"Kunikuzushi"

Company

Pleasantries were thrown out the window when you awoke to a static noise ringing in your head while Kunikuzushi was poking you in the forehead with a snarky grin slapped across his face. The look on his face was one full of eagerness and excitement. "Morning, my little rulebreaker," hearing his singsong voice first thing in the morning wasn't the worst things you've had the unfortunate luxury of experiencing, "time to go."

The urge to throw a pillow at the man grew stronger as he continued to poke at your forehead. Kunikuzushi could practically feel the vein popping out of your forehead in annoyance but ridiculed you further by hardening his approach. Hazy and half-squinted eyes glared out of the closest window. The sky was illuminating a mauve spectacle of clouds that covered the entirety of the surrounding islands and ocean. You hadn't woken up this early in the day for quite a long time, so your eyes felt extremely heavy whilst your body was sometimes unresponsive.

"Time to go," Scaramouche repeated himself, something you assumed he doesn't do often as his tone indicated as such. Without needing to turn your head and face him, you could already imagine the look of disappointment and aggression now replacing that previous giddy one. "I already have some food prepared for the journey, so you don't have to worry about getting something to eat," You raised a brow in confusion. Scaramouche? Doing something considerate? For you? "Clean yourself up and we'll be on our way."

Hearing Kunikuzushi's voice first thing in the morning came to you as a delight, no matter how vile the tone or words he uttered were. Though you had your speculations, one side of the bed was cooler than the other and you dared to think that he joined you briefly to rest and left before you awoke in order to avoid embarrassment.

You smiled, rubbing your eyes with a lazy hand before crawling out of the opposite side of the bed.

Grabbing a towel and some nearby lotion, you made for the bathroom but stopped to heed Kunikuzushi's final request. "Oh, I should also mention this to you." He stood continuing to face the bed whilst you had already past him. Not bothering to turn and face him, you figured this would be quick as he was quite the impatient man, "from here on out, forget all about the name 'Kunikuzushi.'"

That's when you turned to glare at him. The question was obvious based on your expression.

Why?

Scaramouche crossed his arms and sighed; the answer was obvious. He listed the names which he currently preferred, "Lord Scaramouche, Lord Harbinger, Balladeer. Pick one and stick with it."

A response didn't leave your mouth. Instead you nodded with a pouty expression. It seemed like Scaramouche was truly trying his best to aid in putting your feelings aside and focussing on the present - at least, that was the nice way of putting it.

In truth, Scaramouche didn't have anybody calling him by 'Kunikuzushi' anymore. There were those that did but they are currently known, solely to him, to be deceased and Scaramouche did not intend to add you to the list of such people. Such a thought brought sadness to his mind, a feeling which he hadn't experienced in a while. Once you had left the room, Scaramouche's exterior relaxed as though he were putting on only a temporary display for power. He deliberated between dropping his guard around you or keeping it up.

So, you had finally abandoned that house one final time. Looking at it from a distance wasn't anything out of the ordinary except you were hoisted away from it rather quickly with the help of Scaramouche. He had hoped you truly left your feelings for him inside that house, hence his eagerness to get you far from it.

Conversation along the path to Ritou was livelier than you initially imagined. The harbinger was asking all sorts of questions about you, varying from your memories, your Vision, your life in Inazuma and finally the Kanjou Commission. The mentioning of the Commission nerved you, unsure how and why he knew of your connection to them. As a reminder, Scaramouche pulled out a letter hidden inside his garments and handed it to you.