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Being with the Hunting Dogs has solved many issues in Tachihara's life.
His aimless rebellion came to a halt and the orders he's given are a clear path for him to take.
He's helping people which is actually quite a nice change for once.
Additionally, the Hunting Dogs dorms are way more comfortable than the gang hideout he has resided in before.
Unfortunately, a comfortable bed does not erase the turmoil in Tachihara's mind.
A childhood full of disappointment and abuse haunts him to this day.
Or night, much rather.
He often finds himself startling awake after terrible nightmares of what used to be.
Tachihara is well aware that he's safe now, but his dreams still shake him up every time.
And tonight is no different.
He sat up straight in bed,
heaving shaky breaths as a layer of cold sweat covers his body.
Tachihara is looking around in panic.
As if his family will magically appear inside the darkness of his room.
They don't.
Of course they don't.
Tachihara hasn't seen them in years.
He'll never see them again.
Especially not at the Hunting Dogs headquarters.
And so he sighs, forcing his breathing to calm down since he feels like an absolute moron.
As if he's just a child plagued by silly nightmares instead of serious trauma.
Tachihara refuses to accept that and seek out help.
Instead, he's plagued by such dreams almost every night.
At least he knows how to deal with them now.
Tachihara can't just go back to sleep immediately.
He'll only end up thinking about it again,
manifesting them in his dreams once more.
Therefore, he stands up.
Tachihara didn't realize how shaky he was before.
But now that he's standing, it becomes painfully obvious.
However, it's fine.
Tachihara just needs to take a short walk to the kitchen, drink some water and get it out of his system.
He didn't want to turn on the lights in the hallway out of fear of disturbing someone in their precious sleep.
The Hunting Dogs hardly get any and the few hours of sleep they do get shouldn't be disrespected.
However, once he's close to the kitchen, he notices that someone didn't seem to have cared too much.
The light is on.
Did someone forget to turn it off?
This curious event at least managed to distract Tachihara's mind from the night terrors it just experienced.
Now he's far more interested in figuring out why there's still light at such a late hour.
When he checked the alarm earlier in his room, it told him that it's around 3am.
Too late to be awake and a bit too early to be up already.
And yet Tachihara sees Tecchou sitting on the counter and eating some leftovers he must've found in the fridge.
What?
"Tecchou…?"
Tachihara decided to question due to the sheer ridiculousness of this predicament.
Is his mind just playing tricks on him?
No, it is not.
At least it is fairly unlikely considering the fact that it'd have to recreate Tecchou's absolutely nonchalant expression and tone with which he says such mundane, yet odd things such as:
"Hello Tachihara.
Have you slept well?"
No.
No, he hasn't slept well at all.
But Tachihara would rather not talk about that right now.
Instead, he questions:
"What are you doing here?"
"Eating."
"Why?"
"I was hungry."
"But aren't you supposed to get up in an hour or two anyway?"
Tachihara doesn't get the other at all.
As far as he's aware, Tecchou has no issues with sleep whatsoever.
He just… decided to waste his precious hours of sleep for food.
What a typically Tecchou thing to do.
How ridiculous.
Especially since he only justifies his behavior by saying:
"I am hungry now."
Tachihara honestly let out a breathy chuckle at that ridiculous statement.
It does not explain the other's behavior at all.
He's just odd.
But… somehow that's endearing in a way.
It's definitely soothing to have him here instead of standing all alone in the kitchen at night.
Therefore, he inevitably got closer to the other as he went to grab a glass and fill it with cold water from the tab.
Since Tecchou is sitting right next to the sink,
Tachihara decides to look at the monstrosity of food he has made this time.
However, it actually didn't look too bad.
It definitely doesn't look like anything Tecchou has made.
In fact, it looks like…
"Aren't that Jouno's leftovers?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a death wish?!"
Tachihara tried to keep his voice as low as possible in order not to wake anyone up by accident but is Tecchou absolutely insane now?!
He knows Jouno!
He'll be beyond mad once he finds out that Tecchou stole his food!
And yet the other responds in absolute nonchalance as he says:
"He's not here to scold me.
He's on a mission."
That, however, caught Tachihara off guard.
"At such a late hour?"
"The evil won't wait out the night.
We always need to be vigilant."
Tecchou's words sure sound inspiring for someone who's currently eaten stolen leftovers on a kitchen counter.
Tachihara supposed he's right, though.
They can get called on a mission anytime.
Jouno is simply the unlucky one who got chosen this time.
Therefore, Tachihara simply responds:
"I suppose you're right."
And just like that, Tachihara finally raised the glass of water to his mouth to take a sip.
Yet while he was doing that, Tecchou decided to question:
"Why are you awake?"
"I was thirsty."
Tachihara lied since he doesn't think Tecchou needs to know the truth.
And it was a simple enough excuse to get away with it.
At least that's what he thought before Tecchou, out of nowhere, asked:
"Could you not sleep again?"
He was taking yet another sip when Tecchou suddenly asked that question.
It caught Tachihara off guard to the point where he began to sputter,
hitting his own chest to dislodge the water and be able to breathe again.
Great, Tachihara really remained subtle there.
Tecchou may seem idiotic but not even he would believe Tachihara if he lied after such a severe reaction.
Hence, he just sighed in defeat and decided to ask:
"How did you know?"
Tecchou furrowed his brows a bit, as if he himself needed to think about how he figured it out again.
Or maybe there were multiple giveaways and he's simply collecting all of them in his mind before deciding to list them.
Either way, Tecchou eventually responds by saying:
"Jouno told me that he often hears you startle awake at night and rarely fall asleep again.
You also have big eyebags and look like a mess."
He just shoves another spoonful of leftovers in his mouth while Tachihara stood there absolutely flabbergasted.
Jouno knows?!
And he told the others?!
Oh no…
How embarrassing.
And Tecchou's description of himself doesn't help at all either.
He just began to blush out of shame at being found out,
scratching the back of his neck nervously before awkwardly admitting that, "Yeah, I guess you're right."
Tachihara must look awful.
Everyone would after such a major lack of sleep, really.
There was an uncomfortable amount of awkward silence between them where Tecchou resumed eating and Tachihara was unsure about what to do.
Should he just… leave and return to his room?
Probably.
Yet before he can finally run off to his room,
Tecchou's hunger is satisfied and as he puts the box of leftovers away again he asks Tachihara:
"Would you feel better if someone slept with you?"
It's such a genuine and nonchalant question.
One can tell that there are no malicious thoughts behind Tecchou's words.
Because honestly, half of the time Tachihara wonders if there are any thoughts behind what Tecchou says.
Either way, it makes Tachihara feel comfortable enough to shrug and answer with a hesitant "Maybe."
He has never tried that.
Obviously.
Who would he have tried it with?
Tachihara never had any loving family to do that since they're the exact people who his nightmares are about.
Nor did he ever have a lover who he could share a bed with.
Hell, Tachihara has never even been to any sleepovers where he could be surrounded by friends.
He has always just been by himself.
"You can sleep the last few hours with me, if you want to."
Tecchou suggested all of a sudden.
No hesitation, no shame, just sheer nonchalance as always in his voice.
He's so incredibly odd.
Tachihara is genuinely shocked by that suggestion after all.
They're just… colleagues.
Colleagues don't do such things.
That's weird.
And yet the other's genuine concern and easy going nature somehow convince Tachihara to say "Yes." instead of throwing a tantrum about the other's odd behavior like Jouno would've done.
That's how they've found themselves in this odd situation.
Their beds are only meant for one person.
Hence, Tecchou slang an arm around Tachihara and began to spoon him in order to make space for the both of them.
Tachihara is very glad about the fact that it's that dark because his face is practically glowing with how red he is.
This is so embarrassing…
He should've probably just declined.
Oh, just why did he agree to such a humiliating thing.
Cuddling with his coworker is just about the last thing he expected to do today.
And it's making him feel so… weird.
Not uncomfortable per se.
Also not quite wrong.
But it still feels like something they shouldn't do.
Yet Tecchou doesn't seem to care about that.
He's completely relaxed as he caresses Tachihara's stomach since that's where his hand rests.
He can tell how stiff Tachihara is in his arms, therefore he decides to speak some reassuring words to him:
"Jouno isn't here to hear us and I won't tell anyone either.
No one will know about this."
Tecchou doesn't understand why one would consider this a secret since it's only him genuinely caring about the other's well being.
But if Tachihara thinks this is something they should keep between themselves, he'll obviously oblige.
Somehow, those words seem to actually calm Tachihara's mind a bit.
No one will know.
It's just one night anyway.
And then they'll never do this again.
It's fine.
He can do this.
Therefore, Tachihara finally closes his eyes and relaxes as he's lulled to sleep by the other's light caresses.
This is quite nice, he must admit now that he's finally able to enjoy this.
It's quite nice that he doesn't have another nightmare during his sleep.
It's quite nice to wake up with a warm body next to him.
It's quite nice to know that someone cares for you.
What's not nice is this sudden change of feelings he suddenly has for Tecchou after that night.
Perhaps, that is something he should truly keep to himself.