Chapter Text
Although it was undeniable that Makoto was a cat person, his family had a thing for dogs.
Really. Big. Dogs.
At the time, the Tachibana household was home to three of them- a female golden retriever named Aki, a male German shepherd named Kaito, and a male mastiff named Riku, all of them equally lovable and equally large.
As much as the family adored their canine friends, they couldn't come with them on vacation to America. Aki hated flying and Riku was too big to fit on a plane.
That's where Nagisa came in.
Haru, naturally, was Mako's first choice, but he was going to be at the beach with Rin all week, and Mako hated to have to bother him. Nagisa immediately volunteered once the older swimmer was out of the picture. “Are you sure, Nagisa? They're a bit of a handful,” Mako had been thankful, but concerned for the blond's well being. He didn't want Nagisa to be overwhelmed by the animals.
“Of course, Mako-chan! Your pets will be perfectly safe under my care!” Nagisa grinned enthusiastically. “Trust me, I'll be fine!”
Mako beamed. “Alright, thanks Nagisa-kun, I appreciate it.”
So Nagisa got his first job as a dog sitter.
“Both the dogs and the fish only need to be fed twice a day. I left a list on the table of food portions on the table in case you forget. It also has the vet's number and my mom's cell phone; she likes to stay informed.” Mako explained a few days later, showing him where the food and treats were located around the house.
“Got it Mako-chan!” Nagisa tried to pay attention, despite being on the ground with Aki, who was licking his face affectionately. “You wanted me to bring the mail in too, right?”
“Mmm,” Mako smiled, helping his teammate up. “Here's the key. Feel free to sleep over here if you need to get away from your sisters or something, we don't mind.”
“Ah, Mako-chan, your family is so nice!”
“Just try not to eat all of the twin's candy,” Mako suggested with an embarrassed chuckle.
Nagisa nodded, and made a vow to only bring his own sweets to eat while he was on duty. No chocolate, of course, just to be safe. Aki was a mischievous creature, after all. Maybe that was why the two of them got along so well.
The first morning went off without a hitch, besides being bowled over by all three dogs when he walked in with a cheerful shout. “It's nice to see you too, doggies!” Nagisa giggled, trying to pick up the scattered letters off the floor before Kaito stepped on them with his uncleanable muddy paws. “Do you guys want to go outside first, or eat?”
Riku woofed loudly and nudged his food bowl.
“Got it! Two scoops of kibble, right?”
Riku woofed again, wagging his tail.
“Oh, you guys are so smart!” Nagisa grinned, picking up dishes and filling them up with the recommended two scoops, humming as he did so. The dogs didn't even seem to mind his quick dance routine. “And now for the main event!” He announced, putting Kaito's dish down first, because the German shepherd always waited a few seconds before he dug in, so this way all three dogs could start eating at the same time. That seemed fair.
Once the dogs started to feast, Nagisa bounced over to the back door, knowing the excitable dogs would want to rush outside after breakfast. He held the door open in the style of a bell hop, and bowed his head as Riku, Aki, and Kaito raced through respectively.
Nagisa was going to stay inside, but the sweet summer air was calling to him. And the backyard was so big! It was amazing to run around in! Aki ran to the door, jumping up a little in front of Nagisa, then back to the yard, as if agreeing with Nagisa's train of thought. “Alright Aki, I'm coming, let me grab some of your toys first!” He ducked inside to grab three different dog toys- again, to be fair- and then jogged outside, letting the door slam shut behind him.
The dogs, spotting their toys, chorused with deep, eager barks, and waited to see where Nagisa would throw them first.
To catch them by surprise, Nagisa tossed the first toy, a stuffed squeaky fox, over his back, sailing out of sight. Aki, the most excited to play, dashed after it. Nagisa threw the next one, a tug of war rope, towards Kaito and Riku, who both ignored the last toy in his hand and started wrestling with the rope instead.
Nagisa glanced at the last toy, a worn out tennis ball, and wondered what he was going to do with it, when Aki arrived at Nagisa's feet, chewing on the toy fox, waiting for another throw.
“Okay!” he beamed, and tossed the tennis ball away to his left, replacing it with Aki's fox. That he kept in hand as he ran around the yard, teasing Aki by keeping it just out of her reach. She playfully yipped, and with Nagisa's delighted laughs and the other dog's growling, the yard was getting a bit loud. Nagisa didn't mind. He finally gave into Aki's puppy dog eyes and dropped the fox on the ground, where she pounced on it.
“Excuse me!”
Nagisa blinked. He stared at Aki for a moment, not sure where the other voice had come from. She continued to paw at the fox, making it squeak again.
“Excuse me! But I believe this belongs to you?”
Well, Nagisa was the only human in his yard, and Aki certainly wasn't talking, so he looked at the next door neighbor's yards instead.
In all the years Nagisa had known him, Makoto had never ever ever once mentioned a super cute neighbor boy. He was going to hear some serious complaining later. That was a total violation of their code of friendship.
Nagisa couldn't see his eyes at first, because the sun was bouncing off his red rimmed glasses. But the forgotten tennis ball was resting in his hand, clearly in view. The mysterious boy ducked his head, trying to meet the shorter Nagisa's gaze, and the blond nearly gasped at his gorgeous purple eyes.
Aki nudged Nagisa's leg. It could have been her silently begging for another game of fetch, but it could also be her way of saying, Love at first sight. Go talk to him!
Dogs give really good advice.
“Yeah! I'm Hazuki Nagisa, the dog sitter!” He grinned, waved, then decided it was better to go to the edge of the fence to meet him up close and personal.
The boy blinked, and pushed up his glasses with his free hand. “Ah yes, the Tachibana's are out on vacation.” he said knowingly.
Nagisa nodded eagerly, bounced a little. “Yeah, you'll be seeing me for the whole week!”
“Well, in that case, could you please keep it down? Or at least not throw tennis balls into my garden?” His tone was withering, but his face didn't seem too annoyed. Or maybe he had too pretty a face to look annoyed. Nagisa almost giggled over the possibility.
“Oh, we're just playing! You could join us if you wanted!”
The stranger stiffened, his fingers tightening visibly around the tennis ball. “Ah, I don't think that will be necessary, I have a garden to tend to...”
“Awww, come on, what's there to worry about? Don't like dogs or something?”
“How did you-” It was an expression one could only describe as flabbergasted. Nagisa didn't think that could be a cute expression. “Not that it's any of your business, Hazuki-san, but not everyone is a dog person.”
He had somehow hit the nail right on the head. “Just call me Nagisa!”
At this point, Kaito had lost the tug of war contest and was now looking for another toy. Namely, the tennis ball. He pawed at the fence, whining, and the boy jumped, letting out a noise of surprise. “C-control your animals, please!” What could have been an insulting comment came out in a little squeak of desperation. He really wasn't a dog person.
“Down Kaito. He just wants the tennis ball.” Nagisa smiled kindly. “Just throw it into the yard and you'll be fine.”
“You're sure?”
Nagisa nodded. “Totally sure. I know my animals!”
The boy studied the large dog from the other side of the fence for a moment, gaze calculating, but not cold. It was obvious he trying to decide if Nagisa's advice could be trusted or not. At first, Mr. Cute-Next-Door-Neighbor was focused on only Kaito, but soon he was glancing up at Nagisa, almost staring into his eyes even. It more than enough to make the boy's heart race. Makoto was definitely going to hear about this later. Sparks were flying, Nagisa could feel them on his skin. How could they have never met before?
Then the boy closed his eyes and threw the tennis ball. Kaito ran off happily.
“That was awesome! Great throw, do you play sports or something? I'm a swimmer myself!” Nagisa was beaming, draping himself over the fence, just dying to get closer to this mystery neighbor.
The other boy thankfully wasn't creeped out by this. “I've done track for years, although I must admit, that was a magnificent throw for someone who's never touched a tennis ball in his life!” At that he started laughing, loud and pleased, and Nagisa almost started melting there on the spot.
“Your laugh is really nice.” Nagisa hummed, once again hoping the stranger wouldn't find Nagisa too weird or too pushy or anything but cute and lovable.
“What?”
“Your laugh! It's beautiful.” It was both a gift and a curse that Nagisa always spoke his mind.
“Beautiful...” The boy repeated, staring at Nagisa again, almost in awe.
“Did I say something wrong?”
The boy shook his head, starting to turn red. “No no! Actually, it appears you have a knack for saying all the right things, Hazuki-san.”
Nagisa grinned wider, starting to bounce again in excitement. “Call me Nagisa! I insist. You never told me your name!” he added, suddenly very desperate to know who he was. Like if Nagisa didn't know his name right now he would disappear like smoke, like he was just a dream.
“Ryugazaki Rei. It's nice to meet you.” The boy- Rei, what a pretty name- smiled, and that was beautiful too. Then he cleared his throat and said, “Um, I think your dogs want to go back inside.”
Sure enough, each canine were lined up at the backdoor, tuckered out already by the hot day.
“Oh, right. I'd better go let them in. It was great meeting you Rei-chan!”
“Just Ryugazaki-san is fine...!” Rei-chan called out in exasperation, but Nagisa wasn't going to listen to that, no way. The two of them were going to be close, Nagisa could already tell. If it wasn't meant to be, Nagisa would make it that way.
This week just got a whole lot more interesting.