𝐒𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐲

[3] Sweetly Succulent

Glimmering lights, busy streets, and a light chattering amongst the common folk. It was lively compared to the usual tense setting within the city. The people weren't speaking lowly, they weren't nervous about the changes within Inazuma. The people we're happy, all of them were. This was just a small moment where everyone could set aside grievances.

There was a sweet and savory smell infecting the air causing your nose to wrinkle. Tonight was beautiful. You didn't know why the Raiden insisted on keeping you out of Inazuma. She treated it as a place if danger for you. You had originally came to this place on your own entirely. It seemed safe enough then. Why was it suddenly so dangerous now? When the world felt so sweet, what need was there to keep you away? That woman would truly be a mystery to you.

A small group of citizens gathered around a stand held outside a building.The small murmurs they gave off were hard to block out, mentions of haikus and talk of poetry. The liveliness of the people had caught your attention, up on your tippy toes, you needed a glace as to what the commotion was about. However, within the group of people, one thing had truly caught your eyes.

A puffy tuft of dirty blonde hair sticking out like a sore thumb, tied up high into a ponytail. The tall demeanor of them now more noticeable then earlier. He stood out amongst the small people within the crowd. Besides them, a young man with milky white locks of hair muttering things to him as they stood within the crowd.

"Tomo!" A glance was sent your way from the younger man in his place. Tomo had shit hearing.

He stared at you for a bit to long, the deep red color of their eyes had thrown you off, not to mention the red streak in their hair. You could only stare back, unmoving. Like a staring contest. You stood as he smiled at the confused expression plastered on your face. Waving you over, you followed without a second thought.

"Evening, my fair lady," The young man greeted, "Are you enjoying the festival?"

A festival. That's why everyone was so active? You back at the sights for another second. It must've been a festival. You don't know how you didn't notice,"It's actually my first festival in inazuma. I haven't had the chance to really do anything yet. It's seems pretty nice so far"

The idle talk is what finally got Tomo's attention, he only looked down, placing a hand on top of your head, "Fish breath! You never told me your name!~ Are you also here for the Haiku contest?"

"Haiku contest? What's tha- Fish breath!? Does my breathe smell bad?"
You felt a sight smack at your usual hard putter shell. The playfulness you usually had would deteriorate with that jab. Fish breath. One of the many subtle things that can absolutely destroy your mental stability for the next few years. The type of thing that'd make you never not brush your teeth again. Everyday you'd intentionally use mouthwash as much as possible to rid yourself of the shame that lingered upon the words fish breath. Such an evil thing to say to a person.

"He's just messing with you, my lady" The white haired boy crinkled his nose at Tomo. Unhappy with the playful wording he had choose. Anything else would be better. However, he didn't say anything about it, only giving him slight side eye.

"I see, well, I thought it was impossible for someone like you to even have the brain capacity to put together something relatively poetic."

Tomo scrunched up his face is response, "I'll have you know, I'm just as poetic as Kazuha." You shrugged your shoulders in a playful manner, not believing a word he had said. Only focusing on the fact that, the mysterious boys name was Kazuha.

"I often go by, [Name], but you can call me whatever you like i suppose."

Kazuha let out a soft chuckle before finally explaining what the contest was, "A haiku is commonly written, or spoken with three lines, with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second, and five in the third." Kazuha trailed on, giving you a gentle explanation as to what the subject was.

"I see, why don't you teach me then?" And from that point on it was history. The haikus and poems you had heard ranged from beautiful to heart wrenching. They were still beautiful none the less, you spent a lot of time getting to know the boys.

The first thing you had done was attempt writing a haiku in which case, you were terrible at. Second thing was listening to what Haiku Tomo had written about you, in which , Kazuha had stomped on his foot afterwards, it went as the following:

Smelly like fishy
Stinky, stunky, you funky
You smell bad for real

You, of course, weren't the happiest about the lines, stinky, stunky, you funky, but they made you laugh anyways. The haiku you had wrote wasn't to your liking, you crumbled it up and tossed it away, continuing on with your night. You ate with them, walked with them, wrote on luck charms. You did it all.

As the festival neared an end, it was little to your knowledge that the crumbled haiku you had written was safely tucked into Tomo's pocket like a treasure that couldn't be replaced.
The time they had with you was more then a come and go. It was prescious.
You had shown them the sicky sweet that you had been. A sweet candy that gets caught within your teeth, sweet, but succulent, wanting more and more of that satisfying treat.

But sweets don't last forever. As succulent they may be, they dissolve with time, only leaving lingering traces of the sweet moments on ones tongue for a short amount of time.
You had to leave. You knew it'd be rude to just leave Raiden alone at her palace without a word to where you had gone. It was time to go.

They didn't want you to go yet. You didn't have to run back to that woman. You just meet new friends, she shouldn't control the things you did. Stay a little longer, no? Wanting you to stay a longer, Kazuha began forcing himself to utter out more words, in an effort to get you to stay for a second longer, "This evening has been very pleasant with you, you've inspired me. I've wrote a haiku for you.. if you wish to hear it. About the sweetness you hold... The sadness in your soul... Would it hurt to wait a second longer?

Sweet like summer pie,
Sad sound of dismay displayed,
Pretty tragedy

Not knowing how to respond, you only smiled at the gesture. You didn't expect to receive a gift so quickly, but you just concluded something's weren't always going to be expected. So, you tried to think of something off the top of your head in return, although you probably should've kept it to yourself.

"Oh, wow. I.. totally, wrote a.. poem! A poem for you instead of a haiku. Ahem,

White hair like an old man,
Red streaks like my new sheets,
You my good sir are magnifi-seats

Hips wide like the tides,
Waist skinny like a thinny..?

Reminded of.. an apple.
Desired a bite
of thy.. plump surface,
of thy

Munch munch,
Crunch crunch

You fine fruit,
You filled me with fadogia?

Fine apple,
Fine is fickle,
When all I want is to play
with your pickle-

"W... what?" The once lax unfazed expression glazed on his face faded.
A now pink hue cast upon his cheeks, the last phrase of words catching him by surprise. He only bit his lip in embarrassment, not knowing what to say.

"Pretty poetic, right?"

The expressions on both of there faces would forever be ingrained within your mind. The pure shock and astonishment from the first words to the last left something within your mind. Kazuha cleared his throat only saying things in an effort to make i feel better. "Of course, my lady.. I'll write it down for reference material later..."

Tomo placed his hand on top of your hand once more, feeling each bit of your hair within his fingers as you slowly began to pull away, he wanted to indulge while kazuha wanted to have fun. Both of them just wanted a bit more time to hang out. To one of them, you seemed like an amazing friend, but to the other you were something more.

They tried to make the last conversation of the night long. They tried too. They really did. Talking about Tomo's cat, talking about close friends within Inazuma. They kept trying to indulge a little more. However, they weren't the ones ment to indulge. You weren't the sweet they could feast on, someone else held that position, someone they really shouldn't be messing with.

"Now just what are you doing outside of the estate?"