Inu Ga Daisuki! (I Love Dogs!)

Chapter 3: Inu-chan has an Injury!

6:30 AM, Sunday morning. As usual, Sendoh Akira was already awake for his routine morning workout. Shoelaces tied, hair spiked. Ready and raring to go.

But first, he needed his running buddy.

Sneaking into his neighbour Mrs Tanaka's backyard, Sendoh hoped that Inu-chan, the golden shiba was outdoors. And there it was, asleep on the porch, still immersed in its doggy dreams. Mrs Tanaka, who was always up early to tend to her garden, was nowhere to be seen, probably enjoying some shut-eye in her comfortable bed.

Sendoh thought that Mrs Tanaka wouldn't mind him 'borrowing' her dog for a couple of hours. After all, he was the one who walked her dog, since the elderly woman had bad knees and couldn't walk very far for very long.

"Inu-chan. Let's go for a walk." Sendoh poked the shiba's belly as he whispered. The dog flinched slightly at his touch, but kept on sleeping.

Poke, poke, poke.

"Good morning, Sendoh-kun." Mrs Tanaka greeted him with a smile, opening the back doors.

"Ah, good morning, Mrs Tanaka!" Sendoh practically leapt backwards and plastered on his most innocent smile.

"Ready to walk Inu-chan?" Mrs Tanaka arched an eyebrow, a knowing look in her eyes.

For the past two Sundays, Sendoh had been walking Inu-chan, or more accurately, chasing the shiba all around Kanagawa at the crack of dawn. Why did he still do it? Well, reasons unbeknownst, apart from the fact that Sendoh didn't have his own dog at home.

Now he was caught in the middle of an attempted kidnapping of Mrs Tanaka's shiba! Said dog was still fast asleep, a barrier between the teenage boy and his elderly neighbour.

"Well, if you don't mind, Mrs Tanaka," Sendoh laughed nervously, touching the back of his head.

"I would prefer it if you had Inu-chan on a leash." Mrs Tanaka held a rainbow-coloured leash up for Sendoh. "It's easier to control Inu-chan that way." The neighbours' gossip about a shiba and a boy wreaking havoc in the area recently led her to believe that it was Sendoh and Inu-chan. After all, Inu-chan was a playful young dog, a bundle of energy that she couldn't keep up with. Letting her young neighbour take Inu-chan for walks was a good way for it to channel its energy, rather that keeping the poor shiba in the yard.

"That's a good idea, Mrs Tanaka!" Sendoh took the leash from her.

Inu-chan slowly lifted its head up, still groggy from sleep, when it felt a slight tugging at its collar. Sendoh was already attaching one end of the rainbow leash to Inu-chan's neck, and wrapped the other end around his wrist, so that he wouldn't have to hold on to it all the time. Proud of his innovation, Sendoh grinned at Mrs Tanaka, who nodded her permission for him to take Inu-chan.

"Walkies!" Sendoh gave the leash another tug to make sure that it was intact. Inu-chan stood up on all fours, albeit reluctantly.

Sendoh took off at a leisurely pace, with Inu-chan in tow. So the pair made their way slowly to the town park, Sendoh leading for the first time since Inu-chan was restricted by the leash. Sendoh's mind started drift off, as he wondered what it would be like if mermaids exist. Maybe he'd meet one the next time he went fishing...

The Ryonan ace was too wrapped up in his imagination that he thought that he was imagining some whining from behind him. Mermaids probably communicate that way, he thought, vaguely remembering something about dolphins and sonar waves, that to him, oddly sounded like a shiba's cry. Mermaids would probably have dolphins as pets too...

Inu-chan suddenly stood its ground, abruptly sitting down - as Sendoh walked ahead, his end of the leash around his wrist getting more taut as he went further, before being pulled backwards and falling flat on his backside.