Taking over the Abyss

36- Beetle Royale

"Here we are!" Itto enthusiastically raised his arms in a grand gesture, "Inazuma City! Home of the Raiden Shogun, and also, the Arataki Gang."

You kept close to Itto, using his eccentric style of dressing as a shield to keep the eyes off of you. In Liyue and Mondstadt, it was more annoying to get stared at, but it was actually dangerous here. You were captured by the sight of constant sakura petals falling from the trees with no signs of stopping.

Curious, you asked him about it, "Are there always sakura petals everywhere?"

"Yep," Itto nodded, grinning toothily, "Pretty cool, huh? I mean, maybe not if you hate the color pink. It only ever gets annoying whenever you slip on them, which by the way, I have never done."

You had a feeling that Arataki Itto had slipped before, but kept it to yourself. He was leading you further into the city, giving a short wave to a blonde girl clad in bright orange. She cheerfully waved back, but was too engrossed in her work to say anything. Itto came to a sudden stop once the two of you were standing in front of an Adventurer's Guild kiosk.

He turned to face you, clearly very excited, "So, how about I give you a little tour of the city? I'll take you to Ritou tomorrow so you can look for your friends there."

Seeing no real reason to disagree, you nodded, "Sure, that sounds fun."

"And 'Fun' is my middle name," Itto said, before giving you a quick idea of what he had planned, "Can't take you in there without an invite, but I can show you to the Komore Tea House."

You followed Itto closely, passing by various vendors and their products. A few of the people you passed by parted like the red sea when they saw Itto, but he thought nothing of it. Instead, he looked down at you and asked, "So, about that history gig of yours... you need help moving anything? Like, large objects specifically?"

Curious why he was asking, you raised an eyebrow at him, "Not that I can think of, no. Why?"

"Ah, just wondering," Itto casually waved off your question, thought better of it, and said, "I'm, uh, between jobs right now. I mostly do odd jobs anyway. Like moving stuff for people, pretending to be a scarecrow, helping draw up business, and I'm pretty good with painting fences."

"Well, if I do end up needing help with something, I'll make sure to come to you first then," you flashed a genuine smile at him. He was really, really sweet.

Itto seemed happy to hear that, taking it as the chance to question you more about it. "So, which ruins caught your interest? I know there's the ones down in Araumi, but there's like a door blocking it. I could probably smash it open on a good day."

You paused for a moment, knowing the delicate political situation with Inazuma. You made sure to keep your voice down to stay out of any trouble, "It's in... Watatsumi Island."

Itto stopped in his tracks and stared down at you with wide eyes, his smile dropping into a small, concerned frown. He cocked his head slightly to the side and leaned down to ask, "Hey, you sure you wanna go over there right now? With the whole civil war going on, it's really not that safe..."

"Yeah, I know. But I have to take that risk anyway," you said resolutely. Itto blinked owlishly before shrugging and going back to his usual carefree self. You followed alongside him as he began to walk again.

"Your friend going with you?" He asked in a casual tone of voice, like he was asking you about the weather, and not a trip to a dangerous island.

You gave a short nod, listening to the sound of his geta sandals clicking against the stone pavement, "Yes, and no. We both went to Inazuma together, but he wants to meet with the Raiden Shogun."