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“We call it peray-cep.” Asirpa informed proudly, holding up the monstrosity. “What do you call it, Ogata?”
The man froze for a few seconds, not even blinking. “Anglerfish.”
–
Despite the blizzard howling and their ears being muffled by their hats, Ogata heard the girl right.
“What about something he wanted to eat one last time… did he say anything about that?”
In a split second, he remembered something the Lieutenant always used to say. ‘You are a master of the words you don't say, and a slave for the ones you do.’
“No… those were his last words. I’m sorry, Asirpa…”
To enhance his performance, he took her tiny gloved hand and crouched to her eye level, staring straight into her eyes. Her tears welling up made them look like polished sapphires.
He doubted whether to pull her into an embrace, his reasoning telling him that’s what people did in these emotional situations.
Ultimately, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Considering who the girl had been reminding him of, he wanted to avoid stirring any weird emotions within himself at that crucial moment. Instead, he just squeezed her hand and held her gaze to further convince her he wasn’t lying.
The instant she parted her lips to reply, a gunshot was all he could hear. Distant, yet close enough to pose a significant threat.
“You’ll tell me later.” He promptly got up, scanning the veiled horizon. “It’s dangerous, let’s go.”
“But what about Kiroranke-nispa and Shiraishi–?!”
“We’ll regroup eventually. Besides, I can’t shoot well with poor visibility. Or do you want to get us killed, Asirpa?”
The young girl furrowed her brows, growing concern showing on her face. Not uttering a single word, she took his hand again and followed him into the ice.
–
By the time she could make out the snowy peaks of Etorop, the stench of salmon no longer bothered her, and the constant swaying no longer made her seasick.
In fact, the closer they sailed, the more striking the landscape became. Sinuous white flowing down charcoal mountains, the region’s imposing profile crisp against the horizon.
The only sound that overpowered that of the ice sheets cracking under the boat was Ogata’s voice, colder than the sea.
“Still unsure about the code?”
“I’m just thinking… there has to be a special combination with the words I told you.” Replied Asirpa, tightly gripping the deck’s guardrails. Their eyes met briefly, before the man returned to his binoculars.
“We’re almost there. I can see Shana.” He stated, offering her the gadget. “Careful.”
“Ugh… the sea’s so bumpy, I can’t spot it well.” She narrowed her eyes even through the looking glass. “This thing is so hard to use.”
“Here.” He held it back in his hand, aiming it towards the island. Asirpa leaned into it, focused.
“Oh, it’s true!!” Sure enough, one could observe the unassuming fishing port of present-day Kurilsk nested in a small bay. “Are there any other salmon fishing boats?”
“Don’t see any.”
“Hm… I’m kinda worried. What if the guys in the outpost recognize you?”
“I don’t think they will.” The man replied, putting back his prized tool. “The military outposts in the Kuriles are pretty disconnected from the ones in Hokkaido, let alone the ones in the Central district.”
“But there’s a possibility, right?”
“There is. That’s why we need to keep a low profile. Going to the outpost in Etorofu and you being my translator was just the excuse we gave the fishermen anyway.” He slicked his hair back. “Don’t need to follow that after we get off. We’ll just go find the Ainu there and have them help with directions.”
“I really want to meet them…” Her dark hair swam with the wind, her eyes set on the growing coastline. “I wonder if we’ll be able to understand each other…”
Ogata just ignored her anthropologist musings and made sure they were still alone on that deck. The plan was simple in theory: instead of taking the obvious way back through Hokkaido, take a detour through the Kuriles and eventually land in Nemuro. He didn’t want to risk the 7th back on his ass, nor Sugimoto if he was really alive. Besides, this gave him extra time to try and pry out the damn password. After he squeezed the information out of the Ainu girl…well, who knows? He would do whatever was most convenient.
Asirpa, on the other hand, couldn’t shake off the uneasiness that came with Ogata’s company. Even though she had lied to him about the possible passwords, she couldn’t help but feel constantly paranoid that he knew. He had to know she was lying, there was no other way. And yet, he chose to graciously accompany her on this new adventure into a whole new territory she hadn’t even been aware of a couple of years ago.
Not many people, not even acha, mentioned the Kuriles much. Ogata and the other sisam called it Chishima archipelago, but barely spoke about them either. Apparently they were mostly uninhabited, yet there were Ainu there.
Yes, she had to meet them, she thought. It was her duty, after all, to not leave anyone behind.
Nevertheless, traveling with Ogata wasn’t nearly as fun as traveling with everyone else. In a way, she was free to do as she pleased… and yet, her heart still told her she was a hostage, ever since they got separated from the group.
“SHISUKA-CHO! THEY COME FROM KARAFUTO!”
The Shana fishermen’s shouts woke her up from her daydream. Oh, they already docked? She looked around for the sniper, tailing after him and thanking the sailors on their way out.
–
It was staggering, how two islands could be so different yet so similar due to their proximity. Etorop’s earth looked scorched; large sandbanks of black volcanic sand blended into the sea, interrupted by the occasional stream coming from the thousands of springs found in the island.
Kina-sir, by contrast, was much more mountainous and less scorched - the blanket of snow and perennials hiding a cream-colored bedrock.
It had been two weeks since they’d been traveling and they already had a bunch of new experiences hiding up their sleeves. In Etorop, Asirpa made contact with the local Ainu, who warmly welcomed them and listened to her stories from Hokkaido. Although the dialect was a bit different, a week was enough for her to pick up some new vocabulary and customs much needed to survive while traversing the island.
The pretext of Ogata gathering data to bring to the next military outposts seemed to work well enough to help them cross over to Kina-sir, the island closest to Nemuro port in Hokkaido.
“There.” His cloak ebbed with the wind, the vantage point high enough to let him spot a small fisherman’s hut where some Japanese men worked, categorizing fish they had caught. “We might as well spend the night there today.”
On their way down, Ogata made sure to shoot down some wigeons to offer in exchange for the lodging fee. Apparently, their boats would be leaving with the freshly caught cargo to the nearby town, so the hut was entirely available. They left them some coal, which prompted the wildcat to light up immediately in search of some warmth.
He could hear Asirpa waving goodbye to them in the background before the door slid open and she came in triumphantly with a basket of fresh fish.
“They were so nice!” She exclaimed, placing the basket next to the hearth. “Look, they gave me some fresh fish and all! We have dinner!”
The instant his eyes lifted up from the embers, his body stiffened up. The lumpy grey blob nested in the woven basket revealed its form the moment Asirpa held it up from the tail, showing it off.
“We call it peray-cep.” Asirpa informed proudly, holding up the monstrosity. “What do you call it, Ogata?”
The man froze for a few seconds, not even blinking. “Anglerfish.”
"I asked the nispa what I should make with it, and he said anglerfish is good for an ohaw," She chirped cheerfully, taking out some dried seaweed and roots. “Plus, I wanna try what the Ainu in Etorop taught us, boiling the toma with that special earth to take out the bitter flavor…”
“If that’s the case then I’ll go get something for myself.” He rudely interrupted, getting up and grabbing his rifle.
"Huh?" She seemed perplexed, the gutting knife still in her hand. "Eh--!? W-why!? You don't feel like ohaw...?"
"I don't like anglerfish nabe."
"...Oh...Ogata. You can't be so picky. Even though I went through the trouble of getting this...!" She sighed out, pouting on purpose. "Geeeezzz Ogata.. to think you'd be so spoiled… you sound like a little kid!"
The sniper gave her the nastiest side eye he found within himself. He seemed slightly bothered, which was a little rare coming from him. "My mom used to make it when I was a kid. I always hated it"
That shocked her a bit. It was the first time she had heard about his family. She stopped washing the dirt out of the toma root, although she sighed relieved next. "..Seriously, that's just it? You really are spoiled…! Think of all the people who don't even have food to eat!!" She laughed a bit, peeling the toma. "Is your mom a bad cook then?"
"She wasn't bad at cooking it," He replied, now clearly put off. "She made it everyday."
"Eh..! Everyday food you don't like..? You must've been hungry then, ahahah..!" She laughed it off, not even looking at him while she started gutting the fish.
"I tried hunting birds for her, but she wouldn't cook them. She made anglerfish nabe everyday, no matter what."
"Huh? She really liked it then!" She laughed a bit harder. "But to not even cook birds...! Poor Ogata, poor Ogata..!"
"She thought it would bring my father back home somehow" He blurted out, still gripping his rifle.
"...Huh?" She suddenly got quiet, looking up at him.
"He had a wife back home... so there was no way he was going to return to us, from the very beginning." The more Asirpa teased him the more he felt the need to overshare, trying to make her feel guilty and awkward. She wanted to pry, didn’t she? Well, he was about to make her regret it. "But she said he'd return one day, so she made his favorite food everyday no matter what."
"Wait.. what?" The girl wore a puzzled expression on her face. "Wife.. back home? It wasn't your mom?"
In a sibylline manner, he brushed his hair back once more, eyes half lidded as per usual. "No. My mom was just some woman he had an affair with."
"That's… horrible," Emotions following one another showed on the girl’s demeanor, now clearly concerned. "Did he ever come back?"
The corner of his mouth curled up into a bitter grin, accompanied by an equally bitter laugh. “No. He didn't even come to her funeral. The last time I saw him, he told me he would not have gone back to a crazy woman like my mom."
“Oh…” Asirpa was mortified. "I'm so sorry, Ogata."
He shrugged, but relished in watching her pained expression. Her innocent eyes stained by the ugly truth of unloving parents, even if she had seen countless men die in front of her. In the process of inflating his own ego though, he felt a bit conflicted. He didn’t want her to pity him, yet ruining her happy mood with his sob story felt. Somewhat powerful.
"W-we don't have to eat this–" She spoke up, heavy-hearted.
He felt his blood rushing elsewhere in the awkward silence. Her dirty hands full of fish guts made her look especially charming in his eyes. Yes, if she were to understand him, she’d surely start getting her hands dirty too… right?
"...Maybe prepared some other way..." Her words took him out of his trance. “Otherwise it'd be a waste… and it’s getting late."
Suddenly, she gasped, looking back at him with a new suggestion. "...We could roast it!"
Huh. He hesitated for a second, slowly setting his gun back down. That didn't sound like such a bad idea.
"I'll try to make it as different from ohaw as possible! Leave it to me, leave it to me~" Asirpa’s optimism in the face of adversity had to be studied. Ogata surprised himself as he gradually lowered back down to the floor. He felt physically awkward, like something other than hunger was creeping up from his stomach.
"Mom... I don't want to eat anglerfish nabe again."
"I'm so sorry, Hyakunosuke... let me prepare it in another way."
She hummed as she took out some sticks and skewered the fish fillets on it, setting them by the coals.
"Prepare some hot water for the toma, okay? Hmm hmm~" She got up and put on her boots. “I’m gonna go grab some kamuy-noya I saw behind the shed. We still should have some ohaw even if we don’t put the fish in it, to warm up!”
He obeyed her cooking instructions, as he often did during their travels. Yet this time, something about watching her prepare it like that… stirred unwanted emotions, as if his body was the pot itself.
When she came back holding a few handfuls of mugwort, the roots had already cooked through. She carefully added dry shrimp in boiling clean water, strained the earthy roots and blanched the picked greens. The anglerfish meat was roasting, fashioning burnt crisp edges, something you can't get in a soup.
Fat was dripping down from it on the sizzling charcoal, making the young girl drool. "Uwaah... smells so good…"
The wildcat sniffed the air when he heard that. It did smell amazing, albeit his hatred for the nabe never stemmed from it tasting foul. However... the new implications surrounding this new recipe…
"Almost ready!!" She handed him a bowl of steaming shrimp soup. "This is horka-terkep soup, to warm you up."
Ogata accepted the food cautiously, observing the girl. She was enjoying it lots, chewing through the small shrimp on it.
He took a sip. Although it had been improvised, the soup had a rich flavour. Small pieces of shrimp added to the texture. The toma root was chewy and indeed less bitter. The mugwort gave it character. Today's food seemed.. better than usual.
After the soup, she handed him a glistening skewer. His hand brushed gently against Asirpa's as he took the stick from her. It made him want to linger.
She took a bite from hers, dancing a bit on the spot. "Mmnnhhh hinna hinna...!!"
He watched her try it, oil making her tender lips glossy. Although the strange sensation in his stomach wouldn’t stop, his mouth opened almost involuntarily as he brought the food closer.
Grinding his teeth on the soft burnt flesh took out flavors he found both comforting and nauseating, nostalgic yet… new.
“...Hinna.” He muttered, avoiding her gaze.
Her face lit up with the shine of a thousand suns, not without going forward and rubbing her hand against his shoulder, reassuring him. Not a word was spoken, as they were both busy stuffing their faces.
Tension eased up in his muscles, feeling somewhat accomplished. In his mind… he had finally convinced mom to cook something else. Surely, she had actually done it back then…
“Aw, I’m so happy you actually ate it…please don’t force yourself though!”
“I’m not forcing myself.” He replied, grabbing another skewer. It was good. It was so good.
"Uwaahh… who could've known a fish so ugly could be so tasty..!" She tossed the skewers into the embers, sitting down all satisfied.
Ogata laid down near the fire. He had effectively stuffed himself full that day.
Like never before, even.
They sat in silence, observing the fire.
The hearth’s crackle combined with the wind banging on the wooden walls created an intimate atmosphere. Ogata slowly creeped to the girl, shamelessly placing his head on her lap, his gaze piercing into hers from below. The pose and setting were not that different from that of a newlywed couple. Asirpa pushed the thought to the back of her head.
She reached to pet his hair softly, which he seemed to strangely accept.
The young girl never knew how to feel around him. Sugimoto was her hero, but… she was coming to terms with his absence, and the fact that he would never look at her like a girl or woman, just a child. However, Ogata was different. He felt like a child himself, sometimes. This was one of the instances.
These thoughts crossed her mind while she absentmindedly pet him, staring at the embers. He had allowed her to run her fingers through his scalp, he wasn’t gonna refuse something like that.
Moments like these were rare, but happened more often lately. Getting used to body contact, casual warm intimacy like that.. It felt peaceful now for both, even if it was only for a short while. They both needed it, after all.
"..My hapo died after I was born so.." Ogata could only faintly hear her voice as his mind started drifting. "I don't remember her. But it must've been hard for you..." Her voice lulled him closer to unconsciousness. "I'll..cook stuff you like... Ogata.." She said, drowsy as well.
He hummed, gripping one of her fingers in his hand. Asirpa had no way of truly knowing, but few people had been able to touch him in the way she had that day.
“Did you know, Ogata? In Hokkaido, the word for mom is hapo, but in Kuril Ainu, it’s nonno…” Ogata took no time to fall unconscious, himself, with a full stomach and a fuller chest.
“But both sound comforting.” He heard in a dream.