1. Chapter 1 (1/2)

nodame stood in the room, watching him.

outside, the ground was blanketed with a thin layer of snow. pristine, white, it lay undisturbed except for the places where she'd rolled around in the grass and made snow angels. from the view from the bedroom, she could barely see the misshapen snow-kazuo she'd painstakingly made over the last hour. above, the full moon shone

ightly in the sky, its rays trickling in, bathing the room in an ethereal luminescence.

he was already asleep, resting on his side, his arm folded under him so his head sat in the palm of his hand. he still wore his pleated white shirt and long dark pants – save for the undone top button and messy hair, he could have been dressed for the concert he'd just conducted. behind the scent of his cologne, she could smell the faintly sweet smell of dried sweat.

i guess you really were tired, huh, chiaki-senpai? you never go straight to sleep like that…

her gaze lingered on him as she thought it. for once, his face was relaxed, free of the tension it usually carried, blissful, momentarily free of worry. he'd always been good looking, but… in the gentle rays of moonlight filtering into the room, he looked blissfully at peace, at ease, almost angelic – like an angel that had lain down to take a nap, and forgotten to wake up.

she decided that she liked him better when he was sleeping – he was much nicer like this, she figured, much nicer than when he was awake, anyway. none of that angry yelling he liked to do when he was awake, and none of that angsty

ooding either.

…hmm?

something caught her eye, a flicker of motion in the otherwise still room. she blinked, and took a closer look at his sleeping form. he was lightly biting his lower lip, his face pale, his forehead creased, eye

ows ever-so-slightly scrunched up, and he was… shivering?

she put her hand on his neck, alarmed to find his skin cold to the touch. she'd just gotten back, so it'd escaped her notice, but now that she thought about it… wasn't the room colder than it was supposed to be?

as she cast her gaze about, her eyes alighted on something at the far end of the room. comprehension dawning on her, she walked over, and pulled the elaborate glass windows shut, blocking the draught that had been creeping into the room. the heater hummed to life as she flipped the switch, and it began to expel warm air.

walking back to his bedside, she felt him again, touching two fingers to his exposed neck. still cold – the window must have had been open for at least a good hour, and the cold had already set in the air. his bedroom was fairly large – even with the windows shut, it'd take a while to warm up. thi was bad – he'd get sick at this rate, she thought.

still no good, huh?

there was but one thing to be done, she thought, as she took off the winter coat she'd been wearing, unwrapping her scarf and removing her earmuffs. the cold pricked her bare arms as she removed all her clothing save the dress she'd been wearing.

"i'm sorry, senpai… please don't be mad at nodame for doing this, but…"

pulling off the last layer of winter clothing, she got on, lowering herself carefully on to the mattress, and positioned herself next to him, burrowing under the mattress. she curled up to fit snugly against the contours of his torso, feeling his toned torso through the fa