Stories from a Wandering Tanuki Merchant: The Very Worthwhile Cost of a Tasty Meal

Word Count: 713

69- When did your character last cry? Draw or write about this memory or event.

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Kyanoko was relaxing after her trip to Lyra and was enjoying the nice moderate weather. The tanuki basked in the warm sunlight and enjoyed the wind passing through her fur. She had almost forgotten she had set up her shop until a shadow passed over her eyes.

“Kyanoko?” the figure blocking her sun was tall and slender and had three bushy tails.

“Akata!” Kyanoko greeted, throwing her arms wide in welcome. “I didn’t know you were traveling the Paperverse!”

“It was a recent development.” the kitsune shrugged as he sat on the cushion Kyanoko offered. “So many years go by in your own world and you get tired of doing what you love. I came to explore and see more sights. Rediscover my muse.”

“Likewise.” Kyanoko nodded. She poured him tea, freshly brewed instead of from her cask. She was trying to rely less on her talisman’s ability to entertain.

“Delicious.” the kitsune licked his lips after a sip. “How has channeling fire gone for you since we last met?”

“I’m honestly still struggling. Oftentimes, I’ll forget that I’m even attuned to fire.” Kyanoko sighed and leaned back. “When I do remember, I can only get it to react from my hands. I can produce a lot of heat and sometimes smoke.”

Akata stroked his beard as he mulled over Kyanoko’s woes. “If you’re not learning at the rate you wish, perhaps I can offer a more extreme solution to help you along?”

“Extreme how?”

“In Pavia, I heard a rumor of a chef that cooks with a particular blend of spices that can make the unprepared feel as though their insides are melting.” the bard weaved the rumor in the same way he would tell a scary folk tale. “Perhaps I can take you there? I’ll cover the cost. It feels odd to have you potentially pay for your own funeral.”

A smile split across Akata’s face that read that he was joking. But it was so toothy that if Kyanoko herself wasn’t a carnivore, she might have felt intimidated.

“I’ll always accept a free meal. Especially if it was offered by a handsome individual.”

“Oho, Kyanoko- you flatterer.” Akata flicked a hand her way while shyly holding his face in the other. He kept his face angled away but turned his eyes back on her. “But please, go on.”

 

Kyanoko had never experienced such pain before in her life. Her stomach ached and burned. Her nose and eyes were involuntarily pouring with snot and tears. Her mouth had felt as if she had eaten liquid fire. Her face pounded with heat. She sputtered and coughed as she tore off another piece of naan bread. She scooped more of the flavorful chicken chettinad curry and shoved it into her mouth.

“Kyanoko, why are you still eating it if it hurts you?” Akata asked, his face warped into that of pity, confusion, and horror. He patted her back as she reached for a bite of mango pudding to futilely stave off the heat.

“Because it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever tasted!” she cried, shoving another bite of the spicy curry into her mouth. “And if this is the price I have to pay-”

“I’m paying.”

“-Then it’s worth it!”

The chef, a human, smiled proudly as she watched the tanuki suffering for her meal. Akata felt secondhand pain as he watched Kyanoko finish off her bowl over the course of a half hour. Kyanoko ate through a brain freeze as she scarfed down a serving of mango ice cream. Then she curled at the table, holding her head in one hand and her tummy in the other.

The human chef came to their table, and, instead of passing the bill for Akata to pay, passed along another bowl of curry to Kyanoko. The kitsune immediately pulled a face of shock and horror to the human woman. And he mouthed, “Why?” to her.

“It was nice seeing someone enjoy my food so much. I had a little leftover in the batch and I’d like you to have it. On the house!” she said, cheerily. 

“Thank you for the food.” Kyanoko sobbed, pulling the bowl close to her.