[Fic] A Seaside Story (part 10)
Feels like ages since I posted any of this, my sincere apologies! But this part crawled a little in places, even though I had a clear idea in my head. The last bit went pretty fast though! Will probably get some tinkering when I post the whole thing properly, lol.
Total wordcount is now nearly 11000. o.O How did this happen?!
The feeling even manages to last through a relatively painless evening, with only a few dishes to do before Subaru can relax in a nice bath. It’s nice to get that lingering smell of fish off. He’s surprisingly tired after all that hard work - the past few days must have caught up with him - so he can’t even stay awake long enough to watch the mildly-naughty movie that starts at 10.30. (Subaru doesn’t care that it’s a romantic comedy, nor that it’s American and thus has subtitles - he just knows it has some naked breasts in at some point, and he thought that was good enough.)
This is better than it could be, bearing in mind what time he has to get up, but it still feels pretty horrific to Subaru when he drags himself out of bed at 3.45 (it’s a five minute walk to the harbour). Thankfully Mr Tsuji still has a ready supply of tea and cigarettes, though he laughs at Subaru’s grumpy expression and is irritatingly cheery for the time of day. Subaru guesses if you’ve been doing it for 30 years you get used to it, but that doesn’t mean he has to be happy about it.
Mr Tsuji’s boat is little more than… well, Subaru doesn’t know the word for it, but it’s small, whatever it is. Even smaller than the rusty little ferries he used to get across the Yodo as a kid back in Osaka.
Maybe he looks a bit less than impressed, because Mr Tsuji laughs. “Sorry, I hope you weren’t expecting some big trawler. But there’s not much business this time of year, so most days I just take out the little boat. Summer, when I’ve got more boys to help me, then we take the bigger ones out.”
“Right,” says Subaru, like he has any idea about fishing at all.
“Looks a bit choppy out there this morning,” Mr Tsuji says. “Will you be OK?”
“Of course I will!” Subaru responds huffily, needled by the implication that, just because he’s a city boy, he’s weak and feeble!
When they set off, though, it’s barely five minutes before Subaru is regretting his foolish bravado. ‘A bit choppy’ might be the way Mr Tsuji put it, but what it feels like to Subaru is more like ‘giant sea monsters using the boat to play volleyball’. His knuckles are white where he’s gripping the side of the boat, but what makes it even worse is that he can see Mr Tsuji happily whistling a cheerful maritime tune as he drives the boat. He doesn’t want to wuss out, he really doesn’t, but he’s seriously glad he didn’t eat breakfast this morning, because if he had he’d totally be seeing it again.
He grits his teeth and clings on. At first he hopes Mr Tsuji doesn’t notice his discomfort, but by the time he’s crouched on the bottom of the boat, eyes closed, he’s praying he does, because he’s too proud to say anything but he can’t take it much longer!
It feels like they’ve been on the boat for hours by the time he feels hand on his shoulder.
“Subaru? Are you OK?”
He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up into the concerned face of Mr Tsuji, and is just able to shake his head before he gives in and throws up into the sea.
Mr Tsuji rubs his back and says kindly, “I think we’d better get you back to land.”
Subaru can’t even feel bothered that his masculinity has been dented, he’s just so relieved.
Somehow the journey back doesn’t seem nearly so bad, but he suspects that’s only because he knows he’ll be back on solid ground soon enough.
When they get back to the shore it’s still dark, but there’s a faint glow on the horizon that wasn’t there when they set off. Subaru’s legs are wobbly when he stands up, so Mr Tsuji helps him off the boat. Subaru doesn’t remember feeling this mortified in a very long time.
Subaru was thinking his day - his life, even - couldn’t get any worse, but then, it’s not even daylight yet.
Mr Tsuji is helping take a few tottering steps along the harbour front, when Subaru hears a concerned voice say “Oh! Are you alright?” and the day drops into hitherto uncharted depths.
“Ah, Yasuda, morning!” Mr Tsuji greets him, over Subaru’s head. “We went out on the boat this morning but I think it was a bit rough for Subaru here!”
Subaru’s so groggy it takes him a while to realise that Mr Tsuji has called him by his real name! He doesn’t want to turn his head to see Yasuda’s expression, but he pictures a moment of confusion, and he waits, eyes screwed shut, for the inevitable, horrible moment when Yasuda demands clarification; Subaru really doesn’t feel up to trying to explain himself, he almost wants to go back out to see just to avoid this awkwardness!
But there’s just a brief pause before Yasuda says, “Oh dear! I know how that is, I was terrible that time I went out with you, wasn’t I Mr Tsuji?”
Mr Tsuji chuckles. “Oh, you city kids, you just need to get used to it!”
“Shall I take Subaru-kun back to Sadako-san’s? Then you can get back to work,” Yasuda says, Subaru’s name slipping so naturally off his tongue that Subaru thinks maybe he drank more than he thought the other night, and hallucinated all those lies.
“Ahh, Yasuda, you’re such a good lad! If you insist!” Mr Tsuji says. “Not that I want to get rid of you!” he says earnestly to Subaru as he slides his arm out from under Subaru’s. “But I do need to get back out there…” He trails off, and Subaru is suddenly aware that he’s messed up Mr Tsuji’s careful working schedule too. It gives him a weird, uncomfortable feeling. He suspects it’s probably guilt.
To Subaru’s further humiliation, Yasuda comes and takes over Mr Tsuji’s position, putting his arm round Subaru so Subaru is forced to lean on his shoulder. He wishes he could protest and walk by himself, but he still hasn’t got used to the ground not moving under him again… Wishing the ground would swallow him up like the waves on the sea, he goes miserably along with Yasuda.
“I was just out running,” Yasuda is explaining, “And I thought it was unusual to see Mr Tsuji coming back in so early, so I wondered if something was wrong…”
Subaru’s only half-listening; he’s mainly wondering what the hell is up with this kid, that he’s not even going to call him on the fact that he clearly lied, but instead is even helping him - Subaru doesn’t understand.
“I love the sea, but like Mr Tsuji said, I’m not too good on his little boat either,” Yasuda laughs. “Maybe you should go again on a calmer day.”
Subaru’s head is spinning more now than it was on the boat. He has to concentrate hard and run Yasuda’s words through his head several times to make them make sense. He thinks maybe he’s going to throw up again, but he focuses hard on putting one foot in front of the other and by the time they get back to the inn he’s feeling a little more solid.
Of course Sadako is awake when they get back, and she appears in the hall as immediately as ever when Yasuda opens the door and eases Subaru into the hall.
Sadako shakes her head. “So, I take it you’ve not brought back the catch of the day,” she says, hands on her hips.
Yasuda laughs softly. “The sea was a bit wild this morning,” he says sympathetically. “Are you going to be OK now, Subaru-kun?”
Subaru winces a little, hearing his name from Yasuda again. He nods. “Yeah. Uh, thanks,” he mumbles, just wanting to crawl upstairs and hide.
“Yasuda, you’re such a good boy,” Sadako says. There’s a trace of something like warmth in her voice, that Subaru is sure he wouldn’t even notice if he hadn’t only experienced her eternal frostiness. “Do you want some breakfast?”
Yasuda glances at Subaru, but the look in his eyes doesn’t match his cheerful voice. “Oh, no, that’s very kind of you, but I wouldn’t want to impose on you! And I already ate before going out for my run,” he explains. He bows to Sadako politely. “I’ll see you soon,” he says to her, and he glances at Subaru again as he leaves. It makes Subaru feel weird, almost like he did at the harbour earlier with Mr Tsuji.
He stares at the door for a few moments after Yasuda leaves, still feeling fuzzy and slow and uncomfortable. When he turns back around - slowly, sudden movements are still no good - Sadako is glaring at him. For a change.
“What did you do?” she demands.
Subaru stares at her pitifully. Why does she have to pick on him even now, when he’s clearly suffering enough?! “Nothing,” he mumbles, but he can’t even summon the strength to lie convincingly.
“Am I going to have to call your mother?” she threatens.
Subaru tries a pleading look, but is met only with stony-faced scorn. “I… didn’t tell him my real name,” he mutters.
She raises an eyebrow. “And?”
Subaru sighs. “I told him a bunch of lies about other stuff too.”
Sadako shakes her head, fixing him with a look that makes his head ache. “That boy is one of the kindest, sweetest kids you’re ever likely to meet! There’s him, thinking that someone like you could use a friend, being all alone in a place like this - and what do you do? You take advantage of his good nature for your own fun!”
Subaru thinks that Sadako knows a thing or two about that, but that’s beside the point.
“That lad, if you knew… it’s amazing, how he’s managed to make so much of himself,” she says mysteriously. “I hope you’re proud of yourself!”
That’s something Subaru’s heard a lot of times before. It’s never worked at making feel bad before, but somehow… maybe it’s being scolded by a fierce old lady that’s so much worse than being told off by anyone else; maybe it’s that he really is convinced, somewhere in a primal part of his brain, that she’s a witch; maybe it’s the effects of the sea still making his brain wobbly. But somehow Subaru’s affected. He stares at the floor like a little kid, scowling while she goes on.
“You’ll go round tonight and apologise to him!” she finishes, voice shrill.
Apologise?! That’s Subaru’s least favourite word in the world! But even if he hadn’t been afraid of what Sadako might do if he protested, he couldn’t face a fight in this condition! She was taking advantage of his moment of weakness to bully him!
Just wanting to go and lie down, Subaru nods miserably. Damn, and his plan would’ve worked, too! From the look he gave Subaru, it seemed like Yasuda would leave him well enough alone.
But even if Sadako hadn’t insisted on punishing Subaru by giving him an ordeal a hundred times more awkward… for some reason, the thought still left him hollow.
TBC
Total wordcount is now nearly 11000. o.O How did this happen?!
The feeling even manages to last through a relatively painless evening, with only a few dishes to do before Subaru can relax in a nice bath. It’s nice to get that lingering smell of fish off. He’s surprisingly tired after all that hard work - the past few days must have caught up with him - so he can’t even stay awake long enough to watch the mildly-naughty movie that starts at 10.30. (Subaru doesn’t care that it’s a romantic comedy, nor that it’s American and thus has subtitles - he just knows it has some naked breasts in at some point, and he thought that was good enough.)
This is better than it could be, bearing in mind what time he has to get up, but it still feels pretty horrific to Subaru when he drags himself out of bed at 3.45 (it’s a five minute walk to the harbour). Thankfully Mr Tsuji still has a ready supply of tea and cigarettes, though he laughs at Subaru’s grumpy expression and is irritatingly cheery for the time of day. Subaru guesses if you’ve been doing it for 30 years you get used to it, but that doesn’t mean he has to be happy about it.
Mr Tsuji’s boat is little more than… well, Subaru doesn’t know the word for it, but it’s small, whatever it is. Even smaller than the rusty little ferries he used to get across the Yodo as a kid back in Osaka.
Maybe he looks a bit less than impressed, because Mr Tsuji laughs. “Sorry, I hope you weren’t expecting some big trawler. But there’s not much business this time of year, so most days I just take out the little boat. Summer, when I’ve got more boys to help me, then we take the bigger ones out.”
“Right,” says Subaru, like he has any idea about fishing at all.
“Looks a bit choppy out there this morning,” Mr Tsuji says. “Will you be OK?”
“Of course I will!” Subaru responds huffily, needled by the implication that, just because he’s a city boy, he’s weak and feeble!
When they set off, though, it’s barely five minutes before Subaru is regretting his foolish bravado. ‘A bit choppy’ might be the way Mr Tsuji put it, but what it feels like to Subaru is more like ‘giant sea monsters using the boat to play volleyball’. His knuckles are white where he’s gripping the side of the boat, but what makes it even worse is that he can see Mr Tsuji happily whistling a cheerful maritime tune as he drives the boat. He doesn’t want to wuss out, he really doesn’t, but he’s seriously glad he didn’t eat breakfast this morning, because if he had he’d totally be seeing it again.
He grits his teeth and clings on. At first he hopes Mr Tsuji doesn’t notice his discomfort, but by the time he’s crouched on the bottom of the boat, eyes closed, he’s praying he does, because he’s too proud to say anything but he can’t take it much longer!
It feels like they’ve been on the boat for hours by the time he feels hand on his shoulder.
“Subaru? Are you OK?”
He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up into the concerned face of Mr Tsuji, and is just able to shake his head before he gives in and throws up into the sea.
Mr Tsuji rubs his back and says kindly, “I think we’d better get you back to land.”
Subaru can’t even feel bothered that his masculinity has been dented, he’s just so relieved.
Somehow the journey back doesn’t seem nearly so bad, but he suspects that’s only because he knows he’ll be back on solid ground soon enough.
When they get back to the shore it’s still dark, but there’s a faint glow on the horizon that wasn’t there when they set off. Subaru’s legs are wobbly when he stands up, so Mr Tsuji helps him off the boat. Subaru doesn’t remember feeling this mortified in a very long time.
Subaru was thinking his day - his life, even - couldn’t get any worse, but then, it’s not even daylight yet.
Mr Tsuji is helping take a few tottering steps along the harbour front, when Subaru hears a concerned voice say “Oh! Are you alright?” and the day drops into hitherto uncharted depths.
“Ah, Yasuda, morning!” Mr Tsuji greets him, over Subaru’s head. “We went out on the boat this morning but I think it was a bit rough for Subaru here!”
Subaru’s so groggy it takes him a while to realise that Mr Tsuji has called him by his real name! He doesn’t want to turn his head to see Yasuda’s expression, but he pictures a moment of confusion, and he waits, eyes screwed shut, for the inevitable, horrible moment when Yasuda demands clarification; Subaru really doesn’t feel up to trying to explain himself, he almost wants to go back out to see just to avoid this awkwardness!
But there’s just a brief pause before Yasuda says, “Oh dear! I know how that is, I was terrible that time I went out with you, wasn’t I Mr Tsuji?”
Mr Tsuji chuckles. “Oh, you city kids, you just need to get used to it!”
“Shall I take Subaru-kun back to Sadako-san’s? Then you can get back to work,” Yasuda says, Subaru’s name slipping so naturally off his tongue that Subaru thinks maybe he drank more than he thought the other night, and hallucinated all those lies.
“Ahh, Yasuda, you’re such a good lad! If you insist!” Mr Tsuji says. “Not that I want to get rid of you!” he says earnestly to Subaru as he slides his arm out from under Subaru’s. “But I do need to get back out there…” He trails off, and Subaru is suddenly aware that he’s messed up Mr Tsuji’s careful working schedule too. It gives him a weird, uncomfortable feeling. He suspects it’s probably guilt.
To Subaru’s further humiliation, Yasuda comes and takes over Mr Tsuji’s position, putting his arm round Subaru so Subaru is forced to lean on his shoulder. He wishes he could protest and walk by himself, but he still hasn’t got used to the ground not moving under him again… Wishing the ground would swallow him up like the waves on the sea, he goes miserably along with Yasuda.
“I was just out running,” Yasuda is explaining, “And I thought it was unusual to see Mr Tsuji coming back in so early, so I wondered if something was wrong…”
Subaru’s only half-listening; he’s mainly wondering what the hell is up with this kid, that he’s not even going to call him on the fact that he clearly lied, but instead is even helping him - Subaru doesn’t understand.
“I love the sea, but like Mr Tsuji said, I’m not too good on his little boat either,” Yasuda laughs. “Maybe you should go again on a calmer day.”
Subaru’s head is spinning more now than it was on the boat. He has to concentrate hard and run Yasuda’s words through his head several times to make them make sense. He thinks maybe he’s going to throw up again, but he focuses hard on putting one foot in front of the other and by the time they get back to the inn he’s feeling a little more solid.
Of course Sadako is awake when they get back, and she appears in the hall as immediately as ever when Yasuda opens the door and eases Subaru into the hall.
Sadako shakes her head. “So, I take it you’ve not brought back the catch of the day,” she says, hands on her hips.
Yasuda laughs softly. “The sea was a bit wild this morning,” he says sympathetically. “Are you going to be OK now, Subaru-kun?”
Subaru winces a little, hearing his name from Yasuda again. He nods. “Yeah. Uh, thanks,” he mumbles, just wanting to crawl upstairs and hide.
“Yasuda, you’re such a good boy,” Sadako says. There’s a trace of something like warmth in her voice, that Subaru is sure he wouldn’t even notice if he hadn’t only experienced her eternal frostiness. “Do you want some breakfast?”
Yasuda glances at Subaru, but the look in his eyes doesn’t match his cheerful voice. “Oh, no, that’s very kind of you, but I wouldn’t want to impose on you! And I already ate before going out for my run,” he explains. He bows to Sadako politely. “I’ll see you soon,” he says to her, and he glances at Subaru again as he leaves. It makes Subaru feel weird, almost like he did at the harbour earlier with Mr Tsuji.
He stares at the door for a few moments after Yasuda leaves, still feeling fuzzy and slow and uncomfortable. When he turns back around - slowly, sudden movements are still no good - Sadako is glaring at him. For a change.
“What did you do?” she demands.
Subaru stares at her pitifully. Why does she have to pick on him even now, when he’s clearly suffering enough?! “Nothing,” he mumbles, but he can’t even summon the strength to lie convincingly.
“Am I going to have to call your mother?” she threatens.
Subaru tries a pleading look, but is met only with stony-faced scorn. “I… didn’t tell him my real name,” he mutters.
She raises an eyebrow. “And?”
Subaru sighs. “I told him a bunch of lies about other stuff too.”
Sadako shakes her head, fixing him with a look that makes his head ache. “That boy is one of the kindest, sweetest kids you’re ever likely to meet! There’s him, thinking that someone like you could use a friend, being all alone in a place like this - and what do you do? You take advantage of his good nature for your own fun!”
Subaru thinks that Sadako knows a thing or two about that, but that’s beside the point.
“That lad, if you knew… it’s amazing, how he’s managed to make so much of himself,” she says mysteriously. “I hope you’re proud of yourself!”
That’s something Subaru’s heard a lot of times before. It’s never worked at making feel bad before, but somehow… maybe it’s being scolded by a fierce old lady that’s so much worse than being told off by anyone else; maybe it’s that he really is convinced, somewhere in a primal part of his brain, that she’s a witch; maybe it’s the effects of the sea still making his brain wobbly. But somehow Subaru’s affected. He stares at the floor like a little kid, scowling while she goes on.
“You’ll go round tonight and apologise to him!” she finishes, voice shrill.
Apologise?! That’s Subaru’s least favourite word in the world! But even if he hadn’t been afraid of what Sadako might do if he protested, he couldn’t face a fight in this condition! She was taking advantage of his moment of weakness to bully him!
Just wanting to go and lie down, Subaru nods miserably. Damn, and his plan would’ve worked, too! From the look he gave Subaru, it seemed like Yasuda would leave him well enough alone.
But even if Sadako hadn’t insisted on punishing Subaru by giving him an ordeal a hundred times more awkward… for some reason, the thought still left him hollow.
TBC