It started a few weeks ago with Serinuma and Nishina who had started obsessing over a new anime. They had the same favorite character and had also agreed on a couple they shipped. There were absolutely no problem unlike when they were arguing over Akane-chan and Lord from Kachu Rabu.
About one week ago, Serinuma had found out that there was to be an event held in a town across the country. This event just so happened to be the one she couldn't miss out on even if her life depended on it. Of course, Nishina wanted to go there with her and so, to not give the first year girl an advantage, the four boys decided that they had to tag along as well.
What none of them had predicted was how many people there would be at the event. Every single inn in town was completely full when they arrived on the day before the event. Luckily, there was a hotel that still had a few free rooms. It was a bit expensive, but by the time they found this hotel, everyone was ready to take anything that came their way, regardless of the prize.
The receptionist informed them that there were only two-persons rooms with doubles beds left. This left the four boys at a loss of what to do. All of them would love to share a bed with Serinuma, but they knew it wouldn't be appropriate for a boy and a girl to share a bed when they weren't even going out. Besides, it would undoubtedly make Serinuma feel uncomfortable to share a room with one of them. That was why none of them were able to object when Nishina declared that she and Serinuma would take one of the rooms.
After Igarashi had swallowed his defeat, he asked Nanashima if he wanted to share a room and Nanashima agreed to this. This left Mutsumi and Shinomiya with the last room.
Because it was pretty late already, none of them exchanged another word with each other but just accepted their room-keys and went to their separate rooms to sleep.
Nanashima was lying awake, staring into the darkness. He couldn't sleep. There was no way he could fall asleep with Igarashi laying this close to him. They weren't physically touching each other, yet Nanashima could still sense the other lying there. He wondered if Igarashi was still asleep or if they were two lying awake in the night.
"Igarashi?" Nanashima asked, not turning around. "Are you asleep?"
"No," was the short reply from the other.
"Can't sleep?" Nanashima asked.
"Not really," Igarashi answered.
"Me neither," Nanashima said.
They were silent for a bit. Now that they knew that the other was awake and they were talking, none of them really wanted to go to sleep.
It was Nanashima who continued the conversation:
"Were you thinking about Serinuma-san?" he asked, turning as he was staring up at the ceiling.
"Something like that," Igarashi said. "Are you thinking about her too?" he asked.
"Something like that," Nanashima replied.
"What are you thinking about then?" Igarashi asked.
"She would love it, to see us like this, I mean," Nanashima turned his head away to stare into the wall once more. He always felt a bit strange when thinking about what Serinuma thought of him and Igarashi and their relationship.
"She would," Igarashi agreed.
Nanashima could hear him turn in the bed and even if he couldn't see the other, he could feel his gaze on his neck. He felt a little tense and the strange feeling worsened. It was actually strange how this feeling only came when he was around Igarashi. Of course he felt it while he was around Serinuma too, but when he was around Serinuma, Igarashi was usually there with him. He had once questioned if this feeling was supposed to be how love felt, but he had quickly dismissed the thought. He was in love with Serinuma. She was cute and nice and honest, a perfect girl.
"Nana, you're thinking again," Igarashi suddenly said, tearing Nanashima out of his thoughts.
"How do you know I'm not asleep?" Nanashima asked, trying to keep Igarashi from asking about what he was thinking about.
"You weren't even trying to pretend," Igarashi said. "I could tell from the way you breathe." He paused for a bit before asking the question Nanashima didn't want him to ask. "What were you thinking about this time?"
"…Serinuma-san…" Nanashima said this hesitantly because he knew it wasn't entirely true. He had been thinking about a lot more than just Serinuma. Actually, most of his thoughts had centered around Igarashi, the whole reason he wasn't asleep yet.
"I see," Igarashi said, turning away from Nanashima again to lie flat on his back. Nanashima went to lie flat on his back again as well. They stayed like that for a bit until Igarashi broke the silence, changing the subject of their conversation slightly.
"How do you feel… about her?" he asked.
"Serinuma-san?" Nanashima asked. "I love her of course," It was easy to say, but it felt strange. It had always felt strange to say that he loved her. He had often wondered why.
"Of course?" Igarashi asked.
"Otherwise I wouldn't stick around like this." Nanashima said, feeling slightly irritated. Why would Igarashi want to know something like that all of the sudden?
"Okay," Igarashi took a deep breath. "Be honest with me. How do you feel about me?" he asked.
This question caught Nanashima completely off guard. What did he feel about Igarashi anyway? Why would Igarashi need to know something like that, why would he even want to know something like that?
"We're good friends and classmates…" Nanashima started. "We are rivals for Serinuma-san's love."
"You're just listing things that everybody knows," Igarashi said. "How do you feel about me?" he asked.
Nanashima thought, trying to feel inside of him. He couldn't come up with a lie and the way Igarashi asked demanded an answer, so he had to answer truthfully.
"You... make me feel weird," he said, now feeling embarrassed. "You're nice and fun to be around. Though you have a shitty personality at times, I guess I've come to rely on you," Nanashima explained. "Honestly… it's complex. I can't stand it. And it's not getting any better when we're sharing a bed like this!" The last was almost an outburst and as the words escaped Nanashima's mouth, he turned away to face the wall yet again.
"So I keep you awake at night?" Igarashi sounded strangely amused as Nanashima felt him moving around in the bed and suddenly felt one of Igarashi's arms wrap around him.
"What are you doing, Igarashi?" Nanashima asked. He felt like he was about to split in two from just this small action, like all the other times Igarashi touched him. Part of him wanted to pull away as if he had been burnt from the touch and another wanted to stay and secretly begged for the other to never let go.
"Do you want me to let go, Nana?" Igarashi wasn't talking loudly. In fact his voice was close to a whisper, but Nanashima could feel his breath on his neck, right behind his ear.
Nanashima was no fool, he knew that this was a turning point in their relationship. He could say yes. Igarashi would let go. The only issue would be that they probably would have much less physical contact from this point onward. On the other hand, if Nanashima said no, Igarashi would keep his arm where it was and the physical contact would probably increase from this point onward.
"No…" Nanashima finally decided.
Nothing happened. Igarashi didn't move. Nanashima didn't either. They stayed like that for a little while until Igarashi started slowly pulling Nanashima closer to him. The other didn't resist, he just let it happen.
"Can you sleep like this, Igarashi?" Nanashima asked as they were lying in the middle of the bed. Igarashi still with one arm wrapped around him.
"Of course I can," Igarashi said. "Can you?" he then asked.
Nanashima thought, but the answer was easy and he didn't hesitate much before saying it.
"It might actually be easier to sleep like this," he said.
Mutsumi was wide awake. He had originally fallen asleep as soon as his head had hit the pillow, but he had soon woken up because someone wasn't just lying still while sleeping. Needless to say that this certain someone, wasn't him.
Mutsumi was sitting up in bed and currently staring at the person who had woken him up. Shinomiya was lying on the other half of the bed, tossing around like he was having a bad dream or something. Mutsumi wondered if that actually was the case and if so, what would he do about it? Should he wake up Shinomiya?
"No-No…" Shinomiya muttered while a discomforted look appeared on his sleeping face.
Mutsumi saw it and couldn't help but note how cute that face actually looked. Of course, he would never voice his thoughts about the younger boy. It had been an agreement he made with himself long ago. Saying that Shinomiya was cute would hurt the other's pride as a man. Mutsumi didn't want that, of course.
"No… Sto-Stop it!" Shinomiya yelled while moving even more around on the bed. He really was having a bad dream.
Mutsumi decided to do the thing that seemed the most natural. He reached out one hand and placed it on Shinomiya's shoulder, shaking him gently.
"Shinomiya-kun," he called, trying to get the other to wake up from the dream.
It worked. Shinomiya's eyes opened and he blinked a couple of times before he turned his head to first look at Mutsumi's hand and then up at his face.
"You were having a bad dream," Mutsumi said as their eyes met. He then moved his hand from Shinomiya's shoulder. Doing that any moment later would have made the situation turn awkward between them.
"Thank you," Shinomiya just said, sounding a little nervous. He looked away from Mutsumi as he pushed himself up in a sitting position and wrapped his arms around his knees.
"Are you okay?" Mutsumi asked.
"No…" Shinomiya said, looking down at his knees instead of at Mutsumi.
"You look pretty shaken up," Mutsumi said in an agreement to Shinomiya's answer. "Do you want to tell me what it was about?" he continued after a little while.
Shinomiya seemed to think on that. He didn't look at Mutsumi, he didn't say anything. He didn't let any sign drop if he had heard his senpai or not. The answer came suddenly.
"I dreamt of Senpai," Shinomiya said. "I confessed and was rejected… Then, suddenly, someone came to hurt us. I couldn't do a thing as Senpai protected me. I wanted to do something, I really did, but I could only stand by as Senpai was killed…"
Mutsumi could see the tears. They were dripping from Shinomiya's eyes, unto his knees. He didn't know what to say or how to react to comfort the younger boy in the bed beside him.
"I highly doubt Serinuma-san would allow herself to get killed before she has finished obsessing over the most recent anime. And even if she were to die and you couldn't do anything to save her, the rest of us would come to help you," Mutsumi said, reaching out one hand to place on Shinomiya's shoulder. This was the best sort of comfort he could give at the moment.
"I know that…" Shinomiya said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
"Don't worry. It was only a dream," Mutsumi said, smiling reassuringly at the other.
"Serinuma-senpai dying isn't my biggest concern," Shinomiya said. "What if I'm rejected?"
"No matter who confesses, as it is now, she might probably reject all of us," Mutsumi said, putting a smile on his face. Thinking about it was actually quite easy. What was his problem was that he couldn't really picture himself confessing to Serinuma. There was no question that he liked her. She was a good and kind person. He could also see why the others had come to like her. He just didn't like her in a way that he thought craved a confession. He knew that she knew that he liked her in that way.
He could see why Shinomiya would want to confess to her. What he couldn't see was why she would reject him. He could easily come across as a bit cold but it was plain as day that he really was a good person. He was innocent and there was no question that no matter what he did, there were no bad intentions behind.
"Why would Serinuma-san reject you?" Mutsumi asked.
Again it took some time before Shinomiya answered. "Because I have no trace of masculinity within me, I'm way younger and Senpai is interested in someone else."
"Someone else?" Mutsumi asked. "You're wrong. I highly doubt she's interested in anyone. She might be interested in shipping boys, but that's as far as anyone else is involved in her interests." He didn't know how to feel about the sad picture he was painting of the situation.
"Do you think… we could catch her interest like that?" Shinomiya asked. Mutsumi could almost hear how the other was blushing from saying those words.
Maybe it was the other's embarrassment or the fact that Mutsumi had just been suppressing his feelings for too long, but something suddenly woke inside of him, something more daring, and a smirk appeared on his face.
"We could try?" he suggested.
"Se-Senpai?" Shinomiya stuttered, looking directly into Mutsumi's eyes. "Okay…" he said.
Mutsumi hesitated. He felt like a major clue had just been dropped right in front of him, he felt like he was about to discover something that had been hidden right under his nose. What was that?
As his mind started processing, Mutsumi put himself into motion and moved. He went to sit in front of Shinomiya before he pushed the younger down on the bed. He was on top, Shinomiya lying underneath him.
"Senpai…!" Shinomiya whispered and that was when Mutsumi caught a glimpse of desire in the younger's eyes and everything fell into place.
"You know, I'm not going to die on you, not on my life, that you lack something masculine isn't true, you are just cute and I don't care if you are younger than me. None of it matters. You are you and that's why I only like Serinuma-san… as a friend," Mutsumi said before he allowed himself to lie down beside Shinomiya and pulling the younger close to him. "Your bad dream won't come true," he muttered reassuringly into Shinomiya's hair.
"I can't stand it! I Can't Stand It! I CAN'T STAND IT!" Serinuma yelled while rolling back and forth on the bed, hugging the pillow tightly.
"What can't you stand, Senpai?" Nishina asked, concerned.
"Just thinking about the others sharing rooms like that… OH! I can just imagine what could be going on in there!" Serinuma continued while still rolling back and forth across the bed.
"What would be going on in there?" Nishina asked, feeling slightly curious as to what was going on in her senpai's mind.
"5x7! They can't sleep and end up cuddling! 6x4! Comfort from a bad dream!" Serinuma exclaimed, unable to explain herself more properly. It was enough to make Nishina understand though and she could see why Serinuma was acting like this.
"That's amazing, Senpai!" Nishina exclaimed. "I wonder… what if it actually happened?" she asked.
"Don't say that, Shima-chan! It would be way too amazing!" Serinuma said. She stopped rolling back and forth on the bed and sat up, smiling at her friend.
Soon the two were both sitting on the bed, building on Serinuma's imaginations on what the boys were doing in their separate rooms. Whenever one got a good idea the other would continue to build on that idea. None of the girls got any sleep that night.
It's early in the morning and just publishing this story awoke the fujoshi within. I just came up with this while watching the anime. I thought it could be fun to write, so here we are. I hope it's at least a decent story.
Please tell me what you think about this story. Thanks for reading.
Jackie