Survival? Definitely Not A Test

Chapter XV

Fluttering his eyes open, Takemichi had half of his mind to close his eyes again when all he saw was darkness. It was not completely dark as he still could see the tense bodies not far from him, glued to one another. The sounds of the burning woods and a few rustling are all he heard. He couldn't tell the time but he knew it was just before dawn.

Takemichi stayed looking up at the dark sky. The stars were fading compared to last night. He wanted to move, to do his responsibility. However, when he could feel the dry -not soaked- bandage around his torso and a dry shirt, he just decided to continue lying down, closing his eyes. 

It was not his fault that the shirt -that was too big to be his- was warm. The hands that were holding onto his hands too.

Right. Hands. 

Takemichi could feel two tiny hands on his left side and a big but not bigger than his on his right. Opening his eyes to look at the source of the warmth, a soft smile made it to his face when he saw Luna and Mana on his left while Naoto on his right. The three of them were cuddled up to his sides. 

Making a further observation, Takemichi realized once again that he was not wearing his own shirt and a black white kimono outerwear was sprawled on him and the kids. Mostly on him. 

Reminded of the unconscious bandit-leader before he blacked out, Takemichi figured that the others must have had moved him somewhere to allow him to rest. Otherwise, if the leader ever got up, Takemichi sure would have been woken up earlier since the bandit never seem to keep his mouth shut. 

Careful not to wake the other three, Takemichi slowly retracted his hands. Once he got his hands free, he took the kimono cardigan and laid it on top of the three kids, scooting them closer to one another. Takemichi  slowly walked toward the fire where his companions at as they were looking at Takemichi wide-eyed. His eyes locked onto shirtless Shinichiro, who was looking at him with a warm smile. 

'So that was where this shirt came from'

"Did you have a good rest?" Shinichiro asked. 

"Better than never" Takemichi stretched his arms up, eluding loud pops before sitting down besides Mikey and Draken. He didn't say anything when the two especially Mikey immediately latched up to his sides. 

A small 'thanks' came out of Takemichi when Kazutora passed him his bag, accompanied by a small smile. Takemichi immediately rummaged through his bag, searching for something.

"Thank you for the shirt, guessing from your half-naked body. It's warm"

Blood raised to the older's ears, colouring them red. Guess that Takemichi was not the only one who was getting warm.

"It's alright" Shinichiro chuckled, rubbing his nape. "Is-" 

Shinichiro was cut off when some kind of fabric landed on his head. Removing the fabric from his head, He looked at Takemichi questioningly as the latter was the one who threw it. Shinichiro raised his eyebrow when Takemichi urged him to take it. Hesitantly taking it, he looked at the fabric, not just any fabric but a shirt. He looked at Takemichi again just to see the latter smiling.

"I think the shirt will fit you" Takemichi stated, looking into Shinichiro's eyes. "I'm not returning your shirt for now, just wear that. It's cold" 

"O-oh, t-thanks" Shinichiro was undeniably getting warmer, redder when the fact that Takemichi and him exchanged shirts. Also, the fact that Takemichi wanted to keep wearing his shirt. Ignoring the looks he got around him, Shinichiro cleared his throat before speaking once again. 

"I-is the bandage to your liking? Mitsuya-kun and Wakasa were the one who clean and change it, they are the best we could offer"

"Eh, really? It could use some improvement, but it is nice to not have blood-soaked bandage stuck onto you" Takemichi shot both of them a small smile, still feeling tired "Thanks both of you. Great job"