Puppy Love

"Hey Ima where are your parents?"

Ima pouts at Shigeru her bottom lip jutting out, there is a flush painting her cheeks a bright pink and her eyes seem hazy and unfocused. Then she catches sight of little Mochi wagging her tail excitedly and she sinks to her knees and scoops up the puppy, hugging it affectionately. Shigeru watches as Mochi litters Ima's face with kisses and wriggles in the young girl's grasp. Shigeru bends forward and presses his palm to the girls forehead, and to his alarm he finds the girl to be hot to the touch.
"Ima where are your parents?" Ima rasps and has a coughing fit, before glaring at Shigeru, "I just wanted to practice."
Shigeru sighs, he shouldn't be made to deal with things like this so early in the morning, especially on his day off. Shigeru curses his luck than takes out his phone, Ima's eyes go wide and she scrambles up reaching for it.
"Don't tell mom!" Shigeru holds the girl back by her forehead.
"I don't have your mom's number! Relax! I'm just going to let your father know you aren't kidnapped!" Shigeru calls the animal hospital but gets a busy signal, and gets sent to voicemail. He leaves one and sighs, because really, of course he can't get a hold of Kyoutani.
"Alright, give me your mom's number."
Ima frowns up at Shigeru, still holding Mochi in her arms.
"Look if you aren't going to help me I'll bring you to the police station. Besides you are burning up, you have to get home."
Ima carefully sets the puppy down, and then starts to book it. Luckily, Shigeru saw this coming and grabs the girls arm. Ima isn't so easily defeated though, she whips her head around and glares at Shigeru.
"If you take me near the police station I will scream that you touched me."
Shigeru gapes at Ima, he thought they had bonded the other night, things were going so well and now she's plotting against him. The expression, "No good deed comes unpunished," comes to mind. For awhile it's a stand off, man and girl glaring at one another. "You need to rest Ima, seriously."
The girl considers it than looks at Shigeru thoughtfully, "take me to your house."
"I don't have a house."
Ima looks unimpressed, "Then take me to where you live."
Shigeru frowns, "but then I really would be kidnapping you."
"No, I'd be visiting."
It's a bad idea, Shigeru knows but he's tired and Ima, for all her determination, looks like she's about to pass out and so Shigeru sighs utterly defeated.
"Fine, come on then."
They turn around and start heading back towards the apartment. Shigeru looks down and catches her wobbling slightly, so Shigeru takes the small girl's clammy hand and suprisingly, Ima doesn't fight it.
"You won't call mommy right?"
Shigeru frowns down at the little girl, her expression pouty and pathetic in a way he's never seen.
"No I won't, but why don't you want me to call her?"
"She's got to work, it's important, she's in charge of a lot of people."
Shigeru frowns, "So who was home with you?"
The little girl scowls, "Yachi was home, Yachi's there all the time."
Shigeru blinks,
"Oh, are her and your mommy friends?"
Ima frowns, "No, they kiss."
Shigeru's shocked, and maybe feels a little bit guilty for prying too much, especially from a little girl who's too sick to know better.
"Mommy says that it would make her happy if I was nice to Yachi."
Shigeru hums thoughtfully,"Do you like her?"
"She's always apologizing, she talks too fast, and messes up all the time, and worries about everything. She's a wimp."
"She didn't seem that bad to me."
Ima frowns and looks down at the ground, "I want mommy, and I want mommy and daddy and me together..."
Shigeru had his own fair share of problems growing up but his parents were still together. He looks down at Ima and can't imagine what it's like and how confusing and upsetting it must be for her.
"Tell you what twerp, when we get to my house you can watch any movie you want."
Ima looks up at him, "...okay."
Ima breaks into another coughing fit her voice wheezing but luckily they make it to the apartment building then.

Shigeru lets them both in and takes the stairs up to the second floor and towards the third door there. Shigeru goes through his pockets for the keys to his apartment at the same time as his phone rings. Shigeru struggles and fails dropping both the cellphone and keys, the latter of which, Ima is kind enough to pick up. He eventually manages to get into the apartment, letting his phone ring incessantly as he gets Mochi and Ima inside, unhooks Mochi's collar, and closes the door with his foot.

He than directs Ima to the bathroom and hands her his smallest shirt, telling her to change into it and come back out. In the mean time Shigeru begins boiling water and calling back the unknown number.
"Yahaba!" The voice sounds frenzied and anxious but he recognizes it, even as the voice shakes with anxiety.
"Kyoutani, hey, I'm with Ima now at my place."
"At your place?"
Shigeru doesn't know how much to tell Kyoutani, so he doesn't bother to tell anything Ima confesses to him.
"Yeah she was pretty insistant."
"...So you got yourself outsmarted by a kindergartener?" Shigeru huffs, "she has a pretty intense fever and I didn't want to argue with her, or have her accuse me of being a pervert."
Kyoutani chuckles than there are voices in the background, "I can't pick up Ima right now I have a pretty urgent surgery booked, but there are others covering for the rest of my shift and I'll be back in a couple of hours."
Shigeru hums adding instant noodles to the water and turning it down, "That's fine, I'm just going to make her try to eat and rest."

"Alright, thanks, I'll make it up to you." Before Shigeru can tell him that it's really not necessary, Kyoutani hangs up. He sighs and puts his phone back into his pocket wondering what Kyoutani could possibly want to offer him. Ima walks into the room and she is absolutely swimming in his old shirt. The ratty, plain black tee drags behind her like a train, her face is miserable, snotty and red.
Shigeru takes her hand and leads her to the couch, "did you think about what you want to watch?" He asks conversationally, while opening his closet and grabbing some of his more comfortable blankets.
"The Little Mermaid."
Shigeru blinks suprised but than nods and grabs a pillow from his bedroom. When he comes back Ima's bent low to pet Mochi, and Shigeru sets up the couch for her, making a nest of the pillow and blankets. Once Shigeru is satisfied he scoops Ima up by her armpits and sits her up on the couch against the propped up pillow. He then wraps the blankets around her and tucks her in tightly until Ima is thoroughly trapped. He tops off this little Ima sundae with a Mochi cherry, placing the happy little puppy on Ima's lap. Both girls look happy and Mochi snuggles up while Ima doles out her undivided attention.

Shigeru walks back into the kitchen, turning down the boiling water and adding the instant noodles. He occasionally peeks over to the girls in the other room and smiles at them.

After a few minutes the noodles are done and Shigeru mixes in the flavoring, he makes sure that the noodles are primarily broth and makes a small bowl for himself and Ima. He quickly brings them into the living room resting the bowls on the coffee table before grabbing two water bottles from the fridge. He comes back into the living room setting both bottles down.
"Drink some water first, then I will play the movie." Ima nods and grabs the water bottle and drinking it greedily. A large chunk of it just ends up dripping out of her mouth but she eventually stops chugging the water and sets it down on the coffee table. There's a zero percent chance there won't be a ring left behind, he tries not to dwell on it.

Shigeru considers lecturing Ima on the way she drinks but sighs and let's it go. He goes on demand and orders The Little Mermaid, starting it up, and taking a seat beside Ima on the couch. Ima seems to relax, taking little spoonfuls of broth into her mouth as her eyes track the action on the screen. The movie starts out with sailors on a ship, singing of sea life and mermaids. One character, a waif of a butler, is cartoonishly green and is introduced while hurling overboard.
"That's you."
Shigeru turns to Ima who is smiling mischievously. An old sailor appears onscreen. Most of the character's teeth are missing and he sounds ridiculous. Shigeru lightly elbows Ima's side and points to the character.
"That's you," he returns. They continue on this way for awhile, Ima's the crab (Sabastian, Ima informs him.) Shigeru's King Triton, Ima's the seagull ("His name's Scuttle!") Shigeru's flounder, and Ima is Ursela. The game is only interrupted by coughing fits, and chuckles. They make it as far as the song "Kiss The Girl," before Ima inevitably succumbs to sleep. Shigeru cleans up some of the dishes and leaves them in the sink before coming back in the room with a damp washcloth. He folds it and gently places it on her forehead. Ima stirs, her features scrunching before falling slack once again. Shigeru than gently shifts her so she's laying down and fluffs the pillow behind her head. He steps back and can't help but notice that, despite the sweat collecting on her forehead, she looks like a little princess herself. Her black curls rest gently against the pillow, her face, flushed from the fever makes her cheeks look painted, and her long lashes delicately fan out. Her face is completely relaxed, all posturing lost to sleep. Mochi lays curled in her lap, snoozing right along side her. Shigeru can't help but think that the scenario is too cute to resist, and so Shigeru takes a picture and makes a new message for both Kyoutani and Watari.
We were watching The Little Mermaid, but she looks more like Snow White to me.
Shigeru's phone dings immediately, and he opens the message with a smile.
Watari's name is the one that comes up and Shigeru feels a twinge of dissappointment.
Is that Ima? What is she doing at your house? Did you invite Kyoutani over? Shigeru types his message quickly, realizing too late it might be weird to take pictures of someone else's sleeping kid.
No I ran into Ima, she snuck out and wasn't feeling well. Then she asked to come over. Well actually she blackmailed me.
A girl after your own heart huh? Shigeru rolls his eyes but feels a smile tugging at his lips anyway. He has to admit that for a sick, possibly bratty, little girl she is fun to hang around with. He wonders how much of that is due to Kyoutani or the mother. Or maybe Ima is her own brand of fun.

The hours tick by slowly.Shigeru takes out Mochi a few times when she needs to go to the bathroom, changes the damp facecloth on Ima's forehead, and tidies up his apartment. By the time Ima wakes up again to grumble and make her way to the bathroom it's almost dinner time.

When she comes out of the bathroom again Shigeru walks up to her and feels her skin. She's drenched in sweat and she's still a bit hot but she seems better. Her eyes are less glossed over and she is back to her typical scowl.
"Feeling better?"
Ima nods and holds Shigeru's wrist in her suprisingly strong grip. Shigeru raises an eyebrow but doesn't question further, Mochi suddenly whines and both humans look down at the little canine.
"She must be hungry, how about you Ima? Are you hungry?" Ima nods, let's go of Shigeru's wrist, and crawls back into her little best on the couch.
"Can I call my dad and see if he made something?" "Your dad can cook?!" Shigeru should maybe reign his excitement in a bit but honestly? He can't cook for shit. It's always a choice between going out and simply buying instant food, the latter being what he indulges in more frequently as of late. So Shigeru's always excited to eat home cooked meals.
Ima raises an eyebrow as if cooking is just an innate ability that all adults have. As if home cooked meals aren't a blessing, as if it was obvious her scowling, mean-looking dad would cook.
"Yeah, he cooks..." "Does he wear an apron?" "...Sometimes." Shigeru had mostly been joking but cackles when he hears Ima's confirmation. He can't help but try and picture Kyoutani scowling while wearing the frilliest, girliest, apron possible. Shigeru's giggles eventually subside long enough for him to hand his cellphone to Ima. Ima doesn't look nearly as amused as she navigates Shigeru's contacts and calls her father. For a moment she just sits there quietly with the phone to her ear. "Hey... Mhm...Yeah I'm fine... Sorry....Why?!... Fine." Ima looks at Shigeru than and her eyes widen.
"Oh yeah can you cook for us?...Shigeru.." She looks at Shigeru for a moment quietly studying him.
"I don't think so... Yeah he made ramen... Yeah it sucked. Okay. Alright, bye." She hangs up the phone then and hands it to Shigeru.
"Dad says that he's making dinner so we gotta come over." Shigeru grins and gets Ima's clothes from before and grabs one of the blankets.
"Alright, put on your pants your a little young for the walk of shame." Ima tilts her head to the side in confusion and Shigeru chuckles and shakes his head, Ima mutters and pouts, something Shigeru being a "weirdo." Shigeru like the mature adult he is takes it in stride. He hands Ima her pants and she puts them on without fuss, than Shigeru wraps her in his blanket before scooping her up.

Ima blinks surprised but doesn't fight it.
"Dad says I'm too old to be picked up."
"Your dad? That big, strong, guy won't pick you up?"
"No but if you can, He can too."
"Hey, what is that supposed to mean? I'm taller than your dad you know." As the two argue they leave Shigeru's apartment and by the time they're out of the building and on the street Shigeru's arms are tired and he's putting Ima down. For awhile the conversation dies down and it's just Shigeru and Ima walking. There's a chill in the air, the weather far enough into Autumn to feel winter creeping closer. Shigeru looks down at Ima and she looks comfortable enough, draping the blanket to look like a little poncho. She seems content to walk in silence but Shigeru realizes he likes listening to her speak and so, decides to break the quiet atmosphere.
"I saw you practicing your serves, I don't know what the average kid looks like playing but you looked like you were doing pretty good to me." Ima's head snaps up so quickly that he is legitimately alarmed, her eyes are wide and her lips parted in surprise.
"You play volleyball?" Shigeru smiles and nods, "Sometimes, though now I'm just a coach for Miyagi University Women's team." Ima's eyes are sparkling now, filled with admiration, and it's completely disarming. He feels pride swell in his chest and tries to reign in the urge to gloat.
"You should play with my dad and my uncles. They're really good."
"We can ask your dad when I get there." They lapse into silence again and this time Shigeru lets it be. He usually isn't comfortable with too much quiet, he likes to gossip, chat, and argue. Shigeru always been social, has always strived for attention and achievement. Has always wanted to be viewed as special, as great. It's ridiculous but with Ima he doesn't feel the need to push, doesn't feel the need to prove himself, or be overly nice like he does with most children. So Shigeru enjoys the walk to The Kyoutani household. Letting the sounds around them drift and hang in the air.

Once they get there Ima takes Shigeru's hand and leads him through the small alley next to The Kyoutani Animal Hospital. She than pulls him to the back and up a set of stairs to a door. Ima knocks on the door a couple of times before Kyoutani answers, honest to god, with an apron on. Shigeru can't handle it. He's not strong enough, peals of laughter erupt from him. The sheer force of it causing Shigeru to double over and clutch his stomach. Ima and Kyoutani both look shocked before Kyoutani's scowl darkens and he crosses his arms.
"What the fuck are you laughing at?"Kyoutani barks. He manages to sound somewhat intimidating but it only stands to make the apron more hilarious. Shigeru's vision is blurring with tears and his breaths only come in gasps. He points to Kyoutani's apron, because it is, by far, funnier than anything he has the imagination to dream up. Because instead of frills it is covered in crude drawings and little handprints with the words "best dad" asymmetrically glued on. Shigeru doesn't laugh long though because Ima sends a sharp kick to his shin.

Shigeru pouts and rubs his leg, than looks at Kyoutani.
"Aren't you going to discipline your daughter?" "No. Come on, you and Ima are making the table." He turns on his heel Ima following close behind.Shigeru wipes a tear from his eye, exhales, and follows them both inside, closing the door behind him. As soon as he enters he's hit by the delicious smell of home-cooked soup.
"Come on.We have to set the table!"Shigeru takes off his shoes and mutters a quick "sorry for intruding," before grabbing bowls and utensils and helping Ima set the table.
"So what's on the menu?" Kyoutani removes the pot from the stovetop, "Nobeyaki Udon." Shigeru goes to the cupboard Ima directs him to and grabs cups for everyone. Once they're on the table he goes to the fridge and grabs some juice and fills them all up.
"Ready," Kyoutani bellows. Nan comes into the room than, she comes up and sniffs Shigeru in greeting before walking up to Ima and kissing her cheek. Earning a small laugh and her own kiss from Ima. Ima than takes her bowl, bringing it over to her father, who ladels her some soup before she trots back to the table, Nan in tow. Shigeru takes the cue and walks up with both his and Kyoutani's bowls.
"Thanks for inviting me over."
"No problem."
Shigeru and Kyoutani both head back to the table and sit down. For awhile, dinner is quiet. Not that Shigeru minds, for one, both Ima and Kyoutani seem comfortable, and secondly, Shigeru wouldn't have noticed anyway. It had been so long since he had, had a home cooked meal. Honestly the food was amazing and Shigeru barely spoke at all as he greedily slurped the noodles.
"Are you gonna cry?" Shigeru looks up from his food to blink at Kyoutani whom has an eyebrow raised and looks thoroughly judgemental.
"I'm not gonna cry," Shigeru pouts.
"Ima says you can't cook."
Shigeru frowns and is about to defend himself when Kyoutani stops him.
"Its sad, but I'll help teach you to cook, as thanks for helping Ima." Shigeru smiles a bit resting his chin and leaning forwards.
"How about you take me to your next Volleyball match with Ima's uncles?"
"...Why?" "Because I haven't played in awhile and I would like to see these guys. Ima says they're good." Shigeru conveniently leaves out the part where he admits that he's curious about Kyoutani. He remembers the aggressive way Ima was trying to serve in the park and wonders if she is mimicking him. He can't help but wonder what kind of playing style he has because Shigeru can't picture him on a team. It feels like the questions keep piling up too. Questions about Ima's mom and Kyoutani, Ima's mom and Yachi, Kyoutani doesn't seem very hurt,and Yachi works for him. Why a vet? Why does he collect knick-knacks like an old woman? Where did he learn to do all this plant magic? Why does he seem so hard when all these things seem to hint at a softer side?
"Oi!" Shigeru looks up in the direction of the startling noise to see that Kyoutani's a lot closer than expected. From this distance Shigeru can see the way Kyoutani's body is tensed, as if he always expects something bad could happen. Shigeru realizes there are seldom times where hes seen Kyoutani relaxed, and he can't help but wonder what that would look like. His skin is a few shades darker than Shigeru's, almost appearing sun-kissed despite it being late fall. Kyoutani's neck is longer than Shigeru had expected, it's almost elegant. His hair is short but the ends seem to curl in a way that suggests that Ima got her curly hair from him. His mouth is pursed in a scowl of irritation that Shigeru already feels familiar with, he wonders how Kyoutani's lips would look relaxed or pulled into a smile, or how they would look pursed. His cheek bones are high, and his jaw is suprisingly sharp, he doesn't seem to have much if any baby fat. Kyoutani's eyebrows, though hardly even there are very expressive, Shigeru wonders if there is a permanent wrinkle there yet. There must be, Kyoutani is constantly pulling them down so much. But what really draws Shigeru is Kyoutani's eyes, because they are intense, and he thinks they would be reguardless if Kyoutani wears eyeliner or not (Does he? Just one more mystery.) Kyoutani's eyes, seemingly depending on lighting, change from a rich, almost mahogany color, to a honey- brown. Right now it's the latter, gold flecks seem to be mixed in with soft brown. The color's beautiful but Shigeru doesn't think the color is what is most unnerving about those eyes. There's something about them that seems too intense, as if there is always something there, driving him. As if he seeks to burn everything, to know everything, to claim it as his. The sheer amount of intent in those eyes, whatever that intent might be draws him in.
"Oi, stop spacing out! You done?" Shigeru blinks dumbly and hands Kyoutani the bowl. Kyoutani takes it and starts cleaning before Ima comes in yawning with Shigeru's blanket still wrapped around her. Kyoutani looks over his shoulder and spots her.
"Give Yahaba his blanket back, it's almost your bed time." Ima pouts but trudges over obediently, the blanket dragging behind her. Shigeru shakes his head with a small smile.
"You look pretty comfortable, you can give it back to me another time. Once you wash all the sick germs off of it." Shigeru was just joking about the sick germs but Ima nods her head and looks pretty serious. She turns to leave than, the blanket still dragging behind her, but than she turns to Shigeru and a trace of a smile plays on her lips.
"Thanks Shigeru." She than continues out of the kitchen and presumably into her room. Shigeru gets up from the chair and stretches, helping Kyoutani by drying the plates. They wordlessly finish drying and putting away the plates before turning to one another.
"Thanks for dinner! It was suprisingly good." Kyoutani wrinkles his nose but doesn't retaliate at the slight jab, instead he nods. "Thanks for looking after Ima today, did she go off to play volleyball when you found her?"
"Yeah," Shigeru smiles a bit, "she seems to really like it." Kyoutani just hums non-comittally, "I have to put Ima to bed." Shigeru nods, than a thought pops into his head, "Hey, can we play a game of 20 questions too? To make it up to me?" Kyoutani snaps around and narrows his eyes, "Why?" "I have questions. I'm a curious guy." "You can ask 10 questions. I assume you still wanna play volleyball with us too." "Of course," Shigeru responds brightly, maybe a touch too pleased. "Alright pain in the ass, get out of my house before you demand more crap." Shigeru takes one last look at Kyoutani, he's still wearing "the dad apron," and Shigeru staves off the smile threatening to break out on his lips.
"Night, Kyoutani, tell Ima I said goodnight too." Shigeru then walks out the door, and into the night. He's instantly slammed with cold air, the temperature having dropped considerably since he left his apartment. He walks for a little while, trying to distract himself from the cold before he receives a text message.

Shigeru stops in his tracks and opens it, it's a reply to the picture image of Ima he sent earlier, the one where Shigeru compares her to Snow White. The reply is from an unknown number.
I think so too, but d'nt tell Ima (Ariel's her favorite) Shigeru reads the message and can't stop the stupid smile that tugs at his lips, and despite the biting cold Shigeru feels warm for the rest of his journey home.