Work Text:
Silence filled the empty dining hall. The sole clinking of cutlery against glass the only thing to break the silence. Ryuko’s steak no longer had a taste to it, dinner once again becoming only a chore with no satisfaction.
It reminded Ryuko of the few days before she was sent off to boarding school. Her father always locked up in his lab while maids simply took care of her basic needs. Hiding away once dinner was on the table or a room was cleaned; never once replying to Ryuko’s pathetic attempts at a conversation when she was a mere child.
Even Senketsu was quiet. Well, quieter than usual, the both of them bummed about how empty the new Mankanshoku mansion was.
“I don’t like this.” Ryuko’s mellow tone bounced off the tiled walls of the bathroom. Steaming hot water seeping into her tender muscles from the fights Mako kept constantly throwing at her.
Ryuko couldn’t complain since she threw the responsibility of the club onto her friend but it was tiring being the only member of a fight club.
“I know what you mean.”
With a dejected sigh Ryuko slowly lowered in the bath until the water sealed over her head. The warmth enveloping her in the darkness behind her lids as droplets fell to the floor in echoing drips.
Eyes snapping open in the pitch-black darkness of her alienating large room, Ryuko turned her head to see Senketsu still asleep. Moonlight peeking through the heavy curtains of her high ceiling windows. A gnawing feeling rumbled in her stomach, a black whole swallowing something up as she rolled over in her bed. The carpeted floor staring blankly back at her, asking her, “well? What the hell’re you gonna do?”
It stung Ryuko behind the eyes and in her face. Everything was too empty. So empty that she felt like she was losing something that was growing to be close to her heart. Something that she never really had as a kid, and it was just too good to let go of.
A large mahogany door creaked open to gentle snoring and the soothing smell of Mako’s new high-end coconut shampoo she had begun to buy. Ryuko’s head snapped up from the polished floor, wondering when she had decided to march into her friend’s room while she slept.
Slowly, she walked up to the side of the bed Mako was miraculously not hogging.
Mako’s long lashes fanned against her round rosy cheeks, mouth hanging ajar for a little bit of drool to leave her face. Too cute. A selfish part of Ryuko wanted to rouse her just to see those bright brown eyes of hers, sparkling up at her like she was the moon and Mako was the sun.
Ryuko slipped into the bed, heart full and the gnawing in her stomach dissipating when Mako was in view. Lying on her side, Ryuko imprinted every curve and dip of Mako’s face to her memory, hand twitching to gently caress her face, to know that she was actually there.
Mako—deep in her sleep—lifted both her arm and leg over to crash onto Ryuko with a vice grip, probably noticing the other familiar presence in her bed and habitually cuddling it.
“Huh...? Ryu?” Heart hammering in her chest, Ryuko closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep with cheeks most definitely exploding into red.
“I know you’re not sleeping. Your mouth hangs open and your eyebrows are never furrowed unless you’re having a nightmare.” The fact that Mako knew all of this only made Ryuko’s face heat up even more.
“I—I... couldn’t sleep.” She mumbled; eyes still closed.
“What? You’ll need to be well rested for the next round of clubs who’ll want to fight you tomorrow!”
Ryuko’s fist clenched at the mention of the stupid time consuming club. “Right.” Voice sharp and curt, Ryuko angrily tried to fall asleep to cut this dull conversation short.
“Did a nightmare wake you up? Or maybe your muscles are tense? Are you having cramps? There are painkillers in my bathroom! Do you want a massa —“
“Don’t you miss it?”
“Hm?” Ryuko didn’t even need to open her eyes to see Mako with that same questioning expression, head tilted and plucked brows furrowed.
“When all of us would eat together? Sleep on the same floor? You and your dad snoring away while everyone else quietly slept? How you and your brother would fight over who would take a bath first? Hearing your mom hum away as she did the dishes?” Ryuko’s eyes opened to see Mako staring back at her, expression...open, eyes shimmering with something Ryuko couldn’t pinpoint, mouth straight as she listened to Ryuko’s hushed tone through the silence.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you for a whole month and we live in the same house...” Ryuko grabbed at the fabric of Mako’s pyjama top, fingers shaking as she fought the wobble in her voice.
“It’s so...lonely here.”
There was a short moment of silence. Ryuko’s deep breaths the only thing heard as Mako looked at her, face sleepy and unreadable.
“ Ryukooo !! I’m sorry that you feel so lonely! Once the weekend comes, we’ll have those days to our owwwwn selves! Tonight will be a night full of cuddles so that you’re right chipper for tomorrow!” A short cough was pushed from Ryuko’s lungs from Mako pulling her into a tight hug; her tone too cheery for the serious tone Ryuko was attempting to broach.
Conceding to the tonal shift, she relented on trying to have a serious conversation with someone who was half asleep. Maybe a nice break would get Ryuko from her lonesome brooding, hopefully brighten her mood from the constant fighting at school and ever-present thoughts on finding out who had killed her father.
But for now, she had some cuddles to attend to.