Work Text:
The Chidouin household had him for a few reasons. Being a caretaker in a few different ways was what he was most needed for. But at least it gave him something to look out for, the scars of his past being cleaned or at least given bandaids. It gave a sense of care and emotions. Coming from his roots, he’d take it, be it without showing it. Come to think of it, he was often not showing many emotions. Dullness and servitude were all he knew, but here at least made him enjoy it a bit.
But even people as dull as he had something to make him a bit happy. Something that’d just put a smile on his face. If someone told you he’d enjoy watching spots every now and again, you’d be called insane. But he did. Mostly just seeing it glimpse on the TV as someone was switching channels, or hearing some of it reported on the radio. If you asked him to pick just one spot he’d consider his favorite, it’d probably be baseball. He’d just say it’s the one he’s seen the most of. But in reality, there’s just one baseball player that sent his heart through a parade of skipping beats.
It wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to like Q-Taro Burgerberg. For as funny as his name is, he was undoubtedly a skilled player and was how a good handful of games were switched into wins. From the few interviews that he could see of the player, he was quite an energetic person, who wasn’t afraid to reach his goals and try to help out. It was admirable to him. While he also wasn’t in the minority of people who said he didn’t have some physical features that were quite nice. Bright red hair, ruby-red eyes, a more than admirable body physique. But he wouldn’t ever meet this celebrity crush, or accept that he had a crush.
~~~
“Oh. We’re out of eggs.” Morning breakfast was just made awkward for him. How exactly could he make scrambled eggs without eggs? If he knew there were no eggs prior, he could have worked on something new for breakfast. Then he remembered that last night was when Sara Chidouin said she was going out for a bit with her friends. He was told to keep an eye on her and caught her egging a house with her friends, Joe and Ryoko. He never said anything, but the police did the explaining for him when the girl was returned home.
After doing a small check on everything, it was made clear a few more things were missing, running low, or both; window and surface cleaners, bread, fruits and vegetables, and some other foods. Getting a list written, and letting Mrs. Chidouin know about the missing items, he was given some money to go buy what was missing. “Thank you, Kai.” She gave a small smile and waved him goodbye.
The store wasn’t too far from the home, but Kai was in no rush. He took the time to relax, and enjoy the autumn weather. His jacket didn’t keep the cold out completely, but it did an okay job. With the money and list in his pockets, he made his way to the store. It was quite busy for a Wednesday morning, and it threw him off, even if it just a little.
He gave it a bit of time for everyone to clear out. Large crowds were never Kai’s thing, and he had no plans on rushing to grab what he needs. Once the store cleared out to a reasonable degree, Kai went in to grab a basket and got his shopping list out. He did know most of the store by heart, which was quite impressive for the size of the store was quite big.
But for the first time in a long time, Kai finally got distracted by something enough to bump into something. He only had this happen a few times, and just like every time, he’d apologize and move on his merry way. However, today was different. For starters, Kai wasn’t the taller of the two people for once. Normally he’d be taller, either by a little or a lot, but now he felt short.
“I-I’m so sorry, I-” He finally got a glimpse of who he walked into, and he felt his heart stop. It… It was the one person he had hoped to not make himself a mess around. Everything made sense, but he didn’t want it to be real. The one person he wished he could only see on a screen. It’s Q-Taro--
“It’s my bad, didn’t mean to take up space!” That voice was his as well, and Kai felt his heart explode and had to take a second to put it back together. He took a moment to gather himself, and he had to pray that Q-Taro didn’t think of him like a rabid fan or something. Kai wasn’t good at hiding his blush.
“I-It’s okay.” Once Kai regained composure, both just kind of stood there for a moment in dead silence. Q-Taro also wouldn’t want to admit it, but the girl in front of him looked kind of cute. Of course, he had no idea Kai was a guy, but give him a second.
“D-Do you know where any of the sports drinks are?” Q-Taro was the one to break the silence. “A few of my mates wanted some and if just me was enough for people to flock over, imagining all of them in here at once would be a mess.” Clearly he wasn’t ready for fans to rush over to him.
“Yes, I-I do. I can bring you there if you want.” Once he finally could speak properly, he simply led him over to where he needed to be. He tried keeping himself relaxed, but this was quite difficult. Not only is he actually talking to someone he was convinced he’d never properly meet, but now he suddenly can’t speak??
“Thanks… uh…” Q-Taro never got her name and felt kind of bad. She most likely was just panicking over meeting him, most people do. But she isn’t going feral over him, so maybe it’ll be easier to talk to her.
“Kai Satou.” His voice was clear and this would most likely be the only thing he could say without sounding so flustered. Q-Taro felt so stupid with the realization hitting him like a pipe that this was a guy. But now he’s looking at the fact this cute **guy** was here, and he was here questioning his life. “You can just call me Kai though.”
“Well hey, Kai. Nice to meet you.” Q-taro just chuckled a bit and it sent butterflies into the ravenette’s stomach. Part of Kai wanted him to leave so he could buy what he needed and leave, but another part of him hated the feeling of never being able to see him face to face again. “If you’re busy I’ll get going thank f-”
“Y-You can join if you want!” He took a moment to think that over and it now hit that he basically invited him to basically shop with him, now giving himself the mental reminder to slap himself as hard as he could once he got back to the house. “I-I mean if you want to.”
“Sure!” Wait did he actually-? Q-taro just gave a small hearty laugh and Kai felt like he was going to die right there on the spot. Not going to waste this one in a lifetime chance, he just nodded and two started getting what Kai needed. The more they walked together, the more they talked and the more they learned about each other. From their hobbies to jobs to other little things. Of course, Kai couldn’t tell him everything, but the more he talked to Q-Taro… The more he fell in love with him.
~~
“Thank you for helping me.” Kai had to thank Q-Taro for sticking with him. He even offered to pay for kai’s things, which threw him off guard. He wasn’t sure how to feel, but clearly the time spent together was nice.
“Of course!” The baseballer said back, holding his small bag of drinks. “Guess I’ll see you around.” Before Kai could say anything, something slipped into one of his bags. The two waved goodbye and Kai made his way home. Be it dying inside of joy. Once he got back to the house, he put away the few groceries he bought and saw that Q-Taro slipped into his bag. A phone number on a piece of paper, with a Q-Ta-. Wait, was this… his phone number?
Kai certainly knew no one was home. So he could freely scream into a pillow out of pure joy. Everything good that could happen did. He could meet him, talk to him, now call him?! This seemed like a dream but it was all too real… Well, the house was cleaned, and no one was home.
It wouldn’t hurt to send him a text.