Member of the Swimming Club and 2A student, seat 6, Okouchi Akira, was worried.

She and her roommate, Class 2A seat 14, Library Exploration Club, Saotome Haruna, had gone out a few minutes ago to go get some more food before the shops closed due to the weather.

But before either could reach the shops, they had heard a faint whimpering. Having followed the sound, they had soon come across a wounded puppy lying unconscious on the wet ground.

A flash of lightning illuminated the sky, which was quickly followed by a clap of thunder.

Akira bit her lip. She now had said puppy cradled between her arms as she and Haruna ran back to the dorms as fast as they could.

Her hood had been blown of by the wind and her face was now getting soaked. But she didn't care.

Despite the strong gusts of wind and pouring down rain, the duo eventually reached the dorm building and not long after, their own dorm.

The tall girl swung open their door and rushed in. Followed by her bespectacled roommate.

"Haruna, can you get the first aid?" urgently asked the swimmer girl, closing the door behind her as she did after Haruna had also entered.

"You got it," said Haruna, nodding before heading towards the bathroom to get the First Aid kit,

"Thanks" thanked Akira, moving to the center of the room, grabbing a bath towel that had been left on a chair.

Akira had to admit that she had been caught off guard. It was just so bizarre to see the cheerful, teasing, sligh...okay very perverted, happy go lucky mangaka so serious. She hadn't made any jokes or perverted statements for quite some time.

Laying the towel flat on the floor as best as she could with one hand, Akira gently placed the wounded dog on said towel, being extra careful not to worsen its wound. Despite this, it still left out a whimper.

A moment later Haruna returned carrying a case that had everything needed for first aid. Seeing as a lot of these girls lived on their own and would sometimes get wounded when a nurse wasn't nearby it was natural to have a First Aid kit nearby.

"Thanks," said Akira, taking the case, opening it and taking out a cloth and a bottle of alcohol. Akira would occasionally help her friend Izumi Ako who was the nurse's assistant so she had some experience with these things.

"Here let me help you," said Haruna. Kneeling down next to the swimmer and the puppy, the mangaka started helping out however she could. "Who do you think he belongs to?"

"I don't know, he doesn't have a collar so it's hard to tell" answered Akira, as she tended to the dog's wounds as best she could.

"Pity we can't take him to the vets," mused Haruna as se helped as best she could. "But they'd most likely be closed by now."

"Help me with these bandages," said Akira she tried the best she could to avoid making it any more painful for the animal as she and the mangaka wrapped the bandages around the pup. "Plus they're too far, it'd probably be too late by time we got there."

"And we can't ask Ako-chan to help because she'd faint the moment she saw him bleeding," noted Haruna. It was unfortunate that the closest available nurse would not be very helpful unconscious.

"There, that should do it," sighed Akira, wiping her brow.

Haruna leaned back on her arms. "Man, I'm not cut out for this sort of stuff."

They'd done the best they could considering neither were vets and the pup's wounds were quite serious. Fortunately it seemed its life wasn't in any immediate danger.

A low grumbling sound interrupted the silence that the two had settled into, which caused Akira to blush while Haruna grinned at her.

"Hungry, Akira?

"Yeah, I guess so." She scratched the back of her head then leaned back on her arms."Pity we weren't able to get the food...sorry."

Haruna smiled deviously Akira. "Aw, there's no reason to apologize." She then lunged at the tall girl and hugged her tightly. "Your kind heart and gentle nature is one of the things that I love about you."

Akira gave a nervous laugh as she tried to wriggle out of her roommate's bear hug, while said mangaka rubbed her cheek against her own. Plus the two were still sopping wet from all the rain. "Um, Paru? Could you maybe...?"

"Aw, you're very wet Akira."

"Don't say such suggestive things!" she yelled.

"Sorry sorry," said the bespectacled girl, though she didn't sound sorry. "I'm just having a little fun."

"Yeah, I know. So can you please stop groping my breasts?" As always, her friend's spirits were as lively as ever.

Haruna chuckled, groping some more. "Hmmm, but they're as supple as ever."

"Paru," her voice had a tinge of anger in it.

"Fine, fine," Haruna stood up and removed her rain coat, then put it in the basket for the dirty laundry. "How's about we have something to eat? Surely there must be something in to eat."

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The child practically leapt from his seat at seeing his mother on the floor, more of that red stuff seeping out of her.

He rushed to her side with worry filling his voice. "Mommy? What's wrong?"

The mother turned to give him a kind smile. "It's okay Kota-kun...mommy is...okay, she's just...little tired...right now..."

It was a lie of course. Even the child knew that. He may not yet understand the concept of death but on some instinctual level he was scared. He couldn't possibly explain why.

He couldn't even explain why he had started crying. "M...mommy..."

She lifted a hand to gently stroke his cheek. "Kota-kun *cough*, don't cry...you've gotta be a big boy okay?"

He sniffed, rubbing his eyes.p and choked out. "Okay, mommy."

She smiled at him, that smile that always warmed his heart, that made him feel like everything was going to be alright.

Actually, yeah things were going to be alright, when mommy smiles like that everything will be alright. She was still smiling. "I'll be a big boy, okay mommy."

...

"Mommy?"

...

"Wake up mommy," he started shaking her. "Mommy, wake up."

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Brown eyes snapped open, as Kotaro finally woke up.

It was still mostly dark with barely some light coming in through the window. The sun must have only just started rising.

His body felt sore. Damn that bastard must have done a number on him.

Urgh, it felt too early to wake up. His eyelids were very heavy. It was an effort just to think straight.

Hmmm, actually yeah. Sleeping sounded like a good idea. This bed was very comfy too.

Having decided, in his currently exhausted state of mind, to get a few more minutes of sleep, closing his eyes, he turned over towards a the source of warmth that he had been feeling.

Give him a moment, he'll get there.

...

...

...

'Wait a sec!'

There it is.

'Who's bed is this?! Who's room is this?!'

Yet again his eyes snapped open. This time he was greeted with the face of a sleeping girl, right in front of his own.

She was snoring softly, giving out soft breaths that tickled his face, with bangs of her dark hair draped over her face.

His first instinct was to jump away from her. But unfortunately her arms suddenly wrapped around him, pressing his face against her bountiful chest, and started cuddling him like a stuffed toy.

Internally Kotaro was panicking as he had started mentally asking himself urgent questions. What was going on? Who was this girl? Why was he in bed with her? And why were these things on her chest so surprisingly soft?

...okay that last one wasn't so urgent.

Trying his best to avoid waking her up, he had started trying to wriggle his way out of her grasp. But every time it looked like he had gotten some room she would tighten her hold around him.

But Kotaro was a stubborn boy before he was a cautious boy. So eventually with much effort he was able to free himself from the hold that he had been held in.

But he did it far too quickly bad wasn't cautious enough as he immediately sat upright giving a disgruntled 'Gah!' as he did. Unfortunately, doing so stirred the girl awake.

Her eyes fluttering open, she gave a small yawn and lifted her head from the pillow. After wiping her eyes a bit she finally noticed the boy in front of her.

The two sat/lied there starring at each other for a few moments that felt like an eternity for the young boy.

As time passed the girl's eyes widened more and more as her senses came back to her and her mind woke up properly. Eventually her eyes took in completely that there was a definitely naked boy in her bed.

She then screamed.

The sudden loud, high pitched noise caused the poor boy to suddenly cover his very sensitive ears. He tried jumping away from the screaming banshee, unfortunately he had gotten tangled in the bed's cover so he ended up falling off the bed and went tumbling on the floor.

Having been startled awake, Haruna, on the top bed, sat upright with half lidded eyes. "Ah, Asuna-chan I didn't expect you to be a scream...huh?"

Groaning, Kotaro did the best he could to sit upright while rubbing his head with one hand. "Shit, what was that for?"

Meanwhile the tall girl who had nearly screamed his ears off was climbing out of her bed while the green haired girl on the top bunk was looking around confusedly, having already put on her glasses, her gaze finally settled on darting between Kotaro and the brunette. "Akira? What's going on? Who's he?"

"He...he was in my bed," stuttered Akira, still shaken.

Haruna raised an eyebrow and eyed the young boy on the floor. Hmm, not bad. Kinda cute and he was quite muscular, he'll definitely be a hunk when he grows up. If only she could get a good assessment of his 'manhood'.

Despite this, she looked at Akira with a big grin. "I must hand it to you Akira, this one looks like a keeper. Don't mind me, just keep on doing your thing, I'll just watch and mastur..."

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" screeched the swimmer, causing Kotaro to cover his ears again.

"Oh, so you want me to join?" Haruna asked expectantly. "I admit I've never been big on the whole shota thing, but if you're willing..."

"NO!" Akira screeched again, her face bright red. She then pointed at Kotaro. "He...he just appeared out of nowhere."

At this Haruna's eyes widened slightly. Climbing out of bed, she then approached the young boy who was just looking in between the two girls with utter confusion.

"Hey kid, who are you?" asked Haruna.

The dog boy suddenly looked panicked as his eyes darted around to find an exit. But before he could do anything, the bespectacled girl had suddenly grabbed his ears and started pulling.

"Oh, these are very lifelike," she noted as she felt them in between her fingers.

"Ow, cut that out!" snapped the young boy, batting her hands away. But much to his frustration she just changed targets and grabbed his tail. "Hey!"

"Oh, this fur is so soft," she said as she stroked it. She the noticed something weird. "Hmmm? There's no attachment, is it glued on?"

Hearing the rustling of fabric, Haruna turned to see Akira looking through the covers of her bed, muttering. "Where is it?"

"Where's what?"

"The puppy," Akira answered frantically. "The poor thing was shivering last night, so I brought it into my bed to warm it-" she stopped abruptly.

The silence was intense as the realization dawned on the two girls. Slowly they turned to look at the boy that they had been dealing with before, specifically his dog ears, tail and bandages wrapped around his midsection.

"You gotta be kidding me," gasped Haruna, letting go of his tail as he snatched it back from her.

"That's impossible," muttered Akira.

Despite the previous atmosphere having about all just evaporated, Kotaro still shrunk under the gazes of the two girls. "Umm..."

Suddenly he found the bespectacled girl right in front of him, kneeling down so that she was at his eye level.

"Be honest here," she said seriously, causing both Kotaro and Akira to sweatdrop. "Are you a real life hanyo?"

"No...?" he squeaked out.

Both girls stared at him blandly.

"Fine!" he said, throwing his arms in the air. "I'm a hanyo, I'm magical, mystical, mythical, whatever!"

Whatever reaction he was expecting, it wasn't for the girl to suddenly jump in the air and cheer 'Woohoo' with a huge smile on her face.

Kotaro just stared at her dumbly, while Akira's eyes became little dots.

"This is great!" Haruna continued to cheer, before she turned to look at Kotaro again. "Does this mean all magical things are real?"

Kotaro shrugged his shoulders. "Kinda."

"Woohoo!"

Kotaro, wasn't sure what he should do. He didn't remember much. Last thing he remembered was walking down a rainy street, after that bastard nearly killed him.

Looking down at his abdomen, where the wound was, he was slightly surprised to see bandages. He looked up at the two girls, the cheering one and the one that just eyed her friend. Did they do the bandages?

"Hey!" he yelled interrupting the taller girl's cheering. "Was this you?" he asked, pointing at the bandages.

"Oh yeah, that was us," said Haruna. "We found you on the street bleeding out, we couldn't just leave you there, then again," she mused eying the young boy. "Was that really you?"

Kotaro absentmindedly shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, that was me, being part of the dog tribe allows me to shape shift a bit."

"Can you show us?" asked Akira, joining in the conversation.

Kotaro yet again shrugged indifferently before his body changed and shifted, and where once sat a young boy now sat a small puppy.

"That's incredible," gasped Akira in amazement at the internally trying to hold back the need to cuddle the little pup.

"That's pretty nice," mused Haruna, hiding her amazement better than her roommate. "But is that all you can do?"

The pup's eyes narrowed at that statement. If there was one word that you could use to describe Kotaro, was competitive. It was a flaw of his, how easy it was to trick him into doing things via challenges.

So hearing the implied challenge, he decided to show this girl his strongest form.

And so his shape yet again shifted back into his young boy form, but much to the girls' surprise it didn't stop there. His hair on his head started turning whit and growing longer, white fur spreading across his body, muscles bulging and flexing as he grew, and his claws became more prominent.

He grinned. "So what do you think Nee-chan?"

The reaction once again shocked him. The brunette girl was blushing while trying to avoid looking at him directly while the glasses wearing girl's nose was bleeding as her gaze was directed more southward.

Following her line of sight, Kotaro's eyes bulged and his cheeks reddened at a realization.

"Great potential," noted Haruna.

"DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET ME SOME FRICKING PANTS WOMAN!"

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A few minutes later after they had found a pair of shorts and a T-shirt for Kotaro, they were Haruna's and a bit big on him. But they'd do just fine for now.

Currently the dorm's three occupants were sitting around the kotatsu, talking about Kotaro's situation.

"So you were attacked by an enemy last night?" asked the tall girl, whom Kotaro had learned was called Okouchi Akira, after hearing Kotaro's explanation.

Naturally the dog boy had to alter the facts a bit regarding as to why he was at Mahora in the first place and his relation to the person responsible for his wound. "Yeah, I must have passed out just before you found me."

"And we brought you back here and treated your wounds," summed up the bespectacled girl, Haruna.

"Yep," said Kotaro nodding, before his cheeks got a pink tinge on them. "Umm...listen...thanks for that and sorry for what happened before."

"Nah, it's no big deal, we couldn't just leave ya there," said Haruna, waving it off. "Plus there's no reason to be sorry kid."

"Indeed I did overreact before and I was technically the one who brought you into my bed," noted Akira, blushing lightly while Haruna snickered.

Recalling the girl's actions, Kotaro's cheeks reddened. "Yeah...well...whatever, thanks for everything but I'm gonna have to leave soon."

At this Haruna and Akira were slightly shocked. "Why?" asked Haruna.

"Do you have to go home?" asked Akira, tilting her head.

"Nah, I live on the road," said Kotaro, putting his arms behind his head.

"But what about your parents?" asked Haruna.

At this Kotaro's ears drooped down, he lowered his arms and he looked to the side, avoiding their gazes. Now this confused the girls, from what they'd learned of the boy on front of them he was a rather hot headed, abrasive, kid. It was weird to see him actually so subdued like this.

"I...I've..." he muttered under his breath. Internally he was angry with himself. What was wrong with him? He usually never got this sad at thinking about...that. It's that stupid dream's fault!

"You don't have parents do you?" asked Akira, in an very sad and soft voice. Her expression was that of pure sadness at the thought of this poor boy homeless on the streets.

He didn't answer the question, lowering his head and just remained quiet.

"Okay then, it's decided!"

The sudden declaration caused both Kotaro and Akira to look at Haruna with blank eyes.

Kotaro let out an 'Eh?', while Akira asked, "What's decided?"

Haruna grinned at the confused duo. "Kotaro-kun here is going to stay with us."

Kotaro's eyes bulged out at that statement. "What the hell?! Don't go deciding stuff like that on your own!"

"Oh come on," said Haruna, going to his side and wrapping an arm around Kotaro. "What kinda girls would we be if we just let a kid like you go on to live in the streets like that?"

"But..." he tried to complain, but was silenced when Haruna's one armed hug pushed him up against her breasts.

"Um, Paru are you sure about this?" asked Akira, getting the mangaka's attention. "I mean, I agree that we can't leave him on his own."

"Don't I get a say in this?" asked Kotaro in a muffled voice from his place in Haruna's bosom.

"No," answered both girls.

"But what are we going to tell everyone else?" continued Akira, unperturbed by Kotaro's interruption. "There are strict rules about having boys in the dorms."

Haruna just shrugged her shoulders. "We'll just say he's a distant cousin of mine and he's having troubles at home or something, and that he needs a place to stay."

Then her grin grew wider. "Besides, this is too good a chance to let us pass, how many times do you actually encounter a magical boy? Surely from now on we're going to get involved in magical adventures and hijinks.

Akira sighed and just gave up. When Haruna got like that there's was no stopping her.

Kotaro meanwhile wondered what he'd gotten himself into.