A Changed Life

"Can't you spare us one fish?!" Nagato bowed his head, his long bangs still covering most of his face. Shy and withdrawn, he couldn't bring himself to ask for more, even when begging for help.

"Just a little would be enough. We haven't eaten in almost a day. Please, we're begging you—take pity on us!" Konan pleaded in a sincere voice, looking pitifully at the fishmonger. She clasped her hands together and bowed.

The fishmonger was a gaunt man in his forties. The hardships of life and the chaos of the times had turned his hair gray even though he was still in his prime. At the sight of the two youngsters pleading with him, he furrowed his brow until a deep crease appeared between his eyebrows. In the current state of the Land of Rivers, life wasn't easy for ordinary people like him, either. The orphans before him were pitiful, but with the number of homeless people growing by the day, he didn't dare let his compassion run wild. If he gave in once, more orphans and refugees would surely swarm him. In troubled times, he had to harden his heart.

"What fish do you think I can give you? Get lost, and stop bothering me while I'm working!" The fishmonger waved Nagato and Yahiko away.

They had expected the man to react this way, but the way he shooed them off like flies still left Konan and Nagato feeling stifled.

"What a cheapskate!" Konan snapped, taking a step back and raising her voice at the fishmonger.

The man's expression darkened at once. Anger flared in his eyes. Just as he'd thought, there was no point showing compassion to stray kids like these.

"What did you say? Say that again, you little brat!" the middle-aged man roared, storming out from behind his stall. If the two brats didn't run, he'd teach them a proper lesson. Even with a little girl among them, he wouldn't go easy!

"Hmph!" Konan snorted and made a face at the fishmonger. When he started coming after her, she grabbed Nagato, who was standing frozen beside her, ready to run.

As the fishmonger hurried toward them, looking furious, a flicker of panic crossed Konan's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure. She kept hold of Nagato, ready to flee, while continuing to taunt the fishmonger. Every now and then, she glanced toward the stall behind her. Someone had been hiding there for some time.

Seeing that Konan and the others had successfully drawn the middle-aged man's attention, Yahiko seized his chance. Hidden behind the fish stall's canopy, he darted to the stall displaying the sea fish, snatched up the one nearest him, and hurried back behind the canopy.

Yahiko moved very quickly. Though he hunched over, his steps were light and steady. The faint sound he made blended into the rain and was barely noticeable.

"Haah! Haah! Haah..." After quickly rounding a corner, Konan and Nagato stopped. They braced their hands on their knees and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. Because Konan had provoked him, the petty fishmonger had chased them for more than half a street. Fortunately, the street was crowded, or they wouldn't have gotten away so easily.

Although they'd been chased and had made a sorry sight, a hint of delight appeared in Konan's eyes once she'd caught her breath. They'd led the fishmonger so far away that Yahiko's part of the plan must have gone smoothly.

"That should be long enough. Come on, Nagato. Let's go back!" After resting for a few minutes, Konan waited until her breathing had mostly settled, then raised her arms and stretched before calling to Nagato.

"Mm." Nagato followed Konan. The two small figures took a narrow path out of town and gradually disappeared into the rain.

"Mmm, I'm so full! Ai's grilled fish really is the best!" Konan rubbed her belly with a satisfied smile. Girls generally had smaller appetites than boys like Nagato and Yahiko, but whenever she got to eat Yuehua Ai's grilled fish, she couldn't help having a little extra. Yuehua Ai was young, but he was genuinely good at grilling fish.

When she thought about how they'd met Yuehua Ai and taken him in half a year ago, everyone felt lucky. At first, they'd only taken him in out of pity and compassion, thinking of him as a little brother to raise. They hadn't expected anything from him in their day-to-day lives. Yet the longer the four of them lived together, the more their lives changed for the better. It was almost like a dream.

Konan had always felt that Ai was mature beyond his years. Unlike ordinary mischievous children, he was obedient and considerate, and he knew how to care for others. He also had more experience surviving than they did.

She remembered when they'd first started begging in town. At first, some people gave them a little something, but as the number of orphans and refugees in town gradually increased, the villagers' expressions grew colder and their attitudes harsher.

Later, no one gave them anything anymore—not even when they begged. At their age, there was no other way for orphans like them to survive. In the end, they had no choice but to steal.

At first, their thefts went fairly well. But as the villagers grew more wary of them, they became less and less successful at stealing food. When they failed, they went from receiving warnings to getting beaten. Nagato and Yahiko weren't the only ones who got hurt; even a girl like Konan had been beaten and taught a lesson plenty of times.

Just as their lives were growing more desperate, Yuehua Ai joined their group. They'd expected life to get even harder, but this child's arrival gradually changed everything.

For the first few days after joining Yahiko and the others, Yuehua Ai went stealing with them. But Yahiko and the others were astonishingly bad at it. Several times in a row, they came away empty-handed and covered in bruises. Even Yuehua Ai had once been beaten until his bottom was swollen.

Yuehua Ai soon realized that they couldn't keep going like this. They had no future at all. Getting beaten was one thing for rough boys like Yahiko and Nagato, but whenever Konan got hurt, Yuehua Ai felt furious and heartbroken. How could anyone bring themselves to hit such a cute girl? He was filled with anger, but there was nothing he could do about it. So he had to find a way to change things and a new path to improve everyone's lives.

He spent a week learning about the villagers' living conditions and the geography around the town. After going over everything, Yuehua Ai decided that their chance to change their lives lay in the river that had swept him here. He'd drifted along it for a long time, and he'd learned one thing for certain: there were fish in it, and plenty of them. After all, the Land of Rivers was covered in waterways, an ideal environment for aquatic life.

Fishing was a skill that orphans like Yahiko and Nagato, who'd lost their parents so suddenly, had never learned. But for Yuehua Ai, who'd lived two lives, fishing was no problem at all. He could think of countless other ways to catch fish, too.

When he first shared his idea with Yahiko and the others, Yahiko teased him. He'd been to the river before and had thought about fishing, too, but the current was swift, and they lacked both tools and skills. Fishing was an idea that had already gone nowhere.

Yuehua Ai didn't mind their doubts and certainly wasn't about to give up. After searching around town for three days, he managed to make a simple fishing rod. That afternoon, while everyone was anxiously wondering where he'd gone, he walked into their hideout dragging a carp half the size of his body. Yahiko and the others stared at him, dumbfounded.

Once he taught them how to fish, their lives seemed to change overnight.

They kept a small portion of their daily catch to eat and had Yahiko take the rest into town to trade for other food and household necessities. Compared with the prices of fish in the shops, what they got in exchange was worth far less than the fish they'd caught. But they didn't mind. They were already satisfied with how their lives were improving. At least they weren't thieves whom everyone beat on sight anymore, nor were they like stray dogs, constantly living in fear.

The boys no longer had to worry about where their next meal would come from, so they stopped stealing. They hadn't taken fish from the stall today on a whim, either. They'd mainly done it to get even for Yahiko. They often traded their catch for household necessities, which had affected the fish stall's business to some extent. Adults like the fishmonger probably didn't care much, but his son had grown resentful toward the boys because of it. Since Yahiko usually went from house to house with fish, asking people if they wanted to trade, the fishmonger's son had spotted an opportunity. He'd gathered a few people, cornered Yahiko, and beaten him badly as a warning.

Yahiko was only twelve years old. He had no chance of fighting back against several adults. When the others found out, they were all furious, with nowhere to vent their hurt and anger. In the end, they discussed it together, and that was how they decided to steal fish from the stall.

But, really, food from an "enemy's" home tasted different from food they'd caught themselves!