Omake Week 2020, Day 4: Wednesdays are kind of a crappy day on average. Any energy gained from a weekend has long since been spent, and the next weekend is still too far away to look forward to. Wednesdays are days of bad news and slow reactions when frankly, the best choice would just be to pull the covers back over one's head and sleep in until Thursday morning. So here's hoping that a story about a girl and her dog will brighten the mood!

~X X X~

Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater

(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)

Since the HiME had defeated the Obsidian Prince and destroyed the HiME Star, putting a permanent end to the cycle of battle and suffering that their kind had endured for millennia, Natsuki Kuga's life had changed in many ways. One of the most obvious was that she was no longer the emotionally frozen ice queen she'd been since her mother's death. In fact, she'd gotten quite used to not only forging emotional bonds with others, but sharing her bed with someone else.

Shizuru Fujino, on the other hand, was definitely not used to Natsuki sharing her bed with someone who was not her.

"Ara, ara, I did not think that my staying up late finishing my research paper would cause my Natsuki to loan out my side of the bed to someone else."

Natsuki shrugged, unrepentant. She didn't even bother putting down her book.

"You weren't here, and the spot was open. A woman needs snuggles."

And aren't those four words you never thought you'd ever hear me say?

"Natsuki could not wait for me even for three hours before finding a replacement?"

"You snooze—or in this case, fail to snooze—you lose. Especially when you should have had that paper done two days ago but insisted on going on that weekend beach trip instead."

Shizuru got a dreamy smile.

"Natsuki in a bikini was too much to resist."

"Then you shouldn't complain about the consequences, if you're so satisfied with your choices." Natsuki flipped a page.

Tears welled up in Shizuru's eyes, and she gave a theatrical little sniffle.

"So cold to me over one little mistake. Natsuki ikezu."

"Idiot. I am not going to apologize for letting Duran up on the bed while you're not here. He's made out of metal so you don't even have to worry about hair."

"There's dog drool on my pillow!" Shizuru lamented.

"I'll change the pillowcase for you," Natsuki gave in with bad grace, but she did give in because Shizuru kind of had a point that time. She put her bookmark in place, set her book aside on the nightstand, and flipped back the covers.

"A cotton sleep shirt?" Shizuru summarized Natsuki's nightwear.

"One, it's comfy, and two, I'm not going to wear sexy nighties for the dog."

Shizuru blinked, then let a slow smile trickle across her features.

"So Natsuki saves her special collection of satin and lace for my eyes alone?"

"Yes," Natsuki said as she opened the drawer where they kept clean bed linens.

"Ara, you were more fun when I could make you blush with almost any salacious remark."

Natsuki grinned at her over her shoulder.

"You weren't complaining about my growing confidence two nights ago," she said.

"…Natsuki makes a highly cogent point."

Chuckling, Natsuki said, "I love you, too." She fished out a pillowcase, then closed the drawer and straightened up. "C'mon, boy," she said to Duran. "It's time to wake up so Shizuru can go to bed."

"You can let him finish his nap."

"Huh?"

Shizuru smiled brightly. "Thanks to him, I got to hear Natsuki spontaneously say that she loves me. A good dog should always be given a proper reward."

"You are so weird sometimes, but whatever."

"Besides, he looks like he's having a good dream. Look at him kicking his feet like he's running."

"Maybe he's dreaming about chasing rabbits."

Shizuru shook her head in mock sadness.

"Such a prosaic imagination. Would your Duran pursue an innocent bunny? Doubtless he's dreaming of protecting Natsuki from vicious Orphans and evil conspiracy members driving black luxury sedans."

"That does sound more like him. Remember the time when—"

Her reminiscences were cut off by a sharp metallic clacking noise from the bed. Both young women looked down just in time to catch the tail end of Duran's semi-automatic loading mechanisms feeding fresh shells into the firing chambers of his rifles.

The boom of the guns firing actually woke him up with a loud yelp. He spun around on the bed, frantically trying to figure out where the threat was coming from and how he hadn't noticed it until explosions were literally going off next to his ears. A frenzy of loud barking accompanied this, belatedly informing the no-doubt nefarious evildoers that they needed to take themselves elsewhere (presuming that they somehow had unfinished evil left to do and weren't already leaving on their own).

Eventually, however, reflex began to be replaced by actual observation. He noticed the complete lack of anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, whether by sight, sound, or scent. He saw Natsuki glaring at him, arms crossed over her chest, her expression mingling annoyance and disappointment. Next to her, Shizuru looked as if she wasn't sure whether to laugh or yell (please pick laugh, he thought). He saw Kiyohime's heads peeking around the edge of the door, purple faces lined up one by one above each other.

He also saw Shizuru's pillow and a good chunk of her side of the headboard encased in ice crystals, the exact kind that would be released by a Silver Cartridge.

Duran whimpered and hung his head.

"Duran…" Natsuki said.

He swung his head around, ready to face the music.

"Good dogs set the safety catch on their personal firearms before they lay down to sleep."