Ryoma awoke within the shade of a Sakura – cherry blossom – tree. The scent of its sweet blooms flowed into his being before any other sense sprung back to life. He smiled at the sensation as it reminded him of the trees he used to climb in his boyhood, laughing all the while. Next, the warmth of the sunshine snaking its way through the branches and blooms graced his skin and soothed his soul.

Without opening his eyes, Ryoma asked, “Yuki, are you there?” The kappa, who’d nearly drifted off himself while enjoying the calm, spring breeze, jolted up and exclaimed, “Ryoma, you’re awake!” The samurai smiled, opening his eyes now, and said, “Indeed, I am.” He sat upright and winced at the slight pain in his side. He looked down and continued, “Thankfully, it would seem. How did this bandaging come about?” He chuckled and asked, “I don’t suppose you nursed me back to health?”

Yuki shook his head and said, “Afraid not, my friend. It was Himiko that patched you up.” Ryoma stared puzzled at Yuki and asked, “Who in the world is Himiko?” Yuki slapped his own face with his webbed hand and said, “Oh, that’s right. You couldn’t possibly know her name. Apologies, Ryoma. I’m referring to the shrine maiden that tended to your wound back in the shed.”

This information nearly knocked the breath out of Ryoma’s chest entirely. He asked, “You met the shrine maiden again?! And you learned her name as well?! That’s wonderful news! With that knowledge, we should easily be able to track down her location. Wouldn’t you agree, Yuki?” Yuki chuckled and said, “We don’t have to worry about tracking her down, Ryoma. She told me where her shrine can be found. It’s not very far from here at all!”

“Even better!” Ryoma exclaimed. He lunged forward and hugged Yuki, sloshing water from his dish. The act of doing so, however, nearly sapped him of his strength. “Wow,” he said, “I’m more exhausted than I thought.” Yuki helped him relax by laying him back on the tree trunk.

Yuki said, “You were only asleep for a few hours this time, Ryoma. I’m not surprised you haven’t fully recovered yet.” Ryoma wondered how long a few hours meant exactly, so he looked up to see the sun blazing directly overhead. “Noon again.” He said. “This is becoming a bit of a habit now, isn’t it?” The two laughed together and for a moment, the pain radiating from Ryoma’s side went away.

The weariness, however, did not as Ryoma began to yawn while the midday sun beckoned him back to sleep. Yuki took note of the situation and said, “You need to eat to regain your strength, Ryoma.” The samurai thought it over and, as he yawned again, decided that his traveling companion was right.

“Very well,” Ryoma said, “let’s have lunch before we continue on.” He grabbed the knapsack containing the leftovers from their meal the night before and frowned at the contents. “I’m afraid there isn’t much left. I could’ve sworn we had more.” He turned to Yuki who wouldn’t meet his gaze but who did manage to reply. He said, “I’m sorry, Ryoma, I couldn’t help myself. I had a carp or two while you rested. It was so tempting that I just couldn’t resist!

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Ryoma didn’t take kindly to Yuki’s thievery. “You don’t even need to eat!” He exclaimed. “Those were rations before anything else!” His stomach grumbled and he said, “Now, I barely have enough to call a meal. And on top of that, I need to collect firewood to properly cook them. What am I to do?” Yuki tried to remedy the quarrel as he said, “Look, Ryoma, you don’t need to worry about anything. I’ll go collect the firewood so you don’t expend any more energy than you have to. I’ll even forage for berries while I’m out to boost up your meal. How does that sound?”

While Ryoma didn’t necessarily want to be beholden to Yuki for the deed, he supposed that it would, for all intents and purposes, place them on even ground after the kappa’s little stunt. Plus, it would ease Yuki’s guilt, so it was a win-win situation. Finally, before Ryoma could even answer, he yawned again. Yuki chuckled and said, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

And so, Yuki set about finding firewood and foraging for more food for Ryoma. The samurai, in the meantime, succumbed to his somniferous condition and laid down for a quick rest. When he awoke, he found Yuki struggling to start a fire with two pieces of quartz he found. He smirked, but supposed that a being naturally found in the water would be averse to such an element and as such, decided to help out.

Ryoma said, “Here, Yuki, let me try.” He took one of the quartzes from Yuki, unsheathed his katana, and said, “This will strike the quartz better.” He went to work on striking the rock and near instantaneously sent a spark into the bundle of twigs just right. Before too long, the two had a fire erupt like a phoenix from the pile.

It didn’t take that much longer for the carp to grill on Ryoma’s skewer. He retrieved it from the flames and took a bite. The juicy meat melted into his mouth and a slight moan squeaked out from his wetted lips. He washed that down with the succulent berries that Yuki so graciously foraged and he groaned in delight of the wonderous combination of flavors in his mouth. It was a simple meal, to be sure, but his hunger elevated the sensations to a higher level.

The thought of Yuki, though, snapped Ryoma back into his environment. He looked over at his comrade and noticed the kappa looking away in a downtrodden fashion. The samurai felt saddened ever so slightly. Despite his previous bout of anger as well as his current reluctance, he took a piece from the carp, reached it out to Yuki, and asked, “Would you like some of the fish? You can have a berry or two as well, if you’d like.”

Yuki began tearing up and said, “No, I couldn’t possibly. Not after stealing some behind your back. You deserve the rest.” Ryoma, instead of heeding the advice, nudged Yuki softly with the skewer and said, “Come now, Yuki. It’s not a meal between friends unless we both can enjoy.” The kappa began blubbering and said, “Thank you, Ryoma. You’re a truly good person.” He happily accepted the morsel of food and gulped it down. Ryoma wasn’t even sure his friend tasted the fish, but supposed it didn’t matter so long as he was happy. Ryoma then shared a handful of berries with Yuki, and the two finished dining by the warmth of the fire.