Haruto was at a loss. He was expecting a small child. Not a teenager. No, L-elf was practically an adult. He was completely unprepared. In the past week, he'd bought toys and even ordered a child's bed. The minute he could, he cancelled the order. L-elf needed a real bed. But Haruto's apartment only had the one bedroom. His plan was to have the kid sleep in the small bed he'd bought that would manage to fit in his room. Eventually, Haruto and Shoko would get married and live in a house where their adopted son could have his own room.
But that all went down the toilet. For now, it'd be proper to give L-elf his bed and to move himself to the couch. He cleaned up a little and decided the toys could be used for his classroom. Haruto heard his doorbell ring and knew who it must be before he opened it.
"Good afternoon!", Shoko practically sang. L-elf stood behind her.
Haruto moved aside to let them in. "Welcome, L-elf."
"I'm sure you two will get along great. If you've got any questions, you know where to find me." She was over the moon with this development.
Haruto reminded himself that L-elf was nearly a legal adult. And surely once he was one, he wouldn't want to hang around some guy he hardly knew. He marked the calendar in his mind for that day. Figuratively. He still didn't know L-elf's birthday. But it was in the papers Shoko had given him. She left them to get settled and L-elf surveyed the place silently. He sniffed a little and swiped the coffee table with a finger, checking for dust.
"L-elf, this'll be your room", Haruto pointed to the door where his new charge would sleep.
He went inside and looked it over. He didn't complain, so that must be a good sign. L-elf looked at the view from his window. From it, he could see the street and other buildings. Not exactly scenic, but it was something.
"What food do you have?", he asked suddenly without looking away.
"Ah! Are you hungry?" Haruto went to the kitchen and checked his fridge. As befitting of a bachelor, it was sparse. There was some beer, pickles, and hot dogs. "Let's just order some Chinese."
About twenty minutes later, the delivery arrived and Haruto set it on the coffee table. L-elf didn't leave his room until the first box was opened. Haruto sat himself on the floor, his back to the television. L-elf sat on the couch and they began to eat.
"Hmm. 'If you're happy, you're successful'. That's pretty deep", Haruto read his fortune out loud. "What's your's say?"
"I won't let food tell my future or give me any type of advice."
"It's not so serious. Go on and read it."
L-elf pushed the cookie towards Haruto. "You're more than welcome to it."
"No, no, no. YOU have to break it and read it. Otherwise it's not your fortune. It's mine." Haruto pushed it back.
Despite himself, L-elf took the cookie and broke it apart. "'You will have a pleasant surprise'. Nonsense. I am never surprised."
"Never? Come on now. Everyone gets surprised. It's not like you can tell the future."
"Humans are predictable. By understanding the what is already known, you can anticipate their actions and in turn, events."
Haruto raised a brow as he slurped a noodle. "You really are full of it."
L-elf didn't reply immediately. He closed his eyes and chewed thoughtfully before opening them and looking at Haruto. "A ring. An explosion. An epidemic. 2:30. What you need will already be prepared."
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean."
"You'll find out today. Don't you have work?"
Haruto looked at the clock. It was nearly nine already, he should have left long ago. In a panic, he grabbed his things and gave L-elf basic instructions. Don't answer the door to strangers, money for lunch is on the table, don't make a mess. With that, he rushed off to the school. By then, he mostly forgotten L-elf's words until a co worker made an announcement in the teacher's lounge.
"He finally proposed!"
There were squeals and giggles all around and Haruto nearly choked when he saw the gold band on the woman's finger.
A ring.
"It has to be a coincidence", he said to himself, determined to not let the boy get in his head with his crazy claims. It was around noon, when he was putting his class down for their nap that the next incident occurred. A few doors down a loud noise woke up most of the kids and prompted many teachers to check outside their class. A teacher, the same who'd gotten engaged, came out with the rest of her class.
"Our pottery is ruined!"
"The kiln exploded", one of her students complained.
Haruto was about to go and calm his class back down when he realized what just happened. The kiln for making pottery had blown up.
An explosion.
He felt a chill go down his spine and tried to ignore the sound of L-elf's voice in his ear. Haruto put his kids back down to finish their nap time while going over some items at his desk. He noticed three children were absent today. And some of the familiar faces from the other grades weren't present today either. But it was normal for students to miss a day or two for personal reasons. As he thought this, a voice cam over the PA system.
"Attention. Due to the recent spread of an unknown infection, we will be having early dismissal today."
They repeated themselves but Haruto didn't hear it a second time. Slowly, he turned his head towards the clock in his room and his eyes widened. It was 2:30.
An epidemic. 2:30.
After all of his class had been picked up or sent home, Haruto punched out himself and went back to his apartment. He opened the door and looked to L-elf who was wearing a mask over his mouth. He held another one up, as if presenting it to Haruto.
"Wear this until you shower and disinfect yourself."
We'll probably check in on Inuzuka and Q-vier in the next chapter. Which will now be referred to as QKyu. doesn't that sound cute? I think anyway you splice their names sounds fine though.
We will get to the shippy harueru stuff soon.