Ch. 5: Searching for Memories
I suggested going into town with Toto to search for his lost memories.
Toto was in high spirits when I said we should go for a walk, but…
At the moment, we stood on one side of a road full of people, and Toto was wrestles.
Toto: “Lots of strange smells, I don’t like it…”
Toto muttered as he sighed, and his face twisted in discomfort.
Toto: “It … feels bad.”
He looked around restlessly and kept stopping.
So the gap between us widened as more people passed between.
Toto: “Why are they all looking over here…”
(If this keeps up, we’ll lose sight of each other…)
Toto: “What the, OO…where’d you go…!?”
OO: “Toto…!?”
I went against the current of people and was somehow able to run back to where Toto was.
Toto: “Oh good…I don’t know what I’d have done if…”
Toto seemed like he was about to cry, and again I thought he looked like an innocent puppy.
(…anyway, we’ll have to move somewhere with fewer people, otherwise next time we really will get separated.)
I took Toto’s hand and turned down a side road.
Toto: “! …hand…!”
Toto: “Ah sorry…for doing that so suddenly.”
(I grabbed his hand without thinking…)
Flustered, I tried to let go, but his fingers held on tight.
(Eh…?)
Toto and I looked down the street we had come to, our hands intertwined.
Ch. 6: My Precious Friend
Our hands linked, Toto and I stood along the edge of a street.
(Toto…?)
As if to say he wouldn’t let go, Toto gripped my hand tightly.
(I wonder if he’s worried because we almost got separated back there…)
Then Toto’s nose twitched as he picked up a scent.
Toto: “Huh…this road…”
OO: “Eh?”
Toto: “Can we keep going this way?”
OO: “Sure.”
Still holding each other’s hand, Toto walked down the path, and before long we came to a yellow brick road.
Toto: “…it’s like I’ve walked down this yellow brick road with someone…”
He muttered to himself and his eyebrows knit together.
OO: “Was it…your owner?”
Toto: “Don’t know…but…I feel like…I was with…friends.”
(Maybe…)
OO: “Is it possible the person you thought was your owner was actually your friend?”
(I don’t have any basis for that…but I think it’s unnatural for a person to keep another person like a pet…)
Toto: “Friends…”
Toto’s expression softened.
Toto: “My friends…”
Toto’s expression was strange, but somehow happy as he kept repeating that to himself.
Toto: “Is it okay…if we walk on this road a little longer?”
OO: “Yeah, maybe you’ll remember more.”
…
……
With Toto leading the way, we followed the yellow brick road and climbed up to a high elevation where we could see the town below us.
The buildings below stood like cute little doll houses, and above them was a rainbow bridge.
(This is so beautiful…!)
I looked up to tell Toto and…
Toto: “…”
He was staring at our hands, still linked.
(Toto…?)
Realizing I was looking at him, Toto looked up, flustered.
Toto: “Um…sorry…about your hand.”
OO: “Eh…?”
Toto: “…”
His large eyes wavered with uncertainty.
OO: “Toto, what’s wrong?”
I urged him on, smiling in an effort to make it as easy as possible for him to talk to me.
Toto: “My master is someone more important than me. It would be strange for them to do something like hold my hand… I should want you to be my master OO, but… Then our hands would part… I’m being weird… Hey, what should I do?”
Looking as if he was about to cry, Toto’s cheeks flushed as he looked at me.
(Toto…)
I spoke kindly to the distraught Toto.
OO: “Toto, what do you want to do?”
Toto: “I…”
I felt his fingers slip from my hand.
Toto: “…it’s no good… I don’t want to be parted …”
His face red, Toto gave a small shake of his head.
Toto: “I wonder…what this feeling is.”
He again tightly grabbed onto my hand.
Toto: “Your hand is warm, and when I do this I feel relieved.”
Toto fixed his eyes on our linked hands without blinking.
Toto: “So I always want to hold your hand like this… It’s the first time I’ve felt like this…”
OO: “Toto…”
Toto: “I’ll stop trying to get you to be my master…so will you hold hands with me again?”
OO: “Yeah, of course I will.”
(That would make me much happier than being your master…)
Toto: “…!”
His eyes went wide in surprise, then he smiled at me kindly.
Toto: “Hehe…I’m glad…”
And when I saw his happily smiling face, my heart was warmed.
Toto: “…but.”
OO: “What’s wrong?”
Toto: “You’re a person who holds my hand, not my master, so what are we?”
(That’s…)
OO: “Toto, you told me about that kind of person just a bit ago.”
Toto: “…”
Toto pondered my words in silence for a moment when…
Toto: “Ah! I know!”
His cheerfully loud voice echoed into the sky above the rainbow.
Toto: “OO, you are I are friends!”
OO: “Right!”
Toto excitedly shook my hand, still linked with his.
OO: “Wa…Toto!”
He shook my hand with such enthusiasm that my whole body shook.
Toto: “Ah…sorry. But don’t leave? Please… You’re my precious…person who holds my hand…my friend…”
OO: “…”
(Something’s…stirring in my heart.)
I smiled at Toto, who seemed to have become dejected.
OO: “It’s fine. I won’t leave. We’re friends after all.”
Toto: “OO…! Yeah!!”
With a great big nod, Toto again squeezed my hand.
Toto: “I don’t have a master…but I won’t feel lonely anymore!”
Toto‘s smile was as bright as the sun, and it shined on me brilliantly.
The two of us walked down the yellow brick road, our hands linked as the rainbow looked down on us.
END