I take a bath before the sun goes down (it’s heated by burning wood, details later), and then we get drinking.
We have lightly pickled vegetables, chicken karaage, and deep-fried fish caught in the river, among other things. He even brings dry snacks, and beer and Japanese sake. I really should’ve brought something.
“Karaage is so good.”
I say, but then we look at each other, and turn to Pochi and Yuma. We’re both relieved to see they don’t care at all.
“Hum, sorry. I didn’t think about it…”
“No, when I went to the poultry farm, I got a lot of chicken meat, so it’s fine.”
“Oh right, you went there. How was it?”
“Pretty typical.”
We keep talking, and the topic of vaccination gets brought up too, and Aikawa makes an expression like he’s thinking about it.”
“Vaccination… I’ve never heard of reptiles being vaccinated… And…”
Aikawa looks at Rin, who’s just relaxing on the dirt floor.
“Even if there was…”
“Is Rin always in human form?”
“Yes, since that day, a year after I got them.”
“You said it happened all of a sudden, right? But did something trigger it?”
That’s what I’m most curious about. This is just a wild idea, but what if Yuma turned into a beautiful girl one day? I look at Yuma, eating vegetable scraps on the dirt floor… No, no, that would never happen.
“Hm… I’ve thought about it a lot, but what could’ve happened…”
He can’t think of anything.
A year after he bought the snakes, they were already two meters long. And they had pretty thick waists too, but Aikawa also thinks they don’t have patterns like pythons.
He says Ten rarely gets on the mini truck, but he usually drives with Rin on the passenger seat.
Apparently women hit on him when he went to N town. Well, he does have a face like that Kamenashi idol. I’ve never had that happen to me before, keh.
Getting back on track. At the time, Aikawa was not really aware that he was having trouble dealing with women, so when they hit on him, it reminded him of his stalker, and he ran back to the mini truck.
And as the women kept going and approached the mini truck, Aikawa wondered what he should do. But then Rin showed her face from the passenger seat, which scared the women off. Aikawa hugged Rin out of relief, and after his hands stopped shaking, he hurried back to the mountain.
“I know it’s pathetic, but that night, I grumbled to Rin and Ten. I thought that maybe if I had a woman in the passenger seat, they wouldn’t come near me. But then again, I was too scared to have a woman accompany me in the first place. I didn’t know what to do, and the next morning…”
“Rin looked like that?”
“She was lying sprawled next to me, and my face turned pale, because I didn’t remember bringing her in.”
“She didn’t come in? You brought her…?”
“I drank so much I could bathe in it, after I came home, so I guess I got confused.”
Waking up with what’s a naked woman from the waist up lying next to you would surprise most people. Even I’d be wondering where I picked her up.
“When I tried to get away, I noticed the bottom half. I was so confused.”
“…I bet you were.”
I know Rin is real, because she’s right in front of me, but if I just saw a picture, I would’ve assumed it was CGI or something.
“Ten was near us too, so when I looked more closely, I saw Rin had snake eyes. That’s when I finally realized it was Rin.”
“Ah,… That’s why I thought she still looked snake-like.”
Rin looks like a beautiful woman from the waist up, but even the first time I saw her, she made me think of a snake. Now I know why.
We’ve finished eating, so now we’re drinking while eating snacks here and there. Maotai is transparent like Japanese sake, and apparently it’s also called white sake. It’s harsher than Japanese sake, but easy to drink nonetheless. That’s why I end up drinking more than I think, and getting drunk.
“…I’ve talked about me before, but why did you buy mountains?”
“Hn… It’s not as dramatic as you, but my marriage was canceled, and I got sick of everything…”
Only pops and his wife know about it around here. I felt pathetic about it, so I didn’t tell anyone else. But the alcohol is making me feel generous, and I’m alone with Aikawa too, so it slips out of my mouth.
“…Can I ask what happened?”
“We were engaged, set a date and reserved a ceremonial hall and everything… But she wanted to study abroad for a bit before getting married, and come back before we really started planning… It was supposed to be just one month abroad, but then…”
Tears fall from my eyes.
“That’s enough Sano, I’m sorry.”
“…She never came back. She said she wanted to study more. To widen her world. To enroll in a university there… So she wanted to cancel the marriage…”
Tears keep welling up and pouring from my eyes.
Where did these come from? After she was gone, was I sad? Lonely? Angry?
“…It sounds rough.”
“It’s not much compared to stalking or domestic violence… But why then? Why didn’t she go study abroad before getting involved with me? Why choose that timing…!?”
If she quit and went abroad to study or whatever right away, we wouldn’t have met.
Why did she play with me like that? I don’t understand.
My tears aren’t stopping. It’s so frustrating and pathetic.
She chose her dream over a future with me. There’s nothing I can do about it. She can chase her dream, that’s fine. Just don’t get me involved.
Aikawa then puts a glass down.
“…?”
“It’s tasty water.”
I take it and drink it. It’s nice and cool.
Yes, I’m going to get dehydrated, drinking alcohol and crying like this.
I really feel Aikawa’s kindness on my skin. And then I pass out.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next morning, when my headache finally starts settling down, I face Aikawa, kneel, and bow. For some reason, Pochi gets on my back. Guee… You’re killing me…
“Raise your head. I drank too much too… Sorry.”
“But…”
“I want us to get along from now on… You’re the only one who knows about Rin and Ten too, right?”
I raise my head, and realize he has a point. Come on Pochi, you’re heavy.
“Sorry for being pathetic…”
“You’re not. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Oh no, I’m gonna start crying again.
“Thank you…”
“You can fall for me if you want.”
“I won’t!!”
Look at these goosebumps!
“I’m kidding. I’m glad you’re back to normal. I hope we can get along going forward.”
“Yes, me too. Pochi, you’re too heavy! Get down!”
And don’t take advantage of this to step on my head.
It’s early, but Aikawa and I laugh a lot. My head is hurting again.
After I sober up in Aikawa’s place, I get a phone call. It’s from Matsuyama, who owns the poultry farm. He says the vet will be coming by the day after tomorrow, so I respond saying I’ll be visiting.
Living on a mountain really is a busy life.
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