Koji walked up to her with a smile on his face, "How did you figure out I was there?"
She smiles and parts away the black hair strands between her eyes, "A hunter needs always to be vigilant. I would be a poor hunter if I couldn't hear you from this short distance."
"You're quite impressive," Koji commented as he sat to examine the dead beast on the ground.
"Enough said. You got the pieces of equipment with you, right?" Marina asked. She was licking her lips as she looked at the beast.
"Of course," Koji took the knife from his back and the spices from the restaurant. He wonders to himself if Marina has been stalking this animal since morning. He could see beads of sweat that had gathered on her small forehead.
Soon they had an excellent cuisine cooked up in front of them, as large chunks of meat cooked on a stock. Koji tries to copy Minato's ingredients to cook the meat in the kitchen.
The flavor of the spices came floating in the air as the both of them snacked on the beast's meat in hunger.
After eating a chunk of meat as large as a fist, Marina looked over at Koji eating. She had a cute smile on her face, revealing the two dimples on her cheeks.
"Do you like the meat?" She asked him as she watched Koji, already finished eating half of the animal.
"I hoped that this would be enough food for you," with happiness in her eyes.
"I do, but I'm still hungry," Koji said with awkwardness, and they laughed together. "Can I hunt with you together next time?"
She wasn't expecting him to ask to join her, but she nodded, "Always welcome!"
After eating the monster, he could feel a little more robust than before.
He looked in the sky and noticed that the sun was already setting in the afternoon sky.
There is an atmosphere of peace to living in a town like this one. There is a feeling of familiarity and closeness.
"Let's head back home for another feast," Marina said as she put her arm around his shoulder. "We should race to see who will arrive home the fastest."
"I cannot win against you," Koji said.
"On the count of three, two--"
And before she could even finish her sentence, Koji had already started running ahead of her.
"Hey! That's cheating!"
"You didn't say it had to be at the end of the count," Koji laughed, and was already many steps ahead of her.
It felt nice as they were racing against each other. He could feel the wind flowing through the air and ruffling his dark black hair into the wind.
It felt refreshing with the beach wind soaring over his body. He could feel the energy brimming from his body as each step became faster than before.When he was running alongside Marina, he would enjoy the scenery of the tall beach grass. The tall green grass was swaying with the wind.
"We finally got back," Koji said, looking at the wooden house in front of them as he squatted on his knees with his hand.
He was breathing in a way that showed being out of breath. While he noticed, Marina seemed to have still no sign of exerting any energy.
"We should race against sometimes," Marina said.
She gives him a small pat on the shoulder before walking ahead.
"You're like way too strong, Marina," he said, standing back up again and walking alongside her to the door.
"You're not that bad either," Marina said with a slight cheeky grin. "You seem to be better than yesterday, at least."
When they got into the house, Kara greeted them with an enormous smile as she put down the food on the table.
"You kids got back right on time," Minato smiled as he put down the utensils on the table. "Today, your mother got a good catch of fish."
"Wow, it smells delicious!" Koji licks his lips as he looks at the table full of fish cooked in front of them.
Sitting at the table, everyone was having a big laugh. And Koji was asking Minato for the recipes for the dishes.
"Koji and I had a feast on an animal in the forest," Marina commented while looking at Koji eating and chatting. "I still can't believe you're not full."
"Haha, I didn't know I was still so hungry. Your cooking is too good," Koji said as he feasted on the fish meat.
"Well, I'm glad that you are enjoying the cuisine," Minato said with a smile as he put more fish meat in Koji's bowl. He was scooping some more rice for him.
"We have decided to hunt together more often," Marina said as she took a small bite of the meat and some rice.
"I'm glad Koji has become quite the companion already," Kara said. "You can come on my fish boat sometimes too, Koji. I'll teach you how to fish."
"Awesome! I would love to," Koji's eyes beamed as he imagined himself on the fish boat with Kara.
"Looks like you're going to be quite busy now," Minato commented. "You should take an early break from work in the afternoon. Kids should be out playing and not working so early on."
"Thanks, Uncle Minato!" Koji said as he gave a high-five to Marina. The two have already planned on hunting a bear tomorrow. He will bring some delicious ingredients to cook a splendid feast in the afternoon.
"You should have seen how surprised Koji was when he saw me take down the lion," Marina joked as Koji blushed.
"I was expecting someone the same age as me to do that," Koji explained. He remembered how tall the animal looked.
"I'm not as strong as my mother or father," Marina said. "They can defeat the lion with a single finger stab."
"No way!"
He looked at both Minato and Kara, who now seemed mysterious. He could not imagine how these two ordinary folks had such power.
"My parents are stronger than you know," Marina whispered. "Before they lived on the island, they were gourmet hunters."
"Gourmet hunters!" This was a piece of news for Koji. It makes sense when she seems to be above her peers of the same age.