Chapter 98: Attention

M'Baku felt troubled. He knew that Taro was strong. However, from this exchange of looks, he felt as if Taro could beat the shit out of a hundred caninos. Although that doesn't prove the claims of his capability to destroy a planet, M'Baku did agree that he majorly underestimated him, and he should be extremely careful around Taro.

The next day was bizarre… at least for everyone in the Holy Land except for Taro and M'Baku. They had the pleasure to see M'Baku walk on his two legs serving lemon tea to Taro, the guy reading the newspaper. Hoping for a similar treatment from the canino, the rest of them sat around reading a newspaper as well. However, M'Baku didn't bat an eye towards their antics. Not only that, he even served breakfast to the seated Taro. The aliens, John and Thankappan were utterly confused about the treatment Taro received and tried questioning both parties about it. However, neither of them said anything about it and treated it as if it was a normal occurrence, which did nothing other than increasing their curiosity. However, the more enthusiastic they were about it, the more tight-lipped Taro and M'Baku became.

Anyway, the time to head towards school arrived and as usual, Thankappan was hopping around, saying that the time is not right yet. And then suddenly, he barged through the front door and met Shivani, which was totally a coincidence. Although he did say coincidence, both Shivani and his roommates knew that this was carefully planned. However, they were curious as to how he knew the exact time she left, even when it is a bit early or really late. The doubts about Thankappan's existence a creep who plants a camera in someone else's house was the most prevalent one, since he had all the powers to be one.

While Thankappan spoke some random gibberish to Shivani, the girl was focused on something else. She saw Charlie peeking out of #306, which surprised her. "Charlie! Ah, you were in your home, huh? I was kinda worried when you didn't head here after having your food." She headed straight towards the "dog" and patted his head.

"Hmm, that's where he heads to after six o'clock, huh… I knew he was in your room for the most part, but I didn't know that was the case in the morning as well." Taro spoke.

"Oh, I'm sorry for not informing you about that." Shivani bowed her head and apologized.

"Meh, don't worry about that. You're taking care of him for the most part after all. I should actually thank you for that." He smiled, at which Shivani sighed in relief.

"Well, I like him. And it isn't that I'm taking care of him. It's more like he's keeping me company." Shivani spoke as she stroked Charlie's head.

"Hmm, seems like you're quite fond of him…" Taro replied in somewhat of a playful tone.

"Yea… I really like him." Shivani replied firmly. She wasn't playful about it or something. She actually was fond of Charlie. Hearing this, M'Baku wanted to give her a hug, however she was wearing the uniform, and he didn't want to mess that up. So instead of that, he took turns looking at both Taro and Shivani with a thankful look on his eyes, to which Taro gave out a thumbs up.

#

Last night. After the failed attempt, M'Baku couldn't sleep even when he was pretty sleepy. He tried doing so, however the lingering doubt on Taro strangling him to death while he was sleeping, kept him awake. Like, it was a possibility he couldn't deny. So, his body in entirety was vigilant against the imminent threat. Meanwhile, the power went off due to the rain and stuff, giving the Holy Land more of an eerie atmosphere, which made M'Baku even more alert.

Since he couldn't sleep, he decided to walk around inside the atmosphere. That's when he saw it. Taro sitting before a window, watching the rain droplets hit on the window with a thud sound each time it does so. He was watching it with so much interest; M'Baku couldn't even comprehend the situation. He believed that the lack of a proper balcony in this room was what made Taro sit before the window like this.

"How long are you gonna stand there like that? Come sit in the chair if you're here because you couldn't sleep. Maybe we'll have a quick chat." Taro didn't even look back at M'Baku as he spoke, The canino followed Taro's orders without missing a beat as he took a seat next to Taro.

"So, what are you doing?" M'Baku asked.

"Can't you see? I'm enjoying the rain." Taro spoke in a rather monotonous voice, which kinda surprised M'Baku since he had never seen him speak that way.

"Well, if you wanted to enjoy the rain, you should've opened the window or headed out or something. You can't even see the rain in this cheap blurred window now, can you?" M'Baku asked.

"Hmm, I hate getting soaked in rain. I know it's just water on this planet. However, the rain back in Wados still annoys me to hell…" Taro spoke with an annoyed expression.

"Rain in Wados, huh… Hyaluronic acid… Ah, the sticky stuff. No wonder why you hate rain so much…" M'Baku replied with a chuckle.

"So, how come you didn't sleep? Are you maybe afraid that I'll choke you while you sleep? Makes sense, if you thought of me as a psychopath. Do you think of me as a psychopath?" Taro asked him with a straight face, which made it difficult for M'Baku to answer.

"Nah… I don't think of you as a psychopath…" M'Baku replied, giving out a nervous laughter. He had heard about how actual psychopaths don't like hearing the truth about their mental instability, so he was concerned.

"Trying to lie when your face gives out the truth is the worst thing, isn't it?" This time around, Taro was the one who laughed. However, this one laughter made M'Baku even more worried about his life. He didn't even know that people could judge canino's expressions. The canino species were special in that aspect. Since they looked… different from the others who looked like humanoids, people found it difficult to decipher their expressions. So, a tinge of guilt in their face when they blatantly lie couldn't be caught by others that easily. However, M'Baku had one before him who could see that. Although, he believed in the possibility of it being a bluff as well, since his voice seemed plenty nervous.

"..." Even though numerous stuff went through his brain, he didn't express it before Taro.

The Wadorian sighed. "Anyway, you were pissed off at me because I was talking to Shivani, right?" He asked.

"Well, that... Also, all she talks about when she returns home is about you. That pisses me off as well" M'Baku spoke the truth that had been annoying him for days.

"Hmm, She isn't giving you any attention these days, right? Seems like that irks you as well." Taro replied.

"How did you?"

"What? Did you think I'm blind or something? Why else would you try to do shit like what you tried, other than grabbing her attention?" Taro sighed. M'Baku was a bit iffy about talking things like this to Taro, however it seemed as if the Wadorian possessed knowledge that deserved respect. "Anyway, the way of approach is all wrong. What made you think that messing with me will earn you brownie points before her? Wouldn't that inadvertently make her hate you and like me?" Taro asked. M'Baku had never thought of that. He suddenly realized his mistake.

"What should I do now?" He asked, with his head down.

"Hey… Do you even know why she doesn't give you that much attention?" Taro asked back.

"No… Had I known, I would've tried to change myself or something." M'Baku replied.

"You idiot. It's not that you made some grave mistake or something. It's just that she treats you like family now." Taro spoke.

"Huh?"

"Initially she might've poured you with immense affection since you're the neighbor's dog that she can't see much. However, since you freely went over there every other time, she thought of you as her own family. Like, she believed that you ain't gonna go nowhere." Taro replied.

"Isn't that great?" M'Baku smiled as he spoke.

"It is good. However, you won't get the attention you crave for if you head there like that. I mean, you know why she talks about me that much? Because there's a chance that I made an impact in her mind with the little amount of time I took the classes for her that day. You do know that the less time you spent with a person, the more impressionable they are. Since you're always there, she kinda takes it for granted. So… now that you know about it, you still wanna get her attention?" He asked.

"Well, gaining her attention once or twice will be pretty nice if you ask me." M'Baku replied.

"Is that so? Then do as I say. Don't just head over to their room the first thing in the morning. And everything else will flow just the way you want." Taro spoke with utter confidence beaming from his face.

#