"Aimi, I'm not sure this will work." I voiced my thoughts with mild trepidation. Ami rolled her eyes but didn't turn to address me, opting instead to keep her focus on the road as we drove to her place.

"It'll be fine Hisae." Aimi reassured me. "Trust me, you'll thank me for this later."

"But, a naga?" I asked as I thought about the little creature's. I'd only ever heard of nagas and occasionally met one or two on the streets the same way one meets a dog or cat. They were small creatures about the size of a lap dog or cat depending on the breed and were often purchased as pets. And my friend was suggesting that I get one myself.

"You don't know a lot about nagas do you?" Aimi asked and I shook my head. "Well, despite what some people think about them, nagas aren't just stupid animals. They are intelligent creatures and have feelings like humans do. They just can't speak like humans. Sometimes, I feel like their more human than some people of the species. Anyways, a naga is the perfect pet for you."

I sighed as I thought back to the events that led up to this. It was my day off and I was feeling kinda down in the dumps, so I thought maybe a day out would help relax me. It was around noon that I ran into Aimi. We had been best friends in high school but had lost touch with each other after college so running into each other was a treat.

We got coffee and started talking with each other and how we had been. Aimi, who'd always had a love for animals, had ended up becoming a zoologist and cryptozoologist and was now working as a vet and part time humane society employee. It was a lot of work, but she didn't mind since she was doing something she loved. When she asked about me, I shared what had been going on with me.

While I wasn't as successful as she ended up being (it didn't surprise me since Aimi had always been passionate and driven), I couldn't really complain about how my life turned out. I was still living and working part time at the game shop I'd grown up in mostly because my father was getting on in years and needed the extra help from time to time. As we talked and reacquainted ourselves, it didn't take long for me to spill the beans on what had been bothering me.

Aimi knew that I'd always wanted a child to raise and love as my own. But a doctor's appointment had snuffed out any hope of bearing any children of my own and just last week, I'd been denied the option to adopt. After I'd vented my frustrations and despair to my friend she was silent for a moment before she finally declared that the only solution was a pet. After she'd loaded me into her car, she told me what pet she had in mind. Turns out, Aimi is a registered naga breeder which brings us to the present.

"You know having a naga isn't much different than raising a human child." Aimi's voice broke me from my musings. "They age at the same rate and while it's not exactly like a human, it would still feel like it."

"But a naga?" I asked. "Couldn't I just get a kitten or a puppy and it'll be like the same thing?"

"Not really. You know, nagas can be pretty affectionate when they really like their owners." Aimi paused. "Do you have something against nagas?" She asked and I shook my head.

"Not exactly." I said. "I'm just not a fan of snakes. "They scare me a bit. Logically I know that not all snakes are venomous and that they only ever attack when their scared, but that doesn't stop me from getting a little spooked when I see them.

Aimi chuckled. "Don't worry, there's nothing scary about nagas. They're as friendly as you can get and just plain little sweethearts. I think you'd like them."

As we pulled into Aimi's driveway, I still was unsure and Aimi seemed to sense that and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen, I'm not going to force you but I do want you to give this a chance." She said gently. "I really think that this could help you. So please just come in and get to know my nagas before deciding that you don't want to do this. If you find that you don't like them, I'll be a good sport and not try to force the issue. But if you do decide that you want a naga and even find one you like, you can take it home free of charge. Deal?"

I thought it over and my mind wandered to a saying that my father often told me. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' he often said and even used it as a motto. And as I was weighing the pros and cons, I realized there were very few cons. It's not like I had a full blown phobia of snakes and it couldn't hurt to try and see if I'd like a naga. At the very least, I'd been able to reconnect with my old friend and who knows...maybe I'd like having a naga around the house.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." I said and Aimi grinned in excitement as she led me out of the car.

Before we could reach her front door however, my phone rang. Glancing at the ID before answering, I saw that it was my father.

"Hello?" I greeted after pressing the green button.

"Hisae? Sorry if I'm interrupting anything." My father said. "Just calling to check up on you and make sure everything is okay."

I smiled at his concern. My father had never been at unhealthy levels of clingy, but he could be a little overprotective at times. Especially when he knows that I'm having a bad day.

"I'm fine dad." I replied then grinned. "But you'll never guess who I ran into today."

"Who?" My father asked curiously and my grin widened.

"Aimi Koike." I answered and there was silence for a beat on the other end.

"Really?" My father asked.

"Really." I answered and I could practically hear the smile that my dad no doubt wore.

"Honey, that is wonderful!" My dad cooed. "Is she there with you now?"

"Yep. Say hi Aimi." I said as I passed the phone to my friend.

"Hey mister Mutou!" Aimi greeted. "How are you doing?"

I didn't hear my father's answer but knowing him, I can guess that it would be somewhere along the lines of 'doing as well as I can'.

"Oh nothing much." Aimi said, clearly answering an unheard question. "We chatted over coffee earlier and now we're going to see if we can get Hisae a pet naga."

After that, Aimi listened a little and answered some questions before finally turning the phone back to me.

"Hisae tell me, is this something you want or are you just going along with Aimi?" My father asked in concern and I couldn't help but chuckle.

When we were younger, Aimi used to always get me in trouble because I was too much of a wallflower to stand up to her bold loud ideas. Fortunately, she never got me into too much trouble. The worst we'd ever done was broken our curfew because of a party Aimi thought would be fun.

We ended up leaving because our classmates and upperclassmen were pressuring us to try smoking the weed they'd brought or drinking alcohol. We ended up getting grounded by our respective parents, but at least we were happy in the knowledge that we knew when to get out. But that was years ago and I'm a much different person than I was back then.

"Dad, I'm not the shy little teenager I once was." I said once I got my chuckles under control. "I can take care of myself now and I don't let anyone push me around. Remember my last boyfriend?" I asked and by the sound of his laughter, I knew he remembered.

"Yep, I remember him." He said between chortles. "And I suppose you're right. I guess it's just a little hard for me to realize that my little girl is all grown up now. So, does this mean we're going to add one more to the family?"

"I don't know, I haven't decided yet." I answered. "I'm just going to look at them for now and if I end up falling in love with one I might bring one home. We'll have to see. If I do end up bring one home, I'll call you in advance."

"Alright then. Anything else I should know?" My dad asked and I relayed the question to Aimi. In response, Aimi snatched the phone in my hand and spoke to my father directly.

"I'd make sure the house is baby proofed." She said. "Baby nagas can be as curious and mischievous as human babies with a bit more mobility than humans. If Hisae ends up picking a baby naga, you're going to need your house to be as ready as you would if you were getting a normal baby. You'll also need to keep the house warm especially in winter. Nagas may be warm blooded, but they can't stand the cold and can lose heat quickly due to their scaly nature."

There was a moment of silence as she listened to what my dad had to say before passing the phone back to me.

"I love you, Hisae." He started. "And I just want you to know that whatever you choose, I will stand by you and accept your decision."

"Thanks Dad. I love you too, bye." And with that I hung up and turned to my friend who grinned.

"Hisae Moutou, are you ready to enter a den of naga?" Aimi asked in a dark, dramatic tone. I shivered, Aimi had always been one for dramatics.

"As ready as I'll ever be." I answered and Aimi smiled.

"Good and don't worry. They won't bite you at all unless you're a threat." She said as she took my hand to lead me in.

The moment I walked in, I met my first naga. It was small, about the size of a cat, with the standard snake half human half deal. It's snake half was an iridescent blue with scales that climbed upwards to cover the spine, belly and lower arms. As I'd entered, the naga turned to examine me and I got a good look of it's eyes which were human-ish but with a slit pupil like on any other snake. It's tongue flicked out as it sniffed me and once it was satisfied that I wasn't a threat, it flicked its hair behind it's back and crawled\slithered away.

As the naga moved away from me, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Following Aimi into her home, I encountered dozens more naga of all sorts of sizes, types and ages. Settling down on the couch, I watched the naga as Aimi went to get some tea. Many were just lounging around while others were a bit more active, moving from place to place. I had expected the naga to slither upright, but instead their mode of locomotion was slithering while they crawled on claw-like hands.

"Here." Aimi cut into my thoughts as she passed a teacup to me. At some point while I'd been preoccupied, she'd entered the room with two teacups and a pot of tea and had poured a cup for me.

"Thanks." I said as I took the cup and sipped the delicious tea. "So, how exactly do you care for a naga? What do they eat and do they need to be house-trained?"

"Well like I said, naga are intelligent so you won't need to do much about the facilities." Aimi replied as she took a sip of her tea. "Of course when their infants they need as much extra care in that area as a human infant, but once they get a little older they can use the toilet themselves. There are special toilets you can buy that they can use when they reach that age."

"And how long until they reach that age?" I asked.

"In about six months." Aimi answered and I gave her a skeptical look. "I know I said they age at the same rate a human does, but naga don't stay infants for long. They only stay helpless infants for six months maximum. After that, their more or less capable of taking care of themselves. Now as for food, naga can eat a certain variety of things except plants."

"I know snakes can swallow things like rats and birds whole, so that doesn't surprise me." I said with a nod.

"That's just one part of their diet." Aimi said. "While they they do eat warm blooded prey like rodents, rabbits, birds and in the case of larger nagas, small deer, they also eat insects, amphibians, other reptiles, fish, eggs, even earthworms and slugs. Stores do sell naga food, but nagas can be perfectly content hunting for food. Matter of fact, some people get nagas as mousers because they can hunt down mice better than cats."

"What about when they're infants?" I asked in interest.

"Well, even though they are reptilian, nagas can produce milk for their young to drink during their formative months." Aimi said as she poured me a second cup of tea. "Pet stores even sell naga formula so that you can feed your newborn naga if you choose to get one that young."

By this point my interest was peaked and I was much more open to the idea of a naga. Aimi clearly could see that I was interested and when we finished our tea, she suggested that I get to know the naga up close. Aimi introduced me to many different naga and even let me hold some. At this point I was definitely interested, but I hadn't found one that I wanted to take home. That is until she showed me the eggs. The eggs were very similar to actual snake eggs, oval, white and leathery to the touch.

"Now just like regular snakes, some naga lay eggs while others give birth like humans." Aimi explained as she gestured to the tanks of incubating eggs. "Unlike some snake species however, naga don't abandon their eggs after laying. They tend to be zealously overprotective of their young before and after hatching."

"Sounds like a certain old man I know." I joked with a grin and Aimi snorted mirthfully as well.

"Yeah. Now normally I let the naga take care of their eggs and just provide them with some place to nest safely." She explained after gaining control over her giggles. "But then their are cases when naga can't or won't care for their eggs. The eggs in here came from naga who either perished or straight up abandoned their babies. If a surrogate mother can't be found, we move them to the incubators."

"That's so sad." I murmured as I brushed my fingers against one incubator.

"Yeah, I know." Aimi said. Then without warning, she reached in and gently scooped an egg out.

"Hold out your hand." She said and I did as I was told. Gently she set the egg in the palm of my hand and I couldn't help my gasp of wonder. It felt so warm and it might've been my imagination, but I swear I felt it moving a little.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Aimi said softly. "It always fills me with wonder every time. Like life itself is its own special brand of magic."

At first I didn't say anything as I was a little wrapped up in the wonder of the moment. Then the moment passed and I became a little self conscious of the tiny life in my hands.

"Are you it's safe for me to be holding this?" I whispered worriedly but Aimi smiled.

"I wouldn't have put it in your hand if I wasn't sure." She assured me. "Naga eggs are a little more hardy than bird or snake eggs. Plus these eggs have been incubating for a while and should be hatching any day now."

At that moment, the egg lurched and I panicked.

"Or now." Aimi added in surprise as the egg began to rock violently. At this point, I was nearly hyperventilating as I watched the tiny naga try to free itself from it's shell.

"Um, um, what do I do?!" I asked almost hysterically.

"Don't panic." Aimi said in a commanding voice. "Take a deep breath and try to calm down. It'll be okay. Just relax and watch."

I breathed in as instructed while Aimi cupped her hands beneath mine and I watched. The egg thrashed around as little thrusts made the shell bulge in places as tiny fists tried to free themselves from their confines. Finally, tiny claws managed to puncture the shell. From that point, the hatching naga began using its claws to tear a hole in the shell and finally pull out and into my hand.

It was sticky and gooey, but I didn't mind. Matter of fact, I was focusing more on the naga in my hand. It was small and black with red and gold patterns on it's scales. The skin that was visible was pale and the little tuft of hair on it's head was black with crimson tips and blonde bangs. As I stood there in awe of the tiny creature, the naga began crawling around blindly until it reached my thumb. The naga then curled his body around my thumb and wrapped his arms around it. Once the baby was situated, it promptly fell asleep.

"So, what do you think?" Aimi whispered and I smiled.

"I think you might be right." I whispered back.

========Nine Months Later========

It had been a year since Yami slithered into my life and I couldn't be happier. My father, Sugoroku Mutou, had also fallen in love with the little tyke despite his penchant for getting into trouble. Even more amazing was how smart Yami was.

Not only did he manage to learn to play every game in the shop, but he'd gotten so good at it that my father believes that we may have a little game master on our hands. And that someday, Yami could win the title, King of Games.

Simply put, life was good and I couldn't be happier. Life had become more vibrant and happy since Yami had come into my life and I couldn't be happier. Then one day I got a phone call from Aimi with an unexpected request.

It was a lazy Saturday afternoon that day. I was off of work and helping my dad in the shop while Yami was outside dozing on his favorite sunning rock. Just when the shop was in the middle of a slow patch, my phone rang and after checking the caller ID, I picked up.

"Hey Aimi, how's it going?" I greeted my friend.

"Fine fine, nothing much to complain about." My friend replied. "Listen Hisae, I'd like to ask for a favor. A huge favor. You remember Ao and how she's been expecting for the past few months?"

"Of course I remember." I said, picturing the iridescent blue naga I'd first met that day when I first met Yami. She'd struck me as a diva that day and after getting to know her, I found my suppositions to be accurate. Recently during her heat, she'd mated with an Eastern Indigo naga and become pregnant.

"Yeah well, she had her babies last night." Aimi informed me and I almost squealed into the phone.

"Oh my gosh, that's great!" I exclaimed then paused. "Wait, isn't it a little bit before her due date?"

"By three weeks, yeah." She confirmed and I felt a stab of fear for the little ones.

Before I could voice my fears however, Aimi preempted me. "Don't worry, there weren't any complications and they are all as healthy as can be. One of them however, almost didn't make it. He's the smallest of the entire litter and it looks like he is the more underdeveloped of the entire group. He's okay now and will likely live to adulthood. He just needs some extra attention. Attention I can't give him at this time. I was hoping that you could maybe take him in?"

"Me? You want me to look after him? Why not one of your colleagues or even his mom?" I asked.

"I've already asked my colleagues and none of them have the time to give him the attention he needs and you're the only other person I can trust with this." Aimi explained sounding a little desperate. "As for his mom, she straight up rejected him because he's the runt of the litter. Listen Hisae, I know I'm asking for something big of you, but please I'm begging you to at least try. He may be in bad shape now, but I can tell that he's a fighter and that he'll get stronger. He just needs a chance. Can you give him that chance?"

I thought about it hard. I wasn't willing to just leave my friend in the lurch, especially in this case. But did I really have time to look after this naga. Well, school was going to be back in session tomorrow so that would mean that business would slow down enough for dad to be able to handle the shop on his own. Plus, Yami was getting pretty independent so I could probably spare the time to look after this little one.

"Sure, I guess I can look after him." I answered.

"Oh thank you so much!" I could practically hear Aimi cry tears of joy. I guess she must've been really worried for him. "I'll be by later today with some supplies and I'll show you how to look after him. See you then!"

========Few Months Later========

"Hey Hisae, how's Yugi doing?"

"He's been doing great. You were right, Yugi is a fighter. He was finally able to open his eyes just last week!"

"That's great! What color are they?"

"Amethyst purple. Like gemstones. You really should come see them sometime."

"I will once I find the time. Any other updates?"

"Well, I have some concerns."

"About what? Don't tell me Yugi is coming down with something."

"No nothing like that it's just, Yami doesn't seem to like him too much. He picks on him almost constantly."

"How badly?"

"Not too badly yet. He mostly hogs the food and doesn't let Yugi eat and since I've given him his own pet bed, Yami's been stealing Yugi's blankets. I've had to feed Yugi table scraps and let him share my bed since. Just yesterday when I took Yugi out to explore the gardens, he tried resting on Yami's favorite rock and Yami pushed him off."

"Some nagas tend to be a little territorial at times. Especially at a young age. Plus, let's not forget that Yami is still a child and up until now he was the one you doted on. He's never had the experience of being raised as part of a clutch, so he's probably a little upset and jealous of his new baby brother."

"I hadn't thought of it that way. Do you really think that's what it is?"

"Ninety nine percent positive. If you'll recall, I reacted the same way when my baby sister was born."

"I remember that. How is Mae anyways?"

"She's doing good. She graduated from college not long ago but we're getting off topic. I would advise letting them be and let Yami adjust to this new situation. Maybe someday he'll grow to like his new baby brother, or at the very least tolerate him to a degree where he stops picking on him so much. Just do what you've been doing and let them figure this out."

"Well okay. But if Yami takes things too far then I'm going to have no choice but to separate them. Maybe send either Yugi or Yami to live with you if you'd be alright with that."

"Totally okay with me. If it ever comes to that, then I could let you come visit either one you send."

"Thanks Aimi. I better get going, I'll talk to you later. Bye!"

"Bye and good luck!"

Five year old Yugi Mutou relaxed in the sun but remained alert. While Yami had calmed down a little over the the years (he no longer hogged food or stole blankets) he still didn't like it when Yugi was laying on his sunning rock and would always push him off if he caught him lounging about. Right now, Yami wasn't around which meant that he could snag some time in the sun so long as he was vigilant.

Coiling his iridescent indigo tail around him, the younger naga settled down with a sigh and got as comfortable as he could. His thoughts then began to drift to Yami and his relationship with the older naga. While he didn't pick on him as much as he used to, Yami was still abrasive towards Yugi at times and the two actively avoided each other. When they did interact with each other, Yami would either just ignore him or if he was in a very bad mood, he would snap at him.

Hearing the slight pitter patter of paws on grass Yugi paused in his thoughts, cracked an eye open...and promptly froze in terror. A small group of cats, strays from the looks of them, had snuck into the yard and were now stalking towards him. Fun fact, because of their fast reflexes, cats can and do kill small snakes to eat. And in some cases, they can do the same to young nagas.

And these cats looked hungry.

Yugi valiantly hid his shivers at the animal's hungry leers and went into defensive mode, doing his best to make himself look dangerous. Unfortunately, the cats were unimpressed with his efforts and continued to stalk towards the little naga. Finally, one had managed to sneak behind Yugi and before the little naga knew what was happening, he found himself pinned underneath a large, hungry tom cat.

Yugi struggled as hard as he could but he couldn't get out of the cat's grasp. Not even when he bit the animal. By this point, Yugi was thrashing wildly only to have his tail pinned and bitten by another cat. Yugi let out a yelp of pain and tears began to well up in his eyes as it became obvious that he wasn't going to live. As the cat pinning his chest leaned down to deal the fatal blow however, a black shape plowed into it and Yugi felt the pressure leave his chest.

At first, Yugi lay in shock as tears ran down his cheeks. When he became more aware of his surroundings, the first thing he noticed was furious hissing, followed by some thuds, the sound of cats yowling and finally, retreating pawsteps. Once the sounds faded, a face popped into Yugi's field of vision that the younger naga quickly recognized as Yami. With his appearance, Yugi was quickly able to piece together what happened.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he pulled Yugi up. The young naga nodded numbly then in a surge of relief and gratefulness, planted a kiss on the other naga's cheek.

"Thank you for saving my life." Yugi said softly.

Yami only blushed and darted back inside, momentarily forgetting why he'd gone outside in the first place. Once he remembered that he'd been going out to lounge on the sunning rock, he decided that he'd just let Yugi have it for today. Shortly after he'd darted indoors Yugi followed after, now much too afraid to be outdoors.

A\N: Would you believe that I wrote this on the fly? Well, not completely. I kinda stewed on this concept when I was first inspired and I did go back for a few reasons but the point is that this is a story I came up with and wrote within the span of a few days. For me, I find that one of the harder things for me as an author is presentation so I'm proud of myself for managing to write this well (I hope).

Now if you're wondering about the odd formatting of the story, well then settle down for story time kiddies. Earlier this week, I was reading this collection of drabbles called A Series of Drabbles and in one of the chapters called Heat, I discovered this concept and kinda fell in love with it. So credit to Envytastic for the wonderfully novel idea. Thank you.

Anyways, as I was writing it in that little 'inspiration haze' that followed, I thought how I wanted to write this. At first I thought standard chapter story but then I figured that I don't have that much for this story so why not a one shot. It would be a new experience and my first one shot but then I thought that wouldn't work. So here's my compromise, I'll write it as a series of drabbles set in this world I'm creating. So, enjoy! Hope you like it!