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With Himiko and Kokichi both swamped with schoolwork, she figured studying together made a good excuse to spend time with him.
They occupied the couch in his dorm’s common room. Himiko lay across it with her head on half of Kokichi’s lap, reading a novel assigned for class. Kokichi balanced a textbook on one of the sofa’s arms, and he lay his notebook on it to scrawl notes every so often with his right hand. His left hand ran through Himiko’s hair. Aside from the scrape of pencils on paper, muffled voices of other students wafted in from the hallway outside the dorm.
Himiko scanned the same line of text for the third time in a row. This book is getting boring , she thought. Flipping through to a dog-eared section, she checked the page number. Twelve more pages, then I can stop for today.
She breathed a sigh, tilting down her chin, leaning into Kokichi’s fingers caressing her head. When he paused to lift his notebook so he could turn the page of his textbook, she found herself impatient for his hand to resume petting her. His gesture was rhythmic, soothing. Homework is a pain, but at least we can be together while doing it , Himiko thought with a smile. Her eyes unfocused, her hands were starting to relax.
Before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.
Giddy shocks to her ribs made her body jerk to and fro. “Nyeh-eh—!” Bolting upright, book falling against the back cushion, she turned to face Kokichi, holding her side. He grinned like a smug snake, the fingers of his left hand curled in mid-pinch. He quipped, “Hey, fish-face, it’s study time, not nap time.”
“Fish-fa…” Himiko frowned. “Nyeh, I wasn’t napping.”
“Do I have to show you the picture I took of you with your book on your face? You looked ridiculous!” Kokichi giggled.
“You took a picture?!” Her scowl deepened.
“Duh, how could I not? You conked out with drool and everything, dead to the world.” He leaned back against the couch arm, eyes rolled, tongue lolling. “Bluh…”
Himiko lunged forward, her hands clamping onto and kneading his unprotected stomach. Kokichi doubled over, howling, “Ack! Himik- ah! Ah-ha-ha-ha—! No, no no no!” His homework fell off the couch arm and clattered onto the floor.
Their arms were a blur of flailing, and their laughter roared in the silence, as Kokichi tried to defend himself from her onslaught. Half a minute later, he was holding her wrists safely away from himself. She leaned against the knee he’d raised as a shield. “Truce, truce?” he said, a bit too urgently.
Himiko smiled like a smug cat. “You’re begging.”
Kokichi’s face changed from pleading to mischievous. Letting her wrists go, he said in a lowered voice, “Do I have to silence you, to keep my secret?” His knee lowered.
Himiko sat back on her heels. “I’ll keep your secret if you pet my head again. Reading is really sapping my mana.”
“Deal.” Kokichi retrieved his fallen books and placed them back on the couch’s arm. Once he was comfortable, Himiko lay down, head on his lap once again. He asked, “When should I yell at you to get back to work?”
“Never, ‘cuz I’ll hate that.” She took a gentle hold of his cold hand and pressed it to her warm cheek. “Hm… Maybe thirty minutes? I think I can recover enough MP in thirty minutes to keep working.”
He squeezed her hand. “Roger dodger.” He tried to move his hand to her head, but she held it fast to her cheek. Their eyes met.
“Did you really take a picture of me?”
Kokichi flashed her a grin. “Obviously, that was just another one of my devastating lies. Why would I take a picture when I have the real girl right beside me?”
Cheeks warming, Himiko’s free hand went to her racing heart. She turned her face aside to hide it. “Nyeh, you sure fooled me.”
When Kokichi lifted her hand, she glanced up at him. Though his attention was on his homework, he peppered a few gentle kisses across her knuckles. Goosebumps rose down her arm. Her free hand pressed against her heart as if that would slow it down. Himiko guided his hand to the top of her head, and despite her giddy shyness, his gentle touch lulled her once more.