Through bushes, over walls, and through yards. Kincho was searching for what had to be treasure. And of course, treasure could be found underwater.
He pushed the sliding door open, pressing his hands together like he was taught "Pardon me..." he muttered, pressing through.
The "presence" he trailed scattered along the white tile. Vaguely leading him to the edge of the tub, Kincho closed his eyes tightly, feeling for the presence again. There was a slight tug on his mind, a pull, deep in the tub.
The one full of angry women, yes.
He stretched, took deep breaths, jogged in place, squatted... stretched, again... Took another deep breath and-splash-
For a moment, there was sweet silence.
Then there wasn't
-thwack- "You're to young to be acting like a pervert! Or to even be here!" Kincho tumbled of the tub, softly touching his cheek.
"Pervert?"
The angry girl tapped the "women's bath" sign then jabbed him with her finger "Get out!"
"I cannot leave!" he puffed up his chest and stomped boldly toward the angry teen. But he immediately deflated, scratching the back of his head.
"I-uh... need the pot..."
The girls eyes were wide, "isn't fiber out of style?", they then formed into daggers. Her knuckles went white around handle of her spear "DO, I, LOOK! LIKE I SELL THAT!?"
He blinked frantically, waving his hands "H-Huh? I'm not asking-"
"Oh! you're saying I have to give you 'the pot'?" she wrapped herself in a towel, tied her hair up, then unwrapped her "silver star of pain" all in a rough flourish.
Even the other women were shook.
"Wait wait! there is-ugh" He choked, at such a wonderful time to choke. "p-PARDON ME!!" He lunged, rolling past the girl's legs and diving into the pool.
The women erupted, plunging their hands like fists through the water. All of their enthusiastic "grabs" missed by pure chance.
The chance was long enough for Kincho to wrap his fingers around the handle of the pot- as he was being snagged out of the water by the collar.
Raised out of the water by the girl, he desperately lifts it up -clang- hiding his head behind it "See? pot! Now please let me go..."
Kincho waited for a response, but all he heard was growling so he peeked from one eye. Both of his eyes shot open to the nightmarish scene before him.
He slammed his hands together in prayer, a single tear slid down his face "Mom... Dad... I lived happily!"
Ah yes, the final words he chose, after hitting the girl with a spear on the chin with a pot...
"One of my few regrets would be... not bringing this pot back."
He felt warm, weightless, and at peace... he also felt the rough embrace of...
pavement.
"ow... .. . ?" he felt pain!
Kincho Mebuki lives to see another day!
Or a couple hours.
his smiled dropped "I'm still alive... OH, GOD! SHE'LL TORTURE ME!" He recoiled in despair, grabbing the sides of his head.
*bonk*
Pacing around the corner Kincho dropped beside Ringo with a flop "then she hit me on the top of my head" Kincho held his hands above his head for emphasis. "And she said, 'hurry up and get out of my sight!', really rude. Can you believe that?"
Sitting on the corner beside Kincho, Ringo finally formed his thoughts "You did all of that for a pot?"
Kincho smirked, standing up to place his hands on his hips "This is not any pot it's the family pot."
"It's made of gold right? an heirloom?"
Kincho scoffed at such a ridiculous question. "we got it last month." Ringo slapped his forehead, groaning "A-and its precious! Dinner is doomed without it." Kincho insisted.
Ringo chuckled, dropping his hand "How so?"
"Dad makes rice and salmon, Mom cooks curry!"
"Two meals huh? Bigshot." Ringo clapped Kincho's shoulder "Keep that up and you'll need new shirts everyday."
"I can handle it."
"Oh sure." Ringo spotted the light of a shop turn on and stood, brushing his pants off "Gotta go, good luck with the... two meals? or whatever." With a wave, no higher than his shoulder, he left, cruising down the road.
Kincho was left to his own words "Two is just fine..." he muttered, setting off to his home.
Once he arrived, Kincho's father had already prepared the table, the sizzling in the back would be the grilled salmon. He placed the second plate on the table then ruffled the hair of Kincho "Ah, your back! did ye find the family treasure?"
Like it were sacred, Kincho raised the pot over his head before placing it gently on the table. He grinned, sitting proudly at the table as his father took the pot to the kitchen.
As the father moved to the fridge, he glanced at the clock and grabbed the rice from the pantry instead. Looking at Kincho sit eagerly for the meal, he had to ask "So, there be a story with that?" he points at the ever present bump on his head.
"Oh! I almost forgot." Kincho began to retell the troublesome adventure. Every now and then, between shocked gasps, his father would glance at the clock and the rice.
Rising off the floor he knelt on at some point, he continued watching his father walk to the kitchen "I thought I was done for! but I managed to escape." By the time the story was over, so was the rice. He enthusiastically poked the bump, "And that's how I got this" but it still hurt, given the silent wince.
The father laughs, walking to the dining room. The pot is placed on the table (and exists dramatically) steaming rice filled the air.
Pops slammed his hands on the table, "What you did was brash..." his voice was low, he was shaking. Kincho couldn't help but sink into his chair "Heh..." a subtle noise, "You're just like me! HAHAHA!" His father burst out laughing, falling on his back even.
He got back to his feet and began scooping the rice to the plates, still chuckling as he approached Kincho. Noticing the uncertain look on his son, he pat Kincho on the head "Don't worry kid I'm not mad at ya." he scooped some rice on Kincho's plate "They weren't gonna listen, so you showed them."
he went back to the kitchen to grab the salmon. once he returned, he continued, "But be careful when you do that, as ye can... feel. It gets ya hurt." Finally, he sat at the right side of table, Kincho on the end to be closer, and the two began to eat.
During their time eating, his father told a story to Kincho about how he saw a kraken take a selfie with a girl. But as Kincho finished his meal, his father stood, putting on his wool vest. "Time's up, gotta go kid."
Kincho followed him outside to the rowboat in the middle of the road. "Do you really have to go? so soon?" He asked
"Treasure doesn't sink in cities" He said. "And I gotta keep bringing them." He stepped in the boat and grabbed the oars. "Love you son."
Kincho waved, smiling softly "Love you too."
His father began rowing down the road, the slow scraping waking a few neighbors. Even further down the road cars honked as he scraped by.
Minutes later, his mother arrives holding a shopping bag. Her short hair was slightly ruffled as if she had ran. She too ignored the loud scraping till it was gone, busy catching her breath "What are you doing outside Kincho?" she asked, hugging him briefly and squinting.
"Saying goodbye to-"
"Oh my! you're hurt! what happened?" She softly prodded the bump, stopping when she saw the slightest reaction. "Who did this?"
Kincho hesitated uttering out "It was a misunderstanding..."
"...About what?" she asked, moving on to the next worry like a bullet "your shirt is torn..." she mumbled
"I had to get the pot back... but it was in a tub in the bathhouse."
"Oh, Kinchi... you didn't dive in the tub to grab the pot did you?"
"I did..."
"Don't be so brash, it gets you hurt."
"Yes mother... Father said that too."
She blinked twice "He did?"
"...yes." he paused to soothe the bump on his head, then perked up "He did!"
"...Let's go eat..."
She held a guiding hand onto Kincho's shoulder as they moved toward the house. Then -snap- the groceries broke free, onions and potatoes bouncing down the road, carrots rolled anywhere.
Kincho and his mother scrambled to catch all of the vegetables. Kincho went for an onion he tripped on a carrot, destroying it.
"Be careful honey!" his mother yelled, tripping on a carrot herself missing the ones that rolled on the road as unscathed. Just as she was about to stand up, a stray truck ran over the remaining vegetables... perfectly. A line of veggie pancakes on the road for blank stares.
His mother sighed, tossing her hands up, "I really wanted to make fresh curry too..." She stood up, patting her head and sticking her tongue out. brushing off her pants, she then crouched before Kincho "Guess it's store bought then... sorry."
"Well... at least you're cooking it right?"
"Of course I am." She fixed his hair and pats his shoulder in one discrete movement "Now, lets go, before the house falls." she joked, though a frightening creak made her silently cross her fingers.
Later as the curry clashed on fresh plates with the reheated rice, Kincho sat at the edge like last time, his mother on the left. after some warm silence as they ate, Kincho broke it, "Mother?"
She stopped eating for a moment to show interest "Yes?"
"One day. can we all eat together?"
Her gaze lowered to the plate. She took a bite of curry, chewing it thoroughly before she swallowed. Even then, she took a moment before answering, a gentle but amiss smile on her face.
"Business life and a pirates life are alike in the way that, you can't always expect everyone to be on board."
She continued to eat her curry, it were as if her words hadn't even slipped.
And Kincho laughed, giving a subtle grin ."Two lives can be pretty challenging."
She blinked twice, slowly, looking at the wall before her. "...Yes."
The two ate peacefully for a moment more. "Kinchi?"
"Yes mother?"
She looked at him, smiling warmly "Love you."
Kincho giggled-Then choked on his curry, coughing and wheezing. "L-Love you too!"