Chapter 20 Section VII

The next day, Yamada and I came to that company again.The short man saw us yesterday with a "why are you here again?" expression on his face.After I showed him the tattoo above my left arm, he briskly took us to the elevator down the hall. "Can I ask a question?" In the elevator going up to the top floor, the man asked us this. "According to what I've heard, the tattooed dog should not have a collar, rope or anything..." Pochi is now wearing a collar.The rope attached to the collar was tied to a stake standing beside it so that it could not move.Pochi looked annoyed.

"Yes, the string on the tattoo was added recently." "Why do you need to add a rope up?" "...in order not to let the dog escape." He raised one eyebrow, as if he wanted to say "I really don't understand what you high school girls are thinking". This place should be the president's office.We were ushered in and seated on the couch.The sofa was simply too soft, as if there was a bottomless swamp underneath.A woman with the appearance of a secretary brought us cake and coffee. This was the first time we saw a real secretary, so we discussed in private whether we should ask her to sign for us.

The door was opened, and an old man walked in. It was the old man I rescued in the hospital that day.When he saw me, he smiled wrinkledly and sat across from us. "Do you remember me?" He nodded several times. "Well, I can remember. You left before I thanked you. I didn't even know your name. The only clue was the tattooed dog. It was not easy to find you." He doesn't have the airs of the president of a big company, maybe because of this, we started to chat easily. He was admitted to that hospital for heart surgery, and he said that if I hadn't called for help, he wouldn't be alive now.The president seems to have a daughter who is as old as us. It seems that his actual age is younger than his appearance.

I told him about my family.Although the hope is not high, if there is money for the operation, I want them to have the operation immediately, otherwise I will be left alone in half a year.The president listened carefully to my words and promised to help me bear the cost of the operation. I am so satisfied that if I told my parents about it, they would be overwhelmed with surprise.Maybe when they're happy, they'll start liking me. "By the way, do your parents know about the tattoo on your arm?" He put the glass to his lips.I was taken aback by the heavy looking watch on his wrist.

"I haven't told them yet." The president shook his head, and a smile disappeared from his face. "This is not acceptable. Your body was given by your parents. You should cherish it. You can't just stab something on it. I don't agree with this." His tone is almost like a teacher's preaching. "Yes, it is indeed the precious body I got from my parents, but it is also my body. It is true that I was a little careless when I stabbed this dog, but now I think it is quite good." "But I don't want your body to be stained with this dog pattern, and your parents must have thought so too."

Yamada seemed to have been wanting to say something, but maybe because this topic made her very unhappy, she continued to keep silent.The air in the room also smelled of gunpowder smoke, and the mood became depressed, which was very unpleasant. "It's true that like you said, my parents may be angry about it, but I try to be responsible for the dog tattoo. I never felt that the dog pattern stained my body, please don't put it Tattoos say so badly (badly)." His expression darkened even more. "You might get a tattoo now for fashion, but in a few years, you'll regret it every time you look at it. I didn't expect you to say things like responsibility at such a young age."

I don't want to be reconciled, every time he talks about Pochi's badness, I try my best to defend him.He doesn't know the dog on my arm at all, and it's true that Porch has no good breeding, and he's a coward, a glutton, and sometimes barks at me, but didn't he still save your life? "Please don't speak ill of my dog. Maybe you don't understand the meaning of getting a tattoo, but I got it because I wanted it. So what if I regret it?" I don't know when my voice was crying. For some reason, when I think of Pochi, I can't control it.Without it, I would have been overwhelmed by the fear of being alone six months from now.Although it is a naughty guy, it gave me courage.It doesn't go anywhere, just stays on my skin obediently, looking at me constantly.

I suddenly realized that I really like Pochi.I realize now that I've gotten so much out of it and what a fool I am to want to throw it away!I almost lost out on the responsibility of keeping a dog. "I really like this dog, so please don't speak ill of him." The thought of throwing away Pochi has disappeared, no matter what happens to me from now on, I will continue to raise Pochi.In the eyes of others, it may be just a tattooed dog, but it is irreplaceable to me.When I thought of this, my tear glands suddenly burst. Now I finally feel that I understand Misae and Shigeo's feelings. I am not a good boy like Pochi, but just like I have a deep gratitude to Pochi, they may also have the same feeling for me. emotion.

"Are you OK?" Yamada put his hand on my shoulder, and I whimpered and wiped my nose. Why should I say such exaggerated things to my parents?What do you say "You have the responsibility to support me, but leave me alone, it's too much"!When I made up my mind not to throw Pochi away (keep raising Pochi), I finally understood how my parents felt.Although on the surface they didn't like me very much, it must have been hard for them to leave me alone in this world.I'm an idiot who didn't realize this. To take money home and make them look at me differently is a colossal folly!What I should do is stay with the family members who are going to die soon and spend as much time with them as possible.

Maybe the president is used to people like me crying like this, he said coldly: "If you don't like it, you will cry!" Yamada threw the cake at him, and almost at the same time I splashed coffee in his face. Maybe I was tensed by the commotion around me, but at that moment, Pochi on my left arm also roared.I feel so pitiful for Pochi being nailed to the stake.The quarrel is over. As I was kicked out of the building, I asked the girl at reception: "Do you have a paper knife?" She looked at my crying face with distrust, but she lent us the knife anyway.I made the blade an inch long on the spot, and used it to cut the rope that was tied to Porch in two.This also meant making an incision in the skin of my left arm.Immediately a red line appeared on the arm, and the rope on the tattoo was divided into two sections.

I thanked the girl at the reception and returned the knife to her. At this time, her face had lost all color, and she immediately grabbed the knife with her fingers. In the blink of an eye, Pochi was already jumping and jumping happily, dragging the severed rope.