[Fic] Kingyo-Sukui
--
Kame tipped his cup and sighed upon seeing it empty, again. Just how long was his boyfriend going to keep him waiting? He adjusted his obi again as it crept lower on his waist the longer he sat drinking sake. He could already feel the slight lightheadedness from drinking a cup too many but he had a feeling he’d need a pleasant buzz to make it through the night. He reminded himself of Jin and his yukata to stem his annoyance, the whole reason he agreed to go to these festivals was to see the other dressed up in traditional wear.
He fumbled to the door when the ring finally came.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Jin smiled hopefully. “Photo shoot ran long, the model was late.” He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“It’s fine.” Kame sighed, he couldn’t get angry at the other for something work related. “It would’ve been more annoying if it was because your hair was tangled, like last time…” He smiled at Jin and his dark blue yukata.
“I know.” Jin sighed but held out his hand. “So, ready to go?”
“Of course.”
--
“Ah! Kazu, I got you a slip too.” Jin held out the delicate paper along with a pen. “Write your wish, ‘kay?”
“Jin, I know how this works, I’m not a child.” Kame sighed but accepted both items. He paused to think about his wish for the year and quickly settled on one. He couldn’t think of anything else he could wish for and so he wrote:
I hope Jin will be better at being on time.
He quickly tied the bright piece of paper to a bamboo branch and waited for Jin to do the same. In the distance he spotted a kingyo-sukui* stand down below the temple and felt his fingers itch to play.
“Ok, ready to head down?” Jin smiled brightly and he returned the smile.
He grabbed a fold of Jin’s sleeve, worried the other would dart off into the crowd and leave him behind, as they began to carefully make their way down the stone steps, careful of the children darting up and down the steps around them with harried parents trying to keep up. Jin shook his head; some brightly colored fukinagashi*, hanging from a shoot of bamboo, had apparently taken it upon itself to tangle in his messy curls.
Laughter bubbled up from his chest and he let go of Jin’s sleeve to help untangle the mess, Jin throwing out curses of, “I never did like these damn decorations.”
“You used to love entering those decoration competitions, so don’t even try to pretend you hate them,” Kame smiled once the streamers were free. A sudden thought had him doubled over with laughter.
“Stop laughing at my misfortune,” Jin grumbled.
“It-it’s not that,” Kame laughed. “It’s, I just remembered when you used to sit with your mom and make fukinagashi… it’s like you’re Orihime*.”
Jin flushed at being compared to a goddess of all things. A goddess, at that, who was so in love she was unable to do anything but be in love and had to be separated from her husband because of their inactivity. But, I’d still be a god in that case. He paused to consider it; she did weave the milky way and, of course, all the stars within it. That would be kind of cool. But he’d still be a girl and there were other factors to consider. He definitely knew he didn’t want the be the goddess crying night and day when she couldn’t be with the one she loved because her father thought it for their best interests to separate them. Even though Kame was laughing at him, something he didn’t appreciate at all in this moment, it didn’t mean he wanted to be separated from him.
“I’m sorry. Ready to go?” Kame wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and held out a hand.
“I forgive you, I guess,” Jin rolled his eyes.
Kame grabbed his wrist and tugged him down the steps, careful to steer clear of any low-hanging decorations. His grasp tightened when they hit the street, lined with booths and incredibly crowded.
“Ah stay here,” Jin pushed him gently to sit on a low wall and disappeared into the crowd.
Kame watched the crowd to pass the time. He saw teenage couples, shyly holding hands and shooting short glances at one another, children playing with brightly colored balloons while they ate their takoyaki and taiyaki, university friends fooling around, and older couples happily shuffling along and admiring the displays. He looked around, wondering just where his absentminded boyfriend had gotten off to.
“Here,” Jin held out a cup when he popped back up at Kame’s side.
“What is it?” Kame took the offered cup.
“Sake,” Jin shrugged. “I figured you’d need some, you’re always so adverse to these festivals.”
“The crowds and the noise,” Kame answered simply before taking a sip, the happy heat already consuming his body increased.
“Well, thanks for coming for me,” Jin leaned down and pecked Kame’s nose. “Let’s go see what they’re selling tonight!”
--
Kame groaned and carefully pushed Jin’s arms off of him. He sat up and winced at the bright slice of light penetrating the very edge of his curtains. He guessed he had had just a bit too much to drink the night before, just enough to give him a killer headache.
“Mm, what are you doing?” Jin mumbled, trying to burrow further into the pillows.
“Nothing, go back to sleep,” Kame whispered, more for his headache than for the sake of Jin’s sleep.
He quietly went to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet to pull out some painkillers. He frowned when he thought he heard a quiet splash. Thinking it was his imagination, or his hangover, playing tricks he took two tablets and splashed his face with some cold water. After he’d turned off the faucet and dried his hands he heard it again.
What caught his attention was the cover of his bathtub folded back. He looked over and tiptoed to the bathtub. He sat on the stool and watched, with wide eyes, as dozens of brightly colored goldfish swam around his half-filled bath. For a few minutes he thought he must still be asleep, but after pinching his arm and then trying to catch one fish, only to have it slither out of his loose fingers, him jumped back.
“What are all these fish doing here?!” He nearly shouted.
“You really don’t remember?” Jin yawned from the doorway, obviously curious as to the loud shout.
Kame sat back down and pursed his lips, trying to recall why he’d have so many goldfish in his apartment.
“Kaaaazu,” Jin whined from where he stood unhappily, shifting back and forth on his feet impatiently.
“What?” He looked up, hand poised to dip the poi* into the pool of water.
“Can we go? You’ve been playing this game for ages and I want takoyaki. I can smell it Kame, the stand is right over there,” Jin pointed the hand not holding the four bags, all containing a few goldfish, across the street.
Kame rolled his eyes and turned back to the pool, his eyes widened when the world shifted at the quick movement. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm to steady his vision, he definitely wouldn’t be drinking any more tonight. A few seconds later, he successfully scooped another bright fish into his bowl.
“Yes!” he cheered. “See Jin, I’m on a winning streak I can’t leave now. This is obviously meant to make up for all the times I lost when we were younger.”
Jin grumbled, “I always knew there was another reason you never wanted to come to these.”
Kame groaned, now that he thought about it he remembered everything, “what am I going to do with a million goldfish?”
“I don’t know,” Jin started and then gasped. “Kame! We should set them free!”
“Jin… no,” Kame shook his head, he wouldn’t be responsible for that many tiny deaths just to humor his boyfriend.
“But Kame, they can survive in peoples’ ponds and things, it’ll obviously be fine,” Jin reassured him.
“Then let’s find someone or somewhere with a pond to set them free. We are not setting them out into the ocean or a river or something ridiculous,” Kame reasoned.
“Fine, but we can’t keep this many goldfish,” Jin shrugged. “I tried to stop you but nooo.”
“We’ll find a school to give them to as a class pet, or someone with a big fish tank,” Kame sighed, rubbing his eyes. Maybe this was why he had been, as he now deemed it, fortunate to not have won the game in the past when it involved real fish.
“Maybe we should just get a fish tank, they’re kind of cute,” Jin stared at a particularly golden colored one as it swam around the tub.
“I can’t believe they survived the night in a bathtub,” Kame mumbled.
“Kame, go get dressed! We have to get them a tank, I don’t want to have to have mini funerals already, I’m too young for that sort of thing!” Jin pushed him out of the bathroom. “Oh! Oh! And just imagine all the little fun things we can get them. They need a treasure chest for all their booty and cute little plants and things. I bet the dogs will be so fascinated by them too!”
Kame watched Jin’s eyes light up at the prospect of their new pets and decided that maybe he could deal with taking care of that many goldfish, but he was making Jin clean the tank first.
--
Glossary
Tanabata Festival - A festival generally held on July 7th about the story of the Weaving Princess/Goddess weaver (Orihime) and the Cow Herder (Hikoboshi). Once a year Orihime (the star Vega in the sky) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair) are allowed to meet and this meeting is celebrated. During Tanabata people write hopes and wishes on slips on paper and tie them to bamboo shoots in the hopes they come true. Many people make wishes about love, or traditionally would ask for good handwriting, studies, or cooking/weaving skills. More recently you can wish for just about anything on your papers. Different regions have different ways of celebrating but most involve booths that sell food and at which you can play games, as well as decoration competitions, and other similar things. The basic story of Orihime and Hikoboshi can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata#Story. There are many different versions of the story, in the one I know (and partially based it off of) there’s only one difference and it is that Orihime also helped weave the Milky Way.
Kingyo-sukui - Literally “Goldfish Scooping”. It’s a common game found at festivals in Japan where you use a poi (see definition below if you don’t know) to scoop goldfish from a small pool into a bowl. If you can scoop the fish then usually you get to keep the fish. More recently, (because of lack of care for the fish) booths have taken to giving out small prizes instead or use small colored balls to represent fish instead. It can be super hard to win sometimes.
Fukinagashi - Look like this: http://www.japteach.com/uploads/5/4/0/5/540541/5859221_orig.jpg. They’re very common decorations during Tanabata, usually they can be very big though they can be small and thinner. They’re hung from bamboo shoots and are meant to represent the beautiful streamers and fabric Orihime weaves.
Orihime - The Goddess Weaver/Weaving Princess around with Tanabata Festival is celebrated.
Poi - A round plastic frame with a handle. In the center is poi paper, which breaks easily if moved quickly under water. It is used to scoop goldfish in kingyo-sukui and can make it very hard to “win” the game. In some versions the center is a net instead or different levels of poi paper (some weaker and some stronger) are used.
Kame tipped his cup and sighed upon seeing it empty, again. Just how long was his boyfriend going to keep him waiting? He adjusted his obi again as it crept lower on his waist the longer he sat drinking sake. He could already feel the slight lightheadedness from drinking a cup too many but he had a feeling he’d need a pleasant buzz to make it through the night. He reminded himself of Jin and his yukata to stem his annoyance, the whole reason he agreed to go to these festivals was to see the other dressed up in traditional wear.
He fumbled to the door when the ring finally came.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Jin smiled hopefully. “Photo shoot ran long, the model was late.” He rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“It’s fine.” Kame sighed, he couldn’t get angry at the other for something work related. “It would’ve been more annoying if it was because your hair was tangled, like last time…” He smiled at Jin and his dark blue yukata.
“I know.” Jin sighed but held out his hand. “So, ready to go?”
“Of course.”
--
“Ah! Kazu, I got you a slip too.” Jin held out the delicate paper along with a pen. “Write your wish, ‘kay?”
“Jin, I know how this works, I’m not a child.” Kame sighed but accepted both items. He paused to think about his wish for the year and quickly settled on one. He couldn’t think of anything else he could wish for and so he wrote:
I hope Jin will be better at being on time.
He quickly tied the bright piece of paper to a bamboo branch and waited for Jin to do the same. In the distance he spotted a kingyo-sukui* stand down below the temple and felt his fingers itch to play.
“Ok, ready to head down?” Jin smiled brightly and he returned the smile.
He grabbed a fold of Jin’s sleeve, worried the other would dart off into the crowd and leave him behind, as they began to carefully make their way down the stone steps, careful of the children darting up and down the steps around them with harried parents trying to keep up. Jin shook his head; some brightly colored fukinagashi*, hanging from a shoot of bamboo, had apparently taken it upon itself to tangle in his messy curls.
Laughter bubbled up from his chest and he let go of Jin’s sleeve to help untangle the mess, Jin throwing out curses of, “I never did like these damn decorations.”
“You used to love entering those decoration competitions, so don’t even try to pretend you hate them,” Kame smiled once the streamers were free. A sudden thought had him doubled over with laughter.
“Stop laughing at my misfortune,” Jin grumbled.
“It-it’s not that,” Kame laughed. “It’s, I just remembered when you used to sit with your mom and make fukinagashi… it’s like you’re Orihime*.”
Jin flushed at being compared to a goddess of all things. A goddess, at that, who was so in love she was unable to do anything but be in love and had to be separated from her husband because of their inactivity. But, I’d still be a god in that case. He paused to consider it; she did weave the milky way and, of course, all the stars within it. That would be kind of cool. But he’d still be a girl and there were other factors to consider. He definitely knew he didn’t want the be the goddess crying night and day when she couldn’t be with the one she loved because her father thought it for their best interests to separate them. Even though Kame was laughing at him, something he didn’t appreciate at all in this moment, it didn’t mean he wanted to be separated from him.
“I’m sorry. Ready to go?” Kame wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and held out a hand.
“I forgive you, I guess,” Jin rolled his eyes.
Kame grabbed his wrist and tugged him down the steps, careful to steer clear of any low-hanging decorations. His grasp tightened when they hit the street, lined with booths and incredibly crowded.
“Ah stay here,” Jin pushed him gently to sit on a low wall and disappeared into the crowd.
Kame watched the crowd to pass the time. He saw teenage couples, shyly holding hands and shooting short glances at one another, children playing with brightly colored balloons while they ate their takoyaki and taiyaki, university friends fooling around, and older couples happily shuffling along and admiring the displays. He looked around, wondering just where his absentminded boyfriend had gotten off to.
“Here,” Jin held out a cup when he popped back up at Kame’s side.
“What is it?” Kame took the offered cup.
“Sake,” Jin shrugged. “I figured you’d need some, you’re always so adverse to these festivals.”
“The crowds and the noise,” Kame answered simply before taking a sip, the happy heat already consuming his body increased.
“Well, thanks for coming for me,” Jin leaned down and pecked Kame’s nose. “Let’s go see what they’re selling tonight!”
--
Kame groaned and carefully pushed Jin’s arms off of him. He sat up and winced at the bright slice of light penetrating the very edge of his curtains. He guessed he had had just a bit too much to drink the night before, just enough to give him a killer headache.
“Mm, what are you doing?” Jin mumbled, trying to burrow further into the pillows.
“Nothing, go back to sleep,” Kame whispered, more for his headache than for the sake of Jin’s sleep.
He quietly went to the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet to pull out some painkillers. He frowned when he thought he heard a quiet splash. Thinking it was his imagination, or his hangover, playing tricks he took two tablets and splashed his face with some cold water. After he’d turned off the faucet and dried his hands he heard it again.
What caught his attention was the cover of his bathtub folded back. He looked over and tiptoed to the bathtub. He sat on the stool and watched, with wide eyes, as dozens of brightly colored goldfish swam around his half-filled bath. For a few minutes he thought he must still be asleep, but after pinching his arm and then trying to catch one fish, only to have it slither out of his loose fingers, him jumped back.
“What are all these fish doing here?!” He nearly shouted.
“You really don’t remember?” Jin yawned from the doorway, obviously curious as to the loud shout.
Kame sat back down and pursed his lips, trying to recall why he’d have so many goldfish in his apartment.
“Kaaaazu,” Jin whined from where he stood unhappily, shifting back and forth on his feet impatiently.
“What?” He looked up, hand poised to dip the poi* into the pool of water.
“Can we go? You’ve been playing this game for ages and I want takoyaki. I can smell it Kame, the stand is right over there,” Jin pointed the hand not holding the four bags, all containing a few goldfish, across the street.
Kame rolled his eyes and turned back to the pool, his eyes widened when the world shifted at the quick movement. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his arm to steady his vision, he definitely wouldn’t be drinking any more tonight. A few seconds later, he successfully scooped another bright fish into his bowl.
“Yes!” he cheered. “See Jin, I’m on a winning streak I can’t leave now. This is obviously meant to make up for all the times I lost when we were younger.”
Jin grumbled, “I always knew there was another reason you never wanted to come to these.”
Kame groaned, now that he thought about it he remembered everything, “what am I going to do with a million goldfish?”
“I don’t know,” Jin started and then gasped. “Kame! We should set them free!”
“Jin… no,” Kame shook his head, he wouldn’t be responsible for that many tiny deaths just to humor his boyfriend.
“But Kame, they can survive in peoples’ ponds and things, it’ll obviously be fine,” Jin reassured him.
“Then let’s find someone or somewhere with a pond to set them free. We are not setting them out into the ocean or a river or something ridiculous,” Kame reasoned.
“Fine, but we can’t keep this many goldfish,” Jin shrugged. “I tried to stop you but nooo.”
“We’ll find a school to give them to as a class pet, or someone with a big fish tank,” Kame sighed, rubbing his eyes. Maybe this was why he had been, as he now deemed it, fortunate to not have won the game in the past when it involved real fish.
“Maybe we should just get a fish tank, they’re kind of cute,” Jin stared at a particularly golden colored one as it swam around the tub.
“I can’t believe they survived the night in a bathtub,” Kame mumbled.
“Kame, go get dressed! We have to get them a tank, I don’t want to have to have mini funerals already, I’m too young for that sort of thing!” Jin pushed him out of the bathroom. “Oh! Oh! And just imagine all the little fun things we can get them. They need a treasure chest for all their booty and cute little plants and things. I bet the dogs will be so fascinated by them too!”
Kame watched Jin’s eyes light up at the prospect of their new pets and decided that maybe he could deal with taking care of that many goldfish, but he was making Jin clean the tank first.
--
Glossary
Tanabata Festival - A festival generally held on July 7th about the story of the Weaving Princess/Goddess weaver (Orihime) and the Cow Herder (Hikoboshi). Once a year Orihime (the star Vega in the sky) and Hikoboshi (the star Altair) are allowed to meet and this meeting is celebrated. During Tanabata people write hopes and wishes on slips on paper and tie them to bamboo shoots in the hopes they come true. Many people make wishes about love, or traditionally would ask for good handwriting, studies, or cooking/weaving skills. More recently you can wish for just about anything on your papers. Different regions have different ways of celebrating but most involve booths that sell food and at which you can play games, as well as decoration competitions, and other similar things. The basic story of Orihime and Hikoboshi can be read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanabata#Story. There are many different versions of the story, in the one I know (and partially based it off of) there’s only one difference and it is that Orihime also helped weave the Milky Way.
Kingyo-sukui - Literally “Goldfish Scooping”. It’s a common game found at festivals in Japan where you use a poi (see definition below if you don’t know) to scoop goldfish from a small pool into a bowl. If you can scoop the fish then usually you get to keep the fish. More recently, (because of lack of care for the fish) booths have taken to giving out small prizes instead or use small colored balls to represent fish instead. It can be super hard to win sometimes.
Fukinagashi - Look like this: http://www.japteach.com/uploads/5/4/0/5/540541/5859221_orig.jpg. They’re very common decorations during Tanabata, usually they can be very big though they can be small and thinner. They’re hung from bamboo shoots and are meant to represent the beautiful streamers and fabric Orihime weaves.
Orihime - The Goddess Weaver/Weaving Princess around with Tanabata Festival is celebrated.
Poi - A round plastic frame with a handle. In the center is poi paper, which breaks easily if moved quickly under water. It is used to scoop goldfish in kingyo-sukui and can make it very hard to “win” the game. In some versions the center is a net instead or different levels of poi paper (some weaker and some stronger) are used.