ENTITLED: The Sunrise
FANDOM: Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun
SETTING: During Chapter 45
PAIRING: SasaNatsu
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of this great manga/anime.
LENGTH: One-shot

. . .

"It's because I know you that I started liking you."

. . .

Sasayan says some things that make her nervous. She doesn't know how he could say his feelings so bluntly and carelessly even when she told him not to. It didn't slip just once. He said these things at least more than a few times since that confession, and especially today he made her even more nervous!

Yet, here she was, lying about a foot from him on the floor in the batting center.

She guessed it wasn't so bad. Shizuku and Haru were nearby, sleeping peacefully and happily it seems. It wasn't like she was alone with a boy.

Though it didn't help that she woke up a moment ago and found herself so close to him (the other boy she would allow this close would be Haru)…so now, she couldn't go back to sleep after feeling so nervous and drowning herself in a lot of thoughts.

"Nervous" is becoming a too-common feeling when she is around Sasayan. One moment she feels good being able to chat with a friend and then the next moment he slips his tongue and makes her red in the face and nervous as hell.

She thought about what would have happened if she found herself somehow…she couldn't even imagine being snuggled up next to him.

With those thoughts running in her head, she decided that going back to sleep would probably be futile. She turned to look at the clock, and she guessed that the sun will be rising in about the next ten minutes. Despite that one building blocks most of the sun's view, it was better than staring at the ceiling.

She got up from her spot, carefully maneuvering herself around the stuff on the floor and trying not to make the floor creak too loudly. When she got to the stairway, she heard an inaudible grunt, but she decided not to stick around as she walked up the steps to the rooftop.

Once she set foot onto the rooftop, a small gust of chilly air made her shiver a little, and she wished she had brought a blanket with her. She muttered to herself at how it can be this cold in spring as she closed the rooftop door and walked to the railings and placed her arms on it.

A number of thoughts entered her mind, and she tried to concentrate on anything that wasn't related to Sasayan. She looked down to the nearby park and noticed a figure sleeping on the bench. She didn't pay any more attention to the figure as she heard the door opened from behind her and already knew who it was.

"Hey, what are you doing up this early?"

She looked over her shoulders and replied, "Couldn't go back to sleep."

Sasayan walked over to the railings and plopped his arms next to her and used one to rub the sleepiness away from his eyes.

"Was it because I was snoring?"

"Yeah, that was exactly what happened." Natsume made a mock-serious face as she said that, and Sasayan knew what she meant.

"Seriously, anything bothering you?"

She knows that Sasayan is a really nice guy. He is a really good friend to her. Sometimes, she wished that he didn't show much concern toward her, but at the same time, she felt a little happy about it. She felt a little strange for a moment, but the feeling went away.

"Nothing really."

Her response was soft, and Sasayan raised one of his eyebrows at her and turned his head to face her.

"You know you can tell me whatever is bothering you."

And she already knows that. But, she feels that it isn't something he needs to know. The strange feeling from a moment ago came back.

"I know."

The spring wind continued to blow, and they both looked toward the direction of where the sun should be rising.

"Thanks…for worrying about me."

Natsume thought it was a little uncomfortable to tell him that, but she knew that she had to say that. She looked at his face and noticed that his facial expression changed for a moment, and then he looked away from her.

"Geez, Natsume-san."

She was about to say something because she felt a little flustered, but nothing came out as he turned to hold her against him.

"You're the girl I like, so I have to worry about you."

She wasn't sure if she should push him away and run (though she did started to protest and struggled a little in his grasp), and she wasn't sure if she could even handle him holding her, but surprisingly, as he continued to hold onto her and rest his cheek against her head, she felt more at ease and became less resistant.

The sun then rose.

. . .

Author's Note

I haven't written anything creative for a long time, but Sasayan and Natsume became one of my top favorite pairings for any anime/manga, so after several attempts and various plots shot down, I decided to do something a little simpler like this.

. . .