Drip, Drip, Rainy Day (Short Story)

This story is a work of fiction and is not related to any real organizations, religions, incidents, or disasters.

One

As I stared blankly at the garden alone, the color of the soil began to change in spots. Thick clouds had covered the sky since morning, and finally, it had started to rain.
It was mid-June, and the Japanese archipelago was in the middle of the rainy season. Watching the falling raindrops, Ryuji Matsudo felt weary of the damp air.
However, there is one good thing about rainy days. It is that earthworms crawl out of the soil, making them easier to find. Earthworms are very important creatures; they till the fields and return food scraps to the soil. And they also serve as food for my precious little brother. Lately, they are such a necessary existence that I have even thought about whether I could farm them. (Though my family tells me not to get any more pets.)
I had been lazing around, but Ryuji made up his mind to go out to the thicket to hunt for earthworms. I changed into a comfortable T-shirt, put my valuables in a pouch, and wrapped a quick-drying towel around my neck.

“Ryuji, going out?”
A voice calling out with concern reached Ryuji as he was preparing to leave. There are no small children in the Matsudo household. Besides, Ryuji is the only one in the house right now.
Rustle...
There was a faint sound from the corner of the room.
Ryuji peered into the blue container placed against the wall. The container was packed tightly with soil. From within it, a fluffy little animal with beautiful, velvet-like fur and a vibrant rice-ear color poked its face out of a hole.
At a glance, this little animal looks like a fluffy little hamster, but it has a long nose that hamsters lack, and it is moving that nose busily, wiggling and squirming. The tip of its nose is heart-shaped, like a pig's snout. Also, its characteristic large front paws have five large claws, which it has placed neatly on the edge of the hole.

It is a mole.
The East Japanese mole that inhabits this region usually has a grayish-brown coat, but this East Japanese mole, my little brother, has an unusual golden coat. His name is “Okoro.”
The origin of the name comes from remembering my late great-grandfather, who used to get angry, saying, “That Ogoro is causing trouble in the field again.” It was a little scary to my child's heart that my always-kind great-grandfather was angry, and I couldn't forget that name. My mother complained, “Instead of such an uncute name, Kinako-chan would be better.”
But for some reason, Ryuji, who felt that “Okoro” was good at the time, ignored the family's many suggestions and gave that name to the mole. It felt like something special, and I couldn't give it up.

It is not just the color of his fur that makes Okoro unusual.
“Ryuji, going out?”
Again, the same child's voice, sounding concerned, asked about the situation.
Yes, Okoro was a very unusual mole to Ryuji, one who could speak human language. In reality, he wasn't emitting sound; he spoke in a way that felt like the voice was being heard directly inside Ryuji's head. It was a mysterious power.
Ryuji, not even surprised, squatted down next to the container used as a breeding case and stared at Okoro the mole. It seemed that Okoro had come out of the soil because he was bothered by the sounds Ryuji made while preparing to go out.
Moles have excellent hearing and can sense even the slightest vibrations around them using special sensory organs at the tip of their noses—or so Ryuji had read in a book. With this ability, Okoro sees the world instead of using eyes. Even now, he is moving his nose busily, checking the situation outside the container.
When Okoro looked up, the little mouth that peeked out was truly adorable.

Ryuji spoke to Okoro slowly.
“Yeah, it started raining, so I thought I'd go look for some earthworms. Okoro, you love earthworms, don't you?”
Okoro answered immediately.
“Love them. Want to eat earthworms.”
At Okoro's honest reply, a smile escaped Ryuji. And he gently stroked Okoro's head with his fingertips. It was fluffy, with a texture like high-quality velvet carpet, a feeling that made you want to keep stroking it forever.
“Then, please stay and watch the house for a little while...”
“No!”

As soon as he realized he was going to be left at home, Okoro scrambled out of the hole in a panic. He ran over, wagging his short tail attached to his white bottom. When Okoro reached the edge of the container, he stood up as if clinging to the wall, scratching at it frantically with his large front paws as if to say, “Let me out!” This is the behavior Okoro shows when he wants to get out of the container or when he is demanding food.
He really hates being left alone. Ryuji scratched the back of his head and gently scooped up Okoro with both hands.

Two

In the end, Ryuji changed his original plan and decided to look for earthworms in his own garden. If I were to look around the house, it would actually be easier to find them in the field. However, I felt like I would get scolded by my grandfather, who hates moles, if I caught earthworms as food for a mole, so I decided to look in the garden. If it's the garden, my mother, who loves moles, takes care of it, so I probably won't get scolded.

Just in case, to keep Okoro's body from getting cold in the rain, I put him in a 100% cotton towel-fabric PET bottle case. Okoro, tucked snugly into the case, looked comfortable wrapped in the fluffy towel.
“Going out! Going out!”
“Are you that happy to go out?”
“Going out with Ryuji!”
I could hear his voice in a good mood. It was unexpected for Ryuji that Okoro was looking forward to going out this much, but his happy appearance made Ryuji's cheeks soften.
Ryuji himself put on a red rain parka. This parka had a large box-shaped pocket, and he put the PET bottle case with Okoro inside it. It fit so perfectly that it felt as if it had been made just for Okoro.

The rain continued to fall gently, just as it had been. If it were just Ryuji, putting on the hood of the parka would be enough. However, now Okoro, who is not good at regulating his body temperature, is with me. Just in case, I opened an umbrella and went outside. When I opened the umbrella with a vigorous 'poof,' Okoro in the pocket was startled by the sound and jumped, and Ryuji couldn't help but burst out laughing.

When I left the entrance, the scent of damp soil wafted up. And I noticed the vibrant red hydrangeas blooming quietly in the rain-soaked garden. This was a hydrangea that my mother had bought on impulse one day out of curiosity, and as soon as she returned, she showed it to me happily, saying, “Look, isn't it a rare color?”

(That's right, I'll show it to Okoro too.)
Ryuji checked his surroundings, then lifted Okoro from his pocket in front of the red hydrangea and brought him close to the flower.
“Okoro, look. The hydrangea is beautiful.”
“Hydrangea?”
After Okoro moved his long nose and thought about something, he asked, “Where is the hydrangea?”
“Ah, I see. Hydrangeas don't really have much of a scent, do they.”
“What is a hydrangea? What is beautiful?”
That was it. Ryuji felt a little down about his own mistake, forgetting that Okoro couldn't see. He realized once again that the feeling of seeing a flower and thinking it is beautiful is only possible because one can see and perceive various colors.

Ryuji changed his mindset and began to explain the hydrangea to Okoro.
“Hydrangeas are beautiful flowers that bloom in the rainy season. The color of the flowers changes depending on the soil. Many round-shaped flowers gather together, and they look fluffy.”
“Also, 'beautiful' means something that makes your heart happy when you see or hear it.”
“Flowers, fluffy...?”
“Yes, that's right, flowers are fluffy.”
“Is fluffy, soft?”
“Y-yes, that's right. Fluffy is soft.”
“Okoro is also fluffy! Okoro is also soft! Beautiful and cute!”

Somehow, a word association game had started... And he is surprisingly positive. If he were human, he would definitely be called a narcissist.
Still, Ryuji wondered where Okoro learned that “fluffy = soft,” but he realized that at least his family must be entering his room without permission when he is away.
Since Ryuji needs his family to prepare Okoro's meals when he cannot return home within 10 hours, he does not lock his room. However, since he had never had such an occasion since protecting Okoro, there was no reason for his family to enter the room.
(Man, there's no privacy at all like this...)
Ryuji cursed lightly in his heart.

Unaware of any of that, Okoro was in a good mood, leaning out of Ryuji's hand and bringing his nose close to the hydrangea. His unexpectedly long body looked like it was about to spill out of Ryuji's palm. Okoro spread his small hind legs as wide as they would go, bracing himself so he wouldn't fall. Ryuji also hurriedly wedged the umbrella between his neck and right shoulder, supporting Okoro with both hands.
And then, Ryuji brought Okoro close to the small petals of a morning glory. Okoro was cautiously checking the petals that his nose tip had finally reached. It was cute how he was tapping the petals with his long nose tip. A large raindrop that had been on the petal slowly slid off and disappeared into the soil.

After touching the petals with his nose for a while, Okoro seemed satisfied and muttered, “My tummy is empty.”
“That's right, I have to look for earthworms.”
“Want to eat earthworms.”
Ryuji thought to himself while stroking Okoro's head.
Even if we couldn't see the same scenery, we were able to enjoy that time together. I thought that was enough to have spent a good time.
“Let's go see other flowers again.”
“Flowers, see with Ryuji!”
It seemed Okoro liked the hydrangea very much, and Ryuji's heart felt warm. It was as if he was enjoying the beauty of the hydrangea that I felt together, and I was happy.
(Next time, I'll look for flowers with a good scent so Okoro can enjoy flower viewing even more.)
Thinking that, Ryuji carefully put Okoro in his pocket and headed to the garden to look for earthworms. From inside the pocket, Okoro's small voice, filled with joy and expectation, could be heard saying, “Earthworms, earthworms.”

<The End>

Thank you for reading.
Please feel free to check out the mole trivia as well.