Utsuromura Village (2)
“What the...? A rabbit...?”
The identity of my attacker was a rabbit. Small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. It wasn't so much hopping as bouncing around me like a rubber ball.
“It's a Maggot Rabbit. A local specialty of Utsuromura Village. This isolated basin is home to lots of plants and animals you won't find anywhere else.”
Reika explained. So that's a Maggot Rabbit, huh.
As expected of a healing story—interacting with cute animals is a must.
I stroked the nonstop munching Maggot Rabbit. Whoa. Its fur feels amazingly soft and fluffy.
“Ah! Don't touch it directly, Yuuki-kun!”
As I petted the little treasure, Reika hurriedly stopped me.
“Why not?”
“I'm worried. It might bite.”
How bad could a bite from this tiny thing be? The moment I pulled my hand away from the rabbit...
The Maggot Rabbit spat out what it had been chewing—ptooey.
It was a bone fragment.
The bone-spitting rabbit then bounced off toward the bushes.
A moment of silence followed.
I spoke first. “Can rabbits spit out bones?”
“Maggot Rabbits eat their own kind when they're stressed. Now you know why you shouldn't touch them carelessly. Ttek!”
Reika wagged her index finger in scolding mode, playing the big sister role.
Her doing the whole “ttek!” thing as an older sister figure was kinda cute, but...
“But...”
“Shall we head into the village now, Yuuki-kun? It's already 4 o'clock.”
Reika quickened her pace. I swallowed my unfinished words.
That bone fragment the Maggot Rabbit spat out—it didn't look like a rabbit bone. More like a human knuckle joint...
Nah. No way.
I shoved the ridiculous thought aside and finally entered Utsuromura Village.
My endless summer vacation had just begun.
A basin village surrounded on all sides by rugged mountains. The setting for the visual novel Silent Story.
Utsuromura Village has a population of just over 2,000. Perfect size for country living. Any smaller and it'd be inconvenient; any bigger and it wouldn't feel like the countryside.
“We have electricity and running water, but cell phones won't work. City kids say they can't live without their phones... I hope you'll be okay.”
Reika looked apologetic. Sure enough, Yuuki's phone in my pocket was dead.
“No problem, Reika-san. I'm built for the countryside.”
As a possessor, I don't remember his previous relationships anyway. Even if I had the phone, I'd just be scrolling endlessly.
Slow-life healing and the cheap dopamine hits from smartphones don't mix. If anything, this is great.
“I'm thrilled to hear Yuuki-kun's a country boy at heart~”
Reika pressed her gloved hands together and beamed.
“Then let me give you a quick tour of the village's main facilities while we're here.”
Most facilities are near the tunnel—the village's only link to the outside world. In other words, clustered on the south side.
“This is my school, Isanuki First Branch School. It's combined middle and high school.”
Br, branch school! My romance meter is already exploding!
Japanese branch schools aren't just rural schools. They're where you fend off closure threats by becoming a school idol, or get targeted by villainous forces aiming to swallow the main campus, or VIPs who contribute to the school get invited to the student council. More than anywhere else, they're where *youth* burns brightest.
“Can I drop by sometime, Reika-san?”
I wanted to charge in right now, but as an outsider, it'd be rude to barge in.
“It's vacation, so only club kids are around. I'll invite you to our school soon, Yuuki-kun.”
The girl in the white dress winked with one eye.
Sas is a visual novel. What kind of heroine archetypes will there be? Heart pounding. Aside from the forced diversity black character they'll shoehorn in despite no PC quotas in a rural setting, I'm hyped.
After the branch school, Reika gave a rundown of the south-side facilities.
“This is Makogashiya Snack Shop. It's closed today. I wanted to treat you for your debut.”
“The ramune you gave me earlier is plenty.”
Makogashiya Snack Shop. Like a Korean corner store specializing in junk food. In the countryside where entertainment's scarce, it's prime romcom territory.
“I mentioned the Village Office, right? If you find any lost items, you must tell Suzuki-san there.”
Man or woman? Too common a name for a heroine. Still, could be.
“This is Kawajomiya General Hospital, the village's only proper hospital. And that building is the Utsuromura Local History Museum.”
“Local History Museum?”
“It collects Utsuromura's historical materials by era. Students go there a lot to study.”
Like a mix of museum and library. Study group events must happen there. Noted.
“It's about time...”
Reika tilted her head and checked her wristwatch.
“Time for what?”
“I called the Hoozure family's servants to pick us up.”
Honk honk.
Right on cue, a horn blared. Rounding the corner was an old Hoon-da truck waiting for us.
“The house where you'll stay—Kagome-san's old place—is at the western edge of the village, right up against the mountains.”
Kagome-san is Yuuki's grandmother, who passed away a few years ago. Her daughter left the village to marry, but Kagome stayed in Utsuromura.
“It's too far to walk. Your tired legs would hurt, Yuuki-kun. Let's take the truck!”
“No empty seats, though?”
The Hoozure servants were in the driver's and passenger seats. Traditional clothes, weird bird masks. Can they even see?
“Yuuki-kun, there's the cargo bed.”
“That's illegal.”
I said flatly. Riding bikes with a girlfriend on the back or hopping in a truck bed when moving to the countryside—clichés from Japanese media that actually break the law. What a shock when I learned that.
I want the Japanese rural life vibe, but not at the cost of breaking rules.
Hearing that, Reika grabbed my wrist.
“Come on. The Three Great Families—Hoozure—is the law in Utsuromura. Big sis Reika says it's fine, Yuuki-kun!”
She cleared her throat with an ahem and led me to the truck.
This girl. Even her bluffing as a big deal is cute.
Pretending to give in, I climbed aboard.
Leaving south village by truck, it was exactly the Japanese countryside I'd imagined. Maa-maa-maa-mae~! Orioles crying in the late afternoon. Earth and grass tickling my nose. Modest wooden houses. Mostly blue rice paddies, but some fields with other crops dotted around.
I drank in the Utsuromura scenery.
“Utsuromura is beautiful, right? Good photo spots everywhere?”
Reika looked pleased. Even if it wasn't Yuuki's hobby, I'd want to snap pics of every corner now.
“Yeah. Better than I imagined. Glad I came from Tokyo.”
“The more you learn about Utsuromura—and live here—the more you'll fall for it. You'll want to stay forever and ever...”
Forever's a bit much. With all the young folks heading to cities these days, her village pride is admirable, though.
Rural or island visual novels always end with staying put or returning years later to claim the heroine.
If Sas follows the clichés, it'll work out.
“If there's a decent bride candidate here, I might settle down. Haha, just kidding.”
I laughed.
“...Yuuki-kun might be more suited to this place than I thought.”
Reika smiled back. Gently.
My grandmother Kagome's house.
“Normally we'd host a welcome party at the main house, but you're tired from the long trip. Rest up, Yuuki-kun. See you tomorrow.”
Reika had the servants move supplies like water and rice sacks to the shed, set out a prepared meal, and left.
Honestly, thanks. Elegant pure-type ojousama heroine. Reika's not the only one.
I needed to plan routes to heroine encounter spots (minus the 100% tan-skinned track star on the branch school field) anyway. And I wanted some alone time to savor it all.
I spread my arms and laughed, wahaha!
Amazing! Incredible! This is my new home.
Japanese rural wooden houses are on another level from Korean slate-roof country homes.
First, tatami mats. Bamboo mats. I lay down and sniffed. Sniff.
“Cough.”
Moldy smell and dust from the gaps hit me. Nasty. I pinched my nose and sneezed nonstop.
Tatami. Should I seriously rip them out?
Next, the oshiire. Japanese built-in closet. Where the blue tanuki robot eats red bean buns, lays out a mat, and sleeps.
This is romance.
“Gah!”
Bravely opening it unleashed an avalanche of blankets and daily items. Took sweat to reorganize. Mildew stench too.
Are rural houses the same whether Korean or Japanese?
No way. They can't be. Bravely, I slid open the shoji door.
J-country homes have 'em! Gardens!
—The garden was barren as hell. Weeds mowed clean by the servants beforehand, but no landscaping done.
I'll fix it up from now on. Let's do this, Yuuki!
Home improvement's subcontent in rural visual novels anyway. Time to make it awesome.
That's when I spotted it in the half-dried pond.
Damn, no way, for real!?
Shhh... thunk!
Shishiodoshi!!!
What the heck. You know that bamboo decoration where water fills it up—shhh—tips with a thunk, and repeats?
Shishiodoshi is the essence of Japanese countryside. No—all of it. I'll pull an all-nighter to save that thing if I have to.
I'd just yanked off my top and was about to dive into the pond when...
“Is Kagome-san's grandson here? Saw the light on.”
Someone's voice called out.