Shadows and Lights

Chapter 17

My chest constricts as I hiss in pain. The couch has never felt so comfortable, not even when I've pulled all-nighters or come crawling home with bruises blooming across my skin. Daiki ties an ice pack around my ankle in place with an old dishrag. "Sorry." He mutters, lifting my legs and placing them in his lap. "You really shouldn't be so careless." I wince slightly and cover my eyes with my arm. 

"I got excited. I should've thought it through some more." I say with a sigh. Kagami didn't try to get into my apartment tonight, something I'm grateful for. I hate pain, but more than that, I hate people seeing me in pain. Gentle hands rest against my shins. "It'll be fine in just a little bit." 

"Liar." Daiki mutters, reclining deeper into the couch as I breathe as evenly as possible. "Just admit it isn't okay." I clench my jaw for a minute.

"What makes you think that I haven't already admitted that?" I thought it was obvious. With a sigh, I yawn widely. "I wanna play." Daiki snorts. 

"The only time you actually end up playing is when we go at it." Daiki says with an irritated tone of voice. "Besides, it would be stupid for you to play when you couldn't walk home by yourself." 

"I could've done it!" I say indignantly. "You didn't put me down even after I said it was fine!" The bluenette sighs loudly as I sit up and flip so my head rests in his lap. "It's fine, though, since you're comfy." He then snorts in amusement. It's always like this with Daiki- relaxed and teasing and sometimes unusually intense, but everything's open, shared. There's no point in beating around the bush since Daiki's an obtuse idiot and I don't understand idioms well. If we have something to say, it's best just to say it straight out. 

Daiki's fingers grab a strand of my hair and twist it for a few minutes as I watch him silently. "At least you know one of your neighbors." He says after a few minutes more, releasing the strands to pick new ones to twist. I smile slightly.

"Yeah, I guess. I wonder how he never noticed earlier, since he's been in here for tutoring..." I reply. "It doesn't matter, I guess." Daiki responds with a grunt, although I have no idea what it's supposed to mean. I run my fingers over the black toy's head, messing with the ears using my fingertips. I fall asleep in Daiki's lap. 

I wake up in bed, and just in time to slam my alarm off with great violence. It gives a cracked groan of agony before shutting up promptly. With bleary eyes, I roll out of bed and shake Daiki awake. His futon is usually right next to my bed since I don't have an extra room, and I trust Daiki not to pull anything while I'm sleeping. I'm usually a light sleeper anyway. "Daiki... school. Gotta get up, yeah?" I say drowsily, rubbing my eyes. 

Daiki's eyes are glazed over with sleep. He gives me this strange look, no doubt due to his sleepiness, and tugs me to him. "Five minutes." He groans, nestling his head against my neck. "You're warm." I sigh and don't bother struggling free. Daiki's grip is vice-like, as always. 

"I was just sleeping. Of course I'm warm." I reply, trying not to fall asleep again. "We need to get to school, Daiki. We missed all our classes yesterday." 

"So? It's not like we can't spare five minutes." I frown slightly at the bigger boy. 

"Five minutes. That's it." I say with a groan. "But just five." Daiki doesn't reply and instead opts to snore against the side of my neck. I wriggle a bit until I'm more comfortable. Five minutes pass by more slowly than I thought they would, but they pass in time. I squirm free and shake Daiki again. "C'mon, Daiki. Time for school." 

In the end, we arrive with barely two minutes to spare. We're lucky we made it at all, actually. The two of us ran like hell whenever we'd normally walk. My chest is heaving as I try to catch my breath. I slump into my seat with a heavy sigh. "We made it." I say as I continue to wheeze, trying to not sound like I'm dying. "That's the fastest I've ever run to school in my life."