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Sometimes he thinks he does it on purpose.
Atobe knows Jirou is prone to oversleeping – everyone knows that – but for it to be a daily occurrence so much so that he always forgets his lunch at home really does seem ridiculous. He’d even made sure that either Gakuto or Shishido, or sometimes even both, would go to the sleepy boy’s house in the morning just to make sure he wouldn’t fall asleep on the way to school or get lose with how airheaded he sometimes acted – you’d think they’d check to make sure their friend had his lunch in his bag too.
Alas, that wasn’t to be. It seemed no matter what Jirou would always come to him, bag held tight to his chest like a pillow, smiling so dopily and asking if he could buy him food when class was let out for lunch.
Not that he particularly minded.
“I suppose I’ll have to be your knight in shining armour once again, rescuing you from starvation with my magnanimous personality?” Atobe asks before Jirou can even greet him.
“Mhm!” Jirou nods with a wide grin. “Save me, Atobe-sama!” He laughs, dropping his bag to hold in one hand so he can latch on to Atobe’s arm with the other. Atobe rolls his eyes and they set off.
With their food acquired, they make their way to Jirou’s favourite place to rest, it’s one of the trees out in the courtyard that blooms beautifully in the spring and gives Jirou the most comfortable place to rest. He’d tried to explain it to Atobe once but Atobe didn’t understand him. How could he? What was so appealing about sleeping on tree roots in the dirt with the threat of bugs crawling over your body anyway? Jirou had, also, tried to explain that just added to the experience and that Atobe should try it for himself to see what he meant but he had yet to convince the upper class boy to give it a shot.
At least these days he managed to have them both sit on the ground rather than have Atobe prepare portable chairs and tables for them to sit at. Yes, it may have taken almost their entire three years but it was worth it.
There were times where the other regulars (and occasionally even Taki too) would come and join them since it wasn’t exactly a secret as to where they were – it was like a ceremony for them to eat there every day – most of the time Gakuto and Oshitari joining them, and in the more recent months Shishido had been inviting their underclassman Choutarou to join them too. Today was just them though.
Just as Atobe liked it.
Today, as the sun shone just to the left of them casting a cosy patch of shade on the ground where they sat, Jirou and Atobe ate their food in the familiar peace they had had cultivated in their years together, not needing to speak in order to fill the silence.
It was a strange pleasure for Atobe to be in Jirou’s presence when, typically, it should have been the other way round. Yet he didn’t mind.
Of course, that was the way it was for Atobe with all the Hyotei regulars – their friendships built in the competitions made for ones that were, what were hopefully, unbreakable in the long run. Not that he’d admit that aloud. His team members didn’t need to hear such things lest it go to their heads and inflate their egos beyond compare. No, no, that would not do at all. They weren’t exactly on his level of superiority to even pretend to be as great.
Maybe that was why he liked Jirou’s company so much. It wasn’t as if he ever needed to tell Jirou these types of things. Jirou just knew and he didn’t let it get to him – Jirou was better than that.
“Hey, hey, Atobe, you ever think about how the clouds look so soft and fluffy,” Jirou pointed up at the sky, mouth half full of bread. Atobe followed where Jirou’s finger pointed to and watched the clouds as they floated across the blue of the sky slowly. “Do you think they’d be nice to sleep on?”
“They’re hardly composed of the densest substance – the water vapour wouldn’t have a feel to it, let alone hold your head long enough to even be considered a pillow by any sense of the word,” he replied matter-of-factly, finishing off his lunch and folding up the packaging neatly to be thrown away as he made his way back to class. The curly haired boy next to him made some kind of indignant whiny kind of sound, much like a child would, and then he flopped down, head first into Atobe’s lap.
“Boo, you’re no fun, Atobe,” Jirou pouted staring up at his captain’s face, “I just wanna have some fun, can’t you pretend for me?” Atobe ran a hand through Jirou’s hair, sighing as he leant against the trunk of the tree.
“I am not encouraging your impossible little wonders,” he pulled Jirou closer to him with his free hand and appreciated the way Jirou snuggled into his warmth. “Besides, am I not the best pillow you could ask for anyway?”
Jirou laughed and lifted a hand up to cup Atobe’s face, his thumb brushing over Atobe’s charm point mole. “Are you jealous, Atobe? Is this a tear from you crying for my attention?” He teased dropping his hand only for Atobe to catch it and bring it to his lips, kissing the other boy’s knuckles gently.
“And if I am? Are you going to refuse me my desires?” The quickness with which Jirou bolted up from his dozing position and leant close to Atobe with desperate eyes made Atobe’s lips curl into a smile.
“Never! I’ll do anything for my Atobe-sama,” punctuating his sentence with a quick kiss and one of those soft little laughs that made his eyes crinkle with joy and his nose scrunch up in a way that just made one want to kiss it. Which is exactly what Atobe did.
“Then,” Atobe began to speak before kissing Jirou again, this time on the cheek, hand still fiddling with Jirou’s curls, “how about you get to class on time today,” he kissed Jirou’s other cheek, “and skip your afternoon nap,” he kissed Jirou’s lips,” instead of missing it like you so often do?”
“You know I’ll just sleep in class,” Jirou leant his head into Atobe’s warm hand.
“Of course, but at least you’ll be on time.”
“Well, if Atobe is asking me, I suppose I have to listen.”
“That’s right.”
“Oh, what would I do without my Prince Charming looking after me!”
“And what would I do without my Sleeping Beauty to look after?”