Nightmares

Mid November, Midnight

Set when Ayano is eighteen, almost nineteen. Kazuma is twenty two.

When Ayano turned seventeen she and Kazuma had started dating. Some time after that, she discovered that he had nightmares. She didn't sleep in his bed every night, not he hers. Her time was split between his apartment and the Kannagi manor, and the nightmares didn't happen every night. But the fact that he had them at all was concerning.

Of course, Kazuma had denied it at first. He'd claimed that his bad dreams had been about winning a fortune only to have it vanish before his eyes. Or that he'd suddenly lost his Fūjutsushi powers mid flight and fell a thousand feet. For a while, he'd even refused to sleep, and he'd spouted all manner of excuses as to why she could no longer spend the night at his place. Eventually she'd argued with him and he'd admitted that he had nightmares occasionally.

And that night, it happened again.

She was woken by him tossing and turning in the large bed. His breathing was ragged and his eyes were squeezed tightly shut. Ayano had learned the hard way not to forcibly try to wake him. He tended to wake up fairly quickly on his own even though she hated to watch him struggle.

It helped if she moved around a little, or pushed back the covers, just a slight movement to bring him back. So she did.

A second later, Kazuma's eyes shot wide open and he inhaled deeply. He was tense beside her and he began to regulate his breathing in an attempt to calm himself.

"Kazuma?" Ayano asked quietly.

Silently, he rolled onto his side so that his back was to her. "Go back to sleep," he muttered.

"What d'you need?" Ayano asked. It was a question she had discovered was extremely helpful in this situation. He didn't always want to be touched for comfort after a nightmare, and yet sometimes he did. Sometimes, he could go back to sleep after a while and yet sometimes, he'd leave the bed and refuse to close his eyes again that night. She had no way of knowing unless he told her.

And so, the ritual of asking the question was borne.

For a moment he was still and silent but then, quickly, he turned over to face her and threw his arm over her. He pulled her close and buried his face into her shoulder, breathing in the comforting scent of her strawberry shampoo that lingered in her hair.

With a sad smile, Ayano drew her arms around him while he moulded himself around her. The change was almost instantaneous. The tension seemed to vanish from his body and he was now lying bonelessly limp beside her.

"Didn't mean to wake you," he muttered. His version of an apology.

"You didn't. I couldn't sleep. I've been worrying about an exam. I'm gonna fail, I know it," she lied, and they both knew that it was a lie but he didn't call her out on it.

"Thought you needed your beauty sleep," Kazuma retorted instead.

"Why would I need that? Idiot. I'm pretty already, didn't you know?" she scoffed back.

He barked out a scoff and chuckled against her. "That so?" he whispered.

"Of course," Ayano said with mocking seriousness.

"What's the exam for?" he asked quietly. He never discussed what this dreams were about, but a distraction was usually welcome.

"English," she said.

"You're gonna fail," Kazuma stated.

"Thanks for the support," Ayano sighed.

"Why'd you wanna learn English anyway?"

"You go to England sometimes. For work," she shrugged.

"So?"

"Well, maybe next time I'd wanna go with you. So, I should speak some English, right?"

"If you say so."

"I do say so," she harrumphed. "Maybe you should help me study and not just laugh at me," she suggested.

"I'm not a tutor."

"It's either that or you can tell me about your dream."

"Fine, I'm a tutor," Kazuma snapped. "You're so bossy, y'know. I don't know why I put up with you sometimes," he grumbled in perfect English.

"Stop showing off," Ayano lightly pinched his shoulder with her fingers and he yelped in exaggerated pain.

"There's no need for violence," he grumbled and she smiled.

"That didn't hurt, you big baby," she rolled her eyes.

"It hurt, sweetheart, it really hurt," Kazuma retorted, rubbing his shoulder.

"Sweetheart?"

"Well, if you're calling me 'baby'…"

"That wasn't what I said!"

"Although, I can think of a million better pet names than that, I don't really mind," Kazuma continued and she just sighed at him.

"Whatever, 'baby' or 'sweetheart' or whatever," she muttered.

"Glad we settled that, sweetheart," he whispered feeling the heat from her skin as she blushed. In a more serious and despondent tone he added, "I'm not gonna talk about it." He said that every time, as though she'd forgotten.

"I know," Ayano said patiently.

Generally, Ayano was not a patient person. She never had been. But she'd been learning in the last few years, especially where Kazuma was concerned, that sometimes she needed to be patient. He'd been patient with her when needed, when he wasn't teasing the hell out of her that was. So she could learn to return the favour, both in patience and in teasing him right back as the situation demanded.

"It won't change anything," he commented morosely.

"I know," she repeated, just as calmly. She ran a hand through his hair and it seemed to help him relax.

"It'll go away eventually, anyway. Honestly, having the same ones over and over again just gets boring. Why can't the stupid dreams show me something new? It's really unimaginative," he continued.

"Maybe next time it'll be more considerate," she drawled and he chuckled.

"Yeah, maybe…Does it…bother you?" he asked in an uncharacteristically timid voice.

"What?" Ayano asked.

"That I don't wanna talk about it," he said.

"It worries me that you have them so bad. But why would it bother me? They're your dreams not mine. I'm just worried about you. And it's not hard to guess what they're about," Ayano answered, hugging him close.

"S' not as bad as it used to be," she felt him shrug as he spoke in a nonchalant voice, as though nightmares were normal.

"You ever had the dream where you turn up to an exam in your underwear?" she asked, trying to lighten his mood.

"No," he snorted.

"Me neither. Just wondered."

"Bet you have," he teased.

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint."

"That's one exam I'd turn up for early for if you were sitting there in your bra. The fancy pink lace one, that's a nice set," he chuckled.

"It should be, it was expensive," she flushed.

"I know. You made me pay for it."

"T…that was because you ruined the nice ones I had before s…so…"

"That wasn't my fault."

"How was it not your fault?!"

"You said you wanted to…"

"Okaaaay, I remember, I was there too," Ayano snapped and covered his mouth with her hand. She was now truly red in the face remembering her own brazen confidence from that night.

He dropped a gentle kiss against her palm over his mouth and then reached up with his won hand and pulled it away to hold it against his chest. "It was hot. Even a celibate monk would have had a hard time with that. Your underwear was a causality. So was the lamp we knocked over and broke," he said.

"You have such a one track mind," Ayano smiled.

"Damn right I do," he said, completely unashamed.

"Most people wouldn't be proud of that."

"Most people don't have a hot, sexy girlfriend to cause such a one track mind. Why wouldn't I be proud?" he yawned.

"Your one track, dirty mind is so not my fault. Your brain was broken before we even started dating."

"Ouch. You're getting better, but we really do need to work on your idea of dirty talk. Even if it's you, being insulted just doesn't quite do it for me. I don't mind being bossed around a bit, that can be really hot. But insults…hmmm…but you can keep trying, who knows?"

"Idiot," Ayano muttered.

"Hmmm…nope, not working for me. Not even a little bit," he drawled.

"How sad."

"Don't worry about it, sexy, just looking at you is enough to turn me on, you don't need to insult me," Kazuma said, sounding increasingly tired by the second. The gentle, soothing notion of her hand in his hair and against the side of his face always made him feel tired again after a nightmare. And she knew it; if he didn't run, or immediately initiate intimacy to soothe his aching heart and reassure himself that he was loved, he wanted to sleep.

"What a relief," Ayano rolled her eyes. She wasn't sure whether or not to be embarrassed or flattered by that remark.

"…Ayano?"

"Hmmm?"

"Sorry I woke you up again, he muttered.

"It's okay. Just go back to sleep," she whispered.

"Mmmmm," Kazuma hummed and within a matter of seconds he was fast asleep again, still curled around her.