Sky & HE★VENS

Exhausted

The day after they got back from Hokkaido, Hikari recieved a spam of messages from her group chat with both Tomochika and Nanami. Most texts consists of "How"s, "Why"s and "Since when"s. But all of them related to her relationship with Eiichi.

She answered all of their questions as quickly as she could. She felt embarrassed writting out how she felt and all that, but she hoped at least those girls wouldn't make fun of how simple and cliche her feelings and thoughts were.

"Angel, your phone's been buzzing all morning..." Van said from his seat.

"It's Haruka and Tomo." She said with a sigh. "They're commenting on what they call my... unexpected love life."

"What, they think Eiichi's not good enough for you?" Yamato asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Or maybe vice versa?" Nagi said, leaning forward on the table.

"Actually, they thought it was, and I quote, 'completely ridiculous because someone like him will flirt with any girl in a three feet radius so you shouldn't get too attached or you might get hurt'." Hikari said, reading out loud. "That was Tomo and as for Haruka, she said 'I think you both would be cute, but just be careful or he might catch you off guard'." She shook her head. "I'm trying to explain the whole story to them, but I think I'll let them settle down from the shock. Still, some of these are pretty funny after you're done getting offended."

"More people calling Nii-san a demon." Eiji said with a chuckle. Then he looked around. "Speaking of which, where is Nii-san?"

"Probably still knocked out from yesterday." Nagi said, stretching his arms with a yawn. "He stayed up half the night to give directions to that driver."

However, that wasn't the whole story. The driver that was assigned to pick them up the day they got back called in sick, so they sent another one. This driver hadn't been on the job for very long so he had problems in the first few minutes of the ride. Eiichi started with giving him instructions on where to go, but eventually, he told the driver to switch places with him so he drove the rest of the way. Then by the time they got back, he told the driver as nicely as he could muster to drive around the city as much as his free time made it possible, just so that he could memorize the street names at least.

It didn't stop there as Eiichi also had to finish off a pile of paper work his father had no doubt placed in his room. Despite the protests of both Kira and Hikari, he finished them on that night to avoid stacking more up the next day.

"You should check on him." Shion nudged Hikari.

"Yeah. Make sure he's alive for us." Nagi said jokingly.

"Or if he's dead, wake him up with a kiss." Van wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way, nearly earning himself a slap from Kira.

"Sleeping beauty didn't die for nothing." Yamato added in agreement.

"Aurora didn't die. She was just put to sleep." She argued.

"Yeah, for eternity unless someone kissed her." Nagi replied, smirking.

She sighed. "You guys are impossible to handle."

"How do you think I feel?" Kira stated bluntly.

"Struggles of a mother." She smiled wryly at him before heading to Eiichi's room.

She knocked on the door, but when she got no reply, she let herself in. She found the brunette sleeping peacefully. He was on his side, eyes closed lightly and breathing very slowly. His hair was slightly tussled and his soft lips were only barely parted.

His glasses were on the table, leaving his face unadorned. Depite that, in her eyes, he still looked cute. Smiling to herself, she sat beside him and shook him lightly.

"Eii, you should wake up now." She said softly. "It's almost 8 o'clock. Everyone else is already having breakfast."

He muttered inaudible things before his eyes parted ever so slightly. He beckoned her closer. Perhaps he was still half asleep. Keeping her laughter inside her head, she decided to humor him.

When she did, however, she wasn't expecting to be kissed right then. It was different than the other times when he initiated it. His lips were usually rough on hers, but this time, they were gentle and sweet. She returned the kiss, placing her hands on his shoulders and they spent a minute just enjoying how the other tasted.

When he pulled away, he let her hands stay rested on his shoulders as his sneaked around her waist as he pulled her on the bed with him. Then he kissed her again. "Soft..." He mumbled against her lips.

She smiled, letting a small giggle out. "Yours are soft too."

His lips trailled away from hers and went down her neck. He bit on a spot just above her collarbone, making her groan. Then, he flipped their positions. Now, with him looming above her, she found her hands dropping to her sides. She looked up at him and wondered what he was about to do. With how little his eyes had opened, she assumed he was still in a daze. She wonders how he could do these things without being properly aware of what's going on.

Her thoughts snapped and her breathing froze when he began to trail his hands around her. When one of his hands lingered on the top button of her shirt, she grabbed on to it and stopped him.

His eyes went up to meet hers and they softened when they did. Slowly, he asked her. "Why did you stop me..? You were always okay with it until now..."

Always? As far as she knew, this is the first time he touched her body this way, and she wasn't sure if her shivering meant she liked it or was afraid of it.

"Eiichi, I'm not... I can't..." She struggled to find the right words.

But she didn't have to. The look in her eyes seemed to have said everything and his mind finally cleared. It dawned on him nearly like a slap across the face. This wasn't a dream.

He blinked his eyes a few times to be sure he was fully awake. Then he rolled off of her and onto his side. Taking in a deep breath, he admitted at once. "Sorry, guess I was just so tired I couldn't tell the difference between real life and a fantasy."

Fantasy? It took a while, but after completely processing what he meant, her face exploded to a blush. "Y-you've been... Dreaming those kinds of things??!"

He nodded. "Yeah. I didn't know if I wanted you to know or not. You're probably uncomfortable right now."

Well, that much was true. Despite the uneasy knot in her stomach, she pushed down her blood rush as much as she could before opening her mouth. "Eiichi, would you like it better if I was more intimate with you?"

The question caught him off guard, but he shook his head. "Don't worry about that. We can't rush these things and I know you're not ready. Actually, I don't think either of us are..." He muttered something inaudible to her ears, but for a second, she thought the word 'mother' slipped through his lips.

Then he shook his head again and smiled softly at her. "Besides, intimacy isn't just about... Well, that." Hugging her to his chest, he gently stroked her back. "Intimacy can also mean the times we've kissed, hug, held hands... the times we went on a date, when we 'joke around' and just all those little moments when we're together. So you're intimate enough with me."

"But... You want more, right?"

His hands froze for a second, but then continued what they were doing. However, his grip did tighten around her more and the strokes were also getting slower. He sighed. "I do... want to see your body... More than just see it, but again, we can't rush these things." Using one hand to cup her cheek, he pulled her face up so their eyes would meet. "I'll wait for you, so it's okay."