The Kamijirou Anthology 2 - Kamijirou Week 2023

Chapter 2: Fluffy friend (Pets)

When Kaminari learned that Jirou received a chinchilla, he laughed uncontrollably.

It was the strangest gift the girl had ever received for her birthday; a little cotton ball and fur that jumped all the time and liked dust baths. Koda told her he had a lot of chinchillas in his house, and he wanted her to have one so the chinchilla wouldn't be left without a family. For a moment, she wanted to refuse to take him in because it didn't look like a comfortable animal to have, but the sadness in Koda's eyes and his deep love for animals changed her mind.

Besides, she needed a companion to de-stress from her recent bad mood, so she thought it was a good idea to get one of the chinchillas that Koda had.

Kaminari somewhat mocked his girlfriend's bad luck. Even though they were both in a relationship, he liked to see how sometimes his girlfriend could be a little bit angry. She looked tender in his eyes. He could imagine her being tired with the chinchilla and him helping her take care of it. He thought that chinchilla was only going to last a week or two in her house, and then it was going to be given away to another family.

But he was wrong.

In the first few days it turned out to be someone who quickly won Jirou's affection. The softness of his fur made the girl find something soothing after a stressful day at work, the jumps of excitement when she came home from a mission made Jirou raise a smile and his sand baths were very adorable to the girl's eyes. He didn't turn out to be one of the dirtiest chinchillas, because he quickly adapted to Jirou's training to do his basic needs.

Then she started taking pictures of her chinchilla along with her parents, mentioning how amazing it was to have it as a companion. Mika and Kyotoku were thrilled to have the animal in their home, even though they were hesitant about whether it would be a good or bad thing for them. It turned out to be a good thing for the whole family in the end.

But it did cause Jirou to cut down on her time with Kaminari a lot more than he thought it would. The last few dates he wanted to have with her were cancelled because the chinchilla didn't have someone to stay with; in the evenings she had to feed him, making Kaminari's night calls short-lived; and their chats were reduced in messages because Jirou was so focused on that adorable little furball. He realized that this little animal was ruining a lot of things for him, and his initial laughs turned into anger and discomfort.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was angry that the chinchilla was taking his place as Jirou's moral support.

It was there that he knew he had to do something before that chinchilla stole his position as the most important thing in the girl's life. That day, he had promised her that he was going to take care of her pet after finishing his hero shift, in order for her to relax for a while. She gave him all the guidelines for him to be careful, all his respective mealtimes, and finally told him to have fun. She gave him one last kiss on the cheek and left her home relieved that she was able to have some free time.

Once he saw that she was gone and making sure her parents were gone, Kaminari made his way to his girlfriend's room, where inside a large three-floor cage, was the fluffy ball that was stealing Jirou from him.

"Now, let's see what's so special about you."

Jirou's room had several areas; on one side was her bed and her small nightstand, on the other were her instruments and sheet music, plus huge lists of songs. And right next to all the pictures Kaminari had had with her, was his nemesis. A gray chinchilla, big ears and rolling in sand.

He didn't look hostile, or even threatening. Its dark eyes and fur made it a fragile animal. It didn't look like it would be a problem to care for. Beyond that, though, Kaminari wanted to know what was so unique about the chinchilla. He didn't know what was so great about it, he had even researched about chinchillas on the internet, and while he had certain curious facts, he didn't know why his girlfriend liked to spend more time with that fluffy little ball than with him.