It had been three days since the "cuddling incident". Akari stared down at her desk, struggling to stay awake. Sleep was even more of an issue than it had been before. It was as if her body was on strike now. As if it was protesting sleeping alone now that it knew how great it was to sleep beside someone else.
Shaking her head, she threaded her fingers into her hair and scowled. Stay awake. Come on. Some people can run on six hours of sleep, right? So why is three hours such a problem? Her eyes widened as she could have sworn she saw a little black spider skitter across the desk, but when she blinked it was gone.
"You okay over there?"
The woman's gaze darted to the desk across from hers and met a pair of intense blue eyes. "Yeah. No problems over here," she answered slowly. "What about you, Yagi-san? You didn't push yourself this morning?" She had already needed to cover for him once that week due to him overexerting himself before school began.
He looked a bit guilty and rubbed the back of his head. "I'm fine." There was a pause as the man saw her look down again. "You know, if you're not getting enough sleep…" Again, she stared at him and he almost flinched beneath the intensity of her stare. "Some people start to hallucinate if they don't get enough sleep."
"I'm fine." She knew that this was far from true. Her body ached, her eyes burned, and she was becoming plagued with a ridiculous idea that seemed more and more plausible as her fatigue grew. I can't ask him, she thought as she looked at Aizawa. I can't do it.
Things had been a little awkward between them since Sunday morning. One-sidedly awkward, but she still felt reluctant to speak to him. The man appeared completely unfazed by having more or less cuddled with her in her bed for twelve hours straight. She, on the other hand, was still incredibly flustered.
"Here you go, Akari! I got you something special!" Yamada announced, entering the teachers' room with an armful of coffee cans. Setting them down on her desk around her, he quirked an eyebrow. "Hey, babe, you're not looking too good! Did you get any sleep last night?"
Akari heard the keyboard on the other side of Yamada's desk go silent. The chair rolled out a bit and she felt Aizawa looking at her. "I'm fine," she murmured. Opening a can of coffee, she gulped it down and winced at the bitter flavor of black coffee. "Thanks, Hizashi."
"Anytime! You just say the word and I'll do anything for you, Akari, baby! Anything!" He lowered his sunglasses and gave her a suggestive look that made her snort quietly. "What's so funny? I'm being serious!"
"Hizashi, no." She grabbed a second can of coffee and opened it, taking a long sip before making her way toward the door. I'm helping him with an English class after homeroom so I might as well just stay in 1-A after Aizawa leaves. It wouldn't hurt to go ahead and be ready, right?
"Hizashi, yes!" the blond protested, following behind. Throwing an arm around her shoulders, he grinned and easily kept pace with her down the hallway. "C'mon! You know you love me!"
She smirked and lifted a hand to his. "Of course, but there's a reason that we had to break up."
The man pouted and removed his arm from her shoulder, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Babe, that was a long time ago! That whole "I'm day and you're night" thing doesn't even apply anymore! We're on the same schedule now!"
Akari stopped and leaned over, tapping a fingertip to the bridge of his sunglasses. Pushing them up, her smirk grew a little until it resembled a mischievous grin. To her amusement, a faint warmth bloomed in his face as he met her gaze. "I'm still night." With that, she turned and stalked off ahead of him.
He stood there for a moment and then began to grin again. "Don't forget, Akari, baby! We've got an English class to teach!"
Without looking back, she lifted her right hand and gave him a thumbs-up. "Wouldn't miss it for anything, Hizashi!"
Shift P.O.V
She hasn't been sleeping. He finished his work and turned to look at her desk. She and Yamada had gone off into the hallway for reasons unknown. Not that he really cared. Aizawa's gaze settled on the plethora of coffee cans on her desk and he instantly remembered the energy drinks that packed her fridge. It made his stomach turn.
"Where'd they go?" Kayama inquired, looking to the two empty desks.
"I think Akahana was going to 1-A," Yagi spoke up. "I'm not sure about-"
"As long as they're not late, it doesn't matter." Aizawa stood and moved toward the door. He paused, feeling eyes on him. A look back showed that the other two were indeed looking at him curiously. "What?"
"Nothing," Kayama assured him, holding up her hands defensively. "I was just thinking…you know, you and Akari have a lot in common, don't you?"
He left without responding. It was a ridiculous question. Anyone could see that they had a lot in common. It was becoming more apparent as the days passed. It was beginning to irritate him.
Trudging down the hallway at his own pace, he could hear Yamada greeting people somewhere up ahead. Thinking back to Sunday, the man remembered waking up and feeling good. Rested, warm, comfortable. It was the best sleep he had gotten in quite a while. Which was why he was so annoyed that she had yet to ask him to do it again. After seeing her slumped over at her desk, probably delirious with fatigue, he knew what he had to do.
Shift P.O.V
Akari attempted a variety of sitting and lounging positions on the couch, but none of them felt right. The cushions were still much too firm to be considered comfortable. She felt more like she was sitting on a wooden box. Still, she was dedicated to accomplishing something that night if sleep was going to continue to evade her.
One of these days, I'll be able to have company over and they can actually enjoy this, she swore to herself. She squeezed the cushion tightly, hoping to somehow effect the firmness of it. This was the equivalent of hugging a large block of fabric-covered wood or cement. Giving up, she put it down on the couch again and flopped onto her back. It kind of hurt, but she did not have the energy to drag herself into her room and stare at her ceiling from her bed.
It was only seven o'clock, but she already knew how the night would go. Akari would drink three more cups of sleepy time tea, use the restroom, read, and inevitably lust for sleep's sweet embrace throughout the night. Sleep, being the sadistic tease that it was, would forsake her for the fourth night in a row.
She closed her eyes, trying to force sleep, but was interrupted by a knocking at the door. The redhead frowned to herself and shook her head. She had been hearing and seeing things earlier that day. This could only be an auditory hallucination. After all, Yamada was busy that evening and he was the only one that ever visited her. Satisfied that she was just hallucinating again, she ignored it.
The knocking soon evolved into a pounding and was then accompanied by a growled order. "Akari, open the door."
Akari? Her heart skipped a beat, hearing that voice say that name. Pushing herself to sit upright, long strands of red hair fell over her face and she frowned. No way. I'm just losing it, right?
The pounding continued. "Akari, I know you're home and I know you're not asleep," he persisted. "Open the door."
She nearly tripped in her haste to get to the door and when she opened it, she was taken aback. "Aizawa? What-?" The man glared at her and moved past the woman into her apartment. "What's going on? Wait. Did something happen to Hizashi?"
He scowled and ran a hand over his hair, pushing the messy black locks away from his face. Eyes narrowed, he waited for her to close the door before he spoke. "It's been three days," he started. "And you haven't been sleeping."
She flushed pink. "I mean…I can't just ask someone to sleep with me every night; that's embarrassing."
"You seriously don't get it?"
"What is there to get?" Akari crossed her arms and remembered what she was wearing. Black shorts and a black tank top with lots of skin showing. Her sleepwear of choice for the night. Turning her head to the side, she tried to hide her blush behind a curtain of crimson hair. "Aizawa…I'll try to get some sleep. I'll even go to a doctor after work, okay? Sorry if I've been an inconvenience."
"You really don't get it." The man's expression was one of exasperation as he approached her. "That was the best sleep I've ever had," he stated bluntly.
She absently trailed her fingers through her hair, her pulse quickening upon hearing that. "Oh. That's…that's cool."
"I'm sleeping here tonight." Aizawa crossed the living room in a few steps and gripped her chin firmly. The man's eyes narrowed upon her blue ones as he leaned down. "Don't try to argue with me. You're not going to win."
The woman cursed her crush on him. This simple touch was making her stomach do flips and she knew that her face was probably as red as her hair. "Sure thing." Her gaze flitted from his eyes to his scruffy facial hair. Akari's fingers twitched at her side as she fought the urge to touch his face.
As if he could sense her true feelings, he leaned down further and captured her lips with his. A hand gripped her shoulder, holding her as he backed her against the apartment door. Her arms hesitantly wrapped around his neck and he felt her fingers thread into his dark hair. His hips pressed forward into hers, pinning her in place as she kissed back.
The second that he broke the kiss, the words left Akari's lips. She hated herself for blurting them out and they made her heart pound, but they escaped her nonetheless. "I like you!"
"Great. Let's go." He grabbed her hand and turned in the direction of her bedroom. The door was soon open, her comfortable bed within his line of sight. The woman stumbled a little, her face still red as she followed his gaze.
"Hang on a second! What exactly…? I mean, what did you have in mind?"
"I was planning to just come here and sleep like last time, but now I know we'll both rest well tonight." Catching the flustered and confused expression on her face, he smirked. "I'll show you."
Though nervous, Akari gave a small nod. "Ah…okay."
