It feels good finally being on time. I honestly can't remember the last time I posted a chapter when I said I was going too.
Still, I just want to say that I got interrupted so many times while I was writing this chapter! I had a million things to do that pulled me away from my computer throughout the day. I started at 2 in the afternoon and didn't finish until 8 o'clock. Still, I made it on time, so I'm cool with it.
Before we start, I just want to say that some of "my" ideas for this chapter came from a reviewer named "BobIsBadAtEnglish," so part of the credit for this chapter goes to him.
This is the big one, people. The most important chapter I've done up to this point. Let's. Hecking. Do this.
For the second time, Peter woke up in Nejire's bed. The difference this time around was that the girl in question was asleep next to him.
Groaning lightly, Peter propped himself up on his elbows. Doing a quick check of himself, he found there were still many burns and small cuts that had yet to heal, but he was better than he had been before.
"Guess I'm alright then." Peter muttered to himself, choosing to ignore the fact that his chest was still many shades darker than usual. Careful to not make any noise, the injured teen moved the blanket covering him away and slung his legs over the side of the bed. Sure that Nejire wasn't going to wake up, Peter made his way over to the bedroom door. Then, just when he placed his hand on the doorknob…
"And just where do you think you're going young man?"
Peter froze. Upon hearing that voice, he stiffly turned around as slowly as he could. Sure enough, Nejire, her head still laid sideways on the bed, was staring directly at his face.
"Uh, I-I'm just… going to the bathroom?" Peter weakly defended. Nejire did not look convinced.
"Uh-huh. You're a bad liar, you know that?" Peter just hung his head in response. "Get back in bed." Nejire ordered.
"But I'm fine! See? No pain anymore. I'm all goo- agh!" To prove he was alright, Peter began moving his arms and legs around, assuming his usual stances and poses. It was fine at first, then he accidentally brushed his chest with an arm and doubled over in pain.
For a brief second, Nejire looked concerned. But, as she stood up and walked over to Peter, her sympathetic look was replaced by one of amusement.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, Mr. hero, back to bed." Nejire grabbed Peter's arm, dragging him back to the bed despite his protests.
"You listen to me Peter, you are not okay. I know you want to get back to helping people, but there's no point in going out there if you'll only need to be saved yourself. What's a day or two to recover?" Nejire reasoned, forcing Peter back into the bed as she did so.
As much as he wanted to argue, what was there to be said. Nejire was right that there was a good chance Peter would end up needing saving if he tried fighting any criminals.
It still didn't sit right with him though.
"Who cares if I'm injured? If I can still do my job, then I should. I'll recover while I'm working." Nejire wasn't even listening anymore. Once Peter was back in bed, she grabbed her chair and moved it to the doorway, where she sat down once more. It was like she was guarding the door.
"You aren't going anywhere Peter. Not until you get better."
"... But I really do have to use the bathroom." Peter admitted quietly.
Nejire looked impassive for just a second, but Peter could see a tiny blush growing on her face.
"Okay, uh… here's what we'll do."
2 minutes later, Peter had made it to the bathroom, though it was hard to relax knowing Nejire was on the other side of the door.
The door which was unlocked.
"Is this really necessary!?" The teen complained.
"I don't trust you to not jump out the window. If I hear you opening it, I'll run in there and blast you with my quirk."
"You'd shoot an injured man?!"
"Yes." Nejire replied immediately.
Peter sighed. Was this going to be his life for the next few days? The window was right there. It would only take a second to yank it open and jump outside, but what would the point be? He didn't have his suit with him and he couldn't very well fight without it.
"Maybe I could buy a mask."
2 Hours Later:
"Okay, this is a little ridiculous."
At first, Peter accepted Nejire's demands. He figured it wouldn't be too hard to get her to lower her guard, find Karen, and get out of the house.
The shocking thing wasn't exactly that he was proven wrong…
It was the speed at which he was proven wrong.
As soon as Peter had left the bathroom, the bluenette had been waiting to yank him back to the room. As soon as he was laying in the bed again, Nejire had laid herself sideways directly on top of his legs, ensuring he wouldn't go anywhere. To keep him from getting bored, she had even started reading books to him. Despite the comfy bed, the pretty girl, and the good hospitality, he was practically a prisoner. The worst thing was that Peter was actually getting kind of invested in the book she was reading.
What would happen to Mai now that Sakuta fell asleep? He had to know! [1]
Still, just because the book was honestly pretty entertaining, that didn't mean Peter had to be happy about his situation.
"Of course. There's no way you won't try to escape if there isn't something holding you back. Besides, are you really complaining about a beautiful young girl resting on top of you?" Nejire asked cheekily.
"Well, no… that's not exactly the problem here. But could you at least lay on your back?" Peter requested politely. While they weren't exactly right on top of him, he could still feel Nejire's… assets on his leg. He wasn't a child. There's no way that alone would make him freak out or anything, but it was still kind of uncomfortable.
Nejire just ignored him and went right back to reading.
"What time is it anyway? We went back to sleep around 9, right?"
"Yup. Apparently we slept until 3 in the afternoon. Ooh, mom should be making dinner soon." Nejire said excitedly.
"Does that mean I can get out of bed and go to dinner?" Peter asked a bit too hopefully, something Nejire noticed.
"Mmm… nope! Sorry." She didn't sound sorry at all.
Just as predicted, Kanade called the two of them for dinner about 20 minutes later. Peter tried to get up, but Nejire pushed him back down.
"Uh-uh. You can wait right there. I'll bring you your dinner." Nejire ordered before turning around and walking out of the room.
"Wait a second, this is an opportunity!" Peter realized.
Leaping out from under the covers, Peter immediately headed for the window on the far side of the room.
"This is it. I've got a way out. I can wear a bag or something over my head so nobody sees my face. I can finally-" Peter's excited rambling came to a halt once he tore the curtains open.
There were nails… in the window!
On top of the window being locked, there were several nails driven in to hold it shut. Peter could have easily torn them out, but that would make too much noise and it would probably damage the window.
"Find what you were looking for?" Nejire was standing in the doorway, a smug look on her face and two bowls of what looked like katsudon in her hands.
"I… I understand wanting to keep me from leaving, but nailing your own window shut? When did you even do this?"
"While you were asleep." Nejire responded in her usual cheery voice, though Peter noticed how she averted her eyes slightly.
How would she do this while he was asleep? She was also passed out.
To put it simply, she had allies helping her out.
Accepting that he wouldn't be escaping the house this way, Peter sat down on the edge of the bed and accepted his food from Nejire. The two ate in their usual fashion, being Nejire asking questions between mouthfuls while Peter answered whenever he could. Eventually, Peter asked the question weighing down on him.
"How long do you plan on keeping me here? The longer I'm stuck inside, the more criminals I won't be able to stop."
"Peter, you can go out when you heal. You said yourself that you heal really quickly, so what's the problem?"
"It isn't that simple, Nejire. The heroes in this area were already overwhelmed by the amount of villains in the area, but now that I beat up Endeavour, they'll be even more daring. More criminals will come out of hiding than before, and the heroes need all the support they can get." Peter tried to make a case for himself, hoping to sway Nejire to his side.
The short girl thought for a minute before shrugging her shoulders.
"Whenever an area is overwhelmed, more heroes from neighboring cities are called in to help. If things get really bad, they'll ask us third years to help out. If that happens sometime in the next few days, you can leave." In just a few seconds, Nejire destroyed Peter's argument and went back to happily asking questions while eating.
His katsudon long finished, Peter placed his bowl next to him on the bed and stared Nejire dead in the eyes.
"Do whatever you like. You can't keep me here forever. I appreciate your concern, but I need to get back out there." Deciding this was as good an opportunity as any, Peter headed for the bedroom door, only to feel a sudden weight in his eyelids.
"Do you plan on fighting in your sleep?" Nejire asked innocently. Peter turned around to see her holding a small white pill in her hand. "Mom's idea. Gotta admit, it worked better than I thought it would."
"You drugged me? Are you insane?!" was what Peter wanted to ask, but all that came out was a long groan. He continued to try and make it to the door, only to pass out just before he made it to the hallway.
Nejire continued eating her dinner as she looked at Peter's unconscious form.
"Oh Peter," She sighed. "We're just trying to keep you safe."
The Next Day:
Peter once again awoke in Nejire's bed.
"Agh, my head. What happened?" He groaned, forcing himself up. The room was the same as before, including the nailed shut window. However, there was one major difference.
Nejire was not in her chair.
Slightly confused, Peter got out of bed, wincing slightly after realizing he still wasn't totally healed. His legs gave him a tiny bit of pain still, but at least his chest had gone from dark brown to tan.
Stumbling slightly, Peter made his way into the hallway, surprised that he was not met with any resistance.
"Hello?" He called. There was no response.
Now in the entry hall, Peter looked all around, finally seeing a familiar face in the living room.
"Sir?"
"Ah, hello Peter." Otonashi had been reading a book in his recliner, Kanade sitting next to him, typing on a laptop.
"Where's Nejire?"
"School, where else?" Kanade spoke as if it were obvious.
"But… isn't she supposed to be holding me hostage here?"
"Hostage?" The Hado's tilted their heads at the same time, both making the same confused expression.
Peter had a few questions as to what was going on, but he decided against asking them. This was the perfect opportunity to escape. Nobody but Nejire's parents were here and they seemed okay with him leaving.
Turning away from the living room, Peter walked towards the front door, but as he reached for the doorknob, he remembered something.
"Hold on… didn't I… get drugged last night. And didn't Nejire say that… it was Kanade's idea?" Peter slowly walked backwards to the living room, peering cautiously around the wall.
Both Hados were looking straight at him.
"Something wrong Peter?" Otonashi asked innocently.
"... You're not going to let me leave, are you?"
Neither of them answered Peter's question. Unnerved by the silence, Peter bolted for the front door, grabbed the doorknob, and pulled.
Nothing happened.
"What!?" Peter shouted. Peering through the window next to the door, he saw the problem.
There were several metal beams holding the door shut from the outside. Again, Peter could surely open the door regardless, but that would probably destroy it.
"Peter, you'll be fine in no time. Just have some patience." Peter turned around, seeing Otonashi and Kanade standing behind him.
"Seriously? Nailing the windows shut, drugging my food, blocking the door!? Oh my god, you're 'misery-ing' me!"
"Oh, you've read Misery? A bit dark, but I enjoyed it regardless." Otonashi spoke as if nothing were wrong with this situation.
"WHY ARE YOU HELPING HER!? I REALLY AM YOUR HOSTAGE!" Peter yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at his captors. "DON'T YOU HAVE JOBS!?"
"Holiday break."
"I work from home."
Otonashi and Kanade both gave their excuses, Kanade holding up her laptop to emphasize her point.
Peter began taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He wasn't trapped in the house. There had to be some way for him to get out. He was Spider-Man after all. How many high-security compounds had he snuck in and out of in the past? Surely it wouldn't be any trouble breaking out of a small house.
Where he couldn't break anything.
Or hurt anybody.
And it would get exponentially harder if he wasn't out by the time Nejire got home.
"... This is gonna suck."
Not bothering to keep the conversation going, Peter went around Nejire's parents and began looking for a way out of the house.
It quickly became apparent that finding an exit would be extremely difficult.
Every window in the house either had nails hammered into them or wooden planks preventing them from being opened. The only other doors leading outside were the doors leading into the backyard, which were blocked in the same manner as the front door.
"What do the neighbors think of these people? Is nobody wondering why there are boards blocking the windows and doors?" Peter muttered. Seriously, the Hados may have been a bit odd, but if he ever saw one of his neighbors had boarded up their house, he definitely would have investigated.
After deciding that the windows and doors were out, Peter began looking for other ways to escape. There wasn't a basement, so there wasn't any point looking for a cellar entrance. There also wasn't a fireplace, so using a chimney was out.
After nearly an hour of searching and rechecking every inch of the house, Peter finally slumped to the ground in defeat. There was no way of escaping without breaking anything, which would be an easy way to get kicked out.
Sure, escaping was the point, but Peter didn't want to lose the closest thing he had to a home, and he definitely didn't want to piss off the people who were like his second family.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise at the front door. It sounded like something heavy was being moved around.
Wait, was Nejire home?
This was it. The chance Peter needed. If she had to remove the metal to come back in, that meant he had a small window of opportunity to run past her and escape.
Jumping to his feet, Peter ran to the entry hall and stood in front of the door, lowering his body and priming himself to leap forward. The clanking noise persisted a bit longer and then stopped. There was a jingling noise, likely keys being pulled from Nejire's bag.
"This is it. Now or never." Peter thought, watching as the door was slowly pushed open.
"I'm ho-" Nejire's announcement was cut short by a blur crossing her vision, creating a soft breeze that blew her hair back.
"What the?" The short girl turned around, her eyes resting on…
"PETER!" Peter had heard Nejire sound frustrated in the past, but this was the first time he had heard her sound actually angry. Honestly, it was kind of terrifying.
Still, he accomplished his mission.
"FREEDOM IS MINE!" Peter shouted joyously. A few of the neighborhood residents stuck their heads out of their doors to see what was going on. Their confusion only grew when they saw a teenage boy running for his life while being chased by the Hado girl. They simply chalked it up to something caused by Nejire's usual shenanigans and went back into their homes.
"PETER! GET BACK HERE NOW!" Nejire screamed.
"NO! I WON'T BE YOUR PRISONER ANYMORE!" Peter yelled back.
The teens were drawing lots of attention to themselves. Nejire's neighbors may have had a good idea of what was going on, but once they left the neighborhood, those people disappeared. Now they were back in the main part of the city, and nobody was quite sure what to make of what they were seeing.
It was here that Peter realized something. The frantic boy stopped running, slowing his pace to a calm walking speed. Nejire was baffled by this.
"What is he doing? Now it'll be easier for me to catch him. Does he want me to-"
Then she realized it.
This was probably the safest place for Peter. She couldn't exactly drag him back to her house, not when he was screaming about being a prisoner. If Nejire tried it, somebody would definitely call the police.
"Nejire, it's been fun. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go look for something to cover my face with. I'm thinking a paper lunch bag." Peter whispered in her ear to ensure nobody on the street would hear him.
"I can't knock him out. Too many witnesses." Nejire bit her lip in frustration. No way was Peter ready to resume his duties. How did she get him to come back? There had to be a solution.
… It took only a moment of thought to come up with a solution. Nejire's devilish smile made it's return. Before Peter could get too far away, she mumbled something back to him.
"Enjoy your day of work… Spider-Man." Peter instantly froze in place. Looking back at the smug girl, he knew she had won. Nejire wouldn't actually tell people who he was, but Peter didn't feel like taking that chance. Not with so many people around.
"... Fine. You win." He growled, looking down so he wouldn't have to look at Nejire's face.
A short walk later, and they were back at Nejire's home.
"So, are you going to try to escape again?"
"Yes." Peter responded without hesitation.
Nejire just sighed at his response.
"You know we aren't keeping you here because we want you to be miserable. You're here because we want you safe. Peter, you're still injured. No matter how committed they are to their job, every hero knows that when they get hurt, they have to take time off to get better."
"I get that, but I'm really fine! I've fought plenty of people when I was in a way worse state than this, and I'm still here, aren't I? I'm thankful that you're so concerned, but I'm really okay. You don't have to be this worried about me."
Peter and Nejire continued to go back and forth as they walked back to Nejire's home.
"Peter, you promised me you would take it easy. Just two days ago you promised me. I don't like having to barricade my own house from the outside, but that's what you've made me do. I understand wanting to be out there yourself and make sure things are okay, but you have to understand that you can't be there all the time. You told me I wouldn't have to worry about you, but now I have to worry about whether or not you'll break out of my house and put yourself at risk."
Peter was about to bite back, but he held his tongue. He didn't like it, but there was some truth there. He was kind of going back on his word, wasn't he?
"Look, Peter, I know you're doing better. We both know you'll probably be back to normal by tomorrow, so why are you trying so hard to get out? You really couldn't wait just one day?" Nejire asked. She didn't even sound frustrated anymore. It was a simple, genuine question.
"I… I guess I could have, but I didn't want to. It's not just about fighting crime… it's about me. I need to be out there. I need to know I'm really doing my part. Whenever I sit around, I feel guilty."
"Well don't. You'll always have to take some downtime. If you panic over what's happening every time you aren't swinging around the city in a costume, you'll never enjoy your life."
Nejire paused for a second, thinking about something.
"You want peace of mind? Fine then." Nejire reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She spent a few seconds tapping the screen, pulling up several articles before showing the phone to Peter.
The young hero took the phone and read each of the headlines.
"Manual saves family trapped in burning building."
"Mt. Lady captures bank robber trio after police pursuit."
"Edgeshot takes down drug dealer's operation."
Peter continued scrolling through each of the articles, each one showing a similar title.
"You see? Even without you around, plenty of criminals are being taken care of and people are still being saved. It's not just you out there Peter. There are other heroes who can be there when you can't. Trust them to do your job while you recover."
Peter only half heard her as he read through more articles. One thing she said did stick with him though.
"It's not just you out there."
That was an… odd thing to realize. Back home, it was just Peter taking care of things. Sure, the Avengers were there, but they really only took care of the really big stuff. Peter was the only one looking out for the little care and managing minor crimes.
It wasn't like this was the first he had heard of there being other heroes to manage the crime in this city, but he just hadn't really paid attention to it before.
Peter glanced up from the phone, shooting a look at Nejire.
"... These are all from today?"
"Yup. Every day a bunch of crimes are stopped, whether or not you're there. You help a lot, sure, but the other heroes do plenty of their own work as well." Nejire confirmed.
Peter thought for a moment before giving Nejire her phone back and continued to walk back home.
"Where are you going?"
"... Like you said, I'll be healed up by tomorrow, so I may as well enjoy the last few hours of my… vacation." Peter sighed, still not sounding very happy about the situation. Still, he had at least accepted it to some degree. Nejire said the other heroes were handling things and had even shown him proof, so he would trust her.
Nejire gave a slight smile, then hurried to catch up.
Back Home:
"I'm just saying, the name doesn't make any sense. You can turn yourself into a piece of thread and you name yourself 'Edgeshot?' I just don't see the connection." Peter stated.
"No, it totally makes sense." Nejire argued.
"Is the thread sharp? Can he shoot himself around at high speeds? If not, I don't see how 'Edgeshot' has anything to do with his quirk."
It took only a little longer for Peter and Nejire to arrive back home.
"You think your parents are gonna be mad at me for bolting out the door?" Peter asked as he pushed the front door open.
"Nah, they're pretty cool. I don't think they would really mind you-"
"Hello Peter." Both Nejire and Peter jumped a little when they saw the Hados standing in front of the door.
"Peter, we were very clear on what we expected of you, and you did the opposite." Kanade said. "As such, you have forced us to do something horrible."
Peter's eyes widened when Kanade took her hands from behind her back, revealing she was holding a metal mallet.
"Uh, mom? Are you feeling okay?" Nejire asked in concern
"Oh god! Are you gonna break my ankles?!" Peter took multiple steps back, Nejire doing the same.
"What? No. I need this to make dinner. If you try to run away again, I'm sorry to say, but you'll have to go without dinner for the night. That's your punishment." Peter exhaled deeply, relieved. [2]
"Don't worry, I won't try and run anymore." Peter promised.
Otonashi looked a bit surprised.
"Oh? What changed your mind?"
"We had a little talk after I captured him." Nejire cut in.
"Oh come on, you didn't capture me. You blackmailed me into following you." Peter protested.
"I'm not seeing a difference here." Nejire shrugged.
Kanade and Otonashi smiled at the two friends' "argument." Neither of them looked angry, rather they were just protesting each other's words for the sake of doing so.
"Alright, you can argue later. For now, come inside. It'll be dinner time soon."
"Okay dad." Nejire was the first in the door, followed by Peter.
Later that night, the four of them sat around the dinner table, having a simple talk as they had done up until a few days ago. Peter was in the middle of telling one of his old stories.
"Wait, so you had a girlfriend before?" Nejire asked a bit too seriously. She was interested in this Liz person. She seemed important based on Peter's description of her.
"Well, no. It was a girl I liked. We never actually dated. I don't think sending her dad to jail really helped my case at all." Peter rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"Hah! There are plenty of girls who would disagree with you." Otonashi laughed lightly, clapping Peter on the back in an almost congratulatory fashion.
"New York certainly sounds like a very interesting city. Maybe we should go there someday." Kanade wondered aloud.
"So what was this Liz girl like?" Nejire asked, trying to sound inconspicuous.
"Well, she had tan skiing and dark hair…"
"Darn it."
"She was pretty quiet most of the time unless somebody talked to her…"
"Come on!"
"Oh, and she could be pretty energetic when it came to the things she was passionate about." Peter finished. "Overall, a pretty great girl."
"Finally, something I can relate to!" Nejire mentally cheered. Out of all the things Peter listed, did she really only have one thing in common with this girl he apparently liked.
Upon this realization, Nejire began to glare at her food, pouting a little.
The dinner conversation continued for a while longer, well after everyone had finished eating.
It wasn't until nearly 8 PM that the 4 of them finally stopped talking and split up to go to their respective rooms. Peter was about to lay out a blanket on the couch, but Nejire stopped him.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm… getting ready to sleep?" Peter stated the obvious. Nejire glanced to the side for a moment, deep in thought, before evidently making up her mind.
"Peter, come with me."
"Huh? Where are we- GOING!?" Peter was stopped mid-sentence by Nejire grabbing his arm and dragging him away. She took him down the hall, barely giving him time to place his feet on the ground as she pulled him towards…
Her room?
"Uh, Nejire? Should we really be-"
"Stop talking." Nejire ordered. Peter wisely decided to listen, clamping his mouth shut. Before long, they were standing together in Nejire's room. The girl herself looked shy now that they were here while Peter just looked confused.
Before Peter could ask any questions, Nejire walked to her bed, pulled up the covers, and lay down. When Peter made no moves, she lifted up one side of the blanket with an expectant look on her face.
"Get in."
"... EH!?" Peter half-shouted, not wanting to disturb Nejire's parents.
"You heard me, don't make me say it again!" Nejire whisper-shouted back, her face slightly red. "It's the last day of your break and you should be enjoying yourself. You shouldn't have to sleep on a couch on your vacation, so get in the bed."
Peter didn't make a single move. This was a trick right? She just wanted to tease him. As soon as he laid down in the bed, she would start laughing.
That thought died as soon as Peter looked at her face. Normally, when Nejire wanted to tease him, he could tell by looking at her face. She always looked somewhat excited, expectant, and somewhat happy.
This was not the case right now.
Now, Nejire simply looked shy. Shy, hesitant, and unsure.
"Peter, this is your brain. This is Nejire we're talking about. Of course this is just a trick. She would never pass up an opportunity to screw with you. Don't take the bait."
"Peter, this is the cooler part of your brain. Ignore this loser. The signs are all there. This girl clearly just wants an excuse to sleep together with you. She's cute, she's smart, she's nice, what do you have to lose here?"
"Peter, this is your pen-"
"GET OUT!" Peter's brain shouted.
Peter shook his head to clear the thoughts from his mind. He looked between Nejire and the bedroom door, weighing his options.
"Sleep alone on a couch, or sleep in a comfortable bed with Nejire?"
He didn't have to think very long.
Lifting one foot, Peter hesitated for a moment before placing it forward, walking slowly to the bed. Now there, he carefully lowered himself into the bed next to Nejire.
Several awkward seconds passed and neither of them said a word.
"... G-good night Peter." Nejire uttered, turning her back to him as soon as the words were spoken.
"Uh, y-yeah. Good night." Peter responded politely, also turning around.
They both lay with their backs turned to the other, neither closing their eyes. They were both painfully aware of the person resting not even a foot from them. They were close enough that they could feel each other's heat and hear their breathing.
"How am I supposed to sleep like this?!" Peter mentally screamed.
"This was a terrible idea!" Nejire screamed in her mind.
Trying to make the best of the situation, they both closed their eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. Sooner or later they would get tired and fall asleep, right?
11 Hours Later:
Peter's eyes were red and there were bags under his eyes. His body felt heavy and it ached. Nejire was feeling much the same, her appearance not much better than Peter's.
Needless to say, neither of them had fallen asleep the previous night.
And they were both aware of the other's lack of sleep.
Sighing, Peter turned his body around and faced Nejire's back.
"So… I'd ask if you slept well, but I think we both know that didn't happen." He awkwardly attempted to start a conversation. Nejire twitched a little at his words, also turning over after he was finished.
"Right. This may not have been my best idea ever." Nejire admitted.
"... The uh, the clock says it's 7 o'clock. Don't you need to get ready for school?"
"It's Saturday."
"Oh, right. Right."
"..."
"..."
"... Why is this so awkward? I know it wasn't in a bed or anything, but we've slept together before." Nejire wondered.
"Please don't say it like that. And… I don't know. This is the first time I did something like this really, so I'm just kind of nervous." Peter did his best to shrug in his sideways position.
Nejire nodded to show she agreed with his guess. The uncomfortable silence returned.
"... Hey Peter? That girl you mentioned… did she ever like you back?" Nejire asked. She wasn't sure why she decided to ask that, it was just the first thing that came to mind. Now that she had said it, she was silently cursing herself.
"Liz? Well, she did accept my invitation to our school dance, but I had to bail on her. Hard to say if she really liked me, but I think she might have eventually. Why?" Peter seemed clueless as to the implications behind the question.
Nejire felt a little saddened by his response. She knew this was stupid. This girl lived on the other side of the world, and she didn't even live in Peter's home city anymore. So what was the problem?
"... Am I… am I like her at all?"
Peter seemed a bit confused by the question.
"Like her? Not at all."
Those words stung a bit. Apparently Liz was the type of girl to attract Peter's attention. Hearing she wasn't anything like her… it hurt.
"But that's okay."
"Huh?"
"You don't have to be like her. You're good in your own ways. You have a strong desire to protect others. You're really curious and always willing to learn. You're easily one of the most likeable people I've ever met, and… you know… you're kind of… well, good looking too." Peter started off confident, but gradually became embarrassed the longer he spoke.
Meanwhile, Nejire was experiencing mixed emotions. At first, she was also embarrassed, but found herself smiling by the time Peter finished.
"Oh? Calling an older woman pretty while in bed with her? What are you after, young man?" Nejire teased.
"I-I'm not that much younger than you! And I'm not after anything!" Peter denied quickly.
The bluenette laughed at his reaction, smiling even more at his flustered expression. She felt more like herself now. Less like a mopey teenage girl and more like her happy-go-lucky self. There was another feeling there as well.
She felt like doing something… a bit risky.
"Peter? One last question." She asked, still giggling a little.
"S-sure."
"Did Liz ever do this?"
Not giving Peter time to react, Nejire leaned forward…
And kissed him.
Not a cheek kiss or a forehead kiss like she had done before. Her lips made contact with his in that moment. It gave them both a warm feeling, made them feel… comfortable, happy even.
It only lasted a second, but it felt like much more time had passed.
When Nejire broke away, the first thing she noticed was how warm her face felt. Her face had to be a deep crimson by this point. Peter looked similar as he struggled to form words.
"I-I, uh, I don't… I c-can't say she did." Peter stuttered. "I can't say anybody has. This is kind of a first."
"Oh, really?"
Peter nodded.
"... Was it bad?" Nejire asked guiltily.
Peter looked at her face, regarding her for a moment. In that moment, he seemed to make a decision.
Leaning forward, he returned the kiss, making Nejire's eyes widen in surprise.
Pulling back, Peter still looked a bit flustered, though he was somehow calmer.
"D-does that answer your question?" He asked slowly.
Nejire's shocked expression remained for a few seconds. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Did she laugh? Did she kiss him again?
Unable to think properly, she simply did the first thing she could think of.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
"AAAHHH! YOU IDIOT!" Immediately, Nejire criticized herself over her choice of words. "WHY WOULD YOU SAY THANK YOU!?"
Nejire ceased her loud thoughts when she heard a small chuckle. Peter was laughing at the look on her face.
"Hey! Don't laugh at me! I'm supposed to be the one who laughs at you!" Nejire complained, lightly punching Peter's shoulder to make him stop.
"Sorry. You just looked so surprised just now." He continued laughing.
"Can you blame me!? I wasn't expecting you to kiss me back like that!"
Peter stopped laughing, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Yeah, well… I guess I figured it was time."
"Eh?" Nejire was genuinely confused now.
"I mean, you have kissed me a few times now, we've fallen asleep together in the past, and we even went on a date. Plus, I've been kind of thinking of a few things on my own. I figured if you kissed me first, for real this time, I may as well do the same. Was I wrong?"
Now it was Nejire's turn to laugh. It just seemed a bit ridiculous to her, how he could think about so much right now when she was still stuck thinking about this exact moment they were currently sharing.
"Oh, Peter, you always overthink things. Why couldn't you just think about returning the favor to the pretty girl who kissed you?"
"I-I… I just… agh, I don't know." Peter sighed.
The silence was back, but it barely lasted a second before both Peter and Nejire began laughing at the situation they were in. It seemed silly when they thought about all the things that happened recently.
From Nejire finding Peter in an abandoned building, to bringing him home, to him becoming a relatively famous vigilante in the beginning of their relationship.
Then the mess with Endeavour came, and with these past few days being filled with arguments and conflict, it felt odd to now be sitting together, trading a kiss with each other.
Deciding to move the conversation forward, Peter tried to stop laughing so he could speak.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think anybody should be waking up at 7 o'clock on the weekend. You want to try and sleep again?" He offered.
"Oh my god, yes. I'm so tired right now." Nejire quickly agreed.
Peter turned onto his back, now staring at the ceiling, his arms beside him. Just before he closed his eyes, he felt a small weight on his arm.
"Nejire?" The blue-haired girl had moved closer and was now laying on his arm, her head on his chest. Thankfully, it was healed enough that the contact no longer hurt him.
"What? You're more comfortable than my pillows." Nejire replied cheekily.
Peter didn't even bother protesting. Instead, he stretched out the arm Nejire was laying on so he could support her back and closed his eyes.
This time, neither of them had any trouble going to sleep.
I know I said this at the beginning of the chapter, but Jesus this chapter took a long time to write. It's like somebody out there didn't want me to finish on time. Well whoever you are, you can screw off! I've been late on pretty much 70% of every chapter in this story, I am not going to be late this time. This chapter is getting published on time and there's nothing you can do about it!
[1]: Anybody know what book this is? If so, congratulations, you have good taste.
[2]: This whole section is actually a reference to 2 different things. I'm curious to see if anybody gets both of them.
Anyway, I don't exactly want to say they're dating now, but there's definitely a lot of progress made in this chapter. And in the next chapter, we can finally get back to the usual shenanigans of this story without Peter making the Hados angry. Good times are ahead of us lads.
Thanks for reading and remember to leave a review.
Aren signing off.