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Natsuki had her eyes closed, still breathing heavily as she sat with Takumi in the cold interior of his parked eight-six. She whimpered a little between breaths for a short while, before her heartbeat finally started to simmer down. “T-Takumi… Thank you…” she just about managed to get out.
“It’s alright. You’re sure you’re okay?” Takumi asked, gingerly placing a hand on her shoulder. Natsuki nodded, opening her misty eyes.
“I’m… I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine,” Takumi took a deep, calming breath of his own, “it’s fine,” he repeated. A few beats would pass as Natsuki steadily collected herself between sniffles and whimpers. After giving her another couple of minutes or so, Takumi asked politely, “I’m not in any rush, Mogi, but… Do you want me to drive you home?”
Natsuki took another breath, looking to Takumi, “Well… I… N-no… I don’t think I could go home like this tonight… T-Takumi, I hate to ask this but… C-could I…?” she trailed off and looked away, unable to find the words; Takumi had already stuck his neck out and then some for her tonight. She felt terrible asking for any more of him. “...N-nevermind, maybe I should just go home…”
“Natsuki,” Takumi replied, surprising her a little, “if you… wanna stay with me tonight… I’d be fine with it.”
Natsuki felt her face and chest heat up a little. She paused for a beat more, tearing up some again as she replied, “Y-yeah… Only if you want to.”
Takumi gave her a slight, soft smile, his hand moving to take a hold of hers. “I do,” he said, starting the engine again.
“Thank you… so much…”
The drive back to Takumi’s house was largely still quiet aside from the hum of the engine. Natsuki was still collecting herself, managing to cheer herself up little by little looking at all the Christmas lights lining the streets of the town.
She was still down, but feeling a lot calmer as Takumi reversed into the driveway. “Oh yeah, is your dad home?” she asked.
“Huh? Oh, no, I’m pretty sure he’s out drinking tonight, he’ll probably be back in the morning.”
“Got it,” Natsuki replied, getting out of the car with him.
Takumi brought her inside. While Natsuki went to briefly call her parents just to tell them she was staying with a friend for the night, Takumi wasted little time in turning the heat on; between that, and the fact he would likely be missing his deliveries in the morning, he was expecting quite the earful from his dad the next day.
Natsuki was worth it, however.
After she was done on the phone, Natsuki went and took a seat in front of the heater, taking off her coat.
“You’re sure you’re not hurt at all? We have a first aid kit,” Takumi offered.
“No, this… this is more than enough,” she answered, her smile finally starting to return. She turned to face him.
“Sit with me,” Natsuki requested.
Takumi took off his own coat before doing as she asked, sitting himself next to her. It wasn’t a fireplace by any means, but sitting with Natsuki as they basked in the warm glow of the space heater was nice, cosy.
It was then that Natsuki leaned onto Takumi’s shoulder, evoking a small flustered shudder from him. Promptly but gently, he brought an arm around her petite frame, holding her close.
Takumi’s heart fluttered as Natsuki let out a tiny, lovestruck giggle upon him doing so. That was the closest thing to a word the two exchanged for some time afterwards as they cosily warmed each other up.
Soon enough, however, it was Natsuki that let out quite an adorable yawn. Takumi couldn’t help parroting it, making Natsuki chuckle as she slowly stood up, “sounds like we should get to bed.”
“Yeah, I guess it does,” Takumi agreed. It was now his turn to blush as he stood up and awkwardly asked, “Uh… S-So did you wanna borrow any of my clothes, or?”
“Oh, n-no, I think I’ll be alright,” Natsuki chuckled again.
She followed him upstairs, where Takumi let her into his bedroom. “My room’s kind of a mess, by the way, I wasn’t exactly expecting company.”
“It’s alright. Honestly, sort of what I expected from you,” she remarked with just a hint of smugness as she took a seat on the bed.
“The heck’s that supposed to mean?” Takumi replied, smirking back at her as he grabbed a pair of pyjama pants to change into.
“D-don’t worry about it. I think it’s just like you, is all… it’s cute.” she said, taking off her skirt before she slipped under Takumi’s duvet, waiting for him to join her.
Takumi let out an amused hum, turning the lights out as he walked over to the bed and climbed in next to her. With it only being a single bed, there wasn’t much room to spare, but neither of them seemed to mind. Slowly, Natsuki would reach out and cling herself onto Takumi’s torso, resting her head on his chest. Like before, Takumi returned the embrace, one arm around her back while he gently cradled her head with the other.
“Takumi?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks again, for tonight… I… I love you…”
“I love you too, Natsuki,” Takumi returned, using a hand to brush her bangs aside so he could plant a single, sweet kiss on her forehead.
Natsuki giggled a little again, as her hold on the boy grew just a bit tighter. She felt like she could have stayed in this moment forever; in the dark, huddled up in bed with Takumi holding her, sheltering and warming her as snow continued to fall outside. It was absolutely silent aside from Takumi’s quiet, calm breaths, and the sound of his heartbeat lulling her to sleep. Takumi followed suit quite soon after, falling into what would be one of the most comfortable sleeps he would ever have.
When Bunta came home to find Natsuki’s boots and coat downstairs, he more or less got the picture of what was going on. He sighed, lighting a smoke as he sat in front of the heater himself.
“I’ll cover you this time, kid. Just make sure you take care of her.”