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It's going to happen again tonight.
There’s been a lot of signs for it today, more chide remarks directed at gaku. more frustration than embarrassment at ima’s usual antics. And finally the defensive battle that took place today
It seems like stress relief is one of the reasons she does this…maybe it's the only reason she does this
Its weird how fast you’ve gotten used to it, even weirder that you’ve come to expect it to happen
Like clockwork, as soon as Sirei’s nighttime announcement plays you brush your teeth, slip into your pajamas, and lay down on your back, duvet pulled to your chin.
Karua always called you out for how easily and deeply you could sleep, and for how basic your sleeping position was. You could also sleep pretty much anywhere, if you tried hard enough, Karua being as light a sleeper as she was insisted that you couldn't just 𝘵𝘳𝘺 hard to sleep, but…here you were
You wonder, briefly, if Nozomi is also a light sleeper.
Is it bad that you’re thinking of another girl when one is about to break into your room to sleep beside you?
Before you could start contemplating that little issue you hear the soft, near inaudible sound of the doorknob clacking against the door
You try your darndest not to flinch. But cant help but to feel your heart begin to thump loudly against your chest, this isn't the first time this had happened and you doubt it would be the last… but there was always this feeling of it being- i don't know, scandalous? That you were doing something vaguely wrong despite not actually doing anything but sleep?
The hinges squeak softly, the sound being the only indication that the door is being open at all. You don't really get why she opens it so quietly if she was just going to climb into bed with you, if you were going to wake up it would be then.
The hinges squeak again, and the knob is released, the door is closed. But the part right after still makes you slightly uneasy
It's the click of the lock, you never normally lock your door in the first place, never really thinking about it all too hard but if you had to justify it then maybe it's so anyone could come get you in an emergency?
You’re kinda glad she does lock the door when she does this though, if someone did come in they’d probably get the wrong idea, and considering your luck ima would be the one barging in before brandishing a knife to your throat
It… does add to the vibe that your doing something bad, something that deserves to be done behind locked doors where nobody can interrupt
Your breath catches when the bed sinks and the duvet is pulled off you, Kako climbs into the bed as softly and quickly as she can manage, snuggling right up beside you, pulling the duvet over the both of you before hugging your body and nuzzling into the crook of your neck before inhaling deeply
As she exhales all the tension leaves her body, she’s so close you could feel her rapidly beating heart ease. Her kiwi scented shampoo washes over you like a wave and settles your own uneasy heart,
The anticipation had been almost unbearable but now that she’s finally here you could probably get some sorely needed sleep. However on this night you had to wonder…why was she doing this? And why were you letting her? Especially since she can sleep in ima’s bed with him, in fact he’d be ecstatic if she asked
When it first happened- or rather when you first caught her one morning holding you tightly like a hug pillow you had reasonably assumed you were still dreaming, and simply closed your eyes, eager to drift back into the void. Instead you soon felt her shift out of the bed and leave your room, the morning announcement playing soon after
That happened again, two days after. She must have stayed up late because she slept through the morning announcement that time, forcing you to face the reality that: yes, she really was real and in bed with you
When she did finally wake up (an hour later) she panicked and left in a hurry. You ‘woke up’ and extra hour later to avoid her finding out you knew
You then spent the next three nights staying awake far longer than usual to see if you could catch her in the act, and when she did end up breaking in, you…
You just- couldn't find it in you to confront her, you know that you should but…
It was nice, having someone hold you while you slept. She was soft and warm and often smelled nice. Despite the feeling of wrongness you can't help but to enjoy this
Her breathing had evened out completely, either she was asleep or was about to be. And now you know- you know you shouldn't but… you roll over, and hug her back
She was less than a hundred pounds soaking wet so it shouldn't surprise you but you can't help but feel shocked about how small she was, she was younger then you by a good three years so it's to be expected but… ima would often mention how hard they had it growing up, mentioning how they’d eaten some pretty awful stuff to avoid starvation so their growth being stunted made the most amount of sense
It made sense, but you could help but feel strong indignation for them, the fact that their situation now, in the middle of a war might be better then back at the TRC lit a deep, boiling hot fire in your chest
You will make sure they make it out of this alive, that everyone will
You just gotta make sure ima never finds out about this, because he WILL kill you for doing this- or for allowing this to go on as long as it has
The question of what she was getting out of this was still floating around in your mind. Again, if she needed someone to sleep beside wouldn't her brother be better? At the very least she wouldn't need to do all of this sneaking around
Rubbing small circles into her back you plant your chin on her head, allowing your lead heavy eyes to close. Kako exhales through her nose as she adjusts in your hold. If you were still holding her in the morning you two might actually have to talk about this
But that's a problem for tomorrow's you, and tomorrow’s kako
For this night you’ll sleep better then you have since you first woke up in this hellish war
And hopefully… dream about something other then the horrors you’ve witnessed since coming here