A Story in Yokohama -7 【Hazy Fuji from the Miura Peninsula】
A Story in Yokohama【 Subtitled "Longing"】-7
J's fishing skills were good.
Simple hook and line fishing, which is just a short rod with a wooden reel, requires a lot of skill to make a bait such as tiny crab drift out of the breakwater without looking unnatural, to hook a fish that is trying to bite the hard bait and to pull the fish out of the water. Even for an older veteran, this is a difficult fishing, but J was very skillful.
Compared to "Hook and line fishing", "electric float fishing" requires less skill, so even Yuichi, who is not very good at it, could catch a fish if he was lucky. Yuichi liked to watch the electric float glow broadly for a moment as they sank into the sea, and then disappear into the sea, emitting a soft glow.
Yuichi said,
"It may not be possible, but I'd like to make my life shine, even for a moment."
J replied,
"You have to find and catch the shine yourself."
Yuichi's float sank slowly, and the light grew dimmer and dimmer until it was all but gone.
Surprised, Yuichi was about to pull up his rod when the tip was pulled in hard.
"Big!”
The reel's drag was just barely audible as the main line was pulled out.
At the end of the drawn line, they saw a big fish jumping in the dark sea.
“Sea-bass! It's a meter class!”
The thread that connects the main line to the reel and the hook is thin, and cannot be forcefully reeled in. Yuichi was pulled by the fish and went right and left along the breakwater.
After about 20 minutes, the fish weakened, and J caught it with a big net.
The silvery scales in the moonlight glowed brightly.
“It's amazing. I've never seen anything like it. My arm is still shaking.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
“The fish is in season from spring to early summer, so it should be delicious now, but I'll say thank you and release it.”
As they were talking, three men came up to them, one of them, a big man, complained.
“You've interrupted the best part of the high tide with your grandstanding and we're out of fish. What can you do about it?”
"What should I do?”
J asked on behalf of Yuichi, and the man replied,
"For the annoyance of disturbing me here. Give me 10,000 yen for a change of pace.”
J said, "Isn't this kind of thing mutual in the fishing grounds? I don't have that kind of money."
The man responded,
"I'm not listening to you.” and pointing at Yuichi, he said,
"If you don't pay me, I will beat you out."
The people watching the situation remained silent at the sudden and savage manner of the man.
“I don't have any money for you. I'll take care of it.”
J said and stood in front of Yuichi.
J didn't resist.
After being punched and kicked for a while, some anglers stopped the man.
The man said,
"From now on, you don't get to talk smart."
J, with blood still flowing from his lips, remained silent.
Soon the ferryboat came to pick them up and returned to the harbor.
Yuichi wondered.
(Why did J get beaten silently? Even though the other guy is a bit big, he should be good at fighting. Or maybe he was indeed spooked.）
J didn't even look at the other guy's face as he started to prepare to leave, but as he was leaving, he was staring at the boarding list. When Yuichi was leaving, he asked J, "Why did you have to put up with this?"
"Yu, you're an amateur at this kind of thing. No one is foolish enough to fight on such a bulwark. If you think you can win, a single mistake can lead to a big trouble and put you in harm's way."
“But from now on, it's going to be harder to get to that place. I had a chance to see a big fish.”
“That's not true.”
“Why not? You don't want to run into them again, do you?”
“We won't see them again.”
The next day, J stood in front of the man as he walked down the street.
“I appreciate what you did yesterday.”
“You want to get beaten again?”
“No, I just want to say something. A man like you has no right to fish.”
"Do you really want to piss me off?”
The man said and slapped J on the cheek.
At that moment, a shutter sound came from behind the man.
“I got it.”
The boy with the camera in his hand said, and this time he shot from in front of the man.
“I held back, afraid that my dear friend might be in danger on the breakwater. Now it's self-defense, thanks to you putting your hands on me first.”
The man met a horrible end in the shadows of the park.
"Give me a break.”
“You're going to end up on your own.”
“How much do I owe you?”
"If I take money from you, it's an extortion. I don't want your money."
Stop fishing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Give me some proof.”
“How do you mean?”
“I'm going to get rid of all your fishing gear. Shall we go to your house now?”
The man was horrified by the unexpected way he said it.
(Who is this guy? No kid ever talks like this to an adult.)
J went straight to the man's house with him and went into his room to secure his fishing gears and took them back and disposed of everything.
Commentary
The main characters in the first part of the story are Naomi (the heiress), Yuichi (a tax accountant), and J (Yuichi's friend).
Again, this time it's about the beginning of J and Yuichi's friendship. J defends Yuichi's crisis with his body, and then he settles the matter afterwards.
・・・To be continued・・・