Chapter Text
Yuuma hated Gensokyo. The neighboring city was too clean, too smiley. Too many bright white teeth showing for something that stood next to the Realm. It simply wasn't honest with itself like her home was.
Which made it perfect for her to hide out in.
Yachie, Saki, and Chiyari were probably looking for her, though by the time she made it to the outskirts of Gensokyo, maybe they had stopped. It wasn't particularly easy to get into Gensokyo most ways, but Yuuma's driver knew a route to bypass the toll booths and she did the rest on foot. Just to clear her head.
They had royally pissed her off and were on thin ice. The best they could do now was wait for her to cool off. And she'd make them wait. Wait until it sank into their thick skulls just how much they fucked up.
It wasn't easy, being the head of a family in the Realm. There was a reason why the cities were collectively called the "Animal" Realm. It was a dog eat dog place where you had to play the game with a gun under your pillow. But for a while now, it had been relatively stable.
Until those nimrods decided to pull a risky move and accidentally got her scouts involved, putting them all at risk for prosecution. It was probably the worst event in years, but maybe not topping the one about seven years ago, which...
The less she thought about the better.
Enraged, she had declared:
"I need a fuckin' smoke!" And ran out before they could say anything further.
Thinking about it now, she had to laugh.
"Keh-heh-heh... They've probably realized how screwed they are without me now." She idly kicked a can that had been laying on the sidewalk. "Buuuut, a quick meal can't hurt~"
Scratching her head, then trying to get her fingers untangled from her curly white hair, Yuuma tried to remember if she had seen any place that caught her eye.
"... I think I saw some Lamprey back there... And maybe a Scarlet Devil..."
Frustrated, she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, trying to decide what she wanted.
"... Fuck, it all sounds good. Maybe I'll make more than one stop..."
She had stopped to think, ignoring the people brushing past her. She had enough sense to know danger and Gensokyo really had nothing on her.
So it was surprising when a small kid ran into her.
Immediately, she grabbed the kid by the collar before they could stumble away. She then held the kid in front of her and looked them over.
It was a young girl, wearing a red and white dress with a mop of messy brown hair under a green cap.
Yuuma raised an eyebrow and thought, ‘Wow. This kid sucks at pickpocketing.’
Perhaps she didn't know who Yuuma was; they did try to keep a low profile outside of the Realm, after all. Still, still! She was matriarch of the Gouyoku Alliance. She couldn't exactly forgive the girl.
So Yuuma clicked her tongue and glared at her.
“What the hell was that, kid?”
The girl looked startled before settling into a guilty expression.
“S-sorry… I got excited.”
“Excited? Do I look like an easy target or somethin’?”
The girl tilted her head.
“What do you mean?”
Yuuma sighed and rubbed her eyes.
“Alright. Fuck my bleedin’ heart,” she mumbled. “Where are your parents?”
“Oh! Yeah!” The girl brightened up. “Mom and I are going out to eat!”
… Ok, so she wasn't a pickpocket. They usually played up the orphan card when they were young. At least, she definitely remembered doing that.
“Sorry for bumping into you…” The kid practically deflated. “P-please don't tell Mom, she doesn't like it when I get overexcited…”
“Hey, I'm no nark.” Yuuma chuckled and let go of her collar. “Just don't do that again. I just happened to be a nice person, keh-heh-heh.”
“Okay!” The girl beamed and stood there smiling at Yuuma for a second.
“... You uh… need something?” Yuuma snorted. “Shouldn't you go on with your Mom?”
“Yeah! Mom, Mom! Let's-” She turned around and froze. Immediately, Yuuma felt her excitement fade. “... Uh oh.”
“Lemme guess, you can't see her, can you?” Yuuma grumbled and looked around. The streets of Gensokyo were nothing compared to the Realm, but she supposed it was big for a kid. “Got carried away, huh?”
The girl sniffled and Yuuma winced. She moved to take a look and yup, the girl was close to crying.
“Shit, shit, hang on! Don't cry!” Yuuma sighed as the girl wiped her eyes. “Alright, fuck… Look, kid, we'll find your mom, okay?”
“Okay…”
“Alright.” Yuuma looked at her wearily before holding out her hand. “What's your name, kid?”
“C-Chen…” She mumbled and took her hand.
Yuuma snorted and started walking.
“What? Mom tell you to avoid strangers?”
“Yeah!” Chen nodded.
“Yet here you are.”
“Well, if you told me your name, you wouldn't be a stranger!”
“... Maybe I should have a talk with your mom.”
“What is your name, then?” Chen laughed.
“Yuuma. Yuuma Toutetsu, kid.”
“Nice to meet you, Miss Yuuma!”
“Well, at least you're polite, keh-heh-heh!”
Chen laughed along with her, though she probably didn't get it. Gensokyo was a different place. Yuuma only hoped she wouldn't get accused of kidnapping.
She might be a part of organized crime, but her specialty was her connections. Mostly, she rules the food industry going in and out of the Realm. The other two were similar, enforcing their own rules and cultures in their own parts of the Realm. They wouldn't touch the rancid side of crime with a ten-foot pole. In fact, she was pretty sure she executed a guy for that.
As she tried to remember what that death was about, the girl tugged on her.
“There she is!”
Yuuma blinked and let her go, allowing her to run over to a blonde woman.
“Chen!”
“Mom!”
The woman knelt down to lift the girl in a hug, sighing in relief.
“Don't do that to me!”
“Sorry… I got excited!”
She sighed again before smiling.
“I understand… but you need to be safe.”
“I was, Mom! Miss Yuuma helped me!”
The woman froze and slowly turned to look over at Yuuma.
And it was like she was staring at a memory, twisted by time.
“... Ran?”
“... Yuuma?”
Emotions, long since abandoned, stirred uncomfortably within her. Questions buzzing like a beehive in her heart. She just started with the obvious and pointed at Chen.
"Your kid?"
Ran nervously looked around before nodding.
"... Didn't... take you for a kid person."
"I… uh…"
Chen looked curiously between the two before she gasped and settled on Yuuma.
"You're friends with Mom?!"
Yuuma started, trying to swallow the questions rolling in her throat.
“S-something like that.”
"Let's not bother her, Chen. Time to go home."
Chen looked back at her mother, betrayed.
"B-but you said we can go out together!"
"Maybe on my next day off."
"But that's forever from now!"
The more Yuuma looked, the more differences she could see in Ran.
The streak in her hair had been washed out. The piercings were removed. Her outfit and hair more aligned with an office worker than the clever fox she was.
But, what really stuck out were the bags under her eyes. Telling more to the story of Ran, alone, taking her child out on her day off.
Yuuma frowned. She didn't like that tired look on her old friend.
"Hey, now, you don't have to stop on my account." She raised her hands in peace and shook her head. "You wanna spend all the time you can with her, right?"
Ran hesitated, getting a chuckle from Yuuma. “I came here to blow off some steam, and you know what that means.”
“Yuuma…”
“I was plannin' on eatin’ too! So come and join me!”
“I'm… I'm not…”
“Can we, Mom?” Chen frowned. “She helped!”
Ran looked around before frowning at Yuuma.
“It's just you?”
“Just me.”
“... Alright.”
Chen cheered and Yuuma walked over, noting how Ran moved Chen away. It stung.
“Think of it as… a long overdue congrats.”
“... Nothing more.”
“We'll deal with the minefield later,” Yuuma snickered and patted Ran's back. “Now it's just about you and me.”
“I'm here!” Chen frowned at her.
Yuuma and Ran both laughed together and she wondered if Ran thought of it as melodic.
“Yes, of course, Chen.” Ran pressed a kiss to her head. “We couldn't forget you.”
They eventually decided on a diner they had just stumbled across, and Yuuma processed the information she had learned on the way as they waited for their food.
Chen had just turned seven and started school. A little more than seven years ago, the incident happened.
Yuuma quickly turned her attention to her food once they got it. The chicken was a little bland, but that was probably just her. Her taste buds never did heal properly after she was dared to drink hot oil. Another reason to be mad at Saki and Yachie, but she still found it a bit too funny.
She did a lot of stupid shit back when she was younger. She could only imagine what Ran “the Nine-Tails”’ kid was gonna get up to.
Right now though, the girl was more absorbed into eating her food as quickly as possible.
Yuuma chuckled.
“Big eater, huh?”
Ran hesitated, god did Yuuma hate that, before nodding.
“Yes, well…” She sighed heavily, though it was with a smile. “She has to get all that energy from somewhere . Jumping around, climbing the curtains and bookshelves…”
“Sounds like fun.”
Ran looked at her incredulously and Chen beamed.
“It is!” She frowned slightly as Ran took a napkin and wiped away a stain on her cheek. “Miss Yukari says I’m like a cat.”
“Yukari?”
Ran nodded and moved away to allow her kid to continue her onslaught of the greasy food.
“A… new friend. She babysits Chen when she’s not busy.”
“Oh.” Yuuma poked her food with her fork and tried to hide her curiosity. Pushing would only make Ran push back, she knew from experience. “How’ve you been with all that?”
“All that?”
“I mean, having a kid.” Yuuma frowned and threw away the pretense, “you look tired.”
“I work late most nights,” Ran explained.
“Where? I can’t imagine you bein’ anywhere else but-”
“A law firm.” Ran smiled as Yuuma laughed. “I know. I got the job on my boss’ whim, but it’s been nice. Pays well.”
“Glad to see you’re not dead, keh-heh-heh.” She chugged the beer she ordered. “Yet you look dead on your feet!”
“Yes… well…” Ran glanced over at Chen, who was trying to imitate Yuuma. “Things are… hectic. Thankfully Miss Yakumo is so nice to occasionally help, but she’s a busy woman…”
“Need a babysitter?”
Ran threw her a challenging look. The Ran she knew would have laughed out loud. The difference stung. “I mean, I could help out.”
“You?”
“I’m serious! I wouldn’t mind pickin’ her up from school or hangin’ out with her.”
“That’s… not what I’m worried about.”
“I’ll keep it under wraps! It’s not like I’m about to take her back to the Realm or somethin’. You have any idea how much they’d tease me? They’d think I’ve gone soft!”
Ran played with her food for a moment before Yuuma continued, “C’mon, it’s me. You know I wouldn’t do anything to your kid, and I know you still trust me.”
“What makes you think that?” She mumbled.
Yuuma just chuckled and gestured around them.
“We’re talkin’, aren’t we? You let me stick around with your kid.”
“You were getting food too,” Ran tried. “It’s only common sense to let you foot the bill.”
“Hey.”
She smiled before turning to Chen.
“What do you think?”
The girl hummed, over-exaggerating the wait before she grinned at Yuuma.
“She’s cool!” Chen declared with a wave of her fork.
“Aw, thanks, kid!”
“Hm… I’ll think about it.” Ran chuckled and Yuuma hoped the fondness in her voice wasn’t just for her daughter. “I’ll let you know.”
“I wasn’t goin’ to leave without your new number anyway.”
“I know.” She smiled at Yuuma and it felt genuine. “You stubborn goat.”