WILDFLOWER [Ryunosuke Tanaka x OC]

Chapter 9 - The Sleepover

But Kano struggled to catch up.

"Where...?" she whispered, glancing around the unfamiliar room she found herself in. Pale walls met her eyes, every reachable inch covered with band posters and artwork. Sun shone in through the lone window at an angle that reminded Kano that she wasn't at home.

And then there was Ryunosuke Tanaka.

Dressed comfortably in gray sweats and a neon sweatshirt that Kano knew she could never pull off, he knelt beside the strange, comfy bed she'd slept in, his brows furrowed above his black eye and his lips pressed into a tight line... almost as if he was holding something in.

"Tanaka?" Kano said softly, "Where are we?"

"Right now?" he asked, prolonging the inevitable just a little bit.

Kano squinted at him as she sat up. "No, metaphorically. Yes, right now, you dingus," she sighed, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. The dampness on her cheeks didn't escape her; she'd been crying in her sleep again.

"You're at my place... Saeko's room, specifically."

Huh. Kano paused at that, but wasn't entirely too surprised. The bands on the walls were ones she'd listened to because of a mix CD Saeko made for her as a holiday present, so really, she probably should've figured that out herself. But her brain was still booting up. "Okay, sure," Kano nodded, blinking through her dry contacts at him, "But why are you in here?"

She swore she saw his cheeks redden at her question, but maybe it was just her contact going wonky in her eye. "You... you were screaming in your sleep," he admitted to the carpet, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly.

Embarrassed, Kano pretended she hadn't heard him, continuing to try and fix her contact. How annoying, she thought, both directed at her contacts and at herself for being such a baby even in her sleep.

"...Nightmare?" Ryunosuke pressed, raising an eyebrow and leaning into her field of vision.

"Don't remember," Kano lied, finally getting her contact lens to do something normal. She knew full well that she'd had the same nightmare she always did. The one about-

"Bullshit. But... if you don't want to talk about it yet, then fine," Ryunosuke shrugged, pushing to his feet. He pointed to a pile of clothes at the end of the bed, and said, "These are for you. We made breakfast, so... come out when you're ready."

A smirk twisted her lips. "Tanaka, I... I have to tell you something," Kano said seriously, preparing herself for the world's best joke.

He stalled in the doorway, glancing over his shoulder at her with an eyebrow raised. "Hmm?"

"I'm bisexual."

His whole face flooded with blush, and he blurted, "WHAT?!"

Kano cracked a smile. "You said to 'come out when I was ready', sooo..."

Flustered and frustrated, he rolled his eyes with a groan. "I hate you and your shitty dad jokes so much," he grumbled, stomping out of the room and shutting the door quietly behind himself.

"Liar!" Kano shouted after him, a small smirk still lingering on her face, warming her cheeks. Once she was sure she was alone, she swung herself out of Saeko's bed and stood on sleepy legs, stretching up to her tippy toes with her arms reaching toward the ceiling. A yawn forced out of her chest as she fell back to the flats of her feet, realizing she wore some old practice jersey of Ryu's with a pair of basketball shorts. She must have changed before bed.

Curious, Kano unfolded the new clothes at the end of the bed and found her outfit from the night before... smelling like Ryu and still warm out of the dryer.