A Housemate?
And so, Kay's short trip outside ended with him going back home.
He finished fixing up the things that he had said he had left at home, which wasn't much. He then went to his room to brainstorm on the new pen's name, and figured lying down on the bed would be good.
The pen in question reminded Kay of a certain popular gel pen brand in the country. Actually, if he were some layman, he would have thought that it was one of those gel pens at first glance. Then he would notice the different tip and ink storage.
"A temporary pen, huh?" he said to himself, almost in a sigh. "How ironic."
He said that since he was thinking about the Japanese word for fountain pen, mannenhitsu, which translated as "10,000-year pen or brush." For him, at least, it meant that the pen should last for a long time.
He thought, "Why make a disposable, then? I don't really understand."
Not being able to do anything about it, he believed that the pen was possibly too short-lived to get an ironic name… Maybe he should just try being honest about it and make the most out of its temporary nature?
Just then, a name came to mind.
"I've got the perfect name for you. Oh, you rebel," he said to it. Well, there was nobody else to say that he was crazy for talking to an object, so he might as well.
"Your name is now Utakata, meaning foam or suds."
As if in response to what he just said, it glowed for a bit. He started freaking out as he thought that normally, pens didn't just glow in reply.
Then it glowed again, and this time, it got brighter and brighter. Being genuinely surprised and panicking, Kay let go of the newly-named Utakata, who fell on the floor.
The light soon died down, and where the pen had fallen sat a young man with short black hair, dressed in a hakama that Japanese used in place of school uniforms back then.
Kay started to panic. He hasn't studied enough of the Japanese language, so he didn't know if he would be able to hold a conversation.
Then the thought hit Kay.
A beat passed.
Kay fainted without realizing it.
=====
Utakata felt like he had just woken up from a long dream, and to the sound of Kay's voice, as well. To him, it felt somewhat comforting or reassuring.
However, he did not find the fact that the guy just fainted in front of him as such.
Utakata was fortunate that Kay was already on the bed when the latter had fainted, so all he really needed to do was to move his body to a more comfortable position. He then sat down next to the guy and reviewed what just happened in his mind.
He knew that his name was Utakata. Or rather, it sounded to him that it was indeed his name since it felt close to him. But for some reason that he couldn't point out, it also sounded like it wasn't.
He knew that he had woken up in Kay's room, or at least an unfamiliar place to him. And he also had some knowledge of being a fountain pen, but also some familiarity with being human and belonging to a country.
Lastly, he also had a lingering thought that he should be remembering something, but he couldn't recall anything.
He wondered who he was, exactly, and why he had so many thoughts conflicting in his head.
To attempt to clear his mind, he started looking around Kay's room. He found that it was rather simple, and just right for a single person to gain some privacy. It also looked a little messy, with the few things the man had put into place, but everything seemed to be grouped into rough categories. Either way, it had what you would call a warm feeling to it.
Just as Utakata was about through with his inspection, Kay began regaining consciousness.
The latter groaned as he slowly sat up on the bed. He then looked at Utakata, stared for a moment, and said, "I guess I'm not dreaming."
"No, you are not." The younger man answered in English without realizing it.
"W-Wait, you can speak English?"
It was then that Utakata realized that yes, he was speaking English. He understood it. And it was not because he suddenly knew, but… it's like he learned it from some time ago.
But where? And why?
"Yes… I can. I know it…somehow." The schoolboy answered at a slow pace, his brain still trying to figure everything out.
"Great!" Kay said, relieved. "I don't really know what I'm going to do if I have to speak Japanese all the time… I haven't studied that very well, you see."
"It is alright. I could understand you just fine."
"That's great!"
The newcomer chuckled a bit, seeing as earlier, the newbie caretaker was absolutely surprised, and now, he was talking to him as if they've been friends for a while.
He felt that there was something good about this man.
"You are not surprised anymore that I am your pen?" he asked.
"Well…" Kay answered, scratching his head. "It's still a little confusing, but now that it has happened, I can't really do anything about it. I just have to live with it."
"I see…"
The caretaker got up from the bed and thought of something. "Hmm, if this is the case, then I'd have to give you a tour of the house. Also, I'd have to think of where you're going to sleep if you're going to stay a human. This house only has one bedroom."
Utakata agreed to the tour and walked out of the room with Kay. But just as the latter had closed the door, he'd noticed something odd.
"That's weird. That name tag wasn't here before," he said, referring to the nameplate on the door. "I swear it wasn't there when I went in."
Then he looked around and saw another unusual detail.
"There wasn't a room there before, either," Kay said while pointing to the door on the other side. He had even noticed that the door to his room wasn't even in its previous position as compared to the stairs.
"Maybe we should investigate?" Utakata asked in suggestion.
"Yeah."
The two of them went over to the other room. Oddly enough, the door had Utakata's name on it on a tag that was similar to Kay's.
"That is weird. You just got here and suddenly there's a room for you. How did this even happen in the first place?" Seeing as there was no answer to Kay's question, he decided to move forward and open the door. It was dark, so he turned on the light using a switch near the entrance.
It was a simple room as well. There was a closet with clothes and a futon. There was also a small study desk, as well as some books arranged on a separate shelf next to it. In the middle of it was a low table with a cloth on top. It was not a kotatsu, however.
"Oh cool, you've got books!" Kay exclaimed while he rushed to the shelf, seemingly excited about the new discovery. He flipped through a few and soon, disappointment was on his face.
"Aww... They're all in Japanese. I can make out some of the titles, but I won't be able to read any of this."
"I... Maybe I could read some to you?" Utakata suggested.
"Yeah, I think that would be great. Thanks in advance."
The caretaker went to sit on one of the pillows next to the low table and looked around in wonder. The schoolboy, on the other hand, stayed standing. He was thinking about why the room was the way it was, as well as how it could possibly have appeared, assuming that what was said earlier was true.
Just then, Kay made another discovery.
"Oh hey, this table is a solid block! This is unusual. I thought it would have legs."
Utakata watched him as he took a peek of the table under the cloth. He then heard something wooden slide.
"Hm? There are books here too. And they're in English."
Kay opened some and started to skim. Utakata started to feel uneasy, but he did not know why.
"This is... This is heavy stuff. Were you like, studying this or something? But wait-"
"Please stop," said the schoolboy, the uneasy feeling growing stronger. For some reason, he did not want Kay to keep looking at the books.
"Huh?"
"Put those back. Please." The young man was already fidgeting. There was nothing wrong being done, so he wondered why he was acting like this.
"O-Okay. I-I'll just put these back." Kay said as he returned the books to the inside of the table. "A-are you all right, man?"
Utakata did not know what came over him, but in the span of a few seconds, he had rushed over to the caretaker and pinned him to the ground. "Never tell anyone of this or you will die," was what he heard himself say. It was him, but he felt like he was not quite himself.
"O-Okay."
His eyes locked onto the seemingly older man's for a moment, and soon he came to my senses and sat down, at a loss as to what had just happened.
"Hey..." Kay said, wanting to provide some consolation, but could not. He then sighed and continued with, "What in the world is going on?"
What was up with this room?
More importantly, what was this house?