Chapter 41: The Fluffy Guardian, Nemunemu

I never would’ve guessed that both Snow Fox and Inferna went to the same connection to get their hero suits made.

And on top of that, I definitely didn’t expect that connection to be someone I knew. I only found out after talking to the two of them about their suits.

The place we came to was an amusement park. Nostalgic—I was once saved by Raiden here. Then again, Raiden has pulled me out of trouble all over the city, so I can’t really say this park holds any special meaning.

It was also around then that I met this one—the Fluffy Guardian, Nemunemu.

The park’s mascot character, species: chimera. Antlers of a deer on its head, cat ears, a tiger’s tail, zebra-striped arms and legs. And the face… like a hamster, maybe? Round, beady eyes and a little ω-shaped mouth. Any animal that gets chibi-fied tends to end up with a face like that.

By cramming every animal feature imaginable together, the result is a creature that isn’t really any animal at all. That’s the Fluffy Guardian, Nemunemu.

What “Fluffy Guardian” even means is a mystery. And calling it a guardian—does that mean it’s a person? Probably not. But it’d be cruel to expect a mascot character to make perfect sense.

Nemunemu spends its days walking around the park in costume, greeting visitors. It’s wildly popular with both kids and adults. You’re allowed to touch its fluffy fur, so people often rush in to hug Nemunemu and bury themselves in its soft belly.

Among its merchandise, handmade keychains are especially popular. They’re limited edition, and since each one is made individually, there are big variations between them. People scramble to get their very own “mini Nemunemu.” Rumor has it the keychains are actually made by Nemunemu itself, though who knows if that’s true.

When Nemunemu spotted me, it came running over, waving both hands excitedly. A perfect display of fan service.

"Yo, Nemunemu, been doing alright?"

Snap! Nemunemu struck a dramatic pose in reply. This one can’t talk. Not because there’s a performer inside the suit who can’t break character.

There. Is. No. One. Inside.

Not a gimmick, not lore—it’s literally true. Probably some kind of superpower, or maybe just a trait of its species.

There was this one time when a villain went on a rampage in the park, and Nemunemu got caught in the crossfire. Its head got torn right off.

It wasn’t designed to come off—it got ripped off at the neck.

What spilled out was stuffing. Just stuffing. No human inside.

So how does it move? Well, there are plenty of powers in this world. Any number of explanations are possible.

I happened to see all that, and to keep from shattering the dreams of kids who still believed in Nemunemu, I panicked and picked up its head, setting it back on its neck.

The two of us held the head in place while running desperately from the villain. Looking back, it was pretty comedic. I definitely had a moment of, what the hell am I even doing?

But for Nemunemu, it was a matter of life or death—or at least identity. It didn’t die even with its head torn off, but keeping its secret was everything. And because I helped with that, Nemunemu was deeply grateful. We’ve been like friends ever since.

I’m the type who’s fine doing things solo, so yeah, I’m the kind of guy who comes to an amusement park alone. Actually, I’d come that day because I wanted one of those rumored Nemunemu keychains.

Since crowds kept gathering whenever Nemunemu tried to greet people, it led me to the park’s backstage area. Sitting down on a chair, I asked it, "I heard you’re making hero suits now?"

Nemunemu threw its body backward in shock.

"Oh, didn’t I mention? I’ve got some hero acquaintances."

Nemunemu raised both hands in surprise.

"And I was thinking of producing a new hero, so I wanted to ask for your help."

Nemunemu clapped both hands over its mouth. Another shock reaction.

Seems today all I’ve been doing is surprising Nemunemu. How many reaction patterns does it even have? Honestly, I kind of want to see more.

Nemunemu nodded so hard its head bounced, gave a double thumbs-up, then made a big circle with its arms. Basically, “Okay!” Maybe even “More than okay, welcome!”

"That’s a relief. I don’t know much about that stuff myself."

Nemunemu beckoned me with one hand, clearly saying, “Listen up.” From here on, it was up to my interpretive skills. I focused on reading its movements carefully.

First, it put its hand on top of its head, opening and closing it while raising and lowering its arm. Looked like a festival dance move, but probably not.

"Inferna?"

It gave me a thumbs-up. Nailed it. So that was fire on the head. Barely made sense, but I got it.

"Then how do you do Snow Fox?"

It pressed both open palms on top of its head, mimicking animal ears.

"…Because it’s a fox, huh? Now that I think about it, even though the guy’s called Snow Fox, he doesn’t have much snow or fox in him at all."

Nemunemu reeled back dramatically. Looked like it had taken some emotional damage from that.

"So it’s because you’re the designer, huh. Saying ‘Snow Fox doesn’t look like a snow fox at all, lol’ was basically an insult. Sorry about that."

Nemunemu clutched its head.

"But hey, I think some of the blame’s on him too, since he never makes it snow."

I guess he could make it snow, but there’s no real reason to do that in a fight. Or maybe he can’t? Honestly, I’ve got no idea. Still, if it’s Yukiya we’re talking about—the guy who was even considering cryogenic sleep—he probably tested whether he could or not.

Nemunemu raised its right arm, lowered its left, lifted its left leg, and stepped forward with the right. What the hell was that supposed to mean? When I just stared, confused, Nemunemu started stomping its feet in place. When I still didn’t get it, it sped up.

I wanted to figure it out fast before it got exhausted, but nothing came to mind.

I’m terrible at charades. I’m not a humanities guy. That’s exactly why I find words to be the easiest way to communicate.

It’s because I can’t read between the lines. Sure, I can ace a modern literature test. But real life isn’t that simple. You’ve gotta read the context, the expression, the gestures, the atmosphere—and doing too much of that wears me out. Just say it straight. Like Raiden does.

"…Wait! You’re making a hero suit for Raiden too, aren’t you!?"

Nemunemu pumped both arms with thumbs-up, an over-the-top “YES” gesture.

So that cactus-monster-looking motion was Raiden. It meant running? Because he’s fast? That made sense. Lightning’s a tough thing to express through gestures, so yeah, that was probably the right call.

Still, I see. Raiden’s kept up the masked hero act, so no one knows who he really is. Nemunemu’s identity is just as mysterious—we don’t even know if it’s human. Even if someone tried to torture Nemunemu for Raiden’s secrets, all they’d get are gestures. Smart move, Raiden.

Nemunemu pointed into the empty air in three different directions, like it was picking out items lined up in front of us.

"You’re asking which heroes I know, right?"

It nodded enthusiastically. Nailed it.

"All of them."

Nemunemu pressed both hands to its cheeks—another shock reaction.

"But seriously, I can’t believe you’re the one making suits for every hero around. You’re not making them for villains too, are you?"

Nemunemu hunched its shoulders, hesitantly holding up thumb and forefinger to show “just a little.”

"So you are. You little—! Don’t you have any sense of good and evil? Or is that just how chimeras are? Just don’t overdo it, or you’ll get hunted down. Try to keep up the ‘I’m on humanity’s side’ act, at least."

A costume can’t change its expression, but conveying things through body language—that’s exactly what mascots are made for. Nemunemu nodded, shaking its head wildly, as if to say it understood.

"Anyway, if you ever get persecuted, you can come to my hometown. They say it’s crawling with monsters and spirits. I’ve never seen them myself, though."

Nemunemu tilted its head with a hand on its cheek—“Worth considering.”

So it’s not bound by some rule that it can never leave the amusement park. The only reason I’ve never seen it outside is probably because it’d look suspicious for a mascot costume to be wandering around the streets. Maybe it could work in a giant shopping mall, though, under the pretense of a stage show.

"For now, you’re doing great here at the park, so maybe just stick with that."

After all, Nemunemu is the face of this amusement park. It flashed a double peace sign, looking cheerful. Good for it. I wonder if it’s making decent money. Hopefully it’s getting paid—labor deserves wages. I’ve never met the park’s owner, but I wonder how they treat Nemunemu. If it’s being forced to work for free like some pet, I might just get mad on its behalf.

"Anyway, I’ll come back to discuss more later. Better to have the actual heroes here when we order their suits."

Nemunemu made a big circle with its arms. Looked like the hero suit issue was solved. After all, I’d secured the cooperation of the number-one supplier. No one else makes hero suits, and no one else even qualifies as a hero around here.

But in the end, what is Nemunemu, really? Some kind of plushie race?

Or maybe there’s a puppeteer with powers hiding somewhere, controlling it? If it’s good at sewing, either option sounds plausible.