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“Onii-san!” Nanaka’s whisper - which was almost louder than her usual speaking voice - pulled Reki’s attention away from the deck he was painting and to the entrance of his workshop.
“What’s up?” He snatched a towel from the bench and wiped the paint from his hands. The shuffle of Nanaka’s feet, the tapping of her fingers against the doorframe, and her wide eyes told Reki he was about to get roped into something he couldn’t refuse.
“We need your help,” Nanaka insisted, rocking forward to bounce on her toes.
“Okay, with what?” Reki stood from his stool and stretched, which did little to combat the ache that had settled into his neck sometime during the hours he’d spent hunched over his desk.
“Top secret mission!” Nanaka practically shouted, which really didn’t lend much credibility to the whole ‘top secret’ idea, but Reki somehow kept himself from laughing at that. She pressed a finger to her lips and used her other hand to grab Reki’s. “Quiet!”
“Okay, okay.” Reki actually kept his voice down, unlike the little girl who was yelling at him to do so, and allowed himself to be dragged out of his workshop and around the side of the house.
Chihiro and Koyomi were in the front garden, pressed against the side wall, just around the corner from the front door. Both girls were crouched with their backs to Reki and Nanaka as they approached, and Reki could hear high-pitched whispers barely being suppressed.
“What did you-?” Reki stopped in his tracks when Nanaka dropped to her knees, joining the crowd around Koyomi’s backpack.
Koyomi’s backpack which had a fluffy white head poking out of it.
Uh oh.
“Girls.” Reki pressed his lips together in a poor attempt at stifling the smile that was desperately tugging at his mouth. “Who’s this?”
“We haven’t named her yet.” Chihiro giggled as she patted the puppy’s snout and earned a lick on the palm of her hand. “She kissed me!”
“Shh-shh…” Koyomi urged, not much quieter than the twins' squeals. “Quiet down! We need a plan before mom finds out about her.”
Reki heaved a sigh and rounded the loose crowd made up of his sisters and their newly acquired four-legged friend. He lowered himself to the ground with crossed arms and matching legs, doing his best not to outwardly fawn over how adorable the puppy was. “Where did she come from?”
“She followed us from school.” Nanaka was the next to reach out and scratch the pup’s ears. One stuck straight up, one flopped over, both were utterly perfect. “We have to keep her!”
“You have to help us come up with a plan!” Chihiro jumped in. “Help us convince mom we should keep her!”
“Please.” Koyomi deployed her best wide-eyed pout and the twins quickly hopped on board with their own pleading looks.
It was taking everything in Reki not to jump to agreement and begin brainstorming. He was the oldest, he was supposed to be the responsible one. He was supposed to set a reasonable example. He definitely wasn’t supposed to succumb to the four pairs of adorable eyes staring up at him. It was time to employ the logical reasoning skills he was supposed to be developing in college. “I think we have to see if anyone is missing her first.”
“But onii-san!” The twins whined in unison. “We love her!”
“I know.” Reki finally allowed his smile to come forth in full, now that it was soft rather than giddy. “But if she belongs to someone, they’re going to want her back. How would you feel if a pet you loved went missing?”
“He’s right,” Koyomi huffed, much to Reki’s delight. She was reasonable, once she took the time to think things through rationally. “We need to make sure she’s not just lost.”
“How?” Chihiro’s pout transformed into one of melancholy and she wrapped her tiny arms around the backpack.
“Well,” Reki thought for a second, which he probably should have done before saying anything, but he hadn’t exactly had time for that. “Does she have a collar?”
Despite his sisters informing him she didn’t, Reki reached out to confirm for himself. Which was definitely not just an excuse to pet the precious creature. Her plush fur was absolutely not making him second guess his plan to find the puppy’s owners. Nope. Not at all. It didn’t matter that it was the softest texture that had ever touched Reki’s skin. It didn’t matter that he felt like there was a cloud between his fingertips. It didn’t matter that the puppy licked his hand with such fervor that Reki’s heart was flat-out melting in his chest.
Nope.
None of that mattered.
He was supposed to be the responsible one.
He had to be the responsible one.
“Okay.” He pulled his hand back with the declaration and got to his feet, lifting the backpack with him and sliding the straps over his shoulders so it was settled against his chest. The puppy nuzzled into the space beneath his chin and Reki definitely didn’t let a whine of utter adoration escape him. Nope. That was just him clearing his throat. “A lot of people get their puppies microchipped.”
“What does that mean?” Nanaka’s face screwed up in confusion as she scrambled to her feet, the other two girls not far behind.
“It means they put a little chip under the puppy’s skin.” Reki held out his hands and the twins automatically took one each, following his lead out to the sidewalk. Koyomi slid her hand into Nanaka’s, completing the chain of Kyan’s. “The chip has all of the owner’s information in it, and there’s a special scanner to see the information. So if we go to a vet, they can scan the puppy and see if she has a chip.”
Chihiro hopped forward, practically into the path of Reki’s feet. “And if she doesn’t we can keep her?”
“If she doesn’t have a chip we should still try to look for her family.” Reki corrected and guided Chihiro back into her spot beside him. “If she does have owners, they might not have gotten her chipped yet. And we’re still gonna have to ask mom and dad.”
“Couldn’t we just like, sneak her into the house?” Apparently, Koyomi was through with acting reasonably. “I mean, we have enough rooms. Mom doesn’t go in your room, Reki. Or your workshop. She could live there. Nobody would have to know.”
“I really don’t think any of us are sneaky enough to hide a puppy.” Reki couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of Koyomi’s suggestion. “And look at these paws.” Reki released Nanaka’s hand to show off the pup’s foot that had made its way out of the backpack. “They’re massive. I think she’s going to get much, much bigger.”
“Hard to hide a big dog.” Nanaka agreed with a sigh.
“What kind of dog is she?” Chihiro asked and reached up to pet the puppy’s now drooping head. Poor thing must have been exhausted from her adventure.
Reki would have loved to give Chihiro a concrete answer, but he didn’t exactly spend a lot of time studying dog breeds. “I’m not sure. We can ask the vet.”
“Okay! Nanaka! What should we name her?”
The walk to the vet was nothing if not entertaining. The twins just could not get it through their heads that they might not be keeping the puppy, no matter how many reminders Reki and Koyomi gave them. They just kept up their babbling about name options and wondering if she would like various foods and squabbling over whose bed she would sleep in.
The vet tech didn’t find a chip when she scanned the pup, but she was able to tell the Kyan clan that they’d stumbled upon a purebred samoyed puppy who was about nine weeks old. And, to their credit, the twins had guessed correctly that she was a girl.
On the way out of the office, the twins were practically cheering, still entirely convinced the puppy was going to become theirs. Reki and Koyomi just gave up at that point, a mutual eye roll acting as their silent agreement to let the twins learn their lesson the hard way if it came to it.
By the time they reached home, the puppy had been dubbed Setsuka. It was a fitting name, one suited to the pristine white ball of fluff fast asleep at the bottom of Chihiro’s backpack.
“So…” Koyomi drew out the single syllable for longer than should have been possible as the siblings crossed the threshold of their property. The twins' hands remained firmly wrapped in Reki’s, ensuring they wouldn’t sprint into the house and cause chaos. “What’s the plan?”
“That’s a great question.” Reki took as deep a breath as his lungs would allow and let it out slow. “Let me do the talking, okay?”
“Okay!” The twins agreed via simultaneous squeals and dragged Reki up the porch steps. He held firmly to their hands in the genkan and continued to do so even once all of their shoes had been kicked off and placed aside - which was really quite a difficult task to accomplish without the use of his hands.
“We’re home!” Reki called as the kids all stepped up into the main room.
“Welcome back! Dinner’s almost ready!” The twins put their best effort forth to force Reki to sprint towards the sound of Masae’s voice in the kitchen, but Reki put on the brakes, holding firm. “Reki, can you come set the table please?”
“Go sit in the living room, please.” Reki looked to his youngest sisters, whose bottom lips jutted out. Normally, he’d be defenseless against their sparkling eyes, but in a serious case such as this one, he needed to be strong. There was far too much riding on the conversation that was about to take place. “I’ll call for backup if I need it, okay?”
“Fine.” Two pairs of arms crossed in perfect sync once Reki released the twins’ hands.
He turned to Koyomi. “Make sure they stay away unless I call?”
“Sure.” She nodded and ushered the twins towards the TV. “Good luck.”
“Reki?” Masae called to him once more.
“Uh, coming!” He felt Setsuka stir against his chest and felt a horridly smitten smile cross his face when he heard a squeaky yawn coming from deep within the bag. A smile that only became more uncontrollable when her little head found its way out into the light. “I was hoping you’d stay asleep.” Reki told her as he patted the top of her head and tried not to laugh out loud when she licked the tip of his nose. “Okay, be really cute. Help me out here.”
The walk to the kitchen was far too short and gave Reki no time to figure out how he was going to present the situation.
But it turned out that didn’t matter, considering Masae turned to face the doorway the moment he appeared in it. With Setsuka’s head out for the world to see, there was really no casual way to breach the subject.
“Reki…” Masae faltered, her eyes locked on the mass of fluff strapped to Reki’s chest. “What’s that?”
“Setsuka.” The name popped out of his mouth without consulting with him first. “Uh- the girls found her on the way home from school…”
“And why- oh!” Masae’s hand flew to cover her mouth, eyes widening, as Sestuka let out a massive yawn. “Oh, she’s so adorable!”
“She sure is.” Reki chuckled and somehow managed to suppress a squeal as Setsuka readjusted to rest her chin on his shoulder. Masae absolutely could not hold herself together, and whatever she was about to say next dissolved into a chorus of high-pitched noises in her throat. She stepped forward, hesitantly stroking the pup’s head, only producing more sounds of glee when Setsuka squeaked and whined in response to the attention. Reki couldn’t hold back that time, the sounds were too adorable not to allow a matching whine to escape him.
“Oh no.” Masae stepped back, holding her hands up as though in defense. “No, no, no. Don’t do this to me, Reki. Don’t force me to fall in love with this puppy. She belongs to someone. She has to!”
“We took her to the vet, no chip.” Masae visibly brightened at the declaration and Reki felt his grin stretching impossibly across his face as the pup nosed against his neck. God, this creature was going to be the death of him. How could he already be so smitten? “So I was thinking I should search some lost and found pet pages online, maybe post her on one of them? See if anyone comes forward?”
Masae deflated for a moment, her expression melting to one of disappointment. But she quickly righted herself, straightening her shoulders and smoothing her hair as she forced her face back to neutral. “Yes, right, of course. That is what we should do. If she’s lost, someone must be missing her so much.”
“Right, right.” Reki nodded and attempted to keep a straight face, but Setsuka sniffing and licking his ear was not helpful in that endeavour. “But… until we know for sure if she’s missing.-”
“Of course, she needs a place to stay!” Masae jumped in before Reki could even finish his sentence, then once again realigned herself. Reki felt as though he was looking in a mirror as his mother struggled to keep her expressions in check. His own face was being pulled in infinite directions due to the mere existence of the puppy nuzzled into his neck. And he couldn’t even see her outrageously adorable face. “We need to go to the pet store, she’s probably so hungry, the poor thing! And she’ll need a place to sleep and some toys, a collar too, and a leash. So you kids can walk her while she’s here. Just until her owners come forward, of course.”
“Right, obviously.” Reki nodded. “We should take care of her. Until her owners reach out. We’ll go after dinner?”
“After dinner.” Masae agreed. “I’ll take the girls with me while you get to work on the lost and found sites?”
“Sounds like a plan. But, mom?”
“Hmm?”
“If nobody comes forward…”
“Then it’ll be a good thing we’re going to the pet store tonight.”
Well. That was so much easier than Reki expected it to be.
Dinner in the Kyan household was not a calm event on the best of days, but with Setsuka napping under the table and the possibility that she might become a permanent fixture, the girls couldn’t stay in their seats. Too many times, the twins had to be reminded that their dinner was on the table, not under it. Koyomi thought she was being sly in taking photos under the table, but eventually got her phone confiscated. Even their grandmother kept sneaking glances at the ball of fluff nestled against Reki’s knees. The repeated insistence that they might not be keeping her flew over the twins’ heads, probably Koymi’s too, no matter if it was coming from Masae or Reki. The reminders were just met with squeals about how cute Setsuka was being, just by simply existing.
The dishes were cleared, but not washed before Masae herded the girls into the car. It took even longer than usual to get them out the front door, with each of his younger sisters returning to where Reki was holding Setsuka at least three times. How everyone - including Reki himself - had already become so attached, he couldn’t fathom, but each of the girls needed to say their goodbyes. Multiple times.
Once the door was finally closed behind them, Reki wandered his way to the living room, sinking down onto the tatami and giving Setsuka a chance to get comfortable in his lap before pulling out his phone. A search of the lost and found pets group for his area revealed nothing. The only post about a dog featured a picture of a massive black and brown mutt who had apparently escaped their owner’s backyard. The rest were photos of cats spotted in various parts of the neighbourhood, the captions all asking if the cats belonged to anyone. Reki had Koyomi send him one of the pictures she had taken during dinner and wrote up a quick caption including the area Setsuka had been found in, her breed, approximate age, and his phone number.
He definitely was not hoping for radio silence as he submitted the post. Nope. Not at all. He absolutely wanted Setsuka’s owner to come forward. He wanted her to happily reunite with her family. He certainly didn’t want his post to go days and weeks with no replies. That would mean the Kyans would have to keep Setsuka. And what a horrid fate that would be. To spend his free time snuggling and playing and training and walking and-
Nope. The family would come forward. No use in fantasizing about keeping her.
But…
Nope.
He moved to social media. Keyword searches brought up nothing about a missing samoyed, or even anyone in his city acquiring a samoyed puppy in the last couple of weeks. Despite his attempts to force it down, Reki couldn’t keep the hope from crawling up through his chest.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
Maybe they would get to keep Setsuka.
He glanced down at the pup in his lap. The fluffy little creature who had so quickly nuzzled her way into his heart. Her paws were twitching in her sleep. Dreaming. The tiny motions of her toes tugged at the corners of Reki’s mouth as his seemingly permanent grin came to life yet again.
To fill the rest of the time until his mom and sisters came home, Reki shifted his focus to research. After all, when Setsuka’s owners came forward, they would probably appreciate her receiving proper care during her stint away from home.
And on the off chance nobody did come out of the woodwork… Well, Reki didn’t know much about dogs, so it was probably best to learn.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
It was comical, how quickly the entire family got used to Setsuka’s presence. The crate in the corner of the main room blended seamlessly with the television. The squeaky vinyl toys scattered amongst the twins’ stuffed animals matched in colour if not texture. The yips and howls during play only added to the harmony of the noisy household. The extra feet running up and down the hallway already sounded familiar. Being greeted by a blur of snow-white fur as Reki came in the door after his lectures was welcome, and felt like a common occurrence. Like she’d always been there to make him smile the moment he removed his shoes.
“I’m home!” Reki called and Setsuka came bounding towards the genkan, her one folded ear flopping about in time with her feet. She skidded to a halt, nearly faceplanting off of the small step into the main room.
“Can you take Setsuka for a walk, please?” Masae called back from somewhere deeper in the house. “She’s been underfoot while I’m trying to do laundry!”
“Yep!” Reki called back and stooped to scoop up the adorable menace in question. He held her out in front of his face, keeping her just out of licking distance. The space between them didn’t deter her efforts, and Reki was left to giggle at the enthusiastic affection the air between them was receiving. She did stop eventually, cocking her head and grinning at him.
He loved her smile. He’d read somewhere that the perpetual upturn of her lips was some kind of functional evolutionary trait. It kept her from drooling so icicles wouldn’t form on her lips. Not that she had to worry about that kind of inconvenience in Okinawa.
“Should we go for a walk?” He finally asked Setsuka and her little legs started flailing. How she’d learned that word within a few days, Reki couldn’t begin to guess. She was far too smart for her own good. Or any of the Kyans, for that matter. “Okay, okay.”
He laughed as he tucked the squirming pup under his arm and slid his backpack off of his shoulder to set aside. He grabbed her leash - the twins had picked a rainbow tie-dye design with a matching collar that looked exquisite against white fur - and dug through Setsuka’s fluff to find her collar. The excited wiggling definitely didn’t aid in Reki’s hunt for the collar, but he eventually managed to clip the leash to the metal loop and place a bouncing Setsuka on the ground at his feet.
“We’ll be back!” He called and waited for his mother’s thanks to echo down the hall before slipping out the door.
Setsuka immediately bolted to the end of her leash and continued to put her best effort into dragging Reki across the front yard. Unfortunately for her, Reki was about ten times her weight, so her efforts were quite futile. He simply stopped in his tracks and waited for Setsuka to stop tugging at the leash before making any progress in the direction of the street.
Attempting to instill the habit of loose-leash walking extended the length of their outings by a considerable amount of time, but Reki didn’t mind. Setsuska was already picking up the basics after just a few days of consistency. He shouldn’t have been surprised, considering everything on the internet told him samoyeds were an incredibly intelligent breed, but it was still kind of astounding to him that such a young puppy was already making eye contact when asked and sitting about half of the time that command was given. Everything he’d read about leash training told him it would be a longer battle, but Reki was fine with that.
Because Setsuka’s parents would eventually reclaim her and he wouldn’t have to deal with it. Obviously. Not because he really enjoyed spending time with her, no matter what they were doing. Nope. That wasn’t it at all. He was just helping out the owners who were missing her and would be calling him any day now. He certainly wasn’t training her to be the perfect dog for his family. Not at all. That thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. Not once.
… but it would be a bonus to have a head start on training if the owners never did come forward.
Reki shook off the unproductive thoughts and returned his attention to Setsuka, who was trotting along ahead of him. She didn’t pull at the leash unless she saw a person. Or another dog. Or a woodland creature or a car or a bike or sometimes a streetlight. Smells and sounds called her attention too, constantly. Oh, and she was always very interested in the trash areas outside of apartment buildings. And her own shadow sometimes caught her eye, as well as Reki’s. And she had attacked her leash a time or two… Maybe walks were kind of disastrous. But that was fine, Reki enjoyed watching Setsuka bounce around, hearing her excited yip, and rewarding her when her attention returned to him after a distraction pulled it away. Even if it meant only walking a few steps at a time between said distractions…
Walking aimlessly for an unknown amount of time had been exactly what Reki had done each time he’d taken Setsuka out, and had been the plan for the walk that afternoon. But when the scenery became noticeably familiar and he realized the time, his course became intentional. His sisters’ school came into view before too long, and he reached the edge of the property just in time for the students to begin filing out. He scooped Setsuka up and stepped off to the side, onto the small lawn next to the school, so the foot traffic could slow by without risk of anyone tripping over an excited puppy. Many kids pointed with excited squeals, a few were brave enough to ask to pet her, and Setsuka basked in all of the attention. Her grin and head tilt were on full display, as if she somehow knew how cute she was.
“Onii-san!” The twins’ voices cut through those of the little boy who was thanking Reki for letting him pet Setsuka. He couldn’t spot them at first among the sea of identical uniforms, but they broke through the crowd quickly, barely skidding to a stop before him. “Setsuka!”
Of course the puppy’s presence would be more exciting than his own. Reki couldn’t blame the girls for their reactions, and simply set the pup down with a chuckle, his grin softening as the twins knelt to Setsuka's level so they could all greet each other properly.
Countless kisses, whines, pets, and giggles were exchanged right there on the ground, with Koyomi appearing out of the woodwork and joining in at some point.
“Anything yet?” Koyomi asked when Reki finally convinced the girls to get up off the ground and head for home.
“Nothing. All of the comments are still ‘hope you find the owner’ stuff.” He confirmed with a shake of his head. He felt a light tug of the leash in his hand and glanced back to see Setsuka flopped down on the sidewalk, staring up at him with droopy eyes.
Oh.
It had been kind of a long walk for her.
Reki once again scooped the floppy pup into his arms, settling her against his chest just as she opened her mouth in a massive yawn. Three steps later, her chin was settled on his shoulder and her tiny snores were echoing in his ear.
Koyomi waited until he was situated to ask her next question, “How long before we just decide to keep her?”
“I’m not sure.” Reki hadn’t given it much thought. Well, that wasn’t actually true. He’d given it tons of thought, despite his best efforts not to. He just didn’t want to get his hopes up.
Too bad he’d already fallen madly in love with the pooch propped on his shoulder.
Giving her up would be next to impossible.
Which was why he was trying his damnedest not to think about it.
“Can I feed her when we get home?” Chihiro jumped into Reki’s field of vision from wherever she’d been, off in front of him somewhere with Nanaka. “Please, please, please?”
“Well, she doesn’t need any food when we get home.” Reki freed one of his hands to pat Chihiro on the head and quickly continued before her deflated look could take hold. “But she will need dinner around the time we eat, so why don’t you feed her then?”
“Okay!” Chihiro reanimated with a blinding grin rivaling Setsuka’s on the cuteness scale and took off running a few steps to catch up with Nanaka, who was definitely not smiling.
“No fair!” She crossed her tiny arms and stomped her tiny foot in a very much not tiny display of anger. Why? Reki didn’t know. But he was sure he would find out soon enough. “I want to feed her!”
“You fed her last night.” Chihiro mirrored Nanaka’s pose and expression.
“And nee-san fed her this morning!” Nanaka shot Koyomi a look, one that was far more severe than she deserved for simply feeding a dog. The ire contorting Nanaka’s features was more akin to the expression someone might send if they found out their dog had been stolen by the recipient, not simply fed.
Reki stepped in before the screeching could start, for his own benefit as well as that of any passers-by.
“Which means you can feed her tomorrow morning,” He assured Nanaka with the same pat on the head he’d offered Chihiro. “We have to take turns. She only eats so many times in a day.”
“But what if she really does have people and they call you before I can feed her next?” Nanaka’s eyes were brimming with tears as she asked. “That won’t be fair!”
Reki was taken aback, to say the least. Not once had the twins hinted at the fact that they understood Setsuka might not stay with them forever. To hear her wailing about the possibility in the form of being upset about feeding schedules was jarring.
“Is feeding her really so special?” Koyomi piped up before Reki could gather a coherent thought that might diffuse the situation. Nanaka’s glossy gaze shifted to her older sister then disappeared behind her hand as she attempted to scrub the shine away from her eyes before it could transform into trails down her cheeks. “I think playing with her and snuggling with her is way more fun. Don’t you?”
Nanaka lowered her wet-sleeve-covered hand as she nodded and sniffed. “I mean, yeah…”
“Exactly. Feeding her is kinda boring, honestly.” Koyomi shrugged and slung an arm around Nanaka to coerce her feet forward. “You just measure the food and put it in a bowl. It’s more fun to watch her eat.”
“She’s real cute when she eats!” Chihiro nodded, walking backwards in front of the other three.
“She is,” Nanaka agreed.
“So,” Koyomi huffed with an air of finality beneath the breath. “I think you should spend more time playing with her and snuggling with her than worrying about who feeds her. Focus on the fun stuff, not the chores. Then, if she does have owners to go back to, you can have more fun memories of her, yeah?”
“That makes sense.” Any evidence that Nanaka had been teetering on the edge of a breakdown moments prior evaporated entirely as she reached up and stroked her fingers through Setsuka’s fur. “I still don’t want her to go, though…”
“None of us do,” Reki sighed, his smile returning, but soft. Sad, almost. Conflicted. “She might. But she might not. We won’t know until we know.”
“I want to keep her forever and ever.” Chihiro joined her twin, their two hands automatically falling into an alternating rhythm along Setsuka’s back. “I love her.”
“I know.” Reki held still to let the girls have their moment. It was kind of nice, to see them finally facing reality rather than ignoring all of its warnings. He just really hoped reality would be kind to them. “Me too.”
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Working to the soundtrack of his sisters’ laughter and Setsuka’s yips was the perfect way for Reki to spend his Saturday morning. For nearly two hours, he’d been focused in on the third of a four deck set. The one that was due on Tuesday. It was fine, he’d get them finished in time for the gallery submission.
He hoped.
His focus was broken by the buzzing of his phone against the paint-splattered wood of his workshop table. An unknown number lit up the screen when he glanced over.
Shit.
Dread, cold and heavy, sunk deep into his core.
He didn’t want to answer it.
Nine days. It had been nine days. Nine days since he’d posted on the lost and found page.
He should have taken the post down after a week.
“It might not even be related.” Reki told himself out loud, though the words tasted of lies as they slid over his tongue. Unknown numbers didn’t call him. Hell, his friends barely called him.
But he had to answer it.
He had no choice.
He was the responsible one after all.
But did he have to be? He could lie. He wouldn’t even have to, not really. He could block the number and just never mention that they’d called. To anyone. It wasn’t really lying if he just never brought it up, was it?
No.
No that wasn’t right.
He couldn’t do that to the people on the other end of the line.
And besides, maybe it really wasn’t related. Maybe it was some telemarketer or a wrong number.
He supposed he had to answer the call to find out.
At the last possible second, Reki snatched the phone off of the table and answered the call, smearing paint across the bottom of the screen in the process. “Hello?”
“Hello.” The voice on the other end of the line was low, both in pitch and volume. “I’m calling in regards to the post about the samoyed puppy you found.”
Reki’s heart stuttered at the confirmation. A new feeling, just as heavy as the dread in his gut but uncomfortably hot, settled into his chest. His lungs held the air within them hostage for a moment, leaving him unable to respond with anything but a hum of acknowledgment.
God… it was happening. Setsuka’s owner was on the phone with him right now. He was going to have to break the news to his family. They were going to have to give her up. How was he supposed to tell his sisters-?
“Is she polydactyl?”
“What?” Without thought, Reki’s lungs managed to get themselves back in working order. Enough to spit out the knee-jerk response, at least.
“My apologies, does she have extra toes?” The man on the phone clarified. “Specifically on her back feet?”
“Oh, uh…” Reki tried to recall whether or not he’d noticed any abnormalities, but the fact that he had to think about it proved how much attention he’d paid to her feet. “I’m not sure, I hadn’t really looked.”
“Would you mind checking, please?”
“Yeah, uh, yeah, sure.” Reki nodded and hopped off of the bench, fueled by the stubborn hope that somehow wormed its way back into him. If this guy was looking for a puppy with extra toes and Setsuka didn’t have any, maybe they were in the clear. “Give me one minute.”
“Take your time.”
Reki tossed the phone back down on the bench and dashed out into the yard. The smile pulled at his face automatically when he set eyes on his sisters. The twins were rolling around in the grass, attempting to teach Setsuka to do the same, but she was clearly not getting it. Rather, she pounced on their stomachs every time one of them flopped onto their backs.
“Hey, on me,” Reki called for Setsuka’s attention and was immediately gifted it in full. God, she was so smart, so perfect, so- not the time. He knelt and she launched off of Nanaka’s stomach, right over to him.
Reki looped a finger through her collar to keep her from darting off and gently grabbed her back foot. It took some effort to part the fur but once he did…
Damn.
Extra toes.
Two of them on her left foot.
He dropped that paw and grabbed the other, muttering his thanks for Setsuka being so perfect, for not kicking up a fuss about having her feet manhandled for the sake of Reki discovering an extra toe on the right foot as well.
He gave her another word of praise before he let her go back to her game with the twins, entirely ignoring their questions about what he was just doing as he made his way back to the shed. The burn spread across his chest. Tendrils of heat licked up his throat, flicked at the backs of his eyes.
Shit.
“Uh, yeah.” He didn’t know how else to restart the conversation once he picked up the phone. “She has uh… she’s got extra toes.”
“Please take the post down.”
“Yeah of course.” The ache of resignation spread itself thick across his skin, latching onto every bit of him with an unrelenting bite. “Do you want to come pick her up here or meet somewhere?”
“Oh, no. She won’t be taken back.”
What?
He couldn’t have heard that right.
“You… you don’t want her back?”
A sigh sounded, so deep Reki could almost feel it blowing against his ear, long and drawn out. “She’s not mine. My employer breeds show dogs in his free time. And if they have birth defects such as those, he discards them. She’s not up to show standard. Do what you wish with her.”
The dull beep of the call disconnecting didn’t feel real.
None of it did.
How… how could someone be so heartless as to abandon a defenseless puppy just because she wasn’t up to show standards? Whatever that meant.
Rage rushed forth as Reki replayed the conversation, the casual nature of the explanation for why Setsuka had appeared in his life.
But before it could properly take hold, the furious fire was extinguished.
“Do what you wish with her.”
They didn’t want her back.
They didn’t want her back!
“THEY DON’T WANT HER BACK!” The shout carried Reki off of the bench, out of the workshop, and into the house. The dread dissipated, the anger was forgotten, everything was replaced with the explosion of giddy energy that came along with the privilege of delivering the best news any of the Kyans could have asked for.
ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ
Things didn’t really change once it was confirmed that Setsuka was officially a member of the family. They took her to the vet for her vaccines, spoiled her with more toys and treats as a form of celebration, and just continued how they had been. Reki and Masae did the most in terms of training, but the girls helped out where they could. The twins were the first to successfully get Setsuka to sit three times in a row, and Koyomi somehow taught her to spin before she could lie down.
Reki wasn’t sure he believed in fate, but Setsuka’s presence felt like it was meant to be. The way she nosed her way into their lives so seamlessly, left her pawprints all over each of their hearts… She belonged with them. No questions asked.
The adjustments to their routines, the money, even the house training accidents were worth it. Every annoying squeak of her toys and bullheaded refusal to carry out a command. Every time it took half an hour to walk around the block because she just wouldn’t listen. All of the frustration was worth it.
It was worth it for the adorable way Setsuka cocked her head when she looked someone in the eye. The way she preferred to throw her head back and look at whoever had called her upside down rather than just turning around when she was facing away. The way she snuffled and snorted as she chased after woodland creatures in her dreams. The way she just knew if anyone was having a bad day and refused to stop kissing their face until she earned a laugh. The way she would sit so intently and watch skating videos with Reki or anime with the girls. The way she greeted everyone at the door when they came in. The way she would trip over her own paws when she ran too fast and skidded into walls because she didn’t know how to stop in time.
She was perfect. Plain and simple. So full of love, so smart, so full of energy.
Reki couldn’t help but grin as he gazed down at the pup in his lap, fast asleep and snoring. No dreams right then.
In just the three weeks since she’d officially become theirs, she’d gotten considerably bigger. The twins couldn’t pick her up anymore, and would almost disappear beneath her fluff if she laid on top of them. She could stretch across Reki’s legs and have both her back legs and head resting on the ground at the same time, but still managed to curl entirely into his lap when his legs were crossed, as they were at that moment.
The sound of the door startled both of them, and Setsuka shot to attention.
“Who’s that?” Reki teased as they both waited for the greeting to echo into the main room.
But after a quick glance at the clock, he realized he didn’t know who was coming through the door either. The girls weren’t getting off school for another hour or so, his grandma was in her bedroom, and his mom was in the kitchen.
“I’m home!”
Setsuka took off galloping towards Reki’s dad’s voice. By the scrape of nails, thump of impact, and surprised gasp, Reki could guess that she hadn’t stopped in time.
“What the-?!”
“Welcome back!” Reki got to his feet and jogged to the genkan to see his father on the floor, halfway out the open front door, with Setsuka seated on his stomach. Her paws were planted on his shoulders and she seemed to be attempting to cover every milimeter of his face with kisses, even his glasses.
“What is going on here?” The question was asked through laughter after Reki managed to drag Setsuka back a few paces. “Whose dog is this?”
Reki’s face fell, shock turning all of his muscles slack for a moment before a grin stretched his lips.
No.
No way.
“Mom?” He turned as he called and Masae appeared in the doorway of the kitchen a moment later. “You didn’t tell dad we got a dog?”