[FIC] Love x Magic ♥ - Chapter No. 2
Title: Love x Magic ♥
Pairing: Miroku/Hiroto, Akame, AkiYu
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Shochikubai Miroku always wished for some sort of excitement in his boring everyday life. A crime or two to solve, or a problem to fix in order to pass the tick of time. Never in his eighteen years of living did Miroku expect what was to come as he finds the excitement he was seeking in the form of an unwanted encounter with a cocky teenager by the name of Kamenashi Kazuya. Maybe a little too much excitement.
Author's Note: As always, thank you tesshi for betaing this fic for me♥ I have the story mapped out in my head, and I don't see this being a short series. For that same reason, although this series will start off with the Miroku/Hiroto pairing, the two do not meet in the first chapter. I know the plot is a little slow moving, but please bear with me? *Holds up a picture of pouting Kame-chan*
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Chapter No. 2
Changing of the Seasons
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Spring, summer, autumn, winter. I feel like I’ve watched the seasons change absentmindedly, as if it didn’t apply to me. I used to believe that no matter how many times the seasons change, that I’ll always be the same along with everything around me. Maybe I just didn’t notice that the wheels of fate were starting to move. One day at a time, you couldn’t see the difference with your eyes but the season was definitely changing from a long winter to what one might consider spring.
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The mechanical reeling of the glass door was followed by the melodic chime that rang when a customer entered the convenience store. Without paying any heed to the new customer, Kanzaki Hiroto dropped the multiple boxes he was carrying with a soft thud. Using the sleeve of his uniform, he brushed away the strands of dark brown hair that fell into his eyes. His slender eyes narrowed upon seeing the mess on the shelves, and he clicked his tongue. ‘Damned teenagers,’ he cursed, mussing the side of his hair where his highlights were starting to fade.
In the near background, Hiroto could hear his coworker greeting the customer with a liveliness he could never have for the job, which only paid 950 JPY an hour. Sluggishly lining up the scattered merchandise, he released a long sigh upon seeing the unopened boxes at his feet. When he finished turning the label of the potato chips to the correct side, Hiroto quickly cut the duct tape open on the cardboard boxes with his utility knife. Adding two packs at a time, he started on what was the last task of his long work day. He briefly glanced at the wall clock which struck 9:27 p.m., thankful that his long day was finally coming to an end.
Finished unpacking the contents of the first box, Hiroto was about to open the next box when he felt a light tug on the sleeve of his pants. Small wrinkles formed in between his brow as he looked down to see a little boy around the age of three, staring up at him with big round eyes and chubby cheeks. The moment the little boy got his attention, the child smiled as widely as he could as if he had found a real live Power Ranger.
“Onii-chan, I want a chucchu!” the little boy announced proudly, holding a few coins in his tiny hand.
Lifting a weary eyebrow, Hiroto froze on the spot. He looked around the store to see if the boy’s mother was with him, but no one else was in the store. Hiroto wondered what responsible parent allowed their children go out so late for candy, but remembered there were several bars still open across the street. The child, no doubt, had a mother who worked in one of those shady establishments. Crouching down so that they were eye to eye, Hiroto forced an awkward smile. “Chucchu?” he asked awkwardly, trying his best to act friendly. Hiroto had never been one to eat snacks when he was growing up, only seeing them as a waste of money. Yet, the word sounded familiar. ‘Where have I heard that word before...?’
“Un, a chucchu!” the little boy grinned toothily.
Hastily skimming the snack section trying to figure out what the boy was talking about. His eyes fell upon a red display box with a yellow flower logo on the side and lollipops standing out of it. “Ah...” he mumbled in realization. His younger brother, Kazuya, couldn’t pronounce his words properly when he was around this boy’s age and said something similar. A nostalgic feeling passed through him, remembering when Kazuya was still a small child. He loved eating candy so much that it was a miracle he never got cavities. Hiroto always gave him loose change so that he could get some, and the little Kazuya would smile the most beautiful smile before running off to get his sugar fix.
Walking over, Hiroto retrieved the box in question. “You mean Chupa Chups, right?” he said, holding the box of Chupa Chups in front of the little boy. A rare smile fell upon his lip as the little boy’s eyes twinkled in excitement upon seeing so much candy. Helping the little boy pick out two of his favorite lollipops, Hiroto pointed him in the direction of the cash register and returned the box of Chupa Chups to their original location. By the time he had finished stocking the rest of the merchandise, the chime rang again to signal that the little boy had safely purchased his candy and left the store.
“I’m taking a lunch break,” Hiroto informed his coworker as he passed him, and threw the empty boxes in the backroom. Sitting down on a creaky pipe chair, he quietly drank the oolong tea that he brought earlier with his employee discount and patiently waited for his shift to end.
The second the minute hand struck twelve, Hiroto clocked-out. Tossing his hideously colored uniform on an empty shelf, he wore his black leather jacket over his white undershirt and walked straight out of the store. Behind his shoulder Hiroto could hear his coworker calling out “See you tomorrow!” to him but he merely lifted his hand in the air to acknowledge him, anxious to get home.
Commercial trucks and random cars continuously zoomed past him on the main road, making the autumn winds feel colder against his cheek. Before long, the dim lights of the small factories bordering the industrious harbor in the city of Yokohama could be seen from the overpass.
In the outskirts of the harbor was a run-down factory, out of plain sight from the common passerby. The Kanzaki Steel and Shipbuilding Company factory, once used to manufacture and repair ships in its glory years, was now an abandoned warehouse chained up with a heavy padded-lock to keep small children from entering and injuring themselves on old rusted equipment. Behind the deserted warehouse was a dingy old building, often overlooked of its existence. The worn-down building was built as a small office with a kitchenette for workers to use during their lunch break, tired from hours of hard labor. Equipped with a deep steel-sink and extremely narrow counters, the kitchen had barely any space to spare around the wooden dining table, which sat up to four people. Above the narrow set of stairs were two undersized rooms belonging to the former owner before the company’s bankruptcy over a decade ago.
No one lived in the crumby quarters as far as the neighbors knew. Yet late at night, dim lights could be seen illuminating the old shipyard. Rumors of the place being haunted spread to the neighboring factories, keeping most adults away from the area - including potential buyers of the plot of land. This, of course, worked in Hiroto’s favor as no one dared to bother him or his younger brother, who were living there illegally.
Opening the creaking door, Hiroto tiredly walked into his tattered house with a plastic bag in his hand. Setting the bag of leftover food he had received on the table for Kazuya to eat, he took off his leather jacket and hung it neatly on the back of one of the chairs. He nearly tripped over in surprise when he realized that there was a big dog glaring at him. The dog, what Hiroto recognized as a Golden Retriever, had lustrous golden brown fur that glistened under the dim lighting of the room and deep brown eyes, which bored into him rebelliously.
“Why is there a golden retriever in the house?” Hiroto asked his younger brother. His facial features remained stoic and his voice calm, but the eldest was clearly upset. Their living room barely had enough space for the small table and them, let alone a big hound. The dog in question barked menacingly at him, ready to attack at any moment. “And an angry one at that,” he added on with a frown.
“Because it followed me home,” Kazuya replied casually. “Don’t worry! He’s just mad because I turned him into a dog.”
Hiroto quirked his eyebrow accusingly, “Turned who into a dog?” His voice turned dangerously sharp, and his eye narrowed into a lethal glare. His gut instinct, which he always wished was wrong but never was, was telling him that Kazuya had done something treacherous again.
“A total jerk I met! He bumped into me and acted like it was my fault! I wouldn’t have crashed into him if he weren’t running so blindly,” Kazuya defended with a small scowl on his face. The comic book he had been reading a minute ago long forgotten.
“So you turned him into a dog!?” Hiroto yelled incredulously, eyeing the golden retriever barring his teeth at Kazuya. He felt a headache coming on. “Kazuya, we’ve been through this before. Magic isn’t something you use haphazardly,” he scolded with an exasperated sigh.
“Yeah, yeah, what bad can possibly come out of ridding this world of one more jerk?” the youngest brushed off.
“Kazuya! That’s not the point!” Hiroto shouted angrily, finally losing his cool. “I don’t care if he was the most pompous jerk on the face of the earth. You don’t use magic to solve your problems.”
“Whatever... If you want to turn him back, go right ahead,” Kazuya shrugged carelessly, “Just don’t regret it when you realize that maybe he was better off that way!”
Shaking his head in disapproval, Hiroto reached for the wand strapped on his left leg hidden under the sleeve of his black slacks. If Kazuya could learn to stop using magic to make his tomatoes disappear from his dinner plate, turn the character Ponyo real, change the weather to have a snow day, and so forth, he wouldn’t have to always have a wand on him.
“Kazuya shouldn’t treat humans like a toy, turn this hound back into a normal boy! Andromorphus Transmorphus,” Hiroto chanted a spell, concentrating on channeling his powers into the magic wand. It felt as though his whole body was exerting power that was being sucked straight out of him. The end of his wand glowed with a white light and flashed, creating a puff of smoke around the dog’s paws. The smoke slowly disappeared, but the golden retriever was still there.
The canine barked at him almost threateningly, baring his teeth at Hiroto warningly. Almost as if he was marking Hiroto as a potential threat. Hiroto parted his slender lips, dumbfounded. That spell should have reversed a simple shape-shifting spell.
“Maybe this means he was meant to stay a dog,” Kazuya offered with the shrug of the shoulders. Of course, Hiroto would never buy such an excuse. If looks could kill, he would definitely be dead right now.
“What did you do?” Hiroto demanded, making Kazuya wince at his older brother’s enraged voice. It was rare to see Hiroto so upset, even over the use of magic. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that this was the first time he had used magic on an actual person, instead of using magic to create misfortune for a person, which he did fairly often.
“Why can’t you understand that magic has severe effects?” the eldest continued. Hiroto had always set a strict example, and never used magic in or out of the house. No matter how much easier life would be if he could line up the shelves at work with the mere snap of the fingers, and yes, the snap of the fingers would be all it took. He couldn’t understand why Kazuya decided to abuse his powers so much, and why he couldn’t appreciate the effort that goes into doing things the human way.
“Oh, pffft! So there’s one more dog in the world, it’s not going to hurt anyone,” Kazuya defended.
“Kazuya, you turned a human being into a household pet! Has it ever occurred to you that someone would miss him?” Hiroto pointed out, his fierce gaze not losing to the defiant look in Kazuya’s eyes.
“I couldn’t imagine why...” the younger Kamenashi mumbled.
“Kazuya!” he scolded sternly, but stopped when he saw a lone tear drop down the side of his little brother’s cheek. His lips pursed together, at a loss for words. Certainly, Kazuya was pretty emotional for a teenage boy but had always held back his tears at the last minute because he knew that boys shouldn’t cry.
“It’s not fair...” Kazuya managed to say in an agonized voice. “No one missed us! Why should an arrogant punk like him be missed?” he yelled before storming out of the house, not giving Hiroto a chance to answer.
A tinge of sadness flickered on Hiroto’s callous features as the ragged door slammed shut, ready to fly off on impact. Narrowing his eyes forlornly, he stared at the slammed door. His lips pursed into small frown at his little brother’s rebellious stage. Unsure of what to do, Hiroto didn’t even move a single step. Never being the best at comforting others. He missed the good old times when Kazuya followed him around everywhere, calling his name with an unadulterated smile. When Kazuya was still around the age of the little boy he had met today and was able to smile over what he had, even if it was only a piece of candy, than to feel bitterness over what he didn’t have.
“I wonder if things would’ve been different, if I were better at expressing my feelings,” he murmured softly to himself. Sometimes Hiroto questioned whether Kazuya felt neglected because he didn’t know how to show Kazuya how much he cared about him, even though protecting Kazuya was the only meaning for his existence.
A soft whining, which oddly sounded like sniffling, snapped him out of his reverie. His gaze immediately fell towards the floor, realizing there was a small nudge against his leg. The golden retriever was nuzzling its head on his leg comfortingly, and its beady eyes looked almost as if it were crying. Crouching down, Hiroto pet the golden retriever as if to distract the dull pain that he felt in his chest.
“You trying to cheer me up?” he asked softly. The golden retriever in question licked his cheek in response. A small chuckle escaped his lips, and he wiped his wet cheek with the sleeve of his shirt. Heaving a deep sigh, Hiroto stood back up. “Guess I’m having dinner alone...” he muttered.
Opening the plastic wrap of the rice ball, Hiroto placed his dinner onto a decent sized plate. The rice balls that he received were expired the day before, but the manager always kept the leftovers for him to take home knowing his financial status. The convenience store being one of two jobs he held to support his younger brother and himself in this bad economical time. Despite the fact that they didn’t pay a penny of rent for their current housing, Kazuya’s high school tuition was expensive enough to take up what they saved on rent. Any leftover money was spent on necessities, Kazuya’s textbooks and clothes. Since he wasn’t able to go to school himself, Hiroto wanted to make sure that at least Kazuya got his education and enjoyed a normal high school life.
The whining and cooing at his leg pulled Hiroto out of his reverie. He wondered if this was the equivalent to the dog complaining, if he were still human. Opening the plastic container with the various side dishes that he had received, Hiroto transferred the food onto separate plates. Today’s selection was a pretty good for leftovers, and consisted of potato salad, fried chicken and boiled vegetables. It was too bad that Kazuya wasn’t here to eat it with him, since Hiroto knew how much he loved fried chicken. Completely ignoring the whining dog at his feet, Hiroto walked over to the dining table with his plate of food. Sitting down, he delivered the rice ball to his mouth when the dog leaned on the table standing on its hind legs with forepaws on the table.
“I don’t have dog food,” he stated, but the canine refused to give up. He started whining again, but even louder.
“You want my rice ball, don’t you?” Hiroto deadpanned. Shaking his tail from side to side, the canine barked in response. Sighing in defeat, Hiroto opened the plastic wrapper of another rice ball and set it down on the table for the dog to eat.
“You better finish it all,” Hiroto warned, before returning to his own food. He would have shared some of his fried chicken, but he remembered hearing that chicken are bad for dogs. He had no intention of being responsible for killing a dog, let alone a human in the form of one.
When Hiroto finished eating most of his food, the canine barked. Sighing loudly, he took out another rice ball and opened the wrapper for him. “You sure eat a lot,” he complained, starting to feel full. Hiroto popped the last of his chicken into his mouth and slid the plate over to the dog. “You can have this too,” he offered, and watched as the canine happily finished off his food. Imagining the canine actually being a chubby fellow with food consistently in his hand, Hiroto laughed a little under his nose.
As soon as the canine finished eating his food, Hiroto began washing the dishes. He frowned when he saw that the plate had more chips on the ends. Apparently, another trip to the dollar store needed to be made so that he could buy more plates and the thought made him click his tongue. After separating the trash so that he could take the recyclable containers to work the next day, Hiroto sluggishly made his way to his room. Tired from the day’s turn of events, he figured he could just shower in the morning. He changed into his red and black checkered pajamas and brushed his teeth in a small bathroom where he could barely stand. Suppressing a yawn, Hiroto returned to his bedroom to go to sleep to see that the golden retriever was lying comfortably on the far end of his bed by the window.
“Get out of my bed!” he glared at the dog, which lifted his head in surprise but refused to budge. “You’re a dog, dogs sleep on the ground,” he reasoned, pulling the covers off of the bed to shoo him off.
A sharp bark returned in protest.
“I don’t care if you’re actually a human! You’re a dog now!” he growled. The golden retriever whined nonstop, and peered up at him with his beady puppy dog eyes. Hiroto tightened his lips into a fine line.
“Fine... You can sleep on the bed. Just don’t blame me if I roll over your paw,” he grumbled moodily, turning off the lamp beside him. He tossed the extra pillow in between them so that he wouldn’t have to feel the dog’s fur prickling at his skin while he slept. In his mind, he swore to find a big cardboard box at the convenience store to turn into a makeshift bed for the oversized dog that was currently taking up more than half of his bed. With that determination in mind, Hiroto drifted to sleep.
The next morning, the alarm clock blared loudly in the bedroom. Whining helplessly, the golden retriever covered his sensitive ears with his paws. Wanting to turn the alarm clock off, the canine carefully stepped over Hiroto. It was the type of alarm clock that needed to be turned off using the small switch on the back to prevent heavy sleepers from turning it off and rolling back in bed. The annoyed pup pawed at the alarm clock, which knocked over on its back. Growling at the alarm clock, he stamped on the surface hoping to shift the button but he had no such luck. Though he did have the urge to knock it off the night stand, and break the darned contraption before he went deaf.
Instead, he settled for patting Hiroto’s hand with his paw but to no avail. Eventually, the ringing got even louder and was burning in his oversensitive ears. In desperation, the canine licked his companion on Hiroto’s face. Sharp creases formed between Hiroto’s well-shaped eyebrows, and his eyes snapped open. Immediately sitting up, Hiroto grabbed his alarm clock and promptly shut it off. He sighed in relief when he realized that he wasn’t running late yet, thanks to the cushion of time he put in so that he’d always be on time.
Getting out of bed Hiroto headed to the shower, leaving the hound to sleep comfortably by himself in his bed.
The screech of the faucet turning on echoed in the shower room. A soft sigh escaped his lips as the warm beads of water hit his skin. The power of the showerhead massaged his tense muscles, relaxing his whole body. Grabbing the body soap, he dabbed it on his towel. A sharp frown formed on his lips as the sweet scent of roses filled his sense. ‘Damn it, I must’ve grabbed Kazuya’s soap...’ he thought as he lathered the soap and washed his body. Kazuya was the only boy he knew that wore floral scent and could get away with it.
Coming out of the shower, Hiroto grabbed the towel he had set next to the sink. After thoroughly wiping his body of excess moisture, he wrapped it tightly around his waist. He plugged in the hair dryer, quickly dried his hair and brushed it carelessly, not being one for looking into mirrors more than necessary. Descending the stairs, Hiroto found the dog was already waiting for him downstairs. Probably because it realized that it wouldn’t be fed if it stayed in bed.
Popping two toasts into the toaster, Hiroto poured water into the coffee maker and threw in a heap of coffee grinds, preferring strong coffee in the morning. While he was waiting for the toast, Hiroto poured milk into a shallow bowl for the golden retriever to drink. Soon, the pop of the toaster sounded to let him know his toast was done. He poured the coffee he enjoyed black into a chipped coffee cup, and sat down. Buttering the first toast, Hiroto cut it into six small pieces and set it in the dog’s bowl that was already empty. Then he spread butter for his own toast and turned on the television with the remote control. It was his daily ritual to watch the morning news.
“In breaking news, a press conference was held today by the Superintendant General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police announcing that the only daughter of Kizakura Akiko, the owner of the popular jewelry brand, Jewelry AKI, who was arrested last Thursday under the suspicion of violating the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act, has gone missing.”
A loud bark interrupted.
“Kizakura Karen, age 18, was officially reported missing last night by school officials when the Kizakura maid called the school, worried about her whereabouts. Police are currently investigating whether this disappearance is related to her mother’s alleged crime...”
Another set of barks ensued, and Hiroto rubbed on his aching temple. “Stop barking, you’ll bother the neighbors,” he warned, wondering how long he would have to put up with dog sitting. He had wished last night that this was either a nightmare or that the spell would wear off with time, but neither seemed to come true.
The hound stopped barking aggressively, settling for whining loudly instead. “What is it?” Hiroto asked, and the dog barked at the television again. Hiroto furrowed his brow, and looked at the television screen. On the screen was the beautiful girl that was allegedly kidnapped. The girl had reddish brown hair that fell in perfect curls to her chest. Her eyebrows of the same color were perfectly plucked and thinned, and accentuated the strong-willed eyes played up by eyeliner and mascara. Her nude-colored lips shone with lip gloss and were pouted seductively.
“You know this girl?” he asked reluctantly. The dog barked again in response. Hiroto turned his attention back to the television screen, his lips pursed into a tight frown.
“Kizakura Karen...” Drinking off the rest of coffee, Hiroto grabbed his leather jacket and passed his arms through the sleeves. He rushed out of the house with the golden retriever following closely on his tail. The door slammed loudly behind him as he ran out towards the main road. Looking from one side to another, the golden retriever barked stridently to catch Hiroto’s attention and started running to the left. Hiroto speedily followed the dog, sure that this path would lead to some clues on who Kazuya had transformed and how to get him back to a human boy.
Pairing: Miroku/Hiroto, Akame, AkiYu
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Shochikubai Miroku always wished for some sort of excitement in his boring everyday life. A crime or two to solve, or a problem to fix in order to pass the tick of time. Never in his eighteen years of living did Miroku expect what was to come as he finds the excitement he was seeking in the form of an unwanted encounter with a cocky teenager by the name of Kamenashi Kazuya. Maybe a little too much excitement.
Author's Note: As always, thank you tesshi for betaing this fic for me♥ I have the story mapped out in my head, and I don't see this being a short series. For that same reason, although this series will start off with the Miroku/Hiroto pairing, the two do not meet in the first chapter. I know the plot is a little slow moving, but please bear with me? *Holds up a picture of pouting Kame-chan*
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Chapter No. 2
Changing of the Seasons
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Spring, summer, autumn, winter. I feel like I’ve watched the seasons change absentmindedly, as if it didn’t apply to me. I used to believe that no matter how many times the seasons change, that I’ll always be the same along with everything around me. Maybe I just didn’t notice that the wheels of fate were starting to move. One day at a time, you couldn’t see the difference with your eyes but the season was definitely changing from a long winter to what one might consider spring.
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The mechanical reeling of the glass door was followed by the melodic chime that rang when a customer entered the convenience store. Without paying any heed to the new customer, Kanzaki Hiroto dropped the multiple boxes he was carrying with a soft thud. Using the sleeve of his uniform, he brushed away the strands of dark brown hair that fell into his eyes. His slender eyes narrowed upon seeing the mess on the shelves, and he clicked his tongue. ‘Damned teenagers,’ he cursed, mussing the side of his hair where his highlights were starting to fade.
In the near background, Hiroto could hear his coworker greeting the customer with a liveliness he could never have for the job, which only paid 950 JPY an hour. Sluggishly lining up the scattered merchandise, he released a long sigh upon seeing the unopened boxes at his feet. When he finished turning the label of the potato chips to the correct side, Hiroto quickly cut the duct tape open on the cardboard boxes with his utility knife. Adding two packs at a time, he started on what was the last task of his long work day. He briefly glanced at the wall clock which struck 9:27 p.m., thankful that his long day was finally coming to an end.
Finished unpacking the contents of the first box, Hiroto was about to open the next box when he felt a light tug on the sleeve of his pants. Small wrinkles formed in between his brow as he looked down to see a little boy around the age of three, staring up at him with big round eyes and chubby cheeks. The moment the little boy got his attention, the child smiled as widely as he could as if he had found a real live Power Ranger.
“Onii-chan, I want a chucchu!” the little boy announced proudly, holding a few coins in his tiny hand.
Lifting a weary eyebrow, Hiroto froze on the spot. He looked around the store to see if the boy’s mother was with him, but no one else was in the store. Hiroto wondered what responsible parent allowed their children go out so late for candy, but remembered there were several bars still open across the street. The child, no doubt, had a mother who worked in one of those shady establishments. Crouching down so that they were eye to eye, Hiroto forced an awkward smile. “Chucchu?” he asked awkwardly, trying his best to act friendly. Hiroto had never been one to eat snacks when he was growing up, only seeing them as a waste of money. Yet, the word sounded familiar. ‘Where have I heard that word before...?’
“Un, a chucchu!” the little boy grinned toothily.
Hastily skimming the snack section trying to figure out what the boy was talking about. His eyes fell upon a red display box with a yellow flower logo on the side and lollipops standing out of it. “Ah...” he mumbled in realization. His younger brother, Kazuya, couldn’t pronounce his words properly when he was around this boy’s age and said something similar. A nostalgic feeling passed through him, remembering when Kazuya was still a small child. He loved eating candy so much that it was a miracle he never got cavities. Hiroto always gave him loose change so that he could get some, and the little Kazuya would smile the most beautiful smile before running off to get his sugar fix.
Walking over, Hiroto retrieved the box in question. “You mean Chupa Chups, right?” he said, holding the box of Chupa Chups in front of the little boy. A rare smile fell upon his lip as the little boy’s eyes twinkled in excitement upon seeing so much candy. Helping the little boy pick out two of his favorite lollipops, Hiroto pointed him in the direction of the cash register and returned the box of Chupa Chups to their original location. By the time he had finished stocking the rest of the merchandise, the chime rang again to signal that the little boy had safely purchased his candy and left the store.
“I’m taking a lunch break,” Hiroto informed his coworker as he passed him, and threw the empty boxes in the backroom. Sitting down on a creaky pipe chair, he quietly drank the oolong tea that he brought earlier with his employee discount and patiently waited for his shift to end.
The second the minute hand struck twelve, Hiroto clocked-out. Tossing his hideously colored uniform on an empty shelf, he wore his black leather jacket over his white undershirt and walked straight out of the store. Behind his shoulder Hiroto could hear his coworker calling out “See you tomorrow!” to him but he merely lifted his hand in the air to acknowledge him, anxious to get home.
Commercial trucks and random cars continuously zoomed past him on the main road, making the autumn winds feel colder against his cheek. Before long, the dim lights of the small factories bordering the industrious harbor in the city of Yokohama could be seen from the overpass.
In the outskirts of the harbor was a run-down factory, out of plain sight from the common passerby. The Kanzaki Steel and Shipbuilding Company factory, once used to manufacture and repair ships in its glory years, was now an abandoned warehouse chained up with a heavy padded-lock to keep small children from entering and injuring themselves on old rusted equipment. Behind the deserted warehouse was a dingy old building, often overlooked of its existence. The worn-down building was built as a small office with a kitchenette for workers to use during their lunch break, tired from hours of hard labor. Equipped with a deep steel-sink and extremely narrow counters, the kitchen had barely any space to spare around the wooden dining table, which sat up to four people. Above the narrow set of stairs were two undersized rooms belonging to the former owner before the company’s bankruptcy over a decade ago.
No one lived in the crumby quarters as far as the neighbors knew. Yet late at night, dim lights could be seen illuminating the old shipyard. Rumors of the place being haunted spread to the neighboring factories, keeping most adults away from the area - including potential buyers of the plot of land. This, of course, worked in Hiroto’s favor as no one dared to bother him or his younger brother, who were living there illegally.
Opening the creaking door, Hiroto tiredly walked into his tattered house with a plastic bag in his hand. Setting the bag of leftover food he had received on the table for Kazuya to eat, he took off his leather jacket and hung it neatly on the back of one of the chairs. He nearly tripped over in surprise when he realized that there was a big dog glaring at him. The dog, what Hiroto recognized as a Golden Retriever, had lustrous golden brown fur that glistened under the dim lighting of the room and deep brown eyes, which bored into him rebelliously.
“Why is there a golden retriever in the house?” Hiroto asked his younger brother. His facial features remained stoic and his voice calm, but the eldest was clearly upset. Their living room barely had enough space for the small table and them, let alone a big hound. The dog in question barked menacingly at him, ready to attack at any moment. “And an angry one at that,” he added on with a frown.
“Because it followed me home,” Kazuya replied casually. “Don’t worry! He’s just mad because I turned him into a dog.”
Hiroto quirked his eyebrow accusingly, “Turned who into a dog?” His voice turned dangerously sharp, and his eye narrowed into a lethal glare. His gut instinct, which he always wished was wrong but never was, was telling him that Kazuya had done something treacherous again.
“A total jerk I met! He bumped into me and acted like it was my fault! I wouldn’t have crashed into him if he weren’t running so blindly,” Kazuya defended with a small scowl on his face. The comic book he had been reading a minute ago long forgotten.
“So you turned him into a dog!?” Hiroto yelled incredulously, eyeing the golden retriever barring his teeth at Kazuya. He felt a headache coming on. “Kazuya, we’ve been through this before. Magic isn’t something you use haphazardly,” he scolded with an exasperated sigh.
“Yeah, yeah, what bad can possibly come out of ridding this world of one more jerk?” the youngest brushed off.
“Kazuya! That’s not the point!” Hiroto shouted angrily, finally losing his cool. “I don’t care if he was the most pompous jerk on the face of the earth. You don’t use magic to solve your problems.”
“Whatever... If you want to turn him back, go right ahead,” Kazuya shrugged carelessly, “Just don’t regret it when you realize that maybe he was better off that way!”
Shaking his head in disapproval, Hiroto reached for the wand strapped on his left leg hidden under the sleeve of his black slacks. If Kazuya could learn to stop using magic to make his tomatoes disappear from his dinner plate, turn the character Ponyo real, change the weather to have a snow day, and so forth, he wouldn’t have to always have a wand on him.
“Kazuya shouldn’t treat humans like a toy, turn this hound back into a normal boy! Andromorphus Transmorphus,” Hiroto chanted a spell, concentrating on channeling his powers into the magic wand. It felt as though his whole body was exerting power that was being sucked straight out of him. The end of his wand glowed with a white light and flashed, creating a puff of smoke around the dog’s paws. The smoke slowly disappeared, but the golden retriever was still there.
The canine barked at him almost threateningly, baring his teeth at Hiroto warningly. Almost as if he was marking Hiroto as a potential threat. Hiroto parted his slender lips, dumbfounded. That spell should have reversed a simple shape-shifting spell.
“Maybe this means he was meant to stay a dog,” Kazuya offered with the shrug of the shoulders. Of course, Hiroto would never buy such an excuse. If looks could kill, he would definitely be dead right now.
“What did you do?” Hiroto demanded, making Kazuya wince at his older brother’s enraged voice. It was rare to see Hiroto so upset, even over the use of magic. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that this was the first time he had used magic on an actual person, instead of using magic to create misfortune for a person, which he did fairly often.
“Why can’t you understand that magic has severe effects?” the eldest continued. Hiroto had always set a strict example, and never used magic in or out of the house. No matter how much easier life would be if he could line up the shelves at work with the mere snap of the fingers, and yes, the snap of the fingers would be all it took. He couldn’t understand why Kazuya decided to abuse his powers so much, and why he couldn’t appreciate the effort that goes into doing things the human way.
“Oh, pffft! So there’s one more dog in the world, it’s not going to hurt anyone,” Kazuya defended.
“Kazuya, you turned a human being into a household pet! Has it ever occurred to you that someone would miss him?” Hiroto pointed out, his fierce gaze not losing to the defiant look in Kazuya’s eyes.
“I couldn’t imagine why...” the younger Kamenashi mumbled.
“Kazuya!” he scolded sternly, but stopped when he saw a lone tear drop down the side of his little brother’s cheek. His lips pursed together, at a loss for words. Certainly, Kazuya was pretty emotional for a teenage boy but had always held back his tears at the last minute because he knew that boys shouldn’t cry.
“It’s not fair...” Kazuya managed to say in an agonized voice. “No one missed us! Why should an arrogant punk like him be missed?” he yelled before storming out of the house, not giving Hiroto a chance to answer.
A tinge of sadness flickered on Hiroto’s callous features as the ragged door slammed shut, ready to fly off on impact. Narrowing his eyes forlornly, he stared at the slammed door. His lips pursed into small frown at his little brother’s rebellious stage. Unsure of what to do, Hiroto didn’t even move a single step. Never being the best at comforting others. He missed the good old times when Kazuya followed him around everywhere, calling his name with an unadulterated smile. When Kazuya was still around the age of the little boy he had met today and was able to smile over what he had, even if it was only a piece of candy, than to feel bitterness over what he didn’t have.
“I wonder if things would’ve been different, if I were better at expressing my feelings,” he murmured softly to himself. Sometimes Hiroto questioned whether Kazuya felt neglected because he didn’t know how to show Kazuya how much he cared about him, even though protecting Kazuya was the only meaning for his existence.
A soft whining, which oddly sounded like sniffling, snapped him out of his reverie. His gaze immediately fell towards the floor, realizing there was a small nudge against his leg. The golden retriever was nuzzling its head on his leg comfortingly, and its beady eyes looked almost as if it were crying. Crouching down, Hiroto pet the golden retriever as if to distract the dull pain that he felt in his chest.
“You trying to cheer me up?” he asked softly. The golden retriever in question licked his cheek in response. A small chuckle escaped his lips, and he wiped his wet cheek with the sleeve of his shirt. Heaving a deep sigh, Hiroto stood back up. “Guess I’m having dinner alone...” he muttered.
Opening the plastic wrap of the rice ball, Hiroto placed his dinner onto a decent sized plate. The rice balls that he received were expired the day before, but the manager always kept the leftovers for him to take home knowing his financial status. The convenience store being one of two jobs he held to support his younger brother and himself in this bad economical time. Despite the fact that they didn’t pay a penny of rent for their current housing, Kazuya’s high school tuition was expensive enough to take up what they saved on rent. Any leftover money was spent on necessities, Kazuya’s textbooks and clothes. Since he wasn’t able to go to school himself, Hiroto wanted to make sure that at least Kazuya got his education and enjoyed a normal high school life.
The whining and cooing at his leg pulled Hiroto out of his reverie. He wondered if this was the equivalent to the dog complaining, if he were still human. Opening the plastic container with the various side dishes that he had received, Hiroto transferred the food onto separate plates. Today’s selection was a pretty good for leftovers, and consisted of potato salad, fried chicken and boiled vegetables. It was too bad that Kazuya wasn’t here to eat it with him, since Hiroto knew how much he loved fried chicken. Completely ignoring the whining dog at his feet, Hiroto walked over to the dining table with his plate of food. Sitting down, he delivered the rice ball to his mouth when the dog leaned on the table standing on its hind legs with forepaws on the table.
“I don’t have dog food,” he stated, but the canine refused to give up. He started whining again, but even louder.
“You want my rice ball, don’t you?” Hiroto deadpanned. Shaking his tail from side to side, the canine barked in response. Sighing in defeat, Hiroto opened the plastic wrapper of another rice ball and set it down on the table for the dog to eat.
“You better finish it all,” Hiroto warned, before returning to his own food. He would have shared some of his fried chicken, but he remembered hearing that chicken are bad for dogs. He had no intention of being responsible for killing a dog, let alone a human in the form of one.
When Hiroto finished eating most of his food, the canine barked. Sighing loudly, he took out another rice ball and opened the wrapper for him. “You sure eat a lot,” he complained, starting to feel full. Hiroto popped the last of his chicken into his mouth and slid the plate over to the dog. “You can have this too,” he offered, and watched as the canine happily finished off his food. Imagining the canine actually being a chubby fellow with food consistently in his hand, Hiroto laughed a little under his nose.
As soon as the canine finished eating his food, Hiroto began washing the dishes. He frowned when he saw that the plate had more chips on the ends. Apparently, another trip to the dollar store needed to be made so that he could buy more plates and the thought made him click his tongue. After separating the trash so that he could take the recyclable containers to work the next day, Hiroto sluggishly made his way to his room. Tired from the day’s turn of events, he figured he could just shower in the morning. He changed into his red and black checkered pajamas and brushed his teeth in a small bathroom where he could barely stand. Suppressing a yawn, Hiroto returned to his bedroom to go to sleep to see that the golden retriever was lying comfortably on the far end of his bed by the window.
“Get out of my bed!” he glared at the dog, which lifted his head in surprise but refused to budge. “You’re a dog, dogs sleep on the ground,” he reasoned, pulling the covers off of the bed to shoo him off.
A sharp bark returned in protest.
“I don’t care if you’re actually a human! You’re a dog now!” he growled. The golden retriever whined nonstop, and peered up at him with his beady puppy dog eyes. Hiroto tightened his lips into a fine line.
“Fine... You can sleep on the bed. Just don’t blame me if I roll over your paw,” he grumbled moodily, turning off the lamp beside him. He tossed the extra pillow in between them so that he wouldn’t have to feel the dog’s fur prickling at his skin while he slept. In his mind, he swore to find a big cardboard box at the convenience store to turn into a makeshift bed for the oversized dog that was currently taking up more than half of his bed. With that determination in mind, Hiroto drifted to sleep.
The next morning, the alarm clock blared loudly in the bedroom. Whining helplessly, the golden retriever covered his sensitive ears with his paws. Wanting to turn the alarm clock off, the canine carefully stepped over Hiroto. It was the type of alarm clock that needed to be turned off using the small switch on the back to prevent heavy sleepers from turning it off and rolling back in bed. The annoyed pup pawed at the alarm clock, which knocked over on its back. Growling at the alarm clock, he stamped on the surface hoping to shift the button but he had no such luck. Though he did have the urge to knock it off the night stand, and break the darned contraption before he went deaf.
Instead, he settled for patting Hiroto’s hand with his paw but to no avail. Eventually, the ringing got even louder and was burning in his oversensitive ears. In desperation, the canine licked his companion on Hiroto’s face. Sharp creases formed between Hiroto’s well-shaped eyebrows, and his eyes snapped open. Immediately sitting up, Hiroto grabbed his alarm clock and promptly shut it off. He sighed in relief when he realized that he wasn’t running late yet, thanks to the cushion of time he put in so that he’d always be on time.
Getting out of bed Hiroto headed to the shower, leaving the hound to sleep comfortably by himself in his bed.
The screech of the faucet turning on echoed in the shower room. A soft sigh escaped his lips as the warm beads of water hit his skin. The power of the showerhead massaged his tense muscles, relaxing his whole body. Grabbing the body soap, he dabbed it on his towel. A sharp frown formed on his lips as the sweet scent of roses filled his sense. ‘Damn it, I must’ve grabbed Kazuya’s soap...’ he thought as he lathered the soap and washed his body. Kazuya was the only boy he knew that wore floral scent and could get away with it.
Coming out of the shower, Hiroto grabbed the towel he had set next to the sink. After thoroughly wiping his body of excess moisture, he wrapped it tightly around his waist. He plugged in the hair dryer, quickly dried his hair and brushed it carelessly, not being one for looking into mirrors more than necessary. Descending the stairs, Hiroto found the dog was already waiting for him downstairs. Probably because it realized that it wouldn’t be fed if it stayed in bed.
Popping two toasts into the toaster, Hiroto poured water into the coffee maker and threw in a heap of coffee grinds, preferring strong coffee in the morning. While he was waiting for the toast, Hiroto poured milk into a shallow bowl for the golden retriever to drink. Soon, the pop of the toaster sounded to let him know his toast was done. He poured the coffee he enjoyed black into a chipped coffee cup, and sat down. Buttering the first toast, Hiroto cut it into six small pieces and set it in the dog’s bowl that was already empty. Then he spread butter for his own toast and turned on the television with the remote control. It was his daily ritual to watch the morning news.
“In breaking news, a press conference was held today by the Superintendant General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police announcing that the only daughter of Kizakura Akiko, the owner of the popular jewelry brand, Jewelry AKI, who was arrested last Thursday under the suspicion of violating the Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act, has gone missing.”
A loud bark interrupted.
“Kizakura Karen, age 18, was officially reported missing last night by school officials when the Kizakura maid called the school, worried about her whereabouts. Police are currently investigating whether this disappearance is related to her mother’s alleged crime...”
Another set of barks ensued, and Hiroto rubbed on his aching temple. “Stop barking, you’ll bother the neighbors,” he warned, wondering how long he would have to put up with dog sitting. He had wished last night that this was either a nightmare or that the spell would wear off with time, but neither seemed to come true.
The hound stopped barking aggressively, settling for whining loudly instead. “What is it?” Hiroto asked, and the dog barked at the television again. Hiroto furrowed his brow, and looked at the television screen. On the screen was the beautiful girl that was allegedly kidnapped. The girl had reddish brown hair that fell in perfect curls to her chest. Her eyebrows of the same color were perfectly plucked and thinned, and accentuated the strong-willed eyes played up by eyeliner and mascara. Her nude-colored lips shone with lip gloss and were pouted seductively.
“You know this girl?” he asked reluctantly. The dog barked again in response. Hiroto turned his attention back to the television screen, his lips pursed into a tight frown.
“Kizakura Karen...” Drinking off the rest of coffee, Hiroto grabbed his leather jacket and passed his arms through the sleeves. He rushed out of the house with the golden retriever following closely on his tail. The door slammed loudly behind him as he ran out towards the main road. Looking from one side to another, the golden retriever barked stridently to catch Hiroto’s attention and started running to the left. Hiroto speedily followed the dog, sure that this path would lead to some clues on who Kazuya had transformed and how to get him back to a human boy.