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Mahiru sometimes has this stupid face when he is sleeping. Kuro has seen it more times than he cares to explain, and he knows that the funny, little smile probably is not some consequence of a dream. It hardly leaves his face anyway.
At three a.m., Kuro found himself at Mahiru’s door once again, staring at his stupidly smiling face, listening to quiet murmurs. If he had planned on waking him up, he might have asked him if he was having a dirty dream, but he wasn’t going to. Mahiru probably doesn’t have stereotypical dreams anyway. His dreams probably have him happily absorbed in cleaning or cooking or helping his friends.
Kuro almost smiled at the thought, but knew he wouldn’t. There was too much on his mind.
Usually, sleeping is a peaceful and heavenly time for Kuro, when Mahiru isn’t nagging him or forcing him to do things. Most nights, dreams of silly adventures as a cat keep him occupied until Mahiru comes and nags him awake. However, once and awhile… the little monster talks to him.
It is hard to find his footing after hearing it whisper its usual spiel, and it takes Kuro a while to get balanced enough to open Mahiru’s door.
Just seeing Mahiru soothes some of the rising anxiety, but he is often torn between keeping close and keeping his distance. Sometimes, Kuro stands at the door the rest of the night, until just before Mahiru’s alarm is about to go off, still undecided on where he should be. Other times, he leaves and fakes sleep, until Mahiru comes to get him up.
Quite a few times, though… Kuro sits on the floor next to Mahiru’s bed, leaning his head back against the mattress, listening to the small breaths that remind him Mahiru is okay. He might nap for a bit to that sound or stay awake as if on guard. In the morning, he would turn into a cat and hide under the bed, until Mahiru goes to wake him, and then he would quietly stroll out before Mahiru ever knew.
However, there are times when he turns into a cat immediately upon entering Mahiru’s room and jumps onto the bed. Kuro then burrows under the blanket and slips between Mahiru’s arms, curling into his slowly rising-and-falling chest. The warmth draws Kuro easily back to sleep, as arms tighten around him instinctively like he was a stuffed animal, but Kuro doesn’t make a comment on it when Mahiru asks him why he’s there in the morning. Mahiru is never even mad about it, and Kuro wants to tell him that he is too trusting, that he should be mad, but he simply says that he was cold.
This morning, at three a.m., it was one of those times, and Kuro pressed his face into Mahiru’s slow heartbeat. Mahiru was mumbling incoherently in his sleep again, something he does now and then. Detached syllables fell out of his lips, and then he pulled Kuro to his neck, one of his furry ears against his smiling lips. Kuro froze, thinking he woke Mahiru up, but relaxed immeasurably when he realized that those syllables weren’t very detached after all.
“Kuro… you have to wake up… I’ll be late… stupid cat…” Mahiru murmured into his ear.
Kuro transformed back into his human form, Mahiru’s arms sliding down to his waist as he sat up. He grabbed Mahiru’s cell phone and turned off his alarm, before sliding back down into place, careful to return Mahiru’s arms to around his upper back. Pressing his face into that softly moving chest, Kuro wrapped his own arms around Mahiru.
He’d be mad when he wakes up late, but Kuro didn’t think that he’d mind getting scolded for this.