Lavo Standard (7) (7-13-09)

Having left the school, Akichalo was near the Ichikawa station. Although it was not the first time for him to go there, both the higher eye level and a variety of colors as humans had, helped him enrich his visual field and perceive people to look even more lively around buildings. As Akichalo entered shops and stores, many kinds of goods on display were dazzling.

Yet at dusk, in front of a building close by the station’s northern exit, a bald, short and squat man putting on a mustache, a dark suit and a tie over a white business shirt looked aged around 50 and was performing a stand-up comedy. Just every few pedestrians stopped their walks to see the performance, and appeared to play down it. An upended derby which was placed between him and the audience did not contain a note but some coins. As well, Akichalo didn’t take his performance as enjoyable which generously made repetitive use of a one-liner, “It’s havoc!” Only a cat which was politely sitting by the performer seemed to be beholding him, whether it was paying attention. Pedestrians may be more interested in the cat, actually.

While Akichalo was enjoying a human life, intrinsic abilities to dogs remained even higher and let him catch sounds from a distance.

He wouldn’t go his separate ways.

“Libro, Takeko is missing me and singing for me. Can I revert to a dog? Human life was exciting, but this is not my home state. I may be wanting to live as a dog with Takeko,” wearing a somewhat apologetic smile to himself after going into raptures with the human body, Akichalo, however, looked content.

“(Of course you can, Akichalo. I’ll get out of you. I may just be wanting a safe place where few people come by. And I’ll try to meet Juno again to thank her and her family for accepting me.)”

“Are you not upset at all about what Suzan did to you? You are way lenient.”

“(And Akichalo, thank you as well. Please tell Takeko my thanks as you go back home.)”

Akichalo and Libro might meet together again, but they understood that Suzan’s house was no longer a safe place.

“Libro, your special abilities will help you meet Juno. Just be careful not to expose yourself to people. You must know they’ll exploit you.”

During a walk to the northwest from the station, televisions in shops, stores and restaurants were telecasting a footage with Libro, with an attachment about the disappearance of Daryl.

Climbed a series of stony stairs into trees, there was just a small park by the landing, where sat a swing, a sandbox, a jungle gym and a tent made of blue tarpaulin. The shape and the size of the tent conjured up a prefabricated house. Akichalo knew this park after Katz once took Juno, him and Takeko to his baseball game held at a nearby field, though Juno was not interested in baseball. And Akichalo believed that this park would be solitary for Libro. Here, Libro separated from the human body and reverted to a slime while Akichalo reverted to a Cavalier.

“(Akichalo, thank you for all.)”

“Take care, Libro.”

Absent people, the park might be safe for Libro, but it was a spooky pot of darkness surrounded by tall trees. It was an ironic pic that he was solely bright reacting to conditions of the time. Libro tried to sleep at a corner of the jungle gym, but ceaseless fears prevented him. That was the tent in which someone as poor as a homeless man perhaps resided. With no temperatures of animals around either, even catching the sight of a man of this sort would alleviate Libro’s fears, though. One advantage would be that the man would not seem to have communication nor social credence for reporting Libro.

Crescendo footsteps informed him that someone was approaching, to meet such an expectation. The contour of a man noticed Libro and got closer to him. He can be unfriendly or even dangerous, but his voice would immediately rebut the case.

“Who are you? What are you doing here?,” the owner of the warm tone of the voice was that street comedian.

His name was Keyron while that of his female cat was Jade. Keyron was discovered to be a kind man: In the almost surprisingly tidied up room with its floor made of wooden planks, he served Libro a kind of pastry. And accumulated hunger had Libro gobble it up.

“Ha-ha-ha, I saw you on the TV news” Keyron let loose his cracking laughter.

“But don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone about you. I just want to amuse people and become popular by my comedy performance, not by owning, making you public.”

What kind of person Keyron is, Libro was made curious about him through the contact, and asked Jade, a tortie and white.

According to Jade, he was temporarily making a living by performing street comedy whose position could not settle for a hobby for him. He was in his early 50s and had been covertly aiming to succeed as a comedian even having done away with marriage. His parents were healthy with no major conditional problems, making a contrast to some others in the same age group. While pursuing the dream and juggling some part-time jobs, he had lived together with his parents in a decent house. As his parents received pensions after retirement he had no difficulty about money, and this condition allowed him to make a spontaneous venture on the off chance: he quit all part-time jobs and started to live a quasi-homeless life. It was true that whenever a younger person or a foreigner was employed Keyron felt pressure, but he didn’t have to quit jobs. His age might have made him determined and focused on comedy. Or, the cause of the voluntary action might have just been the middle age crisis. He often went back home on a weekend. He performed two or three times a day near the Ichikawa station.

“I wish Keyron would find a regular job and sideline comedy as a hobby or a side-job. Either would be enough to satisfy himself and make others familiar with comedy, though I would scratch his face if he was courting any woman,” said Jade.

“But Libro, do you not think a man looks coolest when he engages in something difficult?”

The next day, Saturday, when Keyron was leaving for the Ichikawa station for the first performance before noon, he could not find both Jade and Libro. There was no choice for him but to go to the place alone. While he was doing stand-up as usual, a young beautiful lady in sailor-style school uniform solely kept attention to his performance. Her bright eyes and calm however confident smile made Keyron blush. The trick was that Libro had helped Jade become a human. Keyron was unaware that her clothes were his possessions.