Chapter Text
Red. Hot. Searing. Was that blood dripping from her fingertips? Her ear was ringing, she thought she could hear swords clash, but it all sounded muffled, like a dream. Her own breaths were the only thing she could hear clearly, loud, too loud, labored.
She flinched as something, someone, touched her shoulder. Lifting her head, she saw orange. Muffled sound. Was he speaking to her?
The world was getting further. Another hand, another muffled noise.
“-Lan.. Alan, wake up!”
“Wake up-.. Naru!”
Huh, Naru? With a gasp, she opened her eyes, blinking a few times to clear her vision. She could finally see. She instinctively held her hand over her side, it still felt hot, painful, but lighter, too.
“Naru, are you okay? Does it hurt?”
She knew that voice. As she turned her head, her vision was finally back to normal, she could see who it was. Or, well, who they were. Leo and Izumi sat on the side of the bed, Tsukasa peeked down from the top bunk and Ritsu peeked over from the bed next to hers. They were all here and she knew them.
As she settled back into reality, she shook her head. “N.. No, it doesn't hurt. Everything's fine.” She tried to laugh it off, but her eyebrows stayed furrowed and confusion still lingered in her gaze.
“Aah, so everything's fine, see?~ Can we go back to sleep?” With a yawn, Ritsu rested his head back on the pillow, but with one eye still carefully eyeing her.
“Naru, you were tossing sooo much that all the beds were rocking! And you were talking about something too! Like.. Calling out names and some nonsense about a battle! Was it like an intense dream? Tell me about it, maybe I can make it into a song~ If it affected Naru so much, it would make for something great!”
“Think about composing later. We need to go back to sleep.” Izumi was about to stand up from the bed, but..
“Izmir.. Eh.. Izumi-chan-” Arashi grabbed his hand tight and called out without thinking.
“Oh, yeah, that was one of the names you said in your sleep!” Leo sprawled down on the bed, laying atop Arashi as if to tell her he's at least not going anywhere.
Was it? Wait, what did she call him? She already didn't remember. “I think I just had a bad dream. Sorry for waking you all up.”
“Narukami-senpai, are you sure you're alright?” Tsukasa spoke up too, with only his head visible, looking down from the top like an adorable, concerned little bat.
“Don't worry your little head, Tsukasa-chan I'm just fine~” Though her hand was still firmly grasping her side, the phantom pain had subsided and her breaths had returned to normal. She was here. They were all here. What was that about anyway?
She slowly let down her hand and also let go of Izumi's, who kind of just stood there with a hint of worry and confusion on his face, and that usual, annoyed frown he always tried to keep up. But he didn't try to go back to his bed this time, rather, sat back down. “So, what was it about?”
“I.. “ She stopped, frowning more, one hand instinctively brushing the “wound” and yet.. “I.. Don't remember anymore.”
“So all that fuss and you don't even remember it?” There he goes, standing again, but this time it was Leo who grabbed his hand and shook his head, disapproving. And he stayed still once more.
“Naru.. I can sleep with you tonight! No nightmare can befall you if Tsukinaga Leo is here with you!”
“That's kind of you, but I promise I'm fine. These beds are probably not comfortable for two people anyway.”
“Too bad. I'm staying here now!” And he crawled next to her and held her tightly from behind, pressing a soft kiss on her back.
She could only just smile and shake her head. Once he put his mind to something, no power could convince him otherwise. “Fine, but don't complain at practice tomorrow~”
“We're all going to complain if we don't go back to sleep soon. So good night, Naru-kun.” Though his words were sharp, his tone held a hint of worry, still. As he went back to his bed, he couldn't help glancing back once or twice.
“Maybe I should sleep with the two of you as well?” From just a head, suddenly a full Tsukasa appeared, standing where Izumi had been just a moment ago.
“Now, now, Tsukasa-chan, our leader especially needs his beauty sleep~ I'll really be fine and won't wake you all up again.”
“That's not-” Tsukasa’s words got caught in his throat and he ended up nodding. “Keep her company, Leo-san.”
“Oh? Are you jealous, Suo? Do you want me to sleep with you too? Ooor you wanted to sleep with Naru?”
Even in the darkness of the room, everyone could see the way Tsukasa flinched that his entire face must've been a deep red. “Good night, Leo-san, Narukami-senpai.” And just as quickly as he appeared down there, he climbed the ladder again right back to his own bed.
“You're going to kill him one of these days, you know.” And finally she laughed, an angelic sound to Leo's ears and the very thing he aimed to achieve. Her face had relaxed and when she put her head back on the pillow, her body had relaxed too.
Leo wrapped his arms around her tight and nuzzled into her back, his fingertips softly playing with her hand. “Good night, Naru~ I'll protect you as a knight tonight!”
Only responding with a nod, she grasped his hand, placed a kiss to the back of it and slowly drifted off again.
As she did so, her dream blurred together with the real, the gentle presence of Leo was the same as the hand on her shoulder in her darkest moments. There it was, the pain again. Cutting. Burning.
“Sleep well, Alan. We'll avenge you.”
Avenge? The pain had turned hazy by that point and the dream had gone blank. She truly didn't have another dream, for the rest of the night.