Tough Decisions

I was clearing up the table after dinner, and Mom sat on a chair watching me.

Dad was late, so we had dinner without him. Mom continued talking about the dog. How it was brown and very sick, and how they gave it away and never knew what happened to it later. "Your sister liked the dog. She didn't want to get separated from it." Saeko had a kind spot for everything, so even when as young as five, she must've felt afraid for the dog's life. Or at least that's what Mom told me she thought.

"I'm not particularly into pets," I told her. "But if she liked it so much, why give it away?"

"We were strict with her, you know? We didn't raise her so easily as we did with you. She didn't just get whatever she wanted. She never complained, but I wish we'd listen to her demands some more..." She continued and put her head down.

"Mom, that's dirty! Let me wipe it first!" I quickly wiped that part of the table with a wet towel and she blew on it to dry it quickly. "And it's not like I made any absurd demands either," I said replying to the previous thing she was saying.

"We were blessed with two good kids, now it's just you Souma." Mom didn't cry anymore.

What am I supposed to do about a dog? It's not like getting a dog is going to be useful. I mailed Hikari about it and he was skeptical.

//What can we even do about something like that?//

/I know/

/I thought I should tell you though/

//*Sent a location*//

//What to go to a Dog Park?//

That's how we ended up at a small Dog Park when neither of us had dogs. It was a stretch of grass with some plastic playthings here and there. The puppies ran all over them. Some older women talked and their dogs sniffed each other's noses. Some kids ran around with their collared dogs. None of them wore the leash inside the park.

Two high school students, without a dog, really seemed out of place.

"I don't really like dogs, Souma," Hikari said. "What's fun about them?" Hikari looked at me every once in a few seconds, and when I noticed it, he'd pretend like he wasn't doing it. What is that about? I hope he isn't onto anything weird.

"I'm not much of a fan either. Why did we even come here? Ugh." I got inside awkwardly, looking around and thinking what to do. Hikari walked very close to me. "You're not scared of them, right?"

"Not scared, but well, I'd prefer not to get too close." He pinched my jacket from behind.

There wasn't much to do. We couldn't even find a bench to sit on, and the place was noisy. The dogs kept barking and weeping like they did; Was so much noise normal? We didn't know.

"She liked dogs when she was five. This is pointless." I told Hikari.

"I know, but if we've come anyways, let's try to pat a dog's head." I'm not doing that.

None of the dogs approached us. Should we have brought food? But we couldn't just feed a stranger's dog. A very old woman was standing in a corner and looking at all the people and the dogs. She wore a navy tracksuit and her posture was rather intimidating. Not knowing any better what to do, we decided to stand a little away from her and watch too.

She noticed us and asked, "Ya' two ar' here for the first time?" She spoke in a thick dialect.

Taken aback by the question, we nodded quickly. "Thinking of getting a dog at such'a young age? I don' recommend it. Because then, it's sure to die before ya'." That is dark, I thought to myself. "And, youngsters ar' bad enough at taking care of themselves, Why add a dog to suffer with you? Unless ya're extremely wealthy and 'ave lots of free time, don't get one."

"You are right," Hikari replied to her and then looked at me. "I don't want a dog anymore, Souma." He looked deadpan into my eyes as if he wasn't just making up nonsense.

The old lady immediately looked guilty, as if she didn't mean to scare us off. "I mean, it's not that bad either. My Kono wa's a good girl till the end, not that ya'd get as lucky as me." She sighed. "She was good enough for an old lady like me. Never got sick until the end, and when she finally did, she didn't give me any trouble. I didn't have to run back-an-fort' to the vet, she passed away peacefully."

"Grandma, don't you have any children who'd take care of Kono?" I asked.

"I told ya' so, kids these days can't even care for themselves, how would they worry about anyone else? My son runs his business in Kyoto, and my daughter married a boy way North in Aomori. Who' got time for an old lady's little dog?"

"Sorry." Both I and Hikari said simultaneously.

"Ya' boys don't have to 'pologize. People an' dogs, they all 'ave to leave when their time comes." She sighed. "Now, shoo' from here. Not even looking at the dogs, what heartless boys." She walked in between where the kids were playing, and a bunch of dogs came rushing to her. She took out a crumbled paper from her pocket and started throwing treats around, making the dogs jump around and catch. The few kids gathered around her and watched her.

"If I make it till I'm that old, I have to remain just as energetic." Hikari looked at her in wonder, just like the kids. "Even looking at her wants me to go and take a nap."

"She didn't seem very sad about her dog. I mean, she's now the centre of attraction for all these other ones. That's pretty amazing I'd say." I started walking outside. "Let's go." Hikari waved goodbye to her and she smiled at him.

"I'm sure she still misses her own dog the most, though. Kono... was that the name?"

He held my hand and we stood at the bus stop. "Yeah, weird name for a dog," I replied and he snickered a laugh. The road was empty and there was a long time before a bus would actually come. "Should we just start walking home? We'd reach faster that way."

"No!" Hikari hurriedly said, then explained. "Well, I don't want to walk anymore. We were standing for so long. And... we're not in a hurry." He turned his face the other way and we stayed quiet like that for a moment. He cleared his throat a few times.

"Do you have something to say to me?" His arm stiffened and didn't say no. "You can say anything you want, don't hesitate." I tightened my grasp around his hand.

"It's better not to say some things... if you don't know what impact they'll have, and you can't take them back. What will you do, if you say something like that?" He asked hesitantly, and he didn't look at me. I felt my breath slow down with uncertainty and a hundred different questions started coming to my mind. What is he talking about? Why does he sound so unsure?

"I want to hear it. We're on the same page, Hikari. There's nothing to hide." He took his hand off of mine, and I pulled him by his shoulders, still he didn't look at me. "You're scaring me. What are you worrying so much about? Please, look at me-"

His whole frame shivered and, he finally looked into my eyes. And the next second, he moved closer and then... he kissed me.

"Souma," He whispered, "I like you."