Chapter 2: Where the Lonely Ones Roam (Digital Daggers)
For the next few weeks, I stayed in the Human World. I met with Ichiryuu for the first time in 8 years and explained the situation with Mansom. I heard from Sunny that Toriko was on his way to the Gourmet World.
"Is he ready for it?" I asked. Sunny thought for a moment.
"No," he said, "but the situation is being taken care of already."
"Let's not tell Rin about this. She'll freak out," I said. Ichiryuu had given the Kings special tasks to prepare them for the Gourmet World. Clearly, Toriko was too impatient. I found out a bit later that his combo partner called Jiro and asked him to bring Toriko back. I'm kinda curious about this combo partner of his. Seems like a very talented person to me.
Ichiryuu gave Sunny a task in which he would have to go to Guemon. I decided I would go with him but I would stay in Area 4 while he is training.
We boarded the Gourmet Carriage, which is basically a couple of gigantic horses tied to a cruise ship on a huge railroad track. It normally takes years to get on the list for something like this. Much to our surprise, we met Coco, Toriko, and a smaller young man, who introduced himself as Komatsu. From the smell of gourmet spices on his hands, I could tell he was a cook. From all the rumors I had heard, there was a chef named Komatsu who became famous because he recreated the Century Soup. It's quite a feat if he beat Setsuno-sensei to it.
"So how do you guys know him?" I asked. They looked at me like I had been living under a rock all this time, which is actually kinda true.
"'Matsu is Toriko's partner," Sunny explained. Obviously, Sunny still had that very thick accent of his. I guess in some ways, you've never changed, I thought.
"Oh, so you're the one who saved Toriko's bacon in the Gourmet World. It's nice to meet you. I'm Takeshi," I said, finally introduced myself.
"Wait! Takeshi?! Dragon Queen Takeshi, the bishokuya from the Gourmet World?! The Takeshi?!" he exclaimed. Wow. This kid knows his stuff.
"In the flesh. Though I'm not just a bishokuya, you know," I said.
"Eh?" he asked.
"I'm a cook, too. Setsuno-sensei was my teacher," I explained.
"So cool!" he said.
"Of course she already had quite a talent in it before that," Sunny bragged, "which I think is beaut'ful."
"Sunny, your accent's comin' out again," I said.
"Hm? What accent?" he asked cluelessly. Coco and Toriko tried to stifle their laughter.
"You know what I mean," I said with a smirk.
"No, I don't know whatcha mean. I will have ya know that my manner of speakin' is beaut'ful," Toriko, Coco, Komatsu, and I burst out laughing. Sunny felt insulted by this.
"I'm sorry, Sunny. I didn't think you would get so offended by my little joke," I apologized.
"Hmph. Little joke," he muttered as he stormed off. I was concerned as I looked back at the others.
"Do you think I went too far?" I asked. They shrugged.
"Sunny-san does seem to be a bit prideful," Komatsu said. I thought for a minute. I must've really hurt Sunny's feelings.
"I'll meet up with you guys later," I said, running back to the rooms. I stopped in front of his door and tried to open it with the key, but it must have been locked with a bolt. I sighed. He must be really mad if he won't even let me in, I thought. However, I don't think he knows that I have a little trick up my sleeve. My eyes turned green as I used my metalbending to unlock the bolt. I slowly opened the door.
"Sunny? Are you here?" I asked. The room was dark. I walked to the bay window and opened the curtains to reveal a glaring Sunny sitting in front of it.
"Sunny Day, you're blinding me with that glare. You're gonna give yourself frown lines, you know," I said. His glare softened to an empty expression. I walked over and knelt down in front of him.
"Look, I really am sorry, Sunny. I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Will you forgive me?" I asked sincerely. His eyes widened in surprise.
"I-I guess I'll forgive you since you asked politely," he said quietly.
"Great!" I said excitedly as I pulled him up off the floor and dragged him to the door. I opened the door and dragged him down the hallway. Sunny could barely keep up.
"W-Where are you taking me?" he asked, nearly out of breath. I giggled to myself and looked at Sunny with a bright smile.
"You'll see when we get there," I said. Sunny was really curious of what she meant. They went out to the main deck. I unleashed my demon and opened my dragon-like wings. I picked Sunny up gently and gracefully flew up to the top balcony of the cruise ship. The sun was setting behind the ship as we travelled on into the darkness of the night. We leaned against the rail and watched the view for a while until three figures approached us.
"Awww! We missed the sunset! But the view's still nice," Komatsu said as he looked out at the twinkling stars. I couldn't help but smile. His cheerful personality is like that of a child and it's contagious.
"I forgot to ask: Where are you guys going?" I asked curiously.
"I'm on my way to the Jidal Kingdom," Coco said.
"I thought that place wasn't a member of IGO," I said, somewhat confused.
"It's not but the President gave me a mission there," he said.
"I see," I said, wondering what ingredient he was after.
"I'm going to the Three Way Road," Sunny said.
"I'll be going back to Area 4 while he's there," I explained before anyone could ask.
"What about you, Toriko?" Coco asked. Toriko sighed as if he knew that at some point we would ask that question. After a minute of silence, he looked at us and smiled.
"Would you guys go with me and Komatsu to visit Zebra?" he asked, putting his hands together.
"No!" Sunny and Coco said immediately. Toriko looked at me with pleading eyes. I sighed as I gathered my thoughts.
"First of all, I can't exactly leave the ship and get back on. Second of all, I've already met with Zebra. Third of all, you had better be glad that you're telling us this now rather than right before you got off because I know him enough to know that he has been training there. He would go on a rampage if he heard you guys rejecting Toriko's offer to visit him. Believe it or not, he's a sensitive guy," I said matter-of-factly. Sunny and Coco thought.
"See, Takeshi, I knew you could talk some sense into them," Toriko said.
"Even if I went to Honey Prison with you, it wouldn't be Zebra I'd be visiting. He knows this already and isn't offended by it," Coco said. I looked at him intently while everyone started talking about something else. Coco slipped away while this went on. I followed him down to a lower balcony. I could feel female eyes glaring at me as I walked up and stood next to him. It must suck to be good-looking, I thought. Coco noticed me but didn't say anything.
"So who would you be visiting? A childhood friend perhaps?" I asked.
"Sometimes, I wonder if you're secretly a fortune teller," he said. I chuckled at that. After all, I did have a fortune teller for a mother. But they don't know that.
"Just woman's intuition. Anyways, carry on," I said. Coco sighed.
"You are correct. She is a dear friend of mine from before I came to as an apprentice bishokuya. Our relationship has gotten worse since then for some reason," he explained.
"Would you like some female advice?" I asked with a smile. Coco thought for a minute and then sighed.
"Very well," he said, hoping there was some way to mend the relationship.
"Perhaps she feels as though you abandoned her when she needed you most. If your friend is who I think it is, maybe she asked you to open your eyes to the world and understand that luxury is blinding you from the horrors of your past," I explained.
"Horrors of my past? You mean my life in the slums?" he asked. It seems my guess was right, I thought.
"Possibly. So this friend of yours. Is she a redhead?" I asked like it was 20 Questions.
"Yeah. Why?" he asked.
"Is she a weaponsmith?" I asked, ignoring his question.
"Yeah. What is this about?" he asked again.
"Does she have one blue eye and one green eye?" I asked, ignoring his question again.
"Y-Yeah. Why are you asking me this?" he asked, hoping that I would finally answer his question.
"Now I know exactly who she is. Her name is Michiru and she's in prison for stealing food from Gourmet restaurants. She is well-known in poverty-stricken countries as their 'Savior'. She is very skilled in martial arts, first-aid, poisons, and craftsmanship. She reforged my dagger into a well-made katana, too," I said. Coco's eyes widened in surprise.
"What did you say about her skills?" he asked.
"She is skilled in poisons … like you," I said. Coco tried to sort things out but to no avail.
"I-I see," he said quietly, "I will retire to my room now. I will see you guys tomorrow."
With that, he left, still brooding on what he had just learned.