B2 Chapter 3

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HE CANNOT BELIEVE four hours had passed. After reading Pride and Prejudice, he selected Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. Ho-hum. How did his mother enjoy reading such a tedious book? All the characters did was spill words that were either too pretentious or too obtuse. Alasdair thought of giving Mrs Yamato's novels another chance, and so he read To Kill A Mockingbird. Another ho-hum. Another white saviour narrative. He's half-white, but even he can tell that telling racism through the eyes of a white person is too cliché and takes away the spotlight from the real victims of racism. At least in Zone 2.

Atticus Finch is nothing but a fictional character who is a dangerous myth. One's hero shouldn't be from someone's imagination.

'Honestly, mother. What were you thinking? All of these books are basically just rubbish.' He shakes his head. He neatly places all the books back on their respective shelves. Truly, you can't love everything about your loved ones.

'Let's go. There's a boy who will be delighted to see you.' The pup jumps up and down, obviously asking to be carried in his arms, so he does.

* * *

'He is so cute.' Eien presses the nose of the pup and runs his fingers through its thick fur. 'I will name him...Well, his fur reminds me of summer, but his eyes are perfect for the winter. How contrasting. What do you think? Oh, thank you so much! Can I really bring him to school?'

This is the first time he's heard Eien fire question after question. He bites his lip, preventing himself from smiling. 'Don't worry. We'll tell them that he is your service dog.'

'Isn't he a bit too young for that?'

'He's training, then. Honestly, Uchiyama-kun, don't worry. They'll believe me. Besides, the letter has my father's signature. By the way, how did you even convince him to get you a puppy?'

'Hasn't he told you yet?' Eien buries his face on the pup's belly. 'He smells nice.'

'Well, my father wears the best cologne.'

'I mean the puppy, Yamato-kun.'

'I see.' He clears his throat. 'So, what did you and my father talk about?'

'Nothing, truthfully. I told Yamato-sama that I was sad. Then he asked me what did I want. I said, without missing the opportunity, 'I would love to have a puppy.' To be honest, I didn't expect much, given that technically, no one is allowed to have one. So imagine my surprise when he accepted my request. Maybe he feels guilty for what he did.'

Alasdair blinks. Kaito has always been eccentric, but this is new. He must have seen something with Eien. This disturbs him a bit. Does every person Eien meets feel this way? Just when he thought he's finally found his greatest discovery... Turns out, he is everybody's greatest discovery.

'It seems you're doing fine. Your lips aren't swollen anymore,' Alasdair says, changing the topic.

'Yes. So please give me at least three days to recover. I won't be healed completely by then, but I'll be much better.'

'And then you can heal Watanabe.'

'If I'm not too late by then.'

He shrugs. 'Don't blame yourself. It was the result of their choice, especially Watanabe.'

Eien massages the paws of the pup. It's eerie how the two of them almost have the same eyes. Except Eien's are blue with a hint of green. 'I know that, but it'd be nice if I could help Watanabe-kun. Yamato-sama forbids me to leave this room, though.'

This is hard for him to ask. If Eien tells him 'yes', what is stopping him from feeling the same towards him? 'Do you hate him?' He tries to sound nonchalant as though they are discussing a science project.

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