Chapter Text
Day 1: circus - Remi gets Sengoku into the circus. They’re both teenagers, pre-civil war.
It wasn’t quite what Sengoku had expected, but it was fun, so it was fine. The theater shows he’d seen before were nothing compared to this. He marveled at the sight of tigers jumping through hoops on command and performers swinging through the air on trapeze. But watching the fire dancers electrified him in a way that he couldn’t explain. Watching them put flame everywhere like it was a mere toy made him feel alive. And the ringmaster, that girl with the big eyes and pink hair, standing in the middle of everything like it was the most natural thing to do. Sengoku was enthralled.
After the performances finished and the crowds began to file out of the arena, Sengoku walked out into the middle of the ring and stood for a second. He imagined standing like the ringmaster, the fire dancers surrounding him and the trapeze artists swinging over his head and-
“Hey kid, are you daydreaming?” Sengoku whirled around to find the pink-haired ringmaster standing behind him.
“Um…”
“It’s not a bad thing, you know. It happens pretty often, but usually it’s little kids, not teenagers.” She began to eye him up and down. “Who are you?”
“...Sengoku. Kakeru Sengoku. I… um… I’m an apprentice leatherworker.”
“Do you like it?”
“Ehhhh?”
“Do you like leatherwork?” Sengoku paused.
“Sort of. It’s a good trade that isn’t hard to learn but is hard to perfect.”
“What were you daydreaming about?” Remi suddenly stared at him.
“Eh…. nothing.”
“Liar. I can see the light in your eyes!” she leaned forward towards him. “You were dreaming about…being me!” Sengoku turned to hide his growing blush.
“....maybe. I dunno. You just looked so… confident and calm in the middle of all the chaos going on all around you.” Remi pulled her top hat off with a flourish.
“That, young man, is the secret of the circus. Care to join me? Gonzalez is making tea.” She began strolling off in the direction of the performers’ exit.
“Wa-wait. What?” Sengoku stammered after her. After a few seconds it became clear she wasn’t coming back. Sengoku turned, dejected. He began walking towards the exit when he felt a hand on his shoulder. One of the trapeze artists had found him.
“Hey, are you Sengoku? The ringmaster’s looking for you.”
“Huh? Why?”
“She said you were supposed to help us get new leathers for show. Said you were a leatherworker.”
“O-oh. right. Right. Um, yes! I was just looking for you all.”
“Follow me.” As Sengoku talked with the performers about their needs, he saw Remi watching him from the corner of his eye. After he was done, she strolled over and looked him up and down again.
“So. now that you’ve met everyone, what do you say?”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you help us get new leathers?”
“Oh! Definitely. It’ll take about 2 days for me to make all the pieces you’ve requested, but it shouldn’t be too long or too costly. Will you be around long enough to pick them up?”
“No, we’re leaving tomorrow night. You’ll have to come with us to finish them.”
“Come…with you?”
“That’s right! You’ll have to come with us. Or, you could always stay here of course.” Sengoku noticed a few of the performers beginning to wander towards them.
“That’s right, you could stay here and finish your apprenticeship, eventually take over the business from your teacher. Make leather goods, grow old safely.” Most of the performers had joined them at this point, all gathered neatly behind Remi. “Or, you could come with us, and have an adventure that you’ll never forget. The Blue Mirage circus would like to invite you to become our de-facto craftsman!”
-
Of course, Sengoku had to accept. If only to see that girl with the bright pink hair and the big eyes again.