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There she was, fast asleep.
It was almost time to go home, but Hanako had insisted Nene should stay for a little while longer. Not because he was lonely or anything.
Okay, maybe he was, just a little. But that wasn’t the actual case, though.
Rewind to a few moments ago. He had noticed her exhausted looks throughout observing her, and had overheard her say to Aoi she had been staying up all night trying to study for the test that day.
It irked him that she didn’t even bother telling him about it. It wasn’t like he was gonna force her to work in that condition. Ghosts like him have a conscience too!
So imagine her surprise when he had taken the mop away from her hands the moment she came to pick it up, looking at her like a stern parent about to scold their child. “Hanako-kun, what are you—”
“You know, you should have went home instead of coming here. You need to rest.”
Nene sighed. “I’m fine! Now give me that, I gotta clean!” She reached out to grab the mop, but he hovered away, making sure it was out of her reach.
“Nope. If you’re not gonna go home, then at least take a rest here.”
“Here in the bathroom? Are you crazy?”
Unfortunately for her, Hanako wasn’t taking no for an answer. He sat down on the floor and patted on the spot next to him. “Here.”
“Hanako-kun, I’m not going to—”
“Here.” He repeated. Nene stared at him for a couple of seconds, before slumping her shoulders, sighing once more.
“Okay, okay.” She walked right up to him and sat down beside him. The moment she did he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side, letting his cheek rest on her head.
Her own cheeks were now dusted with red. Hanako liked being as close to her as possible most of the time, so this one shouldn’t be that different. But for some reason, her heart thumped rapidly at this gesture.
She saw him taking his cape from his hakujoudai, and pulled it over their shoulders. “Now sleep.” He commanded, but his tone was soft, just like the soothing touches he was giving her right now.
Nene tried to reason with him one more time. “But Hanako-kun, we might get caught here! What if—”
“Mm. Sleep.” Hanako’s words were now full of drowsiness, indicating he was close to falling asleep ahead of her. Do ghosts even sleep?
She didn’t say anything further, having given up on her attempt to talk to him. Closing her eyes, she let the sleep overtake her, letting her head fall against his shoulder.
At the sound of her faint breathing, Hanako opened one eye to look at her. The sunset illuminated the bathroom with a soft orange, making her look like she was glowing.
He breathed out a content sigh, leaning his cheek back on top of her head, closing his eyes once again.
And for a while, everything felt just right.