Love is Color Blind Chapter 5: Kuyomi Alone
#5 of Love is Color Blind
"No, Tides, Robin is a good friend. He hasn't done anything to hurt me." Kuyomi explained on the phone. "I appreciate you caring for me, but you need to start trusting me that I know how to care for myself."
It had been about a week since Kuyomi first arrived in Jubilife. Since then, him and Robin had gotten better acquainted with each other, in more friendly ways than normal. But it wasn't all just sex between them. It turned out Robin is actually a really sweet and caring guy, which made Kuyomi feel super welcomed to the school. Unfortunately, it still seemed his parents were iffy on the whole thing.
"I do understand that, son," Tides responded from the other line. "However, I also know that you like to stick with what's familiar to you. Don't forget, you can come home anytime you need to."
Kuyomi sighed. "I know I know. It's only been a week, I'll be fine."
"Alright then, I'll leave you alone. Love you, moonlight."
"Love you too." Kuyomi clicked the power on his phone and sighed again. He had always known Tides to be super protective over him and his siblings. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, as it showed just how much they loved their children. However, sometimes the overbearing nature took a lot of energy to deal with. As he turned to return to his homework, Kuyomi caught sight of Robin heading towards the door with what looked like a duffel bag.
"You going somewhere, Rob?" Kuyomi asked him.
"Yeah, going to the gym. Haven't been there much because of school, but I can't just work on my pole dancing muscles." Robin responded with a smile, which made Kuyomi laugh a little. "Want to come with? Might do you some good."
The Umbreon shook his head. "No thanks, that's not really my thing. Besides, I gotta finish some homework. You wouldn't happen to know what causes Combee to evolve into Vespiquens, would you?"
"Yeah, they evolve once they reach puberty if they choose to like most Pokémon, but their genetics limit it so only female-born Combee can evolve." Robin explained.
Kuyomi wrote that down quickly. "Thanks, Professor Buckler has been cracking down pretty hard on us since day one."
Robin snickered. "Oh yeah, I know how she is. She's very passionate about biology, but not so much how to organize a class. Still, I can help you with the subject whenever you need."
"Thanks Robin. Anyways, I don't mean to hold you up anymore."
The Sylveon nodded as he opened the door. "All good, I'll be back in a couple hours. Text me if you need me!"
Kuyomi waved as the door closed before returning to the papers at his desk. He looked down at the next problem.
Some Pokémon have very different looks depending on their sex, while others have very minor differences. List three species of Pokémon that have very significant differences, then explain what those differences are.
He tried to think back to what they talked about in class, before flipping through the chapter in his textbook. Apparently, this was a subject only briefly brought up in the chapter, the only example listed being the Frillish line. Kuyomi groaned, as this implied that the teacher expected people to study the subject during their own downtime. Sighing, he pulled out his laptop and attempted to find the answer.
After about five minutes, Kuyomi's research was interrupted by a knock on the door. This caused the Umbreon to jump, as he wasn't expecting anyone. He could immediately feel nervous energy fill him, worried that someone like Jen was going to do something to him since Robin was gone. He considered immediately texting the Sylveon to come back, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized how stupid that would be. Cautiously prepping a dark pulse behind him, Kuyomi approached the door and slowly opened it.
"H-hello?" He greeted. Instead of Jen, a large Empoleon stood in the hall. They looked intimidating, like they were ready to cut something with their sharp wings, and it didn't seem they wore clothes, their sheath clearly on display. It was socially accepted for some Pokémon species to not wear clothes, as not all of them had body types really fit for clothes, but that didn't really make Kuyomi any less nervous.
"Oh, you're not Robin. Are you that Umbreon he's gone on about recently?" The Empoleon asked in one of Galar's many accents.
Kuyomi nodded quickly. "Um, I think so. Who are you?"
The Empoleon held out a wing. "Konge Sydpol, one of Robin's best friends. How about you?"
Kuyomi took the hand slowly, his other one still holding a dark pulse behind his back. "K-Kuyomi Luna. Um, R-Robin's roommate."
Konge laughed deeply. "Really? With the amount of talking he does about you, you're still just roommates? Figured you all would consider each other fuck buddies at least." This comment caused Kuyomi to blush, making Konge laugh even more. "Ah, don't worry I'm just teasing you. You know where Robin went? Was gonna ask him if he wanted to chill in the rec room with Ray and me."
"Y-yeah, said he w-was going to the g-gym." Kuyomi wanted to feel comfortable around Konge, but there was just something a little off putting.
"Of course he is, gotta keep those non-stripper muscles working somehow." Konge joked. "Hey, why don't you come along then? I could introduce you to the rest of the bastard's friend group."
Kuyomi shook his head. "Um, thanks, b-but I really should-" He was cut off as Konge grabbed him quickly by the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, you sound like you need some more social time anyways. Come on, it'll be fun."
Kuyomi whined, but it was clear he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Besides, he hadn't seen the red room yet, and maybe Konge had a point. Maybe meeting some of Robin's other friends will help with expanding what's familiar to him.
"Oh come, ON! That is such bullshit, I had you by the balls!" Konge shouted as he lost to a 3-0 sweep.
"Should've been using better tactics then. You're so predictable when you're losing, y'know." Replied the Gardevoir he was playing with. "Besides, if you really wanted me by the balls, you'd have invited me to your room instead."
"Hey, I told you Ray, Saint doesn't want me bringing in anymore people to screw."
"Oh he's just jealous you can get a girl and he can't."
The two laughed at their playful banter. It was a Tuesday evening, so the rec room wasn't quite filled to the brim with students as it normally was. Most of them were either studying, relaxing, or something along the lines, leaving the place to the small group of friends.
Kuyomi honestly felt a little out of place. This was the first kind of social interaction without Robin he had since he arrived at the university, and he wasn't totally into it. He met Ray, a Gardevoir and another one of Robin's friends. (Who he found out uncomfortably quickly that Robin had sexual relationships with her as well) She seemed pretty cool, but just about as blunt with sexual references as Robin. It was still a little jarring and uncomfortable to him to hear about the stuff so casually, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just sat in a nearby chair, sipping on some orange soda.
"Hey, Kuyomi, you want to play a round?" Ray asked.
The Umbreon shrugged. "I, uh, I've never r-really played before."
"Not a big gamer?"
Kuyomi shook his head. "N-Not really. I have a DS, b-but that's about it as far as games go."
Ray smiled and tossed her controller to the Umbreon, who failed to catch it with one hand. "Well tonight seems like a night to break boundaries. Come on, we can show you the basics."
Kuyomi drank the rest of his soda and picked up the controller, sighing. He understood the two friends meant well, but he honestly wasn't having the best time. He was considering maybe messaging Robin to save him from this scenario, but he also didn't want to bug him. This was just another thing Kuyomi just had to bear the weight of.
The game they were playing was a unique fighting game. Kuyomi understood that most fighting games were done where, through overly complex maneuvers and button/joystick combos, you were to lower your opponent's stamina in a best two out of three match. However, this game ironically had the percentage of damage calculated up instead of down, meaning you wanted it lower instead of higher. The more damage you took, the easier it was to get knocked out. It also was single-round styled with lives, which just made it all the more complicated for the poor Umbreon.
Konge showed him some of the basics, then let him fight against an AI player. At first, he was managing to land some of the special moves and normal hits, but the AI still managed to nearly sweep him. The only KO he got was near the end when the AI's damage taken was so high, it didn't have time to recover from being knocked off the stage. Once the match finished, Kuyomi put down the controller and sighed.
"Hm, maybe it wasn't a good idea to bring him here." Konge commented, frowning. "What do you usually do for fun, Kuyomi?"
"N-nothing, really. I read, I write. That's about it." Kuyomi replied meekly.
"Really? What do you write about?"
"Um, j-just stories about... real w-world events, but like, add my own characters."
Konge raised an eyebrow. "Why would you do that? Wouldn't it be more fun to make your own stories up?"
Kuyomi was about to respond, but Ray cut him off. "You know, I'm pretty sure that's an actual genre of book. Don't you remember the story we read in Galar History 101?"
Konge rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, I remember. The one with the little Wooloo that could. God, that was so dumb. I didn't even read half of it."
Ray frowned. "I liked it! Besides, I think your gay ass would've loved the part where that Wooloo fell in love with the Linoone, but had to hide their love as homosexuality was seen as weakness."
Konge flicked his tongue out. "Oh I read that part. Not steamy enough if you asked me."
It was at this point that Kuyomi really couldn't take anymore of these two and their ribbing. It was one thing to hear it from Robin, but with nearly complete strangers, it was really uncomfortable. With a small burst of confidence and desperation, Kuyomi stood up and made his way to the door.
"I really appreciate you guys inviting me, but I think I'm gonna go back to my dorm." Kuyomi explained.
Ray blinked, but nodded in understanding. "Alright then. You want us to escort you back? It's getting dark out there, and Robin doesn't want you getting hurt."
Kuyomi shook his head quickly. "No thanks, bye!" And left even faster, leaving the two friends dumbfounded.
"Well, that was sudden." Konge commented. "Guess he's a lot more introverted than we thought."
Ray frowned and glared at the Empoleon. "That's what you're concerned about? I'm more afraid of someone malicious getting a hold of him. Maybe we should've gone with him anyways."
"I don't think he's used to a bunch of perverts yet. We probably overwhelmed him."
Ray sighed, picking up the game controller. "I guess, I just can't get this vision out of my head that he might get in trouble."
Konge patted her on the back and picked up the other controller. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. Come on, how about we have you sweep me again to take your mind off of it, hm?"
Kuyomi shuffled through the campus. Maybe he should have asked Ray to teleport him instead, like she did to get them to the rec room earlier. It was only until the sky was dark and all the buildings started to look the same that Kuyomi realized he really didn't know the campus all too well. Either way, he trudged on, hoping to find the dorm building soon.
It didn't help that it was a very cold night. The Umbreon was at least smart enough to grab a heavy coat this time, but it was still very much freezing. Snow was definitely on its way.
Kuyomi eventually did manage to find the center of the campus, marked by a statue of the university's founder, Doctor Bane Dam. He was a Bibarel, a species of Pokémon not known to be the smartest. Because of this, Doctor Dam made it his lifelong dream to prove Bibarels can be smart, which resulted in him building the university right in the middle of his home town. Kuyomi kind of admired the ambition, wishing he had that level of drive.
Suddenly, Kuyomi felt a chill up his spine that wasn't from the cold. It was almost as if someone was watching him. Without warning, he was suddenly knocked off his feet and pinned down with a shout. All the air got knocked out of him as he felt disoriented. When his eyes refocused, he was met with a terrifying sight. An anthro Houndoom was on top of him, fire spewing from their mouth. However, this wasn't any Houndoom, but the only shiny one on campus. Two other Pokémon then appeared next to him, Jen and Tate. Kuyomi froze in absolute terror.
"Aw, don't look so happy to see us, twink." Jen sneered. "Thought you looked a little lonely, so we figured to say hi. Have you met my boyfriend, Cal?"
The Houndoom snarled, keeping his claws firmly on Kuyomi's wrists. He wanted to scream, but he remained petrified.
"Where's your boyfriend, hm? Is he waiting for you back in the bedroom, or did he already leave you?"
"Patterns indicate that Robin is probably at the gym, and won't be back for another hour or so." Tate concluded, which made Jen smile.
"Is that so? Well then, guess we have some time on our hands. What should we do with him?"
Cal extinguished the flames in his mouth and turned to his girlfriend. "Oh, I got just the idea. Maybe we should make it so he doesn't miss his abandoning partner so much."
Before Kuyomi could try to protest or fight back, Jen hit him with a confuse ray, disorienting Kuyomi severely. With him being unable to resist, Cal slung him over his shoulder as the group hurried over to the dorms. It was about time to get some revenge on the Sylveon.