Inazuma City, Escher, and the Mikage Furnace
"C'mon! I bet you've never had tempura and tonkotsu ramen!" Akari gushed as he dragged Kabukimono through the streets of Inazuma City. "Ooooh, what about dango? Or this chazuke special?"
The flustered puppet awkwardly nodded in apology at the woman he had bumped into. Despite having spent hours at sea in a boat to cross in the main city, he bore only the slightest hint of ocean breeze and salts.
"Excuse me! Can you get a plate of dango, two unagi chazuke, and the shrimp tempura?" The energetic blacksmith asked the waiter, tugging Kabukimono''s veil to signal him to sit down as well.
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"Is there anything you want to buy? Our next rendezvous might not be for another couple months. We already have everything Hisahide and Tsurumaru want, but honestly, who can stand eating that much fish and eel every single day with those bitter weeds. I mean, they're not weeds, but they grow quickly, and spread everywhere. Did you know that when Tsurumaru first came under our care, those plants were all over our garden because we're too busy *cough* lazy *cough* to do anything about it, but the maniac decided they taste good. I thought he was going to die for a second though, because the stupid weed looks like poison. I mean, it's bright purple, looks creepy as fu-heck, and what does Tsurumaru do? Plucks them out of the ground, runs off to wash them and then adds them to his meals before going loopy and drunk. We should buy some more tea! I don't know how in Teyvat you and Tsurumaru down those without grimacing, but you seem to like it a lot! Also the chazuke, but maybe that's because there's tea in there. Huh, the two of you really like bitter stuff! Hisahide likes sweets and I prefer salty foods, but it's all preference I guess. Let's get some dried pickled plum for chazuke! It's Nagamasa's mora, anyways, and he won't mind. Probably. Hopefully. He's busy with his magnum opus anyways. And Katsuragi's helping with the nagamaki forging processes. Hehe." Akari spewed. "Oh sh-shoot!"
Kabukimono bore a confuddled look, his brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at the melting sun. "Didn't Tsurumaru tell us to be back before the sun set because a guest was coming over for dinner?"
"Can you take that basket? Hisahide's going to kill me for this!" Bullets of sweat poured down Akari's face as he dashed off over the wet sand towards the little boat.
"Hisahide will kill you? Akari, what does 'kill'" mean?"
"So you're the mechanic the Akame Clan scouted out to help find a more efficient method of producing Jade Steel?" Niwa Hisahide sat across from a dusty haired man wearing a pinstripe vest over burgundy sleeves. "Lord Kaedehara informed me of your involvement in revolutionizing the Mikage Furnace."
"My accomplishments pale in comparison to the others in the engineering field, I must say," the other deflected, lightly smiling. "Please, just refer to me as Escher. After all, the deal between Lord Akame and I had been shifted to you, making you my employer of sorts."
Tsurumaru entered with a plate of manju, having cleared the kaiseki and refilled their yunomi with sencha. His white and black hair was unruly as ever, but the bandages that had covered his right eye had long-been discarded, a thin scar and blank iris the only hint.
Since the beginning of the meal, Escher had subtly stalked the wanderer, watching Tsurumaru from the corner of his eye. The victim radiated an unusual energy, and the ever so faint hints of abyssal corruption wafted off of the wanderer, his right eye tainted in red design; crimson, like freshly drawn blood.
"May our partnership last, stoking the flames that fuel the ambitions of those who toil away at metal."
Uh yeah, this is a little awkward. Definitely not my best work.
I apologize for such a short chapter, but I just had an instrumental tour and my fingers are killing me. Not to mention tomorrow I have -------- school for three hours before packing for a school trip. Hence why I am uploading early. There may or may not be a chapter next week, but it will depend on how tired I am from jet-lag.
🌸My UID is 672210368 on the NA server if anyone's interested in having a TCG match with me.
-Aquamarine