Prologue

Another Night Among Starry-Eyed Fools

The first thing that greeted him when he opened his eyes was a ceiling barely illuminated by the light coming from the TV.

He groaned slightly, feeling a stab of pain in his neck due to the horrible position he had just decided to sleep in. His hand went to his face as he ever so begrudgingly avoided just going back to sleep on the couch he was sitting on.

How long has he been asleep for? He could only guess too long, given that there was a completely different movie showing on the TV.

He adjusted himself on his seat, being careful to not move too much as a weight on both his lap and other arm reminded him that he had not been by himself when he fell asleep.

"Fufufufu, how cute…!"

But before he could even start thinking about what to do in this situation, he was graced by a melodic laughter, bringing his gaze to the seat to his left as he realized he was not the only person awake right now.

His gaze moved to his side, until they were met by a pair of purple eyes that looked like stars, matched by long purple hair that framed a face that could only be considered beautiful by anyone's standards.

A face that was sporting quite the smile, to the point it was more a grin than anything else, as the person rested her chin on her hands, her gaze focused purely on him.

His first reaction was, of course, to glare in return.

"You could have woke me up." He grunted out, simply making her pout.

"And ruin something so adorable? Never." She giggled as she spoke, only making him roll his eyes as his gaze moved to the figure resting against his arm, followed by him then looking at the one currently sleeping with her head on his lap.

"I guess they're cute enough when they're asleep." He conceded this point to her. "But that's no excuse still."

"I'll have you know my babies are the cutest all the time." Now she was the one glaring at him as if he had offended everything she believed in.

And in response, he only raised an eyebrow, his gaze dipping down to his lap for a second before meeting purple once more.

"Ruby's drooling on my pants right now."

"The cutest."

He didn't know why he even bothered with a lost cause like her.

"Just… help me move them to the bed already."

"Fiiiine." Why was she whining?! "Come with mama, Ruby!"

He rolled his eyes as she picked up her daughter, honestly surprised she hadn't woke her up with all the cooing she was doing,

That left him with Aqua, he supposed.

Carefully picking up the sleeping child, he was quick to follow her into the bedroom of the apartment, a frown present on his face. It wasn't his first time picking up one of the twins of course, but even after so many times, he still felt more than a bit awkward about it.

So, the sooner he could put Aqua to bed, the better.

Especially since the boy didn't like to be held in the first place anyway, and he did not need the tantrum if he suddenly woke up.

Fortunately for him, that didn't happen, and he laid Aqua right beside the still-sleeping Ruby, he could only let out a small sigh.

"Isn't this sight just the best?" While right beside him, the obviously more than proud mother of the duo released her own sigh of contentment.

"And I'm sure you're not biased at all here." He said, for which he was promptly ignored as she kept gazing at her children, a grin on her lips and he could have sworn he even saw her eyes sparkle for a moment there.

That was his cue to leave then.

"See you tomorrow then." Maybe, probably. Frankly speaking, he should have been studying for a test right now instead of being used as the twin's makeshift bed. He would have to pull an all-nighter tomorrow at this rate, so he definitely shouldn't have been here today, let alone tomorrow too.

But it wouldn't be the first time his plans had changed because of them.

As he tried to leave, however, a hand suddenly grasped his wrist, stopping him in his tracks immediately.

"Do you really have to leave, though?" Her voice was now far softer than he was used to hearing, her hold on his hand somehow both firm yet gentle.

"I have classes tomorrow." College forgives no one, and his grades were already slipping up enough as it was.

He wouldn't blame her or her children for that though, for it was him that kept making stupid decisions as of late.

He still had to leave now though.

"I can wake you up if you want." Her tone grew with a slight tease, right before a giggle escaped her. "Or maybe Ruby will screech both of us up if she sees you on the bed… again."

Yeah, he really needed to leave now.

So when he turned to face her directly, he did so with the words already on his lips.

Only for them to die there as soon as his gaze met hers once more.

Her smile was far softer now, barely a thug at the corner of her lips. If he was forced to describe it, then 'cute' was the only right term.

Not that he would ever tell her that, of course.

But it wasn't that what made him freeze, but rather her eyes.

The expression on them was something he had seen before, more times than he could count by now, but it still gave him pause even after so many times.

For in there, he saw something simple.

A promise.

A promise of something far, far more complicated than just crashing on her house for the night.

Of something that, for as slow as he could be in these kind of matters, even he could figure out what it meant.

He might be dense, as Komachi liked to say, but completely ignorant he was not.

And because of that...

"Goodnight, Hoshino."

He removed his arm slowly from her hold, his eyes locked on her hand as he refused to look at her eyes and knowing what kind of expression she was making now. Would she be sad or upset? Dissapointed perhaps?

Maybe, but it didn't change the fact that this was for the best.

For all of them.

"Goodnight, Hachi." Her soft voice, barely above a whisper, still reached his ears as he left quietly, his feet draggin him slowly outside of her apartment.

A tired breath left him as soon as he was out. He made sure to lock the door behind him of course, as he was still more than a bit paranoid considering previous experiences.

At the very least, the journey back to his own apartment was never a long one. He was her neighboor, after all, although by now he could hardly just label them as such.

For better and for worse.

Before he knew it, his head had hit the pillow on his bed, his eyes locked onto his own ceilling this time, as something told him sleep wouldn't come to him easely right now.

He still tried though, by closing his eyes, but it was dificult to rest when one simple question kept making echoes in his head.

Was this really for the best?

It was.

It had to be.

Or at the very least, that's what he liked to tell himself on nights like this.

Those that read my other Oregairu fic might have seen this one coming.

My attempt at something with mo drama rather than comedy. Let's see how it goes.

Chapters will most likely be short like this one, and they might not be on a fixed order all the time.

Thank you all for having read this far!

Next Chapter: The Loner and the Idol.