A/N1: Itazura na kiss does not belong to me.
Why is it that whenever you really, really, really need sleep, your mind goes endlessly in circles? Kotoko rolled over and lay on her other side. She pounded her pillow and hoped that it would mold itself into a comfortable shape.
Dang! She flopped onto her back. No such luck. Well, maybe if I recite some math formulas it'll bore me enough to knock me out. Let's see, a-squared minus b-squared equals a-minus-b times a-plus-b. Or is it a-squared minus two-ab plus b-squared?
Huh. She laughed silently in her mind. This reminds me of the time that Irie-kun tutored me for mid-terms just a few meters down the hall. He got so mad… Oh, yeah, I had decided to give up on him then, hadn't I? What made him so special that I kept liking him?
I mean, he was so cold to me. Didn't want me to talk to him in school. Shoot, didn't even want me to walk with him. Wouldn't hold the train door that one time and made me late for class. Then in college, flirting with Matsumoto-san right in front of me. There were so many guys who I could've fallen for: Kin-chan in high school, Taketo-kun in college.
Her unsleepy eyes blinked. There was a bunch of other men in college too. Of course, some of them were those anime nerds who called me Kotorin and made that embarrassing movie, but still, I had options, lots of them. So why did my mind and heart always return to the one that first caught my eye in high school?
A thin cry broke through the silence of the early morning hours, gaining in strength with each second it continued.
Kotoko turned her head and poked the lump of covers next to her. When she was only answered with a grunt, she whispered, "Irie-kun." Even that didn't work, so she placed her mouth next to his ear and said, "Dr. Irie!"
"Wha-what!?" He sat up straight and looked around.
She patted his back and said, "It's your turn for the feeding and diaper change."
"Oh, uh, yeah." He stepped out of bed, fumbled around a bit on the floor for his slippers then gave up and shuffled into the adjoining room as the volume continued to increase.
The cries turned into muffled sniffles as she heard her husband say, "Daddy's here, Kotomi. Come on, let's see what's for breakfast."
Kotoko let out a deep breath, and her head finally found a comfortable position on the pillow. A drowsy smile spread across her face. That's why it had to be him. No matter what, he was always there when I really needed him. Still is. She yawned and, tucking the blanket under her chin, finally found sleep.
A/N2: Just a short sweet one that I came up with while writing Intermission. The first chapter of Paean of Apollo should be uploaded within a day or two.