This is Soge-san's belated gift, and yet another doggie related thing. I just love dogs. Cats are okay, but not as lovable as dogs.

Inujin

It was a rainy afternoon when a young man called Monkey D. Luffy jumped out of the public bus and ran down the mostly deserted sidewalk. His ebony hair started to stick to his face with the rain falling on him, but he wasn't bothered by it and laughed as he was getting soaked. His brown eyes sparkled in the dullness that the rain seemed to bring as his grey uniform became darker due to being soaked. He reached to a corner and pressed the crosswalk button and waited as he hummed to himself, but then he heard a sound behind him.

Curious, he turned around and saw a small alleyway where the sound was coming from. He walked towards the sound in time to see a trash can being knocked over and what looked like a small child come out along with the trash. He blinked as he took sight of the child.

The child didn't look much older than five with short light green hair and tan skin. But what stood out was the dog-like ears and tail in a semi-curl, both are the same color of his hair. He was also wearing clothes that looked a bit too big on him and torn in some places. He looked over and looked defensive, legs apart and growling, but another growl erupted from his stomach and he blushed as he showed off his teeth.

"You hungry boy?" Luffy said as he bent down and tilted his head. "Wanna come home with me? I got some food you can have."

The child glared suspitiously at the teen before him as his stomach made its needs known once again.

Luffy blinked as he sat down on the soaked concrete ground. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked as he tilted his head before he looked like he realized something. "Oh! I didn't introduce myself, did I?" He smiled. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy, age seventeen. Nice to meet you!"

The dog-like child looked at the boy with some confusion before his stomach won the battle and he walked up until he was only half a foot away from the other. "I'm called Roronoa Zoro…" He started.

"Whoa! You can talk!"

"And you're an idiot…"

The teen laughed as he got up. "Zoro, that's a really cool name." He said as he held out his hand. "So, you wanna come home with me?"

Zoro looked at the offered hand and hesitantly brought his up to clasp around the other's hand, who returned it with a gentle grip.

"Do you want me to carry you or are you okay walking?"

"I'll walk."

"Okay, it's not far anyway." He said as he and the dog-child walked back to the street corner and waited for the light to change.

Sometime later they entered an apartment complex and entered through a door that the teen obviously lives in.

"Huh, seems like Sanji isn't here yet." He said as he turned on the light and took off his shoes, which he noticed the dog-child didn't.

"Sanji?"

"My roommate, he makes the greatest dishes around. But let's see what we can get you right now. You look starved." He said as he led the other to the kitchen part of the apartment and looked through the refrigerator and found some slices of ham that he would usually make a sandwich in to bring to school, but he figured that he could make something for the other using the meat. He also looked around to find some vegetables and rice that the other cooked the other day and were going to use tonight due to the seasonings his roommate used. He brought the items out, took two bowls out, cut the slices of ham to dice like bits, and threw one in the microwave to give to the dog-child. "Here you go!" He said as he handed the heated bowl to the said guest.

Zoro sniffed the food and blinked. "Smells good."

"It'll taste great as well." He said as his was done and he watched the other take a careful bite of his food before scarfing it down. "Good?"

Zoro nodded as he chewed his food as he set the bowl down. "Um…"

"Would you like more?"

"If it's no trouble…"

"None at all!" Luffy said with a laugh as he prepared another bowl of food to give to the other.

Soon both had about three bowls worth of food before Luffy looked at the dog-child. "So, Zoro, do you have a place to stay?"

Zoro was silent as he stared at the table.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out as Luffy smiled gently. "Well! Since I don't like the thought of kicking you out if you have nowhere to go, you're just gonna stay here with me and Sanji."

"I don't think this Sanji will like it."

"Don't worry! I'll talk to him, but first I have to get you washed up. You like baths, right?"

"What's that?"

Luffy smiled. "One of many best things in the world!" He said as he picked the boy-child up. "You're in for a treat!" He said as he held the child as he walked to the bathroom and set him down as he turned the water on, checked the temperature, and plugged the tub as he found some soap and put it under the warm running water. When he finds that it was right, he turned to the other with a satisfied smile. "Okay! Now I have to take those clothes off."

"Huh!"

"That's how you take a bath, you can't wash clothes this way, and they have their own way of being washed."

Zoro looked hesitant.

"I'll look away if you want."He said as he did just that. He waited for a moment as he heard the other taking the clothes off, the soft pats of feet on tile, and then the small splash sound. He looked to see the other was covered in the safety of the soapy bubbles and he smiled. "You like it? Is it alright?"

"Uh huh." Zoro said as he sat down and blew some bubbles away, one somehow ended on his nose, making the teen giggle.

"I better find you some clothes to use, these won't do."

"What's wrong with those?"

"First they're dirty, and second, they need to be mended because of the holes." He said as he poked his finger out of one hole to emphasize his point.

"Fine…" Zoro said as he splashed the water again.

Luffy looked around the bathroom and found a scrub and tossed it over to the other. "You can wash off the stuff on your body with this. I'll be back to wash your hair."

"Okay." Zoro said as he dipped the scrub in the water and ran it over his arm and saw that most of the dirt is off.

Once he saw that the other was going to be okay, Luffy walked out of the bath room, placed the dirty clothes in the hamper, and went to his room to look for anything that can fit the boy. He found a black tee and a pair of dark blue boxers and headed back to the bathroom where he saw the other was mostly clean of any dirt.

He grabbed the shampoo bottle, put a small amount on his hand and rubbed it in the boy's hair, scratching the dog-like ears as he did.

"That feels good…" Zoro said with the first wide smile the teen has seen on the boy's face.

Luffy couldn't help but smile as he rinsed the boy's hair using the showerhead before conditioning it.

"What is this stuff?"

"Shampoo and conditioner. It helps clean your hair as well making it look better."

"It's fine the way it is!"

"I know, I like it too, but this will keep it looking like that as well as clean." He said as he rinsed the other off once again as he looked at the other. "Now you're officially clean!" He chuckled as he got up to grab a towel. "Now to dry you off." He held out the towel as he looked away, seeing the other looking uncomfortable of being watched. When he felt the other's small body pressed up against him, he wrapped the towel around and started rubbing him dry. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah… But it was short…"

He chuckled as he put the towel down enough to see the other's face. "I know, I don't like to get out either, but most good things come to an end."

Zoro looked down. "Really?"

"That's always the saying, but don't worry Zoro," He lifted the other's face to meet his eyes. "I've decided to let you stay."

Zoro blinked as the teen dried his hair and ears a bit more before slipping the shirt on and then the boxers.

"Still a bit loose on you, but it'll do until we find you some decent clothes that fit you."

"This is fine though…" Zoro said as he hugged himself as he looked down at the ground.

Luffy smiled as he hugged the other and lifted him up from the ground. "Might as well give you a tour of the place. You already know where the bathroom and kitchen are." He said when both heard the sound of the door opening. "That must be Sanji!" He carried the other back to the living room, where they saw a tall blonde young man of nineteen as he took off his shoes. "Hi Sanji!"

"Hey Lu-" The man said as he looked up to see the dog-child. "Luffy… what the hell is that?"

"This is Zoro! I found him on the streets and he doesn't have a place to go to." Luffy explained. "We already had dinner and I gave him a bath."

"Okay…" Sanji said as he walked up to the two to closer inspect the boy. "Why the hell does he look part dog?"

"Why does your breath smell like smoke?" Zoro said dully, suddenly found himself not liking this unusual blonde, who has a lock of hair covering his left eye and on the right eye there's a strange curl of his brow.

"It talks?"

"He's Zoro, and yeah he talks."

"Luffy… Do you even have the faintest idea what you picked up?"

Luffy looked at Zoro then back at his roommate. "So he's a bit different, that doesn't mean we can't dump him back out so he can starve to death."

Sanji looked at his young roommate for a moment before sighing. "Fine… I guess he can stay the night, but Luffy, you have to find out what he is, alright?"

"Right!" Luffy said as he hugged the boy more, who seemed to return it while glaring at the blonde. "See, what did I tell ya Zoro! He's not a bad guy!"

Zoro looked at the other then back at the blonde. "I guess…" He said as he yawned, making his ears drop a little and rub his eyes.

Luffy smiled as he rubbed the boy's head, specifically behind one of the ears, and watched the other curl up against him. "You'll be sleeping with me tonight, okay?"

Zoro groaned sleepily as he was carried to his caretaker's room, where he fell asleep.

A month went by and Sanji sighed as he fixed dinner. He heard the teen giggle as he looked back to see both the teen and the dog-man playing on the floor. "Oi! Keep it down you two! You want another complaint from the neighbors?"

"Sorry Sanji!" Luffy said happily as Zoro pounced on him, causing him to laugh.

Zoro, at this point, looked about the same age at Sanji, much to the blonde's surprise, but Luffy didn't see anything wrong with it.

"It's weird, Luffy!"

"It's still Zoro."

"He was only a five year old kid last month! Now he's practically my age!"

"It just means that Luffy is taking good care of me." Zoro said casually as he held Luffy close to him, as if to protect him from the blonde's outburst.

"How is that even possible?"

"This is my true form and age. That kid version you saw a month ago is what happens to me when I'm abandoned and mistreated."

'At least that's what he said…' Sanji thought as he looked to see that Luffy was hugging the dog-man, causing the said mix to wag his tail as he hugged back. 'I still don't get how he came to be and why he was wandering around like he was.'

"Hey! Sanji! Is dinner ready?"

"In a minute! You glutton!" He called out as he went back to work. 'Jeeze! And that idiot isn't surprised to see that the kid he was taking care of suddenly turned to a man!' He shivered. 'I can't even get that memory out!'

He was going to wake up Luffy one morning and entered his room, only to scream when he saw the man in the bed with Luffy. He honestly thought it was someone else if not for the ears and tail. Of course Luffy woke up and just hugged the other like usual while the boy, now man glared lazily at him for interrupting his sleep.

"What the hell! Why are you suddenly big!"

"I'm nineteen, Dartbrow." Zoro replied as he hummed in content as Luffy scratched his ear.

"How the hell is that possible!"

"Cause of Luffy." He said sleepily as Luffy giggled.

'Obviously I missed something…' He thought, realizing he was avoiding asking the question, hoping the man can revert back to pipsqueak he would tease about on daily basis, which would piss Luffy off and got on a cuddle spree with the dog-child. "Okay you shit heads, dinner's ready."

"Yay!" Luffy cheered as he and Zoro went over to the table, said their thanks and started to chow down.

'Maybe as good a time as any.' He thought as he sighed. "Oi, can I ask you to something?"

"Sure, what is it?" Luffy said as he continued to eat.

"Well… remember when this guy," He pointed to Zoro, "suddenly became older after the month he spent with us?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"You didn't seem surprised to see that at all."

"That's because you weren't taking care of him. I am." He said like it was the most simplest thing in the world.

"That's what I don't get. How is taking care of him suppose to do that?"

"Because he was a chibi when I brought him in. And when he's taken care of and showed the amount of care that he should receive, in return he goes back to his true age and returns the favor for protecting me and anyone I care about."

"In other words you'd be lucky if I have to save your pretty boy ass." Zoro said dully as he finished his meal as he thanked it once more and got up to place his dish away.

"A chibi?"

"Yep! You know what they are!"

"Yeah, I do, but how the hell is it possible! That's what I'm fucking asking!"

"Oh, that's because Zoro is a special breed of Inujin."

"Inu-what?"

"Dog person." Zoro said. "There's more out there."

"How the hell did you get here?"

"No idea." He said as he rested his chin on the teen's shoulder. "I just woke up one day alone and knew I had to fend for myself."

"So… there's more like you out there, wandering around waiting to be picked up?"

"I wouldn't say that." Zoro said as he wrapped his arms around Luffy's waist. "It's really hard to explain, but… Before Luffy found me, whenever someone spotted me, I get this huge alarming instinct and run away. With Luffy, there wasn't that feeling that I expected."

"What are you saying? That Luffy is your soul partner or something?"

"To put it bluntly." He said as Luffy thanked his meal.

"So, what does that mean?"

"It means I'm bound to protect him until the end. And once the end comes I shall immediately follow."

"So it's like some 'Romeo and Juliet' thing there?"

"Unfortunately, yeah. I don't know why though, but something tells me that's how it should be."

Sanji sighed as he got up to put his dish away. "I'm going to take a walk."

"You better not have smoke on you when you come back! That shit bugs my sense of smell you know!" Zoro called as Luffy held him.

"Can it, Puppy."

"Oi! I'm not a pup!"

Sanji got out of the apartment and walked down to the crisp autumn air. He dug into his coat pocket and took out a cigarette and a lighter. Before he brought the flame to the tip of the cancer stick, he heard a whimper in an alley and walked carefully into the dark alley to find what looked like a child with curly black hair that reached a little past his shoulders, dark tan skin, floppy dog ears, a short tail, and when the child looked behind him, he can see the child has an unusually long nose.

"D-Don't hurt me, mister!" The child said as he held onto the dirty and torn clothes that barely fit the unhealthy thin frame.

"Oi… What are you doing out here on your own? It's dangerous."

"I-I-I know that! B-B-But I h-have nowhere to go!" He said, shivering like a leaf in a windstorm.

'Wait a sec… Luffy found Zoro similar to this, right?' He thought as he sighed. "Listen, I'm going to take you to my place. My roommate has someone similar to you and I can see you're starved. Come on."

"Y-You're not gonna hurt me?"

"Why would I hurt someone smaller and weaker than me? Besides I don't hurt kids unless they're too bratty for their own good."

The dog-child hesitantly followed the blonde up to the apartment complex, where he let the other enter first.

"Here we are." Sanji said as he watched the odd dog-child enter carefully and fearfully looking up at him while taking another step.

"Hey Sanji! You came back quicker than usual."

"I found a guest who'd be staying with us for some time." He said, still unsure if the Inujin are gonna be around.

"Oh?" Luffy said as he looked to see their new guest, which Zoro joined in. "Hi there! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, and this is my aibou, Roronoa Zoro."

"Yo." Zoro said as he relaxed back on the couch.

"H-Hello… I-I'm U-Usopp…"

"Usopp? That's a silly name." Luffy said with a giggle.

"So is yours!" Usopp said as the blonde came back out with a plate.

"You've met Sanji already." Luffy pointed out.

"Usopp, right?" Sanji asked as he saw the other nod. "Your food is ready, and you better get it before Luffy does, he likes to steal food."

With a loud grumble from the dog-child's stomach, Usopp ran to where the plate is and started eating.

"Oi! Oi! Slow down you're gonna choke yourself!"

A month went by and Usopp now resembles a seventeen year old, and was enjoying life with the other three. He helps out with Sanji in the kitchen, even though he was warned that the kitchen is the blonde's territory. He was also artistic and the blonde enjoyed the paintings the other makes that he often gets albums and frames along with groceries.

Soon they found others like Zoro and Usopp, and for some strange reason that's beyond the odd four, Zoro and Luffy became lovers and Sanji and Usopp were still wrapping the idea around if this was possible. But they both agreed that the two were far too close to be partners for too long.

All in all, they lived in peace… Minus the constant teasing and arguing between Zoro and Sanji, laughing from Luffy, and cries of the world ending from Usopp.

But all in all they're a happy loving family… if you don't count the rough housing fight that also goes on with Zoro and Sanji, but that's what Luffy and Usopp are there for… even if they just made things worse.

But they didn't kill each other, that counts for something.

I really liked how this one turned out. Hope you guys enjoyed it as well!