Much to my surprise, and my dismay, (Y/N) remained awake for the entire drive home.

It wasn't that I disliked the way she chatted, nonstop, about nonsensical things, or her cute, spacey little noises, but it wasn't good for my heart. She'd always been bold, but drunken (Y/N) was on a whole separate level.

"Okay, out we go." Once we arrived home, I used both hands to pull her out of the car, having to all but lock her against my side so she wouldn't topple over. It was one of the rare moments I was glad my father worked out of town a lot because having to explain this to him at such an hour would have been a lot.

"I was wondering why you rushed out earlier." Looking up, I spied Kenma leaning on his windowsill, headset sitting around his neck. It wasn't that much of a shock, seeing him still up.
"OH SHIT! HI, POOKFFFFFF!" I slapped a hand over (Y/N)'s mouth when she yelled her greeting at the top of her lungs. To anyone else it would've looked like I had her in some weird headlock.

"Had to run an errand." I sighed, trying to play my panic off as a grimace when the girl licked my hand to get it off.
"I'm the errand!" Her laughter echoed down the dark, empty street, setting off a small chain of barking dogs. Kenma gave me a look, and I knew it all too well. His 'you're in for it now' look.

"You have fun with that." He scoffed flatly, but there was no doubt he was somewhat amused.
"Wouldn't wanna, oh, I don't know, come and help me?" I asked hopefully, though his answer was already apparent.
"She'd probably try to hug me or something." Nodding vigorously, (Y/N) looked between the two of us with a big smile.
"He's right! I would!"

At least she's honest?

Squirrelling himself back away into his lair, Kenma left us to travel the rest of the way down the path and through my front door, where I propped (Y/N) against the wall inside the entrance.
"Can you take off your own shoes?" I had serious doubts, but she, on the other hand, did not.
"Pshhhhh, duh! Easy!" She flapped a limp wrist in my direction, and I sighed, choosing to give her the benefit of the doubt as I kicked my own off and pulled out my phone to update Yaku.

"IS SHE-"
"If one more person yells in my ear tonight, I will actually go lay in the middle of the road, I swear to God." Pinching the bridge of my nose, I walked further into the house, but still within sight of the door. "I have her right here, but I think it would be better for everyone if we let her sober up before anything."

"BUT-"
"I. Will. Lay. In. The. Road." At this point, I wasn't even kidding. I was beyond done.
"Is...she okay, though?" Yaku really was worried for her, his tone suddenly much quieter. He sounded as exhausted as I felt, and I couldn't blame him in the slightest.
"Just very drunk, and very-" My head whipped around when I heard a thud, and found (Y/N) on her side, still struggling to take off her second boot, unphased. "Yeah, very stupidly drunk, but I've got her handled. Hold on."

Pulling the phone from my ear, I approached the horizontal idiot, who offered me a huge, goofy grin.
"I'm on your floor." She chortled, and no matter how frustrated I was there was no way I couldn't find it positively adorable.
"That you are." I smiled softly, crouching down as she sat herself up to a seated position.

"Is that meanie Momo? Lemme talk t'him." (Y/N) made a grabby hand at my phone, and I pulled it up to my ear again.
"She wants to talk to you, apparently. I'll put her on, okay? Just be chill." I warned him, hearing an exasperated groan through the receiver.
"Fine, fine...Give me to her." I offered (Y/N) the phone, and she smiled gratefully, looking at it for a few short moments before hitting the end call button.

I should have seen that coming, to be honest. That's on me.

"I lied." She revealed bluntly, staring right back into my eyes. How could I not laugh at that?
"Yep, you sure did." Grunting as I stood back up, I lifted her along with me, muscles clenching when she clung around my middle. Tonight alone I had received more physical contact with a woman than I ever had in my whole life, and it was jarring.

"I was s'posed to have juice or somethin' yeah?"

"Water."

"Oh. Ew. Can I have juice instead?"

"No, you can have water. If you quit being difficult, then I'll give you juice in the morning."

"But I want juice!"

It took a good while of back and forth, and it was like arguing with a literal toddler, but I eventually managed to get her to drink a glass of water, then haul her upstairs. The next battle had begun.
"But I wanna wear your stuff." (Y/N) had her brows scrunched as far down as they would go as she glared at me, holding the bundle of my elder sister's clothes in her arms.

"You'd swim in my crap, but these won't be quite as big, so you'll be more comfortable." I tried to reason with her, but more for my sake than hers. I was struggling to stay composed as it was without that visual. "Let me know when you're done, okay?"

I left the room and walked down the hall, stopping at the top of the stairs to just stand there, staring at a slight chip in the bannister where I had picked as a child. Seeing (Y/N) at that party had made me feel uneasy, especially her interactions with that Hanamaki guy. I knew I didn't have any right to feel jealous because she and I were nothing more than friends and teammates, but it wasn't under my control.

Through the years there had been plenty of girls I'd had crushes on, but when it came to (Y/N), there was a strange kind of curiosity that had lacked with the others. I wanted to know exactly what made her laugh, made her cry, made her tick. Above all else, I wanted to know why she felt the desire to go and take risks like the one she had taken tonight and what, if anything, I could do to help her.

"Tet! Su! Ro!" She sang each syllable of my name, beckoning me, and I took another moment to ready myself for any further shenanigans before heading back to my room.
"Okay, now that you've changed, y..you..."

Aaaaaaaaa?

Looking positively proud of herself, (Y/N) stood in the centre of my room, not wearing my sister's clothing, but instead donning my Nekoma jersey. The hem hit just shy of her knees, and she did a very clumsy spin to show it off.
"How d'I look, Cap?" She asked with a giggle - a freaking giggle - and I temporarily forgot how to breathe.

I need to be sedated immediately, because what the fuck? What the fuck?! She looks so? In my? Aaaaaaaa?!

Swallowing what was just a little too much saliva that had pooled beneath my tongue, I averted my eyes quickly, not wanting her to realise just how much the sight of her was affecting me.
"C..Cute...Real cute...but not what you're supposed to be wearing..." I managed to stammer out, almost shying away when she took a step, no, a hop forward. "You, uh, you have the shorts on under that, right..?"

I heard her rummaging around, and I decided it would be best to avoid looking in her direction.
"Now I do! Y'really think I'm cute?" Turning back, I was glad to see that she had indeed thrown my shorts on, but at the same time, it didn't help much. She was still clad head to toe in what was mine, and it wasn't something I'd ever be able to forget.

"Of...course I do, dumb dumb...Now, lay down...You need to sleep this off..." I flapped my hands at her to try and shoo her to the bed, but when had she ever been easy tonight?
"In your bed? You try'na seduce me, Tetsuro?~" When she began to move forward I kind of forgot how my muscles worked, only staggering back to press flat to the wall when she was right up against me.

"Wh..I..N..No..." My voice reached a new pitch I hadn't heard before, breath halting as she settled her hands upon my chest. They were warm, and could no doubt feel just how hard my heart was pounding.
"Hmm? You sure? Cuz I'd let you~"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fucking fuck fuck!

This couldn't actually be happening right now, could it? (Y/N) wasn't really in my bedroom, dressed up in my clothes, throwing herself at me, right? It couldn't be. Not me. She wouldn't do this with me. It was just the alcohol, and I was having a really hard time forcing myself to remember that fact.

"N..No...Thi..this isn't-" She stood up on the tips of her toes, full body weight against me, and I could feel the warmth of her breath so very close to my face now.
"Why else would'ya bring me up t'your bedroom, Tetsuro? When we're all alone so late~' She'd had a purr in her voice before plenty of times in the past when she'd teased me, but it was far more intense tonight. It was dangerous.

"You're...drunk...Really damn d..drunk..." I stated the obvious, but my voice was weak, failing me. She knew exactly how nervous I could be around her and was using it to her full advantage.
"Mmm, and..? Not like this is new territory for me..."

Hearing her say that, as though it wasn't any kind of deal, and feeling her ghost her lips against the bare skin of my neck, I managed to snap myself out of it, grabbing her by the shoulders and forcing her off.
"NO!" I shouted, loud and stern, a chunk of my inner cheek trapped between my molars. "I MEAN IT, (Y/N)! STOP!"

Wide, startled (E/C) eyes blinked up at me, and the moment they began to glisten I felt like the worst living being in the world.
"S..Sorry..." She squeaked out, sniffling in a very futile attempt to hold back her tears. "I thought you w..wanted me..."

Shit, I shouldn't have yelled...

I knew I had made the right decision, wholeheartedly, but now I was panicking for a different reason. Crying girls scared the absolute hell out of me.
"That's not...Damn it, Runaway..." Gritting my teeth, I turned her around and steered her over to my bed, forcing her to lay down once I'd pulled back the covers. "I said no because you're drunk, not because I don't like you..."

Because I really, truly like you...Besides, I've never even kissed a girl before...I'm not letting it happen like this, even if it means I never get to kiss you at all...

(Y/N) had said before that she hated crying in front of people, so seeing tears dripping down her cheeks and raining off her chin felt almost taboo, especially when it was my fault.
"I'm sorry..." She repeated again, squirming about as I reached to carefully wipe at her face.

"You promised to tell me why you were upset earlier. You ready now? I'm happy to listen to you." I changed the subject, hand twitching when she leaned into it.
"It's stupid..." She slurred out, casting her gaze down to my navy bedsheets.
"I'd still like to know. I'm pretty fluent in stupid." I urged, though I wasn't going to pry any further if she continued to deflect.

(Y/N) was quiet for a long while, but just as I had given up, she finally decided to put some trust in me.
"My Mom g..got married today a..and she didn't invite me..." She whispered it so softly, if I hadn't been so close I possibly would have missed it. "T..To o..one of the stupid assholes s..she'd been fucking around with before m..my Dad left..."

Oh...

That hadn't been what I had been expecting. Actually, I hadn't really formed any theories at all, but even if I had it wouldn't have compared.
"She d..didn't even text me...It's my birthday, and sh..she doesn't care...She never cares..." She continued, starting to hiccup with each intake of breath. "I hate her, a..and I hate Mo..Morisuke, and m..my sister..."

She went on, spilling exactly what had been on her mind, and I found myself edging closer with each sentence until I finally settled in beside her, letting my arm fall across her shoulders.
"Have...you told Yaku and your sister about any of this..?" I asked despite knowing full well she hadn't.

"N..No, because they think I'm just s..some idiot who likes tr..ouble...They'd think it's just some excuse..." Her reasoning kind of made sense to me, in a way, and I pitied her situation. It was crappy, on both ends.
"Maybe, but wouldn't it be worth a shot? Yaku cares about you, and I'm sure your sis does too. It'd be nice to have that support, don't you think?"

But...

"Either way, you've got me. Stuck with me, really. If you feel like running off and escaping stuff, just come here instead of what you did tonight. You had us both worried as hell, you brat." I offered a light chuckle at the end of my sentence, severing the stupid little squeak that tried to crawl up my throat when she curled into me, throwing a leg over my thighs.

"I was sad you weren't there...I love Hiro and Issei but I love you too..." When she mumbled those three little words against the side of my chest something inside of me seemed to burst, an almost violent heat spreading throughout my entire body. I knew she hadn't meant it in a romantic sense, but to my lovestruck little brain it had the same effect, even when partnered with the mention of the two Seijoh guys.

"Well...you never mentioned it. If you had, I possibly would have tagged along. Wouldn't have had any drinks or whatever, but still..." I replied, feeling her messy hair tickle the underside of my chin.
"I'll tell you next time..."

"Good. I want you to."

"You would have beat Kyotani in a fight."

"I doubt that. He looks like he bites."

"I bit him and he didn't do shit."

"I...May I ask why you bit him..?"

"He said bite me when I asked him to get me a drink, so I did."

"I'm not even surprised, honestly."

"Tetsuro?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I keep this shirt..?"

"Can you..? I mean, I kind of need my jerseys...Why?"

"It smells like you..."

Without really thinking, the arm I had around her tightened, just a little, and I definitely felt my heart skip a beat or two. She was completely relaxed now, her breathing soft and her movements minimal, but that just brought on a whole new, major issue.

I was trapped.

Having her cuddled up against me, so at peace, was a dream come true, but at the same time a literal nightmare. Having her so close meant that there was no possible way I'd be able to sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to risk disturbing her by escaping. I wasn't sure I even wanted to.

Stay strong, Tetsuro old boy...She's going to need you tomorrow, so just...keep silently screaming and you can freak out when you're alone again...

...but holy shit, I think I love her...