After a few day's travel, Kari, Shibushi, and No Face made their way to a town.
"First order of business," Kari said, once they were within the town's boundaries, "find some food!"
"Any particular kind?" Shibushi asked, dryly.
"Oh, whatever," she replied, with a shrug. "Let's eat here," she then said, pointing to a delicatessen.
Inside, business was bustling, with a new hot sandwich on the line. Despite this, it didn't take long for all three to get something to eat. Once the hot sandwich was gone, the deli was quiet, almost deserted.
"I think it's time for a show," Kari said, once they were finished eating. And that was that. After obtaining permission from the manager, of course.
"Do we really have to do this?" Shibushi asked as they set up the stage.
"We need more group members, and we don't have anything better to do," Kari replied.
"But there's hardly anybody here!"
"You'd be surprised. This is how we got No Face, remember?" Kari pointed out. (As for No Face, he was setting out the puppets for the show.)
"All right, let's just get this over with."
And so they performed the show, exactly the way they had that day in Swamp Bottom, only with a couple of extra walk-on characters for No Face. Unable to see if anyone was actually watching, they kept going on with the story. When Kari got to the part where her character asked for help, she was shocked to hear someone loudly cry out "Yes! Of course I'll help you!"
Because of the sudden outburst, Kari sprang up too soon, almost knocking the stage over. There was a small audience of children, but the one who had spoke was a young woman, wearing an apron, apparently one of the Deli girls. A quick moment of recovery, and Kari continued the show, with a bit of improvisation. She stared intensely at the girl, and asked "Would you repeat your statement if you knew the story was not fictional? That I am the girl from the story, and that by your words, you are bound to be my companion?"
Just as fervently, the young lady answered yes. Kari nodded, "Very well, then."
"Oh, no," Shibushi groaned, seeing the girl for the first time. "Just what we need, a mouse!" If her fervent nature didn't give that away, the odangos (meatball hairstyle) on her head certainly did.
But it was settled that the girl, who introduced herself as Iou, would be a member of their party, for Kari had said it was so. And he couldn't go against her, much as he'd like to. After a brief introduction, Kari told her they'd meet up later, and they left her to finish her last night at the deli.
Iou's meeting with Kari and the others was delayed by an announce by Motojime, the manager. "To show our appreciation for Iou, who leaves us after tonight, a party will be held in her honor! Hurry and get this place cleaned up, so the party can begin!"
Everyone scurried around, trying to clean as fast as possible.
"Zoukinkake! Over here! You haven't mopped over here!"
"I can't until Houki finishes sweeping up!"
"Everyone, just do your best, but do it quickly..."
Iou, being exempt from cleaning up, went to see Kanshisha, who was busy cleaning up the dessert area.
"Am I really doing the right thing?" she asked, a question that had been plaguing her ever since Kari left.
"Only you really know," Kanshisha replied, wiping off counters. "But, if you really want my opinion, I think you are. If you didn't feel deeply about it, you wouldn't have responded to the play."
"I guess you're right...but I just can't see myself wandering around, looking for some treasure. I'm gonna get homesick so bad, I just know it!" Iou was always able to talk to her guardian, who had taken care of her ever since her mother died. "Kari is nice, but the others..." she tried to see herself interacting with the man who had sneered at her and the shadow-man who hadn't said anything, but couldn't come up with any plausible actions.
"Things can't stay the same forever, you know," Kanshisha told her, pouring hot water on the ice that kept the pudding cold. It took a while for it all to melt. "Even if you stayed here, not everyone else would. Sometimes it's just better to be the one making the changes than to have them forced on you."
Iou thought about that for a bit, and it made sense. "You're right! Oh, thank you, Kanshisha!" With that, Iou rushed to give her guardian a big hug.
Once the deli was set for the night, the party began. Everyone was determined to make Iou's last time there a memorable one, and there was plenty of food. Everyone wished her well, and many gave her small things to remember them by.
"Just think," Katsuji told her, "you're going on an actual quest! How exciting!"
"I don't know if it really will be that exciting," Iou replied, "but I'm sure it'll be interesting."
"Oh, a quest is always exciting! Every quest-story I've read is full of mystery and danger, and all kinds of fun stuff!" Katsuji insisted, her eyes sparkling at the very prospect of Iou actually living her fondest fantasies.
Iou laughed nervously, and was pulled away by another co-worker. After a while, Motojime silenced everyone, and called for a toast.
"To Iou, who leaves us now to fight for love and justice in the wide world beyond this small village. May she return safely after a great triumph! Kanpai!"
"Kanpai!" Everyone echoed, clinking glasses together.
Kanshisha approached Iou. "We all put this together for you," she said, and gave her a pack full of sandwiches and onigiri. "For the days ahead," Kanshisha said.
"Thanks, guys," Iou replied, beaming happily. She was glad that everyone cared about her so much, and hoped that she wouldn't miss them too much.
Fukei also gave her a paper bag. "Don't open it just yet," he told her, but it was too late. Iou's eyes grew wide at the sight; it was full of sugared buns, her favorites. She instantly gulped one down, and everyone laughed.
"Just save the rest of later," Fukei said, shaking his head at Iou's childishness. She still had a lot of growing up to do.
It was very late when the party finally came to a close, and it was even later by the time Iou finished saying goodbye to everyone. She walked outside, and was surprised to find someone waiting for her. It was the shadow-man, who handed her a note. The note was from Kari, explaining where they were staying, and where they would meet if she didn't show up that evening, and not to mind No Face, since he didn't talk.
"No Face?" Iou said out loud. The shadow-man pointed to himself to clarify. "Oh, I see!" Iou exclaimed. "Thank you for waiting so long," she said with a bow. "If I'd known you were there, I would have come out much sooner." Satisfied, No Face turned to go, and Iou also returned to her small home. She sat in front of a small shrine. "Mama, I have to leave," she said, speaking to a photograph. "Kanshisha will come and take care of the house while I'm gone, so don't worry." After finishing her ritual at her mother's shrine, she packed a small bag, and then went to sleep. Tomorrow could very well turn out to be the first day of the rest of her life, and she wanted to be well-rested for it.
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So here I introduce Iou, pronounced "Ee-oh-oo."
The deli (Deli of the Gods!) was based on my own experiences working in my college's dining hall, both as a server (we really do get hot sandwiches, and they are the drawing force sometimes), and on night crew (the ones in charge of sweeping up and mopping). The deli workers names all have meanings, of course. Zoukinkake and Houki simply mean mopping and broom, but Motojime means manager. Kanshisha and Fukei both mean guardian, but Fukei implies more of an 'older brother' type. And Katsuji means print, like the print in a book or newspaper.
I'll keep updating without reviews, since I have a lot of this written out already, but reviews really would be nice. That way I know I'm not just wasting my time with a story nobody's reading. But what happens, happens, and that's all there is to that.
'Til next chapter, ja ne!