PHOENIX: A Pro Hero Toya Todoroki AU

Chapter 42: Expectations (January 3, 2124)

"Shhhhh! Be quiet, little buddy," I whisper to the quivering box in my hands as I walk to our bedroom door. When I left this morning, Keigo was sound asleep. I'd been planning this for months. Keigo always said he wanted a puppy, and so, I'd spent hours scrolling through shelter website after shelter website. Then, I saw him. A wiggly golden retriever mix with brown doe-eyes. I'd never clicked on a phone number so fast before in my life. This was what I meant on New Years' Eve when I said I had a surprise planned. I take a deep breath.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Keigo opens the door with a box in his hand, and I stand there, staring in confusion. Muffled yips spray from our two boxes, and Keigo and I burst out laughing.

"Did...did you get me a dog?" I chuckle.

"Did you get me a dog?" Keigo beams excitedly. I walk into the bedroom and place the box on the bed as Keigo does the same.

"Open it," I smirk, putting my hands in my pockets.

"You first," Keigo teases, poking me in the shoulder.

"Together?" I raise my eyebrow, and Keigo nods.

"One. Two. Three."

I stare into the box to see the cutest Doberman puppy I've ever seen in my entire life as Keigo immediately squeals over the golden.

"OH MY GOD, TOYAA!!!!!!!!!!! HE'S ADORABLE!!!! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" Keigo starts sobbing as he picks up the puppy and nuzzles it. The Doberman mutt stares at me with wide eyes; it has floppy ears and a long tail, completely deviating from the breed standard. I tentatively rest my hand on the edge of the box, letting the pup sniff me. Her little tail starts wagging like crazy, and she jumps up, hanging her paws over the edge of the box as she stretches out to try to reach me. A dumb reflexive smile spreads across my face as I carefully pick her up and hold her like I held Natsuo and Shoto when they were babies. She whimpers and squirms in my arms, rubbing her face on my dragon tattoo. I almost drop her, and my heart catches in my throat as I struggle to keep my grip on the wiggly puppy.

"Jesus, Kei, you picked the one with the most energy," I laugh as I place her down on the ground to explore. She promptly rushes through the entire bedroom, sniffing every inch of the wall.

"I'm gonna name him Pinky!" Keigo beams as he places the golden on the ground. He immediately goes to tackle the Doberman, and the two begin playing and chasing each other around.

"I guess she'll be Thrasher. Since she can't stay still," I sigh, scratching the back of my neck.

"Wow, so we have kids now. Things are moving so fast," Keigo jokes, punching me in the arm. I roll my eyes and chew my bottom lip, trying to hide my childlike euphoria at finally having a dog. I'd always wanted one, but Enji was allergic, so we never got the chance to have a family pet. Not that it would've enjoyed living in our abusive household anyway.

"Kids before marriage? That's not gonna go over well at the wedding," I snicker, and now it's Keigo's turn to roll his eyes. I wrap my arm around him and pull him close to me as we watch the dogs wrestle and leap, making little happy snarling yips every so often.

...

WHAM!

I slowly turn around in quiet fury to see Keigo laughing nervously, shrinking behind the shopping cart that he just clipped me with.

"That's it. We're switching. You take the list," I mutter in annoyance as I wrench the handlebars from Keigo and force the paper list into his hands. We are weaving in and out of the PetsMart aisles searching for things to buy while Rumi watches the pups at home.