Chapter 5: Cutting Algae Part Two

[mp_simplyacommoner]

It was 7:50PM. Teru had gotten bored of studying and broke it up with his nightly stretches—he had decided it was going to be an early night to bed. He had already decided he was going to sign up for the next basketball roster and it was offseason practice time.

As it turned out, he couldn’t tolerate a lack of things to do after school for long.

Cooling down from his trunk rotations with some Kamizawa Water, he checked his phone and paused mid-sip. There were a few notifications from Mob that he opened right away. There were a few pictures of what was undoubtedly the long-awaited kaiseki meal…though they were a bit blurry. Oh, one was actually decent in quality. There was also a blurred person in the background of one without much food—even with the lack of clarity it looked like they weren’t expecting to be caught on camera. Had he meant to send that one, let alone take it? Oh well, didn’t matter.

that mukōzuke Send.

( ੭ ˘ ³˘)੭‎°｡⋆♡‧₊˚ Send.

divine looking Send.

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[mp_npc]

"I know," Misaki said, finally catching her breath. She pulled herself up the rest of the steps. "I trust you...it's just...I need to be here. No matter what."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Thunder rose up around them with a low groan and a crack of lightning sparked across the sky and for an instant, lit up the entire sky. There was no way he would send Misaki back alone. And he had promised Reigen that he'd wait here, so he couldn't leave with her, either.

So instead, he sat back down.

"We need to wait here for now."

[mp_npc]

Misaki didn't argue. She said beside Mob on the small bench to the side of the door. She leaned back against the wall of the tea house near the window, but she couldn't hear anything.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't wait. I need to be here...for Asa. So she knows that I'd--I'll be here for her no matter what." Misaki's voice was heavy, but she wasn't crying. "Maybe if I'd tried harder to tell her that until now, this wouldn't be..."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Mob let a moment pass between them to be sure that Misaki said all she wanted to say. He didn't want to interrupt her mid-thought. Then he spoke.

"My friend Teruki told me recently that adults have their own troubles that they never tell kids about. I think... no, I know he's right. They live in a world completely separate from us that none of us will probably really know until we're adults ourselves."

Another crack of lightning.

"There's not a lot of things that I really understand, but I definitely know that no matter what happens, none of this is your fault."

[mp_npc]

Misaki sat with Mob's reply. She sat with the uncertainty. When the lighting silhouetted the dark castle and it loomed before her, the reality of what she'd done suddenly sunk in.

"...This is really dangerous, huh?" She pulled her hood up as the hair stood up on the back of her neck. "I wasn't thinking at all...!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"I get it, though. When it comes to my little brother Ritsu, I sometimes act before thinking."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Misaki hummed in acknowledgement. The rain continued to fall, and she sat and listened to it. To her back was total silence. All she could do was wait.

They were going to be there awhile. That was okay.

"...Why don't you tell me about him? Ritsu-san."

~~

"Hi."

Even in the most off-putting circumstances, Reigen Arataka always announced himself, especially to a lady. That was one of his rules. And it didn't get more off-putting than where he was right now.

The tea house was light. It shouldn't have been. There were no candles lit and no electricity installed. It was like some hidden and forbidden sun was shining in on the two of them. He couldn't even see out the windows to confirm this, though.

Reigen didn't spare it more than a few seconds of thought. Asa was there, sitting silently at the low table where people once enjoyed their tea. He removed his jacket, hung it on a hook, and sat properly across from her. His bag sat beside him.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

[mp_npc]

Asa's languid gaze hit Reigen's face when he sat down across from her.

"I've been waiting for you for such a long time. Even when I thought I couldn't wait any longer, I still kept waiting."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

This was a delicate situation -- much more so than any job Reigen had ever took.

Still.

He was someone who always said what he felt to be true no matter what, and he wasn't going to stop now.

"Let's talk, alright? And I'm only going to tell you the truth. You deserve that." He took a deep breath. "I'm Reigen Arataka. You're Asa Sumitada. It's 2012. I'm a Spirit Specialist. You're a student, but you're taking a break. You work at your family's inn."

[mp_npc]

"I'm not," she said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I am, but I'm also not."

A tear spilled over her cheek.

"I don't know who I am anymore."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"You're okay." Reigen extended his hand to the middle of the table. "Can I hold your hand? ...Maybe it'll sound silly, but I'm mustering my courage for what I'm about to say. I'd like to tell you about me."

[mp_npc]

Asa offered him her hand hesitantly.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"I studied Psychology in university. That's not the secret--obviously. My parents weren't thrilled. They probably thought I chose it because it looked better than being undeclared. That's not the secret either. Ahem." What he wouldn't have done for some water right then. "The real secret...I wanted to start a Literature Club."

Reigen paused for effect (to swallow and moisturize his tight throat, actually.) His eyes met Asa's to gauge her attention--fully on him. Even if that was what he wanted, it still felt...

"I wasn't in any extracurriculars. Student life was kind of...beyond me. So, I wanted to try something new. That's when the club idea came...So, for me, someone who was straddling this line between the cool kids studying things like music and art and the geniuses in physics and engineering, I thought 'books? Yeah, I can do that. It's just reading. I'll get some nerds in the same room and I'll just give my opinion.' ...Pretty arrogant, right? Yeah. I'm sure you get it now. Sad thing was I didn't know anything about literature. The sadder thing was I wasn't really doing it out of any love for it, but...as it turned out, there hadn't been a Literature Club where I want for a good twenty-five years. That's why. I thought, 'this is gonna be the dawn of a new era for this club and it's gonna have my name on it.'"

Reigen gently squeezed Asa's hand.

"You're the only one who knows this because I never got it off the ground. Even after all the reading I did so I didn't look like a total rube, I never even finished filling out the paperwork. But you know something? I don't regret it. Out of all the ways I could have been wasting my time during my undergrad, I did what I wanted. I did something new. Even if I haven't touched any of those books in years, they're sticking in here." Reigen tapped his temple with his free hand. "I'm...gonna recite one of my favorites for you."

Then, he cleared his throat again.

“O mistress mine, where are you roaming?

O stay and hear! your true-love’s coming

That can sing both high and low;

Trip no further, pretty sweeting.”

[mp_npc]

Asa's eyes light up with recognition, and for the first time since Reigen entered the teahouse, Asa looks alive.

"Journey’s end in lovers’ meeting—

Every wise man’s son doth know." she finished. "I know that one."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen's tight lips softened. "There's a smile."

[mp_npc]

Asa's wiped her tears away as she attempted to hold the smile, grateful for Reigen's presence. "You might not have been able to start your club, but I'm sure you could woo plenty of women like that."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

God, how much had he blushed in one night? "I suppose...the gift of gab gets you a lot of different places with a lot of different people."

[mp_npc]

Asa's eyes flicker down to the table between them.

"With all those people in your life, I suppose you wouldn't be able to stay with me if I asked you to."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"You're wrong. I'll stay with you, Asa-san. But I need to tell you the truth about something. It's something of vital importance."

[mp_npc]

Asa looked back up at Reigen questioningly.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen covered Asa's hand with both of his own.

"This is the ugliest room I have ever been in in my life. I'm serious. I wouldn't be able to stay in here long enough heat up my ramen in here on my lunch break. I had this roommate in university who practiced 'post-minimalism.' He didn't organize anything, just dumped all his trash on the ground. Said it was about rejecting the shallow aesthetic standards of modern Japan--it was a load of crap. But even his room was better than this one we're in right now."

[mp_npc]

Asa gaped, her mouth hanging open for a full 10 seconds before she finally managed to stutter out a singular word:

"W-What?"

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"There's nothing bad about this place...and there's nothing good either. It's a husk. But I need you to know this--you're the one who made me realize that. Your family's ryokan...it's gorgeous. It's alive. It has a glow. It's your family's glow--it's yours. It's in every room you redesigned, every arrangement, every piece of art that you created with these hands." Reigen lifted Asa's smaller hand, his thumbs gently pressing into her palm. "I can see that glow in the face of every happy guest who's stayed here on that photograph wall. That was you. Asa Sumitada."

[mp_npc]

"I didn't do all that much..." she objected shaking her head. Somehow she couldn't bring it in her to accept the compliment. "Without my family... without their support..."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"They're good people. Thoughtful people. They taught you to be one too. I know they did." Reigen produced the bottle of sake Asa had gifted him. "Why else would you have worked so hard to make this? You said it yourself. Salty to honor the bitterness of Nagisa's tears. It doesn't matter if they're alive or dead...you don't want anyone to feel lonely, right? Because you know the pain. ...I do, too."

Reigen took his hands back to pass Asa a glass. He held the bottle up. "Here. Let's leave her a glass."