Hassaku woke up the instant he felt a dip in his mattress. His hand darted out, aiming a punch at the intruder.

Bending down across the edge of the bed, he saw Mikan lying on the floor, a long whine carrying throughout the room as he cradled his sore chin. “What are you doing?”

Mikan looked up, tears in the corners of his eyes. “I had a nightmare.”

Hassaku squinted at him through his thick fringe. “You’re a grown adult, you can sleep alone after a nightmare.”

“...I dreamt that they killed you,” Mikan said in a low voice, his lower lip wobbling. Hassaku thought back to earlier that day, when Mikan had gone berserk thinking he had been murdered. Had it not been for his safety vest he would have been.

With a sigh, he raised his blanket. “Don’t get used to it,” he said.

Mikan’s face brightened, and he pounced, wrapping his arms around Hassaku. He shuffled around until Hassaku was practically being spooned by him. “Oi,” Hassaku grumbled. “No one said anything about cuddling.”

“We can’t?”

Mikan’s lip wobbled. Had he not known Mikan was incapable of lying to him, he would have wondered if he was being manipulated. But it wasn’t in Mikan’s nature.

“Fine,” he finally agreed. He felt Mikan bury his face in his hair.

“I love you, Hacchan,” Mikan spoke, muffled by Hassaku’s hair.

Hassaku lifted his hand to pat him on the head. “Yeah, yeah. Me too.”

Mikan’s happy noises vibrated through his skull.

Sometimes he could be cute, even now.

Back to top