"We're going ashore, we're going ashore, we're finally, finally going ashore!"
Hinata sang as he dug around in his locker, so full of energy that he could barely stay still long enough to find what he needed. Yamaguchi knelt nearby at his own locker, moving with a great deal more control and composure, though excitement shivered in his fingers and made the stray lock of hair on the top of his head bounce around. Hinata pulled out his shirt, long ago stuffed into the locker wadded up in a ball, and tried to shake it out.
"It will feel strange to wear civilian clothes again," Yamaguchi said as he pulled out his own outfit. He tugged at his uniform shirt with a sharp, sudden movement, as if he couldn't bear the touch of it on his skin anymore. Now that the opportunity had come to get out of their navy uniforms, neither Yamaguchi nor Hinata could wait any longer.
With the captain's announcement two days ago, Hinata had been sure that he, Yamaguchi, and Tanaka would be given shore leave. Captain Ushijima had said that it was the sailors teaching each other to fight that had convinced him to allow it, and the three of them had started that trend together. If anyone in the entire crew would be allowed to visit the Iron Island, surely it would be them.
The officers had made them wait, though. The first day, only the captain and a few of his top brass had gone ashore to talk with the local government and conduct official business. The crew that night had been boisterous in their merrymaking, singing and gaming and drinking their sake and rum rations with abandon. Hinata and Tanaka had joined in, of course, accepting the shoulder slaps and praise of the crew for their part in assuring that everyone would have a chance for shore leave. Yamaguchi had been more reticent, but he had smiled, too, and even sang along with some of the chanties.
The next day, Hinata struggled to keep from pestering the officers about when they could go ashore. If the captain hadn't warned against such behavior, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist. The struggle became much harder when a few sailors were allowed to leave the ship. They were senior fellows, most of them volunteers instead of conscripts, and the majority of them had had nothing at all to do with the school on the deck. Yamaguchi patted his head in warning, and Hinata grit his teeth and refrained from commenting. He didn't join much in the singing and gaming that night, either, too busy pouting in a corner.
But today. Today! The gunner's mate had whistled and called Yamaguchi and Hinata's names, and they ran to him and stood at attention. He told them that they had both been given shore leave, how long it would last, when they had to return, and told them to see the purser for their wages. Halfway through, Hinata's hand crept over to grip Yamaguchi's shirt in excitement, and Yamaguchi's hand found his shoulder and clenched tight. They had to hold their breath to keep from yelling in joy, and stumbled over their thanks and salutes and aye sirs to the gunner's mate before they could finally run away, still clutching each other and doing their utmost not to squeal like very tiny children.
The wages the purser gave them amounted to more money than Hinata had ever seen at one time, though Yamaguchi frowned at the small handful of silver coins, hefting them in his palm. They hurried to the aft cabin, Hinata chattering about his plans for the his pay. Yamaguchi shook his head and tried to temper his eagerness with a bit of wisdom.
"This isn't much, Hinata-chan, not for three months' labor. It truly isn't. At my father's carpentry shop, this would have paid for a small wooden box. A fine box to be sure, for all of my father's handiwork was fine. But you mustn't expect to be able to buy the moon."
"I don't want the moon," Hinata said, "just a toy for Nacchan."
"Still and all. Don't expect too much."
"I'm sure you'll be able to find something at the market!" a boisterous voice rang out as they rounded the doorway into the cabin.
"Tanaka-senpai!" Hinata jumped into the air in celebration. "You have leave, too?"
Tanaka grinned, wide and gleeful. "Of course I do! We can't let you two rapscallions run about unsupervised. The Iron Island would never be the same!" He stood in the center of the cabin, already dressed in his civvies with his arms folded across his chest and his stance wide on the deck. A small round earring glittered in his ear. "Now get dressed, ya scalliwags. We're goin' ashore!"
He threw back his head and laughed. Hinata cheered loud enough to wake the dead and ran for his sea locker, Yamaguchi at his heels.
Now, Hinata held his wrinkled civilian shirt in front of his face. It still smelled of that tavern in Yukigaoka, and Hinata wrinkled his nose, not sure if he found the memories pleasant or unpleasant. The patch on one elbow made him sigh—he could still his mother sewing that for him, the glint of the needle flashing bright and quick in her clever fingers.
But he could not remain melancholic for more than a second or two. They were going ashore! Hinata skinned out of his uniform and into his old clothes in a twinkling, and raced back to Tanaka while Yamaguchi still dallied at his locker.
"Oi, Yama-chan," Tanaka called, laughter in his voice. "Didja grow while you were at sea?"
"So it seems." Yamaguchi sighed as he stood, tugging at the ends of his sleeves in a fruitless effort to make them cover the bony knobs of his wrists. His ankles were too exposed, as well, the cuffs of his trousers ending a wide breadth above his shoes.
Hinata looked at his own wrists and ankles, but saw no evidence of growth. He scowled, and Tanaka laughed and clapped his back. "You need new clothes, too, Hinata-chan! Those look raggedy enough to clothe a scarecrow."
Hinata huffed. "Well, we can find everything we need in the market."
"Aye, the market!" Tanak wrapped an arm around each of his kouhai and tugged them out the door. "To the market we go!"
The sound of their feet tromping on the gangplank sounded fundamentally different than the sound of walking on the deck. Louder, stronger, freer. Then they were on the wharf, solid as solid could be, and then on a cobbled street. Laughter burst from Hinata's lungs, sudden and unexpected, and he broke away from Tanaka and Yamaguchi and ran as fast as he could down the street that wandered along beside the dock.
Tanaka guffawed behind him, and Yamaguchi sputtered, and then Hinata heard running footsteps as they gave chase. This only spurred him to greater speed, his legs pumping and lungs billowing. The smell of the harbor, salt and seaweed and stagnant water, filled his nose and his mouth. He felt strong and hearty and free. Free as a bird, free as a gull, free as any creature that belonged only to the sea and the sky. Free as a crow.
"Hinata, Hinata!" The distress in Yamaguchi's voice made Hinata's steps falter, just a little, just enough that Yamaguchi's longer limbs allowed him to catch up in a few ground-eating strides. "Hinata, watch out!"
Yamaguchi's fingers tangled in the back of Hinata's shirt, and he dragged the smaller boy to a stumbling halt on the side of the street just as a carriage thundered by. Hinata gasped, discovering himself wrapped in Yamaguchi's arms, the other boy protecting him from the flying hooves, the heavy weight of the wheels rushing by far too close for comfort. Then the carriage was past and gone, rattling away down the cobblestones, and Tanaka reached their side. He was huffing and puffing, and he white as a ghost under his seafarer's tan.
"Oi, oi, Hinata-chan. You're lucky Yama-chan kept up with ya."
Hinata nodded. His heart was pounding and his throat was blocked, disallowing speech. After a moment, he said breathlessly, "Thank you, Yamaguchi-san."
Yamaguchi's arms tightened around him, then released. He stood back, trembling harder than Hinata was. Tanaka patted both of their heads. "Well, that was an adventure and no mistake. Let's go to the market now, aye?"
"Aye, aye," Hinata and Yamaguchi chorused.
They set off. Tanaka had been to the Iron Island before, and he confidently led the way. Here and there some sight would spark a memory, and he shares a little story or joke with his companions. Hinata's heart slowed in his chest, the trembling fading from his limbs, and he could see that Yamaguchi had settled as well.
At the last, the street in front of them began to open up, and Hinata heard the sounds of a large bustle and cry. The sky ahead lightened as they emerged from the buildings that pressed close on both sides, and the sounds of a broad and diverse segment of humanity grew ever louder. Hinata's heart began pounding again, but this time for a different reason.
And then...and then...
They stepped out of the narrow, winding street and into the open air of the market. The market! It was everything Hinata had hoped for and more.
The square that held the market might have been bigger than all of Yukigaoka, it stretched so wide and so far. It was packed up and down and side to side with stalls, diverse and colorful and bumping into each other like strangers scraping elbows on a crowded street. Hinata was too untraveled to recognize the origin of each stall, but he could see the differences in styles—some wide and broad with conical roofs, some uncovered and crowded with bric-a-brac. Some had awnings in bright, jewel-like colors, and some had signs painted in languages from all over the Archipelago. And the world.
And each stall was equipped with a loud-voiced person hawking their wares.
"Spices! Buy my spices! Coriander from the eastern reaches! Cinnamon from the southern jungles! Mint from the northern ice lakes—spearmint, peppermint, wintergreen! Hot chiles from the west! Fresh vanilla pods from here on the Iron Island! Buy my spices!"
"Fruit! Fresh fruit! Mango so ripe it bursts in your mouth! Young coconut so fresh and soft that it will melt on your tongue! Fresh fruit!"
"Metalware! Pots and pans! Silver mirrors so smooth that you can see every beauty of your face! Miss, miss, see this mirror! See how it shines!"
"Woven goods! Silk and cashmere, flowing like water! We have tapestries of the finest make—you will swear that only mice could make such tiny knots. Woven cloth, precious and luxurious!"
Hinata didn't know where to go first. He stared at it all with eyes wide and shining, one foot starting one way, then another. He wanted to look at the finely carved woodworks in that stall on the left, and he wanted to smell all the exotic spices from around the world, and he wanted to watch the dancing bear on the edge of the square. No sooner did he choose one direction to head than something else caught his attention, and he turned toward the new delight with a joyful gasp, unable to contain himself.
Tanaka watched him with his hands on his hips, grinning fit to burst. Yamaguchi stood beside him, looking around the bustling throng with more anxiety than eagerness. He was not over-fond of crowds. But he was determined to bear the discomfort for Hinata's sake, at least.
Unable to make up his mind, Hinata turned back to his friends, half-bent in excitement with his fists in front of his body. "Where should I go? I can't decide!"
Tanaka laughed so loudly that a few passersby paused to look at him with wrinkled brows, and Yamaguchi covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile. Hinata shook his fist at them as wrathfully as he could, though he was not in earnest. "Don't mock me! I am in true trouble here. Help me as good mates should!"
"Aye, aye, so we will," Yamaguchi said, and then he stopped, his face crinkling, as he tried to come up with some advice. "Ah...you could..."
"Could...could what?" Hinata cried. "Help me, help me!"
Tanaka shook his head, coming down from his fit of laughter. "Well, Hinata-chan, what is most important to you? What one object must you purchase above all others? Choose that as your priority, and the rest will follow after."
"Ah." Hinata straightened, blinking, and turned back to survey the market. He raised a hand to shade his eyes as he looked. "Aye, that is good advice, Tanaka-senpai. You are truly the best and wisest of senpais."
"Aye, aye, tell me more." Tanaka puffed himself up with pride.
Hinata shook his head. "No time! I must choose. There is indeed one need that rises above the rest."
Yamaguchi tilted his head. "And what's that, Hinata-chan?"
"I must find a good gift for my sister, Natsu." Hinata turned back to give them a grin, broad and easy. "It will have to be something small, since I only have a few coins. But it must be truly magical! The entire world is at my fingertips in this market, and I must find a marvel to bring back to her! Help me look!"
His mates nodded, accepting the quest. Tanaka rocked on his heels, looking over the market as had been doing. "The perfect gift could be hiding in any corner of this place. Perhaps we should split up and have a good look around, then meet back here and share what we've found."
"What a wonderful plan!" Hinata jumped up into the air to express his pleasure and approval. He set his feet to race off.
Then he looked around, taking in the massive scale of the market, the crowds of people shouting and haggling and waving their arms, and promptly changed his mind. He turned back to the others with a sheepish smile. "Nay, in truth, I'd rather not split up."
Yamaguchi muffled a squeak of laughter in his palm, and Tanaka chuckled and shook his head. "Aye, Hinata-chan, we'll go together then."
Hinata nodded in relief.
The three of them walked through the market, stopping now and then to take a closer look at likely candidates. Hinata ran his fingers over finely woven pashmina shawls from the east and knitted caps from the north. He considered tiny carvings of ships and animals made of driftwood, shells, and soybeans. He looked at every jewelry vendor they came across, but the fine items were far outside his reach, and the ones within it didn't look worth even the small price being asked.
Every stall packed side to side with miscellaneous junk drew his attention, and he took the time to sort through bins of broken toys ("Just a few minutes to fix it, and you'll have a fine gift!" the stallkeeper declared) and shelves of household items of every make, material, quality, and age. They stopped to listen to musicians performing songs about the sea, about men and maidens, about battles and war. Hinata's favorite was one woman with a stringed instrument singing about a jealous crow and a little girl.
And still they wandered. Yamaguchi and Tanaka pointed here and there, and sometimes Hinata would run to look closer, and other times he shook his head. He even looked at a small, fine wooden box.
Nothing seemed right.
Their stomachs were beginning to growl, and even the infinitely tolerant Yamaguchi was beginning to hint that perhaps Hinata should just choose something or other, when they came across one particular stall in the back corner of the market. It was small and unassuming, tucked between two much larger stalls selling produce and charcoal, and it was run by a small old man who leaned on the front board. His skin was the fairest shade Hinata had seen yet at the market, his hair was white and tufted around his ears, and small round spectacles framed his eyes. He smiled at all who passed but made no effort to draw attention to himself and his wares.
Hinata noticed, though, tilting his head in curiosity. His notice had been caught by a gleam of something metal and strange. He said not a word to his companions, but trotted immediately to the tiny stall and its tiny proprietor.
"What are you selling?" Hinata asked, bold as brass, and the little man blinked at him, then afforded him a patient smile.
"Clockworks from Caylambra. Like to see?"
Hinata nodded hugely. "Aye, please!"
The little man stepped back from the front board and turned around to sort amongst his wares. Hinata craned his head to watch him, trying to see what was going on. Very little was visible from this vantagepoint, only that intriguing glint of metal. It seems that this seller was so confident in his product that he felt no need to line the front of his stall with his best items to catch the eye of anyone who passed. Was it a specialty shop? Something only a few people wanted or needed, so they already knew where to find it?
The stall owner stepped back to the front with something huge and heavy in his arms, bending back to accommodate the weight. He set it down on the front board with a gentle thump, and Hinata leaned forward to stare, as Yamaguchi and Tanaka crowded in behind him. He recognized the face of a clock, but nothing else about the strange contraption. Why was it shaped like a house with two stories and many doors? What were all these colorful decorations? And what was this clicking and buzzing from within?
"A cuckoo clock?" Tanaka asked, though his voice was doubtful. "I've heard of them but never seen one. But I know they're from Caylambra."
The little man nodded with a soft, pleasant smile. "Something like. Here, I to show." He spoke in the trade pidgin many of the market-goers used, but even more broken and halting than the style they usually heard (and struggled to comprehend).
But then something magical happened. The little man did something on the back of the enormous clock, tripping some small mechanism, and the hands whirred busily along to the next hour. A chime began to sound, beautiful and melodic, and then doors opened, one after the other.
A tiny wooden man clicked out of the house on a little track, one arm holding a hammer, then other moving up and down as if he was marching. From another door came a tiny little boy holding a sword, swinging it up and down as if playing at being a soldier. They met in the middle, at a wooden anvil that popped up from the ground. The boy laid the sword down on the anvil and the man—a smith—swung his hammer down upon it as if beating it into shape. The chimes sang in perfect time, the deepest bell-like sound ringing with each swing of the hammer. Then the little figures lifted their tools and turned around, gliding back into their doors, the boy swinging the sword and the man hefting his hammer.
"Uwaaahhhh," was the only response Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Tanaka had to this marvelous display.
They had known that they would see wonders in the Iron Island marketplace. But they had never imagined something like this.
"How much does something like this cost?" Yamaguchi asked, almost in a whisper.
The little man smiled, so pleased by their reaction that the flesh around his eyes wrinkled deep in pleasure. He named a price almost as amazing as the contraption he was selling.
Tanaka straightened up from his bent position with a shiver of shock. "That's more than an able-bodied sailor would make in a year! Five years! Even ten!"
Yamaguchi looked at him. "Which is it? One, five, or ten?"
"I don't know!" Tanaka rubbed the back of his neck, sweating in distress at the question. "I'm not quick with arithmetic. It's a lot!"
Hinata was not deterred. He remained bent forward, both hands gripping the edge of the board that held the massive, magical device. "I don't want a great old clock, anyway. I just want a gift for my sister." He looked swiftly to the little stallkeeper, his eyes phosphor-bright. "D'you have anything like that? Something small? That a girl would like?"
"Gift? For sister?" The little man nodded readily. He hefted the marvelous clock off the front board with a soft grunt. The board creaked with the release of weight.
The clock was set aside somewhere back in the stall, and Hinata watched the man's bent back as he rummaged somewhere or other. It took some time. He kept pausing as if to look at something, then he would shake his head and move on. "Gift for sister," they heard him mutter, as well as words in a strange, warbling language none of them had ever heard before.
At last the little man straightened with a sharp, "Aha!" He lifted something in his hand, hidden from their sight by his body, then spun on his heel and came again to the front of the stall. "Gift for sister! See, see! Little bird. Very good gift."
He set it down on the board. Hinata rested his chin on his hands and stared at it with eyes wide and burning. It was indeed a little bird, polished and bright, golden-warm brass with blue glass eyes. The legs and wings were jointed, and he could see tiny gears in the neck and body.
"Little bird," Hinata murmured. He tilted his head, taking in the details. It was beautiful.
He wanted it very badly.
"It's like a finch, but smaller," Yamaguchi said. He bent over Hinata's shoulder to study it as well, his cheek brushing the side of Hinata's head. He looked up at the little man. "What kind of bird?"
"Song sparrow. From Caylambra." The little man nodded amiably. "Pretty bird. Pretty song."
Hinata would have been happier if it had been a crow. But a sparrow was pretty grand, too, he decided at once. "Sparrow," he repeated, sounding the foreign word on his tongue.
"What does the clockwork do?" Tanaka asked.
The little man picked up the bird—even in his small hand, it was nearly lost—and wound a tiny key under the left wing. He set the sparrow down on the board again, and Hinata watched in fascination as it hopped forward, once, twice. And the wings shook out, one after the other, and the tiny head tilted so that the bird stared directly into Hinata's face with its bright blue eye.
"Oh," Yamaguchi said in disappointment. "It doesn't sing."
The stallkeeper shook his head regretfully. "Too small. No room for bell." He smiled at Hinata, though. "Like to hear sparrow song? I to sing."
Hinata nodded at once. The little man pursed his lips together as if he was about to whistle, but what came out of his mouth was like no whistle the three boys from Miyagi had ever heard. It was liquid and warbling and warm and sweet, wavering up and down on the scale, then sounding five notes alike in a row. He sang a variation, then another tune, three lower notes and a high buzz.
He stopped and smiled at them again. "Sparrow have many song."
Hinata stared at the clockwork bird. His eyes were beginning to water from not blinking. "How much?"
The stallkeeper bent over, too, watching Hinata from the other side of the bird. He began to speak, then stopped, his eyes narrowing. His expression was very kind. "How much in little one's purse today?"
Little one? Ah, he was referring to Hinata. Tanaka made a noise and waved his hands, but Hinata was already answering. He told the little man exactly how much the purser had given him that morning. Tanaka slapped a hand to his face, but Hinata had no idea why.
The little man stood straight and spread his arms. "Today only, that much for bird! A bargain for you! Gift for sister!"
Yamaguchi tugged urgently at the back of Hinata's shirt, trying to pull him away. He was whispering something in Hinata's ear, something about haggling and not being a fool, but Hinata had already reached into his pocket and pulled out his little handful of silver coins. He set them on the board, and the man beamed and swept them up.
Hinata reached out for the bird, but the man held up a hand. "Wait! Wait! One more!"
He turned around and bustled in the back of the stall for another long interval, then returned with a tiny wooden box, fine-grained and smooth-sanded, with little brass hinges and a clasp the exact color of the clockwork bird. He showed Hinata how to work the key on the bird, then opened the box to reveal that it was lined with soft cloth, padded to shape. He folded up the bird's wings and legs so that it looked like it was sleeping, then nestled it safely in the box and clasped the lid securely. Last of all, he lifted the box in both hands, gently and ceremoniously, and placed it in Hinata's hands.
"Gift for sister! Good bargain! Thank you for business!"
Hinata bowed to the man, beaming so hard that his face felt like it would break. "It's a perfect gift! Thank you for selling it to me!"
"Yes, yes! Come again! Tell your friends!"
"Thank you for the bird!"
"Thank you for business!"
They yelled to each other several more times as Tanaka and Yamaguchi hauled Hinata away. Yamaguchi's face was red, and Tanaka was laughing by the time they escaped. At the end of the row of stalls, Hinata turned around and waved one more time to the little man, who was leaning out of his stall to watch them leave.
"Thank you for the bird!"
"Thank you for business!"
Yamaguchi wrapped a hand around Hinata's upper arm and tugged him around a corner, and they were out of sight. Tanaka bent over with his hands on his knees, laughing as if he would die of it, and Yamaguchi set his hands on his hips and shook his head. "You're such an innocent, Hinata-chan, I can't believe..." He stopped, overcome, and could not go on.
Hinata blinked at him. "You can't believe what?"
Yamaguchi made a strangled noise and spread his arms, indicating the entirety of the market square. "This is a bazaar! You never take the first price! You should always be bargaining and haggling, or every stallkeeper in the place will take from you hand over fist. They'd be idiots not to!"
"Aye, aye," Tanaka gasped out, raising a hand and patting the air between them in an effort to calm Yamaguchi's indignation. "But think about this. With the enormous sum that Caylambran man named for his clock, do ya really think Hinata paid a fair price for the little bird?"
Yamaguchi opened his mouth. Then he stopped, blinking. "I... Well, no. I don't think he did."
Hinata frowned, looking into each of their faces in turn. "What are you saying? Do you really think that nice little foreigner overcharged me?"
Yamaguchi rubbed his hand over his chin, his gaze far away. After a moment, he shook his head, then met Hinata's eyes. "Nay, I don't."
Hinata looked to Tanaka for an explanation.
Tanaka grinned, still fighting his laughter. "He didn't overcharge ya, Hinata-chan. He undercharged. He asked how much ya had so he could name that exact sum. That little bird must be worth far, far more. He must have liked ya a great deal. Gift for sister!" he bellowed the last, imitating the foreigner's accent. "What a bargain!"
Hinata stared down at the wooden box in his hands, his eyes wide with wonder. Even the box was a fine one, the feeling of it silky smooth against his fingers. His coins might have paid for the box alone, from what Yamaguchi had told him earlier. And the bird inside...
Tanaka stood straight, bouncing on his toes, and slapped Hinata's shoulder. "This has been a fine outing at the market, little kouhai. What say we find something to eat now? The sides of my stomach are rubbing against each other in despair."
Hinata looked up and nodded. His stomach was growling, too.
Before they moved away, though, he packed the box very, very carefully in the bottom of his satchel. He would keep this gift safe, safe, safe until he could take it home to Natsu. It was the only way he could repay that little foreigner's immense kindness to him.