“Yoshiki!” Hikaru shouted.
Water sloshed around in the bathtub, and drops of water fell from Hikaru’s—or rather, Hikaru’s—bangs. His sopping wet uniform clung to his skin, and he glistened gold in the light of the setting sun.
The warm taste of iron spread in Yoshiki’s mouth, and he realized that he had bitten into Hikaru’s arm.
“Huh…?”
Yoshiki’s voice was hoarse. He’d left a clear imprint of his teeth on Hikaru’s arm, and from the wound, the same insides that Yoshiki had seen once before broke loose, writhing and wriggling as they emerged.
“What…was I doing?”
Then Hikaru’s ominously colored insides slithered back into the bite mark, leaving only a dark red scar on his arm.
“Thank goodness…,” Hikaru said.
Hikaru took a deep breath and put his arms around Yoshiki’s shoulders. He glanced at something behind Yoshiki, causing Yoshiki to turn his head to look.
There was nothing there—just the bathroom ceiling.
“Hikaru…yer bleedin’…”
“Sorry.”
Hikaru heaved his shoulders up and down and hung his head. The blood that had seeped from the imprint of Yoshiki’s bite merged with drops of water into a stream that trickled down Hikaru’s arm.
Yoshiki realized that the deep scratch on Hikaru’s left cheek had also inflicted by his own hand.
“That thing got inside ya and used ya as a shield ’cause I let my guard down. I chased it out, so yer fine now,” Hikaru explained. He patted Yoshiki’s shoulders and stepped out of the bathtub.
“Sorry,” Yoshiki said.
He grabbed Hikaru’s outstretched hand and climbed out of the sloshing water. A sharp pain shot through his forehead again.
“What’re ya sorry for? Somethin’ about you draws attention from those things. This is on me for lettin’ it go before…”
Hikaru awkwardly pushed his wet hair off his forehead, but Yoshiki had half-ignored him; he was looking at his own hand instead.
He could still feel his hand forcing Hikaru into the water.
Am I gonna lay my hands on him again someday and take him out? Yoshiki wondered.
The mere thought made his face tense up.
Meanwhile, Hikaru shook his head like a dog drying itself off. He pulled a towel from a shelf in the changing room as if this was all routine.
Yoshiki’s T-shirts and shorts had been hanging on a clothesline in the yard, so the boys changed into those and replaced them on the line with their wet uniforms.
They were sitting on the veranda by the parlor and staring vacantly at the clothes they’d hung up to dry when Hikaru said, “I’m real glad ya came back.”
Yoshiki rummaged through a first-aid kit and applied a bandage to Hikaru’s cheek and gauze to his arm.
Outside, it was already getting dark, and the wind had become cooler. Before they knew it, the sun had started to set, and from beyond the trees and bushes, they could hear insects chirping and buzzing.
“I was jus’ sayin’ how I was gonna protect ya, and then all this happened. I’m ’bout ready to cry,” Hikaru added.
The gauze around his arm had a faint red stain. It took the form of an uneven ellipse… The exact shape of Yoshiki’s bite mark.
“Why d’ya care about me that much?” Yoshiki asked.
“Not so sure myself. I just moved without thinkin’.”
Yoshiki’s gaze met Hikaru’s, and an incredibly frustrating and uncomfortable sensation came over him.
It seemed like Hikaru felt it, too. He sighed and scratched the back of his head, then quickly looked up at the ceiling.
“Let’s change the subject!” he said. “Wanna go catch frogs or somethin’?”
They began to hear frogs croaking from the direction of the rice paddies.
“Naw. That’s too country for me.”
“Well, I love it. Lotsa stuff out here you won’t find in the city.”
“I know it ain’t all bad. I just feel like it ain’t where I belong…”
And there’s Hikaru.
“Besides,” Yoshiki added, “yer always havin’ fun no matter where you are.”
Instead of responding verbally, Hikaru flashed a peace sign and a toothy grin.
Then they heard a car pulling into the yard, followed by the front door swinging open. Yoshiki’s mother and Kaoru had come home. As Yoshiki started to think of excuses for their soaked school uniforms, a chilling thought suddenly pierced his chest.
What if that monster had attacked Kaoru or Mom?
“Were you boys playing in the river or something?” Yoshiki’s mother asked. She placed the grocery bags from Nozomi Supermarket on the dining table and looked out at the clothesline in exasperation.
Kaoru, who came in after her, had the same look on her face.
“Oh, Hikaru, you havin’ dinner with us?” Yoshiki’s mother offered.
Hikaru jumped up. “I sure will!” he said. “Hey Kaoru, what’s fer supper today?”
Yoshiki studied Hikaru’s profile for a bit while Hikaru spoke to Yoshiki’s mother and Kaoru as if he were part of the family.
Then Hikaru caught Yoshiki’s gaze and looked back at him.
“Hey, Yoshiki! We’re havin’ Salisbury steak tonight.”
Hikaru beckoned Yoshiki over with a grin so wide that you could almost hear it.
“Sounds nice,” Yoshiki said.
He slowly got up, and a cool breeze, typical of summer evenings, blew in from behind him.