The Adventure of Taiga and Tatsuya part 6

"There's a name engraved on it… Taiga, give me the torchlight." Himuro turned his head, and pointed to the torch that was lying by Kagami's feet.

"No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no!!" Kagami shook his head frantically, causing his head to be blurred due to his violent movements.

Himuro could not help but be worried that Kagami might shake his head off.

"I-I- I'm not good with dogs! I can't do this!"

"Taiga, do you really hate dogs this much?" Himuro reluctantly got up and picks the torchlight up himself.

However, The unwanted golden retriever followed behind Himuro's back and run towards Kagami too. As a result, the distance between Kagami and the retriever decreased.

"Uwaaa!" Kagami gave another surprising scream, and ran behind a pillar, held on to it.

"Don't come closer! Didn't I tell you not to come closer? If you come closer, heaven knows what I might do to you!"

"Taiga, calm down…" Himuro picked up the torchlight, and brought the dog over to the pillar that was furthest away from Kagami.

"The name engraved on the collar is… [Alex]."

With the torchlight shining on the collar, Himuro read out the dog's name. Upon hearing its own name, Alex gave out a bark in reply.

"AIYEEEEE!" Kagami screamed again and jumped up the pillar, holding on to it.

As Himuro was being amazed by Kagami's jumping power, he heard his pleas.

"Ta-Tatsuya! That dog, think of ways to fix this problem!"

"Think of ways?"

"Just think of ways to get rid of it!"

"Even if you say that, I can't do anything about it."

Himuro looked at the dog Alex. The good natured Alex was sitting down, looking at Himuro happily.

"Isn't she such an obedient child?"

Its even called Alex. It reminded them of the person who taught them basketball, Alexander•Garcia. Her nickname was also Alex.

"Even their names are the same, don't you think its nice?"

"Who cares about that?! I don't think its nice! Not even for a second!" shouted Kagami, who was holding on to the pillar like a koala bear.

"Is that so…?" Himuro said as he patted Alex's head again.

"Ah, that's right. If we were to sleep with Alex, we would be able to withstand tonight's cold weather."

"Haa?"

Listening to Himuro's surprising suggestion, Kagami nearly fell off the pillar. He hurriedly climbed up the pillar again.

"You're obviously out to get me!

"That's not true. It's to prevent colds, and anyway I just think that it's nicer to sleep like this. Although its not as cold as winter right now, it'll be able to replace blankets."

"Then I'd rather catch a cold!"

Looking at the obstinate Kagami, Himuro's eyebrows slid down and said, "If you want to succeed, the will to challenge everything is important."

"Uu!", Himuro cried suddenly, squatting down, making painful noises with his mouth.

"Tatsuya!" Kagami frantically came down from the pillar and ran to Himuro, looking at the color of Himuro's face.

"Tatsuya! Are you alright? Where are you hurting?"

"Taiga…"

Himuro cried out painfully, and grabbed Kagami's hand. As if he were enduring a great pain, Himuro held on to Kagami's hand tightly.

"Tatsuya, where! Where does it hurt?!" Uneasily, Kagami held Himuro's hand tightly as well.

"If you were to ask me where it hurts…" Himuro used even more strength to hold on to Kagami's hand, "… I've caught you!"

"Eh?"

Himuro opened his eyes and looked at Kagami and laughed.

"As expected, the will to challenge everything is important!" After saying that, Himuro placed Kagami's hand on Alex's back.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Kagami's cries of desperation filled the forest that night.

Kagami who are deceived by Himuro sulks on the side….

"Hey, be a little happier." Himuro sat himself opposite of Kagami, in the pavilion.

However, Kagami continued sitting on the bench with his back facing Himuro refusing to give him a reply.

"I didn't mean any harm. Isn't there a therapy called the 'scared therapy?' I thought that maybe if you touched the dog your phobia of dogs would be cured."

Unknowingly, Himuro had already repeated his explanations many times, but Kagami stubbornly refused to turn his back to face him.

As the night progressed it became quieter.

Alex was lying by Himuro's feet with its eyes closed,  it seems to have fallen asleep.

"Ah-choo!" Kagami made a small sneeze. Quivering,  before clasping his knees and curls up into a ball.

Even though the weather had become warmer, it was still rather cold at night.

"Taiga, are you alright?" Himuro asked as he looks at Kagami's back.

Of course, Kagami did not reply. He pouted as he looked into the pitch-black forest.

Even  after he had repeatedly told Himuro that he was terrified of dogs, Himuro still went ahead and did such a thing; it was just too much!

Then again, even though he felt that Himuro had went overboard, he did not know how to reconcile with Himuro, who had been apologizing profusely. He felt that he had missed the chance to speak…

While Kagami was battling against himself internally, he inevitably let out another sneeze.

Its so cold…! Kagami shivered as he sank his head his head down a little.

Tsk!

A rustling sound was heard, and a familiar and warm body slid up.

"!"

Kagami turned his head to see Himuro leaning against his back.

"If its like this, we'd be a little warmer," Himuro turned his head and spoke. "We have to work hard to get those basketballs tomorrow, so we'd better rest up."

"Tatsuya... I'm sorry. My emotions got the better of me."

The words that he had been struggling to say earlier were so easily said out. However, he still felt a little awkward about it. After apologizing, Kagami did not turn back to look at Himuro, and buried his face into his knees.

"No, the person who should be apologizing is me. …Sorry," Himuro said as he leaned back against Kagami's back.

Himuro's weight was transferred onto Kagami. It was indeed much warmer than before, compared to when he was alone. This made him a little bit happy, shy and complacent at the same time. But Kagami, who is not very good at communicating with others, only muttered, "It's heavy…."