3.16: Goths at the Gate

The moment Natalia named the price and Ume accepted it, something in her shifted. The ache Sumire had left behind did not vanish. It simply got shoved to one side by something important to get done, something brighter.

This was business… work.

She set her cup down, already reaching for her phone.

“I need to make a call,” she said, her little fangs peeking out when she smiled.

Rui watched her, still holding her own cup. Her jaw dropped for a moment.

Then she smiled, not in a mocking way, almost admiringly.

She stepped out of the kitchen and into the hall, her phone pressed to her ear. By the time the first call connected, her voice had changed. It was brisk now. Alert and businesslike.

“I need a shack renovated quickly,” she said. “With vampire strength and ingenuity, we should be able to open a new shop here in no time flat.”

A delighted noise answered her through the receiver.

Ume smiled wider and gave the address.

“Come through the street side,” she added. “Do not enter the shrine at the front of the house. I mean it. Just stay away from it or we’ll annoy them off right away.”

That warning sobered them at once.

Good. They took my warning seriously!

She gave the same instructions to the next person, then the next. By the time she ended the fourth call, her heart was already beating faster.

Yes. This is good! If I can’t follow Sumire around and smell her give off those scents that I love so much and cling to her, then I’ll build something useful to us.

When she turned, Rui was still standing there in the hall, watching her.

“What?” Ume asked.

Rui’s smile deepened a little. “You switch modes so fast.”

Ume put a finger to her lips and gave her a coy little tilt of the head. “I’m more complicated than I seem.”

Rui snorted in response.

Ume took that as approval and hurried for the back.

The yard behind the ryokan opened around her with a hush the front of the property didn’t have, given that there was a whole Shinto shrine out there. Fox statues flanked the path in the same way any time she looked at them. The one in the center hid the portal to the yōkai world so neatly that someone could look straight at it and miss what it truly was. Ginkgo trees stood around the yard, their leaves stirring above in the mild daylight. Beyond them, pressed up against the far wall, was the structure Natalia had meant.

Now that Ume was actually looking at it, she could not believe she had overlooked it when they first arrived.

The shack looked older than the ryokan house Natalia had gifted them. Its boards were weathered. The roof sagged a little on one side. Dust and age sat on it in plain view. But the building was otherwise solid at a glance. The door on this side still hung straight. And if Natalia was right, there was another door on the far side that opened onto the street.

Rui came after her with quick steps.

Ume did speak to her, because she was already moving, already circling the structure, already measuring it with her eyes.

“This could work out,” she murmured.

She rushed over and tried the door.

It opened with a complaining groan.

CREEEAK

“I think we found a new Old Screamy.” Ume said lightly, entering.

Rui snorted. “Then we should keep this door screaming. I can’t think of anything more appropriate for one of your shops.”

Ume flashed Rui one of her fangy grins, focusing on inspecting the premises.

Dust hit her first and she sneezed. The wood was definitely old, maybe as old as her. It was filled with the stale smell of a place that had sat ignored for too long.

Ume stepped inside.

Rui followed because she had nothing else to start on yet. Not until Ume handed over the maneki nekos that were part of the deal that she’d made with Natalia.

The shack was cluttered with too much old junk. Some of it might be antiques that she could find a use for or sell. There were broken shelves, crates, a cracked stool, rusting hooks, rolled mats that had not been touched in years. But under all of that mess, Ume saw the bones of something with great potential quickly.

The floor needed work, but wouldn’t need a full replacement. The walls would have to be opened up in places. The windows were too rude and small. She would want better light inside, if she was going to give off a different mood from her main shop. She kept that store dark for various reasons. The poltergeists generally preferred it that way. She might move a few in here with some relics that they haunted and they wouldn’t be happy in a sunnier shop, she had different clientele to target here.

She'd definitely need better shelves and plenty of counter space. A proper rear area for storing inventory and a cleaner front. It had to be inviting without losing what made it her shop.

She moved from corner to corner, touching things, crouching to inspect the boards, then standing to judge the height and depth.

“This wall can come out some,” she said. “I hope Natalia won’t mind if I take a little more of the space inside the fence. I need places to store my inventory.”

Rui leaned against a post and watched her. “Maybe. She didn’t say you couldn’t. If she complains, we’ll deal with it later.” Rui smirked and winked.

“Yes.” Ume glanced back at Rui and flashed her a grin. “This place has to change a lot. I need room to display what I’m selling to people on the street and lure them in.”

“What are you going to put in the windows?” Rui asked, curious. “Some of those dolls and... oh. The maneki nekos. Those would be perfect.”

Ume nodded. “Some of those, yes. Four of them are yours, of course.”

“I’ll probably just use their paws, but maybe I’ll work more of them into the design,” Rui muttered, thinking. “Something cute. Something that would suit her. I can’t stop thinking about how she was in the dream world. I wonder if part of her still likes cute things.”

“I’m sure she does,” Ume said, beaming. “Yuna’s wish to become a doctor never left me. It’s just sitting in the back of my mind and heart now. I’ll put all of that into this shop.”

“Mm. Riko didn’t have the grand dreams that Yuna did. She was just me with bigger boobs.” Rui sighed.

“Yeah… I know what you mean. But Riko was a little different. She was very motivated when it came to chasing Sumire.” Ume nodded.

“And I still am. I guess I still have some of Riko in me. She was different from me in one way. She talked about sharing like Yuna did, but that was mostly because Aoi didn’t want to share any parts of Sumire. Remember the beach when we were putting on sunscreen?”

Ume winced and shook her head. “Yes. It was painful to see how selfish she was being, but in retrospective, I understand it. She didn’t have much time left. She was just making the most of what little life she was given.” 

Rui nodded and sighed.

For the next hour or so, she explored every inch of the place. She checked the street door screamed like the first and found Natalia had been right. It opened onto the other side of the compound wall, making it a great way to come and go from the compound.

That alone made the building more useful. Customers could come in the front and deliveries could be brought straight through. If she stocked remedies, tools, charms, curatives, and all the stranger little things people might want around here but did not always want to be seen buying, the layout was perfect.

This really is ideal!

But I might need to knock down a part of the fence to the side of the building to provide a direct way to enter the house without going through my new shop.

Rui stayed close, sometimes helping her move something heavy out of the way, sometimes simply listening while Ume talked herself through possibilities.

“I’ll put a counter along there,” Ume said, pointing.

Rui looked. “Near the door to the street?”

“Mm. That way I can greet customers quickly and some shelving here in the window behind. I’ll put the storage in the back by the rear door. I’ll make it less of a straight passthrough so that people won’t wander into our home by accident. Maybe I’ll set up a little room with a table for consultations too.” Ume paused. “Not like a pharmacy exactly, but some privacy. Things that people want to cure are sometimes things that they don’t want to show to others. Something just enough for people to sit and explain what they need.”

“You’re really doing this the right way!” Rui said, grinning. “It’s awesome that our businesses will be right next to each other!”

“Right!” Ume flashed her fangy grin.

“You got over moping over losing Sumire’s pheromones to get a fix quickly.”

Ume shot her an annoyed look.

“I am still on the inside,” she said. “I am simply moping in a more productive way.”

That made Rui laugh.

They were still inside when Ume heard the first engine pull up.

Then another.

Then more.

Voices shouted and car doors opened. Boots hit the pavement. There was the clattering of tools shifting in tool chests and against each other in work belts. The air was filled with the unmistakable swell of too many people having arrived all at once.

Ume’s eyes lit up.

“They’re here!”

She darted through the street-side door and out onto the other side.

Rui came with her and stopped dead.

Trucks had pulled up outside, more than one, packed with lumber, pipes, hardware, paint, glass, fixtures, rolls of material, boxes of tools, and things Ume had not even asked for yet but was already glad to see.

And her followers all stood at attention, bowing as one.

They had come in a flock.

Some wore severe Victorian black with lace and velvet. Some leaned harder into goth grunge with boots, layered skirts, chains, heavy coats, and dark makeup. Some showed their fangs when they grinned. Others hid them neatly behind pretty lips and polite smiles. But every last one of them were ready to work.

“Lady Ume!”

“Good afternoon!”

“We brought everything we’ll need to fix this place up!”

“We brought extra supports too!”

“We were not sure how bad it would be, so we overprepared!”

Rui stared openly this time. Her jaw dropped.

“Your followers are really something else,” she said. “They’ll really do anything for you, won’t they?”

Ume put one hand on her hip, winked, and struck a charming pose.

“Almost. I’m like an idol for them, as I’ve said.”

A cheer went up at once.

Hands flew into the air. A few of them waved with the enthusiasm of devoted otaku at a stage event.

Rui barked out a laugh.

Ume basked in it for a second, then clapped her hands once.

“Listen carefully, everyone. The shrine at the front of the property is off limits. Do not go near it. Do not look around it. Do not wander there. The work is right here. Understood?”

A much more disciplined chorus answered her.

“Yes, Lady Ume.”

“Good. Then let’s begin.”

And they did.

Rui had seen vampires do impossible things before. Even so, the speed of their work made her stare.

The old shack came apart in chunks. Rotten boards got torn free and tossed aside. Junk that would have taken ordinary people several trips to move got carried out like it weighed nothing. Support beams went in. Walls opened up.

Ume directed traffic, pointing out what she wanted and correcting them sometimes when something looked wrong. 

Shelves got measured and cut. The sound of saws filled the air as wood was processed and routered. A few of them even added some elegant touches by etching designs into the wood. The old floor was lifted in sections and reinforced. Windows were removed and replaced with larger ones. Glass came in. Paint got opened. Nails, screws, brackets, hinges, and tools flashed in capable goth hands.

The work was fast, but it was not completed recklessly or slapdash.

That was what impressed Rui most.

No one got in each other’s way. They worked with perfect teamwork like some kind of a hive mind. No one fumbled. They moved like they had done this kind of work together before numerous times, passing materials among each other, checking angles, lifting, holding, fastening, hauling things, all with a buttery smoothness that made the whole thing look almost absurdly professional.

Ume moved through them at the center of it, pointing, correcting, approving, changing her mind when she saw something better. Her little red bows bobbed above her dark purple twin-tails every time she turned her head. Her green eyes were bright. Her excitement came off her in waves.

Inside the compound, Natalia watched with a small contented smile.

Fifteen minutes later, after one phone call by Natalia, a delivery service arrived with cases of refreshments stacked neatly in the back. Bluud and Bluud Lite for everyone that drank blood.

That pleased the goths even more.

The workers who were between tasks opened cans, laughing and chatting merrily while the others kept going. A few of them waved toward Natalia through the open doorway. She stood near the construction area and watched with the sort of composed satisfaction that made it clear she had known this would happen when she offered. None of it disturbed her, not even when the goths knocked down a portion of the fence and installed a decorative gate that they carved on the spot.

Then her phone beeped.

BEEP

Natalia glanced down.

Her expression changed at once.

She had been waiting for this.

She opened the message to read it.

しのはらすみれ304: I got a phone. I made a new email too

Natalia replied so quickly that, for a moment, she could almost picture Sumire staring at the screen.

きゅうびのひかり: Good

きゅうびのひかり: Send me your number

きゅうびのひかり: And your new email address

The answer came back right away.

しのはらすみれ304: 090-XXXX-XXXX

しのはらすみれ304: [email protected]

There was barely any pause at all.

きゅうびのひかり: Saved

きゅうびのひかり: Send me your address the moment you have one

きゅうびのひかり: Buy what you need first

きゅうびのひかり: Do not be stubborn about essentials

Natalia smiled at the screen. She could almost see the faint blush that message would put onto Sumire’s face.

しのはらすみれ304: I’ll try not to be

A few seconds passed and she replied for the last time.

きゅうびのひかり: Don’t hesitate

Natalia beamed.

A second later she was moving.

She leaped lightly, landed atop the compound fence where its little tiled roof ran along the wall so that she wouldn’t bother the goths that were installing the gate to the side, then walked along it with the same easy grace she brought to everything else. From there she stepped down beside Rui and Ume where they were watching as though she had simply descended a grand staircase.

“Sumire just got her phone,” she said. “She’ll be looking for an apartment next.”

Rui whipped around so fast that one of Ume’s followers nearly dropped a plank, yelling, “Oh! Give me her phone number!”

“Me too,” Ume said at once, flashing a fangy grin.

Natalia laughed.

“Not yet.”

“Aww. Stingy.” Ume pouted.

“I need to stay in touch with my detective,” Rui complained. “Fork it over.”

“Not yet,” Natalia said again. “I want her to have some peace for these four days. If something comes up, I’ll let you know. It’s only good news right now. I wonder if Akuchi will report anything.”

Rui folded her arms. “She probably won’t say anything. She’ll just hog whatever she gets of her and pretend she spent the time wandering around the city like she used to.”

“Most likely,” Ume said, nodding.

“Sumire herself will tell us what she’s been up to sooner or later,” Natalia said. “We should visit her when we have things together for her.”

Rui looked back toward the shack, where shelves were already going in.

“We have four days to get things fixed up and ready.”

Natalia nodded. “Do you think you can handle it?”

Rui let out a slow breath.

“I don’t know. Once I have those Maneki Nekos, I’m not sure what I’ll do, but I’ll study Dad’s books and see if I can at least get the crafting aspect of things mastered.”

Natalia’s smile warmed. “I’ll help with that. If part of crafting relics requires spiritual power, I can assist, plus I’m a crafter myself.”

Rui looked at her and gave a short nod.

“Thanks, Natalia. Maybe we can throw something together in time at this pace.”

Special thanks to PrincessArylin, ShinjiHinako, Assurbanipal II (Achan) for beta reading book three! <3

Illustrations Disclaimer: Locations aren't always 100% canon. Usually they are only representative. Character features and styles may stray a little now and again.

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