Vol 6 Chapter 1.2 (1/2)
This is a continuation of PART A.
s.h.i.+on felt a gaze on him. His eyes met with Nezumi's. He felt like he was being wrapped in an elegant grey cloth. The core of his body pulsated. All the thoughts that had been swirling around in his head came to a full stop.
A moment of pleasure.
It was strange. Just the kind of light in Nezumi's eyes was enough to make him feel like he was being pushed away or being embraced.
But now was not the time to be giving himself up to selfish and indulgent emotions. People were easily swayed once they ceased to think. They were too easily led along by the flow of other people's words and the mindset of the times.
Nezumi would never embrace and protect anyone who avoided thinking, who let himself simply be pushed along with the flow.
And besides, s.h.i.+on thought as he lifted his chin. I don't want to be protected by him. I haven't abandoned my thoughts. I'll keep decoding the world around me and its workings in my own way. I will confront the world in its true form, and look reality in the eye. That's probably something you would call a battle, Nezumi.
s.h.i.+on dropped his gaze from Nezumi, and meditated. He set his thoughts in motion again.
Since when?
From the beginning?
Yes, from the beginning. Perhaps No. 6 had been removed from ideologies of peace and co-existence from the very moment of its birth.
On this land, there had once been a people that had lived here long before. No. 6 had invaded them. They had tried to dominate them in the same way a starving beast devoured its prey and gnawed on its bones. By doing so, it had expanded its boundaries, and established its foundations as a city-state. Peace? Co-existence? It had laughed contemptuously in face of these words, and with brute force, made the surrounding areas its own.
Just as it had destroyed the West Block. Just as it had ma.s.sacred its people. Using overwhelming military force.
But still... what about the other thing? LEDs―light-emitting diodes. LEDs lit up when electric current was applied to the joint between two special semiconductors. They were man-made lights that didn't exist in the natural world. Scientifically manufactured lights. Were they not things that No. 6 had created? Or―or, rather, had some scientific civilization existed which was at par with, or even more advanced than No. 6? But if that was so, the civilization would probably not have been invaded so easily. He did know that science was neither all-solving nor almighty, however....
He didn't know. It was like walking in a fog. No matter how much he pondered and contemplated, no matter how far he stepped in, he never reached the truth. The more he thought, the further he ventured, the more lost he felt. He couldn't get out of the labyrinth. His thoughts wandered aimlessly.
He was frustrated.
Cheep.
The rat jumped down from s.h.i.+on's shoulder. The little mice also hid themselves in the boulder cracks.
What's wrong?
As s.h.i.+on's gaze started to follow the little mice, he was suddenly attacked from behind. A shadow twisted his arm up behind him. His mouth was gagged. In the blink of an eye, he was bound up with rope. He was shoved from behind. He fell with his hands still tied behind his back. He rammed his shoulder on the ground.
”What was that for?” he shouted.
”s.h.i.+on, keep quiet.” Nezumi, also kneeling in ropes, shook his head at him. ”Don't resist. Stay quiet.”
”But why―ow! The rope really hurts!”
”Let your body relax. Breathe out and loosen up. It'll feel a bit better.”
He did as he was told. Nezumi was right―he felt a bit better. Pretty amazing, though. Capturing and binding us in a matter of seconds―oh, but still―
”Not as good as you.”
”What?”
”You'd have a better handle on it. Whether it be a rope, or a knife.”
”Why, thanks for the compliment. I'm undeserving of the privilege, really, to be complimented by you.”
”I'm always in awe at your―gh.” The rope dug into his neck. His breath caught in his throat.
”Do not speak.” A flat voice hissed at his ear.
Was it that man? The man with sandy-grey hair, skin, and eyes?
”Any more idle chatter, and I will wring your neck.”
The rope tightened. He really felt like his neck was being wrung. His airway caved in from the pressure. He felt like he was suddenly swelling from the neck up. He couldn't breathe. It was painful.
”Knock it off,” Nezumi said quietly. ”Revenge for what happened back there? Taking your frustrations out on an unresisting human? I see you've picked up some low habits while we haven't seen each other, Sasori.”
The rope loosened. For an instant, s.h.i.+on didn't know what was happening. He threw himself out on the ground, and dissolved into a fit of coughing. He heard the sound of flesh hitting the ground as if it were crawling across it. He raised himself.
Nezumi was crumpled beside him. The man's foot landed on his shoulder. He was wearing sandals that were woven out of what looked like thin strips of bark.
”You too, Nezumi.” The man's voice grew leaden. ”Enough of your insolent complaints. Do you not understand your place? Then it is only a matter of making you understand.”
The man's foot moved to kick Nezumi's shoulder.
”You are the ones who have trespa.s.sed from outside. You have no right to protest if you get killed.”
”Stop!” s.h.i.+on twisted and yelled. Nezumi lifted his face, and shook his head as if to tell him to shut his mouth. But he could not.
”You coward! You're just as Nezumi says. Tying us up and making it so that we can't fight back, and then beating us―it's low, it's filthy!”
”s.h.i.+on.” Nezumi grimaced. Several streams of blood ran from his temple down his cheek. s.h.i.+on clenched his stomach, and stared up at the man.
”What is this place? No. 6?”
”No. 6, you say?” The man's whole body quivered. His sand-coloured eyes glinted sharply. The light seemed almost murderous. But s.h.i.+on was not about to be silenced. He was also trembling, but not with fear. It was with wrath. Wrath boiled within him.
”It's true. You're just the same. What you're doing is no different from No. 6. You oppress the weak by force. You inflict pitiless violence. How are you guys any different?”
”I'm not really weak, just saying,” Nezumi shrugged with his hands still tied behind his back. ”s.h.i.+on, I get what you're trying to say. Just leave it at that. Say any more, and you'll be kicked to death. Kicking is this old man's specialty.”
”I will kill you,” the man growled. ”You are a demon. A wicked bringer of misfortune. If I do not dispose of you now, you will only bring catastrophe upon us.”
”A sharp eye, Sasori,” Nezumi sighed exaggeratedly. ”You're spot on. A catastrophe, indeed. Of the highest cla.s.s.”
”Nezumi, what do you mean 'catastrophe'? ...You mean I am?”
”You are,” Nezumi chuckled lightheartedly.
”He is evil,” the man continued. ”He wears a demonic aura like a cloak, and carries misfortune wherever he goes. I can tell. Nezumi, you said he was a resident of No. 6.”
”Former resident, to correct you. He was inside the city up until just recently.”
”That must be why he is so evil. He is... like No. 6 itself.”
Nezumi narrowed his eyes. The tip of his tongue licked the blood on his lips.
”No. 6 itself, huh.... I see. That's how he appears to you.”
”I know,” the man answered. ”I can tell. I must kill him. I must dispose of him before it is too late. If not...” The man took a step forward. s.h.i.+on shrank back without thinking. The man was radiating such a murderous intent that he could not help but recoil.
He's serious....
This man is serious about killing me.
The man took another step forward, but suddenly spun in a somersault and crashed to the ground. Nezumi had tripped him.
Nezumi was up in a flash. The ropes slid to the ground. It was like a magic trick. In his hand was a small knife.
The man tried to get up, but was stopped by Nezumi's knee digging into his stomach. The man let out a m.u.f.fled groan. He bent backwards from the pain, leaving his throat defenseless; a blade was soon pushed up on it.
”We worked hard to get here. I won't have you disposing of him that quickly.”
”Why... did you bring... such catastrophe?” choked the man. ”Do you plan to destroy us all?”
”The opposite.” Nezumi's lips curled. ”I want to send No. 6 to its grave. That's why I brought him.”
”No. 6? Does that boy have the power to?”
”Who knows. We don't know until we try. I can't let you kill him before we even test it out. That jealousy of yours, by the way: a little embarra.s.sing, don't you think?”
”Jealousy?”
”Yeah. You're jealous of s.h.i.+on. He's got your rats in the palm of his hand like it's nothing. You're jealous. Am I right?”
There was a heavy grinding sound. The man was gnas.h.i.+ng his teeth.
”Nezumi... just as unpleasant as you used to be. It irritates me. I will strangle you to death first.”
”What a splendid promise. I can't wait. But before that―” The wan smile disappeared from Nezumi's mouth. A drop of blood that had slid down his chin dripped on the man's chest, and coloured it red. ”Let's have you swear, Sasori. Swear that you'll never lay a finger on s.h.i.+on again.”
The blade of the knife jerked. The man's throat contracted as well.
”Swear it.”
The man fell stubbornly silent.
”That is enough.” A gentle voice rang out. It even held a hint of a laugh. ”You have not changed, Nezumi. Neither your skill with the knife nor your sarcastic way with words has deteriorated. I daresay it seems to have become even more polished.”
The elder on the palanquin was smiling with the same benign air as his voice. The palanquin was lowered steadily.
”Rou.”
”You have grown. I can barely recognize you. I would never have thought I could encounter you as a grown man.”
Nezumi released the man and knelt down. The knife spun once in his hand before disappearing. This too, was like witnessing a magic trick. The man muttered something, and gnashed his teeth some more. Rats raced over s.h.i.+on's lap.
”I believed that you had left long ago for a land far away. Did I not command you to do so? To leave this place behind, forget everything, throw everything away, and to live freely?”
”Rou, please listen to me.”
”You should never have returned. Regardless of what happened, you should never have come back.”
”I can't be free.” Nezumi clenched his fingers hard. ”As long as No. 6 exists, I can't be free. I can't forget it, nor can I throw it away.”
”Nezumi.”
”You should know. No. 6 still exists. It's still here. How can I be the only free one? It's impossible.”