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the sounds of kids playing, people talking, soft footsteps and the waves of the water felt calming to the two women who walked together along the tokyo bay.
kayoco was talking about anything and everything as hiromi just watched her. hiromis face was emotionless and relaxed, barely even listening to what the long haired woman was saying. despite her seemingly tired expression her eyes held so much love in them.
"this is really nice..." kayoco breathed out, feeling the light breeze in her hair. without moving her head she glanced at the short haired woman next to her.
hiromi stuttered out, getting pulled back from her thoughts and daydreams, "ah... yes.. it is.", her face heated up, small blush forming, but she tried not to show it.
'why did i have to stare...' hiromi nervously thought, turning her head the other way and moving her gaze towards the water. her lips were pressed together into a thin line. she sighed, trying to calm her heartbeat.
'years together and she still gets embarrassed...' kayoco thought, smiling at her girlfriend, lovingly. she grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together.
the more they walked, the less people were around. when they got to the end of the canal that goes through kamata, they were all alone. hiromi watched the waves swirl around the rocks in the shallow water. turning her head, she stared down the canal behind them, lined with many small boats. a strange sound caught her attention, like the cries of a baby animal... except that she couldnt point out which one it was. her hand felt cold as kayoco quickly let go of it. hurrying to the edge of the path and going down to the water, trying not to slip or break her ankles since she was wearing heels. hiromi panicked, going after her. a pair of heels flew past her head, almost hitting her in the face.
"what... what are you doing-", her face froze in shock when kayoco was in her view again. there she was, standing in the water, now barefoot, and in her hands was a... a... uh...
the unknown creature was a sickly yellow-brownish color. it had poorly developed back legs and tiny limbs at the front of its body that didnt seem to serve any function. the spikes on its back were, what hiromi could only assume, dorsal fins. the skin around its mouth was bloody and it had several sharp teeth. its eyes resembled the one of a fish, googly eyed, staring into nothingness.
"look... poor little guy....", kayoco frowned, watching the little creature jump around in her arms, blood spilling from its gills.
she put it down on the floor, moving her long hair from her face with the back of her hand.
"do you know what this is??" kayoco asked hiromi, running back to the water to wash of her hands and put her heels back on.
hiromi crouched down, hands on her knees, watching the tiny creature waddle around.
"serpentine movement... with auxiliary ambulation...", she informed, watching the creature pushing itself with its back legs.
"looks like a snake with legs..." kayoco apeared again, this time looking through her purse.
hormi looked up at her before looking back down at the tiny creature.
"gills confer water capacity.. but it has legs like an amphibious animal..." hiromi continued, reaching out with her hand, finger pointed at the creature, cautiously moving it closer. she flinched away from its wrinkly skin as more blood poured from its gills.
"lets take it home!", kayoco exclaimed, grabbing hiromis own purse.
"wait- but-" hiromi tried to protest but it was useless, seeing kayoco shove all her items into hiromis bag, handing it back to her. she carefully picked up the little creature with a cloth napkin, placing it in her purse. she poured some water inside, not caring about damaging the purse.
"we cant just... do that..." hiromi mumbled, trying to protest, watching the purse soak up.
"have you seen anything like this before?"
"no..."
"well then its definitely going to be a new descovery!" kayoco tried convincing hiromi, unaware that she knew the actual reason.
"you... find it cute somehow?" hiromi questioned, feeling the corners of her mouth pull into a small smile.
"......... i just...", kayoco nervously looked into her purse, watching the creature waddle around, "i dont think its safe for it to stay here..."
-
"ugh... alright! we are homeeee... heyyy!", kayoco cooed at the creature while they entered their shared apartment, "dont lock the door, i'll leave imidiately."
"what." hiromi questioned.
"i'm going to get... something... not sure what... but i'll try to find something that can help!", hiromi couldnt understand why kayoco wanted to go. how will she know what to get? hiromi is the biologist, not her. she seemed to be in such a rush that she didnt think of that even for a second.
she put some of her things in a seperate bag that wasnt soaked in water and blood, before grabbing the creature.
"hands out.", she didnt let hiromi answer before she placed it in her hands, "put it in... water or something, i'll be right back. you'll know what to do afterall!" she wiped her hands before placing one of them on hiromis shoulder and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. she exited the apartment before hiromi could even think of saying something.
hiromis body was stiff as she stood still, holding the tiny creature in her cupped hands. the creature yet again spilled blood from its gills. she didnt dare to move and her expressionless face wasnt changing even when it painfully twisted and turned in her hands, letting out tiny shrieks. her hands were covered in so much blood it started dripping onto the carpet below. she was too fascinated to notice that, or even care about how weird it felt to have all of that on her hands. she watched it closely, trying to figure out what it was. however as she finaly remembered that putting it in water would be for the best, "oh i'm sorry... lets get you-", something caught her attention.
it stopped spilling blood and it looked like it was trying to stand up. waves rippled across its skin. the gills shrunk, seemingly closing themselves, its skin turned a redish-brown color, yellow here and there, and the small nubs at the front grew into arms and hands, the legs completely shifted, changing the shape to support its body. it shook, seemingly trying to ruffle its dorsal fins just like a bird its feathers. it looked up at hiromi with its, still googly-eyed, eyes, wagging its tail like a dog before colapsing into her hands.
its little body rose and fell as it calmly breathed. she noticed that the size has changed, it grew a bit but she was still able to hold it in her hands without problems.
in that moment, kayoco opened the door.
"oh my god... i finaly got it!", she sighed, taking off her shoes.
she didnt even notice that the short haired woman still stood in the middle of the room, "i'm sorry i was trying to be as fast as po-" she raised her voice assuming that hiromi wasnt near the door, only to get cut off by the shocking scene infront of her.
hiromi stood in the same place and position that kayoco left her in.
"it has been... ten... fifteen... i dont know, minutes... what are you doing?" she questioned in disbelief, watching the puddle of blood on their carpet. hiromi struggled with her words, just then realising how she lost the track of time.
kayoco got really worried, realising that she just handed her the creature without even thinking. is she alright?
"it... changed and grew...", hiromi whispered, reaching out with her hands towards kayoco, "its sleeping now.."
kayoco could feel her whole body relax watching hiromi look at her with such wonder and excitement at this. she'll just be very carefull next time.
"woah ok... interesting, but lets just.. not get anymore blood on the carpet."
-
"i got... something to clean godzillas wounds, some bandages... can it take medicine?..." kayoco searched through the bag.
"god... zilla?"
"ah yes i thought we should... give it a...... name." kayocos smile fell while she slowly lifted her head to look at hiromi. the look she got was plain and unreadable, but she knew everything was alright when hiromis lips curled into a gentle smile, looking at godzilla, afterwards widening into a toothy grin when her eyes locked with kayocos.
kayoco smiled back, it was rare to see hiromi smile so much, so big, and she was glad to be the one behind the reason for that smile. she giggled right before hiromi averted her gaze, unable to keep the eye contact anymore.
-
"it looks... fine.. but i'm worried that its skin isnt completely healed up.." hiromi murmured, writing down things in her notebook.
she was examining godzilla, checking if it feels alright.
and it really did seem fine, walking around the table, eating anything that kayoco gave it, from meat to blueberries. however the second those words left her mouth, godzilla let out a screech. it shook, stomping down on the table. red liquid slowly dripped from random, barely visible, open wounds on its body. the two women panicked, both reaching for the same cloth besides them on the table. their hands touched, in their panicked daze they looked at each other before looking away nervously and pulling their hands away. kayoco picked up the cloth and hiromi took some bandages.
after kayoco wiped the blood from godzilla and the table, hiromi put a thin layer of an antibiotic ointment all over it, wrapping it in bandages afterwards.
"why did you put those bandages?" kayoco tried to stifle a giggle, watching godzilla flail its little limbs and waddle around like a penguin because of the said bandages.
"just in case so that it doesnt wipe of the ointment or something..." hiromi mumbled out, putting everything back in its boxes.
godzilla seemed to stare at both of them at the same time, with its big and strange eyes, slowly wagging its tail.
-
kayoco sat on the couch, watching a tv show. she was holding godzilla in her arms, petting it.
for about a week the two women almost couldnt get any proper rest, worried day and night about the creature living in their apartment.
from blood stains, money spent on medicine, to screeching that made some neighbors concerned.
they would get woken up in the middle of the night, searching for godzilla in panic, shushing the poor creature and tending to its wounds.
however, it finaly evolved, again. its legs got stronger, supporting its weight better. the arms and hands had more mobility in them, mainly for grabbing the food that kayoco was offering it. the skin was tougher, no more wounds on it, atleast no visible ones. it grew around the height of a tall glass.
there havent been any incidents for a few days and hiromi couldnt be happier for their home to return to its usual quiet atmosphere. she didnt know how much longer she would be able to endure all the noise, even with her headphones, the sound was at such a high pitch they rarely helped. not only that but she had to be aware of everything and ready to help godzilla in case something happened, so it was not a good idea to try and block out the noise most of the time. luckly she had kayoco with her, she doesnt think she would be able to take care of godzilla by herself. she was excited when they figured godzilla could now breathe air like them and that there would be no blood spilling from its gills anymore.. the blood was strange and sticky, and she was running out of gloves.
hiromi walked into the room, seeing kayoco and their little nuisance, as she liked to call it sometimes, huddled up on the couch. she tried to pretend like this was all simply for kayoco but she warmed up to godzilla over time.
right now, though, she was very jealous of it, watching it get all of kayocos attention. she knew that sometimes she wasnt the best with hugs and cuddling because it includes a lot of touching and overall contact that she couldnt stand most of the time, but kayoco was her girlfriend, and she really wanted to just relax in her arms.
she fiddled with her own fingers, cracking the joints, trying to ease her mind before lifting her chin and proudly walking to the couch. she sat down on the couch, startling kayoco, but before she could say anything hiromi leaned into her, making herself comfortable in kayocos arms, next to godzilla. she gave the creature a sharp glare and a head scratch because it was still adorable. kayoco just looked down at hiromis head, shocked and confused. she didnt say anything for a bit until she pieced it all together. she moved godzilla so that she was holding it with one of her hands, wrapping the other one around hiromi and pulling her closer.
"are you... jealous?.." it was evident in her voice that she was smiling.
hiromi huffed out, pushing her body further onto kayocos, trying to hide herself. this was rather nice, she really wanted to do this more often, but it was hard to get used to all the contact despite the fact that it was with kayoco.
kayoco noticed hiromi nervously fidget with her fingers again. her hands were in her lap and she was stiff. so she gently moved her hand up and down hiromis arm, giving her soft kisses on top of her head. that seemed to help her, kayoco could feel her relax in her arms, and her fingers were now tapping on her thighs, which kayoco recognised as a little sign that she was happy. it took them some time, and hiromi still struggles with strangers and people she isnt really close to, but they were making progress.
-
whatever was playing on the tv was now long forgotten while the two women breathed calmly. godzilla watched their sleeping forms. head empty, unaware of whats happening around it. it could feel something new, different to its previous survival instinct. it could feel safety and love around them. as carefully as it could with its body still developing and working on becoming more mobile, it switched positions, curling up between hiromi and kayoco. it listened to their synchronized heart beats, calming down and trying to get some rest itself.