Bonus Short Stories
Kiriha
When Kiriha asked Koutarou to go shopping with her, he agreed without hesitation. She was always taking care of him, so he was more than happy to do something for her for a change. He wanted to return the favor, even if only a little.
“This sure isn’t where I thought we’d be coming, though,” he muttered.
“Now you ought to understand why I asked you to come with me,” she replied.
“Yeah.”
Kiriha had brought Koutarou to a fishing tackle shop. He enjoyed fishing, so she’d thought he would make the perfect guide for such a shopping trip.
“I’m just not sure why you need fishing gear, Kiriha-san.”
“To tell you the truth, it’s for my father’s birthday.”
“Ah, of course.”
Kiriha was in the market for a present to give her father, whose birthday was coming up in a few days. She didn’t know any more about fishing than the average person, however, so she was hoping to rely on Koutarou for advice.
“You’ve got me curious about what fishing underground is like,” he put forward.
“We do have a few underground lakes,” said Kiriha. “That’s where my father likes to go.”
“They’re fresh water?”
“Some of them are connected to the ocean, but yes, they’re mostly fresh water.”
Koutarou was interested in the details of the underground fishing scene. Kiriha was no expert on the subject, but she’d tagged along with her father on his fishing expeditions in the past. Koutarou accordingly picked her brain to try to figure out what would make a good gift for him.
“What does your father fish for?”
“I recall him catching a lot of catfish.”
“Did they have eyes?”
“Yes.”
“Must be connected to a river or lake on the surface, then.”
“Meaning?”
“Apparently, lots of underground fish species don’t have eyes.”
“And since those ones weren’t eyeless, you suspect they came from the surface?”
“I bet your father was choosing fishing spots with a rich variety of fish.”
Through his discussion with Kiriha, Koutarou was able to narrow down the gifting options. A fishing rod and line that could stand up to catfish. A reel to go along with them. A hook for bait fishing. Lures would have been useless if all the underground fish were eyeless, but Koutarou had learned that wasn’t the case. Even lures would make a fine birthday present for Kiriha’s dad.
“My father once said that he’d like to try ocean fishing, even though that was impossible for an underground dweller,” Kiriha confessed.
“But not anymore,” Koutarou replied.
“Indeed. The situation is changing such that his dream might actually come true.”
The People of the Earth had previously been forbidden from coming to the surface. In order to avoid any trouble, they’d avoided surface dwellers as much as possible. But now that their connection to Forthorthe had come to light, that was starting to change. There were even talks of returning to Forthorthe. They could no longer avoid the world above ground completely.
“In that case, you should bring your father up here someday,” Koutarou suggested.
“What do you mean?” Kiriha asked.
“I’ll show him around. I was thinking that we could go out on a boat together.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think the least I owe him is getting to know him.”
Koutarou had met Kiriha’s father, Daiha, but their encounters were almost entirely political in nature. They’d scarcely shared a word in private before. Koutarou felt a fishing trip would be a great way to break the ice between them.
“Is this so you can ask for my hand in marriage?”
“I-It’s way too early for that kind of talk, Kiriha-san!”
“Ohoho...”
Kiriha giggled as Koutarou panicked. He’d said it was “too early,” after all—meaning that the time would come eventually. She was more than prepared to be the catch of Koutarou’s life.
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