Sleepover

(Akane's PoV)

—

Hoshiko explored my apartment the way a cat explores a new room: slowly, thoroughly, touching everything she wasn't supposed to.

"These guitars," she said, stopping in front of the three electrics on their stands. "Baby wolf. These are serious. Is that a Jackson Soloist?"

"Don't touch it." I gave her a deadly glare.

"I'm not touching it. I'm admiring it from a respectful distance." Her hand hovered maybe two centimeters from the neck. "And this one? Is this a..."

"It's an ESP. And if your fingers get any closer, I'll break them." I crossed my arms.

"So aggressive. I love it." She giggled. Then, she spun around, taking in the acoustic foam, the turntable, the incense holder, all the stuff I'd arranged exactly the way I liked it because I'd never expected to share the place with anyone. "Your apartment has the same energy as you."

"What does that even mean?" I asked.

"It smells like sandalwood and danger. I like it."

"Sandalwood and clean laundry, with a little bit of peppermint, to be correct." 

"Whaateeeveeer!" Hoshiko stretched her arms, starting to look around again.

"Hoshiko, why are you acting as if you've never been in this house?" I sighed.

"Oh, well. It's because we didn't have much time when we went shopping that day." She said, looking at my vinyls. "Uhhhh! Metallica? Deftones? That's amazing!" Her eyes were sparkling.

"Jeez..." I sighed again.

Meanwhile, Shin was already in the kitchen.

I heard cabinets opening, then the kettle clicking on. He moved around in there without asking where anything was, which Hoshiko noticed immediately. "He knows where everything is." She said, watching him through the kitchen.

"Well, we practically live together, whether in this house or in his," I said, smiling.

"Yeah, I know." She kept looking at Shin, smiling. "That's what's making me emotional."

"Oh no."

"I'm serious." She turned back to me. "A year ago, you were here alone every night. I was in my studio alone every night. Shin was also alone in some ways. And now he's making tea in your kitchen, and you invited me over for a sleepover." She gestured vaguely around the room. "Look at us. Pretending to be normal."

"That's getting creepy..." I teased. "Maybe we really are normal people. Who knows."

"Baby wolf, nothing about any of us has ever been normal." She grinned. "That's why I like us. And I'm happy to be here with both of you, really."

I couldn't help but smile. Her voice was softer than silk.

"Don't cry; my therapy session is over for today. I need a break, for real." I said.

Hoshiko's expression flattened. "You're perfect at ruining moments, you know?" 

Then, Shin returned carrying three mugs of Lapsang Souchong. The only tea I had and my favorite. 

Hoshiko accepted hers with both hands, inhaled the steam, and made a thoughtful face. "Ahhhh, this tea has the same smell of life. I like it."

"Oh, I liked that. Nice one, Hoshiko." I gently slapped her back, making her almost drop her tea.

"Baby wolf! This thing is hot! I don't want a 3rd degree burn!" 

"Don't worry about it, Shin will save you." I looked at him, then took a mug from his hands, leaning close and whispering, 'I love you.'

Unmindful of Hoshiko's presence, he landed a small kiss on my forehead. I needed that.

"Don't do weird things in front of me, please. I'll be jealous." She said, teasing.

"Ooookay," Shin replied.

And then, we ended up sitting on the floor in front of the couch.

The couch fits two people comfortably. Three if nobody values personal space. Hoshiko, unfortunately, produces elbows like a biological defense mechanism.

I sat with my back against the couch, Shin to my right, his knee resting against mine, and Hoshiko cross-legged on my left, her tea balanced on one thigh.

Her phone was already out.

"Okay," she announced. "Movie time. And I'm picking because neither of you can be trusted."

"Your taste involves screaming nuns," Shin said.

"Screaming nuns are a legitimate genre, Shin. Don't be a snob." She scrolled for maybe ten seconds. "Here. Blood Chapel III: The Unholy Reckoning. Two stars. Perfect trash horror movie."

"Two stars," I repeated.

"The worse the rating, the better the experience. This is established science." She hit play. "Brace yourselves."

The movie was, without exaggeration, one of the worst things I'd ever seen, even beating the things I had seen with Shin.

It was set in a monastery located in a country that seemed unable to decide whether it was Italy or Romania. The priest had an accent that changed nationality every five minutes, and the ghost was apparently allergic to candles. Nobody explained why.

Every time somebody lit one, the ghost screamed. Every time the ghost screamed, a nun fainted, and every time a nun fainted, the priest yelled, "God help us," in a voice suggesting God had stopped answering his calls.

Fifteen minutes in, Hoshiko started providing commentary just as expected.

"That's not how you hold a crucifix. That's how you hold a fish."

A minute later:

"Why is the ghost wearing shoes?"

Then:

"If I were haunting a monastery, I'd do a much better job. You don't announce yourself by knocking over candelabras. Stealth, people. Learn stealth."

By the half-hour mark, all three of us were laughing so hard Shin had to put his tea down. His hands were shaking.

"THE NUN IS RUNNING IN HEELS AGAIN!" Hoshiko shouted, pointing at the screen. "WHY DOES EVERY NUN IN EVERY HORROR MOVIE RUN IN HEELS? NUNS DON'T WEAR HEELS. IT'S A MONASTERY. THEY WEAR SANDALS."

"Maybe she's a fashion nun," I giggled.

Hoshiko went silent, and then she pointed at me.

"A FASHION NUN. YES. That's the sequel. Blood Chapel IV: Milan Fashion Week."

Shin completely lost it.

His shoulders were shaking, his eyes closed, and one hand planted on the floor to keep himself upright.

Hoshiko looked over at him mid-rant. For a second, she stopped talking, but I saw her gaze softening. Then she smiled and turned back to the screen.

The ghost tripped over its own shoes at exactly forty-three minutes, and that finished me.

I fell sideways into Shin's lap, and he caught me with one arm without even looking away from the screen.

Hoshiko collapsed in the opposite direction and ended up flat on her back with tears at the corners of her eyes.

"This is the greatest trash movie ever made, holy shit!" She told the ceiling. "I want it played at my funeral; otherwise, I'm not coming."

"You'll outlive all of us out of spite," I said from Shin's lap.

"Obviously." She pushed herself upright. "But I still want the funeral planned. This movie, a fog machine, and everybody has to wear at least one piece of neon." She then wiped beneath one eye. "I'm so glad I'm here. I really am."

The words came out lighter than her face looked, and I didn't say anything about it. I just smiled, and Shin did the same.

Then, the movie finally ended after one hour and seventeen minutes.

Hoshiko remained on the floor, surrounded by empty chip bags, while Shin and I stood up to stretch our arms. 

"Snack break," she announced, sitting up. "Also, I have a project."

Shin looked suspicious immediately. "What kind of project?" He asked.

"Portrait time." She was already digging through her bag until she took her sketchbook and pencils out.

Of course she'd brought a sketchbook. Hoshiko carried her art stuff everywhere like a surgeon carries instruments. "Sit together. Both of you. I want to draw you." She commanded.

"Absolutely not," I said.

"Absolutely yes." Hoshiko already had a pencil in her hand.

She pointed at me.

"Baby wolf, I have tattooed you already. I've seen you in much more vulnerable positions than sitting next to your boyfriend. Sit down and look pretty for twenty minutes, pleeease!"

"I don't look pretty on command."

"You look pretty by default. That's the problem." She waved the pencil. "Now sit."

With a sigh, I sat beside Shin with my back against the couch.

"Closer."

I moved about an inch.

"Closer."

Another inch.

Hoshiko stared at me.

"Oh, for the love of..." She reached over, grabbed my shoulder, and shoved me directly into Shin's side. "There. Human contact. Very dangerous." Then she pointed at him. "Shin-kun. Arm around her."

"Should I..." He scratched the back of his head.

"Arm. Around. Now." Hoshiko had a deadly smile on her face.

And then he obeyed.

His hand settled on my shoulder, and I leaned into him automatically.

Hoshiko watched us for a second.

Her expression softened before she lowered her eyes to the page.

Then the pencil started moving.

She drew quickly, like she always did, stopping every few seconds to glance up at us.

Whenever Hoshiko draws, she looks at people differently. Less like she's looking at a person and more like she's measuring angles, shadows, distances.

Shin sat still beside me.

His thumb moved slowly across my shoulder.

"You know," Hoshiko said, eyes still on the paper, "I never would've predicted this."

"What?" I asked.

"This." Her pencil kept moving. "You two. Together. Here. With me drawing a portrait on a Tuesday night." She glanced up at Shin. "Since the moment I met this beautiful baby wolf, I sometimes used to wonder what would happen if you and baby wolf ever actually got to know each other."

"Aaaand?" I asked. 

"In every scenario I came up with, one of you set the other on fire." She giggled.

"Well... That's still possible, considering how dangerous she becomes when she's hungry." Shin mocked.

I tried to maintain a normal expression.

"I know," Hoshiko said. "She once threatened me to buy ramen..."

"That was—" 

"Funny." Shin giggled, gently caressing me.

"Jeez..." I sighed, leaning into his touch.

Then, Hoshiko smiled down at the page. "...But I must admit that this version of you is much better than fire."

For a while, the only sound was the pencil scratching against paper. Then Hoshiko spoke again.

"You two are my favorite people, you know that? I mean..." She was smiling, softly.

I looked at her, but she didn't look up, not even for an instant.

"The two people I like most in the world are sitting on the same floor, and I get to draw them. Couldn't be happier." Her voice wavered slightly at the end.

"Yuki," Shin said.

She glanced up.

"I'm glad you're here too." He added.

Hoshiko immediately stopped drawing. "Don't." Her eyes were already shining. "Don't make me cry, Shin. I'll smudge something." 

I saw her holding the pencil even tighter before softening her grip.

Then, she immediately went back to drawing as nothing had happened, and a few minutes later she said, "Do you remember the library incident?"

Shin stiffened. "The... what?"

"Third year, Shin, don't tell me that you don't remember..."

"Uhm... No." He scratched the back of his head.

"...The library." Hoshiko continued.

"I don't remember."

"Okay, now you will." She grinned.

"I'm curious now." I stepped in.

"Well... this guy tried to pull a book off the top shelf and brought half the bookcase down with it. I had to hold the thing up while you crawled out from underneath." Hoshiko said, giggling.

"Oh? Really? Hahaha!" I laughed.

Shin covered his face with one hand. "I had erased that from my mind..."

"The librarian walked in and found us under forty kilograms of encyclopedias..." Hoshiko covered her mouth.

"... And she made us reshelve everything, yeah." Shin sighed.

"Exactly. It took two hours, actually," Hoshiko smiled.

"... Yeah."

"And you alphabetized them wrong on purpose." 

Shin then lowered his hand. "Maybe I did..."

I started laughing, and Hoshiko looked at me.

"That crazy boy put marine biology next to medieval history. Hahahaha!" 

"I... had a reason." Shin looked away.

"You said, and I quote, 'the ocean is also old.'"

I was shaking against Shin's side.

"That's not unreasonable," he muttered.

"It's completely unreasonable..." And we all laughed, together. 

I remember when Shin once told me how Kurone used to twist their childhood stories to impress Kenji. But this time, it was different. 

I had never heard any of these stories, not even when my name was Ren.

Apparently, there had also been a Shin who nearly killed himself with a bookshelf and weaponized a science fair volcano over a grade.

Hoshiko had known that version and the one who got manipulated by Kurone.

"There." She lifted the sketchbook after about twenty minutes.

I looked at the page and stared at it for some long instants.

It was good. Not "good for a sketch." Way too good.

She'd drawn us exactly as we'd been sitting, my head against Shin's shoulder, his arm around me, both of us turned slightly away as if we were looking at something beyond the page.

She got the stupid little details too, like the little mole under my left eye or the way Shin's hair falls lower over his left eye, and in the bottom corner, she'd written:

"My favorite people. —Yuki, Hoshiko."

"It's for both of you," she said. "Put it somewhere you'll see it."

"Hoshiko..." My voice came out wrong.

She then pointed the pencil at me.

"No, baby wolf... don't get emotional, because then I'll get emotional, too, and then I'll cry my eyes out, and then the drawing gets ruined, and I refuse to redo it because this one is already perfect." She nodded once. "So just say thank you and put it on the fridge."

"Thank you, Yuki," Shin said, his voice soft. "It's... beautiful." 

"S-Shin..." She blushed, looking away. "It's nothing, really... I really adore you two..."

"It's going on the fridge," I added, and after that, the three of us hugged, and despite her efforts, Hoshiko couldn't hide her shaking body and a few little sniffles.

When it got past eleven, I pulled some clothes from my drawer for Hoshiko. An oversized shirt and a pair of shorts that were too big even for me.

"Bathroom's there," I said, hanging them over. "Towels on the shelf. Hot water takes about thirty seconds, so don't panic when it starts cold."

"Baby wolf, I have spent three nights sleeping on the floor of a tattoo studio. Running water already qualifies as luxury."

She then took the clothes and disappeared into the bathroom. Seconds later, the shower started.

Then... she started singing. It was... very bad singing, but it was acceptable, just because it was her.

Meanwhile, Shin had gone into my bedroom and was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding Hoshiko's drawing.

I leaned against the doorway.

"She's talented," he said. "Very talented... and she's a very kind person." Shin smiled.

"Yep. She's the best," I smiled. 

He looked up. "At drawing?"

"At basically everything she decides to do. The only reason she's still tolerable is that she doesn't know how good she is."

Then, bathroom door opened.

Hoshiko came out wearing my shirt and shorts, rubbing her hair with the towel like she was trying to remove her scalp.

"That shower," she announced, "was transcendent." She stretched her arms. "Ahhh, I have been reborn!"

"Hoshiko..." I sighed.

"I am a new woman!" She exclaimed, smiling.

Then, I walked her back into the living room.

"The couch is yours," I said. "Extra blanket's on the armrest. Pillow's there."

She then threw herself onto it and sank into the cushions.

Then she made a sound I could only describe as indecently happy.

"This couch..." She turned her face into the pillow. "This couch is the greatest invention in human history."

"Goodnight, Hoshiko." I said, patting her head.

"Goodnight, baby wolf," She said, pinching my cheek.

Then, she pulled the blanket under her chin. "And goodnight, Shin-kun! Don't keep her awake too late. She gets cranky."

"I'm always cranky." I called back.

"True! Goodnight!"

I switched off the living room light and headed back toward my bedroom.

Before closing the door, I looked behind me.

Hoshiko was already curled into the couch, damp hair spread over my pillow, blanket pulled almost to her nose.

Three nights she'd been sleeping on a studio floor because she was scared to go back to a dark apartment.

She hadn't asked anybody for help. Of course she hadn't... A lonely wolf, but with no malice in her blood.

I left the bedroom door slightly open. Enough for the light inside to reach the hallway. Enough that the living room wouldn't go completely dark.

Then I got into bed beside Shin and immediately settled into my usual position with my head on his chest, one arm across his ribs, one leg hooked over his.

Full occupation.

"Shin," I murmured, snuggling my face onto his chest.

"Mm?"

"Thanks for tonight," I said, my index finger now tracing small patterns on his chest.

His fingers moved lightly through my hair. "For what?"

"All of it, Shin... I mean.... for still thinking that I'm not crazy and for not running away from me... for staying here..."

A small chuckle escaped his mouth. "Where else would I be, Akane?"

"Maybe somewhere quieter, who knows?"

"Quieter sounds boring. I'm happy with you and only you, Akane."

I smiled against his chest. "I love you, Shin. So much. You're literally the only smile that life gave me."

And after my words, Shin gently cupped my face up and kissed me, slowly, softly. 

I then pulled away a little. "Tomorrow there's my walk with Sora... What are you gonna do meanwhile?" 

"I don't know, to be honest... Maybe I'll hang up with Daiki. But let's not think about this. I just want to feel you now..." He said, kissing me again. I felt a small rush of heat in my heart.

'Shin... don't make this harder... Hoshiko is here too... we can't...' But every cell of my body wanted him. My hand was already moving lower...