Prince of Tennis and all of the characters belong to Konomi Takeshi

The characters in this story may be read as being in romantic relationships, bromances, queerplatonic partnerships, etc. Whatever makes the reader feel comfortable

~Some Unspecified Years Into the Future~

Oishi folds a hand over his eyes, slumping down into the well-worn leather couch, as a dull pain throbs over his left eye. Everyone says working in the medical field is one of the most stressful professions on the planet, but those words are absolutely meaningless until you've actually experienced it for yourself. He can already feel his tension headache progressing into a migraine, but has no time to rest because he has to work the night shift in an hour. Just a 5-minute power nap Oishi thinks to himself.

Oishi gets a good 2 seconds of rest before the pleasant sensation of cold leather on his face is sharply contrasted with something furry and warm.

"Nnnn…not now Omelette…Eiji will feed you in a minute" Oishi grumbles, attempting to shove the cat off of his face. But, there's something different about this cat. It feels softer and a lot smaller than their cat Omelette. Did Omelette lose weight? Peaking open one of his eyes Oishi is faced with a small black and white cat that looks nothing like their chubby cat Omelette.

"Eiji!" Oishi yells weakly across the apartment. Eiji couldn't possibly have brought another one home could he?

A door slams shut as Eiji hurries out of his bedroom and into the living room. He's not dressed and his attention is focused completely on his smart phone, either texting Fuji or playing that new farming game. Probably the later.

"Eiji," Oishi tries a little more calmly to gain the attention of his red-headed roommate. "Did you bring home another stray cat? We already have one and two dogs…" Oishi says, eyes drifting over to the small black and white cat prancing around their living room. He really did it again! What did I do to deserve this?

Noticing Oishi has his 'I've gotta headache' face on, Eiji tries to speak quietly. It comes out in an unnatural yelling whisper tone, but Oishi appreciates the effort.

"But Oishi, this one was really little and hungry! It needed a home. Please, just one more?" Eiji pleads, both hands clasped together like a little kid asking his parent for just one more piece of candy.

"There are places called animal shelters you can take them to. You don't have to bring them all back to our apartment" Oishi offers hopefully.

Ever since Eiji got fired from his job, he's been finding all kinds of tasks to keep him occupied throughout the day. One of his new hobbies is helping out stray animals, which includes bringing them into Oishi and Eiji's tiny shared apartment. Oishi has already had to replace his fish twice since Eiji was fired.

"You mean like an animal pet shop for homeless animals? That's genius! WE could start one of those, Oishi!" Eiji rambles quickly, forgetting momentarily about his roommate's headache.

"But, there are plenty of animal shelters in Tokyo already, Eiji" Oishi adds quickly, covering an ear with his free hand. As much as he likes Eiji, his excited voice is quite earsplitting.

"But, you don't understand, our pet shop is going to be special. It's for homeless animals."

That's the exact point of an animal shelter Eiji…ah.. but look at how happy you are. I won't ruin this moment for you. Besides, you really need a job and we need to get all of these animals out of our apartment…Rest in peace my dear fish!

"Yeah! And we can have all kinds of animals! Like, lizards, snakes, and rabbits. Think about all the poor homeless animals, Oishi!"

Those are called wild animals Eiji…

"And, you'll be the PERFECT animal doctor!"

Wait…me? But I'm already employed!

"Eiji, I already have a job" Oishi mentions, although he knows it's no use now the way he was feeling with his on coming migraine combined with Eji's enthusiasm. He wouldn't even have the will to protest if Eiji told him he decided to become a singing circus clown starting tomorrow. And Eiji is tone deaf.

"But, your job is terrible, you have to work at night, and you look tired all the time. I promise if you work at Golden Pair's Uber Cool Pet Shop you'll never have to work the night shift ever again." Kikumaru nods. "Oh, and Oishi, if you don't agree to it I'll have no choice but to keep bringing the animals back to our apartment" Eiji adds menacingly, well the most menacing Eiji can be that is.

~1 Week Later~

Eiji and Oishi have a slow start to business and it's getting to the point where Oishi begins to wonder if it was worth it to quit his job. Finally after one week they have their first ever customer, Shiraishi Kuranosuke. He comes in looking for a purebred beetle. Eiji has many purebred crickets, ladybugs, caterpillars…all kinds of bugs! (and they are all strays too!) But, he has no beetles, what is he to do, this is his first customer and he doesn't want to disappoint. Eiji has no choice but to distract Shiraishi by showing him some of the stray venomous snakes he found yesterday. While Shiraishi had his back turned, Eiji sprints outside to catch a random beetle using his ultra quick reflexes and bug catching talents. However he is unable to convince Shiraishi it is a purebred, so Shiraishi takes the beetle without paying a single cent.

This is the ultimate low for the duo. They cannot not even get payment for a beetle! They must act fast or else risk the pet shop's closure.

Back at home, Oishi flops down on the couch discouraged. Things are just as bad, maybe even worse as when I was working at a real job. Oh, I mean other job, this is a real job to. Kind of… How did Eiji convince me to start selling venomous creatures again? I mean help them find their 'forever homes.' Just as Oishi's about to go down the rabbit hole of negativity, Eiji comes bursting through the living room.

"Oishiii, guess what? Guess what? Fuji just texted me that all of the ex-Seigaku regulars are having a big gathering at Kawamura Sushi this weekend. Tezuka is coming back to Japan for a short visit before his next tour."

That must be what that e-mail from Tezuka in my inbox is about. I've been to busy helping 'stray' bugs to open it.

"Don't you see? This is an opportunity for us, Oishi! Now we can tell everyone about our super awesome Pet Shop!" Eiji continues.

"I'm not sure it's appropriate to advertise for our pet shop during Tezuka's party…" Oishi worries, wringing his hands together with a frown. Maybe we should just close the shop…my other job might still take me back.

"What? But, Tezuka hates all this social stuff. It's perfect! We can take the spotlight off of him for a moment and he'll thank us later. Promise!"

~Kawamura Sushi~

"Everyone! I have an announcement!" Eiji suddenly stands up, waving his hands and arms wildly to gather the group's attention. "Oishi and I opened a pet shop. It's for homeless animals and it has all sorts of really neat pets! Oishi's the pet doctor and I'm the pet caretaker. You guys should come take a look."

"I would go, but you know we aren't allowed pets here. Sorry!" Kawamura apologizes, standing up to refill everyone's glasses of tea.

"Sounds cool. I'll come check it out." Momo speaks through a large mouthful of sushi. "I always wanted a dog"

"Really?" Echizen eyes Momo suspiciously, taking a sip of his Ponta. "A dog?"

Oh, right Karupin… "A friendly dog that gets along with cats extremely well?" Momo laughs nervously, shoving a few pieces of sushi into his mouth

At the other table, Fuji shifts his body ever so slightly towards the tall stoic man on his left, speaking in a barely audible whisper. "You know who I think could really use a dog, Tezuka?" His mouth turns upwards into a small mischievous grin. The conversation would have gone unnoticed to the former regulars, if it weren't for a certain someone's hyper senses.

"OH! Tezuka should totally get a dog!" Eiji shouts emphatically, loud enough for the entire team and maybe even the neighbors to hear.

Tezuka groans inwardly. Even if he wanted a dog, and he did kind of like dogs, it was impossible for him to think of adopting one now. He lived in Germany, and the thought of all the work involved in bringing a dog back internationally was a nightmare in itself.

"No thanks." Tezuka replies taking a sip of his piping hot green tea.

"Tezuka doesn't have anything against dogs, he's just worried about going through international customs with it." Fuji clarifies; not wanting Eiji to think Tezuka was snubbing him. "I was just messing with him about getting one back there, Eiji. Sorry."

"I mean, that shouldn't be a problem. Ever since I can remember Ochibi's been taking Karupin all over the world. I don't think he had to do anything special."

Echizen nearly chokes on the Ponta he is drinking, spewing some of it in Momo's face. Karupin is the one that always seems to sneak into his bag; he has nothing to do with it. How that cat manages to sneak past security he'll never know.

"Tezuka is much more uptight about the rules than Echizen" Fuji chuckles softly. He can't imagine Tezuka sneaking a dog into his carry on luggage.

"Echizen, no matter how much you love your cat, it isn't safe to simply bring it with your carryon luggage. There are rules and regulations, not to mention –"

"90% chance that Echizen's cat is a special breed of Houdini cat and finds a way to sneak into Echizens luggage without his knowledge" Inui chimes in.

Finally, someone who gets it. Echizen breathes a sigh of relief.

"However, the results are inconclusive. How do you feel about lending Karupin to me for a little experi- ?"

"Don't do it! He's branding a new Inui juice for pets!" Kaidou speaks up suddenly.

Everyone gasps and turns with shocked expressions towards the data man. Everyone except for one person. Fuji looks simply delighted and asks Inui if he has any juice made for cacti to which Inui responds cacti are not pets. As you can imagine, this goes over quite poorly. To settle the matter, the two duke it out on the street courts. Everyone follows them to watch the match and Tezuka's party comes to an abrupt end.

~A Few Days Later~

That long meandering conversation is not enough to convince Eiji Kikumaru that Tezuka can't take a dog on a plane. Because, A. Eiji tuned out of most of the conversation and B. he just found the perfect dog for his former captain! A small, spunky spaniel; perfect for playing catch or hiking up some forlorn mountain. Also, bonus, she's small enough to fit under the airplane seat!

Eiji gazes into the tawny brown spaniel's crate and a weird feeling overwhelms him. She's such a good dog, friendly and approachable but…every time I look at her…

A cold shiver runs down his spine and he involuntarily looks away from the spaniel's crate Tezuka, you super really need to take this dog. You're the only person that can manage to look at a face like that without flinching.

As Eiji is contemplating the spaniel's fate, a tall, burger-loving man walks into the shop.

"I'm looking for a dog, I was hoping you could help me out" Momo says. "You see, I have a bit of a problem. I need a dog that can eat my table scraps, but it also has to get along with Echizen's cat when he comes to visit."

"What?! Table scraps? Momo how could you?" Eiji yells in alarm, arms flailing wildly. Oishi nods his head in agreement from the back of the shop. "I thought you were an expert at finishing your food!"

There is a loud crash as poor Oishi falls over in shock from Eiji's words. "Ah, that's not the real problem here!" Oishi says, rubbing the rather large bump on his head.

Completely not noticing Oishi, Momo simply replies to Eiji, "Don't worry, I always finish my food. I'm just talking about the little stuff. Like, apple peels or bread crusts. You know, stuff no one wants."

"In that case, it should be okay!" Eiji smiles giving Momo a thumbs up "Wait here, I think I know the perfect dog just for you." Eiji quickly runs off full speed to the back of the shop to grab Momo's perfect match.

Meanwhile Oishi's mind is ablaze with worry:

Wait, no. This is even worse! You can't just feed a dog whatever you want like that! It needs a strict nutritional regimen. What if Momo accidentally feeds it an onion!

"Momo, wait!" Oishi calls out, in the strictest tone he can muster. "You can't just feed your dog anything all willy-nilly like that!" Oishi barks, with both hands on his hips. He thinks he sounds tough, but when he uses vocabulary like 'willy-nilly' he sounds pretty much the opposite.

Oishi pulls out a long list of forbidden foods and hands them to Momo.

"No grapes, onions, chocolate…" Momo mumbles, eyes scanning down the long list of items. "This is a long list of food. I'm not sure it's worth it to get a dog anymore." He huffs, rolling his eyes.

Just then, Eiji returned from the back of the shop with a rather large fluffy brown dog in tow.

"How do you like her? Beautiful, right?"

The dog is a warm dark brown that reminds Momo of a burger. Just looking at the dog makes him a bit hungry, and then sad as he remembers all the foods she isn't allowed to eat. Well, Oishi is always so anal about those things and the dog is huge. One burger (sans onions) can't hurt, right?

Oh, and there is the problem with Echizen's cat. How will this dog get along with Karupin?

"Does she get along well with cats?"

"Hmm.. probably! She's such a kind dog, I don't see any problems with that!" Eiji answers, brimming with confidence. But, what Momo doesn't know is that Eiji says every dog is 'such a kind dog,' even the not so nice ones.

Momo decides to name the dog Patty, because she reminds him of a burger patty. When Momo and Patty are on their way home Momo feels so hungry from looking at his dog, he decides to text Echizen to meet him for burgers in five. Momo is too hungry to take Patty back to his house, so they all go to a nearby park to eat. Momo feels bad that Patty has to just watch them eat, so he gives her 'just a little taste.' (Momo's definition of just a taste would make Oishi collapse from shock, so it is a good think he isn't there).

"Fshhu.. what kind of moron feeds his dog burgers. Even you should know better. Fshhuuu" A familiar figure murmurs quietly to himself as he strolls through the park.

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Stay tuned for chapter 2! Who else will visit the pet shop? Will Tezuka ever get his dog?