Akira: "Milk tea!"
Mamoru: "Bubble milk tea!"
Genta: "Bubble milk tea with bouncy, silky, secret-recipe pearls!"
Arataki Itto: "Why am I even here?!"
Akira: "First-time customers get fifty percent off their first cup!"
Mamoru: "Come and take a look!"
Genta: "Don't just walk by! You'll regret missing out!"
Arataki Itto: "I said, why am I here?!"
"Because when the Tenryou Commission comes for another inspection, you'll need to be here to explain things. Otherwise, I won't be able to keep this stall open." Victor Wang paused for a moment, then added, "Also, you need to keep an eye on me to make sure I don't pull anything funny. If something goes wrong with the milk tea, the Tenryou Commission will come after you."
"So… why again?"
"Because this stall is registered under your names. I've rented it out and will give you a share of the profit based on sales."
"Hisss… So that's how it is. Man, Shinobu really sold us out that easily, huh… But why are Akira and Mamoru helping you yell out slogans?"
"They've got nothing better to do. All they have to do is shout and they get paid—daily wages."
As more customers arrived, Akira stopped shouting and turned to tempt Arataki Itto instead. "This bubble milk tea is selling like crazy! We just have to shout a few times when business is slow and we get paid. And since Shinobu's looking out for us, we even get our share of the sales every day. The higher the revenue, the more we earn!"
"Hmph! Isn't that just working for someone else, Akira? You're giving in that fast?"
Akira scratched his head, hesitating. "I don't think this counts as working for someone… Feels kinda different."
"Yeah," Mamoru agreed. "It's so much freer. Even if we don't shout, it's fine—we just earn a little less. Boss, look! No one even cares if we're playing cards here!"
"This is a trap! A trap, I tell you! You've already lost what's called freedom! You're prisoners here, can't you see?!"
Genta took a sip of his milk tea, the pearls bouncing energetically in his mouth as he sighed in contentment. "Actually, Shinobu said only one person needed to keep watch here. 'Prisoners' is a bit dramatic. If you guys don't want to stay, then let me bear this suffering alone."
"If you ask me, taking turns would be best. We already work one day and rest three, right? If Boss joins in too, our schedule won't even change."
"No, no, no! Before, when we worked one day and rested three, all four of us had to work that one day! Now with this system, only one person needs to sacrifice themselves while the others can go wherever they want!"
Faced with the downfall of his three subordinates, Arataki Itto let out a long, heavy sigh. "I will not sink to your level."
"But, Boss… today was your shift, wasn't it?"
"..."
"Akira, stop exposing the Boss like that. Look, you've rendered him speechless."
"..."
"But wow, this milk tea business is booming! How many cups do you sell in a day?"
"Even Shinobu was impressed after one sip. This bubble milk tea is bound to take all of Inazuma City by storm."
"That means we'll make a fortune too! Awesome!"
Watching his three subordinates laughing, chatting, and clinking their cups together as the crowd around the stall grew, Arataki Itto suddenly felt a pang of loneliness. Folding his arms, he turned and started walking away.
"Boss! Where are you going?"
"I'm taking a walk. Don't follow me."
He passed by Kiminami Restaurant, then by Yae Publishing House. Instinctively, he wanted to challenge that kid who was always hanging around the shrine in Hanamizaka to an epic duel—but when he arrived, he remembered that the boy named Shouta should be at school at this hour.
"Damn it…"
It felt like punching into cotton. Standing dazed before the shrine for a while, he turned around heavily to head back. As he descended the steps, though, a bulletin board caught his eye…
Ahhh!
That woman too—after all those times I tried to talk to her, not a single reply. She promised a duel and then just disappeared! Hmph!
He pulled out paper, a pen, and glue—all standard issue for Arataki Gang members—picked a prominent spot on the board, and carefully wrote out a message. After reading it twice to make sure there were no mistakes, he chuckled to himself, clapped his hands in satisfaction, and walked away.
When he returned to the milk tea stall, the rush of customers had just ended. Akira, Mamoru, and Genta were back to shouting in rhythm, while the stall owner—Victor Wang—was being pulled aside by the owner of the neighboring stand for a private chat.
"Buddy, no offense, but even though your stall's doing great, you really need to kick that red oni out. Otherwise, customers are gonna stop coming!"
"Why? Aren't oni supposed to be brave and kind?"
"Hey now! Oni are still oni! Even the Almighty Shogun was betrayed by them once—who'd dare trust their kind?"
Hearing that, Arataki Itto froze mid-step.
"Brother, you can't just say things like that. Tell me—wouldn't Shinsuke Hiiragi and Kujou Takayuki count as betrayers of the Raiden Shogun too?"
"Well… I don't really know. But if they were punished, they must've done something wrong, right?"
"Then what if I said this: 'Humans are humans. Even the Shogun was betrayed by humans once—so who'd ever trust them again!' How would you respond to that?"
Back in Chiyo's era, oni didn't need to dye their horns. Chiyo of the Oni clan, Saiguu of the Kitsunes, and Sasayuri of the Tengus were all close friends of Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei. At that time, the oni stood on equal footing—at least publicly—with the other two tribes.
In beauty, Chiyo once made even Saiguu feel ashamed.
In battle, she was said to have danced among a thousand blades, her clothes (were) shredded like blossoms, yet her body untouched. Five hundred years ago, she faced the black tide of war—swallowed by a beast with a tiger's body and a serpent's tail—yet tore open its chest from within and survived. From then on, she was known as "Chiyo the Tiger," or "Torachiyo."
But the Chiyo who became Torachiyo had her face and will twisted by darkness. Driven mad, she turned her blade against the Shogun herself. For that, her horns and sword arm were severed, and she fled into the wilds—never to be seen again. Her fall was remembered by all, and so too was the betrayal of the oni.
It was only later that the tale of the red and blue oni trying to integrate with humans came to be.
One could even say the oni's current plight has some faint link to Khaenri'ah.
But there was no use explaining all that to someone who wouldn't understand. So, Victor Wang simply flipped the logic around—using reverse examples to silence the neighboring vendor.
The man was left speechless, only managing an awkward laugh before shaking his head and sighing, saying nothing more.
Having witnessed the whole thing, Arataki Itto hesitated, then finally returned to the milk tea stall. His brow was furrowed, and his face showed deep thought. After a moment of internal struggle, he couldn't hold it in anymore and decided to confess to Victor Wang.
"Hey, I heard from Shinobu that you seem to have some misunderstandings about the oni. I'll let you in on a little secret—these horns of mine? They're dyed. The whole red oni, blue oni thing? Totally made up."
"Oh."
"So, there's really no such thing as good red oni or bad blue oni. I guess you'll stop trusting me now, huh? This stall can work just fine without me. Maybe we should just call it quits?"
"Are you serious? The contract's already signed. If you break it, you'll owe me two hundred thousand Mora in penalty."
"What?!" Arataki Itto was shocked. "Two hundred thousand?! What was Shinobu thinking, signing such a vile contract?!"
"That 'vile contract' was drafted by her. If I break it, I have to pay the same penalty."
"Then we'll just cancel out your penalty with ours! Fair deal, right?"
Arataki Itto proposed his brilliant idea—only for Victor Wang to reject it mercilessly. "You can choose not to take the penalty, but I still want mine. My milk tea's doing just fine—why would I stop selling just because you said so?"
"But I'm an oni! As long as I'm here, your business will suffer! Even if I leave, once people find out this stall belongs to the Arataki Gang, it's doomed sooner or later!"
"You—and your Arataki Gang—aren't thieves or robbers, are you? If that were the case, I'd terminate our deal even if I had to pay the two hundred thousand Mora myself."
"…We're not."
"Then there's no problem."
Growing agitated, Arataki Itto shouted, "Public opinion! It's public opinion! People's perception of us will rub off on you! Bad rumors spread faster than good ones! No matter what you say or do, they'll just see you as the bad guy!"
"Public opinion, huh… If you've got the strength to silence it, then you don't need to fear it—or argue with it. Just break it."
Whether it was Sidney's bet back at the Knights of Favonius training grounds, or the resistance army's doubts about his courage to face the Raiden Shogun, the best solution had always been to crush everything head-on.
Only those without strength need to lower themselves—debating endlessly over a 'victory' that brings no satisfaction, and a 'defeat' that no one sincerely accepts.
"Break public opinion…?"
"Don't underestimate the power of bubble milk tea. Even with you here, customers just keep increasing. And those who really refuse to come because of you? The ones who suffer are them—because they're the ones missing out on the best bubble milk tea in all of Teyvat. If they want it, they'll just have to pinch their noses and line up like everyone else."