Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater!
(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)
"Ninety thousand yen!" Natsuki yelped. "That's outrageous!"
"What's going on?" Shizuru asked, drawn away from her studying by her girlfriend's disbelieving voice.
"The bill from Duran's latest trip to the vet came in today's mail. It's eighty-nine thousand, six hundred and forty yen!"
"Ara, ara," murmured Shizuru, surprised. Natsuki glared at her.
"You know how some households have a swear jar, where if you swear you've gotta drop in a hundred yen or so? We need one to charge you by the 'ara.' Yeah! It'll be like your ara-ly wage!"
Shizuru frowned back.
"Perhaps Natsuki should leave the jokes to the professionals?"
Her lover sighed.
"Yeah, okay, that was weak. This vet bill has me off my game."
"Do you need money? I can help if you—"
"No, I'm good. My dad paid my allowance for the quarter on time, and I've got plenty in the budget to cover the bill. It's just the principle of the thing! How can a vet bill possibly run ninety thousand yen?"
Shizuru pulled out a chair and sat down.
"There are some procedures that can be quite expensive. I don't remember Duran being particularly sick any time last month, though?"
"He wasn't! I just took him in for his rabies shot. And his left cartridge magazine kept jamming on the fourth shell, so I had them take a look at that."
"I see."
Natsuki gave her a suspicious glance.
"You're surprisingly unsurprised. And whatever happened to gushing with sympathy over your girlfriend's troubles?"
"I am sympathetic! It's just...well, I can see your veterinarian's point, too."
"How?"
"For one thing, I don't think that he has any other patients who require gunsmithing skills. That demands specialized tools and training, I believe, particularly on a dog."
"Okay, that's probably something to that. But what about the rabies shot? He's gotta give a million of those a year, right?"
Shizuru shook her head.
"But Natsuki, I do not believe that an ordinary hypodermic needle could penetrate Duran's skin."
"But...I...crap, you've got a point. It's not every day a vet practice requires drilling through sheet metal." She tossed the bill onto the table. "Okay, that does it. Next time I'm taking him to the auto body shop instead. At least they'll throw in a free rustproofing for his undercoat with every repair job."