2026-08-16: Simple Souls

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Hyousuke supposed, in retrospect, that managing to narrow down the area the dog's owners lived in was a stroke of good luck that he couldn't count on continuing. Under other circumstances, he might have spent days - weeks, even - pottering around Sumaru, hoping that the dog both caught a scent and communicated where he needed to go to find the source. To have been in just the right place at just the right time was nothing short of a Christmas miracle. But, even then, some legwork was required. Fortunately for both him and the dog, they had energy to spare and no obligations to speak of.


He had little in the way of a process. He wasn't as sharp as some of his peers, he didn't have Tamaki's training, and there were no spirits or demons lingering nearby that would have aided him without incurring some great price - assuming they deigned to give him the truth at all. But what he lacked in technique, Hyousuke made up for in determination. That, and it seemed that fate had decided he would have a good day that day, and it didn't take long for someone to recognise just who the dog belonged to.


Their reaction had been puzzling, however. They seemed to know the family that the dog belonged to, they seemed to know that they *had* a dog - but they'd not heard any news about it going missing. Hyousuke and the stranger assumed that it was simply because they didn't know the family particularly well and thought no more of it, but even so, the interaction lingered in the back of his mind. The dog seemed to have no such worries, however. Once it recognised the route home, and scents that were no doubt familiar, its pace grew ever quicker, and its barking ever louder.


It bounded forward, straining against the leash with all of the might that a little dog could muster. It turned back to Hyousuke, partly to look at him and wonder why it was being restrained so much, and partly to check that his new friend was still there to join him on the journey back. Hyousuke himself couldn't help but smile. To see it so overjoyed at the prospect of going home, knowing that there was a loving family waiting to welcome it back with open arms... It was a joyous occasion for him too.


He found it strange, then, that his heart felt heavy at the thought he would have to let his new friend go. Intellectually, he knew there was no reason for it. This was the culmination of a case that had been weeks in the making. He had come to Tamaki, begging for help with it. He had housed the dog, fed it, watered it, looked after it, made sure it was hale and healthy, all in service of making sure that it went back to the people that loved it the most. So why did the thought of it hurt so much?


No matter how he tried to push the thoughts back, or sequester them away in some corner of his mind like the rest of his mind's unwanted tangents, he couldn't stop thinking on it. He wanted to. How desperately did he want to, and allow himself to continue the rest of his life in peace. But every time he looked down at that dog, bounding along and tugging him ever closer to the apartment of the people that he truly belonged to, the thoughts were dredged up from the depths of his mind, and bared for him to witness all over again.


Hyousuke came to the door of the family in question before too long. He'd already spent quite a while with the pup, but even then, it felt like it hadn't been time enough. An idle thought crossed his mind that they might be willing to let him visit, but he cast it away. It would be best not to ask. They no doubt had enough going on, and would need time to recover after being put through so much. He couldn't impose on them like that, even if it hurt him to walk away.


Hyousuke rapped on their door, his knuckles sending out a few short, sharp, noises ringing towards the other side. He stood back, stock-still and doing his utmost to maintain a straight face, while the dog fidgeted about on the spot in a desperate attempt at breaking free of its bindings. Its efforts only intensified when the door creaked open, and a man stepped through to regard him. Hyousuke waited a moment, thinking he needed a second to realise what was happening, but all he was met with was a blank, neutral, stare.


"Can I help you?" The man asked, his voice flat as his expression. Stunned by his indifference, Hyousuke could only stare on in shocked silence. His mouth moved as if to say something, but the words wouldn't come. He pushed through it, as he did with many things he had misgivings about, but the shock never quite left his voice. "Y-your dog. I found your dog. He was missing, and I-" "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong apartment. We don't have a dog." If the indifference had been a leading punch, the denial was a haymaker to his jaw. Stammering, Hyousuke searched for the words, but none came easily.


"B-but your address-" "Again, we don't have a dog. I'm not sure whose this is, but it's not ours." The dog itself seemed to think differently. It strained with all its might against the leash, barking and leaping and bounding as much as its little legs could manage. It alternated between looking up at the man with round, begging, eyes, and turning them back towards Hyousuke as if to demand that it be allowed to slip the leash and return to its family. "But I- But he- He recognises you! Look!"


Hyousuke's insistence drew a call from behind the man. A woman, if the voice was any indication. Even if the stranger was not in his way, Hyousuke would not have been able to see in from the angle he stood at, but he was certain he could hear the sound of a child playing nearby as well. "Honey?" She called out, sounding more inquisitive than concerned. "Is everything alright?" "It's fine dear, no need to worry." He called back, before sighing and leaning in a little. Voice lowered and expression hardening, he spoke in a stony, insistent, tone.


"Look, kid. I'm going to be honest with you. We don't want that thing anywhere near us." A third blow knocked the wind from Hyousuke, like a sledgehammer to the chest. He hadn't even the strength to offer a stammering rebuttal, and the stranger spoke uninterrupted. "Me and my wife thought we were gonna get a purebreed. Something worth keeping around. Instead, some piece of shit sells us a mutt and skips town before we can do anything about him. Do you know how much that thing might cost to feed? To treat? Hell, we don't even know if it's stopped growing yet, and it's pushing the size limit on most apartments as it is."


Hyousuke found his voice, but not the strength to back it up. The blows had come one after the other, and left reeling, he hadn't been able to gather himself enough to put force behind his words. "But he's family...! You can't just-" "It's a *dog.* It's not even one we wanted. I don't know what you think it is to us, but it's sure as hell not family." Hyousuke didn't even blink at that. Too shocked to even act on reflex, he felt his mind go blank and any thoughts of calm leave him. Slowly, but surely, they were burnt away by violent, incandescent, rage.


"You're... abandoning him." "That's not quite how I'd put it, but-" "BULLSHIT!" Hyousuke's face contorted into something. Anger, maybe. Frustration, perhaps. Sadness, even. It was hard to tell what exactly plagued his features, but the guttural roar that was his voice left no doubt that he was upset. "You didn't see how desperate he was to try and get back home! Out there, where you- where you ABANDONED him! He was scared, he was alone, and he was lashing out at people, and all he wanted was to come back home! And you're telling me you LEFT HIM THERE?"


"Honey, is everything alright?" The woman asked again, audibly stepping closer, her slippers a rapid and rhythmic patter against the wooden floor. "Do I need to call the-" "No need, dear. He was just leaving." The stranger turned from his wife to Hyousuke, then hissed in a low enough voice that their child would not risk hearing. "I don't give a shit what you do with that thing. But if I see you or it here again, I'm calling the cops." He didn't wait for a response before slamming the door in Hyousuke's face, but that didn't stop him from bellowing one out. "ASSHOLES! EAT SHIT! FUCK YOU!"


The dog had stopped barking by that point. Instead, it whined. First at the door, then at Hyousuke. It pawed at him too, desperately - but quietly - trying to grab his attention. He snapped his head down, the rage still lingering on him, but it all softened the moment he beheld that poor, innocent, creature. "...I'm sorry." He said, just as quietly. His anger had blazed hot, but short, burning itself away until only cold ash remained. Despair, sadness, dismay - whatever it was, it hollowed out a pit in his stomach, and left him staggering dumbly away.


Hyousuke didn't know when he'd made it back to the park. Perhaps it'd been minutes. perhaps tens of them. Perhaps an hour. It was hard to say, with the sky in a perpetual state of darkness, and the timing of sun's daylight arc shifting from day to day. But it didn't matter. He all but collapsed into the first bench he found, unable to support his own weight any longer, and slumped forward with his arms crossed loosely on his knees. The dog padded forward, staring up and whining softly, nudging its nose into his leg to try and grab his attention. Hyousuke didn't even hesitate, though his movements were shaky. He reached down, and held a shaking hand to the head of the dog, smiling weakly.


"Shit... why wouldn't they... How could they..." A million thoughts roiled in his head, each struggling to drown the other out. Every time he tried to figure out an answer to one, or force another to remain quiet long enough that he could focus on something else, two more took its place and wracked his mind. His hands gripped his knees tight, his knuckles paled, his arms shook, and then - with him unable to maintain even the faintest semblance of strength - something spattered against the back of his hand.


The sky was thick with clouds of a dark and foreboding grey, but no rain fell upon them. Yet still, it hammered down against his hands.

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