Shuuichi was laying in his sheets, reading a book to try to get himself to fall asleep. He wasn't sure why it was so difficult to fall asleep, it's been a problem since he entered highschool and he hadn't been able to fix it since. He tried reading before bed many times and sleepy time tea. He kept trying to focus on the pages to force himself to feel at least a little tired. It was out of the blue that his phone suddenly started to ring. When he heard the sound of the ringtone, he quickly put down his book and grabbed the phone. He looked at the screen and at the caller ID.
Incoming call
Amami-kun
Shuuichi was a little surprised that Rantarou would consider calling him again. However, he was rather glad that Rantarou was calling. Their last conversation felt nice and Shuuichi found himself a little more comfortable with talking to Rantarou. At the second ring, Shuuichi immediately answered, giving a small greeting. "Hello..?" He asked softly and Rantarou greeted him back. "You don't mind me calling you at this time, right?" Rantarou asked as Shuuichi turned to the alarm clock that sat on his bedside table. It was approximately 10 PM. It was almost the same time as the night before. "No, I-I don't mind at all.." Shuuichi replied when he realized that he delayed his response. He hoped that he didn't give the other the wrong idea. "That's good to hear. I was hoping that we can get to know each other better." Rantarou said casually. Shuuichi couldn't help but to be amazed how Rantarou was willing to say that so easily without feeling flustered.
"I'm going to direct it all on you if that's okay. It's only right if I give you some of the attention." Rantarou said and Shuuichi shook his head, forgetting that this was over the phone and he could not be seen. "No! I won't have anything to say or contribute..!" Shuuichi said defensively. Shuuichi heard a chuckle from the other side. "Sorry about that. I'll take initiative." Rantarou said, sounding clearly amused. Shuuichi could hear Rantarou about to say something until another voice made itself faintly visible in the background. "I'm sorry Saihara, I'll be right back my sister needs me." He said as Shuuichi could hear the sounds of Rantarou getting out of bed and putting down his phone. Shuuichi just held his own phone close to him as he waited for Rantarou to come back. After a while, he could hear rustling of the bed sheets.
"Alright I'm back. She didn't need much, luckily." Rantarou said as the rustling ceased. "Oh yeah Saihara, you told me that you're an only child, right?" Rantarou asked. "Y-Yeah.. why do you bring that up?" Shuuichi replied and all he heard was a light laugh. "I'd say you're lucky in a way. Since I have to deal with all 12 of my little sisters." Rantarou said. "It's a lot of work but I don't mind. I care about them a lot." Rantarou then added but Shuuichi wasn't paying attention to the second part. He was absolutely shocked at the first part.
"Wait a minute! T-twelve?!" Shuuichi asked in awe. "Yep! Proud big bro of 12 little sisters!" Rantarou said with a jovial triumph. "Do you have anyone in your family you would want to talk about?" Rantarou asked, wanting to know more about Shuuichi. "Well.. My parents work overseas all the time so I live with my uncle who works as a detective. He's always working so I don't get to see him much but he tells me a lot of interesting stories about his work... I look up to him if that's safe to say.. I-I mean I do want to take forensics next year..." Shuuichi sounded serious but he slowly became sheepish as he spoke about his uncle and his work. "So you aim to be a detective?" Rantarou asked, he seemed intrigued. "Imean... I-if it's possible..." Shuuichi reluctantly replied. "Aw, don't say that. I'm sure it's possible." Rantarou said reassuringly. Shuuichi can sense that Rantarou was not going to take his pessimism.
"Do you have a career you want to do..?" Shuuichi asked, trying to avert the attention back to Rantarou. He could hear Rantarou pondering for a moment. "Well, nothing in particular comes in mind but doing something with traveling sounds cool." He said casually before he added in a nervous laugh. "It's probably nothing compared to the future you have planned for yourself. Considering that I'm not 100% sure as of yet." He said with a light hearted tone. "W-well my future is not set in stone either! And your future is not nothing..!" Shuuichi tried to refute and he heard Rantarou laugh. "You sound more like a lawyer when you do that." He said in between bits of laughter. Shuuichi couldn't muster up anything else to say. Instead, he just quietly laid there in his bed. He couldn't help but to appreciate the sound of Rantarou's laughter, though it was disappointing that the quality is lowered due to it being merely recorded. It must be better hearing it in person...
![~•×⟨[Dᴀɴɢᴀɴʀᴏɴᴘᴀ V3 Cʜᴀᴛғɪᴄ]⟩ו~ by Yukiizum-ii](https://img.wattpad.com/cover/225368192-80-k896759.jpg)
"Have you ever traveled before, Saihara?" Rantarou asked after a brief moment. Shuuichi tried to think for a moment. "Yeah, one time. When I was 10, I went to England with my uncle. He had a dire case there and he couldn't leave me home alone." Shuuichi answered honestly. "That's cool, I've traveled a lot too during my childhood. I also like to spend my summer vacation going to different places. It's rather nice to see something different after seeing be same thing, y'know?" Rantarou replied, Shuuichi could hear his passion through the telephone. It was clear that this was what Rantarou liked more than anything, next to family of course.
As their conversation went on, Shuuichi could hear the door opening. His uncle finally came home. Shuuichi carefully got up and noticed his uncle already starting to head to his room, his coat and hat already hanging on the coat rack. He looked tired, Shuuichi can see it from the deep, dark bags under his eyes. He turned to see Shuuichi standing by the doorframe of his room. His uncle walked over and patted Shuuichi's head, as if he were a child. "Have you been doing well while I was gone?" He asked and Shuuichi nodded. "I'm fine. You should really sleep, you look tired." Shuuichi pointed out, he was concerned for his uncle. "Yeah, you're right. Goodnight Shuuichi." His uncle simply said with a small smile. He began to walk to where his room was. Shuuichi crawled back into the bed. The line was silent for a little other than the background noise. Then Rantarou spoke again.
"Hey Saihara, I have a question if you don't mind me asking." He said.
"It's okay, you can ask." Shuuichi replied.
"Is it just you and your uncle?" Rantarou asked. "Yeah. Why do you ask?" Shuuichi responded. "Well you said that he's always out at work and I'm just wondering, doesn't it get lonely when you're all by yourself?" Rantarou asked and Shuuichi was at a loss of words. He didn't really think of it, he was used to being home alone. Sometimes, Shuuichi felt as if he just lived by himself. "Not really.. I've grown used to it especially since I'm so busy with schoolwork that I barely notice... a-and even so! I-It's not that bad..!" Shuuichi tried to respond, fumbling for a response but Rantarou did have a point.
It was a little lonely.
Shuuichi didn't notice he was silent until Rantarou spoke up. "Hey Saihara, are you okay? I didn't mean to upset you." Rantarou asked calmly. He had a very soothing voice, that was one thing Shuuichi figured out. "No, I'm not upset... just in deep though but don't worry, I'll be fine..." Shuuichi replied, holding the device closer to him. He closed his eyes for a brief moment but opened them slowly, not wanting to fall asleep on Rantarou again. "Ah, Amami-kun, how does it feel to be an older brother?" Shuuichi found himself asking. Rantarou pondered for a moment once again.
"Well, it's sort of like being a father. You have younger ones to care for and they rely on you. It can be a little troublesome sometimes but it pays off in the end. When you work hard to take care of you siblings, you get a lot of rewards such as seeing your siblings smile. It's also sort of sad when you see them grow up, y'know? Since you've been taking care of them so long. But they're still always the same in the end. Heh, forgive me. I probably rambled on for too long." Rantarou replied.
"No, you didn't ramble on for too long. I can see that you really enjoy being the oldest..." Shuuichi replied. Rantarou was definitely lucky, he had people to rely on for company and people that looked up to him. Those 12 girls must be really lucky to have someone like Rantarou as their older brother.
"If you want, I can lend you one of my sisters." Rantarou said with a chuckle. "N-no it's fine...!" Shuuichi replied and Rantarou laughed. "I kid, I kid. You really do get easily flustered, huh?" Rantarou replied and Shuuichi compulsively let out a squeak. It was a little quiet until Rantarou asked another question.
"Saihara, do you have any friends?" He asked and Shuuichi smiled at the light hearted question. "Well I have one. His name is Kiibo, you've seen him before. He's really kind and compassionate though he still needs work on his social skills, but I can tell he's trying." Shuuichi explained, smiling a little more as he described his friend. His scarf loving, awkward yet kind friend. "I don't know if this sounds intrusive but is he a robot or something?" Rantarou asked and Shuuichi let out a small, amused snort. "Yeah, he is. It's a little obvious but he doesn't mind it, just as long as you're not rude or 'robophobic' about it." Shuuichi replied, chuckling a little. "What about your friends, Amami-kun?" Shuuichi asked after he managed to compose himself from his small fit of laughter.
"Well, I have two best friends. One of them is Kaede Akamatsu. She's been my friend since childhood since we grew up together. She's an absolute sweetheart and definitely makes good moral support. It's also pretty funny to hear her talk about the piano or her many girl crushes." Rantarou chuckled as he thought of the many times Kaede gushed about the different kinds of girls at their school. Like how she once went on an entire tangent on how their classmate, Miu Iruma, was absolutely gorgeous. "Then there's Kokichi Ouma. He tagged along with me and Akamatsu at middle school. He's quite a rascal, as you can tell. While he may be a little annoying, I can't really entirely hate him. He's like a little brother, you know?" Rantarou explained, speaking of his other friend. "I-is he the one who dared you...?" Shuuichi asked. "Yeah, that was him alright." Rantarou answered. "It's normal for him to do stuff like that, I got used to it." Rantarou added, he sounded amused. "D-do you know why he picked me..? Out of anyone?" Shuuichi asked reluctantly, he doubted Rantarou knew the answer.
"Well, his victims vary. I'm guessing he picked you because you were shy and alone. I'm not exactly sure though, he's weird but it seems his prank is working in a good way." Rantarou explained, he also sounded confused as he tried to make sense of it all. "W-what do you mean by 'working in a good way...?'" Shuuichi asked. "Well, I mean as in we're getting along. I don't know if you'll find offense to this but I think it's rather funny how a little piece of mischief ended up creating this small bond between us." Rantarou said, half joking and half serious. "I-I guess so... I-if you really want to consider me as a friend..." Shuuichi replied. It would be nice if they could just call this bond off as a friendship but it still seemed so soon.
Shuuichi felt himself dozing off and as he was about to sleep, he heard a voice. "Hey, are you falling asleep?" It was Rantarou's voice and it sounded a little... amused? Shuuichi tried to force himself awake. "Huh?" He asked and Rantarou chuckled. "No, it's okay. I was just wondering since you grew quiet." Rantarou justified. "I guess I was about to... it's sudden but I actually have sleep problems. It's hard for me to fall asleep at night and it's caused me many troubles." Shuuichi explained, trying to blink himself awake. "Really it's silly to say, but you're actually helping me sleep..." He said sheepishly and he heard the soft chuckle from the other side once more. "Alright then. Goodnight Saihara." Rantarou said, his voice sounded so nice and soothing. Especially with how his words sounded, as if he were there whispering it into Shuuichi's ear.
It was almost midnight but it didn't matter. He managed to fall asleep. All thanks to Rantarou's comforting voice.
