Heroes Without Capes

Sunday

Kimishita woke up to the first rays of the morning sun tickling his face, gently calling him back from the realm of his dreams. Rolling over, he reached for his cell phone lying on the nightstand, checking the time. Still early in the morning. Perfect. He loved being up early even on his days off; if he had some free time, he'd rather make the most of the day than waste several hours sleeping in and doing nothing.

Stretching, he sat up, walking over to the window with a yawn and looking outside, gaze roaming over the empty street below. Without his glasses he could see every tiny detail in the distance; a pair of birds sitting in a small tree, a stray cat running off with a fish, a leaf spinning around in the air as it was being carried away by the wind. Kimishita opened the window, inhaling the cool morning air. Despite the bad dream he had last night, he was feeling well rested, almost relaxed. He had slept longer and better than he'd had in a long time, and it wasn't just because he had gone to bed at a reasonable hour. After waking up from that nightmare, his dreams had been calm and pleasant, giving his troubled mind a rest for the first time in forever.

He wondered what had helped him calm down so much. Was it the fact that he didn't have to juggle everything on his own anymore? The fact that he wasn't all by himself in this empty apartment? No, that couldn't be it. Overwork and loneliness were only side effects of the main reason for his troubled mind.

And yet... there had been something. Kimishita couldn't remember it clearly, but even through his nightmare something else had reached him, a familiar voice whispering words of comfort and reassurance, a warm hand wiping his tears and caressing his shoulders and back until he woke up. Had that been part of the dream, or had it really happened. And if it had...

It didn't have anything to do with Kiichi sitting by his bed when he woke up, did it?

A small blush crept over his face as he dismissed the thought. Ridiculous. Kiichi would never do something as openly affectionate as that, especially not to him. It must have been part of his dream. The fact that his vice-captain had been next to him when he woke up only meant that he'd come in to check on him, nothing else. It was just a coincidence.

Turning away from the window, he made over to the door and started sneaking towards the bathroom, careful not to make too much noise and wake Kiichi up. Knowing his teammate, he was probably still asleep and wasn't going to wake up anytime before noon. Kimishita didn't mind. As much as he loved mornings, he hated human interaction before he'd had his daily dose of caffeine.

The sound of a door opening snapped Kimishita out of his thoughts. Turning around, he found Kiichi standing on the doorstep, yawning and rubbing his eyes as if he'd only just woken up. "Morning."

It took all of Kimishita's willpower not to laugh out loud. Even after five years of sharing rooms at training camps Kiichi's bedhead was still something else, red strands of hair randomly poking out in every direction like a weird combination of a star shape, a bird's nest, and a sea urchin. The fact that his eyes were still half-closed and one of his socks was slipping off his foot didn't exactly help matters.

But more importantly... why did he look like he'd barely slept at all? His face looked swollen, his eyes reddened and lined with dark shadows. And... "Why are you already awake?"

Kiichi gave another big yawn, not even bothering to cover his mouth. "Dunno," he mumbled, averting his gaze. "Couldn't sleep."

"Cover your mouth when you yawn, nitwit!"

"Shaddup." Thankfully Kiichi was still too sleepy to yell, his protests coming in weak mumbles. "You're not my mom."

Making a dismissive gesture, Kimishita turned and continued walking towards the bathroom. "Go back to bed," he said over his shoulder. "I'm using the bathroom first."