"I'm home!"

"Ah, welcome ba— what is that." Mizuki had started to come out and greet Yuuta in the foyer, but he stopped dead in his tracks halfway across the threshold. Yuuta grinned up at him.

"Inn'e cute? He followed me home." Yuuta beamed down at the wriggling bundle in his arms, wrapped up in his jacket; a largish, slightly bedraggled but clearly enthusiastic yellow-brown puppy. Mizuki stood gaping at it, open-mouthed.

"Why on earth did you pick that thing up? You had better scrub that jacket before you ever wear it again, because if you get fleas I will not go near you."

"I won't get fleas. Honestly, look how sweet he is. Can we keep him?"

"Can we— Yuuta-kun." Mizuki suddenly smiled, if faintly. "You certainly have an unusual sense of humor." The look in Yuuta's eyes declared he was not joking. Mizuki's eyes grew stern. "Get it out of my house."

"But…" Yuuta's eyes were mournful. "I've never had a pet before. Well, we did have a turtle, once, but that didn't end well…" Yuuta glowered at the memory.

"You aren't keeping it."

"What do you want me to do, turn him out, all alone, in the street?"

"Please."

"But he's so sweet," Yuuta defended. The dog seemed happy to prove this point by eagerly licking Yuuta's face. Mizuki winced. "Go on, just pet him. You'll see." He began to carry the puppy up the stairs toward where Mizuki was standing, but the other man tensed and quickly backed away as he drew nearer, shielding his face with his arms.

"Get— get it out! Get away!"

Yuuta paused in the stairwell, and smirked. "Oh, I understand. You're afraid of dogs. Why didn't you just say so? If that's the case—"

"I am not afraid of dogs, Yuuta-kun. Dogs, stray dogs especially, are foul, and vile, and full of disease. They lick, and they bite—"

"So do you," Yuuta grinned cheekily. "But I don't throw you out in the street."

"That is completely different." Mizuki replied slowly, but with an incredulous snort which clearly said 'as if you could.' "Besides, I will not be doing either to you tonight, you flea-bitten—"

"I told you, I don't have fleas," Yuuta protested, scratching the back of his head unconvincingly. "Listen, I didn't know you were afraid of dogs. I'll just take him over to Shinya's, I know he's been wanting a pet."

"I am not afraid of dogs." Mizuki sounded less convincing every time he said it.

"Then we can keep him?"

"You may not keep it." That, at least, was forceful.

"Please?" Yuuta held the puppy up pleadingly towards Mizuki, turning his lower lip under in his best puppy-pout. Mizuki seemed completely unaffected.

"Get rid of it."

Yuuta scanned the stony face for any sign of weakness, but found none. He sighed. "Fine. I'll bring him over to Shinya's. I'm sure he'll let me visit him, anyways. He loves me." Yuuta paused, awaiting a reaction. He could never once remember Mizuki saying 'I love you,' and he didn't expect him to start now, but still, he waited. Nothing. Yuuta sighed again, heavily, and walked out the door. The sigh was mostly for effect, as Yuuta was not terribly upset. So what if Mizuki never told him, outright, that he loved him, and so what if he could count on one hand the number of times the had shared a passionate kiss with no biting. Mizuki had other ways of expressing himself.

Forty-five minutes later, Yuuta returned, sans dog, but —ugh!— wearing the jacket he had bundled it in. His face was covered in doggy saliva, Mizuki could practically see it on him. That is why, when Yuuta leaned over to give him a kiss (or possibly a lick) on the cheek, Mizuki pushed him away (and nearly down the stairs.)

"Are you insane? You reek of canine. Do not touch me."

"You want me to go take a shower?"

"Please. Take three. And burn that jacket."

Yuuta sighed, but lightheartedly. "It's a good thing you're cute, or I'd find it rather difficult to make such sacrifices for you. I really did want a pet…" Yuuta strolled off to take his shower, taking the jacket off and swinging it rather seductively, whether accidentally or on purpose it was hard to tell. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Mizuki felt a faint twinge of that same alien emotion that had wracked him when Yuuta had ended up in the hospital back in junior high. Maybe that was why, as Mizuki watched Yuuta's rear end flick out of sight (only his own stubbornness keeping him from following him into the shower and molesting him) he went and got out his phone book, to see if any pet shops nearby sold turtles.