It’s not like Yuma is the only one of my chickens that’s nice. They have different personalities, and their own roles, so to speak.
And when it’s time to go to Katsuragi’s mountain, Tama and Yuma jump into the mini truck.
“What about you, Pochi?”
I ask, but it puffs out its chest and stands still in a daunting pose (although it always feels this way when it lifts its head). I guess Pochi’s staying.
“All right, look after the house then.”
I ask, but I get a message through Line just as I’m about to leave. It’s from Aikawa.
“I got myself a nice drink, do you want some too? Come by if you want.”
Aikawa is lonely too. I’m probably the only one who knows why he’s here.
I hesitate a bit, but…
“I have plans today, so how about tomorrow?”
I send, and he immediately messages me ‘OK’.
I’m planning to come back from Katsuragi’s mountain while it’s still bright outside, but who knows what might happen. Even if we can contact each other through Line, I should still have some leeway. And I need to tend to the mountain every day too.
The fence is unlocked, so I go in, and then lock it. It would be nice if I could do this with a remote control, but since I also need to check my surroundings, I guess it’s fine this way.
I stop my mini truck next to Katsuragi’s, and she pops out, probably because she heard the noise.
She’s wearing her work clothes with a towel around her neck, a towel under her straw hat, and working gloves. It looks pretty heavy.
It’s still cool here on the mountain, but that’s probably going to be rough when it gets hotter.
“Hello.”
“Hello Sano.”
She’s carrying what she harvested in a basket, so I help her. There’s tomatoes, mustard spinach, green peas, among other things. There’s a lot too. Can she eat all that alone? And since I think of summer when I think of tomatoes, I’m impressed that she picked them already.
“Thank you. They came out better than I thought…”
She sounds happy.
“You can take some home if you want.”
“Thank you, I will.”
We’re outside, unlike last time, but the weather is nice. It’s hot in the village, but perfect up on the mountain… If it wasn’t for the bugs.
“Ah, where is Tatsuki?”
“In the shade… Of the house, I think.”
“I should say hello.”
I take Tama and Yuma as we go looking for the dragon. I’m surprised to see it’s closer than I thought, lying with its belly up under a tree close to the field. This image really makes me want to snap a photo and put it on social media (I won’t!). I’m sure it’s staying as close as possible so as not to worry Katsuragi.
“Hello Tatsuki. Thanks for having us. Can my chickens eat bugs and stuff?”
The dragon opens its eyes a little, and nods lightly.
“Thank you. Tama, Yuma, you can go.”
But then, for some reason, Tama approaches the dragon and pecks at it. And I panic.
“T-Tamaaa!?”
“Wah… Incredible. It pecked the bugs off. Like an oxpecker… Ah, but Egyptian plovers are the ones that are symbiotic with crocodiles.”
Katsuragi, you just called your dragon a crocodile. Well, it looks like the dragon likes it, so I guess I should leave them be. That was terrifying.
By the way, that oxpecker she mentioned is an African bird that follows all sorts of animals and eats ticks and parasites off them. It’s not a fully symbiotic relationship, but the animals don’t shake them off either, so there’s merit to it.
And Egyptian plovers are also known as crocodile birds, because they’re often seen on their backs. It’s said they have a symbiotic relationship, but I don’t know if that’s true.
I carry the basket with vegetables, and leave it in front of her house.
“I’ll go serve some tea.”
“You don’t have to.”
I say as I sit on the veranda. I don’t really feel like going into a young woman’s house. It’s not very spacious either. Katsuragi comes back, and serves tea and rice crackers.
The view from the veranda isn’t bad. There are some weeds, but it’s clear she’s been taking care of them. There’s a wooden fence around the house too, and trees growing on the other side.
“Lunch will be ready soon, so wait just for a while.”
“Yes.”
It’s so quiet. I can see Tatsuki slowly moving from the field this way too. Tama is pecking at something, while Yuma is staying next to me, pecking at bugs and stuff every now and then. But it’s mostly snuggling up to me. I like Yuma’s kindness.
“You can go play too, Yuma. I’m fine.”
Yuma then presses closer. So cute. My chickens are so cute.
“Thank you for waiting.”
She brings a tray with a lot of green pea rice, miso soup, and finely chopped cucumber. It’s very old Japan-like.
“…That’s great.”
“I got carried away again and made too much…”
Katsuragi says, looking troubled. There really are a lot of green peas. It’s almost one pea per grain of rice.
And suffice to say, it’s really tasty.
Then I ask about how she’s been looking after the mountain.
“I pay administration costs to have people from the village help me.”
She says. It must be tough for a woman like her to do it alone.
“I see, so it’s possible to pay for that too.”
“You can also just hire someone to do things like weeding.”
That might be good too. It’s too much for me anyway. That gets me thinking that Aikawa’s work is impressive.
I assume she doesn’t need it, but I ask about pet vaccinations too.
“…I’ve never heard of vaccines for big lizards.”
“Of course. It’s not like a dog or a cat.”
“Maybe there are though. We’re always together, so maybe I should look into it.”
I’ve never heard of reptilian vaccines either. If someone has, please tell me.
“How have things been lately?”
“The same as usual. I haven’t heard of anything since the golden week, so I’m a little relieved about that. And I’m sorry for bothering you that time.”
“No, we need to be there for each other.”
Katsuragi bows, but I tell her not to mind it. It’s not like anything happened anyway. Although I feel it would be over if something did.
“Hum…”
Katsuragi casts her eyes down.
“Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but it would be nice if you dropped by like this once in a while.”
What does she mean by that?
“…If you call me… I can come, if I’m not doing anything.”
“Thank you.”
There’s more than a meter between us. Yuma is also sitting between us, looking like it’s watching over me.
It felt that way with Aikawa too, but Katsuragi seems lonely.
Let’s not think too deeply into it. I’m sure she isn’t either.
I receive another big tupperware, with a lot of green pea rice, and vegetables, before I head back home. This is way too much, even if she got carried away. It’s tasty though, so it’s fine by me.
Tomorrow I’m staying at Aikawa’s place. I’m embarrassed and happy… No, definitely not. I want to imagine I won’t be, anyway. (I want to punch myself for thinking that.)
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