| [It starts like this: Aether is walking through the streets of Inazuma alone for once, Paimon sound asleep in the Serenitea Pot and all the more comfortable for it, when he happens across Kujou Sara lost in thoughtful contemplation as she stares at what seems to be an indecipherable stretch of graffiti over a signboard. The traveler holds Sara no ill will, of course, but it isn't as though she's a friend, either, and without Paimon by his side to wave and say hello for him, he might have walked away. The tengu's eyes are sharp, though, and the traveler's appearance is too eye-catching. She looks up, and then he's caught. She doesn't wave or say hello either, but their eyes meet, gold on gold. She nods. She doesn't smile.
"Traveler," she says, by way of greeting. "This is an embarrassment for me as a member of the Kujou Clan, but might I beg a moment of your time?"
That tone, coming from her? Apologetic and remorseful? It piques Aether's interest, so he nods, closes the distance between them. "What do you need?" he asks.
She opens her hand to reveal a Vision bound by an O-ring in her palm, grimacing. The curious thing is that her expression reveals a subtle disdain, even a faint disgust. "It's... about this," she mutters, uncharacteristically hesitant. "Since the Vision Hunt Decree has been rescinded, I have given the Doushin orders to return all the Visions we confiscated to their rightful owners. But this one... this one I would not assign to a common subordinate."
There are only a few reasons Sara might be hesitant to return someone's Vision, and Aether can guess at it easily. "Is its owner going to be mad at you?"
"You have keen instincts. This Vision belongs to an extraordinarily irritating man named Arataki Itto," the tengu sighs through gritted teeth. "No, not a man, just an oni... an obnoxious brute of an oni who is sure to try and 'get even' with any subordinate I send to return his Vision to him. Of course, since I am the one who took his Vision by combat, it is only right and just that I return it to him personally. But I'm certain he will pester me for a rematch once it is returned to him, and..."
"And so you want me to do it," Aether finishes for her, waving one hand in airy understanding. He doesn't hold it against her; things like honor and what must be done are less important to him than matters of sheer practicality, and, indeed, if it makes Sara's day easier for him to return Itto's vision in her stead, then he'll do it, no further questions asked. "Sure. Where can he be found?"
The oni prefers to stay in the mountains when he hasn't come down to Inazuma City to 'play,' as it turns out. I'm all but certain he will want to exercise his powers again after his Vision has been returned to him, Sara had sighed, disgruntled. You may wish to take him on some sort of commission with the Adventurer's Guild so that he can exercise his faculties with less... troubling aftereffects for the Shogunate. Easy enough, Aether figures. He's good at navigating personalities that others might consider difficult. Arataki Itto might be hotheaded and a bit stupid, but he can't be all bad, surely?
Outside the cave which is rumored to be the oni's lair, Aether hesitates, not seeing a door upon which he should knock. Awkwardly, the traveler raps his knuckles upon a nearby boulder, not expecting much sound to resonate and not getting much out of it for his troubles. Oh well. It's the thought that counts.]
Excuse me. Is this the home of Arataki Itto?
[Formal, like a courier sent to deliver the day's mail. Maybe he should have said "the best" or "the greatest" or something.] |
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}