Underwater

The sea

It gives life through its fish and game

But it also takes life through its storms

It's beautiful waves

Powerful and fearless

Ruthless

Did Dansei no hahaoya know that?

Surly he did

He must have?

Hadn't he?

Or did he just not care

Or not think about...

About what he could be leaving behind

His son

His little moth soon to be coming of age

Left here the only to care for poor Otōsan hung up on the bottle again

But I know I cannot blame the sea

And I cannot blame Dansei no hahaoya

Simply trying to feed his starving babe

But now his starving babe is a boy of fifteen

Soon to be married off to bare children for a sire of his own

And I am frightened

So frightened

But I only have my pathetic existence to blame

As ojiisan says

If my Otōsan would have married from the better family he would have had a stronger son

So I shouldn't be frightened

The sea is fierce and powerful

To be respected

Just as my ojiisan and his wish

For my shame upon the Kenji family to be unbound through marriage to a good man

A wish I owe to not just my ojiisan but to my poor Otōsan as well and even to my Dansei no hahaoya

So that his death all those many years ago will not be in vain

And also so his debts my be at last repaid

So

Down under the water I go

Down into the deep water and into the storm

But I suppose it is not too much of a task

For after all out of all the names that could have been picked for me

It was Suurin

The one who Braves the storm

So perhaps it is my destiny

_____

A few cascading floods of muddy water have made their recent rounds of the mountainsides bringing with them their expected reign of terror for at least three days to many of the local rice farmers in most of the surrounding land including even some small parts of the main Tokyo area.

But what is unusual about this spring's flowing dread is that for the first time in nearly sixteen years ominus mudslides have even made their way into the rice -paddies of Akionigami The Forbidden Village bringing with it the nightmarish promise of again another famine something that will not affect any of the surrounding people because of their surplus and access to food but in the Forbidden Village they have themselves and not the outside world.

It is simply the way it has always been and the way it shall always remain even if death is the price they pay something Suurin's ojiisan says his Dansei no hahaoya never learned.

"And you best make sure that you learn because it's the only reason that you're even alive boy!"

He would say over and over and over again but today strangely enough especially since it is the day after the flood is the one day that he isn't bringing it up.

Instead the feeble old man does what he normally does on every day, sits by the door looking out to the empty koi fish pond smoking on his pipe.

He normally would watch the fish and sometimes feed them grains of rice however a few days prior he had sold them all off at first to the puzzlement of Suurin but now that the understanding of his coming-of-age is approaching and what it means for him he now realizes the exact reason his ojiisan had sold off the whole pond.

While it's true that ojiisan gives the koi fish bits of rice for good luck it is Suurin who does the jobs around the house including feeding and cleaning the fish however once he's gone there will be no one to do that anyway so might as well minimalize the things that he was needed for.

To him it is a very frightening prospect for while it's true he did care for the fish quite a lot it's not them that makes this development worrisome it's the fact that the fish were not the only things that we're his job to care for there are many other things that it was his job to take care of and look after like his Otōsan! So the boy can't help but constantly question himself in his head what will ojiisan do now?

But as he allows his thoughts to race while cleaning the kitchen floors he is interrupted by his usually stoic ojiisan calling him by the only name he ever called him.

"Boy"

With that there is no questioning there is simply obey and he does so without a moment's hesitation other than the time needed to put away the cleaning cloth and after he has done so he walks over to his ojiisan's side to sits next to him formally and at attention only to be met with surprise by his ojiisan tugging up the boys sleeve inspecting the fabric closely.

"Is this your only kimono?"

"... yes honorable ojiisan other than this kimono I only have yukatas"

"You are to be married tomorrow so it'll do you good to learn to shut your mouth boy! I only asked you one question not two!"

And with a low bow the boy apologizes

"yes I am sorry for my mistake honorable ojiisan"

To this he's met with no reply only the look of his ojiisan's worn and wrinkled face deep in thought as he takes another puff from his pipe.

"Mmfffh"

He gives a deep and defeated sigh deciding that the problem he was thinking of is decided upon enough

"Well then I guess it'll have to do!"

He scoffs while turning his back upon the boy to look out onto the empty pond again while he continues

"But you can't wear a dirty kimono out to meet your husband he's a very important man so make sure you clean that rag tonight before you go to bed boy"

With a slightly higher bow and much more anxious voice he accepts his ojiisan's orders humbly once more.

"Yes honorable ojiisan"

And with this he's about to get up and return to his work when suddenly he notices the look on his ojiisan's face the subtle yet telltale eyebrows suddenly raising look that he does when he spontaneously and randomly thinks of something important that he had forgotten previously so the youth stays and waits for his ojiisan to tell him what has came to his mind.

"Wait a minute boy come back here!"

"I haven't left yet honorable ojiisan!"

The young boy suddenly feels his shoulders retreat into his body and his knuckles burry into the floor and turn white as ojiisan looks at him scrutinously.

"Knock that off boy sit-up straight! I taught you right didn't I? Respect your elders!"

The boys about to bow and apologize again but is cut off by his ojiisan putting his hand on his shoulder and demanding him to sit up straight and still

"Don't move boy let me get a good look at you!"

As the minutes go by he begins to feel even more like a mouse being watched by a cat as his ojiisan thinks to himself as he looks at him finally after an awkward few minutes breathing a sigh

"Mmmfffh"

"Is something else wrong with the kimono?"

"No this time it's you boy!"

The already pale youth tries to keep himself from flinching and turning even more white all over from the awkward feeling these words bring to his stomach but he soon curses himself for trying to put in the effort to stop himself from turning white after hearing his ojiisan's next comment which makes him turn red all over.

"A man with a job as important as your husband's is going to want you to start carrying his heirs fast but you're far too skinny still to bear child yet! You hardly even have enough meat on your bones as it is to even give your husband something to look at boy!"

And to make the situation worse for no apparent reason the boy can't control himself anymore and he hobbles over forward coughing like a fish out of water with his vision going slightly blurry every now and then from the blood pounding into his head from his face going so red.

"Alright that's enough boy now get up and get back to work and when you're done eat two more bowls of rice!"

"...ughh Yes! Ugh I mean yes honorable ojiisan of course! Right away yes!"

"Shut your trap and just do it already boy!"

And with that he thinks to himself.

And this is where my plunge begins.

_____

Ojiisan= formal term for grandfather.

Otōsan= formal term for father and in this case the man who sires the child.

Dansei no hahaoya= translates literally as "male mother" and as you can probably guess is the man that gets mpreggers