The Adventure of Taiga and Tatsuya part 7

The next morning kicked off with one of Kagami's screams. The moment he woke up he saw Alex lying at his feet from who-knows-when. Himuro, who was woken up by Kagami's frantic screams, quickly led Alex out of the pavilion. That finally calmed Kagami down. The pair split the fruits they brought and had a simple breakfast, and hurried towards the park's exit.

Kagami run quickly, with Himuro chasing behind at an astonishing speed down the hill. Himuro was chasing behind Kagami, and Alex was chasing behind Himuro.

"That's why I said, why did we had to bring this fella along?!" While trying to maintain a safe distance from Alex, Kagami turned behind and asked Himuro.

"It can't be helped, you know. It just wanted to follow us. Taiga, don't you think it likes you?"

Kagami stared grumpily at the beaming Himuro. Suddenly, he dashed downwards with a black face, with his mouth shouting, "Damn it! I absolutely! Won't let you catch up with me!"

Thanks to Kagami's efforts, the two of them left the park earlier than expected. Alex, however, followed the pair closely, which rendered Kagami's efforts useless.

"Why did it have to follow us…" At a certain corner in a park near a residential area, Kagami was at loss.

But at another corner, the fella that was causing Kagami headaches was at a water tap, Himuro had helped it unscrew the faucet and it was drinking happily.

It was unruffled, and it seems to say that they should be glad that they got some exercise. Kagami hid himself in a corner far away from Alex, and glared at it furiously.

Himuro patted Alex's head, and, for the first time since they left, spoke, "Its sad, what should we do with this child?"

"I had been telling you since yesterday! Ignore it! Just throw it away!"

"But if we were to throw it away here, wouldn't it be very pitiful?"

While Himuro mouthed the words 'pitiful', he thought about how pitiful Alex would be. His face darkened.

"What! It obviously has nothing to do with us!" Kagami's words no longer have the pressure he had earlier.

"Arf!" Alex barks, and seems to be saying that it had drank enough water.

Himuro closed the faucet up and squatted beside Alex.

Himuro scratched Alex's ears and asked, "Alex, where did you come from? Did anything happen to your master?" But Alex only stared at him with its black eyes.

"Your fur is really clean, seems like your master really doted on you, huh."

As Himuro had said, Alex's fur had been combed neatly, and it seemed that it had not been out on the streets for very long. Himuro's kneading actions were very gentle, and Alex leaned in to rub his nose on his neck.

"Wait, eh, Alex, it itches!" Alex licked Himuro's face, and he laughed.

To Kagami, this action seems very life-threatening. He shouted in his heart, "Tatsuya will die!", but other than turning towards their direction and stare at them, he did nothing else.

"Well that's an adorable dog. What's its name?" someone asked, following the direction of that voice, they saw a woman standing there.

"Eh? That…" To be suddenly asked like that, Kagami got so frightened that his eyes became round.

The woman was holding a Welsh Corgi, its round eyes surveyed Kagami.

"!!" Since the distance was too close, Kagami froze up. The woman, however, did not notice anything amiss and happily walked towards Himuro.

"That's an adorable dog. How old is it?"

Himuro was taken aback at the lady's question, but when he sees that she was staring at Alex intently, he realized that she had been asking about Alex's age and not his.

"Uh… I'm not too sure how old it is. But its name is Alex."

"Ah, so it's Alex. You must be very happy to be walking with these two brothers, eh?" The lady said as he patted Alex's head, satisfied, and continued, "Well then, work hard at your walk!" before leaving.

"Taking a walk with the two brothers, eh…" Himuro murmured.

On the other hand, Kagami seemed to have recovered himself from that encounter with the dog, and was taking deep breaths.

"Don't tell me…" Kagami looks around him carefully, and what he saw stunned him.

No matter what, it's clear that it is still morning. But from all directions, were people walking their dogs.

"Is this hell…!"

....

"Taiga, I thought of a good idea."Himuro told the trembling Kagami

"...What?"

"A method to reach R school safely and successfully."

"Eh…?! Really?"

Kagami, who had been dazed for some time, suddenly had a gleam in his eyes. "What should we do?!"

Himuro laughed.

"Take a walk with Alex."

As regard to Himuro's suggestion, Kagami was naturally against it.

"But if we were to have Alex with us, wouldn't there be many people looking at us?"

Under Himuro's persistent persuasion, Kagami finally reluctantly agreed. In fact, them, walking Alex is a very good thing. Even though the situation was the same as the day before with two boys moving on their own, the adults did not focus on them anymore. Walking the dog gave the impression of a very close relationship between two brothers. Glancing at them, this was what the passers-by see of Kagami and Himuro. But of course, the reality is not like that. Kagami made Himuro stand between him and Alex, to ensure as much distance between them as possible.

"There's nothing you should be afraid of…" Himuro  is already getting tired of saying this.

Instead, he changed the topic to divert Kagami's attention and to make him relax. The first topic would naturally be about basketball. When it comes to basketball, there would be an endless amount of topics to talk about. At first, Kagami did not respond well, but after Himuro's relentless talking, he finally forgot the fact that there was a dog walking alongside with them, and he started to talk passionately about basketball. While they were chatting, they would sometimes laugh, or break out in an occasional fight as they made towards their destination. No matter what to any person, this scene would just seem like a pair of very close brothers.

Two boys and one dog, finally reached R school just before noon. As what the rumours had said, the school was in ruins. Many of the school's windows were broken, and much of the walls had already mottled off. The rest are all covered by ivy and fern, it was hard to imagine that it had been a school once.

"Amazing - ! This place is really tattered!"

Standing outside the school's walls, Kagami said honestly, as he looked towards the school.

"Let's find a way in," Himuro suggested as he led Alex around the outer walls to look.

Kagami sped up his pace, but continued to maintain a safe distance between him and Alex as he caught up with them.