Chapter Three: Human Males and Vets

Kana followed the two girls down the driveway towards a pretty house with flowers dotting the yard. Kana spared a look around before Sakura beckoned her forward. She opened the door and called into the house, "Oniichan?" before she and Tomoyo removed her shoes. Kana sat on the front porch, hesitating to go in. "Come on, Suki," she chirped. Tomoyo gently patted her leg encouraging, giggling sweetly.

"Bless her heart, she's shy," Tomoyo laughed. Kana wagged her tail hesitantly, unused to the action. The girls darted up the stairs and Kana followed, slowly on her injured leg, unsure of what else to do. She followed their scent into a small bedroom down the hallway where both girls had flopped on the bed, giggling moronically. Kana tilted her head as she followed them inside.

"Here girl, come up here," Sakura invited. Kana growled. That's where she drew the line. She settled on a soft spot on the floor and begun to lick her wounds once more. Sakura watched with a half smile on her face.

"What are you going to do?" Tomoyo asked.

"Can you keep her?"

"Are you kidding? My mother won't even let me keep a goldfish, much less a large dog that bites." Sakura had climbed off the bed and stooped next to her on the floor. She reached out her hand to pet Kana, but she growled her away. She was to cagey indoors to tolerate being touched. The door opened and a male voice called upstairs for Sakura.

"Toya!" Sakura gasped. "Coming Oniichan!" she called out the door. "Tomoyo, can you keep her up here for a while? I'll be back" She shut the door behind her, though the action wasn't necessary. She didn't have to instruct Tomoyo to keep Kana upstairs. The male voice below was enough to keep her at bay. She crawled under Sakura's bed to avoid being seen by Toya. Tomoyo clicked her tongue.

"I know, he scares me too," she sympathized.

"Suki, here girl!" she heard Sakura call from the bottom of the stairs. Kana didn't respond.

"Incase you're wondering, that's you," Tomoyo said sarcastically. Kana growled. Sakura bobbed up the stairs with a tall, dark-haired boy behind her. Kana growled at him. Sakura snapped her fingers and called her name. Kana reacted with a snarl and retreated further under the bed, far away from Toya.

"Are you kidding, Squirt? That dog's a hospital visit waiting to happen."

"She's injured. She was hit by a car today." Toya rolled his eyes and sat down on Sakura's bed.

"You know dad's not going to let you keep this dog, don't you?"

"Can't you talk to him?"

"I can try, I've been telling him we need a dog around here for years, but I doubt he'll listen." Tomoyo nodded. "Besides, don't you want a puppy?"

"No, I don't want a puppy. Suki needs me." The door opened downstairs and Sakura bit her lip. "We'll stall him. Don't let her go downstairs," she commanded Tomoyo as she grabbed Toya's hand and bolted down the stairs.

"Come on, old girl. Get out from under there," Tomoyo cooed as Kana slid out from under the bed, sniffing the air for any trace of the human males. She could smell them both downstairs along with Sakura. She whimpered softly and felt Tomoyo's comforting hand stroking her ears. "You don't like Toya, do you? It's ok, his bark is worse then his bite." Kana heard voices ascending the stairs and she bolted under the bed again. Sakura's father opened the door and Kana growled from under the bed. Mr. Kinomoto eyed his daughter suspiciously.

"She's hiding," Sakura supplied. "Suki, get out from under there." Kana growled in response.

"I don't think she likes men very much," Tomoyo said. "Remember, Sakura, how she kept snapping those guys away from her when she was hit by the car?" Sakura nodded.

"She's probably been abused," her father replied. He ducked down to look under the bed and Kana shrunk back even further, growling at the interloper. "Come on out, Sweetheart. Come on." Kana reluctantly slid out from under the bed, crouching down and growling at the presence of the males. Fujitaka Kinomoto reached out his hand to clasp Kana's muzzle gently. He pulled up her gums to look at her teeth. "She's pretty young, only about two and a half years old in human years, which would make her about eighteen in dog years. Yeah, you're a good little girl, aren't you?" he cooed softly. She growled ever so slightly, a gentle warning. Sakura's father released her from his grip on her and she pawed her muzzle, trying to get rid of the feeling of his hands on her fur. "Sakura, I don't know about this dog. I'm sure she'll bite." He sighed and looked at Sakura's pleading eyes. "I guess we can take her to the vet and see what they say." Sakura gasped and through her arms around her father's neck.

Kana, however, bolted back under the bed.

Kana crouched in the back seat of the car, shivering, as they pulled into the vet's office. Using a rope she had found in the garage, Sakura tugged Kana out of the car and into the building. Kana whimpered softly, smelling more humans inside then she cared to come in contact with. Sakura's father signed them in at the front desk as Sakura and Tomoyo tried to calm the dog down. Toya was looking around at the pictures on the wall. Tomoyo looked around, to make sure no one was listening, before turning to Sakura, whispering in her ear. "I bet she would make a good cardcaptor, don't you think?"

"Who, Suki?"

"Yeah. I bet's she's got a good nose. She could maybe be like a sidekick, or something."

"I thought you were my sidekick, Tomoyo," Sakura responded with a giggle. Tomoyo giggled as well and Kana decided that she didn't like human females much more then human males.

"Just the same, we should talk to Kero-chan. Maybe she could be your mascot, or something."

"I'm not a football player, Tomoyo, I don't need a mascot." Tomoyo giggled.

Giggling should be illegal, Kana reasoned. Suddenly, what they were saying reached her ears. Cardcaptor! She remembered, then, why she had started following Sakura and Tomoyo in the first place, because Sakura reeked so heavily of Clow Reed's Magic. She took another hard sniff to confirm her suspicions. She remembered those infernal Clow Cards that Clow Reed created when she was with him. She remembered how much trouble he said they could cause when they were released. And now the dumb kid's released them, she thought vehemently. She growled. Stupid human!

She was licking her sore leg again and Sakura petted her head gently. "Does it hurt, Suki?" she cooed lovingly. Kana gave her a "no duh" growl. Sakura's father sat down next to her and began filling out forms. Kana scanned the room, looking at the other pets and their humans. A small dog sat in a little girl's lap, a black kitten sat in a box being stroked by an adult female, and an old man stroked his German shepherd's ears. The shepherd barked softly at her and Kana growled in response. He tilted his head and touched his nose to hers. Kana was surprised by the contact, so surprised that she whimpered. She felt a gentle tug at her neck as Sakura stood, walking towards the back door.

"So, this is Suki?" said a female human as they entered a small room. The doctor stooped down and looked in her eyes, ears, and mouth. "Her teeth look good," she said. She ran a hand down her back, feeling the mussels and bones. "She's got a broken rib or two. We can do an x-rays to see for sure." She ran the same hand down her back legs. "Her back hip feels dislocated too." Kana yelped as her hand touched the gash on her leg. "She doesn't bite, does she?"

"Maybe," Sakura said.

"Come on, Sweetie, lay down for me," she said as she eased the dog down. Kana nipped her hand. "She'll need stitches in her leg too. Are you planning to keep her?" Sakura, Toya, and Tomoyo looked at Mr. Kinomoto with pleading smiles. He sighed.

"I guess." Kana rolled her eyes. The doctor smiled.

"She'll probably make a good pet. I'm going to sedate her so I can stitch up her back leg and fix up her back hip and ribs." Sakura stroked her head gently and Kana shook her off.