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“Good morning dayo!~” Citron said to no one in particular. The kitchen was more empty than it usually was because it was Sunday. Mostly everyone was taking the opportunity to sleep in, so only a handful of people were awake along with Chikage himself. Truthfully he wished he was also sleeping, but his body seemed to think nine am was a good time to wake up.
“Morning. There’s breakfast on the counter,” Omi said from his spot at the table.
“Thank you, Omi! You are truly mind!”
“You mean ‘kind,” Yuki said.
“Yes, that!”
Tuning out the conversation, Chikage took a swig of his coffee. Last nights mission was rough, he thought, as he stretched out and felt a pain in his forearms. He’d done his best to patch up the worst of his injuries before he returned to the dorm. However, nothing could be done about the aches in his arms and lower legs. Chikage had walked into he and Itaru’s shared room at five am, exhausted and in pain from the fall he endured. When he turned the door knob, the familiar light from Itaru’s desktop was shining on the man in the darkness.
Itaru turned and said, “Welcome home senpai.”
“You’re up late,” he said instead of “I’m home.” Itaru slid his headphones off his ears, looking Chikage up and down. This was far from the first time his senior had come home late after all. Ever since a certain time, Itaru was always attentive of him when he came back home.
“Just finished grinding for an event,” he said, “I was just about to head to bed anyways. Join me?”
“Yeah, let me change first.”
Itaru hummed, and climbed the latter to his loft bed. They both knew the routine for nights like these. Usually, Chikage would come back and his junior would be sleeping soundly in bed. He would watch his chest rise and fall for a couple minutes, just to remind himself Itaru was alive and in front of him. His face was so not cute when he slept, mouth slightly agape while light snores escaped from his system. He’d discard his clothes, usually choosing to sleep in boxers and a t-shirt (usually belonging to his junior, which made Itaru grin at him like an idiot) and climb the latter to Itaru’s bed. Getting himself comfortable, he draped Itaru’s arm over his shoulder and allowed himself to be held. Head on his junior’s chest, he put his ear to his heart, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
That morning was no different, except for the fact that Itaru was awake to open his arms for his senior. That was also nice, because while listening to his heartbeat he felt fingers comb through his hair. He hid his growing smile behind his mug. Chikage would rather eat sweets for entire day then have to admit he liked to be held. That knowledge was for his boyfriend only.
Perhaps the four hours of sleep was getting to him. Usually he would rather die than think these overly sappy thoughts. But the fact of the matter was he had never felt so loved in his life. When he thought back to being wrapped up in Itaru's arms, he had felt like he could let go, even just a little bit. The tension that always weighed heavy on his shoulders seemed to decrease when he was in his juniors warm embrace. He yawned, feeling the heaviness of his eyes. The coffee was doing nothing to chase away his exhaustion.
"Hey, Elite Glasses. Your eye bags are terrible. Why are you even up?" Yuki asked, sitting on the couch across from him. He crossed his legs and made a judgmental face at him.
"I appreciate the concern," he said with a fake smile, despite the jab at him. "Don't worry. With this coffee, I'll be able to speed run through this morning."
Yuki scoffed at him, "What does that even mean?"
Distantly, he heard Citron laugh in their direction. Maybe he was in deeper for Itaru than he initially thought if he was even talking like him now. Hisoka was right, Itaru had made him soft, but he found himself not wanting it any other way.