"Alright! Great job, Genta! How many did ya catch in total?" Itto asked, kneeling down beside the lake.
We were all fishing for dinner, because as usual Itto could not afford food... and Shinobu was somewhere else at the time.
Itto thought it was a good idea for everyone to catch as many fish as possible each, so that we wouldn't waste any bait.
"Uhhh... I caught three, thanks!"
Genta smiled and set his fish aside. "Who's up next?"
"Y/N hasn't gone yet, I think?" Akira mentioned, and Genta handed the rod to me. I nervously glanced at it, and then at the lake.
"I don't know... can somebody do it for me? I'm not the best at this."
I mumbled. Nobody else was willing to.
"It's okay, Y/N! I'm sure you're gonna do great." Itto reassured me.
I sighed and placed the bait on the hook, and watched as the string hit the water.
Their enthusiastic voices behind me made me nervous. What if I didn't catch anything? Then I'd be an outcast for sure.
"Woohooo! You got it!"
I was concentrating so much on the people behind me that I was caught completely off guard when something heavy pulled on the string.
It almost pulled me down, but fortunately I regained my balance.
"You okay there, Y/N?"
Itto called out to me.
The fish yanking on the string pulled it down even further, and I lost control.
I fell in to the shallow water, and the string flung back as it let go.
"Bwahahaha!!"
I heard laughter behind me and I felt like I was about to throw up from embarrassment.
I got off of the sand and ran away from them, feeling really ashamed.
"Hey, boys!" Itto raised his voice at them, making every last one of them go quiet. "In the arataki gang, we're here for one another, and we don't laugh when one of us messes it up! To make it up to me, you guys better cook some good fish cause I am starving!"
They nodded and ran off to cook what they caught.
Itto, on the other hand, went to go and find me.
The lake was freezing, and I was already shivering. The fire the gang had made used up all the wood, so I could not make my own.
"Y/N? Y- Oh, there you are!"
I turned away from him and pulled my knees to my chest.
He came and sat next to me.
"Don't worry about them, they didn't mean any harm. Plus, we caught more than enough fish! There's no need to be upset."
"Yeah, but I just made myself look stupid in front of the entire gang."
I replied. He seemed pretty surprised that I wasn't convinced.
"O-Oh? You didn't look stupid, it's okay! If anyone, I'm the stupid one here... I mean, I was even thinking about painting my horns rainbow!"
I let out a breathy laugh and shook my head.
"This is different. They will laugh at me as soon as I go back there."
"They will not!"
"Will."
"Fine, let's make a bet. If they do, then... uh... I'll admit to every game I've ever lost to anyone, alright?"
I nodded. I always wanted him to play fair, so seeing him have to admit to defeat would be fun.
"And if they don't?"
"Then you have to go on a date with me! Something simple, like... Uyuu restaurant tomorrow night. I'll borrow the mora, my treat!"
My cheeks reddened. I certainly wasn't expecting that to come out of his mouth, though I had to stay calm.
"Okay, then..."
Itto put out his hand to shake on it.
I shook his hand, but he instantly let out a gasp.
"Why are your hands so cold?! Here, take this."
He pulled his jumper off and handed it to me. I glanced up at him, only to see his face had gone a shade of pink as well.
"It's the, uh... Arataki... Jumper-o-Itto! Look after it! It's freezing out here, though, so wear it to bed!"
I put it on.
"Thanks... let's go back, the fish is probably getting cold."
We headed back to the camp and sat around a fire. I really was expecting at least one person to make a jokey comment about what happened, but nobody did.
"This is actually really good..."
I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Itto. He had his usual sly grin resting on his face.
"Aha, yeah..." Genta nodded, looking at the other members. They made it as delicious as possible so Itto wouldn't get mad.
At the end of the night, we were all full and ready to go to sleep.
Akira blew out the fire.
"Goodnight, my boys! Oh, sorry, and goodnight to you too, Y/N!"
Itto announced. He walked behind me, and I suddenly felt his breath beside my ear.
"I'll meet you at the adventurer's guild tomorrow, 8pm sharp."
