Vol 3 Chapter 1.1 (1/2)
[Novel] NO. 6 - Vol 3 Ch 1 (a)
This is a translation of the novel NO. 6 by Asano Atsuko.
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What lies beyond the wall....
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CHAPTER 1
The Beautiful Ones...
Away, and mock the time with fairest show:
False face must hide what the false heart doth know.
-Macbeth Act I Scene VII[1]
The sky was blue and bright. The sun's rays, approaching noon, were gentle and warm. It was a temperate afternoon that made the frigidness of a few days ago seem like a dream.
s.h.i.+on lifted his face, and narrowed his eyes as he looked up at the azure sky.
He thought it was beautiful.
The sky was beautiful. The blinding whiteness of the crumbled ruin as it reflected the sunlight was beautiful. The odd bubble that floated up as if by magic from the soapsuds was beautiful. The sheen on the fur of a freshly-washed dog was beautiful.
All the little things that surrounded him were beautiful. A lone bubble floated up again and drifted on the gentle breeze.
”Hey, stop slacking off,” Inukas.h.i.+'s voice called over to him. ”There are still tons of dogs left. s.p.a.ce out every other minute like that, and the sun's gonna set before you're even halfway through.”
As if in agreement with Inukas.h.i.+'s reprimand, a large white dog covered in suds gave a low growl.
”Oops, sorry.”
s.h.i.+on stuck his hands back into the suds and washed the dog thoroughly with his fingertips. The dog evidently found it very pleasing, for its eyes were closed and its mouth lolled half-open. Today was only s.h.i.+on's second time at his dog-was.h.i.+ng job, but already he had learned that dogs had many different facial expressions. They also varied in personality and tendency: some were lazy, others diligent; some high-strung, others laid-back; they could be mild, impatient, rambunctious― all of this was new to him.
The white dog that he was was.h.i.+ng now was a female that was quite old. It was gentle and intelligent, and reminded him of the wise old woman that often appeared in tales.
”s.h.i.+on, you're spending way too much time on each dog. How long is it taking you to wash just one?” Inukas.h.i.+, with his long hair tied at the back and soapsuds on his nose, pulled a face at him.
”You lend these dogs out to serve as blankets, don't you?” s.h.i.+on answered. ”They need to be cleaned properly, then.”
”A quick wash is good enough. The customers are all like dirty strays anyway, the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.”
In a building mostly reduced to rubble, there was a part that still somewhat retained a semblance of the hotel that it used to be. Inukas.h.i.+ lent s.p.a.ce there as overnight accommodation for those who had nowhere to stay. He lent out dogs in preparation for the coming winter. Boarders spent the night buried amongst several dogs, and by doing so were able to avoid freezing to death. s.h.i.+on had been hired to wash these dogs.
”Inukas.h.i.+, I don't think that's a nice thing to say about your customers.”
”Huh? What'd you say?”
”It's not good to call your customers b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, or call them dirty.”
Inukas.h.i.+ rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, and gave a small sneeze.
”Are you my Mum or what, s.h.i.+on?”
”No. I've been hired by you to wash your dogs.”
”Then that makes me the employer and you the employee. And your job is to shut up and do what you're told.”
Inukas.h.i.+ yanked the white dog out of s.h.i.+on's hands, and began vigorously rinsing the dog by dumping water over it, which he had drawn from the stream.
At the back of the ruins, there ran a small, clear river. Not long after s.h.i.+on had escaped from No. 6 to this West Block, he had nearly died from a parasite wasp that had planted itself in his body. Although he was unconscious most of the time from severe pain and high fever, he still remembered clearly the taste of the cold, delicious water that had slid down his throat numerous times.
When he had thanked Nezumi for giving him water and treating him, he had gotten a gruff answer that there was a decent spring nearby. Perhaps this stream originated from that spring.
”Inukas.h.i.+, don't do that. All the soap is getting into the river.” s.h.i.+on hastily restrained Inukas.h.i.+'s hands. Soapsuds bobbed on the stream as they drifted away from them.
”So what?”
”Everyone drinks from this stream, don't they?”
”Well, yeah, of course. We don't have any fancy facilities that give you sanitized and temperature-controlled water at the push of a b.u.t.ton. Everyone draws water directly from the river or spring.”
”Then you can't get it dirty. It's bad for the people downstream.”
Inukas.h.i.+ stared into s.h.i.+on's face for a brief moment.
”And why should I care about the people downstream?”
”Well, I mean...” s.h.i.+on faltered. ”If you know that the people downstream are going to be drinking from here, you wouldn't want to make it dirty for them. That's normal, right?”
”Normal? By whose standards are we talking about, s.h.i.+on? This is the West Block. You wouldn't be able to survive here if you went around putting everyone else first.”
”Yeah, but there's no need to go out of the way to make it dirty,” s.h.i.+on protested. ”We can do what we did yesterday, and put water in steel drums and wash the dogs there.”
”Yesterday we only had small dogs. FYI, s.h.i.+on, we were supposed to get through all the dogs yesterday. You taking your sweet time is costing us. You understand that, right?”
”Yeah.”
”Not only are you horribly slow, the dogs we're was.h.i.+ng today are all big. And that's not it― wait for it― there are s.h.i.+tloads of them. Are you getting the picture? If we drew a bath each and every single time, it would take forever.”
Then Inukas.h.i.+ stopped, and shrugged slightly.
”But if you wanna draw water from the river on your own, I'm not gonna get in your way.”
”Fine. I'll do it.”
”It's heavy labour, man.”
”I know.”
”By the way, I'm only paying you to wash the dogs. Carrying the water is something you're doing entirely on your own.”
”I don't mind.”
”Well then, get cracking. I'm gonna have lunch.”
The white dog shook itself vigorously, and water droplets flew in all directions. s.h.i.+on grabbed the pail that Inukas.h.i.+ had tossed at him, and drew a pailful of water from the river.
”s.h.i.+on,” Inukas.h.i.+ said abruptly.
”Hm?”
”Why?”
”Why what?”
”Why shouldn't I badmouth my customers? Why do I have to bother about the people downstream?”
s.h.i.+on looked up into Inukas.h.i.+'s tan face as he sat perched atop a pile of rubble.
”Because we're the same.”
”Same?”
”They're the same humans as us. So―”
Inukas.h.i.+ suddenly threw his head back and laughed. His voice rang out and was sucked into the bright blue sky. Several dogs began barking in agitation.
”Same humans, huh? Ha ha, you nearly bowled me over. I've never heard those words before in my life. s.h.i.+on, is that honestly what you think?”
”Yeah, is there a problem?” s.h.i.+on said stoutly.
Inukas.h.i.+ leapt down from the rubble and drew up to him. He had a small frame, and only reached up to around s.h.i.+on's shoulders in height. His thin arms and legs protruded from his black clothes, and his skin was the shade of tanned leather.
”So my filthy customers, and the brats that come here to draw water are the same humans as us?”
”Yeah.”
”Are you and I the same humans?”
”Yeah.”
Inukas.h.i.+ lifted his arm and extended it upwards to the noon sun above.
”Are the people of No. 6 the same humans as us?”
s.h.i.+on nodded slowly, and answered.
”Yeah.”
Inukas.h.i.+'s smooth, tan skin glowed in the sunlight, and his long bangs cast a shadow over his forehead and eyes. Under its veil, the same tan-brown eyes blinked a few times at him.
”s.h.i.+on, you're gonna die.”
”Huh?”
”Is your head up in the clouds[2] or something? If you keep believing in that fantasy of yours, you'll never survive here.”
”Nezumi tells me the same thing,” s.h.i.+on said. ”That I've got my head up in the clouds.”
”The clouds wouldn't be high enough, actually. Your head must be in s.p.a.ce, or something. I don't know what s.p.a.ce is supposed to be like, but it's really high up, right? And sometimes you burn up, just like that, before you even get there.”
”I've never been to s.p.a.ce, but yeah, I guess it is really high up.”
Inukas.h.i.+ climbed nimbly up the ruins, and sat down with the blue sky at his back. He dangled his legs over the edge, and spoke quietly as if to himself.
”I wonder why Nezumi even puts up with you. He hates people that are all talk, and unrealistic.”
”Inukas.h.i.+, are you close with Nezumi?”
”Close? What do you mean by close?”
s.h.i.+on heaved the pail up the path of withered gra.s.s and rubble, and dumped the water into the steel drum.
”It means you know a lot about each other.”
”Oh, if that's the case, then no. I know less than the tip of that guy's tail, and I wouldn't want to know.” As he spoke, Inukas.h.i.+ pointed at the light brown puppy that was tumbling about at s.h.i.+on's feet. Its tail was tipped with white.
”I thought you were friends, but I guess I was wrong...”
”Friends!” Inukas.h.i.+ exclaimed incredulously. ”There's another word I don't hear often. Friends. Hah, ridiculous. Nezumi only comes here when he wants information that me or my dogs have collected. I give him information, and he gives me money. That's it, that's everything.”
Inukas.h.i.+ fell silent. His gaze wandered, collided with s.h.i.+on's, and slid away.
”It's not just information and money that you guys trade,” s.h.i.+on said. A statement, not a question.
”Uh― well, once in a while, he― sings for me.”
”Sings?”
”He has a good voice. So I... I get him to sing. Sometimes when my dogs die― it's alright when you wake up and they're already dead, but― sometimes, they're sick or hurt, and don't die as easily, and they... they suffer. It hurts them so much, they whimper all night long. That's when I get him to sing. I don't know what the song's called. But it― I don't know how to describe it― I dunno, what would it be?” Inukas.h.i.+ murmured to himself.
”What does it sound like?”
”Huh?”
”Nezumi's song. Nezumi's voice. If you were to compare it to something, what would it be?”
Inukas.h.i.+ tilted his head to the side, and pondered in silence. s.h.i.+on also silently continued carrying pailfuls of water. He made several trips between the river and the steel drum, and when more than half of it had been filled, Inukas.h.i.+ opened his mouth again.
”The wind, maybe...?” he said hesitantly. ”A wind that comes blowing from far away... yeah, his song steals away souls that are struggling because they can't die. Just like how the wind scatters flower petals, his song cuts the soul away from the body. Any dog, no matter how much he's suffering, closes his eyes and becomes quiet. You think he's just settled down, but he's actually not breathing. They all die quietly, like all their suffering was just a dream or something.” He paused. ”It was like that with my Mum, too.”
”Your mother's pa.s.sed away?”
”Yeah. She got killed by a couple of brats that live downstream, the ones you said I shouldn't make the water dirty for. She got rocks thrown at her, and was clubbed to death with an oak stick. But my Mum was at fault for that, too. She tried to steal their only supper. She snuck into their hut, and got caught holding their dried meat in her mouth. When she finally got away and managed to come back, both her front legs and ribs were broken, and she was bleeding from her mouth. There was nothing we could do.”
Having finished filling the drum with water, s.h.i.+on wiped the sweat off his brow. He couldn't understand Inukas.h.i.+'s words.
”Inukas.h.i.+, by front legs... you mean your mother's, right?”
”Yeah. She's a dog.”
”A dog?”
s.h.i.+on could feel his jaw drop. Inukas.h.i.+ looked at him and gave a laugh. His voice was high and rang out clearly into the air.
”I was dumped here when I was still a baby,” he explained. ”The old man that picked me up was a weirdo who lived here with his dogs, and he raised me together with them. My Mum gave me milk. She licked me, and curled up with me to sleep. When it got cold, she huddled close to me and my siblings― her puppies― and kept us warm. She always used to say, you poor thing, you have no fur― but at least you're cool in the summer, and you don't get fleas. She'd tell me that over and over again, and lick me until I was clean.”
”She must have been a great mother,” s.h.i.+on said softly. ”Gentle and caring.”
Inukas.h.i.+ blinked several times.
”You really think so, s.h.i.+on?”
”I do. She cherished you. Since you didn't have fur, she protected you and made sure you didn't freeze.”
”Yeah. Mum was always really nice. I still remember how her tongue felt. It was warm, and wet... funny, I can never seem to forget about it.”
”It's a gift of memory.”
”Huh?”
”It's a gift of memory from mother to son. Memories that your mother's left behind for you.”
Inukas.h.i.+ stopped dangling his legs, and drew his chin back.