Strange Magic [A JUMP fic] Chapter 12: Accidents
HAH I'm finally back on schedule!
Previously...
Just when Hitomori Yann thought her day couldn’t get any better trouble came pouring just as hard as it was raining over THS! With everyone preoccupied with each of their own circumstances, what happened to Chinen Yuri?
++++++
O-ohh, that feels sooooo good, Chinen thought. Someone was giving him a back rub with a warm towel in a Jacuzzi.
No matter how illogical that was, he could not make himself move any faster with the kind of lethargy he felt; he felt like he’d just been through a blender, his shoulders and legs felt sore and his head heavy and his nose cold.. Which made all the hot water he was wadding in his life saver…
He opened his eyes.
Whoah, that water was so much closer to his face than what he’s used to; are Nee-chan’s bathtubs that shallow..?
But while his brain was catching up to what he was seeing, he saw his bathtub was a basin and he was being bathed by someone a lot bigger than him -
“Oh hey there little guy, you’re finally awake!” Yann was relieved. She had feared the puppy was terribly sick when it didn’t get revived when she soaked it in the water, but she guess animals faint sometimes too.
“Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!”
“Waa!” Yann had to tighten her hold to the puppy as it started to flail. “Well, I guess that means you’re healthy, but keep still a little longer let me just get this here -” and continued to rub mud off the puppy’s muzzle.
Meanwhile Chinen felt he was losing it, he just yelled at Yann to let go of him and that this was all kinds of wrong but for all the notice she took of his words he could have just been talking to the face towel she was using on him. He was trying to get off the basin so hard it escaped him that he now has claws that inevitably cut Yann’s finger.
“Ouch!” Yann pulled out her hand from the water quickly to examine her cut but kept her other hand restraining the puppy, but it actually stopped struggling and whined, almost apologetically, as it tried to reach her cut hand to nuzzle it.
“Aww you sweet baby!” Yann chuckled delightedly, showing the puppy her cut. “See, it’s a shallow cut, you probably didn’t mean it.”
Im really sorry.. Ready this time, Chinen caught the “Auff, Awoo..” from his own mouth and gave up resisting for really, how could he not? Even though he still could not wrap his head over the idea he had turned into a dog, he couldn’t help the strong smell of blood from Yann’s cut that she continued to rinse his fur with, ignoring how it probably stings.
“Eh, are you sad koinu-chan?” Yann kindly talked to the animal hanging its head low. “Were you lost? You miss your mommy or owner? Don’t worry, I’ll help you find them.. But its getting late so I’ll take you home for the night is that alright with you?”
When she finally pulled the puppy from the waters and wrapped it in a dish towel Chinen couldn’t help but roll in it; it felt really really good to his current size -
No! I am human, stop thinking like a dog! Chinen scolded himself, not realizing he had pounced on the end of the towel and chewed at it just like puppies do, making Yann giggle.
“Oohhh, you are sooo cute, I wish I can keep you,” she whispered to it as she dried its back on the other half of the towel, gathering it in her arms. “Would you like that? Yeah?”
But before Chinen could fully pull back his mind from puppy distractions, and the fact Yann was so close he would have been blushing if he was human, the clinic doors blasted open to let in Yamada carrying an unconscious Diei in his arms followed by Aya, Do, Jeyn and Airin.
“Oh my..!” Yann clapped a hand to her mouth in horror while Chinen almost fell out of her other arm just as Do barked “here!” at Yamada pointing at an empty bed. Only after he laid Diei down very carefully did Yann noticed that he was slightly limping. “What h-happened?”
“They - they fell down the stairs..” answered Airin who was still looking shaken.
“And how did that happen?” Jeyn cut in suspiciously, though she went over Yamada to push him down another empty bed.
“W-we were looking for Chinen-kun, at first,” Aya tried to delay the moment they have to mention the two fought.
Do looked up at Airin and Aya both. “Get Tegoshi-sensei quickly, Faculty Room,” she snapped, then to Yamada “Get up there!”
“I’m fine, I only hit my left knee on the asphalt,” Yamada pleaded Jeyn for her to stop badgering him through gritted teeth while the two younger girls ran out of the clinic, his eyes still on Diei. “I-I think I heard her hit her h-head -”
Yamada didn’t get far enough in his explanation; Jeyn swerve where she stood it was more a matter of holding her up than fighting her off while Do hurried over them with a wicker chair to place under Jeyn. At the same time the puppy in Yann’s arms started struggling to be free once more and because she was preoccupied in her shock her grip loosened: it jumped onto the foot of Diei’s bed and bounded up to her face all the while madly barking. If they were only paying extra attention they would have noticed it was as if the puppy was concerned for Diei.
Onee-chan, Onee-chan! Please wake up!
“Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!” was all that came out of Chinen’s puppy mouth.
“What the -? Yann!” Do yell bewildered as Yamada grabbed for the puppy thinking it was going to hurt Diei.
“No puppy, don’t!” Yann shrieked as it suddenly went berserk at Yamada: this time it was raising its hackles ready to snap at Yamada’s fingers.
Don’t you go near Diei-nee you evil, pompous brat! “Grrr… Arf! Arf! Grrrrr… Arf!”
“Yann get it out of here!” Do exploded just as her younger sister caught the puppy mid-jump at Yamada, then dragged him out of the door with her other hand anticipating Do adding “You too, out!” As the door closed, Do could be heard assuring Jeyn, “there’s no way Diei would compromise herself like that; she knew how to secure not hitting her head when falling and I didn’t felt any severe bumps nor see bleeding behind her head, just shock of the fall…”
Only Yamada knew the seto-kaichou could not have had enough time to secure her own head when she was securing he didn’t get the brunt of the fall; the moment Diei slipped Yamada had grabbed her closer bracing himself to fall on his elbows and knees but when he felt Diei’s arms wound around him and twisted them to fall on their sides he knew their combined weight would fall on her right shoulder which is what he heard hit the ground.
“Dammit!” Yamada swore as he hit the closed clinic door with his knuckles.
Out with it, what have you done to me!
“Arf! Arf! Arf!”
“I don’t know!”
“Yamada-kun?”
You can understand me?
“Of course I ca-” snapped Yamada turning at Chinen and Yann to shut them up.
Both the boy and the puppy were stunned silent. The rain stopped.
Help me! Look, I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but it’s me Chinen Yuri, and I turned into a puppy! I don’t know what to do; you’re the only one who can hear me!
“Err… Yamada-kun?” Yann repeated uncertainly, looking from the puppy that suddenly went ballistic incessantly barking in her arms to Yamada whose jaw dropped frozen. “Do you know this puppy?”
That was when Aya and Airin got back with the THS school doctor Tegoshi Yuuya. “Excuse me,” he said as he passed by them, Do visibly relieved seeing him through the window.
“Hey, they threw you out?” Aya teased in her stress until she saw the puppy and was thankful for the distraction. “Where did you get that adorable thing, Yann? He’s lively.”
Aaaahh, help me, Yamada-kun! Chinen whined as Aya stroked the his back and scratched behind its ears. Their petting are distracting me - I-I feel like there’s another part of me that wants to roll over so they could scratch my - I mean as a puppy - the puppy’s tummy a-a-aaawooo! and he finally rolled over in Yann’s arms nuzzling more into the crook of her arm.
While they fawned over the flustered Chinen-puppy and worried over Diei, Yamada’s attention were to Airin who was looking at the puppy with bulging eyes and her mouth framed in a big ‘O’, still clutching the roll of papers she gathered quickly during the accident. He was just about to ask for them when Airin shoved it towards him urgently and he looked at the drawings.
“This is so weird…” was all Yamada could utter.
~+~+~+~
“Well, that gave us a fright,” Dr. Tegoshi told Do and Jeyn lightly as he pulled off his stethoscope from his ears. “She had only fainted due to the shock and pain on her shoulder when she cushioned both of their falls which I’m guessing wasn’t a coincidence. She didn’t hit her head though, her heartbeats’ even; she’ll wake up in a bit, then maybe we can convince her to stay in the hospital tonight.”
Yamada could feel that his wasn’t the only breathing returning to normal after hearing that from outside the clinic room. Now he can focus on the other problem.
“Anou, Yann-chan, I think I know who that puppy belongs to,” he said while watching Airin’s face who nodded for him to go on.
“You do? Who?” Hideki Aya asked sharply as she had never known any of their friends to have had one.
Make a better excuse, Chinen whined. And don’t ever tell Yann-chan this is me, onegai!
Yamada racked his brains. “I mean, I think I saw a collar of a puppy lying under someone’s chair before, up in the classroom, didn’t you? So, if I could borrow the puppy to see if that collar fits, that’ll be really great.”
“Why couldn’t you just get the collar and then bring it to us?” Aya asked tactlessly.
“Datte, what if they need help with something from inside, or call someone,” Yamada invented wildly while slowly tightening a hold on Aya’s elbow to signal her to go along with it. “Okay, just - maybe Yann-chan should stay if her sister needs something; it’ll be quicker to look for that collar if Aya comes with me and Airin-chan, uhh, would you hold the puppy and come with us since it doesn’t seem to like me?”
Chinen was smart enough to act the part here and growl at Yamada pretending to pet him, but as Airin cradled him he pretended the puppy had preference.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Airin told Yann, noticing the older girl looked at the puppy a little regretfully, which covered for Yamada hushing up Aya demanding what he’s planning in whispers. “We’ll bring the puppy back to you if the collar’s not his, right Yamada-sempai?”
Yes please, and tell her thank you for cleaning mud off me! Chinen barked over Airin’s shoulder.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Yamada told Yann halfway into turning towards the grand staircase which was nearest to their classroom. “And thanks for washing up the puppy!”
~+~+~+~
With the 2-A classroom being at the second floor of the center building they were assured of no one else overhearing them without any students in school at that time of the night.
“Alright,” Aya bit out breathlessly after they ran all the way and the classroom door was shut. “Now will somebody tell me what is going on?”
“This is what’s going on,” Yamada answered her by taking the puppy from Airin and placing it on top of the teacher’s desk in front of them all. “That puppy is Chinen Yuri!”
“Are you insane? Did you hit your head too when you fell?” Aya cried fearfully.
“No, Hideki-sempai, look!” Airin came to Yamada’s rescue with a cellphone and leaving it infront of the puppy it started typing with its front paws.
Stunned, Aya leaned in to read: It’s true Aya-chan, it’s me Chinen Yuri, Shinjite kudasai.
“H-how?”
I have no clue how I turned into a puppy, but please help me, Chinen re-typed in.
“I think we know how,” Yamada said tensely, spreading Airin’s sketches on the desk; despite none of the people looking like how they looked in real life, there was no mistaking it, there were events they know had happened from the drawings.
“How did you make all these?” Aya asked in awe to Airin.
“I-I don’t know, they just come into my head and I draw them, I never knew they were actual real people until Mitsuhiko-sempai figured it out, I swear!”
Well, that’s Nee-chan alright, Chinen barked which translated only to Yamada’s ears.
“Everyone here knows Airin-chan’s special and we’re thankful for that, don’t worry,” Yamada said to calm the girl down, before he continued, “but that’s not the more concerning part, it’s this.”
He pulled out the picture of a boy giving a cake to another boy. “If we follow Diei-kaichou’s example of getting her answer where exactly we were when she wanted to find us, we can assume what we’re looking for were also in here.”
“But why this specific drawing?” Airin asked eagerly.
“Because I’m the only one who can understand Chinen directly,” Yamada confessed to the girls’ surprise. “And I’m guessing it’s because his curse has something to do with me.”
Curse? What’s that? Chinen questioned, not knowing of this part yet. Do you mean when you gave me food, it was bad?
Aya clapped her hands to her mouth. “The lucky charm!”
“Yeah..” Yamada said in understanding, remembering Diei’s conclusions before their staircase accident. “I’ve never really given thought that it could be real!”
Do you mean to say, growled Chinen, starting to deduce their topic. That you gave me something magical - like a potion or something - that turned me into -
“Okay, first, that was really just a prank; I thought it would make your tummy go bad,” Yamada explained while holding up both his hands in defense in case Chinen actually jump to bite him like his puppy-body’s raised hackles were suggesting.
“We’re so sorry Chinen-kun!” Aya wailed guiltily, getting the idea due to his reactions. “We really thought it was going to be a harmless prank; I should have tried to stop it harder…”
“And second,” Yamada said as he pulled out the small clear bottle of dust from his pocket to show them, “I really thought it was just some powdered bones when it was given to me by this ba-san in elementary when I helped her out - she said it would give me luck! - I just didn’t believe any of that riddle-stuff on the tag -”
“Tag? What tag?” Airin interrupted to bring the topic back to solving Chinen’s curse.
“The tag!” Yamada and Aya said together as they had just remembered it, sprinting towards Yamada’s seat.
“The tag, the tag!” Aya elaborated for the other two. “It’s the bottle’s label where there were words on it that I think was the instructions or warning label!”
After that they all searched the classroom for it; Chinen the most effective being the smallest and his nose sniffing at the bottle so he could track a similar scent that might lead them to the little piece of paper.
Found it! He cried over for Yamada, woofing at something under the trash can.
Yamada whipped it out to read even while he was still on his knees on the floor, Chinen jumping on his shoulder and Aya and Airin crouching on each side of him to read as well.
“Oh, no.”
“But, isn’t that…”
All four of them stared at the tag and then looked at each other, speechless.
Okay... okay, Chinen seemed to say more to himself than Yamada who hurried over the window to scan the night sky. So all we got to do now is go back to your Elementary school, find that mystic who gave this potion to you -
“There’s no moon tonight, that gives us time,” Yamada said as his mind begins to make a plan. “Chinen said he wants us to go back to our elementary school -”
“Yeah, of course, we’ll go,” Aya nodded. “It’s our fault he turned like this.”
“But maybe not tonight, we’ll skip the last day of classes tomorrow, we need to be early,” Yamada looked at Airin, “Is that alright with you? I know we can’t ask you to skip too -”
“I’ll help sempai,” Airin said readily. “I’ll help even if we go now.”
Chinen jumped from Yamada’s shoulder to the teacher’s desk again to type: Arigatou Airin-chan, and though it’s a little hard for me to accept the apologies for turning me like this, I think it’ll be a lot easier to forgive when I’m turned back to normal, thank you Aya-chan. He did not have a message to Yamada.
“Aya-chan had nothing to do with it, it was all me; from the planning to executing the prank, and I swear I’ll help you turn back,” Yamada assured him, accepting Chinen being mad at him. Boy, if he was in his position.. he thought as he looked out the window once more, this time towards the clinic. “But, what are we going to do about your sister..?”
Chinen had the same worry: if they tell don’t Diei of his situation, she’ll drag herself up from bed rest to find the answers all night; and if they do tell her, she’ll definitely drag herself out to Kitagawa Elementary tonight. Even he could see that it was galling for Yamada to be asking someone else over what to do about it, but of course Chinen would know his sister better.
We tell her everything, Chinen finally decided after a few minutes of typing and sat on the desk with his big puppy eyes on Yamada. But, I think it’ll be best if she doesn’t see me like this; it would be a lot easier to convince her to wait the night without having to pity me looking like this. I’ll stay here until I’m not a puppy anymore. If they take Diei-nee to the hospital one of you should stay there, too. Just, come back for me really early tomorrow by the gates when we’re set to go to your elementary school.
“Eh, here?” Aya frowned after reading what he typed, while Yamada held the puppy’s stare silently giving his word to Chinen that they’ll follow his plan. “Even if you’re just an ordinary puppy, I think it’ll be cold to just leave you out here.”
“What about Yann-chan?” Airin suddenly said. “Why not just stay the night with her?”
They watch the puppy hesitate typing a reply. I don’t want to bother her anymore.
Aya slightly raised an eyebrow to Airin who was carefully trying to arrange an innocent look on her face at the puppy’s apparent embarrassment. “I also think it’s a good idea for you to be with Yann-chan for even just tonight; it’s better than staying at school all alone!”
“She’s right, it’ll be dangerous for a puppy to stay on the school grounds at night, you won’t even find dinner here. I’d take you in for the night but I’m going to be the one to tell your sister about all that happened - I’ll take full responsibility, I promise you,” Yamada ended with a set look on his face.
“Besides, she’ll worry what had happened to the puppy if we return without you,” Aya said kindly to the cornered puppy. “It’s a fact she’s really fond of dogs, always wanted one.”
In the end Chinen agreed with them promising to come by Yann’s house to wait for him to sneak out very early in the morning, but not before Chinen told Yamada:
You assure my sister everything will be fine after tomorrow; you do this Yamada, you convince her this is my decision and maybe she’ll get convinced it wasn’t too bad for me. But it is: I’m really scared of what will happen to me, if I’ll turn back to normal or not… So, you make sure Diei-nee doesn’t go after us until she’s all better; you owe me this.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Koinu-chan - Puppy-chan ; informal/cutesy way to say puppy
-chan - suffix used by speaker for younger female names/close people/cutesy namecalling
-kun - suffix used by speaker for younger male names or males close with
-sensei - suffix used by speaker for teachers and doctors
Onee-chan - informal/cutesy way to say ‘Onee-san’ meaning sister
-nee - suffix used by speaker for own sister
anou - usual japanese exclamation version of ‘Uhm’
onegai - please ; informal way to say ‘onegaishimasu’
datte - because
-sempai - suffix used by speaker for a senior / respected upperclassman or upperclasswoman
Shinjite kudasai - Believe me please
-kaichou - suffix used by speaker for the president of the student council
Previously...
Just when Hitomori Yann thought her day couldn’t get any better trouble came pouring just as hard as it was raining over THS! With everyone preoccupied with each of their own circumstances, what happened to Chinen Yuri?
++++++
O-ohh, that feels sooooo good, Chinen thought. Someone was giving him a back rub with a warm towel in a Jacuzzi.
No matter how illogical that was, he could not make himself move any faster with the kind of lethargy he felt; he felt like he’d just been through a blender, his shoulders and legs felt sore and his head heavy and his nose cold.. Which made all the hot water he was wadding in his life saver…
He opened his eyes.
Whoah, that water was so much closer to his face than what he’s used to; are Nee-chan’s bathtubs that shallow..?
But while his brain was catching up to what he was seeing, he saw his bathtub was a basin and he was being bathed by someone a lot bigger than him -
“Oh hey there little guy, you’re finally awake!” Yann was relieved. She had feared the puppy was terribly sick when it didn’t get revived when she soaked it in the water, but she guess animals faint sometimes too.
“Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!”
“Waa!” Yann had to tighten her hold to the puppy as it started to flail. “Well, I guess that means you’re healthy, but keep still a little longer let me just get this here -” and continued to rub mud off the puppy’s muzzle.
Meanwhile Chinen felt he was losing it, he just yelled at Yann to let go of him and that this was all kinds of wrong but for all the notice she took of his words he could have just been talking to the face towel she was using on him. He was trying to get off the basin so hard it escaped him that he now has claws that inevitably cut Yann’s finger.
“Ouch!” Yann pulled out her hand from the water quickly to examine her cut but kept her other hand restraining the puppy, but it actually stopped struggling and whined, almost apologetically, as it tried to reach her cut hand to nuzzle it.
“Aww you sweet baby!” Yann chuckled delightedly, showing the puppy her cut. “See, it’s a shallow cut, you probably didn’t mean it.”
Im really sorry.. Ready this time, Chinen caught the “Auff, Awoo..” from his own mouth and gave up resisting for really, how could he not? Even though he still could not wrap his head over the idea he had turned into a dog, he couldn’t help the strong smell of blood from Yann’s cut that she continued to rinse his fur with, ignoring how it probably stings.
“Eh, are you sad koinu-chan?” Yann kindly talked to the animal hanging its head low. “Were you lost? You miss your mommy or owner? Don’t worry, I’ll help you find them.. But its getting late so I’ll take you home for the night is that alright with you?”
When she finally pulled the puppy from the waters and wrapped it in a dish towel Chinen couldn’t help but roll in it; it felt really really good to his current size -
No! I am human, stop thinking like a dog! Chinen scolded himself, not realizing he had pounced on the end of the towel and chewed at it just like puppies do, making Yann giggle.
“Oohhh, you are sooo cute, I wish I can keep you,” she whispered to it as she dried its back on the other half of the towel, gathering it in her arms. “Would you like that? Yeah?”
But before Chinen could fully pull back his mind from puppy distractions, and the fact Yann was so close he would have been blushing if he was human, the clinic doors blasted open to let in Yamada carrying an unconscious Diei in his arms followed by Aya, Do, Jeyn and Airin.
“Oh my..!” Yann clapped a hand to her mouth in horror while Chinen almost fell out of her other arm just as Do barked “here!” at Yamada pointing at an empty bed. Only after he laid Diei down very carefully did Yann noticed that he was slightly limping. “What h-happened?”
“They - they fell down the stairs..” answered Airin who was still looking shaken.
“And how did that happen?” Jeyn cut in suspiciously, though she went over Yamada to push him down another empty bed.
“W-we were looking for Chinen-kun, at first,” Aya tried to delay the moment they have to mention the two fought.
Do looked up at Airin and Aya both. “Get Tegoshi-sensei quickly, Faculty Room,” she snapped, then to Yamada “Get up there!”
“I’m fine, I only hit my left knee on the asphalt,” Yamada pleaded Jeyn for her to stop badgering him through gritted teeth while the two younger girls ran out of the clinic, his eyes still on Diei. “I-I think I heard her hit her h-head -”
Yamada didn’t get far enough in his explanation; Jeyn swerve where she stood it was more a matter of holding her up than fighting her off while Do hurried over them with a wicker chair to place under Jeyn. At the same time the puppy in Yann’s arms started struggling to be free once more and because she was preoccupied in her shock her grip loosened: it jumped onto the foot of Diei’s bed and bounded up to her face all the while madly barking. If they were only paying extra attention they would have noticed it was as if the puppy was concerned for Diei.
Onee-chan, Onee-chan! Please wake up!
“Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf! Arf!” was all that came out of Chinen’s puppy mouth.
“What the -? Yann!” Do yell bewildered as Yamada grabbed for the puppy thinking it was going to hurt Diei.
“No puppy, don’t!” Yann shrieked as it suddenly went berserk at Yamada: this time it was raising its hackles ready to snap at Yamada’s fingers.
Don’t you go near Diei-nee you evil, pompous brat! “Grrr… Arf! Arf! Grrrrr… Arf!”
“Yann get it out of here!” Do exploded just as her younger sister caught the puppy mid-jump at Yamada, then dragged him out of the door with her other hand anticipating Do adding “You too, out!” As the door closed, Do could be heard assuring Jeyn, “there’s no way Diei would compromise herself like that; she knew how to secure not hitting her head when falling and I didn’t felt any severe bumps nor see bleeding behind her head, just shock of the fall…”
Only Yamada knew the seto-kaichou could not have had enough time to secure her own head when she was securing he didn’t get the brunt of the fall; the moment Diei slipped Yamada had grabbed her closer bracing himself to fall on his elbows and knees but when he felt Diei’s arms wound around him and twisted them to fall on their sides he knew their combined weight would fall on her right shoulder which is what he heard hit the ground.
“Dammit!” Yamada swore as he hit the closed clinic door with his knuckles.
Out with it, what have you done to me!
“Arf! Arf! Arf!”
“I don’t know!”
“Yamada-kun?”
You can understand me?
“Of course I ca-” snapped Yamada turning at Chinen and Yann to shut them up.
Both the boy and the puppy were stunned silent. The rain stopped.
Help me! Look, I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but it’s me Chinen Yuri, and I turned into a puppy! I don’t know what to do; you’re the only one who can hear me!
“Err… Yamada-kun?” Yann repeated uncertainly, looking from the puppy that suddenly went ballistic incessantly barking in her arms to Yamada whose jaw dropped frozen. “Do you know this puppy?”
That was when Aya and Airin got back with the THS school doctor Tegoshi Yuuya. “Excuse me,” he said as he passed by them, Do visibly relieved seeing him through the window.
“Hey, they threw you out?” Aya teased in her stress until she saw the puppy and was thankful for the distraction. “Where did you get that adorable thing, Yann? He’s lively.”
Aaaahh, help me, Yamada-kun! Chinen whined as Aya stroked the his back and scratched behind its ears. Their petting are distracting me - I-I feel like there’s another part of me that wants to roll over so they could scratch my - I mean as a puppy - the puppy’s tummy a-a-aaawooo! and he finally rolled over in Yann’s arms nuzzling more into the crook of her arm.
While they fawned over the flustered Chinen-puppy and worried over Diei, Yamada’s attention were to Airin who was looking at the puppy with bulging eyes and her mouth framed in a big ‘O’, still clutching the roll of papers she gathered quickly during the accident. He was just about to ask for them when Airin shoved it towards him urgently and he looked at the drawings.
“This is so weird…” was all Yamada could utter.
~+~+~+~
“Well, that gave us a fright,” Dr. Tegoshi told Do and Jeyn lightly as he pulled off his stethoscope from his ears. “She had only fainted due to the shock and pain on her shoulder when she cushioned both of their falls which I’m guessing wasn’t a coincidence. She didn’t hit her head though, her heartbeats’ even; she’ll wake up in a bit, then maybe we can convince her to stay in the hospital tonight.”
Yamada could feel that his wasn’t the only breathing returning to normal after hearing that from outside the clinic room. Now he can focus on the other problem.
“Anou, Yann-chan, I think I know who that puppy belongs to,” he said while watching Airin’s face who nodded for him to go on.
“You do? Who?” Hideki Aya asked sharply as she had never known any of their friends to have had one.
Make a better excuse, Chinen whined. And don’t ever tell Yann-chan this is me, onegai!
Yamada racked his brains. “I mean, I think I saw a collar of a puppy lying under someone’s chair before, up in the classroom, didn’t you? So, if I could borrow the puppy to see if that collar fits, that’ll be really great.”
“Why couldn’t you just get the collar and then bring it to us?” Aya asked tactlessly.
“Datte, what if they need help with something from inside, or call someone,” Yamada invented wildly while slowly tightening a hold on Aya’s elbow to signal her to go along with it. “Okay, just - maybe Yann-chan should stay if her sister needs something; it’ll be quicker to look for that collar if Aya comes with me and Airin-chan, uhh, would you hold the puppy and come with us since it doesn’t seem to like me?”
Chinen was smart enough to act the part here and growl at Yamada pretending to pet him, but as Airin cradled him he pretended the puppy had preference.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Airin told Yann, noticing the older girl looked at the puppy a little regretfully, which covered for Yamada hushing up Aya demanding what he’s planning in whispers. “We’ll bring the puppy back to you if the collar’s not his, right Yamada-sempai?”
Yes please, and tell her thank you for cleaning mud off me! Chinen barked over Airin’s shoulder.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Yamada told Yann halfway into turning towards the grand staircase which was nearest to their classroom. “And thanks for washing up the puppy!”
~+~+~+~
With the 2-A classroom being at the second floor of the center building they were assured of no one else overhearing them without any students in school at that time of the night.
“Alright,” Aya bit out breathlessly after they ran all the way and the classroom door was shut. “Now will somebody tell me what is going on?”
“This is what’s going on,” Yamada answered her by taking the puppy from Airin and placing it on top of the teacher’s desk in front of them all. “That puppy is Chinen Yuri!”
“Are you insane? Did you hit your head too when you fell?” Aya cried fearfully.
“No, Hideki-sempai, look!” Airin came to Yamada’s rescue with a cellphone and leaving it infront of the puppy it started typing with its front paws.
Stunned, Aya leaned in to read: It’s true Aya-chan, it’s me Chinen Yuri, Shinjite kudasai.
“H-how?”
I have no clue how I turned into a puppy, but please help me, Chinen re-typed in.
“I think we know how,” Yamada said tensely, spreading Airin’s sketches on the desk; despite none of the people looking like how they looked in real life, there was no mistaking it, there were events they know had happened from the drawings.
“How did you make all these?” Aya asked in awe to Airin.
“I-I don’t know, they just come into my head and I draw them, I never knew they were actual real people until Mitsuhiko-sempai figured it out, I swear!”
Well, that’s Nee-chan alright, Chinen barked which translated only to Yamada’s ears.
“Everyone here knows Airin-chan’s special and we’re thankful for that, don’t worry,” Yamada said to calm the girl down, before he continued, “but that’s not the more concerning part, it’s this.”
He pulled out the picture of a boy giving a cake to another boy. “If we follow Diei-kaichou’s example of getting her answer where exactly we were when she wanted to find us, we can assume what we’re looking for were also in here.”
“But why this specific drawing?” Airin asked eagerly.
“Because I’m the only one who can understand Chinen directly,” Yamada confessed to the girls’ surprise. “And I’m guessing it’s because his curse has something to do with me.”
Curse? What’s that? Chinen questioned, not knowing of this part yet. Do you mean when you gave me food, it was bad?
Aya clapped her hands to her mouth. “The lucky charm!”
“Yeah..” Yamada said in understanding, remembering Diei’s conclusions before their staircase accident. “I’ve never really given thought that it could be real!”
Do you mean to say, growled Chinen, starting to deduce their topic. That you gave me something magical - like a potion or something - that turned me into -
“Okay, first, that was really just a prank; I thought it would make your tummy go bad,” Yamada explained while holding up both his hands in defense in case Chinen actually jump to bite him like his puppy-body’s raised hackles were suggesting.
“We’re so sorry Chinen-kun!” Aya wailed guiltily, getting the idea due to his reactions. “We really thought it was going to be a harmless prank; I should have tried to stop it harder…”
“And second,” Yamada said as he pulled out the small clear bottle of dust from his pocket to show them, “I really thought it was just some powdered bones when it was given to me by this ba-san in elementary when I helped her out - she said it would give me luck! - I just didn’t believe any of that riddle-stuff on the tag -”
“Tag? What tag?” Airin interrupted to bring the topic back to solving Chinen’s curse.
“The tag!” Yamada and Aya said together as they had just remembered it, sprinting towards Yamada’s seat.
“The tag, the tag!” Aya elaborated for the other two. “It’s the bottle’s label where there were words on it that I think was the instructions or warning label!”
After that they all searched the classroom for it; Chinen the most effective being the smallest and his nose sniffing at the bottle so he could track a similar scent that might lead them to the little piece of paper.
Found it! He cried over for Yamada, woofing at something under the trash can.
Yamada whipped it out to read even while he was still on his knees on the floor, Chinen jumping on his shoulder and Aya and Airin crouching on each side of him to read as well.
“Oh, no.”
“But, isn’t that…”
All four of them stared at the tag and then looked at each other, speechless.
Okay... okay, Chinen seemed to say more to himself than Yamada who hurried over the window to scan the night sky. So all we got to do now is go back to your Elementary school, find that mystic who gave this potion to you -
“There’s no moon tonight, that gives us time,” Yamada said as his mind begins to make a plan. “Chinen said he wants us to go back to our elementary school -”
“Yeah, of course, we’ll go,” Aya nodded. “It’s our fault he turned like this.”
“But maybe not tonight, we’ll skip the last day of classes tomorrow, we need to be early,” Yamada looked at Airin, “Is that alright with you? I know we can’t ask you to skip too -”
“I’ll help sempai,” Airin said readily. “I’ll help even if we go now.”
Chinen jumped from Yamada’s shoulder to the teacher’s desk again to type: Arigatou Airin-chan, and though it’s a little hard for me to accept the apologies for turning me like this, I think it’ll be a lot easier to forgive when I’m turned back to normal, thank you Aya-chan. He did not have a message to Yamada.
“Aya-chan had nothing to do with it, it was all me; from the planning to executing the prank, and I swear I’ll help you turn back,” Yamada assured him, accepting Chinen being mad at him. Boy, if he was in his position.. he thought as he looked out the window once more, this time towards the clinic. “But, what are we going to do about your sister..?”
Chinen had the same worry: if they tell don’t Diei of his situation, she’ll drag herself up from bed rest to find the answers all night; and if they do tell her, she’ll definitely drag herself out to Kitagawa Elementary tonight. Even he could see that it was galling for Yamada to be asking someone else over what to do about it, but of course Chinen would know his sister better.
We tell her everything, Chinen finally decided after a few minutes of typing and sat on the desk with his big puppy eyes on Yamada. But, I think it’ll be best if she doesn’t see me like this; it would be a lot easier to convince her to wait the night without having to pity me looking like this. I’ll stay here until I’m not a puppy anymore. If they take Diei-nee to the hospital one of you should stay there, too. Just, come back for me really early tomorrow by the gates when we’re set to go to your elementary school.
“Eh, here?” Aya frowned after reading what he typed, while Yamada held the puppy’s stare silently giving his word to Chinen that they’ll follow his plan. “Even if you’re just an ordinary puppy, I think it’ll be cold to just leave you out here.”
“What about Yann-chan?” Airin suddenly said. “Why not just stay the night with her?”
They watch the puppy hesitate typing a reply. I don’t want to bother her anymore.
Aya slightly raised an eyebrow to Airin who was carefully trying to arrange an innocent look on her face at the puppy’s apparent embarrassment. “I also think it’s a good idea for you to be with Yann-chan for even just tonight; it’s better than staying at school all alone!”
“She’s right, it’ll be dangerous for a puppy to stay on the school grounds at night, you won’t even find dinner here. I’d take you in for the night but I’m going to be the one to tell your sister about all that happened - I’ll take full responsibility, I promise you,” Yamada ended with a set look on his face.
“Besides, she’ll worry what had happened to the puppy if we return without you,” Aya said kindly to the cornered puppy. “It’s a fact she’s really fond of dogs, always wanted one.”
In the end Chinen agreed with them promising to come by Yann’s house to wait for him to sneak out very early in the morning, but not before Chinen told Yamada:
You assure my sister everything will be fine after tomorrow; you do this Yamada, you convince her this is my decision and maybe she’ll get convinced it wasn’t too bad for me. But it is: I’m really scared of what will happen to me, if I’ll turn back to normal or not… So, you make sure Diei-nee doesn’t go after us until she’s all better; you owe me this.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Koinu-chan - Puppy-chan ; informal/cutesy way to say puppy
-chan - suffix used by speaker for younger female names/close people/cutesy namecalling
-kun - suffix used by speaker for younger male names or males close with
-sensei - suffix used by speaker for teachers and doctors
Onee-chan - informal/cutesy way to say ‘Onee-san’ meaning sister
-nee - suffix used by speaker for own sister
anou - usual japanese exclamation version of ‘Uhm’
onegai - please ; informal way to say ‘onegaishimasu’
datte - because
-sempai - suffix used by speaker for a senior / respected upperclassman or upperclasswoman
Shinjite kudasai - Believe me please
-kaichou - suffix used by speaker for the president of the student council