"I didn't know you were waiting outside the gate. Feichi recognized you himself. He said he remembered you from the drive over," Mikio Morizono said with a smile, accepting the cane handed to him by the driver and walking over. Seeing Chi Feichi's puzzled look, he explained, "Four years ago, my wife died in a car accident. I was in the car as well, and my foot was injured slightly. I've been on my feet for a while today, so I'm just making myself more comfortable at home."
Chi Feichi nodded. No wonder Mikio Morizono had instructed the driver to stop at the main entrance of the hospital earlier. "Sorry to trouble you to pick me up."
"It's quite alright. I'm just not very flexible; it's not that serious," Mikio comforted him with a smile.
Suddenly, Yurie Morizono spun around, gave Chi Feichi a bear hug, and smiled triumphantly. "Gotcha!"
Chi Feichi was stunned for a moment before reminding her, "I brought a pet."
"You still like to keep a straight face, just like when you were little," Yurie complained. She let go and looked around. "Where is your pet? Where?"
Feichi poked his head out of Chi Feichi's collar, flicking his tongue smugly. "Her neck was right there... I definitely could have given her a scare. She doesn't even think about it—is my Master someone just anyone can hug?"
Chi Feichi: "..."
With a pet like this, did he have any hope of ever escaping bachelorhood?
Yurie was stunned for a moment. She slowly reached out and flicked Feichi's forehead, looking a little surprised. "So, it's a real snake?"
Feichi was dazed by the flick. Although it wasn't painful, he felt insulted!
Chi Feichi looked at Mikio Morizono. "Can I raise it here?"
Mikio smiled and nodded. "Of course. Although I haven't had much contact with snakes, since you carry it around with you, it shouldn't bite people randomly... By the way, this snake isn't poisonous, is it?"
"A little bit," Chi Feichi said, taking a vial out of his pocket. "I brought anti-sea snake venom serum."
The smile on Mikio Morizono's face stiffened for a moment, but since he had already agreed, it wouldn't be good to go back on his word. "Then... let's go inside first!"
Saying that, he instructed the driver to help bring Chi Feichi's luggage into the house.
Yurie walked alongside Chi Feichi as they headed inside. "Why did you suddenly decide to raise a snake?"
Chi Feichi replied casually, "To stand out."
"What kind of reason is that?" Yurie laughed. "But you can't scare me, even with a snake. Don't forget, back when a tiny cockroach crawled into your bathroom, who was the one too scared to use the toilet but kept a straight face pretending not to be? In the end, I was the one who had to catch the cockroach for you."
Chi Feichi: "..."
That is the "dark history" (kuro-rekishi) of the original host, not mine...
"In the blink of an eye, I haven't seen you for so many years. The little guy from back then has grown taller than me. If I met you on the street, I wouldn't dare recognize you," Yurie sighed with emotion, then asked, "Hey, Feichi, do you really still remember me?"
Chi Feichi nodded. "I remember. You ate watermelon until you threw up."
Yurie thought of her own embarrassing past and muttered bashfully, "You're not cute at all compared to when you were young!"
"Alright, you two can roast each other later," Mikio interrupted with a smile from up ahead. "The first priority is dinner. I've been hungry for a long time."
Yurie immediately diverted her attention. "Dad, is Kikuhito still not back?"
"No," Mikio turned his head to explain to Chi Feichi. "He has to arrange company affairs before the wedding, so he won't be back tonight. But you can definitely meet him tomorrow."
"Kikuhito's fiancée isn't here either," Yurie smiled. "Our family butler has gone to pick her up. She should arrive tomorrow. We'll take her to Tokyo for a walk, come back tomorrow night, and hold the wedding the day after..."
"Meow!"
A cat rushed out the door.
"Rebecca!" Yurie reached out and caught the cat, hugging it in her arms. She smiled at Chi Feichi. "My family has a pet too. This is the cat my mother raised before she passed away..."
She handed the cat to the servant, Yuji Sakuraba, who had chased up from behind.
"Miss," Sakuraba greeted them as he took the cat, apologizing. "I was just planning to feed her, but she kept running out. I am very sorry."
"It's okay, she probably thinks the house is too stuffy. Let her eat outside." Yurie asked Chi Feichi again, "Feichi, does your snake need to be fed anything?"
"No need," Chi Feichi said. "A snake's digestive cycle is very long. Feichi generally eats once every five days. He doesn't need to be fed for another two days."
"You didn't choose to raise a snake just so you wouldn't have to feed it every day, did you?" Yurie teased, then asked, "Do you need Sakuraba to help take care of it? Sakuraba, are you afraid of snakes?"
Yuji Sakuraba hesitated for a moment, but still nodded. "I can try."
Feichi poked his head out of the cuff, looked at Yurie, then looked at the cat.
It looks like this woman has a good relationship with the Master, so it's inconvenient to retaliate against her... but messing with her cat should be fine.
"Master, agree to it! While you eat dinner, I want to go to the yard to look around!"
"Don't run around." Hearing the hint of expectation in Feichi's voice, Chi Feichi felt the snake had bad intentions. He gave a warning before lifting Feichi out and placing him on the ground. "His name is Feichi. As long as you don't attack him, he won't bite randomly. If he disappears, don't worry, he will come back by himself later."
Yuji Sakuraba watched Chi Feichi pull a meter-long snake from his sleeve. Although he knew it was a snake, seeing it with his own eyes made his face stiffen slightly. "O-okay."
"Then please take care of him, Sakuraba. If someone is bitten, you must say so immediately—Feichi brought serum," Yurie instructed, continuing to lead Chi Feichi to the dining room. "Will he really come back by himself? Will he run away?"
"It's fine. I always let him loose," Chi Feichi said.
Yuji Sakuraba watched the two leave and sighed. Holding the cat, he took two steps away, only to find Feichi following him. He walked a bit further and found Feichi still obediently trailing behind. Only then did he feel relieved.
Although being followed by a snake made his back feel a bit cool, this snake seemed quite well-behaved...
The cat in Sakuraba's arms stared at Feichi the entire way, fur standing on end, purring and making threatening growls.
Feichi followed closely behind, flicking his tongue in dissatisfaction. "I haven't even messed with you yet, and you're already threatening me? Wait until you get put down—I'll show you!"
Yuji Sakuraba comforted the cat all the way to the warehouse to pour a bowl of cat food. When they arrived in the yard, he found Feichi had followed the whole time without showing any intention of biting. He lamented in his heart that this snake was indeed very well-behaved.
Up on a tree in the yard, the red-eyed crow stared at the cat food in Sakuraba's hand and shouted majestically, "Attention all units, our snacks have arrived!"
Whoosh——
The surrounding crows immediately turned their heads, locking their eyes on the cat food in Sakuraba's hand.
"Alright, Rebecca, be good." Yuji Sakuraba placed the cat a little distance away, then set the cat food down. He was mainly afraid the cat would bully the snake, so he hesitated for a moment, wanting to take the "very good" snake a little further away.
Just as he turned his head, he saw a black shadow flash past his eyes.
"Stinky cat, take this!" Feichi rushed out.
But the crows in the tree were faster.
The red-eyed crow performed a dive-bomb, pecking the cat's tail. When the cat's fur bristled and it spun around, the crow snatched two pieces of cat food in its beak and flew up again.
The crows behind imitated their leader, a massive flock rushing down with a whoosh.
"Crows?" Yuji Sakuraba was almost hit in the face by a wing. He hurriedly raised his hands to protect his face and retreated.
The flock of crows didn't attack the human; they just pecked the cat and stole food, playing quite happily.
The cat was irritated. It arched its back and jumped high into the air, snagging a crow with one claw.
"Red-Eyes, you linger like a bad smell!" Feichi was unhappy. He stared at the cat for a long moment—only I get to be the first one to bully it, okay? Aiming at the cat that had just landed, he whipped his tail out, conveniently slapping a flying crow in the process.
"Did this snake find the wrong target?" The red-eyed crow saw his subordinate take a hit and felt a bit depressed. He shouted, "Whatever! Beat them both for me!"
The cat, slapped by Feichi, was a bit dazed. It shook its head, swiped at an incoming crow, and then angrily pounced on Feichi.
It didn't know much else. Perhaps it didn't have as much intelligence as Feichi or the red-eyed crow. But the cat knew one thing for sure——
Its food was gone!
After retreating some distance, Yuji Sakuraba lowered the hands shielding his face. He patted a crow feather off his head, looked up, and saw a scene that left him dumbfounded.
A murder of crows cawed, constantly flying up and diving down in turns. Regardless of whether it was the snake or the cat, they had one strategy: Peck!
They would peck once and run, letting the next batch take a turn.
The snake, which he had thought was so well-behaved, also seemed to have gone crazy. Its tail flicked frantically, pulling both crows and the cat into a battle circle, catching and whipping whatever was closest.
The cat had its fur standing on end, claws flashing, scratching wildly at whatever creature was in front of its eyes.
It was a chaotic three-way melee!
And all three parties could climb trees...
Therefore, before Yuji Sakuraba could figure out what on earth was happening, the cat agilely rushed up the tree to chase a crow. The flock of crows pounced up after it, and the snake slithered rapidly up the trunk to join the fray.
The crown of the tree shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye as leaves were beaten down one by one.
Before this tree was completely destroyed, the cat jumped to another tree, and the crows and snake shifted positions along with it.
One, two, three... The location of the battle royale changed at a dazzling speed. Amidst the cat's roars and the crows' caws, leaves filled the sky.
Yuji Sakuraba looked up at the leaves fluttering down like snow. His heart felt as cold as the falling leaves.
It's over...
The chaos in the yard soon alerted the other servants, and eventually even Mikio Morizono, who was eating in the dining room.
Once she heard that a cat, a snake, and a flock of crows were fighting, Yurie Morizono quickly pulled Chi Feichi up to run outside. "How could they be fighting? Where? Quickly, take me there!"
There was simply no need for a guide. Once out the door, anyone could see a ball of "chaos" rushing around the trees.
A group of servants stood in a circle on the periphery, their eyes moving in sync with the rapidly transferring battle group.
Stop them?
That group of creatures was moving way too fast—there was simply no way to stop them!
Yurie Morizono ran out the door and froze in place. She subconsciously released Chi Feichi's hand.
It was the first time she had seen a group of animals fighting with her own eyes. And such a large group... such a fierce group...