Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater
(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)
A/N: This short was done for the Mai Universe August 15-September 15 "Carnival of Muses," for which one of the prompts was "jail." The other prompt was "thongs/flipflops," but I already wrote one lemon in August and anything with the words "Shizuru" and "thong" in it would inevitably head in that direction. ^_-
~X X X~
Duran whimpered plaintively.
He didn't understand.
He pushed his nose for the umpteenth time against the cold, unyielding steel bars. They did not bend.
Duran knew something that could bend them. An armor-piercing Chrome Cartridge would cut right through them. He could fire through the lock, sever the bolts holding him in this prison, and he would be free!
Well, he could if his jailers hadn't known that fact and carefully stripped him of all ammunition.
He whimpered again.
It wasn't fair! He'd been a good dog. He hadn't chased cars or cats or dug holes in the garden or fired his guns at something he wasn't supposed to or ate a steak that had been left out for defrosting (at least not since the last time) or came bounding into the bedroom and jumped on the bed because Shizuru was making Natsuki yell again and he thought she needed rescuing (because Kiyohime always hissed at him as a warning whenever he forgot and was going to go do that).
So why was he here?
He scraped his paw over the bars. His metal toes rattled against them like a prisoner banging a tin cup against his cell.
It wasn't fair at all!
Overcome by resentment and loneliness, he tipped his head back and let out all his confusion in a long, plaintive howl.
Suddenly, he felt motion. Of course, he'd actually felt it for a while now, but now it felt like his cell was steadily descending! It was as if an earthquake had struck and sent him sliding down, down into the bowels of the earth, into the depths of a Hell that was little bleaker than the prospect of his imprisonment.
Suddenly, the descent stopped. There was a rattle of metal.
His ears perked up. Keys! Keys in the lock! The sound made him pay attention to what his nose was telling him. It was Natsuki! And Shizuru! And even Kiyohime! The bolts slid back, unlocking his cell. He lunged forward at once, shoving the door open. He collided with something soft—Natsuki! It was Natsuki, come to save him! Duran pounced as she tumbled to the tile floor beneath him, eagerly licking her face.
"Ack! Gah! Duran, stop drooling on me! Geez, why do you always have to make such a big production out of it when we travel and you have to go in your doggy crate?"