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Grocery bags fell onto Kaoru’s kitchen counter with a loud thunk!
He really should have been more careful, but his arms were strained after yesterday’s workout, the dozens of cans he had purchased only sought to add more of a burn to his muscles whenever he so much as moved a finger. The bags were dropped, much like Kaoru’s shoulders. Rolling his left one sent a sting through his nervous system, any semblance of relaxation soon forgotten as Kaoru tensed up again.
Plastic crinkled as Kaoru’s hands opened each bag, searching for whichever one his eggs were in. It really was a stupid move to let gravity handle his purchases, especially when Kaoru had purchased as many industrial sized cans of tomato paste as he did.
Slightly pliable styrofoam was soon underneath his fingertips. Popping open the carton, Kaoru nearly dropped the eggs again in his relief. Not a single crack on two cartons of twelve, Kaoru could continue his meal planning in peace. Out of what he had bought at the store that evening, the eggs were the only ingredients he didn’t need.
Opening his condo’s quaint fridge, his fingers drummed against the porcelain steel. Resting on the middle shelf was the dough he had made this morning, perfectly chilled and ready to be sliced into thin strips. Saran wrap kept the dough safe for a while longer as Kaoru bent down, looking for a saucepan large enough to hold the dozens of whole tomatoes he had purchased. Making sauce from scratch was a luxury Kaoru loved partaking in, he knew his kitchen like the back of his own hand, spending extra time hustling around the space only served to improve Kaoru’s mood.
It took no time to open the cans of tomatoes. He had gone for a variety, mixing crushed, diced, and pasted tomatoes into the pan, joining a small amount of already water. Turning the burner on, Kaoru set to filling another pot with water, this time salting it before he placed it next to the already simmering tomato sauce. Settling himself at the counter next to his stovetop, Kaoru set to sprinkling flour on his workspace before he set his dough down, deftly slicing thin strips off the edges.
It took a surprisingly little amount of time for the water to boil, and with it brought steam that seemed to make the temperature of his quaint kitchen rise dozens of degrees. Sweat began to form around the back of Kaoru’s neck, and while pulling his hair back into a quick ponytail was an easy solution, his bangs were not as readily tamed. Pushing them back worked temporarily, but within seconds strands of blonde hair would fall back into his line of sight, clouding his vision and ensuring his forehead was trapped under its own thermal blanket.
He could run to look for a headband, but the noodles needed to get cooking. Eyeing the window to his right, Kaoru strides over to open it. The window creaks open, but Kaoru doesn’t dare open it more than halfway. There was no screen, due to a particularly terrifying incident involving Moricchi, a mouse, and his thighs of steel that allowed himself to leap from the kitchen floor to out of Kaoru’s window. Repairs had been put off time and time again, but it was hot and so long as the opening was too small for a bird to fly in, it would probably be fine.
The room steadily cooled down as the noodles cooked through and the sauce continued reducing. Despite having added a generous amount of basil and oregano, the only scent Kaoru could pick up on was the tomatoes as they broke down and thickened.
The kitchen smelled heavenly, and if Kaoru could, he would bottle the scent up to keep. That was impossible, though—Kaoru had inadvertently learned his lesson from Moricchi, who had wasted a hefty sum of money on ‘bottled island air’ during the vacation they had taken together last year. Instead, he settled on closing the window, attempting to trap the scent for as long as possible.
It happened instantaneously: as Kaoru closed the window, a small black blur slammed into the glass, emitting a heavy thud! as the thing fell and landed on Kaoru’s windowsill. The body laid there for a few still moments, and Kaoru had half a mind to begin preparing a bird funeral.
Plans to invite Moricchi and Senacchi to be pallbearers ceased once the little things head shot up. Now that Kaoru could get a good look at it, the animal was most definitely a bat. He had half a mind to wonder where it’s mother was, it’s body no larger than the palm of his hand. The proportions of the bats head reminded him more of a chihuahua’s: head impossibly small in comparison to large, red eyes and ears almost twice the size of it’s skull. The runt was so tiny, snout twitching as it shivered in the cool autumn air.
He shouldn’t. He really, really shouldn’t let this bat into his house, but it was so small. Tiny paws smacked against the glass of the window, and that was all Kaoru needed to push him to open it again. The little bat scrambled inside a little too quickly, almost propelling itself off of Kaoru’s windowsill and into his empty sink. On instinct Kaoru caught the thing, it’s fur covered body soft in Kaoru’s cupped palms. The bat squeaked, burying its head into Kaoru’s hands without a second thought.
Kaoru decided to ignore the little guy licking his palm, instead walking over to his kitchen island. One could argue that letting a bat into your home was a stupid decicion, but at least Kaoru wasn’t placing the animal’s bare fur onto his counter. Instead he grabbed a placemat, setting it down before depositing the bat onto it. It sat, for a few moments, confused, up until Kaoru began pulling his hands away. The pain of the bat’s bite was akin to that of a shot at the doctor’s office, but Kaoru wasn’t taking any chances, snatching his finger out of the bat’s mouth.
The irritation burned red, almost as red as the bat’s wide, blinking, teary eyes. The sniffling was unsurprising, but what was was the rumbles of the bat’s stomach that soon followed. Anger flushed itself from Kaoru’s system as quickly as it had come, the little thing couldn’t help that it was hungry. He didn’t really know what bats were supposed to eat, but a quick Google search told him that milk would be okay for the time being.
He poured a bit in a cup, warming it up in the microwave before transferring it to a shallow serving bowl. The bat sniffed it curiously when Kaoru first placed the dish in front of him, but before long it was going to town, drinking up like there was no tomorrow. As Kaoru washed his hands before serving himself, even the flowing water of the sink didn’t drown out the bat’s slurps. By the time Kaoru sat down with his own plate of spaghetti, the bat was nearly done with its drink. Or, it was going to be, up until it paused. Kaoru paused the twirling of his fork as well, staring at the animal. Was the funeral back on? Had the milk been too hot? Both questions were answered once its body shook, startling up and down as its mouth opened to let out a ‘hic!’
Every few seconds it let out another squeaky hiccup. It was unbearably cute, the bat’s nose scrunched in displeasure right before every ‘hic! ’. Kaoru cooed, picking up the bat once more to lightly tap it’s back as it coughed.
“You must’ve eaten too fast, huh?” Kaoru chuckled to himself, speaking despite knowing he wouldn’t get an answer. The bat must’ve known he was laughing at it, though, as its head turned to look at him, eyes scrunched into a glare. The effect was lost, however, when the bat squeaked again and again, hiccups coming rapidly before they eventually slowed.
A minute or two went by in silence, before Kaoru placed the bat back on its mat and they both resumed eating. The bat’s drinking was considerably slower, now, in comparison to the way Kaoru ungracefully shoved spaghetti into his mouth. It’s not like the bat was going to judge him on proper etiquette, considering it didn’t have any of its own, and was also an animal.
Kaoru sat for a moment once he had cleared his plate. The influx of carbs made him unwilling to move, but he had to at least take his plate to the sink before heading to bed. Splatters of red stained the porcelain, sauce so delicious he was tempted to lick the plate clean. It seemed someone else had the same idea, because Kaoru’s little batty friend was already diving headfirst into his plate. With the way it was devouring Kaoru’s leftover tomato sauce, he would have thought the bat hadn’t eaten for days. It was like the milk hadn’t made a dent in the bat’s appetite as it covered the entire surface area of the plate. The bat moved like a roomba designated for cleaning up sauce.
When the bat finally pulled away, it looked comical. Sauce that had missed its mouth covered its cheeks, ears, and snout. Chunks of sauce clung to its fur, and its paws only served to smear the sauce around more. Kaoru laughed as he picked the bat up and sat it next to the sink. A dishrag was hanging over the curved faucet of the sink, Kaoru ran it under warm water for a few seconds before he held the bat’s face between his thumb and forefinger and began scrubbing. It squeaked as Kaoru cleaned its face, ever so gently with the corners of the cloth.
The bat didn’t seem to mind as much as Kaoru thought it would, nuzzling into the washcloth and, by extension, Kaoru’s hand. Once the bat’s face was washed and the rag was thrown into his washing machine, Kaoru walked himself and his new fuzzy friend to his room.
He could already hear the voice of Senacchi scolding him for letting some dirty animal into his bed, but Kaoru couldn’t possibly let the bat back outside. It was a cold night even for Kaoru, whose body naturally ran warm. It’d be cruel to drop the bat off outside when it was clearly smaller than it should be. Instead, Kaoru let the bat rest on his own chest as he crawled into bed. The bat seemed okay with this endeavor, paws clinging onto the fabric of Kaoru’s t-shirt.
It didn’t take long for the bat to doze off, warm, full, and letting out the tiniest snores Kaoru had ever heard. Kaoru felt less restless, too. Knowing he wasn’t alone was nice, even if it was just a bat. His heartbeat slowed as he drifted to sleep, the last thought on his mind one of amusement, as the bat had chosen the spot directly over where his heart should be to sleep.
Waking up feeling sluggish was something Kaoru was accustomed to, however, today his body felt particularly heavy. It felt like, rather than with just his normal weighted blanket, Kaoru had fallen asleep with five of them, one stacked on top of the other. That wasn’t to say the weight was unpleasant, just odd. Is this what rabies felt like? Surely the bat couldn’t have—the bat.
Kaoru’s eyes shot open. The weight of the bat was no longer there. His body carried the same warmth it had under the bat’s tiny shape, but on an exponential scale. The slight weight of the bat was gone, Kaoru felt almost frantic as he tried to think where the bat had gone. His eyes flickered across the room for a moment or two, before they locked with red. The red eyes of a human, if Kaoru were to be more specific.
Descriptions failed Kaoru as he stared at the man. It was a man, with blood red eyes, long black hair, and a coy grin as he stared back at Kaoru. Neither of them said anything, Kaoru stood still as the man smiled, his hand reaching up to play with Kaoru’s hair.
His veins stood out against his pale skin, and Kaoru was able to track the trail of them up to the man’s shoulder, leading Kaoru to realize that the man wasn't wearing a shirt. He rushed to tear his gaze away, face flushed with embarrassment. The man showed not one ounce of shame, instead he reveled in Kaoru’s own. His deep, slow laughter filled the room.
“Uh,” It wasn’t until Kaoru spoke that the laughter subsided. Zipping his mouth shut, the man gestured for Kaoru to continue.
“Who are you?”
The man blinked in surprise, clicking his tongue as he did so.
“My oh my, did I forget to introduce myself? How awfully rude of me, a kind stranger like yourself deserves my best manners.” The sheets rustled as the man leaned forward, grabbing Kaoru’s hand in his own.
“Rei Sakuma, it’s a pleasure.” Kaoru had been ready to introduce himself in turn, but Rei kissing the back of his hand had been more than enough to scramble his thoughts.
“Uh, Kaoru. I’m—Hakaze. Kaoru.” It was an understatement to say Kaoru stumbled over every word, but how could he not when now, rather than his lips, Rei’s incisors were dragging over the underside of Kaoru’s wrists?
Rei continued to smile, his breath hot against Kaoru’s skin. “Truly, a pleasure. You’ve given yourself high expectations, you know…”
“Huh?” Kaoru was dumbfounded. Who was this man, to be unfairly attractive and undeniably into Kaoru? Rei pulled away from his wrist, now leaning closer into Kaoru’s space.
“Certainly you must be more delicious than your meals, Kaoru-kun~” The assumption was whispered into the skin of Kaoru’s neck, punctuated by Rei’s fangs—not incisors, fangs—sinking into Kaoru’s skin.
Kaoru leaned into the bite, practically shoving his neck further into Rei’s face. Fangs sunk down deeper than Kaoru thought possible, and as Rei began to drink with a frantic pace considerably different from his languid demeanor, Kaoru wondered if he’d have to help the man through another bout of hiccups.
Rei’s laugh bled into Kaoru’s mind. It wasn’t a suitable replacement for the pints of blood Kaoru was losing, but he couldn’t muster the energy to care much, instead letting his body fall limp in Rei’s arms. Rei’s hold on him was tender, much like the way Kaoru had cared for that runt of a bat the previous night.
Funny coincidences, huh?