Chapter Seven
The next day, I felt better and made up for all my chores for the day before.
The day after that, my mom happened to call. She asked why I didn't call her, and she would've called earlier if it didn't keep forgetting to. After I had assured her that everything was fine and a long explanation of what had happened after I moved in (all lies of course) she bid me farewell and hung up.
The day after that, we got a call from Reiji.
He was rearranging the furniture around the house for another table and sprained his wrist or something while moving a shelf with some movers. Now guess who he was asking for help?
Us.
This led to a very grumpy Shinji complaining and asking why he had to help him as we walked all the way to Reiji's house, why we had to help him.
"Because he's your brother." I explained as we walked closer to his house every step, "And he's been taking care of you for most of your life." "It was a rhetorical question." He snapped. But I merely ignored him as I rang the doorbell.
"Oh, you're here!" Reiji exclaimed, opening the door. When I saw his full body, I saw that his wrist was in a light wrapping.
Just as I was about to step in, I squealed as I felt something furry push past my legs and rush in. "Oh, no." Reiji said, "I keep telling him he's not supposed to come inside! After letting him in once, he won't stop."
"What was that?" I squeaked. "That was the dog." Reiji explained. "Oh, so that was it." I said, regaining my regular voice, "Shinji did say something about having a dog." "Well, he's not really our dog." Reiji said, "Shinji found him down the street a few years ago and started taking care of it secretly. Right Shinji?"
He just merely pushed past him and walked inside coolly.
"Well, come on in." He said gesturing me with his hand. I stepped in and was attacked by a huge fuzz ball. I shut my eyes as I waited for the impact. "Oof." I grunted as my bottom hit the floor.
When I opened my eyes, I squeaked, for there was a big, dirty, hairy dog on top of me. And I instantly sat up, trying to get him off of me. Instead, he just relocated his paws so that they were pressed on top of my lap.
His hair covered his eyes and I could feel the pressure as he let out each pant of air. He almost looked like he was smiling the way the corner of his mouth was slightly upward. He was very cute, however smelly he was.
I reluctantly lifted my hand and scratched his under his large, floppy ears. He nudged against my hand to show that he wanted me to do it again. I smiled slightly as I scratched again. He pounced on me again and barked once.
The sound he made was quite squeaky for a gigantic dog like himself. I giggled.
"He seems to like you." Reiji said, nodding ever so slightly. I sat up again as I asked, "What's his name?" He merely shrugged.
"He's not exactly ours so we never bothered naming him." He said, "We just called him, The Dog." "How mean!" I said and I scowled at him. I looked back at the dog and cooed, "Don't worry, I'll give you a name."
He barked happily and leaned forward to lick my face, but I lightly shoved him off. I stood up and stared at him in concentration. But it broke when I heard someone say in a cool voice, "You better not name him something stupid."
I turned around to face Shinji. "Whether I do or not is none of your business." I said to him, my voice equally as cold." "Yes I can." He said, "I've been taking care of him ever since I found him. I can do anything I want to him, for example."
He unwrapped something, broke off an extremely small piece and threw it to the dog.
The dog ran over and sniffed it before chewing on it happily. When he was done, he ran up to Shinji, begging for more. I gaped at him as I saw the caramel gooiness stuck to his teeth. At least, I think it was it.
"Did you just feed him chocolate?" I asked in horror, "Do you know what could happen to him?" "More specifically, a Snickers bar. And I just gave him one of the peanuts." He said as he shrugged. "It could still hurt him!" I shrieked. He ignored me along with the whimpers of want that came from the dog, refusing to give it any more.
"God, is that smell coming from the dog?" Reiji asked, coming back into the room, (I hadn't even noticed he had vanished) he pinched his nose with his thumb and forefinger (on his good arm of course). "Most likely." I said. It wasn't really bothering me, I had gotten a bit used to the stench.
"It's going to have to go, or we'll have to give it a bath." He said, "I just need this smell gone." My eyes lit up as he gave the suggestion.
"Can I give him a bath?" I asked. "Why?" Reiji asked, "It's really hard work. Especially for a big dog like him." "But I've always seen my neighbor do it, and it seemed like lots of fun." I said in a daze. "You'll get wet." He warned. "I have thick clothes on." I assured.
"Well, I'll leave everything to you." He said with a bright smile, "I must say, it was perfect timing, I was just about to make lunch, and the stench would have made it so unappetizing." Through the corner of my eye, I saw Shinji roll his.
"Aw, this is going to be so fun!" I squealed as I resisted from jumping up and down. I hadn't played with water for so long. The last time I did, I'd gotten a pretty bad cold. After that, my mom never let me play with water again. Except the occasional swimming pool.
Reiji led me out of the house through the back door and took me to where lots of equipment lay on a row of gray bricks.
"This is where we take him on the rare occasions we give him a bath." He said, "And remember. Don't use the hose." He picked up a huge water gun, with his good arm, that lay on a gray brick and gave sprayed water up in the air. "Use this."
He handed me the insanely heavy water gun and I felt my knees buckle under the weight of if. No kidding. This water gun was huge.
"Why do you use this?" I asked, trying to hold it properly. "He moves a lot when we give him a bath." Reiji answered, "We waste too much water when we shoot him with a hose, and we care about the environment. A water gun is most efficient. It's so much easier too. Be careful, though, it's heavy." "No kidding." I muttered through my clenched teeth.
Reiji shined another bright smile at me and said, "Good luck! It's not as easy as you think. It's more like a mission then a bath. But it gets fun." And he headed back inside.
I looked at the dog with what I hoped were hard eyes and said, "So, should we do this the easy or hard way?" He stopped panting for a moment and wagged his tail faster. I could still see that cheesy grin. Who was he? Winn- Dixie?
Then he shot off past me, moving side to side when he got far enough, taunting me.
I sighed heavily. I was hoping I wouldn't need to use the water gun.
I held it properly with much effort and shot at him. He dodged it expertly and ran to another side of the yard. I shot at him again.
Even though he seemed hundreds of feet away, it seemed like the water reached him. At least I wouldn't have to run with it, if I did, I'd probably faint before I even shot him once.
"Oh, stay still!" I said in a frustrated voice as I missed him yet again. He barked happily. Obviously amused by my lack of aim.
I growled under my breath.
He ran to the back door where I was pretty confident I could hit him for sure. I mean, he wasn't that far from me. I chuckled menacingly under my breath as I shot. But he ducked just in time. Dropping his head to a crouch.
I bit my tongue so that I wouldn't let the string of profanities threatening to come up my throat slip. This was more hard work than fun.
I barely noticed the door open as Shinji came out to shout at me. "Be careful Clumsy! I can't hear anything over that racket!" But I couldn't hear anything he was saying. My eyes were still on the dog. He had stood back up again, but that smirk he had on his face just showed that he was teasing me.
"Hey did you hear me?! Shoot somewhere else!" I heard Shinji shout again. No. I did not hear him. Neither did I want to hear him. I just wanted to shoot the dog once.
I shot at the dog's head. So I could wipe the smirk off it's furry face. Literally.
But, again, I missed as he ran to the right, heading for the a big tree.
"Man, and I was so close too." I whined as I kept on staring at the grinning dog. I heard Shinji clear his throat in an annoying way. "Wait, I'm trying to shoot him." I said. He cleared it again. "Do you want your dog to take a bath or not?" I asked furiously as I kept on staring.
Then a waterfall of freezing water was dumped over my head. I shivered slightly as I flapped my hands to get rid of the dripping drops running off my fingertips. I spit out what water I had in my mouth and turned swiftly to face him
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" I yelled as I looked at him. "What was that for?!" He said incredulously, "Look what you did to me!" As I looked closer at him, I saw his bottom half was darker.
"WHAT?! THE COLOR DOESN'T MATCH!? HERE! I'LL FIX IT FOR YOU!" And I sprayed him in the face. You couldn't blame me. I'd been trying to get the dog wet the whole time. And he kept on dodging in the most annoying ways possible. Then comes Shinji and practically rips up my last nerve into a million pieces.
He was grinding his teeth so hard, I could hear it.
He bent down to pick up the hose I hadn't noticed, and walked a short distance to the faucet. He pointed the opening at me, and before I could react, he twisted the handle so that the water hit me with a strong force. The pressure was so strong, It almost knocked me over.
I rubbed my eyes to get the droplets hanging off my eyelashes so I could see clearly. But even through the blur, I could see that annoying smirk on his face. I huffed angrily, not daring to say anything, for I was sure that I would cuss him out if I did.
So, before he could move, I held up the water gun with brand new strength and shot him yet again.
I smiled with satisfaction as I saw him with his eyes closed, just standing there, as though he was resisting the urge to kill me.
I started running as soon as I saw the fire in his pupils when he opened his eyes. But regardless of all the sprinting, I felt the water on my back. I stumbled a few steps, but regained my balance.
I could feel my lips pull up into a huge grin as I started pumping more water at him. I could see his face, but, he just had to be as having as much fun as I was. In return to my water- spraying, he shot more water at me.
They collided against each other, but in the end, I got wet. The hose was stronger than my water gun, and this wasn't fair. When I pointed this out to him, he just shrugged and said, "You should have thought of that before you got me all wet."
Regardless, I kept on spraying him, my childish grin still in place. This was the fun that I had seen so many children doing in my neighborhood when I was young.
"If you're done, I have to go back inside. I'm hungry." Shinji said. He still had that cold look on his face, but he sounded exhilarated.
His hair was a darker shade of purple, but had a bright shine as the sun glinted off the droplets. He had a glow around him, that I couldn't really explain.
When I didn't answer him, he sighed in an irritated way and pushed back his dropping hair with his right hand. I broke out of my thoughts and looked down at myself. "Aw man." I groaned, "I don't want to walk home like this."
Then we heard something. Something that sounded like choking. Or coughing. Neither of us could put a finger on it.
"Was that you?" I asked Shinji. "Do I really look like I'd make a sound as retarded as that?" He asked, "I thought it was you." I ignored his insult and looked around for the noise. Whatever it was, it sounded like it was suffering.
Then came the noise again.
"Is it coming from… him?" I heard Shinji say in an incredulous voice, but somehow still able to keep his cold look on his face.
I looked to my right to see the dog I had long forgotten hunched over in a weird position. "Is he okay?" I asked with a worried tone. "I think." Shinji answered, slowly walking over to him, "He's making that weird noise."
And as I walked closer to him, I could hear him.
"What is he doing?" I asked him, worry still in my voice. "I think he's… coughing?" Shinji answered in a unsure tone. "No." I said, "I think he's. Choking." "He can't be choking." He said, "With a mouth that big, he could swallow anything." "Do you think we should take him to a vet or something?"
That's when he looked up.
He still had that stupid smirk on his face and while making the weird noise, I could see his shoulders moving up and down.
"Is he… Snickering?" I asked in an incredulous voice.
"I think he is." Shinji answered, "I'm not sure, he's never made that kind of sound before today." "You think it's because of the Snickers you gave him?" I asked in a joking tone. "Or maybe it's because of the immature way you acted." He said.
"Huh." I snorted, "Who's the one that poured water all over me?" "Who's the one who sprayed me in the first place." Then we heard him snickering again.
I could practically feel the vein in my head pounding.
I still had some water in the gun, It wouldn't hurt to give one squirt. So I did. It didn't do much, but I was still satisfied.
He shook his whole body, spraying water all over the place. I squealed as I felt some land on my bare skin, and he snickered again. "He's got to stop doing that." I said, "It's so annoying." Then I turned on Shinji. "It's your fault. If you hadn't given him a bit of that Snickers bar…"
"What are you talking about?" He asked, "How do you know it was even the fault of the chocolate?" "Are you kidding?" I asked, "It says clearly right on the wrapping "Snickers". If you couldn't see that, you have a problem with your eyes."
"Well of course someone like you'd think of that." He snorted, "I shouldn't have been surprised." I put my hands on my hips and shifted my weight. "I think you've made your opinion on my intellect pretty clear." I said coldly.
The dog snickered again.
"Oh, shut up!" I shouted at him. That just made his grin wider. And I thought Shinji was the only person in the world who could annoy the hell out of me.
Just when I was going to chase after it and make sure he never smiled like that again, a light breeze flew by and I shivered ever so slightly. I thought it was unnoticeable, but Shinji caught me.
"That's why I wanted to go in." He said with a sigh.
I glared at the dog pointedly, "I'll let you go this time, but next time, you might not be so lucky." He kept on smiling at me, until I turned around. That's when I heard him snicker again. I rolled my eyes as I imagined him, hunching over with his head tucked into his shoulders as it moved up and down. And no matter how much I wanted to hit him across the head, I followed Shinji back into the house.
Inside, I washed up and borrowed some of Shirona's clothes, although most of them were a bit too showy for me.
After lunch, we started moving the furniture while Reiji directed us to the right direction. After a few hours, we had to leave. I guessed that Shinji didn't want a run- in with Shirona or something.
"This is completely stupid." I whined as we left the house with our wet clothes, "We could have stayed longer, and if Shirona came, you could just ignore her or something." He just kept on walking. I stopped after a few steps.
"Wait." I said thoughtfully, "I don't have to deal with this. I have the room key." "Not really." He answered for the first time, "We only brought one key, and I have it." And he raised his arm so I could see it. The way he showed it to me looked like he was shoving it right in my face, although he was a good two feet away from me.
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
Behind me, I could hear thudding. I turned around and I could see the big, hairy dog running toward us, it's tongue lolling out in a pathetic way. And no matter how annoying his snickering was. He looked so cute!
I smiled at him once and turned back to walk with Shinji again. But through the corner of my eye, I could see him tilt his head in confusion.
"Bye Snickers." I said quietly.
I didn't know where the name came from. But after that. It kind of stuck.
AN. Extremely long one coming up.
I finally finished this chapter!! I'm sorry I updated so late. And I have a very good excuse. I was in Washington for this conference for people who are smarticle! Like me!! Nah, I was just kidding. But, I really was in a conference. And then my plane home got delayed four times! Then my cousin invited me to her Breaking Dawn midnight release party (sorry, that has nothing to do with this. But if you care, my opinion of it is in my profile) And then I got too lazy to finish it the next day, then today, I had to go school shopping. See. Very good excuse. I hope. This idea actually popped up in my head when my brother shoved my baby brother into the sprinklers (I know it's evil, but my baby bro was having fun so…) And so I shoved my brother into the sprinklers. And then my brother took the hose to spray me, and then I took his ginormous water gun and shot him with it. It was so fun! I'm hoping the next chapter will come out in Wednesday, so whatever you have to say about this chapter, you'd better say it soon. I was also going to say something else, but I can't seem to put my finger on it. Oh well, it'll probably be in the next chapter's AN. Happy reading! Oh wait. I know what chocolate does to dogs. I'm not stupid. Shinji just gave him like, a peanut or something. It was extremely small. I'm sorry if any one of you are horrified of what I did. I assure you. I love dogs. They're my favorite animal. It's practically canines who are encouraging me to become a vet when I grow up.
Kahmelion