"Good." Umeda was seriously confident in most situations, but when things started to get personal, he sometimes . . . flubbed. The conversational hand was taken up gratefully and he sipped his drink, blush fading a bit. He still couldn't meet Jim's eyes yet.

"Research. If I can get access to a lab, I can try to figure out what's in them. If not, I can at least observe the effects on people to try and figure out a counter or a cure." He sighed, closing his eyes, "I'm not really qualified for that kinda stuff, but I know the basics of how to go about it. Not much call for medical research when you take care of kids. But . . ." But as much as he postured about not liking anyone, Umeda was a huge softie. He wanted to help people, and he knew he was already in way the hell over his head.