The awkwardness

Inoshida sat under a tree and told Shina to wake him up if his body started to turn blue.

“How would I do that?” asked Shina.

“You have to figure that out,” said Inoshida.

Inoshida joined his hands, making a strange sign using his fingers, and closed his eyes while uttering, “The third veil, power of concentration.”

(The third veil is the concentration technique, which a person with immense concentration and heightened senses can unlock. This is the third stage of perception: hidden, transcendent awareness. All Watsukais can use this technique.)

He started breathing. He went into deep concentration. He was using all his senses to find out where the missing dogs were. His breathing became slow when he started seeing some blurry visions. He went into the vision of every animal living in that city to find the dogs, and from the vision of one cat, he saw something. It was blurry, but it showed a huge event hall with a dragon symbol at the top.

Suddenly, his body began to turn blue. Shina got worried because she couldn't figure out what to do. She tried to wake him up by making some noise with her wings, but nothing happened. She got an idea but felt awkward using it. She went close to Inoshida’s lips and bit them harder.

Inoshida opened his eyes wide and shouted out loudly, “Aaaaaaaahhhhh, it hurts!”

“Thank God you are alright, I was worried about you. Sorry, I hurt you. I couldn't find any other way,” said Shina out of concern.

Inoshida also felt a bit awkward, remembering that Shina bit him on his lips.

“Thanks,” he said to Shina for waking him up.

“What did you see?” asked Shina.

“It was a blurry vision, but I saw a huge hall with a dragon symbol on top of it,” he replied.

“But there are several such halls in this city. How are we gonna find that one?” asked Shina.

Inoshida gathered all the birds of that area and ordered them to find halls with the dragon symbol on them, keep an eye on them, and report to him if they saw anything unusual.

“If you all notice anything strange, you'll find me on the rooftop of my house,” said Inoshida.

All birds flew in all directions.

Shina was still there with Inoshida.

“Aren't you going to find the hall?” asked Inoshida.

“I thought I should stay with you just in case you need my help,” she replied.

“Thanks for your concern, but at this moment it's more important to find the hall. I would really appreciate it if you could help me in that way,” said Inoshida.

Shina made a sad face and went searching for the hall.

“I don't know why I feel strange around Shina. No, no, no, shut up, Inoshida, she is just a parrot,” whispered Inoshida.

The day was fading, night was about to fall, yet there was still no news.

But a pigeon came to Inoshida at night and informed him, “I saw a sudden appearance of dogs in front of the hall, which is the last point of this city, just behind the temple. They were all going down into the basement of the hall, but the area is dark and desolate, so you should be careful.”

Inoshida took the form of the parrot and left for the place.