The Silent Mountain Festival

“Hehe. We understand the risks, but will do our best not to get too badly burned. We don’t like pain very much,” Oki told Sharaku remaining as friendly as ever as they continued to walk towards the booth. Oki was trained to be an information gatherer and while it was true that once it had started something, it wouldn’t stop until it had gathered all it could on what held its interest, it was also true that Oki learned rather quickly how it could gather information from certain things. Sharaku was no different. While they had only interacted on a few occasions, the man had already set a boundary on play and from the warning hidden in that figure of speech, the other had just set a barrier up on far Oki could examine him. Fair enough.

It was better to know boundaries up front rather than crash and burn later for not seeing them until it was too late. In any case, the conversation would move from Sharaku to Oki itself as the subject of food and how much it could eat was brought to light. To Sharaku’s words, Oki would chuckle lightly and shake its head.

If you only knew the truth, it would think to itself, but out loud it would say.

“Looks can be rather deceiving. Still, I thank you for the compliment. I work rather hard not to become too lazy or chubby. If I did that, how else would I escape the cursed cats and more?” Oki said in playful tones. While the being did joke around, it did not bother explaining the dangers of food to itself. Without Shaku here that fishing booth probably wouldn’t have been enough to keep it away from the food booth…and if it had continued to eat? Nope…not a good.

Oki would shake its head mentally as it gave Sharaku a grin that suggested it much rather not go any further into that subject, but whether or not Sharaku got the signal was left in the air as they came to the fishing booth. Becoming highly distracted by the fish, Oki hardly noticed Sharaku’s reaction to its excitement or even heard the conversation between the booth owner and Sharaku. As Oki watched a fish splash lightly against the side of the tank it was in, it grinned even more clearly amused and distracted by such a simple thing. It really wanted to reach in that tank and grab one of the fish, but luckily for the lady when she moved to hand Sharaku the paper net Oki looked up at the action curious as to what was going on.

“A’right, handsome. Give it your best shot,” the lady said as she held out the paper net for Sharaku to take. Then she would lean back to watch the show. As she did this, Oki eyes drifted from the net to Sharaku as it tilted its head wondering what he was going to do with the net. Was Sharaku going to fish? Ooo! Would he catch one?

As its brain finally caught to the situation, the clueless look on Oki’s face vanished as it smiled at Sharaku.

“Good luck,” was all it said as it fell silent to watch what would occur.

“Hehe,” was the light chuckle Sharaku got in response to his first set of words. So it had been settled then. Oki was given permission to get to know Sharaku with limits. Alright. Fair enough. Despite how pleased Oki was with this, the being would hardly show all of its joy as it continued to move through the crowds only faltering in its happy go lucky mood when Sharaku started talking about food and weight in general.

While Oki had given a general response back, the young man behind Oki would not know just how pleased it was to not be questioned about its comment on cats. While it was true cats were one concern…there were other less pleasant reasons for not getting too fat. Besides going into a food coma in public was not a good idea. Not only was it awkward, Oki would never be able to show its face around here again if that happened. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Anyway, as they came to the fishing booth and the net was offered to Sharaku, Oki would wish the other luck only getting a mutter back in response to the words. Blinking, Oki tilted its head at Sharaku wondering if he was not having fun with this. Was he perhaps uncomfortable with this? And if so why continue to go through with it? He could’ve told the lady no, yes?

A bit confused, Oki went from observing Sharaku to watching intently as he tried to scoop up one the fish with the net. Naturally, the fish swam away from the net, but to Oki it might as well have been the best movie ever. The being was grinning and pretty trembling due to restraining itself from jumping up and down or making any sound to disturb the fisher or the fish. This was so exciting, but why that was no one would ever know except Oki perhaps.

Sucess?:

“Aww,” Oki let out the sound of disappointment as the net tore and the fish got away from Sharaku. He was so close to gaining one and yet the flimsy net didn’t allow him to catch the pretty koi he had. While Oki looked as if it had actually lost the game rather than the man who attempted to fish, Sharaku on the other hand seemed unphased by the loss.

When the other spoke, Oki looked up at the man with a tilt of the head.

“I think Shaku would make a good fish keeper,” Oki said with a light frown and then when it was suggested that it should try the game, Oki blinked at the other.

“We? Fish?” Oki asked a bit baffled by the idea as it looked back at the fish in the water. It never had tried to fish before. Could it really catch one? Oki was quiet for a moment until the chuckle of the lady distracted the being causing it to look up at her.

“Come on, hun. Give it whirl. I’ll let you go for free too,” the woman said with a good natured smirk on her face. Hesitating for only a second, Oki would eventually reach out for the small and fragile net. It examined the net for a moment with a blank expression and then looking back at the fish grinned as it slid over a bit and began to attempt to get the pretty fish…

(Sharaku, would you kindly roll the dice love?)

Oki tilted its head left then right as the other gave him a baffled look when it had expressed disappointment at the other not being able to a fish. The being had really hoped the other had caught the fish, so it was quite confused by the look at first; however, as the other spoke of his own handling of the fish, Oki blinked at the other as a light smile came across its face.

“Shaku will eat the fish then? Or perhaps Shaku has something more hazardous to the fish than himself?” Oki pried lightly before becoming distracted as the woman offered it a chance to catch one of the fish. A bit hesitant at first, Oki would eventually take up the net and then focus on catching the fish.

With its tongue stuck between its teeth, Oki chased the fish around a bit aiming for a white and reddish orange one that was determined to not get caught. It took a while and a lot of shifting about the tank, but eventually Oki cornered the fish and after a bit of careful maneuvering, the being got the fish on the net and carefully pulled it out.

When the net didn’t break under the slightly wiggling fish, Oki was at first shocked then grinning at the lady who owned the booth got a nod approval at the catch.

“Congratulation!” she said before coming over with a small jar. Filling it water from the tank, she put it under the net and after a bit of instructing Oki was able to drop the fish into its new home. With the fish safe in its new home the woman trade the fish for the net and then after asking if they’d like to try again and getting a polite no from Oki. She nodded and went back to waiting for other customers. It was a task she didn’t have to wait too long for because shortly after Oki was done a small child and his dad was coming up to the stand for a try themselves

Not concerned about the customers, Oki turned to face Sharaku showing him the fish quite proud of the catch.

“You sure, you don’t want the fish, Shaku?” Oki asked as it watched the other with a light grin. Regardless of if the man said no or yes, eventually Oki would step forward naturally entering the other’s space bubble when it did so as it looked around the festival once more.

“Your pick next,” Oki said as it glanced up at Sharaku and waited for him to lead the way.

Oki had made its comment about the fish to which Shaku said there was something more hazardous than himself about that made it wiser for him not to keep a fish. While Oki was very curious as to what this other thing or things were, the lady’s offer of the net had distracted the being from the question as it settled into the game. While it took a while for Oki to successful catch the fish, the old being hardly noticed the passage of time or how its companion zoned out for a bit here and there when watching the game lost his interest.

When Oki finally had won the game and the jar with the fish in it was in hand, Oki declined the lady’s second offer before turning to Shaku and offering to give the other the fish; however, the sarcastic comment that followed turned the light grin on Oki’s face into a light frown.

“Ah..Shaku keeps cats too, huh? I can see the danger to a fish there, then,” Oki responded back casually as a few things clicked into place from the other times Sharaku and itself had met. If he did have a cat or a variety of cats, then that explained why his understanding of cats was very different from the old being’s. Regardless of this new knowledge, the being did not suddenly hate the other or anything like that as it instead looked at the fish before smiling once more.

“She needs a name,” Oki said as it stepped into the other’s space bubble and then looking up at Sharaku changed the subject of fish to what the man wanted to do next. The response back began in the usual way of, but in the end settled on drinks before Sharaku began to lead the way. Following along behind the taller man, Oki was pondering a good name for the fish as it looked around the area at all the sites. They had passed a few food booths that could’ve probably helped Sharaku with his issue, but the way the man walked Oki thought perhaps he had his mind on a particular type of booth instead; however, a short while later, when Sharaku spoke up, Oki halted in its walking as it facepalmed with its free hand as a grin appeared on its face. This was highly amusing. Holding back giggles, the being smirked at the other.

“Fear not Shaku, the booths are not far away,” Oki said pointing back in the direction they came and then looking ahead pointed out a few more out before green eyes settled on Sharaku again, the small amused grin still in place.

“Oh my. That sounds pretty frightening. How can you live with a creature so dangerous? Aren’t you afraid it might attack you when your guard is down?” Oki asked truly curious how Sharaku was in one piece. From the way the man described the cat, the thing was quite beastly in Oki’s mind. Did he live with a Bakeneko then? And if so did it come with the place he lived in or was he cursed and it was making him suffer for unknown resaons? Oki’s imagination went in a million directions with that one causing the being to frown uncomfortably as it walked with its companion.

However, a light shake of the head a second later cleared the runaway thoughts from the being’s mind. Focusing on Shaku’s statement, the being grinned.

“Aww, but it would’ve been fun to see what you could come up with,” Oki responded back lightly to the other words before looking back at the fish. “Hmm. I think her name should be Minnie. Mhmm,” Oki said after a moment of thinking as it watched the fish swim about in its jar. Yes. Minnie was a perfect name and contradiction to how this one would turn out should Oki take good care of it. Still, the name was cute and Oki liked it.

Watching the fish swim for a bit, Oki would blink when it heard Sharaku’s question.

“How do we know?” Oki repeated before it picked up its pace so it could walk right next to Sharaku rather than trail behind him.

“The gender is easier to tell on larger one cause the biggest ones are the female. They are more round and wide too than males, but baby koi are tricker, so you look at the fins,” Oki said holding up the jar so Sharaku could see the fish better.

"See how the fins are wide, rounded, somewhat large, and kind of transparent? That means it is a girl. Males have smaller fins that are more pointed and less see through than these,” Oki said as it looked up at the other with a light smile before becoming silent a while later. Sharaku could continue the conversation if he wanted, but for now the being was content with following the other and watching the fish.

It did not come out of its amusement until the other came to a stop and in a fashion admit he was lost. Highly amused at this, Oki redirected the other. In response to this, Sharaku rolled his eyes before making a comment back to Oki's words before changing directions and heading thankful towards one of the booths.

Letting out a amused chuckle, Oki’s lips parted.

“I hope there is nothing to be mistaken of Shaku. I am not sure what to do if you were scared,” it responded back easily as they made their way down the path and neared a concession booth.

Oki heard the repeated word and short chuckle the other gave in regards to the comment about the cat. The sound caused the other to look over at the other confused. It hadn't been playing around with that one. Bakeneko were malicious and bad luck. Being in a home with such a creature was indeed terrifying without the added fact that Oki already disliked the spirit’s children; however, as the other spoke the old being frowned in thought as it took the words in.

“Claw out your hair?” Oki repeated as it made a face of despair at that thought. It didn’t want its hair clawed out. That sounded painful and much worse than death. “Heh. I would prefer the dog. At least I’d have more control there and could keep my hair right where it is,” Oki said to the other as it prayed it never met Shaku’s cat. That would be end of its life for sure if what the man had said thus far about it was true. Playful or not, that cat sounded beastly. Feeling a bit sick with distress, Oki shivered lightly to get the images of the monster cats out of its head. No need to scare itself in public after doing more or less well with talking about the cats.

In any case, the subject thankfully changed from cats to naming the fish. When Oki expressed its disappointment at Sharaku not wanting to give the fish a name, it got a contemplative look in return before the other said some words that made Oki grin.

“Oho. Try us,” Oki said with a grin wanting to see if Sharaku could trip it up. Sure it wasn’t a linguist, but it was fluent in one other language outside of English and that was Japanese. It didn’t think much could stump it, but whether Sharaku rose to the challenge given or not was left up in the air. It really wouldn’t matter much after a while.

After all, Sharaku had asked a question that Oki easily responded too; however, the words seem to lose the other. As Oki looked up at Sharaku with a light smile, the being could see the other was having trouble swallowing it all. When the other asked it a simpler question, the being processed it for a moment before answering once more.

“I...mmm…love to learn and collect data. I learned about koi from Dr. Fredrick that used to visit the shrine every day before he moved away to another town,” Oki said with a light nod pleased it had managed to get the words out without sounding too weird for normal.

With that simple task accomplished, Oki would be quiet until the subject of Sharaku being afraid of something came up. To the other’s chuckle and words, Oki grinned.

“Uh-oh. A hazard to our health, I see,” Oki said with a light chuckle as they continued to walk. When they finally reached their destination and got in line, Sharaku asked if the being wanted something to which Oki shifted lightly as it grabbed it money pouch with its free hand and held it out to Sharaku.

“Water please and I’ll pay for yours to,” the being said as it looked at the other. It didn’t mind, paying. It was the least it could do in turn for the other putting up with it for so long.