Archive of Our Own

Reita groaned softly as he pulled the last piece of clothing over his head. 

The black shirt that had been soaking up his sweat all evening landed on the heavy coat he'd shrugged off a moment earlier. He rubbed his shoulders, seeming relieved to be freed from the weight of his costume. Then he turned to face me. A slow smile lifted the corners of his lips when his eyes found mine, as if to assure me that he had not forgotten the reason why he had invited me into his dressing room.  

Reita beckoned me to come closer. 

A vivid image flitted through my mind when I looked at his hand - I could see his long fingers reaching for my lower back, I could feel the ghost of his muscular arm encircling my waist, pressing my body up against his hard, sweaty chest, and then…

My throat tightened uncomfortably. I quickly released the breath I had been holding for too long, along with every intrusive thought about all the things talented bassists could possibly do with their talented hands. Nothing like that was going to happen between us. I was absolutely sure of it. Like 99.9% sure. There was absolutely no reason for my brain to entertain any spicy plot twists.

Reita was just enjoying some well-earned fresh air. On his bare skin. Alone with me. In a closed room. 

My eyes flicked to the door behind me. Gosh, the door. Did it really have to be closed? A closed door usually meant that people wanted privacy, right? Reita and I didn’t need any privacy. No, we needed more air. Lots of cold, freezing air to make Reita put on some clothes again.

Suddenly I heard footsteps approaching. When I looked back in Reita’s direction, he was no longer on the other side of the room. He was standing right in front of me. The arm from my steamy daydream stretched out towards me. 

I froze on the spot as my pulse quickened.

What is happening? Did I miscalculate? Is this the 0.01% chance–?!

Reita took the glass of water from the tray that I’d been holding. Oh, right. His drink. Of course he wanted his drink. 

That’s the only reason you’re in here in the first place, duh. I reprimanded myself, feeling incredibly silly for thinking that he would want something else from me. 

Reita smiled wider as if to reassure me that he wasn’t offended by my lack of a response. He raised the glass to his mouth and tipped his head back. I willed my eyes to focus on his chin, and only on his chin - it felt inappropriate to let them travel down any further than that. 

After he finished his drink, the bassist set the glass back down on the tray with a satisfied ahh. His eyes met mine before I had the chance to look away. I blushed when his smile turned a little amused, as though it finally dawned on him that I was making a deliberate effort not to gawk at his glistening abs. 

Flustered, I did look down then. My eyes unintentionally leveled with his nipples. They were pink. Pink and way too close.

That’s it. I have to get the hell out of this room right now.  

Just as this thought crossed my mind, the door swung open. Aoi and Uruha stepped inside, rolling their necks and clutching sore shoulders. Like Reita, they looked sweaty and in desperate need of a glass of water. Their faces instantly lit up when they saw me - or more precisely, the word staff that was printed in capital letters on the back of my t-shirt.

It was at this exact moment that true dread twisted inside my stomach. 

Goddamn it, I'm never gonna get out of here. I’m going to die in this room, surrounded by thirsty, half naked, sexy men. I knew this was a bad idea. I knew I should’ve never gone along with Naomi’s plan. I knew it. I KNEW IT.

My friend Naomi was an actual staff member at the venue. She had snuck me in backstage on the condition that I would go in alone. She kept repeating that she didn't want to risk being seen with me while I was busy stealing their stuff, no matter how many times I said that I wasn't going to steal anything. 

I was just going to retrieve something that never should have made its way into the building in the first place.

My mind drifted back to the phone call I’d had with right after the concert. The horrible phone call that got me into this mess. 

“They were amazing!” I gushed, still feeling starstruck.  

“That’s great. Hey, did you already give my present to Uruha?” My friend Annie asked. 

“Yeah, I gave it to one of the staff. I’m sure Uruha will love it!” I told her with a big smile. She had been so excited about giving him this present.

“Yeah, so about that… I need you to go get it back.”

“Huh?” 

Silence. 

“Annie, are you still there? What do you mean, you need me to go get it back?” I asked. 

“You gave him the purple box, right?” Annie finally said after another long pause. 

“Yeah. You said the purple one was for Uruha and the red one was for Naomi. I gave him the purple one just like you said.” I replied, recounting the very precise instructions she’d given me the night before.

Originally Annie was supposed to come to the concert with me. We'd planned to stay in a cute hotel, have a girls' night, and then we’d celebrate Naomi's birthday together. Unfortunately Annie had to cancel the trip at the last minute She’d been so sad that she wouldn't be able to see Uruha, so I took extra care to make sure that her gift for him would make it safely into his hands. 

“I mixed them up. The colors.” Annie interrupted my thoughts.

“What? Are you sure? You sounded so certain last time we spoke.” 

“I know what I said but I was wrong, okay? I really need you to go get it back. Like right now.” 

“I’m not sure if I can.” I admitted, looking around me unsurely. I'd already exited the venue. “Do you think it’s really necessary? What did you get for Naomi? If it’s something cute, maybe Uruha might like it too?” 

“No, just go get it back.” 

I didn't say anything for a moment. Annie losing her temper struck me as out of character for her. It felt like something else was going on. Something she wasn't telling me.

“What did you get for Naomi?” I asked again. 

Silence.

“Annabelle, what is it?” I pressed, more insistently this time. 

“...I’ll show you but just promise me you won’t freak out.” She answered finally.

A few seconds later I received a link to a website with a funny sounding name. Curiously, I clicked the link and waited for the images on the page to load. 

“Wait. What is... Is that a… Oh. Oh my God. Annabelle, are you serious? Why the hell would you get her something like this?!”

“She didn’t delete her browsing history and I–I saw it by accident, okay! I just thought it would be funny–” 

“Hello? Hey, I’m talking to you!”  

A large hand aggressively waved me out of my daze. 

I looked up to find an annoyed looking Aoi looming over me.

Oh crap. 

The guys had begun to chat amongst themselves in Japanese after I had brought them more water. 

At some point I had to mentally block out their conversation because Reita started cracking jokes about how it was impossible for me to keep my eyes off of him. I couldn’t listen to them snickering about me without wishing for the floor to crack open and swallow me.  

What did Aoi ask? Food. Did we have any food? Augh, how am I supposed to know? I don't work in this place.

“Sorry, I’ll go check.” I answered Aoi in a tiny voice. The last thing I wanted was to be on the receiving end of a disapproving glare from one of my heroes. I rushed to the door. Behind me I could hear Aoi grumble to the other two musicians in Japanese, “these people are so rude.” 

His words triggered some kind of knee-jerk response ingrained deeply within me. Before I could stop myself, I spun around and bowed to him. 

“Moushiwake arimasen–”

I snapped my mouth shut, nearly biting my tongue, when it hit me what I was doing. I swung my head back up so fast that the world spun around me for a few seconds. Aoi, Uruha and Reita all gawked at me with dumbfounded expressions. It occurred to me then with some twisted irony that I had spent many nights fantasizing about a moment like this. The thought of having the undivided attention of these men had me feeling giddy with excitement. Watching it actually happen in real time wasn’t quite as thrilling as I'd imagined it would be.  

I tried to stare back at them like I hadn’t just produced an apology in fluent Japanese. None of them said anything for what felt like eternity. 

The instant I saw Reita begin to open his mouth, however, I freaked and bolted out of the room. I firmly shut the door behind me.

Okay, that was terrible and cringe and I am never going to be able to face these guys ever again, but let’s cry about that later. We have a mission to complete.

I began my trek to the storage room. Naomi had said that it wouldn’t take long to find. No one would go near the room until all the big equipment had been cleared from the stage. Fortunately she was right.

I opened the door. The storage room was filled with big metal racks lined with labeled carton boxes, stage equipment and various supplies. In the back there was a long, wide table. In the center of it, someone had taken the time to construct an impressive looking pyramid made out of fan gifts, all shapes and sizes. Amongst the bottom row of presents I saw a familiar box wrapped in purple paper. 

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. I had made it in time. 

I walked over to the table and carefully removed the box from the pyramid. Just as I lifted the box up for closer inspection, a deep, husky voice whispered close to my ear in Japanese: “Are you stealing my presents?”  

I jumped in surprise and bumped into the table, unleashing a flurry of swear words as my hip set off a mini earthquake, and with it the untimely demise of the pyramid. I had to use the box I was holding like a shield to stop the presents that came tumbling my way from bouncing off the table. 

It all must’ve looked incredibly hilarious because the person behind me started laughing loudly. I immediately recognized that laugh. I turned around to find Reita standing there. Half expecting him to still be naked from the waist up, I almost reflexively averted my eyes. I paused mid-turn when I saw that there was no need for it this time. Reita had (finally) put on a long white tank top and a big black hoodie.  

And he was smiling at me like he knew something that he wasn’t supposed to. 

“Hi...” I said whilst discreetly pushing the gift in my hands behind my back.  

Reita looked delighted to hear me speak in Japanese. 

“Ohh, so I was right! Why didn’t you stay and talk to us?” 

In my heart I felt crippled for a moment. Of course I wanted to talk to him. I never imagined in a million years that I’d ever get the opportunity to meet him face to face - hell, face to bare chest even -  and I couldn’t even enjoy any of it. All I could think about was getting the hell away from him as quickly as possible. 

“I didn’t want to disturb you.” I said. Technically the truth. 

Reita smiled goodnaturedly at me. “Oh, you wouldn’t have. We’re nice, I promise. Aoi just gets scary when he’s hungry.” 

Then his gaze slid down to where I didn’t want him to look.  

“So what are you planning to do with that?” He continued, tilting his head to peer over my shoulder.

I returned his smile. I had already prepared my answer to that question in case something like this happened. “Oh, I was just having a look. I thought this one in particular looked really cute.” I said, just like I’d rehearsed in my head. I stepped aside and gestured at the shiny little stars in the wrapping paper’s design.

“Yeah, it is cute, isn’t it?” Reita agreed. He came to stand right next to me, leaning over the gift to inspect it more closely. He stroked one of his long fingers along the smooth surface of the box. Then he hummed thoughtfully to himself.  “Maybe I should open it...” 

I blanched. “NO!”

Reita raised his eyebrows at my sudden outburst. But he didn’t appear to be put off by it. Rather, it only seemed to fuel his interest. “No?” He repeated with a playful little smile. 

“Yes, I mean, no.” I stammered, trying my hardest to think of a convincing reason not to. ”It's-It would be impolite! It’s a present for Uruha.”

Reita shrugged. “He won’t mind. He has tons more to open.”

He picked up the box and turned it over to look for a spot to peel back the paper. My face contorted in horror when his nails found a strip of adhesive tape to dig into. He’s gonna see it. He’s gonna see it. HE’S GONNA SEE IT.

“Wait!”

Reita broke into a wide grin, his eyes sparkling with something that was far from innocent. 

“Hmm?”

Augh, you lied to me, Reita! You’re not nice at all!

“I really think you shouldn’t.” I persisted. “What if Uruha gets upset?”

“Yeah, you know, I think you might be right actually.” Reita said. He tucked the box securely under his arm and took a decisive step towards the door. “Let’s go give it to him so he can open it himself!”

Before the bassist could take another step, my hand flung itself at his wrist, latching onto it so tight that it made Reita stumble backwards. He looked down at his wrist and then back at me, his eyebrows raising in surprise. Heat rushed to my cheeks when I felt the steady beat of his pulse against my palm. I dropped his wrist like it had burned me. 

“Please don’t.” I pleaded softly. 

“You know what’s inside, don’t you?” He said, nodding his head at the box. 

“Yes, I know, but I really can’t tell you.” 

“Oh, I see. Well, I guess I’ll just have to see it for myself then.”

“No, stop! Please. I’ll-I’ll do anything.” 

Reita flashed me a devilish grin. 

“Anything? ” 

“Ugh, yes!” I exclaimed, not caring anymore about being calm and composed or polite.  I got down on my knees. “Look, I’ll even beg you for it if you want me to. Just don’t open it!” 

Reita backed away from me, looking a little freaked out. “Whoa, whoa! What are you doing–get up. Is it that bad? Is something gonna jump out and chew off his face or something?” 

“Ugh, don't be ridiculous, it’s nothing like that!” 

"How am I supposed to know if you won't tell me what's inside!" 

I pressed my lips together in exasperation, knowing that I had to tell him at least part of the truth if I wanted his cooperation. 

“Listen, this... gift belongs to my friend.” I explained slowly. “She changed her mind about wanting to give it to Uruha. She asked me to bring it back, so just give it to me please.”

Reita looked way too excited about this new piece of information for my liking. 

“There’s something naughty in here, isn’t there?” 

“N-no, of course not.”

“You really shouldn’t put nudes and stuff like that in there, you know. You have no idea how much drama we’ve had with this sorta thing in the past. This one time there was this lolita chick who sent me her used–” 

“They’re not nudes–!” 

“--what’s not nudes?” 

Reita and I turned our heads in perfect sync to find Uruha standing in the doorway with an inquisitive half smile on his face. 

I felt all the color drain from my face, like he'd just flushed my last shred of hope down the toilet. Oh no. Oh fuck.    

Uruha walked over to us. “What are you two doing in here? I've been looking all over for you.” 

Then he noticed the box tucked underneath Reita's arm. “Is that for me?” Uruha asked.

Reita glanced between me and the box, apparently sensing that whatever he said right now would have great consequences for the state of my sanity. The bassist looked back at the guitarist. 

“No.” He said decisively.  

Uruha gave him a confused look. He pointed his finger at the box. “Uh, it has my name on it…” 

Reita turned it over, furrowing his eyebrows at the little name tag that he seemingly missed. “Oh. You’re right. So it does, huh. That’s strange. Very strange indeed..” He muttered, fixing his eyes on me with a look that said what have you gotten me into, woman.

I mirrored his expression back at him. What was he thinking, looking at me like I got him into this? It was his fault for sneaking up on me and taking his sweet time teasing me. If it weren't for him, I would have been long gone already!

Reita cleared his throat. “So, the truth is…” he began while rubbing his noseband. 

“...she’s been stalking you!" He suddenly declared, jabbing an accusing finger in my face. "Like, bro, she's so obsessed with you that she broke into the back. I knew something was up when she got all weird in the changing room, so I followed her here. She just admitted everything to me. But I’ve got it covered and I'm gonna escort her outside.” 

Reita put his hand on my shoulder, nudging me forward.  

“Come now, little infiltrator.” 

I shot him an indignant look at his ridiculous coverup story, flushed red with embarrassment. I began to make my way to the door.

“Wait.” 

Uruha followed us into the hallway, his expression a mix of concern and mild suspicion as his eyes flicked from Reita's face to mine. 

“Is everything okay?” He asked me in English. 

I glanced sideways at Reita for help. He nodded at me encouragingly, urging me to follow his lead. I hung my head in resignation. Screw it. There was nothing that could possibly redeem this night from being the most mortifying time of my life, so a little more humiliation sprinkled on top wasn’t going to make any difference.   

I broke out into the loudest, cringiest squeal I could muster. 

“Oh yes, Uruha! I’m so happy to see you! I can't believe this is real! I love you! I love you so much I can’t contain it!”

“Right, so much love. Need to contain it.” Reita agreed as a bewildered Uruha recoiled from my violent declaration of love. 

The bassist grabbed my wrist and pulled me after him. “Let’s go!” 

Behind us a poor dumbfounded Uruha shouted after Reita, demanding an explanation. Reita just laughed gleefully and picked up the pace. I tried to tell him to slow down but that only made him go even faster. We ran the whole way to the exit, passing by confused staff members - and I’m pretty sure Aoi munching on a sandwich at some point.   

By the time we made it outside of the venue, I was frantically gasping for air. Reita sighed happily, totally unaffected by our mad sprint through the building.  “Ahh, that was fun.” 

Fun? That wasn’t fun at all! Damn you and your workout fetish. Show some mercy for us couch potatoes, damnit. 

The bassist handed me the purple box with a cheeky grin. “Here. Tell your friend it’s not safe to send people nudes. You never know where they might end up.” 

I scowled at his comment, feeling an urge to defend what little was left of Annabelle’s dignity (and my own).  

“There are no nudes, and it is from my friend.” I said firmly. “There is an actual gift for Uruha. My friend just got it mixed with something she wanted to give to someone else. I’m going to get Uruha’s real gift at my hotel and then I’ll give it to him properly.”

“Oh, really? And how are you gonna do that?” 

“What do you mean how? I’m just going to…” 

Oh. Oh crap.  

Reita tilted his head at me, seeming to already know the answer. “Didn’t think that one through, huh.”

I turned towards the entrance of the venue, chewing my bottom lip. I could ask Naomi for help… but I really didn’t want to cause her any more trouble. If the staff were already packing up the band’s belongings, then there was no guarantee that I’d even make it back in time before everyone left. 

“So where to?”

I turned my head back to Reita. He looked ready to start moving. 

“What? No. No, no, no." I sputtered when I realized what he was suggesting. "You cannot come with me.” 

“Ehh? But you need me.” He whined, sounding like I was about to cancel a field trip he’d been looking forward to. 

“No, look at you. What if someone recognizes you?” I retorted, gesturing at his wild, spiky hair and the dead giveaway - the black nose band wrapped around his face. 

He waved his hand nonchalantly like it was no big deal. “No one’s gonna recognize me. Here, you can mess up my hair if it makes you feel better.” He said, lowering his head for me. 

I crossed my arms over my chest and turned away from him, not amused at all. This was no joke. If someone did recognize him and saw him walking into a hotel with me, who knew what they’d do? What kind of pictures they'd take? I had absolutely zero interest in getting my face roasted on some vindictive fangirl's gossipy Tumblr blog. 

“Come on.” Reita tried again, a little more serious this time. “Who else is going to help you? You don't actually work at the venue, do you?”

I blinked at him. “How did you… If you knew that already, why did you help me earlier?”

The bassist grinned and shrugged. “Seemed like fun.”

The soft neon glow of the venue’s blue lights accentuated the playful glint in his eyes. I blushed at how handsome he looked to me then. I’d nearly forgotten how handsome he was with all the tension going on. Now that we were outside and the pressure was off, it felt like I was really meeting him in person for the first time. 

What a way to leave a first impression though. It felt so wrong to consider burdening him with this. There were a million better ways he could be spending his free time right now. But he was offering to help… And I knew it would mean the world to Annie if I could give Uruha her gift.

“Okay, if you really want to help me, I’d really appreciate that…” I finally said. “But you have to cover up just in case.” 

Reita chuckled softly. He pulled the hood of his black hoodie over his head. 

“Done.” 

“And I’m just going to grab Uruha’s gift real quick. It won’t take long, so you can just wait outside my hotel.” I quickly added. 

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go.” 

“Reita, I told you to wait outside!!” 

“No way, it’s too cold! I’ll freeze my nuts off out there. Go, go, go.” Reita urged as he ushered me through the revolving door of the hotel.  

The warmth of the hotel lobby wrapped around me like a hug as soon as I stepped inside and I felt a little more sympathetic to Reita's objection to staying outside. I rubbed my hands together to warm them, thinking I should show Reita where he could sit while he waited for me. That is until I saw him making his way towards the elevator. 

Damn it, I let my guard down too soon.  

I sped after the bassist, about to remind him of our previous agreement, but a firm, female voice beat me to it. 

“Excuse me.” 

Reita and I both turned our heads to see an elderly woman standing near the reception desk. She looked at Reita with narrowed eyes, seemingly disapproving the heavy black eye makeup he hadn't washed off yet and the mysterious cloth wrapped around his face.  

Next, she shifted her displeased gaze to me. “Miss, may I please remind you that we do not allow…visitors to spend the night in your room with you.” 

My face turned a deep shade of red at what her tone implied. I sent Reita an anxious look, hoping he’d get the hint and excuse himself. When our eyes met, a burst of explicit images flooded my mind - all the dirty things the receptionist suspected we would be doing in my room hitting me all at once. I choked back a silent scream. 

If Reita got the hint at all, he straight up ignored it. He looked at the receptionist questioningly. 

“No boys?” He asked in English.

“No boys.” She repeated sternly. 

Reita nodded his head as though he understood. Then he flashed her a dashing smile and a big thumbs up, pointing his thumb at himself. “I’m a good boy!” 

The receptionist continued to stare at him like he was a trespassing bug that needed to be crushed under her heel. 

“Sorry, sorry--I’m so sorry, his English isn’t that great.” I quickly intervened, waving my hand at Reita to shoo him away before the receptionist could actually consider stepping on him. He gave me a half frowning, half pouting look, but he did as he was told. 

“He will wait in the lobby. I just need to go get something from my room and then we'll be on our way. It won’t happen again.” 

The receptionist still looked displeased, but she nodded her consent to me. She gathered some materials from her desk and turned on her heel, her black pumps clicking in the hallway until she disappeared into another room. 

I sighed heavily, relieved. 

Then someone grabbed my arm. 

“Reita-?!” 

“Shhh! Hurry, hurry! Now’s our chance!” 

Reita dragged me to the elevator and mashed the elevator buttons impatiently. Once the doors slid open, he pushed me inside with such force that I nearly tripped over myself. I spun around to scold him for not staying downstairs, but forgot what I wanted to say when I saw him giggling like a little school boy. I just stared at him for a moment until I felt laughter building up inside me as well. I couldn’t be mad at him when his laugh was so contagious. He looked like he was having so much fun. 

Reita’s laughter gradually died down. He leaned his back against the elevator wall, his eyes falling on me. He looked at me with a half smile. The quietness that followed made me feel all too aware of a familiar tension that worked its way through my body. I was not the claustrophobic type at all, but the longer Reita looked at me, the smaller the space in between us felt.  

I wondered if his silence meant that he was thinking about where we were headed to. My hotel room.

Because I was. My room would be his last stop for the night. Once I had given him Uruha’s present, he would have no more reason to stay. But men and women didn’t usually go to hotel rooms only to part ways shortly after. Or at least I was quite certain that his prior hotel experiences with women must’ve been way lengthier than that.

Part of me knew that Reita genuinely only came along because he wanted to be helpful. He hadn’t given me any reason to think that he had any ulterior motives. I hadn’t exactly been flirtatious with him either. If anything I’d just been super awkward and rude to him… But what if he didn’t mind that? What if he was wondering about what how the atmosphere might change in my hotel room too?

Would he pick up where we left off in the dressing room and beckon me to come closer? Uruha and Aoi wouldn’t be on the other side of the door to barge in if he did. This time, we would be completely alone. 

The elevator stopped moving and the doors opened. 

“Ladies first.” Reita said with a smile. 

I smiled back nervously, trying not to think too much about what that smile meant.  

I stepped out of the elevator and led us through the hallway until we reached my room number. I lingered in front of the door with my key card in my hand for a little too long. Reita seemed to notice my hesitation. 

“Relax.” He said in a teasing voice that was obviously intended to put my mind at ease. “Unlike whatever you’ve got locked up inside that box, I promise you I don’t bite.” 

“You’d better not.” I replied, secretly grateful for his attempt at lightening the mood. I unlocked the door and flicked on the lights, stepping aside to let Reita enter the room first. He politely took off his shoes before he went inside and I did so as well.

Reita whistled. “Ohh, your room is so fancy.” 

My hotel room probably wasn’t really as fancy or expensive as the place that he was staying at, but it was elegant in a girly, old-fashioned way. The vanity near the bed had a large, pretty mirror, which was one of the main reasons why I’d booked this room. Reita made a beeline for the mirror as he slid his hood off his head. It still felt bizarre to have him standing there. I didn’t know what to do or say, so I just watched him while he fixed his hair. 

What I did know was that the nerves were starting to make me feel a little nauseous. Reita was in my room. He was standing only a few steps away from my bed. He'd better not sit on my bed. If he sat down on my bed - if he'd so much as look at my bed, I was certain I'd keel over and die on the spot. I had to get away from the image of him and the bed. I needed a minute away from it all. 

“Uhm, I have to use the bathroom for a sec. I’ll be right back.” 

“Oh, sure.” 

I locked the bathroom door behind me and walked over to the toilet. I took a deep, steadying breath as I sat down to let nature do its thing. 

You’re okay. The hardest part of the night is already over. You’ve got this. I reassured myself. 

All this overthinking about what could happen in my bedroom was just silly fangirl hormones going into overdrive. This wasn’t some naughty fanfiction – Reita had promised that he wouldn’t bite me. His mouth wasn't going to come anywhere near me. Everything was going to be fine. This night was going to have a perfectly wholesome, uneventful, totally unsexy ending. 

I nodded to myself as I finished wiping. 

Then I saw a red smear on the toilet paper. 

Fuck. No. Please no. 

I looked down inside my panties. More red. 

Goddamnit all this Reita stressing made my period come early.  

"What's taking so long in there? Are you taking a dump?" Reita’s voice teased from the other side of the door. 

God no please, I hope not. Period shits are no joke.

"No! Go away." I demanded in a strained voice.

The cramps were starting to kick in and I had not come prepared for this at all. I frantically yanked the toilet paper roll from the wall beside me. There was a little under half a roll left. I could probably stuff a bunch in my underwear to hold me over for a little while, but there was no way it would last me an entire night. 

"Hey, are you okay in there?" Reita asked.

I hunched over in pain, clutching my stomach. I didn’t know. Was I going to be okay? How much toilet paper would it take to grab Uruha's gift and politely kick Reita out of my room? 

When I didn’t answer him for a while, the bassist spoke again. 

"Pads or tampons?"  

The words left his mouth so fast that I nearly didn’t catch them. If I hadn’t been wishing for pads or tampons already, I might’ve thought that I’d imagined him saying them. I stared at the bathroom door in shock.

“...what?” 

In the bedroom on the other side I could hear Reita make a noise like he was kicking himself for asking.

"Never mind.” He said, sounding a little flustered. “Just hold tight, okay? I'll be back in like fifteen minutes." 

His footsteps moved swiftly across the room. Then there was the sound of a door opening and closing shortly after. For a while I continued to stare at the door in disbelief, trying to process what just happened. Then I slowly lowered my head into my hands, clenching my hair in my fists. 

Reita of the GazettE had worked out, with sniper precision, without a second's doubt, that I was on my period. I wanted to die. How the hell could he tell? Was it me? Was this the reason why I'd been so snappy with him all night? What if everything made sense to him now? What if he hadn't been thinking about sexy hotel stuff in the elevator at all, but he'd simply been biding his time until he could away from the big scary PMS monster? What if he didn't go out to buy pads or tampons - what if he wasn't coming back at all?

I sat on the toilet seat regretting my life choices until I heard a soft knock on the bathroom door. I hesitated for a moment before I slowly stood up. I opened the door just enough to peek inside the bedroom. A lone plastic bag greeted me on the floor. I silently took the bag and closed the door again. 

When I looked inside the bag, I didn’t know whether to melt or to start crying. He had brought me pads, tampons, painkillers, chocolate, candies and crisps. A little bit of everything. It was so thoughtful that it was hard to believe that this was coming from the same guy who had been relentlessly teasing me all night.  

I took what I needed and then I carefully opened the door to go back inside the bedroom, feeling a little embarrassed to show myself.  

Reita was sitting on the edge of the bed. He offered me a half smile, looking a little embarrassed himself as well. “Hey.”  

I returned the smile shyly. “Hey.”

We stared at each other, neither of us knowing where to go from there, until the silence got very awkward and we both laughed softly. 

“Uhm, thank you for bringing me all this.” I said, holding up the bag. 

“No problem. Did I get you everything you need?”

“Yeah, I think the pain meds will kick in soon.” 

Reita nodded. Then he looked down at himself, his eyes widening as if he suddenly realized something important. “Oh right, you probably want to lay down.” He said, quickly lifting himself off of the bed. 

“Thank you. Uhm, if you want to go, Uruha’s gift is in the bag over there.” I said, gesturing at the black backpack next to the closet on the other side of the room. 

Reita looked at the backpack and then back at me. 

“...do you want me to go?”

His question caught me off guard, but his tone even more so. There was a gentleness in his voice that hadn’t been there before. He sounded hesitant to leave me alone.

“Oh, I just thought…” I trailed off, shifting on my feet uncertainly. “Don’t you have to go back?”

“Well, yeah, eventually.” He shrugged. “I could hang out for a bit though. Watch a chick flick. Paint each other’s nails. Gossip about boys. Pimp your stuff with my amazing autograph.”

Until you feel better I could hear him saying in between the lines, although he tried to downplay it with his jokes. 

I rubbed the edge of my t-shirt between my fingers, feeling excited and nervous and in awe all at once. I didn’t really need him to stay, but seeing this endearing side of him made it hard to turn him down. 

“Well…I guess we could watch some TV.” 

“Then watch TV we shall.” 

Reita went to fetch the remote. I climbed onto the bed and slid underneath the covers to make myself comfortable. My heart skipped a beat when Reita reappeared in the corner of my eye, leaning over the other side of the bed to join me. He stilled when he felt my eyes on him. He looked down at me, his large hand sinking into the fluffy white pillow that held up his weight. 

“Is this okay?”

“Y-yes.” 

The bed was a double - there was plenty of room for the both of us without getting smushed together (thank God), but seeing him hover over the bed like that reminded me of the moment he’d leaned over my shoulder to whisper into my ear in the storage room. The side of my neck felt tingly when I recalled the sensation of his breath on my skin and I had to press my hand over my neck to make it go away.  

Reita sat down on top of the covers. He propped up two pillows against the headboard and leaned back against them with a pleased sigh. 

I watched him skip through the TV channels until we landed on an old romantic comedy that we both liked. We watched the movie in silence for a while, save for a few giggles here and there when something funny happened. 

As the minutes ticked by I gradually relaxed in Reita’s presence. I even felt confident enough to consider asking him a question that had been on my mind. I licked my lips and stole a glance at him. Reita noticed right away. He smiled at me like he had been patiently waiting for me to work up the courage to start a conversation with him. 

My cheeks turned a tinge of pink, but I pressed on anyway.

"About the… “ I began, unsure of how detailed I could be without making it awkward for him. “Why did you get both? Why didn't you wait for me to answer you earlier?" 

Reita looked down at his lap. He smiled sheepishly to himself. “Oh yeah, that…”

He scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know.” He continued. “It just didn't feel very gentlemanly to ask you something like that. I don't have to know which ones you use."

I couldn’t help but smile at that. It was cute, maybe a little silly - yet so considerate. Reita looked up and returned the smile. 

“Speaking of which…”  

Suddenly he leaned in real close. My eyes went wide and I instinctively leaned back, but I didn’t have the same leeway he had with the thick sheets covering me. Reita’s smile never wavered when he made another unexpected move. He dipped his head down low and bent his upper body over my lap, extending his arms to reach for something on the floor.

The weight of his chest rested on my thighs briefly until he resurfaced with a grin and a familiar plastic bag dangling from his fingers. 

“Do you wanna eat some snacks?” 

I looked at him incredulously. That grin - that shit-eating grin - it spoke volumes. Don’t call me cute or I’ll make you regret it, it said. 

I huffed, refusing to react to his attempt at making me feel flustered. 

“Yeah, I’ll have some. Which ones do you like?” 

“I like the chocolate.”

“Then I’ll have the chocolate. All of it.”

“Aww.” 

Reita feigned a hurt look as he surrendered the chocolate bar to me. He chuckled when I purposely bit off a large chunk to show him that he really wasn’t getting any. He settled back into the cushions on his side of the bed. I expected him to start plotting schemes to make me share the chocolate with him, so I readied myself to break off another piece he wasn’t going to have.

Instead Reita began to shrug off his black hoodie, exposing his muscular arms to me. 

The bassist yawned and stretched both of his arms before folding them behind his head, momentarily closing his eyes. The position emphasized his well-built physique. Somehow - even though I’d already seen him shirtless - seeing him in a tank top made it harder for me not to stare.  

Reita opened his eyes and caught me looking at his toned bicep. He grinned. 

"Do you wanna try punching it?" 

"N-no, of course not!"

"Are you sure? It always seemed to make my sister feel better. Although that might be because I kept trying to eat her chocolate too." 

His comment made me laugh even though I didn’t want to.  

Reita opened his mouth to continue talking, but then his nose wrinkled as if he was about to sneeze. He moved a hand to rub his nose. His eyebrows lifted a fraction when his fingers touched his noseband, like he hadn’t expected it to still be there. His reaction made sense to me. He probably would have taken it off by now under normal circumstances. I wondered if it was making him feel itchy after wearing it all night. 

Reita glanced back at me. 

"Ah, you must be wondering - Reita, do you ever show people your nose? And the answer is yes. Yes, I do. But only a very select group of people who share my fondness of wrapping things are given this privilege. And only if they give me permission to unwrap their things first…" 

I gave him a pointed look.

"Nice try."  

He grinned cheekily. 

“Was worth a shot.”

Our focus shifted back to the movie playing in the background when Reita noticed that it was nearing its ending. He insisted that it was the best part of the movie and we should not miss it. I was quite content to watch it in silence, because I was starting to feel sleepy. 

By the time the heroine had made up with her love interest and they were ready to defeat the bad guy, my eyes were on the verge of falling shut. I didn’t want to be rude, but I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stay awake. Reita hadn’t said anything for a long time either. Without his random comments, it was getting harder to fend off sleep. 

I sat up and turned my head to ask Reita what time it was, only to discover that he had already lost his own battle with the sandman. The bassist’s head had sunken deep into his pillows. He was facing my way with his eyes closed, breathing softly. 

I had to rub my eyes and blink a few times to make sure that I wasn’t dreaming. And then I just looked at him for a while. I allowed myself an evil little smile, realizing that I could totally rip off his noseband if I’d wanted to and there was nothing he could do to stop me.

My eyes drifted up to the clock on the wall and I felt a twinge of guilt. Reita had stayed far longer than he needed to. I looked back down at him. He looked like he was in a deep sleep. He must have been worn out from the gig. A part of me wanted to let him sleep a little longer, but I knew that people were probably starting to wonder where he had run off to. 

I carefully touched his shoulder. “Reita?” 

Reita stirred in his sleep, murmuring something incoherent. Then he slowly opened his eyes. A sleepy smile curled his lips when his eyes recognized me.  

"Hm? What's up? Are you feeling better?" 

I nodded at him, trying my best not to let my expression betray how cute his sleepy voice sounded to me.  

“I am. But it’s really late and I think you should go back.”

“Mmm…” 

He rolled over onto his back with a groan, covering his face with his wrist to rub the sleep from his eyes. Then he dragged his hoodie out from underneath him and slid off the bed. I watched him pull his arms through his sleeves as he stifled a yawn. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice you’d fallen asleep sooner.”

“Don’t sweat it. I had a good nap.”

I smiled a little. Then I looked at the purple box sitting in my backpack. “Oh, I should get Uruha’s present for you.”  

The bassist shook his head. "No, you stay in bed. I'll get it."

He crouched down by my backpack and dug around until his hand emerged, clutching a red box. I heard a soft buzzing noise coming from him as he straightened himself.  

Reita took his phone from his pocket. “Speak of the devil. Uruha is asking what I’ve been up to.” 

"Oh. What will you tell him?” I asked, a little worried. 

A familiar, far from innocent grin stretched across Reita’s face. 

"That I snuck off to a hotel to sleep with a fangirl." 

“What?! You can’t!” 

"It's the truth though."

Reita ignored my sputtering as he leisurely made his way to the entrance of my hotel room to put his shoes back on. When he was done, he spun back around, tossing me a charismatic grin.  

“Maybe next time.” He said with a wink. 

A deep blush spread over my face. From the way Reita’s eyes crinkled in devious delight, I could tell that this was exactly the reaction he'd been after. I couldn’t find my voice to speak, but he seemed to have anticipated this would happen too.  

His grin turned a little sweeter when he opened the door to let himself out.  

“Sweet dreams.” 

I sank back into the bed after he closed the door behind him, pulling the covers over my nose to cover my red cheeks. I turned to lay on my side, looking at the creased sheets where Reita had been sleeping next to me just a few moments earlier. 

My fingers involuntarily reached out to touch his pillow. It was still a little warm. And it smelled like him. I jerked my hand back underneath the covers as if the pillow might burn me. 

It was safe to say that I hardly slept that night. 

The following day I went to Naomi’s birthday party. As I handed her the present that Annabelle had picked for her, I laughed awkwardly and asked her to think of it purely as a joke. 

Naomi looked a little underwhelmed when she opened the purple box to reveal a miniature gift set of Polish vodka and a perfumed, pink envelope inside. That is, until she opened the envelope and began to read Annabelle's passionate love letter. 

At the very same time, just a few miles away in a fancy hotel in Amsterdam, Reita laughed hysterically as Uruha pulled an impressively girthy, draconic dildo from a neatly wrapped red box.