Jin lay on an old
pallet in Miwako's house, and Hanaka was trying to get him to eat.
Luckily, he would eat, though the food had to be spoon-fed to him,
for he would not feed himself. She carefully fed him the ramen
noodles, making sure they weren't too hot before she gave them to
him.
Jin sighed. "I'm los'," he muttered, his eyes
still refusing to focus. At least they'd washed him up though. His
hair was brushed and clean, the grime carefully scrubbed away, the
cuts and wounds bandaged, and his clothes replaced by some of
Runaku's. His large ears still drooped, and he still seemed a
creature of utter despondency.
The fact he was still alive
hung over his head like a sentence, for it meant another moment
living without Touya. He no longer dared to hope anymore of finding
Touya, no longer dared to hope anything.
Hanaka tried to talk
to him, to distract him from whatever thoughts consumed him. "I've
lived on this island all my life, but one day I plan to leave it and
see the real world. I want to see adventure and beauty!" she
explained, and Jin nodded docilely.
Hanaka sighed; it was
impossible to talk to this poor shell of a man. "How about some
music?" Jin looked up slightly, showing a meager interest. The
only music he'd ever known was drinking songs and Touya's singing and
shakuhachi. And so that was what he expected.
He was taken
rather aback when the girl put a shiny disk in some device and noise
began coming out of the device. "It's Evanescence- Fallen. Oh!
How about we skip to my favorite, 'My Immortal'!" Jin said
nothing, but when he heard the haunting song, and listened to the
lyrics, he seemed to be slightly more interested than he'd been in
anything before. He thought mournfully of Touya, listening to such
lyrics.
When the song finished, he said, "That was good.
I want to hear it again."
Hanaka nodded, "Ok."
She said, smiling happily, glad to have found something that
interested the lifeless doll man on the pallet. "I can put it on
repeat if you want." Jin did not respond, lost in the song, and
Hanaka sighed, setting her CD player to repeat.
