The Horat-verse

"Well, no..." Suiken, looking over his shoulder at several onlookers staring aghast at the sight of the odd-looking man getting dragged along the ground. "Actually, yes...There's a matter of atmosphere!" Suiken noted jollily, following Namari a ways down the street,villagers giving the two (three?) a wide berth to let them pass. "This is a festival, you can't dampen the mood with...whatever it is you're doing. I doubt it's to turn in a bounty, the Guard House is on the opposite end of the street...so I'm going to go ahead and assume you've simply landed yourself in an unfortunate predicament," The Snow Oni concluded, pointing to the chain with one hand and chomping on a pork bun with the other. "Need help removing it?"

"No....drink.....? It will....kill you...?" Takai squinted, his words stupidly slow as he tried to figure out what this lady was miming.

Xanth flung her elbow back into Kaor's hide.

The first bottle went down like a half-starved fox that just kenned into where its prey had hidden, the warmth of the second had just started to begin to spread through Ginchiyo’s belly when she wandered into a scene that wasn't exactly common in other parts of Creation. A vendor was causing a scene over some cloth, at the expense of some poor rabbit-eared creature, who may not even be aware that their status was relegated to second-class amongst the “Mighty Yune.” The taste that it left in her mouth was bad enough that not even the honeyed wine could wash it down.

“A single pebble can start the most transformative of landslides…” Ginchiyo grumbled to herself while puzzling out a way to quietly solve the situation at hand without attracting overt attention. Failing that, she simply looked for the biggest guy who seemed to want to help but was too afraid to step up. A barrel-chested dock worker who was lingering by a cart fit the quota perfectly. “Hey tiny,” Ginchiyo pointed at the man with her chin, before she downed the rest of her second bottle of wine. “Ill give you five silver if you chuck me at that hoity-toity vendor over there.”

---

With a spectacular crash, Ginchiyo was launched directly into the table that the merchant had set up. The sound of splitting wood deafened several nearby passerbys and a couple seconds of silence followed as Ginchiyo slowly drew herself to her feet. “Annn’ Shtay out!” She forced a hiccup out before staggering between the beast-woman and the vendor. “Barkeep hit me with another round.” She punctuated the sentence by slapping the merchant, perhaps a little harder than necessary, on his back.

Kaor snapped her head to attention as her Gecko rammed an elbow into her side. She gazed down at the macaque-beastman in front of her and Xanth. He was... Interesting to say the least! He at least was kind enough to try and understand her companion.
She watched as her Gecko and the curious man talked to each-other, with the latter trying his hardest to guess at what she could possibly be wanting. Kaor herself scrunched her nose up into a bemused smile, before cackling aloud at his last attempt to translate what Xanth had said. The bear-woman watched for just a moment longer before finally deigning to intercede on the conundrum.

"What the little Gecko is asking, is if you might have some sake that isn't too harsh for her throat. Something that won't burn on the way down preferably. She also wishes to know if you might have done anything amazing with your tail, sir. She finds them awful useful! She also wishes for three steamed buns, pork, for herself please. I would appreciate whatever you might have that would, ah, feed one as large as myself."
Kaor's voice was booming loud in the rancor of the dining hall within the inn, though her face never lost it's gleeful smile. She finished her speech off with a nod towards the waitress who had interrupted Xanth before. Oh! Speaking of which- "She also asked that you not interrupt her again, please! As would I! You're a dear, and we do not wish to be rude to you!"

She finished this with a wide smile, bowing her head as if to simply accept that the conversation was over, before turning her focus to the macaque-man with a curious expression. Her throat rumbled with a slight huff, before she turned to Xanth with a rapid series of focused hand movements. One claw tapped her satchel at her side, came up and tapped Xanth's chest, before returning to Kaor's chest with slowly wiggled claws.

Ruo, the waitress, nodded stiffly and skittered off toward the kitchen behind the bar. Takai watched in amusement, this being the first time in the week that he'd known her that she seemed placid almost, like serving giant bear lady, small mute woman and large dog had somehow overwhelmed her. His attention turned back to 'Gecko', as the bear Beast-Man called her, and he had to remember what she had asked.

"Hm? Oh! My tail, right. Honestly I don't really..." Takai looked down at it, swishing slowly below, "I guess I don't really take much notice of it. Though it sure has saved my skin a lot over the years. Name's Takai, by the way."

And then the man's face suddenly went pallor. Forgetting that, on this glorious day of celebration and joy, he was still a wanted criminal. An outlaw. He sipped from his drink and nervously wondered if they knew him, "Ahem, what brings you both to Poyo?"

One moment Lo-Muna was being harassed by the shady vendor, and the next moment a mountain of a woman had launched into the merchant's cart and broken it in two. The merchant grabbed his hair as his wares fell to the ground, goblin and human children alike grabbing the items scattered at Lo-Muna's feet. The gathered crowd watched as Ginchiyo drunkenly rose and demanded a drink. From the sidelines Captain Jensu watched the scene bemused.

As a woman was launched at the target of a shopkeeper, Lo-Muna had been pulled forward and stumbled as the vendor's grip loosened. The rabbit beast-woman recovered her balance and looked up just as the woman slapped the back of the vendor. The noise resounded loudly and some of the onlookers laughed as the shop keeper tumbled forward. On top of that humiliation, the vendor looked up as his wares were being stolen by small children. He pulled at his hair, his face reddening, embarrassment and outrage bubbling inside of him.

"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" he screamed at the muscular woman as he pointed at his ruined stall. "ALL MY STUFF! RUINED!"

Lo-Muna was pocketing the cloth she had wanted when two guards arrived, brought out by the noise. They noticed her pocketing the wares but as they were about to step towards her, the vendor stormed up to them and began shouting. He practically jumped up and down, fuming, and gesturing to the mess of a scene around them. A woman and her child, a pinwheel still burning in his hand, stopped in front of Lo-Muna. They shielded her from view and the beast-woman thanked them quietly. She was about to turn tail and leave when she hesitated.

Looking back, she saw the raven haired woman was a little unsteady on her feet. The crowd had begun to disperse and the guards were beginning to calm the angry vendor down. Lo-Muna sighed and walked over to the muscular woman, saying to her in a low voice, "Thank you but may I suggest we go get another drink on me? Away from prying eyes? Now? Please?"

A loud whistle shot from across the street. Villagers began to back away as a man in green Imperial armour marched toward them. His dark hair was tied in a clean ponytail and his moustache was finely trimmed. The brass whistle dropped from his mouth as behind him a duo of other, matching armoured men strode. They were all equipped with short-swords at their hips and shields on their back, the leather wrapping tight across their chest, marked with the Dragon of the Emperor. The leader approached impatiently, his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"P-prefects!" The duo of village guards stuttered. Mere boys in shabby uniforms compared to the three prefects.

"And what the hell is this?" The leader of the prefects asked, his voice demanding but also layered with heavy undertones of not giving a crap. "We heard sounds of a street brawl," He said, looking over Lo-Muna, Ginchiyo and the merchant. "And you're the only guilty three I see."

"We responded immediately, sir!" One of the guards said.

"Yeah, we saw it all!" The other nodded.

"Shut up," The lead prefect replied, raising his hand to silence the duo of teenage village guards. "My name is Prefect Ro of the Raging Rivers Province. Do any of you have an explanation-" Ro gestured toward the broken vendor's cart. "-For all this?"

Namari stopped again, this time her mood (invisibly) lighter as the oni offered to crack her chains open. She jabbed Shuin in the temple with the heel of her geta, nudging first a flinching response from him before finally his eyes spasmed open and the man whirled about on the floor flailing his arms about incredulously.

"Wh-HUH!? What in the emperor's name...?" Squinting, his head turned left, then right, then up towards Namari, who stared back down at him with visible disdain.

"Someone is offering help. Get up."

The man dusted off his pants as he rose to his feet with a grin, looking uncharacteristically lively for someone who had just been knocked out cold only minutes prior. Eagerly, he rushed over to a random onlooking citizen and furiously shook his hands with both palms.

"Oh, thank heavens!" he cried. "You'll help us?"

Namari scowled, annoyed, pointing toward the snow oni. Shuin made a blank face. He let go of the confused man's hands, hurrying over to the other side.

"Oh, thank heavens!" he cried, again. "You'll help us? A powerful oni like you just might do the trick!"

Suiken scratched the back of his head, wondering how the two could've landed in such a perplexing situation. "Yes, yes, of course. I'm heading to the Golden Peach right now. You know the place, yes? Let's find ourselves a table there and perhaps we can sort out this...heh, bind you seem to have found yourselves in," he continued, unable to help but chuckle a bit as he began to lead the way to the inn.

"Out of curiosity, what was it that led you to to be all tied up like that?" he asked, beginning to scarf down on another pork bun.

"Some backwater louts thought to teach me a lesson," Namari said with bitterness on her tongue, her brow wrinkling as she recalled the event. "I taught them a lesson, too." She lifted up her hand, the kimono sleeve slid down her arm to reveal the shackle embraced around her wrist. The metal links jingled as they swung between the noblewoman and the peasant. "I don't know what kind of boor witchcraft they used to make this, but it's yet to come apart under fire and steel."

"And I don't know why I had to get dragged into it," Shuin grumbled on the side, periodically shooting glances to her. His thumb absentmindedly massaged the chafed welts near the edges of the clasp while they walked. It looked like it hadn't been on terribly long, but it was long enough to start leaving marks. "I didn't do anything wrong... it was all her fault! If only she never came to the village, I would've still been..."

"You really don't know how to stop whining, do you?" she snapped. "You call yourself a swordsman? Act like it."

"I am a swordsman!" he answered back defensively. "You're just..."

Exasperated, Shuin turned to the oni with a sheepish expression. "Sorry, it's kind of a complicated story. Short of it is, she arrived one day in my village and mocked my people -- in front of me, no less! So, obviously, as any self-respecting man should do, I challenged her to a duel in the village square. I may have... talked myself up quite a bit, but I... ended up losing. It was, erm... rather shameful."

Namari said nothing else, tapping the ash from her pipe.

The noblewoman, bound for her terrible arrogance, and Shuin, punished in equal measure for failing to defend the honor of his village. The chain itself, likely the product of some kind of curse placed upon them. Such traditions seemed like folktale, but many practices thought to be lost always surface in unexpected places...

Ginchiyo scrunched up her nose and did her best to look indignant at the vexed merchant, though his awkward ire was making it hard to take the moment seriously. The shopkeeper started sputtering and blaming her for the scene, and while her crash-landing was technically her fault, he caused this entire mess by being a racist bastard. She cocked her left arm back slightly and shoved her index finger into the man's chest, "What? What I did? Ruining your wares would be like crushing dry weeds." She cocked her arm back a bit more and shoved her finger into the man's chest a bit harder. "A mild breeze would do the same!" Her accusatory tone was attracting stares from everyone not immediately trying to escape the scene.

A big enough commotion was sure to hurt the man's business, but before Ginchiyo could decide whether or not that was how she was going to spend the rest of her night that White-eared Rabbit returned and urged discretion. Deciding that a drink with a fellow Beastman would preferable to harassing an ignorant merchant, she prepared herself for a short sprint. However, a piercing whistle demanded her attention as one of the Yune higher-ups began swaggering over to the scene, retinue in tow. Ginchiyo had been ran out of towns before, but never out of an entire prefecture on Emperor's Day. With a sigh, she straightened up to her full height, the night suddenly seeming painfully sober. Sparing a short glance to the White Rabbit, Ginchiyo said a quick prayer to the ancestors that she would know a place with strong drink.

"Ah good," A practiced smile appeared on Ginchiyo's face as the prefect approached, "You got here just in time prefect. As I was just going to explain, some wastrel courting death lost a bet with me, but before I could collect he had his, goon," she spat on the ground for emphasis, "Toss me into this crowd, and the two fled."

With a shrug she closed her eyes and flicked her nose with a thumb, "I've heard it's bad karma to renege on a bet on Emperor's Day, and even worse luck to allow such a reneging to go unpunished." Crossing her arms, she put her nose in the air and scoffed out, "Emperor willing, you could still catch the pig-faced thief, if you're quick on your feet."

Suiken knelt down for a moment and studied the links binding the the two very carefully, Standing up and scratching his chin, his face immediately broke out into a smil, which spiralled into bellowing laughter before long. "Well, I can't say you didn't get what you deserved after mocking a village like that!" he chuckled, pointing at Namari, tears now welling up in his eyes.

Then, within an instant, he sobered up, briefly bowing to both of them. "Er...sorry. But about these chains. ...Needless to say, they are cursed..." he quieted down a little. "There are ways to break such things, after all...but as I said, let us head to the Golden Peach. It's right up ahead..." the oni remarked as they neared the doors of the inn.

He pushed against the doors, greeted with the sight of a handful of patrons, including a couple of beast-men and a dark skinned woman. Looking over and finding an empty table, Suiken led the two bound humans to a seat. "First thing, I'd like to have you two do is place your cuffed hands on the table and spread both of your wrists apart as wide as you can," he explained.

"Another drink, sir?" The cocktail waitress asked as Yamato placed the shot glass down on the small table beside him. He had been making a tower of them for the last few minutes, preferring to order his shots in increments of 5. He nodded as he waved the girl away without a second thought.

A few moments later, the waitress returned with a bottle and one glass. "This is on the house tonight," she said with a smile, trying to get his attention as she bent down to pour him a glass of the Sake. Yamato rolled his eyes and tossed two gold pieces on the table. "For your trouble." She smiled at the large tip and stood there for a second. "I'm fine. I don't need anything else." His tone reflected his irritation. She bowed deeply, "Thank you for the tip, sir. Please continue to enjoy the town's festival. If you'd like me to, I can show you around when my shift is over." He shook his head, sipping the sake. She walked away, unsure why her advances hadn't worked. "Pitiful girl." He muttered, draining the glass. He grabbed the bottle and stalked out into the busy streets filled with merriment. He found himself slightly disgusted with the number of people, "So many peasants. What have they to celebrate? This is just an excuse to forget their pitiful lives."

He threw the empty bottle into the gutter as he staggered through the streets. His mood improved slightly. "Well, might as well have a little fun while I'm in town, grab another drink, find someone to fill my bed...the night is young!" He grinned, walking into the crowded city center, and made his way to a sake booth, buying himself a bottle, eyeing those that looked at him with confusion. The half-tengu was used to the stares but it was fun to intimidate those that looked just a bit too long.

As Yamato turned from the sake booth, new bottle in hand, he found himself walking into a wall. Perhaps this surprised the half-tengu, because there certainly wasn't a wall there before, for the bottle slipped from the inebriated man's hands as he rebounded from Sunaarashi's chest, hitting the ground with a crack and spilling a good portion of the sake onto Poyo's dirt street.

Sunaarashi, for his part, also looked rather surprised, as the desert warrior thought to himself, with some embarrassment, that he was entirely too used to other people getting out of his way.

"Sorry about that, sadiq," the taller man said, his thick accent betraying his origins easily. He raised a hand in reconciliation. "Allow me to buy you a replacement beverage, bithiqa."

The noise and lights of the festival flowed around the streets of Poyo like the river the small village stretched into like the web of some spindly river-dwelling spider, currently bloated beyond capacity by the influx of revellers from the surrounding countryside. A number of other travellers off the trade routes also filled out the throngs of celebration, like flies crawling along the hairy legs of the river-port-trade-spider-village.

This was an excellent metaphor.

Samyan leaned over a selection of hand-carved dragon emperor dolls, four lower arms folded inside her plain black kimono and a long grass-cutting scythe held in one hand like a walking stick. Long white hair fell in front of her face as her finger drifted back and forth between one souvenir and another, trying to decide between the two as a line formed behind her. Several minutes had passed since she had approached the vendor, and a number of those who had queued behind her had started growing very visibly impatient, though the elderly gentleman who ran the stall didn’t seem to notice, given where his gaze was fixed.

“Hey lady, can you hurry it up?” A man huffed behind her. “Some of us have a festival to enjoy.”

“I’m having trouble deciding,” Samyan replied, brow furrowed intensely as she studied one of the statues, and then the other. “It’s a tough choice.”

“Which ones are you looking at?” an older woman chimed in, quick to try and speed things along before the man made a scene.

“This one and this one.”

“...This one and that one?” the woman confirmed tentatively.

“Right.”

The man peered over her other shoulder, confirming for himself. “That one and this one.”

“Yes.”

“They’re the same damn one!!” the man shouted, throwing his arms up in anger and frustration.

“They have different personalities!” Samyan retorted, equally angry at this human's apparent inability to grasp the obvious.

WHAT?!”

Yamato staggered for a second, his body out of sync with his mind. He blinked a few times and stared at the brick house of a man he'd run into, before looking at his new, broken bottle of sake leaking out into the dirt. He made a face and waved his hand, "New bottle would be the least you could do. Not many people get that close to a man with wings and swords, wasn't expecting to bump into anyone as I turned around." He bent down and picked up the broken bottle, turning to face the vendor again.

"I'm going to need a new drink, this guy's paying for it." He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at Sunaarashi.

"You do have wings, don't you?" Sunaarashi said, eyeing the feathery limbs with interest. "Don't see many wings where I come from. Thought they were some kind of costume, I'll be honest." Sunaarashi glared at the vendor off-handedly, who blanched and gave him a new bottle free of charge.

"Oh, thank you sir, very kind," Sunaarashi said, his glare only intensifying unintentionally as he reached for the bottle. The vendor quickly switched to a more expensive bottle and fiercely wiped perspiration from his forehead. "Well, here you are, then."

Sunaarashi paused as Yamato took the bottle. "You fight much, sadiq? Usually those who carry swords do so for show around here, or so I'm told."

Yamato took a deep swig of the expensive Sake and nodded his head, "Fighting is the only reason I'm alive. Without these blades, I'd have been cut down a long time ago. I assure you these are not for show," he said with a mischievous grin. "What about you? Man of your size has likely seen his fair share of fights or at least been offered a few gigs to protect some rich yahoo who's afraid of their own shadow."

"I've killed my fair share of scum," Sunaarashi agreed, although he didn't return Yamato's smile. "Though I've never took any noble's coin for it. My business keeps me aloof of the more well-to-do. Still, I've done well enough to keep myself alive this far."

Sunaarashi dipped his head to Yamato. "Well, enjoy the rest of your evening, my fellow warrior. Hafiz ealaa nasil had. Keep your sword sharp."

Prefect Ro looked Ginchiyo up and down. Neither he nor his men made any attempt to search for the criminals she so described. "A bet?" Prefect Ro said, squinting his eyes at the tall woman. "What was this about?"

"Yeah, what was this bet about?" One of the teenage guards on the sidelines added, trying to get in on the prefects imposing presence.

Ro glanced to Lo-Muna, giving the impossible creature a quick one over. "And where does she fit in?"

***

The drums beat rapidly as a choir of lutes strummed in the background. Yuwen nodded his head at the sounds as he shimmied through the underground tavern. The thugs of Poyo danced and drunk, some of the men trying to get in his way, and more than a few women laying a hand on him as he crossed the oak floors of room. Yuwen adjusted his collar and gave a sly smile to the shady characters. He approached the backdoor where a large, muscle-bound Snow Oni glared down at him.

"You're back," The Oni spoke out thick lips. "I thought the Brothers Grimschi threw you in the ocean."

"Tayadori! It takes more than twuo of tengu twins to keep Yuwen Fortune down," Yuwen replied with a self-assured grin.

The two made their way through the back-halls of the Rat's Den, the passages crowded with various shipments of foods, weapon and armour. "Almost there," Tayadori said as he escorted Yuwen down another hall. Yuwen glanced at the supplies, and paused when he saw a large cage filled with goblins. Yuwen locked eyes with one, an elderly goblin man with a spiky beard and an injured arm. Yuwen swallowed heavily and continuing on.

"He won't be happy to see you," Tayadori chuckled as he opened a purple curtain away, revealing a warmly lit room beyond.

"Ting Po!" Yuwen greeted with open arms as he entered the lavish room.

"Hohoho..." A great voice belonging to a fat, balding man in rich robes chuckled from within a cloud of opioid smoke. "Yuwen... Fortune... alive after all."

"I'm shockingly hard to kill," Yuwen replied.

"Join me, smoke," Ting Po breathed deeply. Yuwen nodded and stepped forward, into the crime-lords den. "And tell me why I shouldn't have Tayadori finish the job the Tengu brothers could not." Ting Po's voice was stone cold.

"Because firstly you and I have no quarrel, and secondly: you still owe me a favour," Yuwen replied, raising a finger. "We got rid of the bandits for you, Po. Your operation was taking a hit and you promised me you'd set it right."

"Last time you stood before me I got you on a ship out to sea, isn't that favour enough?"

"You got me on a ship full of people who wanted me dead!" Yuwen exclaimed. "Look, I'll find my own way to settle with the triad. As far as I'm concerned you still owe me a favour."

Po was silent for a moment. "And what is it that Yuwen Fortune wants?"

Yuwen leaned forward and put his hands together nervously. "I need you to forge me a report from the forest outpost."

"Oh no," Po said, shaking his head. "You're not doing this again."

"I'm getting a guild together!" Yuwen exclaimed. "And I need your help,"

Po glared at the man before him. "And what happened to the last one?" He asked after a long pause. Yuwen remained silent, and Po knew he wouldn't get anything more out of him. "I'll get you your report. But after this we're even. No more favours for the unkillable Yuwen Fortune."

Yuwen nodded at the crimelord's words. "We're even."

Lo-Muna kept an even look on her face, wanting no more than to skedaddle out of the situation. Her legs were fast enough and the inebriated woman seemed capable enough. Yet she stayed.

She stayed even though she knew Prefect Ro likely wouldn't believe anything she said. And if he did, he would likely try to find some way to twist it around on her. It would be her words against a human merchant after all. Her best choice was to be as truthful as possible.

"I was barely walking by the stall when this woman was thrown into the stall," Lo-Muna lied as she tried her best to look as meek as possible. She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts together, glancing at the young guards with pleading looks.

"She's lying! She was touching my stuff with her grubby little hands!" The merchant exclaimed with a huff.

"I was only looking as i passed by! Any of the people around could tell you I had no problems today until this merchant got his stall ruined and now he wants to pin it on me!" Lo-Muna insisted.

"You little liar! I knew you were no good!" The merchant shouted with an accusatory finger at the bunny girl. "Arrest that rabbit and that woman, Prefect Ro! They have caused damage to my property and I demand they get punished!"

"Mahjong," Ginchiyo responded to the Prefect with a bored tone, pretending to stifle a yawn with the palm of her right hand, while stretching her quadricep with the other. The moment Ro looked away to inspect the White Rabbit, she shot the teenage guard a quick look, the same ones she used with whelps back home that overstepped their boundaries.

The merchant started whining again, much to Ginchiyo's confusion, it isn't like he receives payment for the two going to jail. Though perhaps, the reason he was so keen on dogging them, was a question better left for the Ancestors. With a bark of laughter, she looked down her nose at the merchant, "So if you were thrown headfirst through a door, you would demand to pay for the door? Curious justice system the Yune have." Her gaze wandered from the merchant to the entrance of a nearby inn, which appeared to have a door made of solid pine.

After a silent moment of contemplation on whether or not it would be worth seeing if this vendor's head was as hard as he was making it out to be, Ginchiyo's attention snapped back to the lead prefect.

"You know something Ro? You look... familiar." She looked him up and down, "You wouldn't happen to have family in the Swine Valley Province, would you?"

"No need to rush our business, we've only just arrived."

"You don't think he can do it," Shuin accused with a disgruntled huff. He dropped his weight into a seat and folded his arms, Namari smoothing out the lower folds of her kimono as she more gracefully joined beside him. "Everything's just a waste of time to you, huh? It's 'cause he's an oni, isn't it? I've seen the way you look at oni. Well, not 'look' look with you being blind and all, but..."

Her eyes closed, the noblewoman's expression was calm. Peaceful, even. Patiently, she adjusted the pins in her hair as the man trailed on with his ill-advised rant. She did not wear the face of a woman who had grown accustomed to circumstance. That was much too gracious for having to share company with his ilk. No, instead it was the face of a woman who veiled something terrible underneath. Thoughts perhaps beyond mere cruelty.

For three weeks, she has suffered the utter indignity of his wandering hands and eyes, peeling away any layer of privacy or comfort.

For three weeks, she has suffered harsh and sleepless nights -- during which the oaf seemed to snore all too soundly.

For three weeks, she has suffered mishap upon mishap, dragged into his personal affairs as a consequence of his hare-brained impulse.

For three weeks, she has suffered this fool's grating presence with no end in sight.

This was no 'no matter' matter. If things continued in this way, there was going to be a murder in Poyo; perhaps two, if her mood was foul enough. A forgettable life, a forgettable death, in a forgettable town. He was right about one thing. Everything really was just a waste of time.

Meditation was all but impossible with this subhuman around, so there was only one thing left that could put her mind at ease, at least for a time. She ordered a bowl of noodles with eggs and enoki mushrooms, several pieces of salmon, a dish with sesame oil, and a cup of baijiu.

"Order something," Namari said, addressing Suiken. "I'll pay."

"Hm, now what should I get... ?" Shuin mused while stroking his chin, squinting at the various women within the establishment. "You know, I can't lie. Everything here looks pretty good."

"Get? Get what? You don't have money." Namari scoffed.

His eyes settled on a certain familiar looking monkey man, and a mischievous grin slowly spread across his lips.
"Not yet I don't."