[attr="class","text"]

Seb's explanation flowed from his lips so smoothly that Yumi wasn't sure if his words were a lie or the truth. She eyed him keenly even after he stopped speaking, wondering how much he was hiding. But it seemed she wouldn't get much more out of him that night — not from conversation, anyway.[break][break]

"You do seem to know how to take care of a lady," Yumi commented at last, her words vague, her smile shrewd. "At least in public. Let's see how you do in private, hmm?"[break][break]

Because that had been the goal, in the end. Dinner had just been foreplay, a way for her to see if the man across the table was worth the remaining hours of the night.[break][break]

The waitress returned with the receipt for Seb to sign. As he handled it, Yumi gathered her coat and scarf to bundle herself up against the winter chill.[break][break]

"I don't live very far," she said as they walked toward the exit. She slipped her arm through his and drew close, leaning into his body as a hint of what was to come. "We can take the taxi."

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

Yumi smiled. The route was progressing nicely, as the Crown Prince seemed enraptured by her now. Her dark eyes flicked over the new set of options before she tapped one with confidence.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

Yumi sighed loudly as they waited for the trap to spring, displeased with how the expedition had gone. She had expected mysterious and interesting encounters, certainly, but nothing as disgusting as a cavernous stomach full of digestive acid and disintegrated Ultra Beasts. She felt miserable, the humidity clinging to her skin, the pungent stench of rot settling into her clothes.[break][break]

She never felt more grateful than when the trap clanged shut. "Finally!"[break][break]

The tiny Poipole caught within it did not look worth the whole endeavor, but she wasn't about to complain in front of her superiors. Instead, she recalled Shinju into a Pokéball, ready to leave as soon as possible.[break][break]

The sound of Ultra Beasts entering the chamber was all the urging Yumi needed to dart after Gavin's Nihilego, who, unbeknownst to her, was leading them toward a decidedly more disgusting tract of the digestive system.[break][break]

But she'd find out soon enough.[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

"Shinju, use HEAL PULSE, please," Yumi instructed. The Hattrem made a small noise of determination before bathing the four humans and Lugia in her healing. Yumi felt the sting of the acidic mist that had touched her eyes abate.[break][break]

At the mention of the trap, she unshouldered the backpack she wore (a designer brand, of course) and pulled out the disassembled device. Before leaving Sootopolis, she'd learned how to put it together and take it back apart. Now she set it up with practiced ease.[break][break]

However, she didn't quite understand how the device worked, so once it was in place, she stepped back from it. Instinctively, she looked up at Temp, who'd suggested using the trap in the first place.[break][break]

"What now?"

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

A stomach?![break][break]

Yumi wanted to vomit, but that would that completely ruin her superiors' image of her as a refined young lady. So she forced down the bile at the back of her throat and focused instead on the way Lugia, dark and sleek as an arrow, blew away the bubbles that impeded their path.[break][break]

But then some burst, threatening to rain down acid upon their group. Yumi hauled herself backward as far as she dared, then released her Hattrem from a Pokéball.[break][break]

"Did anyone get splashed? Shinju can heal," she offered, hoping to seem resourceful.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

Yumi listened to each man with a respectful seriousness. After all, Gavin and Bee held high positions of power within Team Rocket, and Tempest was the Underboss' husband. Arrogant as she was, she understood well the dynamics of power.[break][break]

And besides, the dangers of the Ultra Deep Sea seemed to set even these powerful and experienced men on edge. She would be a fool not to heed them.[break][break]

"I see," was all she said to the barrage of information.[break][break]

The pungent smell and the fleshy walls of the cavern they were exploring nearly made her gag. She clamped a hand over her nose, and her brow furrowed with obvious disgust.[break][break]

"Ugh, this place is so gross," Yumi complained, shrinking away from the walls. She followed Gavin and his Nihilego, her curiosity about the Ultra Beast warring with the knowledge that wild, aggressive ones prowled the realm.[break][break]

The group passed through a smaller side tunnel, only to emerge into an enormous chamber with a vast lake in its center. However, Yumi thought there was something strange about the color of the liquid. Instead of the dark or murky blue of water, it was a pale green-yellow.[break][break]

Yumi squinted, suspicious, before pointing into the lake. "Are those… bones?"[break][break]

Indeed, the half-digested flesh and bones of several large Ultra Beasts sat in the center of the lake, exuding the nasty odor that had only grown stronger as they'd approached.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

Yumi gave Gavin a solemn nod. Her first voyage into Ultra Deep Sea meant she was unaware of its myriad dangers, though she'd spent the last night read what reports she'd managed to acquire. All the details had seemed to fantastical, including the descriptions of the landscape. Yet they were exactly as outlined in the documents.[break][break]

It fascinated her, this curious world. Between the distant yet all-encompassing heartbeat sound to the curious flora and fauna, Yumi could not tear her eyes away from it all.[break][break]

She'd read about the Queastor Lucis, too. A shipwreck. Were there others? What riches dwelled in their cavernous hulls? She imagined wealth beyond comprehension, whether it came in the form of alien technology, rare Pokémon, or valuable materials.[break][break]

If their group did encounter any such resources, Yumi resolved to request permission to take some back with them.[break][break]

"What sort of symptoms are common?" she asked, turning her mind back to the hallucinations Gavin mentioned. He, his husband, and Admin Bee had all traveled to Ultra Deep Sea before; only she was unfamiliar with the effects of the world on its visitors.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

Yumi was a keen observer of people. She learned to pick up on little details as part of her training in marketing and public relations. So when Sebastian stopped speaking before he finished his sentence, she honed in on it immediately.[break][break]

And what she'd heard caused her to burst out in incredulous laughter.[break][break]

"I'm sorry, what was that? 'Better suited to serve than to' — what? Were you about to say 'rule'?" she asked, knowing she was likely pushing a boundary and not caring one bit. Making others uncomfortable was exactly the sort of person she was.[break][break]

What was the likelihood she'd run into royalty on an ice skating rink in Hoenn? But as ridiculous as that notion seemed, it did explain a lot of what Sebastian had shared with her that night. The wealth. The arranged marriage. The confidence that he could simply run away and remake his life.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

There it was. The word Yumi had dreading: date.[break][break]

But it's a date was common slang. That didn't mean Parker actually intended to take Yumi out on one. Still, Yumi couldn't deny that Parker had come all the way from wherever-she-lived just to deliver a crockpot of soup.[break][break]

Humming noncommittally, Yumi lay back down on the couch, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself. She'd think about it more later, when her head didn't feel so heavy and her body didn't ache from illness. Closing her eyes, she listened to Parker wash the bowl and spoon, then walk through the living room to leave.[break][break]

"Bye," Yumi called out when she heard the door swing open. "Thanks for the soup."

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

The House of Glaus' flagship store in Slateport City was one of Yumi's favorite places in the entire region. She visited at least once a month to admire velda glaus's new designs and purchase a new item for her wardrobe.[break][break]

Unfortunately, due to her meager salary, she couldn't afford more frequent trips. Yumi promised herself, however, that would change. Between her legitimate work for vincenzo de luca's hotel and her seedier enterprises with BARNABY FINCH, she was well positioned to accumulate the wealth she deserved one day.[break][break]

Good things come to those who seize them, she told herself again and again.[break][break]

At present, however, Yumi was contemplating whether she should seize a gorgeous new blouse for herself. The fabric was exquisite silk, the cut popular in the Spring/Summer 2023 catalogue. So engrossed was she in the clothing's design that she didn't notice the other customer in the shop until she'd nearly walked into him.[break][break]

"Watch where you're going!" she snapped, even though she'd been the distracted one.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]

[attr="class","text"]

"Not exactly arranged," Yumi said, her dark gaze noting Sebastian's expert use of the chopsticks and feeling a secret, inner pleasure. It meant he hadn't been bluffing about spending considerable time in Johto. "My parents hadn't once mentioned marriage to me in such specific terms — not before that moment, anyway."[break][break]

Her grilled salmon was delicious, the meat flaking apart with a light touch of her chopsticks. The rice and soup were piping hot, the latter's broth full of umami flavor.[break][break]

"I always grew up with the impression I was free to marry whoever I wanted," Yumi admitted. "But honestly, I don't really care to get married. I doubt most men could handle being married to me."[break][break]

It wasn't a self-deprecating jab. No, she'd said it with pride.[break][break]

"Is that what you want, though? A romance?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she watched Sebastian.

[attr="class","ooc"][break]