Chapter 10.4

On the afternoon of October 6th, when Yuuki went to creole a sign saying they were not open for business was hung. While he turned to head back, somehow he didn't feel like returning home, so with no other choice he wandered the neighborhood absently.  After making a lap he ended up in front of creole again to see that the sign saying they weren't open was taken down. While thinking Oh? he pushed on the door, which opened.

"Welcome," Hasegawa smiled from the counter.

"Just a bit ago you were closed for business. I thought for sure that you were closed today."

Aa, said Hasegawa with a wry smile. "Sorry about that, yes? We were just out for a bit. There was a funeral."

"---Funeral?"

"Yes. In the shopping district there is the rice shop, yes? Their child has died. I am not personally familiar with them but as I do know them from around the shopping district, I went to pay my regrets."

Again, Yuuki thought. Looking slightly down, he became caught up in his thoughts.

"Is there something the matter?"

"No---this is definitely strange. Again, is the only thing I can say. Mutou-san's place's son had just died. There's something to it if this many people are dying. Don't you think so?"

"That is..." Hasegawa was visibly dismayed. "That certainly seems it maybe the case, but."

"This is just how it is in the country, I had heard. That might be the case. However, that would only be if there were half as many deaths as this. No matter what common sense you try to shine over this, I think it's strange." Yuuki said, looking at Hasegawa's face."Do you think it might be an epidemic?"

Hasegawa sunk into silence as if unable to find his words. Hanging his head with that face, it was clear to Yuuki that Hasegawa had suspected as much himself.

"But, the town hall has not said anything...."

"Haven't you thought that they're keeping it quiet? That they fear the village going into a panic."

"....That may be the case."

There were only Yuuki and Hasegawa in the shop, where unfitting, bright piano music echoed. As they remained in that silence, the door of the shop opened. Perhaps Tashiro entering into the shop could sense the strange mood in the air; he looked between Yuuki and Hasegawa.

"Something----wrong?"

Yuuki repeated his assertions. He could tell by his expression that Tashiro had suspected it himself too after all. Everyone thought that it was strange. Nobody said anything about it.

"Would it not be better to make sure, I wonder?" Yuuki said, Tashiro thinking for a bit. Yuuki continued. "Of course, they might be keeping it quiet because they don't know how to handle it. If so then that's fine, I'll cooperate too. But, I can't just stay quiet like this. Even though we know it's strange, I for one cannot just remain uneasy without confirming anything."

"There is that, huh," Tashiro nodded with a pensive expression. "That would be better, huh?"

It was Tashiro who called the Ozaki Clinic. He called Toshio and broached it by saying there was something he wanted to talk with him about a bit. With that, Toshio could guess what the topic of the conversation was. He only replied "Got it," in a low voice without asking about what. He said he would come to creole. He had to be back before the afternoon examinations began but when he asked if that was all right, Tashiro agreed. Once again Hasegawa hanged the closed for business sign.

Toshio really did come without delay. Yuuki had seen him at the hospital, or even here, a few times so it wasn't their first meeting. As soon as Toshio came in, he very casually ordered a coffee from Hasegawa, sat down at the counter and lit a cigarette. 

The one to spark the talk off was Tashiro. Out of everyone there he'd known Toshio the longest. 

"So, uhm... The Murasako's Hiromi-kun died, huh."

Yeah, Toshio nodded without a hint of shyness, but somewhere, some unease rose up in him.

"Mutou-san's place's oldest son died too. Somehow, you know? It's like there's the feeling there are too many deaths continuing."

"And?"

"We were talking about it here, but---it's not an epidemic or anything, is it?" Toshio exhaled smoke while looking directly at Tashiro. Tashiro hastily added on. "No, I mean, if there are circumstances making you keep it quiet, we'll cooperate. It's just between us, so if that's how it is could you just tell us? It feels very strange, it's kind of like, without an answer---"

Toshio crushed out his cigarette and sighed lightly. "It's not an epidemic. At least, none of those who've died to this point died of a disease classified as an epidemic."

"---Really?"

"I'll bet my medical license on it. Tests've all turned up nill. At least of those I've overseen, not a single patient was suffering from an infectious disease."

The one to push the topic further was Yuuki. "Then, that this many have died is all a coincidence?"

"I'll acknowledge that it's been too many to be a coincidence."

"But it isn't an epidemic? There's no way that it is communicable?"

"Epidemics and infectious illnesses aren't something you can talk about as two separate things. But, there isn't any proof that it's communicable either."

"There's---no proof?"

Toshio propped his chin in his hands. He looked quietly into the coffee Hasegawa had put out for him and lit a new cigarette. "I can't say anything. I'm sure that it's not an epidemic, and there's no proof that it's spreading either. I don't want to say something careless and set the village into an uproar, so that's as much as I can say."

"But, Toshio." Tashiro interrupted, Toshio falling into silence. He seemed to be hesitating over something, thinking, before he opened his mouth.

"I can't say anything but---How about this? If my family died, I'd cremate them."

Yuuki gazed at Toshio's profile for a moment, then met Hasegawa and Tashiro's gaze with a nod. --As they thought.

"....Understood," Yuuki gave an exhale. It became a heavy sigh. "Then, in other words, it's not an epidemic, is it."

"It's not an epidemic. You can trust me on that."

"This is just something I'm asking as idle chit-chat but, there have been a lot of deaths. And sudden deaths at that. That's why---well, I'm feeling concerned about my health. Is there anything I should be careful about?"

Toshio didn't look at Yuuki. "Let me see. I'd be careful of anemia, if it were me. Poor complexion, looking sluggish, no appetite, shortness of breath---if you're feeling like that, it'd be best to see a doctor."

"What are the subjective symptoms?"

"There aren't," Toshio said as if throwing the words down. "If the person themselves complained to the people around them that they were feeling sick, they wouldn't be dying without warning, would they? The person themselves doesn't have any awareness of it. Lately, there've been a lot of patients like that too. The person themselves doesn't have the slightest awareness of being sick, it's the people around them who get worried and bring them in. Those kind of patients are a hassle. Even if you talk to them they're absent minded. I'm not sure whether they're listening to what I say ot not, if you ask them a question, they're slow to answer. It's hard to make communication with them. It's like you're talking to a doll or something. They make a face like it's somebody else's problem."

".....Is there any preventative method?"

"Who knows? It's pretty banal but be sure to rest and eat, I guess. It'd be better not to drink the groundwater. Probably better to handle dead bodies and waste with gloves, too. Also be sure to exterminate pests. Especially ticks."

Is that so, murmured Yuuki. They probably didn't know the infection route. And it also meant there was a chance that ticks or something were the carriers.

"And... if they're seen by a doctor quickly, they'll be cured?"

Toshio glanced fleetingly at Yuuki then breathed his smoke in the opposite direction. "-----Nope. If it's plain anemia, it'll cure but if not, it's tough, to be honest."

Yuuki held his breath. At last Toshio turned to face him. "I trust the customers at this shop. Not to be particularly stupid, I mean. I assume you won't take rash actions, won't to go into a frenzy of discrimination."

Yuuki nodded. "And, we will not spread irresponsible gossip. Please trust us in this."

Mm, Toshio nodded.