The name’s Shohei Sano—twenty-five, bachelor.

I bought myself a mountain far away from my hometown, and I’ve been living here for almost seven months now.

Due to certain circumstances, my original plan had been to live out my days as a recluse in the mountains, but I picked a bad time to move. I arrived in late March, when the mountains were still fairly chilly. It only took three days for the loneliness to get to me and compel me to head down to the village at the foot of the mountain, where they happened to be holding a spring festival.

I was looking around the shrine, intrigued by the fact that they held a festival in the spring, when I came across a stall that sold dyed chicks—small, adorable things, chirping and tweeting. Amused, I decided to buy three of them. This should help stave off the loneliness, I thought, and I took them back with me to my mountain.

The weather was still much colder than I’d expected, but regardless, I did my best to take care of them. And not even a month later, for some strange reason, they’d already matured into adult chickens.

Are baby chicks supposed to grow this fast?

On top of that, instead of regular tail feathers, my chickens had scaly, dinosaur-like tails, and their mouths were full of sharp, jagged teeth. Are they really chickens? They say birds are descended from dinosaurs... Could this be some kind of atavism?

And if that weren’t enough, they could talk.

“Boar!”

“Boar!”

“Hunt?”

“No! No hunting!”

They still kept growing larger and taller—big enough to hunt wild boars. How much do they intend to grow?

Despite all that, my chickens were very adorable, and each one had their own individual quirks. There’s Pochi, the imposing rooster who acted as the leader of the group, Tama, the hen who provided backup for him, and Yuma, another hen who was always by my side. The three of them were always helping me out and making my days in the mountains more enjoyable.

After moving here, I also got to know the Yumotos, a couple who lived in the village down at the foot of my mountain—they helped me out when I purchased my property. Both had been very kind to me and to my, uh, unusual chickens. Old Man Yumoto was even stout and energetic enough to stay unfazed in the face of murder hornet stings. When we’d faced them, I’d felt much more nervous than he had, even though he’d been the one to get stung.

I also had neighbors, if you could call them that. On the mountain to the east of mine lived Miyako Katsuragi, an attractive young woman with brown hair. She had moved to the area about two and a half years ago and now lived with her pet...lizard? Komodo dragon? Crocodile? He’s a dragon if you ask me. Anyway, his name was Tatsuki.

I first met her at a gathering at the Yumotos—we’d gotten to enjoy a boar meat banquet with the villagers, courtesy of my chickens, who’d hunted down a boar.

There was another neighboring mountain in the opposite direction owned by Katsumi Aikawa, a guy in his thirties who looked like that one male idol, Kamenashi or something. He’d been living there for about three and a half years with his two huge pet snakes—Rin, a female whose upper body looked just like a beautiful woman (yeah, pretty much a lamia), and Ten, a male, who was just a huge, normal snake. Although I might be stretching the definition of the word “normal” here...

I first met Aikawa-san when we ran into each other at night near the border between our mountains. I still didn’t know what he and Rin-san had been doing there at the time.

There might have been something weird in the water around these parts, between all these bizarre animals and the villagers, who were all strangely open-minded and seemed to not give their oddness a second thought. I quickly grew to like this relaxed, easygoing attitude, though.

Katsuragi-san and Aikawa-san each had their own set of unfortunate circumstances that led to them buying their mountains and moving here. After we all got to know each other, both had worked on their problems and mostly managed to get past them. And since I had helped with that to some extent, they seemed to feel indebted to me, and they treated me very kindly. Personally, I didn’t think I did all that much.

Maybe they’re just worried about me and my clumsiness. For example, in September, I had a small accident where I cut my finger, and Aikawa-san had been kind enough to take me to the local clinic—he even looked after me for a whole week. After that, he started seeming more like a mother to me, despite his dashing good looks. At least the whole thing had served as a good lesson for me to be more careful.

Life in the mountains was tougher than I had expected. Katsuragi-san mentioned that she’d spotted a hornet nest on a flat area of her mountain, and when we all went to check, we ran into a huge swarm of murder hornets. We managed to make it out unharmed thanks to the efforts of Tatsuki-san, Ten-san, my chickens...and, believe it or not, Yumoto-san, who had come along and gleefully hunted down the hornets. The whole thing was straight out of one of those kaiju movies.

Autumn had brought with it a bountiful harvest—Yumoto-san let us pick persimmons from an orchard he had on his property. Oh, and Pochi hunted some wild boars there too. I also helped out with the rice harvest at one of the houses on the southern side of the village, and because of that, I was able to secure some freshly harvested rice. Then there was the wild yam I dug up with Aikawa-san on his mountain, and his snakes had also come by my mountain to help out with the crayfish infestation.

Recently, I experienced my first typhoon in the mountains. The damage to my mountain included a fallen tree blocking the road, and on Katsuragi-san’s mountain, a tall wire fence was destroyed.

Yup, mountain life is no joke. Still, I’m enjoying my time here and making the best out of my life in the mountains with my chickens.

1. I Climbed Farther up My Mountain

It was autumn, and I decided to spend the day just chilling on my mountain. Perhaps “chilling” wasn’t really the right word—I wouldn’t be leaving my property, but I’d still be making myself busy with mountain stuff. But hey, that does count as “chilling” to me. Pulling weeds near the house and the fields, checking on my crops, inspecting the exterior of the abandoned buildings (I’m still too scared to go inside), all that.

As usual, Pochi and Tama were full of energy—they had run off to play on the mountain after eating their breakfast.

I was up at the cemetery with Yuma when it suddenly came to me that I still hadn’t been to the top of my mountain. The house I lived in was on the mountainside, and the cemetery was a bit higher up. That was where the road ended, but it was obviously not the mountaintop. I’d intended to ask the former village head about that sometime but had forgotten.

“I guess...you’d climb up from around here? The northern side...” I muttered as I looked at the slope behind the graves. I pointed toward the trees to the north. “Hey, Yuma, ever climbed up there?”

“Climbed.”

“Oh? All the way to the top? You went there?”

“Went.”

“Was there anything there?”

Yuma tilted her head, apparently confused by the question. Ah well.

“I wanna go up there. Do you know if there’s a path somewhere that’s easy to climb?”

She paused for a moment and seemed to ponder. “Know.”

“Can you take me there?”

“Okay.”

Good thing we’re able to communicate with each other.

As for the path... It looked like I’d underestimated my chickens. I’d expected that we’d need to traverse through the wild vegetation, but much of the ascent had no handholds, making it impossible for me to climb. We ended up making a big detour until finally, we reached the top. It took a pretty long time, since there were no proper roads.

“W-We’re not climbing any higher, r-right?” There’s clearly no way up from here, other than climbing trees.

The foliage, probably not as lush as it had been in the summer, had already started to display an autumnal palette. This made the view here brighter than I’d expected, despite the mild sunlight. The leaves on the ground also contributed to that.

“It’s like a carpet of fallen leaves...” I started to feel excited.

The scenery on the mountaintop wasn’t all that different from the rest of the mountain due to the trees growing densely and obscuring the view. But even then, the area felt quite spacious.

Soon, I spotted a small lump of wood next to a large tree. “Hmm? What’s that? Wait, this is...”

I stepped closer to investigate and found a small structure that was clearly man-made. It was hard to tell exactly what it was since it appeared to basically consist of pieces of wood stacked together, but I spotted a few other small objects too, such as a piece of pottery. A hokora shrine?

“I wonder if there are gods here...”

We’re in the mountains—a mountain god, then? The former village head hadn’t mentioned anything about it, but it wasn’t all that strange for the former residents to have enshrined a god at the top of the mountain. That aside, the hokora was in poor condition—the wood had discolored, the pottery was chipped here and there, and if you didn’t come close enough to get a good look, you probably wouldn’t even be able to tell what it was supposed to be. I made a mental note to ask the former village head about it when I had the chance, then took out a water bottle I’d brought and carefully washed the chipped bowl. After that, I stacked the pieces of wood, put the bowl on top, and filled it with water.

“I apologize for not coming to greet you sooner. Thank you for always watching over this mountain. I would like to build you another hokora sometime.”

I followed the etiquette for Shinto worship: two bows, two claps, another bow. Hopefully, this is enough to apologize for my ungratefulness up until now.

Suddenly, I felt a soft, gentle breeze blow. Yuma followed it with her eyes. Was that the god, maybe?

We were up high enough that I didn’t get any phone signal, understandably. “Yuma, let’s go back down.”

“Okay.”

Maybe I’ll build a small torii gate here... What do you need for a hokora, anyway? What would be the object of worship in this case? Or maybe there isn’t one, and the whole mountain itself is the god? Dunno.

We retraced our steps cautiously until we were, at last, back at the cemetery. I washed my hands in the river—one of the most convenient things about my mountain was the abundance of water.

“I’m beat...” Needless to say, climbing the mountain had taken a toll on me physically, but there was also a mental component, what with the whole god thing.

I checked around the graves again for any spots in need of cleaning before going back home.

“So there was a god here after all...”

Aikawa-san had once mentioned that there was something similar on his mountain—when he’d asked the previous owner of his mountain about graves, he’d been told that there were some near a small hokora to the god of that mountain. It made sense, then, that the same was true for my mountain.

“Gotta ask Yamakura-san sometime. I should also tell Aikawa-san.”

My to-do list was rather long. Still, I felt kinda happy knowing that there was a god protecting my mountain. I mean, usually this kind of god just looks after the area and not much else, but still, it’s much better than nothing. I wouldn’t really call it a religious thing, just...I think it’s nice to have something you can rely on mentally.

“Yuma, thanks for taking me there.”

“Thanks.”

It seemed she still didn’t know the proper way to respond to “Thank you.” Though on the other hand, it’d feel kinda weird if she said, “You’re welcome.”

Anyway, time for lunch. This detour had taken a surprisingly long time—the sun had already hit its zenith and was now sinking. After lunch, I’ll give Yamakura-san a call.

And so, after a scrumptious meal courtesy of Yuma’s and Tama’s eggs, I called him. I waited as the phone rang a few times...then a few more...

“Huh.”

I waited some more, but no one answered. It’s a little past noon—I think most people should be home around this time. He lives with his wife too... Odd that there’s no one picking up. Are they all out shopping or something, maybe?

I got a bad feeling and hurriedly decided to call Old Man Yumoto.

“Hello? Oh, Shohei, what’s up?”

“Excuse me, I’m trying to talk to Yamakura-san, but no one will pick up the phone... I’m getting a little worried, and I’m thinking about going to check on them.”

“Oh...” Apparently, Yumoto-san also sensed something. “True, it’s weird that they wouldn’t be home at this time. I’ll go too.”

“Okay. I’ll head straight to Yamakura-san’s house. We can meet up there.”

“Gotcha. Later.”

As I prepared to leave for the Yamakuras’ place, I murmured, “I hope there’s nothing wrong... I just need to ask him about the hokora.”

I told Yuma I was going to see the previous owner of this mountain, and she seemed eager to tag along. If Yuma’s with me, I’ve got nothing to worry about.

The two of us got into my truck and headed toward Yamakura-san’s house—it was to the east of Yumoto-san’s place at around the halfway point of the village. His son lived in a different area with his family. I hear they were all living here together until this summer, but I guess they couldn’t bear the inconvenience of the countryside. Plus, getting rid of the mountain probably also made it easier for them to move away. At least, I assume so.

When I got there, I saw Yumoto-san talking to someone. They greeted me as I walked up.

“Hello.”

“Hey, Shohei. Hang on a bit—I’ll open the door.”

“Huh? Did something happen?” I asked. Both Yumoto-san and the other person had stern looks on their faces.

“Heeey, Yamakura-san! You still alive?”

Wait, seriously?

Yumoto-san opened the glass front door with a rattling sound and stepped inside.

“Yamakura-saaan! Are you okay? Agh, what am I saying? Obviously not! What the heck happened?!”

I could hear Yumoto-san’s panicked voice coming from inside. The other person and I followed suit and hurried inside.

“What happened?!”

“Ah... Th-Thanks...”

We found Yamakura-san collapsed on the tatami floor near the phone. His voice was hoarse, and he had one hand on his waist.

“A strained back?!”

Apparently, his back had acted up after lunch when he’d tried to get up. That was all there was to it.

“Jeez, gimme a break...” Yumoto-san scratched his head.

“My legs aren’t what they used to be either,” Yamakura-san lamented. “I can’t even go to the toilet that easily now... Or answer the phone...”

“Um, where is your wife?” I asked.

“She went to visit our daughter yesterday and still hasn’t come back. She’s watching our grandkids, and I think she’ll be home tomorrow. Ah, right, I can’t go pick her up either...”

“What, really? What are you going to do in the meantime?!”

“I just need to stay near the toilet.”

“No, no...” That’s not really what this is about... “Have you been to an osteopath? It’s better to get treatment than to just lie on your back all the time...”

“What do you say, Kitano-san?”

The other man, who had been talking to Yumoto-san when I’d gotten here, was named Kitano-san. It seemed Yamakura-san’s wife had given him a spare key to the house in case something happened.

“I’ll ask his wife,” Kitano-san replied, taking out his phone.

Meanwhile, Yumoto-san and I helped Yamakura-san up and to the toilet—he’d been holding it in.

“Phew, thanks. I was just about to burst!” Yamakura-san laughed, looking relieved. He still seemed to be in pain, though. Apparently, all the futons were stored away on the second floor, but if he went up there, he wouldn’t be able to come back down, and so they’d laid out a futon in the living room for him to sleep in temporarily.

“Did it happen all of a sudden?” I asked.

“No... I’ve been having back problems for a while now, actually. I’ve been keeping quiet about it because our fourth grandchild was just born.”

“Congratulations! Oh, does that mean your daughter is in the hospital now?”

“Yup.”

He told us about things in more detail: Their daughter had just given birth to her second child two days ago. They’d decided that, once she was released from the hospital, his wife would stay at their daughter’s place for about a month to help out. Yamakura-san had taken his wife there and visited the baby too. But then, when he was at home yesterday thinking about how he’d be living on his own for a while, he’d strained his back. The original plan had been for his wife to come back yesterday, do meal prep, and then head back to their daughter’s house.

“This is a pretty big deal, right?” I asked.

“It sure is...” Yumoto-san scratched his head. Kitano-san also wore a grim expression as he spoke on the phone.

“We can’t just ask his son to come over and look after him either...” After all, the son had his own job and family to take care of.

“Okay, I managed to talk to his wife,” Kitano-san said after he’d ended the call. “She says she’ll talk to their son about it and call again.”

Yamakura-san sighed. “Wish I didn’t have to trouble him with this. Aw, jeez... By the way, Sano-kun, why did you come to see me?” he asked.

“Oh, um, you see... Earlier today, I went up to the top of the mountain.”

“Oh?”

“And I found a... I think it’s the remains of a hokora shrine?”

“Aaahh!!!” Yamakura-san seemed to come to a sudden realization and yelled out. “Right! There was a god enshrined on the mountaintop! Ow! So...how was it?”

I hurried over to his side and rubbed his back. Not sure if this is the right way to do it.

Yumoto-san and Kitano-san both stared wide-eyed.

“Well, there were a bunch of these wood pieces...and a chipped ceramic bowl... I wanted to ask you about it.”

“I see, I see... And what did you do?”

“I stacked the pieces of wood, placed the bowl on top, and filled it with water as an offering. Could you tell me more about the god that’s enshrined there?”

“Ah, thanks for doing that. It’s the god of the mountain...” Yamakura-san reverently joined his hands together.

“I imagined so. Is there a name?”

“No, not that I know of. I just remember growing up and hearing from the old folks that we should be grateful to the god of the mountain... How did I forget about it until now...?” Yamakura-san looked dejected.

“Honestly, it’s understandable. And don’t worry, I’ll build a new hokora, so please keep your spirits up.”

Yamakura-san had a hard time—the local community all moved away, leaving only him and his family to take care of the mountain. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult that must have been.

“Is this pain...my punishment...?” He wondered in a desolate tone.

No, I don’t think so.

Old Man Yumoto immediately interjected. “Yamakura-san! Don’t say that! You’ve been having back problems for a long time, haven’t you? This is just what happens when you push yourself too hard. Look, Shohei went to the mountaintop for the first time today. He found a hokora. Then he tried to call you, found it weird that you wouldn’t answer, and gave me a call. Don’t you see? You’re not being punished! The god of the mountain was worried about you and alerted Shohei. You’re being protected!”

“I... I see... Thank you... Thank you...”

I handed Yamakura-san some tissues and looked the other way. Though I could hear him sobbing, I pretended not to. That’s right—the god of the mountain has been protecting him all this time.

Kitano-san’s phone rang, and he picked it up. “Hello, yes? Yes... Sure, no problem. Sano-kun came to see him. Sano-kun, from Brook Mountain. Okay, I understand.” Kitano-san’s voice sounded lighter, like he was hearing good news. After ending the call, he turned to me and said, “Their son’s coming here. Could I ask you to stay with Yamakura-san until then? I need to go check on the fields real quick.”

“No problem. Thank you, Kitano-san.”

I already had Yamakura-san’s son’s contact info, and he called me a short while after Kitano-san left.

“Sano-kun? I hear you went to check on him. Thank you for that. I’ll be there as soon as I can, so please look after him in the meantime.”

“No problem. Ah, just wondering, would you happen to know around what time you’ll get here?”

“Let’s see, it’s three now, so...around four thirty, I think.”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting. No need to rush.” Looks like I’ll be here for a while.

I stepped outside and called out to Yuma, who was in the garden eating bugs. “We’re staying for a little while. Yamakura-san’s not feeling well, and we need to wait for his son to get here... Oh.”

Four thirty... It’ll be dark by then. What am I going to do about Pochi and Tama? It seemed there was a different headache waiting for me at home.

“Want me to go and let them know?” Yumoto-san offered, perhaps noticing that I was feeling worried. However, I declined.

Pochi and Tama are running around outside—there’s no telling when they’ll get home. Generally, they came back a little bit before it got dark, but there wasn’t really a specific time. I thought about taking Yuma home, dropping her off, and then coming back here, but that didn’t seem feasible either.

The door’s unlocked, at least. I also washed and set aside some Chinese cabbage in case I got home later than expected. I didn’t cut it into an edible size, but I’m pretty sure I put it all in a bowl. Well, they’ll manage. Worst-case scenario, I’ll get pecked by Tama when I get home tomorrow. I mean, that does hurt, but it’s fine.

“Yumoto-san, can I stay over at your place tonight?”

“Yeah, sure thing. Just give me a sec—I’ll call the missus.”

He must’ve been inconsiderate about inviting guests in the past. My dad was like that too. Sometimes he’d bring over people from work without saying anything beforehand, and mom would scold him about it the next day. He just wouldn’t learn, though—he’d keep doing it. For me, I think that was the catalyst for understanding the importance of keeping in touch regularly. I guess you could say it was a cautionary tale.

Once Yumoto-san was off the phone, he turned to Yamakura-san. “A strained back, huh...? You can’t move at all, right?”

“That’s right. Sorry about this.”

“Maybe we ought to ice it a bit. Lemme check the fridge. Shohei, help me out here.”

“Okay.”

The two of us poked around for something to cool Yamakura-san’s aching back.

“Ah, nice, he’s got some ice packs. Shohei, go get me a towel.”

“Okay.”

We grabbed an ice pack, wrapped it in a towel, and placed it on Yamakura-san’s back.

“We shouldn’t ice it too much. Fifteen minutes or so should be enough.”

“Ahh... This feels wonderful...”

If it helps relieve the pain, then that’s great. Yamakura-san’s son would be taking his father home with him, and we thought it’d be a good idea to pick out a few things that might come in handy. We didn’t really know where to look, since we didn’t live there, but Yamakura-san helped out and packed up his daily medicine. You can always just buy new clothes, but that’s not the case with medicine. Especially with stuff you need to take every day, like medicine for high blood pressure. Missing doses can be dangerous. We also found notes detailing the medicine he needed and how to take it, which showed how thoughtful his wife was.

It didn’t take too long for dusk to creep up.

“Excuse me for a moment,” I said, and I went out to the garden. Yuma, who had probably been eating bugs, raised her head and looked at me, as if to say, What is it? She was adorable, as always.

“Yuma, we won’t be able to go home today before it gets late, so we’re staying the night at Yumoto-san’s place. Also, if you see a car, let me know.”

She nodded in response.

“Thanks.” Good thing I’ve got such clever chickens.

I went back inside and sipped on some tea while we waited for Yamakura-san’s son.

“Oh. I should take out the trash too while I’m at it,” I said. If his son is taking Yamakura-san, that means this house will be unattended for a while. Not a good idea to leave food waste lying around until they come back.

“There’s a compost hole to the right of the fields,” Yamakura-san explained. “You can just throw away all the food scraps there.”

“All right.”

Yumoto-san grinned. “You’re pretty attentive, Shohei.”

“Well, I do live by myself.” I can leave the compost stuff later, now that I know where to throw it away. As for the other trash, Yumoto-san offered to take it home with him.

“I guess his wife is staying at their daughter’s place,” Yumoto-san mused.

“Seems so.”

Before long, we heard the sound of a vehicle approaching, and then the doorbell rang.

“Hello?” I said, opening the door. I looked down—apparently, it was Yuma who had rung it. Yamakura-san’s son was still in the process of hopping out of his car. Nice one, Yuma!

“Thanks, Sano-kun,” he said as he approached. “Is it just me, or...did your chickens get bigger again? She’s pretty clever, huh?”

“I think they did, yes. Your father’s in the living room. Please look after him.”

“Thanks again! You were a big help.” He stepped inside. “Dad! You all right?”

“Ah, Keiji, it’s you. Sorry about this.”

“Did you thank Yumoto-san and Sano-kun? Where’s Kitano-san?”

“He said he was going to check on the crops,” Yumoto-san answered. “Should be back soon.”

Almost at the same time, the doorbell rang again—it was Kitano-san, of course. “Hey, I came to check on him again. Oh, hi, Keiji-kun. Are you taking him with you?”

“Yeah. Thanks for your help. I’ll look after him until he’s better.”

“Make sure he moves around after about four days of rest, or his muscles will get stiff. I’d suggest bringing him back here once he gets a little better. I can look after him in the mornings and evenings if it comes to that.”

“Got it. We’ll see what we can do.”

After that, we chatted away while we cleaned up. Keiji-san scratched his head when I mentioned the god of the mountain.

“Ah, right, there was a god up there, huh? Thanks, Sano-kun.”

“Please don’t mention it. I just happened to be curious about it.”

“Sheesh, what’s the old man thinking, making a god worry like that?” his son grumbled. “Again, thank you very much. I’d like to go and thank the god of the mountain too when I have the chance... Wait, there’s no proper hokora right now, is there? If you need any materials for it, just let me know and I’ll procure them.”

“I believe I can find most supplies for it on the mountain, so I don’t think there’ll be any need.”

With his father in the car, Keiji-san drove away. I guess this is one of the pitfalls of living alone. Before leaving, I checked around Yamakura-san’s house one more time and then set off for Yumoto-san’s.

In the sky, the stars were already out.

***

“The god of the mountain, huh...?” Machiko-san muttered. “I wonder if we have one on our mountain too. Maybe we should ask Kuwano-san?”

Yumoto-san shrugged. “Who knows? I didn’t see anything like that when I climbed all the way to the top.”

The Yumotos owned part of a mountain, but the rest of it, including the peak, was owned by their next neighbor over, Kuwano-san. Since the Kuwanos were at an advanced age and unable to tend to the mountain themselves, they didn’t mind Yumoto-san doing it in their stead. However, Old Man Yumoto himself apparently didn’t have any intention to take the rest of the mountain off their hands, so he would just do the bare minimum.

“It can’t hurt to ask, right?” I suggested. “If they say there’s nothing there, then that’s the end of it...”

“I guess so. I’ll try asking them.” Yumoto-san promptly called them and was able to get ahold of Kuwano-san. “Says he doesn’t remember, but there’s probably nothing there.”

“That reminds me... Are there any graves? On my mountain, I’ve got a cemetery where the ancestors of Yamakura-san and the other former inhabitants are resting.”

“As far as I know, no. The graves are all at the back of the village shrine. Kuwano-san’s ancestors’ graves too, I think?”

“In that case, maybe there’s nothing enshrined on the mountaintop.”

Sounds like the situation was different from my mountain or Aikawa-san’s, where there used to be small settlements—people lived there for hundreds of years, and there are graves on the mountains themselves. That probably explains why they enshrined and worshipped gods.

“Either way, first we gotta worry about the god of your mountain, Shohei. You plan to build a hokora?”

“Yeah. Well, just a simple one, anyway...”

Are there internet resources on how to build a hokora? The power of the internet is amazing—I sorta feel like you can find anything there. Though with great power comes great responsibility...

Since Yumoto-san had informed her I’d be coming over, Machiko-san had been kind enough to prepare tonight’s meal while she waited for us. She served us each a plate of chicken tempura with perilla and plum. Needless to say, it was absolutely delicious.

“How can tempura taste this good?” I asked. “Is there some trick to it?”

“Oh, you! Stop flattering me!” Machiko-san exclaimed.

Yumoto-san grinned. “Drink up, Shohei!”

“Just one can, okay?” I had to get home tomorrow as soon as I could. For a moment, Tama’s sulking face flashed across my mind. An angry Tama’s definitely no joke...

The next morning, I left soon after breakfast. I gotta find some way to express my gratitude for Machiko-san’s kindness. Everyone’s always so nice to me that it gets hard to keep track...but I’ll try to do my best.

“Sho-chan, you don’t need to worry about getting me a gift or anything like that, okay?” Machiko-san said. “Seeing you and your chickens strong and healthy is the best gift I can ask for!”

She saw right through me, huh? Still, that doesn’t mean I have to do as she says. Now then, what would be a good gift for her? Guess I’ll ask Aikawa-san for advice again. (I bet you’re thinking it’s more like leaving everything to him, not “asking for advice.” Keep it to yourself, all right?)

I soon departed, and once I was back at home, it goes without saying that I was pecked mercilessly by Tama.

“Sorry for taking so long! Ouch! Tama, that hurts! Listen, there’s a reason for this! Seriously, you gotta believe me! There’s a good reason!”

I did my best to run away from her onslaught. I know I’m kind of pathetic, but come on, she doesn’t need to peck me hard enough to poke holes in my work clothes. You need some lessons in forgiveness, Tama.

Later, I filled the big washbasin, mixing hot and cold water. As I washed Pochi and Tama, I explained to them what had happened: I told them about how I’d been to the mountaintop yesterday, found the remains of a hokora, and gone to ask Yamakura-san, the former village head, about it. However, I hadn’t been able to talk to him over the phone, and I’d gotten a bad feeling, so I’d gone over there with Yumoto-san to check on him, only to find him collapsed on the floor—and so on.

“Then Yamakura-san’s son, Keiji-san, came over to pick his dad up, but by the time he got there, it was already too late to drive back here. Sorry about that, Pochi, Tama.”

The two of them energetically shook the water off their bodies, soaking me in the process. Eh, sure, I won’t complain about it. I dried them off, and they seemed to want to go out and play, so I let them do that. It’s still morning, anyway. I’ll just have to wash them again when they come back... In a slightly melancholic mood, I did the laundry—including my work clothes, which had just gotten soaked.

Yuma strolled leisurely near the house, pecking at something or other on the ground. I’m glad that this time, she didn’t ask to bathe right after we got back home. Maybe because it’s not hot anymore, unlike that other time.

I called Aikawa-san, thinking it’d be easier to explain things over the phone rather than through text. He quickly picked up.

“Good morning. Do you have time right now, Aikawa-san?”

“Hello... Good morning, Sano-san. Sure, no problem.”

Every time I talked to him on the phone, I wondered if there was some relation between being handsome and having a nice voice. And his voice sounds nice in person too... Gah, there isn’t a single thing I can beat him at, is there? I mean, not that we’re competing anyway.

He was surprised to hear about the events that had transpired yesterday. “What? Really?! Sounds like you all had a pretty hard time...”

“Well, speaking for myself, it wasn’t that bad... But I think it was a pretty difficult situation for the Yamakuras, yeah.”

“I’m thinking I should go check on the god of my mountain too. Say, do you mind if I pay you a visit tomorrow? I’d like to pay my respects to your mountain’s god as well.” Aikawa-san was rather pious.

“Nope, not at all.”

They say Japan is the land of eight million gods, but I feel like there might be even more. (Yes, I know “eight million” in this case just means “a lot,” not the actual number.)

Incidentally, it seemed Tama and Yuma hadn’t laid eggs this morning. I’m sure there must be a mental component to it too—I shouldn’t take it for granted. They can have a day off if they need to. I’ll survive.

The earthen floor at home had gotten pretty dirty, so I took some time to clean it. I also took out the trash and washed up the chickens’ bowls. Other than a bit of the cores, they’d gobbled up all the Chinese cabbage I’d left there for them, even though it must have been hard to eat. Did they not eat the cores because they can’t, or because they were already full? Now that’s a difficult question. Either way, I’ll have to throw the cores out—bacteria grows easily on stuff you’ve already touched with your mouth.

Other than that, I also inspected things around the house and checked on my crops. I’d planted a few different varieties of leafy vegetables. The winter seasonals were quite convenient in that they didn’t take very long to grow and were quickly ready to harvest. Still, we’re up in the mountains. I can’t imagine they’re resistant to snow—that might be a concern. Then again, I’ve got plenty of Chinese cabbages, radishes, and pumpkins stored, so I should be all right! Probably.

On the topic of vegetables, I’d recently mentioned to Old Man Yumoto how vegetables grown without pesticides were a lot more common these days. He said it reflected a shift in consumer demand.

“Try selling them vegetables with bugs on ’em, though, and watch the complaints come in. They think you can just grow vegetables that both don’t use pesticides and don’t attract bugs. Hmph.”

“Fair point...”

I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with using pesticides in moderate amounts. I’m much more worried about imported vegetables, personally. I remember how my parents would talk about how all kinds of stuff could happen postharvest. But hey, that’s just me. Things might be different nowadays. I guess I should brush up on my knowledge.

Aikawa-san said he’d be coming over tomorrow, but he didn’t mention anything about Rin-san or Ten-san. I’ll have to ask him later.

“Yuma, let’s go check the river.”

The two of us went over to the nearest one, and I peered into the water.

“Ah, crayfish...” They’re still around? Jeez. Maybe I’ll ask Aikawa-san for help again. They must have been living here for an incredibly long time. Come on, guys, give me a break.

“Oh, there was also that charcoal thing...”

I planned to join Aikawa-san for charcoal making when he did it at his place. Charcoal was essential for my water filtering system. I mean, think about it—it’s a river filled with crayfish. There’s no way the water is safe to drink on its own, no matter how clear it might look. I always boil it before drinking. Though it’s drawn from a spring, not directly from the river itself.

Meanwhile, Yuma was having a hard time trying to eat crayfish.

“You don’t need to force yourself to eat them, you know.”

“Eat!”

Apparently, she didn’t dislike them, although that didn’t make it any easier for her. It looked like there were some pieces getting stuck in the shells too. Not exactly her favorite food, I’m guessing.

After lunch, I ran a search for “hokora how to build” and found some sites selling actual, ready-made hokora. Huh, now that’s unexpected. Well, these ones with a Buddha inside won’t work. There were also sites offering hokora-building services and some that had detailed instructions on how to build one. Yup, looks like I’ll manage.

Lately, I’d been feeling sleepier than usual, probably due to the chillier weather. I did get a good night’s rest at the Yumotos, but it seemed I hadn’t quite been able to shut my brain off completely and hadn’t slept that well.

“Yuma, I’m gonna take a nap. You can go play outside if you want.”

“Nap.”

“Oh, you’re joining me? Thanks...” I soon drifted off to sleep. The front door’s open, so we should be okay. Yuma can get outside if she wants...

In the evening, as always, Pochi and Tama came back covered in dirt, and I washed them again. I might have to start washing them inside soon. It’s getting pretty cold at night now.

Suddenly, I got a message from Katsuragi-san: “Hello, how are you doing? I heard about the god of your mountain.”

Oh, she must’ve heard it from Machiko-san. “Hey, I’m fine. What about you?” I replied.

“Me too, thanks. I’m thinking of going searching for my mountain’s god tomorrow, if there is one.”

I see she’s the proactive type. Well, with her dragon as her bodyguard, she should be okay, but I’m still a bit worried.

“I can join you if you don’t mind waiting until the day after tomorrow,” I replied.

“Really? Okay, see you in two days, then!” She eagerly took me up on it. Wait, am I going to regret this?

At any rate, I also had something to ask Aikawa-san. “About tomorrow, are Rin-san and Ten-san coming too?” I texted him.

“No, I’m coming by myself, since I’m only visiting to pay my respects.”

In other words, we’re climbing all the way to the top. When I went there, all I did was put that chipped bowl on top of the wood pieces and fill it with water. It might be kind of embarrassing letting someone else see that...but hey, on the other hand, this is a good opportunity to ask how to do things properly, right?

I also made sure to let the chickens know about our plans for tomorrow.

“Hey, Pochi, Tama, Yuma. Aikawa-san’s coming over tomorrow. We’re going to the top of the mountain to see the god there. Don’t worry—Rin-san and Ten-san aren’t coming.”

“Okay.”

“Okay...”

“Okay.”

As usual, Tama felt a bit reluctant whenever the topic of the snakes was brought up. I don’t actually need to keep checking with them every single time, but I just can’t help it—they’re my precious chickens.

2. Climbing My Mountain with My Neighbor

I took a bath with Yuma yesterday as usual. I couldn’t bathe with her at the Yumotos... There really is no place like home. After washing her feathers thoroughly (I had to be thorough about it, or the bathtub would get filthy), we’d soaked in the bath, and Yuma had worn a blissful expression on her face. Ah, that makes all the effort of taking her into the bath with me worth it... Provided she doesn’t grow much bigger, that is.

Aikawa-san showed up at around ten. I’d told Pochi and Tama that we’d be climbing up to the top, and they decided to join us. And since Yuma was already coming along, we all ended up going together. Along the way, I asked Aikawa-san about all sorts of things pertaining to the hokora.

Before we set out on the path to the peak, we stopped by the cemetery.

“Hello. I’ll be going to the top again today,” I said as I joined my hands before the graves. I’d already cleaned around them, washing them with water from the nearby river, and set out offerings of flowers and incense. While I’d been doing that, I’d felt like I could hear voices saying, Hey, we’re not the ones you’re supposed to pray to, are we?

I paid them no mind, though. You also did a splendid job of protecting the people living on this mountain for many generations. I’m just a newcomer, but still.

I picked some flowers that were still blooming in the vicinity. Some of these might be weeds, but welp, it is what it is.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” I apologized to Aikawa-san as I went back.

“No problem. That’s important too.”

I felt kind of apologetic to him—he’d also helped me pull weeds and tend to the graves. I really ought to stop relying on others so much... I’m already relying on him for the hokora too. Sorry.

“So, two days ago I went with Yuma to the summit. How about you, Pochi, Tama? Ever climbed up there?”

“Climbed.” The three of them, including Yuma, replied in unison. What an adorable sight. Aikawa-san also broke into a smile.

“The other day, we couldn’t find a decent path up and ended up having to make a big detour,” I explained to Aikawa-san. “Pochi, Tama, do you guys know of any shortcuts?” I felt like it was worth asking.

“Know!”

“Know!”

This time, Yuma didn’t join in. Instead, she pecked at me lightly, which was also cute in its own way.

“Thanks for helping me before, Yuma,” I said, petting her. Pochi and Tama gave me What’s up with this guy? looks.

Hey, come on, what’s wrong with some physical intimacy? Stop giving me the stink eye! At least Yuma seems to enjoy it...

“Must be nice having chickens...” Aikawa-san said, staring off into the distance. He seemed to be implying that this was an unattainable dream for him at this point. I mean, yeah, with the snakes and all...

We made our way up, tagging behind Pochi and Tama. The path wasn’t as inhospitable as the one we’d attempted two days ago, but there were still some spots that had collapsed or places where the overgrown bushes were impossible to traverse. In the end, we still had to make a few detours.

As with last time, the peak didn’t feel all that much like a mountaintop, due to all the trees. This mountain hadn’t really been used as a mountain-climbing spot, so there wasn’t that “We’re finally at the top!” sense of accomplishment.

“It’s pretty flat up here,” Aikawa-san remarked.

“Yep, it is. And a pretty wide area too. What is it like on your mountain?”

“Not nearly this spacious. I’ve climbed up there a few times, but there’s not much to write home about.”

“I see.”

There’s no one keeping these mountains maintained, after all. Still, we do have gods dwelling here, so we should put some effort into it.

“Is this it?” Aikawa-san asked, pointing to the small wooden structure I’d run into two days earlier. Gosh, it’s embarrassing how I didn’t spot it faster.

“Ah, yeah, that’s it.”

“So, these pieces of wood were scattered around...”

“Yeah. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if not for this chipped pottery here.”

“You asked the former village head about it, right?”

“Yep.”

“No mistake about it, then—this is where the god of Brook Mountain is enshrined.”

I remembered filling the bowl to the brim with water, and it was now about half full. The rest had probably evaporated already.

“No rivers up here, though that’s to be expected,” I said.

I took out a bottle of water, emptied the bowl, rinsed it lightly, and filled it again. Then the two of us paid our respects to the god of the mountain. A refreshing breeze blew faintly. With November just around the corner, the wind these days was already quite chilly, and we were at the summit, so I began to feel cold, even with all the trees surrounding us.

“I want to build a hokora here, but I don’t know what the object of worship should be,” I explained. “I guess it’s the mountain itself, in this case.”

“I see. I’m not sure how it is on my mountain, but I’ve heard there’s a Buddha in there.”

“Ah, right, your hokora’s still intact. I guess I’d be reluctant to check too.” If the hokora here was still in its original state, I’d probably have my qualms about opening the door to check what’s inside.

“Hmm, what now...?” I’d hoped Aikawa-san could help clear that up, but since he hadn’t seen the object of worship for his mountain’s hokora, that was a bust.

“How about a nicely shaped rock, then? Since the mountain itself is the object of worship.”

“That...might be a good idea.”

Aikawa-san made a good point—if the object of worship was the mountain itself, then enshrining a natural object from the mountain should suffice. That said, plants or tree branches were poor candidates, since they’d eventually rot. Rocks seemed like an ideal choice.

“Thanks.” I was definitely right to ask him for help. “So I just need to look for a nicely shaped rock around here, right?”

“Yes, and preferably a decently sized one.”

A larger rock, then. I bet it’d look pretty awesome if I built the hokora on top of one. Seems like building it that way might be a lot of work, though...

Aikawa-san, the chickens, and I searched around the top of the mountain for rocks, although Pochi and Tama seemed more concerned with looking for bugs. Eh, can’t blame them for not being interested.

Yuma would occasionally peck at a rock and tilt her head cutely, as if asking, How about this one? Tama focused on the bugs but would also peck at rocks every now and then while she was at it. And Pochi... He just did his own thing.

After searching for a while, we managed to find a relatively large one that seemed suitable for the job—we set it aside behind the hokora remains. It was heavy enough that it wouldn’t tumble away too easily, and it was right next to all the pieces of wood, so I figured it should still be there next time I climbed up.

“Should I hang a shimenawa rope too?” I asked.

“If you want to. I think that’s optional, though.” Fair enough.

We checked our surroundings again and pulled a few weeds before making our way back down to the cemetery. I’ll have to go back up there again sometime to do proper maintenance. Plus I also need to clear a proper path up to the hokora... Gah, I’ve got a lot on my plate. Mountain living sure is tough.

Then again, there’s no need to hurry. I can think of it as developing the land... Wait a minute, why did I come to the mountains again in the first place? To retire from society and lead a quiet, easygoing life...wasn’t it? Hmm... Oh well. Let’s just go with the flow.

After that, we got in our trucks, which we’d left near the cemetery, and went back to my house. It was clear from the position of the sun in the sky that we’d spent a fair amount of time up on the mountaintop.

As soon as we got back, Pochi and Tama immediately bolted off into the mountain wilderness. Only Yuma stayed behind for lunch. Looks like running around is a bigger priority to them than food... Or maybe all that running makes food taste better. What do they eat when they’re not home, anyway?

“Oh crap, it’s already late!” I exclaimed. “I’ll go prepare lunch real quick.”

“Don’t worry—take your time,” Aikawa-san replied with a smile.

I was in the habit of making a lot of miso soup, so all I had to do was heat it up without letting it boil. Even so, about once every four times, I’d accidentally let it boil and panic. Okay, calm down.

I served some pickled Chinese cabbage, plus cabbage dressed with salted kelp, and tea. I also heated up the stew with Chinese cabbage and pork belly that I’d made last night—I served that in two bowls, cracking one each of Tama’s and Yuma’s eggs on top. I then poked holes in the yolks, covered the bowls with plastic wrap, and microwaved them for a couple of minutes each. For normal eggs, it’d be only a minute, but my chickens’ eggs were much larger than regular ones. If the egg whites were still runny, I’d heat it a little more. After that, all that was left was to serve everything with rice.

“Ooh, this Chinese cabbage stew is great. The flavor’s really seeped in. And these eggs...” Thankfully, Aikawa-san had nothing but praise for the food. Each of our bowls was generously topped with a large egg. “Chinese cabbage is so juicy and tasty around this time of the year.”

I was also quite pleased with the meal. “Yeah, they’re really juicy. I didn’t realize at first and added too much water, so the first time I tried making it, I accidentally made Chinese cabbage soup, not stew.” I really had no idea they had such high water content...

Aikawa-san laughed. “Oh, I’ve done the same thing.”

I wasn’t exactly the most adept cook, but living in the mountains had changed that. With no convenience stores or supermarkets nearby and no bento to buy at the general stores in the village (there was one small bento shop, but it was only open for a few hours during the day, and not every day), I had been forced to cook often. Thankfully, since I lived by myself (or, well, with my three chickens) I had plenty of time for that. Plus, I can sleep and wake up whenever I want. Well...again, not really—I’m basically forced to wake up in the morning, either on my own or with Tama’s “help,” which actually makes it harder to get up in the physical sense.

“By the way, I’m going over to Katsuragi-san’s tomorrow.”

“Oh... Are you helping her with something?”

“Apparently, she heard from Machiko-san about the whole hokora thing and wants to check if there’s one on Loud Mountain too.”

“I see. True—there might be one there as well.”

“Yup.”

“She’s got Tatsuki-san with her...but you never know what might happen. Please be careful, you two.”

“Thanks.”

Joining us isn’t an option, huh? Well, I already expected as much, with his trauma and all. Luckily—or unluckily, depending on how you look at it—there are very few young women around here, so it must be relatively comfortable for Aikawa-san. I just hope there’s no rebound when he recovers from this whole thing. Not that it’s any of my business, anyway.

“Thank you for the nice meal. Let me know when you figure out what you want to do—I can help build the hokora.”

“Thanks. Sure, I’ll be asking you to help.” Aikawa-san is much better at that kind of stuff than I am, plus he’s so proactive. “Oh, also, do you mind if I go pay my respects to your mountain’s god too sometime?”

“Not at all. Just drop me a message when you want to come by.”

Afterward, Aikawa-san went on his way. I’d be asking him to come again at a later date to have a look at the river. I really gotta write all this stuff down somewhere before I forget.

Incidentally, I’d also started doing that “okigusuri” thing he’d told me about previously. The salesperson would come to this area around once every four months, and when they did, I’d leave my medicine box at Yumoto-san’s place. The box itself was one of those old-fashioned wooden medicine boxes, and it had a nostalgic charm. As for its contents, I hoped I could remain healthy enough to rely on them as little as possible.

“Ah... This wound opened again. Chapped hands? Kinda itchy too.”

More than a few times recently, I’d scratched at my hands too hard, accidentally making them bleed. I’d had to use bandages. This had never happened to me before, and I’d considered the possibility that my hands were getting drier with age, which shocked me. I’m still in my twenties! Yeah, the number rounds up to thirty, but still! It’s too early for that!

At this time, I didn’t yet know that Katsuragi-san would scold me harshly when I saw her—my bandaged hands worried her.

3. I Visited My Next-Mountain Neighbor

“Hello, Sano-san. Thanks for coming today!”

“Hi. You seem to be doing well.” Katsuragi-san seemed to be in particularly high spirits today, for whatever reason.

Tama and Yuma had come along with me, while Pochi had stayed behind to watch the house. I’d asked yesterday if he wanted to come, but he’d declined with a tilt of his head. It seemed at least one of the chickens always had to stay home to patrol their territory.

I quickly looked around for Katsuragi-san’s dragon so we could greet him. “So, where’s Tatsuki-san?”

“Over here.” She led us to the side of the house, where Tatsuki-san was resting.

“Hello, Tatsuki-san,” I called out. “Can I let my chickens eat some of the bugs and grass around here?”

He cracked his eyes open and nodded slowly, giving us the A-okay. I then turned to my chickens, who were standing by my truck. “Tama, Yuma, you heard him.” The two of them dashed in our direction.

Tama did her usual thing where she’d peck lightly at Tatsuki-san, which always brought to mind that Egyptian bird and crocodile motif. Except for the fact that Tama’s pretty massive too, I guess. I glanced at Yuma, who looked back at me and cocked her head with a clueless expression. Ah, she’s so cute! I really have a soft spot for my chickens!

I hadn’t come all the way here to revel in Yuma’s cuteness, though. I was supposed to help Katsuragi-san search for the god of her mountain—if there was one.

“Katsuragi-san, do you have any idea where it could be enshrined?”

“Hmm...” She stopped and pondered for a while.

Wait, don’t tell me she intended to search her mountain aimlessly... Well, I’m just glad she asked me to help. Better than having her try to look for it on her own. Imagine getting lost on your own mountain...

“Don’t forget you’ve got another whole mountain as well as a forest. I think it could be dangerous to jump into this without planning ahead.”

“You’re right... I should have given this more thought. Sorry.”

To be honest, it’s really her own problem if she gets hurt or something, but I can imagine it might have consequences for me too. Like her dragon barging onto my mountain or her parents pestering her to leave the mountains and go back to her hometown. Wait, maybe that’s not a bad thing—she doesn’t need to worry about her abusive ex or her stalker anymore, right?

“Is there anyone around who knows about the history of Loud Mountain?” I asked.

“Yamanaka-san helped me with the purchase, so maybe I should try asking her...”

“Yeah, that’d be a good start.”

“Thanks as always.”

“I didn’t really do anything.” Just spoke my mind.

“Sorry, Sano-san. I had you come all the way here for nothing...” Katsuragi-san said with an apologetic expression.

“No problem, really.” Not like I had anything urgent to attend to.

“Um... I made some oden, so at least have some before you go!”

“Oh, I’ll take you up on that.” Oden, huh? It is almost winter.

“Sano-san, can I ask you to wait on the veranda? Sorry about the cold. I’ll bring some cushions.”

“Don’t mind me.”

We walked leisurely toward Katsuragi-san’s house. She hurried inside and brought out three thick cushions. “Yuma-chan, you can come up too if you want.”

I moved the cushions to the edge of the veranda and sat down on one. Yuma settled on the middle cushion, looking like a big mochi. She seemed absolutely determined to take the spot right next to me.

“Thanks, Yuma.”

Although I didn’t share Aikawa-san’s trauma concerning young women, I had my own set of circumstances that made me want to keep some distance from them for the time being.

Though the sun was still shining strong, chilly gusts of wind signaled the changing of the seasons. Maybe I should’ve brought a lap blanket. Actually, I do have a blanket laid out where the passenger seat of my truck used to be, but that’s Yuma’s. I don’t want to use it outside and make her sit on top of a cold blanket later. Similarly, I also had one in the tonneau for the other two chickens. Tama had sat on it today as I’d driven here.

Yuma didn’t stay still—after sitting down on the cushion, she grew restless waiting for Katsuragi-san and hopped back down on the lawn to peck at the ground. I gently petted her, feeling glad for the fine weather we were having.

Before long, Katsuragi-san showed up with some tea and pickles. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” A gentle breeze blew. “It’s colder than I thought. Please wait one more moment.” She hurried back inside and came back out holding a short, well-insulated hanten coat. “Sorry, this was the only larger size I had. Here you go.”

Before I had a chance to say anything, she went back inside. I stared at the hanten—it was red and felt quite warm and fuzzy. “I shouldn’t barge in, huh?” I muttered. The house doesn’t look too large. And she’s a young girl living all by herself, so...

The pickles were Chinese cabbage, rather on the sour side, but I enjoyed that. The tea warmed me to the core. Still, it might be getting a bit too cold to spend time sitting on the veranda.

“Sorry again. I’m back. I brought some oden—is there anything you dislike, or do you have favorite ingredients?” Katsuragi-san asked apologetically. She was holding a large pan.

“Dislikes... Not really. And my favorite... Radish, maybe?”

“Okay.”

She served me a large portion of oden in a bowl, and after that, she also brought a bamboo zaru basket filled with leafy vegetables. This must be for Yuma and Tama. Speaking of which, is Tama still pecking the dragon?

“Would you like some rice too?” she asked me.

“If you’ve got some, I’d appreciate it.”

“Sure.”

She served me rice and gave me some mustard, which I put on the edge of the bowl, and the two of us began to eat. The radish was tasty, but it was a bit too firm.

“Ah, the radish is still not soft enough...” Katsuragi-san said with a frown.

“True.”

Perhaps it was due to the season, or maybe this was just a firmer type of radish. But the fish paste cakes and the konjac taste great, so it must be the radish itself.

And so, with Yuma between us, we ate oden. Yuma had settled on the cushion once again and was munching on vegetables.

“Do you think the radish’ll get softer come December?” I wondered.

“Every ingredient has its best season.”

There was also potato in the oden. Yum.

Katsuragi-san ate a pickle, and her eyes widened. “Oh, sorry! These are old! I’ll bring some freshly pickled ones!”

“Huh?” I blinked a few times, unsure about why she apologized. “But they were pretty good... Or were you saving them for yourself?” If so, my bad.

“No, if... If you’re okay with these, then...”

I asked why she’d gotten so flustered about it—she explained that apparently, some people were averse to old pickles.

“Back when I lived with my family, I once had friends from another prefecture come over, and I served them these... They said that usually you’d throw away pickles this old...”

“Huh. I guess it must be a regional thing. Well, I like them.”

“I’m glad...”

I think that was a bit rude of her friends, but it’s definitely true that when it comes to food, there’s a big regional factor. Same goes for what ingredients you put in oden—for example, this has beef sinew, and it tastes pretty good, but we didn’t put it in our oden where I’m from. Ours had boiled eggs. Anyway, this tastes great, and that’s what matters.

Katsuragi-san would often turn to Yuma and ask, “Yuma-chan, do you want more?”

“More.”

“Okay, here you go.”

I found it an adorable sight—including the way Katsuragi-san was trying to win her over with food. (Just so we’re clear, I’m calling it adorable the same way you’d call a pet adorable, okay? Wait, who am I making excuses to?)

After our food had settled a bit, Katsuragi-san noticed all the bandages on my hands and stared at them. “Hmm? Sano-san, what’s up with your hands? Did you cut them while mowing grass? That’s a lot of bandages.”

Between both hands, I had a total of six bandages. Yeah, I know that’s a lot, but what can I do?

“Oh, well, they’ve been pretty rough and dry recently, and before I realized what was happening, they were bleeding. And they’re kinda itchy too... What could it be?”

“Wait, Sano-san... Isn’t that housewife’s eczema?!”

“Housewife’s eczema?” I was puzzled. But I’m not a housewife...

Katsuragi-san glared at me sharply. “You’ve been doing a lot more household chores after moving here, haven’t you?”

“I guess so?”

Back at my parents’, I’d mostly just do my own dishes and leave laundry and all that other stuff to my mom. Definitely didn’t do anything like washing chickens every day. At first, I’d used rubber gloves for that, but I stopped using them when it started getting hot because my hands would get stuffy. Maybe it’s better to use those.

“Do you use hand cream?” she asked.

“Uh, no?”

“Why not?!” Katsuragi-san pointed her finger at me and began a thorough scolding. “With how dry it gets in winter, you should take better care of your hands! It’s especially easy to develop eczema in winter if you do a lot of chores around the house. If you don’t do something about it, it’ll just get worse and worse!”

Oh crap. I messed up, huh?

“Do you have any hand cream at home?!” she asked.

“I don’t...”

“Okay! Hold on a moment!” She darted back into the house and came back with a small container in hand. “This is just a sample I got, so there’s not much, but you can use it for now. Make sure you put it on at least before sleeping or doing chores! Got it?!”

“Uh, I’ll do my best...” I don’t like this hand cream stuff... It makes my hands all sticky.

“Sano-san, I’ll check on your hands later. And if you’re not taking good care of them...” Katsuragi-san smiled menacingly.

“Wh-What happens?”

“I’ll take you by force!”

Wait, what? I blinked my eyes rapidly.

Katsuragi-san’s face turned awkward. She cleared her throat and said, “That was a joke, of course.”

Was she expecting me to go, Please, anything but that! or something? Sorry for not living up to your expectations...

After that, she lectured me some more on eczemas and their symptoms—bleeding, itchiness, bumps, more itchiness, more bleeding if you scratch it, and so on.

“How about it? Do you want your hands to itch all the time and get rougher and bloodier?! Sure, it will heal when the weather gets warmer, but until then, you’re in for a world of pain, itching, and bleeding!”

“I’d...rather avoid that.” Guess I gotta use rubber gloves after all, even though it’s a hassle to have to put them on every time.

“And that’s not all,” Katsuragi-san continued, with a sinister expression and furrowed brow.

Yuma’s gaze flicked back and forth between me and Katsuragi-san. I petted her reassuringly.

“Wh-What?”

“You know about food allergies, right?”

“Yeah, sure, some people have those...” Thankfully, I’m not one of them—I can eat just about anything, although I do have my preferences. Not that I’d call myself a picky eater.

“Some people think food allergies are something you’re born with, but that’s not necessarily always the case. And some of the ways you can acquire them are through dryness, eczema, scrapes, and scratches. Ever heard of that?”

“S-Say what...?” This conversation just took a terrifying turn.

“Basically, it’s possible to acquire allergies when food comes into contact with damaged skin. That’s why it’s so important to keep your skin moisturized during winter. Haven’t you heard of people developing wheat allergies from soap?”

“Oh, now that you mention it, I might have heard of that before...” I remember I didn’t understand what wheat had to do with soap. Something to do with soap containing wheat-based ingredients. Does this mean those people had some skin injury like she mentioned?

Noticing my confusion, Katsuragi-san elaborated further. “That was facial soap, so there may be other factors—like things entering the body by coming into contact with the mucous membranes of the eyes or the nose. And it seems there was an issue with the wheat-based ingredients used too. That’s why you should pay attention to ingredient labels. Anyway! The point is—use hand cream! You can start by just putting it on before bed!”

“Okay...” She makes a good point—I’d hate to get food allergies. Imagine not being able to eat certain foods anymore... But I’m not sure if I can keep it up. “Wait, so what about people who’ve had food allergies since they were kids?”

“Well, medicine is not an exact science. There’s still a lot they haven’t figured out yet.”

“Fair enough. Like a cure for cancer or dementia.” There are still plenty of incurable diseases out there. Same goes for mental illnesses—those aren’t tangible, so it’s more difficult to find concrete treatments.

I gratefully accepted the hand cream she gave me.

“But you’ve already got eczema... Maybe you should first treat it with an ointment or something...” Katsuragi-san mused. “Honestly, Sano-san, I feel like you won’t really listen to my advice...”

I shuddered. Yeah, I’m pretty confident I’ll forget to use the cream. (Talk about pointless confidence.)

“Hmm... Oh, right!” Katsuragi-san seemed to have had a flash of inspiration. I, on the other hand, had a bad feeling about it. “I’ll text him!”

“‘Him’...? Who?” Well, there aren’t that many candidates: The Yumotos have phones, but they generally stick to actual calls...

The recipient of Katsuragi-san’s messages, typed at breakneck speed, was...

“Ah.” My phone rang—I instinctively picked it up.

“Sano-san!”

As expected, it was Aikawa-san. I didn’t know these two had each other’s contact info...

Katsuragi-san looked at me smugly.

You’ll pay for this!

“Listen, Sano-san, eczema in winter is no laughing matter! You need to go to the village clinic immediately!”

“O-Okay...”

“If you don’t want to go on your own, how about asking Katsuragi-san to go with you? Or I can go too!”

“N-No, I can’t ask you guys to do that...”

“But you definitely won’t go if we don’t take you, right?”

Damn, he saw right through me. I was thinking of not bothering and just letting it be. Sweat ran down my back, despite the cold weather.

“Sano-san? Come on, I’ll go with you. Let’s go to the clinic. Right now.”

“R-Right...now?”

“Yeah. I’ll be waiting at the clinic, okay?”

Yeah, this guy’s definitely the proactive type. “I-It’s fine... I’ll go by myself...”

“Sano-san?” His voice over the phone sounded threatening.

“Okay... Um, so, can we meet at three at the clinic, then...?”

“Got it. I’ll be there at three.”

After finally managing to get off the phone, I glared at Katsuragi-san. Busybody.

“Aikawa-san is going with you? Whew, that’s a relief! Okay then, let’s eat more!” Her face broke into a grin. “If your hands are too rough, you might get a chicken allergy when you touch Yuma-chan, don’t you think?”

Wh-Whaaat?! That’d definitely be a problem!

“Th-That’s...”

“You can’t be sure, can you?”

I hung my head. Sure, it does look pretty bad, and it’s itchy too. Maybe this is a good opportunity to get it sorted out. I heaved a sigh.

Tama finally joined us and pecked at the vegetables along with Yuma. She even said thanks to Katsuragi-san, which warmed my heart. Katsuragi-san herself was also all smiles.

Still, why does it seem like Katsuragi-san and Aikawa-san don’t trust me at all?

I finished the rest of the oden, my qualms still lingering.

***

Afterward, Katsuragi-san saw me off and said she’d message me again. Huh, wait a minute... What did I even come to her mountain for again?

Tama also looked slightly disappointed. Oh, that’s right. “Sorry, Tama. The whole ‘looking for the god of her mountain’ thing will have to wait another time.”

“Okay...” she replied reluctantly.

“Thanks, Tama.” I gently petted her feathers. I did it unconsciously, but this time, she didn’t seem to get mad—she even refrained from pecking me. She’s like that sometimes.

With Tama and Yuma in the truck, I headed to the clinic. Aikawa-san was there waiting for us. He really did show up... I felt a mix of relief and guilt.

“Hello, Sano-san. Can I see your hands?”

“Here...” With some hesitation, I held them out. He grabbed them and stared intently. Two grown men holding each other’s hands... What did I do to deserve this?! I shuddered.

“This is pretty bad... Okay, let’s go.”

“Um, your hand...”

“Ah, right! Sorry!”

Aikawa-san was inadvertently pulling me by the hand. This is bad—I can already imagine the unfounded rumors. Meanwhile, Tama and Yuma stared at us with What the heck are you doing? looks. I have no idea myself, honestly.

Anyway, we stepped inside the clinic.

“Hello.”

“Ah!” The lady at the reception desk seemed surprised to see me. She opened the door behind her and yelled out, “Doctor, he’s here again! That huge chicken guy!”

Hey, that makes it sound like I’m a huge chicken. Aikawa-san and I chuckled to each other awkwardly.

“Oh, the chicken guy’s here?” The doctor stepped out into the reception area. Again, I’m not a chicken—I just raise them! “Where are the chickens?”

“Outside, of course.”

“Ah, okay. So, what brings you here today?” the doctor asked nonchalantly.

“Well, uh, I’ve got some nasty eczema on my hands, and I was wondering if you had an ointment or something that might help...”

“You live by yourself, right?” the receptionist asked. “No wonder.”

“I see, I see. Well, it is that time of the year. Come in.” The doctor beckoned me into the examination room and prescribed me an ointment. “Apply it before bed and in the morning, and then as you feel necessary. No need to be economical—you can use it as many times a day as you want to. Oh, also...”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you to deliver a message to Yumoto-chan while you’re at it? Tell him not to bring live hornets into my clinic anymore.”

“O-Okay... I’ll be sure to let him know.”

Aikawa-san and I both wore embarrassed smiles. A perfectly reasonable request. Caged or not, they’re still live murder hornets. That was...back when we got rid of the hornets on Katsuragi-san’s mountain (or forest, I guess), right? I remember Machiko-san mentioning that her husband thought if he left them in his truck, they might die from the heat, so he brought them with him to the clinic. Talk about a troublesome patient... He said he couldn’t leave the windows open either because the smell and the buzzing of their wings could attract more hornets, but that’s really beside the point, isn’t it? The message here: Don’t walk around carrying murder hornets!

“Anyway, come back if anything comes up. If it gets too bad, you should go see the dermatologist in town. I can refer you if you’ve never been there.”

“All right. Thank you.”

When I’d arrived at the clinic, there hadn’t been any other patients, so I was a bit surprised to see a couple of them as I left. I then got the medicine I needed from the drugstore right next door, a small prefab building.

“Aikawa-san, thanks so much for coming here.”

I noticed that since I’d come here straight from Katsuragi-san’s mountain, I hadn’t brought a gift to thank him for helping me. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with parting ways here, but he’d come all the way here for my sake, so I felt a little bashful. What do I mean, “bashful”? Am I a maiden or what?

“Don’t mention it. Oh, while we’re at it, do you mind if I head over to your place for a bit? I was hoping you could show me around the river.”

“Ah, right! Yeah, of course.” We did talk about having Rin-san and Ten-san help with the crayfish again.

“If there are still enough of them to tell at a quick glance, then I’m thinking of taking Rin and Ten to the river tomorrow or the day after...”

“Okay, sure. That’d be a huge help.”

“I’d like to bring them before Ten starts preparing to go into hibernation. I’ll see how he’s doing in the morning and drop you a message.”

“Gotcha.”

Since Rin-san and Ten-san hadn’t come along today, Tama didn’t mind Aikawa-san coming over. I had him check the river and then served some tea.

As he was about to leave, his expression became concerned and serious. “Make sure you follow the doctor’s instructions and apply the ointment, okay? You wash the chickens every day, right?”

“Well, yeah...”

“I’d suggest applying it before and after washing them too. Also, before and after doing laundry. You might dislike the stickiness, but make sure you don’t forget!”

“Okay...” Man, he really doesn’t trust me to take care of myself. I have to agree, though—this is kind of a big deal. I hate the itchiness, and I don’t want my hands bleeding... I’ll be sure to use the ointment.

I glanced at the hand cream I’d gotten from Katsuragi-san. I just remembered—she told me to do a patch test kind of thing to see how it meshes with my skin type.

As soon as we got back, Tama ran off to play. Kinda feel sorry for getting in the way of her routine. “Yuma, you can go too if you want, you know? Don’t mind me.”

She instantly gave me the cold shoulder. Why?!

4. November

A few days later, Rin-san and Ten-san came over to help with the crayfish, which earned me a good pecking from Tama.

“Tama-san, sorry about this. Ten is about to go into hibernation, you see.” Aikawa-san apologized to her, which didn’t sit too well with me, but it did seem to placate her. And I’m supposed to be her owner...

“I wonder why Tama’s so violent...” I muttered. That earned me yet another pecking. Jeez, me and my big mouth. Aikawa-san laughed.

After that, I spent my days making winter preparations, and soon enough, it was November, signaling the start of the hunting season.

I was currently visiting Mutsu-san—he’d previously talked to me about keeping my second mountain open for the local hunters during the hunting season.

“Looks like it’s our time to shine, eh?” he said as he tended to his hunting rifle. He seemed particularly enthusiastic this year. Meanwhile, his son and his wife had troubled smiles on their faces.

Aikawa-san was joining me today, and the chickens were here too. Apparently, they’d taken a liking to the forest on the back side of Mutsu-san’s property. Just don’t go hunting stuff without permission, guys.

Mutsu-san had probably been working in the fields—when I’d arrived, he hadn’t walked over from the house but from a different direction.

“Hello, Mutsu-san,” I greeted him.

“Oh, hi there, Sano-kun, Aikawa-kun.” His eyes widened when he saw the chickens. “Did they...grow larger again?” he asked, staring at them.

I chuckled. “Seems so. I think they’ve grown a little taller since the last time we were here.”

“Well, make yourselves at home. You can even go hunt wild boars again if you want—I’d appreciate it, actually.”

Uh-oh, I don’t like where this is going... As soon as he heard that, Pochi was already preparing to take off in the direction of the forest. “Wait! Pochi, wait!” I hurriedly blocked his path.

“Something the matter?” Mutsu-san inquired with a puzzled look.

“Listen, we’re going home this evening! You gotta come back as soon as it starts getting dark, okay?!” I told Pochi. He and Tama exhaled in disappointment. When did you guys learn to sigh? What’s next? Are you gonna start voicing your complaints? “You can go play there, but don’t go looking for boars! If you run into one, that’s okay. Got it?”

Pochi let out a reluctant cluck in response. Okay, good. However, Tama just glared at me, as if she were saying, Mind your own business! or something to that effect.

Hey, look, we can’t just stay the night unannounced—we’re not at Yumoto-san’s place.

“You can go too, Yuma. I’ll be in the house.”

She nodded and ran off toward the forest with the other two. One less concern for me.

“Sano-kun... Did something happen?”

“Oh, uh, you see...” I gave him a rundown of what had happened when we’d been to the Yumotos’ mountain: Old Man Yumoto had asked them to go and catch some wild boars as a joke, but Pochi had taken it seriously, and we’d been forced to spend the night on the mountain.

After hearing my story, Mutsu-san understood what I was getting at. “I see... True—gotta be careful who you tell jokes to. I’ll watch myself.”

“Sorry about my chickens...”

“You all can stay over next time. We’ve been having trouble with boars and deer, you see...”

“I bet.”

At the start of the hunting season, the hunters all completed thorough weapons maintenance. However, firearms were a last resort—hunting was mostly done through trapping, and they’d already started laying traps as well. Well, yeah, rifles can be pretty dangerous when there are other people around.

“So, about the mountains—you’re leaving West Mountain and the mountain to the back of Brook Mountain open for us, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ll talk to the others. We really appreciate you doing this for us.”

Needless to say, you couldn’t just barge onto someone else’s mountain, hunting season or otherwise. Well, specifically in the case of my other mountain, there aren’t even any roads or anything, so that’s not really a concern. But it’d definitely feel pretty weird if, say, there was someone living there without my knowledge or consent. Yikes...

Aside from hunting, there was another event taking place on my mountain this winter: We had to do something about the abandoned buildings. Aikawa-san’s hunter buddies, whom I’d met back during the summer, would be helping out. After discussing this with them, we agreed to adjust our schedules and meet on my mountain at a later date.

“Don’t worry, Sano-kun, you won’t have to do anything,” Mutsu-san reassured me. Good to hear. I’d rather not have anything to do with those buildings, if I’m being honest. I can imagine snakes or bugs lunging at me as soon as I open the door.

When I told them I’d reward them handsomely, the old folks got excited and said they’d take care of everything. I’d also be covering any costs pertaining to garbage disposal and all that. It’d put a dent in my wallet, to be sure, but I considered it a necessary expense. Plus, I’d provide them with food and drink, of course.

Speaking of money, the former village head—Yamakura-san—and his family would be handling the restoration of the hokora at the peak of my mountain. Yamakura-san was convinced that the god of the mountain had saved him thanks to my offering of water, and he just wouldn’t have it any other way. His back was on the mend, and he’d be venturing to the village soon. His son, Keiji-san, would be stopping by as well.

“When I do, can I ask you to take me to where you found the hokora remains?” he’d requested. I’d readily agreed.

I haven’t been able to climb up there every day. Maybe when I can get a path cleared out... I’ll talk to Keiji-san about that too when I have the chance. Not that I intend to let him pay for anything else.

Anyway, back to the main topic.

Today, I visited Mutsu-san in the afternoon to avoid burdening his son and his wife. I brought them a gift too, of course—an assortment of snacks for their grandkids. Mutsu-san’s wife, smiling, offered my gift at their house’s Buddhist altar before handing the snacks to their son’s wife, who also thanked me. Now that I think about it, there are families who don’t like giving their kids these kinds of snacks. Hopefully not the case here.

Since we didn’t arrive at their place until later in the day, Pochi and Tama didn’t get to play outside much, and they seemed unhappy about it. When they came back to me before we left, Pochi kept glancing in the direction of the forest and shuffling his feet.

“We’ll come over and stay the night some other time. You can play more then, okay?” I assured him. Hopefully Mutsu-san’s son’s wife didn’t hear that.

I turned to Mutsu-san. “Well then, I’ll see you in four days. Thank you.” He’d agreed to come at that time to help me with the abandoned buildings, and I was already looking forward to it.

“All right, I’ll tell the others.”

Now, what should I feed them? “I suppose a meat-based dish would be a safe choice?”

“I wonder... There are a lot of older folks among them,” Aikawa-san noted. “A stir-fry with meat might be all right, but I’m not too sure about oilier fried dishes.”

“Good point.” Glad I asked.

“How about I ask them if they have any preferences? Even if you don’t follow that to a tee, it should be a good point of reference.”

“Please do.”

Aikawa-san, quick to act as always, soon set the plan into motion. Mutsu-san ate just about anything, but he did have a soft spot for meat. A real predator of an old man... Sounds kinda dirty when you put it that way. I’ll keep that to myself, of course—I don’t want to get punched. Kawanaka-san wanted curry. Is pork curry okay? Hatano-san and Toyama-san didn’t have any preferences.

“Curry, huh? Curry...” I murmured.

“You don’t have to make curry, but I do think it’d be a good choice, especially if you make it in a big pot,” Aikawa-san told me over the phone.

Guess that’s what it’ll be, then. Sure, I like curry too.

In the end, I decided to make some pork curry and some curry with minced chicken meat. That should be enough to serve everyone when they come, and if there are any leftovers, I can just freeze them. Other than the meat, the ingredients were exactly the same. People who are particular about their curry probably mix the spices themselves, but me? I just use curry roux. The store-bought stuff. Curry roux is the best.

I gave the abandoned buildings set for demolition a once-over, then did some quick cleaning and pulled weeds. I see some of these weeds are still strong and healthy, despite the cold.

Oh yeah, I also need to go buy feed for my chickens soon. I gave the chicken farm a call.

“Feel free to come anytime. I’ve got it ready for you,” Matsuyama-san said cheerfully.

I felt relieved. (No, I didn’t forget about it. I did notice that there wasn’t much left in the bucket he gave me last time, but I just couldn’t find the right time to go there. Trust me.)

Okay... I admit it. I forgot. I’m sorry. I’ll go buy some feed as soon as I can.

So, I drove there the next day. Since I needed enough to get the chickens through the winter, I brought three forty-five-liter plastic buckets, which was about as much as I could carry myself.

“Are you gonna be okay? It’s pretty heavy,” Matsuyama-san’s wife said in a concerned tone.

It was difficult, but I was able to lift the buckets by holding them in a specific way—standing upright, using only the strength of my legs, and more or less hugging the bucket.

I borrowed a wheelbarrow to carry the buckets back to my truck and loaded them onto the tonneau. These are pretty heavy, yeah. More than I expected, that’s for sure. I’d told Pochi and Tama that I was just coming to buy food, so they’d stayed home patrolling the mountain, while Yuma had come with me like she always did. It’s nice having someone to keep me company on my drives. Anyway, I figure this should be enough to keep them well-fed for a good while.

***

Finally, it was the day Mutsu-san and the other hunters would be coming over. I spent the morning preparing a ton of curry. The chickens seemed to dislike the smell of the curry spices because they went outside as soon as they finished their breakfast—including Yuma.

The hunters showed up at around ten. Today, they were only going to examine the buildings to get an idea of how much work it would take. I’d told the chickens in advance that we were having visitors, of course. Communication is important, regardless of species. I certainly don’t want my chickens to mistake them for intruders and attack them. And since Old Man Yumoto would also be joining us today, I had him open the gate for the others with his spare key.

“Hello there,” I greeted them.

“Hey, Sano-kun.”

We had a total of six visitors: Aikawa-san, Yumoto-san, and the hunters Mutsu-san, Kawanaka-san, Hatano-san, and Toyama-san. They all came in their own vehicles, so the area I used for parking was packed—it was just barely large enough to fit everyone’s trucks.

“Thank you very much for coming. I really appreciate it.”

“Well, today we’re just having a look. Depending on the condition of the buildings, we might need scaffolding.”

“Ah, right. I’m not sure if I have any scaffolding boards...”

“I’ve got a bunch of boards lying around at home. I can bring some.”

Looking at the abandoned buildings, they all discussed how to go about it. I was thinking about how I hadn’t considered that there might be a need for scaffolding when Toyama-san turned to me with a smile.

“Sano-kun, don’t mind us. We’ll let you know if anything comes up,” he said.

“All right.” Looks like they really do intend to do it all by themselves. Though I don’t get why Old Man Yumoto is here too.

Things were still in the deliberation stage, but they were talking about using the spot where the abandoned buildings were as a base of operations for hunting—after they cleared out the structure, of course. I told them I was okay with that, since I didn’t use that area and wouldn’t need it for anything else, at least during the winter. The problem was how to get from here to my other mountain. One idea they considered was asking my chickens to show them a path—I’d mentioned that my chickens likely went from one mountain to another on a regular basis. They’ll have to talk to Pochi and Tama about that.

It hasn’t even started yet, but this winter is definitely gonna be busy.

At one point, Yumoto-san left the group that was discussing how to deal with the abandoned buildings and came to check on my fields.

“Anything I should look out for?” I asked him.

“Hmm... Well, for starters, the temperature’s different between here and the village. If you’re serious about farming, you’ll need a greenhouse, but depending on the amount of snowfall, it could get crushed under the snow. For now, I think this is probably the best you can manage.”

Yumoto-san was a part-time farmer. He’d intended to get more serious about it after retiring, but it’d been more difficult than he’d expected. Though he was inexperienced with farming on a mountain, his knowledge was still enough to provide me with good advice.

“I guess so.”

Right now, all I could do was lay black sheets directly over the fields to cover them. I suppose it’s not an urgent matter—I’ll just have to try it out when the time comes. I know that in areas with heavy snowfall, there are specific types of vegetables that grow beneath the snow. I’m not sure about what it’s like in the mountains, though. It’s pretty chilly now, but the weeds are just now starting to wither, so maybe it’s not actually as cold as I thought. Or maybe the weeds here are just that hardy. Ah well.

“It should get a lot colder tomorrow or so. Wait until then and see how it goes,” Yumoto-san advised.

Right, I think that’s what the weather forecast said. Might be time to bring out the kotatsu too.

Meanwhile, the others were still checking out the buildings and discussing what to do. I decided to look in on the river.

For lunch, I put the two large pots of curry on the stove and cooked a bunch of rice. I thought a five-cup rice cooker was overkill for someone living by himself. Nice to see it come in handy. Since we had a lot of people who would be eating, I’d also had Aikawa-san bring his rice cooker. Soon enough, the pleasant smell of freshly cooked rice began to waft from the two rice cookers. Then, when the curry smell got stronger, Yuma went outside through the front door. Yeah, looks like they don’t enjoy the scent of spices. And we’re using a lot of them today.

“Hey, that smells pretty good.”

After some time, everyone showed up, seemingly attracted by the aroma of curry.

“See! Just like I told you!” Kawanaka-san exclaimed, clearly in high spirits.

“Shut up.” Hatano-san slapped him on the back.

“Ouch! Hey, that hurts! You shouldn’t hit people so casually, you know. I hope you don’t treat your family this badly!”

Wh-What...?

“Only scumbags hit women and children.” Hatano-san was still calm, despite his lack of patience toward Kawanaka-san.

“All right, stop giving Sano-kun a hard time and get inside already,” Toyama-san chided them, and they all stepped up into the living room from the earthen floor.

“I like how wide the earthen floor in your home is and how it’s connected directly to the living room,” Toyama-san remarked.

There were a few support pillars standing here and there in the room, but I’d removed the glass sliding door that separated the entrance area and the living room—I’d disliked how cramped it felt. As a result, the entryway, earthen floor area, living room, and kitchen were all connected. My bedroom was separated from this space, but lately I’d been thinking that it might be nice to sleep with the chickens here in the living room during winter.

The low table I usually had in the living room wasn’t large enough to fit everyone, so I’d also brought out another, considerably larger table from the room at the back. After everyone sat down, I served them pickled vegetables—Chinese cabbage, radish, fukujinzuke, and scallion—and tea.

“Ahh, nothing goes with curry like some fukujinzuke!” Kawanaka-san exclaimed happily.

“Nah, you gotta have pickled scallion with curry,” Hatano-san countered.

Looks like we have a disagreement here.

“We have pork curry and chicken curry. Which one would you like?” I asked.

“Pork!”

“Chicken! Can we ask for seconds?”

“Sure, if there’s any left.”

The lunch table was loud and lively, which I enjoyed. Maybe curry had the power to stimulate people’s appetites because the pots and rice cookers were nearly empty by the time everyone had eaten. Given the amount I’d cooked, I could barely believe my eyes, and I had to check again and again.

“Curry’s great. I could go for curry every day!” Mutsu-san said cheerfully.

Noted.

“How about stew?”

“Stew’s great too! I love beef stew!”

“Cream stew’s better.”

Kawanaka-san and Hatano-san were once again having a hard time finding common points between their tastes.

“How about hot pot? That’s easier to make, right?” Aikawa-san suggested.

It certainly is.

“Yeah, it is. How about oden?”

“Doesn’t feel like a proper meal to me,” Mutsu-san replied.

Guess he really is all about meat.

“Boar hot pot is pretty good,” Toyama-san said.

“Oh, I’ve never handled boar meat.”

I laughed uncomfortably. Everyone’s gazes shifted to Yuma, who was at the entrance. She cocked her head curiously.

Aww, so cute! Wait, that’s not the point. “Sorry, but no,” I said with a smile. Seriously, let’s not go there.

“Well, yeah. Let’s drop this topic,” Yumoto-san agreed.

It’s not like they want to eat Yuma or anything like that, but they expect too much from my chickens. Like, expecting them to go hunt a boar for lunch? Come on now.

Mutsu-san laughed. “Yeah, I’d feel bad for Sano-kun if they didn’t come home until they caught one.”

“Oh, right...”

“Guess so...”

They all sounded disappointed but also resigned.

To be fair, though... I do kinda feel like if it’s on my mountain, you could tell them to go hunt a wild boar, and they’d do it pretty easily. But I don’t want to create unnecessary expectations. I’ll leave it up to the chickens themselves!

At three, we had rice crackers for an afternoon snack, courtesy of Aikawa-san, and the hunters mentioned that they’d begin preparations for the demolition tomorrow. They said I didn’t have to worry about serving them this sort of light snack again. That still left the actual meals, though—I was already thinking about what to make for tomorrow’s lunch, as they’d be coming in the morning. Well, at least they requested that I make curry once every three days, so that’s one less meal to worry about.

Maybe hot pot, then? With chicken meat. (Not my own chickens, obviously. Like you needed me to tell you that.)

***

It’s sooo cold... How am I supposed to get out of my futon?

But I have to... They’re coming over early morning... Gah, this sucks... I glared at the beeping alarm clock.

Just then, I heard the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. I was wondering what that was about when the sliding door between my room and the hallway started rattling. It opened with a bang.

“Huh?”

It was Tama. She glanced at me as I sat in stupefaction, then jumped on top of me.

“Whaaaat?!”

I stretched my arm to turn off the alarm clock.

“Tama, please get off me.”

She didn’t budge.

“Look, I’m getting up, but first, I need you to get off me!”

After she finally let me go, I got up. It was quite cold, but it seemed the shock had helped me wake up.

Having accomplished her mission, Tama was making her way back to the living room. “Say, Tama,” I called out, “how did you manage to open the door?” She looked back at me, tilted her head back and forth a few times, and made a kicking gesture. Oh, I see...

Basically, she’d cracked the sliding door open using her beak to pull the handle, then put her foot in the gap and kicked it open. Wait, do chickens’ feet move that way in the first place? She seemed pretty used to it too. Well, that does explain all the times she’s woken me up that way.

I served the chickens their breakfast and once again began to mull over today’s lunch—chicken hot pot. Nothing to do with my own chickens, of course. I mean, even if I wanted to do such a horrible thing to them—which I most definitely don’t—I’m completely outmatched. (I realize you’re probably sick of this routine, but it’s important to make it clear, so please excuse the repetition.)

I cut up the hot pot vegetables into bite-sized chunks and put them on a zaru basket. I can leave the meat for later. Aikawa-san had mentioned yesterday that he’d be bringing some meatballs. So that means we’ll have chunks of chicken meat and some meatballs. Should be enough for a good meal.

Today, before the hunters got to work, we’d all visit the graves on my mountain. It didn’t take long for the trucks to start rolling in. Thank you, everyone. Pochi and Tama threw a quick glance at Mutsu-san before going out to play.

After we visited the cemetery, Mutsu-san suddenly asked, “So there’s a god up there at the top, eh?”

“That’s right. At the very top of the mountain, though. And I still need to build the hokora.”

“I see. Still, might be a good idea to go pay our respects, at least. We’ll also be hunting in this area, after all.”

Sudden change of plans—we’d be climbing to the peak.

With Yuma leading the way, we traversed the route that I’d learned from Pochi and Tama and made our way to the mountaintop. Since everyone had come in their work clothes, they didn’t have any issue climbing the mountain. Having said that, the path wasn’t a proper walkable route, so we picked up some suitably sized wooden branches along the way to use as walking sticks, which made the climb considerably easier. It’s no wonder that when you see people on TV climbing Mount Fuji, most of the time they’re using walking sticks—it does make a difference.

“Ooh, is this the place?”

Mutsu-san was sprightly and full of energy, despite probably being the oldest in the group. Toyama-san, meanwhile, seemed to be having a hard time. Sorry about this. And, surprisingly enough, Kawanaka-san seemed to be the most exhausted among us.

“I don’t usually get much exercise, you see... Gotta work on that.”

Today was a Sunday. Kawanaka-san and Hatano-san weren’t able to help on weekdays, so they’d decided that, during the week, Mutsu-san, Aikawa-san, and Toyama-san would be coming over about every other day. I did tell them that there was no need to rush things, but they said they wanted to get as much done as they could. I really appreciate it. Well, I intend to pay them back, of course.

They said that today, they’d be inspecting the insides of the abandoned buildings and taking out as much of the trash as they could. They would then haul it to the disposal site tomorrow.

At the peak, we paid our respects to the rock I’d placed as a makeshift shrine marker, then went back down to the cemetery. I imagine it’ll be hard to climb up there when the weather is poor. Would be nice to have a log staircase or something like that.

“We could combine plastic fences and rungs too. There are a few different ways to go about this,” Aikawa-san mused. I nodded in agreement. We definitely need some kind of stairs or steps. Eh, no hurry, though. If I can get it done by this time next year, I’ll be satisfied.

Still, pretty cold morning, huh? The vegetation around my house and near the graves had all turned yellow. The trees’ leaves had also taken on various autumnal hues. I thought this stuff was a gradual process, but it looks like a sudden shift in the weather can cause a rapid change in the mountain’s scenery. Didn’t know that.

Back at home, I had them take a short break while I prepared the chicken meat for the hot pot. I had a portable stove, which I could bring to the table after the food was all cooked. Aikawa-san had brought his rice cooker again today.

“I wonder if I should look into buying another stove.”

“I don’t think there’s any need. I can bring mine,” Aikawa-san replied casually. “And on weekdays, just your own rice cooker should be enough.” Incidentally, the meatballs he’d brought appeared to be handmade. “I made a lot, but it looks like that was too much.”

“So they are handmade.” As expected of Aikawa-san.

The actual work began in the afternoon. I brought out a bunch of big plastic bags for the garbage. We’ll need to sort the garbage, since we’re taking it to the disposal site, but there’s no need to be too meticulous about it. I was told I didn’t need to help, so I went down to the village with Yuma to do some shopping.

What impressed me the most was Mutsu-san’s vitality. When he’d offered to help clear out the buildings, I’d asked if it was too physically taxing for him, and he’d explained that he wanted some extra income to give his grandchildren pocket money. What a nice, caring grandfather.

There was still a surprising amount of stuff left in the abandoned buildings. Things like chests of drawers had been rendered unusable from years of leakage, and they’d turned into oversized garbage.

“Sano-kun... Can we ask you to help again tomorrow?”

“Of course! No problem at all.”

It seemed they were really averse to asking me to lend a hand. According to Mutsu-san, it was a no-no to ask someone who was already providing money and food to aid with the work, and he was particular about that kind of stuff.

Either way, tomorrow I’d be helping them get rid of the trash. I’m actually kind of looking forward to it. I’ve never disposed of this much trash at once.

***

The nearest disposal site was in the western outskirts of N-Town, sandwiched between mountains. Usually, trash was managed in situ to promote sustainability, but due to the low population around these parts, that wasn’t necessarily the case. The disposal site in N-Town handled trash from the area around the village at the foot of my mountain and another village to the northeast. My mountain was also part of this service area, so I had to take my waste there.

We all loaded the trash we’d collected yesterday onto the tonneaus of our trucks. There was enough of it to fill all of them. Whew, that’s a lot. Today, it was me, Mutsu-san, Toyama-san, and Aikawa-san, meaning about four truckloads worth of trash. And since there’d be even more after getting rid of the buildings, we decided to dispose of this load promptly.

When they showed up, Pochi and Tama threw glances at them, as if to say, You guys again? before running off to play.

Huh, I just noticed—lately, whenever someone comes to visit, they leave Yuma to watch the house. Do they have some sort of arrangement going on?

“We’re going to the garbage disposal site. I’ll be counting on you to hold down the fort,” I told her. Yuma seemed shocked. “It smells pretty bad there,” I explained. “You wouldn’t want to go, now would you?”

No matter how clean and tidy a place as a whole might be, there was no getting around the foul smell in the area where people threw garbage into the pit. It was probably contained to the inside of the building, but we were bringing in quite a large amount of trash today, so it certainly wouldn’t be the usual quick stop.

Yuma cocked her head, eliciting laughter from Mutsu-san. “Sano-kun, she wants to go with us. Why not let her?”

“Aww, that’s adorable,” Toyama-san said with a grin.

I gave a half-hearted smile. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

And thus, all of us—including Yuma, who sat next to me and swayed back and forth adorably—set off for the disposal site.

From a short distance, a chimney spewing out a whitish substance came into view. That was steam, not smoke—the color was due to the colder weather. Apparently, it wasn’t harmful, and it didn’t smell either thanks to something called a bag filter. (Little bit of trivia for you.)

These disposal sites were rather streamlined: You drove onto the scale at the entrance, then when you left, you weighed your vehicle again and paid for the difference in weight. The one in N-Town charged thirty-five yen per kilogram. After the first weigh-in, you drove to the area where you dropped off the trash and unloaded the burnable waste onto a platform, which descended diagonally when you closed the door. On the other side was the pit—a huge hole designed to store burnable waste. If you accidentally fell down there, they could use a crane to rescue you, but considering the depth, you were sure to get injured to some degree. Not to mention you’d get all slimy and dirty from falling into trash. That goes without saying. I always felt a bit afraid whenever I had to throw my trash away here.

“Y’know, being too cautious actually makes it more dangerous,” the guy in the garbage truck always told me. Yeah, I know, but I can’t help it.

The garbage truck was a packer truck—designed so that one could back up, pop the lid open, and push the garbage directly into the pit. This kind of functional vehicle is pretty cool. (By the way, just between you and me, I used to think “packer truck” referred to packages, not packing trash. Embarrassing, I know.)

After that, we went over to a different spot to unload the rest of the trash, such as hazardous waste, and then to the designated area for oversized garbage. Finally, we went back to the entrance, weighed the vehicles again, paid for the service, and headed to the usual parking lot in N-Town. Unsurprisingly, the area with the garbage pit had indeed smelled pretty bad—Yuma wore a slight grimace on her face. But that’s just how it is. It was her own decision to come along. I gave her some Chinese cabbage I’d brought for her, and she chowed down on it.

I ended up spending more money on garbage than expected... Oh well. And that was only the start of it.

Previously, when I’d told Yamakura-san, the former village head, about how I wanted to get rid of the abandoned buildings on my mountain, he’d offered to cover half of the cost. I’d declined, though. I just wanted to let him know. It was my mountain now—it was only natural for me to incur all expenses.

Having said that... It seems every time the temperature goes down, so does my bank balance. No wonder so many people leave abandoned buildings alone and don’t bother with any of this.

At the parking lot, we decided to go buy something for lunch and then eat it inside our trucks. After that, we’d be calling it a day.

“Hold on, I’ll be back soon,” I told Yuma before taking a quick trip into the supermarket. Rin-san wasn’t around to keep her company today.

“Sano-san, you have other stuff to buy, right? I’ll wait here, then.”

“Thanks. I won’t be long.”

Aikawa-san hadn’t been able to bring Rin-san with him, so he stayed behind and waited for someone to come back before he went to the supermarket.

Mutsu-san and Toyama-san were standing in front of the supermarket’s bento corner with pensive expressions.

“Not easy to decide with so many of ’em...”

“Yup, it’s hard to pick one.”

I tried offering to pay for their bento, but they wouldn’t have it—according to them, it was because they hadn’t planned on asking me to help today. They really do take this kind of thing seriously. For my own lunch, I bought a beef bowl, and I also took the opportunity to buy a few other products that the village’s stores didn’t stock.

At this point, I’d usually head straight back to the parking lot, but today, a strange sight caught my attention.

A short distance away from me stood a young lady with shoulder-length brown hair, staring intently at the bus stop’s timetable. Her wavy hair was very pretty. Doesn’t she feel cold wearing that skirt? Well, it’s none of my business. I looked away from her.

“Going somewhere?”

“How about we take you there?”

However, just as I was about to head back to my truck, I heard a few male voices. I looked back in the woman’s direction and spotted three shady-looking men surrounding her.

Where the heck did they come from? Uh-oh, this could be bad news...

The woman raised her head and stared back straight at them. Then she turned to look in my direction. My first impression of her was that she looked like a typical gyaru, but that wasn’t all—something about her gave me a sense of déjà vu.

“Um, I’m trying to go to K-Village,” the girl replied to the group. “Do you know if there are any buses here that can take me there?”

“Oh, K-Village? We can take you there!”

“Yeah, we’ve got a car and all.”

She shook her head resolutely. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll go by myself.”

“Come on, don’t be like that.”

“Yeah, we’re just trying to be nice.”

One of the men grabbed her arm—she resisted and tried to pull away from him. Oh crap, this is bad! I kept my finger ready to press my phone’s emergency button, just in case.

“Ah! It’s the police!” I yelled out, looking in the direction opposite the girl. Man, I’m terrible at this...

“Gah!”

“Crap!”

However, it seemed that even my ham-fisted performance had sounded convincing enough to them...although the fact that they knew they were in the wrong probably also helped. They took off in a hurry and were just as quick on their feet as they’d been at finding unsuspecting women. I heaved a sigh of relief, and the woman came strolling in my direction.

“Hey, thanks. Let’s get out of here before they come back!”

“Huh? Ah, right...”

The woman—or girl, rather—had a youthful appearance and was probably underage. She pulled me by the arm, and we both ran toward the parking lot.

“Sano-san?”

“Sano-kun?”

The others in the parking lot called out to me, and I realized I was probably looking kind of shady myself.

Mutsu-san poked a bit of fun at me. “Picking up girls, Sano-kun? You rascal, you.”

“N-No, you’ve got it wrong. There were some weirdos bothering her, so...”

So...I brought her here? For what? I could see Aikawa-san move away from us without breaking his smile. Of course he’s doing that...

Toyama-san joined in on the teasing. “So you helped her out? Quite the gentleman, eh?”

“No, uh, you see...” How do I get out of this situation?

The girl let go of my arm and faced me. Yup, typical gyaru looks. It’s the makeup. She bowed her head.

“So your name’s Sano? Thank you for helping me back there, Sano-san. Um, I’m trying to go to K-Village. Would you happen to know how much a cab would cost?”

“Uh...” I don’t think I’ve ever taken a cab from here... I looked at the others, but they all shook their heads. Welp. “Sorry, can’t say I do.”

“Oh, that’s too bad. Thank you anyway.”

The girl wore a downcast expression—one that seemed familiar to me, for some reason.

“You got business in K-Village?” Mutsu-san asked.

“I’m... I’m going to visit my sister, but I accidentally left my phone at home, and I have no way to get in touch with her...”

Ah, I see. No phone makes things hard.

“Do you know where she lives?”

“She’s, like...living in the mountains? Or something like that.”

In the mountains, you say...? Oh. I turned to Aikawa-san, who nodded back at me. “Er, just wondering...and correct me if I’m wrong here, but...are you perhaps related to Katsuragi-san?”

With a sudden movement, she whipped her head up to look at me. “Huh? Do you know my sister?”

“Uh, hold on, I’ll text her.” Looks like my hunch was right.

I sent Katsuragi-san a message that said, “Hey, I’m in N-Town, and I was wondering if you have any relatives with brown hair and gyaru looks.” Kind of a weird way to ask, but whatever.

She didn’t take long to reply. “That could be my younger sister. Can you ask what her name is? If it’s Rie, that’s my sister.”

“Sorry, can I get your name?” I asked the girl.

“It’s Rie.”

Oh. Uh, yeah. Looks like it’s her sister. That does make sense. So that’s why her face looked familiar. “Okay, thanks. Just a sec.”

I texted Katsuragi-san again. “Should I take her to your place? We just ran into each other in N-Town. Looks like she doesn’t have her phone on her.”

“I’d appreciate that! Thanks,” she replied.

Okay, there’s just one problem—I removed the passenger seat from my truck. What now? “Um, sorry, everyone. I gotta take Katsuragi-san’s sister to her. But...”

“Oh, okay. See you tomorrow, then.”

“Bye.”

Mutsu-san and Toyama-san smiled and went back to their trucks. Aikawa-san seemed to be at a bit of a loss. Like me, he’d also removed the passenger seat from his truck so that Rin-san could fit. But even if he did have his seat, I imagined he wouldn’t be too enthusiastic about giving a young woman a ride.

That being the case... Yuma was sitting quietly in the truck, waiting for me. “Yuma,” I called out. She tilted her head at me. Aww, so cute! Wait, this isn’t the time for that. “Yuma, is there room for one more? I ran into Katsuragi-san’s sister, and I’m taking her to Loud Mountain.”

After looking at me and the girl, she clucked in response. Looks like it’s a yes.

Aikawa-san had some business to attend to, so we parted ways. Ah, he’s running away. I’ll message him later.

“Can you wait a moment?” I asked.

“Sure.”

First, I gave Yuma her Chinese cabbage, which she happily wolfed down. The girl watched her with curiosity.

“That’s a pretty big chicken. So cute.”

“You think so?”

“She looks so soft and fluffy. Her name’s Yuma-chan?”

“Yup, that’s right.”

“Hi, Yuma-chan! Nice to meet you,” she said with a smile. Yuma gave a slight nod.

Aww, would you look at that? My chickens are so clever! They even know how to say hello! (Yes, I know I’m easily impressed. Leave me alone.)

After Yuma finished her meal, I wiped her mouth. In the truck, I ended up asking Katsuragi-san’s sister to ride with Yuma on her lap. Sorry, but there’s not enough space to sit side by side.

She seemed quite happy about it, though. “Ooh, Yuma-chan’s feathers are so fluffy! And she smells nice.”

Yuma also didn’t seem to mind—rather, she appeared to be enjoying it as well. She looks just like a big mochi, being held like that. So adorable.

“Sano-san, was it? My name is Rie Katsuragi. Nice to meet you.” She looks about...high school age or so, I guess?

“Yeah, nice to meet you.”

During our drive, the girl spent her time chatting away with Yuma, who seemed to enjoy her soft, gentle petting. Quite the heartwarming sight.

I drove toward Loud Mountain, and when we rolled up, I spotted Katsuragi-san waiting for us near the gate—she had a terribly apologetic expression on her face.

“Sano-san, thank you so much. Sorry for troubling you...”

I chuckled. It’s not a big deal. “No problem. I just happened to be in N-Town. See you later, then.”

The young girl hopped out of my truck and bowed to me again. “Thank you so much! See you later too, Yuma-chan!” She waved to Yuma, who clucked at her in response.

“I’ll talk to you later, Sano-san,” Katsuragi-san said. “Thanks so much!” She seemed slightly downcast for some reason, but I was a bit too hungry to concern myself with that. I waved at them and then headed back toward my mountain.

After helping Yuma out of the truck, I spent a while doing some cleaning. Phew. The demolition work had just barely started, but I was already feeling a small sense of relief. I understand that even after it’s all done, I’ll have even more work left getting rid of all the wood—but I’m just happy we’re making progress.

After feeding Yuma and eating the bento I’d bought for lunch, I forgot about the Katsuragi sisters for the time being.

However, their circumstances would turn out to be more complicated than I’d thought.

5. There’s a Lot Going On

The next day, the hunters were making a big racket breaking down the walls of the buildings using large hammers. Seems like pretty hard work, what with the recoil. I guess it at least makes for a good way to relieve stress.

“Phew, this is tiring, but it’s pretty fun!” Toyama-san said. He was drenched in sweat.

Mutsu-san seemed to be used to this kind of work—he was crouching as he wielded his hammer. Hope this doesn’t put too much of a strain on him...

“There’s a concrete part too. Why not just use an excavator here?”

“I wonder... I feel like maybe we should get a better look at the building’s structure first.”

Mutsu-san and Aikawa-san deliberated about the most suitable way to get rid of the building. Having access to heavy machinery sure makes things easier. But what happened to all that talk about scaffolding?

We spent most of the week in much the same way.

On Thursday night, I got a call from Katsuragi-san. “Sano-san, thank you for bringing my sister here the other day. I really appreciate it.” She sounded more stiff and formal than usual, which made me a little uncomfortable.

“Oh, no problem. I just happened to run into her...” Really, it’s no big deal.

“Sorry. I... I might end up dragging you into something again...”

“What?” Her voice was a bit quiet, and I couldn’t catch what she was saying.

“Um, you see, my sister had a reason for coming all the way here.”

“Huh?”

I started to get a bad feeling about this. Don’t tell me it’s guy troubles again. Her sister’s face flashed across my mind. Sure, she’s pretty cute and friendly. And just the other day, I saw some guys trying to pick her up. I’m sure a girl like that must have a boyfriend.

“Is it...?” Related to her boyfriend...?

“You probably guessed right...”

“For real...?” What’s up with these sisters, seriously? Although I still didn’t know the details, one thing was certain: There had been some sort of trouble.

“So, um, you see... My parents are coming here to talk about it. Yamanaka-san already knows about it... They would also like to thank you and Yumoto-san for helping me out...”

“Wh-What? I mean, it really wasn’t a big deal or anything—no need to thank me.”

“Sorry, I know I’m being a bother, but I’d really like you to come.”

Personally, I didn’t see any need for people to be so sheepish in expressing their gratitude, but then, there was also the matter of Katsuragi-san’s younger sister. The fact that she’d come here probably meant that she was running away from something—in other words, that she still had unsolved problems to deal with.

It could even be something like what happened to Katsuragi-san, with someone coming to the village to look for her. In that case, I think it’d be best for me to know what’s going on.

“Uh, so, can I ask about the situation with your sister?”

“Of course. I think it’s best if we tell other people about it too.”

“Who exactly do you mean by ‘other people’?” First, I gotta know who that includes. I don’t think any of the men are particularly loose-lipped, but we also need to know how much information is okay to share.

“Well, let’s see... For now, maybe just Aikawa-san? Oh, but you’ve been having the local hunters over lately, right?”

“Yup. On weekdays it’s just Aikawa-san, Mutsu-san, and Toyama-san, though.”

“Hmm, I’ll talk to her about it. Either way, could I ask you to keep Saturday free, if possible?”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said before ending the call. “Sheesh...” Her sister too?

Yuma came to my side and tilted her head, as if to ask, What’s the matter? That helped me relax.

“Yuma, you’re so cute.” I petted her feathers.

Speaking of which, Rie-san didn’t seem scared by Yuma’s size or anything. In fact, she seemed to take a liking to her.

Ever since then, Yuma began to show interest in Katsuragi-san’s sister. “Rie? Rie?” she’d ask, cocking her head. She’d go over to the side of the truck and do that, as if she were looking for her. I remembered it vividly because that hadn’t happened before.

She was so nice and caring to Yuma—I gotta help her out. Anyway, first, I’ll need to hear about what’s going on straight from the horse’s mouth.

***

On Friday morning, I got a message from Katsuragi-san saying that her parents would be visiting on Saturday (that is, tomorrow). She said that she wanted to go visit the Yumotos with them and asked me to go too with Aikawa-san.

I replied, saying I’d talk to him and get back to her.

After the hunters showed up, I told them that tomorrow afternoon, I’d be going to Yumoto-san’s place and that the visit concerned Katsuragi-san’s sister, who’d just come to the village recently.

“That young miss, eh? Should we take the day off tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah, I think. I’ll be asking Aikawa-san to come with me.”

“What? Me too?” Aikawa-san was quite flustered. I understand that you want to keep away from women for the time being, but we need you there.

“Yep. Katsuragi-san’s parents will be there too. Let’s go.” I smiled, determined not to let him off the hook.

“O-Okay,” he said in a resigned tone.

“So, can I ask you to come back on Sunday?” I asked Mutsu-san and Toyama-san.

“Sure thing.”

“I’ll stay home tomorrow, then.”

Neither had any qualms with the schedule change.

At night, I realized that, since I was meeting Katsuragi-san’s parents, it could be a good idea to bring something as a gift for them. I shot Aikawa-san a message to get a second opinion. “Do you think I ought to get them something?”

“Actually, I think it might be better not to bring anything. I mean, you’re not Katsuragi-san’s boyfriend...or are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

He’s got a point. It’d be weird for me to bring them a gift when Katsuragi-san and I are not dating or anything like that. It must be the nervousness giving me weird ideas.

“What am I getting so worked up for, anyway...?” I muttered. Tama gave me another one of those, What’s with you? looks.

Why do you have to be like this, Tama? Why so much “tsun” and so little “dere”? Meanwhile, Yuma tilted her head at me adorably.

As for Pochi, he didn’t concern himself with any of this and was jumping around, catching bugs inside the house and eating them. Still, a fair number of them are getting inside the house.

***

The next morning, as previously discussed, I went to Yumoto-san’s place. Pochi and Tama also decided to tag along—apparently, they were curious about Katsuragi-san’s sister. I guess they all want to say hi to her.

They’re not as heavy as they look, but maybe I should still weigh them regularly. They’re definitely growing taller, slowly but surely. They...at least seem to be growing wider in the same proportion too, but I dunno. And their feathers have gotten fluffier, maybe because of the cold. All I know is they’ve gotten rounder and cuter.

“Hello.” I rang the doorbell once and slid the glass front door open.

“Oh, hey, Shohei. I got a package for you.”

“Thank you. I’ll go and put it away.”

I picked up the box from the shoe rack near the door and took it to my truck. The chickens gathered around me and threw curious stares at it.

“It’s a present for the Yumotos,” I explained.

As soon as they realized it didn’t concern them, the chickens looked disappointed—they quickly scattered in the direction of the garden. I opened the box, took out the set of black teas that was inside, put it in a paper bag, and went back inside. Also, Katsuragi-san’s truck was already here—I spotted her dragon resting in the shade of the house and greeted him with a slight nod. Aikawa-san should be here soon too.

“Yumoto-san, can I let the chickens go over to your fields?”

“Sure! Make yourselves at home. Just tell them to stay away from the greenhouse. Oh, and not to climb the mountain either.”

“All right.”

I greeted Katsuragi-san’s dragon, relayed Old Man Yumoto’s words to the chickens, and finally, went inside.

“Machiko-san, here.”

“Hmm?” I handed her the set of black teas, and her eyes lit up. “Oh, you didn’t have to! Thanks!” She seemed very happy. She also liked the rice crackers and meat I usually brought, but this definitely made for a better, more proper gift. Actually, the meat’s a little more expensive. I suppose it’s not about the price tag.

“Hello, Sano-san.”

“Hello there!”

The Katsuragi sisters poked their heads out from the kitchen and greeted me.

“Ah, that’s right. Sano-san, show me your hands!”

I remembered that episode at Katsuragi-san’s house regarding my chapped hands. After that, I’d started using ointment on my hands, and they’d gotten a lot better. I held out my hands reluctantly, and she stared intently at them, although she refrained from grabbing them.

“Hmm? Something wrong, sis?”

“A lot.”

I feel like I’ve had this conversation before... Wait, that time, it was Aikawa-san. Let’s forget about that.

While I was thinking back to that time, Katsuragi-san’s hand check ended.

“Sure, you get a passing grade. Make sure to continue using hand cream!”

“Okay...”

“Hmm? Something the matter?” Machiko-san asked. Katsuragi-san told her it was about the hand thing they were talking about earlier. Unable to keep up with the girl talk, I went back to the living room.

We heard the glass door at the entrance rattling open. It was Aikawa-san. “Hello.”

“Ah, Aikawa-kun. Come in, come in.”

“Thank you. I’ll lock the front door.”

“Thanks.”

Since they were having lots of visitors today, the Yumotos hadn’t bothered locking the door. Though that could seem dangerous, it wasn’t too unusual in a village like this, where most people knew each other. In fact, one could argue that we were too cautious. Even so, the last thing I want is strangers barging onto my property.

“Let’s have lunch first. Miya-chan said her parents will get in touch before they arrive at Yamanaka-san’s house,” Machiko-san said to her husband, and he nodded in agreement.

Katsuragi-san had bought her property through Yamanaka-san, who’d also introduced her to people who could help her take care of the mountain. However, Yamanaka-san’s husband was apparently afraid of her dragon, so although she visited them on occasion, she never spent the night there with Tatsuki-san.

That helped explain why, prior to the boar banquet where we’d gotten to know each other, she’d had little contact with the other villagers. Even now, she doesn’t mingle with the locals that much, but then again, I can’t really blame her. She’s a young woman living by herself—it’s natural to be wary of others.

“I helped cook too!” Katsuragi-san’s sister announced proudly as she carried in a plate of tempura.

“Huh? Rie, you barely helped out!” Katsuragi-san laughed, holding a plate of sashimi and another with fried chicken, both piled high. I have my misgivings about her sister’s circumstances, but at least it’s good to have someone else to keep her company.

Machiko-san had made chikuzenni, a dish with braised chicken and vegetables. It was delicious. Yum, nothing like a nice stew full of seasonal root veggies.

“I made this too. Give it a try,” she said to me while I was enjoying the chikuzenni. She served what appeared to be a stir-fry with bamboo shoots and shiitake mushrooms. The seasoning was soy sauce-based and brought to mind Chinese dishes.

“Oh, this is great too. What’s this called?” I asked.

“It’s a Chinese winter dish—a stir-fry with winter shiitake mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots, seasoned with soy sauce.”

“Huh, winter bamboo shoots? Didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Are there bamboo shoots in China that can be harvested in winter? Maybe in the warmer regions...” Aikawa-san murmured.

“Oh, maybe.” That does make sense—China’s a pretty large country. I bet they have all kinds of ingredients. (By the way, it seems there are some places in Japan where you can harvest winter bamboo shoots too. For example, square bamboo, also known as shidakudake, is native to China but is also grown in Kochi Prefecture.)

I enjoyed a nice meal and good conversation with Aikawa-san. I wouldn’t be staying the night, so no beer—only food for me.

“Machiko-san, this stew is fantastic!”

“That’s great to hear. Eat up!”

Katsuragi-san’s younger sister seemed quite comfortable around Machiko-san, probably thanks to having helped out with lunch.

Katsuragi-san’s sister chowed down heartily, with a smile on her face. In contrast, Katsuragi-san ate in neat, small portions—more like a girl, you could say. (I mean, just according to my own image of what girls are like. Not that I have anything against girls who eat well, mind you. I like them too. Wait, who am I making excuses to?)

“Where do you even learn about these recipes?” I asked Machiko-san.

“Well, on TV... And sometimes, when I go to town, I also buy cookbooks. What about you?”

“Mostly the internet for me,” I answered.

“Of course.”

Nowadays, you can look up just about anything on your phone. Well, for some things I still prefer paper books, of course. And for music... I’ve got a PC that can read CDs, so I still buy them instead of sticking to streaming platforms.

“Oh, they said they’ll arrive at the Yamanakas’ in about an hour,” Katsuragi-san said.

“We still have time to eat more, then!”

Upon hearing the news, the two sisters began to hurriedly wolf down their food. A strong appetite is a good thing.

Yumoto-san guffawed at the sight. “Make sure to chew your food, you hear?”

Yeah...that sweet potato tempura is big enough that you could choke on it if you eat it too quickly. Careful, guys.

The rest of us were in no hurry to eat. We sneakily picked out our favorites and put them on our plates.

“Just one more piece of lotus root!”

“Rie, we gotta get going.”

“Come on, there’s still time for me to eat this!”

After Rie-san munched on the lotus root from the chikuzenni, the Katsuragi sisters bowed their heads and left.

“Be careful out there, you two.”

“Thank you.”

As soon as they were gone, the room fell quiet, almost like the aftermath of a typhoon.

“No hurry—take your time eating,” Machiko-san said.

“All right.”

The vegetable tempura was delicious, and so was the fried chicken, so I ended up eating too much again. That lotus root in the chikuzenni... I wonder if they grow that in the village.

“Phew...”

“Oh, done already, Sho-chan?”

“I ate too much...”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Why do people who host gatherings make more food than the guests can eat? I guess too much is better than not enough? I’m also careful about that when I have people over.

Aikawa-san also looked like he’d overeaten. “That’s the nice thing about eating with a large group. You get to eat a good variety of dishes,” he remarked.

“Yep, definitely.”

After a postmeal break, we took the empty dishes to the kitchen to wash up before the Katsuragi sisters came back.

“My, you don’t need to bother with that,” Machiko-san said.

“It’s no problem.”

Apparently, Machiko-san didn’t like leaving kitchen work to the men. Maybe she doesn’t like us intruding on her territory. After clearing the table, we just sat around absentmindedly. I think I might be tired from eating too much. Certainly not a bad reason to feel tired.

After sitting in silence for a while, Old Man Yumoto turned to his wife. “That was a nice, lively lunch.”

“It was.”

I guess they mean with Katsuragi-san’s sister around. They’d already heard that she had some troubles going on in her life, but they were still happy about having more company.

Soon enough, we heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up outside. It was finally time to meet Katsuragi-san’s parents. Well, not like there’s much I can do. Hey, wait... Speaking of her parents, didn’t she mention something about them back in September or so? That they wanted to come here to express their gratitude or something like that...

The doorbell rang.

“Yes? Who is it?” Machiko-san asked as she headed to the door.

Come to think of it, it’s not often that I get to hear their doorbell ring from inside the house... Whatever.

Ah. I finally remembered the contents of the conversation we’d had in September.

“Hi, it’s Katsuragi again. Sorry for the bother.”

“Hello, pleased to meet you. I’m Miyako and Rie’s father. Thank you for always treating my daughter so kindly.”

“Oh, no, not at all. We’re thankful to Miyako-san ourselves—she’s always helping us out. Please, come in.”

I began sweating bullets.

Wait, what did we talk about back then? I remember I was going to visit my parents, and Katsuragi-san sent me a picture of her to show them and get them off my case. So I told them that she was my girlfriend. But she didn’t say anything of the sort to her parents, right?

“Sano-san?” Aikawa-san called out to me, noticing I was acting oddly.

“I-It’s nothing...” Or is it? I’m starting to think it is. Oh god.

The frosted glass sliding door opened, and the Katsuragi sisters’ parents were standing there in front of the living room.

“Hello. My name is Katsuragi. Excuse our intrusion.” This must be their dad.

“Welcome!” said Yumoto-san. “Please come on in and have a seat.”

Aikawa-san and I remained seated, but we bowed our heads in greeting. I could also see Katsuragi-san’s mother handing Machiko-san a gift.

“I’m taking this spot!” her sister said, sitting down next to me.

“Hey, Rie! Stop giving him a hard time!”

“Come on, why? You’re not dating yet, right?”

Hey, hold on. What do you mean, “yet”? Just what in the world did Katsuragi-san tell her about me? I was regretting not talking to Katsuragi-san about this earlier. Her father’s gaze pierced me. I’m in trouble, aren’t I? Why did I forget about all that until now? Jeez. My stomach began to hurt.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Miyako and Rie’s father, and this is my wife. I hear you have all been very kind to my daughter, so I decided to come here to say hello. I hope you’ll excuse the intrusion. I’m very thankful to you.” The two of them, sitting upright, bowed deeply to us.

Yumoto-san seemed surprised by their deference. He scratched his head and said in an awkward tone, “Oh, uh... Please, that’s enough. We’re also very indebted to Katsuragi-san...”

“That’s right. Miyako-san always helps me with cooking! It’s so nice—like having a daughter. I’m very grateful too.” Machiko-san smiled as she served tea.

“I’m very glad to hear that, but...I hear she’s causing trouble not only for you, Yumoto-san, but also for Sano-san and Aikawa-san. Excuse me, but...” Her father faced me. His eyes were as serious as could be.

Yikes...

“Nice to meet you. I’m Aikawa, and this is Sano.” Aikawa-san smiled and tactfully wedged his way into the conversation.

“Nice to meet you... I’m Sano.” With some effort, I managed to mumble out a greeting too. Gah, I’m pathetic.

“Oh, you’re Sano-kun. I heard you saved my daughter. Thanks...”

“Oh, um, i-it was nothing... Really...” Man, look at me stumbling over my words here.

“He’s a very charming young man, isn’t he, Miyako? So...?”

“It’s...not like that. Stop, you’re bothering him.”

Katsuragi-san and her mother were behind her father, going back and forth about something or other. I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Nope. Not a word.

Her father straightened up. “Well, I know it’s all in the past now, but that man was causing a lot of trouble for us. We made sure to keep it a secret that Miyako was living in this village. Who knows how he got ahold of that information... Anyway, it’s all been dealt with. He won’t be coming here again. Thank you so much, everyone.”

He’s talking about Nagi-san—that guy who didn’t believe his friend was an abuser and tried to convince Katsuragi-san to get back with him. And then he fell in love with her and followed her here... Major creep. No amount of good looks can make up for that.

“Oh, but in the end, it was Katsuragi-san herself who warded him off. All we did was watch over her, so there’s no—”

“That’s not true. I always hear from my daughter about how you help her out in various ways. And not only that, but you also helped Rie and brought her here, didn’t you?”

“Yup. I got to hug his chicken on the way here,” Katsuragi-san’s sister said from her spot next to me.

Kinda hard to understand what she means without context...

“Chicken?”

“Uh, you see, I drive a minitruck, and I had a chicken in the passenger seat when we ran into each other.”

“Oh. And she was hugging that chicken during the drive...” Her father still seemed confused.

“Yeah, it’s a huge chicken, and she’s so adorable!”

“Oh. That’s nice...” He looked somewhat exhausted—it seemed he wasn’t quite following. “By the way...” Oh boy, here it comes. Jeez, I really should have talked this over with Katsuragi-san. “Pardon the question, but...what is your relationship with my daughter, Sano-kun...?”

There is no “relationship.” We’re complete strangers.

“Dad! Sano-san is, uh... How do I put this? He’s like an older brother to me...”

Katsuragi-san’s father glanced at her, then back at me. Please stop looking at me so much. “An older brother?”

“Right... This might sound a bit rude, but yeah, I see her as sort of a younger sister.”

“I see. Then, I trust you two will let me know if that should ever change.” He then changed the subject. “Now then, regarding Rie’s predicament...”

“I still haven’t heard anything about it,” I said.

“I see. In that case, we’ll be around again. Miyako, Rie, make sure to explain the situation to them.”

“No problem...”

If I’m being honest, I’d rather you not come anymore. Having you around is bad for my nerves. Especially with the way the father looks at me. Listen, your daughters are very pretty, but I’m afraid I’m not brave enough to make a move on them. And I’ve had my fill of relationships for now.

After that, Katsuragi-san’s parents spent some time chatting with the Yumotos about various topics, and it was decided that Katsuragi-san’s sister would be spending some time in this village—or rather, on Loud Mountain. Aikawa-san and I got boxes of sweets as gifts. We both chuckled to each other, saying that they didn’t need to be so thoughtful.

After that, we all stepped outside. Yuma, who was in the fields, looked in our direction and came trotting over. She looked adorable, cocking her head, as if to ask, What’s going on?

“Ah, it’s Yuma-chan! Thanks for yesterday!” Katsuragi-san’s sister said cheerfully, spreading her arms. Her parents looked very surprised.

Well, yeah, that’s the normal reaction. She is pretty huge.

“A-A chicken...?” her father blurted out.

“Yes, despite the size,” I replied. There isn’t really any other way to put it.

Katsuragi-san’s sister walked up to Yuma and asked if she could touch before petting her feathers. Very nice of her to ask for permission. Yuma sat there quietly and seemed to enjoy it. After Rie-san was done, Yuma ran off toward the fields again.

“Come to think of it, Miyako is also raising a big lizard, isn’t she? Say, do there happen to be any...unusual facilities around here...?” Katsuragi-san’s father looked around restlessly.

“Darling?” his wife asked in a low tone.

“I mean, we’re pretty deep in the mountains here. Who knows if there are any such facilities nearby...”

“Well, I guess every now and then we get some weirdly big animals, heh!” Old Man Yumoto guffawed.

Yeah, I’ve got three of them at home. I feel like it might be more often than “every now and then,” but who knows.

Katsuragi-san’s father didn’t seem quite convinced. Nevertheless, we said our goodbyes, and he once again bowed his head deeply to us.

“I’ll be back to express my gratitude again. Thank you for always looking out for my daughter.”

The two of them got in their car and drove off into the distance.

“Do you have a minute to talk about Rie?” Katsuragi-san asked me with an apologetic expression.

“Sure.”

“If possible...can I ask you to join?” she asked Aikawa-san and the Yumotos.

“Of course. I’ll brew us some tea.”

We went back inside and sat down in the living room. Machiko-san served tea, pickles, and snacks.

Katsuragi-san’s sister was the first to speak. “Sorry. I didn’t want you to hear it from my parents...”

I nodded. That’s totally understandable. I’m sure it must be a matter as delicate as Katsuragi-san’s was.

“I’ll do the honors, then,” Katsuragi-san said.

Long story short: After graduating from high school, her sister had been working part-time at a coffee shop chain. There, she’d gotten to know a college student, who’d come on to her very aggressively. After giving in and agreeing to date him, she’d discovered that he had stalkerish tendencies.

“A month after we started dating, he started sending me, like, thirty messages a day. And not actual conversations, just one-sided questions like ‘What are you doing now?’ or ‘Where are you?’ Stuff like that. At first I replied, but eventually, I couldn’t keep up anymore...”

Yikes.

“And then the messages got more intense, stuff like ‘Do you not love me?’ and ‘Don’t hang out with other people’ and so on... I tried to break up with him, and he got furious...”

Stop me if you think you’ve heard this one before. I’ve had it with this kind of story.

“Then the messages turned to ‘If I can’t be with you, I’ll kill myself’ and ‘I’m gonna kill you.’ Those kinda things. I was so frightened... I didn’t know what to do, and I talked to my parents about it.”

Machiko-san sighed. “My, sounds like you’ve been through a lot. I think you were definitely right to talk to your parents.”

Old Man Yumoto nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that sounds rough. Feel free to let me know right away if anything comes up—I’ll be there in a flash.”

I see these two are as reliable as ever.

They’d also been in talks with a lawyer, and she’d left her old phone at her parents’ and gotten a new one, which she’d forgotten—her parents had brought it with them, though. Now, even if she didn’t stay with Katsuragi-san twenty-four seven, they could get in touch.

Still, talk about an unlucky pair of sisters, huh? Living with an abuser, dating a stalker... And the thing is, they didn’t know any of that before they started dating them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have started dating to begin with.

“Sano-san, Aikawa-san, I apologize in advance for any trouble I might cause you,” Rie-san said, bowing her head.

“Well, sure, I don’t mind helping out to the extent that I can. No need to be so formal.” Aikawa-san and I chuckled. And now that the room wasn’t as tense, I remembered something else I’d meant to ask about. I turned to Yumoto-san. “By the way, have there been any boar-related troubles recently?”

“Yeah...looks like we got more of ’em. We try to keep the place clean, but they just keep digging up the spots where the soil’s soft.”

“That’s concerning.”

“Especially at this time of year.”

Farmers really do have it rough. They apparently had electric fences, which they’d turn on at night, but even those weren’t enough to keep boars from digging under the fences to get in.

Maybe I should lend out my chickens again... Then again, it’s not like they show up every night without fail, so I don’t know how we’d go about that. I guess the best solution is to give the hunters free access to the mountains—it’s hunting season, after all.

“I talked to the hunters’ association about it,” said Yumoto-san. “Hopefully that helps.”

“I hope so too.”

Controlling the population all hinged upon whether you could dwindle their numbers during the winter.

Katsuragi-san also seemed to have something on her mind. “I don’t see too many wild boars on my mountain, but we do get a lot of deer.”

“If you can get Tatsuki-san to hunt them, I can take care of the rest for you,” Yumoto-san said.

“Right. I just wish he’d stop eating all the innards and nothing else...” She groaned.

Sounds like it must be a pretty wild sight. I mean, by definition, all hunting is wild if you think about it, but yeah...

We spent some more time chatting away, then I introduced Katsuragi-san’s sister to my other chickens, Pochi and Tama, and we all went our separate ways.

That night, I got a call from Katsuragi-san. “You’ve had some visitors coming over lately, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Could you let me introduce my sister to them?”

“Oh... Good catch. I’ll ask them.”

She makes a fair point—there’s no guarantee that this stalker won’t come here looking for her. If the villagers are acquainted with her, that makes things easier. Why didn’t I think of it myself? Looks like I still have a long way to go...

“If they’re heading over again tomorrow, we can bring some food too. How about it? Can we go?”

I told her I’d talk to them about it. Not really any need to bother bringing food and stuff, though.

***

Then, on Sunday...

“Huh?! That girl’s coming here?!”

The most outward reaction came from Kawanaka-san.

Ah, right, I remember he was awfully interested in Katsuragi-san during the litter cleanup walk back in the summer. Hey, old man, know your place. You’re fifty, for god’s sake.

Hatano-san gripped Kawanaka-san’s head tightly. Isn’t that a wrestling move? The clawhold... “Go home already.”

“Huh? Why? There’s a cute girl coming over!”

“You already met her back in the summer. Why do you need to see her again?”

“Oh, come on!” That’s right, keep him on a leash.

Mutsu-san laughed. “Well, just looking at her is fine, no? I’ll take care of him if he tries anything weird.”

Wh-What do you mean by “taking care of him”...? Tying him up and dragging him around the village? It went without saying that one shouldn’t get too touchy-feely with young women—and especially not ones like the Katsuragi sisters, who already had complicated circumstances. Then again, maybe that’s not the case for the older one anymore.

Still, are these guys okay leaving their families at home all day while they’re here? I mean, except for Kawanaka-san, who’s single. I voiced these concerns to Hatano-san.

“Well, we’re getting paid, right? Much better than lazing around at home.”

Glad to hear. I had also told their wives not to hesitate to contact me in case anything came up, so I thought they’d also tell me if they had any complaints about our arrangement. Might be wishful thinking on my part, though.

“Instead of scaffolding and all that, wouldn’t it be better to just demolish it?”

“Heavy machinery, then?”

“Yup, definitely.”

Kawanaka-san and Mutsu-san were discussing what to do when Katsuragi-san’s truck rolled in.

“Ooh... Big crowd,” she said from the window. “Hello there!”

I was outside pulling dead weeds, so I was able to notice as soon as she drove in—though not as soon as Yuma, who was by my side pecking at bugs.

“Hey. Can you find a spot to park?” I asked.

“I think I’ll manage.”

“Hi there!” Her sister’s bright, bubbly voice called out to me. Looks like she’s doing fine. I waved at her.

The two of them got out of the truck and bowed their heads. They were wearing identical work clothes—Katsuragi-san had probably lent them to her.

“Sorry for the intrusion.”

“We brought some food too. Just onigiri and pickles, so don’t expect much!” Her sister handed me two hefty wrapped parcels.

“Thanks. You guys are joining us for lunch, right?”

“Can we?”

“Yeah, just might be a little cramped... Guess I’ll bring out the other table.”

For today’s lunch, I’d just made miso soup and cooked rice, and the rest was all food the others had brought with them. Mutsu-san had been kind enough to suggest this to help me keep the food costs down. Aikawa-san had gotten serious about it—he’d brought a large amount of fried chicken, which I microwaved and served.

“Sorry for getting you involved in this...”

At the lunch table, Katsuragi-san greeted everyone and introduced her younger sister. They all had stern looks on their faces after hearing that she’d come to her sister’s mountain to flee from a stalker—and that he might come here looking for her.

Mutsu-san spoke up on behalf of the others. “That’s certainly a tough predicament. The one thing I can say is, no man worth his salt would behave like that. I’ll be sure to watch out for any young men not from around here.”

“Thank you.” The Katsuragi sisters bowed their heads. Guess that does it for an introduction.

All that was left was to enjoy our meal.

“These onigiri are great...” Kawanaka-san muttered. For some reason, that earned him a clawhold from Hatano-san, but I pretended not to notice.

He’s right, though—they are pretty great. Especially the shrimp tempura onigiri.

Katsuragi-san’s sister mentioned that, once she got used to the area, she would like to attend driving school in N-Town.

I hope she enjoys living here.

6. I Just Wanted Some Lotus Roots

In the end, they decided to employ heavy machinery in the demolition of the abandoned buildings on my mountain. Mutsu-san owned a simple crane and an excavator, and some of the guys had licenses to operate them. Seeing all those working vehicles—technically, our minitrucks also count—gathered in one place was pretty awesome.

“Oooooh!” I exclaimed in excitement. It’s like I’m at a construction site!

The plan was to demolish it all next weekend, and then on Tuesday after the holiday, have the waste collector come pick everything up.

Usually, the demolition crew came over every other day, though that wasn’t always necessarily the case. On an off day when I was by myself, I didn’t have any other business to attend to, so I took the opportunity to ask Yumoto-san about something I’d been curious about.

“Lotus root farming?” he asked over the phone. “Yeah, there are a few people around doing it. What, you want some?”

“Yes, I was wondering if there was someplace I could buy them from.” Sure, I could just buy them at the supermarket in N-Town, but if there are any farmers in the village willing to sell them, I’d prefer that. I don’t even mind if they’re oddly shaped or anything like that.

“You should ask Kake-chan, then.”

“Hmm?”

Is he referring to Kakegawa-san? He lives in the southern part of the village... Were there any lotus root ponds around those parts? I tilted my head quizzically, and Yuma, who happened to be watching me, followed after me. Heh, so cute. Wait, that’s not the topic here.

“Does Kakegawa-san have a lotus root pond at his place?” I asked.

“I’m pretty sure they grow them near the edge of the village where they get more sunlight. November’s a bit late, though—the harvest might already be over.”

“Huh, really?” I thought the lotus root harvest started around this time of the year...

“Well, some people start in October because of the cold.”

“Ah, that makes sense. Thank you. I’ll ask him.” I see—didn’t consider that possibility. Gah, why am I always so slow to act?

Yuma walked up to me and gave me a curious look. I hugged her softly and buried my face in her feathers. Ahh, I love this fluffiness! And they get even fluffier in the winter.

“Thanks, Yuma,” I said, petting her.

Looking up, I found Pochi minding his own business and Tama exhaling heavily, as if sighing at me, which came as a shock. Wait, what? Since when do chickens sigh? They really do get more and more human by the day, huh?

I pulled myself together and gave Kakegawa-san a call.

“Hey, Sano-kun. How ya doing?”

“I’m fine, thank you. Kakegawa-san, there’s something I’d like to ask you about. Are you busy right now?”

I asked him if he knew of anyone who grew lotus roots. It turned out he did, just like Yumoto-san had suggested. I then inquired whether it would be possible to buy some, and he said it’d be better to ask directly.

“Just come over whenever you’ve got the time, and we’ll work it out.”

“All right. Hmm, how about tomorrow, then?”

“No problem. I’ll be waiting. Come in the morning if you can.”

And so, we agreed to meet up tomorrow morning. I turned to my chickens. “I’m going over to Kakegawa-san’s place tomorrow—that place with the other chickens. Anyone else going?”

“Going!”

“Going!”

“Sano!”

“All three of you. Got it.”

I petted Yuma, who was nearest to me. “Sano!” she cried out in response, which was nearly enough to give me a cuteness overload. Ah, she definitely does it on purpose—she knows she’s got a hold on me. I smiled.

Suddenly, I felt a gaze on me. I followed it to find Tama staring. “T-Tama? What is it?” She made another exhaling sound. Ah, she’s probably scoffing at me. “You’ve got a bit of an attitude problem, you know?”

She brushed me off. Wow, so mean! I feel like I’m gonna cry. Seriously...

That aside, what’s with these chickens? One minute they’re sighing, and the next thing you know, they’re scoffing at me... This can’t be normal, can it?

I got in the bath with Yuma and then went to bed, still unsure about what to make of it all.

The next morning...

“Gwaaah?!”

I woke up from Tama’s weight on my chest. I already told you to stop doing that! “Tama, please get off me...”

“Woke up?”

I nodded my head back and forth. I’m awake, but first, get off me. “Get off!”

She hopped down and trotted away.

“Hey! The door!” Jeez, the wind’s coming in. I guess maybe she doesn’t find closing it as easy as opening it. Anyway, I really wish she’d stop waking me up like that, or one of these days might just be the last. Maybe I gotta have a serious talk with her.

There were still thirty minutes left before my alarm went off. “Ugh, don’t get me up so early... Hmm?”

Sensing a gaze on me, I turned to the hallway to find Pochi peeking out from behind the door, which surprised me—he hardly ever spent any time inside the house, other than on the earthen floor area near the entrance.

“Pochi?”

“Sano, woke up?”

“Yeah, as you can see.”

He nodded his head and strolled back toward the living room. Now what was that all about? Is he looking forward to visiting Kakegawa-san, maybe? But all he did last time we were there was whack that rooster with his tail. Was that fun for him?

Beats me.

I got up, fed the chickens, had breakfast, and gave Kakegawa-san a call before heading out. He told me to bring a change of clothes. Huh? Why...? Oh, right, probably because I might get my clothes dirty helping out with farmwork. Expecting that things might take a turn for the worse, I also packed a few bath towels. Hope I don’t need them.

“What for, I wonder...?” Surely he’s not gonna ask me to help dig up the lotus roots from the pond, is he? “Surely not...” I chuckled to myself. It’d be a pretty wild coincidence if today just happened to be harvest day.

As usual, Yuma sat in the passenger seat—Pochi and Tama, flapping their wings, jumped up onto the tonneau and sat down. It looked like I was transporting a pair of giant mochi. Hopefully those bags and the other stuff back there help protect them from the wind.

“Off we go, then.”

After poking around to double-check that I wasn’t forgetting anything, I drove off.

After a while, we reached the southern part of the village. I parked on the gravel in front of Kakegawa-san’s house.

“Hello there!” I called out, seeing that his glass door was open. Instead of an answer, I was greeted by Butcher, his rooster, who came running in our direction from behind the house. I was about to help Yuma out of the truck, but I stopped. “Huh?” What’s with him?

“Kweeeeh!!!” He let out a yell.

Flapping his wings, Pochi jumped down from the tonneau. Butcher charged toward him. After a few slight movements, Pochi whacked him with his tail.

“Gaaah...” I groaned in bewilderment.

Kakegawa-san came out smiling. “Ooh, I see they’re at it again!”

Butcher still wouldn’t give up—no matter how many times he got pummeled by Pochi’s tail, he’d get up and bellow a war cry before charging at Pochi again.

Seriously, what the heck’s gotten into him? I pointed at the two roosters. “Should—”

Kakegawa-san paid them no mind. “Thanks for coming, Sano-kun. Come on, this way.” I guess he must be past the point of caring? Are roosters supposed to be that aggressive, anyway? And persistent too!

“O-Okay.”

“Tell the chickens to make themselves at home.”

“Got it.” I turned to them. “Pochi, Tama, feel free to hang around the paddies and fields.”

The two of them let out short clucks in response. Yuma tagged along behind me.

“Yuma-chan, was it? Is she your bodyguard? She must be quite fond of you.”

“I like to think so, at least...” I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“They’re more like family to you than livestock, eh?”

“Yep, that’s right.” Kakegawa-san and I both smiled.

From his house, we followed a footpath and walked farther south until we reached the lotus root pond, in a sunny spot surrounded by farmland.

“This whole area used to be rice paddies, but you know, not everyone can keep working into old age. Someone had the idea to repurpose one of the unused paddies—he dug it up, filled it with water, and used it to grow lotus roots,” he explained.

I nodded. “Oh, I see.” Fair enough—rice farming definitely takes a toll on you. Even if you’ve got people to help you out, at some point age catches up with you.

“Heeey!” Kakegawa-san called out.

The person who grew lotus roots had arrived. I could tell from a distance that he was relatively young—presumably in his forties. “Ah, you’re here,” he said as he walked over to us.

“Hello, I’m Sano. Nice to meet you!”

“Sano-kun, the chicken guy, eh? Follow me!”

“All right.” I’m not a chicken—I just raise them... I walked behind him toward his house.

“Here, change into this. You can use this cabin here.”

“Huh?”

For some reason, he handed me a pair of black waders to change into, as well as long rubber gloves. I also spotted a hose-like thing and a hefty-looking machine.

I broke out into a cold sweat. “Wait... Are we going to harvest them? Like, now?”

“Yup. There are still a few buried in the ground. If you dig ’em up, you’re free to take them. Oh, I forgot—my name’s Morimoto. Nice to meet you!”

“M-Me? Harvest them...?”

“I’ll help, of course. I’ll teach you the ropes and everything. Let’s give it a try!” Morimoto-san grinned from ear to ear. Doesn’t look like I have much of a say here...

“Sure... Just give me a second...” I should probably let Yuma know, though I’m not sure if she’ll understand me. I pointed at the lotus root pond. “Hey, Yuma, I’m going in there to dig up some lotus roots. You can wait nearby. Don’t go into the pond, okay?”

Yuma cocked her head, paused for a moment, and clucked. All right, I’m not sure if she understood everything, but I think she at least got the part about not going into the pond.

“I see you’re a clever one, Yuma-chan. I’ll wait for Sano-kun with you,” Kakegawa-san said. Yuma clucked back at him. Good thing she’s so easy to get along with.

Kakegawa-san spread the plastic sheet he’d brought with him onto the footpath, then took out his bottle and some leafy vegetables. Yuma sat down next to him and nibbled on the veggies.

Even from here, I could see that Pochi and Butcher were still going at it—with nothing blocking the view, I could peer quite far into the distance. Tama was walking along the footpath on the way here, pecking at the ground. It was a tranquil, pleasant sight. Except for the fact that I’m about to get my hands dirty digging up lotus roots...

Morimoto-san helped me change into the waders—they were difficult to put on by yourself. After preparing the necessary items, like the hose and a mortar tub to put the lotus roots in, it was harvest time. Morimoto-san’s wife came outside too—she would also be helping us.

“Thank you for this,” I said to her.

“Oh, you’re welcome. There should still be some left around there, so please help yourself to them!”

“I appreciate it.”

The pond that lay before us was quite large. Kakegawa-san and Yuma looked on cheerfully. All right, I don’t know how I got myself into this, but I’m gonna do my best.

From a glance at the pond, you couldn’t tell where the lotus roots were, but the Morimotos—since they dug them up themselves—were able to identify the spots that hadn’t been harvested yet.

First things first—I went into the pond. It’s...deeper than I thought. The water was up to about my knees. The bottom was muddy, making it hard to walk. Morimoto-san and I held hands, and he led me to the area where he said there should still be some left. He also carried the hose, and I barely managed to pull the mortar tub along with a rope.

“Th-This is pretty hard, isn’t it...?”

“Yeah, at least until you get used to it. But you’re still young, so it shouldn’t take you that long to get the hang of it.”

“I... I think I’m good for the time being...”

“Come on, don’t be like that.” He chuckled.

I was already starting to regret my choices. I should’ve just bought some from the supermarket... Welp, at this point, I can’t say I changed my mind and ask to go home.

“All right, I’ll show you how to do it. Watch me.”

Morimoto-san asked his wife to turn on the machine, which sent water into the hose. The water pressure was pretty strong. The lotus roots were around elbow-deep in the water, according to him—around thirty centimeters, I guess.

Harvesting looked like this: You’d kneel in the pond, holding the hose under your right arm and feeling around for the roots with your left hand.

“There should still be some around here...” Morimoto-san muttered as he searched the pond. Eventually, he found something. “Here.” He pointed the hose at the lotus root, which was hard for me to see, and dug it up. He then pulled the whole thing out of the water—it was a long tube of rhizomes, each connected to the next by a thin membrane. They looked almost like beads on a necklace.

“Whoa, there’re a bunch of them!”

“Yeah. Each grouping has up to five rhizomes. But you gotta make sure to aim the hose at only the roots stuck in the mud, not the rhizomes, or they’ll break apart and the holes inside will get filled with crud. All right, your turn now!”

“Okay...”

I almost fell backward when he handed me the hose—this water pressure is crazy.

“Whoa!”

“Careful. All right, up you go.”

“O-Okay!”

He supported my back, and I was able to stand back up again. Phew, that was close. His wife and Kakegawa-san were both chuckling. Sure, go ahead and laugh at me...

Morimoto-san made it look easy, but needless to say, there was no way an amateur like me could do it so smoothly. Even securing the hose under my arm was quite difficult. With my left hand, I searched the bottom of the pond for more roots. Roots, roots... Oh? Is this it? Hmm... Root should be...around here? Crap, I can’t aim the hose properly.

“Gaaah...”

The rhizomes that I was trying to harvest ended up breaking apart. When this happened, they lost any market value, since mud would pack into the holes. Well, I’ll be eating them myself anyway... After a thorough cleaning, of course.

“Don’t worry—you’re just not used to it yet,” Morimoto-san said. “Keep at it!”

“Yeah, keep at it!” Morimoto-san’s wife and Kakegawa-san also cheered me on. Even Yuma joined in, clucking at me.

You guys... All right. I’ll do my best.

Harvesting was quite the challenge—it was hard to walk around due to the mud at the bottom, the water was cold, and the hose was pretty heavy. Didn’t know moving with water up to the knee would be this difficult.

“This...?”

I felt around the bottom of the pond, pointing the hose accordingly. I was pretty clumsy and ended up breaking two of them. It took me a third try until I was able to harvest an entire grouping without breaking any of the rhizomes. Whew, finally. In spite of the cold weather, I was drenched in sweat and feeling very glad that I’d brought a change of clothes.

“Ooh, quite a lot of ’em.”

Including the ones with broken rhizomes, I was able to harvest a total of five groupings. Nice. I’m looking forward to eating some lotus root later.

“Let’s call it a day, then. Good work, Sano-kun.”

“Th-Thank you...”

I was as tired as could be—doing manual labor in water was incredibly exhausting.

I thought this would be the end of it, but unfortunately, I was wrong. Pochi and Butcher were still going at it, and they’d come over near the lotus root pond. I heard a short cluck, followed by a loud “Kwaaaah!”

“Huh? What?” Are they still at it?

Tama was also nearby, and she seemed to be fed up with them. Facing the pair, she let out a loud cry. Pochi came walking in her direction. Tama ran toward him, and...

“Ah.”

She hit him with a flying kick.

“Whoa...”

“Oooh...”

The Morimotos were both astonished. Pochi lost his balance, entangled Butcher with his tail, and the two fell into the lotus root pond.

“Waaaah?! Pochi, Butcher, you all right?!”

The pond itself wasn’t that deep, but the bigger issue here was that this was someone’s farmland. I hurried over to them, grabbing the footpath for support, and helped the two thrashing chickens up onto the footpath. Tama paid us no mind and moved over next to Yuma.

“Phew, thank goodness... Pochi, Butcher, stay right there!”

The Morimotos brought me the hose and, after reducing the water pressure, helped me wash them. Gah, I’m so sorry...

The roosters must have been pretty surprised by the whole thing, because they stayed still until we were done. We were halfway through November, so it was chilly, and I couldn’t leave them wet. I had the Morimotos bring me bath towels to dry them off with. They splashed water and mud all over me.

Can’t exactly put all the blame on Tama here. Pochi and Butcher also took it too far.

“Sorry, Sano-kun, Mori-chan...” Kakegawa-san apologized to us.

I think part of the fault is definitely on Pochi, though.

“Oh, don’t worry. My chicken is also to blame...” I replied.

“No one’s at fault here,” Morimoto-san said. “Well, it was fun to watch, and either way, it was Sano-kun who took care of the chickens. Good job.”

Apparently, the Morimotos had found it enjoyable, but that didn’t change the fact that this kind of behavior on someone’s field was unacceptable. Sheesh, give me a break... I decided to bring them a box of sweets at a later date as a gift.

Pochi and Butcher went quiet. It seemed that all their energy from earlier had vanished after falling into the pond. The two walked leisurely toward Kakegawa-san’s house, side by side—it was enough to make you think they’d never gotten into a fight. Why can’t you guys behave like that all the time?

“Phew, I’m beat...”

I was drenched and covered in mud—reluctantly, I asked to borrow Morimoto-san’s shower. Good thing I brought a change of clothes, at least.

When I got out of the shower, lunch was ready. “Sano-kun, you’re joining us for lunch, right?” Morimoto-san asked.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Come on, join us. I’m having lunch here too.” Kakegawa-san beckoned me over. I sat down on a cushion in the living room.

“Oh, thank you for the vegetables as well.” In Morimoto-san’s garden, Tama and Yuma were munching on some green vegetables—komatsuna and a few other different types. Where are Pochi and Butcher, I wonder? Over at Kakegawa-san’s place pecking at grass?

Morimoto-san’s wife laughed. “What a funny noise they make when they eat.”

“Ha ha ha...” The reason it sounds atypical to her is probably because chickens are not supposed to have teeth...

“That’s because Sano-kun’s chickens have full, healthy sets of teeth on ’em,” Kakegawa-san explained, spilling the beans.

Well, I mean, it’s not like I was trying to keep it a secret.

“Oh? Some sort of atavism?” Morimoto-san asked, carrying plates with lotus root dishes to the table. Man, the villagers here sure are open-minded.

It was a lavish lunch with a variety of dishes: stir-fried lotus roots, a stew featuring lotus roots, carrots, burdock, konjac, and meat, then deep-fried lotus root with meat and lotus root nanbanzuke...

“Wow, this looks so delicious!”

We even had lotus root chips. Man, I love this stuff.

“I’m very glad to hear that,” Morimoto-san’s wife said with a smile.

“If you like ’em so much, come again next year!”

“Uh, okay...” Yeah, I definitely don’t intend to do this again until next year. Actually, I’d prefer it if they just dug them up themselves and sold them to me...

“I bet you’ll have an easier time digging ’em up next year!”

“You think so? I wonder...”

I doubt I’ll make much progress if I only do this once a year. In any case, I think it made for an interesting experience. I never knew my legs would feel that heavy when the water was only at knee level. Or that getting my feet stuck in the mud made it basically impossible to move. I guess you only learn that stuff when you try it yourself.

I decided to ask Kakegawa-san later about what would make a good gift for Morimoto-san (asking the man directly would be a bit boorish.)

“Come again!”

“You’re welcome anytime.”

In addition to the lotus roots, they also gave me a bunch of other vegetables.

“Um, I’d like to pay for this...” I said.

“Don’t worry about it—they’re all leftovers.”

“I had fun getting to meet the chickens—that’s enough!”

“Please, I insist...”

I still felt sorry about the chickens falling into the lotus root pond. Kakegawa-san also had a contrite smile on his face. I decided to hand him some money later to give to the Morimotos. No way can I let them give me all of this for free.

Tama and Yuma were in a great mood thanks to all the vegetables we’d been given. Pochi and Butcher were near Kakegawa-san’s house, enjoying a meal together.

“Huh.” Looks like they’re still getting along well.

Just then, Kakegawa-san’s wife came out of the front door. “Ah, Sano-kun. Did something happen with these two?”

“Er, you see...”

We explained to her what had happened: They’d been so noisy and boisterous that Tama had gotten fed up and dropped them into the lotus root pond with a flying kick, and then I’d needed to pull them out and wash them. After hearing all that, she thanked me sheepishly.

“Well, it’s my chickens’ fault...”

She shook her head. “No, it’s Butcher’s fault for quarreling with him. Well, actually, seems like they’re pretty friendly with each other now...”

I gave a rueful smile. I bet next time I bring them here, they’re gonna start fighting again... Yet, it was also true that Pochi had seemed to be looking forward to coming here. He acted like he found it annoying to deal with Butcher charging at him, but I felt like maybe he actually enjoyed it. A rival? Well...probably not quite, but I think Pochi does hold some respect toward him.

Kakegawa-san’s wife asked me to stay a little longer and have some tea, but I declined.

“Kakegawa-san, sorry about Pochi.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re the one who had it the hardest, washing the chickens and all. I had fun, so no worries on my end.”

“But...”

After that, I handed him some money to give to Morimoto-san and went on my way. I had a feeling I might be in for some soreness later, since I’d used muscles I didn’t normally use. Gotta make sure Tama doesn’t notice.

However...that didn’t work out. By night, I was already pretty sore all over, and she pecked my tender muscles. Seriously, why so mean?

The next morning, everyone laughed at me when I told them about it.

“Digging up lotus roots, huh? Sounds fun,” Aikawa-san said.

“It was pretty tough, let me tell you. I didn’t think I’d be the one digging them up myself...”

“I bet it was a nice experience, at least.”

He helped me wash the mud off the lotus roots and also shared his pearls of motherly(?) wisdom, such as using a small toothbrush to clean the larger holes.

***

After about two weeks of demolition, all the abandoned buildings on my mountain were gone. Having several people working on it had definitely helped, but above all, it was thanks to the heavy machinery.

I happened to be celebrating and singing the praises of heavy machinery when Tama came back from her patrol. She gave me that typical puzzled, disapproving stare. Why do you have to be so mean to me? I feel like crying...

Incidentally, the waste collector who came to pick up the trash was Kono-san—the same guy who’d taken away Katsuragi-san’s broken wire fence after the typhoon. “Ooh...” He stared at the pile of debris, which I had already separated by material. “I heard that you all demolished the buildings, but you really pulled no punches, huh? We do demolition work too, so feel free to let me know if you ever need our services.”

“All right.” True, I forgot about that. Then again, I talked to Mutsu-san about this back in the summer before I got to know Kono-san.

“We can also help deal with illegal dumping, if you need that.”

“You mean cleaning it up and disposing of it?”

“That, and also putting up signboards. Though we do charge extra for that.”

“Do you run into much illegally dumped trash around here?”

“Hmm... I saw some farther back along this road... But it wasn’t on your mountain.”

“I see...” How much farther, I wonder? Close to Katsuragi-san’s mountain? Hopefully not on her mountain.

At any rate, I had finally dealt with the abandoned buildings. As for leveling the soil...the guys said they’d take care of that too. That had been weighing on my mind for a while now, so I felt relieved, but at the same time, the whole thing had dealt a blow to my wallet. And it’s supposed to start snowing soon too. Let’s hope I don’t freeze to death.

Mutsu-san and the other hunters came again on Wednesday and helped clean up the smaller debris. After that, they piled up and leveled the soil. They also mentioned they’d set up tents to use as a base of operations for the hunting season.

I’ll see if I can think of a good use for this land before winter’s over. I could use it to expand my fields, or I could build something here. Maybe a water play area for the chickens with some big buckets... Hmm. I remember Old Man Yumoto once let them play in a kiddie pool he had, and they poked some big holes in it with their claws. I think plastic sheets were fine, though. Maybe get some of those? I was letting my imagination run wild.

Toyama-san was beaming. “First, we’re gonna go hunt those boars Yumoto-chan asked for. After that, we can coop up here. I’m excited just to be in untrodden territory.”

“Yeah. Aikawa-kun’s mountain is nice too, but this year I’d like to explore Sano-kun’s mountain.”

“You don’t have to pay me any mind—just come over whenever you’d like,” Aikawa-san said with a smile.

“Are there any other hunters around here?” I asked.

“A few of ’em who hunt on their own mountains. Hunters like us who don’t own mountains are the minority.”

“Huh, I see.”

“Yeah, I had to let go of mine. Couldn’t keep up with the maintenance and all that,” Toyama-san added.

“Oh? Where was the mountain you used to own?”

“On the eastern side. Pretty inconvenient, with how far it was from my house.”

“I see.” I don’t understand why you’d own a mountain on a different plot of land from your residence... But I guess everyone has their story. Kinda curious about what kind of person would buy those mountains that are even more out of the way.

Starting tomorrow, they’d be heading over to hunt wild boars in the area around Yumoto-san’s mountain. I intended to join them, since I’d already been meaning to go check out that area anyway.

“Those boars and deer sure cause a lot of trouble,” Mutsu-san grumbled with a stern expression.

“Do you think there might be more of them lately?” I asked.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Are there any bears around these parts...?”

“There are supposed to be some. The thing is, they’re pretty timid and don’t come out too easily.”

“Oh, really?” So there are bears. “Do you think there might be some on my mountain too?”

“I guess so? If they stay away from us, we won’t give chase, but if they get too close, we’ll hunt ’em down.”

“No problem—go ahead and do as you like.”

“But then again, it’s almost time for hibernation, so I can’t imagine there’ll be any.”

“I suppose that’s for the best...” Bears are pretty scary—just about the last thing I’d like to run into.

Soon enough, it was noon, and I prepared our lunch. Today’s menu was samgye-tang. I’d bought it the other day at the chicken farm when I’d been there to buy feed for the chickens. I’d figured it’d be a good choice to warm us up during the cold season.

“I like how it’s a whole chicken!” Mutsu-san—a meat lover—exclaimed happily. I told him I’d bought it at the chicken farm on a mountain near his house. “Oh, really? Didn’t know they made these. I’ll have to tell the wife about it.” Apparently, he liked it that much. Glad to hear. “Anyway, we’ll be back after we’re done with the boars. See you later.”

“I’ll be waiting.”

I saw them off, waving at their trucks as they left. And thus, after a brief period of bustle and liveliness, my mountain regained its usual quietude.

“Everyone went home. Feels a bit lonely, eh, Yuma?”

“Coming again?” she asked.

“Yeah... They will, sometime.”

I petted her gently, and she snuggled up to me. Gosh, she’s so kind...

7. It’s Getting Colder and Colder—Perfect Season for Boar Hot Pot

Pochi and Tama came home...covered in mud. Seriously, how do you guys manage to get this dirty? I thought I’d start to feel lonely after Mutsu-san and the rest of the hunter crew stopped coming by, but you’re keeping me plenty busy!

I washed them vigorously. I was in a bit of a hurry too, as I needed to finish their baths before nightfall. These days, as soon as the sun set, the temperature dropped noticeably, and even with all the hot water I’d prepared, I was still worried that they could catch colds. Wait, do chickens catch colds? (FYI: They do.)

After making dinner, I sat down and gave it some thought. Where in the mountains do they go to come back this filthy? Speaking of which, I forgot about that idea I had about putting cameras on them. At this point, I doubt they’d let me, anyway.

“Pochi, Tama, where did you guys go today?”

It seemed to me that they didn’t have a clearly defined patrol route. Ostensibly, their territory consisted of this mountain that we lived on, plus the other one, but it was far too large of an area to cover in a single day. I got the impression that they decided which parts of it to patrol based on their mood.

“There!” Pochi said, facing in the direction of my other mountain.

“Mountain there,” Tama elaborated. Aha, she specifically said “mountain.” It seemed they’d been to my other mountain on patrol today.

“I see. And how did you get so dirty? Jump into a river or something?”

“No!”

“No!”

“Hmm?”

Looks like the river theory’s debunked. In that case...some other sunken area where water collects? But it hasn’t rained recently... Then again, you never know what might happen in the mountains. Could be a spring or something like that. In any case, I’ll have to see for myself.

“All right. I’d like to go check out that mountain too—can you guys show me around?”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

They both seemed kind of happy about it, and so was I, but when I let out a goofy laugh, Tama stared at me as if to say, The heck you laughing at? or something to that effect.

Tama, if you want to be a tsundere, you need to keep the balance! Stop being so mean...

It was pretty cold the next morning as well. Gah, I’m freezing.

“I spot a few snow bugs flying around...”

In late October, I had begun occasionally seeing these insects with white, woolly things around their abdomens. I’d become curious and looked them up. It turned out they were a type of aphid, and the woolly substance was wax. In the Hokkaido region, these bugs were said to signal the first snowfall of the year, but that still hadn’t happened here. That said, it could happen anytime, just like weeds withering overnight.

“Hmm? Is that frost?”

The area around the fields looked a little more whitish than usual. Gosh, it’s so cold... One of the downsides of living up in the mountains was that you couldn’t rely much on the weather forecast. People say weather in the mountains is fickle, and they couldn’t be more right. In addition, the mountains were prone to receiving snowfall earlier than plains areas.

I was a bit worried about whether my chickens would be all right in this weather, but Pochi and Yuma seemed to pay it no mind at all—they ran off to play in the mountains. Before disappearing from view, Yuma turned around to face me. I waved to her. Well, they seem to be doing great.

With the two of them gone, that meant Tama would be keeping me company today.

“Hey, Tama, can we go up to the cemetery and then up to the summit where the god of the mountain is?”

“Sure.”

I drove up to the cemetery. The weeds were quite easy to pull out since they had withered. Oh crap—where am I going to get flowers? I forgot about that... I joined my hands together before the graves. Sorry, no flowers today. I’ll buy some in the village and bring them next time.

“Let’s go see the god of the mountain.”

From here, we had to ascend on foot—it was time for some good old mountain climbing. I really gotta get to work on doing something to make the climb easier. This is pretty rough. Hats off to the professionals who maintain mountains that people use for climbing.

Besides paying my respects, there was also another purpose for today’s pilgrimage—in two days, Keiji-san, the son of Yamakura-san (the former village head), would be coming over, so I wanted to do a quick check of the mountaintop beforehand. He said he wanted to come here to pay his respects before we started getting snow. Makes sense. Once it starts snowing, he won’t be able to climb up there again until spring.

The rock was still where I’d placed it.

“I’m sorry for not being able to come more often. Thank you for always looking out for us.”

I polished the rock some, changed the water in the bowl I’d left there, and pulled the weeds from the area.

“I managed to get rid of those abandoned buildings,” I continued. “Thankfully, no one got hurt. Thank you again. In two days, I’m bringing Yamakura-san’s son, Keiji-san, here. I’ll see you again then.”

To an unsuspecting spectator, I probably look like a weirdo talking to a rock...but I think it’s important to pay my respects to the god of the mountain. And besides, I feel like I might have the god to thank for enabling me to meet my chickens.

I turned to Tama, who was nearby, pecking at bugs. “Tama, thanks for tagging along. Let’s go back.”

“Okay.”

That might explain why they’re able to talk. They help make my days here more enjoyable and bring a much-needed daily dose of cuteness to my life. Well, if we ignore those sets of sharp, terrifying teeth they have. I’d rather not have to look at those too much...

Tama ran down the mountain at a tremendous speed. Yeah, there’s absolutely no way I can keep up with that. You know, rather than running, it kinda looks to me more like she’s falling down the mountain... How does she do that?

She was waiting for me near the graves with an expression that looked like she was annoyed by my slowness. Hey, look, I’m just an ordinary human. I’m not extraordinary like you guys.

After getting back home, I spent some time checking the area around the house. That didn’t leave me too exhausted, at least physically, but considering that I’d been having people over almost every day until yesterday, it did take a mental toll on me.

“Tama, I’m gonna take a nap. You’re free to go out and play if you want.”

“Stay,” she replied in a slightly reluctant tone. Guess they must have a rule between them that at least one of them needs to stay home with me. I don’t mind it, really...

Soon enough, I drifted off to sleep.

***

“Ahhh...”

I woke up before Pochi and Yuma came back, which meant I managed to escape a pecking from Tama, though it was a close call—it had already started getting dark.

“That was a good nap...” I said, letting out a yawn.

Tama was sitting on the earthen floor. Her eyes were closed, but they cracked open when I muttered to myself, signaling that she was probably awake.

“You stayed here the whole time? You could’ve played outside if you wanted.”

She glared sharply and pecked me. Hey! What did I do to deserve that?!

It didn’t take long for the other two chickens to come back—not covered in mud this time, thankfully. I managed to wash the three of them before the sun set completely. In Tama’s case, since she didn’t like bathing, I had no choice but to wash her along with the other two who’d spent the day outside.

I’d noticed that the chickens had been getting more sleep recently due to the days getting shorter. Even then, it seemed I could still count on Pochi to belt out a loud “cock-a-doodle-doo” at four or five in the morning. On days when my sleep was lighter, that would wake me up—usually, I’d check the clock and groan to myself that it was still too early before going back to sleep. I’d already gotten quite used to chicken noises. Kinda odd to think about how that doesn’t always wake me up, but my cell phone’s alarm does. Mysteries of the human body.

The next morning, I again had a hard time getting up because of the cold. Can’t take my sweet time, though, or Tama will come and wake me up in the worst way possible. She’s surprisingly heavy.

I’d been leaving an oil heater running through the night in the large area near the front door—it warmed the earthen floor area, the kitchen, and the living room. Although it certainly wasn’t doing my wallet any favors, the chickens’ health and safety was far more important. When I first moved here, I’d used a kerosene heater instead, but I’d given it away due to safety concerns. Everything for the chickens. (By the way, here’s a little trivia: Oil heaters are basically useless unless you place them in a well-insulated room. The former village head renovated this room for better insulation back when he still lived here, to help get them through the winter.)

Thanks to that, the entrance area was warmer than the rest of the house—including my own bedroom, where all I had was a halogen heater. I turned it off when I got in my futon, which made toilet trips at night pretty uncomfortable.

It might be time to bring the kotatsu into the living room. I decided to air out the kotatsu’s futon today. Kinda late, yeah, but I’ve been managing fine in the morning thanks to the oil heater. Plus, I just know that once I bring out the kotatsu, I’ll be glued to it all day. I wonder if Yuma’ll want to get in there too. If she does, that’s a very convincing argument in favor of the kotatsu.

Today, Pochi and Tama bolted off into the mountain wilderness like they always did. Please don’t come back covered in mud... Ah well. But on the bright side, it’s a good thing that they’re so full of energy.

“Yuma, let’s go check the river.”

“Check the river!”

I was really happy that she tagged along without hesitation, despite the fact that it was probably even colder near the river. Then again, all three of them are like that—I can always count on them. I wonder if they ever feel chilly walking on the cold ground.

The river still didn’t show any signs of freezing over, and the crayfish were nowhere to be seen. Even if they’re still around, they must be hibernating, I think. After checking to see that there weren’t any fallen trees, overgrown vegetation, or anything else that might cause the water level to rise, we went back. Keeping the river clean is important to prevent the water from stagnating. After that, we went to check on the crops, and we also took some time to have a look at the now empty area where the abandoned buildings used to be.

“So glad we checked that off the list...”

Since it had only been a few days, it still felt a bit weird to be seeing this area so empty. They cleared them out so thoroughly that soon enough, I’ll probably forget there were ever any buildings here. Even the ones that were near my house... I’m so oblivious to this kind of stuff that I bet I wouldn’t notice if a store in the village closed down and a different one opened in its place. I mean, apart from the ones I go to often.

Yamakura-san’s son, Keiji-san, would be coming over tomorrow. I began to think about what to make for lunch. He said I didn’t need to worry about that, but that won’t do. I mean, what’s he planning to do about lunch? Go searching for nuts in the mountains?

“All right, let’s go shopping.”

“Go!”

I checked the fridge and the storage shed and noted down anything I was running low on before driving down to the village to shop, with Yuma keeping me company. I love how this has become natural for her. So adorable! I could tell from the way she was waggling her tail that she was in a great mood. The tail itself is not exactly cute—looks like a dinosaur tail—but that’s part of the charm. And also, I don’t want to make any uncalled-for remarks and get hit with that. It’d probably break my leg. My chickens can be pretty scary...

The old lady from the general store called out to me. “Aren’t you joining them for the boar hunt, Sano-kun?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” She knows about my chickens hunting wild boars, but the only time they did that recently was back at Yumoto-san’s place. I don’t think there’s been any talk about that this month.

“Well... It’s hunting season, you know.”

“Ah, right. But you see, I don’t have a hunting license.”

“Oh, is that so?”

I believe you need a license, even for trapping. I mean, if you’re a human, that is—shouldn’t apply to my chickens as far as I know. After buying everything I needed, I was about to head back home when I got a call from Old Man Yumoto.

“Hello?”

“Shohei? Got any plans for tomorrow?”

“Yamakura-san’s coming over during the day. Why do you ask?”

“All right. Come to my place in the evening and stay the night here.”

“Did something happen?”

“We caught some boars.”

“Oh, nice. Okay, see you tomorrow!”

It seemed there’d be a boar party at the Yumotos tomorrow. I can hear the whole story later, after I get home. I also need to ask if I can take the chickens with me, if there’s anything I should bring, etc. (But just between us, I was pretty excited about it.)

The residential area of my mountain (if you can call it that—it’s literally just the area around my house) didn’t have any issues with signal reception. That wasn’t the case for the entire mountain, but it was as simple as walking to an area where you got a signal.

I called him again later and was surprised to learn that the hunt had been more successful than I’d imagined. “Th-Three of them?!”

One slightly bigger than a piglet plus two adult boars. They were all quite satisfied with the quarry, including Yumoto-san, who had originally requested their help. Credit for shooting them dead went to Aikawa-san and Toyama-san. This time, Hatano-san and Kawanaka-san hadn’t joined them.

Well, it’s a weekday—not much you can do about that. Either way, I’m glad everyone’s doing well. After the hunt, they’d brought up the idea of serving the meat to the other villagers and enjoying a nice meal with everyone.

“Okay, so, what are the plans for tomorrow?” I asked.

“Come here in the evening with the chickens. Oh, and about the innards, I’m afraid we can’t let ’em have everything this time.”

“All right. I’ll talk to them.”

They shouldn’t have any complaints about that. I mean, they didn’t hunt the boars themselves, so there’s no reason they should be entitled to all the innards. They’ll have to make do with only part of the spoil.

Still, that’s some luck, eh? Three of them. I imagine this won’t be the end of their boar troubles, but even so, it’s important to dwindle their numbers, even if only a little. There’s the harm they do to crops, yeah, but they can also be pretty dangerous if you run into one and it charges at you.

“I wonder what hunting strategy they used. Maybe they used a driving strategy, where one hunter flushes the boars out into a clear area and the other takes the shot.” I was curious about it and would have liked to see it up close. I might get a chance when they come to hunt on my mountain.

In the evening, when Pochi and Tama came home, I told the chickens about the plans for tomorrow. “Hey, I’m going to Yumoto-san’s tomorrow and staying over. Are you going too? They caught some boars.”

“Going!” Immediately, the three responded in unison.

I bet almost nobody out there has seen carnivorous, predatory chickens like these. Could be a cool idea for a horror movie, maybe.

“Oh, and also, you can’t have all the innards—only some of them,” I added. “No complaints, right? It wasn’t you guys who hunted them, after all.”

Pochi and Tama cocked their heads, but not in a confused manner—it was more like they were expressing discontent.

I chuckled. “Sorry, but no means no, even if you give me that look.”

Yuma, on the other hand, didn’t seem to take any issue with it. See? You two should learn from her.

Then, the next morning...

I retrieved Tama’s and Yuma’s eggs, wiped off any dirt on them, and put them in the fridge. (Generally, you don’t wash eggs unless you’re going to eat them right away—there are tiny holes in the shells, and if you wash them, sometimes bacteria can get inside through these holes with the water.) I had to place them on a plate, as they didn’t fit in the holder for normal eggs. (Hmm? You think I should make a container for them? Yeah, I actually should.)

“Guess I’ll make us oyakodon for lunch.”

We’re using Tama’s and Yuma’s eggs—the most delicious in the world. For meat...other chickens’, obviously. I bought some from the chicken farm. “Oyakodon” means “parent and child bowl”—does it still count as oyakodon if the ingredients are not literally parent and child? It does, right?

Keiji Yamakura arrived at around ten.

“Good morning, Sano-san. Thanks for inviting me.”

“Hello. Thanks for coming. How is Yamakura-san doing?”

“He’s gotten much better, thankfully. He’s visiting my younger sister today.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic to hear.”

Keiji-san’s younger sister was Yamakura-san’s daughter—she’d just had a baby a short while before the whole strained back commotion. I suppose he and his wife went there to help take care of the baby.

“You know, I’ve been trying to convince him to quit being stubborn and come live with us already, but the old man insists there’s no better place for him than the village...”

I can imagine he’s also reluctant to impose on his son’s family. I’d heard that they used to live together until recently, but in reality, Keiji-san had been splitting his time between their home in the village and his own house in N-Town. Then, in the summer, his father had told him that he didn’t need to bother coming to the village anymore, since they no longer needed to take care of the mountain.

“I think you two will be able to work it out when the time comes,” I reasoned. “Shall we get going, then?”

We drove up to the cemetery, both in our own vehicles. Yuma was riding in mine, naturally. Even if she weren’t, I’d removed the passenger seat anyway, so I couldn’t take Keiji-san with me. He seemed a bit confused at first but understood the situation when he saw Yuma in the passenger seat. Sorry, but my chickens get priority.

I’d told him in advance that we were climbing the mountain, so he’d come in appropriate attire. At the cemetery, we joined our hands together before the graves where the ancestors of this mountain’s former inhabitants rested. I placed the flowers I’d bought yesterday at the general store as offerings.

“Thank you, Sano-san...” he said with an apologetic expression.

“Usually, I’d just pick some flowers blooming nearby, but now that it’s gotten colder...” I scratched my head. Not like I splurged on fancy, expensive flowers anyway. Just wanted to bring some nice ones, since I don’t change them that often.

Then we climbed up to the top, with Yuma leading the way. After a few times climbing through this path, she’d already memorized it, and she picked out the shortest route she could think of that was still traversable by humans. Great job! That’s my Yuma!

“So, this is the summit...”

“That’s right. There’s no one maintaining this mountain for climbing—the top of the mountain is forested, and there’s no bald, as you can see.”

“Oh, that’s true.”

It was a bit difficult to tell that you were at the summit until you realized that it was impossible to climb any higher. I’d thought about cutting down some of the trees here, but then, the problem was how to transport them down. They were all rather large too. In the end, all I could do here was pull out weeds.

“This way. Sorry, it’s actually a bit embarrassing... All I did was place a rock there...”

“Don’t worry—I’m sure it was thanks to you discovering the god of the mountain that my father wasn’t hurt. Will you let me do the honors?”

We changed the water and paid our respects to the rock, which I’d placed there as the object of worship for the god of this mountain.

“All that’s left is to build a hokora to enshrine this rock, right?” he asked.

“Yes. Sorry for troubling you.”

“Leave it to me. I’d like to come pay my respects again—maybe we also ought to do something about the path up here.”

“Yeah. I’m hoping to have it in shape by this time next year.”

“Please let me help,” Keiji-san offered with an amiable smile.

“Uh, but... You don’t need to—it’s my mountain, after all.”

“Sure, but you don’t mind if I come again, right?”

“Well, no... We have the cemetery here too.”

“Please allow me to help you with the path, then.”

“Okay...” Actually, I wasn’t intending to let you pay a single yen for my sake... Oh well. Keiji-san turned out to be rather persistent.

We went down to the cemetery and then back to my house, and it was time for lunch.

“This tastes great. I’m impressed,” he said when I told him that the eggs in the oyakodon were Tama’s and Yuma’s.

That’s right! My chickens are very impressive, aren’t they? Heh heh.

He also asked me if I intended to keep raising the chickens like this indefinitely, to which I instantly replied, “Of course!”

“I see. I’d like to come again soon... Would it be okay if I brought my kids next year?”

“Of course—no problem at all. Oh, just one thing... My chickens are great with children, but there’s no telling what they’ll do if they’re treated roughly, so please just be careful with that...”

“That’s understandable. I’ll make sure to explain that to the kids.”

“Thank you.”

I don’t mind him bringing his kids here—just please don’t make the chickens angry. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if someone got hurt because of them.

After gazing at the empty area where the abandoned buildings used to be—he seemed quite impressed—Keiji-san went home. He didn’t live here, but I guess he must have some degree of emotional attachment to this place.

“Off to Old Man Yumoto’s, then... Ah, I need to get them a gift.”

We’re having a boar banquet. Then... After much deliberation, I decided to buy some beer. Everyone’s drinking anyway.

Pochi and Tama came back, and I gave them a quick wash before helping them up onto the tonneau of my truck. Isn’t it too cold with only that blanket under them? Maybe I should put some crates and other stuff to block the wind? But they’re pretty huge, so the crates would also have to be pretty huge... Hmm...

Down in the village, I stopped at the general store and bought a case of beer before heading to the Yumotos.

“Hello,” I called out once I arrived.

There were already a few trucks in the parking area. Nothing in the shade of the house... I found Katsuragi-san’s dragon comfortably lazing around in a sunny spot. Looks like the Katsuragi sisters are here.

“Hello, Tatsuki-san. I brought my chickens too. I hope they don’t bother you.”

He cracked his eyes open and gave a slight nod. Oh, right, I think he’s supposed to go into hibernation pretty soon too. I think Katsuragi-san said he stayed inside the house the whole time while hibernating.

“Tatsuki-san, is it almost hibernation time for you? Have you been getting along with Rie-chan?”

He nodded slowly a few more times. Soon enough, I spotted Tama walking toward us.

“Ah, Tama—”

I called out to her, but it was too late—she was already running in our direction. Crap! Before I knew it, I was hit with a flying kick. She kicked me from the side, so Tatsuki-san was unaffected. What did I do to deserve this?! What the heck?!

Tama ignored me and started pecking at the dragon’s body.

Oh, I see. I was getting in your way. Well, excuse me! Hmph! I got up and brushed the dirt off my clothes.

Aikawa-san showed up from the other side of the fields. Oh, that’s right. He’s been here for a while already.

“Hello, Sano-san.”

Was he watching the whole thing? He wasn’t, was he? I mean, even if he was—

“Is that...Tama-san? Oh, I thought you were having a lovers’ quarrel with Yuma-san, ha ha!”

So he was watching. The whole thing. Jeez, I’m about to die of embarrassment here...

“Oh, um, yeah... Good thing it wasn’t Yuma...” I’m pretty sure I’d sink deep into depression if I got kicked like that by Yuma. Come to think of it, has she ever done anything like that? The most I can remember is her pecking me every now and then...

Pochi and Yuma were near my truck, fiddling about restlessly. I’d already been told beforehand that I could let the chickens do as they pleased, so I told them to stay within earshot and then let them go.

Pochi went running straight toward the fields; Yuma snuggled up to me before following Pochi. Gah, how can Yuma manage to be so cute? Just a small bit of snuggling is enough to make me feel bliss.

“They said we’re gathering in the living room tonight, not the garden,” Aikawa-san said with a smile.

I cleared my throat. (Not that I was embarrassed or anything, mind you.) “The living room?”

“Yeah. They removed the sliding doors.”

“Oh, I guess it’ll be large enough, then.”

You could enter either from the veranda or from the front door. Since I had to carry the beer I’d bought, I chose the front door.

“Hello,” I said.

“Oh, hi there, Sho-chan. The boar meat’s not here yet, so we’ll have to wait a little longer!”

“Hello, Sano-san.”

“Hello there!”

I was greeted by Machiko-san and the Katsuragi sisters, who were in the kitchen helping her—all of them were wearing aprons. Looks like Rie-san is already blending in.

Today’s party participants were Aikawa-san and Toyama-san—the MVPs this time—plus Mutsu-san, Kawanaka-san, the Katsuragi sisters, and Akimoto-san, who had helped with the butchering.

“There’ll be plenty of boar hot pot tonight,” Machiko-san said cheerfully. Still, must be tough on her with all these guests.

“Anything I can help with?” I asked.

“Not really. Oh, thanks for the beer! We’ll be starting soon. You can hang around outside until then.”

“Okay.” In that case, I’d better not get in the way.

I stepped outside. In the garden, there were already some plastic sheets laid out on the ground. Must be for my chickens and Tatsuki-san. I appreciate it.

Looking over at the fields beyond the garden, I saw my chickens pecking around at something or other. The men had a melancholy air to them as they gazed toward the mountains while puffing on cigarettes. I walked over—it turned out the only ones smoking were Mutsu-san and Toyama-san. If I recall correctly, Mutsu-san was also smoking when I visited him, but I think this is the first time I’ve seen Toyama-san smoking.

“Got kicked out too, Shohei?” Yumoto-san laughed.

“Well, yeah...” Can’t get in their way—here at the Yumotos’, the kitchen is their territory... “Nice weather, huh?”

“Pretty cold, but yeah...”

“Yup.” It’s almost December already—even on sunny days, all it takes is a gust of wind to remind you of that.

We heard the sound of a vehicle rolling up and turned in that direction. Akimoto-san had just arrived, and with him, so had the meat.

I took a quick glance at the others and was met with a terrifying sight—they all had sharp glints in their eyes. Uh-oh, looks like they’re out for blood. Watch out, ladies. Just kidding.

“Hi there! I brought the meat.”

Mutsu-san and Toyama-san put out their cigarettes and threw them into ashtrays. Good on you! Glad you didn’t throw them on the ground! I mean, that’s only natural, but so many people seem unable to do even that much. (It turned out Machiko-san had been tactful enough to leave some ashtrays on the veranda.)

By the time Akimoto-san got out of his truck, all the men were swarming toward him.

“Wh-Whoa?” he blurted out, clearly caught by surprise. He took a step back. “Should I take this to the kitchen?”

“Yeah,” Yumoto-san replied.

He, Aikawa-san, Mutsu-san, and Toyama-san helped unload the meat from the truck, and they carried it inside. I can tell they’ve really been looking forward to it. Well, so am I, honestly. All of them had sparkles in their eyes. Seriously, you guys...

“Don’t tell me you skipped lunch...?” I asked them.

They all flinched in response.

What, they actually missed a meal so they could better enjoy the boar? For real? Well, they do say hunger is the best spice... Seems like a plan a child would come up with, but oh well. I let out a sigh.

“Hmm? What is it?” Old Man Yumoto and Aikawa-san were glaring at me angrily.

“Shohei, you traitor!”

“Sano-san, you traitor!”

“Wait, you didn’t tell me anything about this!” How was I supposed to guess that you were looking forward to this meal to the point of skipping lunch? Well, whatever. I’m gonna have my fill too.

Soon enough, the food was laid out at the table in the living room. Katsuragi-san called out to us from the veranda. “Food’s ready, everyone!” We all gave enthusiastic replies and made our way into the living room.

There was beer (needless to say), along with some pickled vegetables, fish cakes, and stewed dishes. The center of the table was left empty—presumably, that was where the hot pot would go.

I followed Katsuragi-san, who was beckoning me into the kitchen. She showed me some containers filled with large cuts of boar meat and some with boar innards. “These are for the chickens,” she explained, pointing to some innards and meat. “Tatsuki’s not eating, so you can give them all of this.”

“Huh? Tatsuki-san’s full already?”

She shook her head. “That’s not it. He just loses his appetite when his hibernation draws close. I think he only hibernates on an empty stomach.”

“Huh... I see.” Dunno if that’s the norm for big lizards, but that’s how it is for her dragon, at least. That’s kinda cool. “I’ll take these, then. Thanks. I just need to empty them all onto those plastic sheets, right?”

“Yeah, that’ll do.”

After also being given a large amount of leafy vegetables, I passed through the living room and then the veranda on my way to the garden, where I served the chickens dinner. I then turned to the fields and called out to them. “Heeey, Pochi, Tama, Yumaaaa! Time for dinner!”

I surprised myself with how loud my voice was—loud enough that we might have gotten some complaints from the neighbors if their houses had been closer. It didn’t take long for the three chickens, dashing in my direction, to come into view. Man, even at a distance, you can tell they’re crazy big. I bet if someone who’d never met them saw this, the perspective would throw them off. Would be pretty frightening, I’m sure. And that’s not even accounting for those scaly, dino-like tails...

“Hey, Shohei! Come on, let’s get started!”

“Okay!”

After showing the chickens where their food was, I made my way back to the living room, where everyone was already toasting and starting to nibble on the food. I followed suit and took a sip of beer. Not that cold, but pretty good. The stew with taro and squid was delectable, as was the amberjack and radish dish. But the innards stir-fry and boar hot pot that were served a little later were the stars of the show, no contest.

Just as we began eating the hot pot, Kawanaka-san arrived and yelped. “Hey, you’re eating already?! What about my part?!”

Incidentally, it seemed the women had already set aside the best parts and were eating by themselves. Well, we can’t complain. They did all the cooking, after all.

“Aaah! Don’t eat so much, Kawanaka!”

“Come on, what’s the problem? We can hunt some more of ’em!”

Mutsu-san and Kawanaka-san quarreled over the food, while Aikawa-san and Toyama-san quietly ate their fill. It was a pretty amusing sight. Yumoto-san, Akimoto-san, and I also stuffed our bellies, of course.

I sighed in contentment. “Ahh, really warms you up...”

“Boar meat’s great, isn’t it?” Yumoto-san muttered in a blissful tone.

“Were these the last of them, I wonder?”

“No, there are still more around. We’re not the only household that’s been having boar troubles,” he explained.

“Oh...”

“I asked them to stay around until the end of the month. If they can hunt another two or three of ’em, that’s more than enough, I think.”

“Let’s hope so.”

It’d be nice if we didn’t need to worry about pests and harmful animals at all, but just being able to keep them from damaging the crops is good enough. Ideally, humans and animals would be able to keep to our own territories, without getting in each other’s way.

The fresh innards stir-fried with salt and pepper were great, thanks to Akimoto-san—they’d contacted him right away after catching the boars, and he’d gotten the butchering done quickly, including flash freezing the innards. Had that not been the case, they would’ve only been good to eat on the same day.

At the end, we added some udon to the hot pot, ate it with much delight, and dinner was over.

Kawanaka-san had refrained from drinking—he had work on Sunday (tomorrow, in other words) and would be leaving right after dinner. That must’ve taken some serious self-control on his part.

“Come on, guys, you know I have to sit it out this time,” he said multiple times, stealing glances at the beer. I pretended not to notice. “I’ll join you on Monday, all right?” Since he was working Sunday, he was getting next Monday off.

“Okay, thanks,” Yumoto-san replied.

Kawanaka-san seemed slightly reluctant to go.

I’m sure he wanted us to insist that he join us for drinks. Can’t do that, though.

After he took off, Mutsu-san said, “Wise choice on Kawanaka’s part.”

Toyama-san nodded. “Yup.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, it’s fine if everyone’s drinking, but when Kawanaka-kun gets drunk, if anyone’s not drinking, he can get pretty pushy. The woman in the kitchen... Rie-chan, was it? She’s still a minor, right?”

“Ah, that’d be a problem, yeah...” I don’t know if he’d bother going to the kitchen, but the less risk, the better. Oh, was that why the Katsuragi sisters stayed there and didn’t join us?

“Back in the day, we didn’t care about drinking age, though.” Mutsu-san guffawed, red in the face. “But we gotta be responsible... She’s someone else’s daughter, after all.” Whoa, seriously, he’s such a gentleman. I wanna grow up to be like him.

The chickens had eaten all of their food—all of it. I don’t know whether to be impressed or scared that they can eat that much... They hadn’t come to ask for seconds, but I’d given them a huge amount of food.

We didn’t go too hard on the alcohol, perhaps because not everyone was drinking, and by the time I went to sleep, I was only slightly tipsy. Probably won’t need to worry about waking up hungover. Before going to bed, I made sure to clean up after the chickens and also give them a quick wash with hot water before sending them to sleep on the earthen floor. I didn’t wash the plastic sheets they’d eaten on, though—I was told that could wait until morning.

“You’re pretty good at this,” Toyama-san had remarked as he’d watched me washing them.

Well, of course. It’s for the chickens’ sake. They’re more like family than pets to me. Family that I can always rely on. Though it is a lot of work taking care of them.

I felt okay when I woke up the next morning. Yup. No headache, no pain anywhere. My stomach did feel a little heavier than usual, but that was to be expected—I’d eaten way too much.

“Oh, up already? Good morning, Sano-san.” Aikawa-san slid the door open and came in.

As always, he seems completely unfazed... You can’t even tell he was drinking last night. Wow. Amazing.

“Morning...”

“No hangover today?”

“Nope... I don’t think so.” I checked again to see if I felt weird anywhere.

“Breakfast’s ready.”

“All right. Thanks.”

I folded my futon, washed my face, gargled, and headed to the living room.

“Good morning.”

“Oh, hey.”

Except for Toyama-san, who liked a good long sleep, all the men were already there. I was impressed by how well Mutsu-san seemed to be doing, considering how much he’d had to drink last night.

“Sano-kun, we made this using their eggs. You don’t mind, do you?” he asked me as he ate.

“Oh, my chickens’ eggs? No problem.”

Tama and Yuma had laid eggs again this morning. Only one egg each for a total of two, but since they were larger than regular eggs, they were perfect for scrambled eggs. I tried some—pretty good. There was that Chinese dish... Tomato and egg stir-fry? I remember Aikawa-san made it once back in the summer.

After breakfast, I went to the tatami floor room. Katsuragi-san was there. Aikawa-san stayed in the living room, and Toyama-san finally got up.

“Morning. Where’s Rie-chan?” I asked.

“She’s outside with Yuma-chan.” Apparently, they were playing tag. Although I couldn’t see them from here, I could hear cheerful laughter coming from outside, showing that she was having fun. The Katsuragi sisters have had it rough in a lot of ways. I’m on board with anything that helps them forget about all that stuff for a while.

“Oh, okay. Did you eat well last night?”

“Yep, all the best parts. Rie almost snatched them away from me, though.” So her sister’s also a carnivore, huh?

“Rie-chan started attending driving school, huh?”

Katsuragi-san nodded. “Yeah, she did. Seems like it’s been hard to schedule lessons recently, though.”

“Oh...” Guess everyone’s scrambling to get their license before the snows start. “Automatic? Manual?”

“She says she’s going for a manual license. Looks like it takes a while.”

“Well, yeah, for manual cars...”

I remember when I got mine. First, we had to use a simulator kinda thing. I wonder if the driving school here is like that too. How long did it take me again...? I sure felt glad I had a manual license after moving here—couldn’t drive my minitruck without one. Wait, I think these days they make automatic ones too, right? Seems like they’d be difficult to drive... Oh well, I’m okay with the one I have.

I stayed at the Yumotos until the afternoon, then went back to my mountain with the chickens. Before we left, Pochi and Tama had been hanging around the edge of Yumoto-san’s fields, looking in the direction of the nearby mountain, which had worried me. I’m not letting you two go hunting today.

“Pochi, Tama, stop it.”

Reluctantly, they’d gotten in the truck. Whew.

That boar hot pot was so good. I wonder how many more times I’ll be able to eat it this winter.

8. The Chickens Want More

Perhaps because we’d left the hunting to others, Pochi and Tama were feeling restless. Back on my mountain, I saw them off as they went out to play. But later that evening, they were taking unusually long to come back.

“Aren’t they kinda late?” I murmured.

The sky to the west was gradually getting darker. I seriously hope I don’t have to wash them after dark. I’d have to do it on the earthen floor, and I don’t want to get the house dirty... Or should I just leave the door open and do it outside, in spite of the cold?

I was debating what to do when they finally came back...with all sorts of stuff stuck to their bodies. What are these? Sticky bugs? I don’t think so. Where were they? Gah, it’s gonna be a pain getting this stuff off them...

“Welcome back. What took you so long?”

“Found!” Pochi exclaimed as I was getting ready to wash them.

“Huh?”

“Boar, house,” Tama said.

“What?”

She pecked at my work clothes. Hey, your teeth are hitting me. She then began to pull at the fabric.

“Ouch, ouch!”

Then, realizing she couldn’t rip them off me, she let go. The two of them walked away, as if they wanted to take me somewhere. However, it was already pitch-black outside.

They didn’t have that sense of urgency that they’d had back when Rin-san had wandered onto my property (or rather, the border between my and Aikawa-san’s properties), so it was probably nothing that pressing. Regardless, first I needed to understand what was going on.

“So, you found some boars?”

“Found!”

“House!”

“House? You mean like...their nest?”

“Found!”

“A lot!”

I paused for a moment and tried to make sense of their words.

“You found a lot of boars?”

“Found!” they said in unison.

“Where are they? Here on this mountain? Or on the other one?” As I spoke, I pointed at the ground beneath my feet and then in the direction of my other mountain.

“Here!” they replied.

Okay, so it looks like there are a lot of boars on this mountain...

“Where on the mountain? Up? Down?” I pointed my finger accordingly.

“Down!”

“Little down.”

“And you saw them resting somewhere?”

“Saw!”

“House!”

“Huh, I see.”

To sum it up, what Pochi and Tama wanted to tell me was this: There were a large number of wild boars on this mountain, and they had a nest somewhere farther down the mountain. The chickens could probably hunt them down by themselves no problem, but they wanted someone to help carry the bodies here. Well, yeah, no way they’re asking me to help with the actual hunting part.

“Hmm, let’s see...”

Suppose I ask someone for help... Well, the local hunters are focusing on Old Man Yumoto’s place for the rest of the month, so that’s out of the question. Then again, the chickens said they found the nest, so there’s probably no need to hurry. I might be wrong, though. I don’t know anything about this stuff.

“If they have a nest around here, there’s no need to rush things... How about we leave it for the next time the hunters come here?” I suggested.

Tama pecked me repeatedly, more and more fiercely.

“Tama! Ow! Hey, that hurts! I know you like boar meat, but you just had some yesterday!”

“Boar!”

“Boar!”

“Boar!”

Et tu, Brute? I can’t believe not even Yuma’s on my side! I’m devastated...

“Look! Either way, it’s already too late to get them today. Don’t expect me to help!”

I crossed my arms and stood my ground, despite Tama’s piercing glare. Wait, I’m not gonna end up becoming the prey, am I?

“Tomorrow!” they demanded.

“We need people to help! Mutsu-san and the other hunters will be at Yumoto-san’s place at least until tomorrow. They’ll be here in a few days. Wait until then.”

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaat?”

That’s a bizarrely humanlike way to complain. Where did they learn that?

“No means no, okay? We can probably get them to help next month. Just wait a little longer.” Next month’s just around the corner.

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaat?”

They just wouldn’t have it.

“We’re not doing it today, and that’s the end of it! Another time!”

They seem vexed, but it is what it is. Finally, I managed to get everything ready to wash them. Tama seemed a bit unwilling, but she still let me wash her, and so did Pochi.

“How about you, Yuma? Are you bathing with me later?”

“Bath.”

“All right. Later, then.”

Relieved to see that Yuma was back to normal, I broke into a smile.

“No hunting today. Got it?” I asked one more time, still feeling a bit suspicious.

“Got it!”

“Got it...”

“Got it.”

Okay, good. That means they probably won’t be sneaking out at night. My suspicions still hadn’t fully cleared, though, so I served them more generous portions than usual for dinner. I cut up some of the pork I’d bought in bulk into large but still bite-sized pieces and put them on top of the feed I’d bought from the chicken farm. You guys sure have it good, huh?

As for my own dinner, I had the onigiri I’d gotten from the Yumotos, plus some pickles and tea. I ate a lot last night—I’m okay with a light dinner.

After finishing my meal, I texted Aikawa-san while watching TV in the living room. “It seems the chickens are so eager to eat boar that they went and found a boar nest. I was this close to being dragged there...”

“Sounds like you had a hard time,” he replied. “But just because they gave up tonight doesn’t mean they won’t go hunting tomorrow, does it?”

“I guess you’re right...”

Gah, what a hassle. I didn’t mind if the nest was relatively close by and if there were few enough boars for me to carry back here by myself, but according to Tama, there were “a lot.”

Must be at least three of them. Do piglets still live with their mothers during this time of year, though? Mating season’s usually in winter and they give birth in the spring, but maybe the timing was off for this sow and she had her piglets in autumn? Could be. I mean, look at Yumoto-san’s mountain.

“What should I do...?”

I was mulling it over when I got a call from Aikawa-san.

“Hello?”

“Sano-san, want me to come over tomorrow? You’ve got a wheelbarrow there, right?”

“Yeah, I do, but are you okay with that?”

“Mutsu-san, Toyama-san, and Kawanaka-san will be at Yumoto-san’s place tomorrow, so it should be all right. Akimoto-san is also on standby. Let’s go ahead and hunt them while we have the chance.”

“Thanks so much, as always.” Really, what would I do without his help? This whole story had come up all of a sudden, but thanks to him, it seemed I didn’t need to worry about it anymore.

After ending the call, I called Old Man Yumoto to tell him about it.

“Your chickens really like meat, eh?” He laughed over the phone.

Good thing he’s so easygoing. “Sorry, Yumoto-san...”

“Don’t worry about it. There’s no guarantee they’ll find anything tomorrow anyway. If you already know where the ones on your mountain are, it makes sense to prioritize that. Hey, hold on a sec. I’ll talk to them.” He hung up.

Hey, wait. “Talk?” Talk to whom?

Wondering what he could have meant, I tilted my head. The chickens looked at me and copied my gesture. Hey, what’s with you guys? Training for the cuteness Olympics? I broke into a smile.

“Pochi, Tama, Yuma, you’re all so cute...”

They tilted their heads again, this time in the opposite direction. Wow, that’s adorable! I love my chickens!

“Cute?” Yuma asked.

“Yep, cute.”

“Cute!” She flapped her wings happily.

So cute! Despite the size.

Pochi stayed aloof, but Tama also flapped her wings, although only lightly. Aww, look at that. Her “dere” side’s coming through.

Soon enough, Yumoto-san called back.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Shohei, the hunters are all coming over tomorrow. I’ll cover the butchering costs and all that, and we can cook them at my place. Deal?”

“Wha?!” I couldn’t believe my ears. What is he talking about?

“All right, then that’s settled! Tell the chickens. Oh, and ask them to show us the way!”

Wait, I never agreed to anything. “Wait, wait, wait... What are you talking about?”

“We’ll be there in the morning. Make sure to tell ’em!”

I wasn’t able to get another word in before he ended the call. The only sound left was cold, mechanical beeping.

“Whaaat...?”

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaat?”

“Whaaat?”

The chickens chanted in unison. Oh, so that’s where they got it from. They do say pets take after their owners... I slumped.

Either way, looks like he’d already made up his mind—he even misheard my “Wha?!” as “Yeah”... Well, what’s done is done. I mean, I’m actually thankful that they’re willing to help. I really appreciate it. Can’t let him pay for the butchering, though. I’ll insist, no matter what he says.

I turned to the chickens. “Hey, so, the hunters are coming over tomorrow to help with the boars. Wait for them and don’t go off on your own, okay?”

Pochi’s and Tama’s eyes widened. They then opened their beaks and said, “Wait.”

Yuma, on the other hand, didn’t quite understand what I was saying. “Wait?” she asked in a questioning tone.

I guess that thing about airheads being cuter is true. And the fact that she’s not doing it on purpose makes her even cuter!

After that, I bathed with Yuma and went to bed. Nice thing about these halogen heaters is that they warm up quickly, even if they only cover a small area. Couldn’t use one of these to heat the entire room, though. I turned it on for a small while, then turned it off after getting in my futon.

In the morning, I woke up just as Tama stepped on top of me.

“Huh? Why?” It wasn’t even that bright outside yet, leaving me even more confused. “Tama... You’re heavy... Come on, let me at least look at the clock.”

She promptly got off me. I checked the clock to find that it wasn’t even six o’clock yet.

“Sheesh, you must be really excited about it... Let me sleep some more...”

I got back in the futon but soon felt a weight on me again.

“Tamaaa... I need my beauty sleep...” That’s probably not very convincing, is it?

In all honesty, I’d gotten a decent amount of sleep already, since I’d gone to bed early yesterday in anticipation for today. Still, I didn’t want to get up while it was this dark and cold. Plus, I’m still a little tired from staying over at Yumoto-san’s.

None of that mattered at all to Tama.

“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up,” she chanted.

Stop rocking back and forth! “What are you, a broken toy?! Gaaah, come on!”

Sadly, I’m no match for her. My chickens are the strongest. I’m sorry for my insolence.

Thus, I was forced to get up. This lack of rest is terrible for my skin... Yeah, still not convincing.

“Gosh... They’re not getting here this early, you know...”

“Patrol!”

“Patrol!”

It seemed they were eager to go check things out before the hunters arrived. Oh, so you were in on this too, Pochi? You guys think you’re really smart, huh? I had to admit—they were clever, but sometimes, not in a good way. I laughed ruefully.

“Ah, jeez... Hang on a bit...”

The earlier it was, the colder it was, but compared to my bedroom, the living room didn’t feel all that chilly, thanks to the oil heater I left on at night.

“It’s still so cold outside...”

Grumbling to myself, I retrieved Tama’s and Yuma’s eggs and made breakfast. I’m all about these eggs. I can get by as long as I have them.

“Just a quick check, okay? Come back as soon as you do that. The boars might run away if you keep going there too often.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

After eating breakfast, the two of them left. They paused for a brief moment when I opened the glass door for them, but they soon took off.

I poked my head outside. The puffs of my breath looked white, as did the fields—it seemed to be snowing. No wonder it feels so chilly. Crazy that they’re able to stay so full of energy in this cold.

Yuma stayed by my side. “Pretty cold, isn’t it, Yuma?” I said.

“Cold?” She cocked her head. Are my chickens perhaps not very sensitive to temperature?

I went to take a look at the fields, and they were covered with needle ice. The sight excited me so much that I stomped on a bunch of the little icy spires.

Needle ice is formed when the water underground freezes, right? Water expands when it freezes, so that’s why it rises from the ground. I don’t know why it forms in this pillar-like shape, though. Anyway, this is fun!

I was gleefully stepping on the needle ice when Yuma looked at me with a confused expression and tilted her head. Poor Yuma... She doesn’t understand how enjoyable this is. I decided to teach her about how fun it was to step on needle ice.

“Yuma, try stepping here.”

“Here?”

She stepped on the spot I pointed to with her thick foot, making a cracking sound.

“Feels nice and crunchy, doesn’t it? You only get to do this on cold mornings.”

“Here?”

She did join me, but it seemed she didn’t really understand what was supposed to be fun about it. Now that I think about it, she’s not wearing shoes, obviously. Guess it feels different to her.

We spent some more time playing with the needle ice until Pochi and Tama came back.

“Boar!”

“There!”

“Boar!”

“Dead!”

“Uh... What?” What’s that supposed to mean? I paused, putting my finger on my temple. “So, uh... You mean you found a dead boar? Did you do it?”

“Bam!”

“Dead!”

Bam? As in the onomatopoeia? How does he even know about onomatopoeia? Pochi’s really something else, huh?

That “bam” probably meant that they rammed into something and died from the impact. Not unusual for wild boars, I guess.

“Well, okay. Stay around here until Old Man Yumoto and the others arrive.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Judging from their responses, looks like there’s no need to hurry. It’s pretty cold, so it should be fine to wait for the others to arrive. I mean, leaving dead boars out in the open air is not good, but it’s not like I know how to butcher them myself.

Not long after, I got a call from Yumoto-san saying he was heading out.

“Oh, Yumoto-san? I don’t really know what’s going on, but Pochi and Tama were saying something about dead boars.”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean? Died from the cold?”

“Well, no... ‘Bam,’ according to them. I assume they rammed into a tree or something and died from the impact.”

“Oh... Guess that can happen in the mountains. Come to think of it, that’s how Loud Mountain got its name. Though I’m not sure if they died from that.”

“Ah, that’s true.”

Katsuragi-san’s mountain was known by the locals as Loud Mountain. I had no idea what it was actually called. Back in the day, there’d been a large wild boar population there, and they’d often charge at trees, making a loud noise—that was how it’d gotten its name, or so I’d heard. Probably not that many boars living there nowadays, though there might be some other unusual noises of an unknown source...

“Aikawa-kun said he’s leaving soon too. Gonna meet up with him at the base of your mountain. Send the chickens my regards.”

“Okay, got it. Thanks again.”

“Don’t mention it. I should be the one thanking you.” He laughed heartily before hanging up.

Ah, shoot, I forgot to ask him about the butchering costs. We’ll have to discuss it when he gets here.

“Yumoto-san’ll be here soon. You guys wait here for him, okay?”

“Okay,” the three sang in unison.

Good chickens.

I went back inside and put some rice in the cooker. First things first, we’ll need some rice. Now, what to do for lunch...? Mutsu-san’s supposed to come too, so maybe a stir-fry with meat and vegetables. Do I have any pork belly?

Suddenly, I tilted my head, sensing that something was off. I feel like I’m forgetting something... Unable to remember, I decided to put a pin in that feeling.

Before long, I heard the sound of vehicles rolling in. Looks like they’re here. That was quicker than I thought. I went outside and headed to the parking area—they were all getting out of their trucks.

“Good morning!” I called out. “Thank you for coming!”

Today’s guests—Old Man Yumoto, Aikawa-san, Mutsu-san, Toyama-san, and Kawanaka-san—had each driven in their own trucks. I felt sorry for dragging them into my chickens’ business, but for some reason, they all seemed excited to be here.

“It’s an honor being able to hunt alongside your chickens, Sano-kun! I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity!” Toyama-san said, clearly in high spirits. Mutsu-san nodded in agreement.

“R-Really...?”

“Yup, ever since I heard from Aikawa-kun about how you and the chickens caught some on Yumoto-san’s mountain. I was hoping I’d have the chance too.”

I’m afraid I don’t understand hunters. “W-Well then, I hope you’ll get along with them...?”

“Yeah, I hope I can become friends with your chickens this winter!”

Mutsu-san continued nodding at Toyama-san’s words, and so did Kawanaka-san.

Huh? Really? Do my chickens enjoy celebrity status in the hunting world? Or is it just these three...? I was a bit taken aback by the whole thing.

Aikawa-san let out a chuckle. “Toyama-san, first, we should go say hello to them.”

“You’re right. Well then, we’ll take care of it all, from hunting to carrying the boars, so you can just sit back and go about your day as usual, Sano-kun.”

“Yeah. We’ll let you know if we need anything—we’d appreciate it if you didn’t go too far from the house,” Mutsu-san added.

“Got it.”

Toyama-san and Mutsu-san were both carrying rifles. Kawanaka-san had a rope slung over his shoulder. Aikawa-san hadn’t brought his rifle with him—this time, he’d stick to providing backup for Pochi and Tama.

“I’ll be waiting here. Ask the chickens to show you there,” Yumoto-san said.

The chickens came in our direction, and Toyama-san greeted them.

“Hi there. Thanks for letting us help today.” Everyone bowed their heads to them. The chickens nodded back.

I stopped Tama, who was about to turn away and go. “Wait, Tama! They’re still getting ready. When they’re ready, take them to the boars. Be sure to pick a route that’s easy for them to walk through. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Got it.”

Pochi and Tama replied at the same time. Since I wasn’t going, Yuma would be staying behind with me.

After getting everything ready, the hunters set off, with Pochi and Tama leading the way. I sighed. I don’t need a hunting license for this, right?

That thing I’d forgotten about was still weighing on my mind. There’s something off...

“We’re getting to eat a lot of boar this year thanks to the chickens, eh?” Yumoto-san guffawed.

I glanced at Yuma, who cocked her head. Does she also have something on her mind, I wonder? I tried giving it some more thought, but I still couldn’t figure it out.

“Should I have brought out the wheelbarrow from the storehouse?” I asked. I saw that they had rope, so I imagine they’ll be able to carry the boars back by tying them to tree branches or something.

“With four of them, they should be all right. They’ve got the chickens with them too.”

“Yeah, I suppose so. By the way, when should we call Akimoto-san?”

“He should be on standby—I told him about it. We just need to let him know the details, like how many boars we have and how big they are, and he should be here in a flash.”

“Oh, okay. That’s great.”

“Yep.”

Apparently, Akimoto-san, the local butcher, had been waiting eagerly for the start of the hunting season. He had a trapping license himself and would occasionally hunt harmful animals by himself.

I brought out a few large basins and filled them with water for when everyone came back. No need to worry about mosquitos in this weather. Yuma stared at the water in the basins and tilted her head.

“It’s not for you to get in, Yuma. Or to drink, for that matter,” I explained.

She seemed to get the memo and went back to pecking at the ground. It’s cold water, so I doubt she’d want to get in anyway, but just in case...

“Do they still take water baths even when it’s this cold?”

“Not with cold water, no. I use hot water too when I wash them.”

“Oh. You really care for them, huh?”

“Well, yes... They’re kinda part of my family...”

“Oh... Should be a little more careful, then.” Yumoto-san grinned.

“Huh?” I couldn’t fully make out what he’d said. I was about to ask him to repeat that when Tama came running toward us.

What? It’s only been about an hour or so since they left. Back already?

Just as I was thinking that, I was greeted with a flying kick. Whyyy?!

“Whoa.”

“Tama! What’s the matter with you?!”

She turned away, giving me the cold shoulder. Hey, what’s with that attitude?!

“She must be feeling embarrassed, Shohei,” Yumoto-san said.

She began to peck at him.

“Ha ha ha! Hey, Tama-chan, that tickles!”

I was impressed by how he was able to brush that off as “ticklish.” What’s he made of? Tama’s pecks hurt. Or is she going easy on him? I stared at the two for a while, but soon enough, it was my turn to get pecked again.

“Tama! Ouch! That hurts!”

She gave me a much harder time compared to Yumoto-san. Come on, Tama! Why are you doing this to me? What will become of my social standing? What the heck am I on about?

“I can go if you need help, Tama-chan,” Yumoto-san offered. “If Shohei goes, Yuma-chan’ll want to go too.”

That managed to get her to stop pecking me. These work clothes probably don’t have much time left at this rate. Good thing I bought some spares.

“Are you fine with that?” I asked.

“Sure, I’ll go. Can always use more people to help carry ’em.”

“Okay, then. Thank you.”

And so, Yumoto-san went to join the hunting party, following behind Tama. Yuma and I looked at each other.

“What now...?” I wondered.

She tilted her head.

“Guess I should at least brew some tea so I can serve it right away.” Not that they’ll be back so soon.

I chopped up meat and vegetables and set them aside—I didn’t know yet if all of them would be staying for lunch, but in any case, prepping the ingredients made them easier to use later. They also sell those sets with precut ingredients. I think I remember seeing some with rolled mince and wrappers to make gyoza too.

After getting everything ready, I stepped outside again. The sun was high up in the sky, and the weather was fairly pleasant. Unlike in the mornings. Damn you, radiative cooling. I spent some time checking the fields and hanging around aimlessly until I heard exuberant voices coming from the north direction. Looks like the boars are here.

“Check this out, Shohei!” Old Man Yumoto called out to me.

I looked his way—

“Wh-Whaaaat...?”

—to find them carrying an adult boar tied to a pole. A pretty huge one.

“I think I saw a boar this size in that animated movie. Y’know, the one with the boar god who turns into a demon...” Okay, that’s an exaggeration—this boar’s not that big, but still... Talk about a massive animal.

There were also two much smaller ones behind it.

“Wow... That’s quite the haul!” I exclaimed.

To top it off, there were also two piglets, tied to Pochi and Yuma. Wow.

“That’s five altogether?”

“Oh, nice, you put out some water for us. We should at least soak the big ones, right?”

“Yeah.”

Toyama-san and Aikawa-san soaked the boars in the large basins filled with cold water. Keeping the body at a low temperature was crucial. After washing his hands, Old Man Yumoto called Akimoto-san.

“He’s on his way. Says he’ll do it all for free if we let him have one of the small ones...”

“Let’s take him up on it, then.” I can’t imagine that’s worth it for him, though. I’m sure Yumoto-san will pay him some extra. I’ll have to be sure to ask Machiko-san just how much it was.

Needless to say, the boars were already all dead.

“Pochi, Tama, great job.”

Pochi crowed proudly in response.

I brought out some more large basins (it turned out that there were a lot of them in the storehouse) and we managed to soak all the boars in cold water. Despite the winter weather, we were all drenched in sweat. When Yumoto-san had informed him that there were five of them, Akimoto-san had said he wanted to start working on them here before bringing them back to his home—that was why we wanted to cool down the bodies as much as possible.

Looking at the boars again, it really was an imposing sight.

“I feel like this might be too much meat, even with the usual crowd... What do you wanna do, Shohei? Save some of it for the chickens?”

“I think if we let them have their fill of innards, they’ll be satisfied. I don’t know how to prepare them, though, so if there’s any left over, you can share them among yourselves.”

As far as I was concerned, I’d like the ingredients to go to someone who knew how to make good use of them. I already got to eat a bunch of different kinds of meat this year thanks to my chickens.

“You’re very generous. If it were me, I’d probably just sell everything,” Toyama-san said.

Sure, that’s an option too, but it’d feel weird to me—it’s not like I caught them.

“Definitely too much to eat, yeah,” Kawanaka-san said.

“The innards alone are probably enough for two meals,” Yumoto-san remarked, looking at the chickens.

All the innards go to them. It’s only natural, since they hunted the boars. I just hope these boars aren’t sick or anything, or we’ll have to discard the innards—possibly everything. Nothing we can do but pray.

After most of the work was done, I started getting curious about what the hunt had been like, and I decided to ask them about it. “I know there were a lot of them... I mean, I imagine so...” Oops, I almost told them I heard it from my chickens. Yumoto-san laughed. He doesn’t know...does he?

“Yeah, it seems they managed to find their nest. The biggest one was lying dead in front of a large tree, and as for the rest...” He trailed off, looking into the distance. Wait, what about the rest? You’re scaring me.

“Your chickens are really something else, Sano-kun! I’ve heard of hunting dogs, but who knew there was such a thing as hunting chickens!” Mutsu-san said cheerfully. Toyama-san was also smiling.

“Um... Did they...cause any trouble?”

Everyone stared at me, stupefied. The chickens also looked confused. Hey, you two should know what I mean!

“Trouble? Of course not! This is Pochi-san and Tama-san we’re talking about. They did a great job at stopping the boars in their tracks, and those tails are incredible too.” Aikawa-san had nothing but praise.

Those tails, huh...? Long, thick reptilian tails. They’re looking more and more like dinosaurs...

“Well, in that case, that’s a relief...” was all I managed to mutter.

Actually, come to think of it, I’ve never seen them hunting up close. Not that I particularly want to. (Yeah, I’m a coward, I know.)

A while later, Akimoto-san arrived, with Yuki-san following behind him in his own truck.

“Hello there. I hear your chickens did it again, Sano-kun? Very impressive. So impressive that I almost want to ask you to lend them to me for a bit!”

“Hello, Akimoto-san. I’ll, uh...have to pass on that...”

“Oh, okay.”

While I was greeting Yuki-san, Akimoto-san said hi to my chickens and went to check on the boars. How nice of him to greet my chickens. I like him. (Yeah, I get it, I’m easy to please.)

“Hmm, pretty nice. They must’ve bred in autumn. Great job—this should contribute to population control. I could just work on them here, but...I’ve already got everything set up back at home, so I’ll be on my way. I’ll call Yumoto-chan later. You can ask him about the details.”

He and Yuki-san skillfully arranged the boars onto their trucks.

“Oh, and thanks for cooling them down! Can I ask you to clean those basins yourselves?”

“No problem! Thank you!”

After the two drove off, I let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“Let’s get to it, then.” We all worked together to clean the dirty basins.

I told the chickens that they’d be able to eat boar, but not until tomorrow night. I was worried that if I didn’t make that clear, they might go hunting again tomorrow. My chickens are all about meat...

Pochi was just about to say something when Tama began to peck him, and he scurried away. Letting out a loud, fierce cry, she chased after him.

Usually, she’s pretty quiet, but every now and then, she’s like that. Definitely don’t want to get on her bad side. And, judging from the noise she was making, Pochi probably did...

“That’s right, get him!”

“Whoa!”

Mutsu-san and Toyama-san gazed at Tama cheerfully. Just then, I got that same weird feeling from before. Wait. Earlier...

I was on the verge of remembering, but Aikawa-san interrupted my train of thought. “We’re eating boar tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Good job out there. Oh, also, I prepared a quick meal, if you’d like to stay for lunch.”

“Ah, thanks. Mutsu-san, Toyama-san, Kawanaka-san! What are you doing for lunch? Sano-san said he prepared some food for us!”

“Ooh, I’m in.”

“Thanks.”

“All right, I’ll go get it ready, then. Oh, but don’t expect much—it’s just what I usually have for lunch.”

“Don’t worry. I appreciate it either way,” Aikawa-san said with a smile.

No wonder he’s popular with the ladies. Though the looks also help.

I whipped up a stir-fry with meat and vegetables and served it with the rice I’d cooked, plus some miso soup. I also had some pickles, peanuts fried with miso, kelp tsukudani (this was store-bought, obviously), and some other stuff, which I served to make the meal more presentable.

We all had lunch together, then agreed to gather at Yumoto-san’s house tomorrow evening. After that, they went home. Near the end of their visit, Yumoto-san had seemed like he’d wanted to say something, which was weighing on my mind. Did I mess up somewhere?

You know... I just realized—that noise Tama let out sounded like that time Pochi and Butcher were sparring, didn’t it?

Wait.

I thought back to the moment Tama had been so violent, then recalled the situation where she’d attacked Pochi, and my mind connected the dots.

No one said anything...but they all noticed, didn’t they?

“Aikawa-saaan!” I just had to ask him.

Over the phone, he answered, “Uh... Well... You know, parrots and parakeets can also ‘talk,’ right?”

“Y-Yeah! They can!”

Aikawa-san suggested an extremely iffy excuse, and all I could do was cling to it. It seemed he had also realized we’d messed up, even before Pochi had almost replied to me and gotten pecked by Tama—that had probably been back when everyone had just arrived and Tama had been about to run off by herself. I stopped her, and I think she and Pochi replied to me as if it were completely natural.

“I think I also messed up when I was on the phone with Yumoto-san...”

“We can also think about it this way: Everyone already knew that they could understand human speech, so they probably don’t think it’s that weird for them to be able to talk. Anyway, Tama-san was pecking Pochi-san pretty hard when we were making our way to the nest. I assume it was because when you stopped her, Pochi-san replied to you, and she also let out a knee-jerk reply because of him. Well, Mutsu-san and Toyama-san were laughing about it. I don’t think Kawanaka-san noticed.”

So we did mess up... What he’s talking about happened before she came back to ask me to help. Aha, now I understand why I got kicked. I don’t think it had anything to do with feeling embarrassed, like Yumoto-san said.

“After that, Tama came back to fetch me, and I got hit with a flying kick...” I explained.

“Her displays of affection are...pretty intense, huh?”

“What about at your place?”

“What?”

“Rin-san, I mean.”

“O-Oh... Rin, huh? Well, every now and then, she’ll wrap her tail around me. Not her whole body, obviously—that’d put me in serious danger.” Seems Rin-san also harbors affection for Aikawa-san in her own way. “Anyway, about tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah. Tomorrow evening, right?”

“I’ll spend the day on Yumoto-san’s mountain tomorrow, so if anything comes up, try to let me know as soon as possible.”

“Going hunting again?” Hunting boars day after day... I couldn’t do it.

“Starting tomorrow, if we can catch any, I can keep the innards for myself. Ten’s already getting ready to hibernate, but Rin’s still awake, so...”

“Ah, right. I can share some from today if you’d like...”

“No, don’t worry. Winter’s just barely begun.”

I guess that’s true. We’re still in the early stages. And yet, between my mountain and Yumoto-san’s, we’ve already managed to hunt a total of eight wild boars... Just how many of them are out there?

“Lots of them around, huh...?”

“Yeah. They’re not particularly territorial, so if we don’t make an effort to cull them periodically, they’ll grow more and more numerous. Not many natural predators either.”

“I see...”

“I think your mountain’s especially rife with them, Sano-san. It was all but abandoned until recently.”

“That’s true...”

Back in the spring, I felt like I’d moved into a literal snake pit, what with all those vipers around. Then the chickens got rid of them, and thanks to that, I didn’t get even a single bite. I also learned how to put them in plastic bottles... I could’ve done without that knowledge.

“Oh, but... On the other hand, my crops are pretty much unharmed...” I argued.

“Well... They may not have a sense of territory, but they’re still animals, and animals have a keen sense for danger.”

I don’t really know much about that stuff, but I guess that makes sense.

After some discussion, we agreed that if anyone brought up Pochi’s and Tama’s blunders, we’d try to pass it off as a parrot kind of thing. It was far from a convincing explanation, but then again, the chickens had spoken too clearly for us to try to claim they’d misheard.

After ending the call, I stared at Pochi. He stared back at me with a clueless expression and cocked his head. I don’t think it’ll be much use telling them to be careful about this. Still, it’s worth a try.

“Pochi, do you understand why Tama pecked you?”

“Understand.”

“Really?”

“Understand.”

“Then be more careful from now on, okay?”

“Okay.”

If anything, his responses were encouraging. I kind of doubted he really understood, but there wasn’t much point in insisting.

After everyone went home, Tama and Yuma went out to play—an unusual pairing—so it was just me and Pochi. Just the guys.

“Pochi, we’re eating boar tomorrow night, okay? We’re going to Yumoto-san’s place again.”

“Boar!”

Yup—they’re all about meat.

Pochi had an impressive comb on him, and his tail was quite long—probably about ten or twenty centimeters longer than Tama’s and Yuma’s. And pretty thick as well.

“Your tail’s dirty. How about we give it a wash?”

“Wash!”

I bet they must’ve used their tails to hunt those boars. Scary stuff. I brought out a washbasin, added hot and cold water to adjust the temperature, and scrubbed his tail. He moved around so much that it was difficult to wash it. Why did they grow these tails, anyway? Ah well, no use thinking about it at this point.

After I washed his tail and dried him off with a towel, Pochi was in a great mood.

“Thanks!”

Aww, look at that! He said thanks! What a sweet, clever, wonderful chicken. (Yes, I’m aware that I’m a doting owner.)

After that, we just waited for the other two to come back. Hope they don’t take too long. Pochi hung around near the house, wagging his tail.

Tama and Yuma came back around sunset. Okay, good. They weren’t too dirty—probably hadn’t gone that far. I noticed Tama’s tail was dirty, though, so I washed it too. So these are their weapons, huh? Gives me the creeps. Yuma’s tail was clean, and I knew what that meant. Kinda wish I didn’t. But Yuma wouldn’t partake in that sort of savagery, right? Please say you wouldn’t! Please?

9. It Never Loses Its Appeal

I woke up the next day to a typical chilly winter morning, and when I stepped outside, I was surprised to find that the ground was covered in a thin layer of ice crystals.

“Oh, it’s frost...” I thought it was snow for a moment there. Whew. Looks like every day’s gonna be like this from now on.

Although the roads on my mountain were paved, there were a few spots with no guardrails. I’d put up some concrete ledges there, but they were only about ten centimeters tall—certainly no substitute for proper guardrails and not enough to make me feel fully safe when I drove along them, even though I did it pretty much every day. I bet it’ll be even worse when it snows... (And before you ask, no, it’s not as simple as just putting up guardrails. The roads are rather narrow, you see. So narrow that if I did have guardrails there, the roads would be too narrow for vehicles to pass through. That’s why there were no guardrails there to begin with.)

I’d started stocking up on food and other necessities so that I wouldn’t need to go out too often during the winter. Old Man Yumoto had also told me that I should avoid driving down to the village when it snowed. Totally natural concern—I’m not used to the snow at all.

On another note, Mutsu-san had told me he’d be coming over pretty often with the rest of the hunting crew this winter. The latest hunt, when they’d caught five boars a little farther down my mountain, had made them even more enthusiastic about my other mountain. “Hunting season’s shaping up to be great this year!” he’d said giddily, with Toyama-san nodding in agreement and adding, “Yup. Can’t wait to explore Sano-kun’s mountain.”

Kawanaka-san, meanwhile, had asked them to go easy on the boars until the holiday season, when he’d get time off from work and would be able to spend the entire day hunting.

Back to today, the chickens were visibly excited at the prospect of getting to eat more boar meat tonight.

“Okay, listen. Come back when the sun’s around there, got it?” I told them, pointing at the sky with my finger. “Then we’ll go to Yumoto-san’s place to eat boar.”

“Boar!”

“Eat!”

After nodding in agreement, Pochi and Tama both ran off into the mountains.

“They’re not gonna come back with another one...right?” Is there such a thing as catching too many of them? Actually, is there even that much demand? Well, the meat is pretty tasty, at least.

After checking out the fields with Yuma, we went up to the cemetery. The top of the mountain with the hokora will be inaccessible when it snows. What about here, I wonder?

I did some basic maintenance: pulling weeds, scrubbing the graves—the works. It’s outdoors, so even if I came here every day, I’d find something to clean up.

“Good thing there’s a river running nearby, huh?”

The stream water was pretty cold already, but it seemed the hand cream Katsuragi-san had pestered me about really did work, because my hands felt slightly warm. Her younger sister had also lectured me on the importance of hand cream, actually. Especially important for pink-collar workers like her.

“I’d feel sorry for Yuma-chan if you petted her with rough hands,” she’d told me.

Can’t disagree.

I cleaned the graves, poured some water on them, and set out some anise I’d picked near the foot of the mountain. It was a plant held in high regard in the Buddhist tradition, apparently. They grow all year long, so maybe I can make this a habit. I also lit some incense. Then I joined my hands together and greeted the resting souls. I never got to know any of them, but I sorta feel a bond. They lived on this mountain their whole lives. I wonder how they got through winters...

I took the opportunity to update them on what had been going on around here. “My chickens caught five wild boars, if you can believe it,” I said. “Lots of boars around. Thankfully, I don’t think they’ve done any damage to my crops so far...”

Sorry, I’m sure you’d rather hear from your descendants, not from a complete stranger, but it’s just me here now. If you’re not interested... Well, I guess that’s expected. I bet I must look like a massive weirdo right now, all by myself, mumbling in a cemetery... But I feel like I owe it to them. Even if they might not care about any of the stuff I’m telling them. Gotta make a point of it.

I extinguished the incense, cleaned up after myself, and left the cemetery, then checked the river. Finally, I took a quick break. I wonder what we’ll be eating tonight. Barbecue? Either way, it’s all thanks to my chickens.

Shortly after lunch, Pochi and Tama came back. “Hey, welcome home. Thanks for keeping your promise.”

They didn’t look particularly dirty, so I just brushed the dust off them and began preparing to leave. We’re heading out soon. If I washed them with water, I’d risk them catching colds. I put the ponchos on them—the ones Katsuragi-san had made for them back in the summer. Gotta remember to ask someone if there’s a better way to protect them from the cold when they’re riding in the truck. Finally, I closed all the doors to my house and drove down toward the Yumotos.

“Boar!” they all sang in unison for a while as we headed down the mountain road.

Pipe down. What are you, a choir? I get that you’re excited, but what are you gonna do if someone hears you?

I headed straight to the Yumotos, since I’d already been warned not to bring any gifts tonight. Oh yeah, I forgot to ask who’ll be there. If it’s the same people from yesterday, there’ll be quite a lot of meat left.

Arriving at the Yumoto residence, I spotted a few trucks already parked. Right—the hunters spent the day on the mountain, didn’t they? Nice to see them keeping themselves busy, even in winter. I helped the chickens off my truck.

“Hmm?”

I checked my phone and saw that there was a notification—a message from Katsuragi-san, sent a while ago, that I hadn’t noticed until now. Looks like I was also more excited than I thought.

“We’ll be joining you tonight. Thanks!” it read. The Katsuragi sisters were coming too, or possibly already here. Looks like it’ll be a lively meal. Extra work for Machiko-san, though. Sorry...

“Good evening,” I called out, sliding the glass door open.

“Hello, Sano-san. Sorry for not messaging you earlier.”

“Hello there!”

The Katsuragi sisters were the first to greet me.

I was thankful for the layout of the house: The area between the entrance and the kitchen had an earthen floor section, which they were kind enough to let the chickens borrow during the night.

“Hi, Sho-chan. I heard the chickens caught some boars again? Very impressive!”

“Hello, Machiko-san. Sorry for the trouble.” I bowed my head.

She let out a cheerful laugh. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy we get to eat so much boar meat! I love the warm feeling it gives me. And besides...”

Suddenly, her expression turned to a slightly concerned one. What’s up?

“Say, are you really okay letting everyone share the leftovers among ourselves? Really?”

Huh, she’s worried about me. “Oh. Uh... I’d like to keep the innards to give to the chickens, but as for the meat, even if I kept it all to myself, I wouldn’t be able to make a decent meal out of it... Pretty sad, huh?” I scratched my head.

“If you want, I’d be glad to teach you how to prepare it.”

“Well... To be honest, I really enjoy having a nice, vibrant meal with everyone, but as far as the meat itself goes, I’m more of a pork guy.” I mean, I do like boar meat too, absolutely. But do I like it enough to expend all that effort to cook it? Not really. I’d rather buy one of those large cuts of pork and eat that. Basically, I’m lazy as heck.

“That so? In that case, sure, we’ll help ourselves to it...”

Katsuragi-san snickered. “Pretty magnanimous, aren’t you, Sano-san?”

“Magnificent? I wouldn’t go that far, but thanks.”

“I said ‘magnanimous’! Jeez!”

After some light banter, I stepped outside. Don’t wanna hang around the kitchen and get in their way. Machiko-san in particular didn’t like the men trying to help out. Guess that’s just what she’s used to. Outside, the chickens were waiting for me near my truck. Whoops. Sorry, guys.

Yumoto-san was nowhere to be seen. The chickens and I went over to the fields to look for him, and before long, we found him and Mutsu-san there, backs turned to us.

“Hello!” I called out. They turned in our direction and waved.

“Oh, hey, it’s Shohei and the chickens. We’ve got lots of meat tonight! You can eat to your heart’s content.”

In response, Pochi let out a loud “Kwaaah!”

Whew, I thought he’d say “Eat!” or something.

“Hey there. Say, when are you guys coming over to hunt at my place again?” Mutsu-san asked, a smile on his face and a cigarette in hand.

Pochi crowed one more time. I noticed he was fidgeting around, clearly raring to go, and I grew worried.

“Pochi, Tama, another time, okay? Not tonight...or even tomorrow. Got it?”

Tama didn’t seem to appreciate my warning very much. She turned the other way with a sullen expression, like she wanted to say, I know, I know! or something like that. Like I’m always telling you—a little less “tsun” and a little more “dere,” please. At least she got the memo, but Pochi was still restless. What am I going to do with him...?

“Are Aikawa-san and Toyama-san still up there?” I asked.

“Yeah, said they were gonna spend some more time patrolling the area. They’re doing it again tomorrow and the day after too—probably trying to narrow down our search,” Yumoto-san explained. “Really appreciate it.”

I guess they all would prefer to find the boars before it starts snowing. Hunting season around here lasted until around March, but naturally, snow hampered mobility. It was wise to aim for the early season.

The chickens loitered around the fields, pecking aimlessly at bugs and grass. Would be a pretty soothing sight...if not for, you know, their size, or those crazy tails on them... “Guess it really is some kind of atavistic thing going on...” I murmured.

There was a time when I thought my chickens might be some kind of Gastornis species or something like that, but I’m pretty sure those didn’t have tails like that. On the whole, while they do have similarities, like leg strength, I feel like they might be closer to maniraptorans.

I mean, if we assume the atavism theory is correct, that is.

“The chickens? Hmm, no idea. But they’re doing fine, so why care?” Yumoto-san argued.

Mutsu-san nodded. “Yeah, all of us really appreciate your chickens, Sano-kun. That’s all that matters, really.”

I guess they do have a point. It’d only be a cause for concern if they were violent and attacked humans and such. Otherwise, not much to worry about. “I suppose so.”

The eastern sky was gradually growing darker—I was starting to get a little worried about Aikawa-san and Toyama-san when they came back. It was easy to tell from a distance due to the orange vests they were wearing. I waved at them.

Akimoto-san arrived as we were heading back to the house, carrying the meat with him. In an instant, everyone got that same glint in their eyes. They really love boar meat, huh?

“You did eat lunch, right?” I asked the hunters.

“Yeah, of course. Two onigiri.”

“That’s not nearly enough to spend all day walking around in the mountains...”

“We’re about to make up for that,” Aikawa-san answered with a grin.

Is that how it works? Okay, then.

Tonight, we were having a barbecue in the garden. While we were getting all the equipment ready, the women did all the prep work for the food. Welp, looks like it’s yet another boar extravaganza.

I hadn’t seen Katsuragi-san’s dragon yet tonight, so I asked her about him—it turned out that he had stayed at home because he was just about to go into hibernation. Though he wasn’t fully asleep yet, it was already time to leave him alone until spring.

“Two years ago, I got pretty worried about him because he wouldn’t budge at all around this time of year. Then, last year, he started getting sluggish around the same time. I suppose that’s just how it is,” she explained.

“I get why you’d be worried—he does look like a Komodo dragon.” I remember reading somewhere that Komodo dragons don’t hibernate. Seems that’s not the case for Tatsuki-san, though. He hibernates, and he’s not venomous. Plus, he’s even more dragon-like than Komodo dragons. I feel like the closest comparison would be an infant Western dragon of the kind that comes up in European legends. Maybe like a landwyrm. Not worm—wyrm.

“I mean, by November or so, he had already grown large enough to procure his own food, so I’m sure you can understand why I was concerned when he suddenly stopped moving and eating. I assumed he must be getting ready for hibernation because every now and then he’d still get up to drink water. I was only able to fully convince myself last year, though.”

“Yeah, must’ve been pretty worrying when he didn’t behave as expected.”

Anyway, we enjoyed the barbecue, grilling and eating to our heart’s content. A while after it got dark, Kawanaka-san arrived. Hatano-san had shown up briefly on Sunday, but we hadn’t seen his face since. Swamped with work, apparently. Truly the busiest season of the year.

Machiko-san and Rie-san kept themselves busy grilling the meat, and Katsuragi-san was tasked with carrying it. I offered to help too, as she seemed pretty busy. And also to help keep Kawanaka-san away, yeah. He was giving her weird looks. He’d look younger than his age if only he kept quiet and behaved instead of acting like a perverted geezer... Not a bad guy, but I wish he’d stop with that.

“Haven’t you done enough already? You need to eat too, Sho-chan.”

“Well, if you insist.”

In the garden a small distance away, I’d laid out a plastic sheet for the chickens, as usual. I served them a generous dinner and broke into a smile when I saw them happily gobbling away at it. They definitely deserve it. Go ahead and eat as much as you want.

“You really love those chickens, don’t you?” Rie-san said.

“Yup. But only my chickens.”

“I see. So you have no issues eating chicken meat?”

“Not at all. It’s pretty tasty.”

“Yeah. Boar meat is good too. It was the chickens who hunted these, right?”

“Yeah... Seems like the meat from last time wasn’t enough for them...”

“Wooow! I bet they’d be a huge hit on TV!”

“Hell no.” I don’t even want to think about that. I want them to enjoy their lives without a care in the world. And I’m something of a hermit myself—or at least, that was the plan. The last thing I want is attention.

“Do you mind if I go thank them?” Rie-san asked.

“Nope, but wait until they finish eating. Wouldn’t want to get on their nerves.”

“Thanks. I will.”

She seems really interested in my chickens. They were playing together the other day, weren’t they? Maybe they’re close in mental age?

She shivered when a light gust of wind blew past us. Oh yeah, is she okay with the weather here? Is Katsuragi-san well equipped to deal with the cold?

“You don’t really notice it in the village, but it gets pretty chilly in the mountains, huh?” she muttered.

“Yeah, it definitely gets colder up there.”

“I thought so. I don’t mind how cramped the house feels, but the cold...”

“Must be tough for you.” I assume girls must be more sensitive to the cold. I’ll ask Katsuragi-san how she deals with it when I get the chance.

After we had a good amount of meat grilled and ready to eat, we brought it to the tatami floor room. Kawanaka-san wore a displeased look when he saw us. “I want meat brought by Katsuragi-san, not Sano-kun!”

“Are you tipsy already?” I asked.

“Who wouldn’t prefer being served by a cute girl?!”

“Kawanaka-san, easy on the inappropriate remarks,” Aikawa-san reprimanded him.

Incidentally, Kawanaka-san had work tomorrow, but this time he just couldn’t hold back—he decided to have only one can of beer. Then he’d stay over, wake up early, and go back home before commuting to work. Doesn’t sound unreasonable...provided he keeps to only a single can.

“You know, this boar meat’s pretty good, but whyyy did we have to do this on a weekday? Next time, make sure it falls on a weekend so I can drink too!”

“Oh, come on now.” Mutsu-san laughed.

“You come on! Am I not allowed to vent a little?”

Honestly, as he says, it is kinda difficult for people who work weekdays. I feel a little sorry for him. Just a little.

“Sheesh, what’s a guy gotta do to find a nice lady?!”

“Don’t they have those matchmaking events? Why not check them out?” Aikawa-san suggested.

“That’s not the real deal!” Kawanaka-san exclaimed. “I bet you think it’s got nothing to do with you because you’re young, huh?! Just you wait. Time flies like an arrow. You too, Sano-kun!”

“I guess so.” It really does. I moved here at the end of March, which means it’s been about eight months already. Hard to believe. “The days go by quickly for me because the chickens are just so cute.”

“I’m not in the mood to hear about cuteness!” Kawanaka-san jokingly pretended to cry.

Honestly, who the heck wants to see a fifty-year-old man doing that?

Toyama-san chuckled. “Sorry about him. It’s a shame Hatano-kun’s not around to keep him in check.”

Actually, I feel like he’d possibly be even more annoying with Hatano-san around. Or maybe not.

The meat was dressed and prepared skillfully, and it tasted fantastic. It was interesting to note that Akimoto-san and Yuki-san themselves stayed quiet most of the time, eating large amounts. At the end, we had a boar meat curry with big chunks of meat. Whoa, this is amazing!

“I bet it’ll taste even better tomorrow,” Machiko-san remarked, peering into the pot, which was gradually getting emptier.

“On second thought, could I take some boar with me to make curry?” I asked.

She smiled. “Of course you can. All of this meat is the fruit of your chickens’ efforts, you know.”

Apparently, putting it in curry masked the characteristic gamy smell. I’ll give it a try.

***

All right... No hangover.

It was morning, and I was at the Yumotos. Under the covers, unbeknownst to everyone else, I clenched my fists triumphantly. But I did eat too much, I gotta say. I crawled out of the futon and shivered. Brrr, cold. I got changed in a hurry, and as I was folding my futon neatly, the door slid open—it was Aikawa-san, looking as fresh and dashing as always.

“Oh, you’re up. Good morning, Sano-san. Breakfast’s ready.”

“Good morning. I’ll be there soon. Gonna wash my face first.”

I finished folding the futon and looked around. Mutsu-san and Toyama-san were still asleep, snoring loudly. Kawanaka-san was presumably up or had possibly already left—the futon he’d slept in was now folded.

After washing my face, I made my way to the living room, where Yumoto-san and Aikawa-san were lounging.

“Good morning. Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”

“Hey, Shohei. Morning. Nah, no problem.”

Machiko-san came in, bringing plum chazuke. “Food’s here! Sorry—it’s the same as always.”

Nothing hits the spot quite like this after a night of drinking. I said “Good morning” to her too.

“Also, give this a try!” She served a plate of stir-fried meat, fragrant and perfectly browned.

“Hmm?” What’s this? Seasoned with miso?

“Ooh, now this is lavish!” Yumoto-san exclaimed gleefully. Oh. Is this...?

“Boar meat?” I asked.

“That’s right. Looks like we won’t need to buy meat for a while, thanks to your chickens. Really appreciate it!” Machiko-san was in high spirits.

I relished the dish—meat stir-fried with chives. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the preparation or because of the miso seasoning, but either way, the meat was nice and tender and didn’t smell at all.

“Wait... Did you leave this meat marinating overnight, by any chance?” I asked.

“Oh, you can tell? The meat stays tender when you do that, even if you fry it.”

“Interesting...” Maybe I should’ve asked her to let me have some more meat. But then, I’m sure there’ll be plenty more chances to enjoy boar meat this winter. Not that I’m taking the chickens’ hunting abilities for granted—I mean that I can probably buy some from Aikawa-san and the other hunters.

I took a peek into the kitchen. The Katsuragi sisters were chatting away pleasantly. Looks like they’re having fun. Pretty soothing sight... From a distance, at least.

Rie-san noticed me. “Oh, hi! Good morning. No hangover?”

“Morning. Nope.” I waved at her, then went back to the living room. I found her smile too bright. “Young people are too dazzling for me...” I muttered.

“The hell are you on about?”

“What on earth do you mean?”

Yumoto-san and Aikawa-san were quick with their retorts. Okay, sure, I get that I’m young compared to you two, but I mean teenagers. The real deal. (Well, teenager—only Rie-san.) And a teenage girl at that. I’m obviously no match. Not that we’re competing. Anyway, this stir-fry is delish.

Machiko-san seemed slightly disappointed at the fact that Tama and Yuma hadn’t laid eggs today. Well, that’s just how it is.

After eating breakfast (vegetables and boar meat), the chickens had gone over to the fields to play, I was told. Do they not mind the cold? Wow.

“By the way, did Kawanaka-san go home already?”

“Yup, a long time ago. He was whining about the cold.” Yumoto-san guffawed.

As a former white-collar worker myself, I’m honestly impressed by Kawanaka-san. He lives by himself, which means he has to do all his house chores on top of his day job. Sounds like a nightmare to someone like me who used to live with their parents. I remember after I got engaged, my mom suddenly had the idea to teach me how to do that stuff because “Men also need to be able to do chores!” or something. Quite ironic that all of those skills came in handy when I moved here. Well, I mean, if she hadn’t taught me, I wouldn’t have even had the option of moving out in the first place. Thanks, mom.

“It gets even colder up at your place, right? How are you dealing with it?” Yumoto-san asked me.

His inquiry brought me back to my senses. Oops. That’s enough reminiscing. “On my mountain?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s see... It’s certainly not doing any wonders for my electricity bill, but I’ve got an oil heater in the living room, which helps with cold mornings.”

“Near the entrance, where the chickens sleep?”

“Yeah. I turn it on when I get home and leave it on until the next morning.”

“Whoa, didn’t know you were that rich.”

“On the other hand, all I have in my own bedroom is a halogen heater. Ha ha ha...”

“Those are some lucky chickens.”

“They’re part of the family.”

“Must be pretty cold for them here, then, no?”

“Hmm... I wonder. Can’t be that bad, just by virtue of being indoors, I think.”

In any case, the only way to find out for sure is to ask them. They never seem reluctant to come here, at least. They probably would if they found it too cold. Hmm...

Before leaving, I was given a bunch of frozen boar meat and innards. Today, the hunters wouldn’t be heading onto the mountain—they’d resume patrolling it tomorrow and continue until the weekend. And after that, they’d come over to my mountain. Looking forward to it.

I went to the fields to fetch the chickens. They were staring up at the mountain again. I told you already, didn’t I? Seriously, you still want to eat more boar meat?

“Pochi, Tama, Yuma, let’s go. I got some innards here for you.”

They followed obediently. Because of the innards, right? Jeez...

Katsuragi-san watched with a smile as I put their capes on. “Nice to see they’re still wearing those.”

“Just thought it might help protect them from the cold while I’m driving.”

“Huh? Doesn’t your truck have a tonneau cover?”

“Ah...” Now that she mentions it, I’m pretty sure it had one when I bought it. I think maybe I put it away in the storehouse because I had no use for it at the time.

“Don’t tell me you forgot about it,” she chided. “I feel sorry for the chickens...”

“I’m ashamed of myself...”

Everyone divided the leftovers between themselves before leaving, and thus, yet another boar extravaganza came to an end. But not quite—I still have something to look forward to when I get home.

10. It’s December Already, and It Started to Snow

Before I knew it, it was already December—the year was nearing its end.

Even if you didn’t have much to do, this month tended to be busy. When we came back from the barbecue, it was already December 2nd. Not that it’s of much concern to me, though. No point in worrying about dates when I don’t have a job or anything.

The next morning, everything as far as I could see was covered in a thin layer of white—it had snowed a little during the night.

“Guess this is the first snow of winter...”

Sadly, it felt a bit too cold for me to wax poetic about it. Should’ve bought a longer down coat. Not too long, though. We’re in the mountains. I don’t want my clothes to get caught on something. There must be a balance somewhere.

The snow this morning was thin enough that I figured it might all melt during the day, but there was no telling what might happen tomorrow—the roads could freeze over. One thing that’d left an impression on me was how earlier, when I’d thrown the front door open, Pochi and Tama had paused for a moment before running outside. Even they were caught off guard, huh? Only for a second, though—they’d bolted away pretty quickly.

“Make sure you come back before it gets dark!”

“Okay!”

“Okay!”

All right, I’ll trust you.

Yuma walked alongside me, as always. “See this white stuff, Yuma? This is called snow.”

“Snow?”

“Yeah. Since we’re up in the mountains, we might get a lot of it in winter...” I hope not.

Anyway, now that it’s started snowing, I guess the Katsuragi sisters will be going down to the village pretty soon to stay for the winter. They didn’t mention anything about driving school, so I’m sure that must be going smoothly.

“And on that note, I gotta come up with a good way to deal with the snow.” What about, like, this amount of snowfall? Is it fine to ignore? I see there’s a thin layer on the roof too. Looks like I’ll be fine for today at least.

After my daily check of the fields, I headed toward the storehouse behind my house. I need to find that tonneau cover. Can’t leave the chickens exposed to the wind.

I’d previously done some searching around online, and I’d found out that chickens were relatively resilient in cold temperatures, but they weren’t equipped to deal with strong winds. I mean, neither am I, really. That’s why we need something to block it. After some rummaging, I managed to find it.

“Jeez, what was I thinking...?”

I pulled the cover out and inspected it for any holes or damage, and it looked fine. To attach the cover to the tonneau, I needed to stretch and secure it over a frame, which had also come with the truck when I’d bought it—the frame was one of those you had to assemble. I decided to add that to my schedule for today, since there was no harm in leaving it on for the entirety of winter.

But first, I texted Aikawa-san. “Good morning. Did it snow there too?” I faced west to look in the direction of his mountain. Yeah, seems a bit whiter than usual.

“Good morning. Yeah, a little. I’m going over to Yumoto-san’s.”

Oh, that’s right. They’re still working on his mountain. Today and tomorrow, was it? “Can I ask you to teach me how to deal with the snow when you’ve got some time?”

“Of course.”

Okay, now to assemble this thing.

Uh... I could really use someone to support it.

“Yuma, can you hold this in your beak for a bit?”

“Okay.”

Securing the iron bars all by myself was a pretty difficult task. I don’t think this kinda thing is even supposed to be done by a single person. Yuma dexterously held the piece in place with her beak.

After much effort, we managed to finish before noon, and I finally had a truck with a tonneau cover. This’ll make Pochi and Tama’s time in there much more comfortable. By now, the snow had almost completely melted.

“Let’s go see the graves after lunch.” We’ve got some coverage now, after all. Well, I guess those two things are unrelated.

Today’s lunch was ginger boar—simply delectable. I’d left the boar meat marinating in ginger pork seasoning overnight, and that had indeed done a fantastic job at getting rid of the smell. I think I’ll make some curry tonight. This marinating trick is so awesome—I’m already hoping that next time someone catches a boar, they’ll let me buy some of the meat. Having said that, I hadn’t done anything else to remove the smell, so there was still some gaminess left. Not enough to bother me. Just marinating the meat is plenty for me. But maybe it also gets tastier if you couple it with other stuff to remove the smell, like sake...

I also fried Tama’s and Yuma’s eggs. I’d noticed that my chickens would lay eggs around six days a week, and now that I more or less had a handle on the cycle, it was easier to prepare for it. These eggs are just so good!

For Yuma, I picked out some Chinese cabbage leaves, and I served them with the chicken feed from Matsuyama-san’s farm. I also put two pieces of raw boar meat on top of that. When she saw it, she looked at me and cried out, “Thanks!” Oh my god, she’s too adorable.

I put out the innards to defrost so that I could feed them to the chickens at dinnertime. Probably early evening, though—not at night. I have to clean up afterward and all that.

Then, in the afternoon, we drove up to the cemetery, checking the condition of the road along the way. The snow had melted from the road itself, but there was still some stuck to the roadside vegetation. Up in the cemetery, there was no snow on the graves. I drew some water from the river like I always did and cleaned up.

“How many centimeters of snow do we usually get on this mountain?” I didn’t expect an answer, of course, but I just had to ask. “I might not be able to come here if it snows too hard. I’m sorry if that happens.”

After paying my respects, I went back home. Might be a good idea to go to town and do some shopping tomorrow. We’ve got plenty of vegetables but not enough meat. I really should’ve asked for more boar meat back there... Well, even then, I took three kilograms with me, not counting the innards. I remembered hearing that you could get about forty percent of the animal’s weight worth in edible meat from a wild boar. For an adult boar weighing forty kilograms, that worked out to sixteen kilograms of meat. Pigs are much better when it comes to cost-benefit.

Apparently, the exact time period when humans had domesticated wild boars, leading to the birth of domestic pigs, varied by region—the oldest specimens known were born around ten thousand years ago in southern China. Crazy how long ago we domesticated them... I think both pork and wild boar meat have their own appeal.

Anyway, aren’t my chickens eating too much meat? I kinda feel like they’ve grown a bit taller too. Seriously, when will they stop growing? “At this rate, you might not be able to keep riding in the passenger seat for much longer...” I told Yuma. She seemed a bit shocked by the suggestion.

Pochi and Tama came back before dark, as promised. I washed them outside, noticing that the proportion of hot water was increasing day by day. It gets cold way too fast these days. I used a hair dryer to dry them off, which earned me an alarmed look from Tama. Heh, the noise probably surprised her. After that, she pecked me. Why?!

For their dinner, I placed the innards on top of a plastic sheet outside right by the front door, just to be safe. And I mean my own eyes’ safety. I’d rather not have to look at them greedily pecking at animal guts. It’s quite gory...

After they finished eating, I cleaned up and realized that I probably should’ve waited to wash them until after dinner. I scrubbed their legs and around their beaks lukewarm water and checked their feathers for any dirty spots. They hadn’t made that much of a mess, but innards had that characteristic bad smell to them. In the end, I couldn’t help myself—I ended up washing Pochi and Tama again before taking a nice, refreshing bath with Yuma.

Tama didn’t seem too happy about being forced to wash up twice in one day, and when I got out of the bath, she was ready to peck me. I handed her some Chinese cabbage as a snack, and she pecked at that instead, along with the other two chickens. She did glare at me menacingly, but that seemed to be enough to placate her. I see, so every time she tries to peck me, I just need to give her veggies. But...

“Boy, you three sure got pretty huge...”

Pochi was tall enough to hit my chest—130 centimeters or so? He won’t grow taller than me, will he? I really don’t think he’d fit in the truck if he did.

“I’m happy to see you growing big and strong, but at this rate, you won’t fit in the truck for much longer,” I said again, this time to all three of them. I mean, I’m pretty sure this is beyond their control. I just needed to say it. They all seemed shocked. Yeah, well, I’m pretty surprised myself, let me tell you.

Soon enough, I got a call from Aikawa-san.

“Hello, Aikawa-san. Thanks for calling back.”

“Don’t mention it. It’s gotten quite cold, huh?”

Ten-san was already in his designated hibernation shed, waiting for spring, and Rin-san was getting more sluggish by the day, although she was still able to hunt her own food. She’d still been very happy about the boar meat and innards Aikawa-san had brought for her, of course. Good to hear everyone’s doing well.

“So, that was the first snow of the year,” I remarked. “Well, we are in December, so it was a matter of when, not if...”

“Indeed. It starts snowing earlier in the mountains compared to plains areas, and we get a fair amount too. By the end of the month, the whole area will be covered in white. Did you stock up already? Or are you visiting your parents?”

“I’m planning to go to N-Town tomorrow to buy stuff. No, I’m not visiting them anymore this year. Frankly...I’m not really in the mood to see my family right now.” I saw my parents back in September, but I still don’t want to see my siblings for the time being.

“Oh, okay. I’m also staying here the whole winter. We should hang out.”

“Sure, sounds good.”

Honestly, the idea of spending the holiday season with another dude sounds kinda miserable to me, but then again, I also don’t feel like spending it with a girl right now. Maybe I’ll change my mind around Christmas next year. Who knows?

While it’d be hard to drive my truck around when the snow got deeper, I still had my good ol’ pair of legs—walking was always an option, provided I didn’t mind the time. Only when it’s not snowing, though...

“For light snowfall like today, there’s no real need to shovel, but you should definitely make sure to do it when snow piles up. I recommend using a broom for snow on the roads. Make sure you don’t try to wash it away with hot water.”

“Oh, because it freezes?”

“Yeah, and it gets slippery. Water, cold or hot, is a no-go.”

Wow, I was just about to do that because it seemed like less effort. And because if there’s one thing my mountain has a lot of, it’s water. That was close.

“What about those deicers?” I think I heard of something like that recently.

“Hmm... Well, it might be effective for roads, but you’d need to use a lot of it. Plus, considering that your chickens will also be roaming the mountain, I’d avoid it.”

“Do they contain harmful substances or something...?”

“Deicers are calcium chloride, which is harmless if you’re wearing shoes, but the chickens don’t, do they? They could get burned from it.”

“That sounds terrible.” Good thing I asked. To conclude, it seemed there was no quick, effortless solution. I thought I’d have nothing to do in winter... Looks like I’ll be much busier than I’d like shoveling snow.

“But remember, we’re heading to your mountain starting next week. We can help with the shoveling.”

“Really? But don’t you need to shovel the snow on your own mountain too?”

“Actually, Rin helps out a lot. A swing of her tail is enough to clear the snow off the road.”

“Whoa...” Rin-san’s abilities are even crazier than I thought. Wow. It really is hard to beat a giant snake. Though maybe not all giant snakes are that awesome...

“Of course, I do need to provide her with plenty of food to keep her active and healthy. At least I get an excuse to make good use of my hunting license.”

Wait, does that mean that if he doesn’t give her enough food, he becomes the food?! That’s terrifying...

The story reminded me of an old Japanese folk tale about an oni who’d work tirelessly as long as you gave him a cup of sake a day. One day, the man who’d hired the oni started getting stingy and reducing the amount of sake—or diluting it with water—until at the end, the oni strangled him to death. Not that I think Aikawa-san would ever do something like that, obviously.

The warning was tumbling out of my mouth before I knew it. “Aikawa-san, please make sure you treat her nicely.”

He laughed and said, “Of course I will.”

Aikawa-san would be going over to Old Man Yumoto’s place tomorrow morning, but he was considering going shopping in the afternoon. We agreed to meet up at the Yumotos and go shopping together.

“What about Rin-san?”

“She prefers not to leave the mountain during this season. She’ll be staying there until spring.”

“Oh, I see.” She must have her own reasons. Like getting more sluggish, for one.

I turned to the chickens. “I’m gonna do some shopping tomorrow. Who’s going?”

“Going!”

“Not going.”

“Going!”

Tama would be staying to hold down the fort. It was a bit uncommon for Pochi to want to join me for a drive. Maybe I can drop them off at Yumoto-san’s when we stop there.

I called Old Man Yumoto, explained that I was going shopping in N-Town tomorrow afternoon with Aikawa-san, and asked if he could look after my chickens in the meantime.

“You two get along pretty well, eh? Sure, no problem,” he promptly replied. “Can I ask you to buy some stuff for me too?”

I agreed to help, and I lugged out a large cooler I had to store all the food.

“Hey, Pochi, Yuma, I’ll be stopping by Yumoto-san’s tomorrow. I’ll leave you guys there while I’m out shopping. Okay?”

“Okay!”

“Whaaat?”

Pochi responded immediately, but there was a pause before Yuma’s dissatisfied reply. Again, where do you guys learn that stuff from?

“Listen, Yuma. Rin-san stays on their mountain the entire winter. She’s not coming tomorrow. You won’t have anyone to keep you company.”

Again, she paused and gave an unwilling answer.

“Come on, it’ll be fun at Yumoto-san’s house. The hunters will be there too. You can go on a date with them.”

“Date?” she asked, tilting her head.

“Yeah. Ask them to play with you.”

“Date.”

“Yeah. You patrol the mountain with me every day, right? That’s an example of a date.”

“Date!”

I doubted that she could understand much of what I was saying, but she seemed to find the prospect exciting—she flapped her wings about giddily.

Aww... Yuma’s just way too cute. I couldn’t help but smile. Suddenly, I felt a stare on me, and, needless to say, it was Tama, mean as ever.

We got frost the next morning, but no snow. I sighed in relief. “Whew...”

It was that time of the year when we needed to be prepared for snowfall at any time. I had already secured some gasoline for the generator, as well as propane gas. Although the power lines around here were well equipped to deal with snow, I couldn’t afford to be complacent. I also kept a stock of at least two boxes of mineral water, since there was the possibility that I might get stuck on my mountain for a while. Worst-case scenario, I can always try to use water to melt the snow, though I’d rather it didn’t come to that. In preparing for winter, I always thought conservatively. Good thing I’ve got the room for all this stuff.

Pochi would be spending the morning patrolling the mountain, though I asked him to come back before noon. If he doesn’t, I’ll go with Yuma, but I’d like for everyone to have lunch together. Gosh, I sound like their mother or something.

Both Pochi and Tama did end up coming back in time for lunch. After enjoying a meal together, Tama saw Pochi, Yuma, and me off, and we headed to Yumoto-san’s place. I made sure to leave the house unlocked in case we weren’t able to come back today, and I also told Tama that she could turn on the oil heater if she felt cold. I already taught her how to push the button with her beak, so she probably won’t break it...I think. Please don’t...

When I arrived at the Yumotos, everyone was on the veranda drinking tea. The veranda? In this weather? The old folks in this village really are something else.

“Hey, Sano-kun.”

“Hello, Mutsu-san. I’ll be borrowing Aikawa-san for a while.”

“Sure thing—go ahead.”

Aikawa-san had already changed out of his orange hunting vest, and it seemed he hadn’t brought his hunting rifle with him today. “I can’t ask other people to look after my weapon,” he explained. Makes sense. Plus, it’d be weird to bring it with him into town. There’re all kinds of restrictions for firearms.

I turned to my chickens. “Pochi, Yuma, make sure you listen to Yumoto-san, okay?”

The two let out short clucks.

“Oh, hey, Shohei!” Yumoto-san called out. “Hold on a sec—I’ll go get the shopping list.”

“Okay.”

Yuma strutted up to Mutsu-san and tilted her head.

He smiled at her. “Hmm? What’s up, Yuma-chan? Wanna go on a date?” She nodded. “All right. Good girl! How about we go climbing together?”

Toyama-san turned to Pochi. “Wanna join us, Pochi-kun? Just don’t go running off on your own.”

Pochi also nodded. How come my chickens like mountains so much? Wait—duh. They were raised in the mountains. Probably feel more at ease there.

Yumoto-san soon came back out onto the veranda. “Here it is. Thanks, Shohei.”

“All right.” I took the shopping list and went over it—in case there’s anything in here that I’m unfamiliar with.

“Oh? The chickens are climbing the mountain too?”

“Yeah, Mutsu-san and Toyama-san invited them. I believe it should be all right if we make sure to tell them to stay with the group.”

“Oh. Right, your chickens are pretty darn clever, after all,” he remarked. They sure are—I feel unworthy of such intelligent, formidable chickens. Not that I intend to let anyone else have them...

“Please take care of them. Thank you,” I said to the hunters, bowing my head. I then set off for N-Town with Aikawa-san (who had also been asked to buy some stuff for Toyama-san.) It had been a while since just the two of us had gone shopping without any bizarrely large snakes or chickens tagging along.

The first thing we did in town was pop into a coffee shop. I ordered a hot coffee, took a sip, and let out a sigh. It’s been pretty long since I last had a coffee with someone... I mean, not counting that time I went to a coffee shop while helping Aikawa-san deal with that stuff.

“Um...” we both said at the same time, creating an awkward mood. C’mon, what are we? A couple of shy teenagers?

“Oh, please, go ahead...” I said.

“Sorry, it’s no big deal, I...” Aikawa-san chuckled. “I was just thinking about how it’s been quite a while since I last had coffee from a shop like this... This is also thanks to you.”

“Huh? I don’t think I’ve really done anything...?”

“You might feel that way, sure, but I still think I should thank you.”

I guess he must be referring to all that stuff that happened back in the summer. I feel like both he and Katsuragi-san overestimate my contributions. No point in arguing about it, though. I’ll just shut up and drink my coffee—it’s pretty tasty.

After that, we went over our list of essential items for winter one more time, then headed to the supermarket. Two heads really are better than one. We ended up buying so much stuff—enough to make me feel really glad I’d brought a big cooler. It almost seemed like enough supplies to get through practically the entire winter. Lots of ramen and instant food. Obviously. I’d gotten plenty of vegetables as gifts or freebies, so I mostly only needed to buy processed food and tofu. I’ll pay a visit to the tofu shop in the village tomorrow morning. I also bought some canned goods, including canned mackerel, which Aikawa-san mentioned had been getting more popular—and, consequently, more expensive.

As for the Yumotos’ shopping list, it mostly consisted of fish and seafood. Makes sense. The stores in the village only stock frozen stuff. Naturally, these sorts of ingredients were hard to come by in the mountains. There was one sushi place in the village, and if you asked, they’d probably prepare you some sashimi, but it was a bit too expensive to eat at on a regular basis.

The Yumotos had asked me if I’d like to spend the holidays with them—provided it was physically possible, that is, which depended on the snow. I’d left a couple of changes of clothes at their place, in case I got snowed in for a few days or something. It’s during times like these that I realize how slow I am to act. This only crossed my mind after it started snowing...

I felt like I could almost hear a voice calling out to me: Maybe that’s why your ex walked out on you?

I shook my head to get rid of these intrusive thoughts. Oh, please. I’m okay now. I’ve got three adorable chickens. Well... Adorable other than their size, I guess.

Back at the Yumoto residence, I dropped off the items they’d asked me for.

Machiko-san was doing some work outside. She spotted my truck and waved at me. “Oh, welcome back. That was faster than I thought.”

“Hello.”

She slid the glass door open for us, and Aikawa-san and I carried the cooler inside. We could just take out their stuff, sure, but I prefer to keep it all in the cooler for as long as possible. After that, we hauled the cooler back to my truck again. Sorry, Aikawa-san.

“Thanks a bunch, Sho-chan!”

She handed me money for the items I’d bought for them—Yumoto-san had already told me quite a few times not to be sloppy with money-related stuff. I feel the man himself is quite sloppy about that, though. He never wants to let me pay for anything. Lately, we’d been getting into arguments about that kinda thing all the time. Eventually, Machiko-san would intervene and say, “Don’t worry, Sho-chan. It’s fine,” and they’d end up not accepting my money. To compensate, I always made sure to get them extra-nice gifts.

“Hmm? And this?” Machiko-san asked.

“Oh, I bought some strawberries because they looked really tasty...” I explained. “Let’s eat them together.”

“Aren’t strawberries expensive this time of year? Thanks, Sho-chan.”

Since I’d bought two packs, there were probably enough strawberries for the hunters to eat too. We got in the kotatsu and started snacking on them, and before long, everyone came back from the mountain.

“Welcome back,” I said.

“Oh, you’re here already,” Mutsu-san called out. “Come on in.”

Pochi and Yuma came back slightly dirty.

“Aikawa-kun, we found traces of a nest. We might be able to catch some tomorrow. Prepare accordingly.”

“All right.”

I guess Mutsu-san, Toyama-san, and Aikawa-san are going hunting together. I listened to their conversation absentmindedly while I picked dirt off the chickens.

Toyama-san turned to me with a smile. “Your chickens really are incredible! We were able to get a good look at the mountain thanks to them.”

They must have slowed down compared to their usual pace... Pochi and Yuma usually led the way, which made the humans walk faster too. Still... Tromping around in the mountains all day looking for prey—I definitely couldn’t do it. (Yeah, I know I’m supposed to be a mountain dweller, but I’m not in the habit of spending the entire day wandering my mountain, you see.)

“Ooh, strawberries? Nice.”

“Sho-chan bought them for us.”

“Thanks, Sano-kun.”

“Don’t mention it.” Really, it’s no big deal.

Yuma came over and stared at the strawberries with curiosity. Chickens probably can’t eat strawberries, right? They’re in the same family as roses, and they have seeds... I wasn’t sure whether they were safe, so I asked Machiko-san to give them some Chinese cabbage leaves, which they ate joyfully. I’ll look up the strawberry thing later.

Later, when the sun began to set, I stood up. “I think we’ll be taking our leave soon...”

“Oh, Sano-kun, do you think I could borrow the chickens tomorrow?” Mutsu-san asked.

“Sure, no problem... Did you find something?”

“Well, Yuma-chan found an empty nest. If it doesn’t belong to those boars from the other day, that confirms there are more of ’em.”

Looks like there are more boars around than we thought. “Okay...” I glanced over at Pochi and Yuma. “The hunters would like you to help again tomorrow. What do you say?”

The two of them clucked in response. Do you guys never get sick of boar meat? For omnivores, you sure do eat a whole lot of meat... And you ate a bunch just last night too.

“I’ll bring them over tomorrow, then,” I said. “What time?”

“Before nine, if possible.”

“All right, we’ll be here.”

I’m sure Tama’ll want to come too. Now I’m not sure whether catching lots of boars is actually a good thing... Not that I can do anything about it. Oh well.

11. The Chickens Are Serious About Hunting

When I told the hunters that Tama would possibly be coming tomorrow as well, they brightened up and said she’d be a big help. Just what are they expecting out of my chickens...? Well, I guess it’s a good thing that the chickens are welcome company.

Back at home, I asked Tama about tomorrow. “Pochi and Yuma are going over to Yumoto-san’s place to climb his mountain. What about you?”

“Climb!”

“All right, then that makes all three of you.” Let’s hope it doesn’t snow tomorrow. I still need to buy tofu.

Boy, it sure feels nice and warm in the kotatsu. Really makes you want to stay like this forever. Getting up takes considerable willpower. “Ahh, this is bliss...”

Hmm. I wonder if the chickens would enjoy this too.

I got up with some effort (I’m not that old yet—it’s because of the kotatsu), got a wet towel, and beckoned Yuma over.

She walked up to me, tilting her head.

“Yuma, come over here.” I picked her up and wiped her feet with the towel.

“Sano?”

“Here, try getting in the kotatsu.”

Still holding her, I pulled the kotatsu futon over her body. She stayed still for a while, lying on her back, then started wiggling around and flipped over to lie face down. Resting her head on my lap, she closed her eyes blissfully. Yup, looks like she enjoys it.

“How is it? Warm?”

“Waaarm!”

“Good, good.” So cute. I stroked her feathers.

I felt eyes on me and turned to find Pochi and Tama sitting at the edge of the living room and staring at us. Are they interested too?

“You guys wanna give it a try?”

“Try!”

“Give it a try!”

“Okay, come in. Just don’t poop, okay?”

Yuma, hearing my words, suddenly jolted awake and dashed toward the living room, to the spot where I’d laid out some old newspapers on the floor—their toilet. I’d heard it was impossible to potty train birds, but it seemed my chickens didn’t like their feet getting dirty with feces, and they hardly ever went inside the house.

After wiping Pochi’s and Tama’s feet and checking Yuma one more time for any dirty spots, we all got beneath the kotatsu futon.

“So? Does it feel nice?” I asked them.

“Nice!”

“Nice!”

“Nice!”

That’s good to hear. It was a really soothing sight: three huge chickens sitting comfortably under a kotatsu, looking like fluffy white mochi. To be more exact, they were sitting on cushions, and only half of their bodies were under the kotatsu, but they didn’t seem to be feeling cold. Yuma was even dozing off.

They’d found the kotatsu so comfortable that they didn’t want to get out anymore. Oh my god, this is too adorable!

“Water!” they called out in unison.

“Huh? Come on, you can go get it yourselves.”

Eventually, I gave in and went to get them a bowl of water, which I placed in front of them. This was supposed to be my time to relax... But they’re cute, so it’s okay.

The kotatsu had such a powerful hold over them that even Tama stayed still and let me pet her.

Three big white mochi... Speaking of which, New Year’s is just around the corner, huh? You eat mochi on New Year’s too. These mochi won’t do, though—you’re supposed to stack two of them.

This year really went by in a flash. Guess I’ll be spending the holiday at Yumoto-san’s place with them and Aikawa-san. How did I spend the last one again? Oh... Right. Bah. Reminiscing about the end of last year put me in a sour mood, but the chickens looked so cute that my mind was put at ease.

The three of them sat there snugly, enjoying the warmth of the kotatsu. Hopefully this won’t turn them into couch potatoes. (Kotatsu potatoes?) Probably not.

Rie-san said it was really cold at their place. Is she doing okay, I wonder?

***

The next morning was just as cold—you could feel the frost in the air itself. The breath I exhaled was as white as snow. Judging from the air temperature, I’m sure there must be places nearby where it’s snowing. A bit depressing to think that basically every day until spring will be like this... Time and time again, I’m reminded that I really underestimated how grueling life in the mountains would be.

“Maybe I should become a shut-in until spring...”

I probably had the supplies for it, at least. I’d bought enough gas for the portable stove to last me a good while. Maybe I should check the exact numbers, though. How much I spent—how much food I have. That’ll come in handy when I have to do this again next year.

Pochi and Tama got in the tonneau, which now had a cover. I’d added some blankets for them to lie on, which should be enough to protect them from the cold.

“Off we go, then.”

After dropping them off at Yumoto-san’s, I had a bunch of stuff to take care of. First, I’ll go to the tofu shop.

It wasn’t quite nine o’clock yet when we arrived at the Yumotos. Mutsu-san, Toyama-san, and Aikawa-san were already there.

“Good morning. Pretty cold today, huh?” I said.

“If you think this is cold, you’re in for a world of pain this winter!” Mutsu-san laughed.

Seriously? That bad?

“To be fair, I agree that it’s pretty chilly,” Aikawa-san said.

Thanks for that.

“Uh, so is it okay if I leave the three of them here? Around what time should I pick them up?”

“We’ll be back down the mountain around three, so any time after that.”

“Gotcha.” I turned to the chickens. “You guys be nice and listen to Mutsu-san, okay?” The three of them nodded and clucked. Heh, I almost feel like an army officer. “See you later.”

I was about to get back in my truck when Yuma came over to me and cocked her head.

“What’s up?” I asked her.

“Maybe she thought you were also going up the mountain?” Aikawa-san suggested.

I looked back at Yuma. She had a puzzled look on her face. Aww, so cute. But that’s not the point here. “Yuma, I’m not joining you guys. I’d just get in the way, and I have some shopping to do. Don’t worry—I’ll be back soon.”

I tried to explain it to her in the simplest terms I could think of. She still seemed a bit confused, and she tilted her head again. It was like her big, round eyes were pleading with me to stay with her. Maybe I ought to take her with me...

I knelt down and looked her in the eyes. “Aren’t you going to help the hunters?”

She clucked in response.

“Thanks.” I petted her, and she continued to stare at me adorably.

“How about going on a date with me today, Yuma-san?” Aikawa-san asked. Yuma strolled toward him.

Don’t tell me you were enticed by his good looks?! I didn’t know you were so superficial, Yuma! Just kidding...

“Sorry. And thanks.”

The hunters, donning their orange vests and holding their firearms, walked to the other side of the fields, followed by the chickens.

“Pretty badass, eh?” Old Man Yumoto, standing by my side, muttered.

“How about you, Yumoto-san? Not into hunting?”

“That’s about the only thing the old lady won’t let me do,” he explained, shrugging.

I can understand. Guns are pretty dangerous. I mean, besides airsoft guns, but obviously you can’t hunt boars with those. It’s a delicate issue. Plus, I’m pretty sure it takes several years before you’re allowed to carry weapons like the one Aikawa-san has.

Come to think of it, though he doesn’t look his age, the guy’s in his thirties. If you assume he got his hunting license when he was twenty, it’s not that weird for him to be such a seasoned hunter. I think so, at least. Dunno how that stuff works.

“Going out, Shohei?”

“Yeah, still need to buy some stuff.”

“How about going to that place that opened in S-Town?”

“‘That place’? What place?” It didn’t ring any bells. In S-Town... Wait, I think I remember someone mentioning that back in the summer...

“Pretty sure my wife’s been there.” He opened the glass front door. “Heeey! What was that place in S-Town called again?”

She stopped what she was doing and came outside. Sorry, Machiko-san... “What’re you talking about?” she asked.

“Remember in the summer? You said you went there. You know...that place in S-Town?”

“S-Town? Oh... You mean the shopping mall Miya-chan and I went to?”

“Right, right! The shopping mall thing!” Apparently, Yumoto-san wasn’t too familiar with those.

“A mall, huh?” I asked. “Ah, right. I remember Katsuragi-san mentioning it... But that’s not really the appropriate place to stock up on supplies, is it?”

Yumoto-san looked at Machiko-san. “Well, what do you think?”

“You can buy all sorts of things there,” she replied, “but I reckon it’s not really the kind of place to shop for food and things like that.”

Yumoto-san shrugged. “Huh. Okay.”

“All right, I’ll be on my way,” I said. “I should be back around three. Please let me know if anything comes up.”

“Sure.”

“Drive safely.”

“Thank you.”

I got in my truck and headed to the tofu shop.

A shopping mall, huh? Might be worth checking out. Not really the kind of place I’d want to go by myself, though... The Katsuragi sisters’ faces flashed across my mind. I shook my head. I know how girls are—I’d be stuck there the whole day. That leaves Aikawa-san, I guess. Would he want to go to a mall?

“I can freeze the fried tofu for you if you’d like,” the tofu shop lady offered with a smile.

“Oh, really?” Maybe I’ll buy some more, then. This stuff goes great with miso soup.

“It doesn’t last that long, though, even if you do. Don’t expect any miracles.”

“Okay, got it.” Apparently, the oil would go bad.

I bought myself a bunch of tofu—both raw and fried—plus tofu fritters, natto, sweetened beans, miso, dried soybeans, and sundubu-jjigae sets. I was offered okara as a freebie and took as much as I could. They were also selling frozen chicken meat.

“Is this meat sourced from Matsuyama-san’s farm?” I asked.

“That’s right. We worked something out. If it doesn’t sell, we can just eat it ourselves.”

“I see.” The chicken meat from the farm is pretty great, even frozen. Right—I’ll go to the farm to buy some meat as well.

“Making preparations for winter?” the shop lady asked.

“Yup, something like that.” I scratched my head. Of course she can tell, considering all the stuff I’m buying at once.

“So we won’t be seeing each other again this winter? That’s too bad.”

“I’ll probably come again if it doesn’t snow too much. I’m stocking up because I don’t know how much snow we’ll get.”

“Fair enough. You like natto? Go ahead and buy some more. You can freeze it.”

“Oh, right, I forgot about that.”

“I recommend it—lasts pretty long.”

After getting some more advice from the tofu shop lady, I packed all my purchases into the cooler and drove back up my mountain. My fridge was already quite full. Vegetables were mostly stored in the shed outside. Perfect for that—gets pretty cold in there.

I had so much food that I could probably open a restaurant if I wanted to. Though I can’t imagine I’d have many customers... It’s not like I want any either...

“Anything else I forgot to buy...?” I went over my list once more. I’ve got it on my phone too, but a physical, written list is easier to check. “Oh, right. Chicken meat.”

I opened the fridge and found that there was still some space left where the chicken meat could go. Then I gave Matsuyama-san a call. “Hello, Matsuyama-san? It’s me, Sano. Are you busy right now?”

“Hello? Oh, Sano-kun? Nope. You wanna talk to me?”

I explained to him that I’d like to buy some chicken meat for the winter. He told me to head to the farm tomorrow.

“And bring the chickens too while you’re at it. The vet will be here tomorrow.”

“Ah, Kimoto-san? That’s great to hear. We’ll be there in the early afternoon, then.”

“How about you come a bit earlier and have lunch with us?”

“Oh, really? Thank you. See you tomorrow.” Great—I can ask him to do a quick checkup. “Now, should I tell them Kimoto-san will be there...?”

Tama and Yuma would probably cooperate, but Pochi always seemed hesitant when it came to that kind of thing. I’m not a big fan of hospitals either. Maybe it’s just how us dudes are. Or is it just me and Pochi? Dunno, and don’t particularly care to find out, but I can definitely relate. Even so...I’d like the vet to have a look at him if possible.

Using the eggs the chickens had laid this morning, I made myself a bowl of oyakodon. The meat was from Matsuyama-san’s farm.

“I have it pretty good here, huh?” For vegetables, I got lots from the Yumotos, and I also raised some of my own; for eggs, I had Tama’s and Yuma’s (and some regular store-bought eggs too, of course). I could get fresh boar meat thanks to my chickens and buy high-quality chicken meat from Matsuyama-san’s farm. Sure is awesome being able to enjoy fresh, quality ingredients.

Back when I first moved here, I’d intended to lead a reclusive life all by myself. I didn’t expect to be able to grow my own food, and I’d resigned myself to at the very least needing to go out to buy food. But it was only a matter of time before I started feeling lonely. I went down to the village, where there was a festival, despite it still being relatively chilly. At one of the stalls, I saw some dyed chicks for sale and got a bit nostalgic...

“Hmm? Wait, what was up with that festival, anyway?”

I seem to recall Old Man Yumoto saying it was the local spring festival, which only happened every once in a blue moon, not every year. He said that lately, they’ve only been doing summer festivals, but this year, someone got the idea to hold the spring festival too. (Apparently, they had an autumn festival too a few years back.) But festivals are supposed to be an occasion to celebrate and show gratitude for the gods, right? So I think there was probably something related to that going on. Probably something I wouldn’t understand anyway, I’m sure. Either way, it brought me and the chickens together.

I turned in the direction of the summit and joined my hands in prayer. Thank you very much for that.

I imagine the mountain’ll be buried in snow by the new year. If so, I won’t be able to make my way up there. Since this whole mountain is the object of worship, maybe it’s a good idea to make a habit of praying toward the top of the mountain like I’m doing now. I mean, the god up there is the god of this mountain, not this region’s guardian deity or anything. I wonder if my family has one. Kinda curious about it now.

Over in the fields, the leafy vegetables were growing without any issues. I might be able to harvest them tomorrow or the day after. I’m really happy I can feed my chickens fresh veggies. Well, I mean, I’ll be eating them too.

A bit later, I drove down the mountain and headed to the Yumotos. I doubt they were able to catch more boars so soon after the last ones, but it’d be nice.

When I arrived, I found that the hunters hadn’t come back yet. I checked the time, and it was exactly three. Guess they’ll take a bit longer.

“Hello,” I called out to Yumoto-san, who was sipping tea on the veranda. Seriously, I don’t understand how the people here feel so comfortable on the veranda in this cold weather. Are they simply more resilient to cold? It’d definitely be impossible on my mountain—it’s even colder up there.

“Hey, Shohei. Managed to wrap up your business?”

“Yeah, pretty much. All that’s left is to buy some meat from Matsuyama-san’s farm...” I glanced toward the mountain. “Ah.”

“They’re back.”

Pochi confidently led the way, with Mutsu-san following behind him. Seeing Pochi like this, you’d almost get the impression that chickens are bred for combat. Surreal stuff.

Machiko-san noticed that I was back and came over to greet me. “Hi, Sho-chan. Just a minute—I’ll bring you some tea.”

“Hi there. Thanks.” I spied more figures coming down the mountain. “Oh, the others are back...too?” Whoa. Looks like they did catch something. Just one, though.

Aikawa-san and Toyama-san were carrying a deer with its legs tied to a wooden pole. They were saying previously that there probably weren’t many deer around here, but it looks like there are still a few. Well, when you think about it, it’s all mountains around here—there’s no reason just one specific mountain wouldn’t have any. Probably still fewer of them than wild boars, though.

Tama and Yuma had been entrusted with the rearguard. Tama marched triumphantly, while Yuma seemed somewhat absent-minded. I’m sure she can hold her own when she has to. Still, it’s fun to note my chickens’ unique personalities.

I called out to the group. “Good job!”

“Hey, we’re back. We bagged a deer, as you can see,” Mutsu-san said proudly.

“Whoa, nice.”

From a farmer’s point of view, deer were undesirable animals that ate crops, so they would take the opportunity to dwindle their numbers whenever possible. They were also obstacles to forestry, since they went out of their way to eat tree buds. Isn’t there supposed to be a limit to the number of deer you can hunt, though? Or did they increase it because the population is also increasing?

“Hello again, Sano-san,” Aikawa-san said. “Yumoto-san, I already let Akimoto-san know. He should be here soon.” He seemed to be exerting himself—the deer looked quite heavy.

“Oh, nice. Thanks,” Yumoto-san responded.

I hastily went over to the Yumotos’ storage shed, which I was already more than familiar with, to get some plastic sheets—I spread them on the ground with Mutsu-san. We could just place it directly on the ground, I guess, but it’s a wild animal—you never know what it could be carrying. Could be mites; could be some kind of disease.

They’d hurried back here after killing the deer. The river on Yumoto-san’s mountain was on the opposite side, so it would’ve been out of the way for them to go there to soak the carcass. It was best from a preservation standpoint to return quickly and get it to the butcher as soon as possible. And while they were capable of butchering the deer themselves, they preferred to leave it to Akimoto-san whenever he was willing.

“Pochi, Tama, Yuma—nice job. I’m proud of you guys.”

Simultaneously, the three nodded their heads and clucked. They’re so coordinated that it feels like an army platoon.

“What part of the mountain did you find it on?” I asked.

After placing the deer on the ground, Toyama-san held his shoulder in place and cracked his neck. “The eastern side, near the border with the next mountain over. Looked like it’d wandered in from there,” he answered.

“The eastern side, huh?” Pretty sure I’ve never been to that area. Back when we’d climbed the mountain on Yumoto-san’s property, we’d mostly seen the western side.

The mountain to the west belonged to someone else—apparently, pretty much all of the mountains around here belonged to someone or other from the village. Then there were the larger mountains to the north, on the other side of the river that ran through the village, which belonged to outsiders like me. Oh yeah, there’s that mountain to the east of Katsuragi-san’s. I thought it was uninhabited, but it seems there’s someone living on the southern side. I guess the people in this village didn’t know because that mountain is closer to the next village over. Yeah, figures. Maybe they don’t even spend that much time in the neighboring village either.

“The deer might be breeding on that other mountain to the east,” Yumoto-san said with a troubled expression.

“That was also Kuwano-san’s mountain, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, and the one to the south too...” he muttered, staring off in the direction of the mountain.

Kuwano-san... They’re old enough that they have to leave their mountains unattended, right? The house they live in is next to Yumoto-san’s neighbors, I believe.

“We could try asking them and seeing if they’ll let us hunt on their other mountains too. If we don’t get as many of ’em as possible, they’ll just end up wandering back in.” Toyama-san spoke with a stern look on his face, which was unusual for him.

Yumoto-san scratched his head. “Yeah, I guess. But this year you’re going over to Shohei’s mountain too, right?”

“That’s the plan. Aikawa-kun’s mountain is always a great hunting spot, and I imagine Sano-kun’s must be even better, considering it’s been deserted for a good while.” Toyama-san grinned. “We might even strike it rich!”

Making a fortune from hunting? Seriously, how many animals would that require? Well, I’m sure he’s just joking.

“Were my chickens any help?” I asked. That’s what I’m most curious about.

Mutsu-san was all smiles. “Yup, they really are incredible. The chickens led the way, which made it much easier for us to traverse the mountain, and they found traces of a boar nest—I believe we should be able to get ahold of them if we stick around until next weekend. And they also caught the deer as it was about to flee from us. They’re far more capable than your average hunting dog, I tell you.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Awesome. Seems like they did a great job. I’ll be sure to shower them with praise later.

“Forget dogs! It’s all about hunting chickens now!” Toyama-san exclaimed.

Hunting chickens, huh? I think I heard that from someone else too. Not sure if that’s actually a thing... Also not sure what my chickens will become when they grow up.

“There weren’t supposed to be any deer around here...” Yumoto-san murmured. “Where did they come from?”

Machiko-san served us some tea, which we drank on the veranda while we waited for Akimoto-san. I also washed the chickens’ feet.

Soon enough, Akimoto-san and Yuki-san showed up.

“Deer, eh? Looks like we’ll have a very fruitful hunting season thanks to the chickens,” Akimoto-san said gleefully. “I’ll go ahead and take it with me. Should be a couple of days before it’s good to eat. Want me to bring it here after we’re done?”

“How about it?” Yumoto-san asked the others.

“Hmm...” Mutsu-san glanced at the chickens. “Yeah, it’s just one deer, so you can bring it back here. If there’s nothing wrong with the animal, you can give all the innards to the chickens.”

The chickens clucked, and Yuma flapped her wings lightly. Oh, I can tell they’re happy to hear that. How adorable.

“Really? Are you okay with that?” I asked.

“Yeah. If we’d caught more of ’em, we’d want to take some too, but it’s just one animal—not much meat to share. And plus, they were a big help. They definitely earned it.”

Pretty generous of him. I appreciate it. I wonder what’d make a good gift for Mutsu-san’s wife... I’ll have to ask Aikawa-san another time.

“Still, looks like we gotta wait another couple of days.”

“Deer meat’s a bit on the tough side, you see,” Akimoto-san explained.

Wait, but back when Katsuragi-san’s dragon caught one... I guess they wanted to feed him the innards as soon as possible? I do remember finding the meat to be a little tough, but it was plenty tasty. Will a couple of days really make that much of a difference? Now I’m curious to find out.

“The day after tomorrow at the earliest, then. That works out great—the hunter crew will be calling it quits tomorrow.” Old Man Yumoto laughed heartily.

Right, tomorrow’s a Sunday, so Kawanaka-san and Hatano-san will be joining too. They’re both working on Saturday. Must be rough. Guess that’s December for you.

I couldn’t exactly afford to laze around either—although my preparations for winter were going smoothly, I still needed to prepare for the holiday season. I live by myself, so there’s no need for me to prepare and arrange all the little dishes for an osechi to celebrate the New Year. The main thing to think about is the year-end cleanup. I suppose I ought to be thorough, at least inside the house. Hard to work up the motivation in this weather, though...

Anyway, back to the chickens. “You hear that?” I asked them. “It won’t taste as good if we don’t wait a couple of days. So no deer tomorrow. Okay?”

Pochi’s and Tama’s eyes widened in shock, while Yuma tilted her head. Oh, looks like she doesn’t get it. Heh, cute.

“No deer tomorrow—the day after. It’ll taste better. Can you wait until then?” I asked, kneeling to look them in the eyes. They let out slightly reluctant clucks. Good chickens.

“They’re...pretty well trained, eh?” Mutsu-san seemed impressed.

Honestly, maybe they’re the ones training me.

In the end, we all agreed to wait until Monday night to eat the deer. This worked out great for me, as I had already planned to take the chickens to Matsuyama-san’s farm tomorrow. Maybe I should let everyone know about that.

“Oh, by the way, I’m taking the chickens with me to the chicken farm tomorrow, so they can’t help out with the hunting. Is that okay?”

“Sure. Since Kawanaka and Hatano are also coming tomorrow, we should be fine. The chicken farm you’re talking about is that one place... It’s on a mountain on the way here, right?” Mutsu-san asked.

“That’s the one, yes.”

“Their chicken meat’s pretty good, huh? I remember I had some at your place before.” Ah, now that he mentions it, I did serve them some of the Matsuyama’s samgye-tang.

“Sure is. You can buy freshly butchered meat if you ask.”

“I see. I had no idea, even though I live nearby. I’ve been meaning to ask my wife about it, but forgot.”

“Nearby” is relative—I’m pretty sure it’s at least a ten-minute drive from Mutsu-san’s house to the chicken farm. All uphill too. Only in the boonies would people consider a place ten minutes away by car as part of the neighborhood... That goes for me too, of course. Both my neighbors live on their own mountains, so it’s a good twenty minutes by car to get to each other’s houses. We could shorten it by building suspension bridges linking our mountains, but who would want to build that...and how? And who would take care of the bridges? But that’s just how life is around here, I guess—you can’t do anything if you don’t have your own vehicle. Nothing you can do about that except get used to it.

“Mutsu-san, if you’d like, I could introduce you to them,” Old Man Yumoto suggested.

Yeah, I learned about the farm from him too.

“Really? I’d appreciate it. If I’m gonna eat chicken, might as well eat the good stuff!”

“Okay, I’ll let them know.”

After that, we each prepared to go our separate ways. Akimoto-san and Yuki-san gave the deer a quick inspection, then promptly took it with them. When it comes to butchering, speed’s the name of the game.

“So you’re going to the chicken farm tomorrow?” Aikawa-san asked me.

“Yeah. I’d like to stock up on chicken meat too.”

“Tomorrow’s the last day of hunting here... Could I ask you to buy some for me?”

“Sure, of course.”

Since Aikawa-san would be spending the day on this mountain again tomorrow, he couldn’t join me. Apparently, Rin-san had also been putting effort into hunting, since she stayed on his mountain all the time. I asked him to tell me later how much meat he wanted me to buy and then headed back home. I still had to wash the chickens, and the days were getting shorter and shorter, so I couldn’t afford to be too leisurely.

As soon as we got home, I boiled some water and gave Pochi and Tama a good scrubbing. Although they didn’t look too filthy, they had a lot of dirt between their feathers. I gave Yuma just a quick wash before letting her inside, since we were going to bathe together later.

“Good job out there today,” I commended them. They didn’t really seem to understand. Maybe hunting just comes naturally to them? Is this what chickens are supposed to be like? I feel like lately, I’m experiencing a sort of Gestaltzerfall effect when it comes to chickens. (I know that’s not what the term means—I just wanted to use it because it’s a cool word.)

Anyway, gotta check Aikawa-san’s message.

12. Off to the Chicken Farm Again

Aikawa-san asked me to buy him five kilograms of chicken meat. That probably included some for Rin-san too. In case I was unable to buy five kilograms, he asked me to buy “as much as I could.”

It wasn’t that late yet, so I decided to call Matsuyama-san.

“Sano-kun? What’s up?”

“I’d like to buy some chicken meat tomorrow, and I was wondering if you could spare me ten kilograms.”

“Ten kilograms, huh...?” A bit too much, maybe? “I probably can...if you’re okay with me including various parts, like wings and such.”

“Could you wait a minute? I’ll check and call you back.” I wonder if Rin-san eats chicken wings.

Aikawa-san replied that anything was fine—even a whole chicken. I relayed that to Matsuyama-san, and he agreed to sell me four whole chickens.

“You mind if I only pluck the feathers?” he asked. “That’d help.”

I told him that was fine—the whole chickens were for Aikawa-san. As for me, I stuck to normal cuts, like thigh and breast meat. I wasn’t too big on wings. I know a lot of people like to suck around the bone, though.

“Try to let me know in advance when you need more than five kilograms, okay?”

“I will. Sorry.” I bowed my head, though he couldn’t see me through the phone.

The next morning, the ground outside was all white. Though I knew it was frost, not snow, I still got a bit worried at the sight. My breath’s as white as the ground...

“Are you going out to play?” I asked the chickens. “Don’t forget we’re heading out before lunch.”

“Be back soon!”

“Come home soon!”

“Offer ends soon!”

“Yuma...where in the world did you learn that...?” Did she hear it in an ad? I assumed Yuma would be staying with me, although her words had done absolutely nothing to indicate it. I usually leave the TV on at night as background noise. Guess she must’ve gotten it from a commercial or something. Might have to rethink that habit...

Pochi and Tama zipped off into the mountain wilderness to do their daily rounds—they made a point of patrolling every single day without fail. I headed over to the fields with Yuma, grumbling to myself about the cold.

“These should be good to go.”

I harvested the komatsuna. They taste amazing in winter. I can give some to the chickens too. I’m thinking that today, I’ll have my miso soup with komatsuna and fried tofu.

Impressively enough, considering they had no way to tell the exact time, Pochi and Tama came back just as I was thinking that we’d better leave soon. They must have very accurate circadian rhythms... Or not. I think that means something else. I lightly brushed the dirt off them, then wiped their feet, and we got in the truck. Sorry, guys. I know it must be uncomfortable with that big cooler back there, but bear with it.

“Okay, off we go!”

“Off we go!” Yuma repeated after me from her place in the passenger seat.

Aww, such a cute chicken! (Spare me your snide remarks.) Previously, she’d say, “Off go we!” but she’d learned how to say it properly. They grow up so fast. Not exactly in the way chickens are supposed to, though...

On my way to the farm, I stopped at the general store and bought some rice crackers as a gift—two bags, since the vet would be there too.

The old man at the store smiled when he saw me. Apparently, he already associated me with rice crackers. (Hey, I’ll have you know they’re pretty tasty. I especially like the cosmetically imperfect ones. Who am I explaining myself to, anyway?)

When I reached the chicken farm, I parked in the spot they’d previously instructed me to. There was already another vehicle parked nearby, which I assumed was Kimoto-san’s truck. I looked around, but there was no one nearby. Probably over at the coop.

“Hello there!” I called out.

I helped the chickens down from the truck and told them to wait there. Wouldn’t want them running off all of a sudden.

I made my way to the house and rang the doorbell. Matsuyama-san’s wife came out to greet me. “Oh, Sano-kun, welcome. Is the doc still there with the chickens?”

“Seems so.”

“And where are your chickens?”

“Right here.”

She gazed at them with a smile on her face. They took a step in her direction. They understand she might give them food... Pochi took another half step forward. I could tell he was trying to communicate something to her.

“Wow! I had no idea there were chickens that grew this big.”

“Well, it, uh...might be some sort of mutation.” I stared off into the distance. Seriously, how did they grow this big? It feels pretty nice to cuddle them, I admit, but carrying them around is no piece of cake. And since they’re so feathery, I have to be careful when hugging them. Oh, and Tama will peck me halfway through the hug, even if I ask first. Could use some more “dere” there.

“Hello. Do you mind if I pet you?” she asked Yuma, who was standing a small distance away from her. Yuma clucked at her in response and slowly walked over. “She’s a clever one.” She petted Yuma gently.

“Yep, all of them are.” They don’t even need to hunt boars or anything, as long as they stay by my side. They’re my dear family, after all.

Before long, Matsuyama-san and Kimoto-san came out of the chicken coop. As soon as he spotted the vet, Pochi took a step back.

“Tama, Yuma!” I cried out.

The two of them flapped their wings and blocked Pochi’s path so he couldn’t run away. Impressive coordination. Say, are you really chickens? (Okay, that was rude of me.)

I hugged Pochi tightly and kept him in place. Unlike Tama, he wouldn’t run away if it meant dragging me with him. Realizing that resistance was futile, he gave up.

“Oooh! They grew a lot, I see.” Kimoto-san had a sparkle in his eye as he came in our direction.

Pochi tried to take another step back, but I didn’t let him. Look, you don’t need to be so afraid. You’re not getting vaccinated today.

I took them into the house and had them measured and weighed on the earthen floor area. By now, they weighed about fifteen kilograms. Pochi was the tallest of the three at over 130 centimeters—just as I’d suspected.

“Hopefully this is the end of it, or else they won’t fit in my truck anymore...” I muttered.

“I bet Yuma-chan doesn’t fit unless she sits down, right?” Kimoto-san asked.

“Indeed.”

The two of us looked at her. She sat down on the floor, looking round, fluffy, and adorable.

“She’s like a big manju bun,” Kimoto-san remarked. “Really cute—and really appetizing.”

Uh, I’m not sure if I should be happy or worried about that compliment. Both?

He also examined the insides of their mouths. There was nothing wrong, apparently. That’s great. I sighed in relief. I want them to stay strong and healthy.

After he ended his checkup, I let the chickens outside again, reminding them to stay away from the coop and to come back before it got dark. The three bolted off. Yup, strong and healthy. I broke into a smile.

As usual, today’s lunch featured a variety of chicken-based dishes, a lot of it with bold, assertive flavors, which paired great with white rice. There was dak-galbi and kung pao chicken—standout dishes from Korean and Chinese cuisine, making for a lavish lunch table. It was fascinating how, despite both being spicy dishes, their seasonings were markedly different. I feel like her repertoire of chicken dishes is growing larger. I was a fan of kung pao chicken and would occasionally make it myself at home. We also had chicken tempura and a Chinese-style soup with chicken meatballs and glass noodles. Man, I really love chicken.

“This is all so delicious,” I murmured, earning a few laughs from the others.

“It’s nice to share a meal with someone who enjoys it. Thanks,” Matsuyama-san’s wife replied, clearly in good spirits.

I insisted that I should be the appreciative one—I couldn’t thank them enough for the spectacular meal.

They told me that their family wouldn’t be coming here for the holidays, since it’d start snowing here pretty soon. That seemed like sound judgment—to get here, outsiders had to drive along a snowy, unfamiliar road in the mountains. Even if the Matsuyama household wasn’t at the summit, it’d still be fairly dangerous.

“It’d be a long drive for them too, and we can’t offer much hospitality...”

Given that they ran a chicken farm, it was all but impossible for them to go on trips or do anything that involved leaving the house unattended, so Matsuyama-san’s wife really appreciated any visitors. And, since they hardly ever spoke to other people, they tended to always talk about the same topics. I listened and nodded.

“I wonder how far up the mountain your chickens have gone, Sano-kun.”

“I wonder... They can run pretty fast—they might already be close to the top.” And there’s no buildup. They go from zero to one hundred in no time. It’s pretty impressive.

“My, it must be reassuring having them around.”

The Matsuyamas also had troubles with wild boars around here, same as the other villagers. We’d been here quite a few times already, but since they’d always been short visits, my chickens hadn’t run into any boars here yet.

“Lots of them around everywhere, huh?” I asked.

“There are fewer and fewer hunters to help with that. Even hunting with traps requires skill. But I hear we don’t have it that bad here.”

“Really? We caught one, uh...to the north of here, back in the summer.”

Matsuyama-san’s eyes widened. “Wait, do you have a hunting license?”

Even if I did, I wouldn’t be allowed to hunt them in the summer—that’s the offseason. Or would it be okay if I used traps? I seriously have no idea about any of this stuff... I think you’d still need a license.

“No, it was my chickens who did it...”

“Oh, I see. Impressive as always. Hey, I got a call from Yumoto-san saying they got a deer.”

“Oh, right... Just yesterday.” I guess Old Man Yumoto must’ve told him because I said I was coming here today. Or it might be just a coincidence. Either way, it’s nice being part of a close-knit community.

“First it was snakes, then boars... They’re hunting chickens, I tell you. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.”

“Right?”

Matsuyama-san and I both laughed. I’ve been hearing that from a bunch of different people recently—“hunting chickens.” Not like I raised them that way intentionally, though.

I bought a ton of chicken meat, plus some feed for the chickens. With how much they eat, I feel like I could use some.

Kimoto-san had other vet business to attend to, so he left soon after lunch. “Thanks for the meal. See you next time,” he said.

“No, thank you for looking in on the farm. See ya soon.”

“Same here—appreciate the chicken checkup.”

Matsuyama-san and I were really grateful for his services. He’d even come here on his day off for our sake. Where would we be without a vet like him?

“Don’t mention it—getting to see Sano-kun’s chickens made it worth it,” replied Kimoto-san. “They don’t really look like a Gastornis species to me. Probably closer to Deinonychus, but with feathers.”

“Deinonychus... That dinosaur with a long tail, was it?” Do they have anything in common besides that? His suggestion seemed a bit questionable to me, but maybe my dinosaur knowledge was lacking.

“Yup, that’s right. Let me have another look at them again sometime, will you?”

Kimoto-san left in a great mood. I’d be lying if I said I never thought about the possibility of them being feathered dinosaurs—or about their similarities to them. But all birds are descended from dinosaurs anyway. Guess he’s just really into that kind of thing.

The chickens came home around the time I noticed the sun starting to set.

“Welcome back. How far did you go today?”

All three of them faced east and looked up. I guess they climbed that mountain. Wish I had a fraction of their energy.

“They’re back?” Matsuyama-san asked.

“Yeah, just got here.”

“Let me know when you’re running out of feed, and I’ll make more for you.”

“Thank you.”

There was less food in the mountains during winter due to plants withering and insects burrowing underground, so I really appreciated having a reliable source of chicken feed. After quickly cleaning off the grass and other dirt stuck to their feathers, we left Matsuyama-san’s property.

I got in the truck and checked my phone to find a text from Aikawa-san. Oh, I haven’t checked my messages for a while. Since he hadn’t called, I assumed it was nothing urgent. I texted him back to ask about it.

“Whoa...”

Apparently, the hunters had gotten three wild boars. They were a bit larger than piglets—presumably born this spring. No wonder people have been having so much trouble with boars when there were this many of ’em around. It should get better now, I think?

I needed to deliver the chicken meat Aikawa-san had asked me for, so I decided to meet him at the Yumotos. Guess I’ll take the opportunity to hear about the hunt in more detail.

“We’ll stop at Yumoto-san’s place on the way home, okay?” I told Yuma before driving off. Ah, I forgot to tell the other two. Should be okay, though, right? That was what I’d thought, but when we arrived and I got Tama off the truck, she pecked me. It seemed to be her way of protesting, Why are we not back on our mountain?!

“Wait, how is this my fault? I came here to deliver Aikawa-san’s meat!”

Listen, even if we went straight back home, I wouldn’t let you go out to play at this hour. I needed to finish my business here quickly—otherwise, it would get dark enough for the mountain roads to be dangerous, and I wanted to avoid that.

The whole hunting crew was gathered and drinking tea on the veranda—it was quite packed today. Even a larger house like this one felt a bit cramped when five men were all sitting side by side.

“Hi there,” I greeted them.

Aikawa-san hurried over to me. “Sorry for making you come here.”

“Don’t worry. Heard you caught some boars...”

Yumoto-san noticed me and called out from the tatami room. “Yo, Shohei. Akimoto already went home with the carcasses. We’re having deer and boar tomorrow night!”

“Oooh!” Sounds like we’re in for a good time. Before I realized it, the chickens were all beside me, cocking their heads. Heh, pretty cute. But... “Pochi, Tama, Yuma? What is it?”

“Probably reacting to the word ‘boar.’ Don’t worry—you’ll get to eat ’em tomorrow,” Old Man Yumoto said.

The chickens clucked at him, and Yuma flapped her wings slightly. Heh, I can tell she’s happy. How adorable. Pochi and Tama also moved their bodies giddily, their tails waving back and forth. Okay, that’s a bit scary.

“Three boars, huh? How’d you manage that?” I asked.

“We found their nest, and bang!” Mutsu-san exclaimed, making a shooting motion. His actual rifle had already been stored away.

“Wow.”

“Why don’t you get a hunting license too, Sano-kun?” Kawanaka-san asked with a smile on his face.

“Hmm... Maybe I should at least get one for trapping.”

Mutsu-san nodded. “Definitely won’t hurt, let me tell you. And we can always use more hunters.”

Still not sure about it, though. I just leave it all to the chickens...

I handed Aikawa-san his chicken meat and confirmed with the others that we’d gather here again tomorrow night. Deer and boar—bet it’ll be a sight to behold.

Kawanaka-san groaned. “Look, I’m happy about it too, but do we really need to do this on a weekday night? I’ll get left out again...”

“Shuddap,” Hatano-san said, slapping him on the back.

“Ouch! Hey, what’s the matter with you?!”

“How long are you gonna keep whining for?” Mutsu-san laughed. Apparently, Kawanaka-san had been complaining ever since they descended the mountain.

I mean, I can see where he’s coming from. The last few get-togethers have all been on weekdays. Can you really blame him for feeling left out? That said, he’d been a bit too persistent in voicing his gripes, which had earned Hatano-san’s ire. You know what they say—girls don’t like a man who nags too much. Well, I don’t nag, and I’m not popular with girls... Ugh, why am I putting myself down for no reason?

“Great job out there today. See you tomorrow, then!” I fetched the chickens, and we went on our way.

By the time we got home, darkness was already beginning to envelop the eastern horizon. I hurriedly gave Pochi and Tama a wash. The two were in a sour mood, probably because they didn’t get to play outside after we got home. Come oooon.

While I was watching the weather forecast on TV during dinner, I got a message from Katsuragi-san. Oh yeah, I never found out what became of that story about looking for the god of her mountain. I...think she said there was no hokora there? Can’t remember.

The message said that she intended to book some lodging in N-Town next weekend.

Well, no need to bring that up now, I think. It can wait until some other time, if I remember. In any case, she’s got her sister to worry about too—probably won’t be coming back until Rie-san gets her license. I hear it gets pretty cold on her mountain, so I agree it’s a good idea to get away from it for a while. But, you know...

I was a little concerned about Katsuragi-san. Unlike her sister, who would presumably go back to living with her family sometime soon, Katsuragi-san would continue to live in the mountains indefinitely.

I guess I’m worried because my mom always told me women were much more sensitive to the cold. Or maybe I’m just being nosy? I wonder if she’s also been invited to tomorrow’s gathering.

I texted Aikawa-san to ask about it—it’d feel a bit weird for me to invite her myself. He told me they hadn’t invited her this time because she’d seemed rather busy these days.

Just the guys, then... Ah well. I mean, Tama and Yuma are girls, I guess, but the fluffiness overpowers the girliness. I bet I’d be in trouble right now if Tama could read my mind...

***

As the forecast had predicted, the next day, a Monday, was sunny, with not a single cloud in the blue sky. And...it was also very cold. The chickens moved around to stay in patches of sunlight. Okay, we’ll be leaving this evening, so I can let them go and do their thing during the day as long as they don’t stay out too late.

Suddenly, I got a call from Old Man Yumoto. “The Katsuragi sisters will be coming tonight too.”

“Oh, okay. Great to hear.” I guess?

“Yeah, so it’s not just a bunch of men. And also so Kawanaka shuts up.”

Him again? Sheesh. Someone take the guy to one of those matchmaking events already, please. “Did you tell that to Katsuragi-san?”

“Of course. She’s gotta know what she’s in for.”

“Right.”

It wasn’t just about Kawanaka-san’s pestering—apparently, Machiko-san also wanted to see the girls. They’re relocating to N-Town temporarily this weekend, so they won’t be seeing any of us for a while. I guess this is a good opportunity to meet up. I wonder how driving school is going...

When I arrived at the Yumotos, Rie-san griped to me about it. “God, this manual transmission stuff’s sooo difficult! How do I get the hang of it?”

“Uh, I’d recommend asking a pro.” You just have to get used to it. And once you can do it, the whole process gets pretty hard to explain to others.

“Aww, that’s too bad.” She lowered her head in disappointment.

“Come on, Rie, stop bothering him!” Katsuragi-san exclaimed. “Sorry about her, Sano-san...”

Wow, Rie-san makes Katsuragi-san seem sensible. I mean, not that Katsuragi-san isn’t. I’m just being a jerk...

“Nah, don’t worry about it,” I said. “It is pretty difficult, honestly.” Gotta admit, part of the reason I got a manual license is because I thought it’d look cool if I could drive a stick shift. It didn’t take too long after starting my lessons for me to regret it, though it paid off in the end.

We paused our conversation when Akimoto-san showed up with the deer and boar meat. The Katsuragis went into the kitchen to help Machiko-san prepare the food, and Yamanaka-san joined them. Not daring to intrude on their territory, I took my leave quietly.

Doing my best not to balk at the cold, we prepared for the barbecue in the garden, and I laid out some plastic sheets for the chickens. With the mess they make—all that blood flying around—gotta have these. The chickens were in a good mood thanks to the innards Akimoto-san had brought for them.

After that, we hung out and waited for dinner. The men sat on the veranda staring up at the evening sky listlessly. It was cold, but it wasn’t that bad when there was no wind. Really does feel different compared to the temperature on my mountain.

“So...boars, huh?” Yamanaka-san said out of nowhere.

Yumoto-san nodded. “Lots around lately. With fewer hunters, it’s getting harder to deal with them. Who knows what we’d do without Mutsu-san and the rest of ’em.”

“I’m not very fond of blood, you see...”

“I don’t think too many people are.” Yumoto-san guffawed.

Sure, but you don’t mind it that much.

“By the way, what about the snake wine?” Yamanaka-san asked, making a drinking gesture. “Some of it’s already been there for half a year, no?”

“That’s not nearly long enough. Gotta leave it in there for three years!”

“As for me, I get impatient and start drinking it after a year...” Mutsu-san scratched his head and laughed.

“A single bottle, sure, maybe,” Yumoto-san replied. “The rest stays there no matter what.”

“How many have you got in there?” Mutsu-san asked.

Yumoto-san pondered for a bit. “Let’s see. One, two, three... Hmm... I must have over a dozen.”

“A dozen?!”

Everyone’s mouths were agape, except for mine, obviously, and Aikawa-san’s because he already knew about my chickens catching vipers. Yeah, I figured it must be that many. I should know—I’m the one who was bringing him a viper every three days. Thinking back, it was pretty dangerous around my house back then with all those snakes around. Luckily, I didn’t get bitten even once, all thanks to the chickens.

“How did you even—” Yamanaka-san muttered.

“Shohei’s chickens used to catch them pretty often—for a while, there were a lot of them on Brook Mountain near the old settlement. I bet Shohei would be in big trouble if not for his chickens.”

“No kidding. I now realize how dangerous that was.” What we still don’t know is if that was a natural occurrence or a man-made outbreak...

Before long, preparations for dinner were complete. The deer meat was seasoned and prepared so that all we had to do was grill it. “The meat has no fat at all, so make sure you eat it while it’s hot,” Machiko-san recommended.

I was given a bunch of innards and vegetables. I laid them out on top of the plastic sheets and went over to the fields to summon the chickens.

“Heeey! Pochi, Tama, Yuma, your dinner’s here!” I called out. They looked to be near the mountain. What’s with them and mountains, anyway? They came running in my direction at tremendous speed, practically making the ground below them rumble. It’s kinda freaky seeing them grow larger to the eye as they get nearer. I bet it’d make for a nice horror movie...

I turned away from them and headed back to the garden, where I found Rie-san with a look of surprise on her face—probably from seeing the chickens running toward us.

“Wow! At their size, it really is a sight to behold!”

So she doesn’t find it scary? Impressive.

Standing in front of the plastic sheets, the chickens turned in my direction and looked at me.

“Eat up!”

As soon as I gave them permission, they started gobbling up the innards greedily. I’ll never get used to this sight... I looked away discreetly. Yamanaka-san was staring, wide-eyed. Sorry about them...

I went over to the veranda, and Aikawa-san handed me a can of beer. “I see they’re as full of energy as ever. I feel invigorated just watching them.”

That’s...certainly an unusual way to look at it. I popped the beer open, letting that nice, carbonated hiss wash over me, and took a swig. Ahhh, can’t beat this. Now that the initial toast was over, we were all free to drink as we pleased. Akimoto-san and Yuki-san chatted idly as they watched the meat on the grill.

Around the time the deer meat finished cooking, Kawanaka-san and Hatano-san arrived.

“But seriously, why on a weekday?!”

Kawanaka-san’s still complaining about it. People in the labor force sure have it rough... “Don’t you get PTO?” I asked.

“At my company? Pfft, not unless it’s the year-end holiday season or Obon.”

“I see...” I’m not too sure that’s legal... Well, none of my business.

The venison, after being left overnight, was nice and tender, and the boar meat was as delectable as usual. I was told I could have some later to take home.

The hunter crew would be taking some time off tomorrow, then about three days from now, they’d come to my mountain to have a preliminary look. I was looking forward to it.

Kawanaka-san was trying to inch closer to the Katsuragis, while Hatano-san kept him at bay. I also caught Yuki-san stealing glances at the girls, but he showed no sign of approaching them. Can’t blame them—they are pretty cute.

Our party continued well into the night.

***

The next morning, I woke up with a hangover for the first time in a while.

Ah, crap. I... I got a bit carried away.

“Hey, wake up! It’s morning already!”

“Urgh...”

I was woken up by Rie-san’s assault on my eardrums—her power was amplified by my hangover. I-Is she trying to kill me...?

“Waaake uuuup!”

Have mercy. “Ugh... B-Be...quiet...”

I was about to tell her to shut up, but I held it in. I’m supposed to be an adult—can’t let myself get mad at a teenager.

“Wait, are you hungover?” she asked in a quieter tone.

“Yeah...” I barely managed to mumble out. Even nodding took serious effort.

“Oh, sorry! Come to the living room if you feel like you’re able to.”

“Okay... Thanks...”

I was relieved to see that she wasn’t doing it on purpose. Yep, she’s a nice girl. Mutsu-san and Toyama-san were still asleep and snoring loudly. They seemed pretty comfortable too, which kind of got on my nerves a little. How did they not wake up from that?

“Water...”

I couldn’t get up and walk properly, but I also had qualms about doing something as unseemly as crawling around in someone else’s house. As I was wondering what to do, Aikawa-san showed up holding a tray with a cup of water.

“Good morning. It’s been some time since I last saw you like that,” he said.

“Thanks...”

I drank it and tried to pull myself together a bit. Aikawa-san wiped my face with a warm towel. What are you, my wife?

“Sorry, I just thought you might have a hard time washing your face.”

Isn’t he overdoing it? “Thanks...”

He’s right, though. I doubt I’d be able to drag myself to the bathroom and stand there washing my face. He’s just... Right. We’ll leave it at that.

After that, I headed to the living room—the Yumotos and the Katsuragi sisters were sitting in there.

“Good morning...”

“Morning, Shohei. Hungover, eh?” Yumoto-san laughed heartily.

Hey, please have some mercy on me too. Gah, it hurts. I reached for my head and held it.

“You did drink a lot last night. Are you okay?” Machiko-san asked.

“I guess...” Actually, I’m not, but you’re not supposed to say these things. I let out a strained smile. Then I recalled the events of last night. “Oh... Also, thank you for cleaning everything up last night. Sorry I couldn’t do it myself.”

I’d been drinking at a fairly fast pace—when I’d remembered to clean up the plastic sheets the chickens had used, I’d already been too drunk for it. Guess someone else must have done it for me.

“Don’t worry—it’s not your fault,” Aikawa-san said. “You did drink a lot, yeah, but that was mainly Kawanaka-san’s fault for getting carried away and making you drink so much.” He grinned.

That’s a bit scary... Sounds like it was Kawanaka-san who cleaned it up, then. I’ll have to call him and say thanks later.

“Yeah... Poor guy didn’t get to drink anything and took it out on Shohei.” Yumoto-san chuckled.

I think there might have been another reason too... Whatever became of that, I wonder?

“Aikawa-san...I feel like I passed out quickly, so I don’t remember what happened, but...” I could ask the Katsuragi sisters themselves, but that might be a little awkward for them. I gave Aikawa-san a questioning look.

“Don’t worry—Hatano-san kept him in check,” he promptly explained, already knowing what I wanted to ask about.

Good thing he catches on quick.

“Good to hear...” I’ll have to thank Hatano-san too.

“You know... You’re kind of a worrywart, aren’t you, Shohei?”

“Me? Not really... Am I?” Am I?

After a while, the hangover faded. Machiko-san’s plum chazuke definitely helped me feel better. Nice and refreshing.

Oh yeah... I turned to Katsuragi-san. “You’re going to N-Town this weekend?”

“That’s right. We’ve already got a weekly rental.”

“Weekly? Don’t those have a lot of common areas? Are you gonna be okay?”

“It’s a women-only place, so we should be fine. No men allowed, including visitors.”

“Oh. That’s good to hear, then. But don’t hesitate to let me know if anything comes up.” You can’t be too sure. I was worried because although they seemed to have proper heads on their shoulders, they could be pretty careless sometimes.

Katsuragi-san smiled timidly. “Oh, you worry too much, Sano-san...”

“I mean, two girls living by themselves. You can never be too careful.”

The two of them averted their gazes and looked down. What, did I say something weird? I’m just stating the obvious, no?

Machiko-san sighed. “Oh, you, Sho-chan...”

“He’s always like this...”

“He sure is...”

Huh? I get it coming from the Yumotos, but why is Aikawa-san talking like he’s also in on it?

I was slipping into a sulky mood when Mutsu-san and Toyama-san woke up, and we put an end to that conversation.

Tama and Yuma had laid eggs this morning, which were used to make omelets for breakfast. Everyone praised the rich, flavorful taste—Machiko-san’s skillful seasoning definitely contributed, but much of it was thanks to the quality eggs.

“Y’know, you’re lucky, Sano-kun, getting to eat this every morning,” Mutsu-san said.

I definitely am.

As for the chickens, they didn’t take long to devour all the vegetables they’d been given and soon zipped off toward the fields. Guys, please just stay away from the mountain. I beg you.

Before I left, I was given some boar meat to take home, which I appreciated. I bowed my head to Mutsu-san and thanked him.

“You sure you don’t want any venison?” he asked.

I nodded. “I don’t know how to handle it properly. I’d rather it went to someone who can actually make a decent meal out of it.”

“I feel like you were saying the exact same thing just recently,” Yumoto-san quipped.

Yeah, but deer is seriously hard to prepare. I’m good. I’ll just take some innards for the chickens. Wouldn’t want to go through the trouble of cooking venison only for it to turn out a disaster.

Aside from the meat, when you butchered an animal, you also got other byproducts, like hide. This time, it all went to Akimoto-san as compensation for the butchering. Apparently, he intended to tan and sell the leather.

Aikawa-san also got a large amount of meat—most of it for Rin-san, presumably—especially the parts that people tended to avoid.

“She’ll eat basically anything except for bones,” he elaborated. “Akimoto-san confirmed that it’s all safe to eat too—no diseases or anything—so no worries on that end either.”

He was in high spirits. I thought Rin-san and Ten-san would be fine eating bones, since they usually swallowed their prey whole, and it all got dissolved inside their stomachs. However, it seemed there was a slight risk of bones getting stuck or piercing their digestive organs. It seemed best to remove them whenever possible.

The hunters also said their goodbyes and thanked the Yumotos, and that marked the end of their activities on Yumoto-san’s mountain. They’d contact each other later if any more game animals were spotted there.

“All right, Sano-kun, we’ll be at your mountain in two days at the earliest, or the day after that at the latest,” Mutsu-san said. “Don’t mind us—you don’t have to do anything this time.”

“Okay.” Even then, I’m sure there must be something I can or should help with. Do I still have those rice crackers?

Thanks to the fruitful hunt, everyone was in a great mood. “It’s really a fantastic hunting season, eh? I bet the restaurants in the village will also be glad to hear that.”

“Yup. Could make for some nice extra income.”

As they left, Mutsu-san and Toyama-san giddily discussed what the season held in store for them. The restaurants in the village, huh? Do they sell game meat to them directly?

Before it got dark, Aikawa-san, the Katsuragi sisters, and I stepped outside.

“It’ll be a bit lonely without you around,” Rie-san told me.

“Good luck getting your license,” I replied.

“Will you feel lonely too?”

“Why? It’s not like we see each other all the time.” Ha ha. What’s she on about? “Listen, it’s no use trying to flirt with me. You shouldn’t say that stuff to people who aren’t interested. You look good enough that eventually, someone might get the wrong idea.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you did...”

“Give me a break, kid.”

“Tsk.” She pouted.

I couldn’t help but laugh. I’m sure she does actually feel lonely. Someone else can help her deal with that, though. It doesn’t have to be me. She’s nice and friendly, and she looks great, but it wouldn’t feel right for me to fulfill that role. Hope she can meet someone nice soon. Someone who actually cherishes her and isn’t an obsessive stalker.

All of a sudden, I felt someone staring at me—it was Katsuragi-san, with a somewhat sullen expression. As soon as our eyes met, she walked up to me.

I shouldn’t have looked... Nothing against Katsuragi-san in particular, it’s just, I’m still, you know...

“How about we go out together somewhere, the three of us?” she asked.

“Somewhere such as...?”

“Such as the shopping mall in S-Town!”

“That’s a nope.” Definitely not joining them on a shopping trip. I already learned my lesson the times I went shopping with my mom and sister.

“Aww, why not? Then, how about we go have a nice meal together?”

“Didn’t we just have one yesterday?”

“That’s not what I mean!”

I do understand what she means—she’s probably talking about going out and sitting down at a restaurant to eat. I bet it’d make for a nice change of pace rather than staying in the village all the time. But sorry...I always take Yuma with me when I go out, so I don’t think I’ll be eating at any restaurants for the time being.

“Yuma’s always with me when I go out. I can’t. Simple as that.”

“Come ooon, don’t be so cold!”

Cold? Me? Pfft.

I felt a stare on me—it was the chickens, and their eyes seemed to say, Can we leave already? I started to get worried that if we stuck around for too long, they might go climb Yumoto-san’s mountain.

“Why don’t you go with Machiko-san? I bet it’d be more fun,” I said, laughing. Ah, I just remembered. “Oh yeah, I won’t be going anywhere with you, but I was wondering—you mentioned it gets really cold at your place, right?”

Rie-san’s eyes widened, and she gave me an intense look. “Yeah! Yeah, it does! It’s so, so cold up there! Can’t you do something about it?!”

I turned to Katsuragi-san. For someone who was so concerned about my hands, aren’t you being kinda careless? Pretty sure cold is much more dangerous. (No “Both are dangerous!” remarks, please.)

“W-Well, I don’t think it’s that cold...” Katsuragi-san said, averting her gaze.

“Your sister seems to disagree.”

“We’re leaving this weekend...”

“But you’re not staying at your weekly rental forever. Surely you’ll be coming back in March at the latest, right? It’s still pretty cold in the mountains in March.”

Standing at a distance, Aikawa-san nodded. Yeah, I think she said they’d stay there until her sister got her license, which means they should be back on her mountain by the end of February at the very latest. I mean, unless she really sucks at driving, that is.

“Uh...”

“I bet Tatsuki-san would also feel more comfortable hibernating somewhere that’s not so cold.”

“Hngh...” Katsuragi-san covered her face with both hands. Eventually, she gave in. “Okay... Can I ask you to come have a look, then?”

“Sure. I’ll see if I’ve got anything that could be useful for insulation. I’ll go tomorrow if I can.”

Suddenly, I had new plans for tomorrow—visiting Katsuragi-san. Aikawa-san was smiling. Katsuragi-san seemed apologetic about it, but I didn’t mind at all. I’d frankly been concerned about it.

We’d already said our goodbyes, so all that was left was to go our separate ways.

“Pochi, Tama, no more patrolling today, okay?” I made sure to tell them. Tama glared at me sharply. Uh-oh, I can see where this is going. But even so, I’ve gotta be firm with them. “It’ll be dark when we get home. Leave it for tomorrow.” But tomorrow we’re going to Katsuragi-san’s place... Well, whatever.

Finally, we got in the truck and headed back to my mountain.

It goes without saying that I got a pecking from Tama at home. What did I do to deserve this?!

13. It Gets Pretty Cold on Loud Mountain

I picked out some stuff I thought I’d need and also messaged Aikawa-san to ask him for advice.

I had a fair amount of those plastic play mats at home—I’d bought them to help ward off the cold, and extras so I’d have spares when they got dirty. These should help Katsuragi-san. In my home, I used them in places like under the kotatsu. Layering a silver thermal blanket on top of a mat, between it and the kotatsu, helped make the space quite warm. Thermal blankets were also great for wall insulation, so I packed some of those too (following Aikawa-san’s advice).

The play mats were square and around thirty or forty centimeters. You could also interlock them, which was pretty convenient—it allowed you to place the mats with more precision, and when they got dirty, you could remove only that section and wash it. This was a bit of wisdom I’d picked up as I’d lived alongside the chickens—they’d sometimes get up into the living room, after all.

Can’t really set these mats out in the hallway because the chickens might trip or get their claws caught on them. I know because I tried it before, and those things happened to Tama and Yuma. And to top it off, I got pecked by Tama too... I sighed.

I had a bunch of carpets and stuff lying around that I had no use for. Guess I’ll take some sheets too. I can just bring them back if she doesn’t need them. I’ve got more stuff at home than I thought.

“The mountains must be harsh for women, with how cold they get,” Aikawa-san remarked.

“Probably, yeah. I imagine Katsuragi-san is used to it by now, but I bet it’s rough for Rie-chan.” Of course, getting used to it doesn’t actually get rid of the cold. It’s still important to stay warm. Oh, speaking of which... “By the way, you have an open-air bath at home, right? What do you do with it in the winter?”

Aikawa-san’s bath was outdoors with only a roof for shelter. That helped with rain, but it offered no protection from the cold. It’s wood-fired. He said it takes a while to heat up due to the size.

“Oh, that?” It seemed that my question had been unexpected. “Well, right now, I’ve got boards set up as temporary walls around the walkway that leads to the bath. Going out to the bath is not the problem—the issue is getting back inside. Just one gust of wind when you’re wet is enough to give you a cold.”

“Oh, I see.”

I was relieved to hear that. I’m glad he didn’t say that bathing outdoors in the winter is no big deal or something like that. Not to be rude, but he’s a bit superhuman in some regards, so I wouldn’t put it beyond him.

The walkway connecting the house to the open-air bath had duckboards below and a tin roof above, so you were able to get to the bath on rainy days without getting wet. However, this walkway had no walls, except during the colder season, when he put up wooden boards to make walls. No wonder. It is pretty darn cold. The floor’s still just duckboards, though... Not my business. It’s his house.

“Who’s going to Katsuragi-san’s place with me tomorrow?” I asked the chickens.

“Not going!”

“Going!”

“Going!”

Okay, Pochi’s staying here to watch the house. “Tama, right now, Tatsuki-san’s about to go into hibernation, so you won’t be able to play with him much, okay? Just letting you know.”

“Hibernation?” she asked, tilting her head.

Right, I guess they wouldn’t know what that is. If anything, I think it’d be pretty weird for a chicken to hear the word “hibernation” and go, Oh, that.

“Uh, basically, some creatures spend a lot more time sleeping when it gets cold. Rin-san and Ten-san are also like that, for example. In Tatsuki-san’s case, he’s asleep through almost the entire winter. That’s called ‘hibernation.’ He stops eating too. I think he’ll probably be inside the house.”

I wasn’t sure if I’d been able to put it in terms simple enough for her to understand, but Tama did reply, “Okay.”

I remember telling her that Rin-san and Ten-san don’t leave their mountain this time of the year. Maybe that’s why she understood? Pretty clever if so. I suppose Tama is the smartest of the chickens.

“Sano.”

“Hmm? What’s up, Yuma?” It wasn’t common for her to address me.

She cocked her head. “Rie?”

“Ah, yeah. We’re going to Katsuragi-san’s place, so Rie-chan will be there too.”

She nodded in response. I wonder why Yuma seems to be so interested in her... Maybe she took a liking to her back when Rie-san hugged her for the entire drive to the village? Not sure how it works.

The next morning, I had Tama settle onto the tonneau before I loaded all the stuff I’d be taking with me. I didn’t have any putty, sadly, which would have been nice for sealing any drafty spots in Katsuragi-san’s house. Guess I’ll buy some next time I’m at the hardware store. But silver thermal blankets will probably be enough for the walls. Doesn’t look very nice, but she can cover it up with curtains or something. Dealing with the cold is more important.

I texted Katsuragi-san before heading out. “On my way.”

She promptly replied, “I’ll leave the gate unlocked.”

Pochi saw us off. “See you later,” I told him as I drove off. Unlike Tama, he didn’t tap his feet impatiently as we got ready to leave. Pretty sure that’s Tama’s way of saying, Just leave already so I can go play!

“See ya!” Pochi called out. It put a smile on my face.

Okay, I left the door unlocked, so he should be fine even if we’re not able to come back today for some reason. Come to think of it... There’ve been a few times when I’ve had to spend the night somewhere else, and when I got back, the glass door was closed. Not like, properly shut, but still... That means they can close doors, right? Would be nice if they closed my bedroom door too.

I soon arrived at Katsuragi-san’s and parked my truck. It’s about a fifteen-minute drive here. Distance-wise, it doesn’t seem like it should take that long, but you actually need to go down my mountain, then drive up hers.

The sisters, probably hearing the sound of the engine, came out of the house to greet me.

“Hi there! Thanks for coming!” Rie-san bowed her head.

“Good morning, Sano-san. I appreciate you being here,” Katsuragi-san said.

I stopped her before she could bow too. Come on, it’s not a big deal...

“Morning. Where’s Tatsuki-san?”

“He’s inside.”

“Okay. Can I let the chickens inside too?” I was thinking that Tama might want to say hi.

“No problem!”

Yuma and Tama tagged along behind me. Rie-san lowered her stance a little and called out to them. “Hi, Yuma-chan, Tama-chan! Can I pet you?”

“Sure.”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks!” Rie-san inched closer to the chickens and began petting them. They both seemed to enjoy it.

Whoa, didn’t expect Tama to also say yes. I see you’re pretty soft on girls, huh? Can’t say that out loud, or I’ll get pecked.

Wait— I looked at Katsuragi-san questioningly.

“Ah, um... Rie already knows about Tatsuki being able to talk,” Katsuragi-san explained.

“Oh. I guess it’s okay, then...” If she’s fine with that dragon talking, surely she shouldn’t give a second thought to my chickens doing it. Which is, in itself, pretty weird when you think about it, but yeah... No point in dwelling on it. Rie-san might be living here for a while anyway.

I set that thought aside for now and went into the house. There was the earthen floor where Tatsuki-san was resting, and then the kitchen was a step up.

According to Katsuragi-san, this house had been the previous mountain owner’s vacation home that they would visit in the summer—to paint, apparently. They hadn’t planned for people to live in this house year-round, so it had essentially no measures against the winter cold. The foundations of the house were built sturdily enough to withstand typhoons, but the walls were on the thin side.

Tatsuki-san’s eyes were shut, but he cracked them open slightly when we stepped inside.

“Hello, Tatsuki-san. Sorry for the intrusion. Is it okay if I let my chickens eat some grass and bugs outside?”

He nodded slowly.

“Thanks. Tama, Yuma, he says it’s okay.”

Tama pecked me lightly, as if to say, I know already! or something.

Hey, come on, I gotta check first.

She strolled up to him and gave him a light peck. He cracked his eyes open again, gave a slight nod, and she started pecking at him, noticeably gentler than usual. I thought she was pecking bugs off him when she did that, but is it like a massage or something?

“How about you, Yuma? You can hang around here if you like.”

“Here.”

She stayed where she was, getting petted by Rie-san. I see Yuma is quite comfortable around her. Not that she gets mad often anyway.

Rie-san kept stroking her feathers with a smile on her face the whole time. “You’re so cute, Yuma-chan. How about you move here and I adopt you?”

Hey now, you can’t have her.

“No!” Yuma cried out.

“Ha ha, that’s too bad.”

The two of them seemed to be enjoying themselves, and it brought to mind a pair of kids playing together. Rie-san’s pretty cute, but in the same way a child is. I guess maybe I view her that way.

“Hey, you mind if I feel around at the walls?” I asked Katsuragi-san. “Also, what do you put under the kotatsu? Just the mat?”

This house had a kotatsu and a kerosene heater, which should’ve been enough for a house of this size, and yet it felt awfully chilly compared to my living room. I guess my walls must be pretty well insulated. Hats off to Yamakura-san.

“Just the mat and a carpet.”

It wasn’t too cold beneath the kotatsu, thanks to the carpet. The kitchen area, on the other hand, only had a kitchen mat. How about covering everything with those jointed play mats? Then put the kitchen mat on top of that. Should be a big improvement.

I touched the walls—they weren’t that thin, but I couldn’t feel any residual warmth. Definitely gotta use those thermal blankets. The windows weren’t double-paned either. I bet just putting a sheet on the frosted glass part will make it much better. I also checked for any gaps around the pipes.

After examining the structure of the house, I concluded that it clearly hadn’t been built with winter in mind, which made it particularly cold this time of year.

“I brought this stuff. Wanna give it a try?”

Katsuragi-san nodded. “Yeah, let’s give it a go.”

First, we hung one of the silver thermal blankets on the wall at around waist height.

“If you don’t like the color, you can cover it up with curtains or something,” I said. “I’m sure it’ll make a big enough difference to be worth it.”

“Okay.”

We cleared the kotatsu away, vacuumed that area, and I put down some of the play mats I’d brought. There weren’t enough of them to cover the whole floor—about a meter or so around the edge of the room remained uncovered—but they could buy some extra play mats. I wouldn’t even mind going to the hardware store in N-Town with them if they wanted.

“Ooh... I feel like it’s already warmer!” Rie-san said enthusiastically.

I gave Katsuragi-san an accusing stare, and she looked away from me. So you were ignoring your sister’s complaints... “Pretty warm, huh?” I muttered.

“Warm?” Yuma replied to Rie-san.

Despite the cold, Tama had gone outside after spending a while pecking at the dragon.

“Are you chickens okay with the cold?” Rie-san asked.

“Okay?” Yuma tilted her head.

I’m glad they’re getting along so well.

“They seem to do okay against the cold, but they dislike strong winds,” I answered for Yuma.

“I think everyone dislikes that.”

Well, yeah... Gosh, I really feel bad about not putting up the tonneau cover earlier. Back in spring, it hadn’t been that chilly, and the chickens had been small enough that I could still fit two of them in the passenger seat.

“Can I get under the kotatsu with Yuma-chan?” Rie-san asked her sister.

“Sure, just wipe her feet before you do.”

“Yuma-chan, let’s get under the kotatsu!”

“Kotatsu!”

There was now a mat below the carpet under the kotatsu, offering three layers of protection from the cold.

“Ooh! It feels so much warmer than before. Thanks!”

“Glad to hear it made a difference.” Girls are especially sensitive to cold, after all. I quietly sighed in relief.

If none of this stuff helped, then there’d be no option but to renovate the walls for better insulation, which was beyond my capabilities.

The faces of Aikawa-san, Yumoto-san, and the hunters flashed across my mind. I imagine they’d be glad to help if we asked. And I’m sure they wouldn’t want to charge her anything other than the cost of the materials. Still probably better to get a professional to do it if she’s got the budget.

“Thank you,” said Katsuragi-san. “It really makes a world of difference. I’m gonna go make lunch—please stay and join us.”

“Sure, sounds good.”

I was glad to get rid of all that stuff taking up extra space at home. Since my house was large, I had a tendency to buy things in bulk. And also, because the hardware store is a fair distance away, I gotta take the opportunity to stock up when I’m there. Not sure why I’m making excuses to myself.

“You didn’t mind older pickles, right?” Katsuragi-san asked me.

Oh, nice, she remembered.

“Nope, not at all. Thanks.”

She served me pickled Chinese cabbage, plus cucumbers pickled in rice bran and some turnips, which were pretty good too. For Yuma, she served komatsuna and some water. Yuma got out of the kotatsu.

“You can eat under the kotatsu if you want,” Rie-san told her, but Yuma got down on the earthen floor. Apparently, she made a point of having her meals on the earthen floor area. Probably because I’m always telling her to so I don’t need to clean up after her...

“Katsuragi-san, do you have any old newspapers?”

“Yeah, sure.”

I took some newspapers from her and placed the water and komatsuna on top for Yuma to eat. There’s the scraps and crumbles from the food, and anything other than water gets their feathers dirty. And also, I don’t want to get dirty myself.

“Wow, your chickens are soooo clever!” Rie-san muttered in amazement.

“Yeah, I couldn’t manage it if they weren’t so smart.”

“I wonder if I can find a companion like that too.”

“Who knows?”

Well, if she got a pet like mine or Katsuragi-san’s, she’d have no option but to live in the mountains. No offense, but I don’t think she’s cut out for it. I mean, I’m not saying she couldn’t handle it—I just can’t imagine her moving to a place like this and staying here permanently. This is just a hunch, but I’m pretty sure she’ll be moving back to her hometown sooner or later. Not sure when that’ll be. It might even take years, like her sister. I hope she can sort her stuff out and go back to her usual environment as soon as possible, though. I’m sure that’ll be better for her. Again—just a hunch.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Katsuragi-san said, carrying the food.

“Ooh, that looks great.”

It was a hot pot with meatballs made from minced boar meat and miso.

“I tried to put the boar meat they gave me to good use.”

“Good call on the miso—helps get rid of the smell.”

Rie-san also seemed to enjoy it. “Tasty—the flavor isn’t too strong.”

Yuma kept staring at me after hearing the words “boar meat.”

“Yuma-chan, there’s not much, but would you like some?” Katsuragi-san served her a few bite-sized pieces of meat.

“Thanks!” Yuma said gleefully.

They really love meat, huh? We all broke into a smile seeing her happily flap her wings.

“Thanks, Katsuragi-san.”

“Don’t mention it. We got a lot of meat this year—far more than Rie and I can manage to eat by ourselves—so we appreciate the help.”

“I guess you girls don’t have that much of an appetite.”

“It is pretty tasty, though.”

The hot pot was delicious, with lots of Chinese cabbage and winter vegetables. I used to dislike the bitter, vegetal taste of shungiku greens as a kid, but thankfully, my palate has matured enough to realize how good they are. There was also a dish with caramelized radish, which was excellent, and braised burdock root, which she said she’d gotten from Yumoto-san.

It must’ve been a lot of work getting all of this ready, especially when we just had a party yesterday. Except for the radish, which she said she made yesterday. Only after moving here did I realize how much effort is involved in cooking. I feel like I’ve grown a bit as a person in that regard.

“Thanks for the help, Sano-san. Looks like winters here won’t be so chilly from now on.”

“Listen...I don’t want to nag, but you really ought to be more careful with the cold.”

“You’re right... Sorry I’m such a klutz.”

I don’t really think you are. I just wish you’d have made more of an effort to keep the house warm. Seriously, the cold here is no joke.

I imagined it must have been quite difficult for her to grow acclimated to life here, even if she had people from the village to help her with the mountain. I know because I also couldn’t have managed without other people’s help—if I’d had to do it myself, I’m sure those abandoned buildings would still be there and would’ve stayed there for years to come. In any case, glad I could help her out with this.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there to take care of my sister!” Rie-san said boastfully.

Katsuragi-san laughed. “Hey, don’t be cheeky.”

Tama came back inside, and Katsuragi-san served her some komatsuna and boar meat.

“Thanks!” she said with glee. Bet she didn’t expect that. She was so happy about it that she waved her tail around wildly. Just please don’t hit the walls with that thing—you might damage them...

“Let me know if anything else comes up,” I told them. “Well, I mean, you’re going to N-Town this weekend, right?”

“Yeah. Seems like we’ll start getting snow soon, so it’s about time. It’s much warmer now inside the house, which is great, but it’s still dangerous to drive around in the snow.”

“Yup, I agree that it’s better to get away from the mountain for now.” Snowy roads are not to be underestimated, especially if you’re not used to them, and especially up here in the mountains.

I glanced over at Katsuragi-san’s dragon, who was sleeping with a tranquil expression. I hope he also feels a little warmer.

“I’m gonna miss Yuma-chan.” Rie-san hugged Yuma, clearly sad to part with her. Tama was also snuggling up to her, which was very unexpected.

Katsuragi-san let out a chuckle. “We can still come back to check in when it’s not snowing too much...”

“Just don’t push yourself too hard, okay?” I said.

“Okay.”

I told her how much I liked the radish, and she gave me a bunch to take with me. Seriously, why make so much in the first place? I understand she had a lot of radishes at home, but really now. Well, I’m happy to take it off her hands.

“See you.” I waved at them and left for my mountain.

It was still relatively early when we got home, and so as soon as we arrived, Tama ran off to play. I have no idea how she keeps it up in this cold.

That night, I texted Aikawa-san to let him know how it had gone.

“I see, I see,” he texted back. “Well, I suppose that can happen if you’ve got no better point of reference for what the temperature should be inside.”

“You think so?”

“Yumoto-san’s house is not particularly warm either, and I’m sure the same is true for Yamanaka-san’s house.”

“Oh...” Yeah, I guess those old-fashioned houses aren’t really built for colder temperatures. People just get used to it after living in them for so long. Katsuragi-san probably also thought it just came with the territory of living up in the mountains and figured there wasn’t much that could be done. Goes to show how powerful preconceived notions can be. “By the way, Yuma seems to have taken a major liking to Rie-chan.” I could tell she was reluctant to leave.

“This is just my guess, but...maybe Yuma-san views her as kind of a child or younger sister?”

“Ah...” That definitely could be the case. Makes sense too, considering how they first met.

From the very beginning, Rie-san had been a nice and affable girl. She didn’t seem like a bad person, being Katsuragi-san’s sister, and they say animals can tell when people are affectionate toward them. Katsuragi-san is not super affectionate toward the chickens, since she’s already got Tatsuki-san to take care of. Maybe that’s the difference.

“Yeah, I think that makes sense.”

“Um... Again, that’s just my guess, though,” he repeated.

Don’t worry—I won’t tell them. I see, so Yuma views her as a child, huh?

The next time I would meet the Katsuragi sisters was probably whenever Rie-san got her license. Not sure when that’ll be, considering she’s going for a manual. Should definitely be before spring, though. Definitely.

“It’ll get a bit lonely around here,” I murmured. More because of Katsuragi-san herself than her sister. Just a bit lonely, and not much else.

Yuma tilted her head adorably. I stroked her feathers. I really don’t know what I’d do without her.

“Excuse me,” I said, and hugged her gently. She had already grown big enough that I didn’t have to bend down to hold her in my arms.

“Excuse?”

I’m sure I’ll be fine as long as I have my chickens.

Extra Chapter: How Ten and Rin Get Through the Winter

Ten, the enormous snake living on West Mountain, was a hibernator.

Rin was not, strictly speaking. However, her winters weren’t entirely dissimilar—other than occasional outings to hunt for food, she spent most of the time sleeping on the earthen floor of Aikawa’s house.

Back to Ten—he had repurposed a small shed, discovered by Aikawa, into his abode for the winter. This shed stood on the northern side of the mountain, close to Aikawa’s other mountain. Aikawa had a hunch that the previous owners of the mountain had built it to facilitate hunting.

It had been in a frankly deplorable condition when Aikawa had first discovered it. But he had artfully restored it, thickening the pillars and reinforcing the roof. Aikawa was resourceful enough that rebuilding it from scratch would’ve also been a viable option—or so Ten thought—but Aikawa had said that it was easier to repair than rebuild.

Although he hadn’t repaired it specifically for Ten’s sake, after finding out that Ten hibernated, the shed had become his designated winter sleeping spot.

“I’ll leave it unlocked, so you’re free to use it as you wish,” Aikawa said. “Just watch out when you go over to the other mountain. We’ll be there hunting during winter. I’ll be careful to lock the shed when there are people over.”

Aikawa erred on the side of caution. Ten also did not wish to disturb his acquaintances.

“Understood,” Ten replied, nodding his head.

Autumn was getting harsher, heralding the arrival of the coldest season. During winter, West Mountain and the mountain to its back were left unprotected, which was a cause of concern for Ten.

“Aikawa.”

“Hmm? What is it? Time for your hibernation?”

“Don’t push yourself.”

“Thanks, Ten... It’ll be a bit lonely for a while without you.” Aikawa gave a languid smile.

“Rin will be there.”

“Yeah, I know. Still doesn’t change the fact that I won’t see you around every day.”

Ten wondered if winter perhaps made humans more feeble.

“Protect,” Ten declared after a pause.

“Huh?”

Certain species had evolved to get through the food scarcity of winter by hibernating—they lowered their body temperatures and stayed still, sleeping. In this state, they were able to survive without food. For Ten, that was only a means for getting through the season and not an absolute necessity. He did have the option not to hibernate, although his body would still crave sleep and become more sluggish.

“What’s the matter, Ten?”

“I’m off.”

“Hang on, I’ll go get things ready.”

Aikawa made his way to the shed and spread out a futon on the floor. It was clear that his intent was to make Ten’s stay as comfortable as possible.

That only served to strengthen Ten’s resolve to protect him at all costs.

By the time frost began to fall on West Mountain, Ten already felt so lethargic that even moving around became a difficult task. Cursing himself for it, Ten languidly slithered toward the shed. Aikawa accompanied him and wiped him clean—Ten positioned himself on the futon. He felt grateful for Aikawa’s fastidiousness.

“Rest well, Ten. I’ll see you when spring comes around.”

Remaining silent, Ten curled up and closed his eyes.

Some time after that...

Sensing something unpleasant in the air, Ten awoke from his slumber. He flicked out his tongue to check the airflow. This would normally be useless, given that he was inside a shed, but somehow, that was enough for him to tell.

Vexed with his predicament, Ten made his way north with much effort. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been impossible to sense a disturbance that far away, but Ten was exceptionally sharp and perceptive of attempts to intrude on his territory, which spanned Aikawa’s two mountains.

After some time—getting around in this state took him much longer than usual—he found what he was looking for near the boundary that separated West Mountain from its neighboring mountain to the north.

It seemed to have woken up by sheer chance, as they were sometimes prone to do, and it appeared to still be half asleep.

As soon as Ten spotted it, he raised his head and let out a loud, menacing hiss, attempting to intimidate it.

The creature that stood before him, covered in dark brown fur, was a bear. They had never intruded on Aikawa’s land before, thanks in no small part to Ten’s diligent patrolling, but occasionally, a stray specimen would wander in from the north.

Taken aback, the bear fell to the ground. Upon seeing Ten, it fled back to the northern mountain in a panic—it could tell when it was hopelessly outmatched.

Ten exhaled sharply. As far as he was concerned, disposing of it was not a problem for him, other than the fact that he had little appetite around this time of year.

Then again, he thought, there was also the option of taking it to Aikawa after killing it. Not a realistic plan, perhaps, since there were very few creatures reckless enough to try to attack someone like Ten.

Swinging his tail, he laboriously slithered back to the shed. And thus, unbeknownst to anyone else, Aikawa’s property was protected from yet another threat.

***

Rin spent winters in a state that could be described as half asleep.

She became more listless and was no longer able to join Aikawa on his shopping trips. The prospect of not getting to see Yuma for some time also made her glum, but at the same time, she knew that she would not make for a very good conversation partner in this state.

Another thing troubled her—staying still for so much of the time made the movement of her hands and arms, a form of mimicry, more sluggish.

Rin understood that it was only natural for unused muscles to grow weak, and she took care to exercise her hands and arms in spring. By the time autumn came around, she could move them without much strain. She put much more effort into keeping up appearances than Aikawa realized.

“Going to sleep already, Rin?”

“Sleep...”

“Gonna be a bit lonely without you around.”

“Not good...”

Loneliness is not good—Rin knew that very well.

“Sano, company.”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll get Sano-san to keep me company.”

Aikawa gave a feeble smile. Rin held his head softly. She knew just how much he craved companionship.

“Thanks, Rin. It’s just like Sano-san said—you’re very kind to me.”

“Yes.”

Rin wondered if spending time with Sano would help stave off Aikawa’s loneliness. She also thought about how, if this territory were all one big mountain, she could ask the chickens to look after him in her stead. Of course, she knew that was not possible.

Aikawa laid out a futon on the earthen floor. That was where Rin would spend the winter.

“You don’t have to worry about getting it dirty—I can just change it.”

“Sorry if dirty,” she apologized in advance.

“No worries. You still need to eat every once in a while, right?”

It appeared that Aikawa didn’t understand what she had been getting at.

Rin knew where his bedroom was. Winter provided her with a good excuse—she could pretend to suffer from sleepwalking. She would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night and make her way to Aikawa’s room before going back to sleep.

“Gaaah?!”

Rin was disturbed by a noisy yelp. “Aikawa, noisy...”

“You got in here again, huh?”

“Where...?”

She shifted her body in a torpid motion and could now see Aikawa’s face. It seemed she had slithered into his futon again. She did enjoy the spacious spot that had been set aside for her on the earthen floor, but nothing made her feel more at ease than seeing him.

“You’re gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, you know...”

Despite his words, it was clear that Aikawa was not angry at her. The two of them headed to the living room, and he wiped her body clean before covering her with a blanket.

In Rin’s eyes, it was Aikawa who was always kind and diligent, not her.

It seemed Sano would be visiting again this winter. Rin hoped that it would help make Aikawa feel a little less lonely.

Extra Chapter: How Tatsuki Gets Through the Winter

Tatsuki, the giant lizard (which Sano called a dragon), was a hibernator.

He spent winter sleeping on the earthen floor area of the house where the Katsuragi sisters lived. At first, people had assumed him to be a Komodo dragon, but that could not be the case—Komodo dragons did not hibernate. As for what he actually was, no one knew yet, not even Tatsuki himself.

Ever since being adopted by Miyako Katsuragi, Tatsuki had taken it upon himself to protect her from harm.

Pondering over what he could do to protect her, he had concluded that size was correlated to strength—accordingly, he’d grown big. His rugged skin, reminiscent of a crocodile’s, and his long, powerful tail—all of these were ways to protect Miyako.

However, all of that came with a downside—hibernation. A larger body required a larger amount of nutrients to function, and it seemed his body had developed in a way that required him to hibernate to get through the season when food supplies were limited.

When winter came around, he grew sluggish, and it became difficult to keep himself awake.

“Tatsuki, are you okay? Tatsuki? Tatsuki...?”

At first, Miyako had not known that Tatsuki hibernated. She had been quite concerned about him the first time they’d spent winter together. She had even gotten Yamanaka, an acquaintance of hers who was very kind to her, to come and have a look at him.

“Don’t worry, Miya-chan. I’m sure he’s just hibernating,” Yamanaka had told her with a smile. “You know how there’s a lot less food available in winter? And your body gets cold too. So many animals do this to get through winter. It’s part of their evolution.”

That was also when Tatsuki himself had learned what was happening to him.

“You can spend winter at our place, Miya-chan. Tatsuki-kun should be fine, and you can come to check on him every now and then. He always manages to get by fine alone, right?”

“Yeah...”

It seemed Yamanaka would be looking after Miyako during winter, which Tatsuki found reassuring. He could not bear the idea of leaving her all by herself.

She spread hay on the earthen floor for him to lie on top of—he found it rather comfortable.

“You don’t have to worry about getting it dirty,” Miyako told him as she covered him with a thin blanket.

Miyako was terribly concerned about Tatsuki, despite him being strong enough to hunt wild boars on his own. Her kindness made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, no matter how cold the temperature might be.

“I’ll stop by to check on you sometimes when it’s not snowing, okay?”

As she and Yamanaka were leaving, Miyako kept glancing back at him until the very end. Thus, Tatsuki went to sleep and waited for spring, with Miyako always in his thoughts.

Occasionally, he would wake to find Miyako by his side. “Ah, sorry for waking you up, Tatsuki,” she would say, petting him softly. She always seemed relieved that he had opened his eyes, and she would wear a joyous expression.

Although he disliked the cold, Tatsuki thought that seeing Miyako so happy made winter bearable.

***

With Miyako’s younger sister Rie joining the fray, this winter was proving to be livelier than usual.

Speaking of Rie, the chickens who lived on the neighboring mountain seemed to have taken a liking to her. She was someone Tatsuki thought he should strive to protect, much like her sister. One more person to look after meant more work for him, naturally, but if it helped Miyako smile, he did not mind it.

Extra Chapter: My Pet Chicks Grew a Little Bigger

My chicks’ necks grew longer. They seemed to be in that transitory period between chicks and chickens. They’re all still very cute, though.

The colorful dye hadn’t completely worn off yet. Huh, takes longer than I thought.

“Looks like they’re growing up nice and healthy.” As far as I’m concerned, I’m okay with them staying small, but I know that’s best for them. “Make sure you grow big and strong,” I said while I petted Tama. She pecked at me, but even that was adorable, so I didn’t mind it.

Pretty much every single thing they do is adorable. I just wish Pochi wouldn’t try to run off somewhere whenever I take my eyes off him. It can be dangerous outside, you know.

I let them outdoors on sunny days—I understood it was important for them to get some sunlight. Yuma mostly stayed by my side, Pochi would try to run as far as he could go at any opportunity, and Tama would do her own thing, sometimes running around and sometimes resting on the grass.

“Heeey, Pochi. Don’t go too far.”

He seemed curious about the empty buildings and would go to the other side of the fields to check them out. He stood in front of them cocking his head, which was pretty cute. I grabbed him as he was doing that.

Pochi chirped loudly in protest. Can’t let you go in there. I haven’t been there myself yet. There could be snakes or other animals hibernating—that’d be dangerous. Although my chicks were growing bigger and bigger, they were still too small to hold their own against potential predators.

“We have no idea what’s in there. Come on, let’s go back.”

I placed him down on the ground next to the fields. This time, he ran off in a different direction. It was hard to get Pochi to stay in one place.

“He’s definitely a male...”

I’d been told that all dyed chicks sold at stalls were males, but Tama and Yuma didn’t really give me the same impression. I guess we’ll find out when they’re adult chickens.

Oh, right. Apparently, “chick sexing” is a thing. There are professionals who specialize in identifying the sex of baby chicks—that’s how difficult it is to tell. I wonder if they ever get it wrong?

Anyway, it would be cool if Tama and Yuma were females. No problem if they’re all males, though, of course.

“Heeey, Pochi. I told you not to go there.” I caught him again as he was about to run into an area with densely packed trees.

He chirped angrily at me.

Clear, open areas with a good view could be hazardous because there was a higher risk of the chicks being attacked by larger birds. However, danger also lurked in forests. I’ll make sure to keep them where I can see them, at least until they grow bigger. (You think I’m overprotective? Maybe I am. So what?)

Oh yeah, my hands are so full with Pochi that I forgot to keep an eye on Tama and Yuma. (As you can see, I’m not that overprotective.)

Yuma was trotting clumsily, trying to keep up with me, which was an adorable sight to behold; Tama was by the fields, pecking at something or other.

“You’re so cute, Yuma.”

I set Pochi down and picked her up. She rubbed against me. Oh my god, this is the best. Baby chicks are amazing.

Suddenly, I felt stares on me—Pochi and Tama.

“Don’t get me wrong, you two are also very cute, okay?”

Hearing that, Pochi ran off in a different direction, and Tama resumed pecking at the ground. Yup, they’re all adorable.

“Pochi! Enough already! Do you want to get swept away by the current?” I yelled, chasing him as he ran toward the river. “Come on, let’s go back.”

I have a newfound respect for parents with little kids... You really can’t take your eyes off them for even a single moment.

Two hours was enough for them to tire themselves out. Pochi was the first to collapse to the ground, like his batteries had run out. I picked him up and went home, along with Tama, who seemed to still want to play outside a bit more, and Yuma, who stuck close to me.

“Jeez... You guys are cute, but you give me a lot of trouble.” I was exhausted, even though I hadn’t actually moved around that much—a lot of it was probably mental strain.

It got pretty cold that night. I was just about to go to bed when the chicks barged into my room and hurried into my futon.

“Whaaat?”

I mean, it is cute. That’s terribly adorable. But...

“Hang on a moment.”

I decided to sleep beside them, but I changed the bedsheets to waterproof ones. Just in case. I know they make diapers for chickens, but I don’t think there are any for baby chicks. Not sure, though.

“Okay, let’s sleep.”

I wasn’t one to toss and turn much in my sleep, but I still made sure to lie on the edge of the futon, just to be on the safe side. I’ve been told I barely move in my sleep, especially when it’s cold, so we should be all right.

Yuma secured a position right beside me—the way she snuggled up to my arm was so adorable that I almost exploded. Pochi and Tama lay down a little farther away.

“Yuma, don’t get too close. It’s dangerous...”

I was so worried that I could barely get any proper sleep that night. I was pretty happy about getting to rest next to them, though.

“If only you were a little bigger, I wouldn’t have to worry about crushing you...”

Gosh, but still—they’re just too cute!

The next morning, I got up, letting out a yawn, to find that they’d grown visibly larger overnight. I doubted my eyes. “Aren’t they growing up a bit...too fast?” Hopefully it’s just my imagination.

The three of them were swinging their tails cheerfully. I really want to know what the deal is with those tails. They all have them, though, so this should be normal, right? Feels a bit weird...but I guess it is.

I learned later that it was not, in fact, normal for chickens to have lizard-like tails—and only when Old Man Yumoto pointed it out to me.

The end.

Afterword

Hello, this is Asagi.

Thank you for following this series. I’m very thankful to all my readers—those who have been following along since its web novel days, those who found out about it in a bookstore, and those who discovered it through the manga adaptation.

We’re already on volume four. Can you believe it? Woo-hoo! (Calm down.)

This volume followed the events from the end of autumn to the beginning of winter. Usually, I lay out the story following the plot of the web novel version before making additions and revisions, but this time, there wasn’t as much content as I’d thought—I had to write about sixty pages of new content. The main plot mostly remained the same, with some changes here and there. For those of you following the web novel version, I encourage you to compare the two.

We also have a new character—Katsuragi-san’s gyaru sister, Rie-chan. I love her!

Although technically a new heroine, there won’t be any romance between her and Sano-kun or Aikawa-san. Or rather, as I said previously, this series has no romance elements.

Now then, as for Yuma’s apparent curiosity toward Rie, it’s basically as Aikawa-san says.

Yuma is characterized by her love for Sano-kun, but she also has a tendency to feel concern for others, like a mother would for her children. Not toward Pochi and Tama, since they’re strong and can fend for themselves—but Rie ended up being a prime outlet for these feelings.

Although Katsuragi-san also seems a bit ditzy and unreliable, she has Tatsuki to keep her safe. And Rie? Who will protect her? Yuma thought. Coupled with the fact that Rie was affectionate toward her from the beginning, Yuma began to regard her as sort of a younger sister or a child who must be protected. As for Rie, she’s fairly perceptive and doesn’t harbor any romantic feelings toward Sano, despite the playful flirting.

I hope you will enjoy Rie-chan’s character—she’s harmless. (Weird way to put it.)

As you know, this series has a modern fantasy setting, and so every now and then, I’ll get questions on the web novel version about whether the chickens will ever turn human.

Let me make this clear: They won’t.

They will grow bigger, but they won’t—can’t—ever lose that fluffiness! Yuma won’t ever stop being Sano-kun’s huge, adorable companion!

At that size, those flying kicks from Tama pack quite a punch, but she’s also big and fluffy. And big equals strong.

That other chicken, Butcher, also shows up again in this volume. He even got an illustration in volume 3! Did you see it? Butcher is a character who was introduced to celebrate the web novel reaching ten thousand followers. I didn’t expect him to become popular enough to show up in the print version. As a rooster, he can be on the aggressive side, but he’s quite a clever one. I hope you’re enjoying his character too.

As always, I’d like to express my gratitude to Shino-san, the illustrator, who drew Butcher and a lovely Rie-chan. Thanks to W-san, my editor, who helped me out with the scene where Rie-chan first appears and also encouraged me to add lots of new content. I also appreciate everyone involved in the making and publishing of this book.

I’m deeply grateful to my children, who waited with bated breath for the sample copies to arrive. “Is the fourth volume out yet?” they’d ask eagerly. I wish they’d be more patient...

The first volume of the manga adaptation is out. The chickens! Rin-san! Ten-san! Moving! I could hardly hold back my excitement when I read it.

Thank you so much, Hamada Mifumi-san!

I hope you all continue to enjoy the adventures of Sano-kun and his big chickens.

Asagi