Fushimi Roku could easily guess with his heel that this little fellow probably found some clue recently and wants to go back to her hometown to find her mom.
With hope for a mother-daughter reunion, he had no objections.
Besides, Shizuoka Prefecture isn’t far; taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo, it takes less than fifty minutes to arrive. I’ve heard that "Atami" in Shizuoka is a tourist spot, perfect for hot springs and fireworks. It’d be a waste to spend the entire rare long holiday at home, so why not accompany Taira Sakurako for a walk and consider it a trip?
He couldn’t get used to pixel games these days, and the plots of popular movies and TV shows are so outdated, they make his scalp tingle and toes curl as if he’d rather poke out his own eyes. As for classic films, he’d already watched them all in his previous life... In short, Fushimi Roku’s current entertainment options were quite lacking.
He kind of missed the days of slacking off and watching excitement in the lookout tower.
"Even if I want to leave now, I can’t. I’m at least considered an investigative officer; I’ll have to wait until the restrictions are lifted... If nothing unexpected happens, it’ll be about two or three weeks," he said.
Fushimi Roku casually agreed, and under Taira Sakurako’s slightly doubtful gaze, he patted his butt, turned around, and planned to return to the living room to continue watching TV.
Turning the corner, Fushimi Roku found Jun lying sideways on the sofa, occupying his throne. Those small eyes were watching the TV that was still on.
He thought, dare to get on the sofa today, and you’ll dare to bite people tomorrow, disrupting the order, what’s going on? Can’t deal with those two little ones, but can’t I deal with you?
Fushimi Roku clasped his hands behind his back and quietly walked up behind Jun. Sensing the murderous aura, Jun raised his head, shifted from lying sideways to sitting up, and slowly scanned the room, trying to locate the source of the threat... When Jun’s gaze turned behind and saw Fushimi Roku, he was startled, his ears turned into airplane ears, and he jumped up.
"Why stand up, keep lying down?" Fushimi Roku said sinisterly.
Jun hurriedly jumped off the sofa, wagging his tail incessantly, rolling on the floor, showing his belly to please.
Fushimi Roku sat down on the sofa, pointed at his nose, and scolded, "Don’t think just because I let you into the house that you meet standards! If it weren’t for Kazama Tatsuya going missing, you’d still be eating shit next door!"
Jun whimpered twice, feeling that living next door was better... but a dog does not mind a poor family, a wife does not mind an ugly husband, feeling a bit wronged didn’t matter.
Seeing it still dared to act wronged, Fushimi Roku flicked his right foot, and the slipper flew into the air. He caught the slipper and slapped it on Jun’s butt, tugged on Jun’s ear, and lectured, "The sofa is my spot! Your feet are dirty and smelly, not allowed on the sofa, understood?"
Jun ’aww’ in response, indicating that he understood.
Seeing this, Fushimi Roku finally stopped fussing with Jun. He lay sideways on the sofa, with a pose quite similar to Jun’s, at least six or seven out of ten.
In the evening prime time, Fuji TV was airing "World’s Strange Stories," and he had to admit the creativity was quite interesting, but the problem was Fushimi Roku had seen it in his previous life. Such creative shows become boring once you know the ending, so he pressed the remote to change the channel, ending up on "Takeshi Goda’s Manzai TV." He wasn’t very familiar with Japanese manzai comedy, so he continued flipping channels...
At this moment, the subtle sound of water came from Minamoto Tamako’s room, presumably she was bathing.
Fushimi Roku yawned, feeling that life had become too leisured.
Even though the outside situation was tense, with constant sirens in West Sugamo, and Senior Feng’s fate unknown, human sorrow and joy don’t interconnect. He only felt bored. But if you really asked him to investigate, he’d find it too tiring; humans being troublesome isn’t a good thing.
Hearing the water in Minamoto Tamako’s room stop, Fushimi Roku flipped over like a swift bird, snapped his fingers at Jun, and said, "I’m going out to walk the dog!"
"Ah! Wait! You promised to tell me about the case—"
Across the door, Minamoto Tamako’s anxious voice came. Apparently, she hadn’t had time to get dressed yet, as a fluster of footsteps echoed inside the room.
Fushimi Roku had no intention to wait, and he put on his jacket to leave with Jun.
Man and dog took the elevator down. The neighbor, an old lady, asked why the dog wasn’t on a leash. Fushimi Roku didn’t care much, saying if it dared to bite, he’d cook it and give it away. Hearing this, Jun whimpered to beg for mercy, and the old lady imagined Fushimi Roku was the one who should be leashed with a collar.
As soon as they stepped out the first-floor door, the chill wind gusted, and Fushimi Roku stomped his feet, regretting a little.
Jun, however, was thrilled, and bounded around the yard. It sniffed the dry grass with its nose, unclear if it was looking for excrement to eat.
Fushimi Roku leaned against a clothes rack, spacing out for a moment. In the grass came the sound of Jun’s wails. Raising his head to look, he saw a tabby cat chasing Jun, a big one and a small one, a cat and a dog, racing through the grass.
Jun circled around and shook off the tabby cat. Perhaps feeling embarrassed, it turned back for a sneak attack, but the tabby cat used a gentle forceful move, slamming Jun to the ground. Before Jun could recover, the tabby cat unleashed a flurry of swift hits on the dog head.
Jun fled in panic, running to Fushimi Roku, crouching behind his legs, peeking at the pursuing tabby cat.
A man and a cat exchanged a glance, and the tabby cat puffed up, meowing before turning to dive into the grass.
Seeing this, Jun lay on the grass sniffing around, cautiously approached the tabby cat’s den... unsurprisingly, it got beaten up again.
"Do you have a problem? Why do you keep going over to get hit?"
Fushimi Roku squatted, checking Jun’s wounds. The tabby cat had shown no mercy, seemingly unclear why Jun would ask for a beating.
Jun’s ears flopped and it barked twice, circling a few times, hopping back and forth, unclear in meaning. Fushimi Roku pointed at its nose, warning that if it got maimed by the cat, he wouldn’t cover medical fees.
Hearing this, Jun might not have understood, turning to again dive into the grass, battling the tabby cat.
This time the tabby cat wouldn’t engage in a prolonged fight, possibly worried about the nearby, watchful human launching a sneak attack. It slapped the dog head vigorously with its front paws, then turned and jumped onto the wall, licking its paw, glanced at Fushimi Roku, then looked away to continue licking.
Without the tabby cat in the way, Jun finally achieved its goal.
It lay in front of the Womb of the Earth Bodhisattva statue, hind legs splayed, forelegs digging alternately. Before long, the grass roots were excavated, the soil surface dug into a small pit, faintly revealing the statue foundations. Fushimi Roku approached, hands in pockets, watching.
He saw Jun digging and digging, sticking out its tongue, panting heavily, as the air gradually filled with the stench of rot. The smell was peculiar yet familiar.
Half an hour later, Jun unearthed a white bone.