It had been several days since the pup was brought into the dojo. She healed remarkably and was bounding around in no time.
Toshizo and Kondo were both surprised to find out that she had no broken bones, despite how she looked.
Now, she began to form a typical habit, which Kondo found interesting. Around noon, she would sit at the front of the dojo and wait for Toshizo to arrive, there she would greet him, and follow him around the dojo until he left, where she would go to the gate but never go past it, and watch him walk away.
Kondo heard her whimper a couple times, but he bent down, patted her head and reassured her that Toshizo would come back.
It had been several weeks since the pup arrived. She was gaining a healthy weight and started to grow.
Toshizo was hell bent on not naming it because he was sure it would run away.
Kondo, however, was thinking of names while he was sitting in the sparring hall watching his students. "I'm telling you, Toshi," Kondo said, "She's not going anywhere. She refuses to go outside the gate." Kondo explained to Toshizo, who was getting ready to spar with another student.
"It doesn't matter what she does now, she will eventually leave on her own terms." Toshizo finished tying his hakama. "So we shouldn't become attached." Toshizo looked down at the pup by his feet, which was happily panting and wagging her tail.
"I think she's too attached to you to go anywhere," Kondo chuckled slightly.
Toshizo glared at him out of the corner of his eye. Toshizo started to spar another student. Toshizo was good and fast, but for some reason, he felt off today. Toshizo wasn't paying attention and went to parry the boken too late and he got hit on the upper left arm.
Suddenly, the student was jerked backwards. "Oi!" He looked behind him and down.
It was the pup. She was growling as viciously as her puppy voice would let her and had a mouth full of his hakama and was vigorously shaking her head back and forth.
Suddenly, the whole dojo erupted in laughter. Toshizo had a pulse mark over his right temple. He went and picked the pup up, who only let go of the hakama when she felt a hand scruff her neck. Toshizo glared at the pup as he brought her face to face with himself and all the pup did was wag her tail and lick Toshizo's face. Toshizo winced and wiped the slobber off with the back of his hand.
Kondo laughed, "I don't know, Toshizo! Ha ha ha, she's getting pretty attached to you!" Kondo couldn't help but laugh at the pup. "She was quick to get over there too. Once she saw you get hit, she bolted over there." Suddenly, it hit Kondo. "Hey, now there's an idea, bolt, lightning, Rai!"
Toshizo put the pup down and it scampered over to Kondo, "How does that sound? Rai?" The pup barked and wagged her tail in excitement of her new name. "Rai it is then!" Kondo smiled triumphantly and stroked the pup's, now called Rai, head. Kondo began to coo to the pup using her new name.