Chapter 291 Time To Sleep (Filler Episode)

The full blast of aircon caused Satoshi to sneeze in his sleep. His eyes immediately shot open, and he was greeted by the dark ceiling and the ceiling fan that spun slowly as if to lull him to sleep once again. For some reason, he was too exhausted for the day, even falling asleep on the couch while he was in the middle of watching the television with everyone.

"Hmmm~"

Satoshi, who was still half awake, froze up as he heard another voice nearby. It was a soft and gentle voice, almost like a whisper. In an instant, Satoshi immediately realized that it belonged to a girl, and that's why he sat still, not daring to attract any unwanted attention.

Hands then wrapped around Satoshi's stomach, causing him to flinch. As soon as he looked down, he realized that there was a figure snuggling him. It was a small figure, so Satoshi was able to rule out Emma and Shiroi.

It took at least a minute for Satoshi's eyes to adjust to the darkness (he didn't bother using his sense enhancement since he was still sleepy) and that's when he realized that it was Aira who was hugging him. She was mumbling to herself, drooling over Satoshi's shirt while rubbing her cheeks on it.

"Eh? Aira? Why is she here? Why is she sleeping here?" Satoshi wore a shocked expression on his face as he lightly panicked. He turned around, wondering if Shiroi and Emma were still in the vicinity. Of course, if they were to see him on the couch with Aira, they'd most probably get the wrong idea.

Satoshi slowly tried to push Aira away but her embrace was tighter than he had initially thought. After a couple of seconds, he stopped struggling and sighed in defeat. There was no way he could detach Aira from him.

When he finally leaned back on the couch, the arm that had been wrapped around his neck suddenly got tighter, making him instinctively hold his breath. It had been a minute or so since he woke up, but this was the only time he noticed that Emma was right beside him, her right arm wrapped around her neck while her head rested on his shoulder.

There was a certain heaviness on Satoshi's right side as well. As it turned out, Shiroi was right there, also leaning on his shoulder. He gasped, almost choking on his saliva as he realized what was going on.

Somehow, the four of them fell asleep together on the couch while watching the television. Satoshi felt a bit embarrassed since he hadn't taken a bath. But there was nothing he could do about the situation, is there? He concluded that he'd feel bad if he accidentally woke the three of them up. That's why he didn't move. No matter how uncomfortable and dreamy the situation was, he decided to stay still, hoping that the three of them would soon wake up and free him from this scenario coupled with misunderstandings.

"Let's see. For now, I'll just continue watching... and once I get bored, I'll try to review all the stats of my familiars." Satoshi said to himself. It was never too early to prepare for the Official Beast Tournament. And right now, he actually doubted that he'd be able to defeat Jean Grey if he were to fight seriously.

Despite the distractions surrounding him, Satoshi stayed still while he browsed through the information of his familiars. Dex, who had been summoned by Satoshi, stayed right in front of him, scrolling through the data himself so Satoshi won't have to move.

...

Aira stirred from her sleep, surprised that she actually fell asleep without realizing it. As she looked around, she noticed the same old wooden fan on the ceiling, slowly rotating as cold air blew against her skin. She shivered, snuggling closer to whatever warmth she was hugging.

The first person she noticed was Emma who had been sleeping soundly while resting on Satoshi's shoulder. She was deep in her sleep, not even disturbed by Satoshi's untimely flinch when he realized that he was surrounded by girls.

At first, Aira wanted to silently get down and remove her locked arms on Satoshi. However, it was so cold, and Satoshi felt pretty warm. That's why she snuggled on him, positioning herself so that her body was leaning on Satoshi. Although Satoshi felt oddly uncomfortable, Aira felt as if she was being lulled to sleep. Slowly, she pressed her ears to Satoshi's chest. She could hear his heart's rapid beating as he panicked.

A smile swept across Aira's face as she dozed off for the second time. It was already morning, and the sunlight was already peeking through the curtains, beaming its light on the far side of the room. The morning hours didn't stop Aira from falling asleep for a second time, though, since her position encouraged her sleepiness.

...

Emma was actually the first one to doze off while watching television. She sat beside Satoshi, a blanket wrapped around her feet. Before she knew it, she was already leaning on Satoshi's shoulder as she fell asleep. Satoshi didn't even notice it since he was too engrossed in the video they were watching. By the time Satoshi fell asleep, he still hasn't realized that Emma was actually beside him this whole time, her body pressed against his arm.

When Emma stirred awake, it was also already morning, and Satoshi was already awake. Well, she wasn't sure if Satoshi actually fell asleep since he was still browsing a couple of things on Dex's screen. With her eyes half open, Emma wondered if Satoshi actually slept. Well, he did, it's just that he woke up a tad bit earlier than everyone else.

Just like Aira, Emma decided to leave Satoshi alone. She was still sleepy so she continued leaning on Satoshi's shoulders as she tried to get another round of sleep. This was one of the rare chances where she slept leaning on Satoshi's shoulder. This chance was hard to come by as it is, and that's why Emma decided to prolong the experience.

Even though Satoshi looked like he was having a hard time trying to stay still, Emma still proceeded to sleep.

...

Shiroi was the last one to fall asleep. Needless to say, she felt it was a bit unfair that everyone was sleeping on the couch except her. She felt a bit left out, and her pride just wouldn't allow it if she slept on the bed alone. While everyone relaxedly inhaled and exhaled in their sleep, Shiroi got up from the couch and tiptoed her way to the bedroom.

And no, this wasn't because she wanted to sleep there, but rather to grab a blanket for herself before she slept beside Satoshi, on the right side of the couch.

She was careful not to wake anyone up since it would be weird if they find her sneaking up on everyone. Slowly, she approached Satoshi, Emma, and Aira, all the while trying not to make any sound. She even held her breath for fear that her breathing might disturb one of them in their sleep.

Once she found a comfortable position, she wrapped herself with a blanket, putting a portion of it on Satoshi's legs so he won't feel cold in the middle of the night. With a satisfied smile on her face, Shiroi slowly leaned her head on Satoshi's shoulders. Her face turned beet red as she did so. She was the one making the move and she was also the one who got flustered.

When she woke up, she saw that Satoshi was already awake. 'Just a little bit more.' She said to herself as she inched closer to Satoshi. Satoshi flinched, but he figured that Shiroi was still asleep, that's why he didn't bother moving away.

Shiroi remembered the first time she met Satoshi and her smile got even brighter. Even back then, she already had feelings for him despite the fact that he never awakened any superpower. As it turned out, he was a late bloomer and his superpower was much more powerful than most. 'Now that I think about it, back then I was really surprised... I thought at first that he hid his superpowers from me. Ahh~ to think that Satoshi's gotten this far in less than a year, as your childhood friend, I'm proud of you Satoshi.' Shiroi muttered to herself.

Satoshi who was pretending to be preoccupied with his studies about his familiars stole a glance towards Shiroi. At the same time, Shiroi smiled while she inched closer toward him. There was no doubt about it! She was awake! Satoshi was fairly certain that she was just pretending to sleep... but even then, he had no idea when was she already awake.

With a sigh, Satoshi smiled to herself, letting Shiroi off the hook as she continued browsing through his familiars' information. Unbeknownst to him though, Aira and Emma were also already awake, just pretending to sleep.