Ren helped Kazutaka up and took him to the bathroom inside their cabin. Ren helped Kazutaka pull his pants down and sit on the toilet seat. Previously, when they'd gone to the public restroom in the park in the middle of night, Kazutaka had yelled and screamed in embarrassment. Kazutaka didn’t say anything this time. He probably didn’t have any energy left for that. After Kazutaka was done, Ren helped him by pulling his pants up and took him back to the bed.
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The bathroom was done, now time for his clothes. Kazutaka has been wearing the same suit ever since he'd been kidnapped. Naturally, he didn’t have a change of clothes with him. Ren loosened his tie and shirt. Looking down on Kazutaka, Ren asked, “Should I remove your suit?”
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The problem was the attaché case on his left hand. With the case still attached, they couldn’t remove the suit without cutting it. Ren made Kazutaka sit up to get his right arm out of the sleeve but his left arm was still covered.
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“Hmm. I don’t like this.”
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“You don’t like what?”
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“I want to take it all off.”
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“It feels so much better already. I’ll be okay with the way it is now.”
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“Shall I cut it?”
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“What do you mean?”
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“Cut your suit.”
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“No, you can’t do that. Shīno gave me this suit to wear. He said it was an expensive Italian suit. If you ruin it, I’ll feel bad for Shīno.”
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Ren was bewildered to see Kazutaka worrying about the man who had deceived him. Ren was determined to take the suit off. He held Kazutaka’s left hand to point at the seam on the sleeve.
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“I won’t cut the fabric, just the threads.”
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Ren took out a cutter from the tool box. From the left cuff to armpit, Ren started slowly cutting along the seam. Then Ren moved along the seam from armpit to the side of suit.
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Once he was done with the outer fabric, Ren moved onto the backing. He paid close attention so as not to damage the fabric as he cut the stitches one by one. An hour later, the suit was disassembled along the sleeve and body of the left side. It rather resembled a piece of dried fish.
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“Wow. That is some kind of craftsmanship...” Kazutaka looked much more relaxed now that all he had on was a dress shirt.
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“You’ll be cold when we go outside later. You’ll need something else to keep you warm then.”
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“I’ll be all right if it’s just for a short time.”
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“No, we can’t let you catch cold. Oh, I know. I’ll get some clothes from the store downstairs and fashion them into a cape or something. If I can make it into a cape like Little Riding Hood, you can go outside even with the case still on.”
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“Can’t you just get a large fleece jacket? I could just drape it over myself.”
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“If you are wearing clothes with sleeves, you should put your arms through.”
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Kazutaka looked up at Ren, dumbfounded.
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“What do you care?”
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“Products should be used as intended.”
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“You’re so uptight.” Kazutaka looked at Ren for several moments. “Actually, you're quite nice, Ren.”
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Kazutaka had an innocently adorable smile. Ren felt that sharp sensation in his heart again. It was painless and quick but Ren was aware that something was going on inside him. Ren wondered what it meant. Tilting his head to one side slightly, Ren looked back at Kazutaka.
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Once the ferry started moving, Kazutaka lay back down on the bed. He must be feeling nauseous again. He's gone very pale. Kazutaka sighed deeply and pushed the attaché case to the side. “Go ahead.”
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Ren got the hint. Kazutaka was telling him to get back to work on unlocking the case. Ren felt sorry for him. Ren opened the tool bag that held his equipment, but he quickly lost motivation as he saw Kazutaka’s pale looks. For the first time, Ren didn’t feel much had like doing the task at hand.
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Ren had woken up yesterday morning, worked at the factory until nine that night, left to meet with Fuwa, and then started working on this job. That meant Ren hadn’t slept for 36 hours straight. Ren decided he should take the time to have a nap. They couldn’t let Kazutaka go while they were on the ferry anyway.
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Kazutaka was lying on his stomach. It looked like he was dozing off. Because of his seasickness, it was probably easier on Kazutaka to be asleep. Ren thought Kazutaka’s sleeping face looked agonized this time, different from his previously peaceful look and Ren wondered what Kazutaka would say the next time he talked in his sleep.
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Going next door, Ren told Fuwa that he was going to grab some sleep. Coming back to his room, Ren collapsed down on the other bed. The moment his head hit the pillow, Ren was out.
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“Excuse me. Can you wake up?”
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Kazutaka called out from his bed. He had a ringing headache. Ren lay spread-eagled in his sleep.
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“What should I do? He won’t wake up.”
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Kazutaka needed to use the toilet. If he couldn’t wake Ren up, he would just have to go on his own. Nobody else was there. It was 2 a.m. Kazutaka only wanted to go to the bathroom, after all. He felt that he should be able to do it by himself.
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Kazutaka stumbled as he tried to get out of the bed. Pulled down by the weight of the attaché case, Kazutaka fell to the floor. Even on all fours, Kazutaka felt nauseous. He nevertheless managed to crawl and slither his way to the bathroom.
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Kazutaka thought about getting up to turn the light on. Then he had second thoughts. What if he fell again and hit his head against something and died? That’d be an embarrassing way to go. Also, it wouldn’t be very nice for Ren to wake up and find Kazutaka’s body in front of the toilet. Kazutaka had gotten a bad first impression of Ren, because Ren had an insolent attitude and was a friend of thieves. But after spending the whole day with him, Kazutaka felt close to Ren. He didn’t want to put Ren on the spot. Kazutaka should be able to go without using the light.
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From a sitting position on the floor, Kazutaka opened the bathroom door and struggled to get inside. Kazutaka didn’t think he could go while standing up, so he got ready and sat down on the toilet seat. Kazutaka lifted the attaché case and placed it on his lap, then sighed deeply.
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He leaned back against the toilet lid and looked up at the ceiling. The ceiling seemed to be undulating. Then, since he had a hard time remaining steady, he managed to hit his head hard against the door when leaving the bathroom.
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“Ouch. Oh, that hurts.”
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Kazutaka felt miserable. He was far away from home. He wouldn't be able to get to Nagomi Kyōshitsu tomorrow, either. Plus, Kazutaka was seasick and the attaché case was still attached to him. Everything that had happened since Sunday afternoon was horrible.
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He crawled his way back but didn’t have enough energy left to get back onto the bed. His seasickness was rather serious. Kazutaka knew he wouldn’t feel any better until he got off the ferry. He felt dizzy and nauseous. It felt as though something terrible was hitting him in between his eyes. With every step, he hobbled. With every move, he wanted to throw up.
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Kazutaka had once watched a movie about a pianist who spent the end of his life on a ship. He’d gotten seasick inside the movie theater. He knew that getting seasick while watching a movie or TV was simply psychosomatic. Kazutaka just couldn’t help thinking that he was going to get sick. That was the reason. It had nothing to do with the semicircular canal in his ear. This meant that Kazutaka might not be feeling this way if he hadn't known they were on a ferry. Kazutaka thought he might have been okay if they only had kept him inside the R.V. and told him they were still on land. But inside the R.V., there was no bathroom and no food. Kazutaka could go without changing clothes or taking a bath, but basic physiological phenomena couldn’t be ignored.
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Kazutaka slowly poked his head up between the beds to see Ren’s sleeping face. Ren was facing Kazutaka, half of his face buried in the sheets. Ren looked intense while watching the monitor when working, but appeared rather peaceful in his sleep. If Ren kept his serious and stern looks even when sleeping, he wouldn’t be able to spend the night with a lover, Kazutaka thought. He put his chin on the edge of his bed and kept watching Ren’s face.
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The bridge of his nose had a nice shape, Kazutaka thought. His own nose tipped upwards. Kazutaka’s parents reassured him that he looked cute, but he didn’t like his nose. He believed his nose was 80 percent of the reason that people said he had a baby face.
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Ren’s nose on the other hand, was quite prominent and dignified. Depending on how the light fell, Kazutaka could clearly see its shadow on Ren’s cheek. Yuri Fuwa-san, the chief, was handsome. Ren was also handsome, just in a different way, Kazutaka thought.