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'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."

[mp_npc]

Asa gave Reigen a few nods. Her face was still damp with tears, but they weren't flowing anymore.

"Okay," she said, holding the glass out for him to pour.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"When you don't know how to help yourself, the first step is helping someone else. I truly believe that. After that, the first step becomes a little easier." Reigen capped the sake.

Somewhere, the rain was becoming louder. The false light was dimming. There was the faint smell of decaying wood and the whistle of the wind through the cracks.

"Asa-san, I'm going to make you a promise. I'll stay here with you for as long as you need me to. Then, when you're ready to take your first step out...we'll do it together."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

Normally, Mob would be uncomfortable huddled up so close to a girl, but it's so cold outside that it doesn't even register to him that he should feel embarrassed.

At this point, the warmth that typically accompanied his embarrassment would be welcomed.

Or Teru's limo with the heated seats.

But then, suddenly, the rain stopped and the rain stopped with it. The cold dissipated and Mob was no longer freezing.

And then, as Mob anticipated, the door opened.

[mp_npc]

Reigen was the last to exit. When he shut the door behind him, he did it with a silent but deep sigh. His eye caught Mob's and he furtively winked.

Misaki shot up from where she sat on the top step--and nearly wobbled over right onto her face, her legs fast asleep from sitting in the cold so long--and into the arms of her big sister.

"B-b-b--" Her lips flapped uselessly as she looked up at Asa. Her eyes were useless too as they glazed over with thick and runny tears. She forced her useless legs to stand all the way to toss her arms around her big sister.

[mp_npc]

Asa was caught off-guard -- by both the mere presence of her sister and the hug she gave her.

"Misaki! What were you doing out here so late? It's dangerous!"

Still, she wrapped her arms around her little sister, grateful she was here.

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

Reigen rounded around the pair of sisters and pretended to gaze meaningfully at the castle--but, really, it was to mask the way he cringed when he realized Misaki was there.

This job had been way, way, way too messy. There was no way he could charge for this and he just resigned himself to that there and then. He made sure to fix his face when he was back by his protege.

"All's well that ends well, Mob. This is the start of a new era for this place."

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Um. Not really."

[mp_strikinglyblessed]

"Eh?"

Before Mob could answer, the pools of water scattered around the courtyard began to sizzle and steam. It wasn't cold anymore--it was boiling. The air shimmered with heat. Everything was suddenly bathed in the harsh glow of fire--orbs of it, everywhere, converging into one giant mass in the sky.

"AT LAST!" A cackling voice bellowed, echoing off the far walls of the castle. Misaki shrieked from shock as a haggard face took form at the giant fireball's center. "Bathe in my wondrous revival, you peasants!"

"Excuse you!?" Reigen coughed after taking in a lungful of the hot air. "Where did you come from!?"

"I've always been here, fool! It was only because of that pitiful, weepy, uppity wench of a spirit that I could never truly manifest! I've been consigned to threatening unwanted visitors with torchlight, but no longer! Ubagabi is reborn!"

"Look, we can resolve things peacefully tonight. You're clearly troubled and angry about something, so why don't you--"

"Your silver tongue won't work here, Handsome! I'll rain terror on all the lowly peasants here as revenge for my death! You see, long ago I was caught stealing oil from the shrines in this castle and the priests caught me. I fled in shame and fell into the god-forsaken moat!"

Reigen's ears were hurting and not just from the water evaporating out of his body. He let out the longest groan ever. "Uh, not to be rude but it sounds like you only have yourself to blame for that one--GYAH!"

The Ubagabi cackled as Reigen flailed to put out the flame starting at the tip of his cowlick. "I thought of sparing you since you calmed the wench in the rock but your irritating mouth spoils your looks, fool!"

[spiritsandsuchtrainee]

"Sorry to crush your dreams."

With one simple gesture, the spirit de-manifested even quicker than she appeared. Asa turned and gaped at the ease at which Mob handled the spirit.

If someone that young could do something like that... then surely she could tell her parents her life's path had changed course.

But before Asa could mull over it any longer, Mob spoke up.

"Do you think breakfast is ready yet?"