REQUESTED BY: Dumbass_45
A/N: I'm kinda fudging on the dorm setup. For one, I'm referencing the earlier concept of each floor of the dorms having a common area for the students to congregate at. Second, I'm adding a bath to the dorm bathrooms.
Anyway, enjoy the fluff.
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You had a problem.
It was widely known among the 77th batches that you had a horrible problem with gaming. Of course, as your talent was the Ultimate ESports Athlete, you had to continue to sharpen your skills as gaming evolved and tournaments tried to catch up to the trends.
Your problem didn't lie in gaming itself, but rather the hours that you chose to play said games. Every night without fail for at least five hours after curfew (oftentimes longer), you would play and play and play until you ran out of coffee and finally crashed. Luckily one of your friends was kind enough to wake you for school in the mornings, but due to your messed-up schedule you often fell asleep during the day, and classes were your worst times for it.
Given that you hardly ever ate a proper breakfast (instead relying on energy bars and small, easy-to-eat fruits), by lunchtime you were starving. Due to having friends in other classes, you generally hung out with the other batch of 77th students and sat next to Nagito.
Without fail, every single time you sat with him, you happened to fall asleep on him. Whether it was in the library, or the gym, or in the dorm's communal living area, you always conked out on his shoulder.
Today was no different. As soon as you took one sip of your soup and had to wait until it cooled a bit, you felt your eyelids grow heavier and heavier until you fell asleep.
Nagito paused in listening to something Chiaki had to say when he felt a weight on his shoulder, and he gave a little sigh, smiling indulgently at your unconscious form.
"Oop, looks like (y/n) crashed again," Mahiru chuckled, pulling out her camera. "Hold still, Komaeda-kun."
"Not like I could move, if I wanted to," he replied, shifting so that your face wasn't digging uncomfortably into the bones of his shoulder.
You just gave a soft sigh and nestled your cheek further into his chest. His heartbeat spiked, causing your nose to scrunch up a bit.
The girls at the table all cooed over this.
"You're so damned lucky, Komaeda," Kazuichi muttered, sulking as he slurped his spaghetti.
"How romantic," Teruteru sighed, smiling saucily at the two. "How about sharing a plate like they do in the-- AIIE!"
He shrieked when someone jabbed him in the knee with a fork.
"Pay no attention to him," Ibuki grinned, setting the fork aside and standing up. "Gotta go get another one!"
Muttering incoherently, your eyelids slowly cracked open and you rose a hand to sleepily yawn. "Oh, I fell asleep..."
You suddenly remembered who you were sitting next to and looked up at Nagito, giving him an apologetic wince. "Sorry, Komaeda-kun. I swear I don't plan when I fall asleep."
"It's fine," he shrugged with a smile. "I would never mind."
Returning his expression, you turned back to your soup and continued to drink it.
Nagito glanced over at you, his cheeks pinkening, as he continued to eat his noodles.
Later that day, the two of you were in the lounge, your books before you. You'd brewed some of your favorite tea to drink during your study session, and halfway into it you started feeling sleepy again.
Yawning into your sleeve, you struggled to pay attention to your notes. Maybe some tea will help.
Reaching for your cup, you took a long gulp of the warm liquid and set it back down. It gave you a short burst of energy that quickly faded, leaving you sleepier than before.
Letting out a soft sigh, you set the pencil down.
"Can't focus?" Nagito asked, turning his head.
You hummed in reply, slumping to the right. As soon as your head met his lap, your breathing began to even out.
Nagito froze in his spot, staring down at your hair as you slept.
Shit... what do I do?!
He set down his own pencil on the coffee table and gently placed his hand on your head. You leaned into his touch and covered your mouth with your hand, your sleeves covering up everything but your fingers. It was... pretty cute.
His blush was back full force, and as he gingerly pet your head he was lost in his own thoughts.
Does she know? Does she know how much I can't stand this?
For a long time he'd been crushing on you, although it was still up in the air if you returned his feelings. He was worried about it, considering his track record with good things happening to him; what if you outright hated him? What if something happened to you? What if he died before graduation?
If he somehow hurt you or his new friends, he wouldn't be able to live with himself. Especially not if his luck ran out and he passed before even graduating. He was already cutting it close as it was.
Something more concerning about you was your habits. He knew you were exceptionally smart; you hardly needed tutoring in any subjects, but ever since you started getting more serious about your egaming, you'd been slipping. Hope's Peak didn't put nearly as much emphasis on traditional academic areas of study, but what good was school if you passed with all F's? He knew you didn't want that, and he didn't want that either. It was challenging for you though, and you were getting more and more frustrated with your inability to balance your life. It was difficult to break out of a habit, and you were whittling away your days more than you wanted.
He sighed, his bony fingers pausing at the ends of your hair. The soft strands were slightly greasy; had you been neglecting personal hygiene again?
His lips pressed together, and although he had to struggle, he stood from the couch, carefully carrying you up with him. He left your studying materials there, intent on getting them as soon as he carried you back to your dorm room.
He paused and slipped his hand into your skirt pocket, where he found your key card. He unlocked the door and walked in, immediately met with the sight of gaming posters and printed-out certificates and pictures of you at in-person tournament centers.
He smiled when he saw how happy you looked in one of them, shaking hands with the organizer as you accepted your trophy. Sure enough, if he looked to the side he could see a pop-up shelf with your trophies lined up neatly on it near the window.
He carefully deposited you on your bed before hurrying out to gather up your books and materials. He packed them all up in your backpack and brought it back, setting it at the foot of your bed. He then proceeded to the bathroom, where he knelt by the bath and turned on the water.
After making sure that it was a good temperature, he went back to your room, gently shaking you. "Hey, (y/n)..."
You mumbled something and cracked an eye open. "Hm?"
"I'm running a bath for you. You wanna get up?" He offered.
You closed your eyes for a moment before slowly nodding your head.
He helped you up and patted your head, assuring you that he'd give you privacy.
"Thank you, 'maeda-kun," you murmured with a sleepy smile. "Love you."
He froze for half a second, wondering if you'd caught it, but when you made to stand up, he figured you hadn't. "T- thank you, (y/n). I'll be in the common area if you feel like you want to finish up."
You hummed at that, and he swiftly turned and walked away to conceal the blush overtaking his cheeks.
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A/N: I'm a huge fan of the 'when x is sleepy they have no filter' trope. I'm surprised I haven't used it more.
Please tell me what you thought, feel free to request more, and I'll see you guys later!