The Arrival of Summer
I’D packed red wine braised beef into plastic food containers and gifted them to the elderly beastfolk who’d helped me out, and it resulted in a huge success, for the present was very well-received. In fact, they liked it so much that some had even requested seconds. But making red wine braised beef day after day was going to be exhausting, so I ended up telling them the recipe instead.
The dish itself was simple, and if you used tools to help you, you didn’t need that much stamina either. Because of that, the recipe also had favorable reception, and red wine braised meat just might be the trend among the Wilds’ senior citizens for a good while.
As for the beef stew and beef curry I’d made with the leftover sauce, both Techi and Kon, as well as Sayori, had good things to say about them. Though I’d ended up with an incredible amount of leftover sauce, at the rate they were going, I’d probably run out within a week.
A few days rushed by in a blur until one certain morning.
The sunlight had steadily grown stronger, and the air had become more humid. Anyone could feel the advent of early summer as they basked in the sun.
I was out in the garden, busy doing a DIY project, when I heard my two visitors run over from the depths of the forest, where it was echoing with the song of cicadas. Kon and Sayori were in the middle of an enthusiastic conversation.
“Incoming!” Kon cried.
“Hello! I’m coming over!” Sayori greeted.
“Welcome, you two,” I replied.
The two beastchildren tilted their head quizzically as they stared at the makeshift workbench I’d assembled with pieces of wood.
“What are you up to, Mikura?” Kon asked. “Are you making sawdust?”
“K-Kon, no,” Sayori whispered. “This is probably what they call weekend carpentry. You know, when amateurs craft and do woodwork.”
I paused in the middle of my task, picked up the towel around my neck, and wiped my sweaty face. “Hey, it’s called DIY!” I paused. “I was thinking about making a chair for Sayori, so I pulled out the tools in the tool storage area. I’m not as skilled as Gramps, but I can still pull off a thing or two. I should be able to make something that doesn’t look off at all when you put it next to the other one.”
Feeling somewhat refreshed, I moved the file back and forth, smoothing out the surface of the wood I’d cut up.
Kon nodded. He was able to deduce what kind of chair I was making just from my statement. “Good idea. I think it’s better if we have one more. A handcrafted chair by Mikura, huh? I can’t wait to see how it’ll turn out.”
Meanwhile, Sayori inclined her head, looking baffled. She sent an inquisitive look in Kon’s direction, as if asking what on earth we were talking about.
The young boy grinned widely. He pulled Sayori along by her hand and raced into the house, washed his hands, then moved into the kitchen. Guiding her to his dedicated sink chair, he began explaining all kinds of things to her.
I stole a glance at them. Honestly, I’d had my doubts and anxieties about a betrothal at their age—they likely still didn’t truly understand things like marriage and romantic love.
Thankfully, after the interview, the two of them were getting along well, though I wasn’t sure whether the adults had helped them work it out somehow or whether it had just happened naturally. Based on what I heard from Kon, beastchildren around their age were at the point of their lives when they felt embarrassed about hanging out or holding hands with a member of the opposite gender. However, they didn’t have to feel shy around their fiancé. Kon and Sayori became closer by the day without a hint of shyness or distance, and perhaps by this point, they were more lovey-dovey than Techi and me.
Recently, there were days when the two of them didn’t come to visit, instead hanging out in private somewhere. They would even schedule the meeting place ahead of time, going on their version of a “date.” You could say that love—or rather, their betrothal—had encouraged them to mature. From time to time, I’d catch glimpses of their growth and inner transformation.
On the topic of dates, I hadn’t gone on any proper ones with Techi yet. I know it’s a bit late, but I kind of feel like we can think about going on outings like a standard couple would. That said, Techi was the kind of person who liked lounging around and relaxing at home on her days off. Though I’d already thought about taking her on a date a few times before, I hadn’t found the chance to do anything along those lines yet.
Still, it wasn’t like she refused to leave the house or despised the idea of heading out to have fun. Perhaps I should look for an opportunity to suggest we head somewhere one day. On top of that, I’d barely explored the Beastly Wilds. According to Techi and Kon, there were a lot of fun places suitable as date venues, and I’d love to head there eventually.
Not to mention that the sweltering summer was just around the corner. Even if we couldn’t swim in the ocean, I wanted to at least go out to swim in a pool of some sort—to enjoy one or two summer activities.
That reminds me. Didn’t Kon mention there’s a fireworks show or something like that in summer? In that case, I guess my summer wish list would be going to a pool, admiring the fireworks, and maybe going out camping.
But well… I know, I’m living deep in the mountains, and wanting to go on a camp sounds kind of silly. But it’s all about the experience and the mood. Let’s not sweat the little details.
All kinds of different thoughts flashed across my mind as I finished polishing the timber with the file. Brushing away the wood shavings, I used screws and glue to assemble the chair. Once that was done, I painted on a coat of varnish. In terms of design, I’d lifted it straight from the chair Gramps had made. It was almost identical.
I suppose I could have been a bit more original and creative if it were a human chair, but this is for a chipmunk beastchild, so it’s probably better to stick to what’s tried-and-true. Who knows what kind of little details he added to make it more comfortable for Kon? Sticking to the original design means that I can avoid issues like the frame of her body not fitting well or her tail getting stuck somewhere.
After coating it with varnish, I was basically done for now. While I waited for it to dry, I put away my tools. Meanwhile, Kon and Sayori had been eagerly chatting about topics such as the chair, Kon’s stories with Gramps, and memories he’d made with me after I came to the Wilds. Their conversation seemed rather lively.
By the time I put most of my tools away, it sounded like they’d reached a resting point in their talk as well, because they came over. They didn’t come all the way out into the garden, instead sitting next to the smoking mosquito coil on the veranda. They swayed their dangling little legs as they quietly watched over me as I worked.
For a while, Kon was silent. He gazed at me, the garden, the sky, then at me again. “Ahh…” he muttered, sounding like his mind was in the clouds. “This is kind of nostalgic. Cicadas, the blue sky, mosquito coils, and Grampa Tommi busy in the garden… We get less work in summer because it’s so hot and it’d be really tiring, and when I didn’t have work, I came here to watch what Grampa Tommi’s up to for hours. Mikura doesn’t look like his great-grandpa at all, but just watching him makes me remember Grampa Tommi…”