>>5300971“We’ll be heading out of town a little later,” you admit, “but we probably have some time. After all, we’re probably going to teleport there… where were you taking them?”
“To the fish market,” Wasabi tells you, before frowning slightly. “Where’re you going so soon after the exams? Amegakure?”
You shake your head. “No, we’re probably overdue to meet my mom’s summoning clan… I guess it’s a bit of a formal thing.”
“Alright then,” she shrugs, “we can talk about it later. See you there, or meet up someplace first?”
“I’ll meet you guys there,” you decide. “See you.”
Makoto glances at you with a slight smirk. “It’s always nice to see how you and your team get along, Shiki.”
You give her a playful nudge to her forehead as you head off to tell your parents. “You and Gin hanging out a lot these days?”
…
“Ah, Shiki-kun!” Sumire greets you with a smile at the entrance to the Mohawk fish market, on the southeast side of the village. “It seems you were already promoted? Congratulations!”
“We should turn this into a celebration before we go back to Sunagakure,” Kōshū declares unilaterally. “It’s decided, Shiki-kun doesn’t pay today!”
“That’s generous, but you really don’t have to…”
“Nonsense!” she insists. “If we all chip in a little extra it’s not like it’s a big deal or anything, and celebrating a friend’s achievements is just what you do, right?”
“She has a point,” Wasabi shrugs.
“And once she has an idea in mind, it can be hard to dissuade her,” Shinki admits calmly. “Just let her go with it.”
The fish market is as busy as it ever is, with both freshwater and marine delicacies of every variety being packed, sold, shipped, and otherwise processed. The best thing about this place is, of course, the little stalls where you can get pretty much anything that swims prepared for you in any way you like, to eat right there on the spot or to take outside with you. Right now, one of the best things you can get is the freshwater eel - a little taste of home for you, a rare novelty for your guests from the desert.
>1/2 