Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun One Shots

Hori x Kashima: Stupid

Kashima had just finished a session of private rehearsal with her most beloved senpai, Hori, for the upcoming play of their school's rendition of "Hamlet." Hori sat in a chair with one arms resting on his leg, slightly bent over as he looked at the script.

"That was the best performance I've heard from you, Kashima," he said as he raised his eyes from the paper to meet hers. "You put a lot of emotion into those words and enunciated them clearly. Good job."

Kashima inhaled sharply, and her green eyes lit up with elation. "Thank you, Hori-chan-senpai! I tried my best and it makes me happy to know that you thought it was good, too!"

Hori, although a little put off by her enthusiastic reaction, continued, "No problem." He lifted his head to check the time, and his mouth opened slightly when he saw how late it was. "You should really be getting on home, Kashima. It's late and your parents must be worried about where you are."

She shook her head quickly. "My parents are out of town on a business trip, like they are 99 percent of the time." She muttered the last part and slid her gaze off to the side, obviously a bit miffed by their actions. "They don't care where I go."

"Hum. Okay," Hori murmured. He raised a hand behind his hand and scratched absentmindedly. "What do you suppose you want to do now?" he wondered aloud. He glanced behind him, noticing that the sun had already lowered beneath the horizon and the sky was painted a dark gray. The first stars were beginning to appear, peppering the sky like the polka dots on Sakura Chiyo's trademark ribbons.

Kashima immediately noticed how awkward the situation was becoming, and her cheeks became tinged with a slight blush. "I'm really tired, to be honest... I feel like going to sleep." As if to prove her point, she broke out into an enormous yawn that she instinctively covered with her hand. She raised herself from her cross-legged position on the floor and was about to walk off when she paused, and turned her head back to look at him. "Do you think I could use your bed for a quick nap, or...?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Hori stood up a little too quickly and the chair scooted backwards with a loud scraping noise, and they both winced. "Uh, you can just sleep in my bed right over here..." He led her down a hallway to his small room that had a quite comfortable-looking twin bed pushed off to the side.

"Thank you, Hori-senpai." Kashima gave him a small, warm smile and closed the door to his room. Hori was left standing outside with an unfamiliar feeling tightening his chest, and he placed a hand over his heart. It was beating rapidly.

-Why do I feel like this?- he wondered as he turned away from his room and walked to his kitchen. -She's just another student that I'm helping with lines... at my house... and now she's sleeping in my bed...-

The clock ticked out minutes like so many stars twinkling to life in the sky, and Hori sat at the kitchen table, engrossed in rewriting the script. The room was dim, with only a small lamp in the corner giving him enough light to see by.

"Hori-senpai?"

"Mm?" He looked up to see Kashima standing in the doorway, her hand over her chest. Her uniform sweater was creased, her skirt rumpled, and her blue hair was sticking up in the back, but Hori couldn't help but think how adorable she looked when she was sleepy.

"I-" She hesitated, then began again. "I'm not having particularly good dreams, so, ah... would it be okay with you if you came and just... you know, were in the room with me?"

Hori was taken aback by her proclamation, but he didn't want to disappoint her. After all, he couldn't just ignore the feeling he had earlier when she had gone to sleep in his room, on his own bed...

"Sure." He grabbed the script and pencil and followed her to the room, where moonlight was seeping in between the curtains covering his window. It pooled onto the ground right at the foot of the bed, and Hori took up a seat on the bed where he could still work on his script.

Several minutes passed by where Hori quietly revised the script and Kashima tried to fall asleep, but to no avail. She was acutely aware of him sitting at the end of the bed and almost touching her, and even though she had turned to face the wall, she could not stop her face and body from heating up.

"If you're going to sit so close to me, why don't you just get into bed with me, Hori-senpai!" she whispered fiercely. She felt movement on the end of the bed, and she stiffened. -Did he hear me? I think he heard me!-

Suddenly, a cold breeze swept in and tickled her back, and she tried to pull the blankets around her when she found she couldn't. The breeze was cut off by something solid radiating warmth beside her, and she dared to turn her head to see if her wish had come true.

Hori had actually gotten into bed and was now lying beside her, keeping perfectly still.

Kashima's face took on a color similar to that of a tomato, and she rose the blankets to cover her face. -This is happening...-

A touch on her arm made her jerk, and it slowly crept over her to drape over it in a kind of loose hug. Just as Kashima felt that she couldn't take it anymore and would turn around and pull Hori into a hug, he beat her to it.

She managed to slow her breath from where it was coming in short gasps, and she tentatively placed her hands on Hori's arms, which had wrapped around her, completely locking her in his embrace.

"You're the stupidest kouhai I know, but that's exactly the reason why I love you," she heard him murmur.

Kashima tightened her grip on him and closed her eyes, relaxed by his inhaling and exhaling against her back.

Who knew that something as simple as a rehearsal could turn into this.
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A/N: Writing fluffy fics are so cute I love them