Part Quatre
“…and so the inn keep figured you boys would find this shelter okay so I waited for the storm to die down before revving up the Rover. My boy said he was a classmate of yours and insisted on coming along.”
The troll smiled beatifically at the group and inched closer to a still-aghast Mitsuru who had opted to forego the warmth of the fire pit in the hopes that his stalker would leave him alone in the cold corner. He was sadly mistaken.
“Your boy?” Shinobu prompted, curious.
“Yes, my Kenji. He came home for the holidays a week early. He does that to help me out since the mountains are a popular spot this time of the year. We get a lot of emergency calls, you know.”
The troll was now shoulder to shoulder with Mitsuru and was worshipfully gazing at the older boy. Mitsuru cast a beseeching look at his roommate which Shinobu studiously ignored.
“We thank you for your quick actions. As you saw, our fire was gone and we were beginning to worry,” Shinobu graciously commended the search and rescue chief.
The man beamed heartily and crouched forward to feed the fire with more kindling. The pit now had a merry blaze going and the cabin was finally living up to its name. Sitting quite close to the welcome heat were Shun and Hasukawa. Both boys had eagerly absconded with the blankets provided by their rescuer and were now doing admirable impressions of moths drawn to a flame.
“Anyway, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, especially after what you boys have been through, but we have a slight problem,” the chief looked apologetic.
“Oh?” Shinobu cocked an eyebrow inquiringly.
“Well, the storm isn’t over, you see. This is just a lull. Weather reports say snow’s coming thick and fast in about another half an hour; won’t let up till tomorrow once it starts.”
“Yes?” Shinobu’s innards began to perform cautious cartwheels even as his face slipped into a neutral mask of politeness.
“Yes, well,” the chief glanced about nervously. “The Rover can’t really be weighted down too much or it’d sink in the snow drifts. And really, my Kenji said that there would only be the two of you, else I would’ve brought another vehicle. As it is, I can only take two back and I’ll have to come back for the others tomorrow.”
Shinobu’s innards proceeded to gleefully enact a mad circus performance, complete with tumblers and somersaults. It was all the boy could do to keep his face calm and steady.
“I have enough supplies to keep two of you comfortable until I get back, of course. It’s not as if I’d be leaving you to suffer or anything…” the chief was now clearly uncomfortable at his lack of professionalism.
“You prepared as best you could, under the circumstances. And if it’s only a day, I’m sure two of us can manage. Now, we just have to decide who’s going and who’s staying…” Shinobu began.
“I’m going!” Hasukawa immediately discarded his blanket and bounded to the door.
“Um…me, too?” Shun was a trifle slower, but no less eager to leave than his roommate. He did have the grace, however, to look pleadingly at his sempai for approval.
The troll – er, Kenji – had scrambled up from his position by Mitsuru upon hearing his father’s announcement, and was now tugging at his idol’s parka sleeve. “Dad, I think Mitsuru-sempai needs medical attention. He should go with us first.”
“No, no, no!” the boy in question shook his head hastily. “I’m perfectly fine. Shun and Hasukawa should go first. Ladies and children, right?”
“That only works on boats, Mitsuru,” Shinobu corrected softly.
“Right. But we should be the ones to stay, ne? We have much more experience with…um…with…with forest things!” Mitsuru gabbled in wide-eyed desperation. He so did not want to be in the same car with the troll for any extended period of time.
“Besides, look at them! Shun and Hasukawa look ready to expire from hunger!”
Mitsuru’s anxiety transmitted itself clearly to the ever-perceptive Shun, who suddenly plastered a woebegone expression on his face and clutched at his stomach piteously. The pink-haired boy glanced at his roommate out of the corner of his eye then jabbed him in the stomach with an elbow. Hasukawa took the hint and screwed his face up in a mock grimace of pain.
The chief scratched his head. “Well, if you boys think you’ll be okay…”
“Hai, sensei. We’ll be fine. If it’ll make you feel better, you can leave us with your radio and if there’s any problem, we can contact you immediately.”
Shinobu told the happy acrobats in his stomach to calm down so that he could reassure the chief with what he hoped looked like earnest concern. It was really hard when all he wanted to do was jump up and down and scream hallelujah at the top of his lungs. All of you…GET OUT! Then I can finally be alone with Mitsuru!
While everyone else seemed frozen in indecision, Hasukawa took matters into his own hands. He wrested the radio from the chief’s belt and handed it to Shinobu. Then he gathered up the blankets he and Shun had been swaddled in and handed those to Mitsuru whose back seemed permanently plastered to the wall in a vain attempt at staying away from the troll. Hasukawa saved him further unease by collaring a forlorn Kenji and yanking the orange-haired boy to the door.
On his way there, he exchanged glances with Shinobu. The silver-haired boy opened his mouth to say something but Hasukawa raised his free hand to stop him.
“Don’t talk to me. I haven’t forgiven you yet.”
Then Hasukawa Kazuya, with a struggling Kenji in tow, stalked out haughtily, slamming the door behind him.
“Umm, maybe he really is hungry,” Shun said in way of an apology, then scurried after his roommate in case the wrath of Shinobu materialized.
He needn’t have worried. If everyone present had been privy to the riotous revelry going on inside Shinobu, they would have expired in astonishment. As it was, the devilish schemer schooled his face to a placid mask and conscientiously herded the chief out the door, soothing the man’s misgivings with aplomb.
It was suddenly cold as they stepped out. Shinobu had almost forgotten the sharp bite of the winter storm after having spent the past fifteen minutes ensconced in relative warmth. He stood in the doorway to prevent any more heat from escaping and waved as the chief gunned the Rover and trundled down the path. From the back seat, Hasukawa turned and stuck out his tongue.
That boy is pushing his luck.
Shinobu sighed then reentered the cabin, pulling the door closed gently behind him. After the flurry of noise and activity, the silence which descended upon the cabin’s remaining occupants felt unbearable. Shinobu focused all his attention on sauntering with studied nonchalance toward the center of the room. He held out his hands to the fire, unaware that the flames licking up cast intriguing shadows upon the sharp planes of his face.
“Shinobu, anything wrong? Did you want to go first?” Mitsuru edged away from the wall and approached his friend guiltily.
Clueless. The boy is utterly clueless.
The silver-haired boy raised his eyes to slam into Mitsuru’s sheepish ones. He really had no idea. Mitsuru really didn’t know why he had been invited to the mountains, why he was the one stuck here alone with his roommate, how much effort it had taken said roommate to perpetuate this little scenario. Shinobu quailed briefly. So he had been wrong; Mitsuru hadn’t been giving him surreptitious glances or sharing his treacherous thoughts. This was going to be harder than Shinobu had anticipated, but it had to be done. He had to tell Mitsuru before he was driven insane by the “should I/shouldn’t I” debate that played a constant ping-pong in his mind.
It was now or never.