Somewhere along the often unnoticed journey between slumber and awareness, Haruhi realized where she was.
Even before stirring awake, an instinctive part of her mind recognized a set of heartbeats other than her own. Unhurried and constant. First tempting her to go back to sleep with the wordless promise of a safe rest but now just reminding her of the wide world out there where she has actual big dreams to make true.
Haruhi opened her eyes and under the dim light of Kyon’s bedroom she soon noticed she was snuggled up to his left side, her head resting just below his shoulder and her left arm draped over his midsection. The realization brought a small blush to her face and dispelled the last traces of sleepiness from her mind.
Conscious thought quickly asserted itself and previous experiences advised Haruhi that her first task of the day should be to find out how much time she had left before being teleported back home, a question easily enough to answer by the simple action of peering over Kyon’s sleeping form.
A quick glance at the analog clock on the nightstand revealed that it was just a little earlier than the time she sets her own alarm but Haruhi’s attention soon zeroed in on the unexpected sight of an empty space at the other side of the bed. The idea of sharing a bed with Kyon—and only him—intensified her blush up to what could be called the ‘Kanae’s zone’ of the red spectrum, however something out of the corner of her eye prevented her thoughts from wandering around.
There, next to the closet’s door, the girl with the lavender hair stood still and facing away from the bed. Before Haruhi could call out to her, Yuki seemed to notice her and turned on her heel and walked toward them without making a sound. Only when she was about to get into the bed, Haruhi noticed that Yuki was studiously examining something in her right hand.
“What you got there, Yuki?” Haruhi asked as quietly as possible, trusting that Yuki would be able to listen her regardless.
“This,” Yuki stated and simply held a small object in front of Haruhi in reply.
Somewhere along the sometimes unforgettable path between observation and realization, Haruhi found the time to stare, tilt her head, rub her eyes, stare again—agape this time—, widen her eyes and sputter uncontrollably.
At that, Yuki immediately adopted a look that Haruhi learned to associate to ‘mild admonishment’, placed her extended index finger vertically in front of her lips and gestured toward Kyon, a motion that Haruhi observed takes an entirely different connotation than a simple request of silence for the still sleeping young man when the quiet girl holds a freaking condom with the same hand.
Haruhi tried and failed to put her questions into words in a silent manner, a fact that Yuki seemed to catch on and prompted her to take preventive measures, waving her hand and invoking a small display of blue sparks around Kyon.
“I have erected a provisional field around him that mitigates the amplitude of the sound waves that may reach him,” Yuki explained in her normal tone of voice. “We can now speak freely without the risk of startling him awake.”
“Good thinking, but first: What the hell? Where did you get that?” Haruhi demanded.
“Among his belongings. You seem surprised,” Yuki commented.
“Of course I’m surprised! Anyone wo— Wait, do you even know what that is?”
“Yes. A prophylactic, also known as condom, is a flexible sleeve made of—”
“Stop! I get it, you don’t have to explain!” Haruhi interrupted and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “Sorry. It was unexpect—” She cut herself off and blinked. “Wait a… ‘Among his belongings’? Do you mean Kyon’s?!” A calm that proved to be quite short-lived.
“That is correct,” Yuki confirmed with a nod.
“Ugh…” Haruhi uttered, making an effort to look at the situation objectively. “Alright, I s-suppose it’s to be expected for a g-guy of his age to have one of those things laying around. It’s not like he’s—”
“That is not entirely accurate,” Yuki corrected.
“Not… accurate? W-Which part?”
Instead of words, Yuki seem to reconsider something and warped the space above her open left hand with her powers, materializing a cardboard box that she handed to Haruhi.
Haruhi simpled stared at the new object currently in her hands, focusing for a long moment on the ‘10 units’ label. An obvious scenario slowly but inexorably took form in her mind, but she resisted the temptation to quantify the contents to confirm it.
“I found this container while looking for—”
“Wait, Yuki. C-Can I ask you something first?” Haruhi cut in.
“… You may,” Yuki faintly tilted her head and acquiesced with a small nod.
“Was this box… open when you found it?”
“Unopened, anti-tamper seals intact.”
Haruhi let out a sigh she didn’t realize she was holding. “Right. Were you saying?”
A nod. “I found this container while looking for the ‘protective gear’ that Mori Sonou implied she provided for him to test it and potentially improve it. However, based on the presence of her fingerprints on the surface of the box, my current hypothesis is that she in fact meant this type of contraceptive measures.”
“…So, Mori-san bought this for Kyon? Why—? Wait. I think I know what happened,” Haruhi all but groaned as she connected the dots.
Yuki’s mildly intrigued expression prompted Haruhi to elaborate.
“Er… Mori-san knows about… all of us and Kyon, so I think she thought we’re… I mean, we would need the… stuff if… Do you get what I’m saying?” Haruhi explained, growing increasingly uncomfortable.
“I think so. For confirmation: does it mean he did not instruct Mori Sonou to purchase and deliver the package to him?”
“Yes. I think it was just a misunderstanding on Mori-san’s part,” Haruhi confirmed.
“I see,” Yuki said, her expression shifting to what Haruhi couldn’t help but think was disappointment, but her ‘Yuki reading’ skills weren’t so developed yet for her to be certain about it.
Haruhi debated intensely with herself whether she really wanted to know for sure but Yuki finished her own musings first.
“I request your insight about something.”
“Sure,” Haruhi replied, happy for a change of subject.
“Does the fact that he did not try to dispose of this product and instead chose to store it in a concealed location within his bedroom imply he has the intention to use it?”
The question stopped Haruhi’s thoughts in their tracks, but before she got a chance to make sense of it someone opened the door and both girls were teleported to their own bedrooms without a sound.
“Nii-san! Nii-san! Are you awake!” Nonoko loudly cheered and the sudden return of the sound woke up Kyon with a start, prompting him to jump out of the sheets and activate his skinsuit.
“Cool!” his little sister cooed admiringly at the stunt for a second before remembering why she was there in the first place. “Can I borrow your scissors? I need them for class today!”
“Sure. They’re in my desk,” Kyon said with a yawn once he assessed the situation and deactivated the skinsuit.
“Thanks!” Nonoko replied before opening a drawer, grabbing the item and walking out of the room.
“Nono-chan, be careful with that while you’re walking down the stairs,” Yuuto advised his daughter as he reached the door and turned his attention to Kyon. “Good morning, Kyon. Funny not seeing you dressed yet.”
“Good morning,” Kyon greeted him and glanced at the clock and noticed that he in fact slept in a little.
“Oh, right! Before I forget to ask again. Kyon, are you planing to take the writing exam for a scooter licen—” Yuuto trailed off, his eyes trained on certain point on the floor. Kyon followed his father’s gaze and identified the… ‘protection’ on the floor, feeling himself blanching.
““Is that—?/How—?”” father and son uttered at the same time and turned to regard each other. After a good ten seconds of locked stares, and to Kyon’s surprise, his father was the first to look away.
“Er…” Yuuto tried before finding his voice. “Stash that away before your mother or your sister see it.”
Kyon couldn’t do more than nodding numbingly.
“Um… a piece of advice: Make sure of storing them properly. Never in your wallet or…” a cough, “or… the glove compartment of a car. The heat in the cabin is bad for them and… Well, see you at the table.”
Kyon kept nodding, wisely avoiding to say anything that could dispel whatever was keeping his father from lecturing him or asking uncomfortable questions. Once Yuuto left the room and closed the door, Kyon immediately put away the items in their old location and wondered how such ridiculous situation came about.
And then it hit him.
With a pained groan, Kyon prepared himself for a very awkward day at school.
§