A Boy and His Dog

"Don't you see my beloved Shiki?" an overly large brown skinned woman was saying to a small child who's hand she grasped firmly. They were standing in front of the construction site of a rather large manor. Human and anthro wolven workers were bustling around alike to get the job done. "This place will be where you come to live with your wife and children." The young boy, also brown skinned like his mother appeared to be about thirteen years old, looked over to the house with slight astonishment, but looked down to the ground with his mother's mention of the word "Wife"

"But mom," he started shakily looking up at her. "What if...." The woman's head turned down to meet the eye-line of her son.

"Yes my boy?"

"Err....well....," A slight blush ran across his face even though I couldn't be seen. He wanted to mention to his mother how he didn't like any girl period. He honestly and truly wanted to tell her, but feared the ramifications, thus, he changed the subject. "Do you really need to spend so much on a house that I won't even be living in to much later?" The large woman let out a large, hearty laugh.

"Oh my boy," he squats down, grunting a little as he meets him at eye level. " Listen Shugo. You're the only son of mine and your dads. We didn't have too much of an opportunity such as this. Now that we're living in high standards, we want to share our blessings with our offspring, so that the Meiko name shall live on."

"I understand... but mom..." His statement was stopped by a finger on his lips shown by his mother.
"Not another word Shugo. We've went too far into this to stop now. Just remember," she ran a long nailed hand through the boy's black, sleek hair, making him giggle a bit. "You're my beloved son that your father was so loving to bless me with. You only deserve the best." With that, she planted a kiss on his forehead. The boy blushed a little more before he felt his mom tugging on his hand. "Come along Shiki. We need to prepare dinner."

"Yes...ma'am..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Four Years Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blaring siren-like beeping of an alarm clock let's loose its restraint at 5:45 am one day before a hand reaches from a mass of blankets on a king sized bed to shut it off. Grunting, 17 year old Shugo Meiko raises slowly from his sleep with a zombie like face.

"Ugh....morning already..." he slurs, scratching the back of his head. The human swings to the left of the bed,standing up in only his boxer shorts making his way to the master bathroom where he did his usual morning routine; shower, brush his teeth, check himself in the mirror. He fumbles with the long bangs of hair, moving them to the side revealing the view of his deep violet eyes. They were slightly red from sleep before he blinked them a couple of times. After splashing some water in his face, he drags his feet back to his room, making his way to the dresser, he opens it and starts shuffling through various articles of clothing. 

"I hardly wear most of these things so why is it so hard to pick out something to wear?" he says aloud. Finally, he picks out a red button up shirt and some bleached bluejeans. While bending down to slip his leg into the pants, he notices a magazine poking out from under his bed. Shugo drops his pants to pick it up. It was the cover to a guy's muscle catalog. 

"Shouldn't be leaving things like this around," he thinks, but then realizes " Aww hell, who would find it? ?" He tosses the book aside and finishes dressing himself. Doing one last quick check, he strolls out his room and down the large hall. On his way down, he glances at the doors that led to blank rooms and various family portraits hung tastefully on the wall. He soon makes it to the kitchen when were grabs a bowl from the cabinet as well as some generic cereal. On his way to his refrigerator, he sees a picture of him and his family taken awhile back when he was about five years old. He and his mother seemed to be having a great time along with who appeared to be his father, Shugo seemed to look like a miniature image of him. The human sighed softly before opening up the fridge door, grabbing some milk, which only has about a fourth of the jug left. As he sat down, he pours the milk absentmindedly, nearly over filling the bowl. He stops before this happens and sits there. 

"Cheers....."

After eating, he heads on out with his book bag on his back and extra textbook lodged under his arm. His footsteps seemed heavy as he walked towards Torsil High School. Along the way he could see other humans and anthros walking with a much more peppy step than he was. They were chattering on about life, school, and other things that didn't seem too important to Shugo. As he approached the school, two figures ran up to him.

"Hey Shugo!" two foxes, one blue furred, and the other purple furred, said in unison. The human jumped back a little to avoid running into the two vulpines, who both gave him a hug on each side.

"Aaaaah! Erick! Lyra!" the human shouts a little bit as they both give him a nuzzle on each cheek. 

"Yes???" they both reply, letting him go. The human adjusts his hair looking at them both. Erick's fur was a deep shade of purple which he complemented by wearing black pants and a sea green mesh shirt. Lyra was wearing the same thing, only she had an undershirt under her mesh on. Shugo shakes his head looking at the purple vulpine.

"You do know that they're going to report you for not wearing the right shirt right?" he said sighing slightly. The fox grinned, showing his teeth.

"You'd think so wouldn't you ya human?" Erick replied. Lyra shrugs her shoulders in disbelief.

"That's what I said to him this morning but you know what he said back?" she assumed Erick's posture and spoke with a slightly deeper voice. " They can't do SHIT when I wow em today!"

Shugo's eye brows went up a little.

"Wow..them?" he started. The purple vulpine stopped him.

"Ah ah ah! It's a secret Meiko boy! You're gonna have to wait and see!" he said with a flick of his tail. The school bell rang and as if they were cock roaches, the groups of students scattered, trying to hurry to their first period classes. The two yipped.

"Erick! We're going to be late! AGAIN!" Lyra shouted, taking off. Her brother was soon behind her shouting back " YOU KNOW WE NEVER GET IN TOUBLE!!!!"

The human watched them run off before he started his own half heated jog to the school. Late again.... oh boy...he thought. As he climbed the steps to the building, he made a sharp turn, dashing down the hall towards his first class, when.......WAM!

"Ouch!" the human cried out falling back on his rear. Then without thinking, he screamed " WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" He looks up and and realizes in horror who he yelled at. A tall yet muscular jet black furred wolf glared back down at him. He was wearing gym shorts and a white muscle shirt, which seemed to bulge at his own body.

"C-Coach....Warren...." the human sputtered, "I didn't think-I- I mean, I'm sorry that....."
"Detention. The gym. Be ready to sweat." the wolf said. " Now get to class. And don't bother trying to run away. I WILL find you." the wolf padded off, grumbling to himself glancing back at the human collecting his things from the floor. Shugo shakes his head a little to collect his thoughts.

"Man...he ran me dry last time. I couldn't sweat anymore...."

He made his way into the class, peeking into the room. He saw that everyone was looking down in their text books, either reading, or sleeping sitting up. Glancing around, he didn't see the instructor present, so he decided to sneak in slowly. He tiptoed to his seat and was almost there.

"Meiko...." a stern but soft voice said suddenly, making the human stand in attention. An older human who was shorter than he was, slowly walked over to him with a pink slip in his hand. " You didn't thin you could sneak in here now did you?" Shugo shook his head, holding his hand out, accepting the detention slip. As he sat down, he thought to himself. "Wow...two in a row. I think I'm gonna have a new record by the end of the day." He looks over to the empty seat next to him, where Erick sat.

"They got him..." he whispered. " I knew it." He pulled out his book and begin "reading" everyone else was. The day seemed to drag on from class to class, finally it was the end of the day and he pulled out the detentions he received.

"Warren... or....Erick?" He sees the purple fox dashing down the hall with Sherman Erme, the school's bloodhound principal on his heels.

"Once my paws catch you, your ass is out of my school fox!" the hound barked. The human did a sidestep to the side, as the two run by. The hysterical laughter of the fox dies down within the distance before he looked down at his detentions.

"Well..." he says with a low sigh. "I suppose the English teacher can vouch for me when Warren comes for my head." Slowly the human made his way back towards the class room. Opening the door, he peeks in slowly, spying the older human sitting at his desk filling out paperwork.

"Meiko...." he said without looking up. Shugo's eyes went wide for a moment as he walked over to his seat. He slumped down in his chair, sighing softly.

"How long am I going to be here ?" he asked. The teacher still never looked at him. Shugo shakes his head as he sits back in his chair looking up at the ceiling. "Oh well...it's not like anyone is at home waiting for me anyway." His teacher just grumbled. Sheesh, what a grouch, Shugo thought.

Eventually the detention was over and Shugo was on his way home. Looking up at the sky he saw that time passed rapidly, for the sun was already down. The orange glow slowly enveloped the blue sky as the signs of night fall were drawing close.

"Man, those people at school are really pissing me off," Shugo said aloud. "Hmm...I wonder what happened with Erick though. Hope he didn't get into too much trouble..." His thoughts were halted when his vision catches the fur of a feral dog. It was unusual for ferals to be out of the wild padding about in areas where anthro's inhabit, yet this one was peculiar. It's markings were that of a doberman, yet instead of the paws and chest being brown, they were a light teal color. Shugo removed his glasses, cleaning them off before replacing them and squints at the dog harder. 

"Yep....teal..." the human said. "That's an odd coloration for a doberman pup..." He eyes the dogs tail, which was long and had a hint of fluff to it. "Well...maybe it isn't a doberman at all."

The pup was standing calmly at a crosswalk, looking both ways of the road as the late afternoon traffic screamed by. It placed it's paw down on the road when it thought it was safe to cross , only to yank it back as another vehicle crossed it's path. As Shugo got closer, he could see that the dog doing some kind of shuffle around the ground before yipping at the street.

" I hear ya little one..." the human muttered as he walked over to the street pole, pressing the crossing button, which later caused for the traffic to stop for pedestrians. The dog, seeing it's opportunity, hurries across the road. Shugo slowly walks after it, when his glance looks out of the corner of his eye. A red sports car was speeding down the street coming right at the small dog, and it didn't look like it was slowing down either. Shugo hurriedly tried to pull the dog back, but his timing came up to short. Hearing the grinding of the tires and the road, the dog stopped in the middle of the crosswalk, glancing over to the vehicle, was struck against it's side to the car's front. With a weak yip, the dog flew a short distance over to the side of the road, but the red car kept going. Shugo looked on in horror was the dog came to a halt against the side of the curb. Making a mad dash across the street, he goes over to the dog, kneeling down to check him over. The dog's body was ravaged by the road after gliding across it towards the curb. Multiple sizes of debris and rocks were imbedded deep into the teal fur. Shugo lightly placed his fingers against the dog's chest and a few seconds later, he felt a heart beat.

"He...he's still alive!" Shugo shouts out. He takes off his hoodie and places the dog in it
carefully. With this, he runs down the road to the local doctors office for additional assistance. His face flustered as he exerted what strength he had left to get the dog the medical attention nessicary. Upon reaching the clinic he was flustered and weak with fatigue as he approached the receptionist. He was so exhausted, he couldn't finish his sentences.

"Puh..please....this dog.....help," was the main thing he could get out. Nurses came out with a full body stretch just for him to place the small dog on, and they hurried it back for examination and treatment. Others had to calm Shugo down, having him sit in the waiting ward. After catching his breath, he sat there, nervously twiddling his thumbs. A whirlwind of thoughts went through his mind as his foot tapped the ground.

"I really hope he's gonna be okay...." the human muttered. " That person didn't even care that they hit someone...ooh I hope they get whats coming to them really soon." He became infuriated at the thought of the harm caused to the dog, but that anger soon turned to worry. " His owners must really be worried. But wait...who could own him. The dog seemed really exotic and probably a rare breed..." He thought about the dog more and came to a conclusion. 

"He probably belongs to some rich folks. It must have cost a pretty penny. He was smart enough not to cross the road either so he must have had a lot of training..." Shugo's deductions were interrupted by seeing a black rhino wearing a doctor's lab coat and garments.

"After you Reikhan's owner?" he asked sternly. Shugo gave a confused look back towards the larger animal.

"Ray...ick...can?" The rhino nodded fast.

"Yes yes that's the dog's name apparently. That's was on the collar he was wearing." Shugo didn't remember seeing any collar on the dog, but soon replied, explaining about how the dog was hit and he brought him here on his own accord.

"Well since you're the only one with an actual contact with the dog, we'd appreciate it if you could take him home for the night." the rhino said. Shugo's eyes went wide for a moment.

"T-take him home? But what about finding the owner?"

"That could take a while for us to determine. His health records don't show up in our storage so he's currently listed as a stray." The rhino walked over to the front desk to grab some paperwork which he handed to the human. " If you can't take him home, we can always have him sent to the pound..."

"N-No!" Shugo suddenly burst out suddenly. The doctor got quiet for a moment, making Shugo blush a little through his skin. " I-I mean... I'll take him home with me..." The rhino gave a small smile as he directed on how to fill out the paperwork. Soon after they have been filed, the doctor came back to him with Reikhan.

"Hold him gently. Miraculously he has no internal damage that isn't severe at all. Just some sore muscles. Let him rest for a long while and he should be up and barking good as new." The rhino gave the human a wink before handing the pup over. The dog's side had been bandaged up with a long roll of gause while any and all traces of the debris found on his fur earlier have been removed. His eyes were closed, almost in a peaceful state of mind as soon as he reached Shugo's arms. The human looked down at the dog with a slowly developing sence of new found affection towards him, soon bearing a little smile.

"Heh heh... a boy and his dog...." the rhino suddenly said, which made Shugo jump a little. "Go on home kid." The human blubbered out his thanks, bushing the glass door open with his shoulder. Saying good night to the doctor, he started on his way home slowy with the dog in his embrace.

"Cute little fella aren't you?" Shugo cooed to the dog. Of course, he didn't respond but Shugo 's face brightened up into a smile anyway. He has delt with dogs before. One's taller than he was or the ones at school that would always be hooping and hollaering at females but never a feral one before. He wondered how it would be like as he made his way back to his house.

Once inside, Shugo went to the living room where he grabbed a couch pillow, laying the dog on it.

"He looks so peaceful," the human said to himself. " I'm kinda glad I found ya. Now this house won't be so empty..." He lied down in front of Reikhan, just waiting for him to move, twitch, open his eyes, or all of the above. Time soon wore on as the human's need for sleep beckoned him. Shugo stood up stretching himself out.

"He's still not awake...." the human muttered sadly. He picked the dog up before he started walking with him towards his bedroom. "Well...tommorow's saturday. Maybe I can do a little research on him in the morning..." He yawned a deep yawn as he opened his room. He makes his way towards his bed, which was still in a mess from the morning. He straighted out an area on the bed and placed the sleeping dog on in, and pulled a small blanket over him.

"This is where you get to sleep little guy." the human said to the unresponsive dog with a smile. He stripped down to his boxers, getting in the blankets near by the dog. 

"Well Reikhan...." he said with another yawn. " I hope you'll wake...up...tommorow....." he lets out a low sigh as his eyes closed while sleep took him.

*** 

A bright beam of light shone through the blind of the human's window, zeroing out one single shot across the human's face, which made him squirm and groan. Opening his eyes slowly, he shields them as the light continued the concentration on his face.

"Ahhh.....it's morning already...." he said stretching out some. "How are you little Reikhan...." he glances over to the puppy, only to realize that the puppy wasn't there. Instead, there was a tall, slightly muscled anthro dog lying on his back, sleeping calmly and soundly. Shugo's eyes went wide with astonishment as he sees that this naked guy had the same marks as the dog did. His face wents red at the sight of the dog's chest, and couldn't help but let his glance go down his body below his belly button, his sight looking at the dog's black sheath and balls.

"Wh-where...." the human sputtered did you come from???"

-To be Continued in next step-