Editing City Series:Volume4a Chapter 9 (section)

===Part 2===

'''1:36 PM

Students were visible here and there as Shoui carried a Dog God on his shoulder and walked around Osaka with the girl named Takada Seigi.

They were looking for the hotel at which she had a reservation.

She tilted her head as they walked along the road in front of Nanba Station.

“Was it the Osaka Hotel?”

There were hotels with names like that everywhere.

That name was especially little help in the category of hotels cheap enough for a normal student to stay at them.

“This is quite the problem… I can see why you were searching around since morning.”

Shoui scratched at his head and looked around. The semi-cylindrical Nanba Station was right in front of them and a few phones were located in front of the station’s entrance.

“How about you call home to ask?”

“Oh, I can’t do that. I left on this trip without telling anyone.”

“What?”

“It’s sort of a graduation trip and I’m skipping school.”

“Skipping school, are you? …Kids these days sure like to have fun.”

“You understand, don’t you? If you were to run away from home…”

…''Well, I kind of get it.

He tried to say that with a bitter smile, but…

“I don’t have any parents, so I don’t understand,” answered the Dog God on his shoulder.

Takada’s expression changed before he could scold the Dog God.

Her cheerful look clouded over.

“Ah, don’t worry about it!”

But it was too late.

The cloudy expression soon produced rain. Tears welled up in Takada’s eyes.

Shoui looked around quickly to check the afternoon crowd in front of the station.

…''I can’t believe this. I hope no one’s watching…'' / “I can’t believe this. I hope no one’s watching…”

He panicked when the Dog God spoke his thoughts aloud.

“Wait! I don’t mean that in a bad away! Um…!”

Takada nodded and quickly lowered her head.

“Sorry about that. My emotions burst out without warning again. That was a nuisance, wasn’t it?”

“I wouldn’t call it a nuisance. Honestly, it just surprised me. …What was that about?”

“People’s thoughts reach me through Taromaru.”

The Dog God licked at the tears on her cheek.

“So I read your memories…”

“Oh, so you saw when I was buried alive and nearly died during the Kinki Riot…”

He smiled bitterly as the girl wiped away the tears with her ring-bearing hand.

“I can’t believe this. So this Dog God is connected to you?”

“Taromaru…no, the entire Dog God race speaks people’s thoughts.”

“I see.”

“But they can’t speak thoughts people can’t put into words. Instead, they try to understand those thoughts and share them with each other.”

“So the memories and images I briefly thought of were sent back to you through the Dog God?”

Takada nodded.

“As they grow more and more accustomed to reading someone’s thoughts, that person’s thoughts and memories…are directly transmitted to me.”

“I can’t read your thoughts, though.”

“You probably need to get used to reading them.”

“That’s not fair…”

Shoui then realized something and the Dog God on his shoulder reflexively put it to words.

“You can see my lewd thoughts too?”

“Yes, I can.”

Shoui’s face stiffened at her Dog God’s simple answer.

She smiled bitterly while wiping away the tears and then leaned against the station’s outer wall.

“You were sneaking peeks at my butt and legs from behind before.”

“W-well! They’re pretty great! Wait, what am I saying!? Calm down! Agh!”

“…Taromaru is reading all of your thoughts.”

“Wait, wait, wait! That’s, um, the thing about that is…”

“You like legs in stockings?”

“Indeed I do. …Wait, no!”

“Don’t worry. I understand.”

“That stockings are amazing?”

“No.”

“Th-then, it’s something worse? I do have a feeling I was thinking some pretty awful things…”

“I said don’t worry. There are people out there thinking even more unbelievable things.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better!”

Takada giggled as Shoui shouted through the Dog God.

She was laughing even though she had been crying just a moment before.

When he noticed that change, Shoui sighed and let his shoulders droop.

“You’re an interesting person…”

“Am I?”

“Yes. This girl I know almost never lets her emotions show.”

“Really? I’m jealous…”

“You are?”

“People used to say I never hide anything I’m feeling or that I’m emotionally unstable.”

“Used to, hm?”

“Oh, right. My memories don’t get through to you.”

Shoui looked to the Dog God named Taromaru on his shoulder. The animal looked him in the eye and tilted his head.

“How smart is this guy?”

“I’m not sure. My cousin said his intelligence matches whoever he’s possessing.”

“Your cousin?”

“Yes, he was the one who created Taromaru. He’s a Word Master, you see. Taromaru was based on one that was possessing that cousin, but it left him because he found someone to support him.”

“They stop possessing you once you’re no longer no single?”

Takada shook her head.

“They possess someone who is indecisive.”

“…Indecisive?”

Shoui placed a hand on his chin in thought and Taromaru spoke his thoughts aloud.

“It’s probably not over whether stockings or panty hose are better. That’s getting into the perverted area again, which could cause some problems for me. So what could she be indecisive about? It’s probably something more pleasant. Something pleasurable…no, that’s getting back into pervert territory again.”

“Shoui-san, Shoui-san. I can hear everything you’re thinking.”

“Eh? Oh, really?”

“It sounded like a bunch of nonsense.”

“I can’t believe this…”

He looked to the Taromaru on his shoulder, but the creature only scratched at the back of his head with his back paw.

“I need to get back to normal as soon as possible. That way this guy won’t have to speak for me anymore.”

“Really? He saved me. I’ve always been able to read a little bit of other people’s Lives. That’s why they influence me so much.”

She smiled a little.

“I couldn’t even go outside during elementary school, but then my cousin came and made Taromaru from my Live without speaking a word.”

“Then, he’s…”

“Yes. He’s apparently a Dog God highly tuned to my thoughts. I said I could read the thoughts of the people he possesses because it was a trait of Dog Gods, but that might be unique to Taromaru.”

“I see.”

“Dog Gods apparently choose someone to possess if not given any specific orders, but to be honest, you’re the first one he’s chosen on his own other than me.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If what my cousin said is true, then you must be indecisive about something.”

“I’m not sure what to tell you…”

“But it’s true,” said Takada. “Taromaru reads people’s thoughts and eats them as Lives, so he possesses people who are indecisive and conflicted…”

“And speaks for them like this?”

Takada spoke as Shoui scratched at his head.

“I think it means you have a dual nature.”

“What? Is that like being both an S and an M? …Wait, no!”

“I like how you’ve been playing both the boke and tsukkomi.”

“Well, I guess playing both roles myself would be another sort of dual nature.” He sighed. “Anyway, I guess this means I’m worrying over something even more than I thought.”

“Yes, that kind of dual nature. But it isn’t a bad thing.”

“Really?”

“Most people have something like that, even if it isn’t on the same level as you. Including those indecent thoughts. …Some people’s public side is stronger and some people’s private side is stronger.”

“…”

“The way I see it, the more indecisive someone is, the stronger their ultimate answer will be.”

“…Their answer, huh?”

Takada nodded.

“You have more on your mind than those indecent things, don’t you?”

“Personally, those are the things I’ve been trying to think about the most, though. …Why does this bastard have to say all those things aloud!?”

“I don’t mind.”

“Eh? Really? You don’t mind that the guy standing next to you was imagining you naked? …Stop it, you idiot!”

Shoui reached for the Taromaru on his shoulder, but the creature hid behind his back.

He chased after the creature as if scratching at his body, but he could not catch the thing.

Takada gave an honest laugh as she watched.

“Don’t worry, Shoui-san. I know you’re only thinking those things on the surface.”

“…R-really?”

“Yes, I can see the girl in glasses you’re thinking about deep down.”

“Oh, wow. So I’m talking to a girl while thinking about another girl? Am I a wishy-washy A-type with a lucky color of red, or something?”

“You’re troubled by this self-analysis, aren’t you?” said Takada while peering into his face. “My family is naturally skilled with Lives, so how about I read your destiny a little?”

“…You can do that? That sounds like a Tuner.”

“I am a Tuner, actually. It’s just that I abandoned that path due to the instability I mentioned before.”

“…”

“I called myself a Fast Reader when I introduced myself, didn’t I? I borrow Taromaru’s power to read the Lives of people’s or the world’s destiny.”

“Hmm… I’m not so sure about this. It sounds more legit than a fortune-telling.”

“Please close your eyes. That will help calm your mind.”

She did not give him a choice and he closed his eyes on reflex.

She immediately held his cheeks between her hands.

“!?”

He opened his eyes and found her face right in front of him.

She had kissed him.

After two breaths, she pulled her lips away and returned to her previous position.

He stared at her face.

“Oh, dear. I just had my lips stolen…”

“Why the effeminate tone of voice?”

“Well, it was so sudden…”

“Is it that surprising? You went all the way with that glasses girl.”

“…You have no problem saying some pretty outrageous things, you know that?”

“Anyway, that wasn’t what this was about. I was reading your ''kotodama''. In other words, your Live.”

“…That seems like a bit of a sad explanation to me.”

“If you hadn’t been so surprised, I could have read a little deeper.”

She closed her eyes and the Taromaru on her shoulder looked up toward heaven.

The creature sang with her voice.

''A white flower blooms in the darkness

''An empty party begins in the fire

''A memory of death floats in nothingness

:''A king saves him

:''A queen laments him

:''A sage resigns himself

::''Fall into indecisiveness while looking to another’s path

::''Choose your own path and hesitate

::''The true path lies in the past

After the clear voice came to an end, Taromaru sighed.

Speaking so much seemed to have been tough on his small body.

Takada opened her eyes and Shoui asked a question.

“Was that…my Words?”

“No, it wasn’t. Not in your case.”

“Then what was it?”

“Good question. …Your destiny can always be changed, but that song was your future based on your current Live. It’s a little vague since I didn’t get a perfect read on you, though.”

She smiled and Shoui sighed. The Dog God spoke his calmed thoughts.

“I’m not gonna be able to fondle this girl’s breasts… Wait, no!”