Rurouni Kenshin Fan Fiction / Slam Dunk Fan Fiction ❯ Wishing Fireflies ❯ Hello, Fisherboy! ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

'Look, O look, there go
Fireflies,' I would like to say
But I am alone.
--Taigi

The Fishermen and the Legend of the Wishing Firefly Bend
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Disclaimer:
Wasn't me.

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The dull greens of the grasses blend with the brown soil and the blue river that humid Sunday afternoon. It's four pm and I still haven't caught a fish. Hell, I'm bored.

If only… eh? He did say he would come. Where is he now? Probably sleeping. But a promise is a promise is a promise eehs ahhh pwhooomeeesssss…….

'Hello, there, friend.' A voice suddenly snapped my mind awake. I almost jerked up, convinced that it wasn't Kaede as he would not ever greet anybody like that and at 4pm robbers could start to strike. The owner of the voice prepared to sit down beside me. 'Had any luck with the fishes?'

I smiled at him, noting that he's just a fisherman. A fisherman who might happen to know where all the little fishes have gone. 'Hello, Mr. Fisherman,' I greeted the stranger with the best of my smiles. 'Been here for two hours now and not a single bite.'

He laughed that laugh old men do, his eyes twinkling with foreseen knowledge. 'We could sit here from the Bakumatsu and not catch a single fish.' I smiled at the reference; even his time frame is old. He began standing up, gathering his bucket and bait. 'I know a part where there could be a lot of fishes.'

'Ehrr… ?'

'Do you want to come with me? It's just around that bend…' He offered. I blinked, twice, looked around, and silently noted that the strange old man did not look dangerous at all. And if he was, I could easily defend myself. I don't work my butt off training just to be a weakling, besides what could an old man do? And the offer, though weird, sounded sincere.

'Sure, just let me get this rod thing out.' Kaede's probably sleeping on this hot boring day, and here I am getting picked up by an old man. I inwardly winced, that analogy sounded sordid.

The bend that he talked about was just a few meters from my spot. It was one of the unpopular places in this part of the river. Urban myth said that there was a lady in white kimono who hung around the tree at nights, especially during springtime. Old fisherman looked least like a white lady, though his taste in wardrobe ran from the 18th century, so I didn't disagree. We picked a spot under the shade of the sakura tree and where the grass was short enough. I smiled, the sky doesn't look as glaring as it was and the wind was not as humid. It was a good spot, and if what he proclaimed earlier was true. I may choose this as my favorite fishing site.

I sat down beside him and readied my fishing paraphernalia, bait on hook, rod and line untangled. Hmmm. Basketball just lacked the serenity and simplicity of the fishing process. I bet even the fuming and ranting Koshino Hiroaki could calm his nerves here, waiting for a bite. Err. Probably not. He'd most likely rant and whine away that he'd been sitting his aching butt for hours and NOT a SINGLE bite! And Rukawa Kaede, wonders of wonders, would probably sleep.
Unbelievabur-ya, ne-

'Do you know what they call this place?'

'Ehh?' I put on an uncertain smile, not catching his question. I almost forgot I had company. 'Err-the best fishing spot around?'

He laughed again. 'If you walk just a little farther north, you'd see a small commercial fish pond, that's the best fishing spot in Tokyo.'

Ehh. That felt like I was bitched by my logic instructor.

'But they,' He continued, eyes sparkling with laughter, 'named this the Wishing Firefly Bend.'

'Oh?' I looked at him, half disbelieving. I've been hanging around this place for a long time and nobody ever told me that there's a name for this place. And then I remembered the white lady who's been seen *praying* somewhere around here. 'Ahh.' I uttered, now in amazement. So, the ghost must be ahh… wishing… wishing firefly? 'So, the ghost is a firefly goddess of some sort?'

'Ghost?' He posed, his turn now to look at me as if I'm joking. 'Oh, you must mean that… Ahh… you're a funny kid, you know that?' He laughed now, eyes gleaming with stupefaction. I swear, he must have been giggling that time, if old men do giggle. 'No, she's not a firefly goddess. She's WISHING on the fireflies.' He pointed out and, again, I felt bitched by my logic instructor. 'Though, I doubt she's wishing on the fireflies now, in these times. The fireflies have granted her prayer a long time ago.'

'They did?'

'Yes,' He said and for a moment, his eyes creeped me out. 'The one she lost was returned to her.'

'Yeah?' But I really thought some people still see ghosts in these parts. Honestly, when I thought about it, the old man seem too sure of his explanation that it never occurred to me to ask him to prove it or something. And I really didn't believe in ghosts.

'The older generation called this the Wishing Firefly Bend because,' he started telling me. I stretched my arms for the long fish wait. 'During springtime, fireflies flock together, here. And on certain nights they dance around the tree in abandon that they would not mind if one stays here for too long. Old legends say that the fireflies listen to wishes and prayers that persistent ones utter in their hearts. And if one prays here everyday, the gods will grant one's wishes.'

'Really?' It wasn't really a question. Just like ghosts, I'm not partial to legends either. 'And you say… it is true then? The fireflies granted the wish of the woman who used to pray here.'

'Aa,' he replied. 'But… you have to keep in mind that sometimes wishes are not meant to be granted, at least not in the way you expect it to be granted.'

It seemed that he knew too much about this that I was almost compelled to ask and I did, 'What was it that the fireflies returned to her, ojiisan?' But from his story, I could say that it was a lover, or someone to that degree.

As if reading my mind, he turned to me with his laughing face, 'You didn't need to ask who. It was the man she loved for the longest time. Like all ghost stories.' Really, he can pass as my logic prof. 'But he returned when he thought that it was too late.'

'That's tragic, ojiisan.' I said to him, and it was. Kinda like Tokyo version of Romeo and Juliet. I wondered if her lover killed himself for that.

'But her prayers saved him, so to speak…'

'So, he didn't kill himself or something?' Juliet must have woken up in time.






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tbc

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sail