puppy's whispering

II

"Well, so I... I think I'm a pet." a reddish hue deepened on his cheeks and ears. "But I'm really not sure at all." he quickly added.

A chuckle escaped Ren's lips before he spoke, "You're cute when you're embarrassed, Shotaro San."

"Ren! It's not funny... I still don't know if I... I like it." He muttered, half understandable, half swallowing his words.

"Then test it out," Ren said, his tone playful yet slightly serious. "You mentioned you live in a shared apartment, right?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah, with my two best friends, Daichi and Toshiro."

"Then try it out on them. Don't explain anything, just act like a pet in front of them. Whether you like their reaction or not, it's a way to test it out." Ren suggested, making it sound way too easy and simple.

"And what if I don't like it? I mean, even if I do, they'll laugh at me forever!" Shotaro whined, challenging the younger man's idea.

"Then just tell them you were drunk, that it wasn't really you, but the alcohol's effect."

The store door opened, and two young women entered. "I'll talk to you when I finish work!" Shotaro quietly said, ending the call, turning his attention with a polite smile to the pair approaching him.

"Hello, can I help you?" he asked, wearing a gentle smile. The two women were young, in their twenties, lesbians.

One was a few centimeters taller than Shotaro, her hair braided into two long pigtails. She wore a white skirt with a baby pink hoodie jacket and held the other girl's hand excitedly.

The other was more than ten centimeters taller than Shotaro and wore a tailored gray skirt and a white button-down shirt with her high school emblem sewn on the pocket.

"My name is Adachi Kaya, I ordered a package online," the taller girl spoke, her tone monotone, pulling the shorter girl slightly closer to her defensively, as if trying to handle her quietly.

"I see, please excuse me." He smiled shyly, bending down to look for a package with the girl's name on it. It didn't take him more than twenty seconds to spot the correct package and reach for it. He stood back up and placed the package on the counter. "Here it is."

"Kaya! Kaya!" The shorter girl quietly and politely called out in excitement, "Can I open it now?" she smiled. Adachi chuckled before nodding and saying, "It's yours anyway, my spoiled princess."

'I wish I was someone's spoiled prince other than Toshiro and Daichi,' Shotaro thought to himself as the shorter girl began unwrapping the clear tape-covered cardboard box.

She quickly thrust her hand into the box once she finally managed to deal with the tape, pulling out a silver choker collar with pink diamonds and a name tag that read "Katie." She enthusiastically waved the collar in front of the chuckling girl.

For a moment, Shotaro thought that maybe the collar was for the shorter girl, that maybe she was a pet too. Not that he knew yet if he was, but still he kind of hoped that she was. And there had been nothing so far to disprove this possibility.

"Come on, sweetie, put it back inside before you accidentally break Katie's collar."

The shorter girl frowned slightly, "I won't break it. Can we take Katie to the dog park after we put her new collar on?" she asked expectantly.