CAR 24

Dennis’s gaze lingered for a moment on the lowerclassman’s collarbone. He worried that the boy’s bones might break just from brushing past him.

“Yes.”

Despite Dennis’s blunt reply, the lowerclassman nodded earnestly. The lowerclassman, who was three or four steps ahead, occasionally looked back to check the distance between them. Dennis asked nonchalantly.

“I see the younger students mostly just carry materials, is that it?”

“Ah, that’s…”

The lowerclassman touched his hair as if embarrassed. Dennis gave a brief, good-natured smile to put him at ease about his awkward silence. He belatedly realized his question had been rather blunt.

“It’s because not everyone can be like Mr. Vittorio…”

“…Is he that amazing?”

It was when Dennis asked back indifferently. The lowerclassman, who had been scurrying along, stopped dead in his tracks as if he had heard terrible news. His face turned pale as he looked around, worried someone might have overheard.

“…I even came to Volle just to follow him.”

“What I mean is, is he so superior that the entire student body praises him?”

“Of course.”

The lowerclassman’s face flushed red again. He clenched and unclenched his hands, looking at Dennis, at a loss.

“They say that when the former king passed away, Volle was originally scheduled to be closed.”

“Oh my.”

“But…”

He said that the king and queen, after seeing the young Vittorio’s dancing, withdrew the decision to close the school. And at that time, Vittorio had supposedly only been learning ballet for a short while. Nevertheless, he expressed every movement perfectly and memorized the dance music in an instant.

“Do you want to be like Vittorio too, student?”

“No, I…”

Having finished his short speech and praise, the lowerclassman started walking again. Dennis quickened his pace to match. Such a tedious conversation with a young man he hadn’t even exchanged names with. His headache pulsed as his guard naturally lowered.

“I want to steal him away.”

The lowerclassman murmured hazily, as if in a long dream. He then spun around in place and gave Dennis a lonely smile.

Dennis instinctively stopped walking. For some reason, it felt sinful to step on the shadow of the young man walking ahead. As Dennis slowed his pace, someone struck up a conversation with him. It was, without fail, Eric.

‘Looks like you’re taking a liking to that one, eh?’

Get lost. Dennis waved his hand as if swatting away a nuisance. The lowerclassman glanced back at Dennis for a moment.

‘Look at that kid’s knees.’

Dennis’s gaze fell upon the lowerclassman’s knees and the backs of them. There were incongruous bruises on the white legs revealed below his shorts. Dennis repeatedly shook his head to shake off the afterimage of Eric. He felt ashamed for even looking down at the lowerclassman’s legs at his command.

‘Poor thing, looks like he has special training every day…’

So, what? Dennis didn’t understand Eric, who was deliberately pointing out another’s hardship. Then again, he was an incomprehensible being to begin with.

‘I don’t know if that’s the right way.’

Growing annoyed by Eric’s murmuring, Dennis quickened his pace. Finding himself shoulder-to-shoulder with the lowerclassman, Dennis forced himself to erase the look of annoyance from his face and asked a question. He intended to dig up more about Vittorio through their conversation.

“Do you have special training or something?”

“Yes…?”

“Your knees, I mean. Not your ankles, but you have bruises in a place like that.”

“Ah…”

The lowerclassman instantly clammed up like a seashell. Despite wearing shorts, he pulled the short hems down a little to cover his knees.

Noticing the lowerclassman’s awkward gait, Dennis lightly wiped his bare face. It seemed that starting the conversation by borrowing Eric’s words had been a mistake in the first place.

“…There are efforts one doesn’t want others to notice. I was indiscreet.”

“Ah, no…! It’s okay. Since you wouldn’t know anything anyway, teacher…”

The lowerclassman recited caustically with his angelic face. The expression, that you know nothing, was not entirely welcome. He was sick and tired of how much more he had to know about this goddamned school.

“Teacher Guettée gives special training on certain days.”

Dennis’s face darkened for a moment as he recalled Guettée’s oily and brazen face. He was certainly an enthusiastic and diligent person. Although he had passed off an unexpected task onto him, a newly appointed teacher, it had allowed him to learn a little about the students and the situation here, so in retrospect, it hadn’t been a completely useless task.

The lowerclassman’s face grew somewhat dark as he chattered on about the special training, but Dennis casually dismissed it as him finding it difficult to recall the intense practice.

Eric stroked his chin and muttered. Guettée’s special training, I’ve had it many times myself. It’s fucking awful.

“I told you to stop talking.”

“Pardon? Just now, to me…”

“…It’s nothing. I was just thinking of something else.”

Eric clutched his stomach and burst into laughter. The lowerclassman had already lost his enthusiasm for the conversation with Dennis and was crestfallen. Dennis, ruffling his bangs, forced a smile, but the corners of his mouth were stiff.

‘Do you know what Guettée teaches in special training? Let’s see… First, he has a few of them get on all fours.’

Eric suddenly collapsed in front of Dennis. Of course, he had no form, so Dennis simply stepped over him. The lowerclassman was watching Dennis walk somewhat unnaturally, but he had no time to spare.

‘And then he nitpicks about all sorts of things. That their practice clothes are disheveled, or their ankles are thick… He’d harshly mention everything from their body shape to their background. Hey, you want to know what he does after that?’

Eric’s hallucination was, coincidentally, saying only the things Dennis wanted to hear. For instance, things he had realized himself through observing the general rehearsals a couple of times. Guettée would sometimes act high-handedly towards the students. Since he did so even in classes where an observer was clearly present, Dennis had deduced that he must be even more vicious during off-hours.

Reminding himself once again that Eric was nothing more than his own subconscious and guilt, he straightened his back and walked.

‘He only prefers the all-fours position.’

Ah, what truly dreadful and dear times they were. Mumbling as if in a dream, Eric wandered aimlessly between Dennis and the lowerclassman. Dennis, who had snorted, looked at the lowerclassman and replied in a deceptively gentle manner.

“Anyway, special training… He must be someone who guides students with affection, unlike his appearance.”

“…”

“Ah, pretend you didn’t hear the part about his appearance.”

It was when Dennis, now casually making jokes, was about to pass the lowerclassman. They were almost at their destination. Since the lowerclassman did not take Dennis’s class, he and Dennis would now rarely run into each other. The thought that he would not see him again made a glib tone come out naturally.

“Teacher…”

The lowerclassman’s small mumble came from behind. He grabbed Dennis’s elbow without care. He looked somewhat desperate.

“Tea, teacher… do you, by any chance, see ghosts?”

“…What do you mean by that?”

The hesitant lowerclassman began to speak. He rolled his large eyes. His face was hesitant, worried his meddling would become an impertinence.

Dennis suddenly recalled someone’s face. Beyond the hazy memory, uncertain features leaped up and then subsided. As if worried about Dennis, who was touching his forehead, the lowerclassman continued in a trembling voice.

“It’s just, there are some students like that. Dancers who are exhausted from arduous practice and… see things.”

“Unfortunately, I am not a student. Nor do I engage in arduous practice.”

“Ah, I know that. So what I mean is…”

Dennis was now getting rather annoyed with the lowerclassman who now habitually trailed off his sentences. In the first place, it was rude of him to seek help from Dennis, passing over so many other teachers. It was necessary to get along with them, but he refused to be overly friendly.

“I was wondering if it was… spreading among the faculty members too, through word of mouth.”

“What is?”

“Pardon?”

“I suppose a plague is making the rounds?”

It was when Dennis, having replied coolly, was about to leave the lowerclassman and walk away. The student, who had been biting his nails, raised his voice.

“The drug, that makes you see ghosts…!”

As if something like that could be going around. Dennis, who had shrugged, lifted the long curtain that shoddily covered the doorway. Inside, quite a few lowerclassmen were already gathered together, moving materials. There were also those attending to neatly changed upperclassmen.

The lowerclassman, whose face had turned reddish at Dennis’s indifferent reaction, followed him.

“I’m sorry. I was just, worried… I’m sorry.”

What on earth was he worried about?

Dennis, suddenly remembering once again that he had not even exchanged names with him, was about to call out to the lowerclassman. But the lowerclassman vanished into a crowd of people.

As Dennis stepped backstage, he was called from here and there. It seemed they were very short on hands.

It was when Dennis was helping the lowerclassmen move materials. Thomer, looking disheveled unlike his usual self, hurried across the corridor. Spotting Dennis, he slowly slackened his pace. Nevertheless, Dennis deliberately ignored him.

The lowerclassmen, who had been glancing at and trying to talk to the still-unfamiliar Dennis, cleared the way for them. As they scattered in all directions, Thomer, as if he had been waiting, roughly grabbed both of Dennis’s arms. He seemed, for a moment, to be frightened.

“Kahler, you…”

“You?”

“…”

“It’s still working hours, is it not.”