Saturday morning. She woke up to the sound of a sizzling pan and the smell of something delicious. Someone was cooking? The kitchen is quite far away from her own room, so how could she hear it so crystal clear as if she was in the kitchen? She turned around, burying her face in the blanket. The bed was comfy and warm... much comfier. The blanket smelled different than usual..? Panic taking over her mind completely, she opened her eyes immediately and shot right up straight in the unfamiliar bed.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty. Did you sleep well?”
Kohane turned her head to see Gabriel standing just around the tiny corner. He was standing there a few meters away, apparently cooking something in the small open kitchen.
Her eyes darted around the room she found herself in. It was a small studio with a kitchen. She was on a single person bed against the wall. At the end of the bed was a wardrobe in the corner. At the opposite wall was a flatscreen television above a cupboard. She could recognise some game consoles and games laying upon it. Between the tv and the bed was a low coffee table with a carpet underneath and with her height of vision, sitting on the bed, she could see a thin yoga mattress spread out with a blanket and a pillow. The room had a floor to ceiling window on one side. She could see an empty balcony and beyond that, a not so height sight over the city. She guessed she must be on a floor between the 5th and 10th of a flat.
“Well, that certainly is a sight I wouldn’t mind to wake up to every morning.” Gabe nodded and gave her a grin before turning his eyes back to the food in the pan.
Her eyes moved to herself on the bed. She was... half naked only in her underwear?! Quickly did she cover up herself with the blanket. Oh no... did they..? Did he..? She couldn’t remember anything. She remembered going to the school prom, being bored and having Gabe stick to her like glue while the rest of the students tried to distance themselves as much as possible with her. Desperately did she dig through her brain to find the remaining memories of last night, of how she ended up here, but nothing came to mind alas. There’s only one way to find out the how, why and what...
“... Say... did we... do anything last night...?” was her first question.
There was a bit of silence, only the sound of sizzling from the cooking, that could be heard before he hesitantly answered her. “... you don’t remember..?”
She turned her head to Gabe, concern in her serious eyes. “Just tell me.”
He pondered for a bit. Sure, he could mess with her like he would usually do. He would say something like of course, you were amazing! But he also knew this was something that shouldn’t be joked about. Especially not with her. He turned off the heat, before meeting her eyes. “No, we did not. I didn’t think it would be comfy to sleep in that fancy dress, which is why I helped you out of it. Also, I slept over there.” His head nodding at the improvised bed on the floor.
He could see the relief washing over her. The girl still held onto the blanket tightly, her eyes looking at the bed on the floor. It made sense for her to BE still in her underwear then... Probably if they did do it, she wouldn’t be wearing anything...
Gabriel walked over to what he would call his living / bedroom, and grabbed a hoodie and a pair of shorts from the wardrobe at the end of his bed. Gabe handed them to Kohane. “You can take a shower if you’d like to, while I finish making breakfast. Just grab a new towel from the cupboard in the bathroom.”
While with one hand covering herself, she took the clothing from Gabe with the other. Was that a slight blush on her cheeks? Hmm… “The bathroom is over there, the door next to the kitchen.”
“… Can you look away?” Yep, that’s definitely a blush. He chuckled to himself. He had already seen most of it last night anyhow… Of course, he wouldn’t mind seeing more… and more often. but he’ll keep that remark to himself for now.
“Sure.” Gabe walked off to the kitchen again, intentionally taking his time to grab some fruit from the fridge. As the fridge door covered most of his sight, he could hear her footsteps behind him and feel her presence walking past. The door to the bathroom opened, the light switch was being flicked on and then the door closed again. And then the door was locked. And soon after, he could hear the water streaming down from the shower.
If she just knew what happened last night… He sighed as he put the banana pancakes on two plates. After cutting and adding some fresh blueberries and banana to the pancakes and drizzling some maple syrup on them, he took them to the coffee table along with some cutlery. He then returned to the kitchen to pour and grab two mugs of hot tea to accompany the meal. Gabe sat down on his “new” bed and scrolled through his social media, waiting for Kohane to join him for breakfast. It only took a few minutes before he could hear the door unlock. He looked at the girl appearing in his hoodie, obviously a bit oversized for her, and his barely visible shorts sticking out underneath it. Her hair was tied up in a knot. No matter what she was wearing though, she somehow seemed to rock it in Gabe’s eyes. There was something undeniably charming about her.
“They are somewhat big.” She stated.
“Can’t help it that I don’t have your clothing here. You can leave some here next time you come over… but I doubt you’d be needing any clothing the next time hehe.” Gabe joked.
And… she was already done with his jokes. Kohane sighed mentally.
“Here, let’s have breakfast. I made banana pancakes.” He gestured her over to join him. “You can sit on the carpet. I do it all the time.”
She sat down opposite of him and eyed the breakfast he made. She didn’t take Gabe for someone that could cook very well, but the meal in front of her looked amazing.
“Hey, I cook for myself. I know how to cook.” He said, reading her mind. “Anyway, let’s eat. Itadakimasu!” He picked up his fork and knife to eat after clapping his hands once. She followed suit, being grateful for the meal.
“Bananas are supposed to be good for hangovers. How do you feel?” the guy asked before he brought a piece of pancake to his mouth.
“… Ah right…” she mumbled as if remembering that she had drunk last night, while cutting the pancake with her cutlery. “I actually feel quite okay. So… what exactly happened last night…?”
Almost finishing the first of his three pancakes, he looked up for a second at her. He finished chewing his bite, then proceeded to tell her about last night while cutting up his second pancake.
“You have probably realised it by now, but someone - or rather someones in plural - had been putting alcohol in your drinks last night. Aniki realised it later that night, after seeing some people sneakily hiding empty bottles of strong liquor under the tables. He warned me and asked me to watch you more closely. By then, you already had quite a lot… so I decided to take you home, before the teachers notice that you had had alcohol. This place was closer to the venue than your home.” Gabe took another bite. He felt her eyes staring at him intently. Her hands were holding the cutlery, but she didn’t move them. “You were already half asleep as you arrived here. I helped you out of your dress and had you drink a gallon of water, before you really passed out. Then I tucked you into bed and went to sleep myself. And then they lived happily ever after. Fin.”
“… I see.” She nodded slowly, processing the information. “… Did I do anything weird…?”
Gabe finished his second pancake. “Well… depends on what you find weird. Hmm…” He thought for a bit, then chuckled. “There maybe was one thing… It’s weirdly cute to see you ask me to help unzipping your dress. That was quite exciting.”
“… Never mind.” She rolled her eyes and started eating her breakfast. It was surprisingly really really good.
Soon, the guy finished his breakfast. Gabriel had always been a quick eater. He took a sip of tea, as he observed the girl eating. It would go unnoticed by others, but it didn’t escape Gabe’s observant nature: there was a shimmer of happiness in her face as she ate the meal he prepared. Gabe made a mental note for himself that Kohane loved pancakes.
“So… now I’ve practically saved your life, you owe me one~” Gabriel chimed happily.
Kohane sighed and continued eating, not even sparing a look at the probably ridiculous grin on Gabe’s face. Let’s just get it over with, she said to herself. “So what do you want this time?”
“Easy.” Gabe stood up from his seat and walked around the coffee table.
Now, she looked up to meet his eyes. To look at the guy towering over her, as she sat on the carpet. She raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Gabe sat down behind her on the bed, then shoved off the bed to sit directly behind her on the carpet. “… To let me sit and hold you from behind like this while you eat.” He wrapped his arms around her waist.
“…” she couldn’t really refuse his request. It was not nearly as bad for a request. A weird one for sure, but not a bad or hard one. She could feel him against her back. It was somewhat embarrassing and uncomfortable, but after all he had done last night… and these godly pancakes? She couldn’t reject him.
Gabriel could feel her body temperature through his hoodie. At first when he sat down, he sensed her tensing up. Yet, slowly he felt her becoming more comfortable with him. He sat there silently in the comfort of her presence and her warmth. The scent of his own bodywash had mixed with her own scent.
And to be honest? As uncomfortable the close contact was to Kohane, she slowly but surely got accustomed to it, finding it a rather pleasant feeling as well. As she started to notice the change, she blushed slightly, hoping Gabriel wouldn’t notice it from behind.
“… I’m done eating.” the girl whispered after she finished her plate.
He rested his head on her shoulder. “… Can we stay like this for a little longer?” he whispered back. He could feel the rhythm of her breathing. She felt so close and so alive in his arms.
She could feel his somewhat muscular arms embracing her a bit tighter. Her mind was a mess. Her heart skipped a beat. She reached for her cup of tea to take a few sips.
They sat there for quite a while in silence. Gabe lifted his head off her shoulder, guessing time was over. Kohane looked over her shoulder, her emerald eyes looking at his dark brown ones. Her eyes locked him in place.
She was so close. He was so close. Their lips were only three inches away. They were breathing the same air. Both of their hearts skipped another few beats.
She didn’t move away. Could that mean she was okay with it? She did realise what would come next in such a shoujo manga scene, no? So Gabe decided to test the waters and tried closing the distance slowly. Carefully observing her face, he moved in closer. Her cheeks were a velvet red.
Just before their lips touched, a loud melody rang through the room, startling both of them. Annoyed, Gabriel let go of Kohane and got up from his seat. “Sorry, my phone.”
The guy grabbed his phone from the television cupboard, glancing at the name of the caller. Visibly and audibly agitated, he picked up, stopping the source of the loud noise of his ringtone. “Ya Aniki. Yea. She fine.”
Never had she seen Gabe annoyed with Nick before. He always appears to be quite fond of his cousin. She giggled silently at the odd sight. It felt like she had discovered new sides to Gabriel today.
And just in that moment, Gabe saw a glimpse of Suzuki in Kohane. They indeed were twins after all. It felt like he had discovered Kohane is just a girl like any other after all.
