“The curry’s so good, even Indians are shocked!” proclaimed the store from which Makoto bought some curry-filled bread. It was a new item at the convenience store where he also worked part time.
Makoto was intrigued and bought it. It seemed the curry-craving he had during lunch time had a lasting effect on him. He regretted getting Calpis[4] to wash down the bread, but oh well. In any case, he would now be able to eat curry, even if it was encased in fried bread.
After school, he had immediately gone to his part-time job. It was almost 10 p.m. now, so he was starving.
The convenience store where he worked was not very far from his and his brother’s apartment. Unlike the big cities, the streets in this town weren’t very crowded and the roads were wide. There weren’t many street lights; that was a bummer, but if he walked quickly, he could get home in five minutes.
But even five minutes was too long a wait, so he took the curry bread from the bag. He would eat it while walking.
“Yes!” He opened the plastic wrapping, and the aroma of deep-fried bread wafted out.
“Chomp… munch, munch… Huh?”
He didn’t taste any curry in the first bite. He felt cheated. He didn’t expect to be teased at this late stage of the game.
Oh well, he thought, one more bite and the curry will be there. Ah, yes.
But he would be denied that moment.
“…Hey, don’t… No!”
From ahead, he heard the faint screams of a girl. Wondering what the commotion was all about, he squinted into the darkness. He could make out the white sailor uniform of a girl. It was the girls’ uniform from Makoto’s high school. He tried to see more of what was going on.
“Woof!”
It was a dog, a really big Shepherd. Makoto had seen the dog before. It was a pedigreed pack dog owned by a nouveau-riche person from the neighborhood. There were rumors about how it had injured some kids several times in the past. But the owner disproved each incident, saying, “Those kids were just pestering my baby.”
This time, the dumb dog had apparently escaped while it was being walked. It still had its leash on.
This is trouble! Makoto thought.
The dog chased after a plastic bag the high school girl held in her hand. It probably held some kind of food.
At this late hour, there was nobody else walking the street other than Makoto. In any case, he needed to distract the animal from the girl. He looked for something to throw at the dog, but the only thing he had within reach was the curry bread in his hand. It was still emitting a delicious aroma.
“Oh, man!” he said to himself. “Gotta be kidding me!”
“Growllll!” By now, the barking had become more intense and the girl was so scared she wasn’t even able to scream any longer. Makoto had to do something and he had to do it fast.
Stupid nouveau-riche dog! he thought. You should at least get fed enough!
Although his junior high club activity involved kendo and not baseball, he threw the bread anyway and prayed that his aim was good enough. He tossed the curry bread with all his might at the dog.
Splat!
It was not an encouraging sound. The curry bread had flown in an arc and somehow nailed the dog right in the face.
“Good, now’s the time!” Makoto told himself.
Makoto dashed out and reached for the girl, who looked just about ready to collapse, and grabbed her hand. The dog, not understanding what had happened, just shook its head. It found the curry bread on the ground and sniffed it. Seemingly satisfied with the smell, it snatched the bread up in its mouth and devoured it with a mighty chomp. Crumbs fell sloppily from the sides of the dog’s mouth onto the street. The dog seemed to find it delicious. Well, after all, even Indians were shocked by the taste.
“Darn it all, that was my curry bread!”
With tears of frustration in his eyes, Makoto bid the curry bread farewell. He then took off with the girl in tow. After running for a bit, he turned and looked. The dog was nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had gotten away.
“Darn that stupid dog! I should call the pound!”
He entertained thoughts of revenge for his curry bread. But then, the girl he rescued spoke up. “Thank you, Makoto-kun.”
“Huh? How do you know my… Uh, Hiura?!”
Since it was dark, he hadn’t realized that the girl in trouble was actually… Hiura Toiro.