"Be seein' ya kiddo." Mokou waved off Mystia with a tired smile, happy to keep relaxing against the Human Village's gate as the bird walked away, her backpack full of seafood humming away as her skirt's pocket jingled with Eirin's second payment, having filled out the form on her way out.
Wandering down the path, she passed by human and youkai alike looking to grab a deal in the market as she headed home, humming a vague song with a smile on her face as she finally crossed into the Youkai Trail, the canopy blocking the already faint crescent moon's light giving an aura of menace that would give anyone unfamiliar with the area a sense of creeping unease.
Unless you were Mystia, then the often avoided path was home, every cherry blossom being etched into her memories as she weaved between trees with a nostalgic and wistful look,
The sparrow was so absorbed by her surroundings that she didn't even hear the buzzing of bug wings as the youkai it belonged to before she landed with a flourish.
"Are the fireflies brighter than usual, or is it just your imagination?" Wriggle Nightbug made her entrance with a smile on her face, almost literally glowing as she gave a salute, her antenna bouncing gaily as her insect wings relaxed, balancing herself while trying to look cool.
She was failing, much to Mystia's amusement. "Hello to you too, Wriggy! How's the light of my life doing?"
The firefly youkai blushed a little at the embarrassing pet name, trying to regain her composure.
And once again, failing.
"A-ah, well you know how it is at Team ⑨," Wriggle rubbed the back of her head with her blush fading slightly. "Cirno challenging random youkai and getting us all into grief, but more recently she's been focusing on the Fairies of Light?"
"Oh no." Mystia was well-aware of the trio that hung around the Hakurei Shrine, having been chased off by the resident maiden more than once.
"Turns out they have a new friend named Clownpiece and… She's strong. " Wriggle sighed, rubbing her bruised right arm and wincing slightly. "She's enough to wipe the floor with us, even without the other fairies backing her up."
"That sounds awful." Mystia stopped walking to pull the firefly into a very warm hug, her wings fluttering in the spring breeze, warming Wriggle's body and heart slightly. "Cirno hasn't changed a bit, then?"
"It's Cirno, " Wriggle wriggled her way out of Mystia's hold with a dry chuckle. "Daiyousei is the only thing keeping her from doing something like going into the nuclear reactor… Again."
"Of course, of course." Mystia gave a tired smile at her former "superior's" continued antics. "I'd get you a plate of lamprey and a drink, but tonight's restocking night." She pointed to the backpack currently restraining her wings slightly with a strained smile.
"Haven't had the time to get to Youkai Mountain, huh?" Wriggle put her arms behind her head and kept pace with Mystia, who had started walking again. "Thought you'd have more free time after leaving Team ⑨, not less."
"Being a start-up business owner is like that, sadly." Mystia sighed as she seemingly randomly walked off the path, slowly weaving between the various cherry blossoms, a single pair of boot prints indicating how little the route was used by anyone but Mystia. "Could always use more help at the lamprey stand, y'know?"
"Yeah, the insect queen working in catering, that sounds like a great idea!" Wriggle remarked with a knowing grin. "That aside, do you even need a second employee? From what you've told me, you don't even make that much money…"
"Aww, I was hoping you'd take up my offer and stay the night at my place, just like old times?~" It was Mystia's turn to give a knowing smile, complete with a flirtatious wink.
Wriggle's face fell slightly, averting the night sparrow's gaze with some shame. "Misty, I thought we agreed to leave that in the past."
An awkward silence brewed between the two night-dwellers, the only sound between them being the gentle rustling of the cherry blossoms around them.
"Yeah," Mystia finally said, gripping her arm and stroking it with an ashamed look on her face. "I forgot about that, sorry."
Wriggle gave a somewhat bittersweet chuckle to the genuine apology. "You've really softened up since leaving Team ⑨. Whatever happened to the merciless songbird of the Youkai Trial, her serenade leading unwary travellers to their doom?"
The sullen look on Mystia's face caused Wriggle to immediately backpedal on her musings, but before she could say anything else, Mystia was already rushing away, backpack full of food and uneven terrain be damned.
Ignoring the fading pleas of her friend, Mystia ran deeper into the forest, the heavy backpack causing her to stumble and flail wildly while trying to get away from Wriggle as fast as possible.
Eventually she reached a clearing and slowed her pace down, legs burning like her ashamed face as her mind raced with her past.
The songs Mystia sang to lure people further into the Youkai Trial, the treetops she hid in to conceal herself…
Mystia looked down at her hands, her neatly groomed green talons almost looking like human hands.
"It's always 'almost', isn't it?" Mystia berated herself, feeling her nails cut into her skin slightly as she balled up her fists. "Almost good, almost successful, almost human-"
"Misty!" The familiar call of Wriggle complete with the panicked buzzing of her wings interrupted her own self-loathing, before being knocked over by a full force tackle hug, knocking the backpack. "Misty, please don't think you're a monster again!"
Wriggle's genuine warmth caused Mystia to blush, especially since she was now on top of the night sparrow, to which the firefly noticed and blushing herself, rolling into the cold grassy ground with an embarrassed laugh. "This is what you wanted in a sense, right?"
Mystia's self-loathing washed away, looking up at the night sky, the spring blossoms and stars shining down reminding her of what she loved about the Youkai Trail, the silence of the untamed trail putting her at ease, finally loosening up a little bit and letting out a chuckle herself, not even wanting to get up.
"Thanks, Wriggle." A genuine smile crossed Mystia's face, tiredness creeping into her from a complete lack of sleep and the sake she drank earlier starting to kick in, her eyes closing as a cute yawn emanated, revealing how tired she truly was after the last day or so. "You're a good friend."
"You're easy to be a good friend to," Wriggle shot back. "You're kind, friendly to strangers and a genuine joy to be around, y'know? I actually wanted to ask you to come back to Team ⑨ since you and Kyouko were like, the heart of the team."
"I doubt that," Mystia thought of her bandmate as a perfectly fine friend, but definitely not the heart and soul of Team ⑨, much less herself. "She's nice, but-"
"But what? Cirno's about as thick headed as she is cold, Daiyousei is too busy making sure Cirno makes it more than five seconds without killing herself and Rumia-"
"Kept trying to eat my wings?" Mystia interrupted with a wince, recalling the times the darkness youkai had tried to give her "affection" by chewing on her rather sensitive wings, much to her dismay. "At least I learned some of her darkness magic?" She lifted an arm and concentrated into it, a small orb of darkness covering her hand in an opaque orb, before "firing" it into the sky, it flying into the night sky and blending into the sky, seeming to disappear entirely. "Never found a practical use for it, considering the night-blindness thing and all."
"You've always been smart, Misty." Wriggle noted, having also watched the orb disappear into the night. "I mean, you learned to control insects as well just by hanging out with me a few times."
"Yeah…" Mystia whistled to herself, luring a nearby moth as she held out a finger for it to perch gracefully, admiring its beauty before it flew off again. "Outside of danmaku it's not very useful and I swore off that after that one incident with the flowers everywhere."
"Still think you were a sore loser over that."
"I fought a lot of people that day!" Mystia snapped upwards with a pout. "And as for that flower youkai…" A shiver went down her spine as she recalled the chilling warning that youkai gave while she retreated as even her younger, brasher self knew she was outmatched. "Are you surprised I never wanted anything to do with danmaku again?"
"I guess that's better than Cirno bragging about the time she 'solved an incident' when she just got a tan and yelled at some youkai." Wriggle reasoned, getting up herself and stretching her limbs tiredly. "Though I should ask how Choujuu Gigaku is doing at this point."
"It's going well!" Mystia perked up despite her tiredness. "Managed to find a third bandmate, a drummer named Raiko."
"Raiko? Last I heard she was working with the Phantom Ensemble." Wriggle raised an eyebrow. "Then again, that was back during the Perfect Possession incident, so it has been a while…"
Mystia finally got up, dusting herself down, dirt and grass falling off of her pinkish-brown dress as she focused on her backpack, now laying on its side but still miraculously unharmed despite the fall it took earlier. "Don't know how you're so caught up on current events, it doesn't seem that interesting."
"Maybe not to you, but Gensokyo is weird and wonderful in my eyes." Wriggle followed suit, helping her friend slide her wings into the straps of her backpack before continuing. "Besides, I need something to do aside from watching Cirno pratfall her way through life."
"Fair enough." Mystia didn't want to argue with her friend any more, the weight of her backpack already being tiring enough without arguing about something she really didn't care about anyhow as she made her way through the clearing, the faint silhouette of a house coming into view gradually.
A house in the middle of the largely untouched Youkai Trail may be deemed as a little strange, but there is a reason behind this.
The kappa being as enterprising as they are, experimented in breaking into the housing market several months ago and built a prototype house to test their link to the Underworld's nuclear reactor, as well as the general time frame of how long one would take to build.
Unfortunately, as much as people wanted to purchase their tools, they weren't so comfortable with living in a house built by youkai, even if the kappa were on the trusted end of the spectrum in terms of human/youkai relations.
So their plans were scuttled and the prototype house was put up for sale for a fraction of what they originally wanted to whoever wanted to live in the middle of a youkai infested forest.
Mystia was that whoever, because while the canopy was a fine place to sleep, being soaked by rainstorms and muddied up in the aftermath made her stand look… less hygienic than intended.
Needless to say, any way to make herself more presentable was appreciated, even if she had to skip some meals during the first month of living there.
All that aside, Mystia had a roof to sleep under and that was enough for her as she reached the front door, pulling out the key from her pocket and unlocking it before turning to Wriggle one last time. "You sure you don't want to stay for a bit? I don't mind cooking up some lamprey.~"
"It's fine Misty, really," Wriggle sighed with a twinge of annoyance. "Don't think you have to push yourself so much for me, I'm flattered but it's a little awkward, you know?"
"Sorry, sorry." Mystia had the decency to look embarrassed at least. "It's just been a while since we broke off and I feel like I'm working myself into a rut."
"I think you're doing great!" Wriggle reassured with a smile returning. "You didn't have a house last time we talked, your stand is looking better than ever and I even heard down the grapevine that you and Kyouko are going to be performing at the next festival!"
" News really does spread fast in Gensokyo, heh. " The sparrow quietly chuckled to herself. "Yeah, that much is true. Might also be getting a direct sake supplier which should help keep costs down, but that's business talk and-" She yawned unexpectedly, cutting herself off.
"You're practically running on fumes already, never mind cooking for me." Wriggle chided, her smile not fading a bit as she helped open the front door, carrying Mystia and her backcross across the house, using her free hand to flick on the lightswitch before pulling Mystia's backpack off of her, letting the bird get her own bearings again.
"Thanks." Mystia stretched her now free wings for a tad too long as Wriggle made her way to the kitchen and starting to sort the fish and sake, raising an eyebrow at the variety neatly packed in the cooler.
"Yo Misty, didn't know you had salmon along with lamprey now." The firefly smiled as she packed the seafood into the fridge, genuinely happy that her friend was doing well.
"Yeah, I kinda helped someone's blue and red granny by smoking some new medicine thing and she gave me money for it?" Mystia's brain was being assaulted by tiredness, sake and the aforementioned medicine, so the evening's events started to fade into a haze. "Wriggy, have you ever had the feeling that your brain is just not working?"
Wriggle finished packing away the fish and sake with a sigh. Whether she wanted to or not, it was going to be an evening like when they were together and Mystia had one too many drinks.
"I haven't, but let me help you to bed, Misty."
"But I'm not tiiiiiiiired!" Mystia whined drunkenly as Wriggle grabbed her wrist and started leading her upstairs. "I want… Uhhhhhhh… A motherfuggin burger." Her plea went ignored as the pair entered her bedroom.
It was decorated with photos of Mystia with the other members of Team ⑨, Mystia and Kyouko in their concert outfits, apparently taken from a newspaper given the text surrounding it and the most recent addition, a large flag with three horizontal stripes; pink, purple and blue.
Helping Mystia into her bed, Wriggle took the fluffy duvet and tucked the still complaining bird in with a nostalgic and tired smile. "For all your talk of being a 'new youkai, striking out on her own path', you're still as much of a drunk as ever."
"Ahh shaddup, ya caught me on an off day." Mystia grumbled soberly, feeling some shame. "This was meant to be a restockin' day and needed some sake recommendations, y'know?"
Wriggle sat on the end of the double bed, turning to Mystia with a knowing look. "I noticed the bottles in your backpack." Wanting to change the subject, she looked up at the flag hung above Mystia. "What's that flag for, anyway?"
"Wuzzat? Flag?" Mystia was starting to properly zone out as her eyes closed involuntarily. "Uh yeah, that weird girl from the Outside World came by the stand one time and started talking about pride or somethin' and uhhhh she's like, bisexual or something and she showed me the flag and I was like 'yo that's kinda pretty can i have one?' and she brought one for me as well and it's pretty and… it's uh… nice and uh… i kinda ralized at some point that i like like both male and… females… and…"
Mystia trailed off, drool escaping her slightly open mouth as she drifted off to the Dream World.
"That's one way to come out." Wriggle chuckled, gently bouncing off of the bed knowing her friend was completely out of it at this point and heading downstairs to ensure the place wouldn't be raided by fairies overnight. " Hope she won't give Doremy toomuch trouble. " She kept her thoughts to herself as she opened the front door, retrieving the keys still inside the lock and closed the door, locking it and heading to a nearby cupboard, a routine she was used to whenever meeting up with Mystia for a night out because despite everything, she was still a lightweight.
Grabbing the spare duvet and pillow, Wriggle flung herself onto the sofa and well, wriggled into a comfortable position and started to drift off to the Dream World herself.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE-*
*slam*
"Kutaka's sake, why is that alarm always SO LOUD?!" Mystia screamed at her infernal noise making device as she rolled over, falling out of bed unspectacularly as bodily pain joined her headache as she lifted herself up, rubbing her aching head with a tired sigh, looking out of the window to see the great flaming orb on the horizon as she looked to her alarm.
"4:55 PM? I swore I set it for 4…"
"Fifty-five minutes to notice that your alarm was going off? Is that a new record?" Wriggle was at her door, wearing a cat's grin with a newspaper in hand.
"Shaddup Wriggle… Wait, Wriggle?!" Mystia rubbed her eyes tiredly to make sure she wasn't hallucinating. "What happened last night?"
"Nothing much," Wriggle told a half-truth, not wanting to worry her further. "Though the sun's already setting and I know you're a stickler for having your stand up 'at night'."
Mystia groaned tiredly knowing the firefly was right. "Can you do me a favour, cuddlebug?"
"Flattery will get you nowhere, Misty." Wriggle chuckled, looking over an article in the Bunbunmaru Newspaper about the reclusive residents of the Underworld emerging to the surface, complete with a picture of a satori, a kasha and what appeared to be an oversized tengu. "How do you read this garbage, anyway?"
"Okay so do you see the word 'allegedly' in an article?" Mystia threw open her fridge and fished for an energy drink. "Ignore those, they're just made up gossip." She grabbed a black can with three green claw marks for its logo, a striking image to compliment… Youkai Energy.
Kappa Research and Development was not at their best when they named this product, but what mattered to Mystia was the carbonated caffeine and sugar (along with other things her bird-brain didn't understand) as she cracked open the can and took a good long drink.
"Made up gossip?" Wriggle squinted at an article that contained 'allegedly' used several times, something about Hatate Himekaidou allegedly having poorly written an alleged article about the Bunbunmaru Newspaper allegedly falsely claiming Reimu Hakurei of being a morally bankrupt youkai murdering sociopath.
"These uses of allegedly are making my eyes bleed." She concluded before flipping to a page with far fewer uses of the letter a, finding an article about a certain upcoming festival of the moon.
"I only stay subscribed because it makes small talk with customers easier knowing what's going around the local gossip." Mystia slammed the half-empty can onto a nearby table before heading back upstairs to grab her work uniform. "Gotta get changed, back in a moment."
With a nod, Wriggle made herself at home on the sofa she had slept on, the spare duvet and pillow already packed away, quietly reading something called a horoscope.
"Be more outgoing, today's a good day to meet new youkai! Be aware of falling objects. Do not trust those of a reptilian nature, as they may betray you in time. You will find great fortune by sunbathing on your roof?"
"Reading horoscopes?" Mystia overheard the gradually more confused Wriggle as she returned down the stairs with her work uniform, a simple kimono with a cap to cover her short pink hair for hygiene reasons.
Overall it was just a loose-fitting outfit to keep her cool when cooking lamprey, but also served as a comfortable uniform for long shifts at the stand.
"These things sound even more made up than the articles, how is this legal?"
"Well that's horoscopes for you. Make up a few things based on when you were born for that day and a few people or youkai will fall for it." She noted cynically, having read the paper for several months at this point. "Now come on, I've got to get to work and can't have you lazing around here."
"Can I keep the paper at least?"
Grabbing the half empty Youkai Energy and chugging it before tossing it into the bin in the kitchen rather spectacularly, Mystia grabbed the paper and rolled it up, bapping Wriggle on the head. "No. I need something to read, even if it is terribad garbage."
Wriggle pouted adorably as the two made their way out of the house, Mystia locking the door behind her and preparing for a long evening, starting with rushing to her usual spot on the Youkai Trail before it got too late.
Somewhere along the way Mystia and Wriggle had split off with a polite farewell and silent acknowledgement that last night did not happen .
Regardless, the stand was now prepared for another evening of service, only twenty minutes later than her usual time, not that she ever got any customers within the first thirty minutes of service.
Ensuring the side was wiped down again, Mystia could practically see her own worried expression looking back at her.
With a sigh, she pulled out a stool from underneath the counter and sat down, opening up her newspaper and reading the local headlines to pass the time as she heard two pairs of boots tromping down the Youkai Trail.
"... And I says to Reimu, 'Look, I don't know what these cards are about, but this Cirno card is pretty cool though, right?'" An all too familiar magician's voice made itself known as a stranger sighed.
"Did you really just launch into that anecdote just for that pun?" The familiar sound of a long-suffering friend made itself known as Marisa and a similarly built blonde woman pulled up a pair of stools and sat at the stand, the blonde stranger having a small, fairy shaped companion hovering behind her crimson reband and golden, indifferent eyes.
"I did and I do not regret it. Two portions of your finest lamprey, eel girl!"
"Mystia." 'Eel Girl' corrected with a scowl as she headed to the grill and slapped some lamprey onto it, the satisfying sound of sizzling fish filling her feathery ears.
"Anyway, haven't talked in a while Alice, how've you been?" Marisa ignored Mystia's protest, the promise of crispy-skinned lamprey being the only thing she really cared about.
"The usual, which means working on Shanghai, keeping you from stealing my doll-making materials and just this morning, having a chinese girl nearly punch through my letterbox to deliver an invite to the Scarlet Devil Mansion…" She suppressed a frustrated groan. "Followed by you barreling through my front door to tell me the same thing."
"I said I was sorry , ze!" Marisa put her hands up defensively as Mystia half-listened, flipping the eels and listening out for the satisfying sizzle the raw lamprey made on the scalding grill.
That sound is what Mystia lived for, it just gave her job a consistent sense of satisfaction as the sear on the lamprey reached well done status. Grabbing a pair of plates, Mystia hummed to herself as she scooped up one lamprey on each plate, handing one to Marisa and one to Alice.
"Please enjoy your meals warmly!~" She bowed politely as she stepped backwards, keeping an eye on her customers as they started to chow down.
Seeing the satisfied smiles of her customers, she started to write down their bill but she was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
"My apologies for interrupting your evening meal, but milady would like you at her manor sooner rather than later." Sakuya politely made herself known, pinching the hem of her dress and bowing slightly. "Miss Mystia, could you make two orders of lamprey to go? I have brought a container and will pay extra for your time." She revealed a rather typical tupperware container, large enough to comfortably hold two eels.
"Just Mystia is fine and I'll be right on it!~" She put the notebook and pencil down behind the counter and got to cooking two more portions of lamprey, mumming happily at another two sales so early into her shift. Repeating the process from before, she plated up the lamprey and handed it to the maid, who slid them into the container.
"Milady would have attended in person, but she is occupied tonight, however as you can imagine she wanted more of your succulent seafood," She explained, mincing no words. "Miss Marisa and Miss Alice being here too was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one." She smiled, fimly gripping the shoulders of the two blonde women present. "Isn't that right, ladies?"
Shanghai pulled out a doll-sized sword and started to square up to the maid before Alice mentally commanded her to stand down. "We'll be on our way now, it's just that Marisa wanted to take a food break. Long way from the Forest of Magic." She excused herself after finishing her lamprey off with a polite bow, practically dragging Marisa away from her half finished skewer, though she simply opted to continue eating the eel greedily.
Waiting for the blonde magicians to walk out of ear shot, Sakuya looked Mystia in the eyes, leaning on the counter to meet her gaze. "Before I go, do you still have that contract?"
Mystia nodded, pulling out the unsigned scroll from behind the counter and unfurling it as Sakuya pulled a glass inkwell filled with red liquid and placed it next to the counter.
"Normally I'd just go over the requisite terms of the contract, but…"
"But?"
"How do I put this lightly?" The maid put a hand to her chin contemplatively. "I serve an undead mistress so I don't tend to judge appearances… But you don't look quite alive yourself." She took a moment to consider if she could have worded it more diplomatically.
"Not all of us have cushy maid jobs, ha." Mystia chuckled wryly, shaking her head to try and neaten it up a bit. "But I guess I've been working myself a little ragged lately."
"As much as I want to show you how wrong you are, fortunately I'm not here to subject you to that torture." Sakuya cleared her throat to change the subject. "By signing this contract in my mistresses' blood, you shall become a temporary employee of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, including all working benefits and expectations implied by representing the Scarlet Devil Mansion and by extension, Lady Remilia Scarlet the IVth."
Mystia's eyes glazed over at the jargon but nodded anyway, having had a similar response when first dealing with the kappa and she wondered if this was a common thing amongst the higher-class youkai. "Just give me the damned quill."
Sakuya chuckled, sliding the clear glass contained to the bird, the viscous liquid within shifting unnervingly as if to indicate the weight of what Mystia was about to sign.
Shrugging mentally, Mystia grabbed the quill with her right hand and roughly wrote her name on the dotted line, feeling a dark power creep up the arm as she finished writing with a simple * tink *, putting the quill back in the "ink" pot as she considered the ramifications of signing her name in blood, the maid only gave a sly smile as she bowed again, slipping the scroll into her apron's pocket.
"Thank you for your cooperation. I'll be expecting you at the Scarlet Devil Mansion's gate on the 28th of this month at noon and no later. Until then…" She fetched a leather bag of coins, near-identical to the one she left last time and placed it on the counter. "This should be more than enough to cover the bill… That being said, I apologize on behalf of my mistress for her actions the last time we were here. I didn't expect she'd pull a stunt like that."
"It's fine, you don't work in catering without learning to take the occasional loss." Mystia gave a sigh befitting a retail worker on their third consecutive shift before tiredly smiling. "Please come again whenever you have the time, I do try to have a consistent weekly schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday with weekends depending on sales."
Sakuya for her part was already scribbling down the details into a notebook that disappeared as soon as it appeared. "Then that'll make my job much easier, thanks."
Without another word, Sakuya finally left, only disappearing to catch up with the blonde magicians once she was out of Mystia's sight, letting her breathe a sigh of relief she didn't know she had.
"Night's barely started and I feel exhausted." She mused to herself, leaning back into her stool, listlessly fishing her side of the counter for the bottle of sake she kept stashed and took a well-earned drink, savouring the flavour of cheap sake as her tiredness waned slightly and her vision cleared up a bit.
"I know there's a saying about it always being 5pm somewhere in Gensokyo but is this a little much?" A familiar voice caused the sparrow to nearly choke on her rice wine as a cart skidded to a halt, revealing Miyoi sat on it accompanied by barrels of sake, with Suika temporarily resting from pulling the weight of the cart with a drink from her gourd.
"A-ah, good evening!" Mystia recomposed herself, slipping the bottle back beneath the counter with a blush. "Can I help you?"
"You can!" Miyoi hopped off in order to angle herself better as she pointed to the barrels on the back of the carriage. "You remember our discussion last night?"
"No."
"Great! So you came to my bar in the Human Village last night and I offered you some barrels of fruit flavoured sake." She explained, ignoring the more dubious method she used to get the bird to agree to those terms. "Suika! Get a barrel of lemon and a barrel of peach for Mystia!"
With a drunken growl, the oni stumbled over to the cart, nimbly balancing a pair of barrels in her stubby arms, placing them down with a * thud * near Mystia's stand before stumbling back to the yoke, attaching herself back.
"I don't recall anything about that…" Mystia noted with some apprehension but shook her head, letting Miyoi cut into the conversation with a toothy grin.
"I'm not charging for these if that's your concern," She was quick to wave off Mystia's concerns, continuing her spiel before she could be interrupted again. "I'll be back in a few nights to see how you're doing on selling these and assess if you'd like more of these in the future. Call it a free trial, or whatever."
Mystia nodded as she ambled around her stand, feeling the weight of the two barrels by jostling them and hearing the sloshing of nearly full barrels. "These seem pretty heavy, I might need some-"
"Sorry love, but I gotta get to my next delivery!" Miyoi rushed back to the cart, nearly falling over herself before Sukia took off, the remaining barrels dangerously shifting around as the oni grunted and started to accelerate, disappearing in a matter of seconds.
"I…" Mystia blinked at the sudden turn of events, now stuck with two barrels of sake she could barely move. "Sparrow shit."