Disclaimer: Gundam Seed and all it's characters are the property of their respective owners.

Phase 02: A Dog's Day

It was a chilly afternoon and an icy breeze coming down the street tugged at their hair as Kira and his best friend, Athrun, were walking home at a somewhat listless pace. Athrun was kicking dirt with his shiny school shoes. The edge of a troubled frown was touching his features, and even though his friend had assured Kira that he was perfectly fine, Kira knew he was not. For one thing, Athrun was getting dust all over his freshly polished shoes, something he would never normally tolerate. On the contrary, he was always telling Kira to pick up his feet!

"Say, Athrun…"

"Hm?"

"You're not still upset over those test results, are you?" Kira prodded cautiously. Even though he was not sure he understood how having two marks less than usual could upset Athrun this much, what Kira did understand was that his friend's wounded pride was not something to be taken lightly. Athrun seemed a bit stunned for a moment, as if Kira had startled him out of his thoughts. Even though his friend had called him a dreamer more times than he cared to count, Athrun could just as easily lose himself in his own thoughts, if only when something was bothering him.

"Well, it's…" Athrun sighed, letting the rest of his sentence trail away without finishing it.

As the silence stretched between the two, Kira pondered a way to brighten his friend's mood. After all, two marks below an average so high that the rest of the class was left in the dust was hardly something to be depressed about! He could not simply pretend that it did not matter, though. It was important to Athrun. Very important. This situation required some thought…

"There's always a chance that everyone else did so badly that the whole class will have to take the test over again!" he exclaimed triumphantly. Athrun looked at him sideways, an amused expression dispersing the frown that had clouded his eyes.

"But, Kira, you hate redoing tests," he said with a laugh. Kira made a face as his friend's words shed light on the implication of what he had said. He scratched his head, unable to keep a silly laugh from slipping past his lips.

"I guess I do…" he admitted. He was about to say more, but a soft, whining noise caught his attention. "What's that sound?"

"Sound?"

They both came to a stop. The street was quiet except for the whistle of the wind and the occasional vehicle that drove by. Kira was about to dismiss it for imagination when it came again. A high-pitched, whimpering sound. It seemed to be coming from a shallow alley between two buildings. Dropping his suitcase, he hurried to the shadow-blanketed corner. He could hear Athrun's footsteps right behind him. That, and a shuffling sound that could only have been his suitcase being scooped up. Kira squinted, trying to see into the darkness. A pair of eyes was watching him intently from the shadows. Scooting a bit forward, Kira spread his hands in what he hoped was a friendly gesture. The round eyes watched him unblinkingly.

"Come on," he coaxed. He held his hands open with his palms up, so the animal could see that he was not holding something that could make him a threat. "Don't be afraid… Come on!" After a while, a puny nose poked out from the shadows. Making soothing sounds with the tip of his tongue, Kira held his hands just a little bit farther into the alley. He moved ever so slowly. He did not want to scare the creature. A few more moments passed before the animal finally decided that this human was trustworthy. Kira gasped as the creature revealed itself, a tiny thing wobbling towards him on young, unsteady legs. He felt his heart melt into a pathetic puddle in his chest as he watched the baby animal crawling ever closer. "Athrun, look!" His fingertips itched to reach out and touch its velvety fur, to scratch behind those floppy ears. "It's a puppy!"

At Kira's delighted cry, the baby dog's ears perked up and it let out a small bark. It came romping over rather clumsily, and he laughed as it practically fell into his lap to lick his hands and face. Caressing the pup's silky head, he looked up to share a smile with Athrun. While his best friend had a fair liking for dogs, Kira was absolutely crazy about them. Dogs were loyal and smart and really cool! The puppy barked again and nuzzled Kira's hand with its wet little button nose. It was so cute… What was it doing here all by itself? Had it been abandoned? Kira's heart ached at the thought. Who could leave such a lovely little creature out here to fend for itself? He felt tears of compassion collect in the corners of his eyes, and he hugged the fuzzy little animal tightly to his chest.

---

Athrun watched the scene unfold, smiling outwardly, but with an icy lump growing in the pit of his stomach. He could see where this was going. Kira really loved dogs. There was no way Kira would leave the dog here all by itself. Shifting his grip on both his suitcase and Kira's – the thing felt like a ton of bricks, no wonder Kira left it lying around everywhere! – he tried to think of the best way to resolve this situation with the least amount of heartache. As he watched his friend blissfully cradling the baby bundle in his arms, though, he felt a bit like a villain for having to break this up.

"Kira," he said finally, "we ought to get going…"

He was regretting it even before the words had properly left his mouth. His best friend looked up at him with such mournful eyes that he could just as well have snatched the puppy from out of his arms. The pup's eyes seemed to echo Kira's emotions, though Athrun doubted it had any clue as to what was going on. Oh, how he hated being the bad guy!

"Can't I take him home with me…?" Kira sniffed dejectedly. Athrun was sure he already knew the answer to his own question.

"You know your mom won't allow it, Kira…" he replied gently.

"I know… but…"

The wind pushed his hair into his eyes, but Kira was clutching on to the dog so stubbornly that he did not seem to take notice. Sighing despondently, Athrun kneeled next to Kira in order to place a supportive hand on his shoulder. He wished for the right words and ended up sighing again. Whatever he said, it would make no difference in the end. Kira's mom was fiercely allergic to dogs and no amount of right words could change that. No matter how Kira begged, that would not change anything either. Finally an idea came to mind.

"Come on, we have to get going now," he said slowly. "Your mom will get worried about us. We could always come and see him again after dinner." Kira looked up hopefully.

"Really?"

"Sure!" Athrun forced a smile. The crux of his evil plan was fairly simple – by the time dinner was over and Kira's mom let him run off to see the pup again, it would be long gone; run off, or adopted by some lucky passer-by who was not allergic to dogs. Oh, he really hated being the bad guy! "Come on, say goodbye."

"Right…" Kira sniffed and scrubbed an arm across his face. He looked the puppy in the eyes, putting on a brave smile. "I have to go now." The dog's ears seemed to droop a bit more than usual at that. "I'll come see you again, I promise! Wait here for me, okay?" It was heartbreaking to watch, so Athrun busied himself with tidying his shoes. Somehow he had managed to get an awful lot of dust on them! Frowning, he cleaned it off hurriedly.

Slowly, but surely, Kira tore himself away from the puppy. Athrun straightened and handed Kira his ten ton suitcase. He grasped it with impressive ease, apparently not even noticing that he was holding it. Now came the difficult part of the plan, Athrun realized as they set forth their short walk to Kira's house; stalling in every possible way.

---

Kira set down his knife and fork with a feeling of satisfaction. His mom really did make the best dinner there was to be found on this side of the moon! On the subject of food, he ought to take something along for the puppy too. The poor thing must be starved out there. He was already devising several different strategies to sneak out food. First, he needed an excuse to—

"Athrun, what's the matter?" his mom's voice broke into his thoughts. "You haven't touched any of your food!" He looked up to see his best friend's cheeks turn a rosy red. Kira's eyes stretched as wide as they would go. Was Athrun so upset about losing those two marks that he could not eat!? "Are you feeling sick?"

"I'm fine, Mrs Yamato," Athrun assured her as Kira's mom put a hand to his forehead anyway. This was serious! Kira had been so caught up in taking care of the abandoned puppy that he had completely forgotten about how disappointed Athrun had been by those test results!

"Are you sure?" his mom fussed. Athrun just nodded and resumed eating really slowly. As Kira watched his best friend, feelings of guilt began piling up inside him. He should have considered Athrun's feelings, but he had been so occupied with the little puppy that he had only thought of himself. Athrun was still eating when Kira's mom started washing the dishes. This was really disturbing. Kira watched his mom go about the chore all by herself. Normally, Athrun would be the one to help out with the dishes. Without further thought, Kira stood and grabbed a cloth.

"I'll help!" he cried, grabbing the nearest plate and dabbing it with the drying cloth. Athrun's jaw dropped and Kira's mom almost forgot to hold on to the soapy glass in her hands. "What…?"

"Are you feeling all right, Kira?" his mom asked, a hint of a smile showing in her eyes and around the corners of her mouth. Kira stopped and blinked.

"Yeah…" he managed finally. "Why?"

"You never help with the dishes, Kira!" Athrun clarified.

"That's not true!" Kira protested indignantly, ready to toss the drying cloth in his hands at the grinning Athrun.

"Yes, it is!" his best friend laughed, and had to duck behind the table to avoid getting a damp cloth in his face. Well, whatever had been bothering Athrun, it could not have been too serious. He was struggling to hold back peals of laughter now. Kira felt like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, brightening his mood considerably. Pretty soon, he was laughing just as hard as Athrun.

---

Athrun felt pretty pathetic as he sat on Kira's bed, legs crossed, chewing his bottom lip and staring at nothing in particular. His scheme had utterly backfired. True, eating slower than he had ever done in his entire life had bought some time, but now Kira's mom was seriously worried about him. He had not anticipated her forcing him to stay indoors. He stared at the video game in front of him with supreme lack of interest, the three dimensional figures on the screen shifting restlessly, waiting for him to make a decision. He sighed and carefully set the controller down next to him on the bed. It was not a bad game – in fact, it was quite interesting – but his mind was focused on more perplexing matters. Kira had gone off in search of that puppy all by himself, and the weather had taken a turn for the worst. Looking out the window, he could see dark clouds massing together for a storm. He could just picture Kira staying out all evening in the pouring rain, looking for the lost dog. The image made him wince. It was all his fault. What if Kira caught a terrible cold because Athrun was not there to haul him back home? Or worse, what if he got himself kidnapped by some fiendish stranger? He was all by himself. His kind heart was so easily taken advantage of, especially because he had his head up in the clouds so much that he would not even realize what was happening before it was too late! These fears were eating him up from the inside. Unable to bear it any longer, he climbed off the bed and headed for the door. He would tell Mrs Yamato what was going on before Kira got himself into more trouble than he could handle. Just when he was about to grasp the door's handle, the large piece of carved wood flew open of its own accord and Athrun had to jump back to avoid being knocked over by it.

"Kira!" he gasped in surprise.

"Lemme in, quick!" Kira practically leapt into the room and came very close to slamming the door shut behind him before Athrun managed to intervene. He closed it properly, with as little noise as possible. As Kira plopped onto the bed, the video game caught his eye. "Athrun, you didn't even get past the title screen! What were you doing all this time!?"

"What's going on?" Athrun demanded. His eyes fell on the blue sports bag Kira was clutching to his chest. "Don't tell me…"

"He was right where we left him," Kira whispered, eyes sparkling. "I told him to wait for me and he did!"

"W-Wait a minute!" Athrun stammered as Kira began to undo the zipper on the bag. "You brought it here!?"

"Say hi to Athrun, Satomi!" Kira piped up. Athrun felt his jaw drop open shamelessly as the little dog tottered out of the bag and onto Kira's bed. It looked up at him with round eyes that glistened like two dark, polished stones.

"You named it!?" he spluttered.

"Sure I named him," was Kira's simple reply. "He can't just be 'dog' for the rest of his life, right?"

"Have you even thought of what you're going to tell your mom when she sees him?" Athrun groaned, holding his head. "You can't keep him, Kira. You know that, right?"

"It was so cold out there…" Kira's eyes were hidden in his hair now, but Athrun was sure there were tears leaking from them. "I couldn't just leave him like that. He'd die for sure…"

Kira was a really kind person, always thinking with his heart. Athrun sometimes wished he could be more like that, but one had to be practical too. Doing something because your heart was in the right place did not always make everything turn out fine. On the other hand, doing only what was logical and practical did not get you very far either. You had to have a sound combination of the two in order to be successful. Maybe that was one of the reasons Athrun and Kira were such good friends. It sure was the reason they differed so regularly.

"I understand how you feel, Kira," he said finally, "but he can't stay here."

"Can't I just keep him for the night?" Kira pleaded, scooping the small pup into his arms and hugging it protectively.

"And if your mom finds out?" Athrun countered, fists planted in his sides. "Or worse, what if she has an allergic reaction?" Kira's eyes widened at that. As Athrun had suspected, Kira had not thought that far ahead.

"Th-Then—"

"No, Kira," Athrun interrupted firmly. He had Kira's attention. He had to lay out all the facts now, while he had the chance. "You knew that your mother is allergic to dogs. Youknew that she wouldn't allow you to keep one. You lied to her when you told her you were meeting Jordi after school—"

"OK, OK! I get it!" Kira cried. "But what are we gonna do about it!?"

"Well…" Athrun sighed. It was a typical scenario. Kira would get himself up to his neck in trouble and when things suddenly got out of hand, he would cry for Athrun to come drag him out of it. Athrun shook his head. Kira was already attached to the dog – he even named it! – so putting it back in the alley was out of the question. Confessing was always an option, but that would inevitably lead back to leaving the dog in the alley. Kira's mom was a very kind person, but rules were rules.

"Well!?" Kira practically yelped. He was echoed by the anxious puppy. It had probably sensed the mood in the room.

"Hold on, I'm thinking!" Athrun replied, pressing a knuckle to his forehead. But there seemed to be no way out of this one. An animal was a big responsibility. Impulsive moves involving them always led to heartbreak. Kira had really done it this time. His best friend was staring at him with large, bottle cap round eyes and an expression that might have been comical if it were not for the seriousness of the situation. Athrun was about to ask him if he knew of any nearby pounds or veterinarians that would be able to take care of the dog when a sudden knock at the door made the blood in his veins crystallize instantly. He exchanged alarmed looks with Kira as another knock came.

"Athrun!" the voice of Kira's mom called from the other side of the door. "Athrun, get your stuff together, your mother's here to pick you up!" Already? Wow, she was early this evening!

"Thanks, Mrs Yamato!" Athrun managed, proud that his voice had not come out too hoarse. "I'll be down in a minute!"

He shared another panicked glance with Kira, then stared at the puppy. This little creature was going to cause his best friend's heart to break if he did not do something about it quick. And then a dangerous decision settled itself in his mind. He pulled the baby animal from Kira's arms and stuffed it into the sports bag that still lay open on the bed.

"A-Athrun…?"

"I'm taking him to my house," he whispered as he zipped up the blue bag with determination. "I'll hide him there and we'll figure something out tomorrow!"

"Athrun…"

"Come on, don't just stand there," he hissed urgently, indicating his bags and suitcase with waving arms, "help me get all this stuff downstairs!"

"Thanks, Athrun!"

"Don't mention it."

---

Athrun descended the stairs rather awkwardly with the wriggling bundle under his arm. The puppy itself was not terribly heavy, but keeping all of its frantic squirming out of sight was the difficulty. He ended up pulling his jacket close around him to cover the unnaturally active sports bag's movements. His mother was standing in the front door, talking to Mrs Yamato. Her delicate features were creased with a slight frown and she was jingling her car keys on an open palm as she often did when she was worried. Athrun could hear Kira's heavy breathing behind him. He did not think Kira was sweating because Athrun's bags were such a weight to carry. Kira was nervous about being found out.

"…and didn't finish his food either, but—" Mrs Yamato interrupted herself with an ill-timed sneeze. "Oh, excuse me. I don't know what's the matter with me. My head's been fuzzy all afternoon."

"Are you sure you're all right?" Athrun's mother asked, laying a concerned hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'll be fine!" she chirped in reply. "It's just a bit stuffy in here, that's all!" Another sneeze ended her sentence somewhat abruptly. Athrun noticed his mother arch an elegant eyebrow at that, but she seemed to dismiss any suspicions she might have had the moment she noticed the two boys coming down the stairs.

"Athrun!" she breathed, darting toward him before he could even open his mouth to speak. "Aunt Cari tells me you're not feeling well…"

Gee, word travels fast… he thought dryly, a sweat drop sliding down the side of his cheek. At least that explained why his mother was here to fetch him so early. It required effort not to make a face. His scheme had well and truly backfired, to put it mildly. He made a mental note never to eat that slowly at Kira's house ever again.

"You seem all right…" she murmured with a hand to his forehead. Athrun strained not to pull away from his mother's embrace as the puppy came very close to being sandwiched between the two of them. "I don't want to take any chances, though. You're going straight to bed." Athrun fought the urge to complain. Bedtime was hours away! And to think he had gotten himself into a mess like this! It was kind of humiliating. A good thing, then, that he was the only one who knew the truth. Even Kira's eyes held a touch of concern. "Say goodnight to everyone."

"Goodnight, Mrs Yamato. Goodnight, Kira…"

---

Lenore Zala stole a glance at her son in the rear-view mirror. He kept his eyes lowered and his hands were wrapped around himself under his jacket, like he might be cold. Shifting her eyes back to the road again, she considered taking Athrun to a doctor, just to be sure. She had had such a fright when Caridad phoned her at work and said that Athrun was acting strange, she deserved some peace of mind. He had been limping down the stairs, and poor Kira had been carrying all of his bags. Maybe she was fretting needlessly. Patrick always went on about how Coordinators did not fall ill so easily and how she should stop fussing over the boy so much. Still, no matter what her husband said, Athrun was her only son. It was her right as a mother to be a little overprotective from time to time.

"Should we stop by the clinic to have you examined?" she asked over her shoulder. "Fasten your seatbelt, honey." She was not sure which of her two sentences had startled Athrun more, but his meadow green eyes were suddenly wide open. He seemed to have trouble getting the seatbelt hooked around him. For some reason he was only using his one arm. Something was definitely off. For one thing, Athrun never forgot to fasten his seatbelt. He was quiet for a moment before speaking.

"I'm just tired, Mother," he assured her. "Please, don't be concerned." His soft voice made her smile. At least he sounded all right. She nodded to herself. Athrun was not the kind of boy who would lie to his mother.

---

Athrun felt infinitely guilty about lying to his mother like that. He really wanted to tell her about the puppy, but he was afraid she might make him take it to a pound before Kira had the chance to say goodbye. So he had laboured up the grand staircase to the second floor the moment his mother had unlocked the front door. He could not afford the dog making a sound and giving him away, so he had rushed up the stairs with all his bags and the dog under his arm. It had been a bit reckless of him, he admitted. At least he had made it to the top, mercifully not breaking his neck.

Now he was safely in his bedroom, resting his back against the closed door. Carefully, he unzipped Kira's sports bag to let out the little bugger who had caused so much drama today. It crawled out a little woozily, probably disoriented from the car trip, and not to mention being zipped up in a bag. Gleaming button nose in the air, it sniffed at its new surroundings with interest.

"Satomi, is it?" he murmured as he scratched the puppy's floppy ear. It pressed its silky head to his hand affectionately. For a moment he wondered why Kira had chosen the name. The rain was streaming from the skies at a steady drizzle by now. Raindrops pattered lightly against the windows. He could easily understand what Kira was thinking when he decided to take the dog home. It would have been cruel to leave it out in this weather. The puppy let out a small whine, as if it could read his thoughts. It rolled over for him to stroke its belly. Complying absently, Athrun began formulating a plan to get the little animal something to eat.

---

He waited until well after eleven o' clock before he sneaked down the staircase on tiptoe. His mother was usually asleep by then, having to get up for work very early in the morning. Careful not to make a sound – although the rain did a good job disguising his footsteps – Athrun took his first step into the kitchen, and shivered. The tiled floor was cool underneath his bare feet. For a moment, he wished he had thought to put on slippers, or at least his socks. The refrigerator was a dark, surprisingly ghostly mound humming its monotonous tune at the other end of the room. He dared not switch on the lights, though. He was not about to give himself away that easily. And besides, there was nothing to be scared of. This was his house, after all. He had nothing to fear in his own home. Although, Kira's house sometimes felt more like home to him than this place did. Most evenings, he and Kira would both be asleep already by the time Athrun's mother came to fetch him. Since she worked late, he ended up spending more time at Mrs Yamato's house than his own. It was no surprise that Athrun and Kira felt more like brothers than best friends.

He opened the cool, moonlight white slab in front of him as if disarming a bomb that might detonate at any moment. The kitchen was flooded in dim light from the interior bulb of the refrigerator, and the vibration came louder with the door open. He knew exactly what he was looking for as his eyes scanned the pure white racks inside. Finally, they locked on to a container that held some leftovers. He hoped puppies could eat this kind of food. It was better than nothing, though. Sneaking a saucer from one of the top cabinets, he poured a bit of water into that and pressed the door of the refrigerator closed quietly before tiptoeing out of the kitchen.

Mission accomplished! he cheered silently. Just as he passed the phone in the hall, it gave a loud ring. It felt so loud in the sleeping house that the sound alone was enough to make Athrun jump. He almost dropped the saucer, but managed to spill only a few drops before regaining himself. Without thinking, he snatched up the receiver just so the thing would be quiet. Only after a brief moment did he remember to put it to his ear.

"Zala residence… Athrun speaking," he answered cautiously. Instead of a reply, an ominous shuffling sound came from the other side, making his heart bounce hard against his ribs and back. Who would call at this time of night? Could it be his father? There was a time difference between PLANT and the moon, but his father would do the math, and he would be in serious trouble just for being up so late, never mind keeping a puppy up in his bedroom. "Hello?" Still no reply. Very strange. Had it been his father, he surely would have said something. Who was this? By now, his heart was using his ribcage for a xylophone. "Who's there?"

"It's me!" a lowered voice hissed from the other end of the line. No way…

"Kira!?" Athrun almost forgot to whisper. He sank to the floor with the phone still pressed to his ear. Whether it was out of sheer relief or because his legs still felt like jelly, he was not really sure. "What are you doing calling in the middle of the night?" It was hard not to sound angry. He was not angry with Kira, but the shock had filled his voice with a tone his best friend could easily mistake for anger.

"Sorry…" Kira's voice whispered. "I just wanted to know if everything's okay. How's Satomi doing?"

"I was going to take him some food right now," Athrun replied evenly. He was not about to tell Kira that this midnight phone call of his had nearly botched the entire operation. "Does your mom know you're calling?"

"…no," his friend admitted after a long silence. Thought so.

"He was sleeping when I left," Athrun continued. "I better go. He might wake up any minute."

"Athrun?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you…" His friend's voice faltered halfway through the sentence. He could hear Kira draw a deep breath before carrying on. "Have you come up with a plan yet…?"

"Not yet," Athrun confessed guiltily. "But I'll think of something before tomorrow! You'll see!" What have I gotten myself into?

"OK!" Kira's voice sounded relieved. "See you at school tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Athrun replied, "see you."

"And… thanks, Athrun!"

"No problem."

He placed the receiver back onto the telephone quietly, picked up the saucer and leftovers and proceeded sneaking back to his room. He was halfway up the stairs when a thin, howling sound reached his ears. Oh no! The puppy must have woken up and realized it was alone! Taking the stairs two at a time, he had trouble stemming a curdle of fear swimming around in his middle as he wondered how long the dog had been making that noise before his ears had picked it up. As he rounded the corner, he could hear the dog scratching frantically at his bedroom door, trying to claw its way out. Urgent to get the animal to pipe down, he yanked the door open. A small, black shadow darted past his legs and sped down the hall. Gasping in shock, he tried to grab it, but he was too slow. Abandoning the bowl with the food and the saucer that lay face down on the carpet, he dashed after the rapidly disappearing shadow. He did not try to call out to it. Aside from waking his mother, yelling would achieve nothing. There was no way the dog would know its name yet.

Squinting at the escaping puppy in order not to lose sight of it in the darkness, he tried his best not to run into anything during his pursuit. It skidded around a corner, and in a last-ditch attempt to stop the puppy from running into his mother's bedroom, Athrun dived after it with outstretched arms. His fingers managed to grasp the plump little shape just in time. Gotcha! And then the leg of a small, round table flitted into view. He had only a split-second to brace himself for the impact. With a grunt, he collided with the piece of furniture, and there was a thunderous racket. Groaning, he rubbed his head – there was going to be a lump, he could feel it.Wait a minute… His eyes grew wide. The table in the hall in front of Mother's— Too late. As he looked around him, he could count dozens of frail porcelain shards lying scattered on the floor. Athrun swallowed hard. The last time he had accidentally smashed one of his mother's prized pieces of pottery had been at the age of seven, but he remembered the punishment like it had been only yesterday. There was a click from the light switch, and blinding light filled his vision. His eyes had trouble adjusting to the sudden brightness, but he could make out the intimidating figure of his mother very cleary as she towered over him in her nightgown, her fists planted in her hips indignantly.

"Athrun Zala, just what is the meaning of this!?"

Cowering in his arms, the dog let out an inferior whimpering sound. Athrun thought he might do the same.

---

Early the next morning, Kira stood in front of the school gates, waiting for his best friend to arrive. Resting his back against the wall, he scanned the street for any traces of a slight boy with dark blue hair and startlingly green eyes, but nothing. With a great yawn, he plopped his suitcase down on the ground next to him – the thing was getting heavy – and propped his arms behind his head. It was not that he had stayed up late to make that phone call. It had been the inability to fall asleep that had driven him to call Athrun in the middle of the night. He hoped Satomi was okay. He knew Athrun would take good care of the puppy, but he still worried.

He was about to decide that Athrun must still have felt a bit sick and stayed at home today, when his friend appeared from around a corner. Pale and weary-eyed, with a big band-aid and several small scratches on his face, Athrun looked more like he had been wrestling a bear than babysitting a puppy.

"Athrun, what happened!?" Kira cried as he jogged to his friend's side. "You look terrible!" He sucked in a sharp breath when he could not locate the blue sports bag they had carried the puppy in the previous night. He was almost too afraid to ask. "Where's Satomi…?"

"At home," Athrun replied, wiping his eyes sleepily. Kira himself was battling another yawn. He fell into step with his best friend and they headed for a nearby bench. There were still fifteen minutes to go before the first school bell would ring, anyway.

"But won't your mom see him?" he insisted.

"Too late," Athrun said slowly. "She's already seen him." Kira felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "After I chased him up and down in the hall and managed to knock over one of my mother's priceless antique vases…" His friend sighed dejectedly.

"Then…?" Kira tried to catch a glimpse of his best friend's eyes while plunking himself onto the bench, but they eluded him. "She was kind of angry, wasn't she…?"

"To say the least…" Athrun remarked as he sat down on the bench. He winced and jumped up instinctively as soon as he touched it, though. With another grimace, he lowered himself onto the bench ever so gently. Something told Kira that poor Athrun would be sitting carefully for the rest of the day.

"I… thought your dad was the only one who gave hidings…?" Kira prodded guiltily. He was the one who had caused this mess, after all.

"Evidently not," Athrun cringed in reply. When he looked up, a bright smile lit up his face, though. "But we had a talk afterwards. You and I get to keep Satomi."

"What!?" he squeaked, his heart fluttering in his throat. "Y-You mean it!? We can keep him!?"

"On the condition that we care for him on our own." Kira thought he would burst with joy. He nodded eagerly for Athrun to continue. "He'll be staying at my house, since your mom's allergic and everything," Athrun explained. "After school, we'll stop by there to take care of him before heading for your house." A mischievous glint suddenly entered his friend's eyes. "I've taken the liberty of dividing the tasks between the two of us." He pulled a piece of folded paper from his pocket and handed it to Kira. Unfolding the note, Kira eagerly scanned the list of duties. His and Athrun's tasks were organized in his best friend's neat handwriting, divided between two fairly equal-looking columns. It was just like Athrun to think this through so thoroughly. Everything Kira could think of was in there, from bathing the dog to taking it for regular walks, training, disciplining, playing, feeding… Even—

"Huh? 'Lawn duty'? What's that?" he wondered out loud. Athrun's expression alone was explanation enough. "Oh, that…" Well, it was also something that had to be done, Kira supposed. "Wait a sec…" He ran his eyes along the list again to double check. "How come you don't have lawn duty!?" The mischievous twinkle in his friend's green eyes speedily developed to the intensity of a smirk.

"Because I had to go through this," he replied matter-of-factly, indicating the ground zero of his punishment. Kira wanted to argue, but since Athrun had done him a huge favour in taking the puppy home with him, he supposed he could live with picking up dog poo for the rest of his life. "You'll have to pay for this month's supply of dog food too, since I won't be getting an allowance any time soon."

"Heh!?" was all Kira could manage. Athrun's mom must have really been upset over that vase.

"Looks like you'll have to forget about 'Battle Aniki IV' for a while."

"B-But…!"

He was cut off by the bell announcing the start of the school day. Kira smiled at Athrun as the two of them gathered their suitcases and headed for class. He might not have all the video games he would have liked, but he had a puppy of his very own, and the best friend anyone could ever ask for!