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Noriko worries for her boys. She can’t help it, not after all they’ve been through. Shuya usually causes less concern, his heart-on-his-sleeve nature means he’ll confide in one of them eventually. He’s just too obvious (just too sweet, in her eyes) to hide his feelings. Shogo, on the other hand, seems much more content with bottling up his feelings. Whether it’s his lingering trust issues, or a desire to stay strong for both her and Shuya, she doesn’t know. But no matter how hard he tries to cover it up, she can tell he’s hurting.
She was extremely quick to notice his trouble sleeping. It wasn’t something that only he suffered from, both Shuya and Noriko had woken up in panic more times than they could count. Nightmares were almost a guarantee every single night, so much so that all three of them would stay up late talking to avoid it. The severity was definitely lessened by sleeping next to each other, even if they weren’t stopped completely. The comfort of waking up next to a partner was much better than waking up alone.
However, Noriko noticed Shogo’s insomnia before they even escaped. She couldn’t remember one moment where she saw him sleep throughout those two days (Shuya confirmed this to her himself). It was no doubt caused by his experience in his first game, leading him to act like a guard dog while his partners got some rest at the cost of his own wellbeing.
In the little over a month that they’d spent in their new apartment together, Shogo hadn’t slept in their bed once. Not really, at least. He’d stay in the room for her and Shuya’s sake; sometimes laying on one edge of the bed, sometimes sitting on the floor while he waited for them to fall asleep before he would leave the room. He usually wasn’t in bed with them in the mornings if they managed to sleep through the whole night.
Tonight, he’d assumed that the two of them had fallen asleep and went to sit in the living room. Noriko laid on her back and stared up at the dark ceiling. Her thoughts wandered as she noticed only one body laying next to her (there was no doubt in her mind that Shogo was sat near the front door with his gun). She shifted her body to look at Shuya. He laid facing her, eyes closed but definitely not sleeping yet.
She reached a hand out to tap his face. “Shu,” she whispered, “are you asleep?”
“Mm… not really…” he hummed, slowly opening his eyes to meet hers. “You okay?”
“No… I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Oh, what can I do to help you?”
“I’m worried about Sho…”
Shuya propped his head up on his elbow, “So you saw it too, right? His eyes looked super red earlier today, and he kept almost falling asleep at lunch. He said he was fine, but I didn’t really believe him.”
“Yes! He looked like he was about to faint!” Noriko sat up, “I know how hard it's been for him to sleep, but I hate seeing him like this. Especially when he brushes it off…”
The two sat in silence for a little while. By the time either of them spoke again, Shuya had sat up fully.
“I mean, we could just talk to him?”
“Yeah?” Noriko tilted her head slightly, “What would we say, exactly?”
Shuya shrugged, “I dunno, being honest with him would probably work? I’m sure if we told him directly, he’d feel bad for making us worry.”
He smiled and moved some of her hair out of her face, “Besides, you know he can’t say no to your pretty face!”
“I suppose bothering him until he says yes is a good tactic,” Noriko giggled. She leaned forward to give him a soft kiss, placing her hands on his upper thighs to steady herself.
They pulled away a few seconds later. “Alright, operation “Sleep with Shogo” is a go!” Shuya said, his smile now morphed into a smirk. Noriko’s eyes widened as she slapped him lightly on the arm, shaking her head in faux indignation.
They both got out of bed—Noriko opted to take one of the blankets off the bed to wrap around her shoulders—and made their way out of the bedroom. They spotted Shogo in the living room almost immediately. He sat in one of the wooden chairs from their small dining room, moved to face the front door. Predictably, he was holding one of their few guns in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth. His head swiveled towards the bedroom as he heard them walk out the room.
“What’s up?” He asked, slight worry on his face. He kept the gun secure in his hand, but made sure it was pointed nowhere near them.
“Shoooogoooo, we can’t sleep!” Shuya whined, walking towards him. “You gotta help us!”
Shogo raised an eyebrow at him, “Did ya have a nightmare or something?”
“Nope,” Noriko shook her head, “we just miss you.”
They both stood in front of him now, blocking his view of the door. He looked between them, slightly confused. “I don’t get what y’mean.”
“You need to sleep.” Noriko stated bluntly. “There’s absolutely no way you’re getting enough.”
He sighed, taking the cigarette in his free hand. “Noriko, I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong—”
Shuya cut him off, “Sho, we all know that’s bullshit. Look at you, you look fucked up.”
“What d’ya mean fucked up?”
“Absolutely exhausted, Sho!” Noriko said. “Your eyes are tired, you look extra grumpy, that kind of fucked up!”
Shogo took this moment to rub his eyes with his arm, noticing the burn in them. The smoke was definitely not helping. He put his cigarette out in the ashtray by his feet as he continued to speak.
“Alright, so I’m not sleeping a whole bunch. That’s a necessary evil for our situation. I’m making sure we’re protected, okay? The government could knock down our door and kill us in our sleep any day now, and y’know I’m not going down without a fight.”
Noriko huffed softly, clutching the blanket a little tighter around her, “You know you won’t be able to protect us if you pass out from fatigue, right?”
He hesitated for a second, biting his lip. Then he shook his head. “Nah, I’ll be just fine. Sorry, I’m sure you guys can get to bed okay without me right there.”
They all stared at each other for a bit. Shogo prayed that they would just accept defeat and let him be. Noriko frowned as she looked at Shuya, who’s shoulders sagged a little.
Suddenly, Shuya’s eyes lit up and a mischievous look made its way onto his face. “Okayyy, if that’s how it is,” he sighed, face morphing into a slight pout. He made his way over to the couch and plopped down. “I guess me and Nori are gonna sleep here tonight!”
Shogo looked at him incredulously. “...Really?”
Noriko smirked before she nodded solemnly. “Yep, we’ll have to now!” She walked over and dropped herself dramatically next to Shuya. “Without our handsome boyfriend next to us, there’s no other way we’ll be able to sleep!”
Shuya threw his arm around her, pulling her to his side. “We have no choice, Sho. It’s just a necessary evil for us!”
They both looked at each other with smug little smiles, before looking back at Shogo with the best pleading faces they could muster. Shogo breathed out a laugh in disbelief. “Is this really how yer gonna do this?”
They nodded, still looking at him expectantly.
“Come on, baby. We don’t expect you to magically fall asleep all of a sudden. Even if you just lay with us through the night, that’s enough,” Noriko said sincerely.
Shogo studied their faces before sighing, “Okay, okay, fine, ya got me. I’ll go.”
They both cheered, jumping up from the couch. Shuya got there first and practically threw himself at him, kissing him excitedly. Shogo grunted in surprise, but melted into the kiss quick enough. He allowed Noriko to take the gun from his hand as he wrapped an arm around Shuya’s waist. She placed it carefully on the counter, then moved to the side opposite Shuya. She shooed him away with a little my turn! before kissing Shogo deeply. He wrapped his other arm around her while still holding Shuya, who had busied himself with kissing his neck.
Shogo pulled away to stop them for a moment, standing up from the chair. “Just lemme do something with that,” he motioned towards his gun, “and then I’ll hop in with ya.”
“If you’re not here in five minutes, we’re picking you up and dragging you into bed ourselves!” Shuya pointed at him as he and Noriko rushed back into the bedroom. He laughed quietly to himself.
After the chair and the gun had been put back in their rightful places (they had a few other guns placed strategically throughout the apartment, so he wasn’t too worried with leaving this one behind), and the locks on the door had been double checked, Shogo went ahead to the bedroom. There, he found Noriko and Shuya already under the covers on the sides of the bed. There was a space left in between them. “Oh my god.”
Noriko patted the empty spot next to her. “We figured it’d be harder for you to sneak away if you were in the middle!”
“You guys are fucking ridiculous,” Shogo smiled softly at them. He pulled his shirt off, leaving him in just his pajama pants as he crawled into bed.
“Aw, you know you love us!” Shuya said, smiling brightly at him as he crawled under the blankets.
“Nah, clearly I fucking hate you two.”
As he said this, he laid on his side to face Shuya. Carefully, Noriko wrapped her arms around his torso and hugged him to her chest. He tensed briefly before relaxing. Shuya’s smile only got wider.
“I didn’t know you were a little spoon.”
Shogo rolled his eyes, “Shut up, yeah?”
“I love it!” Noriko exclaimed. “It’s like having a big, warm teddy bear to cuddle with.” She punctuated this by littering a few kisses down his neck to the top of his back.
Some red began to dust Shogo’s cheeks. He gazed at Shuya softly and lifted his arm up. “Well? Don’t leave me hangin’, Shu.”
Shuya looked confused for a second before he realized, grinning as he scooted over to place his head on Shogo’s chest. Shogo wrapped his arm around his back and rested his chin on his head. Snuggling into him, Shuya sighed contently, “I love you guys so much.”
“I love you both, too!” Noriko said happily, yawning soon after.
“...Me, too.” Shogo said finally. He tangled his feet with Noriko’s and gripped Shuya just a little tighter. “I love you guys a lot. Thank you.”
He didn’t really know what he was thanking them for. It could’ve been for getting him to bed that night, or for sticking by him all this time and loving him unconditionally. Regardless, he barely heard them acknowledge what he said before his eyes fell shut. It seemed, for at least a moment, that all the fear had melted out of his body.
It was the best he’d been able to sleep in a year.