I'm not very good at fishing.

Though, I guess that's to be expected, since it's my first time doing it ever, but, regardless, I am not very good at it.

That being said, Sis didn't particularly seem to mind. Actually, the opportunity to teach someone seemed to make her more excited.

Still, despite my lack of skill, I definitely had a good time. Not necessarily because fishing itself was fun, (granted, it was, for a while anyway), but because Sis seemed to be having the time of her life. And that's kinda how empathy works. 

I wasn't able to ask anything of particular importance, though I did learn how to properly assemble a fishing rod. I also learned that you had to assemble a fishing rod. Sort of. The rod itself is... Well, what I'm trying to say is that there are a lot more parts that you gotta work with than I had initially thought. And, if I'm entirely honest, I don't remember half of it. My brain kind of shut off when she showed me how to tie knots around the reel-y guy. 

Not because I was bad at it, mind you. I actually impressed myself with how efficiently I tied those knots/that knot on my first try. So impressed that I stopped paying attention and only half remember the rest of the crap I did.

Anyways, shoot, where was I? I had something sentimental going on for a second, but I lost it. Ah, right. Things of particular importance. 

I didn't ask anything this time. But I don't think I needed to. For now, at least, it was enough that she was smiling. I might not be able to change anything substantial for her, not now, maybe not ever, but this, this I certainly can do. Right now, just being certain that she was smiling was more important than anything else in the world.

Oooh, that gave me chills. That was a cool line. Good job, me. 

. . .

"Great day for fishin'." I said, maybe trying to do a stereotypical TV fisherman voice. 

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? It's awesome!" Sis said excitedly.

"Yep. Real good."

. . .

Well, I guess I could ask something relatively weighty. We do have all day after all, maybe. Or at least until S wakes up. Speaking of which,

"For being a 'light sleeper', S sure is sleeping pretty heavily."

"I suppose that's true." Sis said, without even a shred of enthusiasm. "Though, he got up a couple times before you did. He's already eaten breakfast and gotten in some exercise." 

"Really? Why'd he go back to bed?"

"From what I'm told, he passed out or something. Decided it best to go back to sleep after that."

"Ah. Yeah, that's fair." 

He did sleep while he was on the mountain, right?

. . . 

Oh, shoot, I forgot to ask the weighty thing.

"Say, a-about your whole name thing... H-Have any in particular in mind?" In hindsight, this probably should have been, like, the first question I asked when she told me about this. She's not gonna say something like 'Tuna' or 'Bass', right? 

"Kind of, actually." Sis said, with relatively high enthusiasm. That is, higher than when I asked about S, but significantly less than when we're talking about fishing. "I'd like it to be something cute and elegant, and maybe vaguely European. Your version of Europe, by the way. Something like Charolette. I love that name." 

"Why not go with that?"

"'Cus I can't take Charolette's name. That'd be... Weird? Yeah. Weird."

"That's fair." I would imagine that it's a pretty common name, but I can definitely see where she's coming from with that. That's one good thing about my name, I don't have to worry about sharing it with celebrities.

I choose to think of Sis's whole thing with Charolette as a fan-celebrity kind of thing, 'cus otherwise it's kinda just stalking, and that's something I'd rather not think about. 

"So, something like 'Amelia', right?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's on the right track. Though, I believe you already know a young blonde girl named Amelia, and that might make things confusing." 

Oh, right, that's the duke's kids name, isn't it? That's probably why I thought of it, I guess. "Would it?" 

"Well, only once every... Don't worry about it. You're on the right track. I'm looking for something like that." 

"Alrighty. Y'know, this is a good place to be if you're looking for an old-timey European name, since this place is kinda like medieval Europe, maybe. Probably. I think. I, uh, don't actually know that much about European history. Or any history, for that matter."

"Me neither. Though, I think it's probably pretty different. Some of the names'll still work, though."  

"Yeah, that's the big thing."

"Yep."

. . .

. . .

Y'know, I hadn't really thought about it before, but I guess, as an immortal, her muscles don't really get tired, do they? I guess that's why she can stay fishing for so long. Long enough to fill all the downtime of 8 years of constant consciousness.

And I guess that's why she can maintain that look on her face the entire time.

Once again, I couldn't help but smile. 

It really was a wonderful day for fishing.

. . . 

Eventually, S did wake up without passing out and met us by the river. I asked Sis to leave a note about our whereabouts back at the house, since she's, y'know, literate.

"You've got some weird pens." Was one of the first things S said after he arrived.

Guess he doesn't know what crayons are. Does that mean that they don't exist, or that S is simply unfamiliar with children's school supplies? That's a thinker.

Anyways, S joined us on our impromptu riverside fishing trip for a while, and the three of us just shot the breeze for some time. No errands to run, no people, animals, or monsters trying to kill us, no surprise visits from the guards, no threatening conversation, no high intensity training to sucker punch super terrorists, no anxiety about said training, 'twas just the three of us, the river, a beautiful day, and the fish which we were cyclically torturing and sometimes accidentally killing probably. 

Fishing a seriously messed up hobby when you think about it. So I choose not to.

S didn't even bother trying with a fishing rod or anything, he just picked up a sharp rock off the ground, poured a bit of sand on it, and just motionlessly stared into river before just jabbing the rock in there. The sand washed off after the first dip, but nobody mentioned that.

Sis wasn't particularly happy with how S did things, but she was even more unhappy about how effective it ended up being. Of course, S wasn't out-fishing her, not by a long shot, but Sis was still annoyed it was even worth considering in the first place. 

Despite that, things were good. I was quite content, at least. Perhaps the most content I've been since we came to this world.

And then we had lunch. We ended up eating kinda early, 'cus Sis realized that I had skipped breakfast, and she kinda insisted.

Nothing bad happened there, either. Unless you count the consumption of ridiculously unhealthy (but so convenient!) fast food as bad. Which you probably should. I gotta start eating, like, fruit and stuff. 

Before we went back to doing whatever the heck, we decided to aimlessly walk around the city for a while. Though, I was secretly trying to keep an eye out for a fishing shop, or something.

Eventually, we came across a bunch of people crowded around a board that seemed to be full of advertisements. Ye olde crappy billboard.

For no particular reason, we decided to also look at what people were so excited about, because consumerism. 

It was a poster with a bunch of words and numbers and the head of a comically masculine sportsman type guy with KILLER facial hair smiling and giving a thumbs up.

I should eat more meat. Not, like, the chicken nuggets I just ate. Real meat. 

"Oh shoot, I totally forgot about that." S said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Swordsmanship tournaments coming up in a few days. Looks like they're having it here. Seems like it could be fun."

"Uh... H-How do they work?"

"It's a series of 1 on 1 fights between dudes who are good with swords. No armor, no shields, not even any magic, just pure skill and athletics. It's rooted in some old traditional somethingorother I don't care to understand."

"They fight each other with n-no protection? For sport? That's b-barbaric..." I said, fearfully. Sports shouldn't kill anyone! They should just give incredibly serious and difficult to treat injuries that can cause irreversible damage (especially among teens and young children) that ultimately lead to a shorter lifespan and lower quality of life!

S laughed, "N-no, it's just with wooden training swords, obviously!"

"O-oh, yeah. That makes sense." Ah, that's a relief.

"I think they did used to be to the death, though." S said, still laughing. "But, uh, they don't try to seriously hurt each other anymore. It's one good hit and yer out. Nobody gets seriously hurt, mostly. Or so I'm told. Can't say I've ever been to one, myself."

"Really? Why not?"

"Eh, just always been out while they've been on. Still, could be fun. Wanna go?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." I said. "Sis, d-"

"So long as you just watch. You're not allowed to participate." Sis said, sternly.

"Y-yeah, of course. I'd wager they're not gonna allow any new competitors so soon before the event, anyways-"

"Nah, actually, looks like people can still sign up. 'Till the day of, it seems." 

"Seriously? How can they possibly schedule that?" 

S shrugged. "Looks like they're also letting total randos take on the big man himself after the fact. Man, they're just letting anyone fight these days."

"Don't get any ideas." Sis said, just as sternly as before.

"I-I won't." I said. "Anyways, this whole deal's gotta be a logistical nightmare." 

"Right. That means planning and stuff, right?"

"Logistical? Y-yeah, think so."

"Right."

. . .

"Anyways," S abruptly continued, "Lookin' forward to finally seeing how the big man actually fights. It's supposed to be pretty cool, or so I've heard."

"Is the 'big man' the guy on the poster, or is that just a marketing thing?" I asked.

"Both, basically. He's generally the main event. The others tend to just be there to stretch the thing out, give people time to buy snacks." 

"That's kind of sad."

S shrugged. "That's how it is."

"I guess. When's the event, again?"

"3 days from now, from the looks of things."

"Oh. Nice."

. . .

"This is a timeskip, isn't it?" Sis said.

What?