Broken Songbird

Chapter 14 Getting The Dog

It's Nanayoubi, Mike and I are getting a dog. Our landlord approved of it as long as he's not too big. We are going to visit the shelter so we can pick our dog out. We walk inside asking to see the puppies and see if we could find a shiba inu that fits the temperament we wanted. There were many dogs and not the breed we were looking for.

However, there was one puppy in particular that caught our eye. She was a small puppy that was sleeping in her bed while the others were barking loudly. The puppy was a newborn and whimpering when the others started barking. I decided to reach my hand out and she walked up to me and sniffed my soft pale hand. She started licking it.

"Mike I think I found the one that suits us." I say allowing the dog to continue to lick it.

"She looks just like the one I imagined I would have when I was younger." Mike tells me.

We both talked to the employee and we decided to play with the puppy allowing it to learn our scents. I told it that she's going to be okay in Japanese. Mike told her that she was a good dog. We played with her but she seems to get along with us and she hid between our legs when the employee approached us. I picked her up and we filled out the adoption papers. We agreed on the name Ozeki.

At home we got the bed and toys for our dog. Sakine was being watched over by our parents and we picked her up. Mike has to take care of a dog now as well as learn how to be a father. I was in our room feeding Sakine as she started to cry for her otousan. I can hear Mike speaking to the dog in Italian, telling her to sit. She was a kawaii inu since she's a puppy. She always understands what I'm saying when I tell her to sit in Japanese or English. She's slowly learning commands in Italian but she's getting the hang of it.

As I walked toward the family room I see Ozeki playing with Mike as she was nuzzling Mike to give back her toy. I put Sakine in Mike's arms as I started play with Ozeki. We both are enjoying our new dog as Sakine wants to pet her. Ozeki obeys and understands that she has a sibling.

"Ozeki Osuwari." I say and she obeys.

"Oh really Ozeki you listen to her but not me. Ozeki seduto." Mike says.

Ozeki was sitting when I told her to but she doesn't understand Mike. Probably being stubborn and doesn't understand some Italian commands. I ask Ozeki to beg and I gave her a piece of leftover steak from this morning. Sakine and Ozeki seem to get along.

As the day went on we decided to go for a walk in the park. I was holding Sakine as Mike had Ozeki on a leash. We both were enjoying ourselves. The park where we first met. Many people pass us by and I see that same girl that I sometimes see at the Italian supermarket. Her name is Lucania; she's walking with Lukio having a great time with him. She lives in Japan and visits America during the holidays. I still work at the supermarket but I have shorter working hours so I can spend some time with my family. Manny doesn't mind the fact that Mike is an ikumen but, he's extremely lenient. He claims that if he had a Japanese daughter he would like her to be just like me.

"Mike hold Sakine for me." I say as I picked up Ozeki.

Ozeki was whimpering and I started to rub her head. She was a fawn colored with white inu. I liked her because the way she was treated by the other dogs it almost reminded myself back in Japan. My singing voice was rejected and the dog just resembled myself. The dogs who were barking resembled the haters and the shelter was like Japan. She was the only one in her cage, just like how I was the only one living in my apartment. Her brother was sold a month ago just like how my ex left me for that Neon Teen. Sakine resembled Mike who got along with me; he was a drunk just like me. Whenever I see Mike I sometimes see my own reflection staring back at me.

As I kept rubbing Ozeki, Lukio says hi to me. We talk for a while and he introduces me to Lucania his sister. Lucania was a tall onna who had a slim build. She had long pink hair and pale blue eyes. Lukio had short blonde hair but had strands of pink when he accidently used Lucania's hair dye. He told me this story in the store the day he came in with pink highlights. I laughed telling him of that bilingual girl he reminded me of back in Japan.

He left after we had our introduction. Lucania was extremely shy and soft-spoken. However, Mike and I decided to leave the park. We did some vlogs back home and an update on our lives. Even though we had Sakine we both had this idea of enjoying our lives while we were still here. This may or may not be the last time we visit this park since we might move to the suburbs. We spoke with the camera crew and did little interviews and answered questions that people on social media had asked.

"So someone had asked us how we met?" Mike said to the camera.

"We just met by chance I never expected to fall in love with Mike. I was just sitting in the park and I just saw him. Then our relationship started." I say.

"I was taken by surprise because I knew I wasn't the type to be dating all these types of girls. When I saw Meiko I saw a bell'angelo. For some reason everyone thinks she's an Italian who lived in Germany all her life. Alright, Meiko this question is for you. Meiko what's your first language?"

"Easy it's Japanese because I lived in Japan but my second is English since my mom was Irish who grew up in America. My father however his first language was Japanese. I was usually stuck translating between them. Also now I can speak Italian because his parents want me to be part of the family. His uncle couldn't speak English that well." I say.

As Mike and I continued to answer some questions on the social media. There were a ton of questions that were extremely hard to answer. I pretended to ignore one comment that said that I looked exactly like Meiko Nagasaki Tanako who was a singer in Japan. I was afraid that my past would catch up to me. But, I just got lucky that Tanako was a common surname so it could have been anyone.

"Mike this question is for you. Has Meiko ever made you a yukata?" I say.

"Yes she gave me a year before we got married. She claimed my bathrobe smelled like something died in it. Hence, she made me a yukata to use as a bathrobe. At first I thought it wasn't going to fit since it looked big but it worked and I love it." Mike says.

As we finished our podcast I did some techniques to show others how to put on a button. I have a TV show on this American cable network and even got fans from around the world who are watching my show. I started to do a tutorial on hand sewing and how to hide the seams of your clothes. We did updates on our own lives. I say how we adopted a shiba inu and named her after a sake. Mike looks at me holding my hand as we finished our work.

Sakine started crying again since it was my turn to feed her I decide to bring her to another room. She stopped crying and I let her continue as I turned on the TV to watch as she finishes. Sakine was big when she was born and she needed to more milk. I'm stuck wearing Mike's sweatshirts since they are easy to put on and take off. I rock Sakine to sleep; she doesn't cry as much when I carry her but she'll most likely be closer to Mike than me. It's okay because if I have a son then he'll be closer to me than Mike. I speak to Sakine softly in Japanese. I watch some TV show that was on at the time.

Mike walks on me asking me if I was okay. I tell him that I'm fine and offered him to sit next to me. We both were talking about something important I wasn't sure what it was but he tells me that he wouldn't let anything get in our way. He wraps his arms around my shoulders as he always does and tells me that he loves me no matter what. He loves his daughter and often speaks to her in Italian.

"Meiko I don't want this day to end." Mike tells me.