Puppy Love

Summary: Anissina is always messing things up. Or so Yuuri thinks, when he's turned into a dog by her latest invention. She refuses to tell anyone about this happening, so Yuuri's stuck this way until she finds a cure. And why does Wolfram have to be his caregiver?

A/N: Dedicated to Spiff. XP Thought you'd think this was cute. And I'm glad I converted you to Kyou-Kara-Maou-ism.

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"You…" Yuuri gulped, swallowing a sizeable lump. "You wanted to see me, Anissina?"

"Yes!" Anissina replied, turned around towards the double-black king. She was holding a beaker with some strange, neon-blue liquid. It nearly spilled out of the glass as she moved. She half-dropped it onto the table in front of her, removing her safety goggles. A drop of the strange liquid fell from the lip of the beaker to the table. When it hit the surface, it sizzled and burned a small chunk out of the table's finishing. Yuuri shuddered.

"Your Highness, I wanted you to be the first to try out my new invention—"

Yuuri's eyes widened. "Oh! Well, Anissina, there's really no need—I'm sure Gwendal or Günter would be more than willing to try it—"

"Nonsense!" Anissina laughed. "After all, this extremely special invention was designed specifically for Your Highness!"

Yuuri looked around nervously, hoping to find an escape route. Anissina was blocking the only one. "Well, I… Um…"

"Come on, Your Highness!" Anissina's hand clamped down on Yuuri's wrist, and she dragged him off towards the back of the room. Yuuri could feel a scream bubbling up. This was NOT happening!!! This was what Gwendal was for—

"Your Highness," Anissina began, gripping a sheet that covered an unnaturally LARGE mechanism, "I introduce to you—'Show-your-heart's-true-self-kun'!"

"Show your heart's true… Wha?" Yuuri repeated, dumbfounded.

Anissina pulled the sheet off. It was a metal device that looked somewhat like her other inventions – terrifying. A chair (which, for some reason, had leather straps to hold down the arms, legs, and torso of the person sitting in it) was hooked up to a good hundred wires, a helmet looking equally as crazy jutting out of the top – it looked something like the hair dryers at a salon.

"Oh, uh, that looks… interesting, Anissina. Great job," Yuuri stated, trying to flatter his way out of it.

"Well, I need to be sure it works, Your Highness. And, of course, it should be tested on the one it's for!"

"What?" Yuuri squeaked. Anissina pushed him into the chair. The leather straps seemed to tighten onto his arms before he could even truly comprehend what was going on. "Anissina—"

"Don't worry, Your Highness. It's completely safe… Probably."

"Probably?" Yuuri half-screamed, struggling against the leather.

Anissina flipped a switch.

Yuuri felt a jolt pass through his body. He felt strange. His body was heating up, and then cooling off nearly instantly. His eyes rolled up, and he blacked out.

Anissina pushed the switch back into the 'off' position. Whoops… That hadn't turned out quite how she'd planned it…

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Yuuri opened his eyes. The light hurt. He winced, closing his eyes, but the pain persisted. He eventually felt the pain fade. His jaws hurt – kind of like when his wisdom teeth had begun to grow in last year. He opened his eyes.

The world was black-and-white. What the heck had Anissina done to his vision?!

"Your Highness."

He jumped, and fell off the chair. Ouch. It was a lot higher than he remembered it… Anissina was a lot taller than he remembered, too… Wait. Why did he only come up to her ankles?

He looked up at her face, took a deep breath, preparing to yell at her for doing the exact opposite of what he had wanted—

A tirade of barks issued from his mouth.

He paused, confused. He tried talking again. Another bark.

Anissina leaned down, picking Yuuri up. "Hmm. Well, I hate to say it, but there's no doubt that it's you, Your Highness…"

Yuuri growled. Wow. He didn't know he could even do that.

"Well. As long as no one finds out, there should be no problem, Your Highness!" Anissina said, smiling and nodding. "Don't worry, I'll find out how to reverse the effects sooner or later. Anyways, I'll need quiet. So, go on. Come and check on the work in a day or two."

A day or two?! Yuuri panicked. You've gotta be kidding me! Besides, won't everyone notice I've been gone that long?

"Go on, shoo," Anissina prodded, flapping her wrists towards Yuuri, as if he were a dog. Then again, Yuuri had figured out by now that he was one. Unfortunately.

Giving up, Yuuri scampered out of the room, intent on finding some way to let the others know what Anissina had managed to cause this time.

Of course, that was before he got distracted.

Then again, whoever had left the boot out was to be blamed. As soon as Yuuri saw it, he was overtaken with the urge to gnaw. His gums hurt. Chewing would help that… right?

The next thing he knew, the leather shoe was in his small jaws. He carried his prize down the hall, and settled in an alcove to enjoy his 'prize'. While chewing on the tough material, he wondered vaguely whose boot it was. Not to mention that fact that he was chewing on a shoe… Oh well. It ended the ache in his jaws.

It snapped. He wasn't just a dog. He was a puppy. And he was teething.

Great.

"HEY!"

Yuuri jumped about three feet in the air, spinning around.

He yipped when he was scooped up by the scruff of his neck.

"You little mongrel! What the hell do you think you're doing with my boot!?" an angry voice demanded. Yuuri would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Wolfram!" he shouted. All that came out was another yip. He made a whining noise, begging Wolfram to put him down.

"Tell it to the judge," Wolfram grumbled, grabbing his boot. Yuuri had done quite a number on it – the leather was scratched and scuffed, and the toe was completely chewed through. "You ruined them!" Wolfram exclaimed, glaring at Yuuri dangerously. Yuuri gulped. It was probably only thanks to Wolfram's close control over his magic that Yuuri wasn't in flames at the moment.

Yuuri whimpered apologetically.

"Hmph. Now I have to get a new pair," Wolfram complained, tucking Yuuri under his arm. "I won't have you ruining anyone else's new shoes, Mongrel."

Yuuri looked up at the blonde, trying to use an innocent look to see if he could get out of this mess. Wolfram raised an eyebrow at him. "Hmph. At least you're a cute mongrel."

Yuuri growled quietly. Mongrel, was he?

"Wolfram? Where did you find that?"

Yuuri turned his head as far as he could, but his vision was blocked by Wolfram's torso. He wiggled, trying to get free and see the new arrival.

"Oh. Gwendal. I found it chewing on my new boots," Wolfram said, holding Yuuri up for examination. Yuuri found that he disliked hanging by the scruff of his neck a good five feet off the ground. Normally, that wouldn't have been any big deal. But like this, that five feet might as well have been twenty.

Gwendal stared at Yuuri for a few seconds. A telltale blush was working its way up the soldier's cheeks. "…C...cute…" he muttered.

"You think it's cute?" Wolfram asked incredulously. "It was eating my shoes!"

"Well, Wolfram, maybe you shouldn't have left them lying around," Gwendal pointed out. He took Yuuri from Wolfram's hand gently. "Poor thing…"

Yuuri felt Gwendal pat his head, and then stroke down his back. It felt oddly good. Gwendal stroked under his chin, and Yuuri nipped at his finger, growling. He was a human—well, Mazoku—for Shinou's sake!

"He's teething," Gwendal said in a simple explanation. "He's barely old enough to be away from his mother. We'll have to take care of him in her place."

Yuuri made a squeaking noise and struggled against Gwendal's grip. No way was he letting Gwendal be the one to take care of him. He'd end up part of his collection of cute things or something.

"It doesn't seem to like being cradled like that," Wolfram pointed out, staring at Yuuri.

"For heaven's sake, Wolfram," Gwendal sighed. "It's a boy."

"It's an it," Wolfram insisted.

"Do you hate him so much?" Gwendal asked, holding Yuuri in Wolfram's face. "Look at him! He's adorable!"

Wolfram pushed Yuuri away. "Watch where you shove that thing!" he yelled.

"Wolfram," Gwendal said, holding Yuuri up in a carefully secure grip. "I'm sure he doesn't appreciate that."

"Like it can understand me," Wolfram scoffed.

"Fine, then," Gwendal sighed. He plopped Yuuri down in Wolfram's arms.

"What—"

"You can learn to like him, Wolfram," Gwendal stated. "You're the one who found him. Therefore, until we can find a home for him, you can take care of him."

"What—Brother—" Wolfram began to protest.

"No buts," Gwendal stated, marching away. After walking a few steps, he turned. "To feed him, I suggest you heat up some milk to give him with normal food. He's still young. I expect to see him fed next time I come across him." With that, the green-clad noble turned around a corner and was gone.

Wolfram glanced down at Yuuri with slight distaste. "Hmph. Wants you fed, huh?" he muttered to himself. Yuuri looked up at him. "Well… I guess you are kind of cute," he admitted, putting a hand on Yuuri's head.

Yuuri barked. "Wolf! Please, c'mon, Anissina—" More barks.

Wolfram smirked. "Black fur and eyes… You remind me of Yuuri."

Yuuri sighed. This couldn't be happening.

"Let's hope you're not wimpy like him, too," Wolfram shrugged. "Let's get you fed… Gwendal was right. You look hungry."

Yuuri wondered just what the sudden change in Wolfram's behavior toward him—or rather, the canine that Wolfram saw. He looked up at Wolfram with curious eyes.

"Hey, don't get me wrong," Wolfram said, as if reading Yuuri's mind. "I still don't like you. It's just that my wimpy fiancé and Gwendal wouldn't let me hear the end of it if something happened to you. I can't keep calling you 'Mongrel', either, or I'll get scolded for that…"

Yuuri looked up at him expectantly. After a few moments of thought, Wolfram snapped his fingers. "Yuli."

Yuuri faceplanted.