#frozenthread

Leash in hand, the dark haired woman came down the stairs of her small apartment for the first time in hours. She had a set schedule that she followed everyday- she worked on her paintings, had lunch, worked some more, then around dinner time, she got up and closed up the studio. First thing she did once her work day was over was take her dog, a female Springer Spaniel named Suika, for her daily walk. Coming down the stairwell, the dog would instantly spring up, tail wagging and excited to see Momo ready to take her out on a walk. “Okay Suika, okay!” Momo chuckled to herself as the dog circled her, “let’s go girl!” 

The young woman pulled her jacket, mittens and scarf on, clipped the leash to the collar of the dog, and before she knew it, she was being pulled out the door and down the stairs of the small apartment building. The duo always walked in the same direction, the same way, so the woman could walk along and read her book and have no worry of where she was going. Today she was enjoying Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen- again. It was a classical favorite of her’s after all. 

Everything was going the same as usual until her dog suddenly yanked at the lead, basically dragging the tiny woman down the side walk. “S-Suika! What are you doing?!” Momo struggled to keep her footing as the hunting dog pulled her along towards whatever had grabbed her attention. Suika had Momo at a blind jog trying to keep up with her until the untimely moment-

Slip.

Momo slipped forwards just as her dog came to a stop and went crashing right into the pair that were the dog’s interest- a white haired man and his dog. “I am s-so so sorry!” Momo choked out, flustered, as she straightened herself out and pat the ruffles out of the man’s jacket awkwardly. “So sorry!” She repeated once more as she side glanced at her dog, whom seemed all too content in meeting the man’s canine.

Toshiro hadn't expected much of the evening, to be honest. After spending the day investigating (rather pointlessly, as it had felt) in the origins of lethal pesticides and questioning an equally arrogant as well as obnoxious suspect he was positively done with life and ready for an actual good night's sleep. Which he probably would not get. But it wasn't like he had ever counted on that, not since he joined the Seireitei City Police Corps.

The first thing he did was picking up Hyorinmaru, his Border Collie, over at his uncle's house — technically, Ukitake Jushiro was a professor ethics ethics at the Shin'o University but due to his medical conditions he was currently bound to his sickbed — which actually had been a twisted blessing, as Toshiro discovered. He couldn't take Hyorinmaru to work and had struggled with finding a solution for the entirety of his first year. Leaving him with his uncle, though, whom the dog adored, anyway, meant that neither of them had to feel solitary. And even when Jushiro, on the rarer occasions, was well enough to teach, there was still his best friend (or platonic life partner or whatever the wording was) Shunsui, a writer, who made sure his dog wasn't all alone.  The right decision would have been to give Hyorinmaru away the moment he signed up for the police academy. His job wasn't compatible with the time he had to invest into making sure his canine friend was well and happy but Toshiro couldn't bring himself to simply separate himself from the dog, not after having him around for almost half his life.

So far everything had been as perfectly ordinary as his life could get. But it was on the way back where things got interesting. It started with Hyorinmaru, quiet and well-trained Hyorinmaru, starting to bark excitedly and trying to take the course of their walk into his own paws, which wasn't too much of a novelty on its own.  He had meant to warn the woman, he really had, but with them both being lead by the small natural forces their dogs were every warning probably would've been too late, anyway.

Her dismay at the situation was almost amusing, but not wanting to be rude Toshiro did his very best to hide the laugh creeping up his throat.  "No harm done, Miss," he assured her while the young woman, maybe roughly his age, fussed over his jacket. "Just try to watch out next time." He offered an apologetic hint of a smile, since it wasn't her fault alone, either, and took a glance at Hyorinmaru and his newly-found friend scurrying around each other in joyous excitement. It'd feel like a crime to separate them now.

With a light sigh Toshiro turned back to the woman and extended a hand in a formal greeting. "I'm Toshiro. And that's Hyorinmaru. We're sorry for the hassle."