There was the herb and only the herb; for a moment, Akari forgot all about the sunny streets of Waffle Town and even the droning crash from the nearby ocean waves. With a quick tug, the whole herb pulled up clean from the curb. Not even its roots were intact. Akari stared at it dreamily. There. Jin's chore is done for today, she thought, stuffing the green herb away.

Though Akari's mother had taught her all about Mineral Town's colored grasses, her father had taught her about exotic plants and mushrooms from all over. Being a water spirit, he knew much about the natural life nourished by his lake and beyond; oftentimes, he would explain how his lake's realm went deep underground, reaching into other bodies of water and even other towns.

Water doesn't just stay on the surface, Akari remembered; It runs deep underground. With a murmur of speculation, she remembered the monkey's riddle: 'I like to hide and run around.'

"Run?" she repeated to herself, realizing that the monkey was certainly a water spirit– and possibly the spirit of Caramel River. At this, a whole new (horrible) realization dawned upon her. "Wait, did I make a mistake?" Feeling queasy and horrified, Akari knelt on the roadside and held her face. That's right. That monkey mentioned how I had 'claimed' him. Papa told me to claim a body of water, but... I ended up claiming a water spirit instead?

"I kissed a MONKEY?" Akari yelled, writhing in agony and regret. Is this even supposed to happen? she wondered; Did I fail again? Whimpering and fighting back stinging tears, she raised her head– only to find a young man standing before her on the sand, and silently regarding her:

"..."

Never did his face move nor his body twitch– he simply stared at her (though it was impossible to tell how. His eyes weren't even open)!

If Akari held any doubts or reservations about his identity, they were yanked away by the fishing pole in his hand. This young man– with his white tousled hair and straw hat hanging off his shoulders– was none other than the fisherman who had seen her kappa form the other night.

Akari stayed very still, steeping in the awful reality that he likely recognized her. It was certain that she was incapable of any real magic, but she tried to summon some anyway. She concentrated. Abandoning her humanity, she tried to morph– to blend in with the roadside– to become a green herb.

Slowly, the young man raised his limp hand– almost as if he had just learned how to. "Hello," he greeted. "I've never seen you before." He tilted his head. "Are you sightseeing?"

Choking in agitation, Akari suppressed a scream. Yes, when meeting someone properly, screaming at them would be very rude. That's why she shook her head instead. It seemed her transformation into a green herb had failed. Well of course it did, she was half kappa, not half tanuki.

"No. I just moved here. My name's Akari, I'm a farmer," the girl quietly answered. Did I say too much? Standing up, she stepped off the roadside and walked down into the sand. If the fisherman didn't recognize her thus far, she figured that it was still important to be polite to him– even if he was scary. And if she acted normally, it would help dispel any of his suspicions!

"Name's Toby. This is a nice place," he said, attempting to sooth the awkward silence between them. "There's tons of fishing spots around here, and the weather's usually perfect for napping under the trees."

"Fishing?" Akari said, slightly disturbed by the spacey quality of his voice. It was like he was a Buddhist monk or even a seminarist for some new age religion– a religion that celebrated FISH.

"I love fishing." Toby began waving his arms around. Somehow, he appeared calm even while moving around so frantically. "I can't imagine making a living any other way."

So it's just his job? Akari wondered. She wasn't sure if this was any better or worse than him simply being obsessed with fish. If he saw her kappa form again, would he try stuffing her into a shipping bin?

"Do you like fishing?" he asked suddenly, dropping his arms at his sides. Even if his eyes weren't open, she could tell that he was firmly looking at her.

What do I say? Akari wondered, increasingly alarmed. If she could sweat, she surely would've done so. Instead, she held her chin and trembled, splashing droplets from her water-filled nob. If I say yes, is that suspicious? If I say no, is that also suspicious? She didn't understand that taking so long to answer him was even MORE suspicious.

"Do I ever!" Akari finally blurted, forcing her mouth's corners to rise. It was such an unnatural smile.

For a brief moment, Toby opened his eyes, revealing his yellow-green eyes– but only somewhat. They were sharp and sly, like a cat's. One would even say they were indecent. This girl, he thought; And that mysterious mermaid from the other night... He considered all the coincidences: short brown hair, same height, and they both appeared only recently. In addition to that, this new farmer was living by the river (if town gossip was correct).

In light of all the incriminating evidence, however, there was only ONE true way to tell if Akari and that mermaid were one and the same.

"That's great!" Toby answered, overjoyed by her answer but still distracted by his plan. With slow and precise movements, he reeled the fishing rod's line short, tilted it and held it out at Akari. Gently, he maneuvered the hook without her noticing. "Let me give you this fishing rod."

Surprised, Akari carefully took hold of its tapered end (since that was the end that she had been offered). A gift? she thought, caught off-guard and somewhat touched. Maybe he's... not so bad. "Thanks," she said appreciatively.

But after holding her end of the fishing rod for some time, Akari filled with confusion. For some reason, Toby refused to let go of it. Did he not want to part with it after all? Puzzled, and not wanting to be intrusive, Akari let go of the rod and started to back away. "Eh, why are you–" Before she could ask him ANYTHING, her shirt lifted up– all by itself. MAGIC? she thought, chilled with fright at the supernatural phenomenon. (Though maybe it was just the breeze.)

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to say something," Toby said. "The hook got caught in your shirt." He looked at her exposed chest. "Heart print?" She was not wearing the bra he had expected. Maybe she changed it? he thought. Where was the frog print? This was not the evidence he needed!

Red-eared, red-faced and generally burning with humiliation, Akari trembled, yanked her shirt down, turned around, and ran off down the street without another word. A scream lingered in the back of her throat and she fought back tears the whole entire way. She was too mortified to be angry. How could this happen again? she agonized. And with the same person, too? She bit her lips until they bled.

Holding her face (and shaking her head at her foolish trustfulness), Akari failed to notice the fishing rod still hooked onto her shirt and dragging behind her– following her. For an unexplainable reason, she ran and ducked into Meringue Clinic, where she finally noticed the rod as it got stuck on the porch rails behind her. Tugging and dragging it in, she clicked the door shut and so cooled down– composing herself in the lobby.

Perhaps she came to the clinic because Jin's cold and unemotional outlook was reassuring in such a moment. Maybe it was because she felt safer with him than with Toby– the lesser of two evils. Or maybe it was just because his clinic was air-conditioned.

Irene, perched behind the front counter, looked up when she saw Akari. "Good afternoon, my dear," the old woman said. "You're here early."

Oh Toby. That underwear gag never gets old.