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

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ⁴²

"Everything hurts..." Arataki grumbled as he stretched his aching joints. Standing in the same pose for a long time did a number on him. He could almost feel his ligaments creaking with every movement.

"At least let me see the final product!" Arataki went to stand next to the man and his brows shot upward. Arataki was standing with his hands on his hips and a defiant smile on his face. His hair looked longer and more majestic as it blew in the wind and his muscles looked larger than how they do in reality since Mihoyo did him dirty.

Ushi looked different, too. He wasn't small, he stood behind him and was normal bull size. He looked much more cooler and somehow looked muscular. His mane was just as majestic as Arataki's and his large horns arched in a magnificent curve.

"Whoa... Look how awesome I look!" The older man nodded in agreement, "I am an artist after all." Arataki couldn't stop looking at it. Ushi had to nudge his leg in order for him to snap out of it.

"Right. No more distractions. We're on a time crunch! Now, hand it over." He demanded, looking down at the man. "Certainly. A deal's a deal, as they say." He handed the bag of Mora over and Arataki's smile grew at the weight of it. "Pleasure doing business with ya! C'mon, Y/n." When I didn't respond, he looked around to see where I was.

I was sitting upright with my head resting against the wall, fast asleep with our bag on my lap. He got onto his haunches by my feet and was now looking up at me, "Hey. Wakey wakeyyy~" He poked my cheek, trying to wake me.

I was still exhausted from the previous night, not being able to sleep because of him. Now the same person wants to wake me.

"Go away..." I sleepily swatted his hand without opening my eyes. "Shortieee~ Wake uuuuup~" He whispered and I turned my head a little away from him. "No."

Arataki let out a long sigh and got up again. He scratched the back of his head, trying to think of a way to get me to wake up.

He had to admit, she was kinda cute in her sleep.

I felt him take the bag from me but I continued to be 'asleep'. He placed the Mora inside the bag and gazed down at me one more time before a sinister idea formulated in his head. He knew I wouldn't like it, but he didn't care. He found it hilarious when I tried to be mad at him.

I let out a yelp when he suddenly picked me up by my waist like I weighed nothing. He effortlessly threw me over his right shoulder while I squirmed. "Stop doing that, you know I hate it!" I yelled while kicking my legs in the air and angrily pounding his back with my fists. "You shoulda thought of that when you ignored me~ You brought this onto yourself!" He laughed as he carried me and the bag towards the door.

"See ya later, old man!" He hollered over his other shoulder with a wave of the bag and I could only stare at his back in defeat and wave in the man's direction.

The man laughed while shaking his head, "Ah youth... Wait, I'm 32! That is not 'old'! I am still young!"

'Was he trying to convince us or himself that he's young...?'

Arataki turned on his heel, tilting his head.  "Didn't he say 34 before, or am I crazy?" He asked and glanced at me for confirmation. "Yep, he did..."

"I'm 21 by heart. Stop referring to me as 'old man' and address me by my name, rather!" We both deadpanned, "...Which is?" He blinked at Arataki, only just realizing he never gave us his name.

He straightened his back and smoothed out his outfit to look somewhat decent. Slightly upturning his chin, he graciously gazed at us with a small, elegant smile, "You may call me Mister Sei." His tone, his posture, all of it screamed 'royalty' for some reason. For a moment, I nearly believed he wasn't some old hobo man. Hold on...

Did he say Sei?!

I pushed myself up to try and look at the man in question. "Sei? As in, Yusuke Sei?" His graceful posture instantly crumbled when he heard his name leave my mouth. Was this really the guy we've been looking for? This mad, bootless, old man was him all along? The crest, the money, the dialect... It has to be.

"How do you know my name..?" He asked suspiciously, backing away slowly as he eyed the each of us. "If you're thinking of revealing my true identity, I will have you know I have connections! I-I can ruin your life if I wanted to!" He didn't sound at all threatening and we just stared at him.

He quickly bent down and picked up the metal rod from before and pointed it at us with a shaky grip. We kept staring at him, unfazed.

"Please calm down. We're actually here for you, sir." As I mentioned this his brows shot up, surprised. "So you're not... Going to tell anyone my secret?" He slowly lowered the pole. "There's no need, old man. We're not the types to blackmail like that." Arataki explained and he seemed to relax.

"You see, we– Half-Oni, could you uh..." Arataki turned so I was facing Yusuke and I face-palmed.
"I meant, put me down..."
"Oh. I knew that." He carefully put me down and I patted my clothes before turning to the man.

"You see, we were actually on our way to Konda Village to find you. There's something we wanted to ask."

*        *        *

"I see. You are in search of someone there..." He stroked his chin in thought before his eyes flitted up to meet mine, a smile playing on his lips.

"For you, Miss, and your companions here, I will give you the invitation." I gasped, gawking at Sei. He nodded with amusement and I turned to Arataki with a wide smile on my face,
"We did it! Haha!" I exclaimed in joy.
"Yeah! We did!" He hugged me and spun me around while laughing boisterously.

Once he put me down, I faced Sei, "Thank you so much, sir!" He just smiled calmly at me, "No need to thank me, you have done much for me. It only makes sense that I do the same." He left and rummaged through his desk until he returned, a white letter in hand.

"Here you are." He held it out to me and I hesitated, "Are you absolutely sure we can have this?"
"Of course! You see, I'm a bit of a recluse. Shocking, I know." I forced a smile and nodded my head.

"Not to mention that I am undercover here, I'd much rather be here in the comfort of my home."
"Completely understandable. Thank you again, Mister Sei." I thanked him once again as I took the letter. "No problem at all. I wish you the best of luck on your journey. Now if you excuse me, I too have a mission. I have a fox to find..." His fist clenched as he stared off in the distance.

For a solid minute, he acted like a normal human being. Now he's back to being the weirdo.

"Uh good luck with that."

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