Episode 8 – School’s Madonna Wants to Exchange Contact Information

“From now on, I’m thinking of changing the way I fish.”

By the time we finished eating, my watch showed that it was past ten o’clock.

“Does that mean you’re going to change the way you fish because I can’t?”

Watanabe san’s expression turned gloomy and she sounded sad. I realized that my words were not clear enough and reflected on them.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I was planning to stop fishing with lures at this point, too.”

Her flaxen hair sways softly as she tilts her head.

“There are fish that are easy to catch and fish that are hard to catch, depending on the time of day. At this time of the day, the snook and other fish have stopped being caught, so it’s not very efficient to throw a lure at them.”

Inada feed on migratory fish such as small horse mackerels. Basically, migratory fish are more active early in the morning and in the evening when they eat, so they disappear before noon.

This means that the number of Inada, which come to feed on small horse mackerels, will naturally decrease, making it impossible to catch them.

“What are you going to fish for now?”

Watanabe san, who was convinced that this was the case, tilted her head and asked me what I was going to fish for.

“It’s still early, but I’m thinking of aiming for Japanese Whiting.”

Japanese whiting is a fish that lives in shallow sandy areas. They become active from morning to late afternoon, so now is the perfect time to target them.

Since the bottom of this facility is sandy in some places, you can catch a wide variety of fish as long as you have the right gear.

So we moved to a new location, not at the top of the bank, but at the very front of the bank.

“I’m surprised to see people surfing already at this time of the year.”

We could see surfers playing with the waves on the beach in the distance.

“The water temperature seems to be relatively high, and I hear those suits are quite warm.”

I remember the words of a former surfer who had talked to me while we were fishing, and he shared his knowledge with me.

“So, about the bait I’m going to use this time…….”

“Is it the bait full of little shrimp like the last one?”

“No, no. This is it.”

“Hii !?”

Watanabe san screamed when I opened the bait I had just bought at the store and showed it to her.

“Japanese whiting like live bait that moves around, so I hook this one on the hook and use it as bait.”

While I was explaining the process, Watanabe san was still in shock, not moving an inch.

It would be hard to tell a girl who is fishing for the first time to touch it.

When she came to herself, she closed her eyes and shivered. I laughed at her almost defensive appearance.

“Okay, I’m done.”

“T-thank you.”

While she was scared, I quickly baited the fish and handed her the rod. I prepared my own hooks, too,

“The rest is easy. Just throw it like this, let it drop to the bottom of the sea, and slowly reel it in.”

I pointed the rod down, spun the reel, and reeled it in slowly. Even beginners can catch Kisu easily, so Watanabe san can catch them with this method.

“I-is it like this……?”

Maybe she got used to throwing lures early in the morning, she threw the hook without hesitation and imitated my movement.

“Yeah, you’re good. If you don’t reel a little slower, you won’t be able to catch up to the bait if there are fish.”

“I see……”

She follows my advice as I correct her movements.

I cast it to different places several times, and as I was exploring the seafloor, I felt a bite……

(Whoa, I got a bite.)

I reeled up the hook faster and retrieved it.

“Watanabe san, try throwing it this way.”

Watanabe san tilted her head with a difficult look on her face. Fishing is something that even if someone teaches you how to do it, you don’t really feel it until the moment you catch a fish.

I’m not sure if I was doing it right, and I had to think about it a lot.

“O-okay !”

Watanabe san responded in a serious tone of voice as she cast her hook into the spot I had told her to fish.

“Ah !”

She shouted at the spot where I had just had a bite. Watanabe sam became completely silent and concentrated on the subtle changes in the rod. Eventually…..

“I got it !”

“Keep calm and keep reeling at a steady speed ! If you loosen it, the hook will come off.”

She was in a panic, so I gave her some advice. Watanabe san stared at the water without looking at me. As the hook was gradually pulled in closer and closer to her, she saw the shadow of a fish with a splash.

Finally, she raised her rod high and pulled up the fish,

“I’ve caught it !”

On the end of the hook was a beautiful fish, shining a pale silvery white.

“Congratulations, that’s a Kisu.”

It was near the shallows, so it wasn’t that big, but it was a nice-sized Japanese whiting that would be delicious as a tempura.

“I did it ! I finally did it !”

Watanabe sam held the line and proudly showed me the Kisu.

“If you don’t mind, can we take a picture?”

I suggested, thinking she might want to keep a photo of her catch as a record.

“Please !”

I take out my phone and adjust it so that she and the Kisu are in the same frame and take a picture.

“How do you like it?”

In the photo, Watanabe san is smiling like the sun, and I feel strangely embarrassed as I stare at her.

She urged me to show her the photo.

“Here it is, on my phone…….”

As I was about to say that much, Watanabe san stopped moving.

I looked at her and gave her a dubious look, but I immediately thought of a reason.

I realize now that we never exchanged contact information with each other in the first place.

Originally, I should have borrowed her smartphone to shoot, but I ended up using my smartphone, so I guess I’m at a loss for words.

“Sorry, I’ll erase the pictures over here. Can I borrow your phone again, Watanabe san?”

It is not surprising that a woman as popular as Watanabe san would be disgusted by the idea of having her picture taken and saved by a member of the opposite sex.

I hastily suggest this, but she puts down her rod and takes out her phone, then covers her mouth and says,

“I-if you want, why don’t we exchange contact information?”

With that, she shows me a code for a chat application.

I did as she asked, exchanged contact information, and shared the photo I had just taken with her,

“Ehehehe, if you leave it in the record like this, it would be nice to be able to remember it when you look back.”

If this is the case, I regret that I should have left a picture of the first time I caught a fish. The memory of the first time I caught a fish in my life is a very precious treasure……

“By the way, you look pretty happy.”

Even though she only caught one Kisu, I couldn’t help but leak those words because she was overjoyed.

“Eh, I mean. Now I can contact you anytime, right?”

“Eh?”

Somehow the conversation doesn’t mesh, but she was in a good mood and looking at the screen of her phone, so she didn’t realize that I was watching her.

After thinking about it for a while, I came up with the convenient interpretation that Watanabe san wanted to know my contact information.

“Since Kisu moves in groups, there is still a chance of catching them if we keep casting at the same place ! Let’s keep on catching them !”

I switched my attention to fishing and gave her instructions.

From there, we both caught about 20 Kisus, and then we put our rods away.