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“Daichi, I think something wrong with Tooru.”
Daichi looks up from where he was starting down at the newspaper, giving his boyfriend a curious look as he glances back down to fold the paper up neatly, resting it on the table so he can give his partner his full attention.
“What makes you say that?” He questions when he moves it out of reach, grabbing his coffee mug for a sip and keeping it cradled in his hands as he continued keeping eye contact with the person who was now pulling up their own chair at the dining room table.
“I don’t know, he’s been acting really weird? Both of them have actually. Haven’t you noticed Hajime acting different too? He’s been hovering around Tooru so bad lately, I can’t even take Tooru to play outside in the front yard without Hajime asking to go with.”
Daichi shrugs, “They are pet hybrids, Koushi. Maybe it’s just one of those things we don’t understand?”
Koushi gives his boyfriend a small pout, not appreciating the dismissive answer. He continues despite, “I would have passed it off as the same thing too except…have you notice how much bigger Tooru’s gotten?”
“Bigger? You mean like taller?”
The silver-hair man shakes his head, “Not taller. He’s…put on more weight? Like I don’t know how to explain it, but the clothes we have for him barely go up or over his waist now and like, his bottom half just looks wider to me—heavier even. I think he’s starting to grow a bit of a stomach too.”
“Is it stress-related eating? Are we feeding him too much?” Daichi starts to grow a little rigid in his seat, enough that Koushi reaches a comforting hand to his shoulder, sliding it down after giving it a firm squeeze so he can take his hand.
“It’s okay Daichi, even if we are I don’t think it will hurt him right way. Has Hajime been coming to you too and asking for more proportions for Tooru?”
Daichi nods his head. “Hajime’s a good boy…and usually doesn’t ask for something unless he finds it necessary. I figured he wouldn’t ask for more unless Tooru really needed it.”
Koushi gives a tight smile, “I thought the same thing. I think he’s been asking us at different times too so that Tooru could get double the amount he usually does. Not to mention what Hajime’s already sharing with him from his own stock. He doesn’t even eat his treats anymore, just saves them all for Tooru to snack on later. I’ve caught them doing it twice.”
“I can’t imagine what’s gotten into him…he’s always been such a well-behaved pet, even when we were little together Mom said that he would crawl around my crib protectively and he’s always been such a good listener. It’s really unlike him to do stuff like this.”
“Which is why I think something is wrong with Tooru,” Koushi emphasizes, “maybe he’s projecting somehow and Hajime can’t figure out what to do to help him, so he just feeds him more. He’s just as protective with Tooru as he is with you and I think he’s noticed that there’s something different with him too.”
“We should probably ask him—” Daichi starts, but is interrupted by a figure bolting into the kitchen towards them, the same one they had just been referring to.
Before the couple can even question the pet, noticing the ways his ears were flat against his head and tail rigid, he’s already speaking quickly to them.
“Tooru’s throwing up!” Hajime barks panicky, “We were just in the bedroom playing around and he just suddenly rushed off into the bathroom. He’s locked the door and won’t let me in!”
Koushi jumps out of his seat turning to go out of the room, watching as Daichi does the exact same thing. He’s quick to pull on the older man’s arm making him stop for a moment as he glances back at him.
“I’ll go handle this.” Koushi tells him, “I need you to go ahead and call the vet now, maybe see if you can make an appointment soon?”
Daichi nods his affirmation, turning around so he can reach his phone charging on the counter while Koushi heads to follow a fidgeting Hajime, noticing the way the anxiety was rolling off of him in waves.
“He wouldn’t even eat today.” The worried pup rambles, “I tried to get him to do it twice and he just kept refusing. I have no idea what he could possibly be bringing up in there—”
Koushi reaches up to place a comforting hand on the big pup’s shoulders just like he’d done with Daichi earlier, giving it a firm squeeze. “It’s okay, Hajime. We’re going to find out what’s wrong with Tooru. Daichi and I promised to always take good care of the both of you.”
Hajime smiles a little at that, nodding his head slightly. “Thank you Sugawara-san.”
Koushi pats his shoulder. “I keep telling you, Koushi is just fine!”
They make it to the master bedroom and as soon as Koushi opens the door, he sees that Tooru’s no longer locked the bathroom, sitting on the middle of the bed instead and pouting at the two of them—mostly Hajime—as they both entered the room.
“I told you not to go tell them!” He snips at the other pet and Koushi watches Hajime’s tail tuck between his legs.
It quickly flies back into its rigid state though as the other male gives Tooru a fierce look. “I was worried, dumbass! If you had just open the door like I asked ten times, this wouldn’t have happened!”
Koushi vaguely wonders if this was something that had happened before.
“It was gross in there! I didn’t want you to see me like that!” The sickly pup whines, not seeming as ill as Koushi assumed he would be.
“You act like I haven’t seen you look plenty worse!”
And before Tooru can bite out another retort, Koushi moves so he’s standing in between the two of them, giving Hajime’s chest a light pat to try and ease him down. “Both of you need to stop this, you know this isn’t helping anything.”
Two pairs of ears drop and Koushi lets out a sigh. He turns his attention back to his pup, moving a little closer so he could examine him more carefully, noting that he seems mostly fine besides the slight exhaustion underneath his eyes and the way he keeps running uneasy circles over his stomach. The pure-breed pup keeps tugging his shirt down every so often, enough that Koushi realizes that even this outfit was starting to get too small on his growing pet.
“Do you feel alright, Tooru?” He asks carefully, using the serious tone he only ever had when he wanted his pet to be honest with him.
Tooru lets out a little sigh but nods his head anyway, glancing at Koushi and admitting, “M’fine Kou-chan, just feel really drowsy and a bit nauseous.”
“Daichi’s scheduling an appointment with the vet now—” He tries to assure him, only to have Tooru cut him off with a pitiful whine.
“I don’t wanna’ go to the vet…that man-doctor was really rude to me last time!”
“You bit his hand!” Hajime accuses behind Koushi.
“He stuck a thermometer up my butt!”
Koushi lets out a little laugh, interrupting their on-going banter, giving Tooru his stern face when he finally looks to him again. “You’re going to the vet, Tooru.”
And by the way Tooru’s shoulders slump, Koushi knows that Tooru realizes he’s lost this argument. He breathes out another laugh at the way his ever dramatic pet just turns his back to both of them in a fit, puffing out a breath in anger that Koushi knows not to take seriously. He decides to just play nice instead.
“You can stay in our bed for right now, okay? I’d like it if you took a nap or at least lay there and get some rest for a bit.”
Tooru puffs out another breath and his owner knows he’s been heard.
“Love you too, Tooru.” He teases, reaching a hand out to pet through soft, curly brown hair, scratching on his ears the way he likes before pulling back with a smile when his pet’s curled ears relax in the way they did when he was happy.
Koushi decides to give his pet some space after that, pausing just outside closing the bedroom door to hear the springs of the bed dipping down and a gruffly affectionate, “Move over dumbass, I want to lay with you.”
The owner can just imagine the way the two of them are probably cuddled up now, with Hajime spooning behind Tooru in the way that his younger pet loved, one arm wrapped protectively around his waist in the usual position him or Daichi typically found the two of them in.
Koushi finds it a shame really that their pets both turned out to be the same gender, with as much as they loved each other and acted like they were mated, he was pretty sure they’d already have a litter of puppies by now if it was possible.
The pet owner pauses suddenly, mentally going through the checklist of his pet’s symptoms for a moment: the addition in weight, the nausea, Hajime’s odd behavior…
Could Tooru be…?
He shakes his head, reminding himself again that it just couldn’t be a possibility.
Two males couldn’t mate together like that after all.
.
.
.
“Sugawara-san, were both you and your partner aware of hybrids secondary genders before receiving your pets?”
Koushi looks up from where he was trying to coax a fretful Hajime into sitting position—he wasn’t even supposed to be with them except for the fact that he downright refused to let Tooru out of his hold this morning until Koushi agreed to take him with them—looking back up at the veterinary with a utterly confused look.
“Secondary genders…?” He repeats and the vet gives him an apologetic smile.
“Breeders are legally required to inform their buyers of this information—considering that hybrids can live the lifespan of a typical human, it is important knowledge for an owner to know in case they wanted to avoid a situation like this.”
“Situation…? Is my Tooru okay?” Hajime goes rigid against his side again, trying to stand back up so he can pace back and forth like he’d been doing moments ago. Koushi lightly tugs his leash and pets over his head, trying to calm him—the both—of them down.
“Your pet hybrid is just fine, Sugawara-san. Be rest assured that my team has taken very good care in examining your cute little Tooru.”
“So I can see him…?” Koushi questions, giving the pet-doctor a hopeful look.
“Of course, if you will just follow me? I would also like to explain to you the topic of secondary genders.”
Koushi nods in response, standing behind her and gently tugging an already standing Hajime behind him, the other pet being overly eager at the prospect of getting to see Tooru.
“So, as I’ve said, breeders are legally required to inform you of very vital information—I assume both of your pets have come from breeders judging by their distinctive appearances.”
Koushi nods again, “Yes—both Tooru and Hajime were bought by my partner and I’s respective parents when we were only infants. They wanted us to have pet companions as we grew up. Hajime is a German Shepard hybrid and Tooru is a Border collie, they came from highly certified breeders from what I was told.”
The veterinarian—Shimizu—gives a nod and jots something quickly on her clipboard.
“That might explain why you weren’t aware of secondary genders,” she continues on after a moment, “that would have been a very young age for a breeder to try and explain to.”
Koushi gets the feeling she’s trying to make a joke so he chuckles a little at it, earning another soft smile from the beautiful woman.
“So basically what I need you to understand is that pet hybrids fall under a different category than us humans. While they do have sexes like we do with male and female appearances, they also receive a secondary gender at birth that falls under the categories of alpha, omega, and beta—it’s also another indicator for what behavioral types your pet will have after they present, but that’s another topic. What is very important that you know now is that your pet Tooru is and omega and, judging by how antsy your Hajime has been this entire time, I would assume that he’s Tooru’s alpha.”
They turn down a corridor into another long hallway and Koushi just nods along like he understands. “So Tooru is an omega and Hajime is an alpha, what does that mean for us?”
They come to a stop outside a white door with a room number painted on it and Hajime almost pushes the both of them out of the way in trying to reach for it—Koushi figures this must be the room where Tooru was being held.
“Well, even though it is quite possible for any of the secondary gender types to accomplish this, it is a pretty well-known trait and a very easy task for an omega to…”
She opens the door, revealing to Koushi the sight of his Tooru laid up on a table, blue goo slathered across his stomach and a nurse dragging a grey wand across it, allowing for the pet to see the images on the monitor to the right side of him.
Koushi lets out a gasp just as Shimizu finishes her sentence, “…become pregnant.”
Before Koushi can even process any of the information that he’s been gifted, the sudden feel of a coarse material is no longer resting in his hand and he watches with mild confusion as the pet once behind him powers forward to meet his mate, giving him several licks on his cheeks when Hajime can hold Tooru in his arms again and making the nurse next to them coo at how adorable they were.
Koushi blinks, looks to the monitor, back to the wand, and then to the exposed sight of his pet’s belly.
“Tooru’s pregnant.” He realizes.
Shimizu nods beside him and Koushi gives her a nervous look. “With one puppy…?”
Another apologetic smile, “A litter.”
Koushi’s world spins for a moment, staring back at the sight of his two overly happy pets, watching Tooru point to the screen as the nurse moves the wand across his stomach and repeating to Hajime what the nurse must have told him before—he catches three months along and there are five of them in there and Koushi has to peel his attention away from them before he accidentally causes himself to faint.
Tooru was pregnant.
Tooru was going to have a litter of puppies.
He and Daichi were going to have a litter of puppies tearing around there house in only a couple of months.
Koushi looks to his pets again, seeing the tender way the alpha dog starts nuzzling his mate again, murmuring a series of you’re going to be such a good mama…
The silver-head man can’t help but resign to his fate at the sight, letting out a heavy sigh as he does.
He turns to give the woman next to him a big smile.
“What do you think is the best way to convince my boyfriend to keep all of them?”