Chapter Text
It started with a clap of thunder and a barely-noticed startled flinch from across the room.
Hori tilted his head, observing the head of cobalt hair that could just be seen from the angle he was currently viewing her at glance around the room, obviously checking to see that no one saw before she returned back to her work. He made a mental note to check in with her later about loud noises. The next production he was going to bring forward for the group would involve some relatively heavy sound effects and if anything he’d rather her be comfortable. It wasn’t that he was playing favorites, it was simply that she was their star after all, and he didn’t want her too upset to perform if something like that bothered her.
Drama Club passed as normal after that, the next hour flowed easily without a hitch alongside the steady tattoo of rain against the auditorium roof. Flashes of lightning constantly had him glancing upward, studying for some reaction from Kashima.
Call him a mother hen.
Or an over-protective brother.
Hell, call him a nervous wife if you must.
He had every right to be concerned.
Kashima Yuu was nothing less of a prodigy and heaven help him if he didn’t want her to at least feel safe in her work environment.
That’s all it was.
Right?
Hori dismissed class as usual, wishing everyone a safe trip home as they walked out of the clubroom. The inevitable flock of female students already making a scene outside the door reminded him and he turned around to glance over his shoulder, “Kashima!” He called to get her attention.
“Yeah, Senpai? What is it?” She replied quickly, slipping on her shoes while she spoke.
“Don’t leave without me, I want to talk to you about some things.”
Kashima tipped her head slightly, bright green eyes narrowing slightly, questioningly, but she nodded all the same.
“Good, good, thank you.”
With that he began to gather his own things, dipping his head once as Kashima exited the room, immediately swallowed by a chorus of young voices.
Kashima-kun!
Kashima-kun!
Use my umbrella!
No, mine!
Wait.
Kashima-kun, let me walk with you!
No.
By the time he was able to get out, she’d already left the building surrounded by a pack of umbrellas meandering down the street in the direction of what he knew wasn’t her house.
Deep breath.
Count to three.
He took a few moments to collect himself, to at least make an attempt to swallow his anger for a few moments as he marched out of the school and into the rain. Passing Nozaki and Sakura on the road before he caught up with the group of girls, closed down his umbrella, and thrust the handle into the fray, smirking slightly to himself when he knew he’d caught her, yanking backwards and dragging Kashima into light.
“How irresponsible can you be, hm?” He half spoke, half growled in her direction.
“What? I didn’t-oh…”
“Yeah, oh.” Hori rolled his eyes, dragging her behind him at first until a fork of lightning cracked the sky and he cursed under his breath. “Sorry, Kashima,” he said quickly, hauling her to her feet before she had much time to react and urging her to follow him, “we need to get out of this weather before it gets too bad.”
* * *
“Here you go,” Hori’s voice pulled Kashima from her daze that she’d been in since they arrived at his house. Was it her fault they’d ended up here? Sure. Did she mindlessly forget things he asked her nicely to do? Yeah. But did she understand why she was curled up on his couch being handed a towel and an overly concerned look? Absolutely not.
“Thank you…” She said anyways, taking the towel from him and wrapping it around herself.
“Look,” Hori sat down beside her, “I didn’t mean to trap you here or anything, I just needed to talk to you about a few things and you know how your forgetfulness frustrates me.”
Kashima nodded, she could understand that, hell, her forgetfulness frustrated her sometimes.
“In the meantime, if you’d like to borrow something of mine to wear, I can wash your uniform for you. It isn’t safe to leave anytime soon, so it looks like you’ll be staying over tonight. If you need to phone your parents you can.”
His thoughtfulness made her smile. He really was a wonderful person, no matter how violent he could be at times. Looking upward, she nodded and gave him a slight shrug, “Alright. Just point me in the direction of wherever you want me then, Senpai, and I’ll try my best to stay out of your way.”
“You’re being oddly polite.” He commented.
“As are you, what’s your point?”
Hori visibly rolled his eyes and walked out of the room, eliciting a hearty laugh from her. He was ridiculous to say the least, easy to anger and easier to be endeared. He’d set his claim to a piece of her heart in middle school and she was almost certain he had no idea of that fact, and even though that made her a bit sad, she really didn’t expect him to.
“These should fit you.” Hori said as he reentered the room, handing her a t shirt and a pair of pajama pants, “the bathroom’s down the hall and to the left, if you want to shower I’d go ahead and do it before my mother gets home and uses all the hot water.”
* * *
Hours had passed before Kashima reemerged from the bathroom and into his bedroom. Both of them had eaten, discussed with parents, changed, and then took turns taking showers. Only now had he really realized how tired she looked—her hair mussed and damp on the ends, dark circles forming under her eyes, all accompanied by a slight slump in her shoulders gathered together made her almost look like a different person. Her usually-bright eyes were a bit dull from fatigue and she walked slowly over to his bed, plopping down on the side without paying much mind at all to manners or anything of the sort. Hori opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, waiting a moment before finally breaking the silence, “We don’t have a spare room. If you want me to sleep on the couch I can. Otherwise, that side’s yours, I’ll sleep on this side.”
Kashima made a slight, noncommittal ‘hmm’ noise before she lifted the covers and slid under, already becoming comfortable as it seemed. “You can stay,” she said softly, “it’s your room after all… I’d hate to kick you out.”
Hori followed suit, curling under his blankets with his back facing her. From his position he couldn’t tell much aside from her seemingly trying to take up as little space on the mattress possible and the slight smell of his shampoo clinging to her hair—which—he was surprisingly okay with. He was surprisingly okay with a lot of things. Surprisingly okay with how his academics were going, surprisingly okay with graduating soon, surprisingly okay with leaving the drama club to this silly girl, surprisingly okay with that same silly girl being curled up in his bed at that moment.
“So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” A sleepy voice stirred him from his thoughts.
Hori rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling, “I noticed you were startled by the thunder, and I meant to ask you if loud noises bothered you. I was considering doing a production with gunshot sound effects but I wouldn’t want to put you in a situation you were comfortable with.” He turned his head to be faced with Kashima’s face a bit closer than he’d expected it to be. He could already feel the heat creeping onto his face as he continued, “uh, anyways, I just wanted to make sure you weren’t scared of loud noises or something like that, you know?”
He could see the smile form on her face, slowly, like a chain reaction of a spark in her eyes and the crinkle of her nose as her lips parted in a soft grin that sang of radiance, “you’re so considerate, I’m not sure what to say. I’m not particularly scared of loud noises. Just thunder.”
Hori nodded, stare flickering over her features and oh god he was almost angry. She was painfully and ridiculously easy to look at, not a single thing out of place, even now when she was dazed and practically swaddled in a nest of blankets. Her skin looked soft and fair and he just had to brush it. Had to. He smiled slightly, reaching out and gently brushing against her cheek with his knuckles, the small laugh she let out, nearly gave him a heart attack.
“Your smile is bad for my health, cut it out,” Hori said, his voice quiet and playful.
“Oh? You wound me deeply. This might be the end of me, I can see the light, ah, this is the day I die.”
“Who shall I have organize your funeral, hm? Mikoshiba?”
“Yes. He’ll pick out some lovely flowers for my headstone. I would’ve given you the honor of picking the quote to be inscribed there, but alas, you’re my murderer.” Kashima chuckled.
“Oh yes. How will I attend your funeral from a maximum security prison. How silly of me. After all, your girls would never let me get away with killing off their prince.”
“It will be a day to remember indeed, people will come from far and wide to mourn my death. Even The Pope maybe.”
Hori shifted a bit closer to her, resting his forehead against hers as they joked, “maybe so, The Pope could lead your service, and I’ll watch from the televised event streaming worldwide. People will ask me in prison, “what’re you in for? I stole something from the store.” And I’ll reply ‘I killed Kashima Yuu.’ And they’ll all fear me.”
“Ah, I’m already frightened.” She smirked, eyes flickering downward as if she’d given herself an idea. In an instant she’d tipped her chin, pressing her lips to his own in a quick motion, holding for only a moment before pulling away and then rolling over. It took him a moment to process the whole thing.
Kashima kissed him.
Kissed. By Kashima.
A flare of heat spread across his cheeks and nose as he came to the full terms of what she’d just done and he glanced upward to see the tips of her ears were indeed a matching shade of scarlet.
He honestly would have been much more alarmed if he hadn’t already been dead tired. So instead he gave in and allowed it, draping an arm over the tall girl’s waist and burying his face into her back. Breathing in her gentle scent before letting sleep take him for the night.