Thanx for the comments! Now, here is chapter 1!
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Chapter 1“Ohayou, Sayaka.” Oshima Yuko greeted her friend as she found her head down on her desk. Takamina was also with her and noticed the strange aura surrounding her.
“You okay?”
“I just got a lot on my mind...”
“Did something happen?”
“Oh, I think I know. It was the puppy.” That word made Sayaka jump.
“Puppy?”
“Yeah, Sayaka came by the store and found a puppy. She took it home with her and probably stayed up ALL night taking care of it, right?”
“Uh...” Sayaka really didn’t want to remember that night. Because, that very next morning, the puppy became a human and kept insisting she was her master.
“What am I supposed to say?”Then, Sayaka noticed something. Her lunch box wasn’t in her bag. She thought maybe she had dropped it or something, but now, she couldn’t think because she was already so tired. She got up from her desk and told the teacher she had a headache. He let her go to the infirmary to rest and she climbed into bed, closing her eyes and drifting into sweet sleep.
Meanwhile, Sae herself had fallen asleep listening to the radio until a certain scent caught her nose. She immediately perked up and saw her master’s bento was sitting on the kitchen table, where she must’ve forgotten to pick up.
Sae, being the loyal pup she is, knew her first instinct was to bring the bento to her waiting Master immediately. She grabbed it with her mouth and was about to head out when…
“If you have to go outside for ANY reason, put something on!”“Oh, right.”
The puppy ran into Sayaka’s bedroom and looked for some clothes she could borrow. She opened a drawer and found a jersey that Sayaka regularly wears. She put it on and once again grabbed the lunchbox with her teeth before heading out, tracking Sayaka’s scent.
Back at school, Sayaka was fully rested, but now had an empty stomach and was starving. She sat under her favorite tree with Yuko chatting with one of their kouhai, Matsui Jurina. Her mind, however, was in another place, far off in the clouds.
“What’s with her? That girl really is crazy. I’d better take her to the hospital after school...”“What you thinking about, Sayaka?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Yuko grinned widely and pinched Sayaka’s cheeks.
“C’mon, you NEVER act like this! Tell us what’s going on.”
“It’s fine, Yuko. Really...”
Sayaka felt a sudden tingling sensation at her side. Yuko was tickling her. She tried holding in her laughter, but then Jurina joined in and tickled her sensitive spots. She screamed out as Yuko and Jurina attacked her, and she was found completely defenseless and out of breath.
Just then, she heard a noise. A growl. The three looked to see what was causing it, the look of pure shock washing over Sayaka’s face.
There was Sae, on all fours, growling at Yuko and Jurina angrily… and with Sayaka’s bento in her mouth.
“Uso….”“Uh, who is that?” Yuko said.
Sayaka groaned and got up, kneeling down to the puppy girl.
“Why are you here?”
The puppy dropped the bento in her Master’s hands and replied, “It is my soul duty to protect my Master from all harm.”
“And that gives you permission to dress in MY clothes, carry MY bento in your mouth, carry it all the way over here, IN YOUR MOUTH, and growl at my friends?”
Sae simply nodded in reply.
“Sayaka-san, is she a friend of yours?” Jurina asked.
Sayaka didn’t get to answer as Sae growled again and slowly crawled closer to the both of them, making them back up to the wall of the school building.
“WHAT is this chick doing?!”
“Sayaka-san, help!!!”
In her panic, and probably out of pure instinct, Sayaka screamed, “Sae, heal!”
And Sae sat down on the ground, still with her eye on the two girls, but no longer growling. She turned to see her Master’s angered expression, returning to her side.
“I’m sorry, Master...”
“Sae, lemme ask you something,” Sayaka spoke up, meeting the pup at eye level. “Have you EVER had any experience as a human before?”
“No. It’s my first time.”
Sayaka sighed and patted the girl’s head.
“Okay. I forgive you.”
“Honto?!”
“Yeah. Just, next time, don’t growl at my friends.”
“Roger!” She saluted cutely.
“Okay...” Yuko said as she and Jurina slowly got up. Yuko smiled a bit, but then it faded and she yelled out, “WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?!?!”
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“So… Sae-san is an inugami.”
The puppy nodded with an innocent smile on her face.
“And she’s basically imprinted on you, Sayaka?”
“N-no! Not like that. See, she was hurt when I found her and abandoned, and...”
“Sayaka is my Master! I’ve sworn to devote my life on protecting her, no matter what.”
The two looked back at the older girl, who just shrugged in reply.
“She’s been like this ever since I found her yesterday.”
“That’s a loyal pup for ya.”
“But, why an inugami?”
“Inugami don’t just choose their Master. They have to be chosen as well. Sayaka swore in her heart she would save me after she saw I was hurt, and it was her pure heart that chose me. That’s why I decided to be her guardian.”
“And what does a ‘guardian’ like yourself do?”
“One, obey all my Masters orders. Two, protect my Master from all harm.”
“Then that explains why you growled at us.”
“And why you stopped after Sayaka told you.”
“So now what?”
“I don’t know. I barely even know what’s going on.” Sayaka sighed.
Then, Sae spoke up again. “I wanna go to school.”
“Eh?”
“I want to go to this school, so I can be with Sayaka all the time.”
“Maji?!”
“Is that… bad?”
“Well, no. But, see, to get you enrolled, we have to talk to...” The three girls fell silent as the little inugami just looked at all of them confused.
“Who?”
“Mariko-san.” They all synchronized.
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Sayaka was about to knock on the door to Mariko’s office, but then stopped and looked at her inugami.
“What’s wrong, Master?”
“Uh, Sae, can you hide those? The ears and the tail.”
“Why?”
“I think… Mariko-san would be freaked out if she saw you’re half-dog.”
“Understood.” Just like that, Sae’s ears blended in with her hair and disappeared, while her tail curled up and disappeared as well.
Sayaka then knocked on Mariko’s door and slowly opened it.
“Mariko-san?”
“Oh, Sayaka, girls. What brings you here?”
“Well, we wanted to...”
“Mariko-sama!” Sae suddenly yelled out. Her ears and tail popped back out and she hugged the tall woman.
“Sae, no!”
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite inugami. How are you, Genking?”
“Huh?” All three of them stood in shock.
“Mariko-san, you know Sae-san?”
“Of course I do.”
“Mariko-sama is a miko!”
“EH?!”
To Be Continued=======================================================================