Chapter 38

Walking inside the store, Kazimir picks up a shopping basket, holding Caramel-Strawberry in his other arm.

"You don't want to walk on your own?" Kazimir asks, as the small puppy quietly rests in his arms.

"Arf!" she replies as a way of saying no.

He chuckles and walks over to the pet food aisle, picking up a box of dog treats.

"Do you like these? They're lemon-flavored; probably kinda sour if I had to take a guess."

Caramel-Strawberry growls and Kazimir laughs.

"I guess that's a no. How about-

"Arf! Arf!" the little dog barks, sticking her nose out towards a box.

"Strawberry-flavored treats? You really live by your name, huh?"

"Arf!" Caramel-Strawberry barks as Kazimir puts the box into the basket.

"Okay, anything else?"

"Arf!" she replies, barking at a large box of carob treats.

"Ah, carob treats shaped like chocolate chip cookies. Adorable."

Kazimir throws them in the basket and makes his way over to the fruits and vegetables, taking out the list.

"Alright, where's the carrots?"

"Arf! Arf!" the small puppy replies, jumping out of his arms and running over to a pile of carrots.

Kazimir makes his way over, only to see a young male scratching the puppy's back.

"Good doggie! Want a treat?"

"Arf!" Caramel-Strawberry barks as the man gives her some apple slices.

He looks up from feeding her and smiles up at Kazimir.

"It seems we meet again!"

The detective shakes his head, a confused look forming across his face.

"Who're you?"

"You don't remember?" the young man says, moving a strand of his blond hair from in front of his eye. "Haruki Feliano, the same fellow you came to interrogate about Mr. and Mrs. La'rine?"

"Oh, you. I remember now." Kazimir replies, picking up Caramel-Strawberry. "Can I help you with anything?"

Haruki shakes his head.

"No, I just wanted to ask you how's the La'rines case coming along. The citizens of Claiza City are eager to hear an update."

"Yeah, me too." Kazimir says, picking up a broccoli stem.

"You're not the talkative type, are you?" Haruki asks, giving the younger man a grin.

"No, I'm not, so unless you have anything important to talk about, see ya."

Haruki watches as Kazimir walks further down the store and smiles.

"What a rude little bastard."

Walking out of the store, Haruki dials a number on his phone, and puts it up to his ear.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asks.

"Yo, Milette! I'm back in my mommy's home country!"

"What're you doing there? I thought you had a big gaming stream coming up." Milette replies, yawning.

"I rescheduled it. Hey, maybe you should stop working 'round the clock and you'd get updates on your favorite cousin!"

The young woman rolls her eyes.

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Haruki groans and looks back into the grocery store.

"You-know-who is here in Yamagata; I thought you were smarter than this, Milette."

"Sooooo, you're stalking him? I thought you were supposed to be after the little girl; did you change your mind?" Milette asks.

Haruki chuckles, shaking his head.

"No, but I know where he lives, what his parents look like, and get this, the piece of shit even has a cute little puppy. Poor thing doesn't deserve to be in that clown's arms."

Milette laughs.

"Okay, but what about Khristina? Is she over there too?"

"No, she's not. Anyway, I'm here to start dealing with a few people." Haruki replies, opening a chocolate bar wrapper. "Breaking people down is my specialty."

"Alright, but who's dying soon?"

The young gamer laughs and spins around, taking a bite from his chocolate bar.

"You'll see in due time. For now, get every bit of information on him that you can."

Sighing, Milette nods.

"Okay, talk to you later."

She hangs up and Haruki removes his ear from beside his ear, smiling down at it.

"I think this may turn out easier than expected."

------

"Mama! Dad! We're home!"

Setting the grocery bags on the counter, Kazimir sighs.

"They must still be out. Guess I'll make dinner for us all."

Unpacking the groceries, Kazimir puts the items in their respectful places, before taking out a cookbook.

"What should we have for dinner tonight, Carabelle?"

"Arf!"

Looking up from the cookbook, Kazimir chuckles as the small puppy scratches at a wooden cupboard.

"Okay, okay. You can have a few puppy treats."

He opens the cupboard, taking out a package of treats and pours some in Caramel-Strawberry's bowl.

"You can have some more after dinner, I don't want you to spoil your appetite. You think miso soup and pelmeni would be a good meal?"

"Arf!" Caramel-Strawberry barks in agreement, chewing one of the dog treats.

"Alright, I'll get started then."

The small puppy watches as Kazimir washes his hands, kneads dough, stir something in a pot, and pour a liquid in her bowl.

"That took me almost three hours to make, so eat up. Oh, here's a bit of pelmeni."

He watches as Caramel-Strawberry quickly eats the food, wagging her small tail in delight.

"Arf!"

Kazimir smiles.

"You want more?"

"Arf!" she replies, jumping up and down.

"I made plenty, so here you are."

He puts some more of the dinner in the puppy's bowl, before laying down on a couch in the living room.

Taking out his phone, the young detective opens up his gallery application, playing the video of the small group he recorded earlier.

"I think I'll probably get somewhere if I can figure out where the masks came from. What do you think, Carabelle?"

She lets out a small yawn, curling up on Kazimir's torso to take her daily nap.

"On the other hand, Merderaé seems to be extremely secretive, so that probably won't get me far. I guess it's worth a shot, though."

"Kazimir, we're home!"

Turning to the front door, the young man smiles.

"Hey dad, hey mama. I made dinner."

Mrs. Cizetto smiles and hugs her son.

"My goodness, I stand corrected. The city has changed you!"

Kazimir chuckles.

"You're probably right."

He watches as his parents make their way into the kitchen before playing the video again.

"If I reverse the sound, maybe I'll have some luck in finding out what they're chanting."

Pausing the video, Kazimir puts the phone back into his pocket and gets up from the couch.

"I'm going for a walk, I'll see you both soon!"

Opening the door, the young male comes face to face with another man his height, but a bit older.

"Uh, delivery for Mr. and Mrs. Cizetto." the man says, handing a package to Kazimir.

"Thanks." Kazimir replies, looking down at the package.

He turns to go back inside, Caramel-Strawberry blocking him from entering the front door.

"I thought I left you on the couch to nap." the young detective says, chuckling. "Now if you'll excuse-

With a small growl, the puppy interrupts him.

"What now, Carabelle?"

"Arf! Arf! Arf!"

Kazimir looks to where the tiny dog was currently barking at, staring down at the package.

"This? You wanna know what's inside?"

"Arf! Arf!"

Shrugging, Kazimir rips off part of the tape and begins to open the box flaps.

"It's probably just a—oh fuck!"

Inside was a small time bomb, marked with two minutes until destruction.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" the young detective quietly chants. "I don't even know how to-

Throwing the box to the side, the young man runs inside the house and into the kitchen, followed by Caramel-Strawberry.

"Mama! Dad! We gotta get out of here!"

Raising a brow in confusion, Mr. Cizetto looks over at his son.

"Son, what're you talking-

"I don't have time to explain, just come on!"

Leading his parents to the back of the house, the small family runs out of the back door and further down the snowy plain.

*BOOM!*

Pushing his parents forward, the aftershocks of the explosion knocks Kazimir down to his side.

His vision begins to grow black and he watches as his parents begin to panic.

"The hell are you two saying?"