Pet Shop Of Horrors Fan Fiction ❯ Shop Choice - Pt 4 - The Final Chase ❯ Two ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer, author's note, etc...: See part IV of “Shop Choice”, part I. From here on this will not be repeated.

Leon O - Count D - Leon O - Count D

THE FINAL CHASE - Part II

Leon O - Count D - Leon O - Count D

Count D noted that the two men were well dressed. Well his dear detective seems to have undergone some kind of sprucing up because he wasn't dressed as the Kami had expected.

`A Cheongsam is a far cry from American jeans and hopeless T-Shirts,' he thought. `Although, he always called it a dress in the past, why would he show up here dressed like that?' Then he caught the baleful stare of the younger one's blue eyes and he asked in shock, “Christopher?”

Chris stood upright from the comfort that he'd taken in the warmth of his big brother's arms, where he'd been held in order to gather his courage and composure. He'd known that his emotions were keyed to this shop, the memories he used to have and that's what made him great at handling animals. Even his T-shirt, a gift from his big brother proclaimed, `I don't do Humans', with a small stethoscope wearing cat.

His jacket was the traditional black one from some unknown Japanese high school and it was bought on a whim because he liked it. It came from a place that sold standard uniforms with variations to traditional outfits and his big brother laughed saying that technically he should have only been graduating high school instead of nearly completing his fourth year of intensive veterinary training.

Chris replied to the Count's tentative tone and question. “Yes Count,” he said with a final wipe of his face. He tuck the kerchief into his pants pocket and then both hands were tucked into pockets as the younger Orcot rocked back and forth on his feet, while saying, “How have you been Count D?”

Count D swallowed and then looked at the young man's big brother standing next to him. `If it was possible, I'd say that my dear detective had grown a few more inches since I last saw him,' he thought. Instead of making a comment of that nature, he replied to the young man's question. “I am well young Christopher,” he said. “What brings you to Japan?”

“Site seeing,” Chris replied candidly, truthfully and a bit evasive. He was still rocking back and forth on his feet, as though he was back to being six years old, finding himself in front of the beauty known as D.

“Site,” D turned to look at the older brother, who he'd known was a detective back Los Angeles. The man was positively staring at him and that was causing him to feel a little flustered. “Seeing? What kind of site have you been taking in, my dear detective?”

Leon smirked at the man and said, “Oh you know, a few temples and shows here and there. There are several shops in this mall alone that have plentiful things to see.”

Chris flushed in embarrassment and face-palmed looking away. He took in some of the curious animals that were creeping forward to see who the visitors are. One was a raccoon of older years and three blinks later, the younger Orcot noticed that it was a woman quite a few years older than him.

“Pon-chan,” he whispered and then he said with a teasing grin, “You've aged well.”

The thirty-something looking woman looked wide-eyed and offended and then she smothered him with a hug. “Chris,” she squealed in happiness at seeing him. Her form shifted because he wasn't used to seeing the animals as they were anymore, but he held her close anyway and was able to understand her. It was enough to set him to crying again. “Oh, Chris, I'm so glad that you're actually here and with your big brother too.”

“Pon-chan,” Chris said tearfully.

“You're in time for tea my dear detective,” Count D said with the calmness of someone trying to cover up their shock.

“Yes, so it would seem,” Leon said. “We've even brought you a treat.” He held up the `Antique' bag, which had the usual effect of causing the Kami's eyes to sparkle and effuse the room with pleasure that came from the anticipation of a sugar high. It was something that the pets in the room hadn't seen happen to the Shop's manager in a long time.

“Wondrous,” Count D said with a sigh, taking the bag with care. “I'll be right back.”

“You'd better,” Leon said. At the Kami's questioning look, he turned his attention to his brother's chattering with the older raccoon creature and friend that he had obviously missed, “For Chris' sake, at the very least.”

“Of course,” D said. “It takes time to pack up a Shop.”

“I wouldn't know that,” Leon said moving to sit in a high backed chair. He leaned back with his arms settling casually on the arm rests and crossing one leg over his other knee with natural ease. He looked back at the Kami in the eyes and said in a serious tone, “Not yet anyway.”

Count D was confused about the ease with which the detective settled into the room and chair. He was also confused about how a diehard American detective learned to wear a slightly formal traditional Chinese style of clothing with ease. His detective of old would never have done that, but then again years do take their toll on humans.

His shop did the providing for his guests and the tea ensemble didn't take long to come forward. It was then that he realized that his shop was still only registering one human in the room where the two brothers were waiting for him to show up.

“Odd,” he said softly.

“What's odd,” the long time hidden Totetsu said coming forward for the first time in a long while.

“T-chan,” D said delightedly. “You've come out of your room.” The Kami then quickly looked towards the sitting room and wondered if the brothers were the reason that the little goat-creature had chosen to come out of his preferred room in the shop.

“I woke up this morning thinking that I was bored and wanted to come out,” T-chan said with a similar sheepish look that Chris had had when D had questioned him. “That's okay isn't it?”

Count D hugged one of his favourites and said, “It's quite all right, besides there's a surprise guest waiting for you in the sitting room, if you'd like to go ahead and greet them.”

“You sure you don't need my help here,” T-chan said. “What's odd?”

“Quite,” D said waving off the offered assistance. “Go on in there and see for yourself.”

The horned goat creature looked back to the D that was steeping the tea with precision. It has been a long time since the Kami had chosen to do that manually rather than letting the shop magic it up, like when that Woo-Fei idiot showed up.

`Come to think of it the last time he did this...,' T-chan's golden eyes widen. `It was for the other idiot back in America...'

He raced out of the tea preparation room and ran into the sitting room. It was there that he noticed a blond man in a deep blue cheongsam sitting apart from another younger man of similar appearance, who was holding an excited curly haired older looking Pon-chan.

“Pon-chan,” Tetsu said. “What do you think you're doing sitting on that human's lap?”

“Jealous, T-chan,” the younger man said, turning his clear blue eyes to look that the creature with his newly opened eyes once more. “You look tired, hasn't the Count been taking care of you?”

“He takes care of all of us in equal measure,” T-chan said crossing his arms with a slight pout, trying to remember who this person was.

Pon-chan giggled like she used to do when she was younger. She was giggling because it was obvious that the man-eater didn't remember the boy that they had played with and taken care of.

Her giggles triggered the Totetsu's own thirteen year old memories. There was no reason for her to giggle with childish glee and she'd actually stopped doing that many years after they had left Los Angeles.

T-chan's eyes were comically wide when he choked out, “Chris?”

“Hello,” Chris replied with a wave to the stunned creature still standing in the middle of the room. “Aren't you going to join us or are you just going to stand there?”

Tetsu blinked and walked slowly up to the younger blond and then looked at him in the eyes. His heart beat and the memories, fun and boy that he missed was suddenly there before him. He may have been just an animal or just a creature, but he was individual and had lived as a human for a long time too, hiding his nature. He'd felt things. He'd felt lust and love and every emotion that rolled downhill from there. He now knew that the real reason he never his room was because his playmate, friend and young innocent love was not there.

He crawled up to the young man and looked at him in the face. His eyes were wide, expression his love, fear, hope, and just about every other positive emotion that a human would recognize.

Chris looked at the man-creature that was a Totetsu and knew that this one was different from Pon-chan. He could always see Tetsu as the individual humanoid being that he was. He'd never lost that sight of him when he was taken away from the shop. The others were different and slightly transient, but this one was different.

T-chan sidled up, took the younger brother's hand between his own long clawed one. He hugged it slowly to his chest and he leaned in to deeply inhale the human's scent. He'd done this a few times and the racoon on the human's lap move away with soft tears in her eyes.

Pon-chan was happy that those two could reunite. She then turned her attention to the other in the room and noticed how he was looking at them and at her. She gingerly walked over to him and he saw her individual humanoid form.

“He's right,” Leon said softly, so as to not disturb the two that were communing with sight and sighs. “You've aged well.” He held out his which she slowly took, wide-eyed and curious about the Count's detective. He pulled her slowly and gently, as though coaxing a wild animal, which is what he was doing.

She didn't fear him and it was easy to let herself be picked up and placed sitting on the human lap for a few gentle moments of petting. The ex-detective was doing through the still ringed curls she had. She was looking at Leon and at the other two as the Totetsu climbed into the teenagers lap, straddling the human's thighs.

Chris pulled the Totetsu closer and allowed the creature to completely lean against him in a most familiar way, nuzzling and snuffling at his neck. The human returned gesture for gesture, sniffing for snuffle and then he closed his eyes, finally able to hold onto the one that haunted his dreams.

T-chan was surprised at the strength which the human displayed in keeping him in place. He let out a soft chuckle, tucked his horned head against the broad shoulder and closed his eyes too.

Pon-chan was seated comfortably in Leon's lap with her grown up legs dangling over one of the chair's arms. Other, smaller creatures had joined them, and soon were all enjoying their preferred form of attention from the only active person in the room.

Count D walked in with the tea cart and suddenly stopped at the display before him.

Chris and T-chan were resting against each other with eyes closed. He strongly suspected that they were quickly falling asleep.

Leon was surrounded by creatures and not making any form of protest.

A couple of the smaller songbirds were in his hair and a larger parrot was on one of his shoulders preening the long locks of blond hair. A couple of others, rodent types were taking seeds from the palm of the man's large hand and a large snake was curled around one of his ankles. The man's other hand was petting the creatures that had settled into his lap which was now occupied by the older Pon-chan, a few cats and the nine-tailed fox known as Ten-chan.

Count D smiled gently at the sight of all the animals in the sitting room. He knew that they were a part of the shop, but it seemed like it had been quite a long time since several of them had chosen to gather in this room. All that was missing was Q-Chan to make up the complementing menagerie, but D was quite happy that the Babbit creature was no longer there spying on his activities and trying to guide him. His grandfather needed to take care of his father first and perhaps this time, he'd get it right.

“Tea,” asked the Count holding a delicate cup ready to pour the flavourful tea into it. “My dear detective...”

Leon smiled softly and said, “Plain, please.”

“Sugar,” the Count asked in a teasing tone which earned him a mocking glare. “No... of course not.” He replied with a soft chuckling smile, handing him the tea cup that only contained plain tea, no milk, and definitely no sugar.

Leon looked at D and said, “I'm no longer a detective D. I've been fully retired for about thirteen years now.”

Count D looked at him and now he understood the clothing. `Honestly,' he thought. `A detective could never wear that to a crime scene'.

However the Kami only said, “So long.” He got a nod in return. D looked at Leon for a long time trying to guess where the man was working now to have maintained his youthful appearance. He couldn't guess, so he asked the question that was waiting to be asked. “What do you do now?”

Leon grinned darkly and said, “I run a shop that caters to the hopes and dreams of those that dare to venture down the steps.” The Count looked at him sharply and then he continued, “What? It's only a simple Pet Shop.”

Leon O - Count D - Leon O - Count D

END