Send The Rabbit to The Moon

Kaki Sonji

In a house somewhere, they were clapping merrily to celebrate New Year’s Eve, but with only three minutes left until the start of the New Year, I found a rabbit that looked to be about two meters tall crying into its hands on a telephone pole.

　

“Dobochi… Dobochi, you’re going to leave meeeeeeee…”

　

I judged it to be a rabbit because it had what looked like long rabbit ears growing from its drooping head. If I hadn’t seen those ears, I would have instantly sensed the danger from the ugly sound of the man crying hysterically and the information that he was wearing white full-body tights, and I would have quickened my steps.

No, I feel that the rabbit ears make it more dangerous, but at that moment, I thought to myself, “Rabbits are really lonely”, and I called out to its broad back.

　

“What’s wrong, with you?”

　

At the sound of my voice, the rabbit turned around. Interestingly enough, it was really a rabbit’s head. A head that was the size of a human. I heard that a neighborhood elementary school keeps cute bunnies as part of their emotional education, and if the children there see it, they would either cry or pee their pants. Were its eyes bright red because it cried too much, or because it was born that way?

A large wooden mallet is propped against the telephone pole. The handle is about 1 meter long. The mallet was about the size of a drum can, and it was easy to guess that if it was struck, it would not just leave a lump.

From a distance, it looks like full-body tights, but looking closely, you can see that it was covered in soft and fluffy fur. The fact that it was speaking human language suggests that it had a well-developed cerebrum and vocal cords and tongue to process and pronounce the language, while its hands were that of a rabbit. There are few fingers. I wonder how it would hold that mallet. In retrospect, that’s not what I should have wondered.

　

“Ugh… Happy New Year, kind passerby.”

　

Wiping its tears away with its rabbit hand, it wished me a Happy New Year. I also returned the Happy New Year greeting and best wishes for this year. It’s the first person I’ve come across. Moreover, it is a giant rabbit. Normally, I would not want to say hello to it.

　

“It’s fate that we met here. Would you like to know why I’m currently at a loss?”

　

Its voice is weak despite its size, and I almost laughed. However, I am aware that laughing at someone who is crying is the worst thing to do, so I decided to listen to him with a warm smile, as if to comfort a child who came home from a fight. I have no children, no wife, no girlfriend, and this is clearly not a crying “person”.

　

“My name is Genda. We rabbits usually live on the moon, and it’s my job to make mochi to celebrate the New Year.

But how could we possibly make rice paddies on the moon? We moon dwellers are hardly self-sufficient, so we have to get such food items through people on Earth who understand us.

The same goes for mochi. Every year I go down to Earth and get the ingredients for mochi from a kind old lady. But this year, after I put the ingredients in the spaceship and returned to the old lady’s room to thank her, my colleagues mistakenly thought I had returned to the spaceship and went back to the moon, leaving me behind. The sound of the spaceship flying was so loud that they didn’t notice my yelling. And since it was only carrying enough fuel and food for one round trip, I don’t think they would have come back for me.

I tried to get in touch with them on the communicator earlier, but they got mad at me, saying they don’t give a damn about those who forget their mission because they have feelings for Earthlings. They can make mochi without me, but they can’t make good mochi without the legendary wooden mallet I’m holding. I was told to return the mallet to the moon somehow… But you can’t just return the mallet to the moon, and without it, the children of the moon, who are looking forward to the New Year, will surely be saddened. Just when I was wondering what to do, you spoke to me.

Oh, what did you say your name was?”

　

Genda asked, tilting his head.

　

　

　

“Rentaro. The New Year’s mochi is the best. Recently, it seems that some people are nibbling on fast food even on New Year’s Day, but you must keep our traditions alive. Nowadays the only members of the Hasumoto family who make mochi for New Year’s are me and Rentaro…”

　

I remember the words of my dead grandmother.

It is no exaggeration to say that she devoted her life to making mochi for the New Year, and she was a true mochi maker. Her goal was to make mochi that was highly viscous and extremely stretchy, and by the time she died on New Year’s Day, she had succeeded in creating a masterpiece that stretched five meters.

Then, the mochi became so strong that she choked on it and died. I cried while biting into the mochi and tried to bite it off, but it stretched anyway, so I had to use a saw to saw off the growing part and forcefully cut it off. I think that was when I was 10 years old.

Ten years have passed since then. Following in the footsteps of my grandmother, I immersed myself in researching mochi that would stretch as the end of the year draws near. In the midst of my youth, I couldn’t devote my whole life to mochi like my grandmother, but I felt like my grandmother was by my side only during the year-end and New Year holidays, so I would earnestly make and taste mochi without even looking at the New Year’s soba

The first time I saw Genda was on my way back from paying a New Year’s visit to Higa, a childhood friend who had come home from college, and left a five-kilogram rice cake by the offertory box in place of a 5 yen coin. His parents live in a small shrine, and they hold a mochi-pounding event with the mochi made by his grandmother and me. Don’t leave mochi near the offertory box in the morning! That was my New Year’s Day greeting when Higa came into our house instead of saying Happy New Year, and I was going to sleep until Higa noticed the Mochi.

Somehow, I got acquainted with a rabbit. I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’ll report it to Grandmother in Heaven later.

　

　

　

Well, although I was accompanied by a two-meter rabbit, there didn’t seem to be many people in my area who wanted to visit for the moment of New Year’s Eve, so no one saw Genda.

　

“Rentaro, huh? That’s a good name.”

　

Genda says as if he is deeply impressed. I went on, trying to cover up my embarrassment.

　

“It seems my grandmother named me so that I would be the kind of boy who would take the hand of someone in need and lead them to their destination.”

　

There was a suggestion to name me Mochitaro, but the name sounds like a candy, so it was decided to go with Rentaro. I can’t thank my parents enough for persuading my grandmother, who persisted like a mochi until her opinion was accepted, to choose Rentaro.

But I never thought I’d end up walking around with a rabbit, let alone someone in need.

While regretting not wearing a muffler, I look back to see if Genda, who is practically naked, looked cold. He walks with dignity. The fur is well developed, so maybe it’s warmer than a poor coat. After about 10 minutes, he seemed to have stopped crying. But his eyes are still red because he is a rabbit.

　

“Okay, here we are.”

　

We stood in front of a house. The residence wasn’t so lavishly decorated, so it doesn’t feel like the New Year. The darkness makes the block of houses look even grayer. The gate with a lock that doesn’t work properly. I rattle it carelessly.

　

“Is this Rentaro’s house?”

　

Genda asks, looking around. I pointed to the nameplate and shook my head.

　

“This is Higa’s house. He’s my childhood friend and a man I can rely on. I’m sure he’ll help you.”

　

　

　

　

“—Let’s turn a blind eye to the absurdity of visiting my house at 0:30 on the first day of the New Year.”

　

Higa crossed his arms at the entrance and nodded. Reddish curly hair swayed. It seems that he dyed it in his college debut. For some reason, he’s wearing a bathrobe.

　

“But what’s the meaning of bringing such a strange giant rabbit!”

　

Higa shouts. We plug our ears. Genda’s ears are in different positions, so it looks like he’s protecting his head.

　

“It’s not giant rabbit, it’s Genda.”

　

Genda says weakly, with a downcast look on his face.

　

“I talked! It’s talking! Do rabbits talk nowadays!? No, is this a dream!?”

　

It seems that he was drinking, and his reactions were strangely high-spirited.

I briefly explained Genda’s situation and put my hands together as if I was paying my respects to him.

　

“That’s why, please help me.”

“What do you want me to do? Did you think I had a spaceship?”

　

Blurting out, Higa glances around the house. Listening carefully, I heard a slight sound of running water.

　

“Speaking of which, isn’t aunty around?”

　

I wanted to wish Higa’s parents a Happy New Year.

Suddenly, Higa smiles wryly. What’s with this guy, he’s so creepy.

　

“They’re on a trip right now. They should be enjoying Izu Onsen with the bullet train ticket I gave them!

　

Fuhahahaa! He roars with laughter.

　

“Such a dutiful son.”

“Well, listen here, Hasumoto!”

　

I don’t want to hear it, but if I’m told to listen, I guess I have to. Genda nodded and waited for Higa to speak. He’s so nice, this guy. That’s why he was left behind.

Higa cleared his throat.

　

“Actually, today I’m bringing my college girlfriend home with me! She really wants to see my family’s shrine… she said she wanted to visit the shrine on New Year’s Eve, but it’s cold outside. So leave the first visit to the shrine in the morning, and warm each other up with each other’s heat tonight…? I’ve decided to make the best of a complaint and she’s just taking a shower!”

　

Oh, is that why you kicked out your parents? He’s not a dutiful son at all.

Higa wiggles.

　

“From now on, I’ll have a nice New Year with a beautiful woman with a great figure, Heart, whispering sweet words to each other. So! I don’t have time to worry about a weird giant rabbit-shaped alien! If you want to go back to the moon, I’ll lend you my hobby trampoline… if you keep bouncing on it, maybe you’ll even reach the moon eventually. Ha ha ha!”

　

　

　

And so we succeeded in borrowing an actual trampoline from Higa.

The highest altitude in the area is at the shrine at Higa’s place, which I just came to visit for the New Year. Genda and I climbed the stairs while holding the trampoline. As expected, Genda had never seen a trampoline before. The gravity of the moon is less than that of the Earth, making it easy to fly higher, so he didn’t seem to understand the feeling of jumping and playing on a trampoline.

In addition, Genda is a rabbit. It will probably set a record for the highest jump. No, the purpose is not to set records, but to return to the moon.

We climbed the stairs and set up the trampoline. Genda stared intently at the mysterious object, which shook so much that it was difficult to carry.

　

“You hop on this and jump vertically. The upholstered cloth will sway, but if you use it as a spring, you will be able to jump higher and higher.”

　

Genda nods and places one foot on the cloth. I let out a small voice and stumbled, but gradually he seemed to understand how it worked, and his body straightened out.

　

Byon, byon.

　

It comes out high. Just as you’d expect of a rabbit. He can already jump to about 8 meters high.

　

“Be careful! If you jump too high, it will be harder to land on the trampoline!”

　

Genda’s reply “okay” went up and down.

It’s just after midnight on January 1st. On the shrine grounds, a two-meter rabbit is bouncing toward the moon on a trampoline. It may look surreal from the sidelines, but we’re serious. My hands were sweaty. The mallet Genda entrusted to me almost slipped out of my hand.

　

“I think I can do it now!”

　

Genda’s voice reaches me, sounding closer and farther away due to the violent ups and downs. There was no one around, so it echoed profusely.

The highest point of the jump is so great that when viewed from the ground, the shadow of Genda overlaps the moon. Okay, maybe he can make it.

　

“Go, Genda!”

　

At the sound of my voice, Genda landed on the trampoline and lowered his center of gravity greatly. The momentum was so great that the trampoline made a creaking sound. Gigigigaki, sound as if it might break at any moment. And then—

　

“Uooooooooooooooh!”

　

Aiming for the moon, Genda makes the best leap. The force of the leap was tremendous, and I, who was nearby, staggered lightly from the wind pressure. The trees sway violently.

Genda’s shadow became smaller and smaller. Because he aimed for the moon, his leap was not vertical, but slightly angled. He was already about the size of a grain of rice.

Go! He will pass through the atmosphere at this rate…

　

“—oh no! Not enough altitude!”

　

I screamed. Without thinking, I swung the mallet down to the ground. The earth trembles violently.

Genda’s silhouette, which had pierced through the sky, stalled halfway through, and eventually came crashing at breakneck speed with his long ears pointing toward the ground.

　

“—Oh no, that’s not good!”

　

My voice couldn’t have reached him.

Genda fell to the roof of a building a short distance from the shrine. There was a thud and the sound of the ceiling cracking violently. I couldn’t see much from here, but I imagined that the impact would be considerable.

　

“Gyaaaaaaaaah. A rabbit broke through the ceiling and came down!”

　

At 0:42 on New Year’s Day, the cry of poor Higa, who was about to spend a hot night, roars in the night sky.

　

　

　

Even though it’s outside, Higa is still wearing a bathrobe and his arms are crossed. We were forced to sit in seiza on the cobblestones.

　

“What kind of idiots aim for the moon on a trampoline?”

　

Higa angrily yells.

　

“You said we could use it.”

　

When I retorted, Genda nodded in agreement.

Higa’s anger was unrelenting.

　

“This guy rained down on us and ruined my sweet night! Look, look!”

　

Higa showed me the screen of his smartphone. It is a chat screen of a messaging app. An exchange with a woman named Kaori-chan.

　

“I can’t believe it, it’s… the worst! Damnit! How much time, effort, and money did you think it took to woo that girl!”

　

He was so angry that he couldn’t enunciate properly, so I tried to guess her feelings from the mood he was in.

　

“Sorry.”

“I’m sorry…”

　

Genda and I bow our heads. Higa scratched his head. A strand of his red-dyed hair broke off and fell on the cobblestones.

　

“And, there’s that!”

　

Higa points towards the offertory box.

　

“Don’t put mochi near the offertory box!”

　

I’ve been waiting for those words. I feel like this year has finally begun.

　

“This year, too, we’ve made something great.”

　

Hearing my words, Genda looks at Mochi from a distance with interest, but Higa doesn’t seem to care. He is frantically tapping on his phone to get in touch with Kaori-chan and get her in a good mood.

But his valiant efforts were ineffective, and eventually, he fell to his knees and then both hands to the ground. With his whole body, he embodies despair.

Genda, unable to bear the sight, placed his hand on Higa’s shoulder. The figure of an adult male comforted by a rabbit.

Eventually, Higa looked up. Gritting his teeth, and trembling with anger. He’s in a bathrobe, so it must have been the cold.

“As you wish! I’ll absolutely smash you to the moon! You got in the way of my romance! Even my trampoline is broken!”

　

I looked down at the tragic remains of the trampoline, its parts broken off from the impact. I’ll pay you back later.

　

“But since the trampoline was ruined, there’s nothing we can do about it…”

　

Genda whimpers. Higa turned to him and his eyes widened.

　

” — I have an idea.”

　

　

　

“Even though you say you have an idea, isn’t it a rather crude idea?”

　

I say, holding a tree branch bigger than my body—a size that felt strange to describe with the word “branch”. Higa, who is also holding a branch, shouts about two meters away.

　

“You won’t know until you try! The history of mankind tells us that slingshots can send things flying far away!”

　

What kind of history is that? I swallow my words.

Now, the branches of this tree were broken from a magnificent large tree that grew in the shrine. Higa, who is not taking over the family business, gave me permission to break it, so I did so without hesitation. Of course, it is impossible to break a branch as thick as a human leg by hand, so Genda leaped with a wooden mallet, struck the branch, and snapped it off. The two branches were about the same height, with a stretched mochi attached to the top.

　

“I thought your ridiculously stretchy and ridiculously strong mochi would make a great substitute for rubber!”

　

Grandmother, I’m sorry. For the rabbit who can’t go back to the moon, I use my grandmother’s favorite mochi instead of slingshot rubber. The staff (Higa) will enjoy this mochi later, so please forgive me.

By the way, as you know, a slingshot is shaped like the letter “Y” of the alphabet, but the rubber is hooked on the two crotches. But as expected, no such Y-shaped branches were growing, so I substituted the rubber by stretching it on the ends of two branches. It is shaped like a high jump pole or a torii gate.

Genda hooked the tip of the wooden mallet to the center of the stretched mochi. If the mochi is rubber, the mallet is a slingshot ball. Higa’s strategy was to sling the mallet all the way to the moon, just like playing with a slingshot. Holding the mallet, Genda steps backward. The mochi stretches. It’s quite a strange sight.

　

“It’s impossible to send a big rabbit like you flying, so let’s try it with just a mallet for the time being. If the mallet can’t do it, you can’t do it either.”

　

I see. So it’s better to start with the most feasible first.

　

“This is going to take a lot of work…”

　

Genda, intermittently letting out a miserable voice, pulls the wooden mallet on the mochi I had made with a heavy effort, as if he were pulling a truck with a rope. Naturally. You shouldn’t underestimate the strongest mochi that I inherited from my grandmother. I could hear Higa saying to himself, “What are you thinking? If you make it this tough, people won’t be able to eat it.” but I pretended not to hear it.

　

“Aim properly! If the angle is off, it won’t be able to reach the moon properly!”

　

Higa encourages Genda. At first glance, this seems like a silly thing to do, but the nice thing about this guy is that he goes along with it. In fact, the mochi that I make every year is made more for strength than taste, so they are not very edible. But even so, the surreal sight of Higa nibbling and desperately trying to bite through it brings laughter to the people who visit this shrine every year. That part of Higa is so wonderful that I thought that Kaori-chan, who left due to something like a rabbit falling through the ceiling, is not a very good judge of men. I won’t say that just because I think so. Even if I say that, Higa would just get carried away.

Now, since we are using such a strong mochi as rubber, it was getting pretty hard for us to support it. We supported the branches of the tree with our whole body. My face is hot. Higa, who is dressed in a bathrobe, seems to have completely forgotten about the cold by now.

　

“I, I think I may have reached my limit…”

　

Genda, who seemed unable to hold on any longer, groaned from about five meters away. Gradually, Genda’s body was moving toward us.

　

“Stupid bastard, hold on! ――Eee, don’t let go, persist! Aim for the moon! Then you can let go! You’d better be ready to smash the moon with this thing! If you miss, I won’t forgive you!”

“Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!”

　

Immediately after Higa’s cheering, Genda releases his hand. I heard a sharp BAGYNT and I thought my ears were broken. However, as soon as I felt that, a mallet rushed through the branches that we were supporting at super speed, and Higa and I fell on the cobblestones while holding the branches. My ears hurt, my body aches, and I don’t know where to hold down.

　

“Did it go?”

　

I looked at the sky and muttered. The mallet that flew toward the moon is no longer in sight, not even its shadow. I don’t even know if it made it there in one piece or not.

Genda returns, dizzy. The two of us and one other lay on our backs, gasping for a while and feeling the cold of the New Year’s night with our whole bodies. It’s cold, but strangely comfortable.

Just then, I thought I heard a mysterious electronic sound. Genda took out what appeared to be a communication device from his right ear. I wonder if the ears can store various things, and I’m impressed by the rabbit species that evolved on the moon.

　

 [Genda? Well done. The mallet has arrived safely.]

　

The noise was terrible, but we could hear something like that. It was probably the one who ordered Genda to return the wooden mallet to the moon earlier. Really, it’s a rabbit that says absurd things.

The owner of the voice continued awkwardly.

　

 [But you see— the mallet struck the parked spaceship, and the spaceship got pretty wrecked. I was going to come get you as soon as I had enough fuel, but now we have to build a spaceship almost from scratch… 100—no, 70 years. 70 years is all it will take to finish the spaceship. Until then, please wait on Earth. I will definitely pick you up. Also, Happy New Year.]

　

Butsun. Communication was cut off. Silence envelops us. Genda didn’t look sad, he just seemed to be dumbfounded. I don’t know what kind of face I should make.

Then, Higa burst out laughing out loud like an idiot. Genda and I looked at Higa’s profile curiously for a while, but we followed Higa and laughed so much that our bodies rose and fell under the cold sky. Our backs hurt from lying on the cobblestone, our stomachs hurt from laughing so much.

The beautiful moon was looking down on us as if looking at something strange.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

The moon rabbits did not seem to have the concept of a family name, and even the name “Genda”, which would be a family name in our world, was rather a unique identification number, or in other words, a “first name”. Genda, who was not likely to return to the moon for a while, would live in our town under the name “Genda Mochitaro”.

　

“Alright, maybe we can make it this year? Don’t let go, Hasumoto.”

“Leave it to me. Genda, are you ready?”

“Yes, I’m ready. Thank you, both of you.”

　

However, Higa and I, who had not given up on returning Genda to the moon, decided to make the same device that sent the mallet flying every New Year’s Eve, and instead of slingshot balls, we would hook Genda to it and send him flying. The figure of Genda leaning on a powerful mochi is like a professional wrestler trying to use the recoil of the ropes to knock down his opponent.

The Mochi is becoming more elastic every year. Someday, perhaps, we will be able to send Genda back to the moon without having to wait for the spaceship to be completed. However, Genda is now a popular figure in the town. The people of the town would be sad to see him go. We’ll miss him too. What do we do if he really flies away? Trying not to think about that, we spend this strange time every year.

　

“Come on!”

　

When Genda lifts his feet, the Mochi tries to return to its original state with tremendous speed, leaving behind a sonic boom-like shockwave that Genda is used to, and Genda flies high into the sky.

　

“You can make it, you can make it!?”

　

I shout, but Genda stalls mid-flight and crashes into a building.

　

“Gyaaaaaaaaaa! My hooooooooooooouse!!!

　

Every year, the night sky on New Year’s Day is filled with the pitiful but joyful cries of Higa. Now, this was the first laughter of the townspeople.

　

 　

 　

 (End)