I do not own Yama Nade… Kyaa chapter 75!
As she stepped through the foyer, she immediately noticed how hard the boys had worked to keep the mansion clean. Wow, she thought utterly impressed…that is until she opened the corridor closet and bag upon bag of garbage and dirty laundry piled on top of her. The quartet was at her side in a second pulling her out from under the mound of filth. Scratching their heads, they admitted they didn't have enough time to clean it all but adamantly stated they would do so today and that she should continue to relax. After all, it was her first day home from the hospital. Kyohei pulled her away from the pile and forced her into her room, knowing once she got into "must clean Sunako mode" there would be no stopping the woman.
Before she returned the boys had fought bitterly about whether or not to remove the objects of darkness from her room. Kyohei's final say was to leave things as they were, glaring at them he confidently ended the argument with the statement that she was not so weak a woman to let some stupid misfortune ruin her love for these things. He couldn't help but arrogantly smirk when she gleefully squealed at the sight of her dear Hiroshi, John, Josephine and Akira. Hugging John, her thoughts fell to the late John Jr. A solemn silence passed before he handed her a tiny skull shaped box. "Takenaga knew someone who could cremate him. Ranmaru found the box." He asked somewhat hesitantly. "Do you want me to bury him in the backyard?" Closely he watched as she emotionlessly stared at the box. Sunako nodded once then quickly handed back the box. Hmm, he observed, the memory was still a bit raw.
Kyohei left her in her room to settle in, then quickly escaped as Yuki, Takenaga, and Ranmaru struggled (again) to figure out how to work the laundry machine. Walking through the neighborhood brought him inadvertently back to the video store. Thinking about her reaction to John Jr, caused his judgement to fail him and he ended up picking up one of those "feel-good movies" before heading back home. That evening as they watched what Noi had called "the cutest movie ever" Kyohei found himself swept with waves of nausea and annoyance. Yet the comfort her lap provided (their new movie watching position) kept him from going crazy. About twenty minutes in, Sunako gently rolled him off her lap, stood up and turned off the movie. Turning to face him she seethed, "Why didn't you get Saw IV? Weren't we talking about watching that? What is this crap anyway? Kimochi warui!"
Smiling, he placed a hand into a pocket and produced the desired DVD. She grumbled as she snatched at it. "If you had it why did you put this ridiculous movie on in the first place." Scenes of blood and gore and mystery filled the screen and their hearts raced in response. Sunako found herself loving the movie, but shockingly noted she didn't enjoy the gratuitous torture scenes as much as she thought she would. Kyohei also noted her changing tastes when during a particularly gruesome act she inadvertently reached down and grasped his hand tightly.
When the movie ended, he refused to move from her lap saying his back was stiff from having slept in a chair (at her bedside) for the last month. Of course she was immediately swept with guilt and let him stay. "Oi, are you going to school tomorrow?" He inquired. Sleepily she nodded an affirmative. "Well, I guess we should go to sleep." He resigned, slowly getting up, hair a mess. Sunako watched as he paused at her doorway and she quizzically cocked her head. Without turning back, he muttered "G'night" and left. Plopping onto her bed, she sighed as she sunk into her own pillows and bed for the first time in two months. Closing her eyes she waited for sleep to overtake her.
She waited, and waited, and waited…but found that she was besieged by insomnia. "Dammit." She annoyingly whispered. They had been sleeping together for the last two months (the first month in the room they shared and the second in the hospital) and in all honesty…she missed him. She missed the relaxing rhythm of his breaths, she missed the security his large form nearby innately provided, she missed the comfort of his sleeping face (so much more tolerable than when he was awake). Gathering a lone downy pillow, she draped her large black blanket around her and stealthily left her room. Sneaking a glance up and down the hall, she noiselessly ninja tiptoed to his room. She stood in front of his door for what seemed like eternity, and probably would have never entered if Ranmaru's "guest" had not at that particular time decided to go to the bathroom. Hearing the redhead's door creak, Sunako fled into the room just before her.
Once in Kyohei's room, Sunako wondered what she was doing there. Her back flush against the wall, she waited and found herself growing more and more drowsy in his presence. Slinking down the wall, she decided she would sleep by the door and leave before he woke in the morning. Curling up by the door, she found herself swiftly drifting away. "Are you really going to sleep over there." He sarcastically called out, bringing her completely back to her senses. Immediately she began sweating. "Er, ah." When suddenly she felt his arms around her as he reached down and tossed her over his shoulder. "It's not like I can let someone who just got out of the hospital sleep on the floor." He simply stated, while placing her gently onto his bed. "But I won't sleep on the floor either." He finished as he slipped in next to her. It was then that Sunako realized that he was shirtless. "Urk. Uh, I'm leaving." She squeaked, but found that he had a firm grasp on her left wrist. "Baka, just stay. This bed is really big, we'll sleep back to back. It's no big deal." He quietly continued before finished with a whispered. "I couldn't sleep either." With that confession, he released her and laid down, his back facing hers (and unbeknownst to Sunako his face brightly flushed). Silently she did likewise.
That evening in the midst of thoughts of skulls, roses, and chocolate she dreamt of them. Surprisingly she wasn't cursed with visions of a radiant prince on a white horse fighting a fierce battle with an evil black-hearted witch. No, tonight she simply dreamt of them - a teenage boy and a high school girl (though in the dream they were still fighting…)
As usual, Sunako woke with the dawn and quietly crept back to her own room before heading downstairs to prepare breakfast. Thankfully her aunt had heavily stocked the fridge and she enthusiastically prepared a grand meal. One by one the roommates gathered around the dining table and began enjoying the lavish food. Yuki even cried saying "I LOVE Sunako's cooking. It's the best!"
While walking to school, Takenaga, Yuki, and Ranmaru continued to watch the odd interactions of their roommates. "Hey Takenaga, do you think Sunako has made Kyohei a man yet?" The redhead whispered. "Don't be ridiculous, she just got released from the hospital." Takenaga logically answered. "Nee nee, look at how cute they are. Kyohei keeps stealing glances at Sunako chan." Yuki commented. "But yesterday, didn't he say they weren't officially dating?" Takenaga quipped back.
As they neared their school, Sunako flashed back to that bastard teacher's face. Noticing the change in her pace and expression, Kyohei instinctively threw a protective arm around her and drew her close. "Hey, we don't have to go to school today." He whispered to her. In his arms, she recovered and returned his gaze before she answered ith. "I'm fine." Slipping out of his grasp she ran ahead.
Even though she was recovering well, Kyohei's thoughts still wandered to her constantly throughout the day. He wondered how she was doing, if she was keeping up, if she was still being persecuted by his fans. With every hour that passed, he tried to find ways to "check on her"- walks past her classroom, glances out the window, and peeks down the right hallways. When he was lucky enough to actually catch her, he worriedly watched.
Sunako was surprised to discover how happy she felt to be seeing her friends. She never expected she would miss them, but being back in the classroom and a part of something bigger than herself felt really nice. She noticed for the first time in a long time, how kind her friends were to her, and how earnestly her peers helped her "catch-up." Sunako was quite shocked at the realization that she was actually liked. During a break she confirmed her observation to Noi. "Of course, our classmates like you. You always get complimented during home economics. You always get picked first during PE. I mean you even have your own fan club (see YNSH chapter 73). And you know, all the girls secretly admire how you are always just yourself and never pretend to be someone else. THAT'S WHY WE THINK YOU'RE SO COOL!" She replied with stars in her eyes. To which Sunako answered back with a large grateful smile.
He leaned against the classroom window and watched the PE class below. They were playing soccer and of course Sunako had come into it guns blazing, ready to take anyone on. As usual she scored point after point and he chuckled thinking how hopeless the other teams goalie was. "Oh, that Nakaharo Sunako is something isn't she. She looks like she's having so much fun, I want to play too." He heard a classmate say. "She's kinda cool, I like that athletic type." Another classmate added. "Oh and she's got a good body too, remember that one time…OUCH!" The third unfortunate classmate's comment was cut-off by an eraser to the forehead (courtesy of Kyohei).
At the end of the day, Kyohei picked her up at her classroom and found her amidst a group of students. She stood just at the periphery of the group, but it was obvious that they were including her in the discussion by the way she was smiling. A sudden irritation brewed within him when he witnessed the looks the guys in the groups were sending to her. Stomping loudly he made his way over to her and flung his arm around her shoulder. "Time to go home." He stated dragging her out of the classroom. She followed without a fight resulting in the birth of a small satisfied smile. This however was quickly wiped away when she called back "See you guys tomorrow. I had a lot of fun today."
His poor mood continued into the afternoon and evening, but the horror movie du jour (and her lap) slowly eased that away. By late evening, he happily slipped into bed next to her. "What are you doing?" She protested. "I don't want to make my bed in the morning." He simply stated. As they lay there, back to back he commented over his shoulder. "Hey, I noticed you're getting along a lot better with your classmates." To which she replied. "Yeah." An uncomfortable silence followed, and just when Kyohei had decided he would probably not get anything more out of her that evening she whispered. "They like me for me…just like you do." To which he replied (while furriously blushing). "Yeah."
p.s. anyone interested in beta-ing me?