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Against his own better judgement, Toya ends up at a hybrid ‘adoption’ event held by his local shelter. He hadn’t intended to go initially and he didn’t even have much of an interest in having a hybrid, however.. somehow, he had let An talk him into it.
“Oh come on!” She said, a few days after the event was announced. “Please go with me.. I promise it’ll be fun!”
An told Toya that she’s been thinking of getting a hybrid for a while now, and now was a good opportunity. He got that, An seemed like the type, but he just didn’t understand why she wanted him to go.
An drives them there in the early evening on the first day and while the building was a humble-looking size on the outside, as they walk into the building, it becomes increasingly clear that they were wrong to underestimate its size. There were two sets of large wooden stairs behind the reception that led down to the actual shelter underground.
The stairs creak a little when Toya walks down, but it’s straight down into the slight crowd from there. It felt like as soon as An and him reached the floor, Toya lost her amongst the different people and families in the big hall.
He scans around the place for a moment, biting the inside of his cheek as he tries to cancel out the noise. A clerk greets him to ask if he wants to see a particular species of hybrid and he just politely shakes his head. Toya sighs, maybe he should just search for a quiet area to stand and scroll whilst he waits for An to finish. He walks to the back of the shelter hall and stands for a moment before he feels something.. Or, rather, someone watching him.
Toya looks up from his phone and is met with a pair of green eyes staring at him, and he realises it’s a hybrid. He’s behind bars, fully grown, unlike the puppies and kittens outside in the pens. Toya swallows, and tentatively, he approaches, feeling drawn to the hybrid staring at him, who seemed to share the look in his eyes. The name on the sign next to the cell had what he assumed was the hybrid’s information. Toya’s eyes squint at first and he adjusts his glasses to read it.
'Shinonome Akito,
21 years old,
Dog Hybrid'
Akito was a bit shorter than him though they were the same age. He had messy, slightly dirty-looking orange hair covering his face, two dog-like ears— with one of them being somewhat floppy— and a rusty, copper muzzle strapped to his face. Toya quickly notices the code underneath the hybrid’s right eye and quickly realises that he was one of those hybrids from the disbanded shelter years back. He remembers that there had been some sort of legal trouble with that place and its mistreatment of hybrids.
He remembers the news that had stated that the corporation treated the hybrids severely inhumane, and the thought of that happening to Akito made his heart clench. Hybrids had grown too close to humans anyway for them to be treated any less than the respect someone would give a human.
He knows the muzzle is supposed to be a warning, to make him fearful of the hybrid or drive him away, but the lonesome look in those green eyes make him step forward. Toya bites the inside of his lip as he hears a slight growl from the cell and he hesitantly places a hand on the bar anyway. Akito seems to be confused at the attention still on him even after the growl.
Toya hesitates, but he tries to speak to Akito, forgetting for a moment that Akito had the muzzle on. “Can you talk?”
He can see Akito’s mouth trying to move, but the metal prevents him and for a moment, Toya feels a sense of resonance with the hybrid. Toya knew what it was like to be caged like this too, even if it wasn’t literal. He tries to think of something else, but Akito beats him to it and he hears soft footsteps as Akito gets close to the bars. Akito sniffs for a moment before the boy puts a hand on the bar too. From here, Toya notices the roughness of the other’s hands, and the uncomfortable-looking clothes the other was dressed in.
Toya’s hand reaches out and carefully, he hovers it above the other’s head to see how he would respond. Akito looks up, unsure for a moment before Toya feels surprisingly soft but knotted and tangled hair against his palm. His gaze softens and he starts to gently pet the dog hybrid’s hair whilst Akito kept that intense gaze on him.
Despite the glare, he can see that the other’s slick tail was starting to wag slowly, and he keeps up the petting, short nails scratching Akito’s ears gently. For some reason, Toya feels inexplicably attached to this hybrid, despite having just met. They stay like that, for a moment before he hears someone calling his name. Toya lowers his hand and he turns to the sight of An approaching him with papers in her hand and a shy looking hamster hybrid next to her.
“Toya!! I’m ready to go now— sorry for making you wait,” She calls, before pausing as she notices him in front of a cell, “oh, did you find someone?”
He can see her lips quirking into a knowing smirk and he sighs. “Maybe. I’m not sure if he wants me to take him home or not.. he’s got a muzzle on.” Toya explains, in the corner of his eye, Akito was trying to push his head against the cell to get a look at who he was talking to, and for a moment, Toya hears another growl.
“Well, I guess maybe you could ask a clerk for help?” An suggests to him, walking closer to him with the hamster behind her still clinging close to her as if they were stuck to each other.
“He looks.. a little dangerous, though. Is he even up for adoption?” An whispers to him after she gets a closer look.
Toya faces her and he shrugs. He thinks for a moment, does he want to take Akito home? Toya swallows before he realises that he’d already made up his mind when he saw Akito for the first time, “I don’t know, but I want to ask.” Toya affirms, even with the questioning glance An gives him.
Toya soon finds a clerk and they were surprised that Toya was asking, but they said that Akito was in fact up for adoption. Toya asks to talk to him and the clerk looks reluctant before opening the keys to Akito’s cell.
Toya swallows, more nervous than anticipated, as his hands move to take the copper off of Akito’s muzzle, eventually loosening it with a bit of struggle. He can see the slight red mark it left on Akito’s face.
“Do you.. want to come home with me, Akito..?” Toya asks, hand on Akito’s cheek as his heart races a bit in anticipation.
He half expected Akito to try to bite his arm off, but after a long pause, Toya gets his slightly surprising answer with a hoarse, “Yes.”
Toya’s eyes crinkle a bit with happiness, and just like that, after a load of paperwork and verification, Toya was now in the back seat, next to Akito as An drove them home. The hamster hybrid, Kohane, was sitting in the front seat with An, and the two of them were actually getting quite a bit of conversation in. Toya sits, looking out the window, trying to think of what to say, and trying to process the fact that he’s about to bring a hybrid home when he thought he didn’t want one. He feels eyes on him yet again, and knows it’s Akito this time.
Toya tilts his head, gently muttering so that only Akito could hear, “is everything okay?” Toya doesn’t get a response at first before he hears Akito’s voice just as he’s about to turn away.
“Why.. Why are you taking me home?” Akito asks him in a mutter, his voice is dry and low, like he hasn’t drank water for a while. Toya swallows, thinking for a moment as he looks at Akito’s muzzle, now around his neck rather than his face.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Toya asks Akito back, and he sees the other’s mouth open as if about to retort before it closes and Toya swears that for a moment, he can hear a grumble from the other.
They stay quiet for another moment, with the background noise filled with the sound of An and Kohane’s lively chatter before Toya thinks of something whilst watching Akito look at the window. “Shiraishi, can we roll down the back window?” He asks, and when he hears a quick yes, he turns to Akito and then points to the button to signify that Akito should pull it down.
Akito looks confused for a moment before pressing down the button and Toya swore that he could see the dog hybrid’s eyes lighting up in surprise as the outside wind fills the back of the car. The wind was nice and cool due to the speed of the car, and it was making Toya’s hair fly and flop a bit messily, slightly annoying, though he put up with it.
“Try sticking your head out.” He prompts Akito, having mainly asked to pull down the window to see if Akito would like the sensation of the wind like a lot of dog hybrids he’s seen. Akito narrows his eyes at him for a moment in suspicion but sticks his head out like he’s told.
Toya smiles, laughing a little, as he watches Akito’s tail slowly start wagging again as the dog hybrid closes his eyes and the wind combs through the other’s hair and ears, making them flop back a bit. It was a funny sight, the somewhat serious dog hybrid enjoying the wind, but he was also glad he could make Akito happy.
Eventually, the ride ends when An drops Toya and Akito off at his house, it was a decent size and it came with a backyard, though Toya had always felt a bit lonely living in it, even if An’s place wasn’t that far away. Toya opens the gates, stepping up to his front door, the light next to it already illuminated as he sees Akito scenting the new environment. “This is my house, Akito.. And now, it’s yours too.” he tells him, and Akito’s ears perk for a moment before they return to the neutral state they were in before.
“It looks big.” Akito comments, and Toya responds with a nod as he slots the key through the door, opening up the house for Akito. He takes off his shoes and watches as Akito does the same, the dog hybrid looking with curiosity at the clean, somewhat modern yet traditional house. Akito’s ears twitch a bit as he takes in the scent, it smells like Toya almost everywhere.
Toya hums, letting Akito look before he turns to the other, “You can settle in and relax, I’m going to draw you a bath, okay?” Toya tells Akito. Even though he didn’t really mind that Akito had dirt on him when he pet him at the shelter, but now that they were home, Akito really did need a bath. Akito tilts his head for a moment before nodding.
Toya goes to turn on the bath water, swallowing; realising as he reached for the bubbly body wash that he didn’t really have anything at home for Akito like toys and such, outside of the food tips and meal that the shelter gave him, since he wasn’t expecting to get a dog hybrid. He tries to think of what to buy before deciding that he could just take Akito to the store with him tomorrow to pick out some things.
When he’s lost in thought, watching the water dribble out of the tap, he hears the door creak open and sees Akito turning the handle and quietly going to sit next to him. He gives the other a small smile and pats his head as Akito leans against his shoulder a bit. It was awkward and hesitant, but it warmed Toya’s heart nonetheless. Toya was never the best at expressions, but he wanted to put Akito at ease, so he kept his smile whilst the dog hybrid wagged his tail.
“This is a bath?” Akito asks him to confirm after a while, pointing at the tub. Toya nods, realising that the dog hybrid might not fully know what the bath is.
“Did you only have showers at the shelter?” Toya questions, just to get to know Akito a bit better.
The dog hybrid nods, “yeah.” Akito explains that at the shelter, the showers were public, and it was a bit too crowded to get a long enough shower to fully clean himself in so he didn’t bother that much.
Toya tells the hybrid to undress like he would for a shower a bit later and watches Akito step into the bath. He’s surprised as he sees a few scars on Akito’s back, though he tries not to comment, knowing it could be linked to the code on his cheek.
He watches Akito sink uncertainly into the bath and Toya lets him adjust to it before turning on the showerhead, “is it okay for me to help bathe you?” he asks, and he can see Akito nodding a bit later. Toya lets the water wet Akito’s hair for a moment before he turns it off and starts to lather his shampoo into the other’s hair. He knows he should probably get a proper dog-hair shampoo for Akito soon, and he notes it as something to buy tomorrow.
Toya can see Akito’s shoulders slowly relax into the bubbles and Toya smiles, glad as his hands continue to wash Akito’s hair, massaging a bit. “We’ll have to drain the water now so I can wash the rest of you, okay?” Toya tells Akito, since he notices that the other’s hands were playing with some of the bubbles and the dog hybrid pouts for a moment before letting Toya drain the water.
The rest of the bath goes well, and as he helps Akito dry his hair, he notices that the other’s soft hair puffs up. Toya laughs lightly, letting Akito see himself in the mirror. Akito’s cheeks flush a bit in embarrassment and he huffs when Toya doesn’t stop giggling, “it’s not that funny..”
“I’m sorry.” Toya tries, but he keeps laughing and Akito just rolls his eyes, though the other didn’t seem that offended. After the shower, Toya noticed that it was getting pretty late, so Toya fed Akito the shelter’s meal, and a bit of his own food. Akito seemed to like the taste of the meat, so Toya keeps that in mind for the future.
Akito didn’t look fully satisfied though, even though the dog hybrid didn’t admit it to him, so he looks in the fridge for something, maybe a dessert and he sees a leftover cheesecake An had given him. The cafe made too many by accident, and despite not liking the sweetness of the cheesecake, Toya didn’t want the food to go to waste.
Toya lets Akito try a bite first and to his surprise, Akito loves it, so much so that it was gone in about two minutes or less. Another thing to keep in mind.
Finally, they finish up the night and Toya changes into his sleep clothes, with Akito picking out a pair from his closet to wear. Toya sighs, stretching as he sits down on the bed, though he notices that Akito is just sitting on the floor near the bed, looking at him.
“Akito.. Don’t you want to join me on the bed?” Toya asks, tilting his head. Akito’s ears straighten, even the floppy one, in a bit of surprise.
“Can I?” Akito asks, usually sleeping on the ground at the shelter, and Toya nods, patting the area next to him. Soon, he sees Akito hesitantly getting up and laying down on the blanket. Toya’s heart warms as the dog hybrid gets settled in and Toya starts to tuck himself in. He pulls the blanket down for a moment, and reaches out to move the hybrid a bit so the pillow and his head are touching before he covers them with the soft cover.
The light is flicked off, and Toya yawns quietly, before closing his eyes. He hears shuffling at his side, and is confused in the dark for a moment before he feels a warm body against his, arms wrapped around him. Toya bites his lip, a genuine smile finding its way onto his face as he starts to drift to sleep too, his own arms wrapping around the dog hybrid in reciprocation, melting in their shared warmth.