76 - Vignette - Post-Neo TWEWY

xxxxx

Hand Over Heart

He worries that she pushes herself too far.

Her determination to pour all her love into each and every one of her creations is something that he admires about her. But he feels the small pricks when he holds her hand, courtesy of working late into the night. He brushes his thumb against her palm and then to the tips of her fingers; they have always started healing over by the next morning but the subtle breaks in her skin still cause him concern. He asks her if she's alright.

Shiki replies, as she always does, that she's fine. That, really, she shouldn't be making mistakes like that at this stage of her career.

The video playing on their laptop has been long ignored at this point but the dim light it provides gives away the fatigue that creeps onto her face.

He repeats his question.

"I told you, I'm fine," she continues insisting. "I just want to finish getting this design down on paper before I lose the idea."

He folds his arms. Asking three times is just going to yield the same answer. As unsatisfactory as that answer may be.

"That said…I may have to work until late tonight." She looks apologetic as she says it, casting her eyes downwards.

"Alright…" Neku gives in, choosing not to pursue it any further. He doesn't want her to feel bad. He just wants her to remember to take care of herself. "Just try not to stay up too late. We've got a busy day tomorrow."

"I know, I know..." She perks up, suddenly. "Hey, since I'll be sitting up for a few hours, would you mind giving me a massage?"

An odd request following that conversation but not something he hasn't given her before. "Sure."

They've got a system for this. Shiki fluffs up a pillow and places it on the floor sitting atop it primly, her back leaning back against the sofa and in between Neku's legs.

He places one hand on each shoulder and starts to knead them. Her shoulders are stiff and he's glad she asked him to do this because it might get worse after staying up tonight. He works his way through the knots by the nape of her neck before his hands travel down to the lower half of her shoulders. He's always reminded of how much smaller her frame seems compared to his own.

Shiki begins to relax, the tenseness in her posture slowly disappearing. She sometimes does a bit of sewing when they're doing this but this time she seems content just closing her eyes for a few moments.

Neku finds a particularly tight spot nearer to the centre of her back and presses his thumb into it.

"Ow…Neku are you putting in a bit more force than usual?"

"No, you're just stiffer than usual." He presses again into another tight spot to prove his point. "I'm doing my best here."

"And I'm super grateful about that but didn't this use to be," Shiki waves her arms up so that he can see her gesture, "more romantic, or something?"

"Yeah, I think something about you probably actually needing physio for this does take a bit of the romance out of it," he teases.

He moves his hands back up, gently pushing her back slightly forward. Neku leans down and kisses the base of her neck. "This any better?" He asks against her skin.

She hums softly. "Much."

He pulls away and tells her, "I'm serious about the physio by the way."

Shiki shifts in her seat to look up at him with a grin. "Of course you are. How about you? Are you feeling better?"

He raises a brow. "Me?"

"Yes, you." She pats his knee. "You always become more of a worrywart when it's nearly my birthday. Don't tell me you haven't noticed."

"I do?"

"Yes! Beat said you were practically like a guard dog last year." First Neku's heard of this. "You pretty much only calm down after pampering me the whole day before. Not that I'm complaining, don't get me wrong. I just don't want you to stress out either."

Neku reflects on this briefly. He does recall feeling similarly on edge last year. He even had a word with Eri about looking out in case Shiki took on too much. And he only felt better after he and Shiki went to the hot springs and…well, she has a point.

"Guess you got me there."

She smiles. "I'm always happy to know that you're looking out for my health. I know if you were pulling a lot of late nights I'd want you to take care too but I'd rather not have both of us worry whenever my deadlines come up."

He tugs at her arm, lifting her off the floor, and pulls her into a hug, both now sinking into the sofa below him. "Message heard, loud and clear."

As Neku begins to clear away the food they were eating while watching their show, Shiki places the pillow back on the sofa and gives Neku a quick peck on the cheek before returning to her work desk.

He ponders over Shiki's words over the sound of the water running down the sink. He really didn't notice his change of behaviour until it was pointed out to him just now. It's not something he's doing on purpose but she's definitely right about it if even the least subtle of their friends noticed it.

After drying his hands, he picks up the coat that he tossed onto their sofa earlier. He walks over to the table where Shiki is working and drapes it over her shoulder. Their flat got colder earlier in the year than he expected and he doesn't want her to catch a cold. "Last 'worrywart' act of today, I promise."

"Don't wait up on me," she calls after him, as he retires to their bedroom. "I mean it, Neku!"

It's a request he's able to fulfil, as sleep overcomes him the moment his head touches his pillow.

When he wakes, however, it is still the dead of night.

Immediately, he notices that Shiki isn't in bed. He reaches out for his phone, missing it a few times before finally managing to grab it. It's two in the morning.

He lifts the blanket off him and leaves the room. It's quiet and he suspects that Shiki has fallen asleep at her desk. She's done that a few times, too.

Neku finds her exactly as he expects to. Except that there hasn't been that much progress on her work from when he took a peek. Instead, he sees a small wrapped box with a ribbon on her desk.

He cracks a smile.

So this is what she was doing.

The two of them started living together not long after he made his return from the UG. One of the fun little Misaki family traditions that Shiki introduced to him is this exact one: trying to find the other's birthday present, hidden somewhere around the flat exactly one week before the day itself. Shiki calls it a bit of an ironic tradition to have, based on the circumstances in which they met. Neku loves it, though. A seven-day, non-perilous game seems like the perfect fit for them.

This must be the real reason she was shooing him away to go to bed before her. Granted, Shiki did seem to attempt to continue doing work after finding the present but fell asleep soon after.

He moves the jacket to the side and then picks her up slowly. It's easy to carry her but he takes caution anyway, not wanting to stir her from her sleep. Once he gets back to their room, he places her on the bed. His smile widens as he notices that despite being careful, Shiki's glasses slipped down her face until they were very much lop-sided. He removed them and placed them by her bedside, covering her with the blanket. Neku kisses the top of her head before slipping into his side of the bed.

For the second time that night, Neku falls asleep.

xxxxx

When he wakes up, morning has arrived this time.

Shiki rolled over in her sleep, apparently, because the moment Neku opens his eyes, he finds her staring at him.

"Morning. You put it in my Def Märch shrine. No one touches my Def Märch shrine." She's pouting, though Neku can tell she's not actually mad.

"I'm pretty sure you were the one that said anything within our flat is free game. Who was it that hid my present in my CAT mug?"

"We'll call it even, then. Deal?"

She snuggles against him before tilting her head up.

He concedes, giving her a kiss. He loses his breath and any worries that he had yesterday dissipate with it.

"Deal," he says, once they separate. "Happy birthday, Shiki."

She breaks into a smile that makes him want to kiss her again. But they should be getting up now, since they're meeting up with the others soon. Still, he can't help but feel overwhelmed by how lucky he feels to be by her side. To be the one to wish her happy birthday the moment they wake up every year.

Every year…

It's the third year that he's wished her 'happy birthday'.

Finally.

"What's up, Neku?"

The realisation must be visible on his face.

"Nothing, just - I think I really will manage to not worry next year."

"I'll hold you to that, then."

Shiki kisses him, this time.

They do end up a few minutes late to their meet-up later after all but the second and third kisses are worth it.

A/N: Tadaa! Happy birthday to Shiki! My Neshiki Day AMV was long and a challenge for me so I didn't end up writing for Neshiki Day so I hope this makes up for it! I felt very motivated to write some domestic fluff this year so this is what you get. Shiki getting pampered by Neku is what she deserves...I feel like I have written a massage before already but it's okay she can gave a birthday one too hahahahaha. As for what the actual present was...I'll leave it up to your imagination :)

Thanks for reading!

- Dina (12/10/22)