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Kyotaro couldn’t say he was particularly proud of anything he did.
It wasn’t as if he actually was ashamed of anything, it just was because it took more effort than it was worth to actually be proud of anything (likewise, being ashamed was also a really tiring activity).
However, if you did actually ask and forced an answer out, Kyotaro would have said that he took pride in his ability to sleep at least seventeen hours a day. It was interrupted sleep, what with Ryoma forcing him to get up and at least get to school, but seventeen hours of napping, dozing off and day-dreaming made him extremely happy and Kyotaro treasured every minute of it. Shuzenji Kyotaro was a man who wanted to sleep and nothing could stop him.
“Kyotaro-senpai. Kyotaro-senpai!”
“Mghhh…” Except Dougo Ichiro, apparently, who was poking his cheek. Kyotaro tilted his head but didn’t open his eyes, vaguely wondering if he didn’t give into his junior’s demands, he could continue to sleep. Maybe he should play dead. Would he believe that?
“Kyotaro-senpai! Kyotaro-senpai! Come on! You haven’t eaten all day. You need to eat! Kyotaro-senpai!” Damn. No such luck.
“Careful, Ichiro-kun. Keep bothering him like that and he might bite you,” Nanao chimed from across the table. There was a bit of a yelp from Ichiro as he pulled his fingers away, suddenly expecting Kyotaro to do just that, but Kyotaro just remained there. Kyotaro allowed himself to settle himself again and relax, hoping to space out again.
“… Shuzenji-senpai… he’s right. You haven’t eaten all day. You should eat something.”
“Tired…” Usually, Kyotaro could zone out of a conversation, even one he was engaged with, but today he couldn’t seem to. There was something… stopping him. Something was wrong. Something with the club room? Kyotaro shifted one way. Then he shifted the other. Then he sighed. He couldn’t ignore it. Damn it.
Kyotaro’s eyes opened and he, possibly for the first time in his life, blinked the sleep out of his eyes. He looked around at his friends. Once over. Then twice. Something was wrong. The first-years were staring at him with concerned eyes and Nanao’s ever-present smile was a bit smaller than usual. Something was wrong. Something was missing here. Something…
“… There’s no tea smell.”
“Eh?”
“… There’s no tea boiling. I thought Ryo-chin bought new tea today… That fragrant stuff.”
“Ah. … Senpai that was three days ago,” Taishi muttered. Kyotaro blinked dully again before he looked around, still looking lost and confused. Nanao laughed quietly, shaking his head as he realised the problem.
“That’s because Ryouma-kun isn’t here, isn’t it, Kyotaro-kun?”
“… He’s not here today?” Kyotaro rested his head on the desk, a concerned frown on his face. “… Then how did I get to school?”
“You wandered out and collapsed on the road. We carried you up the stairs! I can’t believe you already forgot! We all ended up late.” Ichiro exclaimed.
“Ah… so I did… Why didn’t I stay in bed?”
“You instinctively walked out looking for Ryouma-kun. He’s sick today, remember?” Nanao laughed. “He usually pushes you up the stairs, so I imagine that you walked outside instinctively and you fell asleep while waiting for him.”
“It’s amazing how good your muscle memory is, Shuzenji-senpai. Your normal memory is terrible but your implicit motor memory is spot on. At least some of it. Your basal ganglia seems to have automated much your everyday life, although your cerebellum seems quite poor with adjusting your fine movement.”
“He doesn’t need it. You don’t need fine movement to sleep,” Nanao smiled. “Naturally poor Kyotaro-kun doesn’t need to waste energy on unnecessary things like brain function and coordination.”
“Yeah, whatever…” Kyotaro frowned and looked back at the blonde. ”… He’s been gone just today, right?”
“Yes, Kyotaro-kun,” Nanao shook his head, smiling like an amused but aspirated father, "No need to worry. Hopefully, Ryouma-kun will be here tomorrow to look after you.”
“And we don’t have to carry you again,” Ichiro muttered.
“Oh don’t give us that. It was your idea to carry him,” Taishi said, elbowing Ichiro in the shoulder. “Don’t complain.”
“I can complain! I have the right to since it was my idea! I didn’t realise there were so many steps up to school and it’s heavier when you’re carrying a person!”
“You climb those steps every day!”
“You weren’t bringing it up when you agreed with me first!”
“I did!”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Did not.”
As Taichi and Ichiro argued, Nanao quietly moved over to Kyotaro, offering him some of his snacks since he knew that Kyotaro wouldn’t have had his lunch without Ryouma reminding him. Kyotaro took one and popped it in his mouth before he reached for his teacup absent-mindedly.
“Ah… I forgot.”
The cup was empty.
————————
It had been two days since that conversation in the club room and Ryouma hadn’t returned to school. Nanao called Ryouma at home and talked to him and found he was fine, just still sick. He was recovering quickly from the flu that had caught him by surprise.
However, the same couldn’t be said about Kyotaro. Kyotaro was utterly exhausted. His seventeen hour sleep had been completely disrupted and he was now only getting fourteen hours of sleep. He wasn’t sure why he wasn't sleeping. Even though he got to sleep in the mornings, his naps had been disrupted through and through by something. He couldn’t nap as well as usual for some reason. If it wasn’t just general restlessness, perish the thought of him being restless, it was his dreams that kept poking him awake, zapping in and out of existence. That or Ata, who seemed as pissed as usual and kept waking up Kyotaro when he least expected it. At least that was all he was doing. The school council wasn’t sending monsters after them this week for some reason, which was good because they were short one member for their final attack. Still, it didn’t help much with the sleeping problem.
After lunch with the other members of the Earth Defence Club, Kyotaro found himself outside in the school courtyard as he often did when Ryoma was helping clean up their club room. Without his best friend to guide him to class, Kyotaro often spaced out and ended up somewhere in the school with no recollection of how he got there, which suited him fine. It seemed like he was going to be sleeping outside for his afternoon nap today. It was a bit of a pity, since he had expected to have the nap inside and had brought a book to shield him from the teacher, but Kyotaro enjoyed napping outside. It was so calm at this hour and the combination of warm sun and cool breeze aided his body’s desire for rest.
With a half-assed slump of his shoulders, Kyotaro let his blazer slide off his body onto the ground. Dragging his blazer by the sleeve, the man stifled a yawn and made his way to a bench. Man, he was so tired. He had actually stayed conscious enough to listen to Ichiro’s and Taishi’s argument in full AGAIN, which was positively exhausting. At least he could rest now. He was going to rest now. He was determined to have his wandering thoughts again.
Kyotaro curled up under his blazer and closed his eyes, letting his mind wander. Almost seamlessly, and to his relief, he fell out of consciousness and straight to sleep. His mind was left to its own devices, beginning to trickle out and introduce Kyotaro back to his dreams.
The second-year could immediately he could tell that he was about to have one of his favourite dreams. He was going to sleep (all his best dreams involved sleep). Today, his dreams had taken him to the middle of a quiet clearing, where there was a ring of trees separating him from any noise or distractions. In the center there was an isolated, white bed calling to him in, inviting him to rest there under the gentle glow of bright, orange stars in the clear night’s sky. Kyotaro dreamed of walking towards it, smiling as he saw Ryouma there, as usual, arranging tea and snacks on the side table, asking him to join him for a nice long nap. Kyotaro waved and came close, finding his hands moving to Ryouma’s shoulders to drag him down onto the plush covers and his face…
“Ah.”
Kyotaro’s eyes opened suddenly. He didn’t sit up immediately but he just stared at the sky, shocked as the mental image lingered in his head. Last time he had that dream, his lips weren’t so close to Ryouma’s. Actually, last time he had that dream, he was fairly sure that Ryouma hadn’t joined him for a nap either (when was Ryouma in all his dreams again?).
…Also the dream lasted a lot longer. As soon as Kyotaro waved the birds out of his hair, he checked the time on his phone and saw, with some horror, the two hour nap he had been expecting had only lasted a measly twenty minutes. What kind of nap was that?
“I thought I detected some unhappiness around here.” Kyotaro grimaced as he felt the small form of Prince Karls jump onto his head. He looked up at the yellow otter, scowling.
“… Don’t you have anyone else to harass?” Unsurprisingly, Kyotaro was promptly ignored.
“What’s the matter? You seem unhappy. Your calm aura isn’t as strong as usual too.”
“I haven’t been sleeping.”
“I find that unlikely. It’s not fitting for a knight to lie to their prince.” Kyotaro half-heartedly tried to brush the otter off of him. “Watch it! Hey! Okay… What’s on your mind?”
“Ryo-chin.”
“Ryouma? Ah… I see… well, how can you make things right? You can’t be a knight of happiness without being happy,” the prince said.
“To stop being a knight, I just have to be unhappy all the time?”
“That’s not a loophole.”
“Damn. What a pain…” Kyotaro covered his face with his hands and sighed, getting back to the task on hand, “My naps are being interrupted by Ryo-chin somehow…”
“How? What is he doing?”
“Doing? Nothing. It’s not like we had a fight. He’s been just away and sick. That’s all.”
“So you miss him then. And you want to see him?”
“Dunno.”
“Hmm…” The otter sprung up. “Maybe you should after school today! It will be a wonderful surprise. It could clear your head and you could talk to him about it. If Ryouma is the problem, maybe he can fix it.”
Kyotaro touched his lips absent-mindedly. Usually, he would dismiss the suggestion since he usually wanted to go home and sleep after a hot bath. However, if his naps were being interrupted by Ryouma’s face… “Yeah… maybe…”
—————
“A-ah? Kyotaro? You’re here?”
“… I’m surprised too, honestly.”
“I didn’t know you remembered where my house is… I usually pick you up at your place.” Kyotaro yawned and smacked his lips, looking at Ryouma. Ryouma looked didn’t look all that bad in all honesty. He had a red nose and flushed cheeks but besides that, he looked like a good night’s sleep would fix him up fully.
“Can I come in?”
“Oh, sure.” Ryouma stepped aside and Kyotaro strode on in, looking around. The house was dead quiet, empty save for Ryouma. Just how Kyotaro liked it. “Sorry I haven’t been coming to school. I’ve been so tired. I’ve been sleeping all day.”
“That makes one of us. I’ve only been sleeping half the day.”
“… Huh?” Ryouma blinked in confusion but Kyotaro didn’t answer him. Instead, he made a beeline for the couch. Ryouma gave a little laugh and followed after Kyotaro. “Hey, careful. I’ve been there all day. You’ll probably get sick there.”
“Good. Then I’ll get to sleep like you.” Kyotaro looked up from the cushion and stared at Ryouma.
“… Kyotaro… sorry but… what? I’m so confused.”
“… I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“Huh?” Ryouma’s eyes went wide and the orange-haired boy leaned up against the arm of the couch. “What? You? Not sleeping? Why? Have there been monster attacks?”
“No. I don’t care about those. I haven’t been sleeping because of you.”
“Me?”
Kyotaro stared at the bewildered Ryouma before he sighed. He grabbed Ryouma and with surprising strength he pulled the sick man on top of him. Ryouma yelped as he was brought down and hugged. Hugged?
“Kyotaro? Are you okay?” Ryouma squeaked. “O-oy… are you sure you’re not sick already?”
“Tired… you’ve been disrupting my sleep schedule. You’re always there for me… so you being at home has made everything weird… making me dream of you… making me miss you… want you… Stop that. It’s annoying. I want to sleep.”
Ryouma’s face turned a shade of red brighter than his hair. He didn’t pull away. He merely curled up against Kyotaro, listening to his best friend’s heartbeat which seemed so quick. Kyotaro seemed intent on holding the man in that position, as if he needed to recharge on his time with Ryouma and steal back all the hours of sleep he lost.
“… Do you… did you really miss me, Kyotaro?” Ryouma asked quietly. There was a long pause, as heavy as Ryouma was. After a moment, Ryouma looked up and somehow he was completely unsurprised to find his best friend asleep, looking completely content.
Ryoma blinked in surprise before he gave a soft and warm smile. Before he really realised what was happening, he moved up and gently pressing his lips against Kyotaro. Kyotaro didn’t open his eyes but he smiled a similar smile back at him.
“Ryouma…”
The sick man blushed and quietly laid back down. Kyotaro was fine with him on top of him, and he was still tired from his illness, so there was no reason to not sleep now. He’d make tea later then so Kyotaro had something nice and warm to wake up to.
Ryouma wasn’t particularly proud of anything he did. However, if you asked him what was his greatest achievement, he would have to say somehow having Shuzenji Kyotaro unintentionally fall in love with him would be it.