Bright violet eyes peered into the glass, trying to see more of the furball lying in the cage. A long braid swished slightly as a zephyr breezed by. A neck craned futilely in an effort to see more.

"Go inside, idiot," a voice said, amused. The other tore his eyes away from the glass, glaring instead at his partner.

"If I go inside, I'll be doomed," he commented offhandedly, offering a smile. The second sighed.

"People are staring. Go inside," he commanded. Cobalt stared down amethyst, unblinking. Finally, amethyst gave in and closed.

"Fine, I'll go inside," the first said, pretending to pout. The second rolled his eyes, but followed nonetheless.

The moment Duo stepped into the pet shop, he was gone. Whizzing from cage to cage, tank to tank, row to row. Heero watched his enthusiastic boyfriend with a slight smile, his cobalt-blue eyes glowing in amusement. After a couple minutes, Duo finally stopped at the cage by the window. Inside was what looked like a ball of fur. The braided boy waved to Heero, and Heero nodded. The Perfect Soldier walked over to Duo, and watched as Duo enthusiastically asked to see the ball inside the cage. Soon, the black ball of fur was squirming in Duo's arms.

"Isn't he just adorable, Hee-chan?" he asked happily, positively shining with joy.

"Yes," Heero admitted with a small smile. Duo looked at the attendant again.

"What breed is it?" he asked.

"This puppy is an American Eskimo Dog. We took it out of the kindness of our hearts, since most of the breed are white and not many are willing to buy one of such…difference," she informed them.

Duo turned to Heero with hopeful eyes. "Can we buy him? Can we, can we?" he asked quickly, like a two-year-old.

"Duo, you know we don't have room for him," Heero admonished. Duo's face fell. "Let's go."

Duo nodded, sadly, and walked dejectedly out the door. Then Heero turned to the attendant, who was now holding a despondent puppy. "Will you hold him for me? I'll be back in a week for him."

The woman nodded, and Heero followed his braided baka out of the pet shop.

~*~ One Week Later ~*~

"Hee-chan, what'd you get me?" Duo asked excitedly. Heero always got him something good for his birthday. But Heero only smiled mysteriously.

"Let's go the party," he said instead. "They're waiting for us."

"You didn't answer my question," Duo pouted.

"You'll see," was all Heero would say, and Duo's incessant pestering couldn't get him to change his mind.

Despite this, the party was great. Duo still annoyed the hell out of Wufei, who was muttering 'injustice' every three seconds. But his present to Duo was heartfelt. "Wow! Wufei, I didn't know you had this kinda cash!" Duo exclaimed as he saw the amount on the giftcard. "And to my favorite bookstore, too…THANK YOU!"

He glomped Wufei, who then announced that he would "never give anything to Maxwell again."

Trowa had gotten Duo a devil plush with bat wings that had a custom-made black shirt that said in big, red letters, "I AM SHINEGAMI. FEAR ME, ALL YOU INSIGNIFICANT HUMANS." They had all had a good laugh and Duo hugged him.

Quatre had gotten him a similar gift. "Whoa! It looks just like me!" Indeed it did. Brown yarn was tied into a braid down the plush's back, and it had wide, embroidered violet eyes. It wore exactly what Duo did: black pants and jacket, and red shirt. He glomped Quatre too.

Then Duo turned to Heero. "Well, Heero, where's my gift?" he asked impatiently. Heero smiled that secretive smile again.

"I'll go get it."

Then he left the room. Five minutes later, he came back in.

And he was holding the black American Eskimo Dog.

Duo blinked.

And blinked again.

And then he glomped Heero, who had hastily put the puppy down, and kissed him. "Thank you so much, Hee-chan!" he squealed, and picked the puppy up.

"What're you going to name him?" Quatre asked, petting the puppy.

"I dunno," Duo said absently. Abruptly, the puppy squirmed out of Duo's arms and landed on the floor, where it picked up the Shinegami plush and ran. Duo blinked. "Hey! That's mine!"

The two began a wild-goose-chase around the house. Everyone was amused, even Wufei.

"I think we'll name him Mondai," Heero said with a chuckle.

Duo stopped, mildly panting, as the puppy wiggled under the couch. He laughed. "Mondai…I like that."

= = = OWARI = = =

-chan: used after a person's given name to express intimacy and affection

baka: idiot, fool

mondai: problem, annoyance