#9 Kudos

Talking birds are separated into two groups, parrots and songbirds. They can imitate and mimic the spoken language of humans, especially those whose are taught by their owners. Out of the two, parrot is a strong talker but their abilities depend on the training they receive. That was what she remembered.

"He's really smart, Nagare-san, and also very loyal towards you. Though, I have to admit I have never met a parrot like Kotosaka."

"Shinatsu! Why?! Why?!"

The little green opened his beak and asked a question. Instead of repeating my speech, he talked his own words.

Unlike humans, parrots don't have vocal chords but instead, they use muscles in their throat to direct airflow and imitate the sounds they hear. Parrots simply repeat what their owners say. A raven can even imitate human speech better. Though, this parrot called Kotosaka may be equal to a raven's level.

"What do you mean, Shinatsu?"

While petting Kotosaka who somehow landed on her shoulder, even though the parrot preferred Yukari-san's shoulder more, she fed him a small little piece of chicken.

"Unlike humans, parrots imitate human speech by mimicry through hearing sounds they hear but, to understand human speech and speak their own thoughts isn't like that. Mimicry and genuine are opposite."

Once, the Green King had said this to her. Humans are all animals. Follow their instincts and be free-spirited. She didn't know whether that was an insult or compliment to humanity.

"This is the first time I've seen a parrot like Kotosaka. He does mimic human speech but, he can also deliver his own message to people without anyone tells him. A new discovery."

"I agree. That is how a human supposed to be. Instead of feeling pressured to follow what other people say, they can just trust their intuition. There is no need for reasoning."

"Shinatsu! Nagare! What're you talking about?!"

My attention shifted back to the parrot who seemed to be unsatisfied because he still hasn't got his answer.

Humans are animals. Technically, that statement isn't exactly incorrect. Humans share a common ancestor with some primates, such as apes or monkeys. Indeed, humans and animals share a lot of similarities in term of their way to live, even if their methods are contrary to each other.

A grin beamed on my lips as I kept petting Kotosaka's head. I had zero intention to answer his question though.


Their target, the Silver King Adolf K. Weissman had descended to the ground to save his two clansmen. Their mission did indeed fail but strategically, they succeeded. Ambushing Yatogami Kuroh and Ameno Miyabi was pretext. They were baits to lure him out.

"And you used my Kuroh as bait. You Kings can be cruel."

"Nagare-san's missions always have a real motive after all."

Strangely, they actually celebrated after that for Silver King's return. However, the next morning, they found Nagare's surrogate father, Tenkei, overflowed with very negative aura.

"N-No way, is that…"

"Kotosaka-chan?!"

"Seriously?"

Ever since the meeting with these people on day one, it was given that Shinatsu's once organized (not exactly) life would be filled with astonishment and eccentricity. She even made a small mental list of the events that occurred in this secret base.

The second most chagrin event in her life, which used to be her first, was when Nagare caught a cold which caused his power to get out of control and everything underwent a weird transformation. All of them obviously also got affected by his power and (their appearance) transformed, saved for her and Sukuna who instead suffered from a dynamic Nagare after the cold medicine he took got transformed into a weird drug.

It was a hectic day because two of them had to deal with an overly-ostentatious King, a hangover old man and a dreadlock-haired narcissist (and last but not least, a nightingale). Uncharacteristically, Shinatsu actually lost her steady composure on that day because the novel she was reading became a pile of kraft papers.

The first, the one replaced her second, was this.

A dish of Kara-age which looked delicious, but it might not be a healthy breakfast. No, the main point wasn't Kara-age.

"N-No way, is that…"

"Kotosaka-chan?!"

"Seriously?"

And now, Shinatsu did seem a little bewildered. Kotosaka wasn't here and because of this Kara-age dish, Tenkei's expression was telling them the Kara-age was Kotosaka.

Is it even possible for such a neat-looking Kara-age to be Kotosaka?!

"What the hell happened?" Sukuna, who was quick to recover, asked with a doubtful expression.

"I don't know. Last night, I got drunk so I don't remember but, vaguely…"

While explaining, Tenkei held his head by his hand with a look which was a mix of guilty and depression. Though, Yukari, Sukuna and her had a clear picture now.

"Kotosaka! I'll make you into Kara-age!"

Apparently, he got drunk last night so he couldn't remember what happened because of hangover. The only piece of memory was that sentence which leaded to such conclusion.

The whole story resulted the three Jungle clansmen unable to say anything but remained silence. They didn't know where should they start to retort.

At the same time, the three of them also got to know about Kotosaka's past. How the parrot met Nagare and Tenkei. How the parrot became Nagare's clasman. Unfortunately-

"And now he got turned into this Kara-age." The silver-haired immediately ruined the mood and it made Tenkei depress even more.

"Stop it, Sukuna-chan." Yukari warned the younger one to watch his words.

"And Iwa-san, can't you stop whining please." The girl comforted Tenkei with a deadpan face, though she actually felt this flow was becoming a little bit hysterical.

Most importantly, Shinatsu still couldn't accept the whole story was real. Not because she doubted Tenkei lie but, his explanation was full of holes. She could even imagine Sherlock Holmes would be rolling on the floor laughing if the guy heard this imbecile story.

"Wait a minute, Iwa-san. Once again, don't make a rush conclusion yet."

While having a mantra of blaming himself, her aqua blue eyes gave him a piercing gaze to get his attention. She wasn't amuse at listening to a foolish plot that had such ridiculous idea.

"If you really did kill Kotosaka into that Kara-age then why there isn't any trace of blood here." She pointed her finger directly to the table where the Kara-age dish and Kotosaka's feathers were.

"Blood?" Tenkei tilted his head.

Hearing her statement, the purple-haired man realized what she was trying to say.

"Now that you mention it, if Iwa-san really did kill Kotosaka-chan then there should be at least blood remained here." He tapped his finger at his cheek and observed the whole room. Indeed, there was no blood. Since the old man wasn't sober last night so he could forget to clean up the mess, but there was none.

"Moreover-" Shinatsu picked up the Kara-age dish. "This Kara-age looks too fresh and appetizing to be parrot's meat."

"S-Shinatsu." A trace of tears formed on his eyes. He was touched that the girl actually believed that Kotosaka was still alived.

"T-Then if that Kara-age isn't Kotosaka then I'm sure he's lazing around somewhere. Let's go look for him, Shiantsu, Yukari!" The silver head stood up with a nervous smile. Similar to them, he didn't want to believe such thing could happen.

"Let's go look for him."

"No disagreement."

"You three~"

Tenkei was moved to tears even more now. For the first time, he felt fortunate these three kids actually cared for him once. If he did indeed kill Kotosaka, he didn't know how to explain to Nagare.

Or, that was what he thought.

"The first clansman has stay by his king's side till the end."

The three clansmen who went outside to find Kotosaka found themselves back to the secret base and watched a video. A video which recorded the whole incident from last night by Nagare.

FIN

"What a beautiful story."

The surrogate father of the Green King felt another sense of déjà vu which caused him to move into tears. Him except for the other four.

Nagare and Kotosaka just watched without any changes on their face. Yukari was fixing his nail. Sukuna simply gasped after the video ended. Shinatsu face palmed slightly on her face at how ridiculous the truth was.

"SO LAME! WE COMPLETELY WASTED OUR TIME WORRYING!"

That was how fridge earned continuous kicks from Sukuna out of anger.

They were worried for Tenkei and Kotosaka, and it turned out the Kara-age was just a normal Kara-age! The old man and stupid parrot only got into an argument last night because that old man didn't allow the parrot to eat chicken. And because he was drunk so he basically forgot!

They really did waste their time for many hours of searching and worrying. The brown-haired girl made a mental note to band him from drinking alcohol for one week.

"So lame." She repeated the same word Sukuna said and gripped the red hair tie on her hair out of annoyance.


It is 31st December and in my country, tomorrow is New Year 2017 so I wanted to upload on last day of this year. This chapter focuses on Kotosaka. I also try to expand Nagare's theory that "Humans are animals" that he said to Munakata in Episode 7 of K: Return of Kings. I was intrigued by his theory because he believes that humans should throw away reason which is a limiter that prevents them use their strength to maximum.

it is from Chapter 3 of K: Dream of Green. It is the funniest chapter of the manga so I want to use it. I also briefly mention the Drama CD of Jungle, Noisy Cold. For readers who haven't listen to this Drama CD, I recommend this Drama CD because every time I listen to it, I laugh. Anyway, hope all the readers love this chapter.