Chapter Text
“I can’t wait to meet her, senpais.”
Yuuta shoots a smile over his shoulder at Yuuji, who follows them dutifully down the block to their home. “We’ve trained her not to jump but she still goes a little crazy meeting new people.”
Maki grunts in amusement, recalling the first time Gojo came over after they adopted her and how he ended up on the floor covered in slobber. Not that their teacher complained much. His energy was more than matched by Onigiri.
It was a beautiful day outside so before they had gone to meet Yuuji at the train station, they had left Onigiri in the small, walled yard on the side of their home. Like most homes in Japan, their house is situated near the street with little land. It works for the couple, as they have no cars or children, and very little in the way of material items. Their tiny yard had been decorated by Yuuta upon moving in. It’s his miniature, silent oasis in the middle of bustling Tokyo.
Onigiri loves the yard. She and Yuuta spend hours out there in the sun. Maki often joins them, curling up on the hanging egg chair that her husband installed specifically for her. It’s the sort of domestic bliss younger Maki would have turned up her nose at. She smiles quietly to herself, thinking of how repressed she used to be, of how Yuuta eased her out of her shell.
“Next time, I’ll bring Yuko. She apologizes for not being able to come.” Yuuji explains as they stop at the Okkotsus’ front door. “Trains make her sick now.”
Yuuta waves off the apology, “It’s fine, we’ll come to you guys after the baby is born. Know the gender yet?”
“No-ope!” Yuuji pops his lips, “We want it to be a surprise!”
“She’ll be a girl, I can feel it,” Maki says, unlocking the front door. The trio slips inside, replacing their tennis shoes with softer slippers in the genkan. “I’m never wrong.”
Yuuji’s eyes sparkle, “A little girl…!”
Sensing they are about to lose Yuuji to his daydreams of pigtails and giggles, Maki sets off for the sliding glass door that opens up to their yard. Her brows furrow as she approaches. Usually, Onigiri would already be at the glass, panting so hard that it fogs. She is nowhere in sight. Maybe she’s still napping and didn’t hear them approach?
Maki opens the door and steps into the yard. With how small it is, there are not many places a big dog like Onigiri could hide.
She looks to the left, and then to the right. “Onigiri, come here.” She orders.
She feels Yuuta’s approach, his body heat seeping into her side. He calls, “Onigiri?”
Turning on her heel, Maki nearly knocks Yuuji over as she marches back inside. The younger man glances between them, immediately sensing the tension, “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“Didn’t we leave her outside?” Maki asks Yuuta as she searches the kitchen and living room. “Onigiri, come here now!”
Yuuta nods but doesn’t move to follow his wife. Instead, he gestures for Yuuji to follow him and they go back into the yard.
Their dog is nowhere inside, either. Maki feels a sudden horrible sensation in her chest. Something akin to the shackles of her nightmares. Maintaining her stoic demeanor, she joins the men outside. Yuuta and Yuuji are at the far wall.
“What is it?” She demands.
“Maki-senpai, look,” Yuuji gestures to the wall. “I think I know how she got out.”
Next to the wall is one of the patio chairs Yuuta had purchased when they first moved in. Some dirt darkens the cushion. She looks up and sees the same tracks of dirt on top of the wall.
Yuuta sighs, “She jumped it.”
“That damn-” Without warning, Maki reaches up, grabs the lip of the wall, and easily pulls herself up and over. Yuuta and Yuuji soon join her on the other side.
Trepidation coils in her gut. Onigiri could’ve gone anywhere, and on a busy Tokyo street, the dangers were everywhere. Cars, animal control, cruelty—the world is an unsafe place for a creature as weak as a dog.
Weak like a child, weak like Mai-
She digs her teeth into the inside of her lip before speaking, “I’ll check our walking spots.”
“We’ll ask the neighbors if they’ve seen her,” Yuuta says, grabbing Yuuji’s shoulder and taking him along.
Maki splits from them at a jog, headed along the usual route that they walk Onigiri. With it being the middle of a work day, not many cars are on the street, but there are enough to pose a concern to her. As each step shows no sign of getting closer to finding their dog, Maki’s lungs constrict.
She isn’t the type to worry. During missions, she feels nothing but the thrill of sinking her blade into cursed flesh. Never does she care for her own safety beyond keeping herself alive. Pain doesn’t frighten her, and neither does death, but somehow, the thought of that stupid ball of fluff lying in a bloody heap in the street makes her breath quicken. It’s a dark memory from a time when she was weak, when she couldn’t protect those who mattered most, and that old swell of helplessness threatens to swallow her.
Her footfalls speed up, her slippers smacking against the concrete until she kicks them off in her haste. She doesn’t feel the grit of the ground digging into her calloused skin. She thinks only of Onigiri and crimson fur and helplessness.
The park they usually stop by is in sight. In an instant, she is at its gates. Foolish, she knows, to exhibit her talents where any normal human could see, but the consequences matter little to her.
She didn’t even want the damn dog. They should’ve never adopted her. She should’ve had more of a backbone and should’ve denied Yuuta even when everything in her felt optimized for his happiness. She should’ve never let her sleep in their bed. Should’ve never spent long nights on the couch with her in Maki’s arms.
Then, she wouldn’t feel so weak. She wouldn’t have such awful memories resurfacing after so many years.
And she wouldn’t have felt such peace.
The park isn’t crowded but there are a few housewives with their many children in tow, playing on the nearby playground or walking along the paved trails. Maki draws many stares. Barefoot, panicked and scarred. Mothers clutch their children to their sides—nothing new.
She hears bright laughter and it draws her attention to a grassy field just beyond the playground. A ball of white circles a young child, gleefully playing without a care in the world. Maki’s heart stutters and she hurries over, managing to keep a lid on her speed.
Onigiri’s big, stupid smile turns her way and within seconds the dog is barreling towards her at full speed. Maki drops to her knees without a thought, opens her arms wide, and accepts the full weight of her friend. Onigiri licks madly at her face and hair. Maki tightens her embrace around her and releases a long, heavy breath.
“Oh, my! I’m sorry, is she yours?”
Maki looks up, having not noticed the woman and child in her rush to get to her dog. The mother is smiling kindly at them both, not the least bit bothered by Maki’s appearance.
“She came right up to us! I tried to get her name off her collar but she wanted to play. I’d hoped Emi-chan would tire her out enough so I could get a hold of her!” The mother chuckles into her hand.
Forcing her heart to slow down, Maki buries her fingers into Onigiri’s fur. She scowls at the dog, “Had fun at my expense, huh?” Then, she looks back at the woman and nods, “Thank you. She jumped our wall.”
The child, Emi, shuffles her feet, “Awwwwh, does this mean I can’t play with her anymore?”
“Emi-chan, dear, this nice lady must’ve been really scared that the doggie got out. They have to go home.”
Emi looks Maki up and down scrutinizingly, “You’re not wearing any shoes, lady.”
Maki smirks as the mother swats her daughter’s arm with little force. “Emi-chan, be polite!”
“No, it’s okay,” Maki shrugs, humor returning to her with Onigiri in her grasp, “I left in a hurry. Thanks for playing with her, Emi-chan.”
Emi beams and grabs her mother’s hand, “What’s her name?”
“Onigiri.”
“Lame!”
“Emi!” Her mother scolds.
Maki laughs softly, “I agree, but my husband found her so he named her. I wanted it to be Killer. ”
Emi giggles, “That’d be funny. Can I play with her again?”
“Sure, kid. I needed to take her out anyways.”
The mother flashes her a grateful look as Maki releases the squirming pet. Emi and the dog take off across the field, the neverending energy of childhood meeting its match in Onigiri.
Maki stays seated in the grass and the mother joins her at a polite distance away. They sit in silence and watch the two play, enjoying the soft breeze that teases through their hair. Maki’s phone vibrates and she answers the call from Yuuta.
“Maki, no one’s seen her-”
“I found her, beansprout,” Maki hums, “all is well.”