Work Text:
“Himikooo you’re not even listening to me.”
Kokichi waves a hand in front of Himiko, pulling her out of her daze. She blinks sleepily at Kokichi, giving him an apologetic smile.
“Nnn… sorry Kichi…” she murmurs softly, “Start again, I promise I’ll listen this time.”
Kokichi remains silent for a moment, eying Himiko closely. For the past couple of days she’s been -- off. She seemed to be more tired than usual and just seemed to be zoning out more as of late.
Himiko, seeing how intensely he was staring at her, began to squirm under his gaze with a blush. “Why’re you lookin’ at me like that?” she tugs at the hem of her skirt and averts her gaze, embarrassed. “I said I’ll listen now.”
Kokichi narrows his eyes momentarily before throwing himself onto Himiko’s lap with a whine. “You sure about that Himi?” he huffs childishly. “Seems like you’re more interested in sleep rather than listening to me.”
“Just tell me your st-”
“Nah I’m more interested in you at the moment,” He cuts her off with a wave of his hand. “Are you feeling alright Himiko?”
Himiko sat in silence for a moment with her nose twitching, a thing she does when she’s thinking. Her eyes eventually drifts towards Kokichi’s violet eyes. She musters up a weak smile, “Just a bit tired, I haven’t been sleeping well as of late.”
“Uh-huh…” Kokichi hums, not entirely buying what she said. He feels as if there’s something more behind her statement, but decides not to press further with questions. “Well how’d you like if I stay with you for the night? Would that help?”
A blush erupts onto Himiko cheeks, her eyes losing the dimness it had moments prior. “N-nyeh?!” she squeaks out, seemingly startled by the sudden suggestion. “I-I-I guess you can stay if you want. But how’s that going to help?”
“Well you always seemed to sleep a lot better when I’m with you,” he brings a hand to her cheek, prodding a finger against it. “Plus it’s been a while since I stayed the night with you.”
“I don’t have a choice do I? Even if I said no, you’d come anyway.”
“Aww you know me so well.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Was it really necessary to bring all of this with you?” Himiko deadpanned as she watched Kokichi lay out a various amount of snacks and drinks onto her counter.
Kokichi sits the last bottle of soda onto the counter, “It’s most certainly necessary that I did.”
“But you’re just staying for a night. We’re not going to be able to finish eating all of this in one night.”
“Then you can just keep the leftovers, besides your shelves were looking kind of bare.”
Himiko sighs giving Kokichi a small smile, “How thoughtful of you.” she says sarcastically.
“Aren’t I the best?” he jokingly asks as he tosses Himiko a box of chocolates, which the redhead almost drops in the process.
Himiko watches Kokichi curiously as he lays a fluffy blanket and pillows on to the couch. “What’re are you planning?” she asks with a tilt of her head.
“Well since you have been tired lately, we’re just going to be relaxing.” He pulls Himiko towards the couch and sits her down. “So you’re spared from my shenanigans for a night.”
“I should be tired more often then if you’re going to be like this.” Himiko says with a teasing smile.
“I said for a night. And with me here tonight you should be sleeping all through the night.”
“Hopefully...” Himiko murmurs softly, popping a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
“So what do you want to do tonight?” Kokichi asks, falling onto the couch beside her.
Himiko’s eyes him curiously, she usually lets Kokichi take the lead when it comes to making decisions. He usually had fun ideas, which is why she lets him decide.
“I guess we could watch a movie. But…” her voice softens as a blush creeps onto her cheeks. “I’d really like it if you were to just hold me.”
“A simple request,” he pulls her into his arms and kissed her on top of her head. “That I could do any time.”
Himiko held a small smile on her face, though Kokichi had noticed that her smile seemed to be a bit somber.
“Do you have any movie suggestions?”
“I’d suggest a scary movie, but since you’re a scaredy cat and you haven’t been sleeping well… how about we settle on a cliché romcom?”
“Weren’t you afraid of staying in your dorm by yourself a couple of months ago because of that demon movie? To the point where you had me staying with you for a week?”
“I was not afraid,” he scoffs with a roll of his eyes. “I was keeping you with me because I thought you were afraid.”
“Nyeh sure…” she sniggers as she reached for the remote. “But fine let’s watch a romcom.”
After a few minutes of browsing through movie options they decided to settle on a random b-list movie.
Throughout the duration of the film, Himiko’s eyes had been drooping more and more as she was close to falling asleep. But as soon as her eyes would shut, she’d force them open again. Kokichi saw her struggling and decided to speak up.
“You don’t have to force yourself to stay up y’know.”
“Nnn… I’m fine…” she assures with a slur, though the yawn that escaped from her mouth betrayed her statement. “...we haven’t done this in a while…”
“We could always do this another day, your sleep is way more important.”
Himiko shook her head, “I’ll be fine… just for a bit longer…” she stubbornly says.
Kokichi rests a hand on her head, petting her gently. “We’ll see how long you’ll last.”
Himiko shoots him a weary glare before returning her gaze back to the tv.
It took less than five minutes for Himiko to succumb to her fatigue.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next time Himiko awakes, she realizes that she was in her bed rather than the couch. Blinking through her sleepy haze she eyes the digital clock sitting on her dresser. It read: five-eighteen in the morning.
She swore to under her breath, it looks like she was going to be up for a while now. Although she hasn’t slept through the entirety of the night, she had to admit that having Kokichi stay with her had helped a bit. Having some sleep was better than constantly waking up in half hour intervals.
She rolls over to look at him, only to find him wide awake on his phone. Strangely enough he didn’t even seem to be tired.
Once he noticed that she was awake, he removes his headphones and lays his phone onto the mattress.
“Had a nice nap?”
Himiko stretches out, curling her body against his. She looks at him with bleary eyes. “Mhm, thanks for staying.”
He gives her a smile, “Yeah, no problem.” And then he frowns, “Now why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you.”
Himiko’s eyes shift aways from his for a split second, “What are you talking about? I told you I just sle-”
“Bullshit,” he spat, making Himiko shrink away slightly. “You were really distressed in your sleep. And you still have that look in your eyes.”
There was a silent stare off between the two. Himiko knew that it was useless to lie around Kokichi, since he’d just call her out on it. But even still, she didn’t want to talk about it.
Seeing the conflicted look on her face, his expression softens as he lets out a sigh. “Look Himi… I’m not doing this to make you uncomfortable. I’m doing this as your boyfriend. I need to know what’s going on so I can help.”
Himiko was silent for another moment, before shutting her eyes. “I… I’ve been having recurring nightmares.”
“They must of been pretty bad ones, huh? What was going on?”
“They involved you…” she admits shakily, allowing her eyes to reopen slightly. “You leaving me for someone else…”
Kokichi immediately pulls her into an embrace. “Well that’s just stupid,” he consoles softly. “I’d never do that.”
“It felt so real…” her voice cracks. “Y-you leaving and the feeling of being abandoned again…”
“I’m not going anywhere. I wouldn’t.”
Himiko sniffles, “Why wouldn’t you?”
“Because Himi, you’re really something special. You are the only one other than Kaede and Angie who is able to bring smiles to people’s faces with your talent.” he starts, rubbing a hand across her back soothingly.
“But I’m one of the few people in our class where my talent doesn’t have an effect on improving society-”
“Oh trust me, your talent does play an important role. The world can be too gloomy at times, and with your talent you bring happiness to people everywhere. Being able to provide entertainment is just as important as the others’ talents.”
Himiko laughs tiredly, burrowing her face into Kokichi’s chest. “I feel like an idiot for worrying about this. I really am lucky to have you.”
“As I am lucky to have you. It’d take an eternity for me to list all of the things I love about you.”
“Well… you could list some now since I’ll be awake for a while.” Himiko mumbles, peering up at Kokichi with a coy smile.
Planting another kiss on her head, Kokichi smiles warmly at her. “Look at you wanting to be praised, but I’ll humor you since you’re deserving of it.”