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It’d been a long day for Shin Tsukimi.
Trying to get enough Clear Chips to survive the Sub Game, dealing with the laptop whilst trying to avoid Sara and her nosy friends (especially since one of them had made it his sworn fucking duty to be as irritating to him as possible, cough, Kai, cough.)... It was no wonder that the second Shin was finished for the day, he entered his room, collapsed onto his bed without even tucking himself in, and fell asleep instantly.
This wasn’t great for two main reasons.
Firstly, was that in his half-asleep delirium, he’d forgotten to lock his door behind him. Kai had been one to linger outside it (or so Kanna had told him), and Shin assumed he’d absolutely leap with delight at the ability to violate his privacy and steal his shit. The laptop was probably a goner at this point, and his room would be torn apart by morning, he was sure of it.
Secondly, and likely the more immediately important of the two, was that Shin had forgotten to use the bathroom beforehand- or, if he did remember, his tiredness overwhelmed his ability to think clearly and he still didn't. He didn't quite care about either of these right now, though. He was blissfully asleep atop his blankets and sheets, unaware of any of his problems.
After a while, as expected, Kai slid into Shin’s room- a rather confused expression on his face at the fact it was unlocked. He shut and locked the door behind him, so no one else would try and sneak in as he did- or walk in on him- and looked around. Noticing Shin, “Ah… Hm.” Kai muttered, seeing his rather pathetic sleeping arrangement. Ah, he just came in here to take the laptop and go, but he found this too pitiful not to fix.
He’d just… tuck him in. That was okay. He slinked up next to Shin, pulling one of the blankets out from beneath him (which was surprisingly easy, he was surprisingly light) and setting it atop him instead. Shin didn’t even stir, but Kai surely felt better. Now, for the laptop…
It took Kai a long while to locate it since Shin had gone through a lot of hassle to hide it well enough that he’d hopefully wake up and tell Kai to fuck off before he’d find it. Unlucky he. Kai was confident he’d completed this mission for Miss Sara without any major hindrances as he unlocked the door again, but before he could get a single step outside-
“Mmghh… Hi..yor..i..?”
Kai spun on his heels, staring at Shin, utterly bewildered and ready to run at the slightest provocation- …at least until he saw that Shin was still fast asleep. Kai let out a shaky sigh of relief. Just sleep talking. Strange that he was seemingly calling out his own name, but he supposed it didn't quite matter. His work here was done.
“No… hnngh… th…s… creep…y… don't…”
…Was he having a nightmare? Kai frowned, watching the usually so high-and-mighty liar tremble in his sleep, curling in on himself and whimpering. Should he wake him up? Surely not, then the laptop would fall right back into his hands! But… Kai couldn't help feeling at least a little bad. In this state, Shin reminded him a lot of Miss Sara when she was younger- crying to Mr. Chidouin about monsters under her bed, and Kai having to pretend to fight them off so she could sleep soundly again.
Kai sighed, shaking his head. He set the laptop down by the door and walked back over to Shin. “Sou..?” Kai called, his voice quiet. He rested a hand on Shin’s shoulder, firm but not harsh, shaking it a little. “...Sou, wake up.”
“Aa… uuu…” Shin only trembled worse, trying to get away from Kai. Still, he continued to attempt to wake him, repeating his name louder every time. “Hi..y- stop- s..sto-... STOP-!!” Shin groggily shrieked, thrashing between Kai’s hand and the mattress. Unbeknownst to Kai, urine was quickly pooling beneath Shin, running down his khakis and soaking into his sheets as the fear and desperation finally caught up with him.
“Sou- SOU!” Kai finally yelled, shoving at Shin’s shoulder.
Shin’s eyes finally opened. “Gah-?! Kai..?” He blearily looked up at the homemaker, whose face was contorted with concern; especially upon watching Shin’s expression change from one of sleepy annoyance to utter horror within just a few seconds. Tears sprang to his eyes as he realized what he’d done- what he was still doing. The pain that nightmare had brought him couldn’t begin to outweigh the absolute terror that filled him as he realized…
He’d wet the bed.
He was actively wetting the bed.
“Are you alright?”
Was this some kind of nightmare-within-a-nightmare? He’d had those before. Surely this wasn't real. Shin sniffled rather pathetically, scrambling to sit up and desperately pressing his legs together as well as shoving one hand between his thighs to try and stop the flow- anything-!! Why wouldn't it stop..?! Simultaneously, with his other hand, he shoved at Kai’s face, muttering, “Don’t look at me-!!” as he turned his head away from the homemaker in utter shame.
Kai just cocked his head at Shin, grabbing his wrist and holding it a ways away from his face. “It's alright, Sou.” He said, his voice calm and understanding despite how little he understood. What was getting Shin so upset? Was the nightmare really that bad, or was he just embarrassed about having been caught so vulnerable? Likely the latter, knowing Shin even as little as he did. Still, it felt a bit disproportional. “...I won't tell?”
Shin yanked his hand out from Kai’s grasp, pulling his scarf up over his nose with it instead. “Aaauuuh… No…” He could feel the stream finally dwindling against his hand, but that was barely a comfort. His bed was ruined. His night was ruined. His life was ruined…
Sighing, Kai moved to sit down on the bed to try and comfort him, Shin uttering a rushed, “No-” far too late to have stopped anything.
Kai’s face quickly turned from one of confusion to understanding as he sat down, feeling the urine soak into the blankets below him and subsequently, slightly into the back of his pants. “...Ah.” Kai muttered, his eyes widening slightly. “Did you..?”
Shin nodded weakly, immediately bursting out into louder sobs as he covered as much of his face as he could with his scarf and squeezed his eyes shut tight. Shin felt Kai shifting, and then his weight left the bed entirely- probably leaving, as he should. He was disgusting, Kai probably found this disgusting, maybe even hilarious, to watch a grown man wet himself over a fucking dream. At least that’s what he thought, until-
“Shhh…” Shin’s eyes snapped open, over at Kai, who was kneeling beside the bed, brushing Shin’s hair aside with his fingers as he looked up at him. Shin’s gaze softened slightly as he tried to gauge his expression… Was he just doing this to make himself feel better? Surely he was disgusted, surely he now hated him… well, more than he already did… But all that was shown was gentle reassurance.
Shin huffed, turning away again. Kai continued to stroke his hair. “Y-You can stop trying to… make me feel b-better. I-I know you d-don’t mean it.” He managed to choke out between sniffles and sobs. God, he felt like he was going to vomit. “I’m d-disgusting. A d-disgusting child who c-can’t even make it through a silly n-nightmare witho-”
Kai flicked Shin on the forehead, causing the latter to nearly jump. He opened his mouth to complain but was quickly cut off by Kai, who had a much more stern expression this time around. “...You’re spiraling. You aren’t disgusting nor a child for being afraid.” He paused for a moment, continuing to pet Shin’s hair. “Did anyone think less fondly of Miss Kanna when she wet herself?”
“N-No, but..! She’s a kid!! She w-watched someone die!” Shin shook his head. “She h-had an… excuse...” He added, finally dropping his scarf to instead rub groggily at his eyes as tears still fell from them.
Kai sighed. “I am… certainly not inside your head, but I saw how badly you reacted to that nightmare. I’d call that enough of an excuse.”
“B-But..!!-”
“No ‘but’s.” Kai cut him off yet again, his tone akin to a mother scolding a child. Shin would've found it funny were it not for the situation at hand. “You were scared, Sou. I will not accept you blaming yourself for something you could not control.”
...Shin deflated with a huff, finally seeming to realize, at least somewhat, that Kai wasn’t out to get him. Kai’s face slowly formed a smile. “Much better.”
After a minute of silence, Kai continuing to pet Shin’s hair to try and calm him down (or more accurately to keep him calm), Shin muttered, “...I’m tired.”
“...Hm,” Kai paused midway through parting the front of Shin’s hair, nodded to himself, and resumed. “You can sleep in my room for tonight, and I can get Safalin to clean your sheets tomorrow.”
“Huh..?” Shin turned to him, blinking a few times. His face was probably so gross and red and wet, he felt almost sorry for Kai for not seeing how gross he was being. “A-Are you… serious..? But-” He started, but seeing Kai’s eyes narrow at him he quickly stopped himself. Guess that was just a forbidden word now… He frowned.
Kai nodded again. “I am. Now,” He stood up, patting any creases out of his apron and holding his hand out to Shin. “Come with me. I doubt anyone is awake at this hour, so you won’t have to worry about anyone seeing your… predicament.”
Shakily taking Kai’s hand, Shin finally removed his other hand from his crotch and shuffled himself out from under his blankets, keeping his gaze averted from Kai's and his head low as he stood up. Even with all the reassurance, he was still… ashamed. Who wouldn't be? He quickly wiped his wet hand off on his pants- not like they could get any more ruined- and held his scarf tight.
Kai led Shin out of his room, Shin cringing at the feeling of his wet and increasingly cold pants clinging to his legs whenever he moved. Walking past the door, he decided to ignore the fact that the laptop was obviously set beside it and not where he left it and instead focused on how lucky he was that Kai was the one who barged in on him. If it was anyone else… except Kanna, he supposed. She wouldn't have cared either. But Sara? …Keiji? God, they would’ve leapt at an opportunity to beat down on uncooperative little Shin. He swore Kai would’ve too, but…
…It was a pleasant surprise. Kai unlocked his own door and opened it, leading Shin inside, and finally letting go of his hand to get himself ready to sleep (which involved immediately removing his signature apron, which spawned even more duress in Shin’s stomach, even if from butterflies this time). He looked around- it was identical to his own room, but you could still tell that Kai was the one living in it. The bed was perfectly made, his ladle, spatula, and frying pan were neatly laid on his bedside table, and… it smelled faintly of cooked eggs, somehow.
Shifting uncomfortably in wait, the dread of what Shin had done was still setting in even if he wasn’t expressing it. He wanted to run even though he knew this was the best outcome, he wanted to hide even though he knew it’d do him no good. He most of all wanted to cry. He still was, just barely, but what he wanted was to bury his face in a pillow and sob.
Kai looked back up at Shin after a few moments, smiling warmly. Shin felt his nerves quell, if only for a second.
“Hmm,” Kai hummed to himself, and then nonchalantly began- removing his pants?! Shin’s eyes widened and he made a confused sort of yelp, immediately cringing and shutting his eyes; wondering if he’d been all wrong about this whole thing- was Kai some kind of pervert?! Well, he did stalk Sara, maybe..!!
After a moment, though, Shin was met with the words, “...Here, sleep in these.” Shin cracked open an eye. Kai was still very much clothed, albeit in just his boxers now, holding out his uniform’s pants for Shin to… wear? Huh…
He supposed it’d be hard to sleep in Kai’s bed with his pants soaked without… also ruining Kai’s bed. This made sense. Shin wasn’t sure why he was so flustered by the gesture. “Um… Thanks…” Shin said, shuffling forward to take them from Kai. “I’ll…” He fumbled with them in his hands, gaze flitting between them and Kai. “...yeah.”
Kai nodded, turning away and sitting on the edge of the bed to give Shin some privacy. Shin still watched him for a moment, trying to understand… everything, really. He was so very confused, and that nagging voice at the back of his head (that he’s always had but after that hellish First Trial and Sara and the Main Game was just so much worse) was telling him that this was a trap, a ploy, he wasn’t safe, he should run while he still could- yet he felt so oddly at ease here, maybe that was a trick too, he didn’t know..!!
…Shin let out a shuddering sigh, deciding to let his guard down just this once. Not fully, no, never, especially not with one of Sara’s allies, but… he supposed there wasn’t much else he could do. He slowly undid his belt, keeping an eye on Kai in case he tried anything, and slowly removed his pants and boxers. He cringed, at the feeling of peeling wet fabric from his skin and at the chill of cool air against his bare legs, but it was definitely a relief to get them off of him.
He tossed them into a small pile, before hastily putting on Kai’s pants in place of them, which were… way too long for him, but they’d do for one night. Shin awkwardly cleared his throat to let Kai know he was done. Kai turned to him. “Ah, excellent. Are they comfortable enough?”
Nodding slowly, Shin forced a small smile. They weren’t, really; they were standard uniform material and not very soft nor warm, but they were far better than his soiled khakis. “Then I suppose we should get to sleep. Tomorrow will be just as tiresome as today was, so a good night’s sleep is crucial.” He sure fucking hoped it wouldn't be. Kai scooted up to be sitting against the headrest, looking over at Shin expectantly.
“Ahaha… y-yeah.” Shin muttered. The pants draped so far past his feet that he was sure he’d trip if he tried walking normally in them, so he grabbed the sides and held them up- sort of like a long dress- before awkwardly walking towards the bed and sitting down on the edge. Thankfully, the beds were far bigger than needed- which he already knew thanks to Kanna, but whatever. Kai wouldn’t be breathing down his neck was the point he was trying to make.
He shuffled himself under the covers, to which Kai did the same, both left staring up at the dull brown ceiling after a moment and Shin already feeling his sleepiness catch up with him.
“I do have one question, Sou.”
“...What is it?”
“Who is this ‘Hiyori’?”
Shin didn’t respond immediately. Was he talking in his sleep or something..? That nightmare was about him, as almost all of them were nowadays. Oh, how he missed the days of having nightmares about silly monsters and not about Sou. Sou was far scarier than any monster. Shin huffed, turning to face his back to Kai and curling in a little on himself- how he usually slept.
“Nobody important.”
Kai made a small noise of acknowledgment before reaching over and turning off the bedside lamp. Darkness swallowed the room, and Shin felt even sleepier.
“Goodnight.”
“Mmn, g’night.”