Dark Edge Village

Tomonaga was being watched.

Or maybe it wasn't Tomonaga. Maybe it was the thing that he had in his hand. That he held aloft. Yes, that was it. That was what the mind behind those staring eyes wanted. The thing moved, and the eyes followed.

"Go get it!" Tomonaga called as he hurled his kemari ball far out into the field. The puppy raced out after it, tackling it excitedly.

"Inu, focus," she instructed the wiggling ball of fur gently. The ball-tossing was distracting to the pup, but that was a good thing, the pup needed to be able to ignore distractions.

Shading her eyes with her fan, she looked across the field to see who else had brought their puppy out here. "Ohayou!"

"Now, bring it back! Bring it back!" Tomo's puppy continued to maul his kemari ball. "Wait, no..." Tomonaga jogged out to rescue the ball from its savage rending. Once he got closer, of course, the puppy picked it up and jogged jauntily away.

This brought him quite a bit closer to the young woman who was hailing him. "Good morning, Ide-san." He called. "Or... Ide Amaya-san, yeah? You sang very well, yesterday. I'm Yasuki Tomonaga." He said, bowing.

She blushes a little, "you are too kind, Yasuki-sama," and she offers a bow in return. "How goes the training?"

"Ah..." Tomonaga said. He watched as his puppy continued to playfully dance away, tail wagging excitedly. "Mixed, I'd say. I've gotten the first half of lots of things, but not the second half."

"And you, Ide-san?" He asked, eyes going to her puppy.

She scratches the pup behind the ears, restraining it from chasing Tomonaga's pup. "Well, that remains to be seen yet. I'm not entirely confident of the direction I wish to go. Where to focus her training."

"Huh." Tomonaga said. "Well... does she have any gifts? Mine seems to be good at running, and jumping, and chasing things." He made a brief motion towards retrieving his kemari ball, but the puppy bounded away again. Tomonaga shook his head.

"So..." He smiled at Amaya. "Perhaps it's just a matter of helping your puppy to find herself."

"That is my feeling as well." She watches the pup dancing away from Tomonaga. "Try this," and she opened a small lacquered-wood box contained broken up bits of jerky. Picking out a morsel of the dried meat, she whistles softly and holds it towards the wayward pup, her own struggling harder against Amaya's restraining hand, trying to reach the treats.

Tomonaga watched, his expression interested. "Ah, I see. May I?" He asked. He moved closer, peering down into the box, but then back to the Amaya's puppy, curious to see what she would do next.

She chuckles, "if your pup cares more for a ball than a treat, you'll have a challenge ahead of you." So, instead, she brings the treat in front of her she-pup. With a firm look and a gesture, she admonishes the puppy, "be still." Eyeing the treat, the pup wriggles, before turning its gaze to the small woman controlling it. A moment later, the pup stills and waits.

"Excellent!" Amaya cries, and feeds her pup the jerky.

Tomo's puppy had continued to shake the kemari ball. However, seeing Amaya's pup fed seemed to get his attention. It took a few steps towards them. The puppy's head tilted to the side inquisitively, although the kemari ball still dangled from his jaws.

"Isn't determination good in a dog? Or, is that only after you train them?" He falls silent, though as his puppy approaches. After a moment, Amaya finds herself subject to expectant gazes from two pairs of brown eyes, the puppy and Tomonaga working together.

"Determination is a fine quality. If one is determined to focus on the right things." She notices her growing audience, "does your pup have a name yet?"

"Yes, that's certainly true." Tomonaga sighed. "It's at least as true with people, huh? Maybe even more so."

"Mmm. I was still thinking about that a bit." Tomonaga looked at the dog, who in turn looked back at him, wagging his tail. "I was leaning towards Dash. It seems like it fits him."

"A good name," she agrees. Taking another treat from the box, she holds it out and calls for the pup, "Dash, here Dash."

Dash came up eagerly, but it took him a few moments to realize that he couldn't effectively accept a treat while still holding a kemari ball. Finally, he set the ball down, stretching his muzzle towards the treat, nose twitching and tail wagging.

Tomonaga quickly snatched up the ball. "Hey, thanks Ide-san!" He said. "I guess I should try to get some treats myself. They do seem like they'd be quite helpful."