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Kunikida was running like hell. He was trying to get away and get as far as he can from whatever he was running away. He tripped for a second before he managed to get up and continued running. He turned a corner into an alleyway and had to take a breather. He gripped his chest as he looked around for a few moments before he let out a sigh of relief. Good, whatever he was running from didn’t follow him. He took off his glasses and wiped them with the end of his shirt before putting it back on. “God, what has my life come to?”
Even with his sigh of relief, he was stretching with his arms raised up. Lulled into a false sense of security, he didn’t see two long and scaly tails slowly going down. He yelped as they wrapped around his arms and hoisted him up to the roof of the building. He was let go once he was here and he was on his knees instantly, a bit shaken up by the action. He looked up and he was met with two individuals.
“Told you he’d run~”
“Considering the circumstances, it couldn’t be helped.”
Even on his knees, Kunikida was not having it as he frowned at the others. “How…many times…that I told you…I’m not worthy in being your mate!”
--
Mythical creatures, cryptids and monsters has roamed the earth with humans for many years, some say even before history was ever documented. But like everything else, it took time for humans to settle in and made peace with the creatures, even go as far as creating bonds with them at any age, kid to elder, there wasn’t anyone that hasn’t interacted nor seen a creature in their lifetime.
Kunikida was no exception. He remembered befriending what his mother would say dragons but in human form, dragons do have that kind of magic. However, he moved to another area and slowly forgot about them. In his life, he had befriended a naga (Ranpo), a cat-demon (Fukuzawa), shape-shifter (Tanizaki) and various others. As like most people, he knew that in the recent decades, creatures (though not all kinds) would take on human mates. This was not an uncommon thing.
However, one day, he came home to not one but two dragons who decided on their own that he would be their mate. The fact that two dragons were willing to share a human mate was not as common as they can be possessive to the point of killing one another. But to pick some random guy to be their mate made no sense to him.
So like any logical person, Kunikida ran in hopes that it was a mistake of some sort.
It didn’t pan out well.
--
“I don’t recall ever seeing you two at all or I would have remembered by now.” Kunikida crossed his arms and frowned, the three of them back at the man’s place with tea and some snacks on the coffee table in the living room. Ridiculous or not, they were his guests and he wasn’t an asshole.
The redhead named Oda looked very sad upon hearing that, why though, Kunikida did not know. He nodded anyway. “I see. But we’re still stick by to our decision. You don’t have to say it now, we just wanted to…get to know you and in turn, get to know us. Think of it as a trial period and after some time has passed, then you can tell us your decision.”
“Yep~” The other named Dazai hummed as he was casually enjoying the tea. “But even if you don’t remember us, we won’t take this lightly. We want you, the two of us. So we’ll do everything in our power to see that we’re totally serious about having you as our mate.” He looked up with a serious expression. “We’re not ones to lose.” He then winked. “So how about we go by this day by day, hm?”
Kunikida can only sigh as he couldn’t find anything to argue that. “Well…fine.” He supposed. “If you two are so eager to have me as a mate then let’s do this trial period.” He threw his hands up. “I’m not convinced about any of this but…I guess I’ll give it a shot.” He sighed as he heard the cheering of one of the dragons.
“We won’t do anything that you don’t want us to.” Oda nodded with a faint smile. “Thank you for considering it.” He then looked at the other up and down. “Have you eaten? You look a bit thin.”
Blushing a bit at those eyes, Kunikida huffed. “I have eaten enough. I was going to make dinner. Just a chicken and some salad as I planned to make.” He then was startled when a pair of hands slammed on the coffee table.
“That’s not enough!” Dazai pouted. “As a potential mate, we need to make sure you fed well and taken care of.” He stood up. “Odasaku, let’s go shopping. We need some meat and carbs for dinner.”
Oda, who seemed to go along with Dazai’s whims, nodded seriously as he got up. “Understood.”
“Hey hey hey!” Kunikida stood. “I don’t need that much food--!” He got a finger against his lips, silencing him instantly.
Dazai smiled. “Ah ah ah~ You can’t fool us. You may think you’re getting enough food but us dragons know.” He dropped his fingers. “Also think of it as a treat from us for the trouble we caused, how about that?”
“….” Kunikida crossed his arms. “If you two even barge into any aspect of my daily life, I have no qualms in kicking you two out of my life.”
Dazai smiled as Oda nodded. They understood very well. They won’t scare the other away, they’ll make sure of that.
--
Kunikida wasn’t sure how he managed to settle into some domestic life with those two but with the months that passed, it certainly felt like one. Despite those two living next door, they would spend the majority of their time at his place. Dinner, sleepover, breakfast, some lunches, and repeat. At first, he wasn’t sure how to process how his life changed that much but at the same time he felt less and less concerned about it.
He found that Oda may be blunt but also very nurturing. He would make sure he slept and fed well, helped with the chores and did massages when he was super stressed out.
Dazai, while not the most nurturing, was still as caring. Any financial burden that Kunikida would have, he would have the means to ease them. How he had that kind of money, the blonde had no idea. At first it was too much just for the other to be the only one paying so Kunikida set up a system so the two can pitch in on the bills and such. Oda wasn’t without money but Dazai wanted to contribute and this was the best way for him and honestly Kunikida didn’t mind.
Soon two houses became one as the pair moved in. Somewhere along the way, Kunikida can no longer remember the life he had before the two came into his life. He still couldn’t remember them as they had stories about the three of them as they were children but whenever the blonde would ask why they stopped hanging out or why he couldn’t remember them, Dazai would usually be the one to say that they were still young and he moved away as the human did recall. Oda would stay silent until the topic changed.
Feelings blossomed, requited and soon his days were just filled with two dragons that had a lot to give, including love. It was already embarrassing to finally admit it when it happened but Ranpo, the perceptive Naga, had the gall to laugh when Kunikida finally voiced it out. At the very least, Fukuzawa was sympathetic, the cat-demon had a human mate who was very wealthy and very loud so it wasn’t easy at least. Everyone congratulated him though and soon he savored the feeling of being loved and did his best to show that love to the dragons.
Then one day, something hit him.
No, literally, something hit him on the way back home from his job and he was sent to the hospital as he didn’t regain consciousness.
Somewhere in his dreams, he heard familiar voices and thought of two people before things went black.
--
“So…you regained your memories, huh?” Dazai asked, leaning on the window sill as Oda was sitting on a chair and had a book on his lap. “Does your head still hurt?”
With bandages wrapped around said head, Kunikida shrugged. “Not any more than yesterday. Just stings when I move too fast.” He then looked at the dragons, haven’t seen them in days when he was treated at the hospital, woke up to them and tears were shed, and relief filled their hearts. He calmed down eventually as he decided that answers were needed in order understand the full picture. “We…we known each other well…huh?”
“…Yeah.” Oda answered. “You were the very few human families in the area at the time. Dazai found you first and brought you to me. We played a lot of games in the old playground when we have the time. You were as cute back then as you were now.” He chuckled, liking the blush on the other’s face. “You even though that being dragons were cool and we would just fly a bit around, you had a look of excitement on your face when we did that. Missed those days….”
Dazai chuckled, remembering it all too well.
“Then…what happened?” Kunikida asked. “I really didn’t recall you guys at the time but you both knew…you knew me…how couldn’t I remember you? It couldn’t have been because we were that young, right?”
Clearing his throat after a few moments of silence, Dazai sighed. “We were playing baseball. Odasaku got enough money for some equipment and we decided to play. I…I must have forgotten how strong a dragon really was…Odasaku was the pitcher…I was the batter…and you…you were the catcher…so when the ball was thrown and I hit it with the bat, it went off and…”
Placing a hand on his head gently, Kunikida slowly filled in the blanks. “How long as I out for?”
“Long enough to be transferred to another hospital.” Oda added. “But it was part of why we couldn’t see you again. Our parents…especially Osamu’s,” He gestured to the other dragon. “There are some prejudice that will never fully fade away from the older generations of dragons. Your parents just didn’t want you to go through more pain because you were human. I don’t think they ever blamed us for what had happened. It was an accident…but…”
Dazai shrugged as he went up to the bed and sat on the chair on the other side, across from Oda. “The dragons of the area wanted some excuse to kick the very few human families out, so it’ll be a fully dragon territory. It happens from time to time, some dragons adapt, some would rather die than do that…like father did….” He lowered his head a bit. “But even so, we never gave up looking for you. When we first saw you all that time ago, we just knew…but you didn’t remember us…which was what I expected---”
“Don’t even start.” Kunikida took Dazai’s hand and Oda’s. “You guys were hurt because of me. Even if it was an accident, those memories as kids…they should have returned eventually with time. The fact that it didn’t…maybe some part of me didn’t want to remember and that’s why…I have hurt you both…even if that wasn’t my intention….”
Oda shook his head. “We will never blame you for what was out of your control. In the years of trying to find you, we realized that our feelings for you ran deeper than friendship.” He squeezed that hand that held his. “Doppo, the past is the past for a reason. Even if you were never to have remembered us, that’s okay. Because we can still make memories now and for the future when we can look back on it.”
“Dragons have longer lifespans than humans so I know our time is already limited to begin with but even so,” Dazai squeezed the hand that held his. “We love you….and we have no intention on replacing you or letting you go. Even if the time eventually comes when three goes back to two, I will forever treasure the moments when it was the three of us.”
Kunikida looked between Dazai and Oda before he felt tears forming in his eyes. His face crumbled a bit as he started crying. “I don’t…I don’t want to let go either…I want to stay…I want to be with you two forever….I won’t forget…I won’t….” The crying turned into full on sobbing as the human was hugged by the dragons. No other words were said, just tears, broken laughter and a promise.
A promise that will hold solid for years to come.
--
Flowers were placed on a grave, it was an anniversary of the death of a loved one. How long had it been then? Five years, ten years, fifty years? He wasn’t sure anymore, but time flowed much differently than a human’s. There was only a handful of creatures that can surpass time and dragons was one of them.
It was a blessing and a curse. How one wanted to interpret it was up to them.
“Hey!”
Looking up and over, two people, two dragons were standing not too far from the cemetery. One of them with a mop of brown hair was waving as the redhead was smiling. It was winter and they were wearing thick coats, they had to be or else they’ll get sleepy with how cold it was.
“We got that reservation to that restaurant you loved to go to, they’re still going strong after all this time. If you’re ready, we can go.” The brunette called out with a bright smile.
With a smile of his own, he murmured a prayer and started walking away from the grave. It was the grave of his mother. Seeing the pair being so happy to see him even though he was alone for just a few hours, made his smile warmer and wider as sharp teeth were exposed. With his eyes shifting into slits and the energy (magic) flowing within him, he nodded.
“Sure!” He started running towards the pair. “I’m ready.”
Kunikida had more than enough time in the world for those two. Even if he can no longer remember certain things anymore, he won’t forget the bond that he had with them and love that grew out of it.
At the very least, he won’t forget that as long as he lived.
As long as he had them by his side, he won’t ever forget that.
--
END