A 17 year old Toshizo Hijikata walked down the same dirt path towards the same dojo he had been attending classes for several months now. He had his box of herbs on his back and was in his usual black attire he used for peddling.
The path was paralleled by woods on one side while the other was a farmer's field that led to a river.
As he rounded a slight curve, the bushes rustled a little, causing him to stop and look over his left shoulder. He went for a small dagger he kept with him in case of Ronin or robbers along the way.
Out of the rustling bushes wobbled a little greyish brown pup that was coated in blood and limping. The small, roughly 10 kg, pup looked at him with dull brown eyes and an unsteady stance. It slowly limped up to him and leaned against his legs and slid down to pass out on his feet with a sigh.
Toshizo felt the cold pup against him and knew this wasn't going to end well. He looked around, trying to see if he could find the parents of the pup, or what did this to the poor creature. Once he deemed the place empty except for the pup and himself, he let go of his dagger and looked down at the passed out pup. He slid one of his feet out from under the pup.
The pup opened its eyes and looked up at him.
He sighed. He had to put this pup out of its misery. He bent down and grabbed the pup by the scruff.
The pup wagged its tail weakly as Toshizo brought it face to face. The pup even weakly licked his face.
Toshizo scuffed and wiped off the slobber with the back of his free hand. He brought the pup to his chest and cradled it before setting off into the woods.
The pup nuzzled into him affectionately.
Toshizo let the pup, knowing that it was going to be the last affection it would ever receive. He got to a place far enough from the path, where he decided to put the pup down. He knelt beneath a tree and put the pup down on the grass. He removed his bag before dealing with the pup. He pulled out his dagger and unsheathed it.
The pup watched him with slight interest in its dulled eyes.
Toshizo picked up the pup again. "Sorry, pup." He whispered before bringing the dagger close to the pup.
Suddenly, the pup bit the hand that was holding it, not enough to draw blood, but enough to let him know it wasn't needle teeth in that mouth.
"Ow," He winced and dropped the pup.
The pup suddenly seemed to come alive. Every time he grabbed the pup, it stayed still but when he brought his dagger near it, it would struggle, scratch, and bite him. During the battle, he figured out it was a female when it flipped over on its back to use its paws to keep his hand at bay.
"I'm trying to be nice to you and end your suffering," Toshizo sighed before putting the dagger away in its sheath. "It looks like you want to go down the hard way." Toshizo said and grabbed his pack and stood up.
The pup hobbled over to him.
He turned and began to walk back to the path. He glanced over his shoulder every once in a while.
The pup was still following him.
Once he reached the path, he looked again; the pup was farther back, but still following him. He sighed and continued on his path to the dojo. He finally arrived at the dojo.
Kondo was waiting at the gate for him, arms crossed and slightly leaning on the gate frame. "You finally got here," Kondo smiled then looked up and over Toshizo to the path behind him. Toshizo turned around to look at what Kondo was looking at.
It's the little pup from before; she had just capped the little hill and is hobbling her way towards the dojo gate.
Toshizo let out a slightly aggravated sigh.
"It looks wounded." Kondo stated before he unfolded his arms and walked towards the pup.
The pup had made her way to about 2 meters from the front of the dojo gate. She stopped and looked up at Kondo, who stopped in front of her.
Kondo reached down to pick the pup up. He held her up under her front legs on her chest. "Did it follow you all this way, Toshi?" Kondo asked looking the pup up and down before looking over his shoulder at Toshizo.
"Unfortunately," Toshizo sighed, "I tried to get rid of it, but it refused and continued to follow me."
"She's pretty injured," Kondo mentioned.
The pup began to squirm in Kondo's grasp.
Kondo put her down and watched her as she wobbled over to Toshizo and painfully sat at his feet to look up at him, her tail wagging weakly. Kondo chuckled, "It looks like she likes you."
Toshizo sighed in agitation. He crouched down and patted the pup's head. "It'd be too much trouble to keep her here." Toshizo told Kondo, trying to make sure Kondo wasn't thinking of keeping the pup.
"She'd be nice to keep around," Kondo stated, walking up and looking down at the happy injured pup in front of Toshizo. "It won't be any trouble to keep her here for you."
Toshizo shot his gaze up to Kondo, "She's not mine."
Kondo chuckled, "Looks like someone begs to differ." Kondo looked down again at the pup in front of them.
Toshizo looked down at the pup.
The pup tried to get up and struggled into Toshizo's lap.
Toshizo sighed and scooped the pup up into his arms and stood up. "I'll clean up her wounds and make sure there are no broken bones." Toshizo stated while turning and walking into the dojo.