Five

"Were you alone?" Kagome frowned. Her fingers brushed through the soft, fringed edge of his hair. Allowing her energy to seep forth in an effort to reduce the headache he had been complaining about when he arrived, she felt her heart jump when he released a breathless groan in response. Her thin pajamas provided little protection even during the best of circumstances, and the feeling of his hot breath against her legs did wicked things to her insides with his head settled in her lap. "Satoru-san?"

"Satoru." His nose nudged her thigh with a shift of his shoulder. "Just Satoru."

"You shouldn't have been alone." She ignored his scoff in favor of fingering the edge of the bandages wrapped around his eyes. The knot came undone with relative ease, allowing his snow white lashes to flutter against his cheek once they were gone. "And I know I was busy earlier, but you could have at least requested someone else to assist you instead of going it alone. I'm sure there was somebody," she poked him in the nose to emphasize her point, watching him wrinkle it in response, "anybody, really. Kento-kun comes to mind, even if he thinks you're ridiculous."

Satoru's eyes cracked open, a slight frown on his lip, before he buried his face back into her lap.

"You deserve a break now and then, just like everyone else, mister." The principal of the matter remained, regardless of whether or not he tended to slack off whenever she was around. They both deserved some well needed time off, especially with his reverse curse energy reserves constantly running on autopilot. "Hey." She frowned at the thought, poking him again for good measure when he flat out ignored her. "Have you slept any since the other day?"

He shrugged, grumbling about how sleep was for the weak.

"You need to sleep." Running her fingers through his hair once more, she leaned back into the couch cushion and focused upon the blank television across from them. Pursing her lips with the lack of response, Kagome sighed and rolled her eyes toward the other end of the couch. His cramped position was enough to make her cringe, knowing that there was no possible way he was comfortable with one leg bent at the knee and the other hanging off the side of the furniture. It was honestly ridiculous how small Satoru made everything else around him seem, including her at times. "Even if you don't think so," she told him, "and preferably in a bed where you can stretch out properly."

His eyes fixed upon her in an instant. They were so blue, they were nearly glowing. The corner of his mouth twitched into a sly grin. "Are you offering yours?"

"Eh?" Snapping her head back to stare at him, Kagome scowled at him. Her ears were burning slightly when she shoved her hand against his cheek. His resulting laughter was hot and heavy against her skin as he turned his head back in her direction. She tried to look anywhere but at him. His typical antics were easy enough to ignore, but it was proving to be a bit more difficult with him sprawled in her lap. Shaking her head to dispel the imagery the thought provided, she huffed, "No. Absolutely not."

"Aw, but Kagome-chaaaan," he whined.

"What makes you think you'd even fit in my bed? You barely fit on our couch. And besides, where would I sleep, huh?"

"We could share." His grin was downright devilish against her flesh, as he nuzzled the palm of her hand. "We'd fit if we cuddled, Kagome-chan."

"You're being more of an idiot than usual today," she scoffed at him, yanking her hand away in favor of poking him in the cheek instead. Her face darkened at the sound of his low, breathless chuckle, making her scowl harder and poke him again. "Which is just proof that you need to sleep, Satoru-san." She sighed when he refused to budge, choosing to bury his face back into her lap. It was hard not to squirm with his near silent laughter caressing her legs, which only made her stress, "In your bed. At home."

"I don't wanna go home," Satoru grunted in reply, nuzzling her thigh, "I wanna stay here."

Kagome contemplated pushing him onto the floor for a split second.

"Not safe."

Satoru had spoken so quietly, she nearly missed those two unsettling words. Her eyes widened a fraction. She mouthed them herself then, unsure if she had heard him correctly. If she had, then about Megumi and his sister? Surely Satoru would not have left them alone to face—

The spiraling thought screeched to a devastating halt the moment she felt him shift into what she could only imagine was an even more uncomfortable position. His arm thrown over her lap, he brushed his fingers up underneath her top as he wrapped it around her waist. His other hand fisted in her pajamas near her hip. The embrace pulled him close enough to settle his cheek against her stomach and hide his face within the space provided by his shoulder without straining his neck. His voice muffled, he said, "Here is better."

His cursed energy blanketed the area, settling heavily upon her shoulders, and she understood in an instant. Despite how absolutely red her face had become with the move, Kagome allowed her fingers to shift through his soft strands of hair then. She sighed internally in the quiet stillness that followed, allowing her energy to flow near his temple and concentrate around his ever present Six Eyes. His cursed energy uncoiled slightly in response, and her own presence blossomed to fill the void that it created instinctively.

The silent message was loud and clear.

You're safe with me, Satoru.

It did not take all that long before his cursed energy relaxed entirely underneath her caress. The white haired sorcerer snorted a little in his sleep, causing Kagome to actually sigh once she was certain that he had slipped away from reality. His grip loosened naturally, but she leaned back into the couch again knowing that there was no escape. Not unless she wanted to wake him. She mocked his "sleep being for the weak" underneath her breath, though, and wished that it would ever come quite that easily for her.

Kagome frowned after a minute, her fingers settling along the length of his neck and cradling the back of his head. There was no way of knowing just how many days he had truly gone without sleep. However, if the amount of sugar he had insisted upon earlier was any good indication, she suspected it was longer than anything she would have found acceptable. Especially if he was still capable of falling asleep in her lap on a whim after overloading the coffee her mother had offered him.

Rolling her head back onto the couch so she could stare at the ceiling, the dark haired Higurashi released a long, exasperated breath. She mimicked his loose hold upon her by taking a fist full of his collar, pulling him closer, and almost wished that she had given into his silly suggestion that they cuddle upstairs. A little shut eye would do them both good, but the thought alone was enough to solidify her blush the instant it crossed her mind. There was no way they both would have fit in her tiny bed, regardless of whether or not the soft furniture was calling her name with each passing second.

Besides, it was obvious that he had only said that to mess with her anyway.

The faint knock on the wall nearby drew her attention easily. Her mother stood in the doorway, trying to cover her smile, and did not seem to be surprised to see the two of them trapped on the couch together. "Kagome dear," she kept her voice low, "did you need anything from upstairs while I'm up there? I was going to grab Gojo-san a blanket from the closet, but I can grab your pillow from your bed if you think you'll need it."

"Ah." Smiling sheepishly in response, Kagome nodded. "That'd be great, mama. Thanks."

"I'll get the extra bed roll, too." Her mother's brow creased in worry, before she added, "I'd hate for the two of you to slip off the couch in the middle of the night and be on the floor. Or for Gojo-san to hit his head on the table."

Her smile faltered with the realization that her mother planned to rearrange the entire living room to better accommodate Satoru and his impromptu nap. "I don't think that's, uh—" Kagome laughed a little at the sharp look in her mother's eye, before continuing by saying, "Satoru-san never really sleeps that long, mama. The extra bed roll is probably just a little too much."

"To me it looked like he'd had a rather long day when he arrived, dear. He might surprise you."

"Maybe."

Her mother nodded in satisfaction, disappearing around the corner once her point had been made. She was gone for maybe half a second, before she exclaimed, "Oh!"

"Mama?" Kagome called, blinking in confusion.

Satoru groaned from her lap, his grip tightening with the volume.

"I almost forgot." Her soothing voice drifted back through the doorway before she reappeared with her phone in hand. The camera light flashed with a click of a button, and she smiled brilliantly at the flabbergasted look that crossed Kagome's face once she lowered the device. "These are memories you'll want to keep someday."

Her face burning once again, Kagome could only gape at her mother in horror. It was already bad enough that Satoru was camera happy, even when faced against a special grade curse. "Mama!"

Clicking her tongue, her mother said, "He's a sweet boy, Kagome dear."

"T-that's not—!" Trying to find the words, Kagome ended up wheezing somewhere in the middle and barely managed to keep her voice down when she declared, "He's unhinged!"

Snorting, her mother shook her head and tucked her phone back into her pocket. "If I remember correctly," she appeared to be entirely unimpressed by the display, as she replied, "so was Inuyasha, dear. And he wasn't nearly as tall."

Her mouth hanging open, Kagome sputtered, "Oh my god, mama!"

Note: Today's December 7th, which is Gojo's birthday, guys! That means you get this chapter a couple days earlier than Sunday! Not sure if I'll have another one ready or not for Sunday, but I wanted to post on Gojo's day, since I miss all my other boys birthday's!