[tenipuri] Taka-san Files 001: Big Fish Little fish
Title: Taka-san Files 001: Little Fish, Big fish
Character: Takashi Kawamura
Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Genre: PG, Drama, human
Summary: Future Taka talks about his past and about his father and the lesson he taught him
A/N an early birthday fic for Taka-san! <3 beta by: dark_angel_998
001: Little Fish, Big Fish
Irrasshaimase!! Welcome to my store!
My name is Kawamura Takashi. I am a Sushi Chef. I run Kawamura Sushi. I would like to say that this Sushi-ya is one of the town’s landmarks. It’s been here since my father built it, so well over thirty five years. My father built this place from scratch with his strength, hard work and love and handed it down to me when I was twenty years old when he died. I trust will also hand it down to my son and hope that tradition continues for many years. (That is, if I find a wife. With the way things are looking now, I need to find one soon or suffer being a bachelor forever.)
I am now twenty seven years old. Some would say that I am still young and should not rush things, but old enough in mine. Some may even say I am at the prime of my life right now, a young entrepreneur who is just making it. Some people say I am blessed, some say it’s talent and hard work. Some even say it’s fate. But I think that's not it. I am just doing my best in the world I was born into.
It’s been a rough few years for me. Being handed the sushi-ya so suddenly, I admit that was painful and reckless. However, I had no choice. The young me had to quickly adapt to it, learn the rough way and rebuild the sushi shop again with my own spirit. My father had always said that “The Sushi-ya gets its spirit from the chef, therefore if the Chef does not have a strong spirit or a passionate heart, the place will not succeed. The Sushi-ya and the chef are one, connected, mind, heart, body and soul. It is not wood and nails and concrete. The sushi-ya is where the chef is, where his heart lies and where his passions produce the most delectable dishes.”
Yes, my father is quite the philosopher, and I have come to believe him more in the last five years than I did when I was younger. What I thought was an old man’s foolish babble were wise words that I now live by. So if you ask if I am happy with what I am doing, the answer is yes. I am very happy. I am doing what I love to do. I am doing what I am born to do and I am enjoying it. After all, this was the only life I knew how to lead. This was expected from the day I was born. This was the life I want to lead.
Though I am living a small town existence, and maybe to some, it may seem to be a boring life, I still have a story to tell. I hope you oblige me and listen. It is the story of my life how from a small fish, I became a big fish and succeeded my father’s legacy and perhaps surpass it.
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“Little fish grow up to be big fish, unless they are caught. So never be caught, Takashi.”
I remember my father saying that as we walked around the fishmongers’ when I was a little boy. Back then, it was a treat for me to be woken up at the before the crack of dawn to watch the boats come in from the night’s fishing trips. This is where we get the freshest catch of the day. This is where the delicious fish came from. The lights were fascinating to watch as my father pointed out things to me as we walked around. I looked around with shining eyes at the hustle and bustle of the Fish Market.
I should be afraid. I should be scared. The Fish Market was not a place for little children. Huge hooks lay around the dark and wet concrete as buckets and barrels and crates filled with fish and ice were passed around. It was slippery, stinky and disgusting. The men that were there were dirty and shady. It was cold and it was stinky. But this was a wonderland for me. This is place where I would see where the wonderful ingredients my dad gets for the sushi we serve at the restaurant.
“Dad! Look! There are so many fish!” I had jumped around excitedly as I looked around the stinky market that became my playground, pointing to the fish that were familiar to me. “There’s sardine, that’s I think, and Hamachi… And look those eels are huge and they’re still swimming!”
My dad had laughed and smiled at me. “Yes, Takashi! That’s right, what a sharp eye you have. That is Hamachi!”
The fishermen and sellers were impressed with me and had praised my father. “You are a proud father, Kawamura. Your son is a natural. He knows fish like he lives at sea with them.”
The truth is, that I have lived with fish, even before I was born. I knew them like they were my kin. I am more familiar with fish than the letters of the alphabet or the characters in hiragana and katakana. I guess that is because, that is the first knowledge that was inculcated into me. While other children were taught how to say their ABC’s or count one, two, three, I was learning the names , the smell, the parts of different fish.
On that day, I watched as my father skillfully picked out the best fish to buy and to make into delicious sushi. Every now and then, he would test me asking me questions and teaching me how to pick out the freshest and the fattest fish for the restaurant. I loved watching him smile, banter and talk to the fishermen and fishmongers,. Back then I thought my dad was the coolest dad in the world.
Aside from that, I also watched as he gently picked out the little fish out of the buckets (at least those that are still alive) and puts them in a little bucket of seawater. I was curious about it and finally asked.
“Father, what are you doing?”
“I am saving them,” He said as he took another tiny yellowfin and put it in his bucket. I watched as the fish came back to life. “I want to give them a chance to live. Sometimes, I think that the best tasting fish are those who have lived a full life. Just like people. The best kinds of people are those who have lifed a life that they are meant to live. The best life is a life without regrets or excess.”
I nodded. It was a valuable lesson that he taught me that day. That day, after I helped my dad throw the little fish back into the sea so they could grow up to be big fish, I saw a small fish leap in to the air as if in thanks.
“See, Takashi,” My dad had pointed it out to me. “ The fish understands kindness. By giving them another chance, I am sure that the same fish will be caught again when it is bigger and perhaps be one of the tastiest fish that you will serve in your life.”
My simple mind recorded that incident but never fully understood it. Though, I have always thought that it was kind of my father to do so. He had given the little fish a chance to live a little longer and make themselves into bigger fish. Perhaps one day again, they would be caught but at least they have lived their lives already.
We finished the trip that morning and my dad smiled at me as we went home. “You’re still a little fish, Takashi.”
“ I am a little yellow fin and dad’s a big fish,” I smiled up at him. “Someday, I’ll be a big fish too. I’ll create a dish better than dad.”
“I believe you will, son,” My dad smiled at me, truly happy. That day, he prepared my favorite food and gave me my first knife, a tiny scaling knife to prepare me on my way to becoming a sushi chef.
When I was younger, I didn’t mind that at all. I never gave a second thought to that memory aside from that it was the first time I went to the fishmongers , saw how dedicated my dad are to the fish that made his life’s work and how I got my first knife. Now that I am older, I look back to that memory and smile. Even as a child, my father had taught me many things. Perhaps, more than I thought he had.
This is the story of my life. The story of how this little fish became a big fish. It is a story of how this fish may have been saved many times, wandered, got lost, and became the big fish that he was expected to be. It is the story of my simple life and the stories of how the people around me have changed this tiny insignificant fish into something more.