My apologies for not updating this in like a year and a half, in August 2010 I transferred from community college and started going to school at UC Berkeley (for those who that might mean something too) so I didn't exactly know how much time I'd have, it turned out not a lot but now I'm on my penultimate semester so have some time. Thank you everyone for your patience.

~Myst

Chapter Eight :: The Truth is Known

Ren looked nervously up at Kyoko as she took him home and filled his bowl with the leftovers that boss had given her. He sniffed it before looking down as Kyoko crouched down to stroke his head. "You alright Corn?" she asked him noticing how he looked a little subdued. Ren didn't hear her however all he heard was, 'Atta Matta Corn?"

He had been hearing this all day and he couldn't hold his pain inside any longer, for Kyoko to be saying this to him there must have been something wrong, something that he couldn't understand. He pawed at the bowl suddenly having a craving for the dog food she had given him yesterday. He chewed slowly on the beef in the bowl enjoying the taste but missing the hardness that a nice bone might have.

He shook his head and whined, why was he thinking about bones at a time like this? He looked up at Kyoko before hearing her make the same sounds she had made before, "Blu Babadoo" He was going mad just by hearing these sounds and it wasn't just Kyoko he didn't understand but everyone else as well. That honestly scared him more than most things in his life. How could he communicate with anyone if he couldn't speak in any human language and he couldn't understand human language either.

He tentatively ate the rest of his meal before looking up sadly at Kyoko who started to take him out of his Love Me uniform acting very slowly and carefully, she petted him gently before feeling the gloom around him. "What are you upset about Corn?" she asked but once more he didn't understand her. Feeling a desperation that Ren Tsuruga wouldn't normally feel he snuggled into her chest, just wanting her warmth and his love to be full strength. She hugged him tightly in return.

She noticed it start to rain and looked at Corn before hearing a voice behind her, "So is he alright?" a young girl inquired as she looked down at the puppy.

Kyoko blinked recognizing that voice and turned around, she grinned at her young friend. "Maria-chan," she laughed before her expression turned serious, "Does the president know you've come here? How did you find me?"

"I found your address off of a form in Sawara's filing cabinet," she said casually, "I told grandfather I wanted to play with Ren as well."

Ren barked hearing her name but all he had understood of that sentence she had said was "play" and "Ren". He then nervously looked at Kyoko a sort of terror in his eyes that she translated as guilt although she hadn't quite heard Maria.

"What?" she asked, "You mean you wanted to play with Corn," she laughed trying to explain this to herself however Maria looked down.

"I cast a spell nee-chan," she admitted as Corn stared at them desperate to know what they were talking about, "I turned Ren into a puppy because I wanted to make him loyal to me," she looked at Ren, "I'm so sorry Ren!" she said as Kyoko stared in horror and slight disgust at the puppy.

"So this is Tsuruga-san?" she asked before shaking her head, "Come on Maria-chan, let's go inside. Co-Ren can stay outside," she said as Corn blinked at them.

In his head all they had said was, "Blabba Napa Tsuruga...Twili Maria, lumba jumba inside. Co-Ren casobo outside." Ren looked up at the sky and barked hoping that his feelings weren't correct and they weren't going to leave him alone in the rain without shelter. Maria looked sadly back at Ren and then nodded as she followed Kyoko inside, Ren tried to keep up with them but the door was shut on him so he started pawing at it and whining but was ignored. As he stayed outside he heard a rustle down by the side of the restaurant and wanting to protect Kyoko he trotted over there to spot a cat slinking by the house.

He barked at it without meaning to, without even thinking about it, it just seemed natural for him to bark at it. The cat took one look at him and hissed before running off, however as the cat had hissed he had heard one word quite clearly, "Assssshole." he blinked before hearing another noise which distracted him and walked towards the outside of the restaurant where the trash was.

Looking around he continued to hear the rustling noise and barked, trying to figure out where it was coming from. He barked again before spotting a tanuki, he tilted his head to the side, a rare sight for him. He often wasn't attune to them but then he had lived in a large apartment building where he wasn't knowledgable about most of the things happening around him, well except for the supermarket. "Hey!" he called out, "Hey! What are you doing!"

"Leave..." the tanuki chattered back at him as Ren stamped his paw on the floor.

"No!" he replied stubbornly, "You are the one who has to go. This is my territory,"

The tanuki looked at him before Ren could swear that it jumped down with a smile. "Such a small thing," the tanuki threatened him, "You must learn to mind your own business dog."

"I'm not really a dog," Ren tried to answer back, "I'm a fighter."

"Sure you are puppy," the tanuki cooed, "I'm warning you mind your own business unless you want to get hurt. Foxes come out when it rains."

Ren looked around before shaking his head, "When I'm human again..." he said warningly, having a glint in his eye that was more like Cain Heel than Ren Tsuruga. The tanuki jumped down before a fight broke out, the tanuki scratched Ren and Ren in turn bit back and hit back, trying to translate his best skills as a human to that of an animal. The tanuki wouldn't stand for his fighting moves however and soon got the upper hand. Ren soon fell back, panting on the floor but the tanuki continued to attack him until he had passed out. He was not dead but he had heavy scratches and claw marks all over his coat.

Meanwhile

"So," Kyoko gasped in horror, "You're not serious Maria-chan," she laughed trying to wave away the ideas that Maria was giving her. "He's a puppy,"

"Hasn't he shown that he understands you though? When I first saw Ren as a dog he seemed to understand me," Maria tried to reason with Kyoko as the older girl looked disgusted and blushed, the disgust disappeared from her face after a moment though.

"So he purposefully saw me naked, he purposefully touched my breast...oh god," she said but the blush was still visible.

Maria sighed, "Do you love him nee-san?" she asked.

"I...I don't love anyone," Kyoko said sadly, "But Tsuruga-san is very important to me, he can stay outside though, I'll feel more comfortable that way."

"But it's not his fault," Maria tried to argue, "I was the one who transformed him."

Kyoko sighed before nodding, "I guess it's not...but really he should have more control over his actions," she said before hearing the fight outside and ran out only too late to see the tanuki. What she did see was Ren covered in scratches and wounds and tears appeared in her eyes. "Tsuruga-san," she whispered before cuddling the puppy tightly, being gentle when moving him. "We have to take him to the vet," she told Maria feeling her heart break but she didn't exactly connect it to why.