Monday morning
It was 5:30 AM in the morning on a Monday meaning it was the most hectic day of the week. At least in the Fuji residence, it will be. There were a lot of things to be taken care of like the first day of Hana's school, making sure that everyone reach their destination, and the most important thing of all. Making Hinami wake up.
For context, Hinami has a very bad habit of sleeping for an extended period of time meaning that the process of waking her up to get ready for anything should be started at least two hours before the time to departure. While to many, they just couldn't get a working formula. To one person, it was just a work of two minutes but that person was still asleep now.
Luckily, the night didn't go like anyone had expected with them not being able to sleep, in place at least. In the hall was a little body on the cold floor shivering due to the cold breeze running down the hallway. Her black hair was running down before her face covering them and she was hugging herself in the sleep trying to keep herself warm.
Finally, Hotaro's eyes opened and he looked around him seeing Hana clinging to his t-shirt in sleep. She had a peaceful look on her face slowly moving as she was breathing. Hotaro made her let go of his t-shirt and tucked her under the blankets and a shiver ran down his spine as he got out of his blanket. The cold had gotten worse which made Hotaro start rubbing his arms thinking that it was time to get out the winter clothes.
He looked around him finding one person not in their place in the futons. Hotaro tilted his head in confusion seeing it and decided to shrug it off thinking she was an early bird or something like that on a weekday. Getting on his feet, he started folding his futon and decided to do the same with the other empty futon.
Keeping them towards the side, he dusted his hands and decided to leave the work of putting them back to Hinami. She was the one who would have probably suggested the idea according to Hotaro and he was not wrong about it. He walked out of the living room into the hall and something hit his foot almost making him fall down.
'What was that?'
He looked down and his eyes widened seeing the figure of Akari on the floor sleeping and shivering in her sleep. He quickly got down and started waking her up. Her sleeping in the hallway was not a good thing since she could catch a cold.
"Hajime-san, Hajime-san wake up."
"Mhm, I don't want to watch another movie, it's scawy."
"What is she talking about?" Hotaro muttered to himself. "Hajime-san, please wake up or you will get a cold."
"Eh? Huh? Hmm…wait, Fuji-kun? What are you doing here?" she said after finally waking up. Looking at the surroundings and her conditions, her eyes widened. "S-so you found out?"
"Found what? That you sleepwalk?" Hotaro asked and Akari reluctantly nods her head. "Well, I already know it but I didn't expect you to sleep in the hall."
"Wait you already knew?!" she asked baffled by Hotaro's remark.
Realizing what he just said, Hotaro scratched his cheek and decided to tell her everything that happened. He started telling her about how she was sleepwalking down the stairs and how Hotaro had to pick her up much to his discomfort. He decided to leave out the part where she stopped him from leaving and about her sister since he thought it was not his place to say anything about it.
On the receiving hand, Akari's face started turning redder as she heard Hotaro's explanation. The embarrassment was clearly seen on her face and her voice was getting higher and higher as she reacted to his explanation with little sounds that just came out involuntarily. And then after all of it…
"Kill me already!!" she shouted getting on the floor and rolling. Her hands were covering her face as her sharp squeak was hurting Hotaro's eardrums to levels that it may turn irreparable. "Damn it!! Why did I have to have this thing?!!"
"Um…Hajime-san, it's fine," Hotaro said trying to calm her down.
"Don't talk to me, don't look at me," she shouted. "Achoo!"
The sound of her sneezing was the last thing that could be heard in the hallway. She looked back at Hotaro and he lets out a heavy sigh.
"Just what I was concerned about," he said rubbing his forehead. "Anyways, please get off the floor. We don't want this to get any worse. We still have more than two hours before school so you can go rest in bed. I will get some tea ready for your cold."
"I-I don't think I need to sleep anymore," she said embarrassed realizing what side of her she just showed Hotaro. "I will help you. Is there anything I can do?"
"Yeah, take care of your health, please. We wouldn't want you to get sick right now. It is the time of the seasons changing so it might turn into a fever," he said and walked past her leaving her staring at the floor. "So how about you freshen up first and then help me with making breakfast? Can you do that?"
"Sure," she said and Hotaro walked up the stairs to his room.
Upon entering, he locked the door behind him and walked up to his closet. He opened it and stared at the box which was there. On the receipt, it read that there was only one item was ordered and it was duloxetine. He went for a bottle near him but his hand stopped mid-way. He gulped loudly and retracted his hand from the bottle. He took the box that arrived yesterday and stealthily peeped out to see if there was anyone. Once he found the coast to be clear, he made his way to the trash bin and stuff the box there and since it was the day to take out the trash, he hid it in the other stuff and tied it up.
Next, he quickly went to his room back and got his clothes, he hopped into the bathroom to wash himself before taking a dump and brushing his teeth. Once the water got hot enough, Hotaro got in and submerged him in the water once, and got out.
"Should I reduce my dose a bit?" he muttered to himself. "The doctor told me to tell him before doing anything like that."
He let out a sigh and thinks about what was about to happen in the school. He knew what was going to happen, at least roughly. The moment he enters the class, all eyes would be on him and while some were just merely staring at him, some would be giggling and laughing among themselves. When he would be sitting, someone would occasionally pull his chair back making him fall down as the classroom would burst out in a loud laugh, and then that would be the start of all of this.
He can't even count how many times his phone has been crushed and how many new ones he had to get along with the SIM cards. Whenever he would come to get himself registered through a new card, the person at the desk could almost tell why it was at this moment. The only thing that kept him sane was one thing. His medication.
But the worst part was, he had been taking them for a long time. Even before he was in high school.
"At least I am able to keep a smile on my face thanks to them," Hotaro muttered and then got out of the bathtub. "It's best that no one knows about it. Yeah. I shouldn't make them worried."
He dried himself up with the towel and got into his school clothes. It was still early in the morning so he did have to make sure that he doesn't ruin his uniform in any way. That wouldn't be a good first impression he would be having at Hana's new school.
Putting the clothes in the laundry basket, he got out and was now standing face to face with Akari who was also in her uniform.
"I'm sorry, please," he said making way for her to go downstairs since his figure was blocking her way. "Also, can you wake up Hana for me?"
"What about Hinami?" she asked and Hotaro only chuckled.
"I mean, you can try."
With this, Hotaro went to his room and Akari stood there confused. She walked downstairs and entered the room where the two were sleeping. She decided to wake Hana up first and got down and started shaking the little girl.
"Hana-chan, wake up," she said softly and the little girl woke up instantly while grumbling. "Good morning."
"Huh? Good morning nee-chan," she said and it was a critical hit to Akari.
'Nee-chan, just nee-chan. She called me NEE-CHAN! Ahh! What is this? How can someone be this cute?! Ahh, I want her as my little sister!!'
"Where is onii-chan?" Hana asked bringing Akari back to her senses.
"Oh, he will be here in a while," she said and then looked at the figure of Hinami loudly snoring while sleeping. "Now time to wake her up."
She went over to her and started waking her up but there was a problem. The moment Akari got her hand close to Hinami, she pulled it hard and put Akari in a neck lock. It happened too quickly for Akari to even react and now she saw her life flash before her eyes. She started struggling to get out of the chokehold. She looked at Hana for help but the little girl had no idea what to do. Suddenly, a bulb appeared over her head as she rushed out of the room.
"No Hana-chan…don't abandon m….e."
"Mhm, what a nice smell it is," Hinami mumbled in her sleep. "Itadakimasu."
"Kya!"
Hinami bit down on Akari's neck make her shudder. She then started licking her neck making Akari even more sensitive at the neck.
'I should have listened to Fuji-kun's warning,' Akari thought to herself.
Luckily for Akari, Hana had not abandoned her and rushed upstairs to get Hotaro. She pulled him by his hand all the way down to the living room and he was shocked by what he saw. Hinami had taken hostage of Akari and was doing something unorthodox in Hotaro's eyes.
While a blush formed on his face, he quickly shook his head and went straight to the kitchen. He got a bowl and got some ice from the freezer and placed it in the bowl. He then rushed with the bowl into the living room. Quickly crawling behind Hinami, he got the bowl in one hand and pulled Hinami's collar putting all the ice in her t-shirt.
Akari felt Hinami's hand get off her neck and then had to cover her ears as...
"Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!" Hinami screamed as she woke up and started taking all the ice cubes out of her t-shirts while running around the living room almost falling face first.
When she did get all of them out of her t-shirt, she pounced at Hotaro pushing him down on the ground.
"Hotaro you bastard! I told you so many times not to do that!" she shouted and raised her hand. "I am going to murder you today for sure!"
"Stop!!"
Before Hinami could bring her hand down, Hana held her arm with her small hands not even able to go around her forearm and Akari held her other hand. Hinami stopped and then looked at the two with different expressions on their faces. While Hana had an angry pout on her face, Akari still looked like she was out of breath and needed an oxygen tank.
"Oh, so that happened? Hehe, sorry about that," Hinami said after Hotaro finished explaining why he filled her t-shirt with ice cubes.
"And the fastest way to wake you up was to fill you back with ice cubes," Hotaro said after telling a huge sigh. "I would have used the making you a futon burrito and wait for you to get out since it's too hot but Hajime-san's life was in danger so I had to use the ice cubes as a last resort. It's your fault anyway being so hard to wake up. Even Julie-san is fed up of it."
"It's not my fault that the futons feel so nice to sleep in. Once I get in, I feel connected to them as if it's my long-lost lover just not wanting to let go," Hinami said trying to come up with an excuse.
"Anyways, get all the futons back to their place, and Hana…" Hotaro looked at Hana who stood there right next to him. "Go freshen up and take a bath. I have already got your uniform out and set your material ready."
"Okay onii-chan," Hana said. "What's for breakfast today?"
"Hmm, how about some sandwiches?" he said and she happily nodded her head. "Then go and get read."
"Yes!"
The girl ran out of the living room to get the work done and Hinami also started stacking the futons. Hotaro went to the kitchen and Akari followed him.
"What should I do Fuji-kun?" Akari asked him anxiously. Luckily in all that "sleep attack" by Hinami, Akari's uniform didn't really get messed up much so she fixed it immediately.
"Hmm, how about you get some coffee and tea ready while I start making the sandwiches?" he said and handed her a spare apron.
She held it and just stared at it for some time. Hotaro saw her staring at it for some time and got a bit confused.
"Um…do you not know how to wear an apron?" Hotaro asked her and she looked at him with an embarrassed face.
'What? How do you not know that?' he thought to himself.
"Is it fine if I help you?" Hotaro asked her and she nodded lightly. "Well then, hand me the apron."
She did as he said and stood as Hotaro's arms went around her and he stood behind her tying it up from the back. It was only a five-second work but to Hotaro, it felt like five hours. Why? Well, he had never really been this physically close to a girl out of his own will except for Hinami. He pushed those unnecessary thoughts out of his mind and stepped back.
Akari looked at the apron over her and softly smiled and twirled around once. She then went and started making the stuff Hotaro asked for while Hotaro just stared at her and thought to himself,
'What a way to start a day.'
"Achoo!"
"Hajime-san, should I get a cold medicine for you?" Hotaro asked.
"Yes please."
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