Let's Grab Lunch : A Nanami Kento fan-fiction

Trauma and Nightmare

The rain was still pouring outside. It was not as heavy as before, but it was still enough to keep people from going outside.

"So are you ready to tell me what's going on back there?" his voice was calming, but firm.

I looked at him for a moment. Thinking. My thoughts were going places, but I knew that soon or later I will tell him anyway.

I nooded. "Yes."

He then put down his chopsticks and slide his bowl to the side. He folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. I can feel all his attention on me. My body tensed, feeling a bit intimidated. 

I cleared my throat and started talking "I was just walking." My hands fiddled the chopsticks. "I was planning to buy some food and maybe go to the bookstore. Since I have the weekend off starting tomorrow." I caught a glimpse of his eyes and immediately look down to my bowl "Then I came across that alley. I saw this place that looked like a restaurant. I thought I might try the food there. But then I sensed the curses. One was coming from above me and the other was coming from the ground. The centipede one, the one you excorcised, it tried to strike me first. I tried avoiding it, but then I was stuck between the two curses. In the end I managed to excorcised the first one. But then the centipede got me and then you came."

I finally looked up at him and saw that his eyes were still on me. 

"That reminds me" I said "Thank you for saving me." I bowed a little.

"How about the trembling, the rapid heartrate, and the breathing?" he asked. Still as calm and stren as before "Also the evident paleness on your face. You looked like someone who has just seen a curse for the first time."

I hated the athmosphere surounding us at that moment. The seriousness that demanded me to open up. So I tried to smile, which I imagine turned out to looked like a sad smile.

"I may have a trauma."

"A trauma?"

I nodded. "Of fighting curses." I looked up again to see him. I expected him to look confused. But his facial expression never changed. "That was a kind of panic reaction. I think."

As I was uncomfortable with even thinking about this topic, I remain silent after that. Hoping that he would ask all the questions and all that I have to do was answer. 

"Is it because of what happened to your classmates?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Is this why you became a doctor instead of a professional sorcerer?"

"Yes."

And then we were silent. The sound of the rain was getting weaker and weaker. I guessed it will stop raining soon. 

"Let me wash the dishes, Nanami-san." I told him as I stood up. I thought that it's the least I can do for him, since he did all the cooking. I was also trying to quickly bursh away the thoughts of my trauma. 

I went to the sink and started washing my bowl and chopsticks. Not long after I noticed Nanami-san was standing behind me. He slowly put his bowl and chopsticks on the sink in front of me.

"Thank you" he said. Then he walked to the refrigerator and pull out two cans of beer.  

I continued the washing until I finished washing all of the cookware he used too. 

"Tomorrow I'm going to make a report about the two curses we encountered." Nanami-san said. He was sitting on the sofa, face facing the bookcasem sipping his beer. "I need you to come too, Y/N-san."

"Okay." 

So much for my weekend plan  I thought. 

"Y/N-san?" 

I looked at him as I finished the all the washing.

"I know that we are not very close. But you are my junior and it's already too late in the night for someone to commute. Especially for a woman." He cleared his throat "No offense Y/N."

I knew where this is going. I realized too that the rain has completelly stopped. 

"You should stay the night." he said as he looked at me. 

I was about to open my mouth to say something but he stops me as if he could read my mind.

"It's alright Y/N-san. I don't mind. It's not troublesome for me. And it's the right thing to do for now."

I closed my mouth. I no longer have things to say. Nanami-san saw this and as if my eyes were deceiving me, he smiled. A faint, but beautiful smile. 

Then he handed me a can of beer.

-

I woke up to a creaking sound. I tried to get up and looked across of me, where Nanami-san was sleeping on the sofa. He was tossing and turning on that narrow surface. His blanket fell on the floor and I can hear him grunt. So I stood up and walked closer to him. I felt bad for sleeping on his bed, while he slept on the sofa. He insisted though.

As I got closer, I saw Nanami-san's face. His eyes were closed. His eyebrows were furrowed. His forehead was wet with sweat. He looked restless. Is he having a nightmare?

I reached for his arm, calling his name "Nanami-san?"

He didn't move. Instead, in a weak voice, he called out "Yu.."

This time I reached for his forehead, calling his name once more "Nanami-san.."

At the light touch of my hand on his forehead he opened his eyes. He was breathing fast.

"You were having a nightmare." I told him. 

He didn't seem to respond to what I was saying. His eyes looked empty, staring at the floor.

So I took his arms and pull him up on his feet. "You should get back into your bed." 

I dragged him to bed, and once he sat and finally laid on his bed, I pull up the blanket to cover his body. 

I looked at him snuggle like a little kid. He looked fragile. Unlike how he usually looks. But I guess that's just how everyone is when they're asleep. Free of guard.

"Stay here." Nanami-san said as I was walking back to the sofa. 

What? I thought that he must've been mumbling in his dream. But his eyes were open and they were looking at me. 

"Don't sleep on the sofa. It's really uncomfortable." he said again.

Well obviously  I thought. 

He kept looking at me from the corner of his eyes until I walked back to the bed. I stood on the other side of where he was sleeping. Surely I can comfortably sleep beside him. His bed is pretty spacious for two people. But this would be very wrong. What will happen when we wake up in the morning? 

"It's fine Y/N-san. We're just sleeping." he said with his back turned to me.

I crawled up on the bed. Then I laid on my side, my back to his back. I can feel the heat of another human being behind me. He was so close. 

I hugged my pillow, snuggled into it. It smelled like the detergent I used for my own clothes. It also smelled faintly of Nanami-san. Again, it brings a warm feeling in my chest. It feels comfortable and safe. It's strange. 

I finally doze off.