Vol 3 Chapter 1.2 (2/2)
”You don't need to know to do the job, do you, Inukas.h.i.+?”
”Well, obviously,” Inukas.h.i.+ said testily. ”But diving into this kind of risky job without even knowing why is kinda harsh, man.”
”Finding out why isn't gonna change how risky it is.”
Tsk. This guy and his fondness of twisting arguments around ― I'm no match for him when it comes to verbal arguments.
”Fine,” he said finally. ”That's enough from you. Get outta here already.” Inukas.h.i.+ flapped his hand to shoo Nezumi away. He caught a whiff of soap. The image of a face crossed his mind. It was the face of someone who was was.h.i.+ng the dogs, covered in suds. The nonchalant question tumbled out of his mouth.
”Nezumi, this has nothing to do with s.h.i.+on, does it?”
For a brief moment, the grey eyes wavered. Inukas.h.i.+'s eyes didn't miss their slight hesitation. The tip of his nose twitched. He could smell something.
”s.h.i.+on?” Nezumi raised his shoulders slightly. ”Where does s.h.i.+on come into this? This has nothing to do with him.”
”Just now, you told me not to divulge information about this job to anyone else. Do you mean that I can't tell s.h.i.+on either?”
”Of course. There's no need to involve people that have nothing to do with this.”
”Dear, dear, aren't you the gentle one?” Inukas.h.i.+ mocked. ”Who knows how many dangerous jobs you've shoved into my hands, but when it comes to s.h.i.+on, oh no, I can't get him involved. Hah, I see. I guess even you warm up to people if you've lived with them long enough. Is that white-headed weirdo of a little boy that precious to you?”
Nezumi vanished from before his eyes. Before he could even utter a cry, Inukas.h.i.+'s body was being pushed up against the wall, and a set of fingers were digging into his throat.
”That's enough smart-mouthing from you,” Nezumi hissed. ”Any more, and I'll make sure you can never speak again.”
”Let's see you try,” Inukas.h.i.+ said boldly. ”These guys won't let you off for it.”
Several dogs which were sprawled on the floor got to their feet, snarling menacingly as they surrounded Nezumi. Just as one of them bared its teeth, a small grey shadow darted out of a corner of the room.
A strangled yelp.
The large dog that had bared its teeth raised its voice in pain. A small mouse was latched onto its neck. The dog writhed, violently shaking its head from side to side, but soon collapsed forepaws-first. Its four limbs convulsed. The other dogs retreated fearfully. Inukas.h.i.+ shoved Nezumi aside, and cried out in the same strangled way his dog did.
”My dog, my dog!” He lifted the dog's body in his arms. A cold voice showered over his head.
”If you don't want to end up like him, settle your other dogs down.”
”Nezumi, you f.u.c.king―”
Cheep-cheep.
The soft cry of a mouse. Inukas.h.i.+ lifted his face, and his breath caught in his throat. He looked about the room, and he was rooted to the spot. From the top of the cabinets, from underneath the table, from the shadow of the door, from various places in the room, countless small grey mice were staring silently at him. All their eyes were red, and glowed from deep within.
”Down,” Inukas.h.i.+ commanded hoa.r.s.ely. The dogs did as they were told. They returned to their spots, and lay low on their stomachs.
”He's not dead,” Nezumi said. ”He's just paralysed a little bit. Give him twenty, thirty minutes and he'll be fine. He's breathing properly, right?”
It was just as Nezumi had said. The dog's breathing was laboured, but consistent. It was struggling to get to its feet, but it looked like it had no strength to. It gave a pitiful whimper.
”You'll pay for doing this to my dog.” Just as Inukas.h.i.+ clenched his fist, the door flew open with a bang. s.h.i.+on came bursting in.
”Inukas.h.i.+!” s.h.i.+on stood frozen, still holding the doork.n.o.b. His gaze slid from Inukas.h.i.+, who was hugging his dog, to Nezumi.
”Nezumi, what are you doing here?”
”What are you doing here? You shouldn't be abandoning your workplace like that.”
”Well, I heard a dog howling, and I thought I heard Inukas.h.i.+'s voice too ― I thought something had happened ― Inukas.h.i.+, what's wrong with that dog?”
”He's just paralysed,” Nezumi answered for him. A brown mouse poked its head out from Nezumi's shoulder. It jumped down on the floor, and scurried up s.h.i.+on's body.
”Hamlet, did you come along too?” s.h.i.+on said to it.
”Hamlet? What're you talking about?”
”It's his name. Because he likes to be read Hamlet out loud.”
Nezumi's face contorted.
”Don't go naming my mice without permission.”
”Well, you wouldn't name them yourself,” said s.h.i.+on, unfazed. ”―He seems to like it a lot. Right, Hamlet?”
The mouse nodded its head up and down.
”Ridiculous,” Nezumi spat. ”So if this guy's Hamlet, what's the other one? Oth.e.l.lo? Macbeth?”
”Cravat.”
”Cravat? Was there a name like that in Shakespeare?”
”It's the name of a fried pastry. The colour of his fur looks just like one. It means 'tie', because of the shape. The dough has powdered almonds in it, and you twist it into a tie-shape to fry―”
”I get it, that's enough,” Nezumi interrupted. ”You go dream of filling your belly with those cravats, or whatever, when you go to sleep tonight. I'm going home. Talking with you gives me a headache.”
”Are you sure it doesn't have something to do with your nerves? You're always irritated. Maybe you're tired.”
”Whose fault is it that I'm irritated all the time? Besides, you―”
Feeling Inukas.h.i.+'s bewildered gaze on him, Nezumi shut his mouth. He re-wrapped his superfibre cloth, and strode out of the room without another word. Hamlet nudged s.h.i.+on on the cheek and chirruped once before bounding after its master.
The grey mice that had been all over the room had mysteriously disappeared. Inukas.h.i.+ let a long breath escape his lips, and sank to the floor. The dog gave a low growl in his arms. s.h.i.+on bent down on one knee and began inspecting the dog thoroughly.
”He looks like he's been paralysed with some sort of drug... but his heart's beating normally, and he's not vomiting. He should be fine.”
”Really? He won't die?”
”He'll be fine. He's only mildly paralysed. We should give him clean water to drink. I'll go get some.” s.h.i.+on filled the pail that he had been using to carry water from the river, and brought it to the dog. The dog gulped the water down eagerly.
”See, it looks like the numbness is almost all gone. But this dog ― how did he get paralysed?”
”Nezumi did it.”
”Nezumi? To the dog? No way.”
”Yes way,” Inukas.h.i.+ said angrily. ”He did it. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d paralysed my dog. He wouldn't hesitate to do something like that. He's ruthless, cunning, and cruel. I'd watch out if I were you. If you let his pretty face fool you into thinking he's going to be gentle and kind like your Mum, you're in for a nasty surprise.”
”I don't think he's my mother, but I do think he's kind.”
Inukas.h.i.+ made circles with his index finger in front of s.h.i.+on's face.
”Idiot. That's what I'm talking about when I say he's fooled you. You're too naive to notice how heartless he is.”
”Nezumi isn't heartless. He's saved my life more than once. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been able to survive.”
”Nezumi, help a stranger? Without anything in return?”
”For nothing in return. On the contrary,” s.h.i.+on said reflectively, ”I think he's brought a nuisance upon himself. It might sound weird coming from me, but I think I'm being quite a bit of a burden on him. After all, I don't know anything about how to live here.”
Inukas.h.i.+ pursed his lips. He let his gaze hover over s.h.i.+on's profile as he washed the dog's wound with water.
A nuisance? He was quite right. In these parts, someone who was as naive and gullible as he was, and was kind to everyone, was none other than a nuisance. And a nuisance often became the shackles that binded the hands and feet.
But Nezumi was living with this weirdo of a nuisance, looking for nothing in return. He wasn't chasing s.h.i.+on out of his nest ― on the contrary, he was sheltering him there.
Why?
”Hey, s.h.i.+on.”
”Hm?”
”Do you two always talk like that to each other?”
”Huh? Well ― yeah, I guess. Why?”
”Because Nezumi's usually not like that. He doesn't let his emotions show.”
s.h.i.+on c.o.c.ked his head to the side quizzically, as if to say, 'really?'. The dog licked the back of his hand. It was its way of expressing grat.i.tude for treating the wound.
Inukas.h.i.+ wiggled his nose and grinned. He was onto a scent.
s.h.i.+on and that job concerning the Correctional Facility were somehow connected. For this kid, Nezumi was willingly stepping into dangerous territory.
Inukas.h.i.+ had no proof. He wasn't sure of any clear reason for why Nezumi was doing this. But he had grasped Nezumi's weakness now, and that was certain.My nose doesn't lie.
Nezumi, so this oblivious weirdo is your weakness, your Achilles' heel, huh? Heh, then things should be interesting. You said so. Let anyone find out your weakness, and it could cost you your life. You're d.a.m.n right. And I've got your lifeline in my hands right now. I'll make sure you get rewarded handsomely for what you did to me. You can count on that.
”I might be wrong, but...” s.h.i.+on's voice reached his ears. He was petting the dog, which had gotten to its feet and was wagging its tail energetically, apparently fully recovered from paralysis.
”Huh? Did you say something?”
”This dog ― is he related to you, by any chance?”
”Oh ―” Inukas.h.i.+ paused. ”Yeah, he is. He's the last one that my Mum gave birth to. She had him, and got beaten to death shortly afterwards.” There was a lapse before he said, ”How'd you know?”
”I just had a feeling,” s.h.i.+on said. ”He has really intelligent and compa.s.sionate eyes. It kind of reminded me of what you said about your mother, so I wondered if I was right.”
s.h.i.+on's hand stroked the dog's neck. The dog's eyes drooped half-closed, and a quiet sigh escaped from its mouth. From its peaceful expression it was hard to imagine that the same dog had bared its teeth at Nezumi earlier.
”s.h.i.+on, you didn't laugh.”
”Huh? About what?”
”About my Mum. Usually when I talk to people about my Mum being a dog, they laugh, or make fun of me, or treat me like a freak... but you ― you said my Mum was kind and loving. You're the only one who's listened to me without laughing or making fun of my Mum, apart from―”
Inukas.h.i.+ clipped his words, and swallowed hard. He had just noticed this fact. Simultaneously, he was overcome with a wave of agitation that threatened to suffocate him.
s.h.i.+on, still on one knee, looked up at him with a concerned expression. Inukas.h.i.+ licked his dry lips, and slowly formed the rest of his words as if tracing the thread of his memory.
”You're the only one ― apart from Nezumi.”
-- END OF CHAPTER 1 --
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