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“-suke”
Someone was calling him, the voice distant and echoing.
“-ousuke!”
His face scrunched up as he was pulled from the light.
“SOUSUKE, WAKE UP.”
Sousuke grumbled and rolled onto his back, finally cracking open one droopy teal eye. His vision cleared to Rin’s irate face glaring down at him, strands of silky hair falling down to frame his face.
“G’morning to you, too.” Sousuke mumbled, reaching up to hook his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. Rin snorted and ducked from his clutches while nudging his knee into Sousuke’s thigh.
“You promised you’d get up and run with me this morning.” He groused as he pushed himself off their bed, “Are you coming or not?” Sousuke propped himself up on his elbows, tilting his head so he could side-eye Rin’s toned backside. Rin turned to face him again while pulling his hair back into a small pony-tail. “Well?” he inquired when Sousuke didn’t reply. Sousuke run a hand through his own cropped hair.
“Well I’m up now. Might as well.” He just caught the end of rolling eyes from Rin as he pushed on himself from the bed and picked up a discarded shirt draped over the back of the nearby chair. His eyes met Rin’s once he’d pulled it over his head. “What?” He asked just before letting out a great yawn.
“I think it’s time to do your laundry. You’ve worn that same shirt for three days now.” Sousuke shrugged and pulled on a random pair of running shorts from his drawer. He heard a snort followed by snickering. A glance up showed his boyfriend to be laughing at him. He frowned. “What now.”
“Y-you don’t…” Rin tried to speak through his giggles. “You don’t match at all…” Sousuke looked down and indeed he outfit was very mismatched: a dark green shirt and…bright pink shorts.
“Why do you even have those….” Rin was still doubled over, trying to stifle his laughter.
“I think Momo gave them to me. You ready to go?” Sousuke shrugged.
“You’re not going to change?”
“Why should I? I look damn good and you know it.” Another snort.
“Don’t come crying to me if people laugh at you.”
“Oh, I’m the crybaby now?” He teased. Rin kneed the back of his boyfriend’s leg.
“Shut up, you hulking brute. Let’s see if you can keep up.”
“Look at you all huffing and puffing. You really should work on your stamina.” Sousuke glowered at his boyfriend from his hunched position, hands leaning heavily on his knees. “I know you’re not swimming competitively anymore, but still.” Rin mused, crouching by Sousuke to offer his bottle of water. Sousuke took a long swig before swaying over to the park bench and collapsing on it. “Oi,” Rin called, drawing out the word. “We still need to run home. You’re going to cramp if you rest too much now.”
“Two minutes.” Sousuke grumbled as he took another drink of water. He heard a rustle as Rin sat beside him.
“Wimp.”
“I can still beat you in arm wrestling.” Sousuke retorted. Rin scoffed.
“That doesn’t mean anything you muscle-head.” Sousuke smirked and leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment.
“Thirty more seconds.” Rin said a moment later. “We’re almost ho-“ They both froze at the noise. Sousuke cracked open his eyes to look at Rin, who was scanning the area in confusion. And there it was again. It sounded like pitiful whine, almost a squeak. Rin glanced briefly at Sousuke before turning around in his seat and peered over the back of the bench towards the bushes. “Sousuke!”
“What is it?” He shifted to join his boyfriend to peek behind the bench. He was met with a pair of teal blue eyes staring up at him. It was a puppy, staring up at them from a damp cardboard box. Sousuke couldn’t tell what kind of dog it was, most likely a mutt. It let out another whining squeak causing the two of them to jump. The pair looked at each other before Rin reached down hesitantly towards it. “Rin, be careful.” Sousuke warned. Rin held a hand towards the creature, just a few inches from its nose. It reached towards him cautiously, sniffing the tips of Rin’s fingers before giving an experimental lick.
“Aw.” Rin cooed, reaching to gently scratch the puppy behind its ear, “It’s adorable. It looks like it was abandoned…” he glanced at Sousuke. “We should at least take him to the shelter, right?”
“Yeah…” He replied. Rin reached over the bench and picked it up and turned once more to sit properly in the bench while placing the puppy on his lap. “Rin, he’s probably not very clean-“ Sousuke began.
“Oh please, you’re far worse.” The puppy seemed completely at home on Rin’s lap, standing on its hind legs while its forepaws rested on Rin’s stomach. It turned its head to look straight at Sousuke. Rin snickered, “Look, it likes you too.” It let out a little yelp. Sousuke snorted and finally reached over to scratch it behind its ear. It batted at his hand, playfully nipping at his fingers.
“You little rascal.” He mumbled. He heard Rin chuckle beside him.
“Alright, I guess this little guy is your savior for today, Sousuke. Let’s go take him to the shelter which is right down the street from here.”
“Sorry, we can’t take puppies. They require attention that this facility just isn’t equipped to give.”
“What? Are you serious? Geez, it’s probably because of you guys that it was left out to die.”
“I’m sorry, sirs, but it’s our policy. You’re going to have to find it a family yourselves or keep him”
“This is ridiculous. Is there another shelter that DOES take puppies?”
“Not near here. The next closest shelter is at least a 3 hour’s drive away.”
“I can’t believe this.” Rin grumbled as he carried the puppy in a clean cardboard box they’d found in a recycling bin. “What shelter doesn’t take puppies?” Sousuke shrugged as he dug their apartment’s keys from his pocket. They’d ended up walking back home after the exchange at the shelter. The puppy had fallen asleep in the box on the way.
“Didn’t Makoto get his veterinarian license recently? Why don’t you ask him?” He asked as he opened the door and let them both in.
“That’s right!” Rin exclaimed, “I totally forgot. I’ll call him now.” He set the box gently on the kitchen floor and disappeared to find his phone. Sousuke crouched by the box and peered inside. The puppy was curled up in a corner, sound asleep. Upon closer inspection, the creature didn’t look very malnourished and its fur still relatively clean. It must have just recently been left on its own. Luckily, he and Rin and had found it before it had been too late. He looked up at Rin’s voice as he came back into the kitchen, shoulder pinching his phone to his ear as he rolled up his sleeves to wash his hands in the sink. “Great, thanks, Makoto. You’re the best. We’ll see you in the little bit.” Rin dried his hands and hung up the phone. Sousuke raised an eyebrow at him in question. “Makoto says we can stop by his and Haru’s place with the puppy this afternoon. Until then, he gave me some instructions to wash the little rascal up.” Sousuke stood.
“Sounds good. Meanwhile, I’m going to shower.”
“Oi, you’re going to leave me to wash it on my own?”
“It was your idea.”
“You bastard.”
Sousuke came out of the bathroom to sound of Rin’s voice mixed with loud yelping barks. He padded quickly into the bathroom to find Rin drenched head to toe in water as he struggled to keep the puppy in the sink. “Oh no you don’t, you little-OW“ There was another yelp and splashing as Rin shook his hand to relieve the pain. He happened to glance over. “Oi don’t just stand there, you idiot! Help me get this thing cleaned up as quickly as possible-GAH!” The puppy has finally managed to wriggle its way from Rin’s grip and scrabbled out of the sink and slipped off the kitchen counter. Sousuke’s body moved on its own as he leapt forward and caught the creature in his arms, but his foot slipped on the wet floor and the next thing he knew, he was falling as well. “SOUSUKE-“ Rin’s panicked cry was all he heard as he landed.
Sousuke groaned as he rolled onto his back. His old shoulder injury twanged painfully. “Oh my god.” He heard Rin’s familiar voice from above him. “Sousuke, are you alright? You landed on your bad shoulder, are you in pain?” The furry bundle in his arms squirmed and whimpered. Finally, he cracked open his eyes as the throbbing from the fall subsided slightly. Rin was knelt over him, looking him up and down with concern. “I’m sorry Sousuke, I should have kept a better grip on it. Should I call the hospital?” He removed the puppy from Sousuke’s arms and set it on the ground.
“M’fine…” He mumbled. “It’s not too bad.” He stared up at Rin, realizing that his clean shirt was now soaked through with soapy water. “So much for the shower.” Rin let out a relieved noise. Something wet and warm swiped up his cheek. Sousuke shifted his head to see big teal eyes and a pink tongue coming towards him. He couldn’t help but let out a short chuckle.
“Just a big troublemaker, aren’t you?” The puppy cocked its head at him and then proceeded to shake the water off itself.
“Aw, come on! Really?” Rin exclaimed as water splashed him as well. Sousuke laughed.
“Now we’re even.” Rin huffed and stood up, offering a hand to help Sousuke up. Using his good arm, Sousuke gripped it and heaved himself up. The puppy sat on its little haunches, staring at them with its tongue lolling and tail wagging away. Rin shook his head and grabbed a tea towel.
“C’mere you.” He leaned grabbed the puppy to towel it dry. Sousuke gingerly rolled his shoulder to assess the damage. “Is it bad?” Rin asked.
“Nah.” He replied. “It just hurt for a bit but it’s fine now.”
“We should have the doctor take a look at it just in case.”
“It’s fine.”
“Don’t be stubborn. I don’t want to hear you whining about how much it hurts, or worse, pretend that it doesn’t in that stupid way of yours.”
“Fine.”
Sousuke tapped the steering wheel with a finger as he drove. Rin had the puppy in a box on his lap as he sat in the passenger seat. After another quick shower, clean up, and ten minutes of trying to catch the little rascal and put it into the box again, they had left for Haruka and Makoto’s place.
“You know…” Rin began through the music that played quietly from the radio. “It kinda looks like you.” Sousuke snorted.
“Are you calling me a dog?” Rin snickered.
“Not gonna lie, you can be one sometimes.” Sousuke snorted again. “Well it’s got similar eyes.” Rin defended. “And the dark fur.”
“You’re planning on keeping it, aren’t you.” It wasn’t a question.
“What do you think? I mean, our place allows pets and it’d be fun to have one, don’t you think?” Sousuke shrugged.
“If you think we can care for it properly. With our jobs, we’re not home all the time, you know. What are you going to do when you’re out competing?”
“You’re home, aren’t you?”
“Basically, you’re dumping the responsibility on me.”
“Haru and Makoto can help.”
“Haru competes whenever you compete. Makoto usually goes with him.”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“If you say so.”
Rin rang the doorbell. There was a pause, followed by footsteps, and the door opened to reveal Rin’s long time friend and rival. Rin’s eye twitched. Haru was dressed, once again, in just his apron (A new one, Sousuke noticed absently. They hadn’t seen it before.) and swimsuit.
“Rin.” Greeted the low monotone voice. “….And Sousuke.” Sousuke could help but feel like an afterthought.
“Oi.“ Rin groused at his friend, “Why are you dressed like that at this hour-“
“Haru!” Came the distressed voice from somewhere in the house, cutting off Rin’s scolding. Makoto’s larger frame appeared at the door behind Haruka, his expression in its usual apologetic manner at his boyfriend’s antics. “I thought I told you Rin and Sousuke were coming over soon and you should get changed. Geez, you’re so difficult…Hi Rin, Sousuke. How have you been?” He finally greeted with his usual smile. Rin shook his head resignedly.
“We’ve been good, you?”
“Great, great! Come in. Haru, please go get changed!” Makoto implored as they entered the house. “Oh!” He noticed the box that Sousuke now carried. “Is this it?” Sousuke shifted the box a bit so Makoto could look inside.
“Yeah, this is the little rascal.” He replied. Makoto peered inside to see the puppy looking expectantly at him.
“Oooh, are you just adorable. Look at you!” He reached in and picked up the puppy. It scrabbled at him, trying to lick his face. Makoto laughed. “Well he seems very happy and healthy. But I’ll take a look just in ca-“
“Rin-chan! Sou-chan!” They had reached the entrance to the living room when they heard the familiar excited voice.
“Nagisa?” Rin queried.
“Ah…” Makoto laughed awkwardly, “I forgot to say, Nagisa and Rei are here, too. I ran into them while grocery shopping and happen to mention that you were coming so…”
“Rin-chan, Sou-chan, how are you!” The excited blond came bounding over, dragging his poor bespectacled boyfriend behind him.
“Nice to see you again, Rin-senpai, Sousuke-senpai. How are you two?” Before either Sousuke or Rin could reply, Nagisa pulled them both in for a tight hug. Despite his small frame, he was surprisingly strong.
“Ack-We’re fine, fine!” Rin replied desperately to quell the excitement.
“Geez, you guys live all the way in the city and you never come see us anymore!” Nagisa complained loudly. “Oh! I heard you have a puppy! Where is he? Did you bring him?” Sousuke had to blink to clear his head and found himself at loss for words at the bombardment of questions. The small blonde’s thoughts and conversations had always been difficult for him to follow since he tended to jump between five different topics in the span of a minute. He glanced at Rin.
“Makoto has it.” Rin replied quickly. “He said he’s going to give it a check up to make sure it’s healthy.”
“Ah, Mako-chan!” Nagisa called, bounding out of the living room to find the man who had disappeared shortly before, “You said I could watch, wait for me!”
Suddenly the room became much quieter. Rei sighed. Rin chuckled.
“Still as energetic as ever, huh?” He asked. Rei give them a smile and adjusted his glasses.
“Yeah. How have you two been?”
“Great.” Just then Haruka walked in the living, finally changed and dressed in a pain shirt and shorts.
“Rin, Sousuke. Makoto wants you to go see him. He’s in the back” He said plainly.
“Let’s all go over then.” Rin suggest. He grabbed Sousuke’s hand and pulled him out of the living room.
“I’d say he’s about 5 to 8 weeks old, judging by his teeth. This means you can feed him normal puppy food. He’s pretty healthy otherwise. No worms at least. I picked off a few ticks but no fleas so that’s a good sign.” Makoto scratched the puppy behind its ear. “Oh, and yes, it’s a boy.”
“He’s so cute!” Nagisa cooed dangling a little toy in front of him. The puppy leapt at it, clamping the toy between its teeth with a tiny growl. Nagisa laughed happily as he played tug-o-war.
“Ne, Rei-chan. We should get a puppy as well!”
“Oh no, puppies are a lot of work, Nagisa-kun! You have to feed it, wash it, walk it. I have my hands full taking care of you, thank you very much!”
“Mean, Rei-chan, mean!” But everyone laughed. Rin picked the puppy up again and held it against his chest. It leaned up to lick his face.
“Thanks, Makoto.” Rin said. “This is a big help. We don’t if we’ll keep him just yet, but it’s a big help to know that he’s healthy. It’ll be easier to find him a home.” Makoto only smiled.
“That’s fine. If you do choose to keep him though, make sure to get him vaccinated.”
“Got it. Well I guess we’ll be going.”
“Oh, why don’t you stay for dinner?”
“Nah, we need to head back before it’s too late. Sousuke has work in the morning.”
“That’s a shame. Well then, have a save drive back.”
“We will, thanks!”
“So do you still want to keep it?” Sousuke asked as he drove.
“I think so. Are you alright with that?” Rin replied. Sousuke shrugged.
“I’m fine either way. I’m just worried it’ll be neglected.”
“Oh I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” The puppy had fallen asleep again.
“If it’s what you want.”