Canines' Autumn Ch. 7: Two-Player
Seventh story for Canines' Autumn. Kouya and Shun play a game in the evening then later on talk about Kouya.
Sitting on the side of the ring, Kouya was watching Juuichi and Ten bow to each other in the center, the two finished with today's training. Juuichi waved at the wolf as he went first to the changing room. Ten on the other hand went and sat to Kouya's right, wanting to talk to him.
"Thank you for the other day," Ten said. "Because of that, Shun-sama and I got to know each other better. His choices in games were also very interesting."
"You know what they say, don't knock it 'til you try it," Kouya said.
"That's true," Ten said before pointing to the stack of towels on the bench behind the husky. "Could you pass one to me?"
Kouya nodded and reached for a towel, giving it to Ten. After a word of thanks and taking the towel, the wolf slid his arms off the upper garment of his gi, exposing his muscular torso into the cold air as he wiped the sweat off of himself.
Fascinated with the image of the wolf in front, Kouya kept on looking. Now, Torahiko's physique was something the husky had seen quite often, given the tiger's hobby of swimming, but something was different with Ten's. Not only did his body look bigger than Torahiko's, but his gray fur reflecting the dojo's light made it seem like it was shining.
Ten looked at him. "Is everything alright?"
"Oh. Uh yeah, nothing's wrong," Kouya said, turning to his front and fighting off the blush forming on his face.
"You're not bothered by my smell?"
The husky paused and kept silent. Here was the person he liked, half-naked and asking if the smell of him was offending. What's in there that could be offending? Taking a short breath, Kouya broke the silence and spoke.
"Not at all. Maybe it's just me, but I find your smell to be very comforting."
Ten's ears twitched at what he just heard, his eyes widening in surprise. "Kouya..."
Taking note of the time on his watch, Kouya got up and bade Ten goodbye, telling the wolf that work was about to start. With him alone in the training hall, he sniffed his arm as he thought of the husky's words.
"My smell is comforting?"
***
Evening came and Ten was at Shun's house, the two playing Uchuu Sensou II, an old-school shoot-'em-up game with them in the asteroids stage. Ten's blue ship was in front shooting up the asteroids while Shun's red ship was in the back taking care of the hordes of enemy ships that popped up. With the area cleared of enemies, the stage's boss appeared, a mech with a blue core bombarding the screen with bullets and asteroids in circles.
"Ten-san, you take care of the asteroids," Shun said.
"Understood."
With his Power Gauge full from the asteroids shot, Ten used Mega Blast and cleared the screen from the boss' attacks, leaving it vulnerable for the remaining time of the emptying gauge. Shun wasted no time and aimed straight for the core, it turning purple then red.
"Just a few more..."
The last shots were fired and the core exploded with a blue light, disappearing along with the body of the mech. The stage was cleared, and with that the two took a break from playing.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" Shun asked.
"Yes. Truly it was," Ten said, letting go of the controller.
While on their break and eating the snacks prepared for them, Shun noticed Ten staring at a distance, the bigger wolf's cup of tea still on his hand. The little wolf was puzzled at this. What could he be thinking about right now? Did something happen between him and Kouya? All these questions ran inside Shun's mind. Wanting answers for them, the wolf turned and asked him.
"Ten-san."
"Yes, Shun-sama?"
"What's the matter?"
Ten kept silent and thought to himself. If he was to ask anything about Kouya, Shun was the right person to go to aside from the husky himself. Not wanting to waste the moment, he went and asked.
"Shun-sama, how do you feel when you're around Kouya?"
"Around onii-chan? Hmm..." Shun rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger, thinking of his answer. "Around him, I feel super happy! Sometimes we go to other places on his bike, I listen to his guitar playing, and he also plays games with me. And when he takes me to his practices, Hirama-san and the others would play with me on their break. How about you, Ten-san?"
"Me?" Ten was surprised. He never thought the question would come back to him. Then again, it was time that he thought about it, given what happened this afternoon. He looked up to the ceiling as he gave his answer. "As for me, it's hard to describe. Whenever he's around, it feels like everything's all right. Those times by the riverside, the times he visited the dojo, even that time at Touno's party. When he's there, I could relax and enjoy whatever's around."
Hearing those words, something struck inside Shun's mind. He was sure enough of this. What Kouya felt for the wolf, Ten felt for the husky also. The time was perfect. Kouya had told him this morning that he'll be in the forest tonight watching the full moon. There's no time to waste, he thought.
"Ten-san, let's take a walk tonight."