Chapter 6 - new job / Not so Distant Shores / -token efforts and unbroken cycles-

"Bloody Jerry," three teenagers gathered at the shore took turns daring the water with a ghost story, and throwing small coins into the waves. The first boy had wild eyes and a daring grin.

"Why are we doing this again, Evan? The mirror monster doesn't need a tip, and your stupid dad's stories are lame," complained a sullen girl with hair covering her eyes.

"It's two coins to pay the ferryman, Susie, don't you know what happens when you stiff one?"

"Absolutely nothing, Travis, just like the last time we tried this. Bloody Jerry is just a story the adults tell us to keep us off the skerry rocks."

Wild-eyed, Evan grinned. "Bloody Jerry," he whispered again to the sea, like the shush of the waves could keep the secret. Two coins plopped in again, and they tumbled as the backflow took them. He laughed. His friends looked nervous.

"Four times. It's four times, right? Not three, like with the mirror monster," worried Travis.

"I don't see how it matters," shrugged Susie.

"Bloody Jerry is a vicious killer, a ghost of greed and death. They say he was a desperate island bum, and he sold all the food that he had, and that's why he ate all the travelers," Travis continued, nervous.

"And that's why we don't do tourism at the port," Susie rolled her eyes. "Except that maybe, now we do. And nothing's happened yet, right?"

"...Right," Travis said, unsure.

"Bloody Jerry," Evan's voice rose, and he cackled, then covered his mouth.

"What's gotten into you?" asked Susie. "You weren't into it like this last time."

"BLOODY JERRY!" yelled Evan a final time, and the crash of a wave behind him roared and faded.

Susie and Travis stood stiffly, watching their friend cackle madly before the dramatic moment passed and they laughed too. They turned to each other, away from him, and Susie clapped Travis on the back. "See? Nothing to be afraid of. Bloody Jerry isn't real."

A muffled, burbling protest sounded behind her as Evan choked. He fell backwards into the water with the crash of the next wave.

When Susie and Travis looked back for their friend, he was gone.

Sakonji had a new menu item the morning after Tanjiro failed his interview. That was what he said, anyway, when the red-haired man walked in sullenly and gave him a tired smile.

He folded a length of seaweed over many times and used tiny cookie cutters to carve the thick, chewy substance into the shapes of confetti hearts and big dogs, a way of saying 'cheer up,' without actually having to mention it. The man knew his favorite color by now and told him green tea was on special.

When Tanjiro mentioned how much effort that must have taken and how much food it must waste, Sakonji told him kindly, "Don't worry, I'll just boil the rest for stock. I have it well in hand, so remember to take stock of yourself, young man."

Tanjiro rubbed his neck, still sore and a little sensitive now, and thanked him.

There was a small, two-person table out front now-that was new, so Tanjiro sat down in the nearest seat. He heard an apron flutter, and soon, Sakonji joined him with his own breakfast and tea.

They ate together in silence, watching the sunrise over the waves. The new day was a little cloudy, with rain on the horizon.

By the time the sun was fully up and softly shrouded behind the cloudbank, Tanjiro was done with his soup and was sipping his tea gingerly. "I failed my first interview," he told the old man.

"Well now, that's no reason to sulk about," Sakonji was suddenly hard on him, though his tone still held the same easy kindness even as he crossed his arms. "What are you going to do about it?"

Tanjiro sighed. "Part of me wants to try a new city already, but once you give up on one town, maybe it's too easy to give up on more than that."

The old man nodded sagely. "It's never the town we're giving up on. Just our place in it."

They sipped tea together for a few long moments as Tanjiro digested that.

"...Or the people," Tanjiro spoke up eventually. He sighed and shook his head. "I've never done that before, not completely. I just got... overwhelmed. It was a little too much last year." 'Along with everything else,' he didn't say, and drank his tea instead. It was comforting to be able to voice these thoughts without something constantly needling his every show of weakness in the back of his mind.

"I see," said Sakonji through his red handkerchief mask. He pulled it down briefly to take a sip of tea and put it back again. Then Sakonji started asking questions. "Why did you leave them behind, then?"

Tanjiro shook his head. The memories barked and chuffed and cackled darkly inside his mind, unlike the silent, happy dogs in Sakonji's soup. "It felt like we weren't... going in the same direction. And nothing I said could change that. They piled their work on me and my boss gave me a raise, but it was like I was invisible to them. Our boss did nothing, just started telling the same jokes, and then he piled on too. It felt like I was responsible for almost all the work, while they went off and-" Tanjiro took a sip of his tea and shook his head. "They came back laughing most nights, and I didn't like the tone, and I didn't know the people they were laughing at. The first aid kits kept going missing, and I wasn't supposed to talk about it when they had me clean up blood. I didn't stick around very long, at least not long enough to find out what they were doing. I just... left."

Sakonji hummed at the strangeness of the tale, staring off into the distance. There was a firmness to his crossed arms.

"You don't need to worry, Mr. Sakonji."

"Urokodaki," the man corrected him.

"Mr. Urokodaki. Sorry."

"Don't be."

"Right." Tanjiro took a breath and tried to reassure him, "It was a while ago, and I'm far away now, and the local police check on that place often enough that I think they'll catch it quickly if they're actually hurting someone." He thought about apologizing for bringing it up, but held his tongue.

Mr. Urokodaki didn't look as sure. His eyes were thoughtful. "No self-respecting leader resorts to such things, not even to ingratiate their employees. Leaving was a wise thing to do."

"Y-yeah." Tanjiro closed his eyes and thought about having to go back, just to make ends meet. It made his skin burn with shame. "I don't think I can handle a place like that again." 'Not alone, anyway,' he thought. "It isn't for me." His left hand shook, just a little. He set his tea down. The cup rattled against the table and then sat still.

Mr. Urokodaki set his own down too, with a firm tap. "Apply here," he said. "I could use a writer who isn't afraid of manual labor for my new little restaurant."

"Sir, I couldn't possibly, not after telling you a story like that-"

"Let me see your ID."

Fumbling and slow, Tanjiro showed it to him.

Mr. Urokodaki nodded. "You're hired."

"What?"

"Your first task is to bus this table. Then you'll be helping me in the back. We're going to need to make a menu. You start at minimum wage. Right now."

Tanjiro sputtered.

"We'll split the tips, and I'll give you a bonus when we do well."

"That's far more than generous."

Mr. Urokodaki nodded again, with a firm "Hmm."

Sakonji worked the boy hard that first day. They organized the stock in the back; it was a lot of heavy lifting, but between the two of them, they cleared the floor and made use of Urokodaki's dusty shelves.

Then Tanjiro spent time writing up a simple menu. He suggested a front chalkboard at first, but with as frequent as the rain could be, Urokodaki thought it would be a waste, so they got to work painting some driftwood instead. Driftwood was free and plentiful enough. They'd upgrade the sign to lacquered bamboo to fit the theme if they did well enough, but not until they had a menu befitting it.

The menu was small for now, just miso and either plum or green tea to start. Neither of them knew how to make tapioca pearls, but they planned to expand the selection later.

They moved the refrigerator and stove into the enclosed back room for better sterility and spent the better part of the day cleaning the room from top to bottom. The wooden chairs got a new coat of paint too, during the dry midday hours before the afternoon rain rolled in.

The fish market next door was open at all hours, but Sakonji's stall was only open during the early part of the day. He asked Tanjiro if he would like to take an afternoon shift to extend their hours, and Tanjiro obliged. Then the old man left him in charge while he took a nap in the back.

Their first customers came for a light dinner, drawn by the curious descriptions on their small menu.

The smile Tanjiro gave them as he took their order was wide and real.

The story of the three rude, parentless teens who haunted the docks was a thing of long-suffering patience among the market's workers.

Kailani, a relaxed Polynesian woman with a slow, easy smile, especially couldn't stand it when they came to mock the leaf-like patterns on the traditional fishing kites at her bait and tackle shop. Tanjiro needed his phone's help to translate some of her words, but she told him she only knew peace in the aiahi when she said nana to them for the last time.

"That means... 'evening' and 'goodbye', right?" he asked after his phone translated for him.

"Eaha?" she cupped a hand around one ear.

"What?" he asked without using his phone.

"Exactly!" She smiled. "So even a novice like you can look up the phrases of the tourists," her laugh was large and hearty.

Tanjiro smiled and asked about the kites.

The modern ones were made of sailcloth to withstand heavy wind conditions. She also had balloons to help them fly on calmer days, like today, she explained to him.

She had so much to say about the wind and the waves and the swimming things beneath once she got going that it boggled the mind. And the way she told stories was mighty and percussive, to say the least. Soon, more than a few ambling shoppers were gathered around.

She told tall tales about a local fishing boat, whose bald, silky-headed captain became a seal whenever he hit the water, a hero to the sea and the shore alike. (Selkie? Did Tanjiro mishear?) Her gestures were fluid and waving as she told a story of how people and fish once swam beneath the waves together in a game of trickery and much smaller nets than today's massive boats, when they took from the sea only what they needed and gave back only what the sea wanted. And never forgot to respect it.

She told a story about a time when it was only play between the children and the creatures beneath the waves, but that didn't mean they were free to disrespect them casually. Some creatures could do harm without meaning to. They were much like children in that way.

So many of the parents in the crowd laughed. Their children, less so.

Her stories were short, but they wove together in wave after wave like they were lapping at the shore. Push and pull, they crashed in and curled out. The crowd grew, and bought things, and diminished through the morning, until eventually she remembered that Tanjiro had asked about kites.

"A little further out from the boat, and most fish grow unwary beneath the shade. They forget about the hook and the fishermen, and creatures much bigger than they are. They're like rude teenagers in a way, small fish believing themselves masters of all that supports and gives them shelter. But they'll learn, patient tane. Every playful tamarii does."

Tanjiro nodded.

She ruffled her fingers through her nearby husband's hair. "Even man children do too, away from their mothers. Like that blonde friend of yours-I assume he's yours anyway. He was asking around, looking for you."

"What did you tell him?"

"He insulted my daughter. I told him to go fly a kite." She snickered.

Tanjiro chuckled a little too, as much as he tried not to. "His life will be a difficult one," he said as he shook his head, asking her for patience.

"All difficulties that he'll bring on himself-and others! Teach him a little more respect, if you can."

Tanjiro sucked on his tongue. "If it's possible, he'll learn one day. Even without me."

"Hmmph," she shook her head. She didn't have as much faith in people as Tanjiro, perhaps.

Two kids, a boy and a girl, claimed the only two chairs at Urokodaki's new restaurant without purchasing anything that afternoon.

When Tanjiro asked if he could get them something, they sullenly shooed him away.

"Do you think Evan is done playing his stupid trick yet?" the girl asked.

"I didn't find him anywhere, not even down by his dad's," said the nervous boy. "Do you think we're going to get in trouble?"

"Does his dad know he's missing?"

"Not yet."

"You didn't tell him?" gasped the girl.

"It hasn't been two days yet. Isn't that the first time you're supposed to say someone's missing?" the nervous one blinked.

Something fluttered in Tanjiro's stomach as he overheard their conversation. He kept listening as he pulled a pen from his back pocket and started taking notes.

The girl sighed, just as clueless as the boy. "I guess. And it's probably just a prank. We could always just go throw balls at Skerri Jerry's boat again. Evan gets mad when we do that. Maybe he'll stop hiding and show up."

"As long as Jerry doesn't catch us first."

"Oh, that demented old man? Since when does he notice anything?" the girl crossed her arms.

"What if he calls someone and we get in trouble? Or one of your balls falls in the water?"

"Afraid of a little dirt, Travis?"

"N-no..." the boy warbled unconvincingly.

The girl scoffed. "We could always go review the decorations at the fish market again. Mom says if we pressure them hard enough, they'll take down those stupid kites."

Tanjiro winced. So these might be Kailani's hooligans, at least.

"We could ask Evan's dad to help us look for him on the rocks instead. Maybe he just swam out there and hasn't come back. I don't think I want to do anything else until we find him."

"Lame," the girl rolled her eyes.

"You've been different lately, Susie. I... I'm really not sure I like this."

She slammed a flat hand down on the table. "Well then you can go drown your sorrows in the ocean, just like Evan and Bloody Jerry for all I care!" she sulked and huffed off, leaving Travis alone at the table.

The boy sniffled. Tanjiro pulled a few coins from his pocket, put them in the register, and steeped a simple cup of sweet plum tea. He brought it out to the boy.

"Thanks," the child sniffled and sipped it. Tanjiro could tell it wasn't immediately to his tastes, but to his credit, Travis didn't complain.

"Where did you last see your friend?" Tanjiro asked gently.

After a little hesitation, Travis told him everything. He told him about how Evan's family was a little weird, how they played on the docks when the park was full (or Susie's dad took away her dodgeballs because she could play a little too rough sometimes), and how Evan thought his family's ghost stories were real.

"Then last night, while we were trying to summon Bloody Jerry from the waves with a roll of quarters, Evan disappeared. We haven't been able to find him, and Susie doesn't want to tell anyone until we do."

Tanjiro nodded. "You did the right thing by telling me. Are there any places where Evan usually goes when you can't find him?"

"We looked everywhere already," said Travis. "Except the skerry islands."

Tanjiro covered his wince with a worried hand.

"I know they say people go missing out there, but I've never heard of it actually happening, not outside the history books anyway. Evan is probably fine, right?"

"Y-yeah," Tanjiro grunted, and tried to smile reassuringly. "I wouldn't worry. Just go home, and tell your parents."

"I... don't have any," said Travis.

"Oh," Tanjiro breathed. "Who takes care of you?"

"Susie's family, mostly, but I know she doesn't like me. I can't really talk to her mom, and she doesn't want me to tell her dad. I don't know what to do."

Tanjiro patted the table with one hand. "Then just sit tight, and go home tonight. Do you have a picture of your friend?"

Travis showed him.

Tanjiro nodded. Then he went into the back to tell Mr. Urokodaki he wanted to close early.

Sakonji asked why. They closed up shop together. "Do you fish?" Sakonji asked Tanjiro.

"A little," Tanjiro replied. "Never for myself."

"Good," was Sakonji's cryptic reply. He patted Tanjiro on the shoulder as they left.

When Zenitsu finally tracked down where Tanjiro was supposedly working, he found the shop closed, even for the dinner rush.

"Not in his room, not at work, he shouldn't be job hunting... And I told him not to go chasing any more ghosts on his own, didn't I?" The blonde energetically scratched his head.

"Is it possible he could just be sightseeing?"

A hoarse seabird cawed rudely while Zenitsu waited for an answer.

"I didn't think so! Tanjiro, what am I going to do with you?" Zenitsu kicked sand into the air on the beach.

A gull took flight away from the spray, laughing.

"Emmet N. Mubound- he said his real name was Jerry Skerikson-should be right around here..." Tanjiro told Mr. Urokodaki as they approached the end of the docks.

"Not everyone who comes to this place uses their real name," Sakonji considered, scratching his chin. "But I wouldn't hire anyone who won't."

"Thank you again for that, sir,"

"Hmm. Work hard, and we'll never need to mention it," Sakonji grunted.

The boat wasn't docked, but her captain sat in a lawn chair, unperturbed, with a cold metal can pressed against the side of his head.

Mr. Urokodaki tensed when he saw him.

"Jerry, was it?" Tanjiro asked.

"Tanjiro! Well if you've come for dinner and a ghost tour, you just missed us," the man slurred, his voice much lower and harsher than it had been during Tanjiro and Zenitsu's trip. He didn't sound like the same man. "I'm not feeling it today, so I let the kid take the couple on ahead. You'll have to catch the next one."

Tanjiro winced.

Sakonji's eyes narrowed.

"Whaat? He seemed excited for once, who am I to crush his young entre- enterper-... his young businessy spirit?" he waved one hand. Empty cans rattled and fell nearby. Jerry hadn't touched them.

"Is there another boat we could take?" Mr. Urokodaki asked, his voice firm and commanding.

"Sure, sure, for you, my man. Rentals are just... just…" a high cackle bubbled up from somewhere inside him before he could control it. Then he burped and his voice was normal again. "You know what? For you, rentals are free today. I just can't seem to give a damn…"

Tanjiro twitched his fingers nervously. He didn't really know how to summon an invisible blade like Zenitsu could. What if he was getting the old man into more trouble than they could handle?

But Mr. Urokodaki's posture was firm. "Thank you." he said, and ushered Tanjiro forward. "Go prepare the boat," he told his employee.

Tanjiro hesitated, then jogged ahead to comply.

Behind him, Urokodaki walked past Jerry with a stoic expression. His coat rustled in the wind.

Jerry's arm went slack. He dropped the cold can, it rolled against the chair, and his head lolled back in his seat.

Zenitsu found Skerry Jerry asleep in his chair when he came looking. Another dead end.

Sea spume splashed and flew with every wave Tanjiro and Sakonji crested as they traveled out toward the islands, Tanjiro steering the motor and the old man at the bow.

They found the larger boat, Emily, tied and empty near a heavily wooded island closer to the shipwreck.

When they got close, Mr. Urokodaki leapt onto a nearby fallen tree without waiting. He ran for the shore faster than Tanjiro could reverse the engine and tie off.

Then Tanjiro scrambled and almost tripped. He grabbed a rope and followed him as fast as he could.

The ocean breeze carried the scent of blood.

"Put them down!" Tanjiro heard Mr. Urokodaki bark.

The hair on the back of Tanjiro's neck stood on end when that same high-pitched, lilting laughter he heard from Emmet N. Mubound fluttered between the trees. Branches snapped as he pushed his way through the brush and he barely noticed the sting of them against his cheeks.

When he finally made his way through, he saw a young boy floating about a foot off the rocks. A pair of young women floated above him, one short-haired and masculine, the other with long, dyed curls and a stylish pink coat. Both struggled for air.

Fear hit Tanjiro's stomach again, and his body twinged, but his eye didn't change. He could see nothing until a massive wave crashed and brought down salt spray all around them. Then the vague outline of the tentacled monster from before shimmered with water and seafoam.

And so did something in Mr. Urokodaki's hands.

The monster dangled the couple over the ocean rocks.

"Last warning," Mr. Urokodaki commanded the monster through his teeth and settled into a stance, "Set. Them. Down."

For a moment, it looked like the boy might. Two long appendages sank down toward the island. Then his head cracked to the side like he was possessed, and a wide and gleeful grin split his face. "What would be the fun in that~?" he sang, and flung them into the waves, laughing.

As soon as the couple were out of the monster's grip, Mr. Urokodaki flew into action. The monster's tendrils came pounding down, over, to the side, and out toward the water, but the old man dodged and weaved through it all like a man in his twenties. Not a single strike landed. Not a single lash caught him off-guard.

A massive wave crested behind them, an explosion of green and silver light against the moon. Something flashed in the wave's shadow, and when the water crashed down over both of them, the monster was no longer floating. He rolled across the rocks limply in the backwash and settled down, still.

Tanjiro rushed forward with the rope and cast it out behind Urokodaki, who immediately took hold of the back end. Tanjiro gave him a grateful nod, then dove into the water holding the free end of the rope.

Regret almost crushed him as surely as the waves against the rocks. If he had a lifejacket on or wasn't able to dive under them, that could have been the end. Even honed from decades of hard work and casual swimming near his family home, years of missed practice screamed inside his muscles as he powered down on sheer adrenaline, without a warmup.

It was a stupid thing to do, but it was him or Urokodaki, and Tanjiro wasn't about to back off.

He found the first woman struggling to free her bleeding leg from a rock. Tanjiro kicked it from the side, and it came loose in a cloud of mud and debris. Then he tapped her firmly on the shoulder and gestured twice, strongly toward the gap in the island. When she started pulling on the rope instead, he adjusted her shoulders and aimed her directly, then pushed against her back. She got the message that time and started swimming up, parallel to the rocks.

Thin and wan, the other one was lolling unconscious nearby, tossed by the waves. He wasted no time and took her under the arms, then kicked off for the surface and powered up with his legs.

They broke the surface together, but seawater spilled from her lips. She wasn't breathing.

Tanjiro struggled for the break in the shoreline. He didn't think he could dare the rocks on his own, much less carrying a person with him, but he knew he had precious little time to help her.

"Don't panic!" he heard Mr. Urokodaki shout from the shore. The old man stood on a tree that had fallen between the islands and steadily pulled the other woman in, hand over hand. "I'll pull you through the undertow, just hold on!"

Tanjiro had almost forgotten. Then the next wave dragged him under.

He hit his head on a branch but didn't lose consciousness. He managed to grasp onto it and hold as water rushed down and away around him, and somehow didn't lose hold of the woman in the pink coat either.

Tanjirou struggled for the surface, his hair flailing around his eyes as the water pulled him to and fro. The log broke off suddenly, still feet under the water. He had nothing more to hold onto through the rough waters.

A rope slapped down above him and sank toward him with the current. Tanjiro lept for it, and somehow managed to grasp it.

Together, Urokodaki and the short-haired woman dragged him to the surface. He kicked with what strength he had, still dazed, but it didn't take too long for them to haul him to the break in the shore. Then Urokodaki pulled them in with the next swell, and the short-haired woman hauled the other one up.

Without being asked, she immediately began CPR. Mr. Urokodaki seemed satisfied with how she was doing it, and he sat down on the rocks.

Tanjiro coughed up a mouthful of seawater, but all in all, he wasn't too bad.

Soon the half-drowned woman turned over and let the ocean out. Tanjiro and Mr. Urokodaki turned away politely to give them their reunion. Tanjiro smiled at the old man.

Mr. Urokodaki scoffed and crossed his arms. "It's like you've never swum in the ocean before, boy," he grumbled.

"Ha, that's because I haven't," Tanjiro admitted sheepishly, and scratched the back of his neck.

"We're going to change that," the old man told him sternly, "especially if you're going to pull stunts like that."

"Yes sir," Tanjiro bobbed his head, grimacing.

Then, Mr. Urokodaki leaned in, "And you're going to tell no one what you saw."

"O-of course, sir," Tanjiro stammered.

But oh, now he really wanted to ask.

"I'm Carla," the short-haired, masculine blonde woman told Mr. Urokodaki and Tanjiro before they parted ways at the docks, giving each of them a firm handshake. "And this is Shandrie, my wife."

Shandrie smiled at each of them, then without warning, gave Mr. Urokodaki a hug. Shyly, without letting him hug him back, she turned to Tanjiro and gave him a nervous smile. "Thank you," she whispered in his ear, a little awkwardly.

"I hope the next time we meet is under better circumstances," Carla told them. "It was like you came out of the blue to help us."

"We were just in the area," Urokodaki lied as he patted the seat where Jerry's unruly teenager sat unconscious, tied up with rope.

"No one will ever believe what we saw," breathed Shandrie.

"That's exactly right," nodded Urokodaki. "But if you ever feel the need to talk about it, my shop's down that way," he pointed, "in the fish market, second building-with the blue and white shingles. It'll probably be me or this young fellow at the front," he clapped Tanjiro on the shoulders.

Tanjiro smiled and waved nervously.

Carla chucked and shook her head. "Well, if a reckless stock hand like that ever gives you too much trouble, you can call me too," she said, and gave Urokodaki her number. "I'm sure I can find him a safer line of work."

Unexpectedly, Urokodaki clapped Tanjiro on the shoulder again. "I think I'll be keeping this one around. He could come in handy, one day, with the right training."

Tanjiro felt light despite himself.

Carla shrugged. "Suit yourself," but then she gave Tanjiro her number as well. "If you ever need anything, call me. I owe you both."

"It's alright," said Tanjiro with practiced ease, "you don't owe me anything."

"Still," insisted Carla with raised eyebrows, "even if it's just to chat about your day. Don't be strangers, either of you."

Tanjiro nodded. Mr. Urokodaki grunted. And that was that.

"B-bye!" sang shy Shandrie as the two of them left.

Tanjiro smiled and waved after them.

"Tomorrow," Mr. Urokodaki ordered him seriously. His voice was like a bucket of ice water, "you show up for work at 4 am, and you will learn to swim."

"Y-yes sir," Tanjiro flinched.

Mr. Urokodaki studied his reaction sternly, arms crossed. "Do well enough at that, and you might begin to fit in around here."

Tanjiro shrank a little inside his skin and smiled nervously. He could only hope.