This one I'm really excited about. Nabari no Ou is my current favorite manga series, and it's woefully neglected. In fact, I don't think I've seen any other existing fanfic for it at all. O.o This was written for the awesome pearljamz on LJ for the Nabari Secret Santa Exchange; she requested a Highschool AU, although that really only ended up being vaguely a part of the ficlet. --; At any rate, this is just the first of hopefully many of Nabari fanfics. Enjoy it!

Oh, and once again - as with all my work, NO BL is intended or implied!

Disclaimer:I am in no way brilliant or talented enough to own Nabari no Ou. That privelage goes to Kamatani Yuuki, Square Enix and GFantasy.

Simplicity

Yoite came awake with a start. He blinked, then squinted as the afternoon sun shone blindingly into his eyes. Raising a hand to shield them, he gazed sleepily at his surroundings for a few moments before memory returned to him, just as a shrill bell sounded. Oh yeah, school. Banten High. He winced at the bell's grating volume; from the looks of it, he had probably just missed the beginning of English. Somehow he couldn't quite bring himself to care.

He stretched lazily. It was a relatively warm day for December, and he was in an excellent position to soak up the sun's weak glow, lying supine on the school's roof. It was only when he tried to roll over that he became aware of the strange weight on his stomach. More puzzled than alarmed, he glanced down and found a familiar dark head nestled there, small face pressed into his coat. A rare smile graced Yoite's face as he observed his friend, curled up beside and partially atop him and soundly asleep, looking for all the world like a contented cat.

Yoite was well aware that many at school found his friendship with Rokujyou Miharu somewhat odd. Not because they were opposites, but because they were so similar; at least outwardly. He supposed people must think they had nothing to say to each other, since both were so quiet and aloof. The thought made him chuckle. Besides himself, only a select few got to see Miharu's more talkative side. To be fair, the same could be said of him; only two people in the world could draw him out even a little, and Miharu was one of them. (Yukimi, his roommate and guardian, was the other, but few knew that.)

He sometimes wondered if having Miharu around was something like having a brother, but as both of them were only children neither had any way of knowing, so he didn't waste much time pondering it too deeply. He and Miharu had been friends since middle school, and he had grown accustomed to it. Miharu's constant presence at his side was as familiar as breathing. That was just the way it was.

Miharu was the only one permitted to touch him, too; not that Miharu was at all a clingy sort of person. He didn't really mind Yukimi, either, but he wasn't really a touchy-feely guy himself so it didn't happen very often. Yoite didn't care much for human contact (maybe never having much of it as a child was responsible for that), but with Miharu it was okay. Not that he gave much thought to this, either. He just knew that lying on the roof like this, with Miharu using him as a pillow, didn't feel strange at all. It was comfortable, in fact. As the bell went off one more time, Yoite looked down and lightly rapped the top of Miharu's head with his knuckles. "Oi, Rokujyou," he said. "Wake up."

Miharu scrunched up his face—Yoite was again reminded of a cat—and buried it further into Yoite's coat. Yoite just barely made out his sleepy mumble of "Don't wanna." He chuckled again and sat up, dropping Miharu's head unceremoniously in his lap. Miharu grumbled something unintelligible, but finally sat up himself, blinking. He yawned and shot Yoite a halfhearted glare. "I was comfortable, you know."

Yoite smirked at him, unrepentant. "Yeah, so was I, until you came," he replied. Anyone else would have been shocked by the hint of humor in his voice. "You're heavier than you look."

Miharu's response was cut short by another yawn, and he stretched his arms out. "What time is it?"

Yoite glanced at his watch. "We just missed the start of English. Kumohira's going to kill us."

"He might kill you, but he's not going to do anything to me," Miharu corrected him breezily. "I'll just tell him I was tired and he'll forgive me." It was common knowledge that Kumohira was Miharu's godfather and deeply attached to him, although to be fair he never went easier on Miharu than the other students. Not blatantly, anyway.

"I think he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you. He just dislikes you very strongly."

"Whatever." Yoite shrugged. "We should probably go back to class now." He got to his feet and dusted himself off, then offered a hand to Miharu.

Miharu gave a put-upon sigh and accepted the help up. "It's kind of pointless now," he pointed out as Yoite collected their school bags. "He's going to yell at us just as much for being late as for not showing up at all." He shivered suddenly at the cold breeze that picked up, tangling in their sleep-tousled hair. Yoite frowned as he realized that Miharu had only his school uniform and a light jacket on.

"Idiot," he muttered. Dropping the bags and unwrapping his own scarf, he bent down slightly and looped it securely around Miharu's neck. "You'll catch cold if we stay out here." He smiled, another gesture that none but Miharu and Yukimi ever saw. "Then Kumohira really would kill me."

Miharu smiled back, cheeks flushed from the cold. He didn't say "thank you," but he didn't have to. Yoite understood. So he continued to smile as he handed Miharu his bag and led the way back inside. All was as it should be in Yoite's world. And that was that.