2 A Fated Meeting

Sunlight peered through the windows of the bathroom as a steady hum could be heard, slightly drowned by the continuous shower of water that pattered against the marbled tiles. It was a sound that Takemi Kazuichi was used to.

Thump.

Frothed with shampoo, Kazuichi blindly swiveled his head from one side to another, wondering where the mysterious thumping sound was coming from. He wore a clueless expression on his face but he continued encouraging the froth on his hair. The faster he finished taking the shower, the earlier he'd be able to find out the source of the thumping.

'Did I order delivery today?' He asked himself, running a simulation of the day's entirety to see if he really did get food delivered. He wasn't sure. When it comes to living a shut-in life, all the days seemed to blend and mix together into one and he couldn't tell if it was yesterday or today did he order food.

Confused, Kazuichi rinsed himself, finishing his shower five or so minutes earlier than usual. Even with his eyes closed, he managed to grab the towel by the corner of the shower room. He then proceeded to wipe his whole body and wrap the towel around his waist soon after.

On his way out, he caught a reflection of himself in the mirror. He smiled. "You're looking mighty fine again today, Kazuichi!" He greeted himself as he ran his fingers on the corners of his well-sculpted abs.

There's a difference between a shut-in who has given up on life and a shut-in who lived his life to the fullest. Kazuichi never once thought that being a shut-in is a burden. He still monitored his diet and his health, and he took care of himself. In the past two years of living alone, not once did he get sick— that's how particular he was with his health.

Since the largest bathroom in his 'mansion' was upstairs on the second floor, he had to descend a flight of stairs before he got to the living room. As usual, he was humming the iconic song that played nonstop in his head.

Thump.

"Seriously... " With a deep exhale, Kazuichi half-dragged and half-walked himself to the doorway to see if there was a delivery guy. "I didn't order any delivery today!" He pointed out but he still opened the door since he felt bad for the delivery guy.

At that point... everything in Kazuichi's world stopped. His mind stopped working, his body froze as if he was dead, and everything he knew about the outside world all came crumbling down in a span of a few seconds.

A woman, not much older, perhaps younger than him, struggled to get inside his house, pushing him onto the floor with a hoarse groan. She had blond hair, but that blond hair was hardly blond due to the blood clots that formed on her scalp. Her skin— it was pale white— but the whiteness could hardly be noticed due to the amount of dirt and grime that superficially enveloped her. Her eyes had a pale blue color to them, like a calm lake in the middle of spring— but the calmness was replaced with a different kind of stillness. Needless to say, her eyes had a deathly stare to them. They stared deep into Kazuichi's eyes straight into his soul— or at least that's what he felt when he locked eyes with her.

She groaned, and her face continued to distort as she brought her face closer to Kazuichi. At this point, Kazuichi was on the verge of slipping into unconsciousness. As a shut-in, not once did he ever interact with a girl, but now, he had been pushed onto the floor with one, and she was the most horrifying girl he'd ever seen in his life.

In his peripheral vision, he saw something that he shouldn't have... her right arm cut through the bone, dangling like a slice of hooked meat freshly butchered. "Y-y-you're..." It had been years since Kazuichi had a normal human interaction. Despite wanting to speak to the filthy and unprepossessing lady, he couldn't do so. All he could do was lock his forearm on his neck so she wouldn't be able to bring her mouth closer to her.

"Huaghh— " The lady let out a dying groan, almost like a last exhale.

And Kazuichi finally regained his composure... no, for a shut-in, that was an impossible thing. Regaining one's composure is an insurmountable hurdle and Kazuichi was no exception. Instead, he started screaming, his mouth opening twice its size as he let out all the air in his lungs. He didn't even think to himself about how he looked or expressed himself in front of the lady. The only thought in his mind was that he had to scream, and hopefully, everything would be over after he was done screaming.

He was half-right, everything did come to an end when he was done screaming— and that's because he finally lost consciousness, fainting in an instant as soon as all the air left his lungs. His eyes rolled backward and only the whites could be seen on them. Soon after, his contorted screaming face then softened, and his head leaned onto one side as his consciousness left him.

.....

"..."

Kazuichi stirred, his face impulsively turning away from the poking he felt that disturbed his peaceful sleep. He muttered something in his sleep, but he didn't wake up.

"..."

"What is it~" He softly asked as his eyes fluttered open.

As soon as he regained consciousness, Kazuichi immediately bolted upright and put up his hands in a guarding stance, his footwork automatically switching into boxing mode as he looked left and right. It's as if he had been doused with cold water as soon as he awoke from his slumber, and all the memories of what happened a couple of minutes ago came flooding into his mind like an out-of-nowhere flash flood. "Who— what? Where? Why? What?!" His mouth rapidly spat questions upon questions as the disturbing memory of the lady occurred to him.

Swiiiiish~

Swishhh~

A couple of seconds later, Kazuichi finally completely woke up and his breathing evened out. "Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale... that thing... was that just a dream?" Unexpectedly, he found himself in solitude. There were no signs of anyone in the house. That nightmare... it's as if all that had transpired only occurred in his mind.

Swiiiiish~

Swishhh~

"Sigh~ I probably fell asleep as soon as I took a shower... did I forget to turn off the shower by any chance? Well, it's not like the water bill would be a bother." Scratching his head in utter confusion, Kazuichi went up the flight of stairs so he could turn off the shower in the shower room. He didn't find any dirt marks in the living room, nor did he find anything unusual. Because of that, he ruled out his experience as a dream, nothing more nothing less.

Yawning, Kazuichi opened the door to the bathroom and immediately opened the door to the shower room without a second thought. For a split second, he saw fog in the shower room and a figure of a lady, showering in there. He squinted his eyes for a better look through the smoke, concluding that he was still probably dreaming.

"Kyaa~!" A surprised squeal of a girl suddenly echoed in the shower room, followed by a good ole' slap on the face that planted itself squarely on Kazuichi's cheeks.

"Pervert!" The lady in the shower room screamed.

The throbbing pain on Kazuichi's cheeks jolted him into confusion.

"Who— what? Where? Why? WHAT??!" Kazuichi screamed back as the door to the shower room slid close. 'There's a girl in my shower room? Why is there a girl in my shower room? What on earth is going on here? What on actual— ' Kazuichi mildly panicked in his mind as the throbbing on his cheeks reminded him of the current reality he was in.

So... this isn't a dream?!

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