Chapter 50: Epilogue

Three days later, the boba shop was absolutely packed. It wouldn’t hold up like this, but for an opening night test run, the standing-room-only crowd was about as reassuring as it could be. Everyone had their tea in hand, having tested Arthur and Lily with a variety of choices that stretched the menu to its absolute limits.

And now all the demons, be they rabbits, sparrows, or infernals looked up in anticipation. Milo had the floor, standing in front of a large makeshift curtain draped over the majority of one wall.

“As you all know, Arthur hasn’t had the easiest of weeks.”

Milo paused, glancing over to his friend behind the counter. Arthur nodded, making a go ahead gesture with his hand.

“And because of that, we all pulled together to help him get the shop ready for his grand opening. Behind this curtain is the last thing we did for him, something we think will tie everything in this shop together. Arthur, this is a gift from us to you, as thanks for making every day you’ve been here a lot more interesting for all of us. Enjoy.”

With a flourish, Milo pulled the rope in his hand, collapsing the curtain and revealing a massive mural of the city center. Nearly everyone Arthur knew was represented in the picture. Karbo was eating meat at a stand. Itela was blessing someone in front of the church. Everyone else was milling around, shopping, or otherwise living. There were painted miniatures of everyone Arthur loved, and they were all enjoying the city he had come to call home.

Front and center, stood Arthur, his back to the viewer, towering over his cart and slinging tea for all he was worth.

“I… I love it. It’s perfect. There’s only one small quibble, Milo.”

“Which is?”

“Why am I eight feet tall?”

“Oh, that. The artist had never seen you, and you were rushing around town so we couldn’t introduce you. So she did her best with our description.”

“And that description was that I was a gigantic bubblegum-pink behemoth?” Arthur asked as he pointed at his figure.

Milo opened his mouth, finger extended from his fist, then paused, thought, and continued a little more sheepishly. “Well, you are pretty tall.”

“Unexpectedly tall.” Eito nodded at his table, slurping up pearls noisily from the bottom of his cup. “It’s easy to forget how tall in between seeing you. There’s a complete personality and size mismatch. It’s weird.”

Arthur looked up at his portrait again, taking in his cotton-candy skin tone and enormous stature one more time before shaking his head in resignation.

“Doesn’t matter. I love it. We are never changing this.”

The shop erupted in a cheer, clapped, and then went back to their conversations. Everyone was having fun, talking, joking, and for the first time all evening, they didn’t need Arthur for anything. And everything was as it should be. Almost.

“Hi, Mizu. Are you holding up okay?” he asked, sitting down next to her.

“Hi, Arthur. Yes, I’m fine.”

With Onna and the doctor, Arthur had spent the night outside Mizu’s room and grabbing fits of sleep. But that was all rewarded the next morning, when the doctor smiled for the first time in Arthur’s memory. The fever had broken. Mizu hadn’t woken up yet, the doctor had said, but the worst was over. She was resting, and every single indicator was pointing to a full recovery.

It was hard to say for sure that it was Arthur’s tea that had done it, but everyone treated it that way. Including Mizu, who woke up soon after, found herself clutching an empty cup, and somehow browbeat the doctor into immediately bringing Arthur to her.

Before Arthur could protest, his new demon friends determined that the grand opening of his tea shop could wait a few days. He went along with it, spending his sparse schedule talking to Mizu, fetching her lunches, and even just reading in silence.

She mended fast. Looking at her now, Arthur could hardly tell she had ever been sick. He could still see she was a bit weaker than she had been before. But Mizu reported that the danger came with some benefits. The achievements she had gleaned from surviving the whole ordeal meant that once she recovered completely, she’d be quite a lot stronger in a physical sense.

“No apologies for war, today?” Arthur asked. “I didn’t know it was optional.”

“Oh. Hmm,” Mizu said, searching for words. “It’s hard to explain.”

“It’s not, Mizu.” Onna said, laughing. “She only has to do that with most people, Arthur. If she’s sure you like her very much, she can just greet you. Isn’t that right, Mizu?”

Mizu turned very many shades of blue indeed. Arthur gripped her hand and pretended to ignore it.

“She does still forget sometimes, even with me. I like it, though.”

“Arthur! This is great.” Rhodia walked up to the table, dragging Milo by the arm. “I’m getting so much experience. I’m taking this brute to the park after this. It’s nice at night. Do you two want to join us after you close?”

“Oh, sorry. We can’t. Mizu’s taking me to the wall. She says you can see a lake from the south side.”

“Secret couple time?” Milo worked his mouth a bit, kissing style, then stopped the joke as he noticed both Arthur and Mizu tense up. “Oh, you have to be kidding me. You haven’t yet? After all that? Arthur, are you still afraid of this girl?”

“No, I’m… dammit, Milo.” Arthur tried and failed to catch his friend and flick him in the forehead. It was a habit he was both pleased and disturbed to find he was picking up from his bird hosts. “It’s just…”

“Yes, he is.” Mizu cut in, curling her arms around Arthur’s and laying her head lightly on his shoulder. “He always has been. I like it very much.”