It's still quite early in the morning, as Mirai takes Makoto with her in her own park vehicle, reminiscent of a small, blue SUV. As Mirai had stated, they were heading to the forest area, where they would be meeting some of these animal girls.
"Professor Kako is waiting for us already; she's been up all night studying this phenomenon." Mirai informs Makoto as she drives them along a long, single-lane road heading up closer to where the mountains are.
"Professor Kako?" Makoto asks with his head tilted to the side slightly.
"Right, the presentation was interrupted before I could introduce her yesterday. Professor Kako is a dear friend of mine, and a very respected colleague. She's dedicated her life to biology and conservation. I'm sure she would like to meet someone as passionate about animals as you." Mirai says with a calming smile.
"Ah, I would like that! It's so amazing to meet people who care so much about animals." Makoto smiles eagerly, making sure that he has all of his expedition gear in his backpack.
"Here we are, the forest area. Isn't this exciting, Makoto? We're the first to get a glimpse of this amazing phenomenon! Our precious animals have become even cuter than before!" Mirai starts to drool, making Makoto sweat a little.
Mirai and Makoto step out of the SUV, and head to a small shade where a number of researchers stand, carefully examining a few animal girls and making notes. Among them, the girl that Makoto had seen before, in the auditorium. She appears to be studying a slightly different-looking animal girl. She appears to be a cat-eared animal girl. Her eyes don't seem to sparkle the way the other girls' do, making Makoto wonder as Mirai and him approach the researchers.
"Kako, good morning! I hope you managed to get some rest in between your research." Mirai says with a slight look of concern, noticing quite a few energy drinks and coffee cups at her makeshift desk.
"Hm? Mirai, you know that there's a lot of work to do…" Kako replies, sighing as she sets her clipboard down a moment and looks over at Mirai.
"Still, you can't neglect your own health..! That being said, I've brought you some more help. This is Makoto, a new caretaker who has some experience already with an animal girl of his own." Mirai says with a light giggle, stepping aside for Makoto to approach as well.
"U-Um.. Hello! Mirai told me about you on the ride here. I hope that I can be of service!" Makoto says with a polite bow, seeming a bit rushed out of nervousness.
"Ah, you.. I saw you in the auditorium yesterday. Your name tag was upside-down." Kako speaks with a rather unmoving demeanor, returning her attention to her clipboard. "There are a lot of friends that still need to be found and brought to one of the screening areas for a health checkup and count. Mirai seems to trust you, so you two should work in the same group, eastern zone. Please report back here with any friends you find." She states before making some notes, then adding them to a whiteboard map of the forested area.
"Y-Yes, understood!" Makoto nods eagerly and gets his things.
Makoto smiles at Mirai, who returns the gesture, as they start on foot on a dirt pathway east through the forest. All along the ground, and on some of the plants and trees, there are strange shimmering particles that float up and into the air. He closely examines some on the trail, though when he tries to hold onto it, the particles simply float right out of his grip.
"A-Amazing..! I wonder what this stuff is…" Makoto exclaims, not noticing that Mirai has backed a few paces away. She seems to be giggling as quietly as she can, looking up the tree a little at a yellow-ish figure, which appears to be stalking Makoto as he's distracted.
Suddenly, the figure pounces at Makoto with a resounding "Umyaaa!". Makoto is caught off guard, tackled to the ground in a mere second by a yellow-colored animal-eared girl.
"AHH! Help!" Makoto calls out, but Mirai is too busy laughing.
"Makoto, you seem to have made a new friend!" Mirai wipes her eyes a little and smiles, going over and kneeling. "Hello there! I'm Mirai, it's nice to meet you!"
The animal-eared girl blinks a moment and smiles happily, jumping to her feet. "That was fun! My name is Serval! It's nice to meet you both!" she says as she holds her arms out enthusiastically. "You guys don't have any ears, or tails? What kind of animals are you?" Serval asks while inspecting both of them closely, making Mirai giggle and Makoto sweat slightly.
"We're humans, actually!" Mirai exclaims, drooling slightly as she watches the animal-eared girl closely. Makoto nods, and Mirai smiles at Serval. "We are trying to meet all the animal girls we can, and introduce them to the rest. Would you like to come with us to meet the others, Serval?"
"Oh! That sounds like a lot of fun! Let's go, let's go!" Serval exclaims excitedly to Mirai and Makoto, almost pushing them along towards the way they came as she follows them closely.
"Ah! Serval, you sure are excitable…" Makoto smiles a little at Serval, staring at her ears after a couple of moments as they twitch about. Makoto is so fascinated by her ears that he doesn't notice the tree in front of him, walking right into it. "G-Gyah..!" he rubs his forehead a bit, stumbling a moment before continuing pace.
Mirai simply giggles, but reaches out and pats Makoto on his head a little. "Are you okay? We're almost to the…" before Mirai can finish, Serval suddenly grabs Makoto and puts his arm up over her.
"Don't worry! We will get you help Makoto! It will be okay!" She says with a confident nod, making Makoto and Mirai sweat a little.
"Ah! Serval, I'm fine! You can put me down!" Makoto exclaims with a slight blush across his face, trying to wiggle free of her grasp to no avail.
"Oh my… Serval seems to be a very helpful friend." Mirai giggles as she watches the two, not particularly getting involved, much to Makoto's disarray.
"M-Mirai, please help!" Makoto speaks in a flustered, confused manner as he is carried along by Serval. Though before the silliness could continue any further, the group arrives back at the forest clearing.
"It seems that we're here, you two. Serval, please come with me to go meet the others. Makoto, do you think you could return and check for any friends near where we found Serval? By the time you make it back, we should have some more information, and hopefully a plan to sort out caretaker duties." Mirai states as she carefully reviews her notebook, then smiles to both Serval and Makoto.
"Ah, yes, of course! I won't let you down!" Makoto gives a quick salute and nod before gathering his composure again.
"Bye, Makoto! See you later!" Serval calls as she waves to Makoto, turning to follow Mirai to Kako's station.
"B-Bye Serval…" Makoto sweats a bit. "T-That girl is a bit much…" he thinks, but quickly starts to laugh about the whole scenario as he heads back into the forest.
As Makoto looks up at the canopies of trees above him, the sun's bright rays beam down through the few openings. The air is crisp and cool as a breeze makes its way through the forest. Makoto could have sworn he heard someone singing on the wind, though there don't seem to be any friends remaining in this part of the forest. Makoto finally reaches the end of the dirt path, and a large, tall tree which rises above the others.
"Hmm… If I were to climb this, even just to the high part of the canopy, I could see if there's any movement nearby." Makoto thinks a moment, then quickly gets a bit of rope from his backpack, tying one end in a small loop before trying to throw it to a low bow on the tree. It catches, and Makoto gives the rope a firm pull before beginning to try and climb the tree with it. He makes it up to the low bow, then repeats the process with the next, and then the next after that.
At last, Makoto tosses his rope up one more bow, then climbs up and into the midday sunlight. As the warmth of the light hits him, he is greeted by a stunning view of the entire forest area. As he looks around, he can see the entirety of the path he walked along, as well as the station way back down the path.
"Wow! This is incredible… Ah, but I have a job to do! I'll have to enjoy the sights later!" Makoto gets his binoculars out of his bag, then quickly scans the horizon around him. The trees rustle gently in the wind, but there seem to be no other friends here right now.
"Aww. Everyone must have already found all the animal girls here. Well, I guess I'll report back-" before Makoto can finish, the wind surges slightly and nearly blows his safari hat right off of his head. As the wind surges, Makoto's eyes widen a bit, hearing the same voice from before. "Is someone there..?" He asks, looking around and seeing nothing but the shimmering sunlight. Eventually, he gets his binoculars again, looking in the direction where he thought he heard the voice coming from. As Makoto looks through the binoculars, he sees a faint shimmer, almost like a rod of light coming right at him!
"What is tha-" before Makoto can finish, he is knocked to his back on the knot of tree branches below him, the wind knocked clean out of him. When he finally regains his senses and breath, he slowly opens his eyes to find a girl in all white and green-blue staring down at him, her curious eyes getting closer as she cautiously examines him.
"Ah! Please don't hurt me!" Makoto panics and covers his head.
To his surprise, the girl simply holds onto his arms and lowers them. She picks up Makoto's binoculars and looks at the glint in the lens caused by the reflection of the sunlight, then looks at Makoto with one cheek puffed out, as if pouting.
"...!" the girl remains silent where it almost looked like she would speak. Makoto can guess by her expression that she's annoyed, however.
"Oh! I'm sorry!" Makoto apologizes as he examines the binoculars. "The light from the binoculars must have made it hard for you to see. Are you okay?" he asks with a slight look of concern, trying to get back to his feet.
"..?!" At first, the girl backs away. However, when she notices Makoto is having a bit of trouble standing back up, she moves a little closer and grabs his arm, helping him to stand.
"Ah? Thank you! My name is Makoto by the way, what's yours?" Makoto smiles at the girl.
"... " The girl smiles in return, then quickly grabs Makoto. Before he can react, they're both flying to the ground, fast too.
"Hey, wait a sec- AH!" Makoto yells as the next few moments are filled with sheer terror. Though when he opens his eyes again, he is standing safely on the ground, back on the path. The girl who helped him is nowhere to be seen.
"Hey! Wait! I have to introduce you to the others!" Makoto yells as he looks around the forest, but there is no response. "Well… I guess I didn't get to find an animal girl today on my own. I had better report back to Mirai and let her know." Makoto sighs and rubs his head a little, walking back down the path once more towards the meeting area.
It's about mid-afternoon when Makoto arrives back at the meeting area. He still seems unsure of what to say, not wanting to disappoint Mirai or her friend.
Mirai notices Makoto and smiles, walking towards him with Serval in tow. "Makoto! How did it go, did you find any other animal girls?"
"Umm…" Makoto scratches his head nervously. "I did, or I think I did, but- Mirai, what's that look for..?" Makoto blinks, only now noticing that Mirai is starry-eyed. When he turns around, he panics and nearly falls over upon noticing the girl in white from before, floating just a few feet behind him.
"A-Amazing! What kind of animal is she, I wonder?" Mirai drools a bit as she carefully looks at the girl.
"...?!" the girl floats behind Makoto, who turns around to her.
"Ah, it's okay! This is Mirai, and she's my supervisor! She's just a bit… enthusiastic about animals!" Makoto laughs nervously and nods.
"Makoto." a more serious voice calls out as a hand is placed on his shoulder, making him jump once more.
"W-Why does everyone keep scaring me..?!" he sweats and makes a flustered expression, turning to see Kako.
"Ah, sorry. It would seem you have found a very interesting girl, indeed. I would like to take the time to study her a bit, in order to confirm a theory I have. Mirai will fill you in on your duties from here on out, okay?" Kako smiles faintly, and Makoto nods.
"Yes, okay. Umm, are you okay with that, friend?" Makoto asks the girl in white.
"... " she smiles in return, and floats alongside Kako to the nearby shade.
"Makoto, I think you may have made a good impression, both on your friend, and on Kako. Good job!" Mirai smiles and nods.
"We now have a plan with the animal girls we've discovered here today, so please pay attention!" Mirai says with a nod while pulling over a white board with a pointer, seemingly out of nowhere, with Serval's help. "First up, we have decided that we will call these animal girls 'Friends', since almost all of them seem to be quite friendly, and for our future working together with them!" Mirai explains, while Serval taps the first point on the whiteboard with the pointer.
"Friends? I see… That's nice!" Makoto nods and writes notes in his notebook.
"Second, we will be assigning all caretakers two Friends to be directly responsible for. Please remember that you are their envoy, of sorts, so it is important that you do your best! Makoto, since you already have one Friend at home, I will be assigning you only one other for now: the friend who you found in the forest."
"Yes, understood! I'll do my best!" Makoto nods eagerly, a bright smile on his face, which makes Mirai smile happily too.
Mirai seems to enjoy seeing Makoto so enthusiastic about the Friends. She walks with him to Kako's desk after her brief explanation of duties. On the desk, Kako seems to have a book on cryptids out and open, carefully comparing it to some information on her computer, as the girl in white examines various tools and trinkets on the desk.
"Ah, Makoto. It seems that this friend you found is a skyfish Friend."
"A skyfish?" Makoto tilts his head.
"Yes, they're also known in cryptid culture as rods. They're associated with a lot of paranormal beliefs and superstitions. Furthermore, this confirms a theory I've been working on, after seeing a couple of these friends in person. It seems that whatever happened, this strange substance had even managed to turn cryptids into real animal girls." she nods, her hand to her chin in thought. "I trust you will take good care of her. Mirai seems to think quite highly of you, so I have no problem with this Friend remaining in your care." Kako nods.
"Ah, thank you! That's a lot to think about, but it's really incredible! Is there anything else that either of you need from me?" Makoto asks Mirai and Kako, quite enthusiastic.
"No, you've done a lot of work today, along with the others. As of right now, there do not seem to be many Friends left undiscovered in this area. That being said, I think it is a good time to call it a day, while we still have enough daylight to make it back." Kako says softly, making some notes on her clipboard before turning her attention to Mirai. "Mirai, I would like to discuss some things over dinner." she softly speaks, sipping some more coffee before collecting her items.
"Yes, of course, Kako." Mirai smiles at Kako before turning to Makoto. "Makoto, there will be a few buses arriving shortly to take the caretakers and Friends back to Park Central. Please enjoy the rest of your evening, and I will be over tomorrow morning, okay?" Mirai gives a smile to him.
"Understood! Thank you for your help today Mirai, and it was nice meeting you, Serval!" Makoto says with a wave as he collects his things. Skyfish follows him as he makes his way across the clearing to the buses. Some larger trucks move around the buses to collect all of the equipment from Kako's field lab, rumbling noisily as Makoto and Skyfish walk by.
"... " Skyfish flitters from side to side by Makoto, making him occasionally have to look for her.
"When we get back to the dormitory, we can have some dinner together. Oh, you still have to meet Cookie!" Makoto speaks excitedly as the buses pull up to pick up the caretakers and their respective friends.
End chapter 4