Growth and Malady

6 - Rui

I was laying on my bed, staring up at the ceiling when a small sensation on my hand made me tilt my head to look at the cause. The spider from that morning was climbing onto my sleeve, it's eight legs moving in a synchronized pattern up the fabric.

"You like me, don't you, little spider?"

It wandered closer to my shoulder, and I let my head fall back onto the pillow.

"As long as you don't bite me, you can make as many webs on me as you'd like."

A knock on my door, followed by the sound of wood rubbing on wood meant that someone opened my door. "Rui?"

"Yeah?" I acknowledged that I'd heard Akaza without turning in his direction. "What's up?"

"Douma just finished making dinner, come on out whenever you'd like." He turned to look back into the kitchen, and a panicked expression crossed his face. "No- Douma you can't eat eggs raw!!" Akaza ran back into the other room, and after the sounds of a scuffle, I heard the taller's laughing over his partner's annoyed scolding.

I've got to see what mess they've gotten into, I thought as I stood up and peeked out of my bedroom.

"Why would you drop the egg on my head!?" Akaza shouted, gesturing wildly at the egg yolk in his dark hair. "Your such a child!!"

"But you love me, Akaza-dono~"

I cleared my throat loudly before my dads could get carried away. When they realized I was watching, the ravenette stalked past me to the bathroom to clean the mess in his hair, and Douma returned to setting up the food on the table.

The brown spider crawled into one of the folds of my yukata, hiding itself from view. I smiled at it's intelligence and walked up to Douma, hugging his side.

"What's for dinner?"

"Miso soup," he declared proudly.

"And it's not overcooked?"

"Of course not! I'm a master at cooking, right, Kaza?"

Behind me Akaza let out a grumble, still upset over the egg incident, yet he stood next to Douma and let his head rest on the taller man's shoulder.

"It looks burnt." He stated flatly.

"It is not!" Douma whined. "Have an open mind!"

We sat down at the table and Douma instantly started eating. Akaza and I looked at out bowls with apprehension. I poked my chopsticks into it, grabbing a few vegetables between them. Bringing it up to my mouth tentatively, I took a bite. My eyes widened in surprise, and Douma looked at me smugly.

"It's actually really good!" I exclaimed.

"No way," Akaza scoffed, copying me in taking a bite, albeit a bit more confidently. His reaction was the same. "How the hell did you manage to make it so well, Douma??"

"I'm just that good."

I ate some more, smiling around the mouthful as I listened to their child-like bickering.

A while later I slipped back into my room, sliding the door shut behind me. I'd lost track of the spider, so I spent a minute checking all the folds for the tiny fuzzy arachnid. I found it clinging to the inside of my sleeve, a few shiny strands of web surrounding it.

"You aren't going to find any insects in there, little spider." I told it, climbing under my covers.I laid on my back, taking care to make sure I wasn't crushing my spider 'pet' in the process.

The moment I closed my eyes, I was stunned. Tall coniferous trees towered over me, the full moon sitting high in the sky. Scents of tree sap and blood swamped my nose, senses overwhelmed by the sudden overload. The familiar skittering sound of spiders graced my ears, confusing me further.