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Sakura stood jittering outside of the small quaint house. Nirei had invited him over for an impromptu studying session, and Sakura wasn't too used to the friendliness of it all. Not that he didn't want to come, he still wasn't sure what to…do with friends like this.
Not even a second later when he pressed the doorbell did it open. He heard hurried feet and a sudden whoosh of air in front of him, “Sakura-san! Welcome!”
Sakura can feel his face color, but he didn't meet the other with his usual feigned anger, “T..Thanks for havin’ me…”
He couldn't even meet his eyes or look at his face, he was sure Nirei was going to blind him like the sun, “Come in, come in!”
Sakura dragged his feet across the threshold, the house was warm, just like he expected. Just like Nirei.
He blushed more at his thoughts and shook his head aggressively. Nirei smiled at him confused for a second, but continued on, “You can leave your shoes here.” pointing to a small space in front of the cubby that held other pairs.
The captain nodded and quickly shucked off his shoes to follow the other into his home, head ducked and hands deep in his pockets.
“Mom isn't home right now, and she’ll be staying late for work, so there shouldn't be any interruptions!” Nirei rambled, “If we get hungry later, I can whip us up something too!”
Sakura just nodded along as Nirei buzzed happily, “My room’s just down the hall on the left, I’ll get us something to drink. What would you like?”
Sakura’s ears burn at the hospitality, “C…Coffee’s fine.”
Nirei grinned excitedly, “On it!”
And so, Sakura made it down the hall while the blond quickly grabbed their drinks and maybe some snacks. When Sakura assumes he gets to the right room, he opens the door cautiously, like he’ll get shouted at for doing so. No loud voices came from anywhere despite Sakura’s braced posture for it and color envelops his vision.
The room was very…Nirei. Colorful clothes strewn places, hung on his walls and draped over his desk chair. Plushies lined his bed, a few smaller ones sitting on his desk. And the most Nirei thing of all, notebooks. All laying on top of the desk, labeled different things. It was surprisingly very organized Sakura thought.
A nervous giggle behind him makes Sakura jump nearly three feet in the air, not realizing how far he walked into the room to take it all in before Nirei appeared behind him, “Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I just know my room is a lot sometimes.”
Sakura shakes his head again, “No, it's not. It's very you.” He admits through clenched teeth, “I just…haven’t been over to many..f…friends places yet.”
Sakura can see the way the tray shakes as Nirei places the cups of juice and coffee down, along with a few fruits to snack on. The teen tilts his head at the blond, making his way over to the small table. He stutters quickly, face burning again seeing the grin on Nirei’s face, “What the hell are you smilin’ for!”
Giggles fill the air again, “I’m just…really happy you consider us friends!”
Sakura ignores the slight squeeze in his chest and mumbles some curses at the boy. They never have any weight.
They both settle down across from each other at the low coffee table, Nirei brought juice for himself and brewed a fresh pot of coffee for Sakura. It wasn’t going to be as tasty as his usual at Pothos, but it’s the thought that counts.
There were extra plates for fruit he had cut up and some leftover cookies his mom had made, and Sakura took no time diving in. Nirei smiled happily at him, swaying excitedly and humming to himself as he pulled out their study supplies.
Sakura frowned slightly, not really thinking they would actually study, but here they are. Sakura had (begrudgingly) asked the other for help in certain academics, mainly anything literature.
He figured since Nirei was always writing something, it was what he was best at. And they both know Sakura’s penmanship needed…a little bit of work.
After some idle chatter, mostly from Nirei, they finished up their snacks and pulled out their notebooks. Nirei excitedly took the role of the teacher, way too quickly in Sakura’s mind, and flipped from page to page as he explained certain topics.
Sometimes, when Sakura was stuck on a word or two, Nirei would crowd close and take Sakura’s writing hand in his to help guide through the motion of writing the letters. It made his captain blush beyond belief, almost all the way down to his fingertips. All Nirei did was giddily grin to himself, enjoying the reactions he could get out of the other.
When Nirei finished most of his lectures on small topics Sakura struggled with (which Nirei wouldn't stop preening over, he got through three topics before Sakura threatened to punch him for helping!), they lapse into comfortable silence, the only noise coming from their pens and pencils.
“Have you ever had a sleepover?” The blond’s voice broke through the silence, even startling himself at suddenly asking the question.
He sees Sakura’s hand twitch at his voice, lowering his head slightly in embarrassment, “No…what's that?”
Nirei had to take a deep breath to calm himself before he got too excited and scared the other away like a stray cat, “It’s when two or more people stay over at a friend's house the whole night, sleeping over!”
Sakura’s face twists in the way that shows he's thinking through new information. When a blush took over his face, that's when Nirei knew he understood, “O–Oh…that makes sense.” he nods shyly.
“Would you like to stay over?” Nirei asks carefully.
That’s when Sakura’s head snaps up, face aflame while he stutters out obscenities. Nirei laughs nervously, hand coming to scratch at the back of his neck, “Sorry! Maybe I shouldn't have asked so out of the blue…”
The sputtering teen makes a wounded noise, grumbling under his breath before he shouts, “That’s not what I meant!”
Nirei blinks at him in shock, but Sakura keeps his gaze steady, “I didn't say I wouldn't."
Quiet settles over them, Nirei almost on the brink of vibrating out of his seat and Sakura almost combusting on the spot. But the captain speaks up hastily again, “Are you sure you…want to with me?”
“Of course I would!” Nirei wastes no time in his answer, “There’s no one else I would want!”
Now both of their faces burn at the realization of how his words sounded.
“N—No I—um—“ Nirei flounders trying to think up an excuse.
But a subtle nod from his captain shuts him up, “Okay…”
That was enough for Nirei to fully spring out of his seat and tackle Sakura, maybe his training was really paying off.
“Hey—! Get—“
“Thank you, Sakura-san! I swear I’ll show you everything that happens at sleepovers! Promise!” Nirei shouts very close to the others ear, cheek nestling against his neck.
Sakura tries protesting and pushing the blond off of him, but to no avail. His head can’t keep up with his heart, which tells him he’s fine and the, what some would call, hug feels nice. That he can accept it. But his head spirals.
“N—Nirei..” At the sound of his name weakly said, the boy stops.
“Sorry!” He almost throws himself off Sakura and to the other side of the room.
It makes Sakura frown, and he doesn’t know why.
“It’s fine…” he mumbles, Nirei is still hovering above him and he almost pulls him back down. His mind can’t comprehend why though.
“Were you…okay with that?” Nirei asked gently, voice barely above a whisper.
Sakura’s neck almost moves on its own, wanting to nod at Nirei’s words. The touch from the other boy warmed him, throughout his whole body reaching his chest. He thought he had heart palpitations by the way it stuttered behind his ribcage when he realized Nirei was hugging him.
“I—I don’t know.” Sakura says, defensively, but with the look in the vice captain's eyes he knows he wasn’t truly angry.
All of Nirei’s teasing energy leaves him, smiling softly at Sakura. He keeps eye contact with him as he slowly lowers himself back down, resting his head against his chest, arms loosely around him. Nirei can feel the way Sakura tenses and how his heart hammers underneath his ear, but he points none of this out.
Sakura has to take a stuttering breath in, his fingers buzz with anxious energy and his mind yells at him to jump up and run. If there was someone he had to fight he couldn't with Nirei cuddling him like this!
But brown eyes bore softly into his own mismatched ones, and his mind eventually shuts up. It was…nice. Sakura could feel Nirei’s warmth all around him now, normally it was just small touches on his shoulder when the smaller boy would hide behind him. Or throughout his arm when he would cling excitedly to him. This was so much more and more intense, but it was nice.
Nirei watched as Sakura’s face got more flushed each second. His body was betraying him though with how he slowly melted into the blond. Nirei grins brighter and Sakura has to look away, “Is this fine?” he whispers, just for the two of them.
“...do what you want.” Sakura whispers back, no bite to his words.
And so, Nirei does. He nuzzles his face into Sakura’s chest, liking how he can hear his heartbeat so close. Wrapping his arms tighter around him, sighing contently. He can feel Sakura go rigid again and gives him a gentle squeeze, “You can hug me back too, if you want.”
Nirei closes his eyes, not minding if Sakura reciprocates or not, he still likes the feeling of him unraveling underneath him. But he almost breaks out into excited giggles when he feels unsure arms snake around his shoulders, lightly pulling him in closer.
Sakura grunts and it almost sounds like a question, Nirei can't help his giggle this time, “That’s perfect, Sakura-san.” His voice is quiet, tinged with sleep now.
Sakura huffs and squeezes a little tighter.
If they didn't get any studying after that, Nirei would apologize later. After all, getting more information on his captain always takes top priority.