Duran-kun and Kiyo-chan's Omake Theater
(featuring the Kuga-Fujino family pets)
Natsuki Kuga made, it had to be said, for a very pretty picture. Certainly her girlfriend would have declared it to be so. Shizuru Fujino had just arrived at the park, and had noticed that Natsuki had gotten there early for their lunch date. Rather than going over to her at once, Shizuru instead drank in the vision for a few seconds.
In the abstract, it was just "a girl walking a dog." A perfectly normal view in the park, along with kids flying kites, food vendors with their carts, college-age students tossing a Frisbee, and joggers on the path. A young woman wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, a leash in her hand, and a dog strolling at her side, its head at the level of her waist, something that could be seen on any day.
Admittedly, the dog was gleaming in bright chrome and had a long rifle built along each flank like he was some kind of mecha, and that did draw a certain amount of attention, but Shizuru thought that Natsuki was much more eye-catching: her long, midnight hair sleek and shining in the afternoon sun, the luscious curves and toned muscles her clothing seemed molded to, the elegantly beautiful face that gave away nothing of what she might have been thinking at that moment rather than displaying any of the myriad of cute expressions Shizuru knew so well…
People had compared Natsuki's beauty to a model's, but Shizuru was glad her girlfriend was more of the introverted type who wouldn't be comfortable showing her body off to the camera. The thought of thousands, or millions, of people ogling Natsuki made that jealous uncertainty in her heart that the HiME Festival had blown up to insane proportions sting. Admittedly, she did like to "show off" Natsuki now and again, but that was under limited circumstances, such as at a party, and preferably when Shizuru was right there to hold on to her arm and say, "Mine!" That was very different than the idea of a celebrity being the focus of the emotions of complete strangers.
Of course, if she herself was the one doing the ogling, leering, eyeing up, and otherwise lewdly devouring her girlfriend with her gaze, then that was completely different, or at least that was the story Shizuru told and intended to stick to.
Thus, she showed no hesitation in, after watching Natsuki stroll along for a couple of minutes, putting two fingers to her mouth and doing her best imitation of a construction worker obnoxiously acknowledging the hotness of a girl passing the job site. Natsuki turned to look. Actually a lot of people did, since she'd been rather loud. But Natsuki in specific did turn, and started to roll her eyes at the sight of Shizuru being silly.
"Started to," though, was the key phrase in that sentence, because Duran had pricked up his ears and took off running like a shot, so that Natsuki barely had begun her eye roll when she found her arm snapped out to full extension. She was hauled for three staggering, off-balance steps before the pull was too strong for her to resist without a fixed stance and she toppled over, faceplanting onto the grass.
Natsuki's grip strength was substantial, but it was not up to the challenge of withstanding the full force of a large-breed canine charging pell-mell at high speed in one direction while the friction of her body against the ground provided additional force in the opposite. Moreover, Natsuki had been in life-or-death situations entirely too many times for a Japanese girl still (if a year behind schedule) in high school. Her subconscious understood the difference between hanging on for dear life even if some government thug was stomping on her fingers because letting go meant splattering on the pavement below, and hanging on to a runaway dog that would take her bodysurfing through the park and maybe break her wrist in the process. The leash was jerked from her fingers and Duran went rocketing (not literally; he wasn't Gakuten-O or Kagutsuchi) across the park on a direct beeline for Shizuru.
Somewhat surprisingly, the situation did not dissolve into a comic farce of overturned property and pummeled pedestrians. Perhaps the park-goers had learned since the time Duran had treed Hari a year ago? Whatever the reason, one of the Frisbee players launched his body into a perfect flying catch just short of Duran's path. A shaved-ice vendor jerked her cart to a stop right in time for a silver flash to rush past ahead of it. A picnicking couple rolled in opposite directions while Duran himself cleanly hurdled their lunch plates. The only casualty was a double-shot mochacinno latte carried by a jogger who'd turned his head to watch Duran's pell-mell rush and tripped over Natsuki, and it somehow didn't spill onto her but harmlessly on the grass, so nothing of value to society was lost.
Duran pulled to a stop in front of Shizuru, sat down, and looked up at her with a big, doggy grin, thumping his tail on the grass. Shizuru idly scratched him behind the ears while watching Natsuki get to her feet, plainly unhurt. She let out a relieved sigh as Natsuki came over and picked up the leash.
"That was close."
"Kannin na, Natsuki. I didn't expect Duran would be so enthusiastic about seeing me."
"Well, he does like you, but in this case it was because you called him."
Shizuru blinked.
"I did?"
"Of course. What do you expect when you wolf-whistle in the direction of an actual wolf?"