The Lying Counselor’s Eloquent Reasoning - Chapter 21
The first was the sound of the television, which Tetsuo watched every day incessantly. Suddenly, he couldn’t hear it anymore. Initially, Tetsuo assumed it was a malfunction of the television, but his wife seemed to be able to hear it. Only Tetsuo’s ears were unable to hear it. Could this be the side effect of the medicine that the man had mentioned? Tetsuo finally recalled Uroma’s warning.
Furthermore, the sound of the television was not the only thing he stopped hearing. As the days went by, various sounds gradually disappeared from Tetsuo’s hearing. The sound of birds chirping; the ringing of the phone; the sound of cars; the sound of leaves swaying in the wind… And finally, he could no longer hear his wife’s voice at all. Tetsuo was greatly dismayed. By that time, he had stopped taking the medicine, but the sounds that had disappeared from his hearing failed to return. He couldn’t even converse with his wife anymore, leaving him in a deep uneasiness. What would happen to me? If things continue like this, I’ll probably lose my hearing completely…
“N-No, that’s not possible!”
Tetsuo eventually had enough, so he grabbed the medicine he had been given and headed back to Uroma’s counseling room.
“Oi, what the hell is going on! This drug is causing all the sound to disappear!”
Upon entering the room, he shouted at Uroma. A high school girl who was sitting on a folding chair beside Uroma, apparently studying her English vocabulary book, shrugged her shoulders as if startled by Tetsuo’s fierce behavior.
However, Uroma was calm and collected.
“Mr. Ishikawa, it’s because you aren’t following my instructions. You know, I often advise people to use medicines strictly according to their dosage.”
“Shut up! What do you mean by ‘dosage’! How can you say that when you’re pushing this dangerous medicine on me!”
“No, I’ve warned you from the very beginning. If you misuse this drug, it will produce terrible side effects, so please be cautious.”
Despite Tetsuo’s fury, Uroma was really nonchalant. Is he the devil or something? Tetsuo gritted his teeth and glared at him. He had the appearance of a demon.
And then, suddenly, Uroma smirked at him.
“But that doesn’t mean that there is no solution at all. There is actually a medicine that can restore the sound that you lost your ability to hear, Mr. Ishikawa.”
“R-Really!” Tetsuo was instantly on the edge of the seat, snapping at Uroma’s words. “Can it be restored! My hearing!”
“Well, in a sense, yes. So to speak, it is a special medicine that counteracts the side effects of the drug. However, I don’t recommend it because this is a bit of a stimulant drug.”
“I don’t care! Hurry up and give it to me!”
He was now grasping at straws.
“Well, here you go. Please take it right away.”
As before, Uroma unceremoniously pulled out a vial of medicine from his desk drawer and handed it to Tetsuo. This time, only one pill was in the vial. Without hesitation, Tetsuo opened the bottle and took the medicine. There was no other choice.
“The effect of the medicine will be delayed slightly. By tomorrow morning, you should be able to hear again the sounds you’ve lost.”
“I understand.”
Apparently, it was a relief. Tetsuo trusted Uroma’s words and went straight home that day.
And the next morning – Tetsuo was awakened by an ear-splitting, tremendous roar.
“W-What’s this!”
Leaping up from the futon, he inquired the origin of the noise and found that it seemed to be the chirping of birds in the trees just outside his house. For some reason, he could hear it at a tremendous volume.
Then his wife approached him.
“What are you fussing over this whole morning?”
The sound of her voice was equally unbearable as the chirping of the birds. Tetsuo panicked and covered his ears with his hands. Yet even that was powerless to block out the noise from his surroundings. The birds’ voices were as loud as ever; his wife kept asking Tetsuo curiously what was going on. Her voice was incredibly high-pitched.
Is this because of that pill I took yesterday!
Tetsuo immediately guessed the cause. Yes, it must be due to the medicine that he had been offered yesterday by that shady guy called Uroma. That guy had told him. If he took this medicine, he would be able to hear the lost sounds again the following morning. At the same time, he also stated that this is a bit of a stimulant medicine…
“How do you called this ‘stimulating’! It’s practically poison!”
Tetsuo, who hadn’t foreseen such a result, was beyond furious. What a vicious man that Uroma is. How dare he harass me in the short time I have left!?
Tetsuo, therefore, decided to visit the man again to file a complaint. But then, mysteriously, he couldn’t remember the location of the man. Furthermore, the flyer that was supposed to indicate the location of the counseling room had also vanished. It had been left on top of the shoebox in the entryway, but his wife must have disposed of it, for there was now nothing but a flyer for a pizza shop.
“Damn!”
Tetsuo gritted his teeth as he struggled to endure the various and inordinately high levels of noise from the outside environment.