Softly | Shinmon Benimaru x Reader

Nap

You felt as if you were on a pillowy, soft cloud. Your body felt weightless but yet there was a gentle pull. The pull brought you deeper into the cloud that slowly began to muffle out surrounding sounds.

"You'll catch a cold if you fall asleep like that," Benimaru's voice poked through the clouds.

You opened one eye to look at him for a second before shutting it once more. "Sleepy." You mumbled.

Through the haze of the cloud you briefly registered the sound of fading footsteps. All at once, you fell into the cloud's embrace.

The first thing you registered when you awoke was the beating of the cicadas. Low and rhythmic. The second was that there was a piece of fabric draped over your body. It smelled of something familiar. Your fingers wrapped around it and pulled it closer.

You opened your eyes and came face to face with a sleeping Benimaru. You blinked and resisted the urge to immediately roll away. As much as it made you nervous to be this physically close to him, you didn't want to risk making noise and waking him.

You looked down. The fabric covering your body was his haori. You smiled.

Benimaru looked at peace as he slept. His chest rose and fell steadily with every breath. Some of his hair drifted a bit too close to his eyes. You reached out to brush it out of the way. His hair felt soft to the touch.

You let go of a breath you weren't aware of holding. Part of you expected Benimaru to snap awake.

"You're awake," Benimaru said.

You tried to come up with an excuse.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at you.

You stammered and faltered. You figured it was perhaps best to stay quiet about what you just did unless he brought it up first.

He did something you didn't expect. He reached out and placed a hand on your forehead. "Good, you don't have a fever."

You felt the urge to grab his hand and pull him closer to you. The feeling of his hand against your forehead made you want to feel more of him.

He withdrew his hand. "Though it does look like you have one."

You pulled his haori over your face to hide your blush. "Thank you for your concern, Captain Shinmon, but I don't have a fever." You stood up and began to make your way towards the exit. "Thank you for having me over. I —" Due to the haori still covering your face, you bumped your head against the wall beside the exit. You yelped in pain.

Footsteps approached you from behind and the haori was pulled off of your head. "Let me take a look," Benimaru said. He stood closely behind you and had one hand beside your head against the wall.

"It's okay, I'm fine." You insisted and wormed your way toward the exit. You refused to turn around to face him. Once you reached the exit, you slid open the door and ran down the hallway and out of the company building.

Benimaru watched you leave. He mumbled to himself, "Everyone from the 8th is so weird."

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A/N: Thank you to everyone who starred, commented, and added this to their public reading lists! I'm really glad to hear that you're enjoying the fanfic 😭