Haruka's breath hitched.
Ryo's brow twitched. A low, groggy sigh escaped his lips—hoarse with sleep, like a man who'd just spent all night arguing with customer service in his dreams. She froze as his arm tightened—around her wrist.
Haruka's soul left her body.
She looked down.
Yup. That was her wrist. In his hand.
In bed. With her dog between them.
This was it. This was how people ended up in tabloid scandals.
She stared at the hand, like maybe if she glared hard enough, he would politely let her go.
It did not.
Instead, Ryo mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "not the onions…" and tugged her wrist just enough that she nearly face-planted into the pillow beside Momo.
Haruka made a sound. Not a scream, not a gasp—more like a squeaky toy being crushed under emotional distress.
Her knees wobbled. Her brain short-circuited.
Abort mission. Abort mission.
She tried to retreat, but her legs were tangled in the emotional seaweed, and her arms were compromised by Snuggly McSleepface. She was a hostage now. A wrist-hostage.
Her face was so red it could be used to light up emergency exits.
"Wait, what are you—" she squeaked, sounding like someone had just accused her of stealing Christmas.
Ryo blinked, barely conscious. His eyes opened for half a second, glassy and unfocused, then closed again. He frowned as if annoyed the pillow was making noise.
Still half-asleep, he muttered, "Momo… so soft…" and patted her arm like she was part of the pillow.
Haruka's soul died a second death.
He thinks I'm the dog.
She glanced at Momo, who gave her a sleepy look that could only be interpreted as "Look who's the favorite now."
She glared back at him.
"Traitor," she mouthed.
Ryo shifted again, this time pulling the blanket up with a sleepy grunt—and Haruka along with it.
Haruka screamed internally.
Still holding her wrist, Ryo shifted again, his voice low and rough—teetering on the edge of sleep and dream.
"Haruka?" Ryo mumbles with sleepy voice.
Haruka froze.
His grip was light but warm, fingers barely hooked around her. Like he wasn't even aware he had her in his grasp.
Ryo let out a long sigh, eyes still closed.
"Always in my head," he mumbled. "Too loud. Too bright. Too annoying."
Haruka's heart skipped. Her breath stilled.
Was he talking in his sleep?
She stared at him, mouth slightly open.
"You talk too much," he whispered. "And smells funny."
His brow furrowed, lips twitching as if he were frowning in his sleep.
Haruka's chest squeezed so tightly she thought she might implode. Her hand twitched in his grasp.
And then—just before sleep claimed him completely—Ryo shifted. His hand moved, warm and slightly clumsy, directly. onto. her. chest.
Haruka's heart stopped.
Her breath caught in her throat, and for a second, everything seemed to stand still—her world spinning as his hand lingered, resting too innocently on her. She could feel the heat of it even through the fabric of her shirt. Her body went rigid, her mind racing, unable to comprehend what had just happened.
Her hand twitched, and before she could stop herself, her palm landed—smack—right on Ryo's face.
"Ouch!" Ryo's voice was muffled by the slap, his hand flying up to his face in surprise. "You—what are you here, you demon?!"
Haruka's face flushed bright red, her breath coming out in quick gasps, her heart pounding.
"I—! I wasn't trying to—!" she stammered, eyes wide in shock, still processing the fact that she'd just hit him.
Ryo sat up, rubbing his face as he scowled at her, clearly confused and more than a little irritated. "What the hell? It's like—Can't I even take a nap?! Why are you in my room, creeping around?"
"I'm not creeping!" she snapped back, her embarrassment morphing into frustration. "I—I just... Momo needed to be... I didn't think—!"
Her words tumbled out in a mess, and it was clear she had no idea how to explain herself without sounding completely ridiculous. She rubbed her face in mortification, wishing she could vanish into the floor.
"It's all your fault anyway!" she blurted out, but Ryo wasn't letting her off the hook that easily.
"Seriously? You just walked in here in the middle of the day and slapped me—while I'm sleeping? And it's my fault?" He ran his hands through his hair in disbelief. "What kind of greeting is that?"
Haruka opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Instead, all she could do was stare at him in horror as he shot her an incredulous look.
"I didn't mean to slap you!" Haruka sputtered, completely flustered. "You—You moved your hand!"
Ryo blinked, still slightly disoriented, before his gaze flickered downward. His expression softened for just a moment. He didn't realize they were still so close—so close that their faces were just a few inches apart. And his hand was still—um—there. His face turned red.
Haruka's heart skipped a beat as the realization hit her. Face glowing red, eyes teary. She scrambled to move back, but it was already too late. She was ready to scream.
"HAR—"
"ASSAULTER!!" Ryo screamed first.
"HUH?? ASSAULTER?? YOU'RE THE ONE ASSAULTING ME!" Haruka shot back, completely taken aback.
"What do you mean? You're the one harassing me in my sleep." Ryo fought back, no sign of losing.
"How do you know? You—you were in your sleep!" Haruka stammered, her cheeks burning.
Ryo blinked, thoroughly confused, but then his expression shifted. "How did I know? You slapped me, that's how I know!"
Haruka's face turned even redder, and she crossed her arms in front of her, glaring at him. "It wasn't me! It's—it's a fly!"
"A fly?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure, and I'm confident that fly was using your hand to slap me. Great, now I have to deal with you and a bug problem. What's next? You'll tell me you were protecting me from an evil flea?"
"I didn't do anything weird, okay?" Haruka blurted, feeling utterly embarrassed. She avoided his gaze, staring at the side of the bed instead. "I think..."
Ryo scoffed, shaking his head. "SO YOU DID SOMETHING, DIDN'T YOU?"
Haruka flailed her hands in a panic. "No! Okay... maybe just a bit, but NO! I wasn't— I swear I wasn't sniffing you, I wasn't trying to—"
"YOU WHAT?!"
And just as Haruka was about to turn and flee, Kaito's voice rang from the hallway.
"What the hell is going on in there?"
Haruka froze. She could hear the amusement in his voice, and then, just a few seconds later, Yuki joined in, peeking around the corner.
"Caught you red-handed," Yuki teased, her eyes dancing with mischief.
Ryo sighed and rubbed his face, still half-asleep. "You two have no idea how to mind your own businesses."
"Maybe you should keep the door closed if you're gonna be all cozy with your soulmate in the broad daylight," Kaito chimed in, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Haruka could feel her skin heating even more, but she couldn't help the laughter that bubbled up despite the awkwardness. She glared at them, trying to regain some semblance of control over her flaming cheeks.
"I wasn't being cozy!" she yelled, already feeling like she was about to implode. "I was just... retrieving Momo!"
"Uh-huh," Yuki said, raising an eyebrow. "Sure. Anyways, how long are you guys gonna keep cuddling?"
Both of them looked at each other for a quick second before panicking and the pushed themselves away.
Haruka's face turned crimson as she scrambled to sit up, half-panicking and half-flustered. "I—It's not like that!" she sputtered, her hands flying up defensively. "I swear, I was just taking Momo back!" She looked around, desperate for some escape from the situation.
Ryo, still disoriented and half-laying on the bed, immediately pushed himself up, his hands out in front of him like he was trying to put distance between himself and Haruka. "Yeah, we're not cuddling, okay? This is not—this is definitely not what it looks like!" He glared at the door, where Kaito and Yuki were grinning like maniacs.
Kaito leaned against the doorframe with a smug grin. "Oh, I don't know. I'd say 'retreiving Momo' is a very interesting excuse. You sure that's all you're doing in here, Haruka?"
Haruka groaned, her face now a brilliant shade of red. "I told you! I wasn't doing anything! Why does everyone think I'm up to something?"
Yuki, always the instigator, stepped fully into the room with her arms crossed, looking way too pleased with herself. "C'mon, you can't just leave us hanging like this, Haruka. I mean, the whole excuse thing doesn't really explain how you ended up practically nose-to-nose with Ryo in bed."
"I WAS NOT NOSE-TO-NOSE!" Haruka shouted, her hands flailing in exasperation. "I didn't mean to—"
"Yeah, sure," Kaito chimed in, still clearly amused. "Ryo, man, maybe you should be more careful. You never know when Haruka might accidentally get in your closet next time."
Ryo, clearly getting annoyed, sat up fully and pushed himself away from the bed. "I don't know what's going on, but you two are really making it worse!" He shot a pointed look at Kaito and Yuki. "Get out, both of you."
"Nope," Kaito smirked. "I'm not done here yet. This is too good." He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.
Yuki rolled her eyes but couldn't help herself from laughing. "Come on, guys, if you wanted to be alone, you could've closed the door. I mean, you're practically on top of each other!"
"WE'RE NOT!" Both of them yelped, Haruka's embarrassment reaching a boiling point.
Ryo sighed, rubbing his temples. "I swear, this is why I don't deal with people before coffee." He shot one last glare at Kaito and Yuki. "Get out, before I lose it."
Kaito leaned in, grinning wickedly. "Fine, fine. But you two better figure out what the heck is going on before the whole building thinks you're having a secret affair or something."
"Shut up!" Haruka barked, her hands now covering her face in humiliation.
Yuki couldn't resist one final tease. "We'll leave you two lovebirds to it. Don't do anything..."
"…inappropriate~" Yuki sang as she backed out of the room, wiggling her eyebrows and giving Haruka a very unsubtle wink.
Kaito followed suit, making a grand show of closing the door behind him with a smug, "We'll give you your privacy."
Click.
Silence.
Haruka sat frozen on the edge of the bed, cheeks ablaze, heart pounding like it had just run a marathon barefoot on hot coals. Ryo was on the opposite end, arms crossed, glaring at the wall like it had personally wronged him.
"…This is your fault," he muttered after a beat.
Haruka snapped her head toward him. "My fault? You were the one sleep-grabbing wrists and—chest-patting and—saying weird things!"
"I was asleep!" he said, shooting her a withering look. "People say dumb stuff in their sleep."
"You called me annoying!" she threw back, voice rising.
"You slapped me!"
"You groped me!!"
"In your dreams," he muttered, then paused. "...Wait. Don't answer that."
Haruka clutched her face with both hands. "Oh my god, I can't live in this apartment anymore. I have to move."
"You don't live here."
"I know!! That's the proble—wait that's your line."
Ryo groaned and flopped backward onto the bed, face buried in a pillow. "I hate today."
Haruka blinked, then slowly sank down beside Momo again, who snorted softly in his sleep like none of this chaos concerned him. She let out a long, deflated sigh.
"…Are you really that mad?" she asked quietly after a moment.
Ryo peeked at her from the corner of his eye, muffled by fabric. "No. Just... tired. And mortified. And mildly violated."
Haruka winced. "Sorry…"
There was a pause.
"…It was kinda funny, though," Ryo mumbled eventually.
Haruka turned to him, eyes wide. "Huh?"
Ryo didn't look at her. "The whole 'you assaulted me' thing. And the fly excuse. And the—whatever you said about sniffing—actually, never mind, that one's traumatizing."
Haruka groaned and buried her face in her knees. "Please stop talking."
A beat.
"…You do smell kinda nice, though," Ryo added casually.
Haruka exploded.
"W-Wh— WHAT?!"
Ryo rolled over with a smirk. "Just saying."
"YOU—! You—!" Haruka stammered, flailing her arms.
Somewhere down the hall, Kaito's voice echoed faintly.
"Are they fighting or flirting now?"
Yuki's reply came with a snort.
"Does it matter? Either way, I'm getting popcorn."
Haruka turned to Ryo, her face burning. "We are never speaking of this again."
He gave her a lazy shrug. "Sure. But I'm locking my door from now on."
"Good! Great! Lock it forever!"
Haruka stomped out of the room, tripping over Momo on the way and muttering curses under her breath.
Ryo watched her go, then glanced down at the dog now sprawled out next to him.
"…good boy," he whispered, and Momo wagged his tail without a single shred of remorse.