Chapter 44: This is a Composed Crow
Early the next morning.
Chi Feichi went out for his morning exercise as usual.
The sky had just brightened, and Beika Park was nearly empty.
To his ears, the voices of plants and animals sometimes sounded no different from humans. In crowded, noisy environments, it was difficult to distinguish whether plants or animals were speaking.
The early morning was very quiet, with no human voices interfering, making other sounds clearer.
Plants in the city rarely spoke. Among animals, quite a few cats and dogs could be heard speaking, but only occasionally a sentence or two.
In terms of strangeness, they were far less remarkable than the plants and animals in the forest near the old castle.
Back then, he trained in the forest almost every day and encountered many interesting animals.
There was a vine of unknown age; although unfamiliar with humans, it knew the local animals and plants like the back of its hand... or tendril.
A fox darted past from afar, calling out, 'What was that thing just now? A big monkey?'
Among a group of squirrels that loved to play fight in the trees, two often watched and discussed curiously, occasionally showing affection.
And the smallest creature whose voice he could currently hear was probably an ant.
Unfortunately, he only heard a nearby voice say, 'Why did the sky turn dark?' and then... there was no 'then'.
Afterward, he only found the bodies of five ants under his foot, with no way of knowing which one had spoken...
He didn't plan to gather all the speaking plants and animals around him; one or two companions were enough. It was better to let the rest live freely; perhaps they could provide useful information someday.
"Hello, diligent human!" A crow passed overhead, seemingly not expecting a response, flying quite nonchalantly towards a tree.
Tokyo had many crows, often appearing in flocks; solitary ones were rare.
Chi Feichi found it novel but only spared it a glance, his pace unwavering as he continued running. "Hello to you too, diligent crow."
Rustle!
A sound came from behind.
The crow crashed into the tree branches, looked up at the fluttering leaves, then turned to look at Chi Feichi's retreating back, its scarlet eyes filled with confusion.
Coincidence?
Hissashi slithered on the grass beside the path, accompanying Chi Feichi on his daily morning exercise. Seeing this, it burst out laughing. "Silly bird!"
The crow saw Hissashi, tilted its head. The language barrier between species meant it didn't understand Hissashi's taunt. Its eyes rolled, and it turned back, flying towards Chi Feichi, circling above his head. "Poor human, you're about to have terrible luck. Listen to me, leave this place quickly."
This was a rather intelligent crow, currently bored...
Chi Feichi continued jogging slowly on the path. "Is there any danger nearby?"
"You can really understand me?" The crow's voice sharpened. It flapped its wings and flew away like the wind. "What kind of monster? Scared this bird to death!"
Chi Feichi stopped speechlessly, turning to look.
The crow had already flown far away, shouting without looking back, "There's a snake following you, run!"
Hissashi caught up, bursting into laughter again, rolling on the grass. "Hahahaha... Master, that crow just now got scared by you and crashed into the branches, it's hilarious! So silly! Hahaha... You didn't see it, the way it turned to look at your back was just too funny..."
Chi Feichi turned his head and saw Hissashi frantically twisting itself into various strange poses, looking as if it were poisoned. He fell silent.
"Hahahahahaha hic..." Hissashi laughed until it couldn't breathe properly, struggled blankly for a moment, looked down at the clump of grass roots and green vines it had tangled itself in, then looked up at Chi Feichi. "Master..."
Chi Feichi sighed, squatted down, and helped pull away the pile of grass roots and vines. Once Hissashi had untangled its knotted body, he picked it up and placed it back into the hood of his jacket. "The pot shouldn't call the kettle black."
As a snake, managing to get itself tangled up so badly it couldn't get free was quite something...
...
After returning home from his morning exercise, Chi Feichi received a call from Muramatsu Akio, wanting to discuss the movie theater investment.
He made a call to Oyama Mi, asking him to arrange a suitable person to accompany him.
The investment talks went quickly, almost without delay. One party proposed, the other agreed, and the investment amount and shareholding percentage were quickly determined.
Chi Feichi took 60% of the shares, making him the real decision-maker, but he didn't want to waste time on the movie theater.
Muramatsu Akio would continue as the theater manager, retaining management rights, while Oyama Mi would recruit suitable personnel to handle the specific operations.
The old man's personality wasn't really suited for business, and he was getting older with limited energy, so he readily agreed.
Currently, the theater needed renovations and hardware upgrades. Because it was uncertain when it could reopen, Chi Feichi postponed the promotional arrangements.
Everything went smoothly, but after leaving, Chi Feichi noticed he seemed to be targeted by crows...
Exiting the movie theater, on the roof of a small two-story building not far away, stood a full row of crows.
When he looked over, he immediately recognized the red-eyed crow from the morning. This fellow stood in the standard center position, even using its wing to knock a comrade trying to get closer off the wall. "Don't fidget, watch properly!"
When Oyama Mi drove him back, that crow called out again with considerable authority, "My loyal subordinates, follow!"
Then, more than twenty crows immediately took flight, following the car all the way.
Not long after Chi Feichi returned home, another large row of crows landed on his balcony.
"Alright, this is the right house," the red-eyed crow nodded after spotting Chi Feichi through the window, directing the lineup. "You, stand properly. You, you're too big, go over there, don't block the other birds. How many times have I told you all, have some discipline, it looks more imposing!"
Chi Feichi was steaming the soup dumplings he bought in the morning. Just as he stepped onto the balcony to check, the red-eyed crow led the flock flapping into the air again, circling far above.
Hissashi poked its head out from Chi Feichi's collar. "Master, what's up with those crows?"
"Brought by the crow we met this morning, the red-eyed one. It seems to be the leader of that flock." Seeing the crow showed no intention of talking, Chi Feichi turned back into the living room.
Hissashi couldn't help but chuckle again, but remembering its own embarrassment from the morning, the laughter died halfway. "Master, you have to believe me, this morning I just..."
Chi Feichi: "Don't say it, I believe you."
Hissashi: "..."
The flock of crows landed on the balcony again.
The other crows had simply been brought along. After cawing twice, they started playing with each other or preening their feathers, no different from other birds.
However, the red-eyed crow, after glancing at Hissashi, kept staring at Chi Feichi with a peculiar gaze, like looking at some rare animal, or perhaps contemplating something.
Chi Feichi paid it no mind. During his time in the mental hospital, he'd discovered that birds, as creatures, enjoyed frantically testing the limits of courting death. Crows were notoriously the gangsters of the bird world. This crow merely leading a flock to observe was so composed and measured, it made him somewhat doubt its genetic purity...
He sent a text message to Haibara Ai, confirming Ayumi had taken a sick day from school due to a cold, then called Ayumi's mother.
Sending the group of kids home last night had the benefit of making his face familiar to the parents.
The call connected.
"Hello, may I ask who this is?"
"This is Chi Feichi. I heard Ayumi took a sick day. Is she alright?"
"Oh, it's Mr. Chi. Ayumi's fever broke this morning, but her throat is so sore from coughing she can barely speak. So I asked the school for leave and let her rest at home," Ayumi's mother hesitated. She was well aware Chi Feichi had stayed at Aoyama Fourth Hospital, and last night she'd heard him say he wasn't discharged as fully recovered. However, considering they'd already had contact and her child showed no abnormalities, she continued, "I'm not home right now, it'll take about two hours to get back. If you have time, could I trouble you to go check on Ayumi? I heard there was a robbery and murder in Beika Town the day before yesterday, I'm a little worried."
"I don't have anything pressing. I can go over right now."
"Thank you so much then. The access code for the first floor is..."
After hanging up, Chi Feichi went to the kitchen, packed the steamed soup dumplings, and left with Hissashi.
Their apartment buildings were close, only about a ten-minute walk apart.
Driving would take roughly the same amount of time, including getting in and out of the underground parking.
Chi Feichi walked directly. Along the way, the flock of crows flew high in the sky, following from a distance.
Fortunately, they kept their distance. Passersby only thought it was crows flying past, glancing casually without paying much mind, never imagining the flock was following a specific person.
After Chi Feichi entered the apartment building, the flock of crows didn't follow inside. Under the red-eyed crow's command, they dispersed, with one crow watching the windows of every floor or two.
A moment later, a crow flew over, cawed twice, and led the way to the balcony of one apartment.
"He went up so fast? The timing isn't right..." The red-eyed crow followed and saw it was a child's room. A man wearing a helmet was quietly approaching a wardrobe. Clearly not the person it intended to follow, it raised its wing somewhat annoyed. "My foolish..."
Inside the room, the man crept forward, suddenly yanked open the wardrobe, and found only a piece of clothing caught, with its corner sticking out. He paused, startled, then turned and left the room.
The red-eyed crow had intended to smack its subordinate with a wing, but seeing this, its eyes became somewhat glued to the scene, curiously watching the situation behind the window, its raised wing forgotten.
Two crows watched the excitement from the windowsill, observing a little girl crawl out from under the bed in the room, run over to adjust an alarm clock, press a button on top of it, take out a small object, fiddle with it while looking down, and quickly hide inside the wardrobe.
The red-eyed crow realized it couldn't hear the situation inside clearly, tilted its head, pressing close against the window.
The crow next to it turned its head, saw this, and copied it, also pressing against the glass.
Inside the room, after the alarm clock played a melodious tune for a while, it began announcing the time.
Other children's voices also came from inside the wardrobe.
"Is that Ayumi?"
"It's the Masked Rider alarm clock!"
"That's right, it's the Masked Rider alarm clock, the one we asked Dr. Agasa to help everyone buy before..."
"Just press the button on its head, and it will automatically announce the date and time."
A thoughtful glint flashed in the red-eyed crow's eyes.
It seems this little girl is hiding from that man. That man is probably what humans call a burglar. Is this little girl using this method to call for help?
That small device is interesting. A human communication tool?
Such small ones are rare. It should be useful. Wait for the right moment, then snatch... no, no, when crows do it, can that be called snatching?
Author's Note: Holidays are here, can't sign the contract yet, and now I don't know if the return date will be postponed... Also, I've created a group, number: 75666—0924, welcome to join and chat!
End of Chapter