LOVE CATCH

Original work: Kihara Otose

Translation: waiting

Proofreading: Asabazuki

The cherry blossoms on both sides of the road are blooming.The cherry blossoms on the small trees are almost in full bloom.A new residential area has just been built around here, and the big and new houses are eye-catching.The client I'm going to see today seems to be living in a low-rise apartment that was just built last year.

Cherry blossom petals fell gently on the front of Shibuya Mori's black suit.Sakura petals were also stained on the hair of President Horiuchi Yoshiro who was walking in front of the stretcher being transported.Shibuya gently brushed off the petals that fell on the stretcher. He wanted to remove the petals from the president's curly hair, but they fell off when he was about to enter the apartment elevator.After going up to the seventh floor, I pressed the intercom at the entrance.After a while a fat woman with eyes swollen and red from crying came out to meet them.

"Nice to meet, Mrs. Imai. I'm Horiuchi from the Horiuchi Pet Funeral Center. Please accept my condolences."

The president lowered his head, and Shibuya bowed deeply.

"Excuse me. Come in..."

The client, Imai, pressed the corners of his eyes with a handkerchief, and secretly looked at the president's hair several times.It's only natural to be concerned.That hairstyle is just like the gangsters who appeared in old gangster movies, it looks like a hot fist (fist hot refers to the hairstyle that bad boys or gangsters in Japan often perm in the past, for details, please refer to the photo of Kishidan, hair It seems to be wearing a big and thick boxing headgear) He has a slender figure, like a scholar, not a member of a violent gang, so his hairstyle and appearance don't seem to match at all.It's like wearing a red suit to a funeral as "out of place".

"Excuse me. Shibuya-san, bring the coffin in."

Shibuya took off his shoes and lifted the small coffin on the stretcher.Urged by Imai, the two carried the stretcher into the living room.In the twenty-fold spacious room, the chandelier on the ceiling is shining with gold, and the corners of the wall are randomly placed with white shelves that can only be seen in the Palace of Versailles. The backs and legs of the benches are like the finest handicrafts.I always thought it would be a hassle to clean it up.

"It's there."

Imai pointed to the cage in the corner of the room.In a crib-like cage lay a gray long-haired cat.After seeing the whole picture with his own eyes, Shibuya swallowed hard.The cat was about 8 cm long from head to toe.And it's as big and round as a pig.Can this plump cat be smoothly accommodated in the coffin that was brought over?It can be stuffed in if it is forced, but in front of the owner, the cat can't be stuffed like luggage, and cold sweat slowly oozes from Shibuya's forehead.

"Oh, what a cute kitty."

Ignoring the employees who were concerned about the size of the cat, the president squatted down beside the cage.To be able to seriously say "cute" to a dead animal, to be honest, I can't understand the sensibility of the president.There are already many beast-like younger brothers in the family, and he doesn't want to add animals with mouths to the house, so Shibuya never thought about raising cats and dogs, not to mention his mother is allergic to animal fur.

"Can I pet the cat"

"Uh, uh."

Imai nodded, and sucked in his big nose.The president quietly stroked the cat's head.

"It's a great sleeping face. This kitten must be very popular with the owner."

Imai cried out with a "wow".

"Amur is really a very, very cute child. He is so cute, he fed too much cat food unknowingly, so he had a myocardial infarction..."

His back, as thick as a cat's fat, was rolled up, and Imai's thin shoulders trembled.

"Seeing the master crying so sadly, Amur-chan will be so worried that he doesn't want to go to heaven. Please send Amur-chan off with a smile."

When the president comforted Imai with a gentle voice like a priest, Shibuya quickly put on his white gloves.Saying "Excuse me", Shibuya moved the heavy cat, which was as heavy as an encyclopedia dictionary, into the coffin.According to the client's expectation, the coffin was covered with white lilies in advance.The coffin was already small, and these flowers were simply in the way.And the fragrance of lily is too strong.Would you really be happy lying in such an environment?Wouldn't it be better to put some dried bonito... While chatting secretly with the cat who couldn't speak, he curled up the long cat's tail that protruded slightly outside the coffin and stuffed it under the lily.While solemnly carrying out his work, he worried about what to do if he couldn't fit it in, but after curling up the cat's hands and feet completely, he finally managed to fit it into the coffin.

After the burial work was over, Shibuya looked back, and the president was still comforting the client who was immersed in grief.When I first joined the company, during the two weeks of the newcomer training, I also followed the president to accept the remains of pets. At that time, I admired the president's continuous words of comfort. The president not only knows cats and dogs very well, Even the types and habits of insects and birds are very proficient.He mobilized all his knowledge to strongly praise the cuteness of those dead animals. Sometimes when he heard the owner's memories, he would cry as if he was possessed by the owner.As for Shibuya's views on animal corpses, the first is the props to buy and sell, the second is the props to buy and sell, even if the third and fourth are not, the fifth is still the props to buy and sell, so this is a tactic that he can't imitate with all his strength.

Sandwiched in the gap of the pet funeral industry chain of large companies, a large part of the reason why this humble personal pet funeral company can survive is that the president's heartfelt talk has attracted many customers.I was moved by the president's hospitality, and word of mouth spread. "I heard from my friends that Mr. Horiuchi is a very kind owner of a pet funeral company." This is the reason for more and more customers.It was the same with today's guest. Originally, Shibuya collected the body alone, but the guest said "I hope Mr. Horiuchi can come..." So the president who was doing administrative work hurried over to collect the body together.

"The kitten's death is because its lifespan is over. Although it is dead, its soul will always be with its owner."

Imai always echoes the president's encouragement.The commission this time is to retrieve the dead body of the pet, burn it and send the ashes back to the owner's home.The owner will not come to the cremation furnace, this is the easiest mode for them in Shibuya.The owner who was present at the cremation before suddenly shouted, "That child is not dead!" The result was a mess and work had to be interrupted.A guest that Shibuya was in charge of even stood in front of the cremation furnace shouting "I'll take you home!"

The guest threatened Shibuya to take the pet out of the stove, but the cute pet had already turned into a half-burnt state.This is not grilled chicken but grilled dog meat. It is really not something the extremely flustered owner can bear, and Shibuya is at a loss what to do.

The president, who noticed the commotion, walked this way, and after talking with the owner in a private room for an hour, they finally reached an agreement.Finally, everything was safe and sound before being burned to ashes.The owner, who was still so excited just now, bowed and apologized to Shibuya at the end: "I'm really sorry for causing such a big commotion." Then he carefully carried the small urn containing his pet dog back.

"It's ready."

After the Shibuya report, the president urged Imai to approach the coffin.

"What a peaceful and peaceful sleeping face."

Imai muttered "um, um" to the president's words, and slowly took out his mobile phone to take a few pictures of the cat, and finally took a close-up of the cat's face.There are many owners who take pictures of their pets in coffins, but no matter how cute they were, they are dead now, aren't they?Taking humans as an example, it is a portrait of a corpse.Although the person who did this did not realize it, it was really scary in the eyes of others.

After the owner finally finished taking photos to his heart's content, Shibuya carried the coffin onto the stretcher.When I came out of the client's house, I was 10 minutes later than originally planned.Cover the coffin with a white cloth.Although this kind of coffin is only a miniature version of the coffin for human use, it is too visually appealing if it is carried like this, so Shibuya was told from the very beginning to cover the coffin with a cloth when passing through crowded places.

It was Shibuya who carried the coffin, so the president kindly went to press the elevator first. The 161cm president looks a bit short for a man, and he looks like a small animal like a squirrel or a mouse walking around in a panic.As soon as the elevator reached the first floor, the president immediately went out and pressed the "open" button.There are only two people on the ride, and getting out of the elevator won't take too much time. Even if you don't do this... to hide your true thoughts, you still thank the president.

"You're welcome."

The president smiled amiably and bent over without airs.Although he is a good person, Shibuya also respects him very much, but if he is cared so much, sometimes... it will make Shibuya feel very uncomfortable.

It has been a year since I have been engaged in this work, and even though I have received dozens of wealthy pet owners who spent hundreds of thousands to build altars for their pets, Shibuya still cannot understand their psychology.If you live in an apartment, it’s understandable if you can’t bear to see dead cats and dogs being taken out of the household garbage and want to burn them. It’s also acceptable to offer some flowers and incense sticks on the altar, but ...5 meters long and 2 meters wide...Is this the artist's farewell party!The altar that makes people want to complain like this was a guest who said he wanted to build it. Although he answered "We will build it according to your wishes", Shibuya couldn't help but muttered in his heart "Do you really think Do cats and dogs like altars? This is simply self-satisfaction!".

Shibuya has six younger brothers, plus his mother, a total of eight people live in a bungalow with overload