"Dogkeeper!" Shion called in hushed exasperation as he stumbled towards the woman. He found himself overcome with joy at seeing her, as well as severe gratitude for being rescued.
But Dogkeeper didn't seem so pleased to see him. Her nose wrinkled up into a snarl, and a very real growl escaped her lips as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You idiot!" she exclaimed, angrily lashing the air with her arm. "What are you doing out here alone? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
Shion stopped short of meeting his friend, bowing his head quietly. "I was just curious to see…" he trailed off, unable to come up with a valid excuse. He was being an idiot. He had come here without thinking.
Dogkeeper's growl disappeared into a strained sigh. Shion glanced back up to find Dogkeeper scratching her head irritably. "Curiosity kills the cat, idiot," she said.
Shion bowed his head again. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble," he said, unable to stop a smile from curling on his lips. Something about the Dogkeeper making a cat related phrase seemed very comical to him.
Dogkeeper snorted and waved her hand, dismissing Shion's words. "It's nothing, it's nothing," she said. "I'd rather take two seconds to kill a couple of lowlifes than see you wind up dead."
If that was Dogkeeper's way of saying she was glad to see him, then Shion would take that any day.
Without another word, Dogkeeper gave a whistle to call her dogs and turned back down the alleyway, shrugging up her cloak against the wind. Shion followed behind her quietly, falling into step beside Dog and a large Labrador mutt. Though the woman seemed resiliently grouchy towards him, he knew that she wouldn't mind his presence. He remembered the days he had spent back at the hotel, scrubbing her dogs clean by the fountain. He envied the Shion in those memories. He envied the fact that he was able to return every day to the same home Nezumi later would.
"Enjoying that city of yours?" Dogkeeper suddenly asked as they slipped through a section of the run down city where several strong men were working to repair a damaged shop.
"It's nice to see my mother again," Shion replied. He avoided speaking of city. He avoided telling her that it was becoming so chaotic. It was strange, but even this run down portion of the Western District, with several men working quietly and slowly at the tattered edges, it still seemed more peaceful then the bustling No. 6.
Dogkeeper seemed to catch the resistance in Shion's response. "You don't sound so happy," she said. "Is it not what you expected?" She turned to flash him a sharp smile.
Shion wanted to instantly respond to her question with a no, but found himself running over her words with much more thought than the blatant response could carry. Now that he thought of it, it really was not. He had wanted to see his mother, that much was true, but he hadn't expected to lose Nezumi in the process.
"Why aren't you in the city?" Shion decided to ask her, avoiding her question.
Dogkeeper seemed to notice the pause and change of conversation, but did not press it further. Instead, she let out a sort of laughing snarl. "Me? In that city? I have no desire to become a part of that hopeless town. Besides, I doubt they'd allow me in with my dogs." She reached out her hand to stroke the head of a large, bushy mutt. The dog wagged its tail so violently, it struck a shorter shepherd in the face twice.
"Are you still at the hotel?" Shion asked.
Dogkeeper nodded her head. "Yep, still there. I have no intentions of leaving any time soon," she added with emphasis.
Shion grinned at her vehement remarks. "Have the dogs been getting washed?" he asked. He meant the question earnestly, but felt that he said it with too much of a cocky tone.
Dogkeeper laughed. "They are, just not as fast," she said. "Why? Do you miss the job?"
Shion had to look down at a particularly small mutt scampering around his knees to hide his grin from Dogkeeper. "Sort of," he said in a small voice.
Dogkeeper looked over her shoulder to flash what could pass for a sympathetic smile to him. "Well, it's a nice day out today. Want to pick up the work?"
"Sure," Shion said with little pause.
Shion was absolutely mesmerized by the sight of the hotel. It was old and run down, but it was still standing, and still a home. He remembered when Nezumi first took him to the hotel, and how the dogs had swarmed around them ferociously, jaws barred into snarls. Yet now he knew it as a place of comfort, where weary and cold travels laid down alongside friendly and warm dogs, resting together in peace. It was extremely welcoming, thought Shion. Even ignoring the wonderful memories that the place brought back, just the sight was enough to comfort.
"It's gotten even more popular here since that last raid," Dogkeeper said, gesturing to a few strangling men as she moved towards the fountain, carrying buckets and towels. "People that don't want to go into No. 6 have been resting here while repairs are going on. It's brought a lot more work, but I can't complain when there's money involved." She smirked, tossing down the buckets and towels by the rim of the fountain with a laugh.
"Is it just Western District people, or are there any No. 6 residents coming through?" Shion couldn't help but ask. He kneeled down beside the fountain and called over one of the large shepherds, preparing a bucket of water to scrub the canine.
Dogkeeper laughed. "No. 6 people? Come here? Maybe a few of them running about, looking around, but none of those spoiled city people have come to the hotel—why would they?"
Shion shrugged. "Maybe some are curious?" he suggested.
Dogkeeper snorted. "There's a difference between being interested in something, and then actually wanting to be a part of it," she said.
"Interest could still lead them here," Shion insisted.
But Dogkeeper seemed resilient against the idea. "Stop talking and get washing," she said, picking up a bucket herself.
It was harder work than what Shion had become used to back at home, but he happily fell back into the steady labor. He washed dog after dog, until his front was sopping wet, and the hems of his pants clung against his ankles. His fingers had become pruney several mutts ago, but he'd just call the next canines over, dousing them with water before he started to scrub again. During the work, he hardly spoke to Dogkeeper at all. She seemed far too focused on the chore to want to speak much. Shion found the deep crease in her brow as she worked, completely focused, somewhat admirable.
Once the last dog had been washed and the sun was beginning to set, Shion straightened up and patted at his damp shirt with one of the few remaining dry towels. He felt an ache starting to settle in his back and arms from the work, and was slightly proud for the strain on his muscles.
"Good work," Dogkeeper said, giving him a thumb's up. "Don't expect any pay from me, though." She gave him a sneer before stooping down to collect some of the stray buckets, shooing a scraggly little mutt that was jumping around her legs.
"I don't need any money," Shion said with a laugh.
Dogkeeper rolled her eyes. "That's right, I forgot you were a rich No. 6 kid," she said. "Speaking of No. 6, shouldn't you be getting back there?"
Shion was a bit surprised in himself when he felt a strong feeling of disappoint sweep through him. "I suppose I should," he said in a flat tone.
Always sharp, Dogkeeper quickly honed in on the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. "What happened to the optimist?" she asked in a slightly mocking tone.
Shion shook his head, thinking to deny it, but felt a shiver course through him as he met Dogkeeper's steely eyes. "I'm just… I don't know," he said. He felt himself starting to blush with the very thought of the words that he meant to say.
"Just spit it out!" Dogkeeper snarled at him. "I have better things to do than watch you trip over your tongue." She was starting to gather up buckets and towels, and really did look ready to leave.
Feeling his mind run blank as Dogkeeper started to walk away, Shion blurted out, "Do you know where Nezumi is?" He felt his face flush red. He was sure she could see the change in his cheeks, and blushed still harder from embarrassment.
At first Dogkeeper paused, slightly stunned by the random question, but the woman quickly broke into laughter. "You managed to lose that rat?" she asked.
"Do you know where he is?" Shion asked, ignoring her banter.
Dogkeeper frowned. Shion felt his heart sink as she paused to think, looking skyward while she tapped her fingers upon the thick handle of one of her buckets. "Nope," she said after a long pause. "I have no idea, and I really could care less where he's gone."
Shion considered Dogkeeper a great friend, and would never want to cross her, but he felt magma boil up in his belly at her words. "Do you at least have any idea where he's gone?" he pressed. "You're his friend, aren't you?" He took a few steps closer while Dogkeeper continued to walk towards the head of the hotel. He didn't even bother to pick up the remaining towels and buckets that he had used. He wanted a straight answer.
Shion had to fall into step beside Dogkeeper as she refused to stop walking, keeping her head determinedly forward. "Since when is he my friend? That low life that insulted my mother! I have no idea where he is, so you might as well back off." She mumbled a few other dark sentences under her breath, but Shion could hardly catch more than the distinct word rat said several times over.
"You're my friend though, aren't you?" Shion asked after several failed attempts at insisting Nezumi and her were more than two strangers. He stopped short of the door of the hotel, hoping that she would do the same so he wouldn't have to foolishly chase after her.
And as if by some command, Dogkeeper did halt at the door. She heaved a heavy sigh before turning to scan over Shion with a grumpy frown. "I guess," she said. "What's that got to do with anything?"
"If you're my friend, then could you at least answer my question?" he insisted.
It seemed to take all of Dogkeeper's composure to not throw a hard insult back at the white haired boy. "What if I don't know the answer?" she asked.
"Do you at least have any ideas?"
Dogkeeper threw down the buckets she was carrying and flexed her shoulders. She looked back off into space again, apparently mulling things over in her head. "Knowing that slimy rat, he could be hiding in the sewer for all we know," she told Shion in a flat, rambling tone. "You could look all over the place for him, and then just find him hanging out right under your nose."
"But he sent me a message and… he was in some forest… not a sewer," Shion muttered.
Dogkeeper shrugged her shoulders. "You asked for my opinion and I gave it," she said. "Why are you even trying to find him if he left in the first place?"
Her words seemed to strike Shion in the gut, knocking the wind from his belly. The very idea of Nezumi leaving him, not just going somewhere for a short time, but leaving, struck him as an extremely terrifying thought. "He said that he'd come back," he insisted.
Dogkeeper sighed again. She stooped down to pick up the buckets once more, throwing several dirty towels over her shoulder. "If he said he'd come back, then why waste the time looking?" she asked as she put her hand on the door.
That did seem like a reasonable response, but Shion still found it difficult to swallow. Part of him knew that that's what Nezumi had intended for, and that he should remain where the grey-eyed boy had left him, but it was still an undesirable understanding. "Why wait when I could just find him now?" he said.
Dogkeeper laughed as she opened the door. The sound carried along with the sudden squeak of the reluctant wood. "Nezumi might not want to be found," she warned.