After leaving Kagami and her friends at the spa for the day, Baren roamed around the city. Despite the heavily populated sidewalks, she managed to slip between everyone without her clothing even touching them. After a bit of exploring, she managed to find a side street filled with old styled restaurants. The street was still busy, but thankfully not as busy.
Going up and down the street once, she decided to enter one of the smaller places. It didn't even have a door. There was just a cloth hanging over the opening.
Moving the cloth out of the way, she ducked underneath and entered. Once inside, an older man behind a very small counter greeted her with a smile. "Good afternoon, ma'am."
"Afternoon." She nodded while glancing around. There were a few small tables off to the side. Only a few of them had people. Most of the customers were sitting at the counter. "Um," She took a deep breath. "I'd just like some tea. And a spot in the corner please."
"What kind of tea?" He asked as she began to walk towards a table in the back.
"Any kind is fine. Your favorite." She softly shrugged while breathing out.
Blinking once, the old man raised an eyebrow. Softly shaking his head, he turned around and peered into the kitchen in the back. "Some jasmine tea then. Hey, son!" He called out.
Sitting quietly by herself, Baren had her eyes closed and head lowered slightly. Her arm rested over her thighs. Hearing footsteps approached, she looked up.
Coming up to her table, a young man set a steaming pot of tea down on the table followed by a small cup. "Here you go. Jasmine tea." He nodded before pouring her a glass. "I hope you enjoy it." He held his hands in front of himself before bowing.
"Thank you." She nodded back to him. As he left, she grabbed the pot, poured herself a cup and took a deep breath. The steam from the tea relaxed the muscles in her body. Setting the cup back down, she shifted around in her seat until she was sitting with crossed legs on it. Now comfortable, she picked the tea up and took a small sip.
She took her time with her first cup. Each swallow calmed her body more and more. Though it didn't calm her mind as much as she wanted. Despite her calm facade, her emotions were unstable. She felt unstable. Her thoughts were racing faster than even she would like. And she was the one who was always thinking about the endless possibilities of events. She was used to overwhelming thoughts. But right now her mind was too cloudy to even think clearly.
"Well isn't this a nice surprise."
She almost flinched at the voice that suddenly spoke to her. Breathing out through her nose, she opened her eyes and narrowed them at the old man in front of her. "You."
"Hello." Hisato gently waved his hand before taking a seat across from her. "Here I thought you were just going to hide away from society in Miss Midori's home this whole time. It's nice to see you out." He sniffed the air. "Mhm, jasmine tea."
"Shouldn't you be delivering mail?" Her glare hardened.
"It's Sunday. No mail." He shrugged. Twisting his body around, he waved his hand for someone to come over. He wanted a cup for himself.
Sharply inhaling, Baren closed both her eyes. Her right eyebrow was twitching as she heard him pouring a cup for each of them. "Are you sure there's nothing you would rather be doing?"
"Hmm." He thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Nope." He picked up his tea and took a sip. "I come here every day off I have."
"Of course you do." She rolled her eyes while snatching her cup.
Slowly tilting his head, he raised an eyebrow. "You seem more distraught than the last time we talked. Is something bothering you?" He took another sip.
"Nothing." She nearly snapped while speaking through her teeth. "Everything is quite alright. Now, I'd like to go back to enjoying my tea."
"Oh, of course." He nodded while taking another drink.
With her shoulders falling, she stared dumbfounded at him for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes while bringing her cup of tea close. "Are you just going to sit there?" She finally asked after nearly a minute of silence.
"Hm?" He lifted his head up. "Well what is there to talk about? You said everything was fine, right? No reason to talk." He went back to his tea.
Her eyebrow twitched even more. Heavily exhaling, she took a long sip from her tea. She was so tightly holding her cup she was honestly surprised it wasn't shattering in her grasp. He wasn't saying anything but somehow it felt like he was pressuring her to talk about what was rushing through her mind.
A silent interrogation.
And it was working.
"Have you ever messed up so bad that you try to spend your entire life trying to make up for it?" She suddenly asked. She didn't even look up. Instead, she kept her gaze down.
Hisato let out a very quiet laugh. "Everyday." He smiled brightly before taking another sip from his tea. Taking a deep breath, he leaned back. "A long time ago, I convinced my son to go to war with me. I excelled but... it wasn't even his fight." He exhaled with a soft shake of his head. "But that doesn't matter. The past is in the past. We cannot change it."
"War?" Her brow furrowed as she looked up. "What do you mean war? The last war was over eighty years ago."
"Yeah." He shrugged. "What can I say, I drink a lot of tea." He smiled once again. He then set his cup down and began to refill it.
Blinking a few times, Baren tilted her head a little. Lowering her head slightly, she closed her eyes and let out a small snicker. "Sure, sure." She shook her head before glancing up at him. She held out her cup.
"It's the truth." He chuckled a little while pouring her another cup. "I am quite curious as to why you're out here all by yourself. Where's those kids you watch?" He set the teapot down.
"The spa." She rolled her eyes while bringing her warm cup of tea close. "I would rather be stabbed again than go back to that building of tourtue."
"Hah!" Hisato let out a very loud laugh and nearly spilled his tea. "I mean, well, I suppose if you see it like that." He shrugged. "I hope you're not planning to stay here the whole time they're having their spa day."
"Well that is the plan. I have tea. It's decently quiet." She exhaled. "That's all I need."
"Hmm." He cocked his head to the side. "How about we go walk around once we're done. Not through the city, but perhaps a park? Or maybe near the sea? There's a place where the fishermen all go to fish at. It's reserved for them so it is quite nice. The fishmongers love them so it must be a good spot."
Glancing at him, Baren let out a very quiet groan through an exhale. He was still the same laid back man she wanted to leave her alone. But his presence was strangely relaxing. Taking a deep breath, she took a sip from her tea. "I suppose we could. If you insist, that is." She ever so slightly, just partially, smiled.
Later that afternoon, the two of them were strolling down the shoreline. Looking out across the horizon, Baren thought to herself. "Do Grimm really not come to this island?" She asked while eyeing the birds flying in circles above the water.
"Nope." Hisato let his shoulders bounce slightly as he answered. He was walking with his hands behind his back. "Was here when they ended the war. Have been here ever since. Haven't seen a single Grimm in all those days."
"I still don't believe that." She rolled her eyes before eyeing him. "Tea is great, but not that great."
"Whether you believe it or not isn't a concern of mine." He shrugged. "But I mean it when I say I haven't seen Grimm here. Ever. This island is an island of peace and unity. It seems even the Grimm acknowledge that."
"You're old enough to know there's no truth in that." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "If Grimm aren't here, something is keeping them away."
Hisato grew quiet at that. Breathing in, he regained his casual and carefree attitude. "Well, no one knows. If it's not broken, don't try to fix it. We live on an island free of Grimm. Plus with natural barriers in case any try to come inland. We should be grateful for what we have right now."
"Are you really trying to lecture me? Me?" She added extra emphasis while resting her arm across her chest.
"I am technically older than you." He quietly chuckled with his shoulders bouncing. "I believe that is my job as your elder."
"Oh for the love of..." She rolled her eyes with a small scoff. "Unbelievable. You are absolutely unbelievable."
"Only a little bit." He chuckled some more.
Hearing footsteps rushing up behind them, Baren let out a quiet groan and glared back. Though to her surprise she saw team MACE hurrying after them. Kagami was several seconds ahead of the rest of her team and panting. "I thought I told you to wait at the spa for me to return?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Forget the spa." The jadette stumbled as she came to a stop. Despite no longer running, she was still breathing unevenly. Grabbing her mentor's wrist, she pulled on her slightly. "We need to go talk to my mom. Now."
"Wait, what?" She blinked confused. Seeing Kagami panicked was enough to throw anyone off. "What's going on? What could possibly go wrong at a spa?"
"She's gone insane, that's what." Kris spoke as she caught up. She then grunted as the back of her head was hit.
Glaring at her, Elise looked up at the one armed warrior. "We saw into our ancestor's lives. It was supposed to be relaxing and nice, which it really was, I'm surprised Annie doesn't have more customers." She blinked. She was getting side tracked. "But Kagami saw something and she's been freaked out ever since."
"We need to go talk to mom." Kagami insisted while pulling on Baren's arm some more. "Now."
Tilting his head, Hisato sighed. "You go on ahead. I'll see you tomorrow evening when I deliver the mail."
"Right?" She raised an eyebrow at him before grunting softly as Kagami jerked her away.
Staring, Cheyenne glanced between the two older people. "Wait, were they on a date?" She blinked.
Looking back and forth, Kris' eyes grew wide with amusement. "No, nooo. No way!" She grinned. "You snuck off on a date while we were at the spa! I knew you had more secrets than just edgy Huntress ones!"
"It wasn't a date!" Baren snapped with a quiet hiss as she was pulled around the corner.
With a chaotic smile, Elise leaned over towards the older man. "Oh it was totally a date."
"I know." Hisato whispered back with a quiet laugh.
Nemasis,
I had actually originally planned the magical water to be the Fountain of Youth with the concept more like the one from the original Ben Ten series. But then we got the episode about the Brothers so I was like "well why not just have it connect" so that's where it ended up.
At first it was the Ancient Monomane's desire to survive that made him snap, but overtime it was the water along with some other things that drove him to the insanity that kept him going all these years. His coiled sword that he stole is also a reference to Dark Souls since in the game they indirectly bind the undead to their cursed existence. Just a friendly piece of information to know about this guy. He does have a name by the way. But that's for later.