Disclaimer: All credit goes to the author of Sengoku Strays, Shingo Nanami, and the writer of these drabbles フクロウ, whom I've gotten permission to translate and upload her stories on this website. Here's chapter two, enjoy!
野良猫を落とす10の方法 I
10 Ways To Drop A Stray Cat I
Part Two
Enter the coins, push the button…
Clank!
A cold canned juice dropped from the vending machine.
Kasane opened the can and gulped down its contents. As she drank, she began to wander about the hospital.
"Hey, did you know that there's a new patient in that room… you know, room 203?"
"You're joking! Seriously~!?"
Coincidently passing by a pair of chatting nurses, Kasane halted and unwittingly eavesdropped on their conversation. Why would those nurses talk about her room? Making sure she wouldn't be seen, she carefully distanced herself.
"They appear in that room you know, and it's not just a rumor."
EHHHHHH!?
Kasane paled and involuntarily shuddered. 'They appear', she said. What did she mean by that!?
"Certainly not that, certainly not that!" Kasane tried concentrating on her thoughts, but still, unfortunately, managed to overhear the nurses' next words.
"They say that late at night something presses the nurse call button when no one is there. And I heard from several patients that they saw a strange woman entering that room~"
"That so creepy…! I would never want to be admitted in there…"
"Because everyone feels that way we never use that room right~…? Though we have no choice to use it now since all of the rooms are now all occupied…"
"You better not tell that girl about this! You better not scary her, okay?"
"I already know that~"
B-but I heard it all alreadyyyyyyyyyy!
Kasane sprinted far away from the nurses, deeply regretting her decision to eavesdrop on the entire conversation.
(T-tell me it's all a huge liiieee…!)
Gasping for breath, Kasane collapsed in the corridor. After hearing that, how could she return back to that room? There's no way she could do it.
If there was another person with her, that'll be totally fine but all by herself…!?
W-what should she do? Change her room? But that's probably impossible request to fulfill. They did say all the other rooms were occupied after all…
"I… I wanna go home…!" Kasane fervidly wished. She wished to go home right now. She wanted to see her sibling's again. She wanted to peacefully sleep in her own bed…!
"…What are you doing?"
"Hiii!"
Kasane shrieked when she heard the voice suddenly call out to her.
"T-tono-, sama…"
"Ha? Tono-sama?"
"Eh, eeeeeeeeeeehh! It's nothing!"
Realizing she called him his secret nickname, Kasane trembled and frantically clamped her mouth shut. In return, Nobunaga narrowed his eyes and glared down at the girl.
"What're you doing out of your room."
"J-just went… to buy juice…"
"And you found it necessary to crouch on the ground and block this entire area all for yourself?"
"I-I'm so sorry! I'll get out of the way!"
Kasane apologized and quickly moved out of his way, but Nobunaga continued to glare at her dubiously.
"U-um, Doctor Oda."
"What."
"That… room… is possible to change… Never mind, I'm sorry, stop glaring at meeee!"
Unable to endure Nobunaga's condemning gaze, Kasane repeatedly apologized. Nobunaga sighed with mild disbelief and turned towards her again.
"You're disgruntled about something."
"…Um, isn't it scary…?"
"Scary?"
Nobunaga created a confused expression at her words.
"B-because…! R-right now is okay! There's plenty of patients and nurse and it's all bright and all! B-but when night comes, it'll be all dark and stuff and all the lights will be off and I have to sleep all alone in that room…! I-isn't that terrifying…!?"
"…"
"R-right now you thought I was an idiot! I swear you just laughed and thought I was a complete idiot!" Kasane shrieked when Nobunaga jeeringly snorted. Nobunaga immediately covered his ears, not at all interested in listening to her noisy cries.
"You're not even a tiny brat… Aren't you a high school student? For you to be scared at this age…"
"Uuu…"
Kasane feebly held her tongue when Nobunaga's words critically attacked Kasane's weak spot. Kasane already knew well enough that it was shameful to be scared of ghosts and demons at this age, therefore she couldn't object to his point.
"I… I'm just scared of scary things!"
"I see, then stay scared. I need to go over there, so get out of my way."
Pitifully casted aside, Kasane sent reproachful glares to his retreating form. He took no notice of her stares and continued to go about his business.
"Grandpa… isn't coming huh…"
She initially thought about calling her grandfather to accompany her for the night, but there's absolutely no way her strict guardian would listen to her silly request. If he were to stay over in the hospital with her, that'll mean he'll have to leave her little brothers, who are currently in elementary school, all alone at home. There's no way they can leave the twins home all alone like that.
"What should I do~…"
Bowing her head, Kasane strolled out into the hospital's courtyard. Aimlessly wandering about, Kasane passed by many patients who were either rehabilitating or walking about for a breath of fresh air. Still deep in thought, she took a seat at one of benches in the garden and then listlessly stared into the sky until she felt an unknown presence watching her.
"….Eh?" On one of the low branches of a nearby tree sat a bird who stared back at the speechless girl.
No, it's not one of those 'common' birds.
If it was a sparrow or a pigeon or a crow, she wouldn't have this sort of reaction. Nope, this bird was definitely not any of the species Kasane is used to seeing in her everyday life.
"…Eh, a hawk?"
Kasane stared at the creature with bewilderment. The only hawks she've seen were in television shows and books.
"…Eh, wait. Since when did hawks started living in this area…?"
If memory served her right, weren't hawks were creatures that tend to hang out in the mountains than in the city?
Instead of marveling at the sight of a rare creature, Kasane continued to doubt this inconceivable event.
Before her very own eyes was a gallant hawk with sharp, keen eyes and a cross-like scar on its chest. As it started to preen its feathers, Kasane, still bewildered by the sight, carefully approached the hawk.
"Eh, um, nice to meet you! I am Kusanagi Kasane!"
"…"
The hawk stopped preening and gazed back as if it was attentively evaluating her. For a second, the hawk's expression reminded Kasane of a certain tyrannical lord.
"…I-is it alright if I touch… you?" Kasane asked the hawk, in response it averted its eyes. She gingerly reached out toward the bird, it made no inclination of running away so she closed in until her fingers touched its feathers. Ever so slowly, Kasane stroked the hawk.
"It's actually pretty fluffy. Feels really nice to touch too…"
It first felt smooth to touch but the texture of the feathers were very soft.
Unlike it's initial, unfriendly entrance, the hawk sat perfectly still and closed its eyes, seemingly content toward her strokes.
"S-so cute…"
Discovering the sudden cuteness of the creature, Kasane's heart welled up with warmth. She even wondered if she could keep him.
"… But who's the owner… Where did it come from…" Kasane murmured as she continued stroking the hawk. The hawk took one look at Kasane before taking an abrupt leap onto her shoulder. Overwhelmed by the adorableness of the hawk's actions, Kasane fought the urge to hug the bird with all her might.
"Ara? Isn't that Tenrou?"
Kasane turned her gaze towards to voice, only to find herself surrounded by many nurses, who stationed themselves around her.
"U-um, this hawk, you know this hawk!?"
"Well of course we all do…"
"Right…?"
The nurses all simultaneously nodded and chimed in.
"But this is the first time I've seen Tenrou close to someone other than Doctor Oda."
"He would never come close to us."
"Heh? Doctor Oda?" Kasane inquired.
"That's Doctor Oda's pet. The doctor usually just lets it loose, and it follows Doctor Oda to the hospital here. Isn't it smart?"
"Le- let loose…"
It's certainly true that the hawk is very clever, but is it actually okay to let it loose like this? She thought that finding a hawk in this place would cause a big uproar, however, based on the nurses' reactions, this seemed to be a normal occurrence for them.
"Doctor Oda would always feed him at this spot."
"Heh, heh~… I see…"
"But when we get close, he always flies off right~?" A young nurse grumbled with disappointment.
"Um… If I remember correctly you're Kusanagi-san, the new patient that was admitted here today right? …Um, so how did you do it!? How did you manage to tame Tenrou?"
"Eh!? H-how…"
As one of the young nurses bombarded Kasane with questions, the latter involuntarily recoiled back.
"I also want to get along with Tenrou but he never gets close to me…"
"The one you want to get close to is Doctor Oda, isn't it? It's because you have an unpleasant motive, he never gets along with you."
"As if you're any better! I already know that you guys also want to use Tenrou to get closer to Doctor Oda!" And just like that, the nurses forgotten all about Kasane and began to quarrel viciously amongst themselves.
"Doctor Oda… is pretty popular."
Well it makes sense.
His personality is a bit troublesome, but he is quite handsome. It's quite obvious that he would be popular. To Kasane, he was the type of person whom she would rarely interact with.
"Even so, he has a hawk as a pet… That's amazing…"
Kasane once more stroked Tenrou, who comfortably snuggled against her.
But with a sudden jerk of his head and a quick flap of his wings, he took off from her shoulder and flew off.
"Uwa!" Kasane quietly yelped, her eyes followed Tenrou's whereabouts.
"Doctor Oda!"
Identifying the man, the nurses called out his name. Nobunaga steadily stared at the hawk that situated itself on his arm.
"Uwa…" Kasane said unpleasantly.
"It's rather unusual of him to get close to strangers," he caressed Tenrou and offered him a small piece of beef. He turned his gaze back at Kasane, looking rather intrigued by her.
"What did you do to him."
"I didn't do anything!"
"You're lying. He would never let anyone, but me, touch him."
She wondered where in the world did he get all that confidence from. She stood her ground and puffed her cheeks.
"I didn't do much… He just let me touch him! Please don't wrongly accuse others so easily!"
"…"
Nobunaga shifted his attention to Tenrou, his gaze asked for conformation to Kasane's words. However, Tenrou feigned innocence and busied himself with his meal.
"Oh, Kasane! Are you okay~!?"
"Kasane-san, how are you feeling?"
Hearing the familiar voices coming from the hospital building, Kasane turned around.
"Sayo-san! Hachiya-senpai!"
Standing there were two young girls who waved back at her. One looked like she was strong-minded individual while the other looked very gentle. They were Kasane's friends from school.
"You came to see me!"
Kasane happily rushed over to her two friends where they began to merrily chatted amongst themselves until one of the passing nurses gently reprimanded them for disturbing other patients.
"My room is over here! Let's go!" Kasane eagerly guided her guests through the hallway. The two girls laughed and excitedly followed after her, leaving the forgotten doctor and nurses behind. As they came to their senses, the nurse all returned back to work.
Nobunaga's eyes narrowed as his gaze followed Kasane's retreating form.
TBC
Whew, this was a long chapter to translate! Again I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and remember to check out フクロウ's website and thank her for all her hard work!