"Father," Izumi said, surprised and saddened to see his dad in such a state.
"Izumi, are you hungry?" his father asked, slurring slightly from the alcohol.
"I ate earlier. What about you?" Izumi replied.
"You should cut back on drinking; you need to eat something..." Izumi suggested.
"Okay," his father said before taking another sip from his glass.
"I looked it up online; they recommended hiring a housekeeper in situations like this," Izumi continued.
His father set his glass down and turned his gaze toward Izumi. "What situations?"
"I mean, regarding Mom... when someone who used to care for your meals suddenly disappears..." Izumi struggled to express his thoughts clearly.
"How can you think about replacing... don't worry about it," his father snapped, reaching for his glass again, his tone angry.
"If you think hiring a housekeeper is a good idea, then go ahead," his father added, downing the contents of his glass.
Late into the night, Izumi struggled with insomnia, his body sprawled on the bed while his mind remained active, analyzing everything, which disturbed him. Meanwhile, Migi was as usual glued to the computer, lost in a world of knowledge whenever the opportunity arose.
The room was completely quiet, the computer screen illuminating the space, and the sound of Migi typing filled the air.
Izumi decided to share what was on his mind during those moments. "I wonder if there's something wrong with my heart," Izumi said.
"Like what?" Migi replied, his focus still on his world.
"I can't cry anymore; I couldn't shed a tear over something as shocking as my mother's death," Izumi confessed.
"Is that all it is?" Migi said dismissively.
"You wouldn't understand what I'm saying. How could you? We're not the same kind. I feel like I lost something, something important about being human," Izumi expressed.
"That doesn't make sense," Migi replied, continuing with his interests.
Morning arrived, and Morano waited for Izumi to come out of his house at the end of the alley. She waved her hand at him when she spotted him stepping outside.
As they walked side by side, Migi felt restless and tried to distract himself by focusing his hearing on every word spoken around them: "Come on, darling, let's move to the next level; it's amazing. Let's take a taxi; I'm hungry. Hurry, he's sick; he's far from where we are."
Izumi could hear every conversation happening nearby, which caused a sharp headache if he continued to listen to every dialogue. As his focus waned, the conversations blended together, creating an unbearable noise in his ears. Since Migi had given him life and infused his cells into his body, his senses had become extraordinarily sharp.
Izumi heard a whimper, a creature in pain. He stopped walking and placed his hands over his ears as a delivery truck passed by.
"What's wrong?" Morano asked.
"Nothing," Izumi replied, placing a hand on his head, forcing a smile.
He paused for a moment, then said to Morano, "Sorry, can you go on without me?"
Izumi focused his hearing on the source of the whimper and followed the sound. "It's crying, crying for help," he thought aloud.
In the middle of the highway, on the plastic divider that separated the lanes, he found a small white puppy that had been hit by a car, unconscious with blood dripping from its mouth onto the ground.
Izumi crossed the road to check if the puppy was still alive. He placed his hand on its pulse and said, "Can we help him?"
"I don't think so. Its internal organs are likely fractured beyond repair," Migi replied.
"It will die soon, no more than ten minutes," Migi added.
With a rigid expression that betrayed nothing, Izumi picked up the puppy and headed to the nearest park, cradling it in his arms and petting it gently.
"I'm sorry, we can't help you..." Izumi said as he sat down with the puppy in his lap. "But this is better than dying in a noisy place like this, isn't it?" he added.
The scene had an incredible impact on Murano as she followed Izumi to discover where he intended to go without her. She sat beside him, immensely impressed by what Izumi had done.
"He's dying…" Izumi said.
"Izumi, I felt scared. I thought you had changed. I mean… you made me feel safe," Murano said.
Izumi couldn't grasp what Murano was talking about and just stared at her in silence.
"After you returned from the trip, I felt you had become a bit cold emotionally, but after this, I admit I was foolish to think that. You're being very kind now," Murano added.
"He's dead!" Izumi exclaimed.
"What?" Murano asked.
"His heart has stopped beating," Izumi said, then stood up.
"Let's go! We're late," Izumi added.
Murano stood up and took a few steps ahead of Izumi, while he changed how he held the puppy's body, now carrying it like a plastic bag.
The sound of the trash can lid caught Murano's attention, and she turned around to see Izumi placing the puppy's body inside it.
"Izumi!!!" Murano was shocked by the scene and shouted.
"How could you do this?!" she yelled at Izumi.
"I can't believe you threw the puppy in the trash! Don't you realize how awful that is?" Murano added, noticing that Izumi showed no signs of remorse.
"Do you think the janitor will be angry?" Izumi replied.
"That's not what I mean! The puppy! Since when do we dispose of deceased creatures in trash cans?! Poor puppy!" Murano exclaimed.
"Poor? But he's dead!" Izumi said.
"But, but that's not… how can I explain something you should already know?" Sadness was evident on Murano's face.
"He's dead; a dead dog isn't a dog anymore, just a piece of meat," Izumi explained his perspective.
In disbelief, Murano said, tears filling her eyes, "You've changed. You're completely different. The Izumi I knew wouldn't have done something so heinous..."
"Izumi," he called out as Murano walked away upset.
"Different? Changed? I'm tired of all this nonsense I hear all the time," Izumi thought aloud.
He returned to the bench where he had been sitting, looking up at the sky.
"Migi, Migi, come on, I know you're here," Izumi called out.
Migi appeared, unenthusiastic, "What's up?"
"You were listening; you heard everything that was said, right?" Izumi asked.
"It seems I said some foolish things based on her reaction. What was wrong with what I said?" Izumi wondered.
"You didn't do anything wrong, not from my perspective, but you're different from how you used to be," Migi replied, receiving a look of surprise from Izumi. He was the last being Izumi expected to join the 'You've changed' team.
"Just a piece of meat? I'd expect something like that from you," Migi remarked.
Izumi fell silent for a moment, then said, "I understand. Thanks, Migi."
After considering Migi's opinion and realizing his mistake, Izumi retrieved the puppy's body from the trash can to dig a proper grave for it under a tree in the park. He gently covered it with dirt, trying to level it with the ground.
"The puppy's body will decompose and nourish this tree. If I had done this from the beginning, I wouldn't have left such a bad impression on Murano," Izumi said to himself.
Izumi headed to the university, his only goal being to mend things with Murano. In the corridor of the classrooms, he stood waiting for her to appear, hoping to talk to her, but things didn't go as he wished. The moment Murano saw Izumi, she ran away, avoiding any conversation.
"I guess there's nothing I can do now. I'll give her some space for a while," Izumi thought aloud.
"Izumi," Migi called out, ready to share something.
"There's one of my kind here," Migi said.
"What? How is that possible?" Izumi replied.