Kaidoh Secret Volume
by Immortelle Stalker

The sound of strong rain patted on the window of Kaidoh and Inui's apartment that night. Frequent flashes of lightning were present and thunderclaps echoed outside. During the past couple of days, bad weather ensued, and it obviously grew worse. There weren't any lightning or thunder two days ago compared now.

Kaidoh took one last gaze outside the kitchen window before closing the curtain. He motioned to the refrigerator and took out food. Then, he got the cooking utensils from the drawer and placed all of them neatly beside the stove. It was his turn to come up with dinner that night.

Or rather, Kaidoh wanted the turn. Before he moved into the apartment with Inui, his mother taught him how to cook, at least. She had always been protective of the two boys, and she didn't want them to eat out too much or be overly dependent on the microwave. Though Kaidoh still had a long way to go before he can actually master Hozumi-san's cooking, at least he knows how to cook decently, which can never be the case for Inui.

Kaidoh was not sure if Inui does it on purpose, but everytime his senpai, who is now his boyfriend of six months, cooked dinner, Kaidoh always ended up suffering the similar after-effects of Inui Juice intake. Also, Inui named his dishes in the same manner, like Inui's Super Deluxe Health Sukiyaki. Who would have known that sukiyaki could be that... dangerous.

In any case, Kaidoh didn't want to try more of Inui's cooking anymore to find out, so he persuaded Inui to let him prepare their meals instead, to which Inui agreed without snubbed feelings whatsoever. He liked Kaidoh's cooking anyway.

After finishing the preparations, Kaidoh turned to the stove. When he was about to open the stove, a loud thunder came and...

It didn't open.

"Eh?" Kaidoh blinked, then led out a hiss. He tried again, and again, until he finally gave up. "Inui-senpai!" he called out as he made his way to their room. He stopped by the doorway where he saw Inui working on his computer.

"Aah... Calling me 'senpai' again, Kaidoh?" Inui said as he spun his chair to face Kaidoh. "You called for me?"

Kaidoh blinked and slightly looked away. "Ah. Sorry," he mumbled. He should really learn to drop the honorifics. Then, he faced Inui again. "The stove's broken. It won't open," he finally said.

"Oh?" Inui hushed out. He stood up and went to the kitchen to check. Then, he got back to Kaidoh. "You're right. I probably overused it again," he said.

Kaidoh hissed as he crossed his arms. "Guess we have to heat something in the microwave then."

Inui looked up and noticed the lights fluctuate. "No. I think I should go out and get us dinner before the lights go out as well," he suggested.

Kaidoh quickly looked at Inui. "Are you serious? There's a storm out there!" he snapped slightly.

"Actually, it's just heavy rainfall. The wind speed doesn't pass the standards of a storm yet," Inui said with a fix of his glasses. "Besides, we haven't done the groceries yet. We're out of food stock."

Kaidoh hissed at the realization and his hands dropped to his side.

"Don't worry," Inui assured as he placed his hand on Kaidoh's shoulder. "I won't be long. Just stay here and wait for me." When Kaidoh nodded, Inui went to their room and got his raincoat. Then, he headed to the door and went out.

After seeing Inui off, Kaidoh closed the door and went to the living room. He turned the television on and checked the channels. He almost jumped out of his seat when a loud scream came from the TV. Apparently, it was a horror movie, and Kaidoh was never a fan of the supernatural. His heart raced as he quickly switched to another channel, then another, until finally turning off the television.

His heart pounded his chest as he stared at the television for a while. "Right... It's Halloween eve," he muttered to himself. Naturally, the 'spookfest' would be present.

Kaidoh quickly got up and went to their room instead. There, he noticed Inui's usual messed-up desk. He should just tidy up while waiting for Inui. As he began to pick up the disarray of papers on the desk, his eyes caught glimpse of a green notebook under the pile. Its shade of green was lighter compared to Inui's usual notebooks, so Kaidoh noticed it immediately. He took the notebook and examined the cover. On the bottom right-hand corner, the words "Kaidoh Secret Volume" were scribbled. Then, another flash of lightning and roar of thunder came.

The boy got curious and examined the notebook even closer. It was not his first time to actually see a data notebook solely dedicated to him. Aside from match and training data, Inui also kept a lot of personal data about Kaidoh, even those useless ones; Kaidoh Special Volume 02: Cooking, Volume 03: House Arrangement Preferences, and so on. However, the new notebook intrigued Kaidoh, most especially because it was a secret volume.

Slowly, he flipped to the first page and read its contents:

January 30 – Everyone feared the powers of the 'cursed racket' that Echizen found, especially Kaidoh. Though he denied that, I knew well how true it was judging from the defensive look on his face. He tried fleeing the scene, but chose not to because of Momoshiro's mocking. After Fuji pulled the faceless mask trick on us, I noticed that Kaidoh was already out of sight. I didn't see him since then.

Kaidoh squirmed at what he read. Then, he proceeded to the next item:

May 11 – The horror sounds that I found online really amused me, so I immediately downloaded it and had it installed in my computer. If I open my computer, a werewolf sound starts playing, then a woman's scream, then the cliché sound of a horror movie. And if I shut down, creepy haunted house and ghost sounds play until it closes completely. It sounded so real.

Kaidoh was at my apartment that night for an overnight tutor session. He's unaware of my computer modifications. Since I worked late at night while he was sleeping, it must have awoken Kaidoh and scared him, because the next thing I knew, I found him curled like a kid with his eyes closed shut on my bed, with the blanket over his head.

Kaidoh blinked and thought back. Yes, he remembered that. Now that the notebook mentioned it, Inui didn't quite explain those weird sounds that he heard that night. Inui simply told him that it was just his drowsiness that played tricks on his mind. He didn't sleep much since that night until morning.

The boy clenched his fist. He flipped to another page again until his eyes fell upon a familiar entry.

June 3 –Today is my birthday, and it seemed that Kaidoh found out, in spite of the false dates that I told everyone. How he found out was still a mystery, but it doesn't matter. It's alright to let him know at least. Anyway, we went to see a horror movie that I like. It was my second time to see it, but Kaidoh didn't know that. So I took the opportunity to verify my hypothesis of Kaidoh's fear of the supernatural. While watching the movie, I wore the faceless mask that I borrowed from Fuji, then I tugged his sleeve. When Kaidoh faced me, he screamed in mid-sentence and disappeared from the movie house in an instant.

Kaidoh gritted his teeth, then he growled, "I was not frickin' scared! Don't underestimate Kai—" He stopped in mid-sentence when the electricity fluctuated. Then, the power went off completely.

His face turned pale. He quickly fumbled on Inui's desk and drawer for a flashlight. "This is nothing, you. It's just a blackout... It's nothing, really" Kaidoh uttered to himself as he continued the search.

As soon as Kaidoh felt the flashlight, something heavy suddenly jumped onto Inui's desk, and a pair of glowing yellow eyes faced him. Kaidoh led out a loud scream as he fell back and stumbled on the floor. With shaky hands, he turned the flashlight on and shone it blindly to his side. Then, he noticed a tall figure looming over him.

"Aah!!! Get away from me!!" Kaidoh yelled as he accidentally dropped the flashlight and crawled back. The flashlight rolled and stopped at the figure's feet. Kaidoh closed his eyes shut as he cowered at the corner of the room. Then, the light shone on him, along with the loud sound of thunder.

"Kaidoh, what's wrong?" a familiar voice said.

The younger boy blinked, then looked at the direction of the voice. Inui stood not so far away from him, with a small flashlight by his face to let Kaidoh recognize him. He held another flashlight that he shone upon Kaidoh.

"I-Inui..." Kaidoh's voice trailed off.

Then, a soft purr was heard. Kaidoh turned and saw a fluffy white cat with black spots beside Inui. "A-anou..." he stammered.

Inui looked at Kaidoh for a moment, and then he smiled. "Did she scare you, Kaidoh?" he said.

Kaidoh blushed hard. "No, I wasn't scared," he rumbled back at Inui. Of course, his gestures showed otherwise.

"Sorry. You must not have heard me come in earlier. But this cat here followed me all the way here and got inside as soon as I opened the door," Inui explained.

Kaidoh glanced at the cat slightly with interest. "Where did you get her?" he asked innocently. It seemed as if he already forgot that the cat was the one who surprised him in the first place.

"She was downstairs by the shelter," Inui replied as he scratched his head. "When I looked at her, she immediately followed me from behind."

Inui then motioned to approach Kaidoh. "Anyway, I have our dinner now. Let's eat, shall we?" He said as he extended his arm for Kaidoh. The younger boy pouted his lower lip, then took Inui's hand.

After gathering and lighting enough candles, Kaidoh and Inui settled on the living room couch together and ate dinner. Kaidoh stayed slightly away from Inui with his knees folded in front of his body as he ate. He still felt annoyed about that Kaidoh Secret Volume.

"Come on, Kaidoh. It's a secret volume. Even you didn't know about it," Inui groaned. He pleaded Kaidoh to forgive him twice already, but the younger boy didn't give in yet. The cat meowed beside Inui, as if she was pleading with Inui as well.

Kaidoh kept an aggravated face until he finished eating. Then, he placed the box of food on the table and leaned back without a word. Then, he spoke, "I'm pathetic for being easily scared, aren't I?" His facial expression softened slightly at that.

Inui glanced at Kaidoh. Then, he moved beside him and wrapped an arm around him. His other hand went to Kaidoh's cheek and pulled his head to his shoulder. A soft hiss came out of Kaidoh's lips as he leaned on Inui completely.

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's who you are," Inui whispered to him as he stroked Kaidoh's hair. "Fear, they say, is part of human nature anyway."

Kaidoh chuckled lightly as he tugged on Inui's shirt lightly. "Heh, I'm not scared, Sadaharu," he said.

Inui chuckled too as he kissed Kaidoh's head. "Well, if you say so, Kaoru," he replied with a smile.

Kaidoh finally smiled and looked at the cat that Inui brought back. It slept on the armrest of the couch and faced the other way. "Nee Inui-senpai..."

"Calling me 'senpai' again?" Inui cut off.

"Sorry," Kaidoh said with a chuckle. "I just realized, this Halloween is kind of funny in a way, don't you think, Sadaharu?"

The older boy looked at Kaidoh with a content face. "Yeah. Also, this is our first Halloween as a couple," he added.

Kaidoh pulled the blanket up from the floor and covered them with it. Then, he looked into Inui's eyes behind his glasses. "And there will be more," he said.