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Despite belonging to one of the most feared gangs in Tokyo, Hanagaki Takemichi is not immune to the cuteness of animals--specifically dogs. The scrawny boy always thought that when he’d be older, he’d be bigger, stronger, and at his side would be a dog that would reflect such characteristics. After all, they say that dogs end up looking like their owner somehow, right?
Yeah, that’s what Takemichi wanted.
But instead, he grew up small and lean, standing at a slightly average height. There weren’t big beefy muscles present on his body and his strength wasn’t bad but it came nowhere near to the other captains in Toman. Overall, Takemichi was just a normal looking high schooler with bleached blonde hair and a frightening tenacity when it came to getting punched.
Despite not being able to fulfill his tough guy dreams, Takemichi still wanted a dog.
When his best friend, Matsuno Chifuyu, learned about Takemichi’s desire to adopt a dog he asked,” Why don’t you go then?” Takemichi could only sigh as his answer.
Most of the year, Takemichi lived by himself. His parents were often working overseas and would only come home during Christmas and New Years. But despite all this, his parents would shake their heads and tell him that a dog required a lot of things, not just love. It would take money, time, and patience to properly raise a dog and his parents believed that Takemichi wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility. At least, that’s what they told him when he was in 6th grade.
Chifuyu laughed at that, lightly smacking Takemichi’s shoulder. “I can kinda see why they thought that then.” Takemichi huffed.
“You should ask them again. You’re older now. I’m sure if you use some excuse like ‘I’m lonely’, they’d probably cave right?”
Takemichi gave another sigh.
‘Who knows,’ he thought. ‘I doubt they’d let me honestly.’
But still, Takemichi yearned for a dog. The teenager wanted to be able to come home to someone other than an empty house. He wanted to be healed with those cute eyes, those fluffy tails, and cute cute paws. He wanted to do dumb dog owner shit, like take dumb videos of their pets to send to Takemichi’s friends or to dress the dog up in goofy little outfits.
He just really, really wanted one.
It was a normal day afterschool for Takemichi. Since Chifuyu and their other friend, Shiba Hakkai, had different plans going on, they decided to split up till later, since there was a Toman meeting that night.
As he walked back to his empty house, a delicious smell greeted his nose. He turned the corner to follow the smell, his stomach aching for food. A few meters ahead of him, Takemichi spotted a dorayaki stand being tended to by an elderly woman.
His hand went straight into his pants pocket, rummaging around for some loose change. Upon feeling a familiar aluminum object between his fingers, Takemichi ended up pulling out a single 500 yen coin. Happily, he skipped over to the stand and grabbed 4 fresh pastries. With sweets in hand, Takemichi made a stop at the nearest park. He settled himself on the bench, putting his school bag down next to him and the paper bag of food on his lap. Takemichi smiled to himself, clapped his hands together, muttering a quick thanks for the food.
As he tore open the bag, ready to eat, there was a sudden noise from behind him. Takemichi felt himself jump, clutching his precious dorayaki close to his body. He turned and stared at the bushes that were rustling behind the bench, ready to make a dash for it in case anything dangerous popped out.
Instead, what greeted him was a small, dusty golden dog with long fur. It shuffled closer to Takemichi, its snout high up in the air and sniffing. The teenager felt himself automatically bending down, a goofy smile on his face and his hand out, wanting to pet the soft looking fur. The dog paused, looked at the cooing human, and gave one final sniff in the air before locking its gaze onto the paper bag. Realizing that this pup was eyeing his food, Takemichi hesitantly grabbed one of the dorayakis from the bag. “Is this even safe for a dog to consume,” he muttered out loud.
In that moment of hesitation, the pup immediately launched itself up at Takemichi, colliding its head into the scrawny boy’s body. Despite the dog’s small size, Takemichi yelped at the surprising force that suddenly hit him. He fell back onto his ass, the bag of dorayaki falling onto the ground.
“H-hey what the hell was that for,” he cried out loud.
In a split second the dog had already gorged itself on all 4 of the dorayaki. Takemichi gaped at the dog, surprised at the strength that came from such a tiny body and also surprised at how insanely fast it had just stolen his food.
“You little prick!” He snatched up the now empty bag and looked down at the smug dog. The dog sat prettily, as if it had never headbutted and taken the sweets away from the blonde. The droopy black eyes that stared up at Takemichi made him squint at the pup.
“Why does this little fiend look like someone I know,” he thought out loud. Indeed, now that he was taking a good look at the dog, there was something about it that was all too familiar… Takemichi slowly reached out to grab the dog to take a closer look when his phone went off suddenly in his pocket.
Startled by the loud ringtone, he fished it out and glanced at the caller ID: Draken. He jumped at the name and immediately pressed answer.
“Takemitchy,” Draken greeted. “The meeting’s gonna be a little earlier than what we had initially planned. Is that gonna be a problem for you?”
“Ah, no it won’t. How early are we talking though? I still gotta go home.”
“Mikey said 6PM,” Draken sighed. “Another one of his whims.”
Takemichi laughed a little, replying,” That’s fine. I’ll be there.”
Draken gave a grunt of acknowledgement and hung up. Pocketing his phone, Takemichi looked back up and saw that the dog had not gone yet. In fact, it had plopped itself down next to Takemichi’s feet. The boy felt his heart clench a little at the puppy eyes being directed at him.
“Pick me up,” they seemed to say. “Aren’t you gonna hurry and pick me up? Hmm?”
The blonde bent down again and checked around the dog’s neck for a collar. There was none, to his surprise. Takemichi placed his hands under the dog’s front legs and hoisted the little animal up to get a closer look at it.
“Ah, you’re a dude,” he muttered. He turned the dog around a few times, staring closer at the dog.
“You’re well groomed compared to most strays. Do you got an owner?”
The dog just stared in response, his eyes seemingly saying,” Nope, don’t got one.”
Takemichi groaned a little. “Dammit,” he sighed. “You’re so cute…God, I kinda wanna bring you home with me.”
The pup immediately barked a little, his tail wagging wildly.
“Yeah. Do that. Take me with you.”
Takemichi laughed again and readjusted his hold on the dog, carrying the small thing with one arm like a baby.
“You stole my food and now you’re demanding that I take you with me? Greedy little guy.”
A small bark answered back and Takemichi swooned, wanting to gush over the dog.
“You’re a little bastard, but there’s something so familiar about you that I can’t figure out.”
He trudged over to his school bag and carried it with his free hand.
“Well. For now, I’ll take you back to my place. I’m not supposed to bring dogs back, but I’d feel bad if I left you out here by yourself. Tomorrow I’ll take ya to the shelter and see if you got a chip on you or something.”
Takemichi turned and walked in the direction towards his house, the pup looking smug in his arms.
“Listen, I’m gonna be gone for a few hours.”
Takemichi was kneeling down at the entrance, looking straight at the dog.
“I left you some water and food over there and I left the door to the backyard open a little to do your business. This neighborhood’s real safe, so I don’t think anyone would come and break in.”
Takemichi stroked his chin thinking if there was anything else he should do before leaving the dog home alone.
“Just,” Takemichi started. “Just be a good boy and wait for me here okay?”
The dog stared at him with those droopy eyes that screamed ‘ take me with you!’ and Takemichi could only chuckle. He gave the pup a few pats on the head before turning around to head out to the meeting, not realizing that the stray he picked up was a bit on the clingy side.
“Inui-kun! Kokonoi-kun!”
The two former Black Dragon members looked up. Takemichi, clad in the Toman uniform, jogged up to them smiling.
The two nodded in response to Takemichi’s greeting as they parted to make room for their leader to stand between them. Although he was part of Toman, Inui and Kokonoi refused to acknowledge anyone but Hanagaki Takemichi as the 11th leader of the Black Dragons. Mikey had initially thrown a very possessive statement at Inui when the scarred boy had said that to him, but in the end the gang leader never did anything. The Black Dragons simply got absorbed into Toman without much of a fuss and was regarded as the seventh division, Takemichi at its head.
As the three of them quietly talked amongst themselves, there was a loud stomp that echoed the shrine, signaling the arrival of their leader. Turning towards the center and parting the way for him, the delinquents greeted with a bow,” Good evening, sir.”
Toman’s top 2 came strolling in on the path laid out for them, Mikey at the front and Draken right behind. While the seventh division was placed on the farther end of the area, Mikey turned to them and waved.
“Takemitchy~ You guys don’t have to stand all the way over there yanno.”
Takemichi rubbed the back of his neck with a smile, his actions saying “it’s okay, we’re fine over here.” Mikey pouted a little but continued on his way up to the shrine steps. At the top, he turned around and gone was the pouting face, replaced with a somber look.
“Let’s start the meeting.”
As the meeting adjourned and most of the gang began to disperse, Mikey waved at Takemichi to come over to where he was standing. Takemichi jogged a little to catch up to Mikey who was standing with a few of the other division captains and their vice captain.
“Takemitchy~” Mikey purred. He wrapped his arm over the slightly taller boy’s shoulders and brought him down closer, pressing Takemichi’s side right up against Mikey’s firm chest.
“M-mikey-kun,” Takemichi greeted, a little shy about the sudden physical motion that brought them very close to each other.
“I keep telling you, you don’t have to stand so far away from me during meetings,” Mikey whined.
“I-i mean, it’s no bother to me though. I like standing with my division. Plus, Kokonoi-kun and Inui-kun are still new to Toman, so I’m helping them get used to everything.”
“Tsk, you don’t have to do all that for those kids. Next time stand in the front, next to me okay? Yeah?”
“Mikey-kun, that’d be rude to the other divisions,” the scrawny boy yelped.
“I’m telling you, don’t worry . No one’s gonna say anything anyway.” Mikey wrapped his other arm around Takemichi’s torso, entrapping the taller one in his arms.
“Draken-kun! Please talk some sense into Mikey-kun for me.”
The tattooed vice-commander looked up and snorted,” You know that even if I said anything, Mikey’s not gonna listen to me.”
Mitsuya, who had been conversing with Baji and Hakkai chuckled as he approached the others,” Easy there Mikey, you aggressive flirt. Takemitchy looks like he could faint if you keep clinging onto him.”
Takemichi’s slightly pink face immediately reddened at Mitsuya’s comment and Mikey only huffed, somehow bringing Takemichi even closer to their leader’s body.
“No. He’s mine. Gotta stake my claim and keep him away from pests.”
“Mikey-kun!!”
Takemichi began to try and push himself out of Mikey’s annoyingly strong hold, his blush turning darker and going all the way down to his neck. Mikey, on the other hand, clung close to the other boy like an octopus, not moving despite Takemichi’s weak attempts. It wasn’t that Takemichi hated Mikey’s touch, rather it would sent the poor boy into a blushing fit, the heat in his face making him sweat even during this chilly October night. But this wasn’t new to Takemichi and the other people watching them.
Since the younger boy had started high school, Mikey had gotten more and more clingy with the crybaby. When Takemichi would whine about this to his ex--now just a very good friend--Hina would giggle in an all-knowing fashion, flashing the dense boy a big toothy smile.
“Finally making his move now huh.”
As all attempts to break free from this octopus-like human were quickly rendered futile, Takemichi groaned. He could feel his face, neck, and even the tips of his ears burning with heat because of his crazy commander. Mikey settled his chin on top of his prisoner’s shoulder, humming uncomfortably close to Takemichi’s ear.
“Just listen to me, okay~” Mikey blew a stream of air out into Takemichi’s ear, sending the poor boy into a stuttering frenzy.
The rest of the group rolled their eyes and continued talking amongst themselves, most of them thinking,” get a room you horny kids. ”
Just as Takemichi was about to submit himself to the clutches of his clingy leader, a small yap cried out behind him along with a surprised grunt from Mikey himself. With his leader’s arms finally loosened, Takemichi stepped out of the others embrace ( “Takemitchy, come back~,” Mikey whined) . He felt a small bump hit the back of his leg and looked down to see a familiar face that should’ve been waiting back at his house staring right at him.
Bark! “I did good, right?”
“Ah?! Why are you here?” Takemichi scooped up the dog into his arms.
“Didn’t know you got a dog, Takemitchy,” Draken observed.
Chifuyu, Kazetora, (‘ Woah, when did Kazetora-kun get here?’ ) and Hakkai approached Takemichi and the bundle of fur in his arms.
“You didn’t tell me that you finally adopted a dog, partner!!”
“Cute..”
“Taka-chan, I bet he’d look cute in some clothes right?”
Mitsuya also came up to them, putting out his hand to gently pet the dog’s head. The dog seemed to give a huff and pressed his face closer to Takemichi’s chest.
“Don’t touch me,” his droopy eyes said.
The lilac-haired boy gave a small grin, “Seems like he only likes his master.”
Bark! “Yep.”
“Ha? Who likes who now,” Mikey grunted.
The leader stomped over to the group, looking to rip whatever was settled in his crybaby’s arms when Mikey came face to face with that small, dusty golden dog. Their black, droopy eyes glared at each other, the atmosphere between them turning a few degrees colder.
“Takemitchy!! What’s with that dog--”
“Ah,” Chifuyu started.
“Doesn’t that dog look like Mikey?”
Indeed, the dog and their leader looked identical; Mikey’s dusty blonde hair matching the dog’s fur, to the way its fur framed its face, and down to the droopy black eyes that seemed to only have Takemichi in their gaze.
Draken found himself laughing at his best friend as Mikey and mini Mikey sat next to each other on the temple steps, both sporting a displeased expression.
“Fuck, that’s hilarious,” Draken cackled. “Stay still, let me take a pic to send to Emma--”
“Isn’t this like.. One of those memes? Separated at birth or something?” Smiley laughed.
“Taka-chan, you should make mini-Mikey a jacket to wear over its shoulders!”
Mikey growled at the group that was gushing over the dog and laughing at him.
“This dog looks nothing like me!!”
“But Mikey-kun--” Takemichi lifted the dog up, holding it next to Mikey’s face.
“He really looks just like you!”
“Takemitchy, you’re being blinded by that furry rat. How does it look anything like me,” Mikey whined.
Takemichi tilted his head, his gaze flickering back and forth between the two sets of droopy black eyes.
“But you’re both so cute.”
Mikey flinched at the comment, finding himself chewing his bottom lip. While he was pleased that Takemichi appreciated his looks ( ‘Though, he should really be calling me sexy, not cute…’) , he didn’t like that this compliment was shared by some stray who suddenly came out of nowhere. He glared at the dog who was cradled in Takemichi’s arms. It looked back at him and Mikey swore that he could see it smirking.
“I win ,” the smug look on the dog’s face seemed to say. Mikey grinded his molars, his hands itching to grab the dog and yeet it to the nearest shelter.
“So what do you plan on doing with the dog Takemitchy,” Chifuyu asked.
“Mmm, to be honest I was just planning on taking care of it for now and then going to the shelter to check if he has a chip or something.” Takemichi looked down at the pup that had settled into his lap. “But he’s so cute. I really wanna keep him.”
“You should ask then. I’m sure if you really push your parents, they’ll allow it,” Mitsuya said lightly, his hand stroking the small dog.
“If anything, you can just say that you already adopted him. Since your parents aren’t home, they can’t really stop you,” Chifuyu encouraged.
The dog rubbed its nose against Takemichi’s belly, earning a round of coos from the guys.
Mikey huffed again, his annoyance towards the dog escalating rapidly into anger. How dare the pup get so close to Takemichi! He was the one who found him first! And yet, even after knowing the boy for years now, Takemichi would never willingly initiate any form of physical affection with Mikey. The boy would just turn a cute shade of red and stutter away from him.
And yet, this dog somehow was getting peppered with sweet kisses, not even after a day had passed!!
“This is mutiny!” Mikey stomped his foot. “Are you guys really ooh-ing and aah-ing over some fur ball? Over me?!”
Draken snickered,” At least this Mikey doesn’t whine so much.”
“Ken-chin, you and me. Right now. I’m gonna kick some respect and sense into that empty head of yours!”
As Mikey was ready to jump his best friend, Takemichi stood up. “That’s enough Mikey-kun! You and Draken-kun shouldn’t be fighting over something like this.”
A whine came from Mikey as he ran to clung to Takemichi again.
“Takemitchy, tell me that you like me more than that dog..!!”
Takemichi, already blushing from the sudden contact, hesitated. He looked down at the dog in his arms and then at his commander who was plastered to his side. Both sets of black eyes stared at him and Takemichi swore he could see sparkles coming out of them.
“Urk… I, uh.. I like you both?” Takemichi laughed nervously.
Mikey frowned and rubbed his chin on Takemichi’s shoulder. “No, only one. You can only choose one.”
“Mikey, are you seriously getting jealous over a dog ?” Draken laughed. He was enjoying this situation but was also a little exasperated by his best friend’s antics.
‘You’re such a simp, dude.’
As Draken and Mikey exchanged stares, ("You better watch your back at night Ken-chin." "Go ahead and try, Mikey.") Chifuyu hopped next to Takemichi, taking a closer look at the dog.
“Are you gonna name him, Takemitchy,” Chifuyu asked.
Takemichi hummed, petting the dog in his arms. He glanced at Mikey who was currently still all over his side, pouting straight at him.
“To be honest… I can’t separate the image of Mikey-kun from this dog anymore…”
“Takemitchy!! ”
Draken laughed more,” Should name the pup Mikey then.”
“ Oy, Ken-chin … Are you really asking to get beat down right now--”
Takemichi instantly brightened up. “Yeah! I may as well right?”
Mikey whipped around, his mouth hanging. “No, no absolutely not. I ain’t gonna share the same name with a freaking dog --”
Takemichi held up the dog close to his own face, sporting blue puppy eyes directed at Mikey. Mikey felt his heart lurch forward and his brain screamed ‘so CUTE’ . But right underneath those endearing blue eyes, sat a set of black eyes that stared at him with a smug expression. Mikey grit his teeth at the sight of this furry bastard looking so cocky in his Takemichi’s arms.
Right as Mikey was about to open his mouth to tell Takemichi to name the runt anything but his name, Takemichi hummed out loud,” Since he reminds me of you so much, Mikey-kun, now it’ll be like you’re there waiting for me when I come home, right?”
[-10,000 HP! Critical hit to Sano Manjiro’s heart!!]
“Y-you,” Mikey stuttered. He clamped his mouth shut.
‘Dammit, how can you say something so cute and not even realize what that does to me?!’
The others stared deadpanned at the annoyingly lovey-dovey almost-couple. They could just feel the roses and sparkles illuminating the atmosphere between the two and it was both annoying and embarrassing to watch. One of them was so love-stricken for the other that it was borderline possessive, while the other was so dense and oblivious to any flirtatious advances that it was almost worrisome.
It was like a battle between the immovable object versus the unstoppable force.
“Ah, it’s getting kind of late.” Takemitchy pocketed his phone and readjusted his grip on the newly dubbed ‘Mikey’ pup.
“I’m gonna get going first since I got some work to finish for class tomorrow!”
As he waved goodbye to the others, Mikey broke out of his trance and exclaimed,” W-wait! Takemitchy, you still haven’t answered my question!! Who’s better, me or that dog--”
As Draken and the others watched Mikey stomp after his crush, the vice-commander could only sigh out loud,” It feels like Takemitchy has two dogs, not one.”
Mitsuya patted Draken’s shoulder with a laugh,” Then should we get Takemitchy two dog collars instead of one?” The other boy shook with laughter again.