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"Hey…hey... wake up." Argh, go away….and stop shaking me. I weakly flailed an arm to ward away the nuisance. But...Mmmm... That smells good, my groggy mind was still a haze as I was slowly roused by the fresh fragrance of clam soup.

With a light grunt I shifted to sit up and felt the warm embrace from the blanket slide off my shoulders. scanning around to get my bearings with half awake vision: Seems I had fallen asleep sitting at the table as the scattered remnants of my late night snack proved how messy it was. My last memory was browsing through the magazine which laid open to the spread about the fireworks festival. How then, did this blanket get on me?

"Good mornin'" Yukihira said as he set plates of piping hot food on the table. There's something about the way he said it, it wasn't the chirp that greeted me yesterday, now he seemed… how would I put it?

Reserved.

I looked up at him and our eyes met for a split second, before he flashed a light smile and hastened back to the kitchenette. Weird.

Well, whatever, Sitting here I shifted a little more to untangle myself from the blanket. That was when i realized that my chest felt more… liberated than usual, free from the usual constraining undergarment under my shirt.

WHAT?! I instinctively grabbed the blanket and tightly wrapped myself for decency. I was sure I wore them last night. I mean, yeh I do take them off in the comfort of my room, but ...

...What happened last night?

Yukihira returned to the table and hesitated to pick the spot across the table, instead opted to sit perpendicular to me of which I'm inwardly thankful for as I couldn't look into his eyes right now. "Have some soup." He broke the silence, placing a steaming bowl of clam soup in front of me before muttering "Itadakimasu" and digging in.

Now that he mentioned it, I do feel thirsty with this furry feeling on my tongue. Reaching an arm out of my blanket shell like a tortoise would I took the bowl and sipped the warm liquid.

Delicious. As expected of him.

The light, umami taste from the clam juices filled the forefront of the palate with the refreshing squeeze of lime leaving a gentle aftertaste that both woke and chased away any haze left in my mind. The artificial uni powder from the night before was cleansed, removing the odd feel from my tongue as it soothed my parched throat caused by the alcohol.

Oh right! there was alcohol!

The magazines, the snacks and the deep swig from the can rushed back to me. But how does that connect to Yukihira's behaviour, the blanket and my current state of… dress?

"Feeling better?" he said, gentle concern in his tone.

"Yes, thank you." I managed a reply, taking another mouthful of the soup before retreating back on into the blanket, taking a deep breath which had me noticing a light sandalwood fragrance, while considering what to say.

On one side, I was still trying to join the dots as I sipped my soup; on the other, Yukihira was being uncharacteristically quiet, unlike his animated self.

Something was up.

I have a feeling he was finding an entry to bring up something. "How's the bruise?" concern was still present in his words, but I am pretty sure that was not what he really wanted to talk about.

Anything to fill the awkward silence, I offered my arm for inspection.

It was still bruised and tender, "I guess the bandanna stays on today." I remarked, a light smile in appreciation for his concern before retreating back under the blanket.

He seemed assured that I was healing well , "Let's get it wrapped when you're ready."

I nodded in agreement. After all, he would do a better job tying it. I also took that as a cue for me to excuse myself to prepare for the day. I gripped my protective blanket tightly and made to my feet. Now, if you had ever sat down on the ground, you would know that sitting for long periods could put your legs to sleep… which was what happened to me. At the very least, I managed a short shuffle before the pins-and-needles sensation kicked in, causing me to trip over…

Right onto Yukihira.

We were both floored, my chest pressed against his, simply separated by the thin material of my sleepwear. Despite the blanket cocoon breaking apart during my fall, I felt my body warm rapidly.

"Are you alright?" he breathed. His deep masculine sandalwood scent filled my senses as I struggled to block off the sensation while formulating a response to tell him that I'm fine.

"S-Sorry, I guess I was sitting for too long." I managed to mutter, pushing myself off him while simultaneously pulling together my blanket cocoon and attempting to shake away the numbness.

He got up and went straight for my feet. Before I could protest, he began kneading my calf muscles, "That's what happens when you fall asleep at the table." His teasing tone has returned along with his usual grin.

Well, it's good for things to return to normal.

It was pretty clear he didn't intend anything perverse in his actions so I allowed him to carry on, studying him from within my rebuilt cocoon as he confidently massaged my legs "You seemed to be pretty good at this." I remarked, half in appreciation and the other half to fill the silence.

"My mom used to get these often," he replied naturally, "With enough practise, anyone get do it well too."

Since he brought it up: Would asking about his mother be getting too personal at this point, I wonder?

Then again, considering how casual he put it, perhaps now's not the time.

I let the moment pass so I won't seem dismissive before asking the question that was eating me, "Did something happen last night?"

He paused and looked up, considering my question for a moment. "Yumiko and I were just chatting. She's here with her family for the summer holidays, staying till just after the fireworks festival." as he continued with his massage he then went on about things that both of them had talked about and how he escorted her back as it was late.

… the more he went on about her, the more irked i got. Perhaps it is because that was not my main concern, "Did… Did I… do something?" I intruded as soon as he mentioned about coming up the stairs.

"Well…" he considered an answer, absentmindedly pressing the sole of my left foot, "I think- I mean… though it was amusing to see a different side of you, it's nothing to worry about!" He flicked up a thumb and threw his trademark toothy grin.

Yukihira, rather than assuring me… THAT'S MORE REASON TO WORRY!

"But I should apologize though," he continued, bringing both hands to the other foot "I should drawn you into our conversation. it was rude to leave you by yourself."

I cooled off at his words; Wow. That's some self awareness. Seems Yukihira does have a mature side to him. Our eyes met and I softened, Maybe it's for the best that I don't pursue the question of what happened last night; after all, it seemed our awkwardness had evaporated. "Thanks," I replied, grateful to him for being considerate.

Don't mention it, His light smile conveyed. He gave a final squeeze of my foot. "You alright now?"

Yep, the numbness is gone. I thanked him for his assistance and got up to prepare for the day, gripping shut my blanket cocoon while shuffling to my room

Gently closing the door, I took a deep breath, the hint of earthy sandalwood from the blanket was growing on me. It's just the start of the day and it was already quite extraordinary. Well, I got to get to work soon, starting with making my bed.

It was then I found another blanket on it: same plain sky blue cotton material, pulled the same way as I remember making it yesterday. Hang on, if my blanket is still on my bed, this means that the one in my hands is…

Yukihira's.

Oh, as to the mystery of the missing brassiere: I found it neatly folded at where I sat.

A/N: Not as long as others but I thought this is a good point to leave this chapter :P

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