Brown and Orange - Soukoku

26

Chuuya's POV

"Yokohama Animal Hospital! How can I help you?" the receptionist was a women with silver hair put up in a bun. She had one of the black masks on probably to prevent germs.

"Is there an appointment for Chuuya Nakahara?" I asked. The kitten was inside a small metal carrying cage thing and it was clawing against the bars.

"Chuuya Nakahara.. right here! Appointment for vaccination and checkup am I correct? I believe we spoke over the phone" she was looking at a computer of some sort.

"Yes, that would be me" I confirmed. "Do you know approximately how old the kitten is? Like around months, years, or anything?" she asked.

"Not really, I found it in the middle of a forest" I responded. She didn't care to question why I was in a forest. "That's fine, just sign your name here for the vaccination approval" she handed me a clipboard and a blue ink pen.

I didn't really know how to sign my name nor did I even have a signature yet. I just wrote my initials, C.N. "You can wait over there, there's one person before you" she pointed to the row of chairs across the room.

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Dazai's POV

I opened up a random browser on my phone. 'Vets near me' it showed the result of something called 'Yokohama Animal Hospital'.

I don't really have a cage or leash for the puppy, but it isn't really aggressive. That's fine right? I got into a taxi with the puppy in my hands and started giving the driver directions.

Ding. The bell rung as I opened the door. "Yokohama Animal Hospital! How are you today?" the person at the front desk greeted me as I walked in.

"I'm fine, do we have to make appointments here or can we do walk in?" I asked. "Normally, you have to make an appointment unless it's an emergency. However, I can make an exception for you since we aren't really busy today" she smiled.

"Which services are you looking forward to?" she was typing on her computer. "I don't really know, what do you need to do for a new puppy?" I asked.

"You should get a vaccination and checkup if the puppy has never been to a vet before" she replied. "Here sigh this, it's the permission slip for the shots" she handed me a sheet of paper and a blue pen.

There it was, his initials. I didn't need to see his full name to recognize his signature. C.N. His handwriting, the way he slightly curved his letters with angular corners. The faint line connecting the letters that was dragged across the page. He's been here.

"Is there something wrong? You've been staring at the paper" the lady questioned. "No, nothing's wrong" I quickly signed the paper and handed it to her.

"Okay, follow me" she led me into a room with green floor tiles and plain white walls. "You can put the puppy over there" she pointed to a table with medical supplies on it.

"I'll go get the doctor now" she left the room and soon later a man wearing a mask and gloves showed up. He was also wearing what looked like a cooking hat but shorter.

He has worst taste then Chuuya. Although his job probably requires him to wear the hat while Chuuya's doesn't. "After getting the shot, the puppy will need to take some pills for a few days" he informed.

"You can get those pills at the local pharmacy around the corner" he instructed. After inspecting the puppy a little, he brung out a syringe and inserted it into the puppy. The puppy only made a few crying noises, it didn't bite or try to fight back.

"By any chance, do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" I asked. "It's a girl, if I'm estimating it's also around a few weeks old" he responded.

They had those kennel things and they were pretty expensive. I bought one then headed for the address the doctor gave me. "Welcome to ABC Pharmacy! What can I get for you young man?" the cashier greeted me.

She looked like one of those sweet grannies that would give you strawberry candy every time you went to visit them. "I think I'm here for Dip-hen-hydrological-mine" I read off the piece of paper the doctor gave me.

"A what?" she made a confused face and snatched the paper from my hands. "Sweeetie, it's called Diphenhydramine" she smiled.

She handed me a container of the pills and must of seen me carrying the dog kennel. "These pills can be crushed, usually young dogs refuse to take pills. You can try the peanut butter trick, it works amazingly" she laughed.

"You might also want to take a look at these over here" she showed me an asiste of dog treats. "Don't feed it kibble yet, feed it milk" she instructed.

The lady was very helpful to someone like me who knew nothing about dogs. I can't believe I'm actually keeping it, does the hotel even allow pets? I still need to decide on a name.

"These treats are the best brand in my experience for when they're older" the treats were in a plastic bag with the words 'since 1971" titled on the front in bold print.

The lady told me that there were special treats designed to clean dog teeth, though they were for when they were grown. Never knew dogs had to brush teeth, do they need a toothbrush and toothpaste too? What about floss and mouthwash?

The treats came in all sorts of different sizes. There were treats of the whole rainbow in those plastic bags. But two colors were the most dominant in quantity.

Brown and orange.

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7 years into the future

"Out of literally everyone, why are you the one to 'look after me' huh?" he complained. "You're the one complaining? I'm the one who has to babysit a short-tempered brat" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not short-tempered! You're just extremely annoying" he defended himself. We were drinking some boba that I had made myself.

There we were. Just sitting there chatting for hours after breakfast. Talking about random stuff, gossiping about work and other random things we encountered. Just like before, as if nothing happened.

The boba drink was easy to make. You just add brown sugar and hot water to a cup. Mix it. Add milk. And you have milk tea. To make the pearls, you need one extra step.

Out of nowhere, something fluffy brushed against my leg. I looked under the table to find a cat next to me. I picked the cat up and put it on my lap.

"Since when did you have a cat?" I asked. "Dunno, I think I found it in the middle of a forest like seven years ago" he answered. That must be the pet he brought to the vet.

There was a collar loosely around the cat's neck. I lifted up a golden nameplate to see cursive lettering in small print. "You named it.. Mackerel?" wasn't that his old nickname for me?

"It just.. I don't know" silence. "Fine. It reminded me a little of you" he was slightly blushing in embarrassment. "Awhhh do you think of me that much? I'm flattered" I cooed.

"Shut it mackerel" he mumbled. "Me or the cat?" I asked innocently. "You obviously dumbass" he grumbled. "Chuuya, I almost forgot. I also have something to tell you" I avoided eye contact.

"What is it?" he looked at me confused. "So about you having a cat, I also have a pet. I may or may not have brung it here with me" I admitted.

"You what? Where is it?" he asked. "Since I had to take care of you, I figured why not just live here. I don't want to go back and forth from my house to yours all day, it's too much work" I started.

"By the way, the agency doesn't really care if I take a long break. Since the rats are not a problem, the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective agency have a lot less on their hands" I added.

"I couldn't just leave a dog at my place all by itself, so I brought her here with me" I continued. "While you were sleeping, I left her over there" I pointed to the couch.

He hurried over to the couch to find a her sleeping peacefully. "What's its name?" he asked. "It's a her, and her name is Slug" I responded.

"You named the dog Slug? Seriously?" he looked at me as if I just committed a crime. "What's wrong with that? Am I not allowed to name her that?" I argued.

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