"You've just had your heart closed for so long that you don't know how to let somebody love you!"
Iguchi jolted, dropping his manga and fumbling to pick it up again. "What kind of girly anime is this?" he muttered, looking for the remote. He found it and moved to change the channel, but paused as he looked at the screen.
The last thing he was actively watching was a horoscope reading. His horoscope for the day was actually pretty good, which let him get his hopes up a little. The apartment was clean, he was wearing clean clothes and even brushed his hair. Though he hardly slept, despite trying to go to bed early.
On the television, a girl and a boy were sitting at a table across from each other. Tears were sparkling in the girl's eyes as she held the boy's hands. Her cheeks were red and she was pouring her heart out to the boy as he blushed and looked away. Iguchi watched, letting himself daydream for a moment about this same scenario with himself and Kemuri.
It'd be great if we could go out, he thought as he finally changed the channel. He tried to focus on his manga again, but now he was distracted. I don't even know if I could ask her out. She's coming over today, but it's not like this is a date. She probably just thinks I'll starve if she has the day off.
Iguchi started to slouch and then threw himself onto his back on the floor, holding the manga up so he could keep reading it. As much as he wanted to think nothing of it, part of him wanted this to be something. Part of him really wanted her to like him and that part of him made his face heat up when he thought about a girl coming over to spend the day with him.
He thought about when his gaming friends would talk about their dates over the voice chat. Going to the movies, going shopping, taking girls to amusement parks. All things he was interested in, all things he had never done before and probably would never do. It would be too embarrassing. For himself and the poor girl who actually agreed to go with him.
What if she's different? She's got scales. And didn't she say people were weirded out by how she looks when she delivered food? Iguchi frowned and glanced toward his door, wondering if he was imagining the sound of footsteps approaching. She's cute! Whoever said she looks weird needs to get their eyes checked!
A tentative knock at the door made him jump and drop his book again. "J-just a second!" He darted across the room to shove the manga under his pillow and glanced around the room again. It was cleaner than it had been in quite a while and he took a moment to soak it in, feeling proud of himself.
When he opened his door, Iguchi thought he was prepared. As prepared as he could be for having a girl come over to hang out with him. He was not prepared for how fast his pulse raced when she came into view.
Kemuri was standing outside his door, clutching a star-printed canvas bag that looked pretty heavy. Her long, crimson hair was settled over her shoulder in a thick braid and she was wearing a polka dot black and white dress with a bright yellow sweater over it. She gave him a small frown, but there was a hint of pink rising to her cheeks as her tail nervous swished behind her. "I'm sorry. I should have told you what time…instead of springing it on you like this. I messed up-"
"No way! I should've said something," he argued quickly. Iguchi could feel heat rising to his face, giving the scales of his cheeks a reddish tint. She's actually dressed like it's a date! Like a real date! Why didn't I dress better?!
Her frown lifted into a smile and she raised the canvas bag. "I made some meals for us. Are you hungry?"
Iguchi blinked and nodded. "I could eat." He pushed the door open more to let her in, still thrown off by how well-dressed she was. The outfit was really cute. Like something out of one of the girly romantic anime that he sometimes half-heartedly watched as he played handheld console games. It made him feel guilty.
Now he really wished they could go out somewhere. A movie or even just to a park to sit in the sunlight together. However, with the way he looked, he knew what would happen. People would point and stare or make cruel comments about him. It would embarrass her and she would probably never want to see him again.
"So…uh…what do you usually do on your day off?" he asked, motioning for her to take the seat in front of the television.
She looked at the seat, but sat next to it instead. Kemuri retrieved a couple of ornate bento boxes from the canvas bag she was carrying, along with some cold bottles of green tea. "I do a lot of studying," she answered, sounding a bit embarrassed. "I like to read about different recipes and then…I spend a lot of time thinking of how I can improve them."
"Oh! Like theory-crafting!" Iguchi sat beside her and stared down at the bento boxes. They looked high quality. Not at all like the kind someone would just pick up in a department store homewares section. These were a dark, shining wood with beautiful flowers delicately carved on the lids.
"Theory-crafting?"
He winced and rubbed at the back of his head, looking away. "Er…it's like a gaming thing. Like trying to think up how to make a character class even better." He expected her to look disgusted or annoyed. Why am I talking about gaming?! I sound so uncool!
Kemuri tilted her head and her warm golden eyes shifted toward the gaming consoles and the stack of games near his television. "You like video games, Iguchi-san?" Her tone was more curious than anything else.
Feeling a little relieved, but still nervous, he turned sheepish. "Well…yeah. I don't really get out much so I play a lot of games," he confessed. Might as well rip off this bandaid now. He knew that gaming was kind of a turn off for some girls. He had even heard horror stories from his friends online where they would go on a date with a girl and everything was fine until they brought her home and she saw their gaming setup.
"What kind of games? I've only played Pokémon and that was when I was in middle school." Kemuri moved a bit closer to his stack of games. Skimming the titles on the spines of the cases.
He watched her lean in, a fingertip skimming along the plastic as she tilted her head. "I've got pretty much every genre," he admitted. "RPG's, multiplayer games, single player games, racing games, fighting games, puzzle games…" Iguchi listed some more and decided to not mention dating sims because he was sure that would be the final thing that would make her leave.
Kemuri leaned back, sitting next to him again, but her eyes were still focused on the stack of games. She reached up, running her nails along the dark, curling horn on the left side of her head and tapping her nails against it nervously. Finally, she glanced over at Iguchi with a blush. "Um…which one is your favorite? I haven't seen a lot of games so if you want…I mean, if it isn't too much trouble…could you show me?"
It was like an electrical jolt to his heart. The scales of his cheeks took on a reddish tint as blood rushed to his face and he was unable to stop the grin that spread across of his face. "Yeah! Of course! Just a second; I'll get everything set up!"
This was one of those things that he had fantasized about, but never thought he would really get to do. Having a girl over. Showing her his favorite game. The only way it could get better is if she would want to play with him, but he was not going to push his luck.
I'll be lucky if she wants to hang out again, he thought as he ran a clawed fingertip along the game cases. I can't show her GTA yet. Maybe next time. I've got to pick just the right game. What's something she would like? Maybe an RPG? I've got that cooking simulator, but that's not cool enough! I want to impress her!
"Here we go." Iguchi set up the game and sat back next to her, taking the controller in his hands. "This one's kind of older. I've had it since high school, but it's a classic RPG." His breathing hitched when she moved closer beside him.
"An RPG?"
"Yeah! Here; I'll load one of my older save files and show you how it works. These always start with character creation and then you pick up quests, get new items, and try to level up. I made a swordsman and leveled him up as much as possible so all of his gear has high stats."
He was a little embarrassed about the very ordinary-looking avatar, but when Kemuri just stared intently at the screen, he felt reassured. Slashing his way through monsters, taking on little quests. He would have thought she might get bored, but the girl was taking everything in and seemed amazed. Her reaction pushed Iguchi to start talking.
"I got really into games when I was a kid," he began, forcing himself to keep his eyes on the screen. Still a bit worried about how she would react to what he was going to say. "It started out with just those little handheld consoles and then I moved on to computer games, too. Because of the way I look, I've always had trouble making friends with people. I know what I look like so it's not like I'm all that surprised, but…"
Iguchi slouched. Strands of purple hair fell forward over his face and he grimaced as he continued to click buttons on the control. His eyes narrowed as his character slashed through a bear monster with their sword. "It's hard. In the village where I was born, nobody else looked like this! You know what it's like to look like the same thing kids run over with their bikes for fun?! I was born like this so it's not even like a quirk that showed up later!"
He could vividly remember it all. Being called "mutant" or "monster" or "lizard man". Classmates making jokes about him being some mythological thing that ate babies. Finding those cruel words written on his desk in class, having his school shoes stolen out of his locker and cut up, getting dirty looks from everyone.
His grip on the controller tightened and he lowered his head. "I thought moving would change things, but it didn't. I can't even go to the convenience store without people staring at me and saying stuff." Thinking about the past was making his chest start to hurt. He hated it and he hated that he was pouring out his heart to a delivery girl that was probably never going to visit him again now that he showed this side of himself.
When he heard a quiet whimper to his left, he expected to find her looking scared or disgusted. Instead, he found Kemuri anxiously chewing on her tail. Tears were pouring down her face and dotting the front of her sweater. Her face turned a hot shade of red when she realized that he was looking and she lowered her head. "I-I know what it's like," she muttered.
"What?" Iguchi paused the game and turned so he was facing her. He wanted to do something to make her feel better. Seeing her cry like this was making his stomach churn. He was just afraid of doing the wrong thing and scaring her.
"Flameless dragon. Or demon." The words came out in a whisper before she hiccupped. "That's what people always call me. Because of how I look…and because of my quirk." She hiccupped again and grey, sparkling smoke issued from her mouth. It had a strangely minty aroma and seemed to dissipate quickly.
His eyes widened. "That's so cool, though!"
"Wh-what?" The girl lifted her head and her narrow, golden eyes met his pink ones. "You…you think my quirk is cool?"
Clawed hands gripped her shoulders so she had to keep looking at him. "Yeah! Kemuri, you're really cool! And you're…you're really cute!" He could feel his face turning red again, but pushed himself onward. "I think you're cool. And I'm really glad you came over today. I never get visitors." His heart was pounding when he leaned down toward her. "I like you!"
The last time he confessed his feelings to someone, it was his freshman year in high school. He had liked a girl so much that he forced himself to give it a shot. He had thought the worst she could do was reject him, but he was wrong. Her friends had recorded the confession and brutal rejection on their phones. They sent the video to everyone in the school. The other boys had taunted him about it until his last day there.
Iguchi held his breath as he stared down at her. Waiting for her response. When his words finally registered, he saw redness spread across her face again. Her lips curled into a small, shy smile and she lowered her head. "Kemuri?"
"You…you really mean that?" There was hope in her voice as she spoke.
"Yeah! Of course! You're one of the nicest people I've ever met and you're really talented and you're adorable-" He turned his head to the side, embarrassed he had blurted all of that out. The embarrassment quickly subsided when her arms went around his neck and pulled him in for a hug.
"I…I like you too, Iguchi." The girl's lips gently met his cheek and they were soft and warm against his scales. When she leaned back, she was still smiling. "Could I try playing? I liked Pokemon so maybe…"
"Oh! Yeah, sure thing! Let's make a save file for you and you can create your own character!" It felt like his heart had sprouted wings. He just got his first real kiss and it was from someone that he really liked. Iguchi was beaming as Kemuri settled at his side, handing the controller to her.