Hi, a lot of people have been asking you about Before the Fall but I was wondering if, by any chance, you might have something in your drafts for Portraits of 119th. I just miss this collection a little, haha. So yes, I just wanted to ask! Good luck with everything and I hope the remaining days of this crazy year will be good to you 🍀
Hi! I hope you’re doing well too! This year has been so much. I have an embarrassing amount of Portraits of 119 WIPs in my drafts. Here’s one that centers on the new Polar Star kids (sorry it isn’t finished yet!)
Yukihira Raiden knew that it was rare for his father to ask favors of him, so when the old man called to see if he could check up on a friend’s shop over summer break, he had agreed without hesitation.
“You guys really didn't have to give up your whole break for this,” Raiden reminded his friends for the umpteenth time as they pulled up to the Okinawa beach house great-grandpa Nakiri left him in the will.
“This is way nicer than the beach trip I had planned anyway,” Utau said with a shrug. After receiving murder stares from Maria and Yuna, she backpedaled a bit. “Uh, I mean we're your friends and we have your back and stuff.”
“Thanks, Kawashima,” he said with a grin. “I'm gonna take a look around, but listen, hot tub's out back.”
“You don't have to tell me twice,” Utau sang as she made her way out to the patio. And of course Aoki-senpai was right on her heels.
“Library's upstairs,” he continued.
Yuna nearly gasped. It was said that the late Nakiri Senzaemon held an unprecedented number of rare culinary texts and personal food writing in his private collections. “T-thanks, Yukihira-kun,” she squeaked before mounting the stairs with a wide-eyed Endomoto Kairi behind her.
“So where are we headed?” Sosuke asked when only he and Maria remained.
“Are you sure you don't want to check out the beach or something?” Raiden asked them.
Maria just shrugged. “We can all head to the beach when we’re done with this.”
The shop was a quaint seaside shack, where beach-vacationers and locals alike could walk in for some world class casual faire.
However, despite the throngs of students on the beach and commuters racing home with the evening rush hour, the restaurant was all but deserted when the Totsuki students arrived.
“You kids are early,” the owner chef said as he came around to shake their hands.
“What seems to be the problem?” Maria asked after tasting chef's takoyaki. Everything they’d sampled has been delicious.
“There’s a place up the beach that’s recently come under new management. They cut deals with some of my suppliers to drive up the prices, and brought in some hotshots to revamp their menu.”
“That’s awful,” Maria said. “We’ll do whatever we can to help.”
“Someone’s pumping money into dude’s competition,” Sosuke said as soon as they left the shack. “Probably took one hell of a bribe to turn the vendors.”
“Who had that kind of pull?” Maria questioned, still nibbling on her stick on dango. “Well, besides your people?”
“I guess we’re about to find out.”