Many long years had passed since Sora had last seen Tamuramaro, and he hadn’t intended to face him ever again. But Sora had reunited with him at university thirteen years ago and had been running into him from time to time ever since.
“Not ‘constantly.’ I keep bumping into him, that’s all. I’ve gotten so used to it that when the credit company told me the new lodger’s name was Mr. Tamura, I just didn’t connect the dots. I’m really, really sorry. Forgive me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“I thought you’d get mad.”
Sora’s guess was spot-on. And given this information had been hidden for thirteen years, Fuuka was fuming so much his hair itself was bristling. It seemed nothing could mollify him.
“And you were just fine being with him this whole time?!”
“I haven’t ‘been with him,’ and I’m not fine.”
It had been a shock for Sora, too. After completing all the administrative procedures for applying to the university, studying for and passing the exams, and scraping together the entrance fee and the tuition, when he finally stepped onto the campus on day one, he was greeted by Tamuramaro. “It’s been a while,” the man had said, looking totally at ease and apparently oblivious to Sora’s discomfiture.
“But I just couldn’t give up on law.”
“You can do law all you want! That doesn’t mean we should live with him!!”
“That’s a different story. I really had no idea that the Mr. Tamura who’d passed the screening was Tamuramaro until I opened the front door. I don’t have any intention of living with him, either.”
When Sora glanced at Tamuramaro, who was sitting on his left, he was merely watching the brothers’ exchange with a carefree, amused expression. He’d polished off the somen a while back.
“But, Sora, why didn’t you even check his full name?!”
“I had his papers, but it was just so hectic until this evening, you see… I told you, the suspect’s attorney is a real piece of work.”
Sora finally had the chance to look through the documents, but it was too late. The credit company, to which Sora had already paid the commission fee, had finalized the contract with Tamuramaro.
“I’m a real piece of work, huh. You never were very endearing.”
“I can’t believe you’re willing to defend a man who misappropriated an enormous amount of money and doesn’t even show any sign of remorse.”
“I’m not defending him. I’m only his representative, and he did what he did because he doesn’t understand how law or documentation works. He just doesn’t get the cause and effect. If he swindles a whole lot of money, he’ll be suspected, and once the investigations begin, his crime will be exposed to the unsympathetic gaze of others. He doesn’t understand that, and that’s why he needs an attorney.”
Tamuramaro delivered his spiel in his typical nonchalant manner. It was impossible to tell whether he was being serious or not.
“You should bring evildoers to justice.”
The words flew out of Sora’s mouth before he could even think about it. This was a familiar exchange for both Tamuramaro and himself, repeated countless times over the years.
“And they are brought to justice—under the law, at least. Besides, not every evildoer is a criminal, and good people can break the law, too. Everyone’s human. Everyone’s the same, but not equal.”
“You and your twisted rhetoric…!”
Sora could tell Tamuramaro was trying to cloud his judgment, but he couldn’t completely block out the man’s words.
“No… It’s too difficult for me. I can’t handle it.”
“Sora…” Tamuramaro’s dark eyes widened. “So you do think it’s difficult, then.”
“I only meant what you say is difficult. I chose to work in ritsuryo because I believe criminals should be brought to justice! I believed that was the best way for me to face them…”
Sora’s voice rose as the word ritsuryo, the man-made codes of law, came to him for the second time that day. He had strictly forbidden himself to let emotions get the better of him, though, so he let out a long, deep breath in an effort to release the indignation simmering underneath the surface. Even when he was investigating fraud, he never allowed himself to get emotional.
“I can’t live with a lawyer who might represent any party under scrutiny in my work. How did I get into this mess? It’s a conflict of interest.”
He avoided Tamuramaro’s eyes and started to review the tenancy contract once more, searching for a loophole to nullify the agreement.
“Only until Monday, though. Of course, I’m well aware of that, and I have it all figured out,” said Tamuramaro.
“Don’t give me that. I left the screening up to the company, just to keep some distance from the lodger. I didn’t even do an interview. But now… How’d you find out about the rental anyway?!”
Only now did Sora’s brain catch up to the fact that it couldn’t have been a coincidence, and his voice rose again. Tamuramaro’s close presence provoked him, and he was unusually agitated. He wanted this interloper to leave even more than Fuuka did.
“I didn’t just ‘find out.’ I keep a close watch on you. That’s why I even applied for the same department of the same university. That’s how I became a lawyer. Digging up some info on a credit company and passing a screening? Easy as pie.”
Already stretching out on the tatami floor as if he owned the place, propped up on his elbow, Tamuramaro announced all this without batting an eye.
“I’m going to terminate this contract,” Sora declared, looking straight at Tamuramaro.
“Then I’ll sue you, although it’ll be a pain in the neck. You know I’m a young but extremely competent lawyer, don’t you? Imagine the trial dragging on for decades as we live here. Together at home, together in court. I don’t mind either way. Fuuka, you should make me this somen again sometime.”
“Soraaaa! Can’t you do something?! I’m not making my chili oil for Tamuramaro!”
The blend of clear sesame oil infused with fried garlic and cayenne pepper took some effort, and that effort was for Sora and Sora alone.
“It all depends on how you look at it, right? I mean, it’s not the first time I’ve lived with you two. I’ll never be late on rent, and if you have me as a lodger, Fuuka can stay in human form in the house anytime, even when I’m around.”
“Well, when you put it like that…” Sora had no reply for that, and he looked at Fuuka.
His little brother must have been born a human, but at one point, he began to transform into a white dog in the presence of other people. Tamuramaro was the only one besides Sora who didn’t trigger the transformation. Actually, Sora knew exactly why.
“Come on, Brother. I’m really not bothered about turning into a dog—you know that. As long as you turn on the AC for me before you leave, I’m comfy.”
Whenever Sora left Fuuka by himself, he was content to wait at home, sometimes without even having the AC on. If he was by himself, he would wait in human shape, but sometimes in winter, he’d curl up in a ball as a dog to keep himself warm without turning on the heating.
“You always say that, but…”
Fuuka never complained to Sora about any inconveniences. Not even once.
But recently, Fuuka had begun to express his own feelings of dissatisfaction or distress outwardly, feelings that were only his. In the past, any discontent or pain or anger in Fuuka had always been a reflection of Sora’s. They’d felt exactly the same, at the same time and place.
“I know you don’t like Tamuramaro, Fuuka.”
For a very long time, they had been a dissimilar but inseparable set, like a pair of black and white stones in Go. They were two in one, merged in a single life. But at some point, the younger brother had found anger that the elder didn’t feel.
“But he’s right—if you can stay in your human form as much as possible…”
If Fuuka was beginning to have emotions of his own, Sora hoped that more time in his human form would improve the chance that he would become a human being completely someday. Time probably wasn’t what Fuuka needed for that, Sora knew, but he still hoped.
“I’ll put in plenty of money for the food expenses, too. I’m a single lawyer, you know. I even donate to an NPO at the end of the year to cut back on my taxes—I pay the tuition for children who want to go on to higher education.”
“Can you make up your mind if you’re a bad person or not…?” Sora groaned at Tamuramaro being Tamuramaro.
“You have a troublesome habit of trying to judge whether something is good or bad right off the bat,” said Tamuramaro with a wry grin. “You should do something about that.”
As if to challenge his words, Sora snatched a cool can of beer from Tamuramaro’s stash and cracked it open without asking.
“So have we come to an agreement?” Tamuramaro teased, raising his beer in a mock toast.
Just a few moments ago, Sora had wanted him to get out of his sight as soon as possible. Whenever Tamuramaro was with him, Sora couldn’t keep his emotions to the low, steady line he normally did. Neither he nor Fuuka could stay the way they always were in Tamuramaro’s presence.
“…I admit it is a good deal.”
And Sora didn’t think staying the way they were was a good idea.