Disclaimer: Get Backers characters belong to Aoki and Ayamine, those lucky guys. Actually, they sort of own the dog, too, seeing as this fic was inspired by a random (and adorable) splash page of Emishi petting a dog. (Please, A&A, color it for an artbook or calendar or something!)
Warning: Massive huge spoilers for the manga, involving character deaths. The worst part is, it'll be a couple of years before we get official translations for that part - in fact, it's not even in one of the collected volumes in Japan yet at the time I'm posting this - it'll be in v.25.
Notes: Set sometime after the "Get Back the Eternal Bond" manga arc, and the very small and very silly arc just after that, during which the aforementioned splash page showed up. This may end up kicking off a resurrection fic if the canon doesn't fix it soon.
Life Is Life
"Hey there, doggie-han!"
The dog looked up from his perusal of the overturned trash can, and whimpered faintly at the man had who addressed him. In Mugenjou, most people did not speak so cheerfully to hungry dogs as this one did.
"Are you new around here?" the man asked, bending down closer to the dog's face, to speak to him directly. "Don't think I've seen you before... not one of Shido-han's. You'll meet him soon enough, I guess. If you haven't already."
There was a rumor the dog had heard about a man who could speak to animals, which was why he had come this way. This man didn't seem to be the one. But the long hair, the plastic thing covering the eyes... the one called the Beastmaster had a friend fitting this description, or so the dog had heard from those who had met him years before. He took a couple of steps closer, testing; sure enough, he could smell the scent of other animals on the man's jacket, though faint.
The man knelt down, stretching out his hand slowly to touch the dog's head. The dog didn't flinch as instinct told him to, and he was rewarded with a scratch behind the ears. This must be the Beastmaster's friend, because he gave excellent scratches. Soon the dog sat down by the man's knees, basking in the attention.
"Yeah, that's a good boy..." the man crooned, rubbing the dog's shaggy neck. "Are you looking for a friend? ...So'm I, just in a different way."
There was something strange about the way the man looked into his eyes, strange enough that even the dog could tell. The man had been smiling, but now his eyes were subdued behind those glasses he wore.
"See, I had this friend. A really good friend. And he told me once that all life is the same - that everything living shares the same life. But... my friend died."
Something showed in the man's eyes for a moment, something that made him look vulnerable, but he tilted his head so that the sunlight reflected off his glasses, and his eyes could no longer be seen. And then he smiled again.
"If what he said is true, if everything shares in the same life... then maybe he's still alive in a way, in the trees, in the grass... maybe you have a little of him in you, doggie-han. I try to see it like that... I try, but... Sorry, but it just doesn't work. You're a nice dog, good dog, but I... I miss him."
The man's smile was a sad one. "And you know, maybe I shouldn't be upset. Because he... he had a really lonely life. I sort of even think maybe he was glad it was over. And he died to save our other really good friend. So I wouldn't have Shido-han here today if it wasn't for him... and I've got all these other friends who have been so good to me, trying to cheer me up. And it works, because it doesn't hurt like it did at first. But..."
The dog cocked its head to the side curiously as one of the man's hands stopped with the petting. Instead, he ran his fingers over a necklace at his throat, strung with long, thin beads.
"...But when I'm alone, at night or something like that, I think about how happy we were together. I was happier than ever, and I think he hadn't been that happy for a long time either. We were going to be partners, we were going to take the world by storm with our comedy team."
There was an awkward pause, then the man rested his hand back on the dog's neck, rubbing vigorously.
"But now there's no sense thinking about it. It'll never happen. But that's okay - Amo-yan said that there has to be death in order for there to be life. Because if nothing died, the vessel of life would overflow and everything would become extinct. That's if what he says is true, and we all share one life..."
He paused in his rubbing and scratching, instead taking the dog's head between his hands to look straight at him. Forgetting his earlier wariness, the dog just looked back, slightly puzzled and wondering if more scratches were forthcoming.
"...If it is true," the man said seriously, "and there's a little bit of him inside you, doggie-han... I want him to hear me say it, even if it is just a little tiny piece of him that hears it. That I miss him, every day. That I'll never forget him, and that I hope I made his last days worth it. And... and I'll keep on looking for him, in every living thing, and telling them that I miss him. And maybe someday I'll find him."
The man still looked anxious, and a little upset, but then suddenly he laughed, and resumed scratching the dog's neck, down to his underbelly.
"And because it's Amo-yan, I'll probably find him in something really weird. Maybe I'll find him in a lion about to attack and kill me, and then just as it's about to bite my legs off, it'll back off and say 'Gotcha, Emi-yan!' That would be like him..."
The man sighed and abruptly dropped his hands to his sides. "...It's been fun, doggie-han."
The dog looked up from where his head lay in the man's lap; he was somewhat disappointed. "Maybe somewhere, somehow," the man continued, "my words reached him. But there's no way for me to know, and I've got another friend to meet. So I guess this is goodbye... unless you're looking for Shido-han too?"
Not understanding more than a few words of the human speech, the dog just watched him curiously. The man stood, and there wasn't a moment's hesitation before the dog stood with him. Maybe he'd get more belly rubs...
"Heh! Why not go together, right?" the man agreed. "Even if that's not where you were headed, I think you'd like him. Shall we?"
The dog followed at a short distance as the man started off again, whistling to himself, though after a short time, the dog decided to walk at his side. From all appearances, the man seemed happy, but there was something missing, too.
The man looked down as the dog trotted up to fall into step with him. "Not quite the same," he said with a nod, scratching behind the dog's ears. "But if life is life... I won't complain."