There She Is!! - Doki & Nabi
A homage to SamBakZa's animation "There She Is!!"
One week later...
I really hope he's surprised by this. I put so much work into it.
Doki was up since six getting everything ready for the day. Everything she could think of was being put into this box; Heart shaped confetti, her megaphone and pom-poms from High School and a little card signed with her name to Nabi. Hopefully, it would be perfect.
It had been a week since her birthday. Doki really wanted to see him again and actually spend some time with him, seeing as her pseudo date kind of hit the ground hard, despite the fun she had. What she wanted was for a day of no hijinks, no distractions, just having a good time with a great person.
She looked up his address and got everything prepared for the surprise she had. It might be a bit imposing and a bit forceful to go right to his doorstep, but Nabi had said it might be a week or so until they could get together for the day. Plus, Doki really wanted to see him again.
With a final bow on the package, she made her way to Nabi's apartment in the sweltering summer heat. It really was starting to grow unbearable, but she wouldn't let that affect her hopes for the day. It would take more than mid June weather to make her spirits go up in flames.
She finally arrived at his residence and positioned the box in the right spot. She needed to get this surprise perfect. Satisfied, she opened the lid, stepped inside and rang the doorbell before closing herself in.
Nabi finally had work off after ten straight days.
For minimum wage, the schedule is hardly worth it.
_ _But Nabi persevered, for it was all he had at the moment. Yes, it was decent pay, enough to get him into this apartment. He wouldn't be going on vacation for a long while, though. Unless he lived on a diet of shrimp flavored Ramen and you couldn't pay him money to do that.
It was with great relief that Nabi was able to get a day to himself. He actually slept in late, something that he hadn't done in years. When he finally decided to get up, he went about his daily routine, which was standard par for anyone really. You know, brushing his teeth, cleaning up, killing cockroaches that his landlord said he would take care of, the usual.
For some reason, all Nabi wanted to do was sit around the house and do nothing. His job not included, last week was still grating on him. He still felt tension in his back from those sandbags and the high price of the wasted cake still wasn't caught up on.
All I need is a day to myself. I don't want stress, I don't need distractions. I just need me time.
_ _ Too bad the doorbell rang.
_ Oh boy, now what?_
_ _Nabi didn't want this. He didn't ask for this. All he wanted was a day alone. Yet, here he was having to tell someone to go away and leave him in peace.
Heh. I'm starting to sound like my grandfather. All I need to do is tell whoever's there to get off of my non-existent lawn.
_ _Nabi grumpily made his way to the door. Placing a hand on the knob, he swung it open, only to be taken aback by what was in front of him: A large, white box with a red bow, expertly and delicately crafted with the utmost care. He was impressed with the effort behind it, until he saw the tag. He sighed and went back inside.
So much for a day to myself. Better get dressed in some proper clothing. Once I pull that bow, there's no turning back.
_ _He put on his shirt and signature green scarf despite the heat and made his way back to the door. He took another look at the tag: To: Nabi, From: Doki. He checked to see if there were any pedestrians or passerby before reluctantly opening this can of worms.
Doki sprung out like a jack-in-the-box with a resounding "SURPRISE!!" Nabi was almost startled, but he knew something like that would happen. It was Doki we were talking about after all.
What he didn't expect was the heart shaped confetti that was practically thrown in his direction. He expertly dodged it from hitting him with a detached sort of look, all with Doki holding a set of pom-poms. She was ecstatic and was cheering something at the top of her lungs that Nabi could almost dread.
"First date, first date, who do I appreciate? Nabi!" Doki said, almost shouting. "Aren't you excited for this?"
"Mm-hmm." Nabi said dismissively while he put the confetti back in the box.
While he did so, Doki was still going nuts about the day she had planned. "It's all on me, so don't worry about spending any money today. I still feel bad about the cake from last week, so I want to make it up to you." She punctuated her sentence with a grin.
"Thanks for being so generous." Nabi stated with a bit of apprehension, still cleaning up the confetti.
For some reason, Doki began to sing while she waited, much to Nabi's embarrassment. It was a song that he never heard before, but he could tell it was from some romantic drama show that Doki's seen due to the constant use of the word "Love" and all of it's relative synonyms. With a microphone, - Nabi unsure where she got it - she finished the song on a high note and pointed to where Nabi was, at the time, standing. All Doki pointed to was empty space. She looked around quickly to find Nabi already walking down the sidewalk in front of the apartment.
"You coming Doki?" Nabi said over a chorus of claps and cheers from the neighbors' reaction to her performance.
"Yeah, hold up!" Doki said, running after him.
Nabi had his hands in his pockets in mild frustration. I still wish I could have had the day to myself. On the other hand, I shouldn't be rude. She is buying after all. Maybe I'll keep an open mind about this and see what happens.
"...So that's when I said, 'Why are your hands so greasy?' Almost at the perfect time, the kid started shouting, 'Mommy, mommy, this one's eating my popcorn!'"
Nabi burst out into laughter, shortly followed by Doki. Turns out that she has a great sense of humor.
"You never told me you were comedic like that!" Nabi said, wiping away a tear and coming off of his laughing binge. "You have some jokes and hilarious stories that could be shown on TV."
Doki blushed and smiled at the compliment. "I just try to make others feel happy by any means. Laughter usually works."
"Yeah, it does. I haven't laughed that hard in ages."
The two fell into a companionable silence. For the last hour, they have just been walking around town and seeing some of the sights that most tourists feel privileged to gawk over. To Doki and Nabi, they were as pedestrian as the sidewalk they were on. They got bored of seeing things they usually see almost every day, so the two of them were on their way to see a movie playing in theaters.
"I never go with a specific movie in mind. I always avoid commercials for them and pick them out myself." Doki said.
Nabi looked at her with an odd expression. "It certainly does leave you either feeling surprised that it was good or disappointment from how terrible it was. In the case of the latter, wouldn't it be a bit of a gamble?"
Doki grinned to him with a knowing look. "You call it a gamble. I call it a learning experience."
Speaking of gamble... she thought to herself.
She saw an older cat couple arm in arm with each other a block back and decided to try it with Nabi. It couldn't hurt. Right?
As soon as she slipped her arm around Nabi's, alarm bells went off in his head.
Oh no, oh no, oh no! Nabi panicked. This is not good!
There were at least a dozen people around staring at them. Nabi quickly yanked his arm away, much to Doki's unamused anger. Nabi tried quickly to react and form an explanation, but he was at a loss from her gaze upon him.
"What gives, Nabi?" Doki spoke up. "We are on a date, right?"
God, announce it for the whole world to hear! Nabi wanted to say, but thought much better of it. He took her hand and led her down the sidewalk a bit.
"Listen to me." he pleaded with her. "It's not that I don't want to hold hands with you or walk down the street arm in arm. It's because of-"
"That?" Doki interrupted, pointing to an anti-interspecies sign behind Nabi.
"Yes, that." He said, a bit deflated. "I'm sorry, but if you respect me like I know you do, can we keep the arm touching to a minimum? I'm still on board for this date, so no worries about that."
Doki looked thoughtful for a moment before replying, "Alright, I'll let you off this once. But mark my words, when a second date happens, there will be arm holding till it falls asleep."
Nabi laughed nervously. "Let's just focus on this one date first, shall we?"
On the way to the theater, they stopped at a vender to grab a quick bite to eat. Nabi decided to get some lemon peppered seafood, while Doki bought a large bag of carrots.
"You plan on eating those by yourself?" Nabi said with a mouthful of grilled mackerel.
"Nope!" She said with a grin.
With that, the earth inexplicably began to rumble, which frightened Nabi to an extent.
"Umm... what the Hell is happening?" he said, more than a bit scared.
Doki just kept grinning. "Well, we're nearby my apartment and I forgot to feed my friends!"
Out of nowhere, Nabi was almost bowled over by a large group of animals that stampeded their way towards Doki.
When will the madness end? Nabi thought to himself with a laugh. He then recognised the animals that Doki was feeding the carrots to; A dog, a lizard, even a rhino.
"Wow, what a coincidence." Nabi said out loud. "I ran into these guys while bringing your cake over to you last week. Are they your pets?"
"Come on, Koppulso." she said tenderly to the rhino. "Come on big guy, eat up." She then turned towards Nabi. "They're more of my companions, really. I do work as a stay at home vet, but most of these guys are either off of the streets or donated to me to look after."
At that, she handed the carrots over to him. "Can you keep feeding them?" she said with her head turned towards something. It was a hedgehog in the middle of the sidewalk. "I want to say hi to this little guy."
Nabi kept feeding the vegetables to the rest of the animals while he watched Doki in wonder. She knelt down right in front of him and spoke softly, "Come on little guy, I'm not gonna hurt you." She held out a hand and almost immediately, the hedgehog started walking towards her. "That's a good little hedgehog." she said while pulling out a green ribbon and with delicate hands, she tied it around the animals neck. Nabi looked at the other animals and saw that they too had ribbons of green on a dedicated spot on their bodies. He looked back to see the newly tamed hedgehog run up her arm and onto her shoulders, Doki laughing joyfully.
"I think I'll call you... Dochi." she said to the hedgehog on her shoulder. He squeaked in response.
Nabi looked on in silent wonder. I never knew that she could be this... caring.
After they watched the movie together, they were on their way back to Doki's. It was late afternoon and by the time they would get to her apartment, the sun would begin to set.
"Was the movie any good" Nabi asked her. They went and saw a romantic comedy that he couldn't even care to remember the name of. They weren't his type of movies.
"It wasn't bad, but the book was better." she responded. "Sorry that you didn't like it though."
Nabi gave a look of surprise before laughing. "Am I that easy to read?"
He had been thinking things over in his head practically throughout the entire film. His confliction over his relationship with the bunny girl was eating him up inside. He found out so much about her today, things that he wanted more than anything in someone to call his own. On the other hand, the town he was in sucked when it came to the social norm.
Doki looked down at her feet before saying, "Actually, you aren't as easy as I thought you would be. You keep debating with yourself on what to do. I just hope that you can come to a decision in time."
"Yeah, we're waiting."
Nabi almost smacked right into Yi, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. Il-ho and Sam were right behind him.
"How are things with Doki?" he said, only half interested.
"Actually pretty good, all things considered. You and uh... Catlip getting along alright?" Nabi retaliated.
Much to Nabi's amusement, Yi scowled. "That's none of your business."
"Well neither are your questions about me and Doki. I don't care if her brother is your leader, I'm not scared of you."
They were interrupted by a grunt of pain. While they were talking, Doki went to give her brother a hug. While she did, she whispered to him, "You still gonna stay out of this?"
Il-ho answered back, "That depends. Is he treating you alright?"
"He's treating me just fine. We're actually on our first date today and I decided to buy."
He frowned. "You know it's customary for the man to buy on the first date. He's probably just-"
She turned the hug into a Half-Nelson. "He feels guilty about what you did. This date is my treat, so be sure to keep your end of the bargain."
With that, she turned back to Nabi. "Shall we go then?" she said in her usual happy mood.
"Yeah, sure. You guys have a good one." he said to the gang, before following Doki back towards her apartment.
Il-ho looked on in bitter, protective rage, before he sagged his shoulders and sighed. He let all of his emotions bleed out of him and sighed again.
"Come on guys." he said while rubbing his arm. "Let's get out of here. This part of town is for the tourists anyway."
It was late evening when Nabi got her home.
"I had a lot of fun tonight." Doki said. "I hope that you did, too."
"Oh yeah, I had a blast. Kind of awkward running into your brother, but other than that, it was great." Nabi said with no sarcasm or detachment at all. He genuinely had a nice day with her.
"Well, goodnight." Doki said with a hug and a wave. "I'll see you soon."
"Yeah, definitely." Nabi said, waving goodbye.
He made his way to the apartment and was about to unlock the door and call it a night. That was until he saw the red and white box from that morning by his door. The confetti was still inside with the pom-poms and megaphone lying on the ground right next to it. Plenty of thought and care were put into the box, the surprise, even the date. While it was a diversion from his planned day off, Nabi couldn't help but know that it was a far better day overall.
She worked hard just to have a day with me. he thought while he looked at the box. I'll be damned if I leave this date on a flat note like this. My parents always told me to take the initiative. Might as well start now.
_ _He put his keys back in his pocket and ran the mile and a half to Doki's apartment.
_ Ah, nothing like a gorgeous sunset for an equally gorgeous day._
_ _Doki was on her apartment's rooftop watching the evening turn to night. The day that she had was one that she would be cherishing for the rest of her life, even if Nabi doesn't feel the same as she did for him. Her thoughts were set aside by a shout from the street.
"Hey, Doki!"
She looked over the side of the rooftop to see Nabi, to her pleasant surprise.
"You know, when I said, 'I hope to see you soon,' I didn't expect it to be later on in the same day." Doki said with amusement.
Nabi grinned up at her. "Sorry if I'm bugging you, but... well..."
"Yes, go on." Doki said, hoping that this was going where she thinks it was going.
"Well." He said with a blush on his face. "Would you like to go on a second date sometime?"
Doki's world stopped for a moment, before she answered with a very loud, very unsubtle, very emotionally filled, "YES!!"
** ** Nabi chuckled loudly after hearing her reaction. "Alright, I have work until nine tomorrow. I'll swing by once I'm done and we can spend some time together."
Doki was grinning and blushing hard. "It sounds great."
I might have a chance with him!
"Last shipment, boss!" Nabi said over the hustle and bustle of the newspaper workroom.
His boss and family friend, Boseu gave him a thumbs up. "After you're done with this, go on with your date. I'll take care of the paperwork tonight."
Nabi gave him a look of irrevocable gratitude. "You are awesome. I owe you one!"
Boseu smiled and said, "Just promise that you'll be happy with her. You really are breaking the mold and I think it's for the best. This town could use a shove in the right direction."
Nabi grabbed the last bundle of newspapers before shaking his boss's hand. "Thanks again, Boseu, for being so understanding. You have a good one." he said, as he ran out to finish.
It was nine thirty when he finally got done with his route, which was thankfully right by Doki's apartment. He stopped to get some food for them and her animals on the way there. He felt it only right to buy this time.
He found her in the back alley with her new hedgehog friend.
"I got some food for us and your animals." He said, sitting down next to her.
"Good thing I haven't eaten yet." she said, reaching for a loaf of bread.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Nabi chided. "Allow me." He held the bread out for her.
"Such a gentleman." She said, blushing slightly. She leaned forward and took a bite. "Mmm, garlic bread!" she said with a mouthful.
"I had a feeling you'd like it." Nabi said with a smile on his face. Tonight would be a good time. He could tell.
It was nearly midnight when Nabi got home. He and Doki just spent most of the night talking and getting to know more about one another. It was with a heavy heart that he left, for he had work in the morning. Once he opened the door, something felt off. Wrong.
There was a draft from outside, which was odd since Nabi kept the window shut. He looked at the window to see a hole smashed through it. Not too big to shatter the glass, but big enough to be of considerable damage. He then looked to the floor. Among the carpet, surrounded by the bits of the window as sharp as the sting to Nabi's chest, was a single grey brick.