A happy embarrassing sleepover in Aikawa’s place~… None of that.
No, it’s not like I’m actually all ‘my chastity’s in danger’. Come to think of it, how are things between Aikawa and Rin? Did something happen that turned her upper half human? I’ve been too scared to ask.
Like before, Tama insists on staying here.
“Eh… But I’m staying the night there this time…”
I feel bad about leaving one of them alone all night.
“Come on Tama.”
I say, and it trots away. I can see it, but it’s too far to catch.
“Tama…”
I keep calling it, and Pochi pecks at me. Maybe it’s telling me it’s all right, but I’m still concerned. But I have to give it up, because it doesn’t look like Tama is coming back.
My chickens run too fast for me to be able to catch them. And one time, when I got carried away and started chasing them around, I got dropkicked. Sorry about that time.
“The house is unlocked, so go inside at night!”
I say, because my chickens can use their legs and beaks to open sliding doors. Then I put buckets full of red swamp crayfish on the mini truck, and head to Aikawa’s mountain.
I lock the fence on the foot of the mountain, stop my mini truck next to Aikawa’s, and Rin and Ten slither their way towards us.
“Hello Rin and Ten. We’re staying here today. Can my chickens eat bugs and stuff?”
Pochi and Yuma immediately take position around me. I told you there’s no need to be so alert.
“Yes.”
“No problem.”
Rin is one thing, but Ten’s vocal cords…
“Ah, I brought this.”
I say as I take two buckets full of red swamp crayfish from the mini truck. My chickens worked hard to catch them, because we’re staying here. These things really propagated a lot though. I think I need to start having a look at the other rivers too.
“Sano, nice person.”
“Sano, good.”
“Hum, my chickens were the ones who caught them…”
They start getting closer. Scary. It’s so scary seeing them slither my way.
“Ah, Sano. Welcome, and hello.”
Just as I’m wondering what to do, because it’s not like I can just run away, Aikawa comes out of the house. It’s like I can see a halo on his head. My savior.
“Hello Aikawa… Hum, these red swamp…”
“Ah, you caught that much for us!? Thank you. Rin, let’s take them over there.”
Aikawa and Rin take the buckets near the field. I’m relieved to see Ten is going with them too. Did that snake get even bigger? It’s friendly, but its size and the way it gets closer is so scary.
I sigh, thinking this isn’t good for my heart. Be careful about dangerous animals on the mountains, uh…
“Thanks for waiting. Hello Pochi and Yuma. Make yourselves at home.”
Aikawa treats my chickens cordially. People in the village are like that too, very tolerant of pets. They don’t even care that my chickens are huge.
Maybe other homes have big pets too. Actually, I feel like my chickens definitely don’t count as pets. They’re the ones looking after me. It’s kind of depressing really.
Pochi goes out to patrol Aikawa’s mountain, and Yuma is snuggling up against me like always.
There’s a large dirt floor area after the entrance, so I sit on a chair. And that’s when I realize I forgot to bring something for Aikawa. What a blunder.
“Sorry, I didn’t bring anything…”
“You got all those red swamp crayfish for Rin and Ten. I’m really happy about that. Thank you.”
He says as he serves tea, which today is accompanied by finely chopped cucumber and chopped enoki with sauce. The enoki actually have such big caps, that I don’t even notice they’re enoki at first.
“Thanks… Is this enoki?”
“Yes. I got myself a cultivation kit last year, so I tried growing them here.”
Aikawa says with a happy face.
“Eeh!?”
That’s a thing? It’s incredible how he keeps trying different things too. It’s also very tasty.
And about that drink he said he got…
“Here it is…”
It’s not Japanese. The way he said it led me to assume it was, but it’s actually Chinese. It’s in a red box.
“This is a Chinese alcohol. Do you drink it often?”
“No, I got it as a gift. The acquaintance that sold me the mountains is in town, and every few months, he calls me there. Someone who goes on business trips to China bought it there, but he doesn’t drink, so he told me to take it.”
“Eh… What does it say here?”
“Apparently it’s maotai. It’s strong, so I think it’s cut or had on the rocks.”
“It’s not shaoxingjiu…”
“I think it’s a different kind.”
He brings out a lot of snacks, and I get excited about this fun drinking party.
But we shouldn’t have drank so much by ourselves when we don’t even know each other that well. The next morning, I would wake up with a throbbing headache, and saddened by my carelessness.
I have some tea, brought to me by Aikawa, and all I can say is thank you.
It will be a morning that teaches me the lesson that just because you can drink, doesn’t mean you should.
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