Chapter Text
The thing is big, wet, and pitiful.
Okkotsu Maki raises an eyebrow at the sight on her doorstep. Her husband, black hair flattened to his face from the torrential downpour, smiles nervously at her. His big black eyes are just as woeful as the lumbering beast at his feet. She can smell them both from here.
“Can we come in?” Yuuta says over the rain.
Part of her wants to slam the door shut. A younger version of her would have, one not matured by tragedy and marriage. Their home is her sanctuary. It took months for her to get used to even Yuuta being in her space, and he’s not a slobbering animal.
Dogs are messy. They require too much upkeep. She’s told him this.
The dog is massive . Sitting, the top of its shaggy white head reaches Yuuta’s hip. It has big dark eyes that watch Maki with a surprising amount of intelligence. As though it knows that convincing her is of the utmost importance.
“Where did you get it?” She asks, tone conveying nothing.
He rubs the back of his head, “On my mission. She chased off a curse.” At her look, he chuckles, “I’m serious! A flyhead, yeah, but still. She’s special, Maki. C’mon, can’t you at least meet her?”
With a heavy sigh, Maki moves out of the way to let the two in. “Keep it in the entryway. I’ll get you both a towel.”
A few seconds later, she returns to the sight of the dog slobbering all over Yuuta’s face. Maki grimaces as she hands him two towels.
“Thanks,” he says cheerfully, and he gets to work drying the dog off. She is extremely patient and docile, allowing Yuuta to touch her paws and hind legs without complaint.
“Yuuta, it obviously belongs to someone else.”
Yuuta’s smile slips. Maki sighs, instantly understanding, and shakes her head, “Regardless, I’ve told you I’m not interested in keepin’ a pet. They’re basically like children but dumber.”
Her husband stands and fluffs the towel through his hair and over his face. “Can she stay for the night?”
Once again, Maki sighs. Yuuta’s eyes peek from the towel, wide with a plead, and she cracks far more easily than she’d have liked.
“Fine. But you’re cleaning up after it.” Maki turns on her heel and disappears into their home. The smell of curry spices the air and she hears Yuuta, and the damn dog, on her heels.
“You didn’t have to make dinner, I could’ve done it.” Yuuta frets as they enter the kitchen.
Maki shoots him a pointed look, “You tryin’ to tell me somethin’?”
He chuckles, “Never, never.”
She snorts and returns to her spot at the stove. Curry is the only dish she has learned how to cook in the three years of their marriage. Yuuta does all the cooking—a fact that sits perfectly fine with Maki, although she likes to have something for him whenever he comes back from long missions. Not that she’ll admit that to him.
“Can you sit?” Yuuta asks, followed by an exuberant, “That’s a good girl!”
The dog’s tail beats against the floor. Maki looks back at them. Though still damp, the dog is quite beautiful. Long, alabaster fur, a large mawl of pearly white fangs. She’s…cute. And looks like she could kick some serious ass.
She pants excitedly under Yuuta’s enthusiastic attention, her big tongue flopping out and flicking drool everywhere. Yuuta scratches under her ears and the thing looks like she might die of happiness.
Maki quickly looks away. She cannot falter. Yuuta thinks he can use Maki’s weakness for him against her, well, he has another thing coming.
“Come eat,” she grunts as she spoons them both bowls.
They sit at a table together. Before Maki lived with Yuuta, she had a micro-apartment with scarcely any furniture so she often ate standing up or sitting on the floor. Gojo insisted on buying them enough furniture to fill three horses as a wedding present, however. Yuuta once joked that he made them civilized.
The dog sits at Maki’s feet. She glances at her but otherwise ignores her, focusing on shoveling her dinner down before Yuuta finishes his food and eats the rest of the curry. A cold nose presses to her leg. Another downward glance and she finds that the dog is obviously begging, albeit silently.
Big, round eyes. A goofy smile.
Maki scowls, “Ya can’t eat this. It’s got onions in it.”
A tiny whine.
“It’ll kill ya.”
Her tail wags.
Maki snorts and speaks around a mouthful of curry, “It’s stupid.”
Yuuta chuckles, “She’s a dog.” He whistles and the dog snaps her head in his direction, “C’mere, away from mean ol’ Maki. You’re not stupid.”
Rolling her eyes, she watches the beast lumber over to him and rest her head on his lap. Though he doesn’t give her any of his food, he does gently scratch her head while he eats.
“...didja get her any food?” Maki asks.
“The stores were closed.”
She pushes back her seat, taking her empty bowl over to the sink, and then opens their fridge to grab a few leftover cheap burgers from her favorite fast food place.
“Here,” she says, unwrapping the sandwiches and plopping them on a plate, “dogs can eat burgers, right?”
“I don’t see why not!” He grins at her as the dog pads over to her. She scowls at him and he ducks his head, hiding his pleased expression. Obviously, he thinks he’s winning this.
She scarfs down the burgers in a blink. Maki cocks her hip, watching her, “Where’d she come from?”
“She was still in the house when I entered. The curse had already victimized the family—left the dog alone.” Yuuta explains, “The Manager didn’t want to call animal services since clean up hadn’t gone through yet. I didn’t want to leave her all alone, so I took her along.”
An uncomfortable feeling of pity rises in her chest. Sorry bastard.
The dog raises her head, her mouth stained with a bit of ketchup, and wags her tail in delight.
Maki crosses her arms and leans against the kitchen counter, glancing up at Yuuta and then back down at the dog. “...It can stay tonight. Tomorrow, though, you’re taking it to the shelter.”
Yuuta perks up, a happy smile brightening his features, “Thanks, Maki.”
“Don’t look too happy. You aren’t gonna convince me to keep it.”
“I never said I was.”
“You didn’t have to. Your face says all that I need to know.”
The dog continues to stare up at Maki like she hung all the stars in the skies. She…really does look a bit like Yuuta. Maki sighs for the third time that night.
Great. She can already see where this is going.