After taking a shower and getting changed, he slung his basketball over his shoulder and walked out of the fencing hall.
The two ladies, Shimizu Rena and Coach Miyazaki, still hadn't come out yet. Well, they were girls—baths naturally took longer.
Haizaki Shogo went to the lounge beside the lobby, casually tossing his basketball up and down. Sometimes, the ball spun rapidly on his fingertip, bouncing lightly, its flair instantly increasing.
After intense exercise, his whole body felt relaxed. Even his breathing was deeper than usual—it felt amazing.
Soon, the two stunning beauties came out together, their hair still slightly damp, making every man around them stare wide-eyed in a daze.
Haizaki walked up and said to Coach Miyazaki:
"Miyazaki-nee, look at their eyes—way more blatant than mine, way more pervy than mine. So you can't blame me in the future. I'm just reacting normally."
The beautiful Coach Miyazaki said nothing. She simply shot him a glare with her apricot-shaped eyes, took Shimizu Rena by the hand, and walked ahead—completely ignoring both Haizaki behind them and all those dazed, gawking stares.
Carried by the wind, the fragrance of their body wash drifted toward him. Watching their graceful figures, Haizaki tugged at the net bag on his back and happily trotted after them.
At the café, each of the three had a cup of coffee in front of them. The beautiful coach was drinking rich mocha, Shimizu Rena had café au lait, and Haizaki was drinking Blue Mountain.
The café was filled with the strong aroma of coffee. Haizaki really liked this smell. Of the two lovely girls before him, one was flipping through a magazine, the other was writing and doodling in her notebook—who knew what she was writing.
As for Haizaki himself, he had nothing to do, so his gaze simply circled between the two of them, leisurely appreciating the beauty before his eyes.
He really liked this quiet environment—and enjoyed it deeply.
But the atmosphere couldn't stay silent forever. If no one spoke, this peaceful quiet would slowly turn into heavy silence.
Thinking for a moment, Haizaki opened his mouth.
"Shimizu-chan, Coach Miyazaki, what do you think we should name the puppy?"
"Puppy?" "Puppy?"
"Yeah, I picked up a stray dog at noon today. I haven't named it yet. Shimizu-chan, Coach Miyazaki, help me come up with one."
Coach Miyazaki lowered her head in thought, saying nothing. But Shimizu Rena, who had been writing, immediately closed her notebook and earnestly started talking with Haizaki.
"Shogo-kun, how big is the puppy? What color is it?"
"It probably just opened its eyes not long ago. Grayish-white. Look—like my hair color."
The moment he said that, Haizaki froze. He finally understood where that familiarity and that unwillingness to abandon it at noon had come from.
What difference was there between that puppy and Haizaki Shogo when he first arrived in this world?
In a sense, they were both strays—there was really no difference at all.
Haizaki saw his own reflection in the stray dog, which was why, on impulse, he took it home.
No wonder. So that was it. Haizaki had been puzzled all afternoon about where the familiar feeling came from. He'd almost suspected that there might really be some supernatural power in this world he didn't know about.
The long-silent Coach Miyazaki finally spoke—and her first words stunned both Haizaki and Rena.
"Call it Little Shogo."
Shimizu Rena was speechless. The name left her so stunned she couldn't even talk.
As for Haizaki, he was even more speechless. He subconsciously lowered his head to look at his own crotch.
If the stray dog was called Little Shogo… then what should the thing down there be called?
"No way, no way. I'm not a dog."
Haizaki rejected the name on the spot and shot a look at Coach Miyazaki opposite him. Seeing the brief flash of mischief in her beautiful eyes, he immediately understood—
She was teasing him on purpose.
Good grief—so the always-serious Coach Miyazaki can crack this kind of low-brow joke, huh?
Haizaki reassessed the intelligent, seductive, mature woman before him, staring hard as if trying to see through her.
At that instant, countless indecent scenes flashed through his mind: ultra-short leather outfits, whips, candles, ropes…
After a while, Shimizu Rena finally came back to herself and spoke gently to Haizaki.
"Shogo-kun, how about calling the puppy Coco? We're in a café, so the name fits really well."
Haizaki kept repeating "Coco" under his breath. The more he said it, the smoother it felt. And the name also made him think of a hero character from a game.
Feeling stirred, he raised his coffee cup toward Shimizu Rena in a celebratory gesture.
"Coco it is! Shimizu-chan, you're amazing."
"Thank you for the compliment, Shogo-kun."
The mature beauty, Coach Miyazaki, watched the boy and girl before her. A trace of loss flashed across her eyes, then disappeared. She silently joined in celebrating the puppy's successful naming.
The mood became lively, and the three chatted about everything under the sun. At 8 p.m., they left the café together.
After seeing the two girls onto the bus and checking the time, Haizaki felt it was still early, so he went directly to the supermarket.
On the second floor of the department store, he found a pet Zone and bought a big dog bed there.
He shifted the basketball to the other shoulder, carried the box with the dog bed, and took the train home.
When he got back, his mother was sitting on the sofa knitting, and his older brother had already returned—holding the puppy and examining it from every angle.
The puppy's fur color was similar to both of theirs. Because of that fond association, his brother liked the puppy quite a lot too.
Seeing Haizaki take out the dog bed, his brother immediately handed him the puppy.
Haizaki put the puppy into the dog bed, then placed the bed at the corner of the staircase. From now on, this would be the puppy's home.
The puppy was quite perceptive too. Once in Haizaki's big hand, it didn't bark or fuss—just stayed remarkably gentle.
"That's nice. When nobody's home, the puppy can keep Mom company."
"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."
At noon, one of Haizaki's reasons for wanting to keep the puppy was exactly that—it could help his mother pass the time.
His brother worked every day and was incredibly busy. Haizaki himself had school every day, club activities after school, fencing hall and sanda on weekends, and sometimes practice with Aomine Daiki. He rarely had time to keep his mother company.
With this puppy around, at least his mother wouldn't be so lonely.
"Right, I've already decided on the puppy's name. It'll be Coco."
"Coco? Not bad—sounds smooth. Go tell Mom."
"Yeah!"
Holding the puppy, he sat beside his mother on the sofa in the living room.
"Mom, from now on, it will be called Coco."
"Coco… that sounds lovely."
The gray-white puppy was indeed intelligent—it barked twice in response, making Haizaki and his mother look at each other and laugh.
Haizaki looked at the loose collar around the puppy's neck and the blank name tag dangling from it.
He went back to his room, took out a pen, and wrote the puppy's name and the Haizaki family address on the tag.
=============
32+ Advance Chapters Available on Patreon.com/Veltoria
100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter
Add to Library to support