Eiji-kun grinned as he caught sight of me jogging towards the train platform - the usual place we would meet before taking the train to school together.

"There you are Aoharu-san," he was desperately trying to sound miffed at my almost lateness. Our train left at 8:00 and it was 7:50 now. I hadn't meant to be this late, but I'd been up all night studying and drifted off only to be rudely awoken by Onii-san.

I stopped in front of my best friend, doubled over, exhausted. Eiji-kun clicked his tongue, "Jeez, even I never cut it this close. What would you have done if the train had left early?"

I froze and slowly brought my eyes up to meet his, "Does that happen?"

"It might one day," he said.

"Would all passengers on the Sakuragaoka platform please board the train?"

Eiji-kun raised his eyebrows pointedly as other students and adults surged forward towards the open train doors, "See? If you'd have been any later then you'd have missed it."

I smiled apologetically, "Gomen ne, Eiji-kun."

He looked a little surprised as I apologised, "Whatever," he mumbled, "It's no big deal I guess."

We managed to snag the last seats just in time at the very back of the train. Luckily, most of the unseated stragglers were huddled further up. giving us some breathing space. I yawned for the third time, wiping away the tired tears that leaked from my eyes.

Eiji-kun noticed this and snorted, "What's wrong? Look at you, yawning with that big mouth of yours - I guess you're tired."

I nodded, resisting the urge to yawn again. He grinned at me, "You probably stayed up too late again, huh? Bet you were reading manga."

I couldn't suppress the next yawn, "Mmm, I was studying."

A flash of panic crossed his eyes, "Huh? Studying?"

I nodded, "For the test today."

The panic flared up and he grabbed at his head, "I forgot!" He exclaimed, "I was supposed to do an English worksheet!"

He sighed, "I've messed up."

I smiled at his outburst. This was so like him to forget. Still, thanks to my all-nighter, I'd manage to complete the worksheet that he was talking about - with great difficulty. I doubted it was something that he'd be able to do on the train.

"You can copy mine if you like," I offered, reaching for my bag. He stopped in the middle of his panicking and studied me carefully.

"Copy yours?" He looked tempted for a moment but sighed and looked away, "No, it's okay. I mean... what if you get in trouble too... when I get found out. That teacher's super scary."

If you get found out, I wanted to say. But his expression seemed so thoughtful and foreign to me that the words never made it out of my mouth. We'd been friends for 2 months now, ever since he transferred to our school in September, when he'd stridden into our class with bright hair and introduced himself with as much toughness as he could. That seemed to be enough to scare off most of our classmates, but I still remember how fidgety and nervous he seemed when he stepped into the classroom. It was clear to me now: Eiji-kun might try to act tough, but in reality he really did care about the people close to him.

I realised I was still watching him.

He looked annoyed, "What? Why do you keep staring at me? Is there something on my face?"

I shrugged, "I just think you're nice."

His eyes widened and his cheeks went pink, "HUH! I'm nice? What are you talking about?" He turned away, sulking, "If you mock me I'll hit you."

"Fine then," I said, a little hurt by the dismissal of my compliment, "If that's how you want to treat your friend then maybe I just won't bother being one." I only half meant it but he immediately swing around, holding his hands up in a truce, "I'm kidding! I'm kidding - I promise I won't hit you." He looked straight ahead, but I could tell he was deep in thought, "I actually really appreciate you." The comment made me feel warm and ticklish.

He sighed, "You were the only one that wasn't scared of me, and talked to me when I first transferred." His hands raked through his messy red hair.

"I didn't want to lose to you city folk so I tried too hard and dyed my hair red. But... no one else was like that - even the teacher called me a punk."

I nodded sympathetically, remembering that day very well. On that day, Eiji-kun had looked as lost as me.

He rubbed his hands together, "But you... were the only one who didn't care, and talked to me. That's why... I haven't given up and still come to school." The sudden confession made my cheeks warm and I couldn't stop a small smile from showing on my face. I didn't realise that that day meant as much to him as it did to me. We're the only friend the other has got...

He blushed crimson when he caught sight of me, "What the heck am I babbling on about?" He went back to desperately clutching his head - this time in embarrassment. I laughed, the sound clear and bright over the dull monotone of the train. Eiji-kun met my eyes, "Go to sleep you - you're tired aren't you?"

"Huh?" I noticed then that my eyes were struggling to stay open. I really did want to sleep, but...

He caught on to my hesitation, "Don't worry and go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there." I nodded gratefully, "Arigatou Eiji-kun." I stretched my arms and lowered my head, eyelids drooping. A sudden jolt made me jump up and my friend sighed, gesturing for me to use his shoulder as a pillow. Shyly, I did as he said, and drifted off just as he mumbled somthing under his breath. Too tired to ask what it was, I let sleep take me.

Hello! So this is the first Makura no Danshi story on ! I understand that the fanbase is basically non-existent but I've been wanting to write a story for Eiji ever since I first watched his episode. Luckily because the scene (most of which I have written about above) is pretty short and sweet, I have the liberty to fill in the gaps without having massive wikia pages contradicting everything I've written *cough cough* InuYasha *cough cough*. I'm not expecting many readers, if any - so please follow or favourite if you enjoyed. I'm planning on working on this for a while, and updates might be slow at first due to school work, but I have high hopes for this story, so thank you for reading! If you happen to feel like sharing the link to other places then that would really help kick-start the beginning of the Makura no Danshi community on ! Thank you!

avalon01k