Butterflies [Nino Nakano x Male Reader]

Chapter 10 - Midnight Confessions

"UUGHH! I can't! You're too heavy."

"What a shame. Guess you'll just have to find another seat."

"No. I was here first."

"Oh yeah? And whatcha gonna do about that?"

Her trying to lift me was already quite surprising, but having her sit on my lap was something I wasn't expecting to happen for at least a few weeks. If this is her way of teasing me, I definitely approve of it.

"My place. Get. Out." She spoke in a teasingly bitter manner, like a dragon protecting a pile of gold.

I caught a glimpse of Ichika and Miku chuckling to each other. The reaction I expected from Nino was something akin to embarrassment, but instead, she looked remarkably confident. So much so I wondered if she had planned this in advance.

"I would if you got off me."

"And since when was that a problem to you?"

"Ay, good point."

I stood up effortlessly, she fell off me, then I sat back down again on the other side of the couch.

"You didn't have to be so brutish!" She complained.

"Just solving a problem efficiently. Now quit stalling. Let's finish this."

...

This last stretch felt like the longest. We revised everything we studied today, and while I'm not feeling particularly confident about the girl's skills, I'm pretty happy with the progress they've made.

One additional development is that Fuutarou was very content with Miku joining us despite her dismissal. He was much more interested in her studying rather than any attention she was giving him, but that was to be expected.

After we fetched dinner, everybody started getting ready for bed. I took a bath in their ridiculously oversized and overequipped bathroom, then went back to the living room so that I could wait for sleep to come. From what I understood, Fuutarou would be sleeping in Miku's room, while she would be sleeping with Ichika. I said I preferred to sleep on the couch because, in all honesty, I wouldn't feel very comfortable with sleeping alone in someone else's room.

Since I didn't have anything to do, I washed the dishes from supper, checked what games Miku had on the living room's PS5, and when the clock struck midnight, I laid down on the couch, opening a book I was reading on my phone. I knew I had to get up early, but there's not much I can do if sleep won't come to me.

The room felt weird without all the movement and noise. The only dim light came from a lamp behind me and a few lit windows from in the distant buildings. It's been a while since I slept in someone else's house, and for that reason, I was expecting to feel a bit on edge. But surprisingly, the darkness and the silence gave the room not an eerie feel, but rather a comfortable one.

Ten minutes went by while I was in contemplation, not really paying much attention to the lines I read from the book. I was brought back to reality when I heard footsteps descending the stairs.

"Geez, it's so late already. Why are you still in your normal clothes?"

"I only put my pajamas on when I'm actually going to sleep to avoid being in your exact situation."

The ribbons, the long hair, the attitude. Yep. It's Nino alright. She was wearing colorful a long-sleeve nightgown that considering how short it was on her was probably a few years old.

"Weird, but whatever. You do you."

"You didn't come down here to try to see me sleeping, did you?" I asked.