Vol 2 Chapter 5.1 (1/2)
[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 2 Ch 5 (a)
These are English translations for the novel NO. 6 by Asano Atsuko.
* * *
CHAPTER 5
Hidden Danger
The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one Earth.
- Sultan bin Salman Al-Saud, astronaut
After s.h.i.+on had finished reading the picture book, Kalan gave a sigh of satisfaction.
”That was a good story.”
Rico blew out of his flared nostrils sullenly. He fiddled with the newly-changed bandages on his neck and complained.
”Well, I didn't think it was good. Stories about rabbits are boring.”
”Then what kind of story do you want to hear, Rico?” s.h.i.+on asked.
”Ummmm―” Rico paused for a moment of thought. ”Oh, a story about bread. And― and one about soup and fried sweet potatoes.”
”You must be hungry, Rico.”
Kalan turned to s.h.i.+on and nodded.
”He's hungry all the time. Rico gets more hungry than anyone else.”
”Just a minute, then. I think I've got some soup...” Was there any soup left for him? A bowlful of soup that could sate Rico's empty stomach for a short while―
Kalan stood up.
”No, thank you. It's okay. We have to go home now.” She took her little brother by the hand and made for the door. She stopped, turned, and spoke in a small voice. ”Thank you for reading to us.”
”You're very welcome.”
”Can we come again tomorrow?”
”Of course.”
”Okay.” A smile spread across Kalan's face, and she half-dragged Rico out the door. Nezumi stretched in the shadow of a pile of a books.
”Stupid as always, aren't you.”
”Stupid? Me?”
”They say the biggest idiots are the ones who don't realize they're idiots. I think there was a proverb like that.” Nezumi stood up, and draped the superfibre cloth around his neck. ”You tried to give a handout to the kids. You tried to give them leftover soup.”
”Is that a stupid thing to do?”
”Those kids came here to be read to. They didn't come to beg. If you can ensure that Rico will never starve again, that would be fine and dandy. But if you give him leftover soup on a whim one day, what're you gonna do the next time he starves? You wouldn't be able to take care of him all the time. If you're going to be irresponsible and abandon him halfway, it would be better not to give him anything at all in the first place. Kalan has a better idea of how things work. That girl is bright and dignified. She knew to refuse your half-hearted and reckless charity.”
s.h.i.+on sank into a chair. Nezumi's words always inflicted him with pain. It felt like his skin was being torn from his very body. He could almost hear the sound of his flesh being ripped from him. His foolishness, his arrogance, his heedlessness. His outward vanity stripped from him, he was left naked: superficial and pretentious― his real self. Nezumi strode in front of him and continued to speak while he pulled on a pair of gloves.
”There's a second example of your stupidity. Wanna hear it?”
”Sure. Tell me.”
”You made a promise for tomorrow.”
”Is there something wrong with that?”
”There's no guarantee that there's gonna be a tomorrow.”
s.h.i.+on took a deep breath.
”So you're saying that I can't be sure that I'll be alive tomorrow to read a book to those children?”
”Yeah. See, you're starting to pick up on things more quickly. You're on the Bureau's Wanted list, and you went wandering around outside yesterday. I wouldn't be surprised if the tracking satellites have got you already. Maybe the guys who have nothing better to do over at the Security Bureau's Law Enforcement division are heading over here right now. If they are, then you can forget having a read-aloud tomorrow. At best you'd be in a solitary cell in the Correctional Facility; at worst, you won't even be able to speak, because you'll be dead.”
s.h.i.+on was gazing at Nezumi's leather-gloved hands. Even when he was speaking crudely, his movements were still graceful. s.h.i.+on wanted to imitate him if he could.
”What?” Nezumi said. ”You're s.p.a.ced out again.”
”Oh.... uh, sorry.”
”You really have no sense of danger, do you? I think even a newborn fawn would be more cautious than you.”
”Nezumi.”
”I don't want to hear it,” he said abruptly. ”I'm going to work.”
”Do the city authorities really intend to capture me?”
Nezumi stopped.
”This place is adjacent to No. 6,” s.h.i.+on continued. ”If they really set out to catch me, it wouldn't be hard for them at all... no, not even just me. You're a VC on the run too, aren't you? And unlike me, you go walking around outside all the time. No. 6's tracking satellites are able to keep detailed surveillance on one location from their stationary orbit.”
”Uh-huh, so?”
”So I'm wondering why. The authorities aren't serious about trying to catch us. They certainly haven't gotten desperate about it, to say the least.”
Nezumi shrugged his shoulders.
”s.h.i.+on, in both good and bad ways, the city you were born in isn't interested in things outside of it. For them, everything's complete within those walls of special alloy. The West Block is their garbage can. Here, they throw away their waste, their pus. If you're pus to them, they probably think the West Block is an appropriate place for you. They've squeezed the pus out of their tiny wound, and thrown it away in the garbage. They're not going to come back looking for it.”
”So I'd be safe as long as I stayed here.”
”Who knows? It probably won't go that well, but there's a chance you will be. ―You said you wanted to go on living here, didn't you? Maybe your dream will come true.”
”Until spring, at least.”
He had a moratorium until spring. Once spring came, and the wasps entered their activity period, what would happen in the interior of the Holy City? Would the parasite wasps sweep the city with their dread? He had to do something before it got warmer, before spring arrived. He had to come up with a plan before they pa.s.sed the winter through.
”The man-eating wasps have finally shown themselves,” said Nezumi airily. ”You should just sit back and watch. It'll be an interesting stage, to see what happens to No. 6. Our wasp will be the star of the stage. A tragedy like no other― or a comedy like no other. I wonder which one it'll be?”
”Mother is still inside that city. I can't stand by and be a spectator.”
”What, you're planning on going home?”
”Once, before spring comes. I'm going to see if I can make a blood serum by then.”
”Using your own blood?”
”Yeah. It would be impossible to make a perfect one, of course, but it's worth giving it a try.”
”Hey, you might be a genius, but what can you do without any beakers or syringes? You sure can't get them here.”
”I'm going to try asking Rikiga-san. He might be able to get his hands on at least the bare minimum of equipment I'll need.”
”The man won't do anything unless it's going to put money in his pocket,” Nezumi said flatly. ”You might be the son of a girl he used to love, but try to get him to do free labour, and he'll turn away as fast as anything.”
”You think so?” s.h.i.+on said dubiously. ”―But we'll still need a serum. Yeah, I'll tell him if it goes well, he could make some money off of it. I'll convince him someh―”
Nezumi's foot moved. s.h.i.+on, chair and all, went flying across the floor. A pile of books collapsed. The mice darted away.
”What was that for?” He tried to get up. Before s.h.i.+on could move, Nezumi's knee was on his chest, and his hand was holding his shoulder down.
”s.h.i.+on.” Looking down into s.h.i.+on's face from above as he lay on his back, Nezumi moved his fingers from s.h.i.+on's shoulder to his throat. Through the leather of his gloves, s.h.i.+on could feel the sensation of five fingers at his neck. They tightened their grip slowly.
”Aren't you gonna resist?”
”No. It wouldn't be any use. You'd agree,” s.h.i.+on said calmly.
”Giving up pretty easily, huh? Don't you care about your life?”
”Of course I do.”
”Or are you thinking that I'd never kill you?”
”Yeah.”
Nezumi smiled. His grey eyes, his thin lips, and well-shaped nose formed a beautiful but cruel and pitiless smile.
”Don't think too highly of yourself,” he said softly. A knife appeared in Nezumi's hand as if by magic. ”I remember doing something like this four years ago too. I was holding you down like this on your bed.”
”I remember too,” s.h.i.+on said. ”That time, I was the one that went lunging at you. You dodged it like it was nothing, and then the next moment, you were pinning me down and I couldn't even move.”
That stormy night. He remembered the wind howling outside his window. He remembered the sensation of Nezumi's skinny body, feverish and hot. It had been four years since then.
It's been four years, and I still have neither skill nor the heart to push this body aside.
”That time, I was holding a spoon. And I said― do you remember? ― that if this was a knife, you'd be dead.”