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Warmth.
All he could feel was the accumulated exhaustion of having harder Ryuseitai practices, and the warmth of the sun filtering through the windows. If he was a cat, he’d be purring by now, that is for sure. He felt so cozy and nice, despite being half curled in his too-tiny-for-his-long-limbs desk, he didn’t dare to open up his eyes, not even to check his phone in case it was close to practice time again. Midori was sure that no matter what, he’d probably arrive earlier than Shinkai-senpai.
The fingers in his scalp were so gentle, carding through his hair carefully so as to not get caught in any tangles, making him feel at peace. A lingering smell of fresh laundry, mixed with lavender, soothed his body as well—this has to be the nicest of naps…
“La, la la la la, la la la la, hirake joyful box~”
That voice…it was a nice voice. Soft and clear, definitely relaxing, would probably listen to it on a loop the entire day. Probably have done that already. It was…
Shino’s voice?!
He felt his body jolt awake, his eyes barely opening, slowly adjusting to the light in the room. “Wh-wha—“
And there he was, none other than Shino Hajime, his crush, sitting on a chair he pulled to the side of his desk, making him face his classmate directly as he straightened on his chair, all disoriented and drowsy and very much surprised to see the boy sitting next to him. Does that mean he’d been petting his hair while he slept? Just how long has he been sitting there?!
“Takamine-kun! I’m so sorry! Did-did I wake you up?”
Even Shino's concerned face was too much for his heart to handle after waking up, and that was proving difficult for him to act rationally in front of his classmate. He would probably try to say something along the lines of “It’s ok, sorry for acting like an idiot, Shino-kun!,” but his throat felt constricted. Those gorgeous lavender eyes, that adorable nose slightly scrunched up, those soft-looking lips of his pouting…
He must be dreaming still, because his body acted on impulse as he leaned forward to press his own lips on Hajime’s. His lips were definitely as soft as they looked like, maybe even softer, and he tasted like tea and sweets, and in an act of pure bravery —or unadulterated stupidity— he placed a hand tenderly over blue hair, pressing his face closer. This felt so nice, it was like kissing a cloud, or one of his plushies…not that he'd tried that before!
Timid hands pushed him away, as Hajime tried to breathe properly. Oh yeah, breathing was a thing you had to do, which was difficult during a kiss…unless he didn’t want to kiss him back, because in that case an apology was due, and—
“S-sorry, Takamine-kun! I didn’t dislike it, it was just so sudden a-and…you pretty much stole my breath away!” Of course Shino was that considerate, it’s almost like he read his thoughts.
This was definitely a dream. There’s no way that he’d say that to his face, and guess what he was stressing over, were he actually conscious. He was such a considerate person, and so far away from his reach, too. Sure they shared a nice day together that one time Aoba-senpai almost died at the library, and sometimes his ears get a little red when he remembers how Shino called him good-looking and made his heart beat fast, and they had been getting closer ever since, but that was beside the point. He was too polite to not say something like that anyways, and it’s not like Midori is an expert on looking at the bright side of things, so he had no reason to believe he had actually woken up. Yep. This was still a dream.
“…M-Midori-kun?”
That brought him back from his stream of thoughts. Did Shino just call him for his first name? He swore the beat his heart skipped felt real just now, too. He felt a blush creeping on his face at the sound of his name on Hajime’s lips, and longed to hear it again.
“This is the best dream ever…you’re even calling me by my name and let me kiss you too, Hajime-kun. Aah, I feel the happiest I’ve ever been in the longest time! You’re so cute it makes all my stuffed animals look normal in comparison, you know?”
Now it was Hajime’s turn to blush the exact shade of red as Morisawa-senpai’s stage costume. Just when Midori thought he couldn’t be any cuter, he has to look this embarrassed and shy. He wished this dream would never end, because he wanted to engrave the faces Hajime had been making at him on his mind forever.
“That is…” Hajime began cautiously, looking like he just realized something. “Midori-kun, do you think you are still asleep after you kissed me?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle softly at his question. “Of course! This is all a dream! I would never get you to look at me this way, or have you kissing me back in real life…you probably wouldn’t even like me back, cause I’m awkward and I’m always so depressed, so you obviously wouldn’t want to get together with someone as pathetic as me!” he finished with a smile.
Hajime felt dumbfounded. Partially because he was not expecting a confession, much less from Midori. He had always hoped it would be Tomoya who’d confess to him for the first time ever, but he’d seen the way he looked at Hokuto-senpai.
It was the same way Midori looked at him.
At first he felt guilty, because he thought the feelings blooming inside of him whenever he caught Midori stealing glances his way, were born of the unrequited love Tomoya planted in his heart. But spending more time with his classmate and getting to know him little by little, letting him become closer, made him realize he was also falling slowly for him. He was able to move on and take a chance, as he accepted and silently cheered on his best friend.
Which is why he would not have that dumb excuse from Midori, and so he grabbed his face with both hands, nearly squishing his cheeks together, dragging him towards eye level. “Listen here, Midori-kun! Don’t ever say you’re pathetic to my face ever again!”
Midori’s eyes widened, suddenly realizing this was real. Dream Hajime would’ve agreed with him, because he was part of his consciousness. Dream Hajime also wouldn’t be going on a rant about how him being self-deprecating was wrong…
Shit, shit, shit. He actually kissed Hajime! The real one!
The real Hajime was also sporting the cutest pout and he had to do a gargantuan effort not to kiss him again as he kept going off. He felt the grip on his face soften as he went on.
“Midori-kun, I’m not mad at you for kissing me. If anything, I’ve always wanted to do the same thing to you, I just never worked up the courage to do it. You just took me by surprise…I guess.” He blushed and looked down, as he saw Midori’s mouth hang open in awe. “I’ve never thought you were pathetic or awkward. I admire you, as a hero of justice, as a Ryuseitai member, and as my dear classmate with whom I’ve been making happy memories with…so don’t be harsh on yourself, ok? It hurts when I hear my boyfriend talk like that about himself!”
“Hajime-kun..?”
Hajime finally looked at him again, the look of expectation in Midori's face making his heart race like crazy. Even he himself can’t believe he just said that, but couldn’t help it when it felt like a thousand rabbits jumping inside his stomach. He felt Hajime’s hands slip to rest on the nape of his neck, while Midori’s found their way to cup his face gently. “Does that mean I can kiss you again Hajime? Would you really have me as your boyfriend?”
He nodded, making Midori break into one of the smiles he always dreamed of seeing up close.
“Only if you let me kiss you in your dreams as well.”