Inu Ga Daisuki! (I Love Dogs!)

Chapter 4: Inu-chan, the Hero!

"Akira, you have a visitor!"

Sendoh Akira sighed. He had just returned from one of Coach Taoka's increasingly intense practices, and was tired to the bone. He was about to dive into his warm, comfortable bed, too! His mum really had the worst timing ever. Sendoh left the room, promising his bed that he'd be back, and trudged downstairs, wondering about his mysterious visitor. Sendoh thought that it was probably Hikoichi, wanting to interview him about the kind of hair gel that he used to keep his hair upright throughout the day. Well, that was a secret that Sendoh would never tell, and Hikoichi was probably better off in the journalism club, rather than the basketball team.

Mrs Tanaka, his next door neighbour, smiled at Sendoh as the sixteen-year-old appeared in the living room. Sendoh's mother was pouring out cups of hot tea.

"Hey, Mrs Tanaka." Sendoh greeted the elderly lady with a smile. He was relieved that it wasn't Hikoichi.

"Evening, Sendoh-kun. Saori, no need for tea, my brother will be picking me up soon." Mrs Tanaka said. Sendoh's mother just smiled as she set the empty teapot aside.

"Please have some, Mrs Tanaka. We don't see each other often enough." Sendoh's mother said. She turned to her son. "Akira, Mrs Tanaka is going to Tokyo for the weekend, so someone needs to look after her house."

"And that someone is me." Sendoh caught on quickly, reaching for a cup of tea.

"I'll have to leave Inu-chan as well, I hope you can keep it company." Mrs Tanaka said, smiling at Sendoh. Inu-chan was Mrs Tanaka's dog, a playful shiba that Sendoh walked on the weekends.

Sendoh was barely listening, as he carefully squeezed some lemon juice into his tea from a lemon slice that his mother had conveniently prepared on the tea tray. He was focusing his entire attention on squeezing every drop of juice from the meagre lemon slice, that he comically stuck his tongue out, like a little child.

"You don't mind staying overnight at Mrs Tanaka's, right?" Mrs Sendoh looked over to her son, throwing a sharp gaze. She knew that her son had the attention span of a nut, unless he was playing basketball.

Sendoh sucked the last of the juice from the lemon slice, savouring its sourness. "No problem." He thought that it wasn't much of responsibility, after all - it was just sleeping over at Mrs Tanaka's house, take care of Inu-chan and maybe water her jungle of plants, if he remembered.

"That's good!" Mrs Tanaka got to her feet and slid on a pair of studded Gucci sunglasses. "I'll be back on Monday afternoon, then." Mrs Tanaka's sudden change of demeanour shocked Mrs Sendoh, and she stared at the elderly lady, who was now full of energy. Mrs Tanaka headed to the front door, followed by Sendoh's mother, who was still recovering from her shock.

"Are you leaving right now?" Mrs Sendoh asked Mrs Tanaka with an incredulous tone in her voice. As if on cue, a car honked impatiently from the road.

"That'll be my brother. Thanks so much!" Mrs Tanaka practically skipped to the waiting Lamborghini, bundled her Louis Vuitton luggage into the almost nonexistent boot of the car and hopped into the leather-covered interior. The supercar sped away with a loud roar of the engine, dramatically leaving a cloud of dust.

Sendoh finally appeared next to his mother at the doorway, with his own cup of lemon tea, steam curling into his face. "Tea's still hot. Oh, Mrs Tanaka's gone?" He asked absent-mindedly, gently blowing the steam away.

Mrs Sendoh just glanced at her son. "She left her house keys with me. You should go over after dinner, and bring your overnight things with you."

Sendoh nodded, sipping his tea too quickly, and burnt his tongue.