Heart of Students
AN: I mentioned it in my Old Edo Days story, but I'm making a story about a puppy- later a dog- growing up with our Joui trio! I haven't found a story like this anywhere else, but I would love to hear about it.
Please enjoy. No idea how many chapters it could be but... think around 10?
Hungry... and so cold. Stuck in a straw basket, abandoned by the rest of the world.
Seeking tenderness and love.
A sharp pain in its side...
Steps were heard. A sharp snarl and bared teeth were shown as a sign of weakness.
A person bent to look into the basket.
Red eyes met red eyes.
...
Gintoki shuffled nervously in front of his teacher during break. "Uh... Sensei... when I went outside..."
His teacher looked down at his dear student and smiled. "Yes, Gintoki?"
The silver-haired child took a deep breath, shook his hair and said everything in a rush, as if the words shoved their way out of his mouth. "I saw a puppy. Can we keep it in the dojo?" He immediately brought his gaze to the floor.
Shoyo's expression was apologetic. "I'm sorry, Gintoki, but a puppy would be far too much work to take care of."
"Oh..." Gintoki did not look up at his teacher.
"You are, however," Shoyo Sensei said a little louder to make Gintoki looked up at him in question, "allowed to take this dog some food. I'm sure if it has no home, it is hungry. You are allowed to bring it some of the meat we keep in the pantry."
Gintoki gave his teacher a big grin. "Thank you, Sensei," he said, bowing, and then bolted off, screaming, "ZURA!"
...
"Why did you make me come with you?" mumbled an irritated Katsura, carrying packs of meat wrapped in brown paper. "I was studying. We have a test tomorrow!"
"Now you're helping me bring food to a starving soul," Gintoki drawled, hands locked behind his head in a lazy position. "You're doing the world some good."
"Actually, I'm bringing the food. You're just walking-."
"Come here, dog!" Gintoki interrupted, looking around the dusty streets for the basket where the dog had stayed. "He was around here. Here, dog, I have food. Lots of meat!"
Nothing crawled up to sniff the packages of meat.
Katsura attempted to shrug, but failed with the meat tucked under his arms. "Maybe he left, Gintoki. And why did you take the best meat for the dog? You know how expensive it is? Shoyo Sensei works hard to buy this kind of meat for us-."
There was a sudden yip and the two boys jumped.
Limping out to the boys' view was a puppy, dragging its thin limb behind like a dead stick. It stopped just ten feet away from then, glaring cautiously with flickering eyes. It was so thin, the ribs were clearly visible from the cavern of its stomach. Its fur blended with the scraggly dirt of the road, and its tail was just a limp rap. Its ears were bent and moved comically as it limped towards them.
It was one of the most heart-breaking things Katsura had ever seen.
"We have to help it!" he argued as they settling nearby the dog. They had set down the food, and after stepping away a couple feet, the puppy had obliged to come closer and eat from the meat. It was ravenous, tearing hunks of meat away from bone, scarcely chewing.
"Sensei said that a dog was a lot of work," Gintoki shot back. "We can't take care of a dog. Look how it eats NOW!"
"It was starving! Gintoki, we can help him!"
Gintoki merely shook his head and rolled his eyes. "You're crazy, Zura."
But as he rolled his eyes, it fell to the puppy, now done its meal and sniffing at the scraps. Finding not even a shred of meat to fill its hungering belly, it whimpered, shaking its head down. Then it lifted its eyes to see Gintoki, and the boy could understand so much emotion in them; hunger, suffering, and especially hatred. It curled down in a fetal position and whined.
Gintoki could feel his eyes twitch. Katsura looked hopeful. Finally, he gave in.
"Fine. This is the plan..."
...
Takasugi was reading about kendo when his two friends suddenly burst into the room, racing towards the closet, gently settling something inside it, and then slamming it shut again. They collapsed against the door, breathing hard.
He barely looked up. "What happened? Did you guys get in trouble again?" He flipped a coupe pages of his book.
Gintoki swallowed, a hand to his aching chest. "If we tell you, will you tell Sensei?"
"Depends," the cold boy drawled. "Is it a dead body?"
"No."
"Then probably not. What is it?" Now, Takasugi put his book down to look at the closet with interest.
Suddenly, there was a hoarse bark from the closet, which Zura hushed almost immediately. Gintoki looked apprehensive.
Takasugi was in shock. "Is that...?"
"You have to shut up about it!" Katsura begged, trying to keep the puppy inside the closet, as its nose was peeking out, sniffing wildly around for food. "If Sensei finds him, we're dead!"
"Correction, Zura," Takasugi said slowly, hypnotized by the reality that his friends had brought a dog to their room. "You're dead. Not me."
"C'mon, Takasugi!" Katsura pleaded with him. "We can help it out for a time, can't we? It's hurt, and we can give it food. He was starving too!"
Takasugi let his piercing stare concentrate on the dog's nose, still sniffing up a storm. After discovering that no food was there for it, it made a keening sound similar to the cry of a lost, starving child.
Takasugi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe they were doing this...
"A week," he said firmly. "One week, we help him, and he has to go. Alright?"
"Deal!" Katsura chirped, and started to ease the door open to let the puppy free. Only to find that it was empty. "Wait- where'd he go?!"
Takasugi's irritation became a full-on headache.
Any names for the puppy? Nothing stupid, mind you~~
Anyone like this story? Aw well, if you don't, I'm continuing regardless.
Unless someone finds it insulting somehow. Then, of course, that's a different scenario.
Please enjoy, though. It's entertainment! ^.^