Lost & Found (Ukai x OC)

-1-

With a loud thunk, a cardboard moving box landed on the floor of Koemi's living room, more precisely - her new and, up until now, rather sparsely furnished living room. A room that was yet to receive its new resident's personal touch.

Much to the delight of the raven-haired curly head, who turned out to be said new resident that hadn't found the time yet to deal with the non-essential aspects of moving, mainly due to a lack of time and nerves, this box was the last one waiting for her to unpack its contents after an entire day of running to and fro between her overstuffed car and her new, yet empty house with one box after another, one heavier than the previous one.

After having the marvellous pleasure of spending the entire day with transporting and unpacking these boxes available in all sizes and weight classes imaginable, Koemi was certain that she'd developed an aversion for everything made of cardboard or close to that dull brown colour.

The woman let out a strained sigh to express the crushing exhaustion that was weighing down on her tired body and mind by now before she reluctantly let herself sink down on the floor, snatching the bottle of beer that single-handedly represented her moving company to take a sip. Reaching for the scissors, that were fortunately within her range, preventing her from any additional and strenuous movement, she opened the box with a precise move, one she had managed to bring to perfection during today.

Knowing that the end of this day full of lifting boxes, sorting out their contents, and finding a suitable place for everything in the house, was finally in sight, a silver lining looming on the dull brown horizon made of cardboard, Koemi started to unpack the last remainder of her property, silently muttering a thank you as the box's mysterious content was revealed as books, simple and uncomplicated, just waiting to be put on the shelf in her study.

Not even ten minutes later, the woman was standing in her living room, hands placed on her hips, as she examined the results of her effort, pleased with the outcome of her amateurish handwork and relieved that she was finally done with it.

The house wasn't spacious. A living room with an open kitchen attached, a study, in which she could retreat for her work, a bathroom, and a bedroom. It was simple, it was plain. Yet, it was all she needed right now. It was her own place. For her, who would have already been content with a rented, shabby room, this was more than she'd expected to find in such a short span of time.

For now, this was her own personal sanctuary.

But her special moment of dwelling on the joy caused by her new home didn't last long. The vibration of her phone in her pocket tore her from her bundle of content thoughts and forced her back into reality, causing her to remember how tired she actually was.

Stifling a yawn, she slipped her phone out of her jeans and squinted at it, only to almost suffer from a heart attack as she recognized the number on the screen as the one belonging to her new workplace. Doing a quick double-take at the time displayed on her phone, doubts started to manifest in her mind. It couldn't possibly be someone from work at this time of the day.

However, not wanting to risk losing her new job before she'd even had her first day of work, she answered the call, "Hello? Hayashi Koemi here. What can I do for you?"

"Ah Hayashi! I'm glad that I was able to get a hold of you at this time. I'm sorry for the late call. I was actually supposed to call you this afternoon, but well, work got in the way. Long story short - I simply forgot it. I'm sorry! I hope I don't bother you right now", the male voice on the other end of the call rambled hectically.

She was slightly surprised that she'd seemed to be right with her assumption about the caller's ID, but eventually, she was as clueless as before, "Uhm, yeah. No, what I mean is - you don't bother me right now, but...who am I talking to?"