When a High School Sophomore Linked with a Night Heron, the World Moved by 1mm [Episode 17] The Starry Heron Was Watching

My father often listens to old rock music, so I've been hearing it since I was little and learned it naturally.

Even now, when Monday comes around, I often find myself humming The Boomtown Rats' "I Don't Like Mondays." I think the Japanese title was "Aishu no Monday" (Melancholy Monday).

Even when I listened to the English lyrics, I didn't really understand the meaning, and I thought it was a song about how "Monday mornings after Sunday ends are sluggish."

Recently, I learned that it was a song written under the influence of an incident where a 16-year-old girl opened fire. When asked for the reason behind her violent act, the girl reportedly muttered, "I don't like Mondays."

I have no way of knowing her true intentions, but I don't like Mondays either.

While I was thinking about such things with the melody playing in my head, the chime signaling the end of the second-period class rang.

"Natsuki! Old Man Kusano is acting strange."

As soon as the break started, Goicchi linked into my brain.

"What's wrong? It's been a while since you linked, and you sound strangely flustered."

Since Goicchi frequently flies to the Night Heron Great Shrine, he has developed a sense of familiarity with the landlord, Goro Kusano, and started calling him "Old Man Kusano."

"I peeked in when I went to the Night Heron Great Shrine this morning, and Old Man Kusano was feeling down. I wonder if he's sick or something."

"You mean he doesn't have his usual energy? He hasn't collapsed or anything, right?"

I was worried too, so I checked.

"Yeah, he was walking normally, so I don't think he's going to die yet."

"Geez, don't say such ominous things! Just in case, I'll go check on him after school."

"Let me know when you do, because I'll go too."

It seems I can't afford to be laid-back about "sluggish Mondays" anymore.

Suspicious Movements

During lunch break, I told Kimie about the report from Goicchi.

"I see. I'm worried, but I have a tennis match coming up soon, so I don't think I can get away."

Unlike me, who is in the 'go-home club,' Kimie is an ace of the tennis team, so she has to think about the team as well.

"I'll be fine on my own. I'm just going to check on how Kusano-san is doing. Goicchi said he'd come along too."

"Sorry. I'm counting on you."

After finishing all my classes at 3:40, I took a taxi instead of walking home as I usually do. This was so I could get home first and then head to Kusano-san's house by bicycle.

"Goicchi, where are you now?"

I attempted a mental link while pedaling my bicycle.

"I've already arrived. I'm resting my wings on the roof of the Night Heron Great Shrine right now."

"How is Kusano-san doing?"

"Ah, she's walking around normally. But she still doesn't seem to have much energy."

"Got it. I'll be there soon."

It felt cool and pleasant to ride my bike in the autumn breeze, but eventually, I started to sweat slightly. I had pedaled so fast that I was out of breath by the time I reached Kusano-san's house.

"Hello."

The entrance to Kusano-san's house has a large sliding door, which is often left open. I impulsively rushed inside.

"Oh, you're that girl who came the other day."

She responded in a friendly manner, but just as Goicchi said, she seemed somewhat lacking in energy.

"I felt like visiting the Night Heron Great Shrine again... May I come in for a moment?"

"Sure. Why don't you stay for some tea?"

I was relieved that it didn't seem to be a sudden illness, but I casually asked if she was feeling unwell in any way.

"Kusano-san, you don't seem as energetic as when I met you on Saturday..."

"You can tell? A lot has happened since then. It's been really tough."

Since Ms. Kusano lives alone, she must have been bottling everything up with no one to listen to her. She began to recount the events in a rush.

She said there had been complaints about her letting the children who gathered at the Black-crowned Night Heron Shrine play at her house and serving them snacks.

In the past, children used to play with neighbors and receive treats. In recent years, however, incidents involving suspicious individuals have increased, and concerns over allergies and food poisoning have made such interactions difficult.

Having seen the children playing happily at Ms. Kusano's house myself, I felt helpless when I thought about how she must be feeling.

Furthermore, she said that not only had the district administrator relayed the complaints to her directly, but she had also been involved in a rear-end collision while driving home.

It seemed she had been completely disheartened by being struck by this double misfortune.

"A rear-end collision? Were you injured?"

When I asked out of concern, she explained that she had rear-ended the other car. It seems she was the one at fault for the collision.

"That's the thing. The other driver was a woman, and she said she was in a hurry and would contact me later, but I haven't heard anything since."

"Did you report it to the police?"

"No, she said she would contact me again so we could have the police conduct an on-site investigation, but..."

"That's a bit concerning."

I don't even have a moped license, let alone a driver's license, but I wondered if it was normal for a victim of a rear-end collision to go silent. I had a bad feeling about it.

The juvenile night heron was watching

Goitchi had been listening intently to the exchange between Ms. Kusano and me from the entryway.

"Natsuki. Actually, it seems my little sister, Hoshiko, saw it."

"Hoshiko? You have a little sister, Goitchi?"

I was suddenly hit with so much information that I couldn't process it all.

"Yeah, her name is Hoshiko. She's a cute little sister."

"So it's not something like Goiko, then."

For some reason, the name caught my attention.

According to Goi-cchi, because they have white spots on their dark brown feathers while young, they are called Hoshigoi (Star Herons) by comparing them to stars.

"Well, humans are the ones who call them both Black-crowned Night Herons and Star Herons, anyway."

"Then, is your younger sister Hoshiko now, but she'll become Goiko when she grows up?"

"That would be confusing, so she'll probably stay Hoshiko. I don't know, though."

I couldn't spend all my time on my younger sister's name. I regained my composure and continued.

"So, what did Hoshiko-chan see?"

"She saw the moment Mr. Kusano rear-ended the car. It seems Hoshiko also came to the Black-crowned Night Heron Shrine from time to time, and she happened to witness it on her way there."

"And? You say 'and,' so there must be something more! You're so frustrating!"

It seems that after spending so much time with us humans, Goi-cchi has picked up the habit of not getting to the point.

"It was intentional. The car in front stopped suddenly on purpose so that Mr. Kusano would hit it."

"How does Hoshiko-chan know that much?"

"Hoshiko knows old man Kusano, too. She saw his car on the way and decided to follow it while flying toward the Black-crowned Night Heron Shrine..."
"Then, the car in front suddenly stopped, and just as she felt that was unnatural, old man Kusano rear-ended it, which apparently startled her."

I felt my heart pounding, sensing that my bad premonition was about to come true.

"Mr. Kusano, do you know the contact information of the person you rear-ended?"

"Ah, I have their business card. Let's see, where did I put it..."

Just as Mr. Kusano was digging into his pants pocket to look for it...

"Trrr-trrr-trrr"

The ringtone of a mobile phone echoed through the large dirt floor.

To be continued in [Episode 18]

You can find all episodes of "When a High School Sophomore Linked with a Black-crowned Night Heron, the World Moved by 1mm" in this magazine.

#BlackcrownedNightHeron #Goi-cchi #JuvenileHeron #Novel #IDontLikeMonday

Image: "photoAC 'Photo material: Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron (Hoshigoi) Author: Daruma-chan'"