All Who Wander [Chapter 12 - FISH]

[Chapter 11]

The sun was barely beginning to light up the sky when Izuku heard voices and footsteps approaching his tent, sitting up with a yawn to listen. One of them sounded familiar, so he rolled out of bed, finding his clean clothes and dressing by the time they got close enough to make out the words.

“He won’t mind at all, I’m sure of it!”

It was Mina’s voice, he finally realised, as he pulled on his boots.

“Most people don’t get up before dawn like we do, though!”

That one he didn’t recognise.

He untied the ropes on his door, pulling it aside to grin at the visitors, and Mina beamed when she saw him up and about, jogging the rest of the way to meet him.

“How did you sleep? I bet you get such a nice sound from the ocean, here. Did you drift off to the sound of the waves?” she asked.

“I didn’t notice, to be honest,” he said sheepishly. “I couldn’t believe how cold it got, after how hot it had been during the day!”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I should have thought of that. Yeah, the wind blows in off the ocean and it gets super cold sometimes! It’s kind of nice, though, after the humidity during the day – it’s so hard to sleep when the temperature doesn’t go down. Also, this is Eijirou! I told you about him yesterday!”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Izuku said, grinning at him over Mina’s shoulder. “I’m Izuku, I’m visiting from Musutafu! Well, Musutafu by way of Chimura, if you want to be pedantic about it.”

“That’s so cool! Mina was telling me all about the cooking you guys did yesterday, I hope I can try it at some point! We got in super late last night, so we missed the good times. We did manage to bring a few fish, though!”

“Oh, that’s great! Yesterday was my first time eating fish, I’m excited to try some more of Rikido’s recipes when I have a chance!”

“I told you,” Mina said with a grin. “Weird, right? He’d never had a fish until he came here!”

“I’m glad you got a chance, then!”

Eijirou’s smile wavered a little, though he tried valiantly to cover it, and Izuku just blinked at him, debating whether or not to call it out. Mina beat him to the punch, though, when she gave Izuku a weary smile.

“The fish have been running low,” she explained. “They used to come back with nets full of the things, then it was fewer nets, then just one net.”

“We’re lucky to get anything, some days,” Eijirou admitted. “We keep having to go out deeper in search of more, so it takes a lot longer and isn’t as safe. It’s probably our fault, we got greedy and over-fished the waters, and now they’re not reproducing fast enough to keep it up.”

Mina patted him on the back lightly, trying to be comforting, and Izuku didn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Eijirou saved him from having to, slapping a big smile back on his face and pointing off toward the forest.

“Let’s go see the coffee plantation!” he said. “It’s been a while since I went up there, so I thought I’d come along with you guys, today!”

“That sounds great!” Izuku agreed, slinging his satchel over his shoulder and grabbing his a few of his buckets. “You said there was a stream or something, right?”

“Yup!” Mina said. “All the water you could ever desire!”

“Perfect!”

Together the trio set out, the sun rising overhead and starting to fill the town with warmth again. The path was pleasantly shaded, though, giving them some reprieve from what Izuku knew would become another scorching day, and Mina and Eijirou made for excellent company – they were so easy to talk to, as if he’d known them his whole life instead of just a few hours, and for the first time in days, Izuku’s brain wasn’t stuck thinking about his mother and Mei and Eri and Mirio. For the first time in days, in fact, they didn’t cross his mind even once – he was too busy learning all about Tsuricho.

“Here we are!” Mina announced, when the trees thinned out and a wide clearing opened up before them. “The coffee plantation!”

“Wow!” Izuku gushed, hoping his instant anxiety wasn’t apparent in his voice – or his face. “Look at all of this!”

“Yeah! These are the coffee cherries here, but you can do anything you want with the clear land!”

The clear land, it turned out, was not exactly clear. It was full of weeds and brambles, covered in leaves and fallen branches, half the trees wound with some kind of vine that didn’t exactly look normal to him – then again, what did he know?

“I’ll help you clean it up, if you want,” Eijirou offered, when he caught Izuku mumbling to himself. “Next time we don’t go out fishing, I’ll come by and give you a hand!”

“Really? That would be so nice. I’ll just need to find some tools or something first, doing it by hand would take forever.”

He thought back to the scythe he’d borrowed to cut grass, wondering if it would be sharp enough to cut through the tangled vines.

“We can stop by the general store at some point,” Mina suggested. “Itsuka’s family make and sell a lot of things, they can probably put something together for you! And I can ask around town, see if anyone has anything to help out – we can at least find you an axe to borrow, I’m sure.”

“That sounds great,” Izuku agreed. “But first, teach me how these coffee cherries work!”

Izuku watched attentively as Mina demonstrated how to check them for ripeness, how to pick them, even how to open them up and get the beans out – that part seemed a lot more time consuming, so it wasn’t surprising that she seemed to do it at Rikido’s place, rather than on-site. He wondered, though, if the flesh from them would help feed the soil – if they stuck to using the beans, could he use the scraps to help grow crops? It was certainly worth investigating.

While they worked together, Eijirou wandered around the area on his own, leaving them to their little lesson. Mina laid out a big blanket, piling her coffee cherries in it to bundle up and carry back, and Izuku worked right by her side, making sure to only grab the ones she said were okay to harvest.

By the time they finished a couple of trees, Eijirou was returning with two of Izuku’s buckets in hand. Izuku hadn’t even realised he was taking them, but he’d made two trips, had returned with four buckets full of water, giving Izuku a big grin when their eyes met.

“It’s just up the hill a little more,” he explained, nodding toward where the path continued a little further, dropping off into a wide stream further up. “Figured I’d help you out.”

“You’re the best!”

With Mina satisfied with their coffee haul, she tied up the corners of the blanket, slinging it over her shoulder. Eijirou picked up two of the water buckets, and Izuku the other two, and together they began to retrace their steps, back down the path to the old farm. They lined the buckets up beside one of the broken walls, laying a blanket over them to keep bugs and dust out, and Eijirou just laughed when Izuku thanked him a dozen times for his help.

“I heard you’re gonna try to grow some food,” he said, his smile a lot softer this time. “The rest of us never managed it, but Rikido and Mina seem to have faith, so I’m excited to see how you go.”

“You’ll be the first to share in anything I grow,” Izuku promised him. “In the meantime, do you think you could teach me how to fish, too?”

“I’d love to. We’ll head out in about an hour, so come grab some breakfast with us at Rikido’s, then you can come meet the team.”

“I’m right behind you!”


–––

Fishing, it turned out, was not exactly Izuku’s forte.

They didn’t manage to catch much, staying in shallower waters than they’d apparently ventured to the day prior, but the whole process made Izuku feel nauseated. The little boat rocking back and forth made him feel sick, the wiggling bugs they hooked onto lines were slimy and gross, the flopping fish they caught were even worse, and he didn’t even want to start on the process that came after catching them. He was definitely going to be a farmer, not a fisherman – not that he could exactly say that to Eijirou and his friends.

The only part he did enjoy, was chatting with the people around him. He could almost get used to the sights and smells if it meant he could just sit back and chat with them instead of doing the... other parts. He met Tetsutetsu, who he would have sworn was Eijirou’s brother until they started talking about their respective parents; he met Shouji, who was very quiet, but insanely strong, rowing away like it was nothing, while Izuku used all his might every time he pulled; and he met Hanta, who chatted away with Eijirou endlessly, and was more than happy to fill Izuku in on all the embarrassing stories from their childhoods despite Eijirou and Tetsutetsu squawking at him for it.

“Do you see that island there?” Eijirou asked, pointing off into the distance as Shouji began to steer them back to shore. “Those trees in the distance?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s a place called Majima. I’ve never been, but the traders used to go all the time. It takes them forever, so most of them stopped bothering, and we spend all our time fishing rather than try to go that far. But a couple of the braver, stronger traders still head out there, and they come back with sugar and rice to trade. It costs a fortune, though, since it’s so hard to get.”

Izuku had never heard of rice before, but he didn’t feel right to ask – he was too busy staring out at the distant land, a quiet fallen over the group, as the sun set behind them, and they focused on rowing back home.

“I’d like to go,” he said softly, when they got closer to the little wooden pier they’d launched from early in the day. “One day.”

“I thought you would.” Eijirou smiled at him, the peace broken when Hanta leapt over the side of the boat to tie them up, rocking it viciously. “We’ll figure something out.”

“When I’ve grown some crops,” Izuku suggested. “So you don’t have to fish so much.”

“Perfect.”

Shouji climbed out next, immediately reaching a hand back for Izuku, and half-dragging him out of the boat. He definitely didn’t have the balance and coordination for it, unlike the others, who barely seemed to notice they’d been in a boat.

“We’re gonna take all of this to Rikido’s place to cut it up, you coming with?”

“Of course!” Izuku said eagerly. “I want to learn everything!”

Izuku regretted the choice immediately.

He felt himself turning green as he watched them de-bone and fillet the fish, laughing and chatting together like it was no big deal as they worked. Eijirou was the only one who seemed to notice, and thankfully he didn’t tease – he just quietly took Izuku’s share of the fish and added it to his own.

“I’m sorry,” Izuku whispered. “I guess I didn’t realise how... you know.”

“It’s okay,” Eijirou assured him, chuckling fondly. “It took all of us some time to get used to it.”

“I’ll learn, I swear! Just... maybe not today.”

“I get that,” he laughed. “You can just watch! Or help Mina, if you want?”

“I... Yeah, maybe I’ll help Mina,” he said apologetically. “Sorry. Thank you.”

Eijirou shook his head, unphased, and Izuku hurried back out of the kitchen, taking a deep breath of the fresher air outside. Mina laughed at him knowingly, patting him on the back.

“I get it,” she whispered. “I try to avoid it, too.”

“It’s just so...”

“Gross?”

“I was gonna say messy.”

“But you meant gross,” she laughed. “And smelly.”

“Yes!”

“Come help me out, instead, then!” she said, handing him a wide metal tub. “We’re gonna retrieve the dirty dishes from the tables, wipe them down when the customers leave, and take orders from people when they come in!”

“Orders?”

“Yeah! Ask them what they want,” she clarified. “We have our fish stew that is always a hit, or an awesome charcoal-grilled fish, it’s probably my favourite after the salt and vinegar one we had yesterday.”

“I’ll have to try it later!”

“For sure! But for now, we’re gonna say hi to anyone who walks in, you can introduce yourself and get to know them, and we’ll ask which one they want for dinner.”

“Sounds great!”

The place got busy in a hurry, Izuku quickly learned. When the fishing boat came in for the day, everyone in town knew it was time to head over for dinner, and the building filled up with people in a heartbeat. He hurried around after Mina, collecting dirty dishes and letting her wipe the table for the next people, the pair of them chatting with the guests as they worked. Mina had a knack for remembering orders, while Izuku was struggling just to remember how many of each to ask for, let alone who they were for. But plates continued coming out of the kitchen, and Izuku put them where Mina told him to, filling his tub with dishes in between.

When Samidare arrived, he seemed surprised by how many dishes were already waiting for him, but he carried them off to the sink valiantly, only struggling a little bit under the weight of the tub. Mina retrieved a second one, to begin filling up while Samidare emptied the first, and Izuku took a deep breath as they began the process all over again.

“That was a lot quicker than usual!” Mina said, when the crowd began to wind down a little. “Having a second pair of hands really helps! Maybe I’ll start training some of the kiddos on taking orders, I never realised how nice it would be to have another person.”

“I’ll help in the meantime!” Izuku said quickly. “I’ll help cook and clean and take orders and whatever else you want!”

“To avoid the fish?” Mina teased.

“Maybe a little,” Izuku admitted. “I think I’ll stick to buying my fish.”

“Welcome to the team,” Mina said with a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder again. “Go let Rikido know that we’re slowing down, and ask him to whip up two of the charcoal grilled for us!”

“Will do,” Izuku agreed, picking up the half-full tub of dishes to take with him. “Thanks for teaching me. Again.”

“My pleasure!”

He headed into the back room, finding the first tub empty already, Samidare stacking away the last of the clean plates for Rikido to use again. Izuku swapped out the tubs, delivering his message to Rikido before he hurried back to give Mina the empty tub for the dishes, dithering for a moment between helping or returning to the kitchen. In the end, he picked the latter, hurrying back to stand beside Samidare at the sink. He picked up a cloth, setting to work on drying the plates Samidare washed, and taking a moment to choose his words carefully.

“Are there other kids in town?” he asked. “Like, friends you go to school with, or something?”

“I do school with my big sister,” he said, handing over a bowl to dry. “But I have a friend.”

“Yeah? What’s your friend’s name?”

“Roro. He’s younger than me. His little sister is friends with Satsuki.”

“That’s cool. I had a friend I grew up with, too. Does Roro do work around town as well?”

“A little. His big brother delivers the water.”

“Oh! I’ll have to meet him, some time.”

“Do you need a job done?”

“Yeah, but it’s a big job,” he said, smiling softly. “It’ll take some time, and more people would be better. Eijirou is gonna help when he can, but he’s busy with fishing.”

“I’ll help.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll tell Tsuyu I can’t do school.”

“I didn’t mean instead of school!” Izuku insisted, laughing when Samidare grinned at him. “But you must get a weekend, right? Would you want to help me out then?”

“You’re gonna pay me, right?”

“Samidare!” Rikido said, from across the room. “You should help people out without needing money!”

“But you are, right?”

“Yes,” Izuku laughed, Rikido sighing behind them. “And if you do a really good job, I’ll pay extra. I might have ongoing work for you, too, if you don’t hate doing it.”

“I’m in. I’ll bring Roro to try too. Tomorrow?”

“Yeah! At the coffee plantation, you know the one?”

“I know.”

“Perfect. Meet me there whenever you want, I’ll be there all day!”

By the time they finished the last of the dishes, Rikido was finished cooking the fish, and Izuku could barely keep himself from drooling as he sat down to eat. Mina joined him, and soon, Rikido sat down with them too, leaving Samidare and Satsuki with free rein of the dining room to clean up for the night.

“Oh! Itsuka came in earlier, so I chatted with her about tools,” Mina told him between mouthfuls. “She said they’ve got some old stuff in the back, she’s gonna dig it out and make sure it’s all in good condition, and you can drop by in the morning to see if there’s anything suitable!”

“That’s amazing, thank you!” Izuku said. “I’m gonna spend the day there tomorrow and see exactly how hard the job is gonna be, so wish me luck.”

“Absolutely! And make sure you come by for dinner, still. Don’t get too caught up working and forget to eat!”

“I won’t, I promise,” Izuku laughed. “How could I turn down such an awesome meal?”

“Pfft,” Rikido brushed off the praise, shaking his head. “It’s no big deal. I’m looking forward to when we can try making some stuff together again.”

“Yeah!” Izuku agreed. “I’m so excited, I’m gonna get some crops growing as quick as I can, so we can cook together a ton!”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

[Chapter 13]