𝕃𝕖𝕥'𝕤 𝕊𝕖𝕒 (FEM! Reader X Arataki Itto)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ⁴¹

I didn't realize that this man lived in the same village as the one we were heading for, Konda Village. Convenient. After we've collected our reward, we could ask around for Mister Yusuke.

A few elderly people waved at us as we passed but seemed to smile wryly at the man. "Not far now, that house right there!" He pointed towards the small, simple looking house on the outskirts of the quiet village. It looked no different from the rest which came as a relief to me.

Maybe he wasn't as crazy as I thought.

"Here we are!" He patted himself as he searched for something. His face lit up and took out a key from within the shawl and inserted it into the door to unlock it.

"Now please excuse the mess... If I had known I would have guests over, I would've tidied up a bit." Just as he opened the door, a small brown fox bolted past our legs and into the nearby treeline. Ushi let out a startled sound and hid behind my legs.

"Tamara? Tamara, come back!" He shouted useless after the creature but it was long gone. "(Sigh)... Oh well. I'm sure she'll be back. Nevermind that, come! Please enter!" He hurried inside and held the door open.

I take back what I said.

I snuck a glance at Arataki who seemed just as hesitant as I did but eventually we all entered against our better judgement. Arataki had to duck his head so that his horns wouldn't knock against the doorframe. The man entered without taking off his shoes– shoe, so we assumed it was okay to leave them on.

Inside was a little messy, as told, but it wasn't as bad as I imagined it would be. He had the very basics of furniture such as his bed, wardrobe, desk, a small counter in the corner that acted as a kitchen area and I could see a door which I presumed led to his bathroom.

It was normal. Too normal...

It was quite cramped but that wasn't what caught my attention. The walls and every surface of the room had papers scattered across it containing many pencil sketches. There was a wooden easel in the corner which had an unfinished painting propped up against it.

"Check it out." Arataki was looking at the unfinished painting of a brown fox, exactly like the one that had escaped earlier. "Wow..." I admired the brushwork up close as I readjusted the straps of the bag on my back.

"Ahem!" We turned to the man who stood with his hands behind his back, a proud smile on his face. "It brings me joy when others admire my work! I'm a bit of an artist, as you can see." He gestured to the room littered in drawings and paintings.

"I travel all over Inazuma, looking for my next muse!" He raised his hands dramatically, causing me to cringe internally. "Cool. So when do we get that reward?" Arataki chimed in, getting straight to the point. He could tell I was a little uncomfortable being here and so was he.

"Of course, of course! One moment, just need to find it..." He rummaged through his belongings, searching for it. He threw things around haphazardly while he searched and muttered to himself.

The man went to search through a pile of papers in the corner but found that Ushi beat him to it, sniffing it as he was exploring the house. "C'mere Ushi." I called him and he trotted over as the man watched him in thought. I didn't like the way he was looking at him.

"Is it... Some sort of means of emergency rations?" He seemed genuinely confused. Ushi turned around, steam shooting from his nostrils. "He's not food, he's our companion. His name is Ushi." Ushi huffed and sat by Arataki's legs, glaring at the man.

"Explains the odd attire... Why does it look mad?"
"That's just his face." I explained, looking down at the grumpy cow. "I think he's genuinely mad this time..." I heard Arataki commented as his eyes continued to scan the room.