Picking Up Strays

by Bleach-ed-Na-tsu

You should never travel alone. It can be unsafe, but most of all it can be lonely. Tsuna had always had his dog, Natsu. So when his friends started bringing strays into their camp, Tsuna could only be happy. He'd never really been good at saying no to puppy-dog eyes anyway. Spin-off of 'Whims of a Road to Nowhere'. NON-Mafia AU.

5. Roll

Roll –Hedgehog.

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They were in Atlanta not three hours when Kyouya appeared, spitting fire and clutching a bag in his hand.

"Kyouya?" Tsuna stood up from the log he was sitting on and paced with his friend. "Where did you go…what's in your….Kyouya?" Tsuna's voice dropped to serious.

"Yes, Tsunayoshi?"

"Is that a hedgehog in your hand?"

Kyouya didn't humour his leader with an answer, Tsunayoshi got to bring a dog, and the others kept picking up strays, Kyouya's hedgehog should be of no concern. So the black-haired man walked away towards the area he'd put his pack.

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Apparently, Kyouya had come across an illegal hedgehog breeder in the town, and there was nothing that Kyouya hated more than illegality.

Especially since the hedgehogs weren't being cared for well.

When Kyouya final told them this as they were leaving Georgia Tsuna could only laugh. But it still begged the question. "How did you end up with one then, Kyouya?"

And the man had this almost-pout on his face. "The herbivores who call themselves law-enforcement missed one on their clean up."

Tsuna held back laughter. "And so you kept him, even though it's illegal?"

Kyouya smacked Tsuna. "I'll bite you to death, Tsunayoshi, if you think you can presume things about my actions."

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Hedgehogs, as it turned out, were pretty easy to feed when you were on the road. They collected various bugs along their travels, and set up traps for during the evening and Roll would eat their fill.

Kyouya made sure to have him checked-up, and had various supplements in his bag to make sure though, that his companion would never lack the nutrients he needed.

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Kyouya fixed and changed one of the pockets on the waist band of his pack so that Roll could sleep during their travels, and somehow jimmy-rigged his camel-back so that a separate feed attached to the pocket for Roll to drink from.

It was all very endearing for Tsuna to watch.

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No-one knew how he did it, but Roll came when Kyouya called his name, and the little hedgehog could roll into a ball and aim for the feet if Kyouya so asked.

Unfortunately it was Mukuro and Lambo who ended up with Roll underfoot and Ryohei pulling pins from their toes most of the time.

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Roll likes to ride on-top of Natsu's pack, and Kyouya creates a small carrier for that purpose. The other dogs try too, just so Kyouya doesn't have to worry about injuring the small creature, and while Roll found no qualms running with Gyuudon, the poor hedgehog always ended up shaken and dizzy when she rode with Kanga.