It was exactly an hour after Ritsu's usual shift, and the girl was beginning to get a little irritated by the fact that she still had to stay in that damn shelter.
Nevermind, scratch that. The girl was extremely frustrated at the only customer left in the animal shelter, for she had been there for nearly an hour now, and still hadn't chosen anything.
Ritsu needed to go back home. She was still in college, had homework to do (even though she barely does it anyway), and needed time to make dinner for herself as well as her housemate Mio. This random indecisive blonde girl was preventing her from getting all this done.
Despite her resentment, Ritsu knew that she wouldn't be able to get her pay if she simply left while there was still a customer in the shelter, and therefore she couldn't do anything about the blonde girl, who she suddenly really wanted to yell for to go home.
Because she couldn't hold herself back, Ritsu did exactly what her brain told her to do. Go up to the customer and tell her to go home.
The sophomore's irritated footsteps caught the attention of the blonde, who looked up from a box containing a mid-sized pug and smiled. Then, as suddenly as it came, the urge to yell at the blonde disappeared. Ritsu followed the blonde's stance, squatting next to her and peering into the box.
"Have you chosen yet?" the sophomore asked, averting her eyes away from the cage to look at the blonde, who shook her head.
"No, sorry. I should be going now, shouldn't I? You probably need to be somewhere right now and I took up so much of your time," the blonde replied. Ritsu felt her heart warm up at the sound of the blonde's voice. It was unusually soothing and calmed the sophomore down completely, erasing the frustration that she had just seconds ago.
"It-It's quite alright, actually. You can come back tomorrow to search-I mean-check upon the animals if you'd like. We're open all five days of the week, and today's only Wednesday. You do know that, right?" Ritsu stumbled a little with her words, surprised by the fact that she herself had become so soft with the blonde. This normally wouldn't be her attitude to other people, for example, Mio. The black-haired girl had been teased ruthlessly ever since she had met the amber-eyed girl in grade school.
The blonde hummed and stood up. She seemed to hesitate a little before turning around and leaving the shelter. Just before she went out of sight, Ritsu stopped her.
"Can I get your name? It's for…" Ritsu paused, trying to think of an excuse, "For the customer log. We like to keep preferences for our customers, so we'd know what to recommend."
The blonde smiled warmly. "Tsumugi, but you can just write Mugi." And with that, Mugi stepped out of the shelter and into the night.
Ritsu stared at the blonde's flowing hair as she turned around the corner, doing nothing but blinking at the sudden warmth pervading through her chest.
Tsumugi… How nice.
The sophomore wasn't exactly surprised to find herself expecting Mugi's return at the start of her shift on Thursday.
Being a pretty confident (or she liked to think) person, Ritsu knew herself very well. She knew her own thoughts, her own feelings, and her own actions. After pondering upon her encounter with the blonde, the sophomore knew that she liked Tsumugi.
It came to Ritsu as an urge to become friends with the blonde. Mugi seemed like such a nice girl that anyone would want as a friend, including Ritsu.
And that was why the sophomore stayed after for ten minutes to get some alone time with Mugi. They were now stationed in front of a little puppy's box, with Ritsu happily introducing its breed.
"It's a Siberian Husky, around a month old. Incredibly cute, isn't it?" asked the sophomore. Mugi nodded, puffing out her face a little before scooping out the little puppy (without Ritsu's consent) in a tongue in cheek manner. Ritsu, who would usually chide anyone else to be careful or put it back, simply laughed delightedly and toppled backward to sit instead of squat.
"This little pupper came in just today. It's in pretty good condition, but it would need quite a lot of support at such a young age," Ritsu continued. Mugi's face turned a little pink as the pup climbed into the space between her crossed legs and rested its head on her lap. She hesitantly scratched the husky's ears, earning a content sigh from the pup. A cute giggle escaped her lips, making Ritsu's chest bloom with strange warmth.
"I haven't really gotten to… interact with many animals in my life. It's really nice," said Mugi, her ocean blue eyes meeting Ritsu's.
Now that the sophomore had a chance to clearly see Mugi's eyes, she found it entrancing. Like a classic soft song with the best lyrics, or a hard rock jam with a drum beat that Ritsu could get lost to, Mugi's eyes was something the amber-eyed girl could get lost in. It was an oceanic blue canvas littered with gleams of arctic blue and was reeling the sophomore in.
"Your eyes are really pretty, Mugi," Ritsu blurted, but didn't try to cover up after she did. She meant it, and as long as she did, it didn't matter if it was left unsaid or not.
Mugi smiled adorably, tilting her head a little. "Yours too… Satoshi?"
Ritsu blinked confusedly before checking her nametag and laughing. "Ah. I'm a clumsy person, you see, and I lost my tag. My coworker's lending me his. I'm Tainaka Ritsu."
"In this case, I really like your golden irises, Ricchan."
Ricchan?
"I got a nickname already, huh? That was fast. It's great, though."
Ritsu trailed off, not knowing what else to say. She watched as Mugi and the little pup interacted, occasionally chuckling while her mind flew back to yesterday.
"By the way, Mugi," started the sophomore, "Have you found the desired pet yet?"
The blonde turned to face the amber-eyed girl. Mugi became suddenly serious, slowly shaking her head, never taking her eyes off of Ritsu. She then stood, announcing that she needed to leave and reminded Ritsu of the time that she had long lost track of.
Remembering Mio, the sophomore bolted up. She scooped the pup back into its box, patting its head twice.
"See ya, Mugi!" Ritsu called after the blonde before running off to retrieve her bags and close the shelter.
"Leaving so early?"
The sudden statement jolted Ritsu. The sophomore turned to face a certain blonde.
"Yeah. I've got to study with my housemate. She's kind of forcing me into it," replied the amber-eyed girl. Mugi sighed.
"Such a shame. I thought I would come to pick up the pet too," Mugi said. She gandered at the closed shelter. Ritsu paused.
"Oh? You've chosen one?"
The blonde nodded.
"That's no problem, I'll just go get it for you. Say, which on is it? Is it the Siberian Husky?"
Mugi nodded, a smile appearing on her lips. Ritsu ran back into the shelter straight towards the Siberian Husky's box, picking it up and whispering into it (a little somberly), "You've got a real home now, ain't that great?"
Of course, the husky gave no response.
The amber eyed girl took her time getting the husky from the back rooms of the shelter to the counter. Deep down, she knew she didn't want Mugi to adopt the pupper because this meant that the blonde had no more reason to come to the animal shelter, and Ritsu wouldn't be able to see her every day anymore.
Returning back outside, Ritsu balanced the box on one hand and set it on the counter, while the other one typed in the information and the check. She rapidly finished up the papers and handed it to Mugi, who had followed her into the shop.
"Additional payments can be done online. It's all on the sheet of paper. I trust that you've got its requirements ready?" Ritsu questioned, finally averting her attention back to Mugi, who nodded. "That's great. Is there anything else you need? Food, toys, anything?"
"Actually, there's one other thing I want," Mugi answered, her eyes now trained upon Ritsu.
"What could it be?"
The blonde abruptly leaned across the counter, her face nearing only centimeters away from Ritsu's. The amber and blue of their eyes clashed, the latter with such intensity that it made the former one spark. Ritsu didn't feel the need to back away, for she, however sudden all this was, still wore her confidence.
"You," Mugi whispered. A playful smile tugged at Ritsu's lips at the blonde's reciprocated feelings.
"I want you."