Chapter 5

“And you’re saying that he did it right as I left?”

Grape nodded as she, Digredior, Mr. and Mrs. Sandwich sat along in the waiting room of the Babylon Garden’s veterinary service.

“Did he say anything?” Digredior asked.

“H-He said that all he could see was ‘him’…”

“Him?”

“You know, the guy who…”

It had only been a few minutes since the Sandwich family arrived with Peanut. Digredior arrived minutes afterward. However, Dreizhen was nowhere to be seen.
“He requested to stay home.” The eccentric man explained earlier.

“He accidently ate my prize-winning Black Forest cake and got terribly sick. So he’s staying home.”

Grape sniffed and wiped a tear from her eye. “I knew he was depressed and all, but I never thought…” The reminder of his sentence was interrupted by a wave of sobs as Grape knelt to the ground and broke down. Digredior knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. What was he supposed to do?

Just then, a nurse came in. Grape instantly stood up and ran to the nurse clutching her leg.

“Is-Is Peanut…?” She stuttered, desperately clinging unto the nurses leg.

The nurse looked down on the purple cat and smiled. “You made it just in time.” She said, watching the signs of relief spread on Grape’s face. She then looked and the Sandwiches and Digredior, her smile gone.

“However, he’s in a very critical situation at the moment, so Dr. Kazuma requested that he’d stay for the night.” She looked back down to Grape, her smile returning instantly. “You can visit him if you’d like.”

---

As Grape approached the medical bed, she looked in great sadness at Peanut’s body. In the sunlight, you could perfectly see how matted and worn his fur was, how he was so thin that you could see his ribs, how the fur on arms and torso were discolored from the dry blood. He looked like a horrific mess.

Digredior walked up next to Grape, his eyes tracing over the weakened dog’s body yet again:

NEW DATA ENTRY: Victim has ATTEMPTED SUICIDE! Analyzing data based on new entry:

Possibility of [SUCCESSFUL] suicide based on acquired data – 85%

Current victim mortality status based on acquired data – HIGHLY CRTITCAL!

Victim’s current mentality based on acquired data: Post traumatic stress disorder, along with hallucinations and delusions that the perpetrator is “everywhere”. This drove the victim to attempted suicide.

Recommended course of action: The victim has minimal chances of recovery, so the best option is Euthanasia.

Current course of action – One-hour therapy session a day until noticeable changes are applied. If not, then I will follow the recommended course of action.

---

Digredior sighed before walking over to a nearby chair and sitting in it. He then looked at Grape.

“Wake him.”

Grape blinked.

“I said, wake him.”

Grape stood there, confused.

“I need to talk to him.”

Grape stared at Digredior for a few minutes before lightly poking at Peanut’s shoulder, causing his eyes to snap open. He lifted himself upward to see Grape and Digredior looking at him. He tilted his head. “Wha-“ was all he managed to say before being hugged by what felt like five million arms, but what was really Grape, Mr. and Mrs. Sandwich.

“M-Mom, Dad, Grape…” Peanut sputtered before he began crying. The reminder of the Sandwich clan followed suit.

Digredior coughed, and the group slowly broke apart. Peanut looked at Digredior with full focus, but his eyes were still empty.

“Hello Peanut.” Digredior said to the weakened hound. “I am S. Digredior. I am a licensed animal therapist and psychologist, and I’m here to help you deal with your, “accident.”

Peanut looked out the window. He was now trying to avoid eye contact with anyone, let alone Digredior. Shame and guilt filled his heart.

“What does the ‘S.’ stand for?” He asked quietly.

“My first name.”

Peanut made a faint smile. It was obviously fake, and with no true emotions holding it up, anyone could tell at that moment how broken Peanut truly was.

---

Digredior arrived at his apartment later in the evening. He was scheduled to meet with Peanut at the Sandwich house every day for one hour.

As he walked into the kitchen, Dreizhen sat there, watching him.

“Had fun?”

“Yes.”

“So, what you find out?”

“Peanut tried to kill himself because the trauma caused by the perpetrator caused him to go into a mental breakdown.”

“Are you going to try and fix it?”

“Of course. That’s my ‘job’, remember?”

Digredior opened a manila folder labeled “SANDWICH, PEANUT BUTTER” and sat down to read the contents. Dreizhen got up and looked over Digredior’s shoulder, whistling.

“Oh dear, did the perpetrator really cause that much trouble?”

Digredior tried to ignore his canine companion, but the dog only giggled.

“You do know it’s hopeless, right?”

Digredior looked up to see Dreizehn standing in front of him, a twisted smile appeared on his face. He giggled again.

“Go away.” Digredior said in a monotonous voice before he continued his reading.
Dreizen then ran behind Digredior and put his muzzle to his ear.

“I said it’s hOpElEss.” Dreizeh snarled into Digredior’s ear, his voice suddenly began to sound disordented and twisted.

“You MiGHT aS WeLL GiVe uP. thAt dOg wIll dIE. i’LL MaKe SuRe oF iT!”

Dreizehn maneuver himself back in front of Digredior, who seemed to not notice his dog’s odd behavior or vocal patterns.

He looked up at Dreizehn. “No, he’ll live. Peanut will live to tell another tale. That is what I’m certain of.”

He said with a half-smile. This only made Dreizehn to laugh.

“wEll thEn, I gUEss YOU shOUld gEt stArtEd thEn. BeCauSe aPPaReNTLy i aLReaDy HaVe The HeaDSTaRT…” Dreizehn then skipped off, laughing.

Digredior closed the file and looked at the picture clipped to the front of it.
It was Peanut. Healthy, laughing, without a care in the world. Digredior placed his fingers on the picture and sighed.

“I’m ready to fight you, Dreizehn.” He said quietly to himself. “But is Peanut ready?”