Unknown location
Linn leaped out of the portal, landing on the unfamiliar ground with a painful thud.
"Ow..." Linn grunted, pushing himself up. He took in his surroundings, his eyes widening. Green grass stretched out before him, dotted with colorful flowers, and surrounded by a vibrant forest. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud. He walked a few steps, confirming that the field seemed to extend endlessly. Above, the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Linn knew, with a growing certainty, that he was definitely not in Nakamura town.
"What is this place?" Linn murmured, a sense of awe filling him. His amazement was interrupted by a small whimper nearby. He turned toward the sound.
"Wha...?" Linn's eyes widened in shock. A boy, completely naked, with a shock of golden hair, was sitting on the ground. "Who is he, and where did he come from?" Linn thought, bewildered. He was sure he'd entered the portal alone. Had someone followed him? Or was the boy already here? Linn studied the boy. He looked to be around Linn's age and height, maybe even a little taller. And then there were his...ears. Dog ears!
"What is..." Before Linn could complete the thought, the boy began to stir. Linn stepped back as the naked boy sat up, blinking golden eyes. He looked up at Linn.
"Master?" the boy said.
"Huh?" Linn replied, confused. "Are you talking to me?" He pointed at himself. Suddenly, the boy's eyes sparkled, and he launched himself at Linn, licking his face enthusiastically. "Woah, woah, what are you doing?!" Linn exclaimed, trying to fend him off.
"Oh, Master! It's you! I was so scared! I didn't know what was happening, but I'm so glad we made it here together!" the boy cried, tears of joy streaming down his face.
"What are you talking about?! Get off of me!" Linn said, finally managing to push the boy away.
"What's the matter, Master?" the naked boy asked, tilting his head with a confused expression.
"I'm not your master! Who are you, anyway?" Linn demanded.
The naked boy's face fell, and he slumped to the ground, looking utterly dejected. "Oh, you're such a mean master! How could you forget about me of all people?!" he wailed. Linn sweatdropped.
"Hey, now, don't cry. I'm just saying I don't remember meeting you before," Linn said, feeling a bit awkward. The naked boy sniffed and wiped his tears.
"You don't remember me?" he asked, his voice small.
"I think I'd remember a boy with gold hair and dog ears," Linn said. The naked boy stood up and placed a hand on his chest.
"Master, it's me. Tomodachi," the naked boy announced. An awkward silence filled the air, broken only by a gentle breeze.
"...Huh?" Linn said, his face blank.
"I said it's me, Tomodachi," Tomodachi repeated.
"No, no. I heard you the first time," Linn said, rubbing his temples. "I'm just trying to wrap my head around this." He pointed at Tomodachi. "So, you're saying you're Tomodachi? My dog, Tomodachi?"
"Yes!" Tomodachi beamed. Linn was silent for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.
"Ha ha ha! Oh, that's a good one! But seriously, who are you?" Linn asked, wiping tears from his eyes.
"Tomodachi," Tomodachi replied, his expression unchanging.
"No, seriously," Linn insisted.
"To-mo-da-chi," Tomodachi repeated slowly, enunciating each syllable. Linn's brow furrowed.
"Okay, that joke is getting old..." Linn said, annoyed that the naked boy persisted in using his dog's name.
"I'm not joking! I'm Tomodachi! Why don't you believe me?!" Tomodachi exclaimed, his voice rising in frustration.
"Well, let's see...maybe because my Tomodachi is a dog, and you're a human!" Linn retorted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Tomodachi looked down at himself, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Hey, what do you know? I do look like a human!" Tomodachi gasped. Linn facepalmed.
"Obviously!" Linn exclaimed. "And what's with these dog ears?" Linn reached out and grabbed Tomodachi's ears, pulling on them slightly. "Ow, ow, Master, that hurts!" Tomodachi cried out. Linn immediately let go, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Oh my god, those things are real!"
"Of course, they're real!" Tomodachi exclaimed, rubbing his ears. Linn stared at the naked boy, his mind reeling.
"What are you?" Linn asked, his voice hushed.
"I told you, I'm your dog, Tomodachi," Tomodachi said, looking at Linn expectantly.
"But you look human and can talk," Linn pointed out, stating the obvious.
"I have always been able to talk," Tomodachi explained. "But I guess you never understood me until now. As for why I'm human now, I don't know."
"Okay, I think I get it," Linn said slowly, though he was far from understanding.
"So then...!" Tomodachi began excitedly, but Linn interrupted him.
"Hold on," Linn said, raising a hand. "I get that you're some sort of dog-human thing, but I still don't believe you're Tomodachi."
"Oh..." Tomodachi said sadly, his shoulders slumping. "What must I do to convince you that I am Tomodachi?"
"I don't know..." Linn admitted, unsure. "Do or say something that only Tomodachi would know."
"Oh, okay!" Tomodachi said, perking up. "I can start with you!" Tomodachi began listing things he knew about his master. "Your name is Linn Tsukiyomi, you're 12 years old, you live in Nakamura town, you're a big fan of anime and wrestling, your best friends are Kailia Saotome..." Tomodachi's tone turned slightly sour as he mentioned Kaila's name, "...and Erica Tachibana." Tomodachi's voice softened with a hint of happiness when he said Erica's name. "You like hamburger steak and hate fish."
"Okay, I think I got it," Linn said, trying to stop Tomodachi, feeling a bit exposed. But Tomodachi continued.
"One time, when it was raining, you slipped on a puddle and fell on top of Kaila. She then kicked you in the...man part, which is weird because she was blushing the whole time. You sing your favorite anime theme song in your room at night. You sometimes pee in the bed, and you—"
"OKAY, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Linn yelled, his face bright red with embarrassment. Tomodachi stopped, looking slightly abashed. "Do you believe me now?" Tomodachi asked hopefully.
"Well..." Linn said, his mind racing. What Tomodachi said was mostly true, and Tomodachi had been present for some of those...incidents. But Linn was still hesitant to fully believe it. "He does seem to know a lot about me, and he doesn't look like he's lying..." Linn thought. Then, an idea struck him. "I know! I'll try that. Only Tomodachi would react to that." Linn looked at the dog-eared, naked boy, who was staring back with curious eyes. "Here goes nothing," Linn thought, raising his fingers. He snapped his fingers once.
Tomodachi's ears perked up, and he began sniffing the air and looking around, his nose twitching. After a minute of searching, he sighed sadly. "There is no food here." Meanwhile, Linn stared in shock.
'No way,' Linn thought. He snapped his fingers twice. Tomodachi's ears perked up again, and this time, he ran toward Linn. Stopping in front of him, he crouched down on all fours, his tail wagging furiously as he panted.
Linn still couldn't believe it. 'Okay, one more time,' Linn thought, snapping his fingers three times.
Tomodachi's ears perked up once again. Tomodachi got up and started growling, his eyes scanning the area. "Who am I biting?! Who?! Tell me!" Tomodachi snarled, waiting for his master to designate a target. When no command was given, and he didn't see anyone around, Tomodachi blinked in confusion. "There's no one here," he said, sounding disappointed. Linn just stared, his mouth agape. Those were commands that he had trained Tomodachi to do, and the naked, dog-haired boy had performed them all perfectly. Linn finally came to a single, inescapable conclusion.
"Tomodachi...?" Linn said slowly, his voice filled with a mixture of disbelief and dawning recognition. Tomodachi turned toward Linn, his golden eyes bright.
"Yes, Master?" Tomodachi responded, his tail giving a hopeful thump.
"It is you," Linn said, a small smile spreading across his face. Tomodachi's eyes lit up, and he launched himself at Linn again, licking his face with unrestrained affection.
"Okay, Tomo, that's enough!" Linn said, laughing and pushing Tomodachi off gently.
"But Master, I thought you said you believed me!" Tomodachi pouted, looking slightly hurt.
"I do, but—" While it was true that Linn now believed the boy was his dog, one glaring problem still made him incredibly uncomfortable.
"You're butt naked," Linn said uneasily, his gaze darting around.
Tomodachi blinked and looked down at himself, then shrugged. "I'm always naked," Tomodachi stated, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"It's different now that you're human! I can see...everything," Linn said, his face flushing.
"Is that a bad thing?" Tomodachi asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"Kinda?" Linn replied, unsure how to explain the nuances of human modesty to his dog. "Look, the point is, you can't walk around naked. We need to find you some clothes."
"Um, Master?" Tomodachi said, looking around at the empty field. "Where are we going to find clothes? We're in the middle of nowhere."
Sure enough, Linn looked around, and they were still in a plain field with no sign of civilization in any direction. "Good point," Linn said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "We still don't even know where we are."
At that, Tomodachi asked, "Why are we here, Master?"
"I don't know," Linn replied, feeling a bit sheepish. "We jumped into the portal, and it dropped us here."
Tomodachi cocked his head to the side, his dog ears twitching slightly. "Why did we jump into a portal?" he asked innocently.
"Because we came to...to..." Linn's brow furrowed in concentration. He seemed to have completely forgotten his initial reason for entering the portal. After a moment of stunned silence, a look of comical horror spread across his face. "That's right!" Linn exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "I came to save Kaila and Erica! How could I forget something so important?!" He turned around and mentally berated himself for his momentary lapse in memory.
Tomodachi tilted his head. "Save them? Are they in trouble? Is Erica here, too?" Tomodachi asked, a note of concern in his voice, mixed with a hint of eagerness at the mention of Erica. Linn turned back to Tomodachi, his expression determined.
"There's no time to explain! We have to find them!" Linn declared, breaking into a run in a random direction.
"Okay!" Tomodachi yelped, scrambling to catch up.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Linn stopped abruptly, causing Tomodachi to skid to a halt beside him.
"What, what, what?" Tomodachi asked, panting slightly.
"You're still naked..." Linn said, pointing at Tomodachi with a wince.
"Master, now is not the time for that!" Tomodachi scolded, though without much heat.
"I know! But we might run into someone. They might get the wrong idea," Linn said, his face reddening.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Tomodachi asked, looking genuinely perplexed. "We don't have any spare clothes with us."
Suddenly, Linn's eyes lit up with an idea. "Yes, we do," he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.
Linn quickly stripped off his own clothes, leaving himself in nothing but his boxer shorts. He handed the pile of clothing to Tomodachi.
"Wear these," Linn ordered.
"O-oh, yes, Master," Tomodachi said, taking the clothes and awkwardly putting them on. He ended up wearing Linn's clothes, which were a bit too big for him.
"Is this good?" Tomodachi asked, looking slightly self-conscious.
"It's better," Linn said, smiling in satisfaction. "Now you're not completely naked." Tomodachi sweatdropped.
"Um, Master?" Tomodachi asked hesitantly.
"Yes, Tomo?" Linn replied, already turning to set off again.
"It's good that I'm not naked anymore, but now you're half-naked," Tomodachi pointed out, gesturing to Linn's state of undress. Sure enough, Linn was standing there in nothing but his boxers.
"It's fine as long as I'm wearing something," Linn said with a shrug, trying to sound nonchalant.
"If you say so," Tomodachi said, still looking uncertain.
"Let's go!" Linn said, breaking into a jog. Tomodachi hurried after him, and the two of them began running through the field, the strange, new adventure stretching out before them.
Linn has embarked on a new adventure with his faithful dog, now in human form. Will he reunite with his best friends and find his way back home? Only time will tell.