[ 1028 EF / Week 1-1 ] Teahouse Fundraising Party

Mika wipes her brow with the back of her sleeve and heaves a sigh of relief after setting down a stack of boxes full of ceramic teaware. She still needed to put those away in storage but for now, everything else was set for the party. "Yes sir...! You will be the one hosting it though, right? I'm not really experienced with these kinds of... formalities, I guess?" She scratches her cheek with a finger awkwardly as she glances around the place. It was still a bit too extravagant for her but she had already pleaded with Nazaire one too many times to make it more modest. This was probably as good as it was going to get.

"Oh... and a name... I don't think I'm very good at naming things either..." She muses, feeling grossly embarassed at the thought of her younger self picking that ridiculously long and ridiculously flamboyant name for herself.

Nazaire tilted his head a little and stroked his chin as he thought on Mika's words. "Hmm... I suppose I'm technically the host today, but you're the guest of honor! This is your teahouse, after all. You'll have to mingle and get to know some of your neighbors. Maybe one of them will give you an idea for a name." He wouldn't always be here to schmooze for her, he thought, though he could understand why she'd be hesitant, given her background. And the place couldn't simply be called "Teahouse" for long.

"My apologies for not helping with those boxes, by the way! I know it's not very gentlemanly of me to leave all the heavy lifting to you, but..." He gestured downwards to indicate his current child form. "As you can probably relate to, I'm not much use when I'm like this." Nazaire wasn't even sure if the guests would be able to see him half the time today.

Not that you could do much heavy lifting even as an adult... Mika thought to herself, fiddling with the sleeves of her dress stiffly as she forced a smile. "N... No worries... You've done plenty for me already..." Stepping forward, she opened the wooden doors to the teahouse and took a step back in surprise. Two, three, no.... four people were approaching the teahouse, and rather vigorously too.

She scuttled over to Nazaire, an excited look on her face as she gently ushered him over to the doorway. "People are already showing up...!" She tittered. "Quick..! Y-You'll greet them, right? I'll go get the tea and teacakes...!"

"Wahaha, leave it to me!" Nazaire thumped his chest with his hand, though his form likely wasn't inspiring much confidence.

Grinning from ear to ear, he walked—or waddled, more like—to the doorway of the teahouse. There stood a ragtag group of rather tough-looking people, looking around with stern expressions. "Welcome to our teahouse! We're still making preparations—" Nazaire was cut off by the Venia standing at the front of the group.

"Shaddup. Who said you could build your dinky teahouse here?" 

Nazaire's smile twitched. "Who? Erm... Well, no one. Anyone's allowed to build in the Neutral Zone, correct? The land doesn't belong to any one person or group, but to the community."

"Well here in the Dining District, things are different, see? We Gourmet Gurus run the place and if you ain't got a permit, you can't build!" 

An unforeseen problem... I should have done some more research. Nazaire thought. "I see... My apologies. So we need a permit. How much does one cost? I'll pay whatever fees are necessary."

"It's too late now, you little froufrou!" The mean-looking Venia gestured towards his men and they quickly began making a mess of things, knocking tables over and tearing decorations off the walls.

Nazaire gasped. I have to protect the teahouse... Mika worked so hard for the opening today! He ran at one of the Hanakomis causing trouble, attempting to grab onto his leg. "Stop that! ...Huh?" Before he knew it, Nazaire found himself knocked onto his back on the ground. 

"We'll teach you not to mess with the Gourmet Gurus!!" The Venia said, kicking Nazaire in the side. It took everything he had just to curl up, trying his best to take as little damage as possible.

"W-Wait! Stop...!" Mika tried to shout, though her voice died in her throat half way, not wanting to draw the attention to herself instead. I'm sorry, Nazaire...! She thought helplessly to herself, watching in half horror and half awe as his tiny form got tossed and kicked around. She never thought she'd see two Hanakomis, a Venia, and even a Devora team up together and then call themselves something as tacky sounding as the "Gourmet Gurus". And she thought she was bad with names.

She stumbled a few steps back, picking up the box of ceramics she had earlier so they wouldn't get caught up in the fray before bolting out of the lobby. "I'm sorry, Nazaire!" She voiced this time. 

The Gourmet Gurus promptly burst out into obnoxious laughter at that, the Devora dragging Nazaire up by the scruff of his coat and gave him a hard shake. "Looks like you're on your own, you little punk! We're gonna tear down this shithole you call a teahouse! Waltzing into our territory, thinking you own the place, huh?"

Nazaire stared in offended horror as Mika ran off, taking the boxes with her. As the Devora pulled him up, Nazaire felt the uncomfortable feeling of his legs dangling several feet above the ground. "Like I said... I really am...very, very sorry! I didn't know about the permit... I, err, have lots of money! I'll... I'll give you as much money as you want!" He finally managed between shallow breaths.

"We don't want your filthy money!" The Devora roared, throwing Nazaire onto the ground and kicking him a few more times for good measure. "We want you to get the hell out!"

White spots started to fill Nazaire's vision. The additional kicks and throws hardly even hurt anymore. Am I...passing out? What's going to happen to the teahouse... He felt his consciousness start to fade.

"HALT! Leave that child alone, you ruffians!" Came a muffled voice. The gang turned towards the source of the voice. They simply stared, dumbfounded and the ridiculous... creature that was confronting them.

Mika took advantage of the opportunity and dashed forward, weilding her parasol. She dropped close to the ground, sliding across the floor and striking the Devora in the back of the knees. The impact was enough to cause him to topple with a yelp. Pivoting her body skillfully, she was able to do a leg sweep and knock the two Hanakomis right off their feet before they could even react. 

Finally, with just the Venia left, he charged angrily towards Mika, only to have her smack the umbrella right into his face, knocking him out instantly. "Leave! All of you! Or I won't hold back!" She ordered, though she felt her face burning at how dramatic she had to sound in order to intimidate this gang of hoodlums. The two Hanakomis picked themselves up off the floor, a panicked look on their face as they went to grab their Venia leader, dragging off his unconscious body as they raced out the door.

"W-We'll remember this!" The Devora shouted in the most cliche way before bolting out the doorway after his companions.

Nazaire was only vaguely aware of his surroundings as he opened an eye warily. He hadn't passed out like he thought he would and was able to watch—quite helplessly—as the Gourmet Gurus were driven away. Even with the bucket obscuring her face, it was quite obvious to Nazaire just who his savior was. "Haha... Looks like you're the one saving me this time, eh?" He rubbed his head, wincing as his gloved fingers touched a sore spot. "Those ruffians really did a number on me. I won't be doing much schmoozing today, I'm afraid."

As soon as the gang fled, Mika rushed to the doorway and slid the wooden door shut with a snap. Taking off her bucket, she rushed forward to help Nazaire back to his feet and over to a table to sit. "I'm so, so, so, so sorry!" She squeaked, getting flustered and ashamed that she had let this happen. If only she had stepped in sooner... But she didn't want them to get a good glimpse of her face. That was just asking for trouble. 

"I-It's fine if you sit out and recover! I really should have fought back sooner... I'll keep watch for the rest of today to make sure they don't come back!" She offered, wondering if she should find a wet cloth or something for all the bumps and bruises her business partner had sustained. If she had known it would be this difficult to open a teahouse in the neutral zone, she would have never done it. It was just too risky!

"It's all right... It wasn't your fault. My preparations and research were lacking. I would never have thought that in the Neutral Zone, of all places, we'd need a building permit!" Nazaire bent over the table, resting his face against the cool, smooth wood. His entire body was aching, but... He didn't think it was half bad, this feeling of having something he wanted to protect. Even if it was just a "dinky teahouse".

"I do have to admit that it was a surprise when you ran off like that, however there were a lot of them. Hahaha, I wasn't quite sure if you were coming back. But don't fuss too much over me. I wouldn't have taken so much damage if I weren't in this form!" Being a Moon Venia was quite a trial, indeed. "I'll heal up just fine with a little bit of moonlight tonight. ...So don't you worry." Nazaire had an inkling of what Mika must be thinking, given how private and hesitant of a person she was. But for both of their sakes, he wanted to see this party through.

"What a rambunctious first day this is shaping up to be, eh? Wahaha! Truly is an event for the annals. Why don't we have some tea to celebrate before other guests arrive?"

Mika sweated a bit at being called outfor running away. She figured Nazaire meant no harm by it and was just making a statement but even so, she felt rather guilty for his current condition. "R... Right...! I'll go and make the tea...!" She offered, not wanting to draw any attention back to the fact that she had just left him with that group of misfits and practically let him get pummeled. 

"Hopefully, we won't have anymore trouble..." But if they do, she'd have her bucket ready this time.