Chapter 5
The sound of that tiny circular saw was drowned out by the veterinarian's words.
"Unbelievable," he muttered.
Cerberus' fracture had healed completely, all effects of the concussion had disappeared, and her ribs had knitted together perfectly.
And this was after one week.
"Your dog is certainly a very interesting case," the vet babbled. "In all my years of experience, I've never seen anything like this."
Cerberus hated the way most people talked about her as if she couldn't understand them. The way people seemed to think that only they knew what the hell was going on at any given time.
But instead of lashing out, she wagged her tail in a fake display of friendliness, and put on a smile that did not reach her eyes.
She was getting better at self-control.
"Well, Cerberus-chan, how does it feel?" Haruka asked.
Cerberus wagged her tail and put on a lovably clueless expression. When the vet wasn't looking, she put on a serious face and pointed her nose at the door, looking from Haruka to the exit.
"Uh, I guess we should be leaving…"
"Wait a minute," the vet interjected, "there is still the question of the bill…"
"What?! I paid you last time!" Haruka nearly shouted at him.
"Yes, well, as you may know, it costs five thousand yen for an appointment…"
Haruka blanched.
"…and that x-ray is going to cost you about ten thousand yen…"
A muscle in Haruka's face twitched convulsively.
"…and finally, Tenoh-san, that circular saw has a rather hefty service charge of fifteen thousand yen."
Haruka hung her head in order to hide the murderous expression on her face.
Slowly, she extracted Michiru's credit card from her wallet and handed it over to the veterinarian.
"Sorry, oba-san, but we don't accept credit cards."
Haruka blinked. Oba-san? What did he mean, they didn't accept credit cards? Were they under new management?
Oba-san?!
"Sorry, oba-san, but we're under new management."
Well, that answered one question.
A few minutes later, Haruka and Cerberus left the vet's office; Cerberus feeling considerably happier, Haruka's wallet feeling considerably lighter.
Cerberus looked at Haruka apologetically, and chanced to give her a weak smile. Haruka just kept walking with a grumpy look on her face.
"So, uh, good luck in today's race," Cerberus said, completely out of the blue.
Haruka smirked. "You're still not going."
Cerberus stared at her with big, sad, puppy-dog eyes; her ears falling over to each side; her tail between her legs and wagging slightly.
"Pweeeeeeeeze?"
And she started to whimper. That's it, Cerberus thought, put the icing on the cake.
A large, fake tear leaked down the side of her face.
People were starting to stare.
"All right," Haruka said, disgusted. "You can come to the stupid race. Just stop acting like a poor, neglected child and get in the car."
Cerberus leaped in before Haruka could even open the door. She wagged her tail furiously and had to restrain herself from howling with joy.
A few hours later, Cerberus was sitting in the back of Haruka's car with Hotaru and speeding along the freeway on the road to Haruka's next race.
Hotaru winced with disgust as flecks of dog slobber hit her in the face.
Cerberus looked at her reproachfully. "Well, I can't help it, you know, I am covered with hair."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Hotaru asked, wiping the offending drool particles off her face.
"Well, when you're hot, you sweat, correct?"
Hotaru nodded slowly, wondering where this was going.
"Well, when I'm hot (and it is rather easy to get overheated when one is covered with hair), I drool. And the wind blows it into your face, because Haruka-san won't drive at the God-damned speed limit."
"Speed limits are for wussies," Haruka muttered.
"Well," Hotaru replied, reaching the end of her patience, "you could at least turn you head so that I won't get hit in the face with your disgusting secretions."
"Never!" Cerberus shouted.
And so Hotaru spent the rest of that drive shielding her face from dog slobber because Haruka's driving was too fast.
When they did finally reach the track, Cerberus was dehydrated, Hotaru was feeling murderous, and Haruka had run over several small wild animals (after each of which Cerberus cheered enthusiastically and mentally added another point to her score sheet, whereas Hotaru had felt like throwing up).
Hotaru felt even more murderous when Haruka informed her that she had to sit next to Cerberus in the bleachers.
"I won't have you sitting all by yourself, Hotaru, it isn't safe," Haruka had said.
"But Haruka-papa…!"
"Aww, what's so scary about me, Hotaru-chan?" Cerberus had said in an offended tone of voice. Her ears drooped and her eyes took on the classic sad puppy look.
"Look at that!" Haruka had responded. "You made her upset, Hotaru. Now you'll be perfectly safe with Cerberus-chan here. Isn't that right, Cerberus-chan?"
Cerberus wagged her tail and gave Hotaru a big, slobbery kiss.
"EWWW!" Hotaru shrieked. "Haruka-papa! She DROOLED on me!"
Cerberus laughed as she watched Haruka roll her eyes and walk off toward the locker room.
"You know," Hotaru said after Haruka left, "if it were up to me, I would have kept driving and backed over your wretched corpse several times."
Cerberus smirked.
"You say that, but I saw the way you whimpered after Haruka-san ran over that squirrel. The look on your face was priceless."
Hotaru was horrified.
"How can you laugh at that? The poor little thing was just trying to cross the street, and…"
Cerberus nearly died laughing.
Hotaru scowled and crossed her arms.
Just then, the loudspeaker blared.
"The race is about to start! Please take your seats as the contestants…"
"There's Haruka-papa!" Hotaru shouted, pointing.
Cerberus followed her point, and saw Haruka wave at them from her bike. She let out a cheerful baying noise in response.
"The competitors are as follows…
"Tenoh Haruka!"
The crowd let out a roar. Cerberus herself let out a thundering howl which forced Hotaru to cower in her seat and stuff her fingers in her ears.
"Fukuda Tetsuo!"
The crown let out a considerably smaller roar, which was dotted with boo's.
"Kagawa Seiki…"
By now, Cerberus was itching for this race to begin. The loudspeaker rattled off the rest of the competitors. Haruka lifted her visor for a few seconds and winked at her and Hotaru.
Within seconds, the race had started.
Haruka took an early lead. She manipulated the machine with little effort, as if it were an extension of her own body.
But Fukuda was gaining on her.
Within seconds, the two were neck and neck. Fukuda was aggressively trying to back Haruka into the wall. Cerberus' hair went up and she bared her teeth. Hotaru gave her a nervous glance and shifted in her seat.
Seconds before Haruka would have been forced into the wall, she gunned the engine with a mighty roar and left him in the dust.
Entering the second lap, Haruka was still in the lead. Fukuda came close behind her again. This time, he tried to ram her bike from behind.
But Haruka was too smart for him.
As they were rounding a corner, she made an incredibly sharp turn. Cerberus watched with glee as the bastard lost control of his bike and bounced off the wall, spinning out of control. Unfortunately, the bastard righted himself with a screech of burning rubber and continued his attempts in the third lap.
Fukuda seemed to be getting angry. He forced his engine to work at top speed until he caught up with Haruka.
Haruka had had enough of this punk. She tried to ignore him, but he tried once more to ram her into the wall.
And once more he failed, as Haruka gunned her own engine at top speed.
Haruka crossed the finish line a full five seconds before Fukuda, and Cerberus and Hotaru cheered loudly and enthusiastically.
After the race, Hotaru went to get herself a drink. Cerberus, on the other hand, went to see Haruka. She found her just outside the locker room.
"You did great!" she yelled.
Haruka smirked. "Thanks."
"That was soooo cool, how you just completely kicked that Fukuda bastard's ass," Cerberus laughed.
Haruka chuckled. "Damn little prick was annoying me. I would just love to tear that bastard a new…"
Haruka made a violent gesture in mid-air and laughed some more.
"Aww, but then you'd be kicked out, Haruka-san."
Haruka bent down on one knee and fiddled with Cerberus' ears. Her tail started to wag furiously. "You know I was just kidding, Cerberus-chan." She offered a wink. "Even I have my pride. I enjoy a challenge, not some push-over."
Something shiny above Haruka's left shoulder caught Cerberus' attention. Her heart nearly stopped as she recognized that shiny object and the person that wielded it.
Fukuda. With a wrench above Haruka's head.
Cerberus reacted in an instant.
Just before Fukuda's wrench was about to smash Haruka in the skull, Cerberus jumped six feet in the air and grabbed the bastard's arm in her powerful jaws.
And she didn't let go.
Another attack of supreme rage built up in her heart. Her eyes flashed dangerously. Fukuda let out an unholy scream as she pinned him to the ground with her two front paws pressed up against his neck.
With a terrible CRACK, Cerberus exerted all the force her powerful jaws could upon the man's arm, breaking it cleanly in half.
The wrench skittered across the ground and out of sight underneath an ice cream stand. The man behind it dropped a Popsicle onto the dirt and dropped his jaw, completely in shock.
Cerberus didn't stop there. Years of experience had taught her that mercy was for the weak.
The man screamed in agony as she set her fangs in him, blood splashing viciously from the wounds she was tearing into his torso. The salty, metallic taste of blood splashed across her tongue as she severed several arteries in his shoulders. Fukuda tried to hit her with his unbroken arm, but she simply grabbed it and started to bite down with two thousand pounds of raw pressure.
With another CRACK, his other arm was broken.
Still Cerberus did not stop.
She was still tearing at him, inflicting a cruel justice upon the man who was willing to kill to satisfy his own jealousy. By now, her face was covered with the man's blood. The sounds of the onlookers' screams seemed oddly distorted, which could only mean that Cerberus' rage attack was in full force.
Now to finish him.
Cerberus grabbed his throat in her jaws. She let him savour the moment before his imminent death. But just before she was about to silence the screaming man, two strong hands grabbed her by the collar and forced her off the bastard by the neck.
Cerberus whirled around to face the owner of these hands and found herself staring directly into the teal-coloured eyes of a very shocked and horrified Haruka.
Cerberus was suddenly aware of the fact that Haruka had not seen, could not have seen what the bastard was about to do to her.
The wrench…the wrench was gone…there was no proof…
The intense rage faded from Cerberus' mind, letting the sounds of screams reach her ears at full volume. Her eyes flicked from person to person. Staring at her, fearing her, condemning her…
She forced herself to look at Fukuda. He lay in a pool of his own blood, sobbing and screaming. Cerberus felt sick, just looking at the damage she had done.
I'm a monster.
But the worst part…
Cerberus could not bring herself to look at Haruka, could not bring herself to face the terror in her eyes, the hatred…
I don't deserve you.
She was nearly blinded by her own tears. With a strangled sob, she ploughed through the crowd that had gathered around the spectacle. She could feel their eyes on her, filled with contempt, filled with hate.
Bastards! Don't look at me like that! Leave me in peace!
Cerberus ran at full power, reaching a speed that compared favourably with that of the cars on the highway she had been riding on only hours before.
She kept running, out of the stadium, out of the city, and along the road back to the only home she had had in years.
Even though she knew that such a thing didn't exist anymore.
The sound of that tiny circular saw was drowned out by the veterinarian's words.
"Unbelievable," he muttered.
Cerberus' fracture had healed completely, all effects of the concussion had disappeared, and her ribs had knitted together perfectly.
And this was after one week.
"Your dog is certainly a very interesting case," the vet babbled. "In all my years of experience, I've never seen anything like this."
Cerberus hated the way most people talked about her as if she couldn't understand them. The way people seemed to think that only they knew what the hell was going on at any given time.
But instead of lashing out, she wagged her tail in a fake display of friendliness, and put on a smile that did not reach her eyes.
She was getting better at self-control.
"Well, Cerberus-chan, how does it feel?" Haruka asked.
Cerberus wagged her tail and put on a lovably clueless expression. When the vet wasn't looking, she put on a serious face and pointed her nose at the door, looking from Haruka to the exit.
"Uh, I guess we should be leaving…"
"Wait a minute," the vet interjected, "there is still the question of the bill…"
"What?! I paid you last time!" Haruka nearly shouted at him.
"Yes, well, as you may know, it costs five thousand yen for an appointment…"
Haruka blanched.
"…and that x-ray is going to cost you about ten thousand yen…"
A muscle in Haruka's face twitched convulsively.
"…and finally, Tenoh-san, that circular saw has a rather hefty service charge of fifteen thousand yen."
Haruka hung her head in order to hide the murderous expression on her face.
Slowly, she extracted Michiru's credit card from her wallet and handed it over to the veterinarian.
"Sorry, oba-san, but we don't accept credit cards."
Haruka blinked. Oba-san? What did he mean, they didn't accept credit cards? Were they under new management?
Oba-san?!
"Sorry, oba-san, but we're under new management."
Well, that answered one question.
A few minutes later, Haruka and Cerberus left the vet's office; Cerberus feeling considerably happier, Haruka's wallet feeling considerably lighter.
Cerberus looked at Haruka apologetically, and chanced to give her a weak smile. Haruka just kept walking with a grumpy look on her face.
"So, uh, good luck in today's race," Cerberus said, completely out of the blue.
Haruka smirked. "You're still not going."
Cerberus stared at her with big, sad, puppy-dog eyes; her ears falling over to each side; her tail between her legs and wagging slightly.
"Pweeeeeeeeze?"
And she started to whimper. That's it, Cerberus thought, put the icing on the cake.
A large, fake tear leaked down the side of her face.
People were starting to stare.
"All right," Haruka said, disgusted. "You can come to the stupid race. Just stop acting like a poor, neglected child and get in the car."
Cerberus leaped in before Haruka could even open the door. She wagged her tail furiously and had to restrain herself from howling with joy.
A few hours later, Cerberus was sitting in the back of Haruka's car with Hotaru and speeding along the freeway on the road to Haruka's next race.
Hotaru winced with disgust as flecks of dog slobber hit her in the face.
Cerberus looked at her reproachfully. "Well, I can't help it, you know, I am covered with hair."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Hotaru asked, wiping the offending drool particles off her face.
"Well, when you're hot, you sweat, correct?"
Hotaru nodded slowly, wondering where this was going.
"Well, when I'm hot (and it is rather easy to get overheated when one is covered with hair), I drool. And the wind blows it into your face, because Haruka-san won't drive at the God-damned speed limit."
"Speed limits are for wussies," Haruka muttered.
"Well," Hotaru replied, reaching the end of her patience, "you could at least turn you head so that I won't get hit in the face with your disgusting secretions."
"Never!" Cerberus shouted.
And so Hotaru spent the rest of that drive shielding her face from dog slobber because Haruka's driving was too fast.
When they did finally reach the track, Cerberus was dehydrated, Hotaru was feeling murderous, and Haruka had run over several small wild animals (after each of which Cerberus cheered enthusiastically and mentally added another point to her score sheet, whereas Hotaru had felt like throwing up).
Hotaru felt even more murderous when Haruka informed her that she had to sit next to Cerberus in the bleachers.
"I won't have you sitting all by yourself, Hotaru, it isn't safe," Haruka had said.
"But Haruka-papa…!"
"Aww, what's so scary about me, Hotaru-chan?" Cerberus had said in an offended tone of voice. Her ears drooped and her eyes took on the classic sad puppy look.
"Look at that!" Haruka had responded. "You made her upset, Hotaru. Now you'll be perfectly safe with Cerberus-chan here. Isn't that right, Cerberus-chan?"
Cerberus wagged her tail and gave Hotaru a big, slobbery kiss.
"EWWW!" Hotaru shrieked. "Haruka-papa! She DROOLED on me!"
Cerberus laughed as she watched Haruka roll her eyes and walk off toward the locker room.
"You know," Hotaru said after Haruka left, "if it were up to me, I would have kept driving and backed over your wretched corpse several times."
Cerberus smirked.
"You say that, but I saw the way you whimpered after Haruka-san ran over that squirrel. The look on your face was priceless."
Hotaru was horrified.
"How can you laugh at that? The poor little thing was just trying to cross the street, and…"
Cerberus nearly died laughing.
Hotaru scowled and crossed her arms.
Just then, the loudspeaker blared.
"The race is about to start! Please take your seats as the contestants…"
"There's Haruka-papa!" Hotaru shouted, pointing.
Cerberus followed her point, and saw Haruka wave at them from her bike. She let out a cheerful baying noise in response.
"The competitors are as follows…
"Tenoh Haruka!"
The crowd let out a roar. Cerberus herself let out a thundering howl which forced Hotaru to cower in her seat and stuff her fingers in her ears.
"Fukuda Tetsuo!"
The crown let out a considerably smaller roar, which was dotted with boo's.
"Kagawa Seiki…"
By now, Cerberus was itching for this race to begin. The loudspeaker rattled off the rest of the competitors. Haruka lifted her visor for a few seconds and winked at her and Hotaru.
Within seconds, the race had started.
Haruka took an early lead. She manipulated the machine with little effort, as if it were an extension of her own body.
But Fukuda was gaining on her.
Within seconds, the two were neck and neck. Fukuda was aggressively trying to back Haruka into the wall. Cerberus' hair went up and she bared her teeth. Hotaru gave her a nervous glance and shifted in her seat.
Seconds before Haruka would have been forced into the wall, she gunned the engine with a mighty roar and left him in the dust.
Entering the second lap, Haruka was still in the lead. Fukuda came close behind her again. This time, he tried to ram her bike from behind.
But Haruka was too smart for him.
As they were rounding a corner, she made an incredibly sharp turn. Cerberus watched with glee as the bastard lost control of his bike and bounced off the wall, spinning out of control. Unfortunately, the bastard righted himself with a screech of burning rubber and continued his attempts in the third lap.
Fukuda seemed to be getting angry. He forced his engine to work at top speed until he caught up with Haruka.
Haruka had had enough of this punk. She tried to ignore him, but he tried once more to ram her into the wall.
And once more he failed, as Haruka gunned her own engine at top speed.
Haruka crossed the finish line a full five seconds before Fukuda, and Cerberus and Hotaru cheered loudly and enthusiastically.
After the race, Hotaru went to get herself a drink. Cerberus, on the other hand, went to see Haruka. She found her just outside the locker room.
"You did great!" she yelled.
Haruka smirked. "Thanks."
"That was soooo cool, how you just completely kicked that Fukuda bastard's ass," Cerberus laughed.
Haruka chuckled. "Damn little prick was annoying me. I would just love to tear that bastard a new…"
Haruka made a violent gesture in mid-air and laughed some more.
"Aww, but then you'd be kicked out, Haruka-san."
Haruka bent down on one knee and fiddled with Cerberus' ears. Her tail started to wag furiously. "You know I was just kidding, Cerberus-chan." She offered a wink. "Even I have my pride. I enjoy a challenge, not some push-over."
Something shiny above Haruka's left shoulder caught Cerberus' attention. Her heart nearly stopped as she recognized that shiny object and the person that wielded it.
Fukuda. With a wrench above Haruka's head.
Cerberus reacted in an instant.
Just before Fukuda's wrench was about to smash Haruka in the skull, Cerberus jumped six feet in the air and grabbed the bastard's arm in her powerful jaws.
And she didn't let go.
Another attack of supreme rage built up in her heart. Her eyes flashed dangerously. Fukuda let out an unholy scream as she pinned him to the ground with her two front paws pressed up against his neck.
With a terrible CRACK, Cerberus exerted all the force her powerful jaws could upon the man's arm, breaking it cleanly in half.
The wrench skittered across the ground and out of sight underneath an ice cream stand. The man behind it dropped a Popsicle onto the dirt and dropped his jaw, completely in shock.
Cerberus didn't stop there. Years of experience had taught her that mercy was for the weak.
The man screamed in agony as she set her fangs in him, blood splashing viciously from the wounds she was tearing into his torso. The salty, metallic taste of blood splashed across her tongue as she severed several arteries in his shoulders. Fukuda tried to hit her with his unbroken arm, but she simply grabbed it and started to bite down with two thousand pounds of raw pressure.
With another CRACK, his other arm was broken.
Still Cerberus did not stop.
She was still tearing at him, inflicting a cruel justice upon the man who was willing to kill to satisfy his own jealousy. By now, her face was covered with the man's blood. The sounds of the onlookers' screams seemed oddly distorted, which could only mean that Cerberus' rage attack was in full force.
Now to finish him.
Cerberus grabbed his throat in her jaws. She let him savour the moment before his imminent death. But just before she was about to silence the screaming man, two strong hands grabbed her by the collar and forced her off the bastard by the neck.
Cerberus whirled around to face the owner of these hands and found herself staring directly into the teal-coloured eyes of a very shocked and horrified Haruka.
Cerberus was suddenly aware of the fact that Haruka had not seen, could not have seen what the bastard was about to do to her.
The wrench…the wrench was gone…there was no proof…
The intense rage faded from Cerberus' mind, letting the sounds of screams reach her ears at full volume. Her eyes flicked from person to person. Staring at her, fearing her, condemning her…
She forced herself to look at Fukuda. He lay in a pool of his own blood, sobbing and screaming. Cerberus felt sick, just looking at the damage she had done.
I'm a monster.
But the worst part…
Cerberus could not bring herself to look at Haruka, could not bring herself to face the terror in her eyes, the hatred…
I don't deserve you.
She was nearly blinded by her own tears. With a strangled sob, she ploughed through the crowd that had gathered around the spectacle. She could feel their eyes on her, filled with contempt, filled with hate.
Bastards! Don't look at me like that! Leave me in peace!
Cerberus ran at full power, reaching a speed that compared favourably with that of the cars on the highway she had been riding on only hours before.
She kept running, out of the stadium, out of the city, and along the road back to the only home she had had in years.
Even though she knew that such a thing didn't exist anymore.