Leisure Time By The Lake

Shortly after Mr. Junichi decided to be our guide through the dense forest we eventually reached a clearing, with a crystal clear, blue-green lake in the center.

“Here’s the lake.” He nodded with his head, resting his rifle on his shoulder.

“It was so close by, and we still got lost?” I give Hana a disappointed look.

“Hey, we didn’t get lost…” She looks away from me in response, which makes her seem even more guilty to my accusation.

“You sure? Cause you asked Jun… Fukumoto-san for directions. And only people who’re lost do that.” I continue my attacks on Hana, while refraining from using Mr. Junichi’s first name. Acquaintance of my mom or not, I’m not taking any chances here…

“I doubt Hana got lost, Yukio! She knows this place like the back of her hand, after all, hahaha!” Her uncle comes to her defence, laughing loudly.

“Yessir! You’re right, sir!” I reflexively salute like a soldier in response.

“Heh!” While Hana grins beside me.

“Okay, then kids. I’ll be taking my leave now. Have fun.” The brawny old man voiced as he turned to leave. “…And no funny business. We clear?” He turns around once again, just to stare daggers at me, indicating he doesn’t fully trust me yet.

“Sir, yessir!” I once again stand at attention.

Ugh, maybe I shouldn’t have teased his niece like that in front of him…

And after a satisfied nod at my response, Mr. Junichi heads back into the forest.

“You don’t know this place like the back of your hand, do you?” I turn to Hana once he’s out of sight.

“Nope…” She shakes her head in response.

“Figured…”

“So… what now?” I ask, this time turning to the lake. The water is clear, and the peculiar yet mesmerizing color of the water gives off a feeling that we’re really in the forest, in contrast to the ocean from before.

“You hungry?” She asks removing her backpack and placing it on the ground.

Just as I'm about to think it over, a rumbling sound breaks the momentary silence in the clearing. Maybe I am hungry, after all?

Wait, that wasn’t me…

I furrow my brows and eye Hana, who’s crouching in front of me. Her face has turned crimson red, and she’s making a point to avoid meeting my gaze.

“Pfft…” A chuckle escapes me, as a red-faced Hana finally turns my away, only to glare at me menacingly. “Sure, I could eat.” I decide not to embarrass her any further, since she has already done plenty of that herself, so I just take a seat beside her on the grass.

“Cool. I mean if you’re SOOO hungry, we could eat.” She regains her composure, as she tries to shrug off what just happened.

Now you’re just asking for a comeback!

“You know what? On second thought, I’m good.” I grin mischievously and give her a shrug.

“Lalala! I can’t hear you!” She shoves a light blue lunch box in my hands anyways.

Whatever, I still won this round…

“No you didn’t.”

“Was I thinking out loud?”

With our little back and forth out of the way, I decide to take a close look at the lunchbox resting in my hands.

“Did you make this, Hana?” I ask, slightly shaking its contents.

“Yes, and stop shaking it! It’s not a Christmas present!” She snaps at me as she fishes her own lunch box, which is colored a vibrant pink, out of her backpack.

Hmmm… A homemade lunchbox, made by a girl? Color me intrigued…

I stop shaking it around as per the cook’s request and start to fantasize about its contents.

Judging by her energetic and cheerful personality, I can already imagine what could be inside this lunchbox.

Images of colorful lunchboxes flash through my mind, with neatly arranged omelets, vibrant veggies, onigiri , fried chicken resting on fresh green lettuce leaves, and maybe something delicately written with sauce? Something like, “Enjoy!” and a heart next to it? Yeah that sounds about right.

Thus, filled with expectations on what’s about to unfold before me, I take off the lid.

“Woah…” I am unable to contain a voice that spills out of my mouth.

My entire vision is filled with… BROWN?!

SHOOOOOOOCK! LIKE, SUPER SHOOCK!

“What the hell…?” I mutter to myself, eyeing the food suspiciously. The lunchbox is filled to the brim with… meat! Everything from Salisbury steak, to fried chicken and pork, is all here! Poking around with my chopsticks curiously, I discover a hidden leaf of lettuce underneath the meat pile.

Wrong neighborhood, buddy?

“Is something wrong?” Hana asks, noticing my murmuring and expression. Soon, her eyes wander down to the lunchbox and notice the lettuce leaf I’m playing with.

“Oh, sorry! That must have slipped in there without me noticing!” She voices apologetically, as if she just ruined my lunch.

“What?! You didn’t even mean to put a single piece of lettuce or greenery in here?! And what do you mean slipped?!”

“Hehe, lunch is all about MEAT after all!” Hana grins from ear to ear as she flexes a bicep.

Is Hana secretly some kind of meat-lover?!

“Meat is the perfect source of nutrients for a healthy body!” The girl next to me begins a lecture I have no intention of listening to, causing me to sigh.

“Oh, spare me the nutritionist talk… This is a full-on calorie bomb!” And finally I protest.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” But Hana clicks her tongue at me multiple times in response. “Calories do not maketh the man, Yukio-kun!” While she proceeds to speak in an incomprehensible manner.

“…What does that even mean?” I shake my head, ultimately resigning myself to my fate.

“…Anyway, thanks for the food…” After a long sigh I bring my palms together per the usual Japanese tradition and turn back to my meal, as Hana does the same. Dejectedly, I grab the highest piece of meat in the pile and dig in.

Mhmm… this is actually good…

I think to myself with a satisfactory nod.

“Sooo?! What do you think?” Hana turns to face me, eyes full of expectation.

Even someone as mean as me, can’t say something bad to THAT face…

Mentally admitting my defeat, I give her a nod and a thumbs up. “It’s nice, thanks.” I give her a small smile, before looking away from her sparkling eyes.

“Yes! I knew you’d like it! Who doesn’t love meat after all, right?! Now, let’s dig in!” Her face lights up, as she quickly focuses back to her meal, squirming in delight with every new bite.

Sorry Hana, but actually I can think of a few who don’t…

I would like to see her reaction to the vegans back at Tokyo… I bet she’d throw a tantrum right then and there. I mean, I love meat myself, but I haven’t seen someone this enthusiastic about it. And a cute, lean girl like her, too? I would have never guessed…

After finishing our meaty, protein=rich meals, Hana stuffed the boxes back inside her bag, before pulling out a pair of what looked like long metallic batons.

“What are those?” I ask, eyeing them just as suspiciously as the lunchbox earlier.

“Fishing roooods!” An energetic reply came out of Hana, who got up and pulled the rest of the rod out, making it finally look like one. “These are called telescopic rods and they are great for beginners. Plus they fit in my bag.” She points to her things while I follow her gaze.

I know I said that before, but damn, that bag is huge!

She hands the first rod to me, while she goes about elongating the other one too.

While she does so, I study the fishing rod in my hands. Its body is neither light nor heavy and the material it’s made of feels firm and sturdy in my hands. At the lower part of it, there’s a cylindrical module, with a small metallic handle sticking out. A thin line is attached to said module, running all the way to the top, where a small hook dangles in the wind.

“Okay, now we’re all set!” Hana comes to sit next to me with her own fishing rod in hand. In closer inspection, I notice she has the exact same rod as me.

Fishing? Well, let’s give this a shot.

I confidently think to myself… And then, I notice I overlooked something crucial.

How DO I fish?

“Hey Han-“ As I turn around to face her, I realize she’s already looking at me, a grin plastered across her face.

“Don’t worry Yukio- kun, Onee-san* will explain.” She voices, clearly amused. I bet she must have been enjoying watching me make those clueless expressions…

(*Onee-san= a way to refer to an older sister figure in Japanese.)

Onee-san? Somehow, her tone pisses me off…

“That part here is the handle…” She says, pointing to the lower part of the rod, which is even lower than the module. “This here is the reel” she finally points to the module in question. “…It’s a mechanical device that holds and spools out THIS fishing line.” And then she indicates the line attached to the rod. “The reel has a brake to slow running fish, a handle to retrieve the line and a bracket to fasten the fishing reel to the rod. Experts buy rods and reels separately, but this is a beginner’s rod so they both came in as a combo.”

“You sure know a lot about this stuff, huh?” My thoughts are once again led bare. Man, she sounds like an expert.

“Well, my cousin taught me all this… But his father is the REAL pro! I swear he could fish while sleeping and still catch a ton of them!” Hana replies, shying away from the credit.

“Daichi, huh?” I mutter.

Makes sense, I mean his family owns some sort of fishery, right?

“Okay now, moving on…” Hana drags me out of my thoughts as she turns to the lake then back to me.

“I’m guessing I just have to throw this line in the water now?”

“You need bait before that, dummy!” Hana corrects me.

“Bait, right, makes sense…” Honestly don’t know how that slipped my mind…

Just as I’m thinking about how clueless I must seem right now, my tutor in fishing brings out a small box from her backpack.

Oh God, please don’t let it be worms!

Right as I pray to the heavens for the bait to not be gruesome, Hana opens the box to reveal a deformed ball of something… white.

I take a closer look and furrow my brows. “Is this dough?”

“Bingo!” She replies, cutting off a piece of the dough and sticking it on her hook. “These are called dough balls. They’re good bait for freshwater fishing.” She explains while pushing the box towards me, urging me to try.

“I see…” I am as dumbfounded as one can be, while trying to mimic Hana. “So I just… stick it up like this?” With a small dough ball in hand, I press it against the hook.

“Yep, that’s the way. It should stick.” She reassures me as I continue to press the dough ball. Once I’m satisfied, I let go of the ball and hook and to my delight, the bait is firmly stuck on the dangling piece of metal! “Hey, look at you go!” Hana congratulates me.

“Hmph.” I, on the other hand, grin cockily and turn to the side.

AND NOW, I’M READY FOR MY FISHING DEBUT!

To be continued…