“But you must have certain challenges outsiders wouldn’t understand.”
“Well, of course. All rare animals necessarily have a limited habitat, not just spiders. It’s quite difficult to acquire them.”
“But it must be lucrative. I mean, you’re here enjoying a vacation on a cruise ship…”
“Oh, not at all!” Numata protested, waving his hands in front of his face. “There’s another reason I’m on this ship. Spiders are hardly a gold mine. Anything I make gets poured right back into my hobby…” Wiping away more sweat, he muttered, “It’s never enough, either…”
“I see. So the rare animal business is no picnic…” Kobayashi gave Numata a searching look. The other man turned away nervously, then stood up just as abruptly as he’d sat down.
“I—I suppose I’ve said too much. Please pardon me,” Numata said, and scampered out of the restaurant. Hinata was flabbergasted.
“Talk about fishy!” Kobayashi remarked, jabbing a thumb behind him and gesturing toward the door. “What could he have meant when he said he was on the ship for ‘another reason’?”
“Well, we’re here for a pretty unique reason, too…,” Hinata said.
Kobayashi laughed. “I guess you’ve got a point!”
“But he seemed like he was in need of money, didn’t he? And what if he found out there was a very valuable violin nearby…?”
Kobayashi put his elbow on the table and rested his cheek on his hand. “I couldn’t help but notice that he seemed quite energetic. Remember how the captain was concerned that his cabin was too hot and that he might make himself sick?”
“If anything, it seems more like he’s easily overheated. He was wiping off a whole lot of sweat,” Hinata remarked, finishing up his mango juice. Then he stood and said, “I’m going to go see Chris before I go to bed for the night. What about you, Mr. Kobayashi?”
“I’ll go with you, of course!”
✦ ✦ ✦
“You ate your dinner, right, Chris? Is your tummy full?”
Hinata hugged Chris and rubbed his cheek against the dog. Chris whined happily.
In the open air on the twelfth deck, the bright-blue sea and sky they’d seen in the daytime had been replaced by the black of night, like someone had spilled ink over the world. The only gaps in the darkness were a brilliant full moon and the countless shining stars above.
“You can’t see skies like this back home,” said Hinata. “The city’s too bright.”
“My house is close to the river,” said Kobayashi. “If you go down by the water, it’s pretty dark. But it’s still nothing like this.” He gazed up at the stars in wonder.
“Like I was saying earlier, I think Chris is trying to tell us something…” Hinata wandered closer to the prow, watching Chris at his side.
“About the captain’s bag, you mean?”
“Yes. And the stack of fancy dog food boxes in the kennel’s storeroom. He took me there and looked so proud about it.”
The motor of Kobayashi’s wheelchair hummed as he rolled across the deck. “You were joking earlier, right? When you said, ‘Follow the scent of that violin,’ and all that. But Chris knew you were asking him to search for something. And to answer your request, he led you to the captain’s bag…”
“Why?” they both said in unison, then burst into laughter.
“If only Chris could speak human language,” Hinata said wistfully. Chris looked back and forth between them, mystified.
Ahead of them, a rectangular pool was set into the deck. The air was chillier at night, so no one was in it now. The lights had been turned down, so the surface of the water merely flickered in the darkness.
“Oh! You can see the moon reflected in the pool!” Hinata exclaimed, weaving around the deck chairs with Chris until they were at the water’s edge. “Aww, it disappeared when I got closer.”
Kobayashi followed them. “It’s because of the angle. As the moon moves higher in the sky, it’ll probably show up right in the middle of the pool.”
As Kobayashi peered into the water—his wheelchair started moving! The front wheels slipped over the edge, causing the entire chair to tilt.
“Whoa!!”
Kobayashi was dumped into the water, followed by the wheelchair itself.
Kabloooosh!!
There was a huge splash, drenching Hinata, Chris, and the area beside the pool.
Huh? Mr. Kobayashi?
Hinata was momentarily unable to understand what had happened. He simply stood there in shock.
He could hear the rattling of deck chairs falling over behind him, followed by a series of frantic footsteps scampering away.
Who was that? W-wait, that’s not important right now!
Hinata let go of Chris’s leash as the dog busily shook himself off, then he jumped feetfirst into the pool. It was just shallow enough that his face was above water if he stood on his tiptoes.
But because Kobayashi couldn’t use his legs, he was in a dangerous situation. Hinata could see him struggling in the water. He took a deep breath and dove below the surface. Then he grabbed Kobayashi’s arm and pulled at it until he could fit his head underneath, allowing him to prop Kobayashi’s body over his shoulder. Then he put everything he had into lifting the young man upward.
From underwater, Hinata could tell that Kobayashi’s head had broken the surface and that he was gasping in fresh air. Hinata held his breath and pushed hard until Kobayashi’s hands reached the edge of the pool.
Then he rose to the surface in a rush and took in great gulps of air. “…M-Mr. Kobayashi, are you all right?”
Kobayashi was hacking and coughing, clinging to the side of the pool. “I…I’m all right. Thank you, Hinata…koff !”
Hinata managed to pull himself up out of the pool, then concentrated on getting his breathing under control. His heart was racing, and his body kept trembling. Chris whined and licked at Hinata’s wet cheek with his warm tongue.
But they weren’t out of danger yet. Beside him, Kobayashi was clinging for dear life to the edge of the pool. If he stayed in the chilly water, things would only get worse.
“H-here, grab my hands…”
Hinata rose unsteadily to his feet and reached down with both hands to pull Kobayashi up. But the grown adult’s body was heavier than he’d anticipated—especially since his clothes were now soaked.
Kobayashi was trying his hardest to get out of the water, but his body was freezing, and he wasn’t having much success.
“I-I’m sorry, Hinata… I don’t have enough strength…”
“Y-you can do it, Mr. K-Kobayashi…”
Chris barked loudly and ran off toward the stern of the ship.
“Chris?! Where are you going?!” Hinata shouted, panicking. Stop, Chris! I can’t chase after you right now!
He gritted his teeth and redoubled his efforts to haul Kobayashi out of the water. As he did so, he heard Chris bark again.
“Woof, woof! Woof, woof!!”
“What is it, Chris? What happened?” came a woman’s voice. Hinata gasped—it was Liz!
That’s it! He was calling for Liz!
Relief flooded Hinata’s mind, and his eyes grew hot with tears. Thank you, Chris…
Fortunately, Liz was able to call for help immediately, and they quickly rescued Kobayashi from the pool. He was taken to his room, seen to by the ship’s doctor, and given a hot shower.
As soon as he was tucked in, he murmured, “It’s been so long since I slept in a bed,” and immediately dropped off to sleep.
“You get some rest, too, Hinata. That was quite an ordeal,” said Chihori, who had been carefully attending to Kobayashi’s needs. She gave Hinata a light pat on the shoulder. “I sent your wet clothes to the cleaner’s, so they should be washed and dried by morning. Get some sleep, and don’t wait up for Mayuka and Mito.”
Hinata could feel the strength ebbing out of his body. He got right into bed, still wearing his puffy bathrobe, and was soon off to dreamland.