"...Am I really doing this properly…?" Nejire wondered, staring down at her rather deformed paper crane.
"Hm." Isshun leaned over to look at it.
"I didn't even know this was possible." He glanced at his own crane, which looked like it had been mathematically calculated to be absolutely pristine.
If anything, Isshun's perfect attempt only highlighted the difference between the two.
"I'm pretty sure I was watching you the entire time…" Isshun muttered, eyes flicking back to Nejire's crane. "But I guess it's fine."
He teleported another sheet of paper into his hand, cleanly trimming it down into a square mid-transfer.
"Would you like another step-by-step?"
"...Mhm."
--<>--
"Well, that one looks pretty good," Isshun mused as Nejire proudly paraded the new crane around the room.
Even if it took three explanations…
Nejire had kept asking questions like 'how does this fold turn into that', which somehow turned Isshun into an impromptu origami anatomy lecturer.
Only after he'd explained the entire structural logic of a paper crane did Nejire finally seem to get it.
"Doesn't it look so cute?" she asked, holding it up for him to see.
It looked, well… like any other paper crane.
And Isshun wasn't the type to sugarcoat things.
"It looks like any other paper crane," he said plainly, earning an immediate pout.
"Nuh-uh!" Nejire protested. "It's got wabi-sabi!"
"That's just a term people use when they can't do something perfectly," Isshun replied.
He teleported another sheet of paper into his hand and a second later, it reappeared already folded into a crane.
This was possible because Isshun had the ability to change the orientation of what he was teleporting, so if he calculated the orientation of the paper, then it would teleport out like a paper crane.
"Hey! That's cheating!" Nejire accused, pointing at him.
"Then how are we ever going to finish a hundred?" Isshun countered, gesturing at the small pile they'd made. "It's been almost an hour, and we only have seven. It's already pretty late."
"Uh…" Nejire looked between the cranes and the still very full box of paper.
"Then let's just exchange cranes and call it a day!" She grabbed the first one Isshun had made and shoved her own 'masterpiece' into his hands.
"...Sure." Isshun nodded, setting it down before heading for the door.
"I'm going to grab some futons from Auntie to sleep on—"
"Why not just sleep with me on the suuuuper comfortable bed, Shun-chan?" Nejire interrupted.
"Because your sleeping habits are atrocious," he said without missing a beat, hand already on the door handle.
Nejire grabbed the hem of his shirt.
"But you graduated today!"
Isshun raised an eyebrow. "And what does graduating have to do with your sleeping habits?"
"Uhh…" She paused. "Please?"
Isshun stared at her hopeful, pleading expression.
"If you think begging is going to convince me—"
He sighed.
"—then you're right."
"Really?!"
Nejire immediately tackled him into a hug.
"Yay!"
--<>--
"Hey Shun-chan?"
Nejire shifted so she was facing Isshun. He, meanwhile, was staring up at the ceiling.
"...This is the ninth time you've interrupted my sleep with 'Hey, Shun-chan,'" he said, eyes still closed.
"Hehe~!"
Nejire giggled, but still continued. "Are you nervous about starting middle school?"
"What's there to be nervous about? It's just elementary school, but harder."
"Ehe, that's true."
"...Why are you so hyper? It's late."
"It's just that there's only one more year until high school! I'm so excited!"
"...That's still pretty far away. You do know that, right?"
"Nuh-uh! It's not even a full year because the entrance exams are in February!" Nejire exclaimed.
"That's true," Isshun admitted. "But I'm helping you study anyway, right?"
"Also, just cause you took the entrance exams doesn't mean that middle school is already over."
"Yep! With you there's no way I'm going to fail!" Nejire smoothly ignored Isshun's second statement.
"Then go to sleep," Isshun said, ending the conversation.
A few seconds passed.
Isshun opened one eye and glanced left. Nejire was staring at him with intense focus.
Too tired to deal with it, he closed his eyes again.
"Why'd you ignore me, Shun-chan?" she whispered.
"...Just go to bed."
"Okay…"
Nejire scooted closer until she was practically glued to his side, then finally closed her eyes.
"Good night, Shun-chan."
"...Good night."
--<>--
"...I really don't know what I was expecting," Isshun muttered, staring at the ceiling the next morning.
Clinging to him like a koala was Hado Nejire.
Isshun was just about to teleport out of her grip when he paused, and sighed.
"Don't teleport away…" Nejire mumbled sleepily.
"...I wasn't going to."
"Are you sure?"
"For sure."
"Okay~" She burrowed deeper under the blanket.
'...Hmm.' Isshun thought, looking back to the ceiling, closing his eyes.
He wasn't especially tired, but there wasn't much else he could do.
After closing his eyes for around an hour, Isshun could hear noise outside of Nejire's room. He glanced at the door, resigned.
Shiori was approaching, camera in hand.
Isshun gently shook his arm, attempting to get Nejire to move. "I think it's time for you to wake up."
"Mmmm…"
"...I know you're faking it," he whispered near her ear.
"..." Nejire's mouth twitched, clearly suppressing a smile.
"If you don't move in ten seconds, I'm teleporting away."
As if waiting for it, Nejire cracked an eye open the moment he said the words, acting as if she wasn't awake all along.
"...Good morning, Shun-chan," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
"What's the point of acting? I know you were awake," Isshun said, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to his trapped arm. "And are you planning to let go?"
"Ehe…" She laughed softly but didn't move. "You only said I had to move, not let go~"
"Is that so?" Isshun asked.
"Bug."
He pointed toward the ground, teleporting a nearby beetle onto Nejire's floor, without any dust.
"Wow~" Nejire said, impressed, still refusing to release him.
After all, she spent nearly her entire childhood in the forests and mountains. She wasn't scared of normal bugs at all.
Nejire was scared of cockroaches, but even Isshun found them disgusting, so he wouldn't do that.
At that moment, Shiori opened the door and peeked in, to see Nejire and Isshun already awake. She inwardly sighed in regret, but fully opened the door, eyes landing on the beetle.
"Woah, that's a big rhinoceros beetle~" Shiori mused, scooping the beetle off the floor with ease. "You could probably sell this for at least five hundred yen."
"How did it even get here…?" Nejire wondered.
Both Shiori and Nejire turned to Isshun.
"...I'm heading home," he said flatly.
"No! There's still the whole day to hang out!" Nejire whined.
"That's right, Shun-kun," Shiori added with a nod. "At least have breakfast with us."
Isshun paused.
"Okay."
--<>--
A/N: I wonder if its fine for some chaps to have like barely any plot progression and only fluff
--<>--
3750PS - Complete
7500PS - Not Complete