"Was there another place you wanted to look at down here?" Kai asked curiously as the pair continued walking down a street unfamiliar to him.
"You'll see," Aichi said cheerfully, tugging on Kai's arm. The cold weather had given him the perfect excuse to cling to him in public.
The older boy, feeling slightly uneasy being in an unfamiliar area, began re-tracing their steps in his head. He hoped that they weren't just getting themselves lost. After all, it was getting pretty late.
"Are you sure it was on this street?" Kai finally asked out of concern.
Aichi paused for a moment, causing them both to stop abruptly.
"I'm pretty sure it was down here..." Aichi's voice trailed off. "But it's been a while since I visited..." Suddenly he didn't sound so confident.
"Hm," Kai continued thinking.
"Oh! There it is!" Aichi beamed like a child enticed by a candy store as he dashed toward his destination.
Kai was taken aback slightly at Aichi's reaction. Whatever he wanted to see, it must have been pretty important.
He followed Aichi and looked at the sign above the store where he stopped.
A pet store?
Kai quickly found Aichi kneeled in front of the store, staring at a young golden retriever through the window.
"Isn't he cute?" Aichi asked, briefly turning toward Kai.
Kai approached the window and looked down at the small dog, trying to figure out if it truly was the cause for the huge smile on Aichi's face.
Kai just couldn't wrap his head around it. He was more of a cat person, after all. Cat's needed attention from time to time, of course. But dogs were almost a full-time job; what with routine walks and all. Having a dog sounded like it would just be a huge hassle to him.
Aichi, on the other hand, had a fondness of dogs.
Kai had discovered that soon after the boy had moved in with him. He remembered the first time he had seen Aichi's favorite mug; he had brought it down from a cabinet during breakfast one morning.
It had a small, dark-blue, cartoon-styled dog's face on it. He remembered noting how childish it seemed. His mind then wandered to the dogs that were so rampant in the Royal Paladin deck and he then wondered whether or not he was semi-responsible for Aichi's love of canines.
In what way hadn'the influenced the boy? He asked himself.
"Kai-kun?" Aichi blinked, wondering why his boyfriend was being so quiet all of a sudden.
"Hm?" Kai blinked a couple times, coming back to reality.
"Don't you think he's cute?" Aichi asked again, bringing back his smile.
Kai looked at Aichi for a moment; he could tell just by reading the boy's expression that if he were to give-in and get the puppy, all of Aichi's affection would go toward it instead of him. Thatwas a deal-breaker right there.
"We don't need a dog," Kai suddenly said flatly. Without another word, he spun around, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and began walking silently back up the street.
Aichi immediately got back on his feet and frowned, watching Kai leave.
Did I say something wrong? He wondered, feeling guilty.
He hadn't even asked if they could take it home. He had only wanted to know if Kai was also a dog person. Judging by Kai's reaction, he guessed not.
In response to the sudden lack of attention, the puppy barked sharply and cried against the glass.
Aichi looked back at the puppy and smiled apologetically.
"Sorry. I have to go now."
Aichi lingered by the glass for a moment and waved good-bye to the puppy before taking off after Kai.
"Kai! Wait up!"