Disclaimer: I do not own Tonari No Kaibutsu-kun.

8

The crackling sound was much louder than the words she'd been reading. Between chips and math, her stomach would achieve more than her head. She wonders maybe this is why she couldn't remember her notes. Maybe the food she eats blocks out all knowledge.

Ridiculous.

She's ridiculous.

She looked at her side and almost giggled at the sight of Sasayan. His pencil must have suffered enough already. Fortunately, he didn't chew on it; his eyes were glued down on the same book she had been fussing over for who knows how many hours now. He really must've had it hard. Last time she checked on him, he was doing the same position, and that was before she brought out the chips.

His hands were still making that galloping sound as each of his fingers hit the tabletop. She reckons he's sleepy, his eyes forget to keep open sometimes, she notices. She yawns. And for the first time ever, he kept his eyes off of the book. He looks at her from across the table. He speaks, it sounds kind of different. Or maybe for a moment she just forgot how his voice sounded like. They hadn't been talking for the whole duration.

"You should sleep." He says, as if he wasn't sleepy himself. He means it, but the girl looks at him as if he didn't. It troubles him sometimes. The way she'd look at him suspiciously just after he says something concerning about her. He sometimes thinks Natsume doesn't believe in him on some of the things he said.

But then again, there wouldn't be much difference if she did.

"I see you're sleepy too, Sasayan-kun." Natsume says as she rubbed her eyes. "It's not like I don't see it."

She heard him sigh. He must've thought she was annoying sometimes. But it was Sasayan, and it never really bothers her that much if she gives off that kind of aura to him. Besides, he does that to her too.

But she admits, it's more of a reflection than an act of natural rudeness. Maybe he's only that to her because she's like that to him. It's because she noticed, out of all the people she observed as Sasayan's friends, she's the only one who thinks he's hard to stand sometimes.

Well, maybe it's because she hangs out with him more than those people who just wave at him in hallways and neighboring classrooms and during his games.

Like today.

It would've been more fortunate if she got paired up with Shizuku and Sasayan, to Haru. At least in each team, there'd be someone who'd actually not have a hard time doing all this… stuff. This review and papers stuff.

She brought out her laptop and she started typing like one of those people who does so in typewriters. She knows nothing good would ever come with her abandoning her paper for like, five minutes. But she believes nothing good would come if she didn't too anyway. Her head was spinning, like she couldn't take another word in again. Sure, she's sleepy, but she wouldn't do as to lie down on a futon and let Sasayan do all the work. She may be a bit lazy when it comes to this, but she won't have to do all that all the time.

"We're almost done, as you can see. So there's no need to worry. You should really sleep now." He said it and he means it. But Natsume can be stubborn. Very stubborn, and it makes his eye twitch at times.

He stood up and stretched his arms. He noticed the time. It was halfway to two in the morning already, and everything was quiet except for that sound Natsume's laptop would make as her fingers land on each pad. The fact that he wasn't at home at this time already bothers him a bit. He's not scared, but he doesn't go wandering around town at these times of the night.

"Natsume-san, I'll go make some drink. What do you want?" His eyes landed on her. Hers remained glued at her screen. "Nat-su-me-san." He said, pronouncing each syllable carefully. He waved his arms in front of her face and he hears her stutter.

"Wha-what is It, Sasayan-kun?" She says.

He contorted his mouth to his side. "I said." He sighed before finishing his sentence. "What do you want?"

"Chocolate." She said.

Then it hit her.

"Ah Sasayan-kun." The feeling of discomfort made her do just that. She can't have a visitor serving her drinks. That's not normal.

She insists not to, but he insists he's thirsty.

"Fine." She gives up.

He smiles.

"But I should help you."

They huffed up in the kitchen, they would yawn occasionally, but they reminded themselves they still have something to finish. "Where's the sugar, Natsume-san?" He asked and she'd answer. The quiet night was filled with the sound of spoons and cups banging. Very early in the morning, these things could sound like bombs.

They sat as they drank, and they didn't talk. It was is if they were back doing their work, but there weren't any papers between them, just cups. "Sasayan-kun…" She began to speak. "Sorry… It's very late tonight and you still hasn't come home."

He huffed. "It's alright. I've told my mom already." He says. He sips on his cocoa, but it didn't help cease his drowsiness a bit. He believes it's the same to Natsume's. "But that's why we should finish it already."

She nodded in approval. She wouldn't have been comfortable with boys coming over at her house, and having drinks with them in her kitchen table, but she had no choice. Besides, Sasayan is just a friend. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Are you still sleepy?" He talks to her as he finished his cup.

"Yeah." She answered. "Chocolate doesn't work. This sucks."

Sasayan smiled. He takes her cup as he walks over to the sink. She moves it away, but she loses. "Do your part, over there." He says, just to make her feel like she wouldn't stand any chance against him. "I've been doing the writing lately, it's your turn." He says. He feels her hand as he takes her cup along with him. She stares at him and she sticks out her tongue.

She stood up and did as what she was told. Sasayan didn't move until he saw her handle the pen. She stares at the paper for a while then rubs her head in frustration. Her head lands on the table. He laughs.

As soon as he finished washing, he went back to sit with her across the tangle of unarranged articles. He rests his chin on his hand and watches her for a while. He sees how she wrote and then goes back to her laptop screen again. He laughs and she'd look at him.

His face would go red as he noticed he did nothing but watch her the entire time.

She hands the papers to him and they were on their final page. "Yosh." He says. "We're almost done."

She smiled as she nods. It was his turn to grip on that pen, and etch some marks on that paper. She turns off her laptop. As she closed it down, she looked at him.

The way his face would contort when he'd confuse himself in which word would be better off used. When he makes that frustrated sound as he makes a mistake and almost tears the paper up. She remembered what he told her.

"Little things could mean a lot, don't you think?"

She feels her eyes close and she rests her head on the table.

Sasayan raised his hands in glee as soon as he was done. "Yeah!" He almost forgot it's two in the morning and that everyone in the neighborhood except them are already sleeping. He turned his attention towards Natsume and he stops grinning as he saw her mess of brown hair cover her face.

He shakes her shoulders, she'd look up, dazed. "Is is finished.. Sasayan-kun?" She says. He answered with a grin. She smiles back. "Finally." She says. "Yehey!" She tries to be as cheerful, but she was tired.

Sasayan could only laugh at her. "I guess I'm going now." She hears him say. "Natsume-san? Is it alright if you keep them and bring them tomo-"

"Sasayan-kun." She said. "You're not thinking of going home this late, aren't you?" He must've been betting than her alarm clock at keeping her awake. She stood up.

"Uh. Yeah." He said, admittedly.

"But…" She says. He can see she's concerned, and he smiles internally.

"Don't worry, Natsume-san." He reassures her. "I'm a boy. Nothing bad's gonna happen out there."

"No." She said. She herself feels surprised about saying that. He raised his brows. "I mean, no. You can…."

She looks away. She can feel her face redden. "You can sleep here, for now." She instantly turns to him despite the fact that she was throwing a fit of embarrassment, though there's nothing to be embarrassed about.

"It's not that you're someone really special okay? I mean, you are but.. You get the point. It's just that I feel like I've been giving you lots of things to carry, letting you here stay this very late, and blogging when I should be writing… So.. I shouldn't kick you out now." She pauses. "And it's cold." She stops, finally, and she breathes in hard.

He laughed. How he laughs at times he shouldn't.

"What are you laughing about?" She says.

"You.. you're like my mom or something. I think you even outshine her at this point." He jokes, but it only brings her to look down. "Fine." He said. "I'll stay just because you're very 'concerned' about me." He teases her.

"Shut up." She said. "Or I'll change my mind."

He walks closer towards her and puts his hand on her head, as if he was some sort of a really tall person. "Like you would. So… can I sleep on the couch now?"

"I'll get some blankets." She runs off to her room.

He nods and waits. She comes back with one.

She watches as he fixes the couch and lies down. Sasayan notices her, just standing, watching at him. "Go to sleep." He says, like a father.

She does so. Before she can close the door to her bedroom, he calls her name.

She turns around. "Goodnight, Natsume-san." He smiled, and he shuffled as he lied, then finally turned his back on her.

"Goodnight." She replies, a little too soft. She wasn't sure if he heard it. It's just she wasn't used to it. It's the first time that a friend had said "Good night" to her, mostly it would be just parents who did that. She can't recall a time in middle school that her friends told her that. Even right now, Mitty wasn't the type who would text "Good Night" right before she sleeps. So is Haru.

But at least she got one from Sasayan.