Disclaimer: Count D and Pet Shop of Horrors is copyright to their respective owners. Dae and Souji were drawn by the wonderful Akane, and they�re characters were developed by me.
Genre: Horror/Romance
Dae walked along the streets of Chinatown, hands shoved miserably in his pockets. It was raining, a dreary day really. That was fine, it matched Dae�s mood. Dae felt his spirit was spiraling downward, it had ever sense the day his girlfriend broke up with him. He was terribly lonely. Which explained why he was walking through Chinatown in the rain. Dae had heard of a quaint little pet shop here in Chinatown that was supposed to sale excellent pets. Maybe a pet will get rid of this terrible loneliness, Dae thought. He found the pet shop and opened the door. A staircase led downward and Dae followed them down.
�Hello?� Dae looked around the little �lobby.� It appeared empty, until a young man emerged from behind a chinese paper curtain.
�Welcome to my pet shop, how may I help you?� The young man had a beautiful, calming voice, matched only by his appearance. He was wearing a beautiful komono, and his perfectly black hair was longer than Dae�s own purple hair. And his eyes� one was gold, the other was violet! Dae was lost in admiring the young boy until he shook himself out of it. Get a hold of yourself Dae! People are going to think� �I was looking for a pet.� Oh wow, that was impressive.
But the young man only smiled. �Well, you have come to the right place. I am Count D, what sort of pet were you looking for?�
�Well, to be honest, I don�t know. I haven�t had many pets in my time�� Dae glanced around to the cages that lined the walls, he hadn�t noticed them before.
�Well, feel free to wander around, birds make excellent first time pets, or perhaps you would prefer a puppy, or rabbit.� Count D gestured with a hand (wow, his fingernails were so long�) and Dae ventured closer to the cages. But after quite a long time, Dae still did not know what to choose.
�Having difficulty?� The Count approached him.
�Yes. They�re all very nice animals, I just�� Dae shrugged, he didn�t really know how to finesh that sentence.
The Count tilted a pensive look at him. �Well, why don�t you tell me what it is exactly you came here looking for?�
Dae shrugged again. �A friend.� The words popped out before Dae realized himself what it was he came here for. Count D nodded, seeming to understand, and gestured for him to follow. �Come with me, I might have exactly what you are looking for.� Count D walked to wall and pulled back a curtain to reveal a doorway. Count D bowed and permitted Dae to walk through first. Dae swallowed and done so, as the hallway before him looked a little unnerving. Count D followed close behind, though, so that made Dae feel a little better.
�What�s back here?� Dae asked.
�Special pets. Rare breeds, pets that require more attention. And, perhaps, what you are looking for.� Count D stopped and opened a door for Dae, and Dae passed through. The smell of incense greeted Dae�s nose, and in the center of the dimly lit room was a bird cage with an animal inside. �A bird?� Dae glanced at Count D, he wasn�t very enthused with the idea of buying a bird. Count D gestured for him to take a closer look, so Dae walked closer. The thing hanging upside down from the swing in the cage was furry, and curled up into a tight little ball. Dae ran a finger along one of the bamboo bars of the cage, and the little ball of fur woke up, opened its eyes and looked at Dae. It was a bat, with dark fur and tiny red eyes, and it was staring right at Dae. Dae bent down some so that he was eye to eye with the tiny mammal. Count D set a hand on Dae�s shoulder, he hadn�t even heard the Count walk up.
�It�s a vampire bat, a very special breed. Very choosy, too, I might add. There was a girl in here last week who wanted to purchase him, but he would not have it.�
Dae had turned back to watch the bat, who had not taken its eyes off Dae. �How do you know if it wants to come home with me?�
Count D slid his hand from Dae�s shoulder. �If he did not, he would have made it known by now. Now, before I can let you purchase the vampire bat, you must sign a contract agreeing to three terms. Please, pay attention,� Count D asked gently, and set his hand on Dae�s shoulder again. Dae had just barely been listening, he was fascinated with the tiny bat. He stood up and turned his back to the bat partially, so he could focus on what the Count was saying. �I�m sorry, go on.�
The Count didn�t seem offended though, he only smiled some and continued. �One, you must never show your new pet to anyone. Two, never let sunlight touch your new pet, he is very sensitive to bright lights. And Three, never let him go hungry. In the event that any of these conditions are breached, we cannot assume responcibility for the consiquences.�
�What does a vampire bat eat?� Blood, Dae thought, but how do you go about feeding a vampire bat blood?
�Well, normally you would feed them on baby rodents, but sence your pet is fully grown, you should feed him on a live large rat once a week. He�ll only drink the blood, so you�ll have to dispose of the rat once he has fineshed eatting. You can also feed him small fruits, but the rat is the important thing.�
Dae nodded, and Count D held out a contract that listed all of the conditions he had said. Dae read over them and signed his name, and paid the Count.
�Very good. I assume you�ll need the cage as well? And a rat? Here,� from his very wide sleeve, Count D produced a black cloth, laid it over the cage. �You should cover him in this anytime he will be exposed to sunlight. I will fetch you his dinner.� Count D exited the room, headed back out toward the lobby. Dae bent down and lifted the cloth, peered at his new pet again. It was still staring at him, and it seemed like no time at all before the Count cleared his throat, standing in the doorway. Embarrassed, Dae dropped the cloth and turned, but the Count was only smiling again. He held a small box with holes punched it in. Dae assumed it contained the rat.
�Thank you, Count.� Dae took the box, then picked up the covered cage. Count D escorted him to the door, opening it for him since his hands were full. The rain had stopped, but thankfully the clouds still blocked out the sun. Dae didn�t want any chance of his new pet getting hurt.
�Do let me know how things turn out,� the Count said with a smile as he closed the door behind Dae. Dae started the long walk home.
Dae waited until after the sun had set to uncover his new pet. He had set the winged mammals cage in his bedroom and pulled the curtains tight to block out the sun, but he didn�t want to take any chances. When Dae uncovered the bamboo cage, the bat was clinging to the side of the cage, upright this time.
�Oh! There you are. Good evening,� Dae bent down to eye level with the bat, and noticed his eyes were no longer red. They were beautiful coal black. �Are you hungry?� The bat climbed up the cage, then back down, so Dae took that to mean yes. He had bought some seedless grape at the store, and he picked a few from the stem, opened the door to the bats cage and dropped them in the bottom. The bat looked down to the grapes, then back to Dae and just sat there. �What?� Dae asked it. �I thought you were hungry?� The bat looked to the grapes again, climbed up the cage, and looked to Dae again. �Oh, you mean, you want me to�� Yikes, Dae didn�t know if he was ready for that. Well, he had to do it sometime. Dae opened the door to the cage and timidly stuck his hand inside again. He just held it there for a moment. The bat glanced from his hand to Dae, then back to his hand again, back to Dae.
�Give me a break, I have to take it slow here. I�ve never held a bat before.� Almost like it understood Dae, the bat climbed slowly down toward the door of the cage and waited there. Dae cupped his hand and held it under the bat, and it dropped easily down into his scared, waiting hand. Slowly, Dae drew the bat out and held it up to his face. It just sat there, tiny claws clinging to him. Dae smiled at the tiny bat, blue eyes shining.
�See? That wasn�t so hard.� With his other hand, Dae picked up another grape and held it in front of the bat. It grabbed the grape with his teeth, then pulled at it with his teeth and claws. Dae frowned and noticed the grapes were to big for the bats mouth, and he didn�t think bats could chew very well. He took the grape away from the bat, who nipped at him in rebuke. �Hang on a second, these grapes are to big for you.� Dae eyed the grapes, they were all to big, and they were the only tiny fruit he had in the house. He picked up a new grape and put it to his own mouth. He bit the grape in half and chewed his piece, offered the other half to the bat who just watched him. The bat took the new grape and ate it easily.
Dae smiled, that worked a lot better, and he shared his grapes with the bat like this until he was sure the bat was going to pop! �No, no more,� Dae replied to the look the tiny bat was giving him. �If you eat any more, your going to make yourself sick. Besides, you get the rat tomorrow, do you really want to spoil your dinner?� The bat seemed to submit at that and just stretched. He looked up at Dae and Dae realized, �Hey, you don�t have a name yet.� Dae stared at that tiny fur ball, and tried to think of a name. Suddenly, staring into those tiny, coal black eyes, a name came to him.
�Souji. Do you like it?�
Dae had no idea where the name had come from he had certainly never heard it before, but the little bat seemed content, and curled up in Dae�s hand comfortably. Dae pet the small bats head, and wondered where the name had came from.
Dae, we should break up. I just don�t love you.
Did you hear? Dae�s girfriend dumped him from some blond guy. Yeah, she didn�t even know his name.
Must be hard on Dae. He�s never been one to keep a relationship for long.
I just don�t love you, Dae.
Dae jumped and woke up, sitting up in bed. It took him a moment to realize he was in his bed, the voices from his dream still echoing in his mind.
I just don�t love you, Dae.
He can�t keep a relationship for long.
Why not? Dae thought to himself. Am I so hard to love? If so, why? Will I ever find an end to this loneliness? A tear slid down Dae's cheek, and he could not hold back his sobs as he buried his face in his hands. He also could not hear his new pet squeeking for attention over the sound of his loneliness.