“Aaaah!” Everyone screamed.
Kotarou seemed to have no understanding of restraint. He bit Hinata’s clothes, then pulled him away and jumped on him. He wasn’t attacking Hinata; he was just that eager to play.
Hinata did his best to endure. He felt that resisting or shouting would only excite the golden retriever puppy even further.
“K-Kotarou, s-s-stop…”
After Hinata had been thoroughly jumped on and covered with slobber, Chris wriggled out from under them and shook himself off. Kotarou faltered for a moment, giving Chris an opening to bark at him.
“Woof!!”
Kotarou flinched and hopped away. He put his front paws together, lowered his head, and whined sadly. It was like he was saying, “Aww, please don’t yell at me. I’m sorry…”
He then looked to the side as if searching for an escape route, but Kobayashi managed to get a grip on his collar. “There, there, be a good boy. Calm down… Hinata, do you have any dog food?”
Hinata got to his feet, reached into his walking bag, and pulled out a container of dog treats. He then took one out and held it in front of Kotarou’s nose.
“There you go. Now, behave yourself, Kotarou. Go on—eat up…”
Kotarou sat down impatiently and chomped on the treat. Hinata then scooped up the dog’s leash so Kobayashi could let go of the collar.
“That’s better, Kotarou. Now, stay calm and don’t thrash around,” Hinata said, petting the puppy’s head. He fed him some more treats. Crunch, crunch, crunch…
Kotarou finished and looked up at Hinata curiously. “Are there any more?” he seemed to ask.
“That’s all for now. But if you’re a good boy, I might give you another one.” Hinata held out his index finger for Kotarou to sniff, then glanced over at Chris. “Are you all right, Chris?”
Chris shook himself again and barked as if to say, “I’m fine!” Then he turned to Kotarou and growled softly, warning him, “You better not do anything like that again!” Kotarou whimpered back.
“Good job, Chris. You’re a lot smaller, but you know how to take control,” Mayuka remarked, her eyes wide as she stepped forward and grabbed Chris’s leash.
Kobayashi scratched his head. “This golden retriever’s still a puppy, despite its size… Sorry, Hinata. I still can’t move very well in this wheelchair, or I would have done more to help. The way you stayed calm was very smart, though. Getting excited would only have made the dog more agitated.”
“You still grabbed his collar, Mr. Kobayashi—exactly what a dog trainer would do.”
From behind Hinata, a low voice said, “Kotarou…”
It was Reo Hasekura.
He took a few unsteady steps forward and held out a hand to Hinata. His blue eyes flashed through the gap in his bangs.
Hinata handed over Kotarou’s leash, and Reo grabbed it and pulled.
“Come,” he said, and turned to walk away.
Kotarou trotted over to Reo’s left side and walked obediently next to him. Chris growled softly.
“You there!” Kobayashi called out. “Your dog’s still young and rambunctious. Don’t let go of that leash!”
Reo didn’t respond. He and Kotarou soon vanished into the elevator lobby.
“What was his problem? Not even a ‘sorry’!” fumed Mayuka once they were gone. “Ugh! This ship is beautiful, but there are so many aggravating things about it. That’s the boy we met at the restaurant, right? The one whose grandma had that horrid perfume.”
Mito nodded. “He’s her grandson. I believe his name is Reo…”
“How’d you know the dog’s name, Hinata?” Mayuka asked.
“I met them at the kennel last night when I dropped Chris off,” he said.
Hinata wasn’t sure what to do. For some unknown reason, ever since they’d first met, Reo had shown an obvious dislike for him. The odd thing was that Kotarou seemed to absolutely love him and Chris.
I guess there’s nothing I can do about it. Hinata took a towel out of his bag and wiped the dog slobber off his sleeve. Chris looked up at him and woofed with apparent sympathy.
“Well, I’m going to see Mr. Soga,” said Mito. Her voice was strong and full of purpose. She would not be talked out of her plan.
“I…I guess I’ll go with you, too…,” said Mayuka weakly, despite her earlier confidence.
“No, that’s all right,” Mito said firmly. “If you get angry at him, he might not lend me a violin. I think it’s better if I go alone.”
Mayuka wilted on the spot.
“Miss Chihori, please arrange an appointment with Mr. Soga. Tell him I’ll be right there.”
Chihori hesitated, then put her smartphone to her ear and began to speak in English. “Hello, this is Chihori speaking…”
She turned her back to them as she made the call. When she was done, she turned back around and addressed Mito.
“All right, they’re ready, as long as you go right now. I’ll take you there.”
“Don’t you have to keep an eye on us, Chihori?” Mayuka asked with concern. “Won’t the captain be angry with you?”
Chihori looked around at the sea and made a funny face. “Well, there’s not really anywhere you can go out here, is there? And we weren’t together while you had lunch, either…”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true. Good luck, Mito!” Mayuka cheered as the other girl went with Chihori to the elevators.