JapanxReader: What is love? (Chapter two)

"Here's where you'll be staying." Kiku gestured to the door of your new room. The door was a nice brown tone, and it had a lock too, which was good because you liked your privacy. Not that you didn't trust Kiku to keep it, it was more of a reassurance.

You turned the knob and pushed it open to reveal the new area. It was a nice, small, square-shaped room with a large window on the wall ahead of you that covered at least half of the entire wall, and fortunately it had curtains to cover it when you wanted your privacy again. The walls were a plain, milky white color, along with soft, sand textured carpeting. Inside the room was a large Futon spread out across the floor for you to sleep on, a short but wide drawer against the right wall, an empty bookshelf next to the drawer, a tall lamp standing in the corner, and a small walk-in closet next to the doorway you stood in. You looked in awe at the room that was now yours at the time, before stepping in and walking around inside, touching everything in it and feeling the various textures of the furniture.

"Do you like it?" Kiku asked you, still in the doorway watching you admire the place. You nodded, smiling and laying down on the Futon. It was extremely comfortable and soft, much different from what you'd expected them to be like.

Kiku walked in and kneeled down beside you, giving you a slight smile. "I'm glad you do. I didn't put much in here, just the stuff I thought was necessary. If you'd like to add more I can show you to the storage room I got the furniture from and you can choose the stuff you like."

You nodded, standing up and waiting for him. He stood up as well, leading the way to the storage room.

You did find a few things you thought would be good to put in when you got there and looked around for a bit, such as a small, rounded mirror, a fairly large desk complete with a spinning chair, a few interesting books to fill your bookshelf, and a still working digital clock. Once you'd picked out your stuff you got ready to leave, but something caught your eye on the way out. You set down the items you held and walked over to a stack of of what looked like comic books, but the art was much more beautiful than any comic you'd seen before, and they looked rather foreign.

"Those are some old Manga books that I've read. Have you ever read one before?" Kiku appeared next to you, kneeling down and picking up the top one. You shook your head and took the next one off of the top, flipping through the pages and noticing that it read backwards. You'd read about Mangas before, but you'd never had the chance to actually read one. There were many different series in the stack, each one with its own unique style of art that blew your mind away. You soon found yourself drawn into one that you had pulled off and began reading. You heard Kiku chuckle and pick up the stack of Mangas, taking them with to your room. You closed the manga in your hands and hustled your stuff to your room, eager to read more.

~~~~~~

After you both had gotten everything into your room and set up perfectly, Kiku left you to your new room and books, allowing you to go emerge yourself in the manga you had begun.

You hadn't been reading for too long though when you were interrupted by a strange noise coming from outside your door. It sounded like weak scratching or something of that sort. Curious, you folded the corner neatly to mark your place and walked over to the door, opening it up a slight crack and glancing around. To your surprise, you discovered a small white dog sitting on the floor, staring up at you with cute black eyes, it's tail wagging rapidly at the sight of you. It gave out a bark, and attempted pushing its head through the door to try and get inside. You opened up the door more for it, and it flew inside, running around the room and sniffing everything. You walked back inside and sat down on your knees, watching the dog explore the newly made place. When it was finished it pattered over to where you sat, looking up at you with its adorable little eyes. You reached out your hand in a fist form for it to sniff first, just in case it bit you. No matter how cute and innocent it looked, you never know. It's always better to be safe than sorry, right?

Thankfully it didn't bite you, just sniffed your hand for a moment then nudged its head against it. You smiled and petted its head, which felt very fluffy and soft. You didn't know Kiku had a dog, you hadn't seen it at all since you'd gotten here. You wondered if he had another pets, hoping he did. You adored animals, especially dogs, and had always wanted to own a pet, any kind if pet, but you were never allowed to. The small dog laid down, enjoying your attention to it, before it's ears perked up and it barked again, running over towards the door. You turned around and saw Kiku had just appeared in the doorway, looking at you and then the dog.

"I see you've already met Pochi-kun. I forgot to mention that I owned a dog and came up to inform you, in case you were allergic or scared if them." He explained, kneeling down to pet Pochi's head.

"It's okay, I like dogs." You told him, your voice still at a quiet volume.

"That's good. So he won't be a problem then?" He inquired, looking back up towards you. You shook your head and he smiled.
"Well that's good then. Are you allergic or scared of any other animals at all?"

You shook your head again.

"Good, because I do own a couple of other pets. I wouldn't want you accidentally stumbling upon them and getting troubled by them." He commented. You felt yourself smile at his words, walking over to him and kneeling down in front of him.

"May I see them?" You asked, the excitement you held obvious in your voice. He gave another smile and nodded.

"Of course you may." He responded, standing up and leading you to where they were.

You both stopped in front of a door a little ways down the hall from your room. You hadn't been in this room before, so your curiosity was perking up again. Kiku pushed open the door and walked inside while you stood in the doorway viewing the place. It was a much bigger room than yours was, and was more of a rectangular-shaped room than a square-shaped one. There was a twin sized bed against the far right wall, with a medium-sized tv directly across the room from the bed, the floor around it littered with all sorts of different game systems and a couple game controllers, the rest in a cardboard box along with many video games. You also noticed a desk next to the tv that was covered with piles of paper with very beautiful drawings on on them and all sorts of art supplies. The walls of the room were white, but it was hard to tell because they were covered with many different posters from what you assumed must be Animes. There were also two large bookshelves side by side against the wall next to you, each stocked full of Mangas ordered by series and a few plushies of characters from Animes and Mangas. It was an amazing room, and very cute too, not what you'd expected Kikus room to be like but still pretty neat.

You looked around briefly for Kiku, quickly spotting him in the corner beside his bed, in front of something you couldn't see with his back facing you. He seemed to be trying to get something from whatever he was standing in front of. You remembered he was showing you his other pets and got excited again, speedily walking over to him and awaiting what he would show you. After a moment of waiting behind him he turned back around, and you had to cover your mouth to keep from squealing. Resting in his his arms were a small brown Guinea pig and a cute white Rabbit. They were some of the most adorable animals you'd ever seen in your life! You tentatively reached out your hands in hope that he might let you hold one of them. He chuckled, then carefully took both pets and placed them in your arms for you. They felt so soft and fluffy, just like Pochi had been. They looked up at you simultaneously with cute, beady eyes, and you couldn't help but let out a small 'Aww', hugging them gently against your chest. Kiku watched you as you petted and cuddled the small animals, smiling. After awhile you let him take them back and put them inside the cages they lived in.

"I also have a cat, but I'm unsure of where he is at current time. He disappears quite frequently to be honest, but I'm sure you'll see him around at some point." He informed me, closing the doors to their homes. You felt a little upset at this news. Cats weren't one of your favorite animals compared to others, but you still liked them. You took your mind off the matter by looking around his room some more instead. He turned back around then, catching you viewing the area again.

"Do you like my room?" He asked you, probably noticing how intrigued you seemed. You gave him a nod, turning back to face him.

"You're one of the few people to have actually seen it." He mentioned with a slight chuckle. "I don't let many people in here."

"Why not?" You asked him out of curiosity.

"Because it's private, and I'm also a bit embarrassed to show anyone it..." He explained, blushing slightly.

"I think it's very nice." You commented, giving him a warm smile. He turned his head away, giving a quiet 'Thank you' then heading back out, waiting for you to follow out, then shutting the room away again. You walked behind Kiku down the hall, then separated from him as you got to your door and went inside your room, taking a quick glance at the clock you'd brought in earlier. You were a bit surprised when you read that it was already 8:30 pm. It was only then that you realized how hungry you were, wondering how you hadn't noticed it before. You stepped back out of your room and walked down the hall swiftly, then climbing down the stairs that lead to the living room, your bare feet going slightly cold as they met the wooden flooring. You looked around the room for Kiku, not spotting him anywhere at first, then you found him near the corner of the room in front of a large bookshelf you hadn't seen before, seeming to be trying to find a book to read. He must've heard you come down because he was looking your direction now.

"Is there something you need?" He questioned, pulling out the book that his hand was rested on.

"No I'm just hungry, do you mind if I make something to eat?" You asked him.

"Oh, I forgot about dinner! I usually live alone, so I tend to only eat only when I get hungry, Gomennasei." He apologized and slid the book he'd removed back into the shelf. "I'll make supper, you don't have to worry about it."

Kiku walked past you towards the kitchen, and you followed behind silently. Once inside, you sat down in a chair seated at the breakfast bar and watched him get stuff prepared to cook, moving swiftly about the kitchen as he did. You folded your arms on the breakfast bar and rested your head inside them, closing your eyes to rest while you waited. You were a bit of a light sleeper, so it wouldn't be too hard to wake you up.

Soon Kiku was gently shaking you awake, smiling at you as you opened your eyes to see him set down two bowls in front of you, one much smaller than the other. You paused to rub your eyes a bit before taking a good look at the food in front of you. The bigger one had a food made up of meat and potatoes, and the smaller one was just a simple bowl of white rice. Kiku pointed at the bigger bowl.

"This is Nikujaga. It's very good, I hope you enjoy it." He explained. It did look pretty good, and smelled just as much. You glanced around in confusion, meeting his eyes after a bit.

"Are you not eating?" You questioned after noting that he had only served a share for you.

"I'm not really hungry right now, I might just have some later." He answered, giving you a reassuring smile along with. You couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed at this, you had been hoping he might sit down and eat with you.

Kiku left you with your meal to go back to his book you assumed, and you watched him disappear into the hallway before starting on your meal. It was a simple dish, but very good needless to say. When you had finally finished you cleaned out your bowls as well as you could manage and placed them on the counter, unsure of exactly where they went. You walked into the living room and found that Kiku was now gone from the room. You checked the clock, seeing that it was already pretty late, and figured he must've gone to bed already. You climbed up the stairs quietly to your room and shut the door firmly behind you. Outside the wide window in your room you could see a clear view of a quiet street, with only a couple cars driving by now and then, and small rows of houses lining the edge behind an empty sidewalk, and thousands of stars littering the dark night sky. The scene was one you hadn't seen since you'd arrived in the big city. You had lived in a moderately small city before this, and had walked a great distance before stumbling upon the huge area. You briefly wondered if you were even in that city anymore. Probably not, this place just seemed too different from there.

You stepped over to your Futon, taking the edges and dragging it over slightly so that when you laid down on it you could easily see those magnificent stars that twinkled outside your window in the sky. For the first time in days you were able to sleep comfortably, surrounded in warmth, and in blissful peace and quiet.