I didn’t know how it would turn out yet, but our talk had put me in a great mood. Aikawa-san and I seemed to have a lot in common, and our conversation just kept flowing. Before I realized it, it was almost evening already.
Wait, isn’t it almost time for Yumoto-san to be here with the chickens?
“Aikawa-san... The chickens might be back soon...”
“Yumoto-san’s coming to drop them off...?”
“Yes...”
We hurried outside. I don’t know about Ten-san, but we definitely need to make sure they don’t see Rin-san. Yumoto-san had previously said he wanted to have a look at Ten-san, so Aikawa-san would probably not mind. The problem was Rin-san—specifically, her lower half being seen by others. Luckily, Yuma was nearby. Aikawa-san and I looked at each other, nodded, and decided to ask Yuma to keep Rin-san away from the house.
“Yuma, Yumoto-san will be here soon. Make sure Rin-san doesn’t come here! Also, can you bring Ten-san? Yumoto-san wants to see him!”
At first, Yuma cocked her head and looked confused.
I decided to clarify. “Keep Rin-san there! Bring only Ten-san here! Got it?”
“Got it!” She trotted off in the direction of the river. Let’s hope she actually did get it...
“Amazing... You can talk to them...”
I hadn’t thought much about it until now, but Aikawa-san was right—it was pretty unusual to be able to communicate this effectively with pets. Yup, they’re definitely not normal chickens.
“Indeed...” Maybe I was taking the chickens for granted to a much greater degree than I’d thought.
I heard the roaring of an engine approaching. That must be the old man and the chickens. Whew, that was a close one. We both quietly breathed sighs of relief.
“Oh? I see Aikawa-kun from West Mountain is here too.” (Oh, just to let you know, they call the mountain to the west of mine “West Mountain.”)
“Yes, that’s right. Thank you for always bringing them here, Yumoto-san.”
Yumoto-san hopped out of his truck—Pochi and Yuma, who were riding in the bed, followed. It wasn’t raining that much, but they were still pretty wet. I thought I’d better go back inside and bring them some towels, but the two chickens were looking around suspiciously.
“Is your girlfriend not with you today?” The old man asked Aikawa-san.
“I, uh, had a few things I asked her to take care of... Oh, by the way, my snake is here too.”
“The huge one, right? So...where is he?”
Yumoto-san was visibly excited when he heard that Aikawa-san had brought his snake along, and he started looking around excitedly. He seemed like a curious child, and it would have been an amusing sight if not for our predicament.
“Yuma went to look for him, so they should be back soon.” I told him the snake would be coming here so that he wouldn’t be getting any ideas about snooping around the mountain, and that seemed to calm him down. Pochi and Yuma, on the other hand, came over and stood next to me. Like I said, you don’t always have to be so wary of Rin-san and Ten-san.
“Pochi, Tama, come here. I’ll dry you off.” I was heading into the house when I heard a heavy dragging sound drawing near. Yuma came back, skipping lightly. Looks like she was able to locate them.
“Yuma, good job,” I praised. I caught sight of a snake head peeking out from the direction of the river. Ten-san slithered loudly toward us. Now that’s right out of a horror movie. A small snake head in the distance that comes in your direction, growing larger and larger.
“Whoa?! That’s...quite something, all right.” Yumoto-san was understandably surprised. He even took a step back, probably unconsciously.
“Ten, come here.” Aikawa-san beckoned him over, and Ten-san crept up close to him.
“This is the snake I’m keeping.” Aikawa-san introduced his snake to Yumoto-san.
“J-Jeez... That’s huge, all right... Looks pretty thick too. Just how big is it...?”
True. When you get a good look at him, he is pretty thick. Could probably swallow me whole, even.
“Well... I don’t know the exact figures, but I think he’s about four meters long,” Aikawa-san replied.
“Must be pretty heavy too.”
“Indeed—too heavy for me to lift. Even just his head is quite heavy.”
As Aikawa-san said that, Ten-san rested his head on his shoulder. Aikawa-san quickly brushed him off. “Hey, stop it! That’s dangerous.”
“Looks like a nice, well-behaved snake. That’s good. But still... Between your snakes and Shohei’s chickens, what’s going on with that stall...?”
Yes, and don’t forget Katsuragi-san’s dragon too.
“Aren’t those festival stalls run by the villagers?”
“Well, some of them are, but most are outsiders who come here for the festival. It’s all old folks around here, and we don’t have the energy to spend a whole day standing in a stall.”
“I see...”
It was a general trend all over Japan, but rural areas like this one were the most affected by the aging population. Young people gradually moved to the city for its conveniences and amenities. Of course, there was also a minor trend of people choosing to live out in the country, but still.
“Do the festivals around here have portable shrines?” Aikawa-san asked.
Yumoto-san shook his head. “As a regular thing, not really. It depends on the year. Let us know if you want to do one.”
“So it’s not compulsory...”
“Well, the gods wouldn’t feel nice about being enshrined unwillingly, now would they?”
Good point.
“Ah, but that reminds me...” Yumoto-san turned to me. “Shohei, I’m on the committee for this year’s festival, so you gotta help us out if you can.”
“Okay. Just let me know!” The Yumotos were always so nice to me—there was no way I could refuse a request from them. Yumoto-san said he’d let me know if he found out anything about the snake tail, and he went home in a merry mood. Ah, I forgot to ask him about the vet. Eh, I guess I can just look it up.
After seeing him off, Aikawa-san and I both sighed deeply. Almost had a heart attack there.
“It’s a good thing you noticed, Sano-san.”
“Oh, no... Sorry for spending so much time talking to him...”
We kept “Oh, no”-ing each other for a while. Pochi and Tama stared at us, befuddled.
“Ah! Almost forgot Rin-san.”
“Yes, I should go get her.” I had Pochi go fetch her in Aikawa-san’s place. Still, that was a really close call. Next time Aikawa-san comes over, I gotta make sure to tell Yumoto-san I’ll go pick the chickens up myself.
After Aikawa-san went home, Tama pecked me ferociously. Apparently, she really didn’t want to run into Rin-san and Ten-san. Why are you so scared of snakes, anyway? I mean, they are scary up close, but still.
I called Matsuyama-san from the chicken farm to thank him for the samgye-tang, noting that it was delectable, but the herbal smell was a bit too strong; he said he’d look into what he could do about it. I also told him my guest loved it and would like to buy it when possible. He said he’d do some tweaking and give me a call so I could go pick it up. I love how kind and generous everyone is around here.
I received a call from Yumoto-san on Saturday night. Apparently, that tail might have belonged to a rattlesnake, but they weren’t quite able to tell, so it was still just conjecture. We’re not supposed to have rattlesnakes in Japan, right? Damn, that’s terrifying! It was a good thing Tatsuki-san ate it before it could cause any harm. I debated whether to inform Katsuragi-san about this—I wouldn’t want to put her on edge more than necessary.
The veterinarian from S-Town was collaborating with the police’s investigation, and he had access to the list of what species the late pest control worker had owned. That didn’t tell us anything about which snakes had been released in which areas though, and he was also not allowed to share the list itself with other people, as it was considered key evidence. The only thing we could be sure of was that the man had been in the habit of taking the snakes he got rid of home with him, and thus he’d kept a lot of vipers and yamakagashi.
Really, though, what were they thinking releasing all those snakes into the neighboring fields and mountains? I understand he wasn’t expecting to die or anything, but still...I wish he’d thought about what would happen to his pets after he was gone. They make good prey for my chickens, but they’re living beings. Just think about it—they were raised in a cozy home, and then someone released them into the wild the instant their owner died. The snakes might actually be the biggest victims here.
“This is all a bit depressing...” I glanced over at the chickens. What would happen to my adorable chickens in that situation? Suddenly, I felt a bit like crying.
“Pochi, Tama, Yuma, don’t worry! I’ll make sure to live a long and healthy life, okay?!” I said to them with my arms spread. Pochi and Tama just gave me the cold shoulder. Oh, come on now, aren’t you being a bit too mean?
Yuma, unlike them, tilted her head, came over by my side, and snuggled up to me.
“Yumaaaaa!” You’re the only one who understands my feelings! Or so I thought in the spur of the moment, but actually, that wasn’t quite true. All three of them are my precious chickens. Pochi, Tama, you understand my feelings too, right? Right? Okay, I’m not too sure on this one.