NeonHorizon: I'm posting up this first chapter to try to gage the reaction. If you like this, please let me know and I'll continue it. I wanted to make a sweet kind of story for Spinner because there really aren't many stories made for him. And...honestly, he goes through a lot of crap. So here's this.
Every day was exactly the same. It felt like each day blurred together. Like no time had actually passed since he started living this way. Of course, at the same time, it was obvious that days, months, years had gone by since he chose this life. It was obvious because with each day, he became more acutely aware of how isolated he really was.
It was so conflicting, though. In his apartment, nothing could bother him. Even if people taunted him online, he could just block them. Hurtful words, judging looks. None of that could affect him when he was spending his days alone. In his home. Out of the public eye and not even talking to anyone on the phone.
His only real interaction was online or through his games. When he did have food or groceries delivered, he never spoke to the delivery person. Half the time, they knew who they were delivering to and they just dumped the food in front of his door and left.
Food. I guess I should probably eat something. He reached a clawed hand to pick up his phone and his eyes widened at the time. It's already this late? I just woke up! What did I do all day?
His shoulders drooped and he sighed. He knew exactly what he had done all day. It was the same thing every day; wake up late, watch his shows while he played some single-player games or scrolled through some forums online, then played a multi-player game until his stomach inevitably demanded food. Which usually came in the form of takeout or junk food he had delivered. Then he would game until he started to doze off and eventually curled up on his floor in a nest of snack wrappers, drink cans, and game cases.
Day after day. Completely alone. At first when he started living like a hermit, it failed to bother him. In fact, he was sure he would be fine. His experience with other people was pretty bad anyway. Now it was different.
Iguchi Shuichi could only listen to his team members talk about their girlfriends, wives, or families so much before it started to wear on him. Now he had taken to actually muting them if they started going on about a date they went on recently. He would never admit it to them, but he was jealous.
He never felt close with anyone before. No friends in school so definitely not a girlfriend. Dating just seemed like a terrifying concept with the way he looked. He just knew he would get rejected if he asked a girl out in person. The time he did try to make a dating profile on an app, he never got any matches and girls ignored his messages or blocked him so he ended up just deleting it.
Iguchi placed an order for some food and lifted his gaze back to the television screen. The other members of his group were in the chat. Talking about their weekend plans. They all sounded like they had plans to hang out with friends or family. He knew already what he would be doing; single player games and sleeping. There honestly was not much else he felt comfortable with.
Loneliness had always been present. Like a looming storm cloud hanging over a family picnic with the constant threat of a downpour, lightning strike, or some other thing to ruin the cheery mood. He looked over his shoulder at his messy little apartment and sighed as he slouched further.
No matter who was in his party online. No matter what games he played. No matter who he talked to on the forums he liked to scroll through. It was undeniable that he was alone. Any spark of joy he felt interacting online was soon swallowed up by the realization that he had no one.
When he heard the knock at his door, he actually jumped. Iguchi was reluctant to stand up. I ordered from the usual place. They usually just leave it in front of the door. What's the problem? I don't want to have to talk to someone.
Another knock sounded, telling him the delivery person must be new. He pulled up the hood on his hoodie and lowered his head as he trudged toward the door. The second they saw him, he knew what would happen. He had seen it before, heard it before.
Eyes widen. Mouth hangs open for a second before twisting their face into a disgusted expression. Cruel words. Monster. Mutant. Lizard. Just thinking about it made his clawed hands curl into fists in his front pocket.
He reached the door and opened it with hesitation. His stomach was already turning with nauseas anxiety. It's probably some newbie they want to scare, he thought with spite. Whatever. I'll just get it over with.
"What do you want-?" he started, lifting his eyes from the floor. Iguchi paused, his own eyes widening a little.
The place he ordered food from had male and female delivery people, but this one was new. He got flustered for just a second before he scowled and lowered his head again. As cute as she was, he knew this would be just like every time a girl delivered his food. She would be freaked out by his appearance and probably never knock on his door again.
"Ah. It's, um, Iguchi-san, right?" Her voice was soft and light. She looked down at the receipt in her hand, reading off of it after he nodded.
With her eyes cast down, Iguchi took a moment to look at her again. She was a little shorter than him and she kept her head mostly down as she read off his order to make sure she got it right. Her hair was dark red; hanging in messy waves to her waist with long side-swept bangs falling over her eyes. When she lifted a pale hand to push her bangs away from her eyes, he saw they were a startlingly bright shade of gold and naturally narrow in shape.
Her most striking features, by far, were what caught and held his attention. Thick, curling black horns on either side of her skull. Similar to a ram's. A thin black tail swishing behind her nervously as she spoke.
The other delivery girls all looked relatively "normal". One of them had larger than average eyes, but that was the most unusual feature he had seen. Iguchi found himself staring down at her in surprise as she read off the final item he had ordered before she lifted her eyes to meet his.
A small smile curved her pink lips and she tilted her head. "That's everything…right? I got it right, Iguchi-san?"
Heat spread across his face and he looked off to the side. "Yeah. That's right," he confirmed, rubbing the back of his neck. She's looking at me. She's looking right at me and she's smiling? Huh? He looked past her at her tail again as it swished violently at the air.
Her face started to turn as red as her hair and she lowered her head. "Um. I'm sorry. I'm usually…working in the kitchen so I don't normally do this. If you don't mind…did I do okay?"
Shaking out of his mini-trance, he frowned and tilted his head a little, leaning toward her. "You can see me, right?" he finally demanded.
She took a half-step back, lifting her eyes. "Y-yeah?" she responded, confused. Probably wondering if he thought he had an invisibility quirk or something. The girl looked so small as her tail curved around so she could fidget with the tip, tapping her nails against the dark hide.
Iguchi took the bag of takeout from her when she held it out to him and felt his pulse quicken a little when her fingers brushed over his clawed digits. "Thanks."
The girl smiled up at him in that gentle way from before and nodded. "I hope you like it."
He watched her go and frowned to himself. This had been the most face to face interaction he had with another person in weeks. And it just had to be a girl, he thought with frustration. She'll probably never want to deliver food again.
Iguchi went back into his apartment and sat in front of the television. Digging around in the bag, he pulled out a box of fried rice and started to eat. Reflecting on the interaction fondly and wanting to hold onto the sweetness of her smile. She was pretty cute, he thought as he chewed his food.
The young man finished his meal and tipped his head back. Closing his eyes, he released a frustrated sigh and ran his clawed fingers through his messy purple hair. He glanced toward the apartment door and then to the chaos of his home.
It was stupid. He knew it was stupid. Part of him really, truly hoped that she had looked at him and saw past his appearance. Part of him wanted to believe she was different from everyone else. That, maybe, she might want to be friends. Of course, he knew that was ridiculous.
The next day, he ordered from the same place. And the day after that. And the day after that. Iguchi knew how dumb it was, but he wanted to see her again. Even if their interaction had been really brief and they were both nervous. Unlike everyone else, this girl did not look at him like he was a monster. If anything, she seemed more self-conscious about her own appearance.
On the fourth day, Iguchi decided to do something bold. Staring down at the phone screen, he focused on the box on the order form that was marked "special instructions". Now, everyone knew that was meant for specifying food allergies or instructions on opening a gate or how to find someone's home.
I just want to see her one more time. I want to know if she really doesn't care about how I look. Justifying it to himself with a nod, he typed into the box "send the delivery girl with horns". He started to sweat as soon as he hit the "submit" button and saw his order was received. He felt like a creep for doing this, but there was no way he could go to the restaurant in person and she never gave him her name so he had no way of looking her up online.
Now that he caused himself some unnecessary anxiety, he looked around his apartment and started to haphazardly clean up. Shoving all of his trash into a big bag to take out later. Hastily trying to put his games all in one corner so it almost looked organized.
Not that he expected her to come in; it was just in case she looked past him into the apartment. Even though they only spoke once, he wanted to leave a good impression. Iguchi was clinging to that shred of hope that she might see him for more than how he looked. She might just see him as a guy. If she did, he was not quite sure where he would go from there, but it would mean a lot to him.
When he heard the knock at his door, Iguchi immediately knew it was her instead of one of the usual delivery people. They usually gave his door one solid knock before fleeing like they were afraid he would come after them. She knocked four times and then paused to give him time to answer.
Opening the door, he was not disappointed. Here she was again. The girl with curling black horns and a slim black tail. Messy red hair. Naturally narrow golden eyes that looked up at him curiously before she smiled. "Iguchi-san? They…said you special requested me. Um. So I guess…I did a good job last time?"
He saw a hint of pink spreading across her face and his own cheeks mirrored the blush. He gave her a small nod, running a hand through his purple hair to try to make himself look a little less disheveled because it was already clear to him; she gave zero cares that he was covered in scales. If anything, she looked relieved to see him. Like she might have worried it was some creep that had asked for her.
Iguchi had a lot of things he wanted to ask her, but it felt like all of his words were getting caught in his throat. He just ended up staring down at her and blinking as she tilted her head. Come on! I have to say something to her! I just can't figure out what I should say! I don't want her to think I'm weird. I'm already lucky that she isn't running away or looking creeped out.
"You're…nicer than the other delivery girls," he eventually mumbled.
As his words sank in, a small and sad sort of smile graced her lips. "Ah. Well, I just…I mean, I'd want someone to be nice to me." There was something in her voice as she said this. Empathy. Like she knew how it felt to get weird looks and hear people whisper behind her back.
She tipped her head back so her warm golden eyes met his pink ones. "It's Iguchi Shuichi?"
Again, it felt like his voice caught in throat like a hard lump. Swallowing his nervousness, he nodded. "Yeah. What's your name?" He felt a rush of pride at pushing himself to ask. Even if he got rejected, it was at least an attempt.
"I'm Kemuri Akane," she said with a little bow. "So…if you want to request me next time, you can just put my name."
His blush intensified over the green of his scales and he rubbed the back of his head, looking away from her. "Oh! S-sorry about-!"
"No, it's…it's alright! You didn't know! I was kind of nervous last time. It was my first delivery. I should've told you, in case…" She trailed off and fidgeted with a lock her hair; running her fingertips along it as she glanced off to the side shyly. "Um. I'm sorry. It's probably rude for me to ask this. Why did you want me to bring your food? Everyone else I delivered to that day…they didn't request me to come back. They saw me and they just wanted me to leave their orders on the ground."
Realization settled over him. She knows what it's like. Iguchi frowned as he glanced toward her again. "I don't know. I thought you seemed cool," he mumbled as an excuse. The idea of confessing that he thought she was cute, that they might be able to get closer if she was not put off by his looks, was embarrassing.