Chapter Text
Your eyes are open as wide as they can be. You don’t dare take your eyes off the road. It’s only been 2 days since you started biking, and you’re still not very good at it. It doesn’t help that Inaba is awfully foggy these days. As you are passing by the gas station, someone tells you:
“Don’t fall!”
You instinctively turn your head towards the person who yelled at you. However, this causes you to loose your balance and… *BAM*
Within a few seconds, you find yourself face-planted in front of the gas station, with your bike a few meters ahead of you, having met the same fate. You groan from the pain. As you lie down, you hear footsteps coming your way. You see someone stop next to you and crouch down. The person you can’t see the face of says:
“Are you okay?”
You start to turn your face towards the person angrily.
“NO, I’M NOT OKAY! You made me fall d-”
Your angry rant stops the second you see the person's face. He looks down at you with a warm yet childish smile. His face shape is nothing short of gorgeous. And his eyes appear bright red. Red that screams out, as if it’s the blood of a thousand souls. As you look at his face with a stupid look on your face, he slightly squints his eyes, and his sweet smile turns into a more mischievous one. He holds his hands out.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you fall”
You feel a terrible chill right when you are about to grab his hand. You grab it anyway. He helps you get up. You sweep the dust off you. You look at the stranger, and you figure you should apologize for yelling at him.
“It’s okay. Don’t worry. Sorry for yelling at you.”
He doesn’t reply. Instead, he looks at you as if he is considering…no… planning something. Right before the silence becomes awkward, he speaks up:
“How about I treat you to dinner, to make up for making you fall?”
You feel like your heart stops for a split second. The most attractive person you’ve ever seen in this town, whom you haven’t even seen before, is now asking you out to dinner. It feels too good to be true. You exclaim:
“Y-YES!”
You quickly gather yourself and try to act nonchalant.
“I mean, sure. If you want to…”
“Well then, I’ll see you at Aiya at 8, okay? I still have a shift.”
“Ok. See you.”
You wait at the entrance of the diner. You spent almost an hour thinking about what to wear, and finally settled on a semi-fancy outfit. It’s been a while since you got here. You are starting to lose hope. Then suddenly you hear the clacking of heels. You turn around to see him sprinting at you. He is wearing a suit and tie on top; and a knee-length black skirt, black tights, and a pair of Mary Janes on the bottom. Could he… actually be a she? You wouldn’t really mind. While you are thinking this, you realize they aren’t really slowing down while sprinting at you. You close your eyes, put your hands up, and prepare yourself for impact. After a few seconds of not being on the ground, you slowly open your eyes to see them standing in front of you, smiling.
“Oh, I thought you were gonna crash into me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to make you fall a second time. Then I would owe you 2 dinners!”
You get disappointed that they didn’t crash into you. You look down at their skirt without realizing it.
“Is something wrong?”
“S-Sorry. I thought you were a man.”
“I never said I was.”
“Yeah, I know. Sorry.”
“I never said I wasn’t either. Now shall we?”
As you 2 go in, you say to yourself: “So which one is it?” You realize you don’t care too much.
You 2 sit next to each other. You already ordered your food and are now waiting for it to arrive. Deciding it’s too quiet, you ask them something:
“Sooooo, what do you like to do?”
They perk up. Then put their finger on their lips.
“What do I like..? I guess I like to laugh”
“W-Well, do you want to hear a joke?”
“Sure!” They start clapping their hands.
“What do you call a blind bird?”
They start looking around and scratching their chin.
“I don’t know? Blind the bird?”
“Nope. A can’t seegull!”
“…”
1 second of silence. That 1 second is enough to make you want to be swallowed up by the earth from how embarrassed you are. However, when that 1 second passes…
“PUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”
A sense of relief washes over you as they burst out laughing.
“I GET IT!! HAHAHA! Can’t see, as in not being able to see! And seagull, LIKE THE BIRD!!! HAHAHAHA!”
You two talk and make jokes for hours. Seeing them smile and laugh makes you the happiest person ever. Before you even realize it, you don’t just have a crush anymore; you’ve fallen. As the diner starts to close, you step out. You two are standing outside the door. They look at you:
“Thank you for tonight. I had a wonderful night.”
“Shouldn’t I be saying that? You did pay for it after all.”
“Well, the company you provided was worth every yen and more.”
You feel the blood rush to your face.
“Well, goodnight, I suppose.” They smile warmly.
“G-Goodnight.”
They turn around and walk into the thick fog.
It is now the next day. You stayed up all night thinking about that person. You didn’t know their gender, or even their name. Both of you were too engrossed in conversation to think about exchanging names. You stayed up all night waiting to see them again. Now you are headed to the gas station. On foot, this time. The thought of them not being there makes your heart pound with fear. You turn the corner, expecting to see the gas station. But the fog is too thick. It seems you have to go a bit further. After half a minute of walking, you make it to the station, but you don’t see anyone. You get inside the shop. You look around. There is no one. Just as you are about to give up hope, you hear the door open.
“Well, well, well. Look who it is?”
That commanding yet soft, androgynous voice makes the world around you feel brighter. You excitedly turn around. They are as beautiful as last night, despite the gas station uniform. You get closer. Right when you are about to say something, you hear the door open…and the hammer of a pistol being lowered.
“It’s you, isn’t it?”
A voice behind them speaks. A slightly similar voice. The gas station attendant smiles.
“I have no idea what you mean, Tohru Adachi.”
Your heart rate increases. Your breath fastens.
“C-Calm down…” you say. There isn’t much else you can do
Then, without a care in the world, they turn around. And…
*BANG*
You freeze. A gun pointed at someone you love just fired. That moment before they fall feels like a second. 2 seconds. 3 seconds. 4 seconds. 5 seconds. Until you realize… It really has been 5 seconds… and they are still standing. Fog starts to pour into the room. Then they punch the guy with the gun, sending them back outside. They follow after him. You can’t see what’s happening because of the fog. A few more gunshots are heard, followed by the man's screams. After 10 seconds of silence, the person you thought died 20 seconds ago walks back in. Their name, their gender… They didn’t matter right now. The question isn’t who they are. It’s what they were. They get closer to you.
“I asked you for that dinner, cuz I saw what all humans have deep down in their hearts, burning in your eyes.”
“W-What?”
“I saw desire. I realized you desired me.”
You start to blush. You didn’t realize you made it that obvious.
“I decided to see what it was like to be liked. But I was foolish enough to think I was immune to the curse of love.”
Your eyes widen. Did they imply what you think they implied? They take a step forward, getting very close to your face.
“All this time I observed humanity's desires, not knowing I had such ones myself.”
They hold the back of your head.
“I love you.”
They pull you closer; your lips touch slightly at first. Then they lock in even tighter. The taste of their lips, which you imagined was like strawberries, tasted like nothing. But to you, it tasted better than any food in the world could. You feel dizzy. Must be the adrenaline. Your legs feel weaker. Your consciousness fades slowly. Then you black out.