I thought about it all night and decided to do something for Chika immediately the next day. The only animal I had any connection with—who might have some effect on the animal that had been bothering Chika—was Allumi. Simply giving the dog food had not had any effect on Chika’s world. Even so, we had absolutely no idea what laws governed the connection between our worlds, so it didn’t hurt to try.
Knowing that Tanaka, the dog’s owner, had work that day after school, I decided to head over straight away. My intention today was not to give Allumi head pats. It was to take a look at the dog’s collar and leash and to find out what made Allumi bark.
All in preparation for a kidnapping.
That was the word that popped into my mind, but it really wasn’t all that dramatic. It was simply an experiment, one which I was uncertain would even have any effect, in which I would keep Allumi chained up somewhere for a night or two to see if it could drive that animal away from Chika. If Allumi got away once, they might even put up a fence at the entrance to Tanaka’s house. If my plan could affect Chika’s world and lead to better animal control all around, I’d call that a win-win.
Upon hearing my usual footsteps, Allumi bounded over from the shade of a well, snout pointed out and awaiting my arrival. I stopped in front of Allumi and gave the dog the usual pets as I observed the chain that ran between the doghouse and Allumi’s collar. If possible, I wanted make them think that Allumi had run away.
I looked at the collar. It was fashioned exactly like a human belt but smaller, with a buckle. If I unfastened and redid it, it would seem like Allumi had slipped out all on its own.
Thinking through how I was going to do this deed, I put my hands around Allumi’s stomach and tried picking the dog up. I was lucky that this was a smaller breed. I figured there was a chance Allumi might make a big fuss, but it didn’t happen—the dog stayed perfectly quiet. Thankfully, none of my worries had come to pass, but was this really the right choice for a guard dog?
I tried loosening the collar, but even then, Allumi made little move to struggle. While it was rather anticlimactic, this meant it would be a simple feat to borrow Allumi for a bit and then return the dog back home. Even as I refastened the collar, Allumi just brought its nose to my arm—sniffing, not even nipping. I almost wanted to chide the dog for this utter lack of vigilance.
Later, I planned to return here at night and check what time the lights went out at Tanaka’s house. Depending on the usual household patterns, I thought I might even been able to snatch Allumi away that night. But first, I had to think practically about where I was going to chain the dog up.
And thus my plan was put in motion.
But though I stopped by Tanaka’s house that night and the next night and the next, one hour later each time I made my way back from the bus stop, I never once saw all the lights out at once. During the latest hour I visited, the only lights were on the second floor. I had no idea if that was her room, but I mentally scolded Tanaka that if she was going to be sleeping in class all the time, she should go to bed earlier.
I would probably have to go home and slip out of the house again in the middle of the night. It would be a pain to avoid waking my own family.
On the fourth day of not seeing Chika, I arrived at school at the usual time to see Saitou laughing along with Tanaka and her pals in the corner of the classroom. I was not particularly interested in this, but my eyes were still drawn to the unusual sight.
I took my seat and stared at my desk. Normally, I would be fully absorbed in my own thoughts, but today, I lent an ear to Tanaka’s conversation beside me. It would help to catch anything that might aid me in spiriting Allumi away. Of course, naturally, Tanaka would never do anything I wanted her to, and so all my concentration that morning was wasted.
“Ah ha ha ha ha ha! Allumi is so cute!”
That day at lunch, as I waited out the period in silence as usual, there was a commotion beside me. It seemed my neighbor Tanaka was sharing around a video of Allumi. Go do that somewhere else, I thought. But she hadn’t been to work for the past three days, leaving me unable to check in on Allumi, so I decided to sneak a peek. Just then, our eyes met.
“What, you wanna see too?”
“…I was about to lodge a complaint. You’re too loud. Go do that somewhere else.”
“Wha? It’s lunchtime. If you want quiet, go to the library or somethin’.”
I was irritated at how she said it, but she did have a point. I started to shift my weight to my feet to stand up and leave when she turned her phone screen my way.
“C’mon, look at this cutie.”
I reflexively looked and saw Allumi on the screen wrapped up in an old bath towel and rolling around. Tanaka’s laughter rang in the background like a soundtrack. I was glad to see Allumi doing well.
“Cute, right?”
I managed a nod but was still annoyed, so I stood from my seat. I heard a “What’s with you?” behind me, followed by a “Suzuki’s like that no matter who tries to talk to him,” from someone else.
Life went on as usual for some time after, with neither the chance to abscond with Allumi arising nor any appearances from Chika. The rainy season would be ending soon. Incidentally, I had heard a report that the war would end before the rainy season did, but more recently there had been concerning reports that the flames of war were spreading—even to Japan.
It was two weeks after I made that grand statement to Chika that I obtained some useful information. I overheard that Tanaka would be staying the night at a friend’s place that coming Saturday. If she wasn’t home, a full lights out at their home might come earlier. It was helpful, furthermore, that this information had not come from the owner in question herself. I heard about it from her posse, so it was doubtful that any suspicion would fall on me after the fact.
On the night I set the plan into motion, the wind was blowing in its usual direction. I set out on my bike. A collar, a leash, and dishes for Allumi’s food, as well as water that I had purchased ahead of time, had been set aside in the bus shelter. My plan was to wait a bit at the bus stop, talk to Chika if I was lucky (though the odds of that were low), and then head to Tanaka’s place around midnight.
I was glad that it wasn’t raining. I didn’t want Allumi to get soaked, and if it was raining, there was a chance they might have brought Allumi inside for the night anyway. I reached the bus stop in the dark, parked my bike, and slid the door open as always. Chika wasn’t there. If she had been present, I intended to tell her about my plan and then ask her to check on the status of the violent animal in her neighborhood the next day, but I would just have to leave that for later.
I sat down on the bench. Thinking about it, you could say that my plan would be the first instance of Chika’s presence having a negative effect on my world. Of course, my concern was not for Tanaka; I was only worried about Allumi. Though it would just be for a couple of days, being removed from its familiar home when it had done nothing wrong might prove stressful. Maybe I should have bought some more treats or something. I’d consider it if the abduction went well.
I’d come to learn recently that if Chika did not appear by 11:30 p.m., it was unlikely she’d show up any time after that. When I sat there alone in the quiet, checked my watch and found that it was past 11:30, I would be sad. Yet, if I had to admit it, lately I was also somewhat relieved. I wasn’t interested in seeing who else I might become at the mercy of such bizarre emotions.