Like Master, Like Dog

“WONG! NOOOOO!!!!” someone screamed from behind.

Suddenly, a big dog jumped out from behind the bushes and started running towards them. It was a Shiba Inu, a big dog known for its hunting skills.

The dog bolted towards them at full speed, as saliva dripped from its mouth.

There wasn’t enough time for Akihiro to react.

It jumped in between them, grabbing the bag of cookies with it.

“My cookies!” Ayane shouted as she saw her handmade cookies being taken away right in front of her eyes.

The dog ran around the park with the bag of cookies in its mouth. Natsume jumped out of the bushes. “WONG! Stop!!”

The dog continued to run around the park, chasing fireflies with the bag of cookies still in its mouth.

“Ugh fine...BIG WONG! Come here!” Natsume ordered.

The dog immediately stopped frolicking with the fireflies and came back to Natsume.

“Good job, Big Wong.” he said as he patted the dog’s back and took the bag of cookies out from its mouth.

“Natsume? Why are you here?” Ayane asked.

“Haha.” Natsume laughed as he slowly came to the realisation that he had just exposed himself. “Oh shit…”

“Oh, he was following us the whole time…” Akihiro interrupted.

“Wait, how did you know I was following you both the whole time?” Natsume asked. “My hiding skills are maxed out.”

“I could see you following us.”

“Yikes...” Natsume mumbled as he scratched his head and looked away.

“Natsume, explain yourself!” Ayane shouted.

“I wanted to see you both on a date. After all, I'm the Great Love Philosopher.” Natsume explained.

“You were watching us the whole time?” Ayane asked.

“Hehe. You were very bold today. Grabbing his hand out of nowhere, taking him here, giving him a bag of homemade cookies etc.” Natsume said with a smirk on his face.

Ayane’s cheeks turned red instantly. “S...s-so what?”

“And I didn’t expect Aki-kun to go on a date. You really have changed so much. Unlike the ‘ emotionless, cold and insensitive’ person you were before, you seem more human now. Ever since you met Ayane, you’ve begun to change so fast. You seem like a completely different person now. I still don’t know if I like this side of you.”

“We have no other choice but to accept it and move forward, right?” Akihiro smiled.

“Haha, you know me too well indeed.”

“By the way, is that your dog? Can I pet it?” Ayane asked as she crouched down to the dog’s level.

“His name is ‘Big Wong’. My mom likes Chinese culture, so she named him Wong. I added ‘Big’ to his name. And yes, you can touch ‘Big Wong’. Hahaha”

Ayane began petting the dog. “Also why did you bring your dog today?” she asked

“Oh, that you see...it's a trade secret. But since you both are my best friends, I'll let you in on it.” Natsume said. “Normally, I’d hold the dog’s leash with my right hand and use the binoculars with my left hand to search for older women. I’ll take a cookie…and eat it!”

“Don’t eat those cookies!” Ayane shouted.

Natsume completely ignored her. “Do you want to see Big Wong in action?”

“No…” both of them replied together.

“Hahaha, don’t be shy. Here you go, I’ll show it to you anyways.” Natsume said as he let go of Big Wong’s leash and pointed to a woman in her thirties, walking back home. “Look, she’s a beauty. Big Wong, you know what to do right?”

“Woof!” the dog barked in agreement, as he ran past the woman and turned back.

Seeing the dog run towards her, the lady immediately stopped. The dog began barking ferociously as he chased her. She freaked out and began running away, towards Natsume and his friends.

“Miss, don’t worry. I am here!” Natsume shouted as he came in between her and the dog. The woman hid behind Natsume and clung onto him. “Save me!”

“Don’t worry miss, this dog is domesticated. It won’t bite you. If you run, Big Wong will think that you want him to chase you.” Natsume said.

“Thank you so much, you saved my life there. I was really scared when that dog barked at me.” the woman said.

Natsume looked at his dog and winked.

‘Good job!’

He then turned his attention to the beautiful woman standing there. “Haha, no worries. In return can I have your numb-”

“So this was your plan all along! You pervert!” Ayane shouted at him as she dragged him out of there. The bag of cookies fell down and Big Wong pounced at it, gobbling it in seconds.

“Oh no, the cookies!” Ayane whined.

“Big Wong deserved it. He did a good job. Exactly how I trained him.” Natsume said proudly.

“You and the dog, both of you are perverts. Who trains their dogs to help them get girls?”Ayane said

“Hehe.”

“Ugh, anyway it’s late now. I’ll be going back home now.” Ayane muttered.

“I can drop you home.” Akihiro offered.

“Who’s gonna drop me home then?” Natsume whined.

“Aki-kun, it’s okay. My house is pretty close from here anyways. So you go drop Natsume home.”

“Oh okay.”

“I really had a lot of fun today,” Ayane said as she smiled sweetly.

“Me too. I had a lot of fun too.” Akihiro replied as he smiled back.

“Ahem Ahem! I had a lot of fun today too.” Natsume interrupted.

“Shut up, Natsume!”, Ayane shouted. “You ruined the whole mood. Tsk. BYE!”

“Bye-bye! Princess of the Crimson Red Flame.” Natsume waved his hand.

----

As she disappeared into the crowd, Natsume looked at Akihiro and asked, “So, did you propose to her or something?”

“No, I haven’t.”, Akihiro replied.

“But you surely confessed, right? You told her that you love her, right?”, Natsume asked.

Akihiro thought for a while. “Nope.”

“WHAT!!! HOW DID YOU KISS HER WITHOUT CONFESSING YOUR LOVE? TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!! I NEED TO KNOW!! THIS IS SO UNFAIR.”

“I should tell her that I love her, right?”, Akihiro asked.

“Yea if you do love her, then you need to tell it to her.”

Akihiro remained silent as they started to walk back home. Big Wong followed them obediently.

‘What is love? Do I really love Ayane? Is this feeling called love?’

“You know how someone who rarely eats spicy food finds even mildly spicy noodles extremely spicy and unbearable? Well, your emotions are like that too. Out of nowhere, you’ve begun feeling emotions like joy, sorrow, pain etc. Of course, it would all seem exaggerated. Well basically, to a person like you, who seems to have never felt any sort of emotion before, you are probably overexaggerating how you feel. Eventually, when you get used to feeling happy or sad or whatever, you’ll find out if you really love her.” Natsume said.

“Ah! This is so hard to understand…”

“Haha, did you think love would be easy to understand?”

“No…”

“Well, I don’t think most people even care at this point. They just date for fun or other stupid reasons. What’s the point? If you don’t struggle, strive, writhe and despair, in pursuit of something genuine, then why even call it love? It’s just plain attraction then.”

“What is love then?” Akihiro asked

“That’s something for you to find out on your own. Love isn’t easy to understand. Haha, isn’t that why I’m called the Great Love Philosopher?”

“Something for me to find out…” Akihiro muttered as they walked down the alley.

The cold breeze blew as they walked under the starry night sky. Silence filled the air. Akihiro and Natsume were lost in their own thoughts. The street light flickered as they entered the alley that seemed to be darker than usual.

From the darkness, a knife came hurling towards them. It zipped through the atmosphere, heading straight towards Natsume’s forehead. Akihiro instinctively placed his palm in the trajectory of the blade. It pierced through Akihiro’s hand and lodged itself in his palm.

The dog began barking ferociously.

Natsume’s reflexes kicked in as he stumbled back.

‘What the hell…’