[ 1028 EF / Week 1-4 ] The Lotus Leaf Teahouse

Posted 8 years, 3 months ago (Edited 8 years, 3 months ago) by Amatsu-Mikaboshi rinslette

Adding the finishing touches to the wooden sign, Mika sat back and smiled. She held it up to the light and admired her handiwork. She wasn't exactly an artist but her calligraphy was legible and her drawing of a lotus flower wasn't half bad. At least people would be able to tell what it was. Business had been slow the last couple of days. A couple of Venias would wander in, look at the menu and then leave. She only had one real customer but it was a glutton of a Devora that ended up running out on the tab.

Still, that gave her plenty of time to tidy up the place and put the finishing touches to her little shop. Evening was approaching and Nazaire had mentioned wanting to host a second grand opening party. Of course, that would put her in child form, which she didn't mind if that meant that her business partner could handle all the formalities. And this time, they had taken precautions and even sent out invitations to people not related to a gang in any way or form.

She heard the door slide open, chiming the bell that she had put up on the doorframe. Excitedly, she whipped around, thinking it would either be Nazaire or the guests coming early. "Welcome!" She greeted, though her face fell immediately at the group of people that stepped in. They were all large, scarred, and wielding weapons. Most of them even seemed to be Devoras, though instead of throwing things around and wreaking havoc like a gang would, they looked around expectantly.

Nazaire lorelei

As Nazaire approached the Lotus Leaf, he felt his heart swell with pride. To think that Mika had gotten it up and running so quickly after their...trouble...a few days before! There was a nobleness in her calligraphy script that reminded him of someone he held very dear, indeed. But those were thoughts for another time, another place.

"Hmm? There's quite a crowd today." That being said, Nazaire was quick to notice that these rapscallions weren't any of the people he'd invited. Normally he wouldn't worry, with Mika around to be muscle in a hopeless situation, but it was his turn to hold the fort tonight and he was generally more of a lover than a fighter. Nazaire edged past the crowd into the teahouse and then turned to face them, conscious of Mika standing behind him. "Any trouble, gentlemen? ...and gentlewomen?" He hastily added the latter after noticing a few of the ruffians were probably not men, judging by their outfits, at least.

"We heard that Amatsu-Mikaboshi is at this teahouse!" One of the warriors said as the rest nodded in solidarity.

"Really? Who from?" Nazaire didn't miss a beat. Being a noble meant being used to making up cover stories and lies.

"Rumors have been going around the Neutral Zone all week! And you know what they say... Where there's smoke, there's a fire! We know he's here, so bring him out!"

"I see." Nazaire stroked his chin thoughtfully. Naturally there'd be some talk after what happened last week, but the fact that they weren't already going after Mika meant one thing: they didn't know she was Amatsu-Mikaboshi. This meant that the people who'd spread the rumors likely weren't the gourmands that Mika had trounced. One of the Gourmet Gurus could have said "A young lady in a mask beat the crap out of us!" but that didn't mean they'd been attacked by Amatsu-Hikoboshi. On top of that, these warriors were convinced Amatsu-Mikaboshi was a man. A third party unrelated to the Gourmet Gurus who knows that Amatsu-Mikaboshi isn't dead... Hmm. I'm a bit curious, but I suppose that's not what's important right now, Nazaire thought. "What do you plan on doing if he shows up?"

"Challenge him, of course! Everyone around here knows about the legendary Amatsu-Mikaboshi. We'd really be proving ourselves as fighters if we could take him down in a match!"