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Every afternoon, Rei walks home. Home - a lonely, one-bedroom apartment that’s probably seen better days before Rei came in and ruined it - and every afternoon, Rei walks home and sees her . Her , being a lively, quite rambunctious toddler who was all smiles and laughs.
And, every afternoon, he also sees him.
Him , being her father, Rei had presumed, and every day, without fail, he’d snag Rei’s attention with a smile and a wave; not to say Rei was already looking, because he definitely wasn’t and his earbuds that were plugged into his ears were definitely playing music and weren’t muted because that would just defeat the entire purpose of walking with earbuds in, idiot.
But that was all. He’d walk down the sidewalk with earbuds that were definitely playing music, see that guy and toddler outside, share a nod as the man waved to him, and that was it.
Nothing more, nothing less, and Rei was fine with that. He was so fine with it, in fact, he continued to choose this route home even though it was the longest one by far - like, ten minutes longer, but he was so unbothered by that because he was fine. This was fine .
Until…
“Heeeeyy! Mister!”
Rei looked up from his phone and saw her - that tiny, too-loud toddler, and she was glaring daggers at him. The guy who was usually out here with her was nowhere to be seen, but it was fine. However, the little girl stomping over with her hands balled into tiny fists of rage was not fine because he has had little-to-no sleep in the past three days and his last meal was a bag of Doritos he ate for breakfast.
To keep it short and sweet, this miniature goblin could definitely knock him on his ass if she tried.
“You walked all over my masserpeaces!”
Her…what?
Just as Rei was about to look down to where she was gesturing, a door rattled open, slammed shut, and-
“Miri! What did I tell you about yelling at strangers?”
Miri, who looked seconds away from busting out into tears, pointed an accusing, stubby finger at Rei and blabbered unintelligible nonsense as the tears weened their way out of her eyes. “He stepped - he - he stepped over my drawings, daddy!”
Rei blinked.
“Baby, it’s sidewalk chalk,” the man shushed the girl as he scooped her up with one arm. One big, strong, tanned arm.
…Fuck. Rei struggled to swallow the glob of spit that was resting uncomfortably in his mouth, replaying the last five seconds in his brain over and over again.
Baby.
“It’s supposed to be stepped on,” he readjusted his hold on her as she shoved her snotty, teary face into his neck. Rei noticed the guy was trying not to wince as she began pulling at the baby hairs on his neck. “I’m - ouch - sure he didn’t mean to.”
He opened his mouth to say yeah, sorry, I didn't do it on purpose, and hey, is there a chance your dad's single, but all that came out was a garbled noise that kinda sounded like a moan but kinda didn’t at the same time.
What Rei did know, though, is that he totally embarrassed himself and he had to leave now .
He managed to squeeze out a quick apology before he carefully stepped over to the side of the road and shoved his earbuds in, but he wasn’t quick enough because he heard a strangled “wait!”
It only pressed him to walk faster.
Rei stumbled, tripping on the ledge that allowed the classroom doors to slide open and shut, swallowing a curse as a couple of students turned their heads around to look at the idiot who couldn’t walk straight. Rei would have shoved a middle finger in their direction, but he was so tired.
So fucking tired.
After twenty minutes of walking which consisted of more stumbling than anything else, Rei realized he was taking the long way home and shoved the palms of his hands into his eye sockets. His legs were about to give out, the two-ton backpack slung around his shoulders wasn’t helping, and he could swear he’s had this same migraine for two days now. And, to top it all off, right at that moment, his stomach growled and twisted painfully.
He wasn’t sure how much longer he could physically go - degree-wise and getting home tonight-wise. Maybe he should sit down and take a small break, drink some water from the bottle he brought this morning - and it was empty.
At this point, the word “fine” didn’t seem like a word at all anymore.
He should stop by a gas station or something before he got home. The stuff there ran cheaper than in grocery stores, probably. Slipping his phone out from his back pocket, he checked his bank account just to make sure he had enough for anything and when he finally pulled up his balance, he fucking lost his balance.
“Woah!”
Warmth enveloped Rei’s waist and the pure shock of it all had him inhaling a pained gasp and the ugly cracking sound that came after was definitely his phone hitting the concrete and not his back.
…Hopefully.
“Ah, shit, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you, sorry!”
He wasn’t scared , he was just…caught off guard, that’s all.
“Are you okay?” The guy held his arms out, fearing Rei would fall again, and Rei thought about doing just that. Those big arms he saw the other day would catch him, hold him close, bear his weight (which wasn’t much), but it’d still be hot because-
“-llo? Hey!” The blonde waved a hand in front of Rei’s eyes and sighed, resting one hand on his hip before leaning down and inspecting the smaller man’s face with a squint. “Jeez, you look half dead. More like three-fourths dead. You alright, man?”
I’m about to be four-fourths dead if you don’t step back.
“I’m fine.”
That caused the guy to squint harder. “You don’t look fine.”
You sure as hell do.
“I’m fine,” Rei repeated in the same tone as before and the man above him crossed his arms and took a step back.
“You look malnourished.”
“Thanks.”
“Wait - no, I didn’t, fuck - I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that,” Mystery Man, Rei decided to call him until he found out his real name, palmed his neck in embarrassment, and stuck his other hand in front of Rei. Rei wasn’t sure if he was holding it out for him to take and he wasn’t ever gonna find out because his own hands were now glued inside his jean pockets. “You, um, look like you could use a meal, that’s all.”
Rei quirked a brow. Mystery Man must have noticed because the hand that was rubbing his neck was now pointed at his front door. “I’m just now finishing supper. Would you - oh.”
Mystery Man’s pants were now being quite literally dragged down as pudgy fingers grabbed and pulled. “Papaaaaaa! I’m hungrryyyyy!”
“Yes, I know, Miri,” the blond pried his daughter’s fingers off of him. “I’d like to keep my pants on in public, okay?”
This caused the girl to puff out her cheeks, cross her arms, and stomp back inside the house. Rei blinked a few times before tilting his attention back on…
“My name is Kazuki.”
Kazuki…
Brightness. Hope. Peace.
“Um…” Kazuki, who was now standing awkwardly in front of Rei, sucked his bottom lip in between his teeth. “...And you?”
Gay. So fucking gay.
“Rei.”
Huh. His name rhymed with gay. How did he not notice that before?
“Rei,” Kazuki repeated with a grin spreading across his cheeks and Rei sucked in a breath. He had one dimple, right there, on his left cheek - it was barely noticeable, but Rei noticed. Rei noticed everything .
“Well, Rei,” Kazuki said his name again and Rei’s stomach felt weird. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”
Rei shouldn’t. He knows he shouldn’t, but…
Those eyes. That honeydew smile. This guy reeked of sugar, spice, and everything nice and Rei knew in the back of his mind that this Kazuki dude would not take no for an answer.
Hopefully, his wife was ugly as fuck. That’d make him feel better about himself. Not like he had any good looks or charm or any chance of measling his way in, but…okay, wow, ouch.
“Come on,” Kazuki wrapped his fingers around Rei’s wrist and dragged him across the lawn; he was an expert at avoiding the child’s toys that were thrown everywhere, whilst Rei was stumbling from being yanked this way and that. “I promise it’ll be good! I’m actually taking cooking classes, it’s like, one of my hobbies, and-”
Kazuki didn’t let go of his arm as they walked inside, but Rei wasn’t complaining, he was just…noticing, that was all. His voice was nice, too. Really nice and really deep - it rumbled throughout his nervous system and made him feel all wiggly and light on his feet.
Or that could be because he hadn’t eaten food in days, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was the smell of the house. Rei saw two lit candles on the dinner table and a stick of incense burning in the living room.
“Your wife must like nice smells,” Rei inwardly cringed. What a stupid fucking thing to say, who fucking opens a conversation like that?
Kazuki stopped walking and let go of Rei’s wrist and Rei knew immediately that he fucked up. “I, ah,” he fidgeted, “don’t…have one? Hah…haha.”
Oh. Okay. Rei could work with that.
“Girlfriend?”
“Um, nope,” Kazuki popped the ‘p’ when it exited his mouth, his eyes shifting side-to-side, avoiding Rei. “It’s just me and Miri.”
Oh.
Okay.
Rei could…work with that.
“Sorry,” he began to say, but Kazuki’s flailing hands made him trail off awkwardly.
“No, no! It’s fine - really, it’s fine!” Kazuki stepped forward and the floorboards creaked under his flip-flopped foot. “It’s been just me and her since, well, forever,” he laughed, but it sounded fake to Rei. “Here, here,” Kazuki pulled out a chair from the table, gesturing to Rei. “Sit! It’ll be just a few more minutes.”
Rei sat down as he was told and that’s when the awkwardness really began to settle in. It was quiet, save for the television in the room over playing some obnoxious cartoon and the stove crackling every few moments. Rei usually liked the quiet, but this was different. He kind of wanted Kazuki to keep talking - about this and that, meaningless conversation - anything, really.
He was saved when the slapping of tiny feet against the floor grew louder and louder until it stopped altogether. He turned around, swallowing, and made eye contact with the tiny human.
“You!”
Me?
“Art-wrecker!”
He’d prefer homewrecker, but…
“Miri!”
Rei glanced back over to Kazuki, who was holding a gigantic plastic spoon that was two seconds away from dripping all over the floor. “Be nice! He’s our guest!” He swirled the spoon around and pointed it towards her and - ah, it was splattering to the floor, now. “Apologize!”
“Sowwy,” Miri sniffed and tugged at her shirt.
“It’s okay, baby. Can you turn off the TV?” Kazuki bent down and started to wipe the floor with a bundle of paper towels. “It’s time for dinner.”
“It’s Bluey!”
“Okay, then can you turn off Bluey please?”
“Ya!” Miri turned around and stomped away, disappearing behind the couch. Rei stayed quiet, trying not to fidget. He was beginning to get uncomfortable; he felt as though he didn’t belong - no, he knew he didn’t belong, but…
But Kazuki was smiling, and somehow, that made it okay. Besides, the smells coming from the stove were just too good to pass up.
“It’s spaghetti,” Kazuki said as if he could read Rei’s mind. He did a little dance at the stove, swishing his hips as he tapped the spoon against the rim of the pot. “It’s a new recipe I found online, so I figured I’d give it a whirl. Of course, I added my own pizazz,” he shook his hips again for emphasis, “'cause I'm not a copycat. Feel free to give me some feedback, yeah?”
Rei nodded silently, not daring to speak. He was afraid he’d make a fool out of himself again; he felt an awful voice crack coming.
The loud stomping was back and Miri entered the kitchen. “Ups, pease!”
Kazuki leaned down and grabbed his daughter, lifting her up by her armpits and sat her down in her highchair without showing any signs of a struggle. Rei swallowed, seeing as now he was eye-to-eye with this little goblin who seemed to dislike him - his fears were answered when she squinted her eyes at him and dramatically turned away.
“This is Rei,” Kazuki spoke as he placed a tiny plate full of food in front of her. “He’s joining us for dinner today. You want water or juice, baby?”
Rei opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it.
“Juice!” Miri yelled, kicking her feet around.
“And you?”
Rei gulped. “Water.”
Miri shot him a dirty look. “He will have juice!”
“Oh, really now?” Kazuki feigned surprise. “Did he change his mind?”
At the same time Miri yelled yes, Rei let out a soft no.
Damn, this kid was bossy.
Kazuki opened the fridge and leaned down since he was too tall, and Rei quickly jerked his chin downwards. “We haveee…apple juice,” he moved around a few things, “cranberry juice, ah…and Caprisuns.”
“Caprisun!” Miri shouted, throwing her hands in the air. Kazuki set the pouch down on her tray and went to turn around, but Miri slapped his hand rapidly. “One for him too!” She pointed, and all of the saliva drained from Rei’s mouth.
He was not about to drink a fucking Caprisun in front of this guy, but before he could even think about voicing that, Kazuki plopped one in front of him with a guilty expression.
“Sorry, man. They aren’t too bad, to be honest.”
Rei sucked his lips together, grimacing, popping the straw through the hole anyways. Miri seemed sated with this, seeing as she stopped mean-mugging him and began digging into her food.
A plate clinked in front of him as it was set down. “Eat up, man! I made a lot tonight.”
Rei glanced down, then back up at Kazuki. Kazuki sat himself down in the chair opposite Rei and the closest to Miri. “I hope it ain’t, like, bad.”
Rei grabbed a fork and stabbed it into the noodles, bringing it up to his face to inspect. It didn’t look poisoned, and if it was, Miri would surely be dead by now, right? Right. Hesitantly, he chomped around the fork, and, shit.
It…it was good - no, it was great . It was so much better than the microwavable meals and bags of chips he’d been living off of for the past few months. He took another bite, and another, and another, and another until he heard Kazuki start to laugh.
“So, it’s good, yeah?” He said in between his laughing and chewing and now Rei was embarrassed. What should he say? Hey, this is the first warm, home-cooked meal I’ve had in months and I wouldn’t mind seconds, or thirds, or to maybe live with you and eat everything you make for the next twenty years because I am hopelessly, as the kids say, down bad?
“It’s decent.”
“Hmm,” Kazuki hummed. “I feel like there’s something else you wanna say, too.”
You have no fucking idea.
“You wanna lick the plate clean before you get more, or what?” Kazuki now had a shit-eating grin on his face and Rei would be mad, given any other circumstance. “Hey, at least you actually eat my food instead of throwing it all over yourself, right, Miri?”
Miri stopped what she was doing and that’s when Rei saw that she was absolutely fucking covered in spaghetti sauce.
“Help yourself to another plate, I don’t mind,” Kazuki got up, the chair under him screeching against the floor, and balled up another wad of paper towels to clean up his kid. And, well, he didn’t have to tell him twice; Rei got up as well to get more food, but when he did, the floor rolled out from under him and he found himself falling.
Really, he should have seen it coming.
Kazuki was two seconds into wiping Miri down when he saw a black blurb hurdling toward the floor, and if anything these past four years has taught him, it’s his quick reflexes. He snatched the sleeve of Rei’s hoodie and yanked him back upwards so fast it has Rei’s mind reeling.
“It’s a good thing my dad instincts kicked in for you,” Rei heard Kazuki say, but the blood rushing to his ears was strong enough to drown everything out.
Everything but Kazuki’s face, which was mere inches from his.
“Sorry about that,” Kazuki continued, but his voice was quieter than before. “I told her to clean up her toys before dinner, but I guess one slipped past me.”
“Yeah,” Rei breathed. Then coughed. “Yeah,” he said more confidently and stood up straight; Kazuki’s fingers left the cuff of his hoodie sleeve as he stepped away.
“Right, well,” Kazuki cleared his throat. “I’m gonna get this stinker cleaned up. Just, um, watch where you’re going, haha.”
“Yeah,” Rei said again. He knew he sounded stupid, but what the fuck else could he say? He almost busted his face in front of his guy, for fuck’s sake. Real fucking smooth.
As Kazuki picked up Miri from her highchair, Rei debated how much he really wanted those seconds. Was it worth his dignity?
…Yeah. Yeah, it was.
“Thank you again for coming by,” Kazuki now held a clean and sleeping Miri in his arms, but one of his hands held a Tupperware container filled to the brim with leftover spaghetti. “Figured you needed this more than us. Miri’ll just end up throwing it everywhere again.”
Rei looked at the container and back up to Kazuki.
“Well, go on, take it,” Kazuki shoved it into Rei’s chest. “It’s microwave-safe. Bring it back whenever you can.”
Rei took it from Kazuki’s hands and Kazuki used his free hand to rest it upon Miri’s back.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe? I mean, ah, of course I will, you walk by here every afternoon. You work around here?”
Rei’s fingers fidgeted around the bowl. “College.”
“Ohhh,” Kazuki hummed, teetering on the balls of his feet. He readjusted the child in his arms and tapped her back, thinking. “Cool, cool. That’s cool. You got a major?”
“Computer science and engineering,” Rei answered. Normally, he hated small talk - despised it, actually, but he’d do anything to stay here longer. He didn’t want to go back to his dark and lonely apartment.
Kazuki whistled. “You must be smart.”
No.
“Sure.”
Wow, Rei, way to sweep him off his feet.
“Alrighty, I guess I’ll let you go on home now,” Kazuki shifted.
“Thank you.”
He must have stunned Kazuki because his eyes went wide before softening again. The smile that appeared wasn’t over-the-top; it was…nice. The dimple was nice, too. Everything about him was nice.
“It was nothing, man. Get home safe, okay?”
Rei may have tripped one or two times while walking home, but it was because he wasn’t paying attention to where he was walking and it wasn’t because he was drunk on spaghetti and gooey, warm smiles.