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[indent]The beauty and curse of living in such a small, tightly-knit community was that everyone knew everyone, and hardly anyone got away with anything, [i]especially[/i] skipping out on payments. Of course, that wasn’t to say there was any unpleasantness about it; the reality was much simpler—people took their business on faith. Why hold someone’s feet over the fire for forgetting their purse, when you could be safely sure they’d get you what you were owed right away, or at least the next time they saw you. Mio couldn’t recall the last time there’d been any serious disputes over something like that, and certainly not at the smithy. 

This wasn’t the first time Haruhi had downpaid with faith, and she always delivered, often with edible insurance. In her experience it was always well worth the trade, and Mio wondered if she pulled them from her own plot, unaided with Signs.

She would have been happy to take down a small estimate to clear with master Tetsu—chipping off a bit to account for the leeks and such—and leave it at that. But Haruhi mentioned the festival and, despite that she was literally sweating, she shivered. 

“[color=f26522]Ah, no…[/color]” she said. “[color=f26522]I won’t be.[/color]”

It had been almost ten years since she had. She spent them at the forge, mostly, since her home was too close to the woods to be comfortable on nights meant to venerate the kami. Besides, a time for the celebration of new beginnings, of mending broken relations—she was ashamed to admit it made her just a bit bitter, which was healthy for no one. And who wanted someone like her lumbering around, blocking the spectacles? No, she’d do better here, quietly handling whatever orders came in. With so much going on, something was bound to need fixing.

Speaking of. 

She resisted the urge to smile. People seemed to like that even less than when she looked them in the eyes, and she didn’t want to make Haruhi uncomfortable. 

“[color=f26522]It was a simple fix. I could speak to master Tetsu but I suspect he’ll waive it,[/color]” she said, changing the topic. “[color=f26522]We’ll be square when the leeks come in. Is that alright?[/color]”
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[sup][right][color=f26522]Interactions:[/color] [i]Haruhi [@Lemons][/i][/right][/sup][/indent]