It was hard to identify it from the tail...let alone a picture of the tail. I had no luck trying to look it up on the internet, so I showed the image to Old Man Yumoto when he came that evening to drop off Pochi and Yuma.
“Hard to tell from just this. If it was venomous, isn’t that bad news for the big lizard?”
“I wonder.”
Yumoto-san said if it was weighing on her mind, she could try asking in the village tomorrow, and I relayed that to Katsuragi-san. I also told her to watch the dragon for anything unusual—just in case. Though, on the other hand, my chickens ate a yamakagashi the other day and they were fine... Still, I wasn’t actually watching them eat it, so maybe they just avoided the venomous parts.
“I’ll try asking at the village tomorrow morning,” she replied. Because I had to take the chickens to the Yumotos in the morning, we decided to meet up there. I’d be going to Yumoto-san’s house in the morning at the same time as her, and then after that, I’d go to Aikawa-san’s house.
Now that I think of it, I’m pretty popular these days, aren’t I? Heh. I felt some gazes on me. I looked over at the chickens—they were staring intently at me.
“Huh...?”
Pochi and Tama gave me the cold shoulder. Not Yuma, though...is what I would have liked to say, but she brushed me off too after a slight delay.
“Huuuuuuh?!”
That’s so mean! That’s so cruel! They don’t love me! I thought at least Yuma would understand me. (“Understand” what, exactly?) Sure, okay, I get it. It’s not me who’s popular. Yeah.
The chickens hadn’t made any racket last night, thankfully. I told them I’d be going to Aikawa-san’s later, and Pochi volunteered to come along, meaning Tama and Yuma would be out on duty today. Oh yeah, I heard they only found eggs yesterday. A lot more of those lying around than you’d think. They really must be multiplying. Though they might not necessarily be the eggs of venomous snakes.
I arrived at Yumoto-san’s place before Katsuragi-san.
“Tama and Yuma today, huh? I’ll be counting on you, girl power duo!” Yumoto-san seemed slightly happy about it. Even if it’s animals, I guess he’d rather be around girls.
“Today’s job is a little far from here. The girl from Loud Mountain is...not here yet. Tama, Yuma, you mind waiting a bit?”
Loud Mountain was what they called Katsuragi-san’s mountain. The chickens just loitered around Yumoto-san, poking at the ground.
For chickens, nature was abundant with food. That saved me the effort of feeding them, but I made a point to at least prepare them a decent breakfast. For other meals, it depended.
“So, what’s it like not having them around?” Yumoto-san asked.
“I’m not sure yet, honestly. I’m already used to having two of them out on patrol during the day.”
“Just let me know if it becomes inconvenient for you. Though I reckon since it’s just during the day, it shouldn’t make such a huge difference.”
“Okay...?” I couldn’t quite see what he was getting at.
Soon enough, a truck came in. It was Katsuragi-san.
“Good morning! I’m sorry for being late!” Katsuragi-san exclaimed. She quickly hopped out of her truck hurriedly. Business as usual.
“Morning. No problem.” Yumoto-san laughed.
I greeted her. “Good morning.”
Katsuragi-san, still flustered, took out a plastic bottle with the top cut off. Inside it was a snake tail. She’d closed the bottle with plastic wrap and a thick rubber band. “This is it...” She showed us the bottle, slightly disgusted. Yeah, this is kind of disgusting.
Yumoto-san took it off her hands. “This is... Judging only from the pattern, I don’t think it’s a snake from around here. You mind if I keep this?”
“Please, go ahead! I would appreciate it if you could also dispose of it!”
“All right. Thanks for coming all the way here.”
“No problem! I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.”
Yumoto-san shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. Well then, I’m heading out. Sorry for being a crappy host.”
“Please, don’t mind us. I will see you later.” I saw Yumoto-san and the chickens off. Pochi was pacing around Yumoto-san, and his wife was working in the fields.
The dragon came out from the bed of Katsuragi-san’s truck, probably wanting to stretch his body even if they weren’t going to stay long. Thankfully, he seemed to be doing fine.
“Sano-san, do you have any plans for today?”
“I’m just about to go to the mountain over to the west.”
“The mountain to the west... Aikawa-san, was it?”
“Yes.” I kept some distance from her as we chatted. Don’t want to get closer than necessary to girls.
“Do you...hang out often with him?”
“Yeah. Just yesterday, we went to the nearby town.”
“Going to town together... Sounds nice...” she mumbled.
Should I be worried...? I hope not.
“No, stop... What am I saying...? I fall in love too easily. I should stay away from him...” Katsuragi-san muttered something or other under her breath. I see, so even for someone who falls in love too easily, there’s nothing that would make them fall in love with me. I see, I see.
“Sano-san, do you have any plans for tomorrow?” she asked.
“Not really—other than dropping the chickens off, I guess...”
“I’ll prepare a meal! Why don’t you come visit?”
“Uh, okay...”
She’s not into me at all, huh? Not that I mind. I don’t, but still...this kind of sucks.
We went our separate ways, and I headed toward the western mountain with Pochi.
I don’t really care if she doesn’t consider me a potential love interest or doesn’t see me as a man. Whatever. I do find her cute, I won’t lie, but I have zero intention of trying anything with her. Really. Absolutely zero. (What was that? “Repeating that just makes you sound suspicious,” you say? Buzz off.)
“Ah.” On my way to the mountain, I realized something and stopped the truck. Pochi stared at me confused.
“Say, Pochi, you guys couldn’t catch crayfish in the recent weather, right?”
I’d realized that I hadn’t brought anything for Rin-san and Ten-san. I thought about it and realized that with all the recent rain and the increased river level, I wouldn’t have been able to catch crayfish, even if I hadn’t forgotten. However, Pochi inched closer to me. Huh? Is he telling me to go back?
“What, are you saying you can catch them?”
“Catch!”
“Whaaaat?”
Pochi’s face inched even closer. Pochi, you’re kind of scaring me. Especially those sharp, jagged teeth!
“O-Okay, got it. Let’s go back and catch some crayfish...” I gave in. Pochi reeled his face back. At least I got him to agree that he wouldn’t get too carried away and would give up if the water level was too high to catch any. Me and my big mouth.
I messaged Aikawa-san, informing him that we’d be a little late, and then headed down to the river with a bucket in my hand and Pochi by my side.
As I’d expected, we weren’t able to catch too many. Well, yeah—not with a current that fast. We were at least able to secure six or so of them, since there were just so many around here. Seriously, don’t release crayfish in the mountains. Or venomous snakes, for that matter.
I gave Pochi a quick wash. It was already around noon when we left. I was thinking what a terrible waste of time all of that had been when we got to Aikawa-san’s place.
Rin-san and Ten-san must have heard the sound of my truck’s engine stopping—they came slithering toward us. Pochi skillfully opened his door, got out of the truck, and took position in front of my door. I see that he can open it with no problem, but he still has trouble closing it. Well, the fact that he can open doors at all is already pretty freaky.
“Hello, Rin-san, Ten-san. Do you mind if my chicken eats some of the bugs around here?”
“Okay.”
“Don’t mind.”
Having received their permission, I gave Pochi the A-okay, but he still wouldn’t leave my side. You don’t have to be so wary, you know.
Just then, Aikawa-san came out of the house and greeted me with a smile. “Hello, Sano-san.”
“Hello there. Sorry, Pochi insisted on trying to catch crayfish for... Ouch! Pochi, stop it!” I explained the reason we were late and got pecked by Pochi. It was like he was saying, “Stop blaming others!” Right, sure, it was my own fault. Now quit it! That hurts!
“Oh, I see...” Aikawa-san seemed somewhat surprised for some reason, then he broke into a smile. “Thank you for thinking of the snakes.”
“This was all we could catch...”
Aikawa-san peered into the bucket.
“With this weather, there’s not much you can do,” he replied. “More importantly, were you okay? You could get hurt.”
He’s worried about us. No wonder he’s a hit with the ladies.
“I’m okay. But yes, trying to catch them when the water level is higher than usual is a bad idea...”
“Indeed. Do you mind if I pay you a visit again sometime?” Aikawa-san asked.
“As long as it’s not tomorrow, sure.”
“Oh, do you have plans for tomorrow?”
“Uh... I was invited to Katsuragi-san’s place...”
“Quite the ladies’ man, huh?” He chuckled. No, not at all. Especially not compared to you. But his eyes weren’t laughing, for some reason. Why? I thought you wanted to stay away from young women?
“Oh, no, no. It’s the opposite,” I explained. “She probably feels at ease inviting me because she doesn’t even see me as a potential love interest.”
Aikawa-san tilted his head. “Is that how it works...?”
I handed the snakes the bucket.
“Sano, thanks.”
“Sano, nice person.”
They thanked me and crept closer. Do you really like crayfish that much? Pochi kept them at bay so they couldn’t get any closer. Sorry, I’d like to think that I’ve gotten used to snakes, but huge ones are still a bit scary to me...
We went inside. Aikawa-san was stylish as usual. The walls of his home were decorated with hydrangeas in bamboo cylinders. Must be a lot of work to keep it up.
For lunch, we started with pickled cucumbers with mustard.
“Oh? This is a lot milder than I expected...”
“It’s been a week since I pickled them, so the taste has gotten a lot milder.”
I see. He’s really attentive to details.
After the relish course, we had miso soup with komatsuna and fried tofu, multigrain rice, cold tofu, bamboo sprouts and other boiled vegetables, ginger pork, and more pickles. Quite the lavish meal.
“Whoa! That looks amazing!” I exclaimed. “Do you always cook this much?”
“Of course not. Only when I have people over.”