Come to think of it, Popporo has a lot of downy feathers.
They also had a crisscross pattern.
I am Hinato. In the usual park, I bring the chicks and talk with the pigeons.
The pigeon tells me, “This child wants to play with you.”
For a moment, I fell silent, but I felt that once they grew up, they would probably perform a beautiful dance. The pigeon says, “Someday, we too will leave the tree-lined path and flow into the river.”
They are always falling in love, and after finishing mating, they approach humans.
To catch food, and to be given it.
When the chicks get close, Popporo’s feathers change pattern even more.
It felt like an action to protect the chicks, with colors mixed of blue-gray, red-green, and white.
It feels strange, wondering if other pigeons go through a similar state.
However, it also looks like they are changing color from yellow down as they grow.
By the way, I wonder if the chicks are being played with by the female pigeons…
“Hey, Hinato. I’ve gotten a little fat,” it says, flapping its little wings.
When it grows up, someday it will leave and cross the sea from the riverbank, won’t it?
While thinking about this—?
“Eh? It was eating ants walking on the dirt?”
Naoko Yujin… my classmate.
Lustrous hair and small glasses. Her face is plump and she is slim.
Occasionally, she looks at my chicks and feeds them leftover bread from school lunch to show affection.
Naturally, I haven’t given the chicks names.
Isn’t it about time you gave them names? Moms.
Then the female pigeon says this:
“You guys haven’t been dating for long, have you?”—she says.
Sometimes Naoko and I kiss or hug each other with sweet voices.
Adults forgive this if they think it is just playing house, but in reality, it is considered abnormal behavior, and a teacher who happened to find us takes me to the nurse’s office.
However, the school nurse also lets out a sigh like sweet dew and watches our play. Moreover, while keeping a pigeon she secretly brought on her lap, she only asks, “What is these kids’ level?”
The pigeon reveals its romantic path, saying, “No problem. We do the same thing.”
It nonchalantly shows the scene of females kissing each other—and even presses its beak against the teacher to beg for a kiss.
By the way, I am the only one who can understand the language of pigeons.
Truly, just by touching bodies, touching my forehead… kiss.
Perhaps because of that, my and Naoko’s actions are probably close to children playing together, I suppose.
The pigeon is saying it will give us just a little more time.
Why do our hearts connect so much—
After our clothes are disheveled on the bed in the nurse’s office, Naoko and I hug each other for just five minutes. Afterward, we thank the teacher and the pigeon by saying, “Thank you for keeping it a secret.”
That kind of relationship had continued for a year.
When I return to the apartment, Kanade Mom welcomes me.
She checks my temperature a little, and when she sees it is 36.8°C, she takes off my clothes and changes them for me.
Mom seemed a little excited, stroking Popporo’s head and playing with the chicks on her own hands.
Then Karen Mom comes home at 6:00 PM and promptly cooks dinner.
Tonight was a luxurious meal of hamburger steak, pumpkin soup, salad, and bread.
Up until that time, I only ate bento meals…
Popporo requests, “Give me some soup too.”
Along with the chicks.
Even though it’s old and there are no males, it seems it can still lay eggs.
Its appetite is huge.
Tonight too, while eating, we praise each other’s cooking and talk about what happened that day.
We are animals that acknowledge each other and cherish each other.
Thanks to Popporo, I can feel energetic and happy.
Then we take a bath, become covered in bubbles, and kiss the places that bother us.
By the time we go to bed, we hug each other’s bodies in the double bed and share a good-night kiss.
Popporo’s feathers changed even more into a mottled pattern.
It was as if beautiful rainbow colors and spots stood out alternately.
And Popporo wished:
May tomorrow bring happiness too—