Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater!
(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)
"Now, let's see, the audio output hooks up to...ah, here," Shizuru said with satisfaction as she inserted the connector into its slot. "Now, I just plug in the power cable here and..."
A loud chime rose from the entertainment center's surround-sound speakers as Natsuki's new videogame system announced that it was set up and ready for a busy afternoon of street racing or alien blasting or whatever Natsuki preferred to be doing.
"Personally," Shizuru remarked, "I think one of those dating simulations where you get to romance all those different pretty girls would be fun. Although, maybe I should be glad Natsuki doesn't play that kind of game. After all, she has non-simulated dating with me, and I wouldn't want her interest widening."
Shizuru's pet hydra did not seem particularly concerned by this conundrum. Kiyohime appeared to be enjoying the sunbeam streaming through the living room's picture window; her six heads were draped across Duran's back while the steel wolf napped peacefully. The second head turned and offered a sleepy hiss of acknowledgement, then laid back down with the others.
The college student wriggled out from behind the entertainment center's cabinet, wondering if she was turning into one of those people who talked to their pets. It was Natsuki's fault, she decided; now that her lover wasn't skipping school all the time to hunt down murderous ancient conspiracies, the regimented schedule of a high-schooler kept her busy. And since Shizuru had graduated, they spent their days on different campuses. If they hadn't moved in together they might not even see each other some days.
"On the other hand, this means that I was here when the delivery came, so I can surprise Natsuki by getting her new videogame console hooked up and ready to play by the time she comes home," Shizuru mused, momentarily surrendering the "talks to pets" battle. "She'll probably be very enthusiastic in her thanks. Although by the time she gets around to thanking me, her hands will very likely be sore and cramped from playing, so I'll have to do most of the work."
Kiyohime's sixth head whimpered, not being particularly interested in the details of her mistress's love life.
"Now, what's left to do?" She'd gotten everything from the box properly connected. The Internet gaming account was a different matter, as Natsuki would need to set that up herself with her own password, credit card information, and so on. Shizuru entertained herself for a few minutes with dreams of the future when they'd be at that "married" stage as a couple, with joint finances and otherwise intertwined lives, before returning to the job at hand.
Several games had come bundled with the system, so she stripped off their shrink-wrap and set them on the coffee table for Natsuki to choose from. That left only one thing in the shipping container: Natsuki had not been satisfied with the system's default controllers and had instead ordered an upscale version, with wireless function, programmable button sequences, full autofire, and a host of other bells and whistles.
"It probably even makes coffee," Shizuru decided, and stated to open the package, only to be stymied. The plastic bubble packing, like much of its ilk, had the approximate hardness of cast iron and no pull tab or other handy way to unseal itself. Even the desk scissors she'd used to cut the packing tape only made nicks in it.
"So what would Natsuki do to get this open?" Shizuru wondered. Probably lose her temper and shoot it...although this material would probably make good bulletproof vests—"Oh!"
She shook Duran awake. He gave a confused "rowr" sound, kind of like a yawn, growl, and whimper all rolled into one.
"Come on, boy, this is for Natsuki. Ready? Load Chrome Cartridge!"
Kiyohime, wisely, took cover under the coffee table.
"Fire!"
The explosion was almost deafening, but the armor-piercing shell punched right through the plastic packaging, without touching the controller inside.
"Good boy!" Shizuru praised him enthusiastically. "That was perfect shooting, Duran! Now I can finish getting Natsuki's console set up before she gets home...and I'll probably have time to plaster over the bullet holes in the wall, too."