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Lilly Route: Conflict: 2-6: Deja Vu

Aug 7th, 2014
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  1. Compared to recent events, the drive to the river is both relaxing and calming. Akira seems to have unwound with the growing distance between her and her father, tossing aside her jacket and draping it between the front seats of Jigoro's car. It's nice and a little roomy inside, even if we have to squeeze in a bit to all sit comfortably. Next to Akira in the passenger seat is Shizune, who looks out the window at the passing scenery with a pleased look on her face. She won the front seat in a series of Rock, Paper, Scissors matches against Misha and Hideaki and is still flush with the victory. Lilly and I share the back with Hideaki, who is squeezed in next to Misha, but there's still enough room to be comfortable. I'm not going to complain; being pressed up against Lilly is something I enjoy on a normal basis and it's the closest we've been in a long time. I spend the ride silent and enjoy the scenery, but I keep turning back in to face Lilly, holding her hand in mine. Understandably, the scenery doesn't interest Lilly at all and she seems more focused on rubbing our fingers together in new and interesting ways.
  2.  
  3. When we finally arrive at the river, I'm astounded by what I see in front of me. A few hills that could be mountains stand on the other side of the fairly wide but slow and lazy river. The grass is a brilliant green and the air is so fresh and crisp that it's bracing and almost breath taking. After living for so long in the city, I was shocked by the change of scenery that Yamaku had with it's little country town, but this change is almost as drastic as my first move was and puts Yamaku to shame. The land here is beautiful and I'm a little jealous that Shizune has something like this less than a short drive away from her own home.
  4.  
  5. Lilly tips her head, listening to the gurgling river. "What is it like, Hisao?"
  6. "Lilly, it's beautiful!" I look to her, feeling sad I can't share this with her. "The river isn't very fast, but it's very big and there are some mountains on the other side. The grass is as thick as a carpet. It's amazing out here."
  7.  
  8. She puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. "That's all right, Hisao. You don't need to try and explain it for my benefit. It's not as important to me as being here with you."
  9.  
  10. The thought that Lilly cares more about being with me than beautiful scenery makes me feel a little self important and pumps up my ego a bit.
  11.  
  12. Akira gets out of the car and enthusiastically throws her arms out, stretching in the late afternoon sun. "This place is huge!" she exclaims with an echo, repeating my own assessment.
  13. Hideaki is in the back of the car fumbling with the rods and tackle boxes. Misha and Shizune give him a hand and begin to ferry the supplies to a small dock that juts out into the peaceful flow of the river. They supervise Hideaki preparing the equipment while Lilly and I stand by the river bank, Akira nearby but giving us more than enough space to ourselves.
  14.  
  15. "Okay~!" Misha says loudly. "Let's break up into teams!"
  16. Hideaki makes a shushing sound. "You'll scare the fish, keep it down."
  17. Misha flinches. "Oh, sorry...."
  18.  
  19. Hideaki rolls his eyes and turns towards me. "Hisao, do you want to be on a team with me?"
  20. I chuckle. "Why don't we just let things happen naturally? I don't think we need to make this into a competition. I've had enough of that for one day."
  21.  
  22. Hideaki puffs his cheeks at my refusal.
  23. "Hicchan! If we don't have teams, how do we know who will win?"
  24. "What's the point of having a winner and a loser? We're all going to eat fish at the end of the day, right?"
  25. "I agree," Lilly says, "it seems a silly thing to trifle over."
  26.  
  27. Shizune begins signing after running some line down the length of a simple bamboo rod. "Shicchan is right! It's not silly! It's deathly important! If we don't know who catches the biggest fish, then how will they be able to claim victory?"
  28. "Shouldn't we be more concerned about catching any fish at all," Akira adds.
  29. "Good point," I say as matter of fact. "No one can win if we don't catch anything and shouldn't we be even more concerned about how many fish we catch and not how big they are? We'll all want to eat eventually. I'd rather have a lot of small fish than one or two big fish."
  30.  
  31. Shizune rolls her eyes, surrounded by naysayers and quitters. "Fine, but we insist on keeping track of who caught what! That will determine how much fish we get to eat! Good idea, Shicchan! I agree!"
  32. "Misha, you know that means that if you don't catch anything, you don't get any fish at all, right?"
  33. "Oh, it does? Oh, that doesn't sound good at all. But~! Shicchan would share with me, wouldn't you, Shicchan?"
  34. The glitter in Shizune's eyes tells a different story.
  35. "That hardly seems fair," Lilly says. "What if one of us does not wish to participate? Does that mean we are forced to go hungry?"
  36. Shizune grins. "You're just saying that because you don't think you can catch anything~!"
  37. "I'm only thinking of what's fair for all of us."
  38. "Leave it to someone like you to disagree with common sense and work ethic. Those who do not work, should not eat!"
  39. Lilly begins to scowl.
  40.  
  41. "I have an idea!" I quickly interject to defuse the situation, "Why don't we all just try our best to catch as many fish as we can while we keep track of who gets what and how big their catch is? When it's all said and done, we divide it equally among us. That way, the winners can get the credit they deserve, but everyone gets to eat."
  42.  
  43. Shizune and Lilly mull it over for a little while, but they eventually agree that it is a satisfactory compromise. "Agreed, Hicchan! You're the man here, so it's your job to catch the most so no one goes hungry! Don't let us down!"
  44.  
  45. Hideaki turns a shade red being left out of the male equation.
  46.  
  47. "That hardly seems fair," I say to Shizune and Misha, though I'm not exactly sure which one placed the mantle of responsibility on my shoulders. "I don't even know how to fish and you're counting on me to be the best?"
  48. "Not the best! Just the one who tries hardest!"
  49. "It doesn't make sense to count on me when you don't even know if I'm a good at fishing yet."
  50. "You have beginner's luck!"
  51. "Beginner's luck does not put fish on the table."
  52. "Again with your doubt! You are terrible, Hicchan! You will never succeed with that attitude!"
  53.  
  54. More banter and back and forth arguments follow as we decide who should get what pole. Eventually, Shizune relents that it makes sense for the person with the least experience to have the better pole to give them a fighting chance. It takes some time, but she also eventually agrees that our chances of success are better if we all have a small possibility of catching something rather than placing our hopes on one or two people getting lucky. Since that's me and Akira with the least experience, and Lilly doesn't seem all that eager to try, we end up sharing a fairly expensive looking pole while Hideaki uses the bamboo one and Misha uses an old child's sized pole with a pink lure that I suspect once belonged to Hideaki.
  55.  
  56. We sit down on the edge of the dock overlooking the water, holdings our poles at the ready and letting the lines float lazily in the water's slow stream. After a crash course in fishing for me and Akira from Hideaki, we settle in for the long wait. Bugs chirp in the air and somewhere nearby, a frog goes through low, moaning sounds with a spring like uptick at the end. The lapping water is very peaceful and I can already see why people say fishing is very relaxing. Akira sits on one side of me, her bare toes just touching the water, her shoes and socks discarded on the riverbank. With her tie undone, she looks more relaxed than I've seen her recently since her father arrived in the country. If anything, she seems to have needed this unwinding as much as any of us did.
  57.  
  58. Lilly sits on my other side with her arm around mine, as much for closeness as for security as we sit on the edge of the dock over the water. It makes juggling the pole difficult, but I don't care. Actually, with the slow and easy pace that fishing has and the amount of patience it requires, I would imagine Lilly could come to enjoy the act of fishing immensely. I'm certain she'd find some way around any difficulties if she wanted to try.
  59.  
  60. Hideaki, Shizune and Misha are facing the other side of the dock to our backs, all three focused intently on the task at hand. They continue the talk about strategy and tactics and several times Akira has to remind them to keep it down or they will scare the fish. It seems silly to me; I doubt strategy matters when it's up to the fish whether to bite or not.
  61.  
  62. "Okay, let's get started!" Misha says at Shizune's request, ignoring Akira's warning about volume and spooking the fish. "We'll be Team Hakamichi and you'll be Team Satou!"
  63. "You're not a Hakamichi," Hideaki states.
  64. "I'm an honorary Hakamichi~! Can I be a Hakamichi, Shicchan?"
  65. "I'm not a Satou," I say, bringing up to same point.
  66. "Not yet," Akira smirks under her breath, casting her line.
  67.  
  68. Lilly tenses and I cough several times, feeling my cheeks burn.
  69.  
  70. "Are you two getting married? Is that why uncle is here?" Hideaki asks innocently.
  71.  
  72. "So, what kind of fish are we catching here?" I ask quickly, changing the subject fast. Lilly drops her chin, a light blush on her cheeks.
  73. "Are there any of those big ones with swords on their faces?"
  74. "They are called Marlin, Akira, and I highly doubt it," Lilly points out.
  75. "Yeah, I think those are salt water fish and are only in the ocean."
  76. "You're such a marine biologist, Hicchan!"
  77. "That's a weird way to insult someone. Being called a marine biologist sounds like a compliment. Still, no one answered my question; what kind of fish are we trying to catch?"
  78. "Big ones~!" Misha shouts. "Shicchan wants everyone to do their best and catch the biggest fish and as many as they can! Well, not as big or or many as our team does! We want to win after all~!"
  79.  
  80. We continue fishing, waiting for the inevitable tug and bite of our quarry coming to meet it's demise. Akira eventually gets impatient waiting for me and borrows, sort of steals, Misha's pole. "Don't tangle your line with mine, Hisao," Akira warns testily.
  81. "I have no idea how to keep it from moving around."
  82. "Maybe if you stopped wiggling the pole, it would stay where you cast it."
  83. "I'm new at this."
  84. "Yeah, so am I, you don't see me messing with your line. Stay out of my territory."
  85. "Akira, don't nag Hisao, he's only just beginning," Lilly defends me.
  86. I stick my tongue out at Akira.
  87. Akira purses her lips in a familiar looking pout, staring gloomily at the river. "I'm not a nag...."
  88.  
  89. Long, lazy summer moments pass.
  90.  
  91. We keep fishing with little too no luck. "There are fish here, right?" I ask.
  92. "Misha probably scared them all away."
  93. "I did not, Akira! You're just not very good at this! Our team has already seen three fish so far!"
  94. "Did you catch any of them?" Akira asks hopefully.
  95. Silence.
  96. "Misha?"
  97. "Shicchan says it is not a good idea to share our progress with the enemy."
  98. "We're not the enemy, we're all trying to catch fish so we can all eat. This is a communal effort," I object.
  99. "Hicchan, you're a spy! A sneaky spy trying to find out our secret tactics and fishing secrets! Mind your own business!"
  100.  
  101. I laugh to myself. This is what summer is supposed to be like.
  102.  
  103. More time passes with only minimal luck. Akira and I each catch a fish, mine startling Lilly when it nearly leaps into her lap on the dock. "Do you want to give it a try?"
  104. She holds her hands up hesitantly with palms out. "I think it's for the best that I don't."
  105. "Come on, it'll be fun!"
  106. "I don't really feel right about it."
  107. "What's wrong?"
  108. Lilly sighs. "Do you promise not to laugh?"
  109. "Of course."
  110. Lilly takes a moment to speak in a low whisper, her fingers nervously tapping together. "I don't really want to... hurt the fish."
  111. "What?" I chuckle.
  112. "It just strikes me as terrible to tease them with food only to use a hook and drag them out of the water to be eaten themselves. It seems so needlessly cruel. It's why I wanted to buy them from the store in the first place."
  113. "Someone else would have done the very same thing to them."
  114. She pouts. "It wouldn't have been me."
  115.  
  116. I smirk and grin. She doesn't want to hurt the fish? "Lilly, that is adorable."
  117. Her face turns a shade red. "Are you teasing me?"
  118. "No, not at all, I think it's really cute. I would have expected someone like you wouldn't want to hurt an animal, even if it was just a fish. It's very endearing."
  119. She turns away, slightly embarrassed. "Well, thank you. Still, I think I'll pass. If we want to catch enough for everyone to eat, it'd be best for the others to keep trying. I doubt I'll have much luck at this sort of thing and it doesn't really appeal to me."
  120.  
  121. Misha has been signing everyone's conversations while she is free of the responsibility of manning her team's pole, quite the feat with so many of us here. Shizune smirks when she notices Lilly and me talking by way of Misha. "Shicchan says it's probably for the best," Misha says for her. "If we left the fishing up to you, Lilly, we'd all starve to death!"
  122.  
  123. Lilly turns a glare in an appropriate direction for Shizune's words but, unlike the fish hovering near the dock, Lilly takes the bait. "I suppose I could make the effort to help in some way. I wouldn't want anyone to think I wasn't willing to try," she says to me. "Just... try and find a lure that wont hurt them too much."
  124. "Do you want to use live bait?" Hideaki offers.
  125. "I should think not; then I would be hurting two animals."
  126. "It's just a worm."
  127. "It's the principle, Hideaki."
  128.  
  129. "You just don't want to touch a worm again," Akira says with a giggle.
  130. "Again?" I ask.
  131. Lilly scowls. "An unfortunate memory. When Shizune and I were young, we would often play outside together. One time, Shizune wanted to dig a hole to America or something silly like that. She wanted to give me something so I held out my hands and she put a worm on my fingers! It was the most unsettling thing I've ever touched."
  132. "Shicchan says she never imagined you could run that fast, Lilly! She was very impressed!"
  133. I snicker.
  134. "I can't believe you would laugh at me over that...."
  135. "I'm not laughing at you, just at the situation."
  136. "Still, it was cruel of Shizune to do such a thing to me."
  137. "Shicchan says that you don't have to fish, Lilly~! She'll make sure to catch more than enough so you and your boyfriend will have something to eat."
  138. "I do not think we need to rely on her for that, Misha."
  139. "Shicchan says that is bold talk for someone who doesn't even have the courage to try fishing for herself!"
  140. "Is that what you think? Hisao, hand me the pole."
  141.  
  142. I catch the glint of victory in Shizune's eyes when Lilly gestures for the fishing pole from me.
  143.  
  144. I recast the line and hand it to her, Lilly holding the pole loosely in her hands. "Am I holding it right?"
  145. "Put your thumb on this button here," I say, moving her hands into the right position, copying everything Hideaki showed me a little while ago. "That's the catch which will stop the line. When you feel a tug, hold it down and start spinning this," I say, putting her other hand on the reel, "to bring it in."
  146. "This seems needlessly complicated."
  147. "Yeah, but it's fun!" Akira says enthusiastically, her line whipping back and forth with a big one on the end.
  148.  
  149. Lilly settles in with a sigh, clearing her head to focus on the task at hand.
  150.  
  151. After some time with no bites for Lilly, I warn her that her line is starting to jump around. Her pole suddenly jerks and almost gets yanked out of her hand before she clamps down on the button. "What do I do?" she asks, her voice slightly shaky.
  152. "Reel it in! Like this!"
  153.  
  154. I kneel behind Lilly and wrap my arms around her, putting my hands atop her own. Taking the reel in both of our fingers, guiding her to spin it, we raise the pole slightly to drag the fish up and out of the water. The intimate gesture makes her smile almost as much as the thrill of her first catch which we soon reel in, flopping and bouncing at the end of her line. "Is it large? I hope it is, it felt rather heavy to pull in," Lilly notes, the flush of excitement visible on her cheeks. "I'd rather throw it back than keep it if it's a very small one."
  155. "Big or small, I'll eat it either way," Akira says. I can almost see her salivating over the thought of grilled fish and lemon juice.
  156. "It seems inappropriate to take a young one that will hardly feed one person. We should let it go so it will grow bigger and someone else will be able to catch it one day."
  157. "Actually Lilly, it looks pretty big," I say, checking the fish out, holding it at the end of the line. "I think it's the biggest one so far."
  158.  
  159. Shizune is glaring at the fish very carefully. She smacks Misha in the shoulder to get her to translate. After she finds out my thoughts on the fish's size, she scowls at me. "Hardly! This fish isn't nearly as big as the one Shicchan caught a few minutes ago! Besides, you and Lilly caught it together, that means it took two of you when you should have been working separately! You cut your efforts in half to bring in a unqualified catch! This fish is sub-par! We never agreed to tag teams! You are only saying it is bigger because Lilly is your girlfriend."
  160. "I doubt Hisao would lie to me on such a silly thing, Shizune. He has always been very honest with me."
  161. I smile boastfully at Shizune and stick my tongue out.
  162. "Nonetheless, we need to get an exact measurement! Just to be sure!"
  163. "Are you an official fish judge?" Akira says.
  164. Misha laughs at that suggestion. "Shicchan is not, but we'll measure it anyway!"
  165.  
  166. Misha, Shizune and Akira start to argue on how exactly to measure the fish we catch; Misha and Shizune suggest from the tail to the tip of it's head, but Akira argues that since no one eats the head, that they should only measure to the gills. Shizune counters that people do eat fish heads and is willing to do so herself if it means counting her fish as the larger of the two. Hideaki watches and rolls his eyes, pulling in yet another fish of his own. Not being distracted like the rest of us have been, I'm shocked to see a nearly full bucket next to his fishing spot on the dock, despite using only a simple bamboo rod. "I'm impressed, Hideaki. You've caught almost enough to feed all of us."
  167. Hideaki smiles at the compliment bashfully. "Thanks, Hisao. Me and my dad used to go fishing a lot. I've had a lot of practice."
  168. I ruffle his hair and he scowls at the action.
  169.  
  170. I turn back to my pole and remove the fish Lilly caught, holding it in my hands, an easier action since it stopped flopping around. "Want to touch it, Lilly?"
  171. "Oh, I don't think that's wise."
  172. "Come on, you caught it. You should be able to take some pride in your catch."
  173. Lilly smiles and hesitantly reaches out with one hand. "All right, but just a little."
  174.  
  175. She touches my arm and uses her fingers to follow down to my hand, cautiously reaching out until she touches the fish's tail. Instantly it thrashes around and Lilly squeaks in alarm. "Why is it still moving?"
  176. "They do that for a while, I think."
  177. "Oh, Hisao, put it back! I regret catching the poor thing, let it go."
  178. "I don't think the others will be happy we let dinner go free."
  179. "Please? For me? I don't want it anymore." She pouts splendidly, making me feel guilty for even suggesting keeping the animal for ourselves.
  180. I surrender with a smile. "All right, okay, we'll let it go."
  181.  
  182. I help Lilly stand and we walk off the dock, holding her arm in one of my hands, the other occupied with the slippery fish, leaving the others behind to argue and continue hunting for dinner. The water is slow and very dark here, a good place to let the fish return to his home. "I'll put him back in the water if you want."
  183. "I can help as well. I was the one who caught it in the first place," she insists.
  184. "The water is a little deep. It's a bit slippery as well, you might want to stay on shore. Besides, you'll get your shoes wet."
  185. Lilly seems to think on that for a moment, then very carefully plucks her shoe from her white foot, casually tossing it into the river with a mischievous smile on her face. "Oh, did that fall in the water? My mistake, I guess it can't be helped now."
  186. "You did that on purpose," I accuse, she turning my efforts to keep her dry and safe against me. I should known better than to try and keep her from doing something she insisted upon, though. The girl can be willful.
  187.  
  188. Her smile only grows. "Did I?"
  189.  
  190. Lilly and I head down to the shore some distance away and, after I slip off my own shoes and retrieve her floating footwear, we wade ankle deep into the water. Standing behind her, my arms once again around her, we hold the fish down into the water until it splashes around, spraying us with droplets. It shoots out from Lilly's hand, making her shout in a surprised giggle. The splashing recedes and I see the fish vanish out into the river, heading back home. "There he goes," I tell Lilly.
  191. "Thank you, Hisao, I appreciate that."
  192. "Of course. I doubt he would have fed anyone much anyway."
  193.  
  194. Standing in the water with her, Lilly presses her body against me, her head leaned back. It's a little different than her normal requests, but her lips purse in a demand to be kissed and I relent, giving her a little peck on the cheek. She smiles warmly and sighs, sinking into my arms. "This is nice," she says, "I'm glad we came here."
  195.  
  196. "It is really pleasant," I say, looking around at the natural beauty. "There was nothing like this where I grew up. I've lived in the city for so long, I'm always surprised when I find places like this."
  197. Lilly sighs and nods happily.
  198.  
  199. Surrounded by rolling hills and the gentle river that flows over our feet, I'm reminded of the last time my breath was taken away by the view around me, the vacation at Hokkaido and the events that took place there. "This is what summer is supposed to be like," I tell her.
  200. She smiles and nods. "I'm glad we can be together like this. The last few weeks have been intolerable."
  201. "We spent more time together while I was in the hospital and I spent most of that recovering. I'm just glad all that is behind us and we can actually start spending summer with one another. It feels like our lives are finally back on the right track."
  202.  
  203. She nods, reaching back to touch my face before turning around to face me. "I am thankful you're here."
  204. "Thank Shizune for that."
  205. Her smile turns lopsided. "I'm still a little bewildered as to why she offered you the chance to stay at her house, not that I'm complaining. Far from it."
  206. "Well, I actually got it out of her and she says it was so I could run interference between the two of you."
  207. Lilly quirks her lips. "I thought that might be it. I've noticed your efforts to keep us from arguing. Honestly, it was difficult being in the same home as her and trying to avoid any disagreements between us. Misha can only do so much and I was already in a...well, rather disagreeable mood with you being away."
  208. "Well, I'll be happy to continue to keep the two of you from killing each other."
  209. Lilly's eyebrow twitches playfully. "You've done well so far. Getting Shizune to agree to that little compromise with us fishing was a bit of good work."
  210. "She's sort of like a dog," I say under my breath next to her ear. "You just have to give her something to chew on and she'll leave you alone for a while."
  211.  
  212. Lilly lets out a laugh and suppresses it with some effort.
  213.  
  214. ----------------------------------------
  215.  
  216. 2-7: http://pastebin.com/6VP3w830
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