Chapter Text
Toriko had superhuman everything, and even more of a superb sense of smell. He was like Nari in that sense. Except his sense of smell was probably a bit better. She followed along curiously as he bounded through the forest with ease, identifying more and more plant and animals and foods to her and revealed uses people had found for them, and she thought she liked it much more than the way the Bishokukai only taught her where to find valuable ingredients and how to prep them but pointedly not anything else.
Shroom Rabbits were apparently uniquely suited to absorbing liquids and flavor from their surroundings, masking their scent from predators. Their sponge-like fur was a 'heavenly snack' that got often used as a base for candy bars or protein bars as the flavors and vitamins stuck to it so easily you could technically make it taste like anything.
So. Hunting them actually meant getting close enough to shear off excess fur.
She wondered if she should catch one or two for more urban farming projects. But then Toriko actually caught a scent in the wrong place and found one and she realized it was easily the size of most houses she'd helped build. There was no way it'd fit in any community she could think of for now.
That said, it was like a puffball with thick sponge-like fur. It weaved together in a mass that definitely had to be deliberately cut off of it. Toriko instructed her to stay wary of their legs as kicks from the rabbit would shatter most people's bones. She nodded to show she'd follow his lead.
He jumped. She followed. The rabbit startled and… Well, what happened next could be described as hyped up zoomies in the three dimensional space of trees. It was like a ricocheting projectile, long ears flapping while paws left deep indents into all surfaces. Toriko landed on a fallen trunk and it became clear this mission was for training. Spatial awareness and giant deadly dodgeball in one, because they weren't supposed to kill the creature.
She stepped out of the way, letting Toriko figure it out. She'd already been forced through this in her first year at the Bishokukai.
And he… was a natural learner. Amusedly she watched as he twisted his muscled torso around to cut straight in an arc with a yell, shearing off the most delicious excess sponge in one, two, five different swipes. The Shroom Rabbit landed on a branch nearby and abruptly stopped, nose quivering, as it realized it felt quite a bit lighter and less protected, then fled into the tall underbrush.
That attack would be quite the powerhouse in the near future.
She hopped up next to Toriko and heard him laugh in delight at the catch, crouching to start packaging them up for transport. She trudged over and lifted the smallest piece, still twice the size of herself, to help him carry them, then tilted her head to ask where to.
He caught her eye, consideringly looking at the muzzle, before nodding as he reached a decision.
"We're going straight to my old man."
Nari nodded. She trusted him.
xXXx
She was having second thoughts once they got on a private jet that was set to go to the IGO's current President.
The moment he told her that she felt herself lock up, blood flow obscuring a fraction of her sensitive hearing, and panic made her seriously consider jumping through the windows. Or the ceiling. She wasn't picky.
But that would risk the pilot's life. And maybe Toriko's. Unacceptable. So instead she curled in on herself and tried to think.
"Hey, he won't bite," Toriko said, voice soft, and a hand landed on her head.
He smoothed the fur behind her ears through her hood and she decided she could hide by burrowing herself into his side. Think. How would the Bishokukai react? If she went public and had the protection of IGO, that could make her very hard to touch, or an easy target for inside men. That said, inside men couldn't be as powerful as her trainers in the Gourmet World, and she would most likely escape them.
But the Bishokukai could hit her projects within the slums and poor countries to force her out of hiding, and she doubted IGO spared resources for their protection if they hadn't done much before all this. She'd heard of Gourmet Santa, and that was good and all, but the people needed much more structural support and ways to help themselves.
Then again, the IGO was, to her limited understanding, the one who governed over food laws and probably not internal or international politics. Maybe they couldn't make startups like that with their resources if the government didn't let them. Or didn't realize they could. Or perhaps… the culture just didn't care for philanthropy of this nature. It was a massive oversight either way.
She couldn't articulate her sudden distress. Rina couldn't regulate her emotions as well here as she could in other lives. She needed a way to ask-
Her hands flew to the notebook she had with her and she furiously wrote down a plea before shoving it in Toriko's face.
The teen gently grabbed it to look it over, brow furrowing as a simmering anger leaked through his scent, as he only just realized what a wolf kid with a muzzle this high quality meant.
He threw an arm around her shoulders and pulled her back into his side.
"Yeah, okay. We'll keep you a secret."
She gave herself permission to relax and worry about it later.
xXXx
Ichiryu was the first person to meet them on the private island they were apparently flying to, where he was spending a chunk of time vacationing this time of the year. Toriko had hushedly told her he was semi-retired nowadays, with Mansam taking over the job of President. It made her nerves diminish so much she dozed off on the way.
Now? She was fully alert, as this man?
He could take her down. Make her disappear. Keep her prisoner for all the world cared, and her only protection against it was his own good will and Toriko's promise to let her be free. Her fur stood on end and she forcefully stilled her abnormal body parts when the man finished greeting his adopted son and turned towards her.
"Who's this kiddo?" the man said, crouching in front of her with a grin.
This close she could definitely see the years in his being, yet the brightness and laughter lines reminded her of an old friend from another life. Naruto's hair was also blond and spiky. Though Ichiryu's mustache was unique in framing his upper lip and falling down the corners of his mouth, to his chin.
A startled noise left her as Toriko unceremoniously came around in her distraction and picked her up. Then plopped her down to sit on his shoulders. Because he could do that, and her instinct to fight first was dulled around him.
"We got an issue you might want to look into," he said, just as the jet started flying off and left Nari's ears ringing.
She gripped blue hair beneath her fingers, careful of her hard claw-like nails, and waited with predatory anticipation for a verdict on it being safe to be here. Toriko placed a warm palm on her knee, swallowing her whole thigh because she was small and he was very big for a teen.
"Nari, show him."
It took a second for her to decide if she should. Then she slowly pulled down the black fabric covering the muzzle. During these months it was starting to get tighter, due to her growing a little, and Komatsu and co's food filling her up into a healthier state. It meant there were red marks around the edge, where it chafed her cheeks each time she moved her head. Her whole visage was quite pitiful, yet less so than before.
These things combined made her quite self conscious when the President of the Human World's largest organization studied her in stiff silence, aura tightly leashed.
"...I see. My boy, thank you for bringing her here. Nari, yes? You've got nothing to worry about, we'll get that thing off of ya soon!"
He grinned, and the aura flared with a comforting warmth like a bonfire, and she could definitely see Toriko's mannerism in that grin. They were of the same sort. She could… probably trust him.
"You've interrupted a game I played with your visit, Toriko. Whaddya say, care to take me on? Hmm?"
"...Do I have to?" Toriko mumbled, to Ichiryu's laughter.
She looked to the cottage porch where a game of food themed solitaire sat completed. The chess set next to it looked like it had been abandoned mid-game… a long time ago. Maybe a week.
…It had been such a long time since she could enjoy a simple board game. She… kind of wanted to.
"Hm? Nari?"
She glanced down at Toriko's questioning hum, realizing she'd tightened her grip and was releasing a kind of nostalgic longing into her scent. She debated with herself, ears flicking as she slowly grew more comfortable, before pointing a finger at the chess set.
"You want to play?" he asked and she nodded. "Huh, it seems like you've got a new opponent, old man!"
The uproarious laugh that erupted from the President would have been off-putting or scary, but instead brought her more nostalgia and made her relax almost completely. Compared to her stress levels on the flight here, this was downright dreamy. If even Rina was stepping back to watch from her gourmet cells, then Nari should conclude Toriko and Ichiryu were among the best folk to be around.
"Come then, step up here! We have all day to do nothing but games and eat good food!" Ichiryu said, beckoning them forward, before her eyes found hers, smiling but solemn. "I promise you'll get to eat a full serving today too, Nari-chan."
That... made her feel warm. She hopped off Toriko's shoulders but grabbed his hand to maneuver him to sit cross legged across the chess board, then plopped herself down to sit in his lap as Ichiryu set the pieces.
"You know how to play?" he asked, and she nodded.
He smiled, sharply competitive but at the same time soft and sincere. "Then may the best strategy win."
He was about to get his flip flops blown off by a former Go Champion who excelled in strategy games, but Nari wasn't about to complain for a welcome breeze into her former life.
…Yeah, she'd better go easy on him in the first game as thanks.
xXXx