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“Do you underst- oh.” Kunikida glanced up after finishing his explanation, finding you with your head resting on the textbook you had been avidly reading barely three minutes ago. Checking his watch, he only now realized how late (well, early, technically) it had gotten - already 1:12 in the morning.
His soft smile lingered momentarily as he watched your sleeping form, hair unkempt and dark eyebags unmistakably there, before snapping himself back to reality. This relationship was purely academic; he was supposed to be tutoring you. There was no time for distractions like love if he were to stay the top student in the class.
At least, that’s what he was trying to convince himself to believe.
Kunikida sighed, pushing his glasses up and cleaning up the table for the night. He’d already wasted two minutes thinking about this matter; far too long by his standards, for something that should be so trivial. He needed to get you back to the dorms quickly. Staying here wouldn’t do either of you much good.
Despite it being so early in the morning, there were plenty of students studying in the library; and the last thing Kunikida needed was to run into someone and stay out later than he needed. The mere thought of having to entertain small talk with anyone else right now, and the chances of running into the notoriously nocturnal Dazai, exhausted him. That certainly wouldn’t be ideal.
He gently tapped your shoulder, voice soft. “Wake up,” It took a few tries before you stirred, moving upright and wiping the sleep from your eyes. “Ah. There we go.”
“Oh…sorry for falling asleep,” you murmured, disoriented by the sudden brightness of the lights. Kunikida simply nodded in reassurance and finished collecting both of your study materials.
“Don’t worry, falling asleep is a perfectly normal response for the time it is. It’s my fault for keeping you out this late.” His eyes traveled across the table to where you let out a tiny yawn, and he swore he felt his heart skip a beat. Placing his bag onto one shoulder, picking your bag up, and grabbing his jacket, Kunikida quietly cleared his throat. “If you are tired, though, it wouldn’t do your health any good to continue studying tonight. I recommend we return to our dorms and meet again tomorrow.”
“Alright, I can do that.”
As the two of you walked out of the library, the chill of the night air hit harder than you had anticipated. Compared to the sunny heat of earlier, it made you shiver. Kunikida draped his jacket over your shoulders, much to your surprise.
“You don’t have to-”
“Don’t worry about it.” You couldn’t tell if it was the lighting or your imagination, but you thought you could see a pale pink dusting his cheeks. “Now, let’s get you to your dorm.”
And the way you smiled at him made him think that maybe, just maybe, this would be ideal after all.