I had no idea what day or time it was after I finally woke up from my ex tempore nap. That's what you get for just passing out and sleeping for way too long. I sat up, hair ruffled to hell and still holding the hoodie in my arms. I sleepily set it aside and reached for my phone, then lying back down as I checked the time. It was still the same day, although it was somewhere around 8 pm by now. I'd slept for a long time. No wonder I was so out of it. As I lay on my back, I saw that I had missed a whole number of texts from Takuma. And seeing how I was still kind of.. not all together what comes to coordination of my hands, I totally dropped the phone on my face by accident. It really hurt, too.

- Owwhhh...

I groaned as I rolled over to fetch the damn phone from the floor and proceeded to check the texts. The first one was fairly normal, sent hours ago. He was saying he had a good time and wished he could have stayed for longer. The next message was confused because I never responded to the first one. The one after that was worried, asking if everything was okay, and so on. Finally I sent a response, apologizing and explaining how I fell asleep shortly after returning home. Although I said nothing about how miserable I'd been. Maybe I would admit that to him later, face to face. Takuma actually proceeded to give me a call right afterwards, and we talked for a good bit. It was so great to hear his voice again.

- Hey, Takuma..

I finally said.

- You forgot your hoodie.. How about we meet up tomorrow so I can give it back?

I suggested, really hoping he didn't have anything planned. Luck was on my side as he said:

- That would be great. Hey.. There's still some days left before school starts again. Do you want to come spend a night here for a change?

If Takuma only woud have known what that innocent question did to me. It sent the butterflies flying in my stomach.

- Really? That would be great!

I said right away, doing my everything to not sound too excited.

- Are you sure your mom is cool with it?

- Sure, I already asked her about it while you were snoozing,

Takuma told me. I could hear that he was smiling, his voice gave it away. It made me smile, too.

- Great! Where do we meet up? Do I just come to your place, or..

I wondered. Takuma already had an answer ready. Good, because my brains were hard at work trying to process everything.

- If that's fine with you. I'll come down and meet you on the parking lot. How about somewhere around 3 pm? Is that too early for you?

he asked. I shook my head, even though this wasn't a video call and so Takuma had no way of seeing it.

- No, not at all, that's fine with me,

I confirmed, being really happy all of a sudden. Just talking with Takuma really lifted my spirits. After going through tomorrow's plans we still spoke for a good bit before we finally had to say bye for now. I then went to have some late dinner, barely paying mind to what I ate. After retreating back to my room I threw myself back on the futon, staring at my ceiling. I'd slept for so long that sleep definitely wouldn't be coming easy tonight. I could see some stars through my window. Some of them seemed naturally brighter than others. I smiled at them, and then tried to think of something to do. My comic books surprisingly failed to capture my interest, so I gave up on that. When all else failed, I turned on the tv and mindlessly surfed through the channels. I was still awake long after my mom had gone to bed.

The next morning was rainy. I was up somewhere around 10 am, unable to sleep any longer. My sleep schedule was so screwed up, but that was nothing new. After a quick visit to the bathroom I grabbed something to eat and then returned to my room again, starting to think what I should bring with me to Takuma's. Some spare clothes, just in case. A toothbrush.

- I don't know... Stuff,

I spoke to myself as I went through my wardrobe. The dominant color was orange. It was a nice and bright color, quite well reflecting my personality to the outside world. Turtlenecks, t-shirts, hoodies, you name it. All sorts of things. I just liked bright colors. For a good while I kept throwing things around, not really all that sure on what to pack and what to leave out. It was a disaster in the making, but eventually I had some understanding on it all. I wouldn't need that much. Although I did pack some extra snacks for us to share. When I was done, all that was left to do was playing the waiting game. And it was about to drive me crazy. I walked around in my room, tried watching tv. I could only last for a few minutes, same with reading. It was no use. I couldn't focus.

Finally, around 2:45 pm I'd had enough. I figured I could start to make my leave. The rain had stopped, so I didn't care about grabbing an umbrella, despite my mom reminding me about it. The weather could change without a warning. Still, I only grabbed my backpack, waved my mom goodbye and ran out the door. The distance from my home to Takuma's wasn't too long. I was in really great spirits as I thought of the good times we would have. But then, on the way it started raining again. And it wasn't just a little shower. No, it soon turned into a proper downpour. And without an umbrella I was absolutely soaked in what felt like seconds. The spare clothing I packed would really come in handy, after all..

Takuma came to meet me on the parking lot, like he'd said. He was waiting safely out of the rain by the time I arrived.

- Minoru!

he yelled, waving his arm.

- Come on, let's get inside!

I ran to him, following him up the steps and into his home. It felt so good to be out of the rain. Although every single clothing item was absolutely sticking into my body and limbs.

- Mom just left to go buy some groceries shortly before you left. Hey, do you have any spare clothes with you?

Takuma asked, sounding really caring. I looked like a drowned rat.

- Yeah, I do,

I told him dropping my backpack on the floor.

- You can change in the bathroom. I'll bring you a towel and make some hot chocolate, how's that sound?

he asked.

- That's perfect. Thanks, man,

I responded with a wide grin, holding back a sneeze. Takuma soon brought me a towel, as he promised, and went into the kitchen as I retreated to their bathroom.

I was glad to be able to get out of my soaked clothes. I hanged them to dry, changed into the spares I'd packed, and dried up my hair the best I could. I hadn't brought a hairbrush with me, but I usually just let my hair dry as it was, anyway. Takuma had the hot chocolate ready by the time I walked out of the bathroom, and we proceeded to go into his room. It was nice and tidy, everything had its place. We sat down comfortably, and Takuma handed me a mug. I took a sip and then set it down, being careful not to knock it down by accident. I then dug through my backpack and returned Takuma's hoodie to him.

- Sorry if it's all wrinkled and stuff, I kind of cried into it yesterday...

I admitted, even a little ashamed about it. That brought a concerned expression on Takuma's face as he looked at me.

- Cried? Why? Was something wrong?

he asked, and I automatically shook my head.

- No.. well, yes..

I ended up telling him the truth.

- I was really missing you. It was pretty stupid, seeing as how we'd just been together, but.. I just felt so lonely. I ended up falling asleep, hugging your hoodie and hoping I was still with you.

I looked down as I told him this. I wasn't embarrassed very often. I barely even knew what that meant, but now I was slightly feeling it. My cheeks were a little red.

- I just got some comfort of holding onto something that belongs to you,

I then said, looking back up. Takuma was still looking at me, too.

- Do you think that's stupid?

I asked, having to get the question out of my system. Takuma shook his head right away.

- Stupid? Minoru..! That's not stupid at all,

he reassured me and took a sip of his drink. I did the same. The hot drink really felt like the best thing ever after getting soaked from head to toe.

Takuma's mom returned home some time later, checked in on us and then went into the kitchen to put the groceries away.

- Is your mom making curry again today?

I chose to ask as we were sitting on the floor, playing some old school racing games. Takuma really seemed to favor Jak X. And hell, I did too. We always had a blast with it. One more thing we had in common.

- You bet she is..

Takuma said, chuckling a little.

- She almost insisted on it as she learned that you're coming over. Yeah, she just made it yesterday, but..-

- It's cool, man,

I responded with a grin on my face.

- I can't wait to try it after you've praised it so much.

Some time later we got invited to eat, dinner was ready. I was so hungry, but I did my absolute everything to have some manners. The food was really great, and because I wasn't one to shy away from a conversation, we all talked a lot. After dinner we returned to Takuma's room, our safe haven, and got straight back to playing, chatting happily.

Hours absolutely flew by with how much fun we were having. We'd wrapped up the games and were watching tv, sitting really close to each other. It was quite late, nearing 10 pm. Some dumb reality show was on tv. Neither of us cared about it much, but at least we got to make stupid jokes about it. My wacky sleep schedule started to do its tricks on me again, and I found myself resting my head against Takuma's shoulder, still talking. Some words got lost as I kept yawning. But, now that I was with Takuma again, I didn't want to just fall asleep. So I fought real hard to keep my eyes open, but I was fighting a losing battle. And I actually did doze off right then and there. I felt the safety and comfort I'd longed for already yesterday. Takuma noticed me drift off to sleep, and really hated to wake me up again, so he let it play out for a bit longer. He found this whole thing very cute. But eventually he unfortunately had to gently wake me up.

- Minoru.. What do you say we call it a day and go to bed?

he suggested as I opened my eyes again. It must have only been some minutes since I drifted off.

- Takuma.. What? Did I fall asleep..?

I asked, blinking slowly.

- Yeah. It was cute, but I don't think it was that comfortable for you,

he told me. Cute. He said it was cute. My face turned red but I was too drowsy to really even care too much about it. Instead we just took turns in the bathroom, getting ready for the night, and then proceeded to get comfortable as we snuggled on Takuma's futon. Instead of sleeping right away, we kept talking about all kinds of random things. Half of them probably didn't even make any sense. But it didn't matter. We had each other, and it was great.

Gradually both Takuma and I started to drift off to sleep. Takuma was the first one. I followed shortly after, safely cradled next to him.

Come morning, I was the first one to wake up. I very carefully turned on my side, not wanting to disturb Takuma. He was still fast asleep and I just wanted to look at him, to take it all in. He looked so cute and peaceful, sleeping on his side, legs loosely pulled up against his stomach. He had his t-shirt and shorts on. The red goggles were next to him on the floor. I didn't get to see him quite like this very often. And after all the troubles and danger we'd been through in the Digital World, after all the pressure that had been put on him, this was a welcome and well earned change. So I let him sleep, but couldn't resist giving a light, careful kiss on his cheek. He shifted ever so slightly but didn't wake up just yet. My heart was beating a little faster as I looked at him. Eventually I snuggled back against him, unable to fall asleep again. But I just kept on enjoying this moment with him.

About half an hour passed until the sleepyhead started to wake up. He slowly opened his eyes, turning to look at me. The sleepy look in his eyes was adorable.

- Morning, Takuma,

I greeted him quietly.

- Morning...

he mumbled his response, stretching and yawning.

- How long have you been awake..?

he then asked.

- Half an hour, maybe a little more,

I told him.

- You should have woken me up..

Takuma said, yawning again. I shook my head.

- I really didn't want to disturb your sleep, my man. You earned it after everything. Plus, it was nice to see you like that. You know, relaxed.

He smiled at my words.

- Do you mind if we stay like this a little longer..?

he then asked, resting his head on my chest.

- No.. not at all,

I softly told him. And it was the truth.