a little investigating

It was a favor from Dan that seemed to have set off this chain of events. Grim would’ve never thought himself to become entangled in this if it weren’t for it, but here he was, playing Bunlock Holmes to figure out the disappearance of some rather expensive flowers. Actually, it wasn’t Dan that was planting these flowers, but the buns from the Wonderland Casino. It wasn’t a place he frequented, but he was familiar with it by name at the very least. 

So this was how it went: when Grim entered the shop, there was a bun flopped on the counter, looking very much out of shape. The clerk looked rather worried and had fetched them a glass of water, but it looked like they were too exhausted to even speak properly. After a few minutes, they managed to sputter out that they wanted to see Dan: not because of any mochis (though they made sure to compliment the food anyway, feeling that it would go a long way), but because of an incident in the casino’s gardens. Grim couldn’t help but be curious about the development and was not in a rush to head back home, so he took his time picking and choosing which dangos to purchase as he kept one ear on the conversation. It was not hard, as the buns were not exactly whispering.

Eventually, Dan appeared from his workshop, noting Grim’s presence but only acknowledging it with a small nod. “What is it? I’m a busy bun, as you well know.”

The stranger let out a wheeze after downing a glass of water. “Any chance you’ve been missing plants in your garden recently?”

Dan raised his brows, seemingly caught off-guard by the question, but it was not met with complete confusion. “Actually, yes. Fucking ate the daisies that I use for my floral mochi. Don’t tell me that there’s a serial eater out there?”

The bun fidgeted and nodded with a grimace. “Unfortunately so. I had to run to the Church of Sulfur earlier to confirm that this is not simply an isolated incident, hence my fatigue. Oh, what a dilemma…have you taken precautions in preventing the thieves from taking any more?”

“Just some wire mesh and a light. Who or whatever it is, it doesn’t want a difficult meal. Believe me that it tried though, maybe it was hungry.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

“Found some black fur caught in one of the meshes. No blood, but there’s clearly something prowling around at night. Thought it might be an imp’s, but I really can’t say.”

“It would be odd if it turned out to be another bun, huh?” Shibani sleepily piped up, already looking like he was going to fall asleep on the countertop. “But it wouldn’t be the first time…some buns don’t like following the rules.”

“Well, that’s the reason you’re investigating, right? I don’t have anything else to say about the thief, but I hope you catch it.”

The bun would bow and scribble down some notes before heading his way. Unfortunately they scurried off before Dan could tell them to buy something from the store. With a sharp exhale, he then turned his attention to Grim, who was not exactly hiding that he was listening.

“You garden, kid?”

Grim felt that they weren’t close enough to know how old they exactly were, but despite his appearance not looking childlike, Dan had taken to calling him a kid anyway. Perhaps he showed too much excitement in trying to pound the mochi that other time. “I do, but I haven’t had my bushes eaten, thankfully.”

“So our mystery eater is mostly confined to the city itself. Wherever you are might be too far.”

“The suburbs? I suppose so. You think it’s an imp?”

Dan waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t know enough about imps to say. They would just get in the way of making my mochi. Besides, you can already say I already have a ‘pet’ to take care of.” despite his words, he said ‘pet’ with notable affection before petting Shibani’s head. He had already drifted to sleep. Grim envied his ability to sleep anywhere and seem so peaceful doing so.

“Actually, I have a favor to ask. Mostly just curious to do some digging on this myself, since it’s a pain in the ass to be vigilant over my flowers.” he gestured Grim to the workshop. Following him to the back, Dan went to a work table with many drawers. He then opened one, which contained a small tuft of black fur, and handed it to the purple pride bun. “Any chance you could take a quick detour to the Imporium and ask them to identify this? The bun there might shed some answers. You might even get there before that other bun.”

Grim raised a brow inquisitively. “Any reason why you just didn’t give the tuft to them before they left?”

Dan shrugged. “Just felt like it. Also you still have to pay for the dangos you’re buying.”

“Well, it was nice hoping you’d be generous…”

✲

He left the bags in the shop since he had to pass by there later to report his findings. With the tuft of hair in his bag, Grim couldn’t help but think of possible ideas on who this could belong to. There were some imps that were rather fluffy, though he had no idea what they were called. Thankfully, the walk to the Imporium was not far and the clouds did not threaten rain. Pushing the glass door open, he was greeted by a number of shelves containing pet goods, with one set of them housing imps.

To his luck, the owner was present, engrossed in a book. Grim cleared his throat to get his attention, but when that didn’t seem to work, his eyes rested on a bell sitting on the counter. He thought for a moment if he should hit it hard, but decided that he wasn’t feeling mischievous today. He made sure to note that the bun’s name was Hutch, as displayed on a little signage.

“Oh!” the small ‘ding!’ still startled the other bun anyway, offsetting his glasses. He closed the book after fixing the bookmark and gave himself a moment to regain his composure before facing Grim. Said bun couldn’t help but note the black collar around his neck. “S-sorry, how may I help you?”

Grim showed a smile, though it did not reach his eyes. A force of habit from his old profession. “I’m investigating a little something related to a garden destroyer.” he pulled out the tuft of fur from his bag and showed it to Hutch, to which he adjusted his glasses and looked at it with heightened curiosity. “Any chance you might know which imp this belongs to?”

The bun let out a long, thoughtful hum. “From this alone, it would be very difficult to say. But did you say a garden destroyer? I actually have been receiving some calls about that lately too! I haven’t been able to catch them though, whatever they are…”

“Did you get to see what it looked like?”

Another long, thoughtful hum. “I swore I saw what looked like antlers. You know Freign, the one that shows up in the winter?”

“I…err, the one that shows up on some of the winter wrappers?”

Hutch laughed, not out of mockery of any sort; he seemed to have found the answer amusing, “You’re not wrong. But I’m wondering if this could be a variant of the Freign, but such a thing hadn’t been recorded before…oh, this is so exciting!” his eyes began to sparkle. “A shame about all of those flowers, really, but the possibility of a new imp! Are you planning on trying to catch them as well?”

“Well, Dan’s favor did not ask for that much.”

“Ahh, he was affected as well? I’m a little surprised that he sent you all the way here, or that he sent someone at all.”

Grim crossed his arms. “It is indeed a mystery, but so long as I get my dango, I suppose I am not complaining.”

Hutch would chuckle again. “True, his dango is amazing. Well, I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help, but if you do end up getting embroiled more into this, let me know what you find.”

“No no, it’s new information. Actually another bun might pass by asking similar questions, so I hope that’s not too much of a bother. I’ll head back to the shop to tell Dan.”

“Sure! Oh, but before you go, any chance you want to buy something for your imps? Wait, do you care for imps?”

“A Sceil, yes. Maybe another time, but I’d like to ask for advice when I’m in the area again.”

Hutch beamed, “I look forward to it!”

✲

“Antlers, huh…”

Shibani was idly eating on a mochi served by Dan when Grim arrived back in the shop. “Seems like this plant eater is getting around if the Imporium owner was taking several calls about it, but whatever it is, it’s very elusive.”

Dan crossed his arms, deep in thought. “Might be possible that it’s more than one if it’s really giving lots of buns trouble. I’m sure the Wonderland Casino guys will try to catch them. They have more to lose than anyone else, but I also don’t take kindly to something eating my ingredients.”

“I hope the issue is resolved soon, then.”

Dan gave a hefty nod. “I appreciate you taking the trip. Admittedly, I was a little surprised that you were so amicable about it.”

“I admit that I was curious as well, but I don’t mind doing these kinds of things.”

Dan handed him the dango and mochi purchased. “Well, don’t let other buns walk over you, kid.”

Once again, his smile did not reach his eyes. He bit his tongue before composing himself. “I’ll keep it in mind.”