Flying in the Wind [Genshin Impact]

Chapter 36. Who are you now?

Chapter 36
Who are you now?

Kazuha's first deduction was that Kamisato Ayato had gone there to look for him. Why else would the head of the Yashiro Commission be in a place like this? Especially without any escort. Has something happened to Ayaka? Or did he want to have that conversation with him that had clearly been pending between them since the other day? Not to say perhaps for eight years.

Whatever the reason was, he couldn't let his new friends (if he could already consider them that way) get involved, especially knowing that Itto and that girl with the black mask had a vision too. With that in mind, he prepared to step forward and introduce himself to the commissioner. However, someone else beat him to it.

"Hey! But it's my buddy Ayato!" Itto exclaimed forcefully, walking towards the blue-haired man, taking Kazuha entirely by surprise.

My buddy Ayato? Kazuha thought, totally confused. And this feeling increased when he saw the leader of the Arataki Gang approaching Ayato and just after surrounding him with an arm in a relatively friendly way, as well as a somewhat rude.

"What a surprise to see you here!" snapped Itto joyfully. "Where have you been?"

"Oh, you know, here and there," the commissioner murmured with a half-smile. "I've been busy lately."

"Less work and more fun, that's my motto! Or one of them," Itto exclaimed proudly. "You remember the little ones, don't you?" He pointed, turning to the children under the tree. "Kouichi, Shouta, Daisuke, and Midori. And surely you also recognize my comrades, Akira, Genta, and Mamoru," he continued, pointing to his gang members. "And I don't think you had met Shinobu before. She is my right hand and the one who is in charge of getting us out of trouble... more times than they should."

"Hi... it's a pleasure," Shinobu greeted with some hesitation. In her gaze, there was a certain distrust when observing that individual, especially for that smile on his face that gave her a bad feeling.

"And he's my new friend, Kazuha," Itto finally added, gesturing toward the fair-haired young swordsman. "We met just today. It's funny, actually. I was eating in a restaurant and some thieves..."

"Itto," Kazuha pronounced sharply, cutting off his words. His expression reflected severity. "This person is..."

"A die-hard fan of onikabuto battles and card games," Ayato interrupted before he could say more, flashing a wide, carefree smile. "And the boba tea, by the way," he added, laughing a little and raising his glass. "Nice to meet you, Miss Shinobu... Mr. Kazuha..."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Shinobu said without changing her apprehensive attitude.

Kazuha didn't answer anything; he was pretty busy figuring out exactly what was going on without much success. What he did manage to understand was that Lord Kamisato did not want his identity to be revealed and, therefore, how the two of them knew each other. He didn't understand what his motives were for that. Still, he wasn't in a position to question it either since he had deliberately omitted to mention the name of the Kaedehara family to avoid trouble too. Saying that, he just nodded in response to the greeting.

"And I see that you were about to have a fight right now, right?" Ayato asked curiously, looking at the beetles that Itto and Kazuha brought with them and the small combat arena drawn on the ground that the children had prepared.

"That's right!" stated Itto fiercely. "We are about to start a small tournament with a brilliant prize of two hundred moras."

"Will Mr. Kazuha also participate?" the blue-haired man asked, looking curiously at the blue beetle perched so patiently and still in the swordsman's hands.