Summary: It's another cold and lonely winter for Naomi until she unwillingly rescues a dog from the cold. Unknowingly by bringing the poor dog into her home, she welcomes trouble as the dog turns out not to be any ordinary dog, but a powerful demon lord! sessxoc


Chapter 1: Split Decision


I hate winter.

It's lonely and it's cold.

And it means that Christmas is coming up.

Everything about the winter is just plain wrong!

I grumbled as I walked down the icy street filled with ridiculously cheery decorations and an overbearing amount of spirit. I hate everything about Christmas. It was a day dedicated to spending way much more than you really want to. You dig to the bottom of your pocket to give people gifts that they could have bought themselves just as easily. Who benefits from Christmas? Overpriced stores.

Out of the corner of my eye, one of the brightly lit stores caught my attention. I walked up to the window and peered in. Dozens of little puppies spun around and smooshed their snotty little noses up to the window. They yipped and yapped happily, oblivious to my icy glare.

I hate dogs.

They were absolute monsters that wreaked havoc.

Yes. I, Naomi Yasuhara, am the modern day Grinch. I fit the description down to the tee. I hated all that was merry plus all dogs. Don't get me wrong, I am a decently pleasant enough girl all other days of the year. But when the first signs of frost roll around the corner, my heart instantaneously shrinks to the size of a pea.

Sighing, I left the window of puppies alone and continued walking home from work. Luckily, my house was only a few minutes walk out of the downtown area of the city where I worked. But it was far enough so that I wouldn't have to see or hear anything Christmas from my little apartment.

I grumbled as I trekked through the terribly plowed sidewalk leading up to my apartment complex. Everything was pure white.

If it hadn't been for the dark red blood, I would have missed him completely.

A white dog was laying helplessly in the snow. I thought it was dead, from the stillness of its body and the cold of the weather. But I heard the soft growl. That dog was definitely alive. Despite it's growl, the dog did nothing to move from its position.

That dog would surely die very soon. But what did it mean to me? I turned my head away and continued into my apartment complex.

Once I reached my small studio apartment, I changed into comfortable pajamas and made myself hot chocolate. I couldn't get that dog out of my mind. I sighed and tried to fix my attention on my work. I was an editor for a publishing company. I had manuscripts upon manuscripts to read and correct. I pulled out my red pen to start marking. The red of the pen reminded me of the blood surrounding the dog I had left to die.

Grr! I need to concentrate! I furiously began to mark a correction… There's no ink left.

"Seriously?"

I walked over to the trash to vent out my frustration by throwing the pen angrily and dramatically into the bin. But before I could even do it, I realized that my trash bin was full. And judging from the smell after I opened the lid, it was over a week old.

I hate dogs. And I hate smelly trash. I wasn't going to go check up on the dog because I wanted to, but because I had to take out the trash. That's all. Seriously. I don't care what happens to that thing.

I gathered the bag of trash and made my way down the elevator and towards the large community trash bin outside. The dog just happened to be laying in between the apartment complex and my destination. But I, of course needed to take out the trash right now. Smelly trash waits for no one!

Okay. I'll admit that I secretly wanted to see how the dog was doing. I even brought some delicious meaty leftovers from my dinner to leave for the dog. Then I'll run away before the dog can even think to become my responsibility. Then I can say that I tried. Perfect plan!

But of course, things never go as expected. There were two young boys hunched over the dog outside. At first, I thought nothing of it. Perhaps the dog was theirs? But upon closer examination, I saw them poking and prodding at the bloodied dog with a stick.

How terrible! Even I, who despised all dogs, could never bring myself to do something so cruel! I rushed outside and threw my smelly bag of trash at the boys.

"Scram, you little demons!"

Luckily the boys dropped the stick and booked the hell out of our complex's front yard. I quickly picked up the trash and threw it in the bin before returning to the complex doors. I looked over at the bloodied white dog. It's position was the exact same as she had seen it last. Even with the boys' torture, the dog couldn't even move to get away.

At this point, I'm torn. I act the part of the regular good Samaritan and at least, let this dog die in comfort. Or I could walk through this door to enjoy my evening and live my life as I normally would. It took only a moment.

I opened the door and walked through to bask in the warmth of my apartment complex. I was only able to take one more step towards the elevators leading up to my home on the 27th floor before I turned at walked right back out the door.

"Don't you dare try anything, stupid dog. You got yourself in this mess. Not me."

I said to the dog before picking it up in my arms. It was a lot heavier than it looked! I could hear weak growling from the dog's chest. If I die trying to help this dog out… I'm a total idiot.

I shook my head and proceeded to take the stairs. Yes. I have to take all 27 flights of stairs to get to my apartment. No. I cannot take the elevator and risk other people seeing my carry an animal into my apartment. Pets aren't allowed in this complex! This was one of the reasons why I chose this complex over all of the others, after all.

By the time I reached my apartment, I was struggling to catch my breath. I had even thought about just dragging the dog up the stairs behind me. But I imagine that killing the dog by stair trauma would not give the dog a peaceful death. My legs practically gave out on me when I reached my comfortable couch.

I looked from the couch to the bloody god in my arms and back to the couch. No. Absolutely not. I am not going to sacrifice my comfy couch for this stupid dog. I continued to the small bathroom where I laid the dog into the bathtub.

I rolled up my sleeves and began to work. Making sure that the water was warm enough, I splashed water onto the dog and meticulously cleaned its fur. After that, I toweled off the dog and used my blow dryer to help speed up the drying process.

After it was all said and done, the dog looked pretty close to brand-spankin' new. Well, except for all of the bandages I had wrapped around the wounds. It looked almost as if the dog had been slashed with a knife. I didn't want to think about how it got the wounds. I carried the dog back out to the living room where I had prepared a bed of blankets for the dog.

I felt a little sorry for the creature. It could barely move and it's growl was downright pathetic. And yet, the dog itself looked extremely cute. It looked to be something between a Samoyed and a pure white husky.

I placed my hand on the dog's head and stroked its fur. It was incredibly soft and thick. It was a pure white like snow. The dog's eyes cracked open.

I was struck with fear. Out of instinct, I scooted back from the dog. It's body didn't move but I could hear the grown and I could see the fangs bared against me.

But what scared me most were the deep golden eyes that pierced my soul.