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Typically, Daichi expects, when he and his pet Hajime go off duty and come through the front door, to be greeted with several welcome home kisses from his boyfriend and lots of happy licks from their bubbly pup after Tooru finished lapping all across his Hajime’s face first.
It’s also typical that Hajime usually can’t react immediately—the pup would still be wearing his police vest when they came in, signifying he was still on duty, and until Daichi relieved him of that he would have to remain perfectly still, at attention and waiting for command, trying to pretend his mate kissing all over his face wasn’t distracting him. Daichi would quickly remove the vest then, taking the pup off duty and watching as his good pet went instantly into rubbing and licking all across a giggling Tooru.
With Tooru being pregnant now, Hajime did his little routine scenting a little more thorough now, especially if they had spent most of the day apart, but it was still their pretty common coming home routine and gave Daichi more of an excuse to shower his boyfriend in even more kisses.
Though it didn’t always happen like that; sometimes Koushi would be late coming home from work because of a parent not showing up on-time to pick up their child or Daichi and Hajime were the ones coming home later after an taking on an extra shift, Koushi and Tooru would already be busting around in the kitchen by then, too busy with making dinner to greet them at the door.
But a typical end of the day consisted of Daichi and Hajime coming home and receiving some sort of greeting, whether it be verbally or physically, from their partners.
So today in particular, a normal day just like any other, Daichi comes through the door with a leashed Hajime in tow, right on time to be greeted at the door as the two of them start shedding their shoes and other items meant to be left at the door. It’s a little unusual that there isn’t a yipping Tooru right in his Hajime’s face immediately, but the police officer just chalks it up to the size of the pregnant pup’s belly now and how it was starting to get harder and harder for him to move around like he used to.
Hajime stares around curiously, not moving from his spot as he was still in his vest, but Daichi can see the way he’s getting a little fidgety so he hurries to start unsnapping the belts of the harness off.
Just as he unclips the final one, sliding the vest completely off the pup, Koushi comes dashing into the room like a madman, hair standing all over the place, face flushed and not seeming pleased at all to see them once he realizes who was at the front door.
It sends instant alarm bells off in Daichi’s head.
Koushi attempts to school his expression a little, giving both of them a nervous smile, but before Daichi can even begin to question his behavior, Hajime’s already taking a step forward and giving the place another glance around before asking, “Where’s Tooru?”
Koushi’s face pales considerably and he looks to say something, opening his mouth and shutting it just as quickly, shaking his head a little when he can’t give an answer.
Hajime’s ears shoot up and his tail goes rigid behind him, taking another step closer towards Koushi. “Sugawara-san, where’s Tooru?”
He’s eerily calm as he asks, but it’s easy to tell the creeping fear seeping its way through his voice, the pup’s face growing more alarmed as Koushi shakes his head more, voice cracking when he finally can get a sentence out, “I don’t—he’s not—the door wasn’t locked when I came home, I looked—I ran around the whole block, but I can’t—I couldn’t—”
A low rumble rolls in the back of the alpha’s throat, amplifying even louder when he barks out with, “He’s missing?!”
Daichi immediately reaches to steady a hand across his pet’s shoulder—not because he thinks he’ll do anything to Koushi, but because letting Hajime get hysteric now would do nothing but hinder them in the search they’d now be on for their missing pet. He gives it a firm squeeze and knows Hajime gets the message without him even speaking, standing back at attention and trying to remain calm besides the twitching of his ears and tail.
Daichi glances over at Koushi and notices his partner almost in tears, he’s quick to reach his other hand out to take one of the shaking man’s own and give it a gentle squeeze.
“We’ll find him.” He assures them certainly, passing a look between the both of them. “Hajime has the best nose in the entire district, he’ll pick up on Tooru’s scent in no time, won’t you boy?”
Hajime nods fervently, ears and tail going back to attention.
Daichi gives him a smile and a strong clap to the shoulder, turning his attention back to Koushi. “See? Let’s not panic yet, we’ll go around the neighborhood and search with Hajime this time.”
“And if we don’t find him—?” The other man rushes out, still not completely convinced.
“Then we will figure out what to do then. For now, let’s give this a chance, Hajime knows his mate’s scent by heart.”
“I’ll find Tooru, Sugawara-san.” Hajime adds determinedly, finally making the silver-haired man calm down a little.
Without another word, Koushi goes to the coat rack and slides his coat over his shoulder, handing Daichi his and Hajime’s leash before slipping on his shoes, looking back at the other two with a smile. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s go!”
Daichi and Hajime hurry to catch up with him after sliding on their shoes.
.
.
.
The determination Daichi held before leaving their home weans slightly after the third trip around the block with an agitated Hajime taking them in the same circle over and over again.
“He’s moving!” The pup would keep insisting to both of his owners and even though the older man had faith in his pet’s directional sense, he was starting to wonder if the panic clearly visible on the dog-hybrid was starting to hinder is impeccable instincts.
Koushi was starting to break down again next to him, he could see it in the furrow of his brows and the wobble in his lips and Daichi couldn’t really blame him for it, not when he knew how close his boyfriend was to his precious pet—Daichi can’t even image what it would be like to not know where his Hajime was and even though he cared about finding Tooru just as much as Koushi did, he knew that those feeling must be amplified for the other male, especially when there wasn’t a moment that Koushi could remember where he didn’t have his special pup next to him while growing up.
His heart breaks a little watching his boyfriend bite down on his lip, trying to will his tears back as they made their fourth round of the neighborhood, Hajime getting more aggressive with every step in front of him, making it almost hard to hold the pup.
Daichi wouldn’t admit it, but after almost two hours of combing through the area, he was starting to lose that bit of hope he’d been clinging onto in the beginning, starting to imagine the infinite possibilities of what could have happened to their prized pet—Tooru was a gorgeous breed, it wouldn’t be ridiculous to think that someone had picked up and driven off with him, especially when he was full of a litter of pups that could be sold for profit. There was also the chance that he’d gotten startled by something and ran off even further out of this area, getting himself lost and having no idea how to get himself home—
Or, the worst case scenario, the chance that he’d gotten stuck or hurt somewhere, maybe even hit by a car—
The older man is yanked from his thoughts literally when his strong pup suddenly pulls on the leash with all of his might, making Daichi stumble behind him and watch in shock as the leash slips right out of his grasp, Hajime blindly taking that freedom to sprint off in a different direction, not listening to his owner’s pleads to stop and come back.
He gives his boyfriend one horrified look before the two of them are charging after him, running at a break-necks pace just to keep him in some form of sight.
Hajime is too quick though and just as they begin climbing the small hill after him, losing sight of him as he made it over the peak, Daichi’s sure that he’d just lost another pup, throat closing and eyes burning at the thought of not seeing either of his wonderful pets ever again—
Him and Koushi make it to the top of the hill and almost cry with relief at the sight that greets them at the bottom:
Close to the end of the hill sits a little playground intended for all of the children in the neighborhood to use as they pleased, except that there were no children down there except for one: a spikey-headed boy who…actually wasn’t a child if the little ears and tail moving excitedly on him were any indication as the two of them moved closer. The man behind him definitely wasn’t a child either, not with as tall and with the obvious beard on his chin, hair pulled into a lose bun and trying to pull the small pet away to no avail.
What was an extreme relief though was to see both of their lost pets in a big heap on the ground together, Hajime furiously scenting and licking over a smiling Tooru who didn’t look at all put off by his angry lecturing.
“…never run off on your own again…had us so worried…almost made Sugawara-san cry…” Are some of the bits both owners catch as they walk closer, catching the attention of the four bodies in vicinity.
“Kou-chan! Dai-chan! I made new friends!” Tooru barks happily, gesturing to the little pet now trying to wiggly out of the bigger man’s hold, squirming even more at the recognition.
Daichi gives them both a curious glance but his attention is quickly brought elsewhere when he feels Koushi brush by him, heading straight for Tooru with expression that must be scolding as Hajime is quick to move off to the side of Tooru, giving Koushi space, as the other pup’s ears flatten down immediately, tail falling from its excited wag.
“Kou-chan…?” He tries but Koushi makes a frustrated noise that has the pup clipping his mouth back together, shying back a little when Koushi points out a finger at him.
“Bad pup!” Koushi scolds, making Tooru sink back even further.
“Bad pup!” He repeats again, shaking his finger at him. “How could you leave the house like that without us? You know you aren’t supposed to go out on your own without me or Daichi to walk with you—you could have been stolen or-or gotten hit by a car! Do you know how worried we were about you?!”
Tooru opens his mouth to respond, more than likely to apologize to his owner, but the words die on his tongue the second Koushi drops to his knees in front of him, yanking him into a careful hug—mindful of his swollen stomach—letting a sob out against his shoulder that makes the pet go rigid.
“Kou-chan…!” The pup calls surprised, not hesitating to reach around and pull his owner into an even tighter hug, leaning down slightly to lick over a few of the stay tears falling across the silver-haired man’s cheeks with a sad whine.
“M’sorry Kou-chan. I’m sorry I worried you and Dai-cha and Hajime, I won’t do it again, I promise…” Tooru nuzzles his owner vigorously, trying to make all of those bad tears disappear. The pup absolutely hated seeing his owner cry.
Koushi nods briefly at his shoulder, accepting the apology, but still not quite ready to let go of his pup when he still couldn’t quite control the emotions still rushing through him at finding him safe and unharmed. After thinking over and over that he would never see him again, that he would never get to hold his Tooru like this ever again, Koushi swore that nothing had ever felt so relieving than this.
What eventually brings them all back to reality though is the sudden screech of a man—the man who had just lost the battle in trying to hold his squirming pup by a nip to the ear, said pup hitting the ground with a bounce and hurrying over to Koushi and Tooru, practically thrumming with excitement when he sat directly in front of them, even with him trying to sit still.
“Mr. Man! Mr. Man!” He barks excitedly, “It wasn’t Tooru’s fault that he left your house! I went and got him from the backyard!”
Koushi stares at this pup bewilder for a moment looking back at Tooru for a moment before regarding the small, excited pet with a curious gaze. “And you needed my Tooru because…?”
The pup bounces up once and again, tail wagging excitedly behind him. “I needed help finding my owner—my owner showed me in a book once that pregnant pet-hybrids have a great sense of smell and I was hoping he could sniff my owner out for me!!”
“Yuu!” A man’s voice scolds, “I told you that omega mothers can only sniff out their own family well, not other people’s families!”
The owner the pup referred to comes up to the jittery pup, kneeling down on the ground behind him and scooping him up to sit in his lap with a sigh. He looks between Koushi and Daichi—who had come to stand behind his little family—regarding them with a very apologetic look.
“I’m so sorry for all the trouble my pet has caused. He gets really excited when we are about to go on walks and sometimes he lets himself out the door before I can even get the leash on him. He gets lost pretty easily and I usually find him with a bunch of other pets trying to sniff me out—which he wouldn’t have to if he’d just wait for me to begin with!”
The bun-haired man pulls at both of the pup’s cheeks, making him yip back at him slightly annoyed. “Hey! It’s not my fault Asahi-san can’t keep up with me! You need to go faster old man!”
The man referred to as Asahi lets out another big sigh and both Koushi and Daichi try not to offend him by giggling at the funny insult, hiding their smiles behind a hand.
When the bigger man looks back at the two of them, it’s with another apologetic, shy smile, something that didn’t suit his burly demeanor. “My name is Azumane Asahi and this here is my little terrier Yuu. I’m sorry to be meeting you on such strange circumstances. I’ve become pretty well acquainted with your pet Tooru here—he didn’t have a collar on when I found the two of them so we were walking around the neighborhood trying to find your house, but I didn’t want to make him walk too much with him being pregnant and all so we came here to rest for a bit, I promise you I wasn’t trying to steal your pup!”
Asahi rambles on for a moment, voice taking an edge of terror when he realizes the implications the situation could take, only to have his mini terror attack quelled at the sound of the combination of the other two owner’s laughter.
“It’s fine, Azumane-san. We didn’t think you were trying to steal Tooru. If anything, we’re happy he ended up with someone so dependable. We are Sugawara Koushi and Sawamura Daichi by the way. You’ve obviously met Tooru but the pup next to me is his mate Hajime.”
Koushi gives him a light smile, laughing slightly when he notices the flush spreading across the shy man’s cheeks, probably due to the compliment more than likely.
“I-it’s nice to meet you both and your other pup as well. Again, I’m sorry my pup caused so much trouble for you all.”
Koushi shakes his head. “No, Tooru should know better than to leave the backyard without us.”
He gives a pointed look back to a pouting Tooru who just leaned further against Hajime, who had move to sit behind him, making the omega move into his lap.
Asahi lets out a small laugh in response. “Ah, I can’t really blame him for going along with Yuu though, my pet doesn’t really know how to take no for an answer—OW!”
The bearded man looks down to the small pup whose mouth was now latched onto his pointer finger, giving him a glare.
“You are always such a handful.” Asahi murmurs down to him, earning another laugh out of the other two.
“Well regardless of what happened, we appreciate you looking after Tooru for us. It means a lot that you were trying to get us home to us—is there any way we can repay you for it? Pay you or something?”
Daichi reaches to pull his wallet out of his pocket and Asahi holds up his free hand immediately, shaking his head several times. “No-no! Not after all the trouble we’ve caused you, Yuu and I couldn’t accept anything like that from you—”
“I want to play with Tooru more!” Yuu demands suddenly, making his owner look down at him alarmed.
“Yuu! You can’t just demand things like that—”
“Oh!” All gaze flicker up to Koushi who was smiling excitedly, clapping his hands together with a smile. “That’s a good idea! We can repay you with a good dinner and let the pets play around a little—I know Tooru’s been dying for a fresh face; he’s been cooped up in the house for so long. If that’s okay with you Azumane-san?”
“I’d hate to impose—”
“YES!” The little terrier is suddenly out of his owners lap and bouncing excitedly over to his new friend, practically tackling both Tooru and Hajime down, making the alpha let out a little huff at the other little omega, trying to hide a smile as the spiky-haired pup made his omega giggle gleefully.
“Hajime seems to be fine with it too and it would be really be our pleasure to treat you today.” Koushi gives the man his thousand-watt smile.
Asahi lets out a little laugh, gesturing to their pups as he answers with, “I don’t think I even have a choice in saying no here, do I?”
They watch as little Yuu tugs on an slightly annoyed Hajime’s ear, snapping gently at both him and Tooru when the pregnant pup leans over to nip at his other one.
The three of them let out a chorus of laughs as they move to stand, Daichi and Hajime helping Tooru off of the ground while Yuu bounces around them excitedly gluing to Tooru’s side the second he was standing, taking one of his hands so they could swing it up and down together as the six of them head towards the Sawamura and Sugawara residence.
It’s only a little later when Koushi and Daichi find out over tea, as the three of them watch their pups interact in another heap on the floor, that Asahi was currently unemployed and looking for a job, living off of savings after moving him and Yuu here from a different city.
“Yuu kept getting out and I got so scared one day after not being able to find him for a long time that I’d lost him forever—as soon as I got him back I broke the lease with my apartment and moved here, I figured it would be easier to find him in a neighborhood like this if he got away. Seems kind of silly to move away just because of a pet, but Yuu means the world to me. I don’t think I could handle it if anything bad ever happened to him.”
And after today, both pet owners can agree fully with that sentiment.
It’s only after watching the little terrier fawn over Tooru’s overly swollen stomach, pressing his ear and feeling over with his palms as the litter kicked around, a fond Tooru and Hajime watching him with matching smiles, that Koushi suddenly get a wonderful idea.
“Azumane-san…how do you feel about taking care of children for a living? I hear there’s a daycare here in need of another helper…”
Daichi rolls his eyes where the two can’t see him, looking back and forth between the new pup rolling around on the floor and the new friend his boyfriend obviously was trying to make with their neighbor.
With five pups already on the way and Koushi’s new found relationship with the nurse at the vets office—plus the new addition of Yuu and Azuman into their lives as Tooru and Koushi were already ensuring, Daichi wondered how many more people and pups his boyfriend and their pup would keep bringing into their little, ever growing family.
And how typical his and Hajime’s routines would stay after they did so.