The Dog In Her (1)

Egg salad sandwich wasn't her favorite. A lot of food from camp left much to be desired, really.

Still, Aoi was grateful to have something in her hands to keep them from shaking. She was sure that Labramon could hear her heart beating like a taiko drum in her chest. If she did, she was too nice to say it aloud.

A bright voice snapped Aoi out of her thoughts. "Who would've thought we live that close to each other?" Sitting beside Aoi on the wooden bench, Saki swung her legs back and forth. "You'll come visit, right?"

Aoi tried to break the tension inside her with a smile. "Of course I will. And you can always come see me too."

"It's a deal. I love that for us." Saki stretched her arms for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Did Shuuji finally get picked up or what?"

No sooner had she said that, the older boy came and went from a nearby window in a flash. A flash of him again, this time in the opposite direction. Still pacing around outside, Aoi guessed. She had caught a glimpse of his partner perched on his shoulders. Lopmon had one long brown ear draped over Shuuji to shield him from the sun.

Saki shook her head. "That guy doesn't know how to sit still."

Aoi frowned. "I can't say I blame him, knowing the kind of family he has..."

At least she and her friends had each other's backs when they came back to camp with their partners, trying to rein in the ensuing hysteria that had almost blown apart the school. Takuma had taken the lead, as he did for most things, to explain the existence of Kemonogami. Others have said that Aoi had also done a lot to calm everyone down with cool-headed rationale. That was out of the way now, but there were still families to deal with. That everyone had to sort out on their own.

Camp ended earlier this morning, with most of the kids picked up by their families within a few hours. Kaito and Miu lived in the area and didn't need to be picked up, of course, but they had to head home so they wouldn't worry their parents. Aoi, Saki, and Shuuji, on the other hand, lived the farthest away from camp. That left them the last waiting to be picked up. Sitting alone in the gym just with Saki and their partners, with no adult chaperones in obvious sight, brought Aoi back to the old, abandoned school she and the other Survivors had called their home for what seemed like a stranded eternity.

The Survivors, that was what they had called themselves. Or what Minoru had called their little ragtag band, to be exact. As often as Aoi would roll her eyes at the antics of the resident jokester, she had to admit that the name had a nice ring to it.

Dust motes made a slow, lazy dance in shafts of sunlight that streamed through the gym windows. Saki huffed a sigh, which turned into a sneeze that sent the nearest motes from a dance into a frenzy.

"We've been here forever," she whined, dragging out the last word. "If I could have my own car and drive, we'd all be home by now."

Aoi wrinkled her nose. "If you went a hundred-thirty kilometers an hour the whole way, maybe."

Saki giggled. "I would if I could!"

"That sounds like fun," Floramon said with a huge grin.

"That sounds dangerous," Labramon said with a small frown.

"Honestly, I don't mind the wait." Aoi felt like she needed all the time in the world to prepare for what came next.

The wild, harrowing, often death-defying journey through that other world was over. So was camp. Soon the two worlds would merge. Contact between humans and Kemonogami was inevitable.

"You're nervous about your family meeting me, aren't you?" Labramon gazed up at Aoi, her eyes as gentle as her inquiry.

"Yeah, I am." Aoi forced herself to take a bite of cold, bland sandwich. Anything to relieve her tight, dry throat. "But it can't be helped. Besides, if there's any Kemonogami my parents have to run into, I'd rather you be the first."

Labramon tilted her head. "What are your parents like? I didn't get the chance to ask earlier."

Aoi didn't get the chance to answer. She opened her mouth just as one of the teachers poked his head through the gym door and called for her.

"My dad's here. I have to go." Aoi rose to her feet, slung the strap of her bookbag over her shoulder, and glanced back at Saki. "You'll be okay here?"

The younger girl winked. "Don't worry about me. We got our fearless leader patrolling the block."

Floramon waved her frilly purple hand. "And she's got me, of course!"

Saki rolled up the sleeves of her pink jacket, putting on a very solemn game face. "We'll hold down the fort to bravely fight off our worst enemy: sheer boredom."

Aoi fought back a laugh. "I know you'll win." She played along with giving Saki a salute, then she turned, took a deep breath, and headed out of the gym to confront her own obstacle.

Her father waited at the curb in his truck, his build and frame not towering over his daughter only because he sat behind the wheel. Aoi picked up her brisk stride into what she hoped was an easy loping run, not a terrified scramble up to him.

"Morning, kiddo," he said as he rolled the window down. "Or should I say afternoon? Sorry for the long wait."

"It's all good, Dad."

His muscular hair-matted arm rested on the edge of the window. He looked down to address what his eyes had been tracking the moment Aoi had stepped outside the gym. "You must be the new friend my girl was talking about."

"Yes, sir," Labramon replied.

To Aoi's relief, her father didn't fall over in surprise at Labramon opening her mouth. Good thing she had that talk over the phone with her dad beforehand. She wanted to make this encounter as smooth and painless as possible.

Aoi forced herself to take in another deep, calming breath. "Dad, I'd like you to meet Labramon. Labramon, this is my father, Tatsuo Shibuya."

Labramon sat on her haunches to give a proper, formal bow. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Shibuya."

The ends of his dark moustache perked with his smile. "You are very well-mannered. I appreciate polite company. Hop in, it's a long drive back home."

Aoi opened the back car door for Labramon and helped her partner get strapped into the backseat before joining her dad up front. She almost collapsed into the front seat beside him. Mixed relief and exhaustion had turned her legs into boneless jelly.

A faraway shout made Aoi look out the window. Saki had emerged from the gym to stand beside Shuuji, and they waved at her as Tatsuo drove the truck away. Aoi waved back until her friends dwindled out of sight.

Her father glanced at the rearview mirror. "How's the air back there? Not too cold for you?"

"It's perfectly fine, Mr. Shibuya," Labramon replied.

Tatsuo shook his head and said in a lower voice, "Well, I'll be. A talking animal. And there's more of them too."

"There will be a lot more coming, Dad," Aoi said softly. "It's only a matter of time."

The car left the winding backwood roads and got on the freeway. Aoi caught a whiff of cologne from her dad. He'd put that on to mask the stench of sweat and smoke-just one of many quirks with having a firefighter dad. The familiar smell of family and home comforted her.

Tatsuo didn't turn on the usual rock music. No one said anything for a while. Then he said, "We have to talk about your mom."

Her fists on her lap and her gut clenched at the same time. "She needs to know. Labramon is very important to me. She isn't just some stray dog I picked up off the street."

"She definitely doesn't look and sound like she's from around here, that's for sure." Tatsuo glanced at his daughter. "Just what kind of mess did you get yourself into?" The naked disbelief in his eyes softened. "It's a long drive. We got plenty of time, kiddo."

There was so much Aoi couldn't talk about over text and call. He was right, this was a good time to explain everything. So she did her best to sum up the adventure she had, starting from the moment she and her friends had stumbled into that strange shrine. An hour passed when she finally stopped to wrap up and catch her breath.

Tatsuo stared ahead, as if there was a fork in the road and he contemplated which side to take. Finally he said, "That's a lot to take in."

"Yeah, and a lot of it is really weird. I don't blame you if you-"

"No, I believe you." He made a looping turn to merge into another freeway. "You got a good head on your shoulders, Aoi. You're not the kind of person to make up stuff out of the blue. You don't speak up unless there's real good reason to."

Relief filled her like rising warm air again.

"Besides, I can already tell that you've changed a lot since I last saw you."

"Really?"

"If it's only been a few days at camp but a lot longer in that other world, then yeah, there's been enough time for you to come out a very different person. In a good way, of course." Tatsuo reached over to briefly rest a hand on her shoulder. "This is the most I've ever heard you talk. You sound so sure of yourself. If you told me that the earth is flat, and I didn't know any better, I'd believe you. I'm so proud of you, kiddo."

Her cheeks warmed. "Dad..."

He sighed through his nose. "We need to figure out the best way to tell your mom, though. It'll take a lot more work to get through to her, if we can at all."

We. Dad was taking her side. That reassured Aoi immensely. Still, she didn't want to think about her mom now. As grateful as she was for her father believing her so easily, the combined efforts of explaining everything to the kids at camp and then him took a lot out of her. Talking to her mom about Labramon was a whole other hurdle to jump over.

Tatsuo seemed to take the hint as he exited the freeway to the nearest gas station. "How about a bathroom break and snacks for the road?"

When he got out to fill up the car with gas, Aoi turned in her seat to look back at Labramon. "I'm sorry, but you should stay in here. I don't know how people out there will react to you. I'll go in and get you whatever you want."

Labramon wagged her fluffy tail. "Sure, I understand. And I'll have whatever you're having."

Aoi was glad to have such an agreeable partner. She remembered Takuma telling her how much Agumon had put up a protest about staying hidden.

She couldn't help asking, "What do you think of my father?"

Labramon replied without hesitation, "He may look big and scary, but he's a kind and reasonable man."

"Good, I'm glad you like him."

"He reminds me a lot of you."

"Does he?" It had never occurred to Aoi that she took after her dad in any way. If anything, she had always wished she could be half as brave and strong as him. He could run into burning buildings while she couldn't even speak up for herself in class.

She was mulling over this as she browsed the snack aisle, and seeing the sweets jerked her out of those thoughts. She had claimed that Labramon was not an ordinary dog, but she wasn't sure if her partner could eat chocolate. Better to be safe than sorry, she thought. Aoi loaded up on the shrimp chips, rice crackers, and ramune instead.

She paid for the snacks and drinks in a sort of daze, every movement a second delayed. Back in the other world, she was so used to fetching rations for herself and her friends without going through anyone else. The idea of forking over cash in exchange felt foreign to her now.

Welcome back to the real world, she told herself.

Soon the "real world" wouldn't be even that anymore, but a new one as the world of Kemonogami would seep more and more into the fabric of reality. According to the mural, things would go back to the way it should be. Aoi didn't know what that would be like. The idea of it both excited and terrified her. No one, not even any of the Survivors, was truly ready for that new era. Didn't mean that Aoi wasn't going to do anything she could to prepare her family, though.

She returned to the car popping open a bag of chips for Labramon, then a bag of her dad's favorite brand of wasabi-flavored rice crackers for him to grab from the cup holder.

"These are so good!" Labramon had shrimp chip dust all around her snout. "I can't stop eating these! Human food is something else."

It heartened Aoi to hear her dad laugh at that. "I don't know what kind of food you had where you came from, but I can't argue with you there."

"Aoi's cooking is even better," Labramon added.

"Dad's cooking is the best," Aoi said modestly. "Everything I know about cooking, I learned from him."

When her dad wasn't busy putting out fires, he was an amateur cook who loved being around another kind of fire, the kind from the grill in their backyard. Despite the bag of shrimp chips she was eating from, Aoi now craved her dad's barbecue from home. She wanted Labramon to try it sometime.

Her four-legged companion through thick and thin was part of her family now. Aoi wanted to believe in that very badly. It wasn't up to her, though.

Aoi looked at the rearview mirror to meet Labramon's eyes, wishing she could face her partner properly for this kind of conversation. "I'd love for you to come home with us, believe me, but the thing with my mom..." She sighed. "Well, two things. One, she's allergic to anything with fur on it..."

"What does allergic mean?"

"It's um...the body's way of overreacting to certain things, like to peanuts or dust," Aoi replied. "In my mom's case, fur makes her cough, sneeze, and itch all over."

"I'll try not to touch her, I can keep my distance."

"Just you being nearby would set her off. Her allergies are pretty bad. But that's not even the worst of it. Two, she's terrified of dogs. Utterly, irrationally terrified of them."

Labramon frowned. "I'm not a dog."

"I know, but she won't."

"This huge fear she has, it's called a phobia," Tatsuo said. "When you're so afraid of something, you can't think straight. Your mind and body go into panic overdrive, fight or flight mode, as if you're in a life or death situation."

"That sounds terrible," Labramon said. Her pink ears drooped. "So it's probably for the best that she doesn't meet me at all."

Aoi bit down on her lip. "I wish it doesn't have to come to that..."

She hadn't thought about where Labramon could go besides her house. More like she didn't want to think about it. Now she forced herself. Her mind blanked out on the options, her stomach sunk lower and lower into a pit of despair...

Aoi's phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her. It was a text from Takuma in the Survivor group chat.

"Introduced Agumon to my mom," the text said. "He loves her curry so much that he ate two bowls in under a minute. He's a keeper in her book, she said."

Aoi wished that winning over her mother could be that simple.

Next came the string of laughing emojis from everyone else.

Another text from Takuma, this time asking if the late stragglers got home okay. "Still on the road," Aoi texted back.

Incoming call from Saki. Aoi picked up.

"Hey, beat you home," Saki declared from the other end.

Aoi could not help laughing. "It's not a race, Saki." That girl had a talent for lightening up the mood without driving her up the wall like Minoru would. "How are things at home?"

"Oh, just swell. It's love at first sight. Mom and Dad adore Floramon. 'You got what you wished for,' my dad said."

"What does he mean by that?"

"Try not to laugh, this is going to sound silly, but I'm in my school's gardening club and I'd talk to the plants. You know, complaining about boys and too much homework."

Aoi didn't laugh. "Talking to plants is actually good for them. Something about how they grow more from the sound waves and carbon dioxide we emit. I read that somewhere."

"Of course you did. You're so smart, Aoi." Saki said that with no sass whatsoever, but with genuine admiration. "Thank you for validating my craziness."

Aoi laughed then. "You're welcome, I guess."

"Anyway, I'd always wish that the plants could talk back. Well, I ended up with something better. I got Floramon!"

"Congratulations. It sounds like it couldn't have ended any better."

"Right? I hope it goes well for you, too."

"I don't know about that."

"Why not?"

Aoi paused, but not for long. With Saki, she felt like she could tell her anything, no holds barred. "My mom won't react well to meeting Labramon. She definitely wouldn't let her stay in our house. She's allergic to dogs and has a phobia of them."

Saki winced. "That's tough, I'm sorry." Then her voice went up an octave. "Hey, I got an idea. If you're having trouble figuring out where Labramon should go instead, why not let her stay at my place with me and Floramon?"

Aoi sat up straighter in her car seat. "Oh, Saki, are you sure?"

"That's a great idea," Floramon's voice floated in from the background. "Labramon should at least be with friends, if not with Aoi's family. Definitely not out on the streets alone."

"Definitely not," Aoi swiftly agreed. The very thought of Labramon wandering around without food and shelter like a stray sent a vice through her chest. "But Saki, is that really okay?"

"Sure it is! I have to let Mom and Dad know, but I'm sure they'll understand. There's plenty of food and room at my place for both our partners."

Aoi slumped in her seat, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. "Saki, I can't thank you enough. That's so kind of you..."

"After everything you did to keep all of us alive, it's the least I can do."

"No, this is huge. Thank you, really." Aoi's voice began to tremble. "How can I repay-"

"Uh uh, don't mention it. Labramon can stay rent-free for as long as she needs to."

Aoi couldn't get anything out now, her throat all choked up with emotion. Labramon spoke in her stead from the back of the truck.

"Thank you so much, Saki. Aoi and I are grateful from the bottom of our hearts."

"Just helping out friends in need. Oh, got to go. Dinner's ready. Call me back when you're going to drop off Labramon!"

Aoi hung up, still overwhelmed beyond words.

"So that's Saki, huh?" Tatsuo said. "She seems like a sweet girl."

"The sweetest," Aoi finally managed to say. And the bravest. And the strongest. Everything Aoi wanted to be but couldn't be. She couldn't help feeling a swell of envy rising with admiration for the other girl. Floramon was taken in and accepted just like that. Then again, with the unseen burden Saki had to bear, she deserved that much to have something go that easy when everything else in her life was so damn hard. A stab of guilt swiftly followed that ebb of envy.

"Labramon staying with your friend Saki is a really good start," Tatsuo said.

Aoi nodded in agreement. She could rest easy knowing that Labramon would be safe, and she could avoid being less than honest and upfront with her mom by sneaking Labramon into the house and hiding her somewhere. If there was anything her mother hated more than dogs, it was dishonesty. And if there was anything her mother loved second only to the family, it was being considerate.

Since the moment she had learned to speak, Aoi had learned next from her mom to always think of others before herself, always be considerate. Aoi was resorting to Labramon being housed elsewhere out of consideration for her mom. That much was true. She hoped her mom would come to appreciate that.

Tatsuo ran fingers through his short dark hair. "She's already worried about you as it is. She's been fretting since she last heard of the landslides near the camp."

Aoi was well aware of that. Back in the other world, in the deepest level of the shrine, she had been startled with the least garbled text she had seen so far. That text was from her mom. She could just hear the worry coming off those half-garbled words.

"Let's get back home and make sure Mom knows I'm okay," Aoi said. "Then when the dust settles down, we can try introducing Labramon to her."

A sensible plan, in her opinion. Too much all at once wouldn't go down well with her mom, or she'd have a full-blown panic attack.

Every second in the truck with her dad brought Aoi closer to home. After everything she went through, she should relax now. Unfortunately she felt anything but relaxed. Together with Labramon, Aoi had conquered a murderous fog and beastly gods. So why did her heart beat so hard and fast in her chest, as if she was about to face her greatest enemy yet?