Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

“Where are we going Sho?” Taika asked as they walked to the bus stop once more.

“Well, if we’re leaving in like a week, should probably see Amika and all them,” Shouri replied.

“Lina too?” Rebecca made the relevant inquiry, causing the Maestro to jump.

“…yes, even Lina,” he muttered. “She doesn’t have a problem with us, so we shouldn’t have a problem with her,” the boy clarified.

“Right,” Rebecca said, failing to hide the skepticism in her voice.

“It’ll be fine Rebby!” Pacifica exclaimed. “Nothing is going on between them,” she whispered to where only the two foxes could hear.

Given Pacifica’s insane ability to read people, the pair of vixens took her word as gospel and relaxed ever so slightly.

The bus soon arrived at the stop, opening its doors to beckon the would-be travelers to enter. The small group boarded and found an unoccupied row, taking their seats without much fanfare.

As usual, it would take some time for them to get into the city proper, giving them nothing but time to waste. “Ho fame…” Taika rubbed her gut sadly. “We didn’t eat breakfast Sho,” the lunar whined to her Maestro.

“Amika was saying something about going out to eat, so didn’t feel the need to,” Shouri told his hungry fox girl; who lit up upon the revelation of their destination.

“What kind of place are we eating at?” Rebecca inquired from across the row.

“Uhh, some Cheonean-barbeque place.” Shouri pulled out one of his tuners to find the text from Amika.

“Cheonean barbeque?” Taika tilted her head.

“The way they cook and eat in Cheon, it’s a region on the Nabhon continent,” Pacifica helpfully chimed in, leaning on Rebecca to speak. Though sensing her companion’s confusion, she elaborated on what "Nabhon" was: “It’s the continent to the east of Unis-Résonne and Kalanichi. Huuuuuge land, way different from the rest of the world.”

“You’ve been there?” Taika queried the otter.

“No, haven’t ever left Lybertera myself, but I’ve heard some things from Mom and Dad,” the water element boasted.

“What about you Rebecca?” Taika turned the question to her fellow vixen

The fire element shook her head. “Same as Pacifica, never left Lybertera.” Rebecca paused to ponder that thought. “Honestly going to Kalanichi to watch the nationals there sounds like a lot of fun.” she admitted quietly.

“It’s the Fire Age Collective Steakhouse,” Shouri suddenly broke into the conversation.

“Oh, that’s a fun one!” Pacifica exclaimed, leaning further on Rebecca (much to the fire Resonator’s ire)

“Fun?” Taika noted that particular word usage.

“You’ll see, I think you’ll love it.” The otter winked.

The bus arrived at their destination and with it, Shouri and the girls disembarked. It was only a city block away, so a short jaunt to their destination. Upon arriving, they found the group of six (Lina, Amika, Leo, and their respective Resonators) already waiting outside.

“Took you long enough!” Amika immediately complained.

“Don’t blame me, blame grandma who insisted on paying in sharps.” Shouri rolled his eyes, recalling the elderly woman who stopped the bus to pay entirely in coins.

“Sounds about right.” Leo chuckled.

“Shall we?” Lina motioned for the group to enter.

Leading the way, Lina made first contact with the wait staff.

“How many?”

Lina spun around and counted off. “Ten,” she replied.

“One moment please.”

The host walked off, presumably to find a table to accommodate the large group.

“Causing problems already.” Amika elbowed Lina in the side.

“Well I wasn’t gonna say to leave our Resonators at home, this place is great! Effy and I come here all the time!” Lina giggled, playfully shoving back.

“They’d probably have to go find a big enough table even if it was just the six of us anyways,” Leo pointed out.

“Fair fair!” Lina laughed.

“She’s really the life of the party huh?” Rebecca noted quietly to her fellow Resonators.

“Easy to get caught up in her mood.” Pacifica added. Taika simply nodded.

The host returned after not too long and beckoned for them to follow. As they walked through the restaurant, the distinct smell of cooking oil filled the air with the sounds of simmering meats from every conceivable direction. Taika looked around but didn’t quite understand what was happening. All she knew was that she was hungry and the food on the tables they passed looked amazing.

They were brought to a long rectangular table with matching booth-style seats flanking each side of it. There was plenty of room for the group to slide in. Lina, Leo, and Amika sat across from their Resonators. Shouri and Taika capped off the Maestro row with Shouri seated next to Amika, while Pacifica and Rebecca had the honor of being on the Resonator row, Pacifica next to Andi.

Due to the size of their group, they had the privilege of two waiters to attend to their needs. Menus were passed out, and drinks were ordered by the other six at the table. Lina, Leo, and Effy all got water, Andi ordered a hot alcoholic drink, while Amika and Chena got dark sodas.

“Root Beer, no ice please,” Rebecca requested.

“Water, also no ice. Thank you!” Pacifica smiled

“Water as well, oh but I do want ice,” Shouri said, keeping his eyes on the menu.

“I want the cherry limeade soda please.” Taika pointed at the soda section of the menu.

With drinks out of the way, the group began discussing the choices of meat. “So we get three per grill. What do we want team?” Lina asked her part of the party.

Notably, there were two grills built into the tables, Amika and Andi having the best spots, being equidistant away from both grills.

“What?” Taika was once again confused. She hadn’t paid the strange metal circles built into the table any mind, but upon further reflection noted the emphasis put on the odd disks in the tables they had passed by.

“This is an all-you-can-eat place,” Rebecca said, pointing to the very top part of the menu stating as such.

“You cook the food yourself adding any kind of sauces and veggies you want as you go,” Pacifica explained more helpfully.

“I can eat as much as I want?” The hungry vixen looked to Shouri hopefully.

“Yes, that’s what that means.” The boy couldn’t help but smile, giving his eager lunar fox some head pats.

The waiters returned, one tending to Lina’s half of the table, while the other to Shouri’s.

“Fuck what do we want?” Shouri grumbled, once more studying the menu.

“Shrimp! Shrimp! Shrimp!” Pacifica demanded, pounding the table with each declaration.

“If I don’t leave here without some kind of steak, we’re gonna have problems,” Rebecca directed at Shouri.

“What is Bulgogi?” Taika asked.

“Thinly cut meat marinated in our specialty house sauce,” the waiter told the young vixen.

“That sounds good.” It didn’t take much to make her mouth water.

The waiter looked to Shouri, the Maestro of the three hungry Resonator girls. Not wanting to disappoint any of them, he sighed. “Fuck it, go with what they said.”

“Right away sir.”

It didn’t take much time at all for a huge amount of food to be delivered to their table. The meats the three girls requested were deposited first, followed by a ton of assorted veggies and sauces for their consumption. Of course, their drinks also joined the table along with some utensils for use with the grills.

Speaking of, a hot flame was lit and the grill covers were replaced. The waiter oiled the covers and deposited the bottle of oil on the table to allow them to reapply it as needed.

“What did y'all get?” Andi asked, eyeing the food he also had access to.

“Bolagna!” Taika completely mispronounced.

“Bulgogi,” Shouri corrected her.

“Steak!” Rebecca already had possession of their grill’s tongs and was depositing a large slab of beef near her.

Andi smirked. “Girl, you best be-”

Rebecca cut him off: “Charred black!”

“Hell yeah! Let’s go!”

The two fire elements exchanged a fist bump, with Pacifica between them. “Just don’t let my shrimp burn,” the otter huffed, taking possession of the tongs to deposit her cluster of crustaceans on the grill.

Taika’s turn was next and she excitedly threw her little shreds of meat onto her section of the grill.

Finally, Shouri grabbed some of Rebecca’s steak to toss near him.

Andi joined in on their grill, throwing some chicken he stole from the other side of the table.

“Ah Taika, that cooks fast!” Pacifica grabbed the tongs and quickly flipped the rapidly burning meat.

“Oh, because it’s really thin, right?” the vixen realized.

“Right.”

“Sho, give me Lanciafiamme, I want this sucker to burn faster!” Rebecca demanded.

“Absolutely not,” Shouri immediately shot her down.

“I have fantastic control! Nobody would even notice!” the fire fox protested.

“Amika, can I-?” Andi tried to propose the same thing, however-

“No, I’m not getting fined because you decided to set the table on fire again,” Amika similarly shot her fire element down.

“You never let me have my way!” the chinchilla pouted.

Two hours passed within the blink of an eye. Everyone ate their fill, and while the bill was pretty steep, it was well worth it for the experience.

“I don’t want to think about food,” Rebecca groaned, limping out of the restaurant. Pacifica helped her fellow Resonator along the sidewalk.

“Sho, can we stop somewhere for dessert?” Taika inquired hopefully.

“WHERE DO YOU PUT IT ALL!?” Rebecca shouted, holding her ailing stomach.

Shouri shook his head, amused by his Resonator’s antics. Lina walked up next to him. “Hey Shouri, you wanna do another hunt together?” she asked.

The boy locked up but quickly found the courage to reply. “Sure. We’re leaving here next Saturday or so,” he replied, managing to keep his voice even.

Lina nodded. There was a sense she wanted to say more but held back. “Tomorrow night good?” she decided on.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Text me which field we’re going to.”

“Sure.”

After committing to that future social interaction, Shouri bid Lina and their friends farewell, leaving him with his trio of Resonators.

“Dessert?” Taika asked again.

“Kill me,” Rebecca groaned.

“Oh behave Rebby,” Pacifica chided the girl she was still holding up.

“I suppose you three are consistent if nothing else,” Shouri decided, shaking his head, but smiling.