"Did I hear that correctly? You actually said you were okay with Nigou being around once in a while?"

"I guess, as long as he doesn't try and lick me or anything. Probably better keep the barking down, too. Or maybe just bring a picture of him, I've started looking at pictures of dogs recently, and I've been doing okay so far."

"Seriously? Are you really that much of a wimp? Maybe I should've gotten a cat instead. You are a tiger, after all." And then, the clincher: "Aomine isn't afraid of Nigou. I've caught him scratching him behind the ears before."

Is he really bringing Aomine into this? Well, in that case… "You know what? Bring him over to my place this weekend! I'm not afraid of any dog!"

"Are you sure? He'd probably like playing with Izuki's dog; I'm sure that can be arranged for them."

"Yeah, I'm sure! Bring on the dog!"

Five minutes after the Tetsuyas had arrived at my apartment, I was beginning to regret my decision. Nigou had climbed onto my lap and had refused to get off. Kuroko had been laughing his ass off, clearly enjoying my suffering. I flinched when he started barking, but Kuroko immediately understood.

"You want to go for a walk, Nigou? See if daddy will take you." Kuroko calling me daddy? That's kind of hot in a way, but I can't let it affect me.

"Daddy? Who's daddy?"

"You are, daddy." Wait, he's using daddy in the normal way- he thinks I'm the dog's father? No way in hell!

"I'm not his daddy! Why don't you take him?"

Kuroko immediately covered Nigou's ears with his hands. "Don't say that; you'll confuse him. It's okay, Nigou, he didn't mean that."

"Yes, I did! And besides, you walked over here, didn't you? How was that not enough of a walk?"

"He likes the park over here. Come on, Nigou, it's play time." Why does the dog need to bark so much? "We could probably get drinks, too. There's a café over there with good vanilla lattes."

I know I'm pushing my luck with this question, but I have to ask. "So if I'm daddy, does that make you mommy?"

"No way. I'm Big Poppa."

The way he said it, with his usual deadpan, I couldn't help but laugh.

I'm baaaaack... I love the idea of Kagami wanting to work on his fear of dogs when he learns that Aomine's not afraid of them.

It always amazes me when so many people tell me how much they love these stories I write, based on crack ideas between me and my sister. So, I just want to say thank you for that. Next chapter will probably be Friday or Saturday.

Thank you for reading!

~Aurora