It was dark when you awoke. You were absolutely sure this could only mean one of two things: Either Yukari was at your door or that mysterious boy right at your bed. Your eyes tried to pierce through the darkness but all you could see was your alarm reading two in the morning. No knock on your door, no voice to be heard. Strange.
“Fuck my life…”, you grumbled as you sat up in your bed.
It took you one more moment to realise what was off. It was fricking cold in your room. With a groan you slipped out of bed regretting to leave the warmth of your blankets to cross the room. Great. Your heater was cold as ice. With a trembling hand you searched for anything to turn it on; you knew there was nothing to be done.
“Whatever”
With a pout you crawled back under your blankets trying to get warm and comfortable but it was no use. It was not enough. You contemplated putting on a hoodie maybe and fluffy socks but then you would probably sweat. Not like you had much of a choice. So you stumbled towards your closet using your phone as a flashlight. With a frown you pulled out a hoodie and slipped it on. It felt warm and soft.
You went back to bed once more and curled up trying hard to relax but you still felt cold. You assumed it would take you a bit to fall asleep when a thought crossed your mind: What if you got sick? No more explorations of Tartarus. You still remembered vividly how strict Mitsuru had been with Akihiko and his injury. There was no telling when she would consider you recovered after a cold. Not to mention that you wouldn’t be able to help out in the student council.
For some reason, these thoughts made you upset. Also you hated being sick. You had a bit of a dramatic streak and while injuries posed no problem actually feeling sick did. You hated the sensation of nausea. So there was but one thing you could do. Time to exploit those Social Links Igor had implored on you.
In a swift motion, you wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and padded out of your room. Your bare feet made no sound on the carpet in the hallway as you walked over to Yukari’s room. Taking a deep breath you raised your fist and knocked on the door. Your stomach was churning and your throat started burning. One part of you hoped she wouldn’t open the door and the other prayed you didn’t even have to explain your predicament when receiving aid.
“For fuck’s sake, please…”
You cursed quietly as you knocked again. Blood was rushing through your ears and your hands started sweating. Your heart pounded against your rib cage and your thoughts started racing. What if she just slept through? Whom could you turn to next? Junpei? You shuddered at the prospect. You knew he always had your back but you still felt awkward relying on him. Akihiko? No way. He would probably let you sleep in his bed while he wandered the streets at night until morning. Mitsuru would kill you both the next day.
“Mind telling me what this ruckus is about?”
As every so often when startled you basically caught air letting out an embarrassing noise. You pulled the blanket tighter around yourself and stared at the ground.
“Uh…”
“While I would normally encourage you to take your time to form a proper sentence I’d prefer for you to hurry it up a little”
You swallowed a few times trying not to look any dumber than you already did.
“...t-the heater in my room seems broken…”
“And now you are trying to wake up Yukari to share her bed with you?”
“...I didn’t think that far to be honest”
Mitsuru sighed though you could swear there was a shadow of a smile on her lips.
“I feel sorry to tell you that she is quite the heavy sleeper. Unless you break down her door you might not get a response”
Oh, just wonderful. This was the perfect moment for one of your antics as you sighed deeply expressing the weight of your horrible fate.
“Guess I will have to ask Junpei then…”
“Excuse me?”
You shrugged with a helpless expression.
“What? I don’t want to get sick from sleeping in my room like this. And if Yukari is not waking up without me blowing up Tartarus…”
“You are not going to share a bed with a guy. We have rules here”, she scolded you.
“But it’s cold in my room”
Mitsuru stared at you for a while and for some reason she reminded you of a teacher expecting you to gain valuable insights by being stared at. Your brain was unable to decipher the message and apparently she realised that, too.
“I am a girl”
“Uh, I am aware?”
Mitsuru sighed again before walking up to you and pulling on your blanket. This was a message even you got as you followed her.
“Sometimes, I am amazed at how your brain functions. You are so quick to think when surrounded by Shadows and so slow when it comes to everyday life”
“Just proof of my genius”
You were absolutely sure she wanted to snort at you. Instead she opened the door to her room and ushered you inside. You weren’t really surprised to see it to be more luxurious than yours. Your eyes lit up the moment you felt the warm air though. You dropped your blanket and spread your arms.
“Heaven!”
“Please, keep your voice down”
She closed the door behind you and picked up your blanket holding it out to you. Reluctantly, you took it back ending your act.
“So, uh… I’ll just sleep on the floor”
With a gasp you rubbed your forehead that she had just flicked.
“What exactly is your problem? I am sure you wouldn’t have slept on Yukari’s floor, so why treat me any different?”
Was this really a question? You stared at her for a moment before mumbling something she couldn’t catch. As she raised her eyebrow demanding you to repeat yourself you found yourself unable to get out the words. It could be taken the wrong way, after all.
“Just, uh… feeling mindful of you being my Senpai”
Okay, maybe this was not the smartest excuse but something inside you hoped Mitsuru was of the dense kind so there wasn’t really anything to worry about in that department.
“Get into bed before I make you”
“Yes, ma’am…”
“Good girl”
Your treasonous heart skipped a beat and for a moment your body took her words a very specific way. Trying to save the bit of dignity you had left, you made for her bed. You pushed her blanket out of the way to curl up in yours taking up as little space as you could. You squeezed your eyes shut trying not to shudder as you felt the mattress dip under her weight. And obviously you would never react to her scent enveloping you.
“Are you trying to fall off?”
“I am good”
You already felt your body warming up so the hoodie was too much again. You hated it. Your attempts to sit up subtly failed with how bundled up you were in your blanket and so you struggled quite a bit to take it off.
“What are you doing?”
“Just taking off my hoodie, sorry… Uh… good night”
You quickly lied down again knowing you shouldn’t fall asleep. You didn’t trust your sleeping self.
“Oh, my god. Will you finally move over a bit?”
You jolted and moved closer to the edge almost falling off until you felt a hand grabbing your shirt and tugging you backwards towards the middle of the bed.
“I cannot believe you are making sharing a bed so complicated”
She didn’t even know what she was talking about. She had no idea. You mumbled an apology and tried to stay awake for your own sake. Sadly though, the warmth of the room and many late night adventures over the past few days worked against you and pulled you into the depth of Morpheus’ arms.
As you woke up, you groaned quietly and rolled onto your back. Your stomach growled and your body felt a little stiff. You stretched your limbs and rubbed your face.
“I am glad to see you grew so comfortable”
With wide eyes you remembered last night and stared at Mitsuru who was already awake and standing fully dressed next to the bed. Ashamed, you realised you had taken up all of the space at this point. You slowly sat up with a bashful expression.
“Uh, sorry…”
Mitsuru chuckled a little.
“No need to be. It was… interesting to catch the exact moment you fell asleep as you kept drifting closer to me”
Of course. Well, maybe you should have been happy you hadn’t drooled on her.
“Judging your stomach’s noise you might want to get up now”
You rolled out of bed as unceremoniously as possible and threw on your hoodie.
“Uh… thanks and… see you for breakfast”
You couldn’t even look at her. The divine knew how to mess with you even more though, as you opened the door to leave, you were met with the sight of Junpei. His gaze slowly wandered from your dishelved hair over your hoodie to your shorts and a grin formed on his face. He whistled with appreciation.
“Damn, you and Mitsuru-Senpai, huh? Not bad, not bad”
“Fuck you”, you mumbled too tired to fight back.
Mitsuru stood right behind you as she closed the door and with a gentle touch to your lower back she indicated for you to take a step aside. Junpei’s grin grew even wider.
“Oh, and Senpai looks as perfect as always. Welp, I didn’t take you for a bottom but here we are”
You took a deep breath thinking of strangling him.
“Please stop standing in the hallways in your pajamas. You will make us run late”
You accepted the opening created by Mitsuru and made for your room. You could already tell you haven’t heard the end of it.
The entire day was spent trying to run from Junpei’s teasing and Yukari’s apologies. It was futile trying to tell her you hadn’t spent a night in the wolf’s den. Nor did Junpei believe you that not even the slightest indecency had happened. As you returned to the dorms you felt drained as if you had spent the day in Tartarus.
“Welcome back”
You smiled a little at Mitsuru and nodded before starting to make your way to your room as you felt a delicate hand on your shoulder.
“Your heater is being repaired tomorrow. You can sleep in one of the vacant rooms”
You couldn’t help but feel disappointed.
“Sounds good. Thanks”
Her hand stayed in place and you were starting to grow nervous. Was there anything you had overlooked again?
“...you are free to stay in my room though”
You closed your eyes as the breath of her whisper touched your ear. Maybe you had actually died to some mistake against Shadows. This couldn’t be real. She retracted her hand and went back to sitting on a couch leaving you to your own devices. Well, you weren’t one to reject an invite so your feet carried you to her room.
Soft hands rested on your shoulders and drew your attention away from the Manga you had been reading. You looked up staring directly into her beautiful face. Not like you could deny your admiration and infatuation anyways. For a moment you were confused by the fact her touches felt so natural. Thinking about it, you came to realise she had often found ways to weave in gentle touches. A little pat to the shoulder here, a guiding hand on your lower back there… or grabbing your wrist to not lose you in a crowd.
“Interesting choice of reading”
You blinked a few times before noticing you had stopped reading right at a somewhat spicy scene. Maybe this was the moment to pretend you were reading this for the action. As you opened your mouth, you felt her lips connect with the top of your head. Okay, maybe it was not important to defend your Manga.
“How did you sleep last night?”
“Uh, pretty good”
“You are a terrible liar”
She didn’t look upset. She chuckled a little even and you felt your cheeks heat up. Well, it had been worth a try.
“You kept inching closer to me so I thought you were in need of physical comfort”
You cringed inwardly. You couldn’t remember the last time you had shared a bed with someone or even slept in the same room as someone else. And while Junpei and Yukari were to be considered friends at this point it wasn’t like you had ever hugged any of them.
“There is nothing wrong about wanting to be held”
Mitsuru sat down on her bed and patted her lap with a gentle expression. There were a lot of things you wanted to say. Defending yourself. Telling her you were fine. Saying you had been on your own for long enough to deal with it. Pretending as if any of these things was even remotely true.
“Come on now. Don’t be shy”
Her encouragement was enough to make you get up from your seat and walk on over. Awkwardly you stood before her until she guided you onto her lap with gentle touches. She placed your arms around her neck and soothingly rubbed your back.
“Humans aren’t designed to be on their own. Awakening to a great power doesn’t make you any less human. Please rely on us when something weighs you down”
It took you a moment to lay your head onto her shoulder allowing her to feel your weight for a bit. You felt a gentle squeeze and maybe she was right, you thought. Maybe there was nothing wrong about sitting on the student council president’s lap enjoying her natural scent and the softness of her touch as well as the warmth of her body. Maybe, just maybe, it was okay to lean onto her and watch yourself fall deeper. There was no need to pretend this was a sisterly or motherly relationship. At least not from your part.