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Day One.
Kenma doesn't know how to deal with dogs. There aren't any pets allowed in his apartment complex and the closest thing he's ever had to an animal companion is Kuroo.
And yet, here he is. At Hinata's house, without Hinata and his family, left alone with a little, yapping orange furball.
He stares at the dog and crouches down after a moment, tentatively reaching out. "Hello... I'm Kenma..."
The dog's name is Shouyou.
("isn't your name shouyou?" Kenma had asked via text when he'd first been told.
Hinata had replied promptly. "So what!!!!!!! The dog's like me, so obviously he gets a name like mine!!!")
The dog... Shouyou the dog crashes into Kenma's hand, then headbutts his leg. Kenma hugs his knees to his chest. "You're butting me. Does this mean you don't like me?"
Shouyou barks.
"Actually, please don't reply," Kenma says. "You'll disturb the neighbours..."
Even if the houses in Miyagi are a little more spread out than they are in Tokyo (okay, a lot more spread out—especially up and over the crazy mountain where Hinata's house is), Kenma still can't deal with a lot of noise. Or mostly, he can't deal with the thought of his neighbours hearing a lot of noise and thinking bad thoughts about him and his dog control skills.
What if they knock on the door and complain? What if it ruins Hinata's mom's reputation forever?
"Uh." Brushing his hands off because he doesn't really want to get dog on his limited edition PSP (why had he packed that one? Why hadn't he just brought his usual one? Just because he got the special edition recently and couldn't wait to use it... He's stupid.) Kenma pats down his pockets and—
Why are his keys in the dog's mouth? Or rather, why is Hinata's volleyball keyring, which is attached to Hinata's house keys, in Hinata's dog's mouth?
The dog had better not eat those keys, Kenma thinks with a sinking heart. Kenma doesn't know where the closest vet is. The internet would be able to tell him, but he still doesn't have a car, and isn't too keen on the idea that he might have to ride all the way there down a crazy mountain with a dying dog in the basket of Hinata's mom's bicycle. The dog had better not eat those keys. The dog had really, really, really better not eat those keys.
What would happen if the vet couldn't get the keys out? Kenma wouldn't be able to get back into Hinata's house, or face Hinata ever again for the negligent murder of his dog, or ever come back to Miyagi, and he'd probably have to quit volleyball too, which would make Kuroo mad and—
Kenma crouches down again, a little light-headed, and reaches his hand out slowly, palm up. "Um. Shouyou... I need those... Could I... have them back... please?"
The dog...
The dog seems to think Kenma is hilarious. He grins when he meets Kenma's eye, and then promptly turns around and starts to run. The keys jangle out the side of his stupid smiling face as his short little legs turn into an orange blur.
Kenma...
Kenma's never chased a dog in his life.
He got chased, once, at his local park in Tokyo when he was smaller. By a big dog. But back then Kuroo had saved him with a loud yell and a fierce, indomitable stare right back at the dog's angry face.
No such thing works on Shouyou. Or, more precisely, Kenma's voice isn't the kind that commands authority. It kind of sucks.
After five minutes, Kenma resorts to moving the furniture. A small table sideways in front of one doorway cuts off the route out of the living room; when Shouyou bolts past again, Kenma puts his entire back into moving the couch in front of the second doorway.
Even in the enclosed space, Shouyou continues to bolt around in circles for what feels like hours and hours and Kenma thinks tiredly that the dog definitely does take after Hinata in more ways than one.
Incredibly, it's only when Kenma collapses cross-legged in the middle of the room, exhausted and definitely no longer interested in this stupid game of tag, that Shouyou stops running. He trots up to Kenma and deposits the keys (and their borderline unsalvageable, toothmarked keyring) at Kenma's feet. Kenma stares at the sorry bunch. Almost all of the paint is gone from the volleyball. It looks like barely more than a lump of plastic now. Kenma faintly hopes it wasn't an important gift of Hinata's or anything.
"You're... really dumb, you know?" Kenma tells Shouyou with resignation, sighing. He picks up the keys gingerly, trying to avoid the worst of the dog drool, but before he can go wash the lot off, Shouyou plops onto his back in the middle of the floor and barks, once. He stares at Kenma expectantly.
Kenma stares right back at him. "What do you want now...?" He doesn't speak Dog.
Shouyou gets up and barks again, once, before lying back down on the floor like a belly-up potato, and Kenma abruptly thinks of how Hinata likes having his hair ruffled by Karasuno's second setter after a particularly good point.
Tentatively, he reaches out and rubs Shouyou's tummy. Shouyou makes a funny, satisfied noise and his tongue hangs out even more than usual (making him look even dumber than usual), so Kenma figures he must be happy.
"...that wasn't a good point though," Kenma says, maybe just a little bit stubborn, before finally getting up and washing Hinata's keys off in the sink.
It takes the remainder of his energy to put all the room's furniture back the way it was before the night is over.
*
Day Two.
"How's stuff??" Hinata texts, with sun emojis and a bright little flower. "Still alive???? House still standing???"
Kenma has no idea how Hinata has any energy left at all on a day-to-day basis after riding to school over that ridiculous mountain, doing volleyball, doing class, more volleyball, riding all the way home, and walking his utterly ridiculous dog. It's summer holidays and nothing's on but Kenma can still barely keep up. He hates sweating even under usual circumstances, but Shouyou is making him sweat a lot.
"yeah dw" is basically all Kenma can send back before passing out face-down in Hinata's futon way too early for his usual bedtime. But the futon smells like Hinata Shouyou the boy, and not Shouyou the dog, and Kenma thinks that's pretty nice.
He has a series of weird little dreams that Hinata visits that night.
*
Day Three.
Shouyou the dog licks him on the face at asshole o'clock in the morning and yaps, and keeps yapping until Kenma drags himself out of bed and refills Shouyou's food bowl.
The dog has learned that if he keeps barking at any given hour of the day, Kenma will feed him to keep him quiet. Kenma resents this fact a little bit. It's like he's being blackmailed. By a dog. Shouyou is going to get fat. (But then again if he gets fat, he won't be able to run as much, and that will make Kenma's life easier in the long run.)
"where do u buy the dog food" Kenma asks Hinata that night.
He hopes Hinata doesn't ask why Kenma wants to know, because Hinata's mother specifically made sure there were fifty thousand cans of Extra Value dog food stored in the pantry before they left, but it's been three days and they are almost all gone because Hinata's crazy little dog is crazy and also loud. (And not fat enough for Kenma's comfort yet.)
Kenma puts the address Hinata sends him into his phone's GPS. The route doesn't look too long. He sleeps well thinking it probably can't be too hard to go buy some more dog food the next day.
*
Day Four.
It's unexpectedly hard. Or, maybe, Kenma just hadn't been thinking straight before he'd gone to sleep.
He can't ride back up the mountain slope the way Hinata can, because it's a ridiculous incline, and walking Hinata's mom's bike up on foot takes so much effort when there's fifty thousand new cans of Extra Value dog food in the front basket.
When he finally gets back to Hinata's house and turns Hinata's chewed up keys the front door lock, he can already hear Shouyou barking up a storm inside.
It's mortifying, but a quick glance around doesn't show any angry, judging stares from the windows of Hinata's neighbours' houses, so Kenma quickly slips inside—
And steps into a puddle of pee on the floor.
So. Speaking of mortification, Kenma then has to ask the internet how to get dog pee out of a tatami mat, and how much Dettol can be put into a bath before it becomes inappropriate for human use, and if he needs to use any special detergent in a load of laundry that contains dog pee...
"Kenma youv been quiet l8ly!!!!" is the text that greets him after his exertions. He put so much food in Shouyou's bowl that the dog curled up and went straight to sleep after dinner.
Kenma replies with a not-quite-non sequitur before collapsing into bed. "3 more days..."
*
Day Five.
Kenma figures, in yet another momentary lapse of judgment brought on by dogsitting madness, that it would be a good idea to take Shouyou to a park for a change of pace, instead of having the tiny dog drag him crazily up and down the mountainside when they go out for a "walk." It's embarrassing when people look and Kenma doesn't really like it.
Except, there aren't any sticks bigger than pine needles at the park, and the only ball Kenma had been able to find before leaving Hinata's house was an old volleyball in Hinata's mom's garage.
Shouyou tries to make do, he really does. The volleyball is pretty much half Shouyou's size but he tries to get his teeth into it anyway—
It... doesn't really work out.
Kenma quietly, resignedly adds the old volleyball to his little list of things, including Hinata's chewed up keyring and that one square of tatami in the house, that he kind of really hopes are not very important to Hinata or his mother's mental well-being.
Or Natsu's.
He has a small heart attack on the spot thinking What if the volleyball is Natsu's precious item, before reasoning that it probably isn't given that it looks almost as old as she is. And that people don't generally give babies volleyballs as presents of congratulation for being born into the world.
Do they?
The internet says it's not standard practice, but just to be sure Kenma texts Hinata before sleeping that night. "does ur sister have a volleyball in particular that she likes?"
The only reply from Hinata is a 61-long string of question marks, which, upon reflection, Kenma thinks he deserves.
He decides to go to sleep instead of replying so he can't make any more of a fool of himself in the space of twenty-four hours. But just before he nods off, Shouyou pads quietly into Hinata's room. Kenma rubs at his eyes, sitting up in the dark. "Shouyou...?"
The dog doesn't reply. He just steps onto the end of Hinata's futon and turns around three times before settling himself down to sleep right on top of Kenma's feet.
Kenma...
Kenma doesn't know how to deal with this.
He stares up at the ceiling the entire night, paranoia whispering every time his eyes droop that if he sleeps he'll accidentally kick Shouyou in the face and Shouyou will hate him forever.
*
Day Six.
Kenma, still awake at the crack of dawn, fills Shouyou's food dish right on time and, in that small window of opportunity when Shouyou ambles out to eat, quickly nestles back down inside Hinata's futon.
He falls asleep pretty much instantly and doesn't wake for another ten hours.
When he finally opens his bleary eyes, Shouyou's glum-looking face is about a foot from his own. Shouyou's tail swishes only slowly from side to side, and even Kenma can tell that he doesn't look happy at all.
"Oh... crap," Kenma mumbles, half sitting up. He rubs at his eyes. "Sorry. Are you hungry again, Shouyou? Do you want to go for a walk?"
Shouyou, the same dog who knows how to grab his own leash from its hook and for the past five days has practically dislocated Kenma's kneecaps slamming into them at the mere mention of the word "walk," doesn't even stir. He stares at Kenma and Kenma stares right back, quiet unease creeping up inside his stomach.
"Uh... What's wrong? Did I miss something...?"
Shouyou makes a pathetic kind of whimpering noise and butts his head gently into Kenma's chest until Kenma, surprised, lies back down. Then Shouyou rests his head right in the middle of Kenma's torso and just stays there, staring over at Kenma with big, woobly eyes.
At a loss, Kenma just... pets Shouyou's head and goes back to staring at the ceiling. He wonders if he should text Hinata to find out where that vet is after all. Given Shouyou's track record, and the apt fact that the dog is named after Hinata Shouyou and not Kozume Kenma, this kind of depressed behaviour isn't normal at all. But Hinata will be back tomorrow at around noon, so maybe it will all be okay.
Kenma can only hope.
(Dogs are so weird.)
(He doesn't understand them at all.)
*
Day Seven.
"He's been like this since yesterday," Kenma says, unable to keep a note of worry out of his voice. Shouyou is still trailing him like a shadow when Hinata and his family returns. After a brief, happy bounce around Hinata's feet, he's returned to Kenma's side. He barks, once, tail swishing slowly and rhythmically.
"Ohh... he's just worried about you, I think?" Hinata says. He steps into Kenma's personal space and presses his forehead to Kenma's own. And it's only from years of friendship that Kenma doesn't pull away. That, and the serious look in Hinata's eyes. "Hm. But you don't have a fever or anything?"
"No?" Kenma says, a little surprised, a little concerned. "I'm... I'm fine..."
"You must have been stressed or something though, right? Did something bad happen?" He bends down and thoroughly ruffles Shouyou's coat. "He usually sleeps on Natsu's chest when she's got a cold or whatever and he thinks she's, like, gonna die or something, so he makes sure she's still breathing all night. He's actually pretty smart, you know? Sometimes I think he's smarter than me!"
Kenma isn't sure what to say to that. Shouyou is the reason I was stressed doesn't quite seem like the right thing given the circumstances, so instead he just... sighs a bit. Quietly. "I'm, um. Glad your back. Shouyou." Hinata Shouyou, not Shouyou the dog. "I don't really speak... Dog."
Hinata laughs at that, radiant as the sun, and Kenma thinks (illogically) that his whole dog week from hell might have actually been worth it for that one moment. "Next time mom needs to pick a holiday place that lets dogs in," he decides, standing up. He takes Kenma's hands in his own and swings them lightly. "That way Shouyou can come with us. And so can you!"
"I'd... like that..." Kenma says quietly, glancing away. It's been years but he still can't quite look right at Hinata when he's as bright as this. He's still as blinding as the day they met.
"Next time," Hinata promises, and gives Kenma a little peck on the cheek before Hinata's mother calls for him to help her and Natsu unpack the car outside.
"Coming, Mom!" Hinata yells, toeing his shoes back on.
"Um. I'll help too..." Kenma says. Hinata beams at him and doesn't let go of Kenma's hand, dashing back down the front steps. Kenma does his best to follow and not fall over (and break his face on the concrete), heart in his throat, but Hinata's laughter and Natsu's chatter and the vibrant smile of Hinata's mom lifts his heart and even though there are now people around he suddenly feels better than he has in days. Glad. Relieved.
Shouyou, maybe sensing the upswing in Kenma's mood, starts barking like crazy and running in circles around all of their feet. He butts his head into Kenma's kneecaps and dashes briefly inside before dashing right back out again with his leash in his mouth.
Hinata's mother laughs.
"He really likes you," she says as the last of their holiday gear makes it inside the house. "Go on, you boys take him for his walk. Natsu and I can manage from here."
"Yesss, a walk!" Hinata cheers, jumping, and Kenma is hard-pressed to decide whether Hinata Shouyou the boy, or Shouyou the dog is more excited about this prospect. "See you, Mom!"
"See you, Hinata-san," Kenma says (relatively) quietly.
"Be back for dinner!" Hinata's mother calls.
"We will!"
They take the same path that Kenma had for five days alone with Shouyou but,
The way Hinata talks about everything and nothing that happened during his time away...
The way his excitement makes walking the hard slopes with Shouyou's insistent tugs feel like nothing...
The way his brilliance draws every eye that looks their way and Kenma can rest easy in the shade of Hinata's shadow, anxieties muted...
It makes Kenma smile. Glad and relieved. Grateful.
And a little bit in love.
