Fire.

There was fire everywhere.

How did it happen? I don't know. I had just poured myself a glass of milk in the kitchen, and the next thing I know, I was surrounded. The furniture, the curtains, the wall, the floor.. everything was burning, lighting up the previous dark room.

I desperately look around me, but there was no way to escape anymore.

What about the others, are they still sleeping? Or did they get out safely?

As these thoughts cross my mind, I notice my best friend in the distance, running towards me.

I try to warn her it was dangerous, try to scream she has to stay away, but no sound would leave my lips.

The fire surrounded her too.

I watch in horror as she slowly disappears in the flames, a chilling scream reaching my ears.

"NOOOOOOO!"

I wake up with a gasp, my eyes wide awake. My body is shivering, the short and top I'm wearing damp with cold sweat – my heart pounding so hard it was hard to believe it didn't leave my chest. Breathing heavily, my eyes slowly adjust to the dark, showing me my bedroom. I take a quick glance at my alarm clock. It is only three in the morning.

I sigh. "That same nightmare again.." You would think that recurring nightmares would get less scary since you know what is going to happen, but each time I would get as terrified as the first time. After taking a few deep breaths to calm myself down a bit, I get up and shove the curtains aside, revealing the cause of my nightmare. Rain pounds angrily against the glass. In the distance a jagged bolt of white hot lightening splits the dark sky, thunder following only a second behind. The sound reverberated through the house, making my body tense up again in reaction. "Doesn't seem like it will clear up soon." I think bitterly to myself. It was the third thunderstorm this week. Knowing I wouldn't fall asleep anytime soon, I take my tablet and leave my room.

I sneaked to the living room as quietly as I could, hoping nobody would wake up. Out of force of habit I scan the whole room, making sure everything is safe. I settle myself behind the couch, positioning myself in a way so that any person that would enter the room wouldn't notice me.

I was drawing on my tablet, when suddenly a voice came from above me "What are you doing?"

Surprised I look up, seeing Azusa frown down at me.

"Aahh.. hahaha, good morning Azusa-san. You're up early." I say sheepishly, feeling like a criminal that got caught red-handed. I crawl back from behind the couch and sit down next to him. "I was.. drawing?" I answer in a unsure voice, showing my work on the tablet. "How about you?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

He folds his arms, his eyes gleaming of suspicion. "At this hour? Shouldn't you be in bed?" He inquires me, ignoring my question.

I look down and fumble with my fingers, feeling uncomfortable under his gaze. "I can't sleep, it's too loud outside." I answer half-truthfully. "I decided to draw until it had calmed down again."

"You could have just stayed in your room for that." He states, not believing me.

"Oh,… well I didn't think of that, my bad! Guess I'll go do that then." I get up, wanting to leave as quick as possible.

"Wait." He grabs my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. "Look, we both know you're hiding something. Normally I wouldn't ask questions, but you've been walking around with bags under your eyes this whole week. Some of us are getting worried. Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

"I… don't want to talk about it. It's embarrassing." I admit, still not looking at him.

"I won't laugh at you, I promise. You were there for me when I was in the hospital, can't you let me do the same? Or.. do you find me that unreliable?" He asks, his voice laced with sadness.

"No!" I quickly look back at him. "That's not it, I swear! It's just something small and really stupid. It's not worth getting worried about. I can handle this on my own."

"I still want to hear it." He adamantly insists. "Please? Or I'll stay awake all night worrying about it."

I sigh and sit back down, finally caving in. "Gah, that's no fair, Azusa-san, you know I can't say no after that." He smiles back friendly but remained quiet, waiting for me to start my explanation.

"So, to quickly summarize… when I was around 6 years old, something happened while I had a sleepover at my best friend's house. I woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty, so I went down for a glass of milk. While I was downstairs, a lightning bolt hit the house, causing a power surge that started a fire in the kitchen, right in front my eyes. I hastily woke up the others so the fire was quickly subdued, but the image has always stayed with me. I was lucky that time, but what if I hadn't been awake? The fire would have spread and everyone could have died."

"So since then, every time there is a storm, I get a nightmare, causing me to wake up. The thought of something catching fire makes me so tense I have to constantly check the house, so I can only relax and sleep again after the storm has passed." I conclude, waiting for him to laugh at my silly fear.

He didn't. Instead he surprises me with a hug, patting the back of my head. "So in short, you've been trying to protect us in secret? You're really too kind, normally that job belongs to the big brothers." He says softly, his voice tickling my ears.

I take the fabric of his shirt between with my fingers, feeling bashful from being hold so gently. "Yeah well, I'm not really good at playing 'the little sister' character, no matter how much some of you want me to." I reply shyly. "I won't get mad if you laugh, you know. It's really silly. I know that."

He pulls back and holds onto my shoulders instead, looking straight into my eyes to show he was serious. "I won't laugh. We've all got our silly fears, so it's not something to be embarrassed about."

"Even you, Azusa-san?" He is always so calm and composed, it was hard to imagine him otherwise.

"Yes, of course. I can even show you if you'd like."

That caught my attention. My curiosity peaked. "Really? Wait, 'show me', so it's some kind of object?"

"Come with me if you want to see." He tugs my arm, urging me to follow him.

Curiosity getting the best of me, I let myself be guided to his room. He sits down on his bed, inviting me to do the same by patting the spot next to him.

He points up at the ceiling." You see that stain there?" I nod, noticing the group of little dark spots. "When I was little, I thought that stain looked like a monster. I hid under the covers, wondering if morning would ever came. I worried everyone else was asleep, leaving me alone to deal with that monster. It held me awake at night. " He scratches the back of his head, embarrassed by his confession. "Silly, isn't it?"

I chuckle in response. "I find it rather more adorable than silly. How did you get over it?"

"Tsubaki always came to my room, somehow sensing something was wrong with me. He complained it was boring to lie awake alone and asked if we could sleep together. He stayed by my side and held my hand for the rest of the night." He explains, the adoration for his brother clearly showing on his face.

"That certainly sounds like Tsubaki-san alright." I see the image clearly before me, child versions of Azusa and Tsubaki sleeping together, holding hands. It makes me long for my bed as well, feeling the fatigue from lack of sleep this week. "Yaah~" Finally getting drowsy, a yawn escapes from my mouth. I let myself fall down on the bed. My eyes are growing more heavy by the minute. "I hope I can go back to sleep soon."

That's when I notice the noise, or rather the lack there of, from outside. The storm could barely be heard from the window, making it almost completely silent in the room. "Strange, I thought the storm wouldn't calm down so soon."

"Tsubaki and my room are soundproof, so it's much more quiet than the rest of the house. That way we can practise our lines late in the evening without disturbing anyone." He informs me. "I hoped it would help you calm down. If you want, you can stay here and sleep in my bed, I'll use the floor instead."

I catch a tone of accomplishment in his voice. "Wait… did you plan this?"

He gives me an apologetic smile. "Maybe a little, are you mad?"

"No, not really. I'm just surprised, I never held you for the mischievous sort. I'm learning a lot about you this night."

He acts a little hurt. "Mischievous.. It's not like I'm planning to do something bad."

The child-like tone was so adorable, it made a giggle escape my throat. "Hehe, I know you would never do something to hurt me. Even if you had offered me free puppies, I wouldn't have followed you here if I.. didn't trust you." A yawn escapes my mouth again. My eyes are slowly losing the battle to stay open. My voice changes to murmur "I'll.. stay here then, it's.. just.. for a few hours anyway."

He sighs in relief. "I'm glad." He starts to move to the floor to sleep as well, but I manage to catch his hand, using my last ounces of willpower to remain awake. "Beds.. big ..nough fo… two."

"Fine." He squeezes my hand, letting me know he would stay by my side. Darkness finally overtook me. The last thing I feel a pair of lips on my forehead, accompanied with two words.

"Sweat dreams."

Short Time skip –

My eyes flutter open, Azusa's sleeping face on the other side of the bed slowly coming into view, his hand still holding mine. I push myself up with my free arm to get a better look at him. He was still fast asleep, the sound of shallow breathing almost inaudible. The peaceful, carefree smile on his face makes him look so much younger than normal. The sight is so adorable, I have to hold back a squeal.

Not daring to wake the adorable creature up, I try to crawl over him to leave for breakfast.

"No, I'm not handing you over."

Just as I was about to let his hand go, said adorable creature pulls me back, his arm snaking around my lower back to hold me close.

"W-w-w-what are you doing Azusa-san? Let me go!" I try to push myself away, but it is futile against his strong hold. I glance at his face and notice his eyes were still closed. "He's sleeptalking? Unbelievable!" I patted several times against his cheek, trying to wake him up. "Heeeey, Azusa-san, wake up!"

"Hmm, what is it?" He murmured, still half asleep.

At that moment, Tsubaki entered the room.

"Good morn- Aaaah~~!" He exclaimed, shocked when he sees me on top of Azusa. "Why are you two flirting around first thing in the morning?! This is unfair~! I really won't forgive you!"

"N-no, wait, Tsubaki-san, Th-this isn't-!" I try to explain, but he wouldn't let me finish.

"Let me join you! I want to flirt with Azusa and you too!~~" He starts to run, lunging himself on us, giving me no time to move away.

"Gah-ah!"

My arms give out under the impact of Tsubaki's weight, making me fully crash into Azusa. The collision knocks the breath out of both Azusa and my lungs, making sure that we're both fully awake now.

Azusa tried to squirm his way out, not able to fully breathe under mine and Tsubaki's weight. "W-wait, Tsubaki! It's too heavy!"

Tsubaki held onto us, fully enjoying fooling around. "What? Are you telling me I'm fat? That's so rude!"

"Tsubaki-san, you ARE really heavy! I can't breathe!" I squeaked, suffocating between the twin brothers.

"Don't say something so cold!~ Tsubaki whined. I vehemently try to move around, but Tsubaki wouldn't let me escape. Why are they so strong? They're just voice actors for god's sake!

"Ooh, your skin is so smooth~ ! It's hard not to have naughty thoughts! Hey Azusa, what about you? At that position, you must be looking at her cleavage! How do you feel? Is your heart throbbing?"

That crossed the line.

"TSUBAKI! Stop joking already!" He shouted. Finally able to free one arm, he punched Tsubaki in the face, knocking him of me.

I quickly roll of the bed, coughing and gasping at air.

"Waah! That hurt Azusa~." Tsubaki whines, a bump forming on his head.

"You got what you deserve!" Azusa scolded Tsubaki. "Geez, I'm fine when you're fooling around with me, but she's a girl. Didn't you think about how much your weight must have hurt her?"

"Haah, but it was to perfect chance to flirt around!" Tsubaki retorts.

A scary aura starts to surround Azusa. "Tsu~ba~ki! Apologize now."

"Ugh.. I'm sorry!~" He says, scared of his twin brother.

I don't answer immediately, making sounds that were a mixture of giggling and coughing. True, it was a bit embarrassing, but I could see the humour in the situation. "Hehe, It's *cough* fine. I'll be *cough* alright." I eventually replied.

My weird state makes Tsubaki dissolve into laughter as well. It was so contiguous, that even Azusa couldn't help join shortly after, the room reverberated with the sound of laughter.

We eventually calmed down after a while and I assured them for a last time everything was forgiven, so we could finally leave for breakfast.

We were greeted by an angry Ukyo, asking us why we were so late. Azusa and I quickly shoved the fault on Tsubaki, making the latter undergo a hour long lecture while we ate in peace, snickering in amusement.

Afterwards, I never had trouble sleeping again, the thunder now reminding me of how the kind, adorable voice actor would always be there for me.

Hi again!

I hope you're all having a good time there. This short story is a mixture inspired by a few facts found in the manga, and the morning after scene is based on a scene in the game, which can be found on youtube with eng subtitles.

As always, feel free to leave a comment/suggestion!

- Whateffs