I'm afraid I've yet to finish the series of +Anima, so apologies if this goes against some occurrence in the future of the series. I do love what I've read so far and I can only hope that this one-shot does it justice.
This isn't even my favorite pairing, but I do think that they're cute together. I'm new to the fandom, but even with that in mind, I know that at least one author has already written a one-shot with this exact theme. They came up with the idea first, not me, and I, by no means, am trying to copy them. I just wanted to try my hand at it because it's a marvelous idea. Enjoy! I own absolutely nothing.
Nana's body trembled, but she knew she wasn't cold. In fact, she was sweating, leaving her ivory skin uncomfortably clammy. She knew that that rustling noise probably wasn't her father. She even knew that she had probably imagined it. But that did absolutely nothing to calm her frayed nerves.
"C-Cooro?" she whispered hoarsely, clutching her woolen blanket closer to her chest. It felt scratchy against her fingers.
The boy answered with a soft snore, obviously peacefully asleep. She deeply envied his ability to so quickly find rest.
She shifted a little, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dark. She didn't find any appeal in camping so often. Cooro loved it, called it adventurous and fun even. But Nana preferred the indoors. Strong walls brought a certain sense of security to her that an orchestra of crickets and summer breeze never could. But she knew that being indoors for too long made Cooro begin to feel trapped, so she tried to grin and bear camping for his sake.
But this was getting to be too much. It seemed that every other minute there was a new sound, a new shadow flashing in the darkness. Nana whimpered out and hugged her blanket even tighter than before. "Senri?" she choked out hesitantly. The teen jerked in his sleep, but other than that, he made no sign that he had heard Nana's call of distress.
Nana sighed. Calling out to Husky would be about as helpful as shouting at a stone wall, so she didn't even bother. She had to be strong. She would try to go to sleep.
It was an ordinary day, just like all the others. Nana's father stormed into the house, the door banging behind him. "How did the harvesting go today?" Nana's mother ventured cautiously, as the man slumped into a chair, having not made a sound since he entered the room.
"It's none of your business!" he snapped, his fist pounding down onto the table. Nana flinched at the sound.
"I work all day, and you worthless women sit around here and do nothing!" he raved, rising from his chair. "Why do I even try anymore? You tell me that!"
Nana's mother was speechless. "Answer me!" he demanded, his hand slamming across the woman's cheek with a resounding "smack."
"Daddy, stop!" Nana shrieked, leaping up from her little stool.
"You shut up, you little brat!" he hissed, turning towards her.
Nana stumbled backwards, her back meeting the wall. Her body quaked with fear as her father drew nearer. "Stop! Please don't hurt me! Please stop!" Nana cried out.
Her pleas did nothing. Her mother did nothing. "M-mama, help me!" Nana begged.
Her mother stood petrified. Her father had raised a knife that had magically appeared above his head. Nana sunk to the ground hopelessly, an arm flung protectively over her eyes. "Help me! Please someone help!" Nana screamed, tears trickling down her cheeks.
"NANA!" a voice echoed in her ears.
Nana blinked her eyes lazily, the black of the night returning to her vision as the scenery of her home vanished. Husky, who looked tremendously aggravated, loomed over her. "H-Husky?" Nana rubbed at her eyes tiredly, her mind still slightly fuzzed over from sleep.
"You're so loud!" he hissed out, anger flashing through his eyes, "Some of us are trying to sleep, bat girl!"
Nana, finally aware of her surroundings, narrowed her eyes in a glare. "Well some of us can't sleep, fish boy!" she snapped, crossing her arms irately.
"What are you talking about?" Husky growled quietly, so as not to wake the others.
"You heard me," Nana replied briskly, "I can't sleep."
Husky rolled his eyes, "Then why can't you sleep?"
Nana didn't feel like reminiscing her ever so happy past at the moment. "I, uh, why do you care?" she said quickly.
It was hard to see (even for a bat), but in the dim glow of the moon, it almost looked as if Husky was blushing. "I-I don't care!" he retorted, "I just want to know what it would take to make you stop squealing in your sleep so that I can finally get some rest!"
Changing her mind, Nana decided that maybe if she told Husky, he would feel at least a slight amount of guilt and just leave her alone. "I have nightmares about my dad sometimes," she said quietly, "and being in the forest at night still scares me. So there. That's why I can't sleep."
Something flickered across Husky's face at her words, but Nana couldn't tell what it was. "So you can't sleep because you don't feel safe?"
"…I guess so."
"Well, what would it take to make you feel safe?"
Nana raised an eyebrow. "Just so you'll be quiet!" Husky clarified, that suspicious pink color returning to his cheeks.
Nana sighed out, rolling over so that her back was to Husky, "I don't know. I always feel safer inside, when I'm surrounded by something strong like walls."
"Well, there aren't any buildings nearby."
"I know that."
An awkward silence encompassed the pair. "Would you, er, would it help if-" Husky left his sentence unfinished.
"If what?" Nana tilted her head so that she could see Husky again.
"Nevermind," he muttered.
"Fine," she answered.
"Would it help if I, um, ifIsleptclosertoyoutonight?" he blurted out.
"What?" Nana's brow furrowed with confusion, hardly understanding the jumble of words.
"Just-just if it could keep you quiet, I could sleep closer to you," he mumbled between gritted teeth.
"Why?" Nana was still thoroughly puzzled.
"If it made you feel safe, having someone nearby," Husky bowed his head so that Nana couldn't see his face, so she had no way of knowing if his cheeks were flushed or not.
"Maybe that would help…a little," Nana thought aloud. Inside, she was beaming because she always had had a little bit of a crush on Husky, but there was no need to vocalize that. But he certainly did make her feel safe, since she knew that he could put up a decent fight and that he would, most likely, defend her if something happened. …She hoped.
"So do you want me to or not?" Husky asked.
"I guess so," Nana shrugged, trying to be demure about the situation.
"You guess what?" Husky grumbled, clearly unamused by Nana's little game.
"I guess you can sleep by me," Nana stated, rolling back away from Husky.
Husky made no response. But Nana heard footsteps padding against the grass and the flapping sound of a blanket being laid next to her. She risked a careful peek in Husky's direction. She saw him lying uneasily beside her, his face to the sky. There was a good five feet in between them still. "You don't have to sit so far away," Nana murmured.
Husky scowled at her, "I'm not touching you."
"I didn't ask you to!" Now Nana was blushing. "I just said that you could move closer!"
Muttering under his breath, Husky hesitantly scooted closer. Nana grinned a little as her shoulder almost brushed against Husky's. "Goodnight," Nana chimed quietly.
"Goodnight," he mumbled back.
Nana allowed her eyes to drift shut, already feeling contented knowing that Husky was within such a close proximity of her. She woke up once that night, appalled to find that Husky had fallen asleep with one arm sprawled across her. But she made no effort to move him. She simply closed her eyes again and smiled.
"Husky and Nana are in love!"
Nana groaned, clapping a hand over her ear at the loud taunting. She blinked her eyes blearily, Cooro's dark hair coming into view. She looked down to see that Husky's arm was still flung across her, and she could feel his breath, heavy with sleep, puffing against her neck. "Cooro?" she grunted, slowly sitting up and trying not to disturb Husky.
The sleeping boy blinked once and then twice. And then he jolted upright, a look of pure horror spread across his face. "Husky and Nana sittin' in a tree!" Cooro jeered happily, giggling in delight at his own teasing.
"Shut up! We are not! I just-we just-" Husky stammered out, his train of thought crashing at the middle of his sentence.
"I'm going to go get breakfast!" he announced swiftly, leaping up from the grass.
Nana watched with a slight twinge of sadness as Husky sprinted away. Senri was looking at her curiously, and Cooro was still doubled over with laughter. But as she saw the indention in the grass where Husky's body had been, her lips curled up into a smile. Husky had slept beside her last night. Husky who hated girls. Husky who hated her. And he had slept beside her last night. Words could not describe how utterly overjoyed the mere thought made her, and that was enough for now.