Beastars: A Symphony of Life

Chapter 99: Promising Remembrances

The painted dog returned and curled up next to him, the hybrid wrapping his arm around the small canine. He readjusted himself to use Shoon's arm as a pillow and laid his arm on his chest. The hybrid took his hand in his and kissed him on the top of his head. Then his whole body heaved as a twitch pulled his chest into itself. It wasn't enough to cause serious injury, but it was physically noticeable that his ribcage tried to fold in half through his spine.

"I should probably get my quills pulled out before the wedding, right?" he asked.

"No," Shoji said. "Keep them. If you get them stylized instead of that wild, unkempt look you had before, I think they could look quite nice."

"Know any 'quill stylists'?" he giggled.

"I don't but one of my old coworkers, technically your employee, does," the canine answered the joke seriously. "I could get you in touch with them."

"Who is it?" he asked.

"Wakino."

"Ah," the hybrid said, processing the name with the face. "And they know this stylist...how?"

"A friend of a friend of a friend."

"Hmm," Shoon hummed. "One of those kinds of acquaintances."

"What do you mean by that?" Shoji asked, looking up at him.

"Nothing bad," he answered, reassuringly rubbing his head.

They lay there in the quiet room, the only sound was the muffled skittering of crickets and cockroaches in their plastic bins. Morrígan, as always, made zero sound as she slept with ever seeing, open eyes.

"We should get rid of that thing," Shoon said, breaking the silence and pointing his chin towards the painting on the ceiling. "I mean, who puts a priceless painting on their ceiling?"

"Shoon?" Shoji said, trying to get his attention.

"Not only that but it just disturbs me now," he continued.

"Shoon!" Shoji repeated, loud enough that he had to have heard him.

The hybrid stayed silent.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

The hybrid's arm twitched under his head. Not a twitch induced by the seizures, but a nervous twitch.

"About what?" he asked, keeping his eyes blankly staring up at the ceiling.

"About this," Shoji said, propping up on his arm. "The fact that...you know..."

"The fact that I'm dying?" Shoon asked bluntly, finishing his fiance's question. "The fact that I'll only live one fifth the length of a normal life? The fact that Death is wrenching me from my mortal coil before I've truly lived?"

"Yeah," Shoji said, being as understanding as possible and keeping as calm as he could.

Shoon sighed shakily before sitting up and leaning against the headboard.

"I won't lie and say I'm not scared of the unknown," Shoji said. "Anyone who says otherwise with a straight face is trying to sell something and I hate phony salesmen. Which is one of the reasons I'm not particularly religious. It's really the only thing that truly petrifies me. It keeps me up at night, which is why I do my best not to think about it. But I need to make peace with it because, even without this disease, I will face it at some point. We all will. I already have and don't remember a thing, if there is anything being kept from me by this physical brain tissue that I can't process. It was like taking a sudden, short, induced nap and waking up half rotten."

He was holding himself together, but Shoon saw the horror creeping behind his eyes as he faced the abyss a second time, this one being more permanent sleep. It may have appeared to be a miracle from the outside that he had somehow revived himself, but no one should have to die twice. He moved up and hugged him close, comforting him as best he could, listening to his ramblings. Just like old times.