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"Fishing...As in fishing fishing?"
"Yes An, 'fishing fishing'."
Ken could already feel a headache coming up at the incredulous look his daughter was shooting him.
He was planning to go on a fishing trip this weekend with a couple of his friends, but it turned out to be unfortunate timing as they were both busy. Part of him considered going alone, but those kinds of trips could get incredibly boring very quickly if you didn't have the right company with you. Just as he was about to give up and reschedule it, a defeated looking An came in Weekend Garage, plopping down on the stool in front of the café bar and dropping her head on it right as Ken was about to wipe it. When he asked her what was wrong, after letting a very drawn out sigh she told him she really wanted to take Kohane out on a date, but she had no idea where, due to them already hanging out in a lot of places together. So Ken took that as the perfect opportunity, suggesting to An they should come with him on his fishing trip.
"Dad. There is nothing romantic about fishing."
He couldn't help but let out a chuckle, before raising one of his eyebrows. "Your mother would disagree with you."
An raised her head from the bar, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she opened her mouth, but no words came out as she immediately closed it again, shaking her head.
"Actually, I don't think I want to know."
Ken laughed again, raising his hand to ruffle her hair before getting back to wiping the bar now that An stood up. "You could at least try to ask her if she wants to come. Who knows, maybe she likes fishing." Raising his head to make eye contact with An, a smug grin on his face, he continued. "Or I can just let you figure out another idea on your own."
After a couple of minutes of silence in which Ken assumed An tried to weigh the options in her mind, she just ended up sighing. "Fine. But you need to give me some tips or something on how to catch a big fish."
"Yes yes." As he let his eyes drift from An's face towards the door of the café, he could see Kohane approaching through the window of the door. "Oh, speaking of the devil."
Ken's smile started growing as he saw An's face immediately light up, mumbling a quick "Angel, not devil", before standing up and running towards the door, engulfing Kohane in a hug as soon as she entered.
Kohane struggled to get her face out of the crook of An's arm, giving Ken a nod before returning her hug. "Hello, Ken-san!"
He waved in her direction in return before speaking up. "I'll go make you two some drinks." raising his voice a bit louder to make sure his daughter heard him, he then added, "An, ask her."
That made Kohane tilt her head questioningly in An's direction as soon as she let go of her, but Ken didn't stay to listen to their discussion, going to the kitchen to make them their drinks.
Once he returned with their cups, he didn't even have to ask anything as An's bright smile gave everything away.
"I'm guessing you said yes." he chuckled in Kohane's direction before placing their drinks in front of them.
"Ah, thank you!" Kohane raised her cup, taking a sip of her tea, letting the sweet taste she now knew very well overflow her senses, before placing it back down and nodding. "Yes. I don't think I will do any fishing myself if that is alright, but I want to take my camera and catch some shots in nature."
An didn't even let her father say anything in return as she butted in excitedly. "Kohane's pictures are amazing! She has a whole album full of all the pictures she took so far, and one with pictures of her pet snake, she-"
"A-An-chan!" Kohane interrupted An's gushing, an embarrassed blush coloring her cheeks, making Ken laugh.
"I'll leave you girls to it then." he said as a new customer entered the café.
It didn't hit him until much later how chaotic this trip might turn out because of An, but it beat going alone. Probably.
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The drive up to the fishing spot was a quiet one, but that was mainly due to An spending all of it sleeping on Kohane's shoulder. Ken wanted to leave really early in the morning to avoid traffic, so they had to wake up at 5 am to pack everything up and leave.
It wasn't that him and Kohane didn't have anything to talk about. On the contrary, they did strike up a conversation, but as soon as An unconsciously let out a noise of protest before shifting further in Kohane's embrace, they both decided to let her sleep in silence.
It wasn't too long of a drive, only about two hours on the road, and thanks to them leaving so early, they actually managed to arrive ahead of schedule. Ken couldn't help but chuckle at the flash of guilt that crossed Kohane's face as she realized she had to wake An up from her peaceful sleep.
Once she woke up, begrudgingly so, the three of them started arranging the fishing equipment. As soon as they were done, Kohane immediately grabbed her camera, starting to take pictures of everything around them. It was a secluded lake, surrounded by a thick forest, and as the sun slowly started to raise up in the sky, the lighting for everything was perfect.
After admiring her girlfriend for a few minutes, An turned towards her father with a determined glint in her eyes.
"Okay. I'm all ready."
They decided before going on this trip that once they returned, Ken would cook a big dinner with all the fish they ended up catching. At hearing that, An proudly declared that she would catch a big fish for Kohane's dish, even if it took her the entire day to do so. Naturally Ken didn't believe her, An was never a person to stay so long in one place, and if she were unlucky enough, it would literally take her an entire day to catch only one fish. But he didn't say anything, knowing that at least this way she would listen to him when he told her what she had to do.
Placing his fishing cooler down, he opened it in An's direction. As soon as she saw its contents, she took a step back, scrunching up her nose.
"Are those...worms? Alive worms?"
Ken just nodded his head. "Yeah, take one and place it on your hook."
An didn't move from her spot, just staring at the cooler with frowned eyebrows, making Ken grin. "What's wrong? I thought you wanted to catch a big fish for Kohane."
"I-I will! I will..."
Despite saying that, she still didn't move from her spot, her eyes throwing daggers at the worms as if she could kill them with only her gaze. After a few seconds, determination filled her eyes again, but before she could do anything, Kohane appeared at her side, studying the cooler for a few seconds before a bright smile appeared on her face.
"These seem really fresh!"
An shot her a questioning look, her voice slightly high pitched as she spoke up. "They're alive, of course they're fresh?"
Kohane just chuckled before she turned her gaze in An's direction. "Ah, I meant it more as in their age."
That piqued Ken's interest. "Oooh, good eye, how can you tell?"
"My dad also goes fishing sometimes, and whenever he has some leftover bait, he brings it back home for Count Pearl-Ah, my snake." Kohane's smile started growing even more as she spoke, her eyes brightening. "She usually eats frozen mice, but she really loves fresh food like this. She looks so cute when she gets all excited, knowing she gets a fresh treat."
An just sighed defeatedly, wrapping her arms around Kohane from behind and hugging her, resting her head on her shoulder. "It's unfair for you to look so cute when the topic is a snake eating alive worms."
Kohane giggled before turning her head in An's direction. "Are you going to fish, An-chan?"
Ken raised his eyebrow amusedly, looking towards his daughter. "Yes, are you going to fish, An?"
She just groaned, hiding her face in the crook of Kohane's neck for a few seconds before letting go of her and begrudgingly approaching the cooler.
To give credit where credit is due, she did manage to put a worm on the hook...in 20 minutes. The moment she grabbed the first worm it slipped out of her hand, falling on the ground. The second worm she tried to take slipped again, this time on her jacket, making her jump back, trying to get it down and almost kicking the cooler in the process. Kohane tried her best to keep her laughter at bay, but Ken definitely didn't try at all, making An shoot him a glare once she got the worm off her jacket. The third worm she almost managed to place on the hook, but it slipped away again, falling back in the cooler. This time Kohane couldn't help but let a few chuckles escape as Ken laughed even harder, making An whine.
"Not you too, Kohane..."
"You can do it, An-chan!" Kohane cheered her on once her chuckles died down.
Finally, the fourth worm seemed to be the lucky one as with extreme carefulness, one that An never usually showed, she managed to pierce it on the hook. As soon as she did it, she turned towards Kohane with the brightest smile, making Ken think that if she had a tail it would definitely be wagging back and forth right now.
Unfortunately for An, this was only the easiest part down.
After casting the line out, Kohane went back to taking pictures and An took her place in the seat at the edge of the lake, concentration overtaking her features as she waited. Ken chuckled internally as he took his own seat and cast his line as well, wondering how long she will last.
Turns out that not very long, as after around half an hour, which was actually more than Ken even expected out of her, An turned to observe Kohane, getting lost in all the different expressions she made as she took picture after picture. That led to her not even noticing when her fishing rod started bending slightly, a fish obviously biting the bait.
"An." Ken brought her back to reality, but it was too late. The moment An snapped back and grabbed the rod, tugging on it, it came back empty, the fish having already taken the bait and swimming away. An just huffed, standing up and going back to the cooler to grab another worm, this time surprisingly managing to hook one up in only two tries. Retaking her seat, she cast her line again, determined that this time she wouldn't get distracted again.
Well, she tried her best at least, but her gaze still kept lingering back to Kohane. She did manage to snap herself back to reality though every time she caught herself staring at her girlfriend, but this time no fish bit.
Thus two hours passed, Ken ended up catching four fish while An none. She turned in her father's direction with a pout on her face.
"Dad, you're stealing all my fish."
Ken just shrugged, not taking his eyes off of his fishing rod as he smiled, speaking up. "Or you're just having an unlucky day. Welcome to the world of fishing, kiddo."
An just whined, turning in Kohane's direction, who finished taking pictures and set on taking a walk around the lake, admiring its clarity. "Kohaneee, will you come here for a bit?"
Kohane immediately approached her with a smile, but An didn't even let her ask her what's wrong before she patted her lap. "Take a seat."
Kohane blinked once, then twice, before a blush dusted her cheeks. "E-Eh?"
"I'm having really bad luck and you're like a lucky charm for me, so stay with me for a bit, please?" An whined, making puppy eyes at her. Kohane could never resist her when she was like this, so she embarrassedly, but carefully sat down on her lap, listening to her girlfriend's request. As soon as she did, she could feel An relaxing against her, closing her eyes for a few seconds and taking a deep breath, before opening them again, determination once again on her face. "Alright! I will catch the biggest fish for you!"
Kohane chuckled, giving her encouraging words before turning her gaze towards the rod as well, waiting for any movement.
Unfortunately for them, two more hours passed and nothing happened besides Ken catching five more fish, albeit small ones. He stood up, stretching his hands above his head before speaking up.
"Alright, let's pack up."
An turned towards him, quickly about to protest, but as soon as she opened her mouth her stomach started growling, making her close her mouth again and pout. Kohane chuckled, patting her on the head before standing up, helping Ken pack up. When An stood up, about to join them, she almost fell in the lake, but Ken immediately grabbed her by the jacket and pulled her back where Kohane wrapped her arms around her.
"An-chan! Are you alright?"
Once she felt Kohane's arms around her, she let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, my legs were asleep from holding you for so long." As soon as she saw an apologetic look on Kohane's face, she immediately spoke up again. "Ah, but it's fine! At least I got to hold you if I couldn't catch any fish for you." she added the last part with an awkward chuckle, making Kohane smile.
"You tried your best, it was just an unlucky day.
An sighed defeatedly before joining Kohane and her father in packing all the equipment up.
The drive back was spent with Kohane trying her best to console An while Ken watched them amused.
As soon as they arrived back, Ken went in the kitchen and started preparing their meal while Kohane started showing An all the pictures she took throughout the day.
Once he returned with their plates, Kohane showed him a few pictures she managed to take of him and An while they were concentrated on fishing as well.
A smile started growing on his face once he saw a particular picture which had him and An, looking towards the lake as they were fishing, and Kohane on the side, smiling with a peace sign.
"Would you mind if we framed this and put it on a wall here in Weekend Garage?" Ken asked Kohane before she could switch to another picture.
That caught An's attention as she leaned over Kohane's shoulder, taking a look at the camera and breaking into a smile.
"That's a great idea! What do you say Kohane?"
Kohane smiled bashfully, but was quick to agree, saying she will print it and bring it back tomorrow.
As they ate their meal in peace, Ken couldn't help but think that he was grateful he didn't cancel his trip.