*Chapter 17: So Let's Relax*
"Kanji, pass me another bait pod." Yosuke asked while Kanji was scrounging around a box they had on their boat.
"Which one, there's like a billion?" Kanji said, looking through the multiple bags they had full of fishing bait. "I actually have no idea. I guess…the Blue Peace one?" Yosuke sighed.
The guys were out in a forest camping, fishing at a nearby river for their dinner. "Nah nah boys, you gotta use Red Fury! Makes the fish more agitated and agitation gives flavor!" Yu's father called out from the shore, sitting in a beach chair and laying back while holding his fishing rod. He had already caught 3 fish and was holding them in a metal bucket near his chair.
"Hm, I guess use that. The red ones." Yosuke pointed at a bag, resulting in Kanji grabbing the pod from inside dusting his fingers. "Aw damn it, I got red dust shit on my fingers! Here." Yosuke inserted a pod into his hook, getting up and dramatically throwing the line to look professional.
"Heh, check it out, Kanji! I guess I got fisherman's blood inside me man!" Yosuke said, posing as if he were a ship captain with his rod. "What, you threw a line out?"
Yu and Teddie were in another boat away, Yu swigging a bottle down and scrunching his face up. "Man, it's been a while since I've had alcohol." "Well if ya don't like it Sensei, ya don't gotta drink it." "Nah, it's fine. Drinking out fishing with all of you is what my dad says makes a good weekend." "Speaking of, I managed to get a big one! Check it out!" Teddie reached into his bucket to pull out a medium sized Inaba Trout.
"Looks good Teddie." "Aw thanks Sensei! When me and Rise-san have our little adopted baby, I'm gonna show him how to fish like a real bear! Rawwr!" Teddie roared before jumping into the lake, Yu looking over worried. He saw Teddie swim through the water with ease, even with his giant bear costume, diving with grace like a fish.
He looked over to see Yosuke pulling up a fish, yelping after trying to get it off the hook and slapping its body into his face. Kanji panicked and immediately smashed a beer bottle, stabbing the fish to make sure it would stay dead, releasing fish blood that spurted onto Yosuke's shirt.
Yu looked over to see his father laughing like a mad man, howling and covering his face with his hand. Teddie immediately dove backup to show Yu a fish caught in his mouth and looked over to see Yosuke and Kanji panicking in their boats. "What happened, Sensei!?" "No idea." Yu chuckled as he rowed back to shore.
After a while, the guys went back to their campsite. There was a firepit, a table for eating, some lawn chairs set up around the pit and 4 tents set up for each of them, with Teddie wanting to sleep in Yosuke's tent due to not wanting to sleep alone.
Yu's father propped up a small bundle of sticks and leaves and used his lighter to start a fire. The 5 men stood around the fire, showing off their rewards from the sea. "Check it out, 17 pounds!" "Nice catch, Yosuke. Did better than this guy here at least." Yu's dad chuckled, nudging Yu's shoulder who rolled his eyes.
"How about you, Mr Narukami? How many did ya get?" Kanji asked, curious as to how much fish was in Yu's father's giant bucket. "Well Kanji, I got a few." Yu's father showed Yu and his friends a giant metal bucket filled to the brim with fish of different colors, sizes, and types.
"Wow Sensei! Your dad's a master fisher!" "Well my mom did say I got a lot of my skills from my dad's part of the family." Everyone put their fish on some sticks and roasted them over the fire, Yu's father watching carefully. The rest of the guys were sitting around the fire, drinking and talking.
"What's up, Yosuke-senpai? You're takin' small sips" Kanji asked, pointing at Yosuke's nearly full bottle. "Eh, just trying not to drink too much. I don't really feel like getting drunk." "Speak for yourself." Yu said as he pointed over to Teddie who was dancing around the fire erratically, taking off his bear costume and being shirtless. "WOOHOO Now we shall praise the fire gods guys! Kanji, pass me another one!" Teddie slurred, Kanji looking at him with worry.
"Uh dude, I think you got enough to drink." "Oh, cmon, it's a guy's night let him drink." Yu's dad said, passing another bottle to Teddie who immediately gulped it down.
"Hm, fire seems to be dying down. Kanji, come with me. I think there's some firewood near the main cabin." "Got it, Mr Narukami." They both headed off as Yu and Yosuke looked at the fire, taking small sips of their bottles.
Teddie stopped after grabbing another bottle and stared at the fire for a bit. Yosuke and Yu were looking at Teddie who looked at the fire with an intense stare. "Teddie, what's going on wi-''
Just then, Teddie threw some alcohol into the fire, which immediately made it burst. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Yosuke fell back on his chair, landing on the gravel beneath him, while Teddie was laughing maniacally. Yu's father and Kanji came back, dropping the logs in disbelief as they witnessed the fire rise up intensely.
"Great job Teddie! I didn't even think of that!" Yu's dad said, laughing and clapping his hands. Kanji went over to see that their fish were burnt and inedible. "Guys, we got a problem with our dinner." Kanji grabbed one of the burnt fish and threw it on the table, the guys looking at it like it was a weird alien creature.
"So…what do we do?" Yu asked, poking the fish with a stick. "I dunno, partner. I got a Junes All in One tool in my bag. I could try scraping the black parts off, the meat should be good right?" "Yosuke-senpai, this ain't toast. If it's burnt on the outside, it's burnt inside!" "Well, do you got a better idea, Kanji?! I mean we're hours away from a store and all we brought was some trail mix and protein bars! We need some real food!" Yu looked over at his father, who was sitting down thinking before lighting up. "Boys, I have an idea."
*Meanwhile in the Amagi Inn*
"Whew! That was great!" Chie said, stretching her arms upwards feeling limber and agile. "Yukiko-senpai, I didn't know your masseurs were so great!" Rise giggled before sitting down at their hotel table. "Well, we do take great pride in the service here."
The ladies were at the Amagi Inn, relaxing and just coming back from their spa session. Yu's mother got cold feet and decided to stay back with Yukiko's parents, worried that something may have happened while Yukiko was gone.
"Seriously though, Yu's mom should've joined us." Rise sighed. "She was simply worried for Yukiko-senpai's children, Rise. I don't blame her, however I do think she works a bit too much." Naoto replied, looking also concerned.
"Yeah, Yu told me that his mom always is worried if she thinks something will happen with babies. I hope she's not gonna be like that with mine though." Chie shuddered at the thought.
"I'm sure she won't, Chie. However I do wonder how the guys are doing." Yukiko said, questioning how their husbands were doing.
"Probably getting splashed in the face by fishes. I know Teddie-bear's the only good fisher out of them." "Hey hey, Yu's dad is a fisher! There's no way that his son ain't the same!" Chie said, Rise giggling. "I remember when Yu-senapi got you that trout for your anniversary. The look on your face was very humorous." Naoto chuckled, drinking her tea in their room.
Chie sighed and sloched into one of the beds, flinching. "Geez, kid's kicking again!"
"Really?! Can I feel? Can I can I?" Rise ran over to Chie with excitement and placed her hands on her stomach. She felt some slight movement and squealed. "Oh I can feel it! Yukiko, Naoto, come over here! Feel Chie-senpai's belly!"
Yukiko and Naoto went over, each of them taking turns with Chie looking at them with joy. "Well guess my baby's already gonna be one tough kid growing up." "I wish Kanji was here, he would be overjoyed."
*Meanwhile back with the guys*
"Ok guys I'm gonna be honest, what the hell are we doing right now?" Kanji sighed, feeling leaves crunching underneath his feet.
"Yu's dad said that some bird usually lay eggs around this area, and some of them are even edible." Yosuke said, holding a sharp stick in his hands.
"So what? We're gonna throw rocks at em or something? These sticks ain't gonna do crap." "Give my dad some faith, he knows what he's doing. Probably." Yu looked nervous as he held a flashlight.
His father suggested that they venture at a part of the woods where he knew that last year, had a flock of birds. "I'm tellin' you, me and my guys got some of them last year and they were great!" "Mr Narukami, if you knew that then why couldn't we have gotten some of them in the morning?" Yosuke whined as he looked forward to see Teddie dancing and prancing.
"C'MON MY MERRY MEN! ONWARDS TO ADVENTURE! WOOHOO!" Teddie yelled out jumping and skipping as if he were in a musical. "Hehe, your friend's a riot. Does he usually act like this?" Yu's dad questioned being met by Yosuke and Kanji snickering. "Yep." Yu sighed as he spotted some eggshells.
"Guys, I think we're close." Everyone looked to see some birds with strange beaks, pecking at the nest and screeching horribly.
"What the hell are those things?!" Kanji muttered. "I dunno. But they taste good so that's all that matters." Everyone ducked behind some large rocks thinking about what to do next.
"Ok so how are we going to do this? I mean, I don't have anything on me and all I have is my knife." Yosuke said, pulling out a small Junes camping knife. "So go get em, Yosuke-senpai." Kanji said, patting his friend's back. "What, dude, are you serious?! I'm not gonna get close to…THAT thing! Partner, you got any ideas?" "Unless you want rocks thrown, no go." Yu said before his dad remembered something.
"Actually boys, I do got…where is it?" Yu's dad was searching his back and front pockets frantically, confused. "Did I leave it back at the-"
Just then, they all heard a bang and Teddie yelling. They looked over to see Teddie with a revolver, shooting frantically and managing to get a shot at the bird.
"I GOT IT SENSEI! I GOT IT!" "Teddie, that's my dad's gun! Stop firing it!" Yu yelled out before seeing his dad scream out in joy. "Great job, Teddie! Get another shot in!" Yu's dad said. Teddie managed to gain some conscience and realized what he had in his hands. He immediately dropped the gun on the ground and panicked, crying and curling up into a ball.
"Ohhhhh no! I didn't mean to do that! I…I killed an innocent animal!" "Uh Teddie, I think that thing was eating its own kids." Kanji said, pointing at the nest which was filled with the corpses of a few birds.
"Yeah I don't even think it WAS its kids. It looks like it invaded some other bird's nest." Yu said, pointing at the destroyed eggshells and Teddie immediately brightened up.
"Oh, then I did a good deed in shooting the bird?" "Course ya did, Teddie! I'm proud of you, son." Yu's dad went over to pick up the bird, hoisting it on his shoulders and the rest of the guys followed.
A few minutes later, they were all sitting at the table with a lantern, eating parts of the bird. "Y'know, it kinda tastes like ham weirdly enough." Kanji said, eating its breast.
"Yeah, it's not chicken or turkey or any other type of bird meat I've eaten." Yosuke said, chewing away at a drumstick bone. Yu went over to his dad who was cooking the rest of the bird.
"Nice job, Dad. I didn't even know that you could cook." "Heh, well don't tell your mom but I mainly like using campfires or grills instead of stoves. Feels natural, y'know?" Yu's dad chuckled as he was slowly rotating a piece of meat over the fire.
"By the way, thanks for suggesting this all. I think I needed to relax for a bit and get my mind off things." "Yeah, I do this at least once a year without telling you guys. It helps me out." Yu smiled as he sat down at the table, his dad joining him bringing more food. They ate and then went to their tents, wishing each other good night.
Yu felt restless and pulled out his phone, searching through his contacts to find Chie. The icon was still her in high school with her dog, Muku, which he smiled at. He rang her up and Chie picked up.
"Yo, you all right?" Chie asked over the phone. "Yeah yeah, I'm good. Was just wondering if you all are good." "Yeah we were just watching a movie. I wanted to see Trial of the Dragon 5 but Rise picked a romance drama. She knows I don't like those mushy lovey-dovey movies!" Chie sighed being responded to by Yu chuckling.
"Didn't I hear you cry one time at a drama show?" "Well, that was different alright! Hrngh!" Yu heard Chie grunt as if she just got hit by something.
"What happened? Are you ok?" "Yeah, I'm good, I just got a kick." "IT'S KICKING!?" Yu slapped his hand on his mouth and looked outside, making sure no one heard him yell. Everyone seemed fast asleep and he could hear someone snoring. He went back to his tent and picked up his phone again.
"Sorry, sorry, connection's spotty here. Anyways, it was kicking?" Yu said surprised. "Yeah! Honey, she's BEEN kicking since my baby shower! It's sharp honestly, it's like he's got an iron foot!" "Oh, I wish I could be there with you." "Hey, you gotta relax! The girls are taking care of me and we both need relaxation!" Chie said, Yu sighing.
"Yeah yeah, I know. But I'm just worried. It's normal to make sure my wife's ok right?" "Hey, I'm tough! No kid in my stomach's gonna change that all right?" Chie said before hearing Yu yawn.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it. I think I'm gonna head to bed now." "Yeah me too. I love you." Chie said, Yu softly replying back. "I love you too." Yu smiled as he hung up. He sank into his pillow and looked up in his tent. The gentle crashing of the water in the lake on the rocks helped him fall asleep. He was very glad he took a weekend off to re-energize himself for what was to come.