The Little Pufferfish Is All Puff and Grumbles!

The little pufferfish arrived in this world and became a half-grown child who wasn't an orphan, but might as well have been.

His family wouldn't pay for school? No problem. He could catch fish and shrimp in the sea, or blackmail Mr. Seashell or Ms. Conch into giving him pearls to cover his living expenses.

Later, the little pufferfish met a frail, starving human boy his own age by the seaside. He was a good student, but his family was too poor to pay for him to continue his education.

The little pufferfish flapped his tiny fins and said, "Be my wife, and I'll take care of you! I'll take you along to bully all the fishies in the sea!"

Professor Kroll, the youngest and most handsome instructor at the medical school, had a country fiancée. Word was that she was vulgar, had no manners, and was especially domineering.

The two families had already decided to switch her out for the eldest daughter of the main branch of her family.

But when that country fiancée heard about it, she came all the way to the main planet.

She marched right up to Professor Kroll, head tilted back and hands on her hips. "Mr. Orca told me you were cheating!"

Professor Kroll hurriedly bent down and scooped up the little boy. "Don't be ridiculous. Don't listen to that big-mouthed orca. I didn't cheat!"

"You did! You did! Mr. Seashell said it too: men are always hoping for a promotion, a fortune, and a dead wife. I'm not dead yet." The boy flailed, trying to jump down so he could teach him another lesson.

"Mr. Seashell?" Professor Kroll looked down at him. "How about I make you garlic butter scallops tonight?"

The boy, who had been fuming, immediately widened his eyes and swallowed. "I-it's a deal."

"Mm." Professor Kroll secretly breathed a sigh of relief, scooped up the little rascal, and continued toward the dormitory.

"From now on, you can't use me as a bath scrubber," the boy grumbled, taking the chance to make a demand.

Professor Kroll thought of the little pufferfish swimming around in his bathtub every night, plump and round with his tiny tail flicking rapidly, and wasn't too eager to agree.

The boy saw him hesitate, and his cheeks puffed up with anger. "Y-you really won't agree?"

"Then how about you wash me once, and I'll scrub you once?" the young professor coaxed him in a low voice.

The boy lifted his head, the tips of his ears red, and muttered, "You once, me once..." That didn't seem quite fair, did it?

"O-okay, then."

The baby pufferfish is poisonous, super fierce, and puffs up round whenever he gets angry. He's also just the right shape to pick up and use to scrub dishes...

Little pufferfish: Fine! Now I'm even angrier!

Theme: Keep doing your best to live!