to it, or it would blow his cover. Midoriko just had to hope that it would do something.
"Please wake up," she whispered, removing the needle. Then, Itoko's eyelids started to flutter.
Itoko groaned as she rubbed her eyes. She opened them slowly, wincing from the bright overhead lights.
"M…Mi…"
"Shh. You're okay. It's okay," Midoriko cooed, hugging the child closer. She patted Itoko on the back, whispering, "Mama's here for you…"
It was a slip of the tongue, but it was something that also felt natural and right to say. Itoko was an inextricable part of her life now. They really had become family to each other.
Itoko wrapped her arms around Midoriko's neck and hugged her tightly as she began sobbing. Midoriko wanted to cry too, but when she glanced up and locked eyes with Akira, she steeled herself. If Xiǎomíng's presence was an indication that the plan had somehow gone awry, then now was not the time to show weakness.
"Wherever you're taking me next, or wherever I have to go, my child is coming with me," Midoriko stated firmly as she rose to her feet, still holding onto Itoko. "I'm not letting her out of my sight."
"Why do you care so much? You're not blood-related…" Akira clicked his tongue and ran a hand through his hair. If what she told him in prior conversations was close to the truth, she hadn't even known her for very long.
"Because I'm the only one who can give her a hug when she has a nightmare." Midoriko gazed lovingly at the crying child. "She needs me."
"Are you sure it's not the other way around?" he scoffed. Akira stepped forward, lowering his voice. "Remember, I'm a psych major. I already got a read on you a long time ago."
"And if it is?" Midoriko met his eyes, her resolve written all over her face. "Is that so wrong?"
"Fine. Do what you want," he mumbled. Akira only meant to tease her a bit, get her flustered, but she hit him with something he couldn't counter. Still, if Midoriko's goal in coming was to save the kid, nothing was stopping her from running off now.
Akira scanned the faces of the other men, singling out Goto, who was probably responsible for the whole mess they'd walked into. He grabbed the sorcerer by the ugly shirt he was wearing. "You're coming with us to help with the brat."
"N-no! N-no way, man! N-nuh-uh!" With a shell-shocked expression, Goto shook his head rapidly.
"Fuckin' seriously?" Akira spat. He shook the man slightly. "Get it together! She's just a little kid!"
All at once, the men who were gathered around rushed to Goto's defense. They all had witnessed the girl's power first-hand, or at least the aftermath of it, and were now in terrified awe.
"Is there anyone here who isn't a coward?" Akira shouted, pushing Goto away as he let go of him.
"I'll do it."
From behind Midoriko, a young man in a suit stood up. He set the tray of food mess he'd been quietly cleaning up down on the cot in the cell. There was something really familiar about him.
"Do I know you?" asked Akira, narrowing his eyes.
Midoriko, caught in between the two of them, looked back and forth between the two men.
"Th-that's one of Shishiba's guys," Goto stammered. "I think his name is… Uh…"
"Yamada," the new guy said, stepping forward.
"Huh? Really?" Akira furrowed his brow. It was a little strange that Shishiba would employ someone who looked so young. But from what he knew about him, the man also liked to hand-pick individuals based on one thing. "...Are you a sorcerer?"
"I am." He nodded, then swept his arm in a low arc. Goto dropped to the floor like he'd been tripped.
Akira cleared his throat to mask his amusement at the demonstration. It still bothered him that he couldn't quite place this Yamada guy, but maybe it would come to him later. Akira motioned for him to follow as he ushered Midoriko out of the cell.
"Where are we going now?" she called out, trailing behind Akira down the long service hallway in the opposite direction from where they came.
"We can't bring a child through the bar. It's too suspicious," Akira explained. "There's an exit at the other end of this hallway that leads out to a parking garage." He held up his phone. "I just let them know to have a car waiting for us."
Midoriko looked over her shoulder at Xiǎomíng, who gave her a reassuring nod. She was sure he would get them out of there when the time was right.