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Chapter 16, start!
“Wake up, and go to look for rhinoceros beetles.”
“Hah!?”
When my sleeping place was invaded by the annoying woman, it was still dark outside. And, when I looked into the room, it seemed that mother and the others were still asleep, and peaceful breathing was all that I could hear.
On summer vacation on when I first entered elementary school, I was staying at a mountain inn for the shooting of the movie. The TV was only showing strange programs, I couldn’t play since mother prohibited me from bringing my console, and the surrounding forests and mountains were only boring.
Since I got a big role for the first time, mother was happy too, but, when it came to the filming, the director yelled at me, and only Kami-sama knows how many retakes I did. I wanted to do it perfectly, yet I didn’t understand what I did badly.
“Be natural like Nana-chan.”
“Put feeling like Nana-chan.”
“Persist as hard as Nana-chan.”
“Like Nana-chan.”
“Like Nana-chan.”
Already, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “Like Nana-chan.” Since some time ago, mother also didn’t like people saying, “Become a child actor like Nana-chan,” but, despite this, I’m really sick of it.
“Yesterday I said that we were going to look for rhinoceros beetles. Didn’t you say that you wanted to go?”
“But, it’s still dark out.”
“It’s no good if you don’t go at dawn. Actually, it’s best at midnight, but, as expected, if we sneak away at such a time, they’ll get mad. Now, get ready.”
The annoying woman demanded that, and I looked for my backpack taking care not to wake up mother and the others. My mother, the annoying woman, and that manager were also staying in the four-person tatami room. It’d be great if I was in a different room, but co-stars are supposed to get along, so it became that we were in the same room.
I was fumbling around in the darkness and getting my clothes on, trying not to wake them up, when the annoying woman voiced a complaint.
“Hiro, you plan on going to the forest with such an appearance? Not bringing long sleeves?”
(TN: Nanami-chan you were already planning to make him your (long) sleeeeeeeeeveeeee this early!?!?!?)
“Nope. It’s not very cold, so this should be okay.”
“No, no. Because mosquitoes will bite, and low-lying plantlife will hurt you. I’ll have to lend a change of clothes so I’ll have to also wear that.”
“Don’t wanna wear pink clothes!”
“Nn, if that’s the case, I wonder if a white jersey is okay?”
Saying that, she handed me a white jersey. But, the places near the wrists and ankles were pink; it was obviously a woman’s. I voiced a complaint about how I was a guy wearing that, but, “If you get used to it, it won’t matter,” said she, then strongly put it on me.
As we left, it was still dark like I thought, the atmosphere was a little gloomy, and the forest behind the inn felt a little strange. I hesitated to enter the forest.
“Scary? If you’d like, it’s okay to wait here.”
“I-It’s not scary at all!”
Yes, the annoying woman said that, so I bluffed.
When I entered the forest, short trees grew thickly by my feet, and some places I had to push my way through if I wanted to go forward. If I came with short sleeves and shorts, here and there, I’d probably get a graze. It was annoying to have listened to what the annoying woman told me, but wearing the jersey was the correct decision.
While the annoying woman was shining her flashlight, she picked up a stick from somewhere, brandishing it about, and destroying spiderwebs.
“Seriously, are there rhinoceros beetles in such a place?”
“Probably. Yesterday, I coated a tree with honey, so I think they’ll gather. Besides, it was really close to where they live, so
 Look, there.”
When the annoying woman shined the flashlight on a tree, there were around six insects with a black luster gathered.
“Nn, there aren’t any rhinoceros beetles. Miyama stag beetles, and I think that one is a giant stag beetle.”
“Giant stag beetle! Seriously!?”
When I looked closely at the tree, compared to the ones at the department store, a giant stag beetle, one size bigger, was clinging on. Near it, there were miyama stag beetles of around the same size but with a strange shape.
Giant Stag Beetle
Miyama Stag Beetle
“Cooool! The giant stag beetle is cool too, but these weird things are cooler!”
“Those are miyama stag beetles.”
The short and stout giant stag and the serrated bug that I haven’t seen before, I guess it was called a miyama stag beetle. Cool!
“For now, I guess you’re okay with just the giant stag beetle and the miyama stag beetle? They’re female drone beetles.”
“Was that all?”
“No, but they’re not needed. They’ll die if we get more than necessary. I didn’t bring more than 3 bug cages, so, when we find a rhinoceros beetle, we’ll return.”
When she said that, the annoying woman scooped up the giant stag beetle and put it into the bug cage.
“That miyama stag beetle will enter the bug cage.”
Saying so, she opened the cage door and handed the bug cage to me.
“No, you’re good at handling it. I can’t.”
“Go from behind, like that, and, when you’re holding it, make sure not to go through the pincers.”
Timidly, I grabbed it using a lot of force, but it simply clung and wouldn’t fall off.
“If it’s like that, suddenly ripping it off is good. Firmly rip with one breath.”
The annoying woman said that, so I resolutely put more strength into it, easily falling off. It seems that the miyama stag beetle was threatening me with opening its pincers, and its legs were moving with a wakiwaki.
“Super cool!”
“Isn’t it? There are more places with honey, so should we go?”