Popcorn and Pudding Don't Get Along
Someone was calling.
Kkur kkur?
Pudding slowly lifted its body.
Its elastic form could stretch or shrink with ease, and its shape was incredibly versatile.
The round, elongated shape was the most comfortable, and it made swallowing or transforming in front of enemies much simpler. Still, staying stretched out long and thin wasn't difficult either.
It was important to occasionally change forms and commit those shapes to memory.
If it didn't practice regularly, it wouldn't be able to transform quickly when it actually encountered an enemy.
Even so, in front of Master, it tried to stay in its round form as much as possible.
It had tried shifting its shape a few times before, but Master's reaction hadn't been good.
Apparently it wasn't his preferred form.
The children seemed to like every shape, including the elongated one, but Master found the round version the cutest.
Just thinking about Master filled Pudding with such joy that its body began to tremble slightly.
It loved Master.
This feeling was completely new.
When Master was happy, Pudding felt happy too. When Master smiled, it felt so delighted that its body wanted to shoot straight up into the air.
On top of that, the sparkling dust that came from Master's body was incredibly delicious, sweet, and... anyway, it was just unbelievably good.
Every time Pudding tried something new, Master's sparkling dust would shine brighter, run away, or change flavor.
Sometimes it tasted even better. Other times it was still tasty, but somehow felt like Master didn't like it.
The flavor that seemed to say he didn't like it was when Pudding felt the saddest.
Yes, that was truly heartbreaking.
It had been especially bad when it swallowed a rat.
Master's twinkling dust had completely vanished in its direction.
Knowing how much he hated it, Pudding had since only eaten rats in secret when Master wasn't looking.
Other beasts seemed a little more acceptable though, so sometimes it would deliberately show off in front of him.
"Look, I caught a slightly bigger animal this time," it seemed to say.
Then Master would occasionally smile and look pleased.
When it came to Pudding's abilities, all it could really do was swallow things and spit out the remains. Since it did that every day, it wasn't much of an appeal.
If it didn't create some new appearance or new ability, it wouldn't be able to earn any of Master's sparkling, twinkling dust.
That was why Pudding's mind was always so busy.
It wandered around every day, searching for something new.
Pudding wanted to be cuter than Popcorn.
"Kkur... kkur...."
Perhaps because it was thinking about Master, its body unconsciously began to swell.
Master.
Master, I like you.
Master, I really, really, really like you so much.
Master's sparkling dust is the best.
It wanted to cling to Master's fingers forever and drink up all that sparkling dust.
This kind of desire was new to it.
Since it had always lived as part of the main body, Pudding's consciousness had been the same.
The main body only knew how to eat, eat, and eat some more.
Eating had never brought it any joy.
There had only been the instinct to consume.
But after being brought here, Pudding had learned many things.
It was probably because of Master's sparkling dust.
It felt as if the part of the main body that it once was had become a new, separate being.
When it ate Master's sparkling dust, somewhere inside it would brighten, and it would come to understand things.
It would realize something new.
It couldn't understand human speech, but it had learned to recognize what actions meant.
Whether someone was scared, in pain, laughing, or crying.
It had also grown quite good at reading Master's emotions. Though it still got confused sometimes.
Pudding wanted Master to love it more than Popcorn. It really, really did.
It felt a little grateful to Popcorn for bringing it here, but it still couldn't forgive the way he monopolized Master's attention.
Thinking... thinking... yes, I am thinking.
Pudding trembled with a pururu sound as it realized this new truth.
So this is what thinking is.
Until now, it hadn't even known that thoughts were thoughts.
But now it understood.
Master! I learned how to think!
Pudding began to squelch its way toward Master to tell him this exciting news, but then it remembered why it had stopped eating the rat in the first place.
Oh, that's right. It had heard a sound.
It sounded like Popcorn's voice, so it had been listening.
That guy was always noisy, so it probably wasn't anything important. But this time he was being especially loud.
Pudding lifted its body again.
The sound was hard to make out, so it stretched a little more.
[It looks like a snail's eye.]
Master's words suddenly came to mind.
He hadn't seemed to like it very much at the time, but he had still been smiling.
Just remembering Master's face made it happy, so Pudding stretched its body out thin, just like when Master had called it a snail's eye.
It felt so good.
It wanted to hear it again.
Snail's eye.
Its heart swelled with joy, making its whole body tremble with pururu sounds. The thin stalk it had stretched upward grew even longer.
It stretched further and further.
'Kkur kkur, I can't go any more than this.'
The part of its body still on the ground was shrinking. If it stretched any more, its form would collapse.
Pudding instinctively realized this and stopped.
Once it had stretched as tall as a tree, it could see everything clearly in every direction.
If it showed Master this form, would he be happy?
Would his sparkling dust shine for it?
Maybe he'd be so surprised that the dust would fly everywhere.
Just thinking about it made Pudding incredibly happy.
Okay. Time to go see Master.
With that thought, it began slowly moving its long, snail-eye body—when something sparkling caught its eye in the distance.
It was Popcorn.
Popcorn was crying and shouting something.
It was too far away to hear clearly, but he kept making pipi sounds while saying something.
"...."
The tip of Pudding's body tilted slightly.
How strange.
Why was Popcorn inside that spider's nest?
Was he playing?
But that spider was as big as a human face. It was dangerous.
Pudding's main body had encountered that spider several times and had its body severed.
The threads that spider produced could even cut through the main body's all-consuming form.
Each time, the severed pieces had fled and been reabsorbed by the main body, but fighting that spider was such a hassle that the main body usually stayed far away.
Popcorn probably wouldn't be able to escape easily either.
Those spider threads were extremely sticky.
Pudding didn't get stuck to the sticky threads, but if it let its guard down even a little, its body could still get sliced.
"...."
Pudding pulled its long, snail-eye stalk back into its body.
Once the stretched-out part returned, Pudding became its usual plump, cute, perfectly round self again.
The round shape that both Master and the children loved.
Remembering the times Master had smiled at it, Pudding shook its body with pururu sounds just like before.
It wobbled like that for a moment before suddenly remembering what it had been doing.
That's right.
It had seen Popcorn caught in the spider web.
That noisy Popcorn who was always causing trouble—maybe it would be good to let him suffer in that web for a few days.
Since he was a spirit, even if the spider ate him, he'd just get spit back out anyway.
Spirits had the property of coming back out even after being eaten.
Then the spider would grow even stronger and hunt more things to eat.
That was why the main body had eaten spirits whenever it found them.
The more it ate, the stronger it became.
The stronger it got, the bigger and stronger prey it could hunt, which made it even stronger.
Eat, eat, eat. Without any real purpose, the main body had simply kept growing by consuming everything.
Pudding now had the goal of being loved and called cute by Master, but the main body had never had anything like that.
Ah, its thoughts had wandered again.
Popcorn had been caught by a spider.
Making kkur kkur sounds, Pudding began crawling in Popcorn's direction.
It would be fine to just leave him there.
It really would be fine.
But then Master would worry.
If Popcorn was late coming back, Master would go out to the edge of the fields for no reason.
Every time that happened, Master's sparkling dust carried the taste of worry.
Kkur kkur kkur....
It didn't like it when Master's sparkling dust tasted worried. Or rather, when Master was worried. Whatever.
"...."
Besides, Popcorn was the one who had brought Pudding here.
He was noisy and kept kicking it, but he was still someone to be grateful to.
Kkur kkur... let's hurry.
The spider's nest was in the forest near the village.
Pudding moved its pururu-trembling body, occasionally checking its direction.
The closer it got to the spider web, the less it needed to check.
Popcorn was still making a huge racket.
Following that sound, it soon spotted Popcorn stuck right in the middle of a glowing spider web.
Pipi... pipi....
The usually arrogant and angry Popcorn was crying with a pitiful face.
[....]
It was glad it had hurried.
Pudding hurriedly clung to the tree where the web was strung.
The giant spider seemed to notice immediately.
It descended silently through the air, riding its own thread.
Kkur kkur.
Pudding sprang powerfully upward.
At the same time, it mimicked a rat's movements and created legs.
The moment four legs appeared, Pudding ran.
It ran and ran and kept running.
Popcorn cried out a warning pipi sound.
The instant it heard that, Pudding kicked off hard with its hind legs without even looking back.
Its round, elongated body flew through the air.
A moment too late, a spider thread sliced off part of Pudding's body.
Plop. A small piece fell to the ground.
"Pipipipipipipipi!"
With a loud cry, Popcorn's sparkling dust scattered everywhere.
"Kkur!"
Pudding let out a big sound and swallowed the dust with big gulps.
The dust, similar to Master's, instantly boosted Pudding's strength.
Dodging the incoming spider threads, Pudding charged straight at the spider.
It rammed into it with everything it had.
The spider, struck by Pudding, flew through the air while shooting threads from its rear.
Good. Now!
"Kkur kkur!"
Snail's eye!
Pudding shouted as it stretched its body out long and thin.
The snail-eye stalk that rose high up grew even thinner as it approached the spider web.
It slipped through a tiny gap near Popcorn and quickly wrapped around him.
The moment it grabbed Popcorn, Pudding made its entire body thin enough to pass through the web.
"Pip!"
At that moment, Popcorn flapped his wings with all his might.
Just like when he had first brought Pudding from the main body, Popcorn flew through the air while holding him.
The spider turned back belatedly, but Pudding and Popcorn had already escaped.
Thanks to Popcorn's desperate flapping, they reached the edge of the village in an instant.
"Pipipi."
As if saying thank you, Popcorn cried and rubbed his head against Pudding's body.
It tickled a little.
Part of its body had been cut off, but oh well. It had saved Popcorn, so that was good.
Perhaps because it had used too much strength, all the energy suddenly drained from its body.
It began to sag downward.
"Pipi!"
The Popcorn who had been carrying Pudding wobbled and then plummeted to the ground.
Kkur kkur! You weakling!
Pudding's body hit the ground with a splat.
The sly Popcorn—whether by accident or on purpose—landed right on top of Pudding's body.
Annoyed, Pudding tried to swallow him, but Popcorn struggled wildly.
He kicked with his feet from inside Pudding's body.
Even though it had saved him.
Even though it had sacrificed part of its body to save him.
Sure, it was only a tiny piece and a part it could afford to lose, but still—it had worked hard to save him while losing part of itself.
Angry now, Pudding swallowed him even more.
That was when the surroundings suddenly grew dark.
"You two were playing in a place like this?"
It was Master's voice.
While still keeping the struggling Popcorn trapped inside, Pudding lifted its body upward. Master was looking down at them with a troubled expression.
"Pudding, why do you keep eating Popcorn? You shouldn't do that to family."
"... Kkur kkur...."
But I saved him.
I brought him back.
Master, who couldn't understand Pudding's words, held out his palm.
"Come on, spit him out now. Popcorn must be suffering."
"... Kkur...."
But I was the one who saved him.
"Hurry."
At Master's command, Pudding reluctantly spat Popcorn out. The little guy immediately started crying pipi sounds and pretending to be pitiful.
"...."
Enemy.
That was the enemy.
Pudding swallowed Popcorn's head again.
"Pipi! Pipipipi!"
The Popcorn who had just been rubbing his head in thanks and crying pitifully now got angry and kicked and hit Pudding wildly with his hands and feet.
As the two of them continued their eating-and-kicking scuffle, Master let out a small sigh.
"These two really don't get along at all."
* * *
The children had come running in a panic to call me.
Pudding had disappeared, they said.
They had taken it to the fields early in the morning, but no matter how hard they looked, they couldn't find it.
They had even checked our field, but it wasn't there. The children had been on the verge of tears.
They ran off to search the other fields while I wandered around near our own field—and that's when I found the two of them.
They were fighting again.
I thought they'd stop once they saw me, but then they suddenly started hitting each other again.
"Hey, if you two keep fighting like this, you'll turn into bad kids."
They probably couldn't understand me, but I said it anyway. Both Pudding and Popcorn turned to look at me at the same time.
"Pipi!"
"Kkur kkur!"
Popcorn and Pudding pointed at each other and wailed.
It looked exactly like they were saying, "He's the bad one!"
I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous it was. Both of them stopped fighting and rushed over to rub themselves against me.
But this Pudding guy had learned a new move.
Sticking out a finger or stretching out two arms seemed to be an imitation of Popcorn.
Anyway, I was just glad they were both safe.
This time, when Pudding went missing, I had been a little worried.
"It would be nice if you two could stop fighting and get along a bit."
The moment I muttered that without thinking, both Popcorn and Pudding stretched out their arms at the same time and cried pipi and kkur kkur.
It sounded like they were saying something like "That's impossible."
I must have been imagining it.