It was an early spring morning at Otonokizaka Academy. All of Muse was groggily gathered on top of its roof because their center had a very important announcement to make.

"What's going on? Why did you call everyone here at this time of day?", asked Umi with a yawn. Umi and broken sleep patterns don't go together very well.

"Yeah Honoka, it's not normal for you to be up at this hour.", commented Kotori.

"You'll never guess what I found in my bed this morning!"

"A pillow?", answered Rin (not sarcastically, actually.)

"Well yes, but that's not what I'm talking about."

"Then what are you talking about?", questioned Maki who was becoming impatient.

"I'm talking about...this!" Honoka pulled out a white mass of fluff from beneath her jacket and held it out for the whole world to see.

"It's a puppy!", exclaimed eight of the members simultaneously.

"Yup, it was snuggling under my blanket and woke me up."

"It's so cute! Almost as cute as Kayo-chin!", squealed Rin. To be almost as cute as Hanayo is a huge compliment because on Rin's scale of squee, Hanayo is at the peak.

"But how did it get in your room that's on the second floor?", wondered Eli.

"I dunno, but we have to keep him!"

"Absolutely not Honoka! It probably belongs to someone already and there is no way the school would allow us to keep a dog here."

"Come on, Umi-chan...I bet Kotori's mom could bend some of the rules for us"

"I-I kinda want to keep her too...", declared Hanayo who's not one to voice her opinion very often.

"I agree.", concurred Kotori.

"How about we vote on it?"

"Good idea Nozomi-chan! Let's vote! Whoever wants to keep the puppy, raise your hand!" Honoka's hand shot up immediately after she finished talking and so did most of the other members'. Even Eli shyly held her arm in the air. Only Umi and Maki were opposed.

"Yay, it's settled then! We're gonna keep the puppy!", celebrated all seven of the members who up-voted.

"I don't care what you guys do with the thing but don't expect me or Umi to help take care of it."

"Aw Maki-chan, don't be that way. I know that deep down inside you want a widdle puppy to cuddle wif."

"That 'widdle puppy' will grow up to be a big old dog. Then what?"

"Then you can cuddle with me instead!"

"Nico-chan!"

"What is it Maki-chawn?", teased Nico.

"What are you taking about?"

"You called my name just now so I was curious as to what you wanted."

"I just want you to shut up! You're embarrassing me..."

"But you're so adorable when you're embarrassed!"

"There you go again!"

Everyone was witnessing yet another one of the foolish lovers' fight. At first it was cute but now it had gotten kind of irritating, just like Nico's "Nico-Nico-Ni" thing, although, that was never appealing to begin with.

"You two, knock it off!" Umi's yelling caused the puppy to jump out of Honoka's arms. It scurried across the roof and headed straight towards the edge. There was a fence around it to prevent people from falling but petite puppies are certainly not people and they could fit right through the gap in the barricade.

Rin instinctively started chasing after the dog (which is ironic since it's usually the dog that chases the cat) and she caught it with a single pounce.

"Hooray! You're safe!" Rin was laying on the ground, holding the dog up above her. As luck would have it, Rin received an unexpected golden shower.

"Ew, ew, ew! It peed on me!"

She ran over to Hanayo with the puppy tucked under her arm and gave to her. Hanayo then returned it back to Honoka so she could get out a handkerchief to wipe off Rin's face.

"Oh no, Rin-chan! Let's go get you cleaned up."

Hanayo escorted her unfortunate friend to the bathroom to piss her off.

Meanwhile, the remainders (excluding Umi and Maki) started oogling over their newest team member. Nico and Kotori eventually coaxed the unbelievers into surrendering to the charm of the carnivorous beast.

In the middle of their petting session, Honoka brought up the gender of the dog.

"Hey you guys, is the puppy a boy or a girl?"

"That's a good question.", said Eli

"To find out, you need to flip it onto its back and look at...uh...that place...", explained Maki who had reddened cheeks. She trying to put the dog into the correct position.

"Wait!", halted Nozomi

"What?"

"Maki-chan, don't flip it over yet."

"Why not?"

"Because, I think it would be fun to do a poll to see what everyone's guesses are as to what it is."

"But we all know it's a dog Nozomi...", said Umi

"Silly Umi-chan, you know what I mean. We're gonna vote on what the puppy's sex is."

"Um, okay then...and don't say that work anymore."

"What word? Sex?"

"Yes, that word."

"Sex, sex ,sex ,sex, sexy, sex, sex.", repeated Nozomi, who's only goal was to make Umi blush fiercely.

"Stop it!"

Maki zoned that whole conversation out, stood the dog upright, and said, "I personally think it's a boy but that's just a wild guess."

"No way, it's too cute to be a boy! It has to be a girl!"

"But male and female dogs look basically the same, especially when they're young."

"Whatever Maki-chan, but I know that I'm right and you're wrong."

"I don't care what you think Nico-chan."

"Excuse me, I don't just think; I know!"

Umi gripped both Nico and Maki's shoulders and whispered with gritted teeth, "If you care about your own well-beings, you'd stop this nonsense this instant!"

The convicts gulped a gulp of fear and obeyed loyally like a dog would.

"I think it's a girl!", blurted Honoka.

"I think it might be a boy."

"But Kotori-chan, that's not a valid answer."

"Huh, why not Honoka-chan?"

"Because, it might be a boy or it might be a girl. You didn't pick a definite answer."

"Okay, I think it's a boy."

"Very good, you did it Kotori-chan!"

"Thanks...I guess? What about you Umi-chan?"

"I have no interest in this."

"Yes you do!"

"I do not, Honoka...but if I had to chose I'd say it's a boy. What about you Eli?"

"I'll go with a boy."

"Eli-chi! You're going with a boy!?"

"Yeah?...What's wrong with that?"

"I thought you were going (out) with me!"

"N-nozomi! That's not what I intended! Anyway, what's your guess?"

"I don't make guesses Eli-chi. I let the cards guide me." Nozomi pulled out her deck of tarot cards from out of nowhere (at least, that's what it looked like anyway) and did a reading. She drew a card with an angel blowing a horn. At the bottom it said, "Judgment".

"The puppy is a girl.", concluded Nozomi who seemed very confident in her answer.

"How can you tell from just that card?", asked Eli who was baffled at the way Nozomi got something out of the vague clue that the card provided.

"The angel is blowing a horn and Honoka picked 'girl' so it's a girl."

"What do I have to do with angels and horns Nozomi-chan?"

"You just seem like someone who would enjoy playing a trumpet."

"You're right! I would really love to play the trumpet!"

"Don't ever give Honoka a trumpet Nozomi! She'd blow into it all day and drive everyone crazy.", warned Umi.

Nozomi just giggled a bit and said, "Alright, so me, Honoka, Nico-chi, and Hanayo say girl and Maki, Umi, Eli-chi, and Kotori say boy. It's up to Rin to tip the scales.

"Ah, I'm all nice and fresh nyow!", cheered Rin as she barged through the rooftop door. The puppy was startled again but the group was able to keep it from escaping this time.

"Well speak of the devil."

"Who's a devil? I'm not a devil. I thought you were the devil Nico-chan."

"I'm not a devil either! I thought Maki-chan's comments were rude... Your's are even worse!"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean...", apologized Rin while she pressed the tips of her two index fingers together.

"Forget that. Tell us, is the puppy a boy or a girl? It's totally a girl though, right? It has to be since it's so cute.", said Nico eagerly.

"Oh, um, I'm not sure."

"I know this is sort of stupid Rin but half of us think it's a boy and half think it's a girl so we're just waiting on your decision.", informed Maki.

Rin could feel the pressure in the air. Rin has a tendency to say absurd things when under pressure so her answer was, "Neither?"

"Seriously!? That's not even possible!", shouted Nico. Kotori covered the puppy's ears so it didn't get scared a third time.

"This is getting to be ridiculous. Give me the dog!", demanded Maki as she stole the dog out of Kotori's hands.

Everyone was looking at Maki with anticipating expressions as she unveiled the results.

"As much as I hate to admit that Nico-chan is right, the dog is in fact female."

"I knew it! I'm always right!"

"You're not always right since what you said right now was a lie."

"Be quiet Maki-chan! Let me bask in my victory for a while." Nico jumped for joy over and over again.

"Getting all excited over something like that? Combine that with your looks and you are the spitting image of a young child.", Maki stated while twirling her hair.

"Listen punk-"

"Do you two remember what we discussed earlier?", interrupted Umi with an overly cheerful face. This meant that she was about to snap.

"S-sorry", apologized the foolish lovers in unison.

"Now that we know it's a girl we need to name her!", said Honoka happily.

"I nominate Nozomi to do it since she's so good at naming things. She named us after all."

"Thanks Eli-chi, it would be my honor to. Let's see here..."

Nozomi dug out her cards again and revealed "The World".

"It's decided. Her name will be Lily."

"That's a great name Nozomi-chan!", complimented Hanayo.

"I know I shouldn't be questioning your methods but I'm curious as to how you got 'Lily' out of a card that says, 'The World'."

"Okay Eli-chi, I'll explain. You see, yuri (girl's love) makes the world go round. 'Yuri' can be translated as 'Lily' which I believe is a more suitable name for her."

"I see... That's quite the explanation you've got there Nozomi. You never seize to amaze me."

"You're amazing too, Eli-chi."

"Aw, you're so sweet!"

All of this airborne love caused Nico's eyebrows to twitch.

"Could you guys keep the flirting to a minimum please? You're starting to sound like RinPana!"

"Is that a problem Nico-chi?"

"Not really, but it's kind of annoying."

Nozomi whipped the "death" card out of her deck like a cowboy drawing a pistol out of a holster in a wild west gunfight. She pointed the card directly at Nico's head.

"That's very hypocritical of you to say Nico-chi. I advise you to end this now."

"Fine, but next time I won't let you off the hook that easily."

Nozomi ignored her. She didn't have time for Nico's shenanigans. Instead, Nozomi brought up the fact that the puppy's breed was currently unknown. Everyone then focused their eyes on Maki.

"W-why are you all staring at me?"

"Because Maki-chan knows everything... Well, at least she thinks she does." That last sentence was mumbled but Maki was able to decipher it.

"What was that Nico-chan? Did you say something?", said Maki in a threatening tone.

"Nope, nothing at all.", said Nico innocently.

"Anyway, if you guys are thinking that I know what kind of dog this is then you're out of luck. For all I know, she's a mut."

Said "mut" barked and growled at Maki, as if she knew that Maki just insulted her. Perhaps Lily can understand human speech?

Hanayo offered to take a picture of Lily and post it on a popular website where other users ask and answer questions. She'd ask, "What kind of dog is this?" Lily was a white, medium sized dog with a thick, curled, bushy tail. Nobody present could pinpoint the exact breed though.

Everyone else thought that putting the picture on the web was a clever course of action as well. Nico insisted to be in the picture so she held Lily while Hanayo snapped a photo with her yellow phone that had an over-sized camera lens.

"I guess all we can do is wait. This would be a good time to squeeze in some practice.", said Umi.

"But Umi-chan, we have Lily here... I know! I'll just play with her while the eight of you dance and stuff."

"Not happening Honoka."

"Fine, then we'll teach Lily to dance with us!"

"Animals don't dance."

"Yes they do. Ever been on YouTube?"

Suddenly Hanayo's phone started vibrating and Muse (and Lily) gathered around it like Hanayo was opening the golden box of honor student scouting cards.

"A reply? Already?", said Kotori, surprised.

"Oh, sorry, that's not-"

"Don't tell me...they have apps for those 'massage tools' too!?", blurted Nico.

Everyone blushed profusely, except for Rin and Honoka who tilted their heads in confusion. Maki karate chopped Nico's head and it left a steamy bump.

"Ah, n-no, that's not what that's for!", stuttered Hanayo bashfully. "I-it's an alarm that I set to let me know that I need to feed the alpacas soon, eheheh... Sorry for the misunderstanding."

Hanayo checked the Q&A website shortly after that incident just for the heck of it and found that there was a reply to their question. Hanayo read it out loud, "That dog is a Kishu. They are similar to the Shiba Inu. The animal handling your Kishu (referring to Nico) is called an 'imp'. Imps are a hazard to society and must be terminated immediately."

"What the hell!? How rude! How dare someone compare me to an animal!"

"Technically we're all animals Nico-chan."

"I don't wanna hear it Maki chan!"

Umi didn't bother to confront the couple in conflict because she had something more serious to say.

"The bell's going to ring! What are we going to do about the puppy?"

They all looked to each other hoping that someone had a solution. Lily just wagged her tail in general delight.

"I could keep her in my bag until school's over.", offered Honoka.

"You can't!", objected Umi

"I'm gonna have to. It seems that she's the most comfortable around me."

Umi hesitated for a bit but she gave Honoka permission. With everything decided, the girls went to class. This was going to be a long day.

[Afterword]

"Puppies?...Puppies!? Are you out of your mind BiderSweet!? It's all about the cats! Where are the kitties!? Heck, where's my NicoMaki fic!?" Well fellow readers, contrary to popular opinion, I'm on team doggy! (Go watch/read Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san; like, right now if you haven't already! That's where "team doggy" came from.) Also, don't worry. Your NicoMaki fic is in development. It's gonna be about School Idol Festival. (Like Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san, I suggest you go check that out too. It's a mobile, rhythm game for both android and apple devices. Warning: It's free-to-play but extremely addicting.) I bear some more good news (at least it's good news if you liked this story): This is an ongoing story. I won't give details as to how it is able to be ongoing but it will be and that's all that matters. (This has been a public service announcement brought to you by BiderSweet. Please continue your amazing support and have a nice day.)