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“Ughhh. Rui. Just go to bed. I’m tiiired,” Nene whines, extending the last syllable to prove her case. She and her childhood friend are having a sleepover, just like they used to, but she finds it’s much less enjoyable now that Rui’s sleep schedule is very fucked and they are probably not getting to bed until about five AM.
Which would be fine, if her parents didn’t want to take her somewhere bright and early tomorrow. When Rui gives no response, she just groans into his pillow. “Rui, I’m being serious,” she tries again.
“I know, I know. Give me a second,” he replies, continuing to work away at whatever the hell he’s making at his desk.
“We both know that you are going to take much longer than a second,” she responds simply, resisting the urge to sigh.
Then Rui goes silent again, and Nene wants to grab his skinny arms and drag him into his bed, or something — anything that’ll make him finish faster. “I swear to god.”
“Can’t you just go to sleep first?” Oh, now Nene wants to throw this pillow at his face.
So, that’s exactly what she does. “Are you serious? The light’s on,” she says, missing her throw. The pillow hits his arm and falls to the ground with a pathetic thud. “Crap. There’s no way I can fall asleep with it this bright.”
“Okay, okay, fine,” he drops the screwdriver and spins around in his chair, putting his hands up in the air. “I’ll go to bed. Sorry.” He apologizes, but he’s still grinning. There is no way he is actually feeling any sort of remorse, but Nene’s too tired to argue like she usually would, so she shrugs.
Five minutes later, the lights are off, Rui’s finally in his pajamas and in his bed. Nene moved to a futon on the floor, since his bed is a too small for the both of them now that they aren’t six years old anymore, meaning that Rui shot up like a weed and can barely fit vertically on the mattress, and also that he’s still a blanket hog. That part hasn’t changed.
Rui shuffles around on the bed, bedframe creaking slightly at the movement. Nene rolls over to the other side of the futon to avoid this disturbance in her beauty sleep.
But then it doesn’t stop. She hears blankets rustling coming from his direction for what must be at least half an hour before she decides she’s had enough. “Rui,” she begins, sitting up. “Rui, why aren’t you asleep.”
He doesn’t respond, and the creaking abruptly stops. “Stop acting like you’re sleeping. I know you’re awake.”
“Ughh. Can’t sleep, obviously.” His voice is muffled by the pillow.
“It’s already ass o’ clock. Just try harder,” Nene really does not want to put up with this, especially not because she has to wake up bright and early tomorrow to watch birds with her dad or something.
“Not happening,” he grumbles in response.
Nene sighs dramatically. “Do I really have to,” she says, but she’s already up and moving. Rui hums. She also hasn’t done this since they were children, but the sooner he sleeps, the sooner she does, too, so she’ll put up with it anyway.
Rui’s still facing away from her when she climbs under the covers next to him, but he stirs at the feeling of her weight on the mattress next to him. Without warning, he shuffles over and lays his head in her lap, like they’ve done this many times before. Nene lets out a small sigh before running her fingers through his hair in a way she’s trying to make soothing.
After a few minutes, he’s still not asleep, so Nene sighs again before starting to hum a melody. She doesn’t really have a specific song in mind, just going for random songs she knows that are appropriately lullaby-like. She closes her eyes and smiles, focusing on the sound of her voice in the otherwise silent room.
When they were little, she’d turn around in bed to face him and let him hold her hand until he drifted off again if he had a nightmare or something. She would do that now, too, if Rui hadn’t dropped his head onto her immediately upon sitting down. Besides, they’re both probably too big anyways. They’ve grown a lot since they were children, and in more ways than one.
She opens her eyes when she’s done, and Rui is obviously fast asleep; his breathing has slowed, and he’s totally relaxed against her. She feels herself smile again. What a handful, honestly.
And it’s always been like this. No matter how many insane ideas he came up with in elementary school, no matter how many times Nene rolls her eyes and complains, she’s going to be his friend. She wants him to know that.
Because she knows. She knew every time she saw him in the street in middle school, she knew when she first spotted him talking to Tsukasa on the rooftop, she knows by how he still hesitates on giving dangerous stage directions. He’s scared they’ll all disappear too, that they’ll slip through his fingers right when he’s about to catch them. Nene’s eyes shut tight, and she makes a vow to herself that she would never let him feel alone again.
She continues to run her fingers through Rui’s hair, and before she knows it, she’s drifting off too. She’s happy to stay like this, to be able to help him fall asleep at night, to help him realize that his friends are here to stay. She’s happy as long as he is.
And honestly? That’s all she really wants right now, at two in the morning. This is the last thing she thinks about before falling asleep sitting up in Rui’s bed, said boy’s head in her lap.
Everything else can wait.