It had been a couple of days since his confession, since Chisaki found out the truth of how Tsumugu felt, about how he was in love with her. Between that and the upcoming Ofunehiki Chisaki had spread herself thin; she was determined to not think about what she now knew, and tried to block out her own feeling of Tsumugu at any cost. So she worked relentlessly between school, the Ofunehiki and her day-to-day duties. All of this considered it made sense that Chisaki got sick, though it was only a fever Tsumugu couldn't help but worry and wait on her.

Ever since Tsumugu confessed his love for her their natural existence together had become strained. They still spent their days as before, with the addition of preparing for the Ofunehiki. Underneath it all though, every motion, every sound, there was something begging to be seen and the more either of them, Chisakhi specifically, denied it the more present it became.

All of that aside Tsumugu still had faith, now more than ever that their happy ending was coming and it would be together. He truly believed that if he just remained patient everything would work and his love, their love would be heard and be enough for both of them.

The sun had set and the moon was beginning to reach its peak. Chisaki had spent most of the day asleep and Tsumugu never left her side, besides to get some food or to replace the seawater needed to keep her ena from drying, he stayed with her. Her fever had significantly dropped but even so Tsumugu did not want to leave her.

It was getting late so Tsumugu thought he should replace the cooling cloth on Chisaki's head before going to sleep himself; he decided he would stay with her for the night, but on the floor. He took a seat on the edge of her bed and gently moved away stray hairs that had stuck to her feverish face before removing the cloth. His eyes lingered on her for a moment, he could not help it, every time he looked at her it took his breath away and it felt like his heart stopped.

As he was replacing the cloth on her forehead he felt a hand press against his face. It was Chisaki's and she was looking directly at him with her kind, sea blue eyes. He looked back and felt like time had stopped and it was just the two of them, in this moment, nothing else and no one else existed.

"You're so warm." Her voice was so soft; though she seemed only partly aware of what was happening, Tsumugu still didn't flitch, he didn't want this moment to end.

"Are you cold? I can get you another blanket." It took everything ounce of willpower for him to keep his stoic exterior. Tsumugu was determined to keep him movements to a minimum afraid that if he did anything this moment, this feeling of everything being right would fade.

"No! Don't go," she sounded almost pleading, even her eyes seemed vulnerable.

"Okay. I'm not going anywhere."

"Stay with me." Her hand began to leave his face, landing onto his shoulder and going down until she finally reached his hand. She held it for a moment before starting to slowly pull him down next to her.

"Don't leave me," she said as she wrapped his arm around her from behind.

"I won't," he whispered reassuringly.

"Stay." And with that she had lulled her self back to sleep, holding Tsumugu's hand, interlocking their fingers and showing no desire of letting go.

Tsumugu was hesitant as thoughts began to flood his head, 'Is this okay? What if she wakes up and gets the wrong idea. No, she knows me better than that, right?' Suddenly he caught a scent of her hair, she smelled sweet yet like the sea, so familiarly. It all just felt so right, them being together, holding each other. And like that he felt at ease, relaxed even, like everything was clear; one thought spoke out at that moment, 'It will make her have to consider it, make her consider us, see us, accept us as being more.' With that his decision was made and he pulled Chisaki in closer to him as he fell asleep with the girl he loved in his arms.

As dawn began to crack through the windows a ray of light shown on Chisaki waking her from what felt like an amazing night's rest. She felt warmth all around her and everything just felt comforting and right. Though her peaceful awakening was quickly broken by a sudden reality; she was holding someone's hand, tightly. She began to panic, not sure what was happening but at the same time she was unable to move. 'What's going on,' she thought to herself.

She looked down at the hand she was holding and knew she recongnized it. "Tsumugu?" his name uttered from her lips in a soft voice before she even realized it. He let out a soft groan in response and squeezed her hand back but showed no sign of waking up.

Her heart was racing and her mind began to flood with countless thoughts, 'Oh my gosh, he wouldn't just… no it's Tsumugu. So did I… did I ask for this? His hold is so strong but so reassuring and safe for some reason. Should I get up? No, besides he would still know. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. What do I do?'

Her rapid train of thought was broken through the feeling of something brush against the back of her head, it was Tsumugu. Chisaki did not want was going on and what she should do; Tsumugu let out another small morning groan as he slightly readjusted himself while pulling Chisaki closer to him and soothing himself back into a deeper sleep.

All of her thoughts suddenly froze as a smile draw on her face; a comforting clarity spoke to her, 'He smells like tangerines and seawater. And he's warm. There's no rush, no harm if I just… be here and now in this moment.' And with that Chisaki made her decision and fell back asleep without question or concern or thought for anything; it was just the two of them and at that moment it was all that mattered, all that existed.

A/N: This is my first Nagi no Asukara post; hope you like it and feedback greatly appreciated.