Author's Note: Yep, Daisuke's in this story! Didn't see that one coming, did you? Please review. I really appreciate it.
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Daisuke glanced in his mirror. The police car that had been following him was gone now, so he stepped harder on the gas of his Mitsubishi SUV, which he had gotten as a graduation gift from his girlfriend only 2 weeks before. He had spent the last few years at Tokyo University, studying rigorously to become a vet and work with dogs, and had just been planning on returning home to see his family, who lived near Futago Pass, when he'd heard from his old mentor Hidetoshi that something had happened down near Kyoto. When he had inquired further, Hidetoshi had just shrugged and promised to tell him later. When he had gotten in the SUV and told Daisuke the truth, though, the young man had wished he hadn't.
Apparently, a small town to the east of Kyoto, called Oroshi, had been attacked by a large pack of dogs and had somehow caught fire during the attack. It had burned to the ground quickly and completely and 11 people had died, including 4 children. Even worse, one of the dogs that had been seen escaping on the back of another dog had been a light colored one with spots that was known to be a part of the Futago Pass pack…Gin's pack. As a result, the authorities in Kyoto wanted to send hunters up to Futago Pass and kill off the wild dogs that were living there. Daisuke squeezed the steering wheel harder in anger. How could they think that Gin had done this? How could they?! He liked to think that as Gin's former master, partner, and close friend, he could keep the hero dogs of Futago Pass safe from other humans like himself, but the more life went on, the more he realized that that wasn't something that could always happen. And now this… Now they were both driving down to Kyoto to attend a meeting the authorities had called together to address the issue of what to do one final time before solidifying their decision. Daisuke didn't quite know why they had been invited, but he was glad for the opportunity to defend Gin's reputation.
He shook his head and glanced over at Hidetoshi, who once upon a time had been Gin's best friend John's owner. The older man seemed to be sleeping with his head against the glass window of the car and Daisuke shook him awake. After all, they were practically there. Hidetoshi stirred slowly and blinked sleep out of his eyes.
"Mmm…" he groaned slightly. "Are we there, Daisuke?"
"Just arriving, Sensei." Daisuke answered. "Are you sure the authorities want us here?"
"I'm one of the top hunters in the country and I told them that you used to be the owner of the leader of these dogs." Hidetoshi said, "They want our input. Besides I thought you'd want to be here."
"I do." Daisuke said, "Gin didn't do this."
Hidetoshi looked at him calculatingly.
"Sure of that are you?"
"Come on, Sensei, you know him." the younger man said in a slightly frustrated tone. "You know John. Do you really think they would do this?"
"I think that John is dead." Hidetoshi answered. "We haven't seen him in years now, even when we've seen Gin and the other dogs, and as for whether they did it: no I don't think they did. That said, this isn't our decision to make. It's theirs. It's their jurisdiction, their area."
"So it's okay that we let them blame Gin and the others for this?" Daisuke asked angrily and Hidetoshi held up a hand.
"Don't get mad, Daisuke." he said warningly. "It won't help at all. We're here."
Daisuke looked out the window and saw a small glass building that had 'KYOTO POLICE DEPARTMENT' on the side of it in both English and Kanji, and he directed the car into the nearest parking space out front. Then he turned the car off and the two men looked at each other.
"We'll do what we can." Hidetoshi said. "But don't get your hopes up."
Then they got out and walked inside.
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Daisuke shifted his position in his seat at the table where he sat listening to the police chief tell everyone who was assembled everything they knew about what had happened in Oroshi. Though he didn't give any indication that he was paying attention, he was in fact listening very closely. Hidetoshi sat next to him, occasionally running a hand over the bald spot on top of his head in what Daisuke suspected was a nervous tick. He watched his friend for a moment, then turned back to the police chief, who had just finished speaking to the mayor of Oroshi and was now talking to the group.
"…and there was a local photographer who fled the town right after the attack, and he managed to take some pictures of some of the dogs that were responsible. One of the dogs in one of his pictures, a dog that was seen being carried away from the scene by another, was luckily for us recognized and identified by his former owner as a dog named…uh…'Hook'. We also know that this dog is part of the large pack currently residing in Futago Pass up north." he said, then put a file folder with the information he had been reading from on the table in front of him. "The question is: what should we do about it?"
"I say we kill them all." said a short, round man to his right and Daisuke clenched his fist. "We should send teams of hunters and kill them all."
"But they had nothing to do with this!" Daisuke blurted out and several people turned to look at him, including Hidetoshi, who had a warning look on his face.
"And how do you know that Mister –" the police chief asked with a frown.
"Daisuke, sir." the other said. "And I used to own the dog who is the leader of the pack in Futago Pass. I know the other dogs who are in that pack too, and I can tell you that under no circumstances would they ever attack people."
"So how do you explain the presence of this 'Hook' dog in Oroshi during the attack?"
"I- " Daisuke paused nervously. He had no answer for that one. "I don't know. But he may just be a rogue now. Maybe they kicked him out of the pack. Maybe – "
"Maybe this! Maybe that!" the mayor said angrily. "Maybe if we had dealt with these mutts sooner then we wouldn't have to make this decision at all! They die and that's the end of it!"
"Mr. Mayor, be quiet!" the police chief barked. "That's my decision, not yours! But with that said, Mr. Daisuke, with the evidence I have here, I have to agree with the general consensus. And that consensus tells me that the appropriate course of action here would be to eliminate these dogs, and any future threat they might pose."
"And what if they weren't actually responsible for this?" Hidetoshi asked calmly from his seat. "Wouldn't it make more sense to make sure which pack actually did this before taking action that could waste time?"
"And how would you suggest we do that Mr. Hidetoshi?" the police chief asked, looking a little irritated now. "Ask the dogs? I have 11 families demanding that we do something about this quickly, and I don't have the time to launch a full scale investigation into what pack may have done this when there's evidence right here that already implicates one. Now I'm sorry. But I'm sending hunting teams north at a date to be determined to exterminate the dogs of Futago Pass, or at the very least their leader."
Daisuke straightened up fast and made a move to protest, but Hidetoshi stopped him by cutting him off.
"Very well then, chief," he said. "I trust you don't need us anymore?"
"Well Mr. Hidetoshi," the other answered. "Given your reputation as a hunter, I would like you to lead one of the hunting teams."
Hidetoshi only hesitated a moment.
"I'll think about it." he said and half-dragged Daisuke out the door and back into the parking lot.
Once they were outside, Daisuke whirled and immediately launched into a tirade at his comrade.
"Sensei, you can't! They can't do this! Gin and the others didn't do anything wrong! They – " he said at a fast pace until Hidetoshi held up a hand, looking simultaneous irritated and sympathetic.
"Daisuke," he said. "I know how much those dogs mean to you. They mean a lot to me too. But we have to start facing reality here."
"Which is what?!" Daisuke asked angrily. "That they're about to go kill the wrong pack for this?"
"Yes."
"So we just sit back and let them?!"
"…Yes."
Daisuke let out an exasperated sigh of disgust and turned and headed for their SUV. Hidetoshi immediately followed him.
"What do expect to do, Daisuke?" the older man asked, now sounding irritated. "Are you going to steal their guns? Go out and stand in front of them so they can't shoot? Listen to me: let it go. Let Gin go."
"Gin is still my friend." Daisuke responded firmly, having gotten in the car. "And he has a family now. Those dogs saved us all from Akakabuto all those years ago. They deserve our eternal gratitude for that. And you wait! I'm going to find a way to stop these guys! You wait!"
Hidetoshi managed to jump in the car quickly before the brash young man sped off down the road, headed back the way they had come from, towards Futago Pass.
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