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Seiji has always been a light sleeper. He was not going to wake up at the slightest noise, of course, but… there was always a part of his mind that is aware and watchful, and it hadn’t gotten any better ever since getting his yoroi.
For the first month and half after Kourin revealed itself to him, Seiji didn’t think he had a single night of full, uninterrupted sleep. Nightmares where faceless demons broke open the doors of the dojo and slaughtered his family and all the students present danced behind his eyelids whenever he laid down and, more than once, he had woken up with a cry or a loud gasp, trembling and fervently reminding himself it wasn’t real.
Arago had been defeated now, but it didn’t mean Seiji’s mind was finally at peace, as he was finding out with disquiet.
Next to him, Touma made a noise and turned in his sleep, making the blond smirk despite himself. Whatever unease Seiji felt, it certainly didn’t seem to affect his roommate; Touma slept like a log every night and, if he wasn’t snoring – that dubious honor belonged to Shin, whose room was across the hall – he often tossed and turned in his sleep, making his bed look like a battlefield.
At least the blue-haired teen’s head was still ON the pillow and not under, the Kourin bearer mused as he shook his head and listened.
Something had woken him, after all, and he wanted to know what.
There were… faint noises downstairs. Frowning, Seiji pushed back his blanket and sat. He didn’t think they had a supernatural intruder, because he didn’t feel the prickling that he had come to associate with Youja presence, and he didn’t think a burglar would be dumb enough to enter a place where six teenagers and a kid were currently living, even if things were still chaotic in town.
So, if someone was moving downstairs, it had to be Byakuen or one of the other Troopers, he reasoned as he puts on his slippers and quietly left his bedroom, mindful of closing the door as silently as possible. Even if Touma was unlikely to wake now, Seiji didn’t wish to disturb him.
His steps took him to the kitchen. Seiji already knew who he was going to see; if Touma was still in bed and Shin could still be heard snoring, that left only four potential human suspects. Jun barely counted; the little boy could sleep through Shin’s snoring without problem, which was why the two were roommates until the child could move back to his parents’ house. That left Nasutei, Shuu and Ryo. Only, there was still light filtering from under the door of Nasutei’s Grandfather’s office (now hers), showing she was either still working despite the late hour or had fallen asleep at her desk. If it was the second, maybe Seiji should knock and wake her, or bring her a blanket.
Anyway.
That only left two potential suspects, and given Ryo was still deeply asleep half of the time, recovering from summoning that white armor to vanquish Arago, that only left one suspect in the end.
“Shuu,” he called as he knocked on a wall to announce his presence, taking in the scene in front of him with a raised eyebrow. Packs of sugar and flour. Salt. Empty cartons of eggs. Mysterious powdered substances he couldn’t see the labels of, but were likely crushed almonds or hazelnuts, and powdered Matcha. Familiar ingredients. “May I inquire about why you’re baking at,” he checked the clock with a glance “1.30am?” he inquired politely.
Shuu blinked at him, large, powerful hands clutching a rolling pin that was pressed against a mount of dough. Despite himself, Seiji felt himself freeze, then blush.
Shuu’s night clothes, upon which she had passed an apron to protect them from getting stained while she was cooking, were perfectly decent. Only, she was only wearing night clothes. Without anything to hinder her very generous bosom.
Seiji swallowed and quickly averted his gaze. Normally, Shuu didn’t trouble him that much, but usually, there was also a lot more clothes on her, including either a bra (and his cheeks reddened further at the thought) or bandages to flatten her chest so she was more comfortable while fighting and/or wearing her armor.
Her complaints while she chatted with Ryo and Nasutei about back problems, rubs during effort, gravity and the pain of having large breasts hadn’t fallen into deaf ears, much to Seiji’s chagrin.
“Oh, hey, Seiji,” she said after a beat. “Did I wake you? Sorry, I hadn’t thought I had made that much noise,” she said ruefully as she put the pin down. There was flour on the chest area of the apron, and a stain that looked like melted chocolate. She had covered her hair with a cloth.
It reminded Seiji briefly of her own Mother. How many times had he seen her in the kitchen, exactly like that…?
“I don’t think you did, given no one else woke, but I’m a light sleeper,” Seiji managed to work out, focusing on the dough and not on his fellow Trooper. Staring at a lady’s chest was the epitome of bad manners, after all. Yes, he was a teenage male. Yes, he had hormones. But Shuu was a friend, and you didn’t ogle a friend’s chest – especially when said friend could flatten you in a hand-to-hand fight in thirty seconds or so. “So, baking at 1.30am?” he asked again.
Shuu shrugged. Seiji carefully didn’t look at her breasts jumped under her buttoned pajama tops. Nope. “It’s a stress reliever,” the Chinese girl explained. “Ryo woke briefly around midnight. I helped her go to the bathroom, then I couldn’t go back to sleep. Too many nerves,” she said as she rubbed the back of her head with a grimace. “So, I thought maybe I could prepare a few things to feed everyone while I was up. That way, Nasutei will have one less thing to worry about. Biscuits are easy to make, they can conserve for a long time if you’re careful and they are a handy snack,” Shuu commented as she grabbed the rolling pin back and went back to flattening the dough she had been working on before the Kourin bearer’s arrival.
“This is… very thoughtful of you,” Seiji allowed, nodding slowly, because he couldn’t find fault in Shuu’s logic. “But aren’t you making too much?” he gave the oven a pointed look; he could see two trays inside the machine, which was turned on, and there was also a plate already full of biscuits on the counter. They smelled heavenly.
Shuu laughed. “Seiji, we’re teenagers; worse, we’re active teenagers who went through major trauma – yes, we did,” she gave him a pointed look before he could open his mouth to protest. “We got absorbed by a demon and almost died. I’m surprised none of us has more nightmares yet. Anyway,” she added, shaking her head as if to dispel her dark words and thoughts, “there is no such thing as ‘too much food’ in our case. Trust me, with my army of siblings, I learned my lesson early on about quantities if I ever wanted a chance to taste my own work.”
“Hmm,” Seiji hummed noncommittally as he leaned against a counter and watched Shuu work. “Food isn’t a cure it all, you know.”
“No, but it’s still damn helpful,” Shuu answered back as she grabbed a cookie cutter and applied it on the dough, cutting away pieces in the shape of a pumpkin. “And I personally think Touma and Ryo could do with a little more flesh on those bones of theirs.”
Seiji dipped his head in acknowledgment, though he didn’t dare comment aloud.
Touma was leaning on thin, that much was true, though Seiji didn’t think it was due to malnutrition, unlike what Shuu seemed to think. Touma’s wiry frame was more due to the archer’s natural build than anything else. Still, he could understand why Shuu, who was solidly build and had mothering instincts (as she had proved many times during their journey), would think it was necessary to ‘fatten him a bit’. Touma had already showed that, if he was busy reading, he easily forgot about time AND food on a set schedule.
Ryo… Ryo was another case entirely. With how much time she spent sleeping since Nasutei had brought them to her home, her energy drained, she had missed several meals already. She wasn’t wasting away by any stretch of the imagination, not yet, but still… Seiji also understood why Shuu would fret, even more so due to the fact she and Ryo were roommates.
“If you leave a plate at her bedside,” he commented, “I’ll give it one chance out of two that Byakuen will eat it all before she can.”
Shuu snorted, disposing the cut dough on a tray. “He knows better than to try if he wants to stay in my good graces and by Ryo’s side.” She grabbed the rolling pin again after gathering the remaining dough in a ball, flattening it anew after taking the time to roll her sleeves higher.
Her arms were really muscled, Seiji thought faintly, perhaps more than his.
He found it fascinating.
Shuu, much like Ryo, was unlike any other girl Seiji had met before. But whereas he could easily find common ground with Ryo, such as a shared love for nature, and felt deeply indebted to her for the risks she had taken to awake him from slumber in Akiyoshido, Shuu and him hardly ever managed to see eye to eye, even if they were friends.
He just… Seiji never knew what to make of her.
Shuu didn’t have a traditional feminine figure, being ‘built like a brick’, as she had joked herself during their first meeting in Shinjuku, when they had introduced themselves to each other. She was petite, stocky, excessively muscled as far as beauty canons went. She wanted to charge in the fray and didn’t think much about strategy. She was strong enough to carry Seiji in full armor bridal-style without breaking a sweat, and strong enough to push open the gates of the Youjakai on her lonesome, whereas it usually took both Seiji and Shin pressing together to manage the same.
Objectively, one would be hard pressed to think of Shuu as a girl, especially next to the daintier and more ‘traditionally beautiful’ Ryo.
And yet, when it came to manners and behavior, it was Shuu who definitely was the most feminine of the two Troopers. She wore skirts when not in armor, she wrote in an excessively cute manner on the post-its she left on the fridge, she wore hair-clips and Alice bands outside of her bandana to make up for her short hair, she took over the kitchen one time out of two after arguing with Shin, showed a love of cooking and cleaning, knew how to knit...
Yes, despite her build and the way Seiji had seen her lift a Youja and throw it over her head as if it didn’t weight anything, Shuu was probably as girly if not more so than his sisters. And it had NOTHING to do with the size of her breasts and how curvy she was, the blond forcefully reminded himself.
Shuu was… Shuu was pretty in her own rights, with her round face, her kind eyes and ash-blue hair. She had a beautiful heart, great resolve and a touch of motherly presence that made it easy to relax in her presence. You just knew those arms of her would give you the best hugs while you could press your head against her chest and let go of your worry as she comforted you…
“Seiji? Earth to Seiji?” Shuu called and Seiji blinked, taken aback as Shuu sighed in relief. “Oh, good, you’re still awake! I was afraid you were going to fall asleep standing! You know, if you’re so tired, you should go lie back in your bed – or at least go sit on one of the couches,” she chided him, though her expression was gentle and amused.
“Not so tired I can’t keep you company while you’re finishing that load,” the blond refuted, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. It was true he was tired and he was likely going to pay for it in the morning… but he couldn’t imagine letting Shuu alone to her ‘stress baking’ either.
Even if she had said nothing, Seiji knew she was grateful for the company. He could see it in the way she moved and kept glancing at him as if to assure herself he was still there and not a dream.
Shuu had mentioned nightmares, hadn’t she?
Even if she pretended that she had gotten up just to help Ryo, Seiji doubted it was the full story. Likely, Shuu’s sleep was more troubled than she was willing to admit. He wouldn’t press, however; that would be unseemly. Instead, he stifled a yawn and went to pick a cookie cutter – was that a unicorn head? Where had Shuu gotten it? Did she bring it from home, or did it belong to Nasutei?
How long had it been since the last time he had baked treats with one of his sisters or his Mother and Grandmother? Too long, Seiji decided, making a note to do just that once they got home.
Baking wasn’t how he normally relieved his own stress but… he could see the appeal, he decided at Shuu looked at him in askance.
“Fancy an additional pair of hands to get done faster?” he asked with a smile as Shuu beamed.
“Sure! The more the merrier!” the Chinese girl chirped, walking to the fridge and taking out a plate with yet another ball of dough – just how many had she made, Seiji inwardly marveled? “I love it when I bake with my siblings – even if I always need to keep an eye out for Mei-Ryu eating more dough than cutting it in pieces and on Chun-Fa’s hands to make sure she cleaned them beforehand. Want an apron and a handkerchief for those hairs of yours?” she added with a wink as Seiji chuckled and took the hint, going to clean his hands and pick what was needed by himself.
Another thing Shuu didn’t kid around: hygiene in the kitchen, Seiji thought with amusement as he tied the apron around his waist. Then again, given her parents owned a restaurant, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
That was fine by him, though; rules existed for a reason, and Seiji was happy to follow them as he grabbed the nearest cookie cutter again and waited for Shuu to finish flattening the dough, eyes briefly stopping on her butt.
It was just as muscled as the rest of her… and she probably wasn’t wearing panties under the pants…
Despite himself, he felt something twitch in his pants, making him gulp in despair. Why, he thought sadly, did he have to be cursed with hormones? And why had they picked NOW to wake up when they never bothered him at school despite the number of girls who always tried to catch his attention?
(Perhaps because Shuu WASN’T trying to catch his attention and was simply herself. Also, perhaps the super-strength thing was a kink he didn’t know he had…)
Perhaps helping Shuu bake wasn’t such a good idea, after all… But he had offered to help, and Seiji wasn’t going to back off now.
He just hoped he could make it back to his bed before getting too many Thoughts and/or a true physical reaction. For the sake of his dignity if nothing else.
Because knowing Shuu, if she ever realized what sort of effect she had on him, well…
There was only so much teasing Seiji was willing to endure, especially in the middle of the night.
Even from her.