His Warrior Queen: A Haikyuu!! Novel (Tsukishima x OC)

Chapter 90: Sleep Now (TW)

(TW: Discussion of past drug addiction, temptation to abuse drugs)

Tsukishima gave vent to a comfortable sigh as the credits began to roll on Princess Mononoke.  It was very late on Sunday evening, and Akiteru had suggested watching a movie after their rather indulgent dinner out of gyudon, which they had then followed up at home with sake-drenched ice cream for dessert.  Kei smiled a little - he knew Akiteru had a fondness for anime movies, but it wasn't something his sandy-haired brother usually volunteered so readily.  Get the equivalent of a couple of cups of sake on top of some ice cream in him however, and his older brother just couldn't seem to help himself.  He'd excitedly pulled out an entire collection of Studio Ghibli movies, and practically begged them to watch Princess Mononoke with him.  They'd agreed, and Nakano had asked her boyfriend if he wouldn't mind massaging her legs while they watched.  He'd nodded enthusiastically.  They'd had a very busy and active weekend - shopping all day Saturday followed by the Pageant of Starlight, and then today they'd decided to go to Yagiyama Zoological Park - the zoo right next to the amusement park that the first years had all gone to together.  It had been a delightful day - watching the animals play in the snow had been far too much fun, mostly because Nakano seemed to get such joy out of it.  But she'd also been very obviously worn out when they'd gotten back.

And so, Kei had gently massaged the medicated cream into Nakano's legs as she lay on the couch, watching the movie, the lights in the room off, the gentle flickering of the television the only illumination.  

And Nakano had fallen sound asleep with her legs draped over Kei's.  Akiteru chuckled as he turned down the sound on the credits, leaving the lights off so as not to wake the sleeping girl.

"When did she fall asleep?" Akiteru asked.

"Not sure, exactly," Kei replied, "but she's definitely been out for a little while now."

As if the girl had heard them, her eyelids suddenly fluttered.  "Kei?" she mumbled, not sounding entirely awake, "'s th' movie still on?" 

He leaned over her, tucking the blanket he'd draped over her legs up to her chin, and then stroking her pretty strawberry blonde hair as she nestled into it instinctively, eyes dropping shut again.  "Shhhh.  It ended a bit ago.  Just sleep now," the blonde murmured, smiling his tiny smile as his girl muttered a barely audible acknowledgement and fell back to sleep.

Akiteru chuckled.  "Just look at you, Kei.  Who knew you could be so tender?"  Kei shot his brother a glare, searching the older boy's face for any indication that he was being mocked.  But his brother's gaze held only fondness, and perhaps something akin to wonder.  "It's really nice to see, actually.  You care about Nakano an awful lot, don't you, Little Bro?"

Kei briefly considered tossing back his usual barbed retort, or a cutting witticism, but in the end, he simply looked down at Nakano's sleeping face, marveling at how peaceful she looked.  "Yeah," was all he said, delicately moving the girl's hair out of her face.

"Thanks for visiting with me this weekend, Kei.  I've really enjoyed having you guys here."

"I really appreciate you letting us stay here.  Hotels in this area are not particularly cheap, and while doing Sendai as a day trip isn't too difficult, I really wanted to be able to relax and enjoy the weekend."

"It's been my pleasure."  Akiteru gave his brother a sunny smile.  "I like spending time with you again, Little Bro.  I have to admit, I really wondered there for a while if you and I were ever going to be able to just hang out like this again."

Kei rolled his eyes at his brother.  "We had our sake-covered ice cream over two hours ago, Akiteru, you shouldn't still be buzzed enough at this point to be this sappy."