Between weevils and mice, there wasn't much left of the dry provisions in the little wood paneled house. Everything was so dusty too. I probably should have expected it, with how busy Hana was and the fact that their main residence wasn't exactly spotless when I first arrived. After unloading our things, I went around and turned on all the faucets and left them that way until the air bubbles chugged their way out of the pipes and the water finally ran clear.
It was all freezing cold too. Luckily the water heater was just in a closet, so I was able to flip a breaker and get it going again. Since mice had come inside I wanted to clean everything.
The first couple of days went by in a blur of scrubbing and disinfecting while Sholpan reclined on her tatami mat and supervised. That part wasn't so bad.
When everything was finished, the challenge began.
There was nobody to talk to for one. Even Pakkun was gone. It's not that he couldn't be trusted to behave around Sholpan, because if any dog had impulse control it was him. It just wouldn't be kind to put him in this situation.
That also meant I had no reading tutor. I mean seriously, is there anything that dog can't do? He's freaking amazing.
Pakkun being gone though, and Boone too, just left my snuffly Sholpan with her pokey nose and big dark eyes. She wasn't a talker. She maybe barked once a week. I couldn't even pretend to have a conversation like with Boone, because at least he would do wookie noises back at me.
The third night was the worst.
I'd done a shift at the hospital and hoped it would tire me enough to fall asleep without trouble.
My thoughts roved over lots of topics, trying to find a bright place to stay. It worked for a while, but eventually they turned on me. Showing me a cold man with scars crisscrossing his face. The wet snap of bone. I lay very still and hugged my pillow.
The silence was back.
It pressed at the small bedroom window. Night darkened glass gleamed down at Sholpan and me. It was out there, trying to find a way in. Finally I went and grabbed a baking sheet from the kitchen and used that to cover the window.
That helped for a little while, but eventually the silence seeped in through the cracks.
I tucked the pillow under my chin where Pakkun usually curled up. Sholpan kept nosing me. I focused on the cold wetness where she poked my jaw. I flipped onto my other side and pulled the blanket over my head.
Sholpan sprawled across my legs. Then she got up and laid next to my back, in Boone's place. She breathed deep and slow, her lips flapping softly as the air moved over them. I breathed with her, focusing on her lazy heartbeat. Anything to escape the silence.
She sat up suddenly, a growl in her throat so low I could hardly hear it.
The ceiling creaked.
We both sat frozen.
Footsteps. Someone was walking on the fucking roof.
I started to tremble at that point. Waking nightmares about the animal mask ninjas flashed through my mind. Kakashi was still sick. He wouldn't be able to help if they came.
It was Sholpan that saved me right then. She made a dismissive huffing sound, then licked my cheek comfortingly before laying her head back on the mat.
If she wasn't worried, maybe it wasn't them.
Maybe it was just some random ninja using the roof as a shortcut to somewhere else. That seemed to happen often in town.
I turned toward her again and laced my fingers through her long silky fur. Maybe it was possible to hold my breath so long that I'd just pass out until morning.
Kakashi meandered down the road with his hands in his pockets. After three weeks they'd finally let him out.
It was going to take a while longer to rebuild his stamina though.
Mari had visited him daily. Briefly while she was in his room to change linens, and sometimes even came back on her breaks. The old lady a couple rooms down insisted Mari was her long lost granddaughter. And the children who were admitted quickly learned to ask for her by name when they needed cheering up or to be entertained.
As far as he knew, she hadn't done anything out of the ordinary for him. On the other hand, she hadn't spent her precious breaks with any of the other patients.
At least not that she'd mentioned.
He paused in front of the luthier's workshop. The hours were pretty irregular and it had been closed the first two times he came by. There was a closed sign hanging still, but a light blazed inside.
He knocked. There were shuffling footsteps, and the door opened a crack. A little old man peered at him.
"We're closed."
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I was actually hoping to buy something today. What time will you be open?"
The door widened. "Come in then. What are you looking for?"
He stepped inside and blinked at the sheer variety of instruments hanging on the walls. "I um, do you have a shamisen available?"
The old man snorted. "Anything more specific than that?"
"Er, a playable one?"
That earned him a disgusted sneer from the luthier. "What makes you think I should trust one of my precious instruments to someone who doesn't even know the first thing about them?"
Kakashi's eye widened. "It's not for me. It's a gift for a friend. She knows how to play," he said, omitting the fact that she'd said it was like a shamisen.
"Then she should come pick it out herself," he snorted.
"That's-," he sucked in a breath. "I wanted to surprise her. She's unwell." His voice dropped. "A few weeks ago we saw a shamisen player on Hoshi street. She was so happy. I thought, having her own instrument again might help her."
"What happened to her old one?"
"She's a refugee."
The old man's expression softened. He sighed. "Maybe you aren't the idiot you seemed." Turning slowly he shuffled into the back room, and emerged several minutes later with a worn black case.
"You may take this one to her for 75,000 ryo. But I want her to stop by some time. I like to meet my fans." He grinned at Kakashi, who felt stupid for not realizing who the street musician was until now.
He paid for the instrument, thanked the old man profusely, then left with it.
Venturing out three times already today had left him feeling groggy. He shuffled down the road.
Mari truly hadn't seemed well for the past two weeks. At the hospital, her eyes were more tired than before. She looked, haunted. It coincided with her having to seclude Sholpan from the ninken, meaning Boone wasn't with her either.
It'd worried him enough after the first week that he tried to insist she keep Pakkun with her anyway. It would have been hard on the little dog, but he had the willpower to resist Sholpan in her current condition. Mari refused though, saying it wasn't kind to Pakkun.
He slowed and put a hand out to steady himself on a building. It was important to get it to her today. What Pakkun had said before about how she didn't sleep, he understood too well. Forcing his eye to focus, he trudged toward the little house on the edge of town.