"I can't sleep..."
While tossing and turning more times than he could count, Izuru muttered into the void.
How much time had passed since he crawled into the futon? Even he himself didn't know.
It wasn't as if he wasn't sleepy because he had too much energy, or couldn't sleep because he was hungry, or had taken medicine that heightened his spirits.
However, if one were to dare list the cause of this insomnia—
"Sensei's house... Sensei's sleepwear... Sensei's futon...!!"
—It might be that thing called lovesickness.
During the day, Izuru participated in a joint training session at Squad 11—or perhaps it should be expressed as a joint killing spree—and managed to survive with his life intact.
Afterward, he was carried home on Yukawa's back, which was embarrassing, but there were some perks to it, so he didn't feel too bad about it.
Normally, he was supposed to go straight home, but perhaps it was a prank of the gods. Yukawa, who was carrying him, suddenly said this.
"You're tired, right? It would be tough to go back to the dorms like this, wouldn't it? If you like, want to stay at my place?"
Izuru accepted that proposal without a second thought.
Guided to Yukawa's house, Izuru filled his stomach with her handmade dinner, washed away the day's fatigue and dirt in the bath, and now all that was left was to sleep in the futon prepared in the guest room! That was the situation, but...
Things return to the beginning.
"I can't sleep I can't sleep I can't sleep I can't sleep there's no way I can sleep!"
He pulled the futon over his head, curling up like a turtle as he shouted—of course, since it was night, he shouted in a whisper.
Izuru adored Yukawa.
At first, it was as a student to a teacher, but the day those feelings turned into those of a man for a woman was the same day.
From the moment he first saw her at the Academy, and first received her training.
Faced with a beauty so stunning she stole his eyes, and while his eyes were continually stolen by her cleavage.
Seeing her instruct them clearly more enthusiastically than other Academy students, his heart was completely stolen as well.
He was staying at the house of such a person he yearned for.
He was too excited to sleep.
Moreover, what he was wearing now was sleepwear that Yukawa wore. The size was a size larger than Izuru, slightly loose on him.
She said it wasn't dirty because she washed it thoroughly, but perhaps it was his imagination when he brought his nose close to the collar, but it seemed to have a very nice scent.
It created the illusion that he and Yukawa were passing their arms through the same kimono.
He was too excited to sleep.
The futon was for guests, but it was still an item that had been in Yukawa's house. That meant it contained plenty of Yukawa's air.
Sleeping in a futon containing that air was exactly the same state as being hugged by Yukawa. Furthermore, since it was a futon, the logic followed that it was synonymous with being hugged by a naked partner.
He was too excited to sleep.
This house was where Yukawa lived. That meant various things of Yukawa's were permeated into it.
Being inside that house was enough to make one think they were already married and living as a couple.
He was too excited to sleep.
The part about the kimono is understandable.
However, regarding the reason for getting excited over the futon and the house, some of you might be wondering what kind of logic that is.
You might be wondering, but you must not think about it seriously.
A young, healthy male is staying at the house of the woman he likes. Being covered in this level of delusion and worldly desires is natural.
This behavior of Izuru's is not eccentric but extremely normal. Rather, it falls into the category of sensible and quiet.
If this were a bit more aggressive, it wouldn't be strange for him to search for fallen hairs.
So Izuru is undoubtedly a sensible, quiet, good boy. Okay?
As he continued to be tormented by such agonizing emotions, burying his face in the pillow and writhing in agony while wrapping the comforter around his body like a sushi roll—
—With a faint suuu sound, the sliding door opened quietly.
A moment later, he sensed someone entering the room.
Who could it be? Just as he was about to ask himself that, Izuru realized the meaninglessness of it.
The only people in this house right now were himself and one other person.
In that case, the one who entered was...
"Kira-kun, are you asleep already...?"
Hearing a reserved voice that seemed to care for him, Izuru's heart leaped.
Needless to say, the owner of the voice was Yukawa.
But why did she come to this room now? This time, he didn't understand that.
While he was hesitating whether to reply or not, the presence moved again.
"...!?!?"
"Ah, you were awake after all. You're sly, Kira-kun. Pretending to be asleep..."
That presence slipped into Izuru's futon and hugged him from behind.
Was she fresh out of the bath? The warmth he felt from her back carried heat and was warm, and at the same time, possessed a softness that words could not express.
The sensation he felt when he was carried by her in the evening—a sensation a hundred times softer and more comfortable was transmitted from his back.
"Kira-kun... no, Izuru-kun. Sorry for the suddenness, it's a bother to have this done to you, isn't it?"
It wasn't just softness that was transmitted from his back.
The scent Izuru had been desperately smelling from the sleepwear just moments ago. The same scent, tens of times more concentrated, slammed into him, driving his brain mad.
The voice whispering in his ear and her breath also tickled his five senses, making the center of his body hot and aroused.
"But, Izuru-kun... I just had to tell you. I, I... love you. Ever since I first saw you at the Academy, for a long, long time..."
A confession of love.
At the same time it was spoken, he was hugged tightly from behind.
The contact area increased, and he could feel Yukawa's existence more strongly than ever before.
Voluptuous breasts were pressed against Izuru's back, squashing softly.
"I know you like Hinamori-san, Izuru-kun... but I can't lie to my feelings anymore! Please, Izuru-kun...! Make me... your bride...!"
Whispering with all her might, as if to seal the deal, Yukawa planted a kiss on Izuru's ear.
Not stopping there, she moved one hand further down below his navel, to the man's hottest and most aroused part, and stroked it slowly and gently.
Just that gave Izuru a shock that made him feel like his legs were giving out.
"A... a... Se, Sen..."
Izuru mustered up his courage and—
—Shouted.
"Sensei! Me too!! ...Huh?"
When he realized it, it was completely morning.
The chirping of sparrows could be heard faintly from beyond the shoji screen, and sunlight was pouring in.
Looking around, the futon and pillow were scattered as if a typhoon had passed through.
"...It was... a dream...?"
Just as he was completely dejected, a voice called out from outside.
"Heeey, Kira-kun. Are you awake?"
"Ah! Se, Sensei!!"
"Can I come in?"
"Y, Yes! It's okay... it's okay!!"
For the time being, Izuru hurriedly covered himself with the futon.
As if to hide something.
"Alright then, I'm coming in... whoa, it's kind of amazing in here. Did the pillow not suit you?"
"No, well! I have bad sleeping posture, so probably that's why...!!"
Although he made that excuse, he couldn't look Yukawa in the face properly.
A few days later.
Izuru was at an izakaya with Renji.
The topic was, of course, about the joint training the other day.
"And?"
"And? What do you mean...?"
"You know what I mean! That day! You went home with Sensei, right! Something happened, right! Come on, come on, don't hide it, spill it!!"
Perhaps because of the alcohol, Renji pressed him with a lighter and more cheerful vibe than usual.
"Well, we went home together..."
"Went home?"
"I stayed at Sensei's house..."
"Ooh!! You sly dog!!"
"...That's all."
"...You coward!!"
"Wh!! Y-You are the last person I want to hear that from!! Since the Academy days, no, even before that, about Kuchiki-san...!!"
"Aaah!! Waaah!!! Waaah!! I can't hear yoooou, I can't hear yoooou!!"
A big quarrel between the two young men began.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]