I tell Aikawa I’ll go after leaving my chickens with pops, and he messages me saying to tell him when I leave pops’ place. He’ll leave after that, and we’ll meet up near the foot of his mountain. It’s faster to go to N town from the road in front of his mountain. And of course, there’s a path from the village too.
And so, I head to pops’ with my three chickens. Apparently Pochi and Tama will be working today too.
“Good morning. Sorry about this, Shouhei.”
“No no. It turns out they really did lack exercise.”
“I see. They aren’t like regular chickens.”
In farmland, they typically have a lot of buildings clumped together, so they’re going to be patrolling each of those clumps in turn.
“The eggs were pretty tasty.”
“Eh? Snake eggs?”
“Yes. They were surprisingly rich and tasty. We don’t find those too often.”
Yes, I feel like generally, they don’t get enough for them to be circulated. They have to be careful about the number of snakes, and to not exterminate them completely. But they can’t control it too precisely either, so apparently the plan is to release the ones they caught alive after discussing it.
“You thought about it that far…”
“If only tiger keelbacks weren’t venomous. They eat rats, so it’s fine to have some around. But since they’re venomous, having too many around…”
“Of course.”
It’s hard to coexist. Living beings always end up having to follow the convenience of humans. Of course, some things are just unavoidable for humans too.
“I’m going out today, so I’ll contact you if I think I’ll be coming home late. If you’re taking them back to my place, it will be before it gets dark, right?”
“Yes, call me if the timing gets iffy.”
“Yes, thank you. Pochi, Tama, listen to pops. Hey, listen to me!”
The moment I start speaking, they turn away. What’s with that?
“Hahaha! You really are loved, Shouhei.”
“How did you reach that conclusion!?”
I think you mean mocked. I get on the mini truck in a huff again, with Yuma. And then Yuma snuggles up against me. Ah, Yuma’s so cute!! (Kind of broken)
“Thanks Yuma. I’m all right.”
I pet Yuma’s feathers, contact Aikawa, and get the mini truck moving. And of course, Pochi and Tama don’t even look. I’m your owner, you know?
I reach the place where we’re supposed to meet, and after waiting a bit, I see a mini truck coming down. Rin is coming along today too.
“Hello, thanks for waiting. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes.”
I follow Aikawa into town. It might seem weird for us to both go there on our mini trucks, but the problem is walking around town. We park next to each other, in the same parking lot as always.
“Wait here, Yuma.”
I can’t walk around town with a chicken. And the same goes for Rin.
Aikawa is holding a big bag.
“What’s that?”
“Work clothes. I’m going to wash them in a laundromat. When I dry them at home, the smell…”
“Ah, that’s true!”
I’ve noticed the smell coming from my work clothes too lately.
“And washing them at a laundromat fixes that?”
“I can use warm water, so yes.”
“I see.”
It’s not just detergent, the temperature of the water too. I completely missed that.
“Could it be… That if I use hot water at home, that will kill the smell too?”
“I’ve heard that a temperature above sixty degrees Celsius kills the bacteria that causes the smell, so heating it up might work.”
Maybe I’ll try it. And if it still doesn’t work, I’ll use a laundromat too. I’ve tried using detergent that’s supposed to specialize in removing smells, and it didn’t work at all. And the smell from indoor drying was really bad too.
If I used bleach, that might be bad for my chickens, but warm water will be fine.
I walk around, pass by a bookstore, do some shopping, and when I get back to the mini truck, Aikawa is already here. And he’s leaning on Rin to hide his face.
“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”
Did he come back straight from the laundromat? I don’t see anything he might’ve bought.
“…Was there…”
“Eh?”
“That woman…”
“Eh?”
That woman? The one who stalked him? At first I’m going to ask if he didn’t mistake her for someone else, but stop.
“…I thought I might be mistaking it, but her body and face matched perfectly with…”
“…Then it’d be scary even if you did mistake her for someone else. Do you want to go home? Or…”
“Sorry, but I want to check again. Can you come with me…?”
“Sure, but…”
Shouldn’t you ask a lawyer or something? But I get why he wants to make sure. And when I think to myself that it’s better than acting alone, Rin holds Aikawa.
“No.”
“But Rin…”
“No. Katsumi, different than usual.”
She has a point. Normally, Aikawa would never do this. He’d be more prudent.
“I have to check…”
“Phone call. Check.”
Is she telling him to call his lawyer? Aikawa doesn’t do anything for a bit, and then exhales. He looks a little calmer.
“…Thanks Rin. Then I’ll just go shopping with Sano.”
“Come right back.”
“Yes.”
“Sano, please.”
“Yes, we’ll be right back.”
It really is no good with just us guys.
I go over to my mini truck, where Yuma is poking its head out, and pet it.”
“We’ll be right back.”
“Rightback.”
“Yes.”
And that will be the end of it. Aikawa will call someone once he’s back on his mountain, and that’s it.
But… We go shopping at a supermarket near the parking lot, and when we leave, Aikawa freezes.
“…?”
“…Kano…”
Aikawa is looking at a man and a woman. The woman notices Aikawa, and bows.
“Aikawa, right? What a coincidence… I’m glad I can meet you. My name is Yuuko Kano.”
Aikawa’s face is visibly turning pale. What should I do? For now, I just give Aikawa a light tap on the back.
