Kino no Tabi:Volume10 Chapter6

“Ti’s Day” —a Day in the Girl’s Life—

My name is Riku. I am a dog.

I have long, white shaggy fur. My face makes me look like I’m always happy and smiling, but it doesn’t mean that I am. I was just born this way.

My master is Shizu. He is a young man who always wears a green sweater, and who has been traveling by buggy ever since he lost his homeland due to complex circumstances.

——

“I’ll leave everything to you then.”

Master Shizu set out early that morning, even before the sun has risen. Because the country we have come to this time was rather unstable and the public order pretty bad, he has given up on immigration. However, Master Shizu decided to accept a high-paying job for our traveling expenses. I did not ask him any details about this job, but seeing that he brought his well-maintained katana with him, it’s probably nothing decent. I did not pry.

But more than that, the problem is the white-haired girl who lay face down on the bed even at this hour—Tifana or Ti. During our crossing to this continent, we were caught in various circumstances, and she has become our traveling companion as a result.

“I’m counting on you.”

So Master Shizu said, but to tell the truth, I was not too keen on this task.

For the whole day, it will only be Ti and me. Master Shizu is the one who is good in communicating with her. Surely I’m not expected to talk to her?

—

We were inside a room of a cheap hotel, an old decrepit building built in a place quite far from town.

The wallpaper of the room was peeled off all over the place and it was full of cobwebs when we entered it yesterday. The mattresses of the two beds even had holes in them. Right now Ti was sleeping on her own sleeping bag placed on top of a blanket that can’t be considered clean by any standard. Her usual grey short pants revealed her stick-thin legs, and on top she was wearing a light brown, long-sleeved round-necked shirt. Even though she has other clothes, this is all she ever wears in her sleeping and waking hours, as long as the temperature would allow it.

It was already late in the morning, halfway till noontime. If only she slept like this until evening, I would have nothing to worry about. But the moment it entered my mind, Ti woke up.

“…”

As quiet as ever, she raised her body as if she was doing a push-up. She stuck her upper body ten centimeters out of the sleeping bag. Then, like a fort’s cannon, slowly turned her white head towards the right. That is, towards me, who lay comfortably beside the bed.

Whether she was only sleepy or passing on me her usual silent judgment, her emerald green eyes stared at me for four seconds.

“…”

I rose up and sat beside the bed, then gazed firmly at Ti.

“Good morning.”

“…”

“Um, Master Shizu’s out to earn some money. If all goes as planned, he will be back late this night. So you will be spending the whole day with me.”

“…”

“You understand, don’t you? —Gah!”

I was hugged tightly by a Ti charging straight from the bed, and was knocked down to the left. Heavy…

Then she shook my body before abruptly releasing it after a few seconds.

I tried to ask her what that was all about, but since she probably wouldn’t answer anyway, I decided to forget about it. When I glanced up, she was looking at me. Then she spoke with a tiny voice.

“G’ning.”

And disappeared into the washroom.

It was only after several seconds that I realized that she was telling me ‘Good morning’.

—

Master Shizu left beforehand the croissant he bought last night, as well as a brand new bottle of marmalade.

Ti began eating these for breakfast and lunch. But I was flustered when I saw her scooping out a large portion of the orange marmalade with a big spoon.

It’s not a good idea to eat that much all at once. When I said so, Ti looked at the super large serving of marmalade and asked,

“Poison?”

I didn’t mean to put it that way.

—

Upon opening the curtains, the clear weather greeted us from outside the window. The early summer morning brought warmth upon the world.

From the window, we could see the geometric patterns formed by the ridges of the cultivated fields, in which grew carrots and whatnot. Visible beyond the scarecrows swaying with the wind was the sideways stretch of grey walls.

Ti leaned on a chair.

“…”

And continued to stare at the scenery for a long time. Meanwhile, I lay comfortably on top of the carpet beside her.

As the window was facing north, the sun’s rays were not too intense. Time flowed quietly like this, with no one speaking. And soon it was well past noon.

It would be nice if this day passed peacefully like this. But the moment the thought entered my mind, Ti suddenly got up.

“Going out.”

If only the thought did not occur to me.

—

“You can leave that behind, Ti.”

There’s no need to carry around a grenade with you on a stroll.

“…”

After staring at me for a while, she reluctantly returned the five grenades from her shoulder bag back to Master Shizu’s bag. I don’t know about casually leaving a grenade in her clothes pocket, but I guess it wouldn’t accidentally explode since she wound a tape around the lever. I thought it would be a good idea to do something about Ti’s attachment to grenades, but Master Shizu doesn’t really pay it any mind.

I proposed that she bring a bottle of water with her. Ti obediently followed, filling a plastic flask with water. She wrapped it in a towel and put it inside the bag.

And finally Ti slung the bag on her shoulder. Clutching the key bearing Master Shizu’s memo: ‘Don’t forget when you go out,’ she approached the door.

When I followed her from behind, I noticed a very faint scent of oil from the bag.

“Ti, what did you put at the bottom of your bag?”

Ti took out a metal baton-like object.

“You can also leave that behind,” I said.

There’s no need to take a ballistic knife with you on a stroll.

—

“…”

“Little lady, I won’t understand you if you just stare. What do you need?”

Having grown tired of Ti’s stare, the middle-aged man seated in a tall chair behind the front desk who first looked back to us with a start from his magazine reading, asked. From behind, I told Ti that she had to hand over the key since we’re going out.

“…”

Without a word, she put the key on top of the table with a clunk.

“Ah, going for a walk, eh? Have a good time.”

“…”

But even after that, Ti continued to stare. And stared some more.

“Is there something else?” The man asked, again becoming impatient of the long silence. This time, Ti answered.

“Stroll.”

“… I know that already.”

—

Just as expected, there was nothing but fields outside. From time to time, trucks passed on the paved road that was full of cracks. Both sides of the road were lined up with fields. And until the walls there was nothing but fields.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“…”

Silently, Ti headed to the direction of the walls, walking on the road headed northeast with the sun at her back. As she proceeded speedily, I followed.

When the road turned slightly to the right, it became clear that we have no particular destination, just as I suspected.

“The end.”

Ti said all of a sudden, and stopped on her tracks. When I asked ‘Of what?’ Ti gazed at her feet and tapped the ground with the tip of her shoes several times. Eventually, Ti’s shadow fell on the side of the road, on the grass-filled slopes of the fields, and became blurry and indistinguishable.

“Are you by any chance stomping on your own shadow?” I asked, and Ti looked at me and nodded.

“Shadow. Dark.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Gone.”

“I can see that…”

“But it’s okay.”

“Ah, is that so…?”

“It’s okay now.”

“…”

“It’s okay.”

I don’t get it.

—

Ti turned back and retraced our steps, and walked beyond the hotel entrance.

The fields continued for a while up to the end of the road, and soon houses began to appear one after another. At the end of it, that is at the circular center of the country, a random ensemble of tower-like buildings could be seen rising above the urban area, which to my knowledge, has a rather bad public order.

We’d better not go that way. When I told her this,

“…”

Still quiet, Ti sat down on an old, neglected bench by the roadside. It probably used to be a bus stop. Only the round, concrete base of the signboard remained intact.

As Ti seated herself, I also settled by her side. The urban area was right before us. From time to time, Ti would take a gulp of water from her flask, and would also allow me to have a sip.

And until the evening rays of the sun dyed the sky, she patiently sat and gazed at the town. I don’t know what she finds enjoyable in it, but she just continued to look ahead.

And when the sun was almost invisible beyond the walls, and the moment the sky became dim, a light shone upon the group of buildings, illuminating them all at once. It was different from the glows that leaked one by one from the tiny windows. The buildings were floodlit by an intense light that seems to be advertising their existence. It’s probably some huge kind of spotlight.

A group of brightly lit buildings—I have no idea at all how she knew about this, and just when I thought how strange the country was,

“…”

Ti stood up and began walking towards the hotel. It’s about time for us to go home. I was finally relieved that our little walk culminated with no trouble. Ti, who was quite talkative today, mumbled once more.

“Different.”

Again, I don’t get it.

—

We got back into the hotel before it became dark.

“Here you go.”

We received our key back and returned to our room. On another note, there were no other customers besides us. Just when I was worrying how this hotel could keep up their business, I noticed the agricultural calendar on the wall and noted that people could be staying here during the busy farming season.

Dinner was croissant and marmalade again. Ti smeared plenty of marmalade on top of the halved croissant.

“…”

And silently handed it to me. While I was overcome with confusion, the marmalade began to drip.

“Oops!”

I caught it in the air, accepted the croissant and started to chew on it.

“Thank you.”

I thanked her, and Ti looked down at me, not showing a smile.

“Friend?”

“What? —Um, I guess so. Even if Master Shizu’s not here at the moment, we’re all traveling buddies.”

“Good.”

“Yes.”

“No problem.”

“Yes…?”

This day is filled with things I don’t understand.

—

Late that night, Master Shizu returned in the buggy. Just like that morning, Ti was already asleep, lying face down on her bed.

I welcomed the rather worn-out Master Shizu. He came into the room with both arms around a box about thirty centimeters wide and one meter long. Its lid was tied with a string.

Master Shizu quietly laid the box on the floor. When I asked him what’s in it, Master Shizu, now seated on a chair, answered somewhat awkwardly.

“That’s my reward for today’s work.”

Reward? Master Shizu confirmed that Ti was asleep,

“I was asked by this country’s police to assist in obliterating a crime organization’s hideout. I was supposed to get money in return, but things suddenly changed when it’s over. I ended up being given some of the supplies that was confiscated from the hideout. Just as they say, problems exist in the police force of a country with problems.”

“I see. So what did they give you?”

“It’s…something that would probably be useful to us. There was nothing else but this.”

Master Shizu opened the lid of the box. Inside,

“What is this?”

It was more or less seventy centimeters in length. At a glance, one could tell that it was a persuader (Note: A gun). It has a stock that goes on top of the shoulders, a trigger, and an oddly thick barrel.

“It’s a ‘grenade launcher’.”

“A persuader?”

“Kind of. Because it has a thick barrel, it’s used exclusively for shooting out grenades.”

“… And will you be using that, Master Shizu?”

“No, I thought maybe I could give it to Ti. It seems she liked grenades a lot, but she’s not too good at throwing them.”

“…”

“Better than nothing, right?”

—

Master Shizu ate what was left of the croissant, and after taking a breather,

“How’s today?”

First I answered that we were safe, and that Ti talked more than usual, then I told him about the stuff that I did not understand.

“…Heh,” Master Shizu looked surprised. “That’s interesting. —It’s the first time for the two of you to be alone together for a whole day, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And so Ti probably thought she had to behave herself.”

“Really? —Well, indeed I may not have seemed too reliable because I am a dog…”

“I am very well aware of how dependable you are, Riku. But maybe Ti did not know that. —It just amuses me how she tried to demonstrate leadership between the two of you.”

“Well, it’s not like I wasn’t happy that she sees me as part of the team.”

“What do you mean?”

“I almost begged Kino to kill Ti in order to save you, Master Shizu.”

“Don’t dwell on it. We have avoided the worst.”

“I doubted that Ti considered someone like me a friend.”

“I think she does. I believe Ti thinks about a lot of things more than we think she does.”

“Really…? I’m afraid to say I don’t quite understand.”

“For instance, I think there might be some meaning behind her strange actions today.”

“Oh… How so?”

“First, as soon as I heard you say that she stomped on her shadow until it was gone, I thought Ti was trying to recognize anew the fact that those people in black that she lived with back in that country were gone. And that she stays strong in spite of it. That she’s ‘okay’.”

“Isn’t that a bit…far-fetched?”

“Maybe, but then there was that group of buildings at the country center. While observing them, Ti thought that those buildings at the center were like the Tower. But when they were lit up, she realized that they are ‘different’ from the Tower she knew, which always remained dark.”

“…”

“And during dinner… Wasn’t that Ti’s way of sharing her food with a friend? That makes me believe that you and Ti got along really well today.”

“…”

I didn’t say anything and kept silent, just like Ti.

“But maybe I was just overthinking things.”

Master Shizu said with a shrug of his shoulders and laughed.

—

The next morning.

We were in the buggy outside the walls.

The weather was good. A green meadow spanned the entire surface ahead of the perfectly straight road.

“Shall we go then?” Master Shizu said in the driver’s seat while fixing his goggles.

“Yup,” Ti said on passenger seat as she stroked my head.

“Let’s go,” I said while settled between Ti’s legs and my head being stroked.

Then Ti embraced my head and spoke as she rubbed her cheeks on it.

“Yup. Let’s go together. Riku’s a friend.”

——

My name is Riku. I am a dog.

My face makes me look as if I’m always happy and smiling. But it doesn’t mean that I am. I was just born this way.

But right now, I am happy and smiling.

Shizu is my Master. He is a young man who always wears a green sweater, and had been traveling by buggy ever since he lost his homeland due to complex circumstances.

Another fellow traveler is Ti, a quiet girl with a fondness for grenades, and who has become part of the team ever since she lost her homeland due to complex circumstances.

The buggy took off.

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