Disclaimer: Pet Shop of Horrors is not of my property, and will never be (sadly. My hopes are crushed). I am simply taking some of the characters that have been created by their wonderful author-artist and borrowing them, so that I can make them obey my flights of fancy.
Warning: None. Not really……
Pairing: Karen/Dreizhen. Remember the first volume of PSOH? The story with the blind girl and her Doberman? Karen was the girl. Dreizhen, or "Dora-chan" was the Doberman that D gave to her as a bodyguard. I've always wanted to read a fanfic with this pairing. Sadly, I never have. So I decided to try writing one myself.
Notes: English is not my native language. I'll do my best to revise, but if an error gets past me, feel free to point it out. Helpful reviews are appreciated. Flames….well, I suppose I'll simply ignore them. No, wait—I can use them for something much more useful: to feed the flame on my stove. They'll heat the ramen I enjoy so much quite nicely. Please be gentle and/or constructive when you review.
Length: One-shot. A drabble, even. Approximately 500 words.
Once Upon a Time
There once was a girl who lost her family. She saw their dead bodies lying on the floor of the living room—and the person who had killed them fleeing out the window. She was so shocked at what she saw—who the attacker was—that she became blind out of sheer wilfulness. She refused to look at a world in which such cruelty and ugliness existed. And so, the murderer burned her family's house down, though she was saved. Luckily, she was not left completely alone in the world: her mother's cousin took her in and decided to become her guardian. She was lonely, though, and he noticed.
There once was a Doberman who left his home country, Germany, after a reduction in the canine ranks of the army. Somehow, he ended up living in a pet shop located in the Chinatown section of the American city of Los Angeles. The owner of the pet shop was the infamous (for a few) Count D. He was quite happy and well cared-for, as all of Count D´s pets tended to be.
Once upon a time, a girl and a dog met. Remembering that the Count had once sold her some canaries, the lonely girl returned to the pet shop seeking a new pet to keep her company, as she spent much time indoors and alone. A seeing-eye dog was what Count D suggested she might want. And so, Karen met Dreizehn. Thirteen. Dora-chan. A dog which seemed human to her—but not to others. And, once she recovered her sight, not to her either. For her darling Dora-chan risked his life to protect her from the same attacker that had killed Karen's parents: her cousin and guardian, Edward.
Calling out to him and receiving no response, she willed herself to see as she had willed herself, once upon a time, to not see. As her vision cleared, she saw the following scene: her cousin, dead and bloodied on the floor, with Dreizehn, wounded, beside him. Those cheekbones she had felt….those ears, that nose, the forehead…that fierce face she had touched so carefully one night….it was her beloved Dreizehn…a dog. The hands which had so many times held her and prevented her fall….mere paws.
"I knew it." She said, while hiding her tears in her dog's dark fur, "See, you're just a normal Doberman after all."
Some nights, though, she woke up, startled. She could have sworn that she felt soft lips touching her brow. Gentle gloved hands brushing curly strands of hair from her face. A warm breath, smelling faintly of things unknown, ghosting across her bare throat. Tears would spring to her eyes, irrevocably. Impossible to call back, as the pained throbbing of her heart could not be stopped. She dismissed it all as the fanciful imaginings of a woman who has not yet loved.
When she woke up, he was always there. Dreizehn. Thirteen. Dora-chan. Her fierce and handsome bodyguard. Her mysterious guardian. Her dog, ever by her side.
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AN: So, what do you think? This was originally intended to be a short one-shot, but I'm starting to feel as though I might be able to continue it a bit more. After all, the "romance" hasn't really started yet, has it? Please review: It'll encourage me to keep on writing!
