Author Note: So, this fic might actually end up being pretty short but that's good in a way 😊 I like simple and easy sometimes as well. Well, I really hope you enjoy. I wonder what animal you'd think Kuon would be 😉 don't worry, I already have his match set 😊
Chapter Three – A Cookie can be a treat
"So," Kuon said uneasily as he looked at the little dog in his bag, he let his hand gently pet her head and tried to smile at her. "So, let's make this day one," he asked her with a weak smile. "Hopefully we can stay in single digits."
Kyoko looked up at him and settled down in the bag. She was glad that there was some water and treats in there and that Kuon had even put her wedding ring in a small little bag so she would be able to reach her paw out to it.
"Okay, I…" Kuon said before sitting down as Kyoko popped her head up again, "I can't do this. You want me to go to Lory and make up an excuse for you to say you're away," he said as Kyoko looked at him confused. "It'd be much easier if we could all just acknowledge that Kyoko Hizuri is a dog right now," he said as she barked in protest and turned away from him.
Kuon sighed as he scratched her behind the ear, "this is never going to work unless we can get a believable story and for that I'm going to have to call one person," he saw Kyoko look at him suspiciously and Kuon sighed. "Just two people?" he asked as he held up two fingers. "They won't reject you, I promise," he said as she shot him an untrusting look before rolling her eyes and nodding with a sigh. "Thank you," Kuon said as he took her out the bag and got onto his phone to Skype.
"Hey, Kuon?" Kuu replied with a smile as Kuon pet Kyoko and grinned as her tail wagged hearing his father's voice. "How are you? Everything okay?"
"Hey, dad," Kuon said as he saw his father removing his sunglasses and set the puppy down on his lap. He saw how tired he looked in his own photo despite it being the morning. "Not really, you've heard all of the news going on about the animals, right?" he asked as Kuu nodded.
"Your mother has been terrified that you're going to turn into a praying mantis," Kuu said before Kyoko put her paws on the screen and Kuon smiled weakly.
"Well, surprise," he said weakly and with a strained smile, "Kyoko's a dog."
Kuu paused as Kuon moved the angle of his phone to show Kyoko there. "Hey…girl," the older actor said slowly. "You're still so gorgeous, Kyoko," he tried to comfort her as Kuon scooped her up so they could both be on camera. "So, what do you need?" he asked as Kyoko barked.
"Sssh," Kuon said as he mistook the excited barks for ones of stress. "It's okay. I have you," he told her as he kissed her head. "Dad, we need an alibi. Kyoko doesn't want anyone to know this is her and I think it's best to say that she's out of the country right now on an assignment of some kind. Can we tell Lory that she's staying with you and mom?" he asked.
"Yes, that fits with me, I'll let your mother know too in case he wants to test us," Kuu grinned. "It's good to see that you're both alive," he said, "be careful. I don't want to train you as a homing pigeon," he tried to joke as Kuon looked down at Kyoko and continued to pet her.
"I still don't see why I haven't been affected," he said before nodding to his dad, "Thanks. We love you, dad," he said as Kyoko tried to bark too. "So, we trust him right?" he asked as Kyoko continued to look at him confused. "Let's get going then," he said as he put her in the bag.
….
….
Kyoko had sadly looked at the screen as Kuu and Kuon had their conversation. She loved both of them and since it was just Kuu and Julie she felt safe about her identity being secure. She looked up at Kuon as he talked to his father and felt even further away from him.
She had been excited to see Kuu on the screen despite not hearing most of what he had said, but she did catch onto a few words such as 'hey girl' and 'You're Kyoko' but still her hearing really was transforming to that of a puppy. This scared her. If the way she interacted with the world now was the same as a dog after only a number of hours, would she still consciously be with her husband in a week or two or would they have crossed the lines and she would only be his pet.
She saw him watching her nervously, "You okay?" he asked as she barked and licked his hand. She had to try to convince him not to worry. She had to be strong so that she could help him help her. Looking around a strong scent hit her nose and she jumped out the bag as Kuon looked after her anxiously.
Why was her sense of smell so much stronger now? Was that what it meant to be a dog? Well, she would rather have no sense of smell at all than to lose her husband. However, the aroma was getting to her and she felt that if she put her nose to the ground she could track…
She blinked hard as she saw a cookie sleeve that had been given out as a promotion to the top actors and business leaders and… Kyoko sniffed the cookie again. Every day Kuon came home with about four of these and he usually threw them away. Since they always had 'Kuon Hizuri' written on them, he always threw them away at home without the wrappers on them. Kyoko was glad that her husband didn't eat sweet foods but was this what was causing everything to happen?
Well, if a cookie was the cause then no wonder Kuon hadn't been affected.
"Kuon! Kuon! Look!" Kyoko told him as she pawed the cookie wrapper. It had weird squiggles on it that Kyoko was assuming were letters, oh god was she losing the ability to read now? "You need to test this! You need to tell somebody?"
She saw Kuon come over to her and watch her nervously, his eyes seeming to question how much of her humanity she had left.
"It's okay girl," he said as he tried to pet her, "What are you avyring to show me?"
Kyoko pawed at the treat again, she was scared of eating it. She was terrified that if she consumed the second piece in the sleeve that she would completely lose her mind. "Kuon, you have to study this. You have to take it to the lab," she said before trying to hand him the cookie.
….
….
Kuon watched as Kyoko seemed to be tracking something and his heart broke. She was acting like a puppy more than a person right now. She was still sweet and adorable, but he had to find the cure to get her back into her normal state. He looked after her as she seemed to be pawing at a promo sweet that he kept being given.
Did she want to eat that? He had had plans to stop somewhere on their way to the office, but maybe she wanted to eat a cookie instead. He frowned, were dogs even supposed to eat chocolate cookies like these. Didn't chocolate do bad things to animals.
His eyes opened a little as she started to bark to him and he looked at her guiltily. He had no idea what she was trying to tell him. He felt lost. His wife was either trying to say that she wanted to eat the rest of that treat or that she wanted him to have it.
"It's okay, girl" he smiled to her as he started to pet her again.
This was Kyoko, this was his wife. She might be a puppy right now, but there was no arguing that it was his wife's soul and spirit in this animal. He didn't want to ever think of her as anything else than the woman he had fallen in love with and who he had married. "What are you trying to show me?" he asked looking helpless.
As Kyoko tried to bark and give him the snack, Kuon took it from her. He looked over the back where there was the name of a Tokyo hotel. He looked at it before putting it in the bag. He looked over at Kyoko, "Is this…did you eat this?" he asked as Kyoko shook her head and backed terrified.
Kuon sighed. Okay, so she didn't eat it. What was important about it then? Kuon sighed before gesturing to the bag again and when Kyoko jumped in, he went to pick the bag up wondering what was going on.
….
….
Kyoko had felt so much fear enter her body when her husband had just asked her whether she wanted to eat the second piece of the sweet treat. She was worried about what it would do to her and she was just glad he hadn't tried to feed her it. Then again this was Kuon, his kind and sympathetic heart wouldn't treat her like an animal, right?
Those were the thoughts that she had had before falling asleep snuggled up in his sweater.
When she awoke, she smelled something delicious near her and wondered how long she had been asleep. She felt her ear get itchy and without realizing it, she had scratched herself with her back leg. She nervously shot a look at Kuon who was staring at her in surprise as well.
"Sorry," she whimpered to him before finding the source of the nice smell.
In a white takeout bag there was an open box and she peered down into the food container. Her eyes widened when she saw a hamburger steak with a fully cooked egg on top of it. He had been able to get this for her just so she could have something to eat? She looked at him as he gave her a gentle smile.
"I arfout you arfd have what you like" Kuon told her as she closed her eyes and smiled.
"Thank you," she barked out gently.
….
….
Kuon looked at the bag as Kyoko started to move inside. Kuon was very thankful that she was a deep sleeper as a dog because he had been able to find enough time to pick up breakfast for her before getting to the agency. Later he would have time to go to the pet shop and they could pick out what they needed, but on a morning like this he had to make sure Kyoko had the food she loved.
He hoped that it wouldn't cause her any health problems to have this. That had been his thought at the moment when he had ordered the item, stressing that he needed to have a perfectly cooked egg. As they drove, he felt a pain seer through him as the radio made a series of bleets, purrs, barks, whinnies, and other animal sounds all at once. It lasted a minute or two and Kuon was pained to see that Kyoko looked scared as it played.
He reached out for her and pet her head, she turned and looked up at him with wide eyes as the radio started speaking in English.
'Sorry everyone, thought we'd get through to our animal audience first," the newscasters said, "Nearly fifty more people have been recorded to turn into animals all over the world within the last twenty-four hours and analysts have discovered something new in dating and married couples. When the couple is meant to be, apparently the two people turn into the same species, if it's not meant to be then they are different species. Not to make light of the situation, but it's a good way to see if you've found the one."
Kuon sighed and watched his wife as she put her paws on his knee and jumped out the bag to rest her head on his lap. He pet her with his free hand and looked back at the road.
"It's okay," he tried to smile but he hated how unsure he was. Whatever animal nobody else would turn into would probably be the one he became. Oh god, he was going to be a baby unicorn, wasn't he?