ten reasons - Chapter 8: Chapter 8

"(name), i have something to ask you," sakusa stated out of nowhere. you turned to him, who's dark hair swooped over his eyes as he stared at his book without expression, and you wondered if he was angry with you...although you hadn't done anything wrong. it had been a glorious summer day, one in which you had spent your day in the sun with alissa and then returning home at dusk to kiyoomi in all his quiet glory, you very tired and very sunburned.
"what's up?" you prodded, slathering after-sun care all over your shoulders and arms.
"can we get a dog?" he asked, looking up to gaze at you in curiosity, only to find that you were already locking eyes with him. you have him a sweet smile and nodded.
"i never thought i'd hear those words come from your mouth~" you teased, and he gave you the look, "of course we can! we can go looking tomorrow if you want."
"okay." he finished and sat back against the bed's headboard after setting his book down on the nightstand.
"can i ask what made you want one so suddenly?" you questioned, crawling over to sakusa underneath the covers. his strong arms gripped and pulled you closer, so much so that you were completely laying face-down on top of him. his voice was deep and rumbly, almost a tired kind of raspy as he spoke, sending chills over your bones.
"i think if we get one, when one or the other of us is busy it'll help the place not to be so lonely." you smiled at him again, staring at sakusa as if he was a work of art, as if he was every single star in the night sky. it didn't take much, but with everything he did you felt your heart fluttering.
"do you have anything in mind?"
"just not a tiny rat dog, please." he mumbled, beginning to close his tired eyes. you chuckled, running your fingers along his jawline as he sighed, and soon enough his breathing slowed and his face relaxed. breathing slow enough that you knew he was asleep.
you began to imagine a dog running around your apartment, jumping on the counters, sleeping at the foot of the bed, laying by the television on a boring day indoors. in your head you began to create a new version of homeliness with sakusa, one that you could only dream of when you were younger. now that it was real, you felt another jitter of excitement that only kiyoomi could induce, and you knew that he was just as excited (if not more) than you were.
so, naturally, when you woke the the next morning, he was hasty, eager even. he began his routine way earlier than normally scheduled, was walking faster around the flat just to get himself ready, and even went as far as to wake you up, something he almost never did.
"why are you freaking out about this, kiyo?" you yelled at sakusa from the bathroom, who was pacing around the kitchen waiting for you.
"i'm not, but i want to go as early as possible." he said, making you hum in understanding. tons of people gathering to look at animals might not have seemed so appealing to him. however you attempted to speed up and get ready for your day and as soon as sakusa saw you walk out of the bedroom, he immediately sped over to the door, holding it open and walking frustratedly behind you to the car.
"you never act like this," you noted as he shut the driver side door, "are you actually this excited for a dog?"
"i've wanted one since we got out of college," he said, "kageyama-san said dogs wouldn't like me at practice last summer." you chuckled, looking towards the road ahead as sakusa spoke again. "which is weird because he thinks they don't like him either."
"they don't like tsumu either, it must be a setter thing." you joked as sakusa began to drive to your first destination, eventually turning into two or three spots. after disappointment of not finding anything yet, the two of you walked into about the fourth shelter, there were swarms of people crowding the dog kennels, and you immediately felt sakusa bristling behind you.
turning around to face him, you noted that he had impulsively stepped closer to you as always, as well as the usual clamminess of his hands clasped around yours. "do you want me to go look at what the options are?" you asked, to which he shook his head and lightly nudged you in the direction of the commotion.
on either side of the walkway were lines of japan's most commonly found dogs, such as different types of inus, chins, terriers, akitas, and a spitz here and there. you noticed sakusa analyzing them closely, how they were interacting with the people who stuck their fingers in the cages, how they walked around in their designated spots, how clean the place was.
it wasn't until you noticed sakusa stop walking behind you that he found one he was interested in, and that was a samoyed that stared with a big grin at your boyfriend. once sakusa cocked his head in curiosity, the dog did the same as if to tease him, and as you walked behind the man, he begun to step closer to the kennel, and the dog stood up to approach him as well. you found this humorous, of course, seeing a dog that was the complete opposite of sakusa's personality, but you could see that he enjoyed the presence of this dog.
you went up to the cage as well and squatted down to observe the samoyed as well, smiling as the dog put his paws up against the bars of the cage, and you began to smile while pressing your own hands against it as well. "he sure is cute," you noted, then looked to the small piece of paper hanging on the side of the kennel displaying the name and age, "young too. shino's only about a year old, yoomi."
the samoyed began to pant with his tongue out once again, looking as if he were laughing at sakusa, who as always stood rigid and tense.
"i love him!" you cooed.
"i want him." sakusa stated quickly, just as people began to approach the cage—two kids accompanied by a snippy looking middle aged woman. you sighed, knowing that if these kids wanted the dog, you couldn't exactly argue with them.
you heard a grunt from sakusa as he walked away, and you looked back to the kids and this woman, who looked very prickly.
"you want this one?" she snapped at the kids—a boy and a girl who looked extremely similar, but also a bit....bored and snobby.
"hmmm," the boy started, "he looks dumb."
the samoyed retreated to the back of his kennel with a frown as if uncomfortable, and the girl started speaking as well, saying, "yeah, i want him."
you wanted to step in without seeming rude, but you didn't know how this woman and her kids would react, so you settled with, "my boyfriend and i were just about to get this—"
"i don't see the tag saying unavailable, do i?" she barked, and you were taken aback from her pettiness.
"we were here first," you said, and the kids began looking at you oddly, "it's only fair that—"
"only fair that you deprive these children of their dog, little girl?" the woman placed her hands on her hips and stuck her nose up at you, as the kids began smirking as well.
"it's not their dog, it's mine, you old hag." you spat, folding your arms over your chest so that she knew you were serious. her kids gasped audibly and stared at you with pure hatred.
"do i need to call my husband?" she threatened, starting to dig in her purse for what you assumed was a cell phone.
"no, but you may as well leave. you're upsetting my dog." a low voice sounded from behind you, and you were able to see sakusa's shadow over your shoulder, smiling triumphantly at the woman. she stared up at sakusa in his six-foot-four menacing glory, and that was enough to silence any comment she may have had. next to him was an employee that you guessed he recruited to sell you the dog, and he looked uneasy as well.
"bye bye, grandma~" you glared as she huffed and strutted away, grabbing her kids by the arms to drag them away ("this generation is so disrespectful...").
the samoyed once again walked up the cage bars and looked happy to see sakusa, and he watched as the gate was opened and shino was allowed to sniff him with curiosity. sakusa put on a small smile as the dog sauntered around him, currently interested in his shoelaces. you hummed in adoration and stepped closer to the man, hugging his arm and looking down at shino, who was now yours to keep.
"i already paid for him before that lady could," he mumbled, "and i went and got everything we might need for him when you were still asleep."
once again you bent down and began petting shino, who seemed very pleased with himself, his fluffy white fur bouncing with each step he took. "i figured you would." you chuckled, picking up shino by the belly and holding him up to sakusa's face like an offering.
you watched as sakusa's smile grew underneath his mask, his eyes crinkling ever so slightly at the corners, and he gave the dog a little scratch behind his ear.
"ready to go?" you asked, setting shino down and throwing a lead around his neck. sakusa nodded and took the lead from your hand, pulling shino out of the building, you trailing behind with a pout. sakusa even asked you if shino could ride in the passenger seat, however you declined, so there you were sitting in the backseat watching shino's head stick out of the window. the wind blew his fur back as you made your way to your apartment building, kiyoomi telling you to take numerous pictures during the ride ("kiyoomi, this is ridiculous").
"honestly, sakusa," you groaned, "make some room for me." the man gave you a dark look, more odd than the one you wore, because shino was now laying on your spot in the bed. he raised an eyebrow as the dog rolled over to face the other side of the wall.
"you haven't called me that since i made you mad at the world championships reception."
"yeah, i only do it when you irritate me." you snapped, walking briskly to yours, or shino's side of the bed and sat down on the edge.
"what's the matter?" he asked, watching as shino set his paws on your back as if to pet you himself.
"nothing, i'm just giving you a hard time." you smiled over your shoulder, only to see him laying on his side and staring at you. at this, you pulled yourself more onto the bed and underneath the comforter, scooting shino down towards the foot of the bed.
he was awfully tired for such a good day.
"i prefer your stupid nicknames as opposed to my surname, you know that." he said frankly, and you let out a chuckle, laying down onto the pillows.
"yeah, i do." you gave him a brief smile and moved a bit closer, craving the familiar warmth that he always gave you. just before he engulfed you in a hug, sakusa once again pet shino behind the ear, and then switched off the lamp on his nightstand, leaving the three of you in the darkness of the night.
sakusa's arms snaked around you as usual, and you found yourself able to fall into the depths of his comfort. shino shifted on the blankets every so often, and until sakusa's voice broke the silence, that was the only thing that you were able to hear.
"number seven," he mumbled, "you are the only person i could ever want to have a family with. he's only the first part of it."