A Furry Noodle Friend Solo Pet Finished

Japanese | English | Date:June 25th, 2025 | Word Count 624/400

She was lonely. It was a hard pill to swallow especially as she categorically denied any attempts by her mother to set her up. Mainly because the men her mother chose never worked out well and Aiko could admit she had a bit of a rebellious streak and did not want to be set up by her mother. But after the events of the past year, and as a bit of a celebration for her first time as Headmistress, she had decided to get a pet. Deciding that maybe she should start small with a fish as she had never tried to keep anything except herself alive, she had found a local store that sold pets. But nothing drew her attention, and the fish there seemed boring. It seemed silly that she had said such a thing given that the main thing that fish did was swim around, but she wanted something colorful, and this shop did not have anything like that.

Aiko had moved to the next store on her list, but again, nothing really called to her. This time she chatted with the shopkeeper as she had only scoped out two stores, and didn’t relish just walking around trying to find another. The shopkeeper mentioned a nearby animal rescue that while it did not contain any fish, it did have some interesting pets. Aiko almost shrugged off the suggestion, but after the failure at the first two stores, she didn’t wish to rule anything out. Especially as she had only settled on a fish because it seemed the easiest to start with.

The directions the shopkeeper had given her did not make it seem that far out, so Aiko decided to walk rather than apparating. As she left the village, she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun. Only a few moments later, she heard a rather loud voice, crying out in what could only be panic. Opening her eyes, Aiko saw movement, and without thinking leapt at the animal. Getting her hands wrapped around it’s furry but twisting body, Aiko almost lost it once more, panic making her motions frantic as she tried not to injure it while ensuring she didn’t lose her grip. Apparently she need not have worried, as the animal ran up her arm to her shoulder, chittering at her as it looked back to where the frantic voice was coming from. Standing still, Aiko grinned as the chittering took on an almost petulant tone as the owner of the voice came closer.

Aiko was invited to join the woman for tea, and when the owner tried to take the ferret off her shoulder, it moved closer to Aiko’s neck, digging it’s claws in. Aiko found out that the woman was a ferret breeder, and that this mischievous one had made a break for the forest when she was grabbing one of its siblings to prepare to go to its new home. After a long education session on ferrets and their care, all while the friendly fellow used Aiko’s body and personal space as it’s own playground, Aiko was sold. She asked the woman to hold the ferret while she retrieved the necessary supplies and then returned to pick up her new friend.

She couldn’t bear to put them in the pet case they had found, and since they seemed just fine perching on her shoulder, Aiko left them to their fun. Walking along, she contemplated a name, and it was no surprise that her first thought for the furry noodle, was Soba. Deciding the first thought was the best, she happily went back through the village and made her way back to the school where she proceeded to set up her space for Soba.