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Souma was brought back from his dreams by the feeling of something cold lightly brushing against his cheek. He knew who it was before he even opened his eyes.
“Arata…?”
As he thought, Arata was by his side, sitting at the border of his mattress. There was a sudden hint of guilt on his face.
“Ah, sorry…” said Arata. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Your fingers are freezing…” Souma grumbled sleepily as he sat up. He let out a long yawn, then observed his boyfriend for a moment. “Were you outside?
Arata nodded. “Yeah, helping Akito and Touya with their practice, since those two are helpless on their own…” He paused, furrowing his brow. “What?”
Souma didn’t even try to hide his grin. “You try to act like you don’t care but, truth is, you got pretty attached to those two, haven’t you?”
Arata averted his gaze, and, as usual, tried to hide his embarrassment behind an annoyed tone. “C’mon…”
“Don’t try to deny it…” Souma chuckled, reaching for Arata’s face, lightly pinching his cheek. “I know you. You try to act all edgy and cool, but you’re a big softie on the inside.”
Arata groaned, crossing his arms. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
“Liar.”
“I come all the way to see you, and this is what I get?”
Souma laughed. “I can’t help it… You make it too easy to tease you.”
“Sure…”
And there he was, acting all grumpy again… Souma reached in his direction. “Come here… Give me your hands.”
“Why?”
“Don’t be so difficult… Just give me your hands, already.”
“Fine, fine…”
He held Arata’s hands between his, trying to warm them up. They really were cold… For how long had he stayed outside, singing with Akito and Touya? At least he was wearing a scarf… It would be bad if he got a cold. Not only that, but was he sleeping and eating properly? Arata was the kind of person who got so caught up in his music that he simply forgot to do those things when Souma wasn’t around…
Souma didn’t voice those worries, though, aware that, if he did, Arata would get angry at him—which, to be fair, was understandable. It wasn’t like Souma wasn’t aware of his own situation, but he simply couldn’t help but worry about someone so important to him, especially because he knew how much his accident had impacted Arata.
After a few minutes, Arata’s hands started to become warmer. Souma looked at him with a slight smile. “Better?”
“Yeah…”
Arata observed him for a while. Then, he moved closer, sitting beside Souma on the bed, leaning against him until his head was resting on Souma’s shoulder. Souma brought a hand to his head, caressing his hair.
“What?” said Souma in a soft voice. “Are you still cold?”
“Yeah.”
He couldn’t hold back an amused giggle. “So needy.”
“Can’t you just let me be?”
“Sure, sure…”
Despite the annoyance in Arata’s words, Souma knew that, just like himself, that was just his way of being playful. They had always been like that, sometimes accidentally making people wonder if they were having an actual fight—and, sometimes, getting into actual fights with other people, who weren’t aware of that silly habit of theirs. And Arata usually made things worse by being as stubborn as a mule… His personality made it difficult for him to make friends, so it was surprising to know that he managed to befriend other musicians while Souma wasn’t around.
To be honest, it was a relief to know there were people to look after Arata when he couldn’t.
“Those two asked about you, by the way,” said Arata.
“Did they?” Souma couldn’t deny that those words made him happy: in the short time since they met, he also came to like those boys quite a bit. “Tell them to visit whenever they want to.”
“Already did.”
Arata’s voice sounded low, slightly tired.
“Have you been sleeping properly?” asked Souma.
“Yeah.” There was a low, brief chuckle. “But you’re too warm… It’s making me sleepy.”
“Me too, to be honest.” Souma thought for a moment, a realization coming to his mind. “It has been a while, hasn’t it? Since we last slept together.”
“It has…”
Both of them knew they didn’t have long until Arata had to leave again, and yet, slowly, they lay down on that narrow bed, facing each other. Arata reached for his face, lightly caressing his cheek again—this time, with warm fingers. Souma smiled, reaching for Arata’s hand, intertwining their fingers before bringing it close to his heart. Arata returned the smile.
Neither of them said another word, closing their eyes, allowing the feeling of sleepiness to wash over them. It was comfortable, sweet… And, even if that moment wasn’t meant to last more than a few minutes, it still made Souma feel like he was back home.