The Hot Spring Episode [Hypnosis Mic Fanfiction]

Chapter 8

"A gentleman about yea tall with hair down to here hasn't come through yet, by any chance, has he?" Rei asked the man at the desk, who was apparently having trouble imagining a man taller than Rei with hair past his hips. He didn't blame the guy. "Well, if he does, would you mind sending him our way? He and his companions are friends of ours, and we'd really like to go fishing together." The man nodded.

Rei got back to Rosho and Sasara, and they all walked over to the fishing pond together.

"Thanks!" Sasara said. "This'll be a great opportunity to get to know the winners of the last battle." He laughed. "And have some fresh fish, too!"

Rei would normally be on board with a plan like this, but he thought Sasara might've missed the mark, here. "This doesn't seem like the sort of place those guys would go... And shouldn't they be here already?"

"No, I swear! Izanami said yesterday in the bath that he and his team were coming here. I mean, they are a little later than expected, but... Rosho, back me up here."

"He did say that," Rosho agreed. "Which is why we shouldn't have come. Ugh. I don't want to be anywhere near Izanami or Kannonzaka."

They got to their designated pond. All the rods and tackle they needed were stored in a locker onsite. There was a grill, too, to cook everything right there. Again, this kind of manufactured fishing experience didn't seem in line with what Rei knew about Jakurai... But he'd never heard of the guy going on vacation, either. Exceptional circumstances, maybe.

Sasara, never one to leave even a moment of silence, kept talking while they set up. "Jeez, Rosho, after this morning, I get not wanting to see Kannonzaka, but what in the world did Izanami do to you? Guy's a ball of concentrated joy."

Rei answered for him. "Izanami won his glasses off him in last night's poker game."

"That's not what happened!" Rosho barked. "He stole my glasses! Right off my face!"

"...Rosho, they're not even real glasses," Sasara said.

Rosho harrumphed and sat down at the pond. He cast his line.

Well, Rei would be mad about something like that, too, but Rosho had a special way of holding petty grudges. Sasara laughed it off.

They weren't fishing for long before they heard voices coming towards the pond. "Pond three, pond three... There!" The gate creaked open, and "Oh! Mr. Pecs!" Hifumi called out. "And Sasara and Rosho, too!"

How come Rei was the only one with a nickname? He'd take it, but...

Hm, more pertinently, looking at those three... Where the hell had they been? Hifumi's shoes were caked in mud, Jakurai was tugging twigs out of his hair, and Doppo, yeesh. He looked even more tired than usual, which was really saying something.

Sasara said it first. "Woah! You guys look like you ran a mile through the woods! What in the world happened to you?"

"We ran two miles through the woods!" Hifumi answered, chipper as ever.

Jakurai, keeping up his serene demeanor as he untangled a piece of moss from his hair, explained. "The train which would've taken us to the trailhead had engine troubles, so we decided to hike off trail. We'd planned for a hike, anyways, so it wasn't a big deviation."

From the way Doppo was slumped on the bench, chest heaving and practically dead, Rei thought that it might've been more of a deviation than Jakurai was saying.

"Well," Rei said, "You can relax now. Take a load off and fish up some lunch with us, yeah?"

Hifumi gladly grabbed a rod and tackle and got right to it. Doppo hesitated. "What's the point... There's no way I'll be able to catch anything..."