AN: Hey guys! Hope everyone is surviving their Monday. I made the mistake a staying up too late on the weekend and couldn't sleep so here's another chapter lol. Hope everyone enjoys! Also, I wanted to say, because people keep brining it up and I hate to cause anxiety on the matter, but I guarantee that when this story is winding down and we're to the last chapter I'll tell you guys. So unless its stated otherwise you can expect another chapter! Any who, on with the fic!
As Naoto's parents entered the household, Naoto and Hayase quickly separated from each other. Putting a foot or two between them just before Naoto's parents entered the living room.
Naoto's parents were having a conversation just as they entered. Naoto's mother was the first to notice they had a guest.
"Oh! Hi guys!" Naoto's mother said, taken off guard by Hayase's presence in the house.
Naoto's father walked into the room and noticed her as well, although not saying anything.
"Hey guys." Naoto said, wincing as he turned his torso to face them. His chest still hurting from the ringleader's blow.
"Sorry for not saying anything about Nagatoro coming over, but my phone is kind of wrecked." Naoto said.
Naoto's parents both perked up at that, Naoto wasn't the type for his phone to break without a good reason. They'd both noticed the pain their son was in as he turned to face them as well. Naoto's father spoke up first.
"What do you mean wrecked? Are you okay?"
"Naoto, are you hurt?" His mother also said.
Naoto quickly did his best to ease their worry, "I'm okay! Well, mostly. I'd be in worse shape if Nagatoro wasn't there." However that only seemed to peak their worry.
"What happened?" Naoto's mother said as she and Naoto's Father came close to inspect their son, unintentionally forgetting they had a guest. Who herself was still in a bit of a daze from the previous kisses.
Naoto began to explain the events of what happened after he left the art room. How he'd been on the way to Judo to sketch Hayase, and how he'd been ambushed by the ringleader and his entourage. When he told them about how the ringleader struck him, the atmosphere of the room changed as both his parents visibly angered. However the anger was quickly dissipated as he recounted Hayase's rescue.
"It was incredible," said Naoto, continuing with, "she sent him flying across the hallway like he was made of feathers." Which brought a flush to Hayase's face. She'd remained silent up to this point. Admiring the parental protectiveness being displayed in front of her. However, she noticed both of Naoto's parents look straight at her after Naoto finished his sentence, causing the usually confident girl to grow nervous. However her nervousness was quickly dissipated.
Naoto's mother, who was kneeling in front of her son, reached over and placed a hand on Hayase's, saying earnestly, "Thank you, Nagatoro." Hayase blushed brightly at the action and said, "O-Of course!" Also noticing Naoto's father give her a nod of approval, clearly reciprocating his wife's words.
Both of Naoto's parents returned their attention to their son. His mother asked, "What happened next?" And Naoto continued the story up to the point of Nagatoro helping him home. He didn't, however, mention the kisses.
Once Naoto finished his recounting of the events his parents both stood, having the same thought process. Naoto's father spoke up, "I want to take you to the hospital and get you checked out." Naoto's mother nodded in agreement.
Naoto began to respond, "Are you sure? That doesn't seem nesseca-"
"Yes." Both of Naoto's parents answered sternly. There'd be no debate on this matter.
Hayase and Naoto sat in the back of his parents' car. They were on the way to the local hospital. However, they were dropping Hayase off at her house, much to her disappointment. She understood why of course, it was getting later in the afternoon and she admittedly should be home by now. All the same, the last thing she wanted to do was leave Naoto's side right now.
As they pulled up to Nagatoro's house, she felt dread grow in her heart. She realized she wouldn't hear from Naoto until at the earliest tomorrow, considering his destroyed phone.
Hayase exited the car, shouldering her backpack as she thanked Naoto's parents for the ride. They both in turn sincerely thanked Hayase. Just as Hayase was closing the door she noticed Naoto giving her a sad look, he seemed to have realized the implications of the lack of his phone as well.
Noticing her Senpai's sad look, she did her best to cheer him up. "I'll see you tomorrow Senpai~." And gave him a wink with her right eye, so his parents couldn't see the action.
Naoto blushed at her flirt and quickly said, "Y-Yeah I'll see you tomorrow." And Hayase closed the car door.
Hayase took a step back and watched them drive off. Watching them until they were no longer within eyesight. She breathed out a sad sigh and walked towards her front door.
Once Hayase got inside she went to her bedroom and changed out of her Judo uniform. Throwing on a t-shirt and some shorts, she laid down on her bed. She pulled out her phone for the first time since before Judo. As she unlocked her phone she realized she had more than a few unread messages from her friend Gamo.
"Hey, where did you go?"
"Hayacchi, your rematch with Orihara is starting soon! Where are you!?"
"Did something happen? They cancelled the match after I told them you left."
"I'm not sure what's going on, but please let me know what's happening when you get a minute."
Hayase read through the messages and a pang of guilt hit her. She'd been so caught up with making sure Naoto was okay she totally forgot Gamo-chan was at the club before she left to find him.
"Hey I'm really sorry for bailing on you, I left to go find Senpai. When I found him he was getting attacked by some assholes."
Hayase sent that first message and began typing a follow up.
"They'd roughed him up quite a bit by the time I got there so I made sure he got home okay."
Hayase set her phone down on her bed after the message had been sent. Recounting the story again made her realize just how mad she still was about the whole thing. She sat and wished she could kick that douchebag again when she heard her phone's notification sound go off.
Hayase picked up her phone and read Gamo-chan's response.
"Holy shit! Is Paisen okay?" Gamo sent back.
"Yeah he should be. His parents are getting him checked out at the hospital but he didn't seem to have anything major." Hayase replied.
Gamo-chan responded with, "That's good. Who were the asshats that attacked him?"
"I'm not sure honestly." Following up with, "I'd ask Naoto but his phone got destroyed."
There was a slight delay from Gamo-Chan that caused Hayase to reread what she'd sent, wondering if there was a typo. She went red in the face as she realized her slip. She'd never referred to Naoto by name with her friends before.
"Okay don't get me wrong, that's some serious shit. But, did you just call him Naoto?"
Hayase could almost hear Gamo-chan's teasing voice through the message. Hayase frustratingly replied, "Yeah? So what!?"
Gamo's response came quickly, "No way! You guys are on a first name basis now! That's so adorable! I can't wait to tell Yoshi and Sakura!"
Hayase groaned at the message, cursing herself for the slip. She considered telling Gamo not to tell the others, but she knew it was pointless. "Whatever." Was all she sent in response to Gamo.
"Haha sorry Hayacchi! Okay for real though, I'm going to ask around and figure out who those pricks that attacked Paisen are. I'll keep you posted." Gamo sent back.
That made Hayase feel better. She wanted more than anyone to figure out who they were and why the hell they attacked her Senpai.
"Thanks Gamo. I'd really appreciate that."
Hayase placed her phone down and breathed out a heavy sigh. She wanted so badly to hear from Naoto. Was he okay after all? Was she wrong about his injuries? What if…
Hayase would've sat and overthought the situation for hours if she didn't hear the sound of someone coming home. Hayase snapped herself out of it and reached for her phone. Hoping beyond hope that Naoto had sent something. When her phone displayed no new messages she let out a huff and set it back down.
The day had started off so perfect, she'd managed to get Naoto right where she wanted him at lunch. While moving a little farther than she'd originally intended with the bite, she didn't regret the end result. Then with Judo she was going to simultaneously help him with his art project and maybe get a kiss out of him, if she could've beaten Orihara. Hayase blushed at the thought. In fairness though, she did get that kiss, more than one actually.
The rest of that day had gone by excruciatingly slowly, and in the end she never ended up hearing from Naoto. To make matters worse, she barely slept that night, consistently waking up and checking her phone.
The next day at school, Hayase, while exhausted, left early to hopefully see Naoto when he entered the school. However, he never showed up. Hoping that maybe she'd had just missed him in her exhaustion she went to class and hoped to see him in the Art room at lunch.
After sitting through an excruciatingly long batch of classes, the bell for lunch finally rang. Any exhaustion Hayase had evaporated as she quickly ran out of the classroom. Hayase sent a quick text to Gamo saying she'd be in the art room for lunch today, and then ran almost the whole way there.
Once Hayase arrived she heard the sound of paper being moved around on the other side of the door. Her heart racing with excitement at the prospect of seeing her Senpai, she threw the art room door open yelling "Senpai!" However much to her disappointment, he wasn't there. Instead Sunomiya sat in the center of the art room, sketching on an easel. She was seemingly unaffected by Hayase's sudden entrance.
"Hello Nagatoro Senpai. Hachiouji Senpai isn't here unfortunately. Considering he's not with you I suspect he's not at school today." Said Sunomiya, matter of factly.
Hayase winced at the words, fear growing in her heart. "Is he okay? What if he was more hurt than I thought?" Hayase thought to herself. Sunomiya, noticing Nagatoro's expression, said, "Don't worry Nagatoro Senpai. If something had happened to Hachiouji Senpai, I'm sure we'd have heard by now."
That snapped Hayase out of her overactive imagination, "You heard about what happened?" Asked Hayase. Which sparked a look of confusion on Sunomiya's face. Not wanting to stress the girl out, Nagatoro said, "Nevermind, you're probably right." Despite the fact Sunomiya didn't know about yesterday's events, her words rang true. Naoto was likely fine, likely taking a day off to rest and recover.
"Thanks Sunomiya, I'll see you later." Said Hayase, she then closed the Art Room door and began walking towards her next class. She wasn't hungry.
After a few more excruciating hours of waiting, school had finally got out. This time however, she didn't bolt out of the classroom when the bell rang. The lack of sleep and the early morning had finally caught up to Hayase.
Hayase shot a text towards Gamo-Chan explaining she wouldn't be at Judo today, apologizing for the hassle. Gamo of course let her know not to worry about it.
As Hayase walked home, Naoto's absence felt even more apparent, causing her heart to ache. As Hayase walked, thinking about her Senpai, she realized she'd come up to the intersection where she and Naoto usually split paths.
Hayase started down the path home but found herself slowing down until finally she stopped. "Maybe… maybe I could go see him." She thought aloud. It wasn't like it was out of the question. She'd gone over when Naoto had caught the flu.
Hayase stood for a few seconds before she made up her mind. Quickly turning around she began down the road towards Naoto's house.
As she approached Naoto's home, she could feel her energy returning with the thought of seeing him. Quickly she came up to the door and knocked loudly and enthusiastically. After about forty seconds, Hayase knocked again, again with no answer. After another forty seconds, anxiety began wracking her mind as she began to worry.
"Maybe no one is home? Maybe he's still at the hospital? What if he's hurt? What if-" just as Nagatoro's internal dialogue began to spiral out of control the front door opened, on the other side was none other than Naoto.
"Hey Nagatoro." Naoto said groggily, "Sorry about the wait. I was still in bed and-" Naoto got interrupted as Hayase slammed into him, embracing the groggy boy.
"Don't scare me like that!" Hayase almost yelled, irritation in her voice. "I was worried you were more hurt than I thought, or maybe you were sick or-"
This time however it was Naoto who interrupted, "Hayase, I'm fine I promise." Naoto wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze. Then he said, "I'm sorry I scared you."
The couple sat there embracing, happy to be in each other's company again. After a few moments and once Hayase had calmed down a bit she said, "Okay… as long as you're okay." and they released their embrace.
The two of them sat on the porch for a few more moments until Naoto sheepishly said, "D-Do you want to come in?"
Hayase giggled a bit and said, "Sure, as long as you don't have anything pervy planned Senpai~."
Naoto blushed at her response and said, "N-No! I just figured-" Hayase cut him off.
"Suuure, whatever you say, Senpai~."
Naoto blushed a little more, but kept quiet. He was just happy to see Hayase back to normal. Naoto let Hayase into the house and they sat down on the couch, the same spot they had the day before.
"So how'd school go? I would've gone but my parents wanted me to take the day to rest." said Naoto.
"It was… a day." said Hayase, remembering the day's earlier events.
Naoto worriedly looked at his Kohai, and asked "Did something happen?"
"No… I just…" Hayase's voice trailed off. Now that the initial adrenaline rush of seeing her Senpai had worn off, she'd forgotten how tired she was. "I just missed you." She finally said, a blush rising in her cheeks.
"Oh…" said Naoto. After a few moments he said "I missed you too." His face now supporting its own blush now.
Hayase felt butterflies in her stomach, and then said with a giggle. "Ewww. Gross. Senpai missed me."
Naoto blushed a little harder, but didn't say anything in response.
After a few moments, Hayase said, "I'm glad you're okay, Senpai."
Naoto smiled a little, and then said "Only because of you." Which made her smile and blush more.
Naoto, wanting to do something nice for his Kohai, asked, "Are you hungry at all? I could make you something if you want?"
Nagatoro shook her head, "That sounds really good, but I'm actually really exhausted." She said while stifling a yawn.
"Oh. Okay." Naoto said, thinking of ideas.
After a few seconds Naoto figured something out and said "Here, I'll be right back." And quickly stood leaving the room.
Hayase heard him walk up the stairs to what she presumed was his bedroom. After a few seconds she heard him begin walking back down the stairs. When he reappeared in the living room he was holding a blanket and handed it to Hayase.
"Here, if you want, you're welcome to rest for a bit." Naoto said.
Hayase blushed and accepted the blanket, it felt soft and warm. As she brought it close she recognized Naoto's smell on it.
"Did you pull this off your bed?" Hayase asked.
Naoto blushed and said, "Y-Yeah? Is that okay?"
Hayase wrapped the blanket around herself, her heart fluttering. Once she'd bundled herself up, her expression more than a little happy, she said, "Gross." And left it at that.
Naoto smiled and rolled his eyes. Even he could tell it was more than 'okay'. Naoto then took his seat back on the couch. Much to his surprise however, once he sat down, Hayase immediately cuddled up against him. Leaning her heavy head on his shoulder.
Naoto blushed a bright red, and looked at the girl, who as far as he could tell, didn't seem to notice.
Hayase of course was well aware of what she was doing, but simply put, didn't care. She was tired, Naoto was warm, and being close to him made her happy. So as far as tired Hayase was concerned it was a done deal.
Naoto watched as this girl, who'd come to mean so much to him, began to doze off on his shoulder. Her breathing became rhythmic as she fell asleep against him. Finding courage, Naoto wrapped an arm around Hayase's shoulder and leaned his head against her own.
Hayase tiredly nuzzled against Naoto and let out a happy "Gross~." As she finally fell asleep.
And that's chapter 6! Thank you again to everyone who's left comments on the story, your thoughts and opinions are always welcome! Like I said before, if you have a more negative view on the chapter I'd love to hear what you disliked! I really want to improve my writing and criticism comes with the territory! With all that being said, I hope you guys have a good rest of your day, and I'll see you for Chapter 7!