Chapter Text
At the center of Inazuma City, a small group was mourning the loss of their greatest leader.
“He… he was so young!” Akira wailed.
“He always liked to live life on the edge… but not like this!” Mamoru said, blowing into a tissue.
“Sniff, sometimes… when I look at Ushi, it’s like he’s still here!” Genta said, crying into Ushi, who was also quietly lamenting.
Kuki Shinbou watched the other members of the Arataki Gang all cry in front of the picture of their brave leader. Arataki Itto.
”I tried to warn him… I tired to tell him there’d be no turning back. So why… why did he take that trip to Liyue?”
“Are you serious? You want to go back to Liyue because of an Onikabuto?!” Shinobu shouted.
She and Itto had just gotten back from Lyue after the conclusion of the decently successful Arataki Blazing Armor Beetle Battle Bootcamp. With the help of Yanfei, they successfully managed to take a boat back to Inazuma with a bit of Mora in tact. However, once they were back in Inazuma, Itto had stated he left one of his Onikabuto back in Liyue!
”You don’t understand Shinobu, this ain’t just your average every day run of the mill Onikabuto, no, this is the Onikabuto to end all Onikabuto! I took it through special training at the Arataki Blazing Armor Beetle Battle Bootcamp, so much so that it probably leaves some of my best Onikabuto in the dust! I was planning to absolutely dominate the next Onikabuto tournament with it!” Itto explained.”
”Even so, we don’t have the Mora for another trip to Liyue!” Shinobu shouted.
“It’s fiiiiine, I’ll just go by myself.” Itto replied.
“Nope. No. Absolutely not. Not happening.” Shinobu quickly shot down Itto’s idea, you could plant every Fatui Harbinger together in a room, and they probably wouldn’t be able to cause a fraction of the trouble that an unsupervised Arataki Itto could.
“C’mon! Didn’t I totally prove myself by working super hard back in Liyue?” Itto asks.
Shinobu crossed her arms, ”I’ll admit, I was pretty impressed, but even so, you can’t just travel across Teyvat to pick up one Onikabuto. I mean, the Arataki Gang needs you, how could we ever hope to function in our usual dysfunctional way without you?”
”What? Thats easy, you’ll handle it!”
”Huh? Me?” Shinobu was left speechless by the Oni’s answer.
”You’re my one and only second in command, Shinobu. When the top oni has to go on a fantastic voyage, it’s up to his deputy to hold down the fort. Everyone knows that!” Itto smiles.
“Alright, let’s say that you have the Mora, and you won’t cause any trouble, and that the Arataki Gang will manage just fine without. Why do all of this for one Onikabuto?” Shinobu asks.
Itto places one foot on a nearby rock, he had been waiting for her to ask that. “Why Shinobu, as members of the Arataki Gang, we need to make sure that we always exemplify what we in the Arataki Gang stand for, and that’s all the more true for you and I. Now imagine: the next Onikabuto tournament happens, and the Arataki Gang is squashed like nothing! We would already be humiliated! But then, it gets worse, whispers start becoming rampant in the Onikabuto battling scene. Oh why, you heard of the Arataki Gang? I heard that they didn’t even give it their all in the last Onikabuto Tourney, they must not think anything of the pristine art of Onikabuto fighting!” Itto had to wipe away a tear, even the thought was such accusations was too much for him to bear, “If we ever chose to give a half baked showing, what would that mean for our Arataki pride, Shinobu? What about the Arataki pride?”
Shinobu huffed as the other members of the Arataki Gang all cheered for their leader’s valiant speech. While it was utterly ridiculous, Shinobu found little to argue about in it.
“Okay, fine. I’ll let you go to Liyue, but once you get that Onikabuto, you come right back, or else…” Shinobu warned, for a moment it looked like Electro shot out of her eyes.
Itto gulped. “Y-Yes Shinobu! Understood!” And with that, the One and Oni ran off, aiming to claim that prizes Onikabuto that was rightfully his.
“Is… is he gonna be okay?” Mamoru asks.
”Is he gonna be okay? This is boss we’re talking about! Nothing can stop him… except beans.” Genta says.
The gang had so much faith in their leader, it truly was such a travesty for things to turn out the way they did…
“What do you mean the price for traveling doubled?!” Itto shouted in the docks in Liyue, clutching his special Onikabuto in his hand.
”Sorry. We’ve had a lot of people coming through as of late, so the Mora requirement is gonna be a little higher at this time.” The man Itto was talking to said.
Itto wanted to rave, wanted to rant, but he promised Shinobu he would wouldn’t cause trouble, not to mention his special Onikabuto was with him, and he didn’t wish it to see the dangers of the world before it had even truly touched the battlefield. With little choice, Itto walked away, his spirit shattered.
Itto wandered aimlessly until he found a nice hill so sit on, so he and his Onikabuto watched the sunset together.
“Okay… calm down. The guy said the price change as only temporary, right? So I’ll just swing by again tomorrow and pay for-“
Itto patted his pockets. Gone. The bag of Mora in his pocket was gone. Quickly, he scrambled around to see where he might dropped it. It was then that it occurred to him, weasel thieves were infamous little rodents, notorious for pilfering the goods of innocent citizens. Could it be, had Arataki Itto too become victim to dastardly animals?
Now things were really bad, a mild day he could live with, but how could Itto possibly go back to Inazuma after losing the last of the Arataki gangs savings? Even the private stash that Shinobu had hidden, which he completely forgot to mention he took. Itto shuddered at the though of what Shinobu would think if he did somehow get back to Inazuma.
This has all been too much, Itto got on his knees, and looked up at the sky. He prayed, if anyone was listening to him, anyone at all. Send a sign, help an oni out. Anything, anything at all-
“Mr. Itto?”
Itto turned around, and there he saw a true blessing of fortune, it was Xiangling, and the almighty Guoba.
”What’re you doing here? I thought you and Shinobu already left for Inazuma?” Xiangling asked.
”It is sad to say, but for the first time, the Oni King’s luck has run out. I’m all alone and Mora-less, just one Onikabuto to keep me company now…” Itto looked into the distance, a gust of wind passing by.
”Oh, so you need a job?” Xiangling asks.
A job, yes, that’s what Itto needed. But who would hire an Oni so down on his luck? He was able to find good jobs with the help of others, but by himself? The chances seemed like a one in a million.
”Oh! Maybe you can work at Wanmin Restuarant for a bit!” Xiangling says.
Itto swiftly turns around, “Wait what?”
”We could always use some extra help, and we’d be happy to lend a hand!” Xiangling says.
Itto quickly got on his knees, his prayers had been answered! “Yes! I’ll do it! Chef-sama, Guoba-san, teach me your ways!”
And with that, a door had finally opened for Itto, suddenly things didn’t seem too hopeless after all. However he was far from done, there was never something he wouldn’t give 110% effort for, whole this may just be a way to earn some Mora, he was gonna work as if his life was on the line. Arataki Itto’s culinary journey had only just begun.