problem. If your owner runs a sushi shop, you tend to have a bit of a cholesterol problem. Jumping up and down's not easy when you're carrying some excess pounds.'
'Well, tell me then, Toro, is there some reason you're here?'
'There is,' the black cat said. 'I thought you might be having a hard time dealing with that stone all alone.'
'You got that right. Definitely. I'm in kind of a bind here.'
'I thought I'd lend you a hand.'
'That would be great,' Hoshino said. 'Take a paws in your schedule, huh?'
'The stone's the problem,' Toro said, shaking his head to get rid of a buzzing fly. 'Once you get the stone back the way it belongs, your job's over. You can go wherever you want after that. Do I have that right?'
'Yup, you got it. Once I get the stone closed that's all she wrote. Like Mr. Nakata said, once you open something up you got to close it. That's the rule.'
'That's why I thought I'd show you what to do.'
'You know what I should do?' Hoshino asked, excited.
'Of course,' the cat said. 'What'd I tell you? Cats know everything. Not like dogs.'
'So what should I do?'
'You have to kill it,' the cat said soberly.
'Kill it?' Hoshino said.
'That's right. You've got to kill it.'
'Who is this it you're talking about?'
'You'll know it when you see it,' the black cat explained. 'Until you actually see it, though, you won't understand what I mean. It doesn't have any real form to begin with. It changes shape, depending on the situation.'
'Is this a person we're talking about?'
'No, it's no person. That's for certain.'
'So what does it look like?'
'You got me,' Toro said. 'Didn't I just explain? That you'll know it when you see it, and if you don't you won't? What about that don't you understand?'
Hoshino sighed. 'So what is this thing's real identity?'
'You don't need to know that,' the cat said. 'It's hard to explain. Or maybe I should say you're better off not knowing. Anyhow, right now it's biding its time. Lying in some dark place, breathing quietly, watching and waiting. But it's not going to wait forever. Sooner or later it'll make its move. I'm figuring today is the day. And it will most definitely pass in front of you. It's an opportune moment.'
'Opportune?'
'A one-in-a-million chance,' the black cat said. 'All you have to do is wait and kill it. That will put an end to it. Then you're free to go wherever you like.'
'Isn't that against the law?'
'I wouldn't know about the law,' Toro said, 'being a cat and all. Since it's not a person, though, I doubt the law has anything to do with it. Anyhow, it's got to be killed. Even your typical cat next door like me can see that.'
'Okay, say I want to kill it-how am I supposed to do it? I don't have any idea how big it is or what it looks like. Hard to plan a murder when you don't know the basic facts about the victim.'
'It's up to you. Smash it with a hammer if you like. Stab it with a carving knife. Strangle it. Burn it. Bite it to death. Whatever works for you-but the main thing is you've got to kill it. Liquidate it with extreme prejudice. You were in the Self-Defense Force, am I right? Used taxpayers' money to learn how to shoot a rifle? How to sharpen a bayonet? You're a soldier, so use your head and figure out the best way to kill it.'
'What I learned in the SDF was what to do in a war,' Hoshino protested weakly. 'They never trained me to ambush and kill something whose size and shape I don't even know-with a hammer, no less.'
'It'll be trying to get in through the entrance,' Toro went on, ignoring Hoshino's protests. 'But you can't let it- no matter what. You've got to make sure you kill it before it gets inside the entrance. Got it? Let it slip by you, and that's the end.'
'A one-in-a-million chance.'
'Exactly,' Toro said. 'Though that's just a figure of speech.'
'But isn't this thing pretty dangerous?' Hoshino asked fearfully. 'It might turn the tables on me.'
'It's probably not all that dangerous when it's on the move,' the cat said. 'Once it stops moving, though, watch out. That's when it's dangerous. So when it's on the move, don't let it get away. That's when you've got to finish it off.'
'Probably?' Hoshino said.
The black cat didn't reply to that. He narrowed his eyes, stretched on the guardrail, and slowly got to his feet. 'I'll be seeing you, Mr. Hoshino. Remember to kill it. If you don't do that, Mr. Nakata will never rest in peace. You liked the old man, didn't you?'
'Yeah. He was a good man.'
'So you've got to kill it. Liquidate it with extreme prejudice, as I said. Mr. Nakata would've wanted you to. So do it for him. You've taken on his role now. You've always been a happy-go-lucky type, never taking responsibility for anything, right? Now's the chance to make up for that. Don't blow it, okay? I'll be rooting for you.'
'That's encouraging,' Hoshino said. 'Oh, hey-I just thought of something.'
'What?'
'Maybe the entrance stone is still open to lure it in?'
'Could be,' Toro said diffidently. 'One more thing. It only makes a move very late at night. So you should sleep during the day to make sure you don't fall asleep late and let it get away. That would be a catastrophe.'
The black cat leaped nimbly onto the roof next door, straightened his tail, and walked away. For such a huge cat he was light on his feet. Hoshino watched from the veranda as the cat disappeared. Toro didn't look back even once.
'Man alive,' Hoshino said, then went back into the kitchen to scout around for potential weapons. He found an extremely sharp kitchen knife, plus another heavy knife shaped like a hatchet. The kitchen had only a rudimentary assortment of pots and pans, but quite a collection of knives. In addition he selected a large, hefty hammer and some nylon rope. An ice pick rounded out his arsenal.
Here's where a nice automatic rifle would come in handy, he thought as he rummaged around the kitchen. He had been trained to shoot automatic rifles in the SDF, and was a decent marksman. Not that he expected to find a rifle in a cupboard somewhere. If anybody ever shot off an automatic rifle in a quiet neighborhood like this, there'd be hell to pay.
He laid all his weapons down on the living-room table-the two knives, ice pick, hammer, and rope. He put a flashlight beside them, then sat down next to the stone and began rubbing it.
'Jeez,' Hoshino said to the stone. 'A hammer and knives to fight something, and I don't even know what it is? With a black cat from the neighborhood calling the shots? What the hell kind of deal is this?'
The stone, of course, withheld comment.
'Toro said it probably wasn't dangerous. Probably? But what if something out of Jurassic Park springs up? What the hell am I supposed to do then, huh? I'd be a goner.'
No response.
Hoshino grabbed the hammer and swung it around a few times.
'If you think about it, it's all fate. From the time I picked up Mr. Nakata at the rest area till now, it's like fate decided everything. The only one who hasn't had a clue has been me. Fate is one strange thing, man,' Hoshino said. 'Right? What's your take on it?'
The stone maintained its stony silence.
'Well, what can you do, right? I'm the one who chose this path, and I've got to see it through to the end. Kind of hard to imagine what repulsive thing's gonna pop out-but I'm okay with that. Got to give it my best shot. Life's short, and I've had some good times. Toro said this is a one-in-a-million chance. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go out in a blaze of glory. At least try to win one for the old guy. For Mr. Nakata.'
