Sorry For Being So Cute

Makoto broke the silence with a careful tone, his eyes silently judging the atmosphere before speaking his mind.
"Kuromoto-senpai... you seem... stressed..."

Nishi looked up from his manuscript, dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep; his signature look. His hands crumpled the paper into a ball, tossing it into a pile of already scrapped storyboards.
"Stressed is an understatement. Tan-Tan wrote such an amazing story, yet I'm struggling to capture it on paper."

Minami wore a pouting face, sinking her torso further into the cold desktop.
"You're not gonna go on another tangent, are you? I'm bored out of my mind without pages to apply screen tone to."

Nishi retaliated her comment by pinching her nostrils shut, to which she whined loudly.
"Lay off. I'm not going on any tangents, okay? But actually drawing her descriptive scenes is difficult. I feel like I'm adding too much internal monologue and not enough actual dialogue."

"Wah! Let go, I can't breathe!"
Minami swatted Nishi's hand away, rubbing her sore nose with gentle fingers.

"Maybe, Shina can revise her storyboards..."
Makoto rested against the cold, wooden desktop, mimicking Minami's playful sulking.

"Mako-chan, you're copying me!"
Minami sat up, pointing an accusing finger at Makoto, who mirrored her gesture with his own finger.

"I'm trying to... fit in..."
He let his hair down from its ponytail, messing it up to match Minami's style. Akinari, who was watching from the sidelines, spat his drink out from laughter; finding Makoto's antics quite amusing.

"Whoa, he looks just like Minami."
Nishi smirked from his seat, admiring the way his new club member perfected the art of teasing Minami, which wasn't too hard to do. Minami chased Makoto around the club room, swinging a rolled up newspaper at his backside.

"Yamaguchi-senpai!.. I yield!.."
Makoto dropped to his knees, cowering from his impending doom; Minami's strong attack.

"Where is Tanaka-san anyway, Nishi?"
Akinari wiped his spit take from the desk, curious as to why Tan-Tan was absent from the club room during such a busy time.

"Tan-Tan has a cold. I told her to stay home, but she's so stubborn she showed up at my doorstep trying to go to school. My mom finally convinced her to stay in my bed rather than follow me to school."
Nishi pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that once Tan-Tan had her mind set on something, she's prone to acting on her own selfish desires.

"Tan-Tan-chan is sick?! Aki, you should make her some of your famous rice porridge!"
Minami grabbed her boyfriend by the shoulders, shaking him back and forth until his brain rattled. Once he finally pried her off, he settled her down with a head pat.

"Maybe I will. I'm sure Tan-Tan-chan will enjoy some company..."
Akinari immediately narrowed his eyes, realizing he had just called Tan-Tan by her nickname for the first time.

Minami's eyes immediately shot open, she started jumping up and down.
"Aki! You just called her Tan-Tan-chan!"

"I did NOT! I said Tanaka-san! Ta-na-ka-san!"
His cheeks were a bright crimson red, his eyes clenched in anger at his careless slip up.

"Hm? Really, Aki? I could have sworn I heard a cutesy nickname slip from your tongue."
Nishi's smirk grew wickedly, his mischievous eyes glaring daggers at his best friend.

"Okay, I called her Tan-Tan-chan! It's only because Minami never stops saying that adorable nickname!"
Akinari grabbed his school bag, storming out of the club room in an irritated stupor.

Minami followed suit, but her attitude was much happier than that of her boyfriend's. Nishi and Makoto exited the club room after them; Nishi decided it was his chance to show off as a senpai, prying manga knowledge from Makoto's brain while the two stayed a few feet behind the hand holding couple.

"So, what do you usually read, Meguro-kun? Personally, I have a tendency to lean toward shoujo and seinen."
Nishi smiled down at his timid underclassman.

"Me too, Kuromoto-senpai... I especially love... psychological seinen..."
Makoto fidgeted with his bag strap. He had half expected Nishi to call him an emo shut-in, much like his peers had in the past. To his surprise, Nishi just smiled and nodded.

"Psychological, eh? That's a good genre. I'm a fan of series like Kaijinki and the early works of Asona Iniko."

Makoto's eyes widened, his mouth forming a perfect "o" shape. He couldn't believe someone was praising his taste in manga, much less the school's godly manga artist.
"You like Asona Iniko, too?.. I'm a fan of... Oyasumi LunLin..."

"Oh, Lunlin? That one's pretty twisted. You have good taste."
Nishi nodded in agreement.
"My favorite manga is MisoMiso."

Makoto tilted his head in confusion, following next to Nishi as the other club members entered his home.
"MisoMiso?.."

"Yeah, MisoMiso. It's a josei series by Oshinki Renosuke. I think you would like it, Meguro-kun."
Nishi guided Makoto up the stairs, where he found Tan-Tan, curled up in his bed; her face looking adorably fragile as she slept.

"Kuromoto-senpai... your room is... most impressive..."
Makoto gazed at Nishi's shelves in awe. His fingers traced the dusty spines of various manga titles, his eyes quickly scanning for his favorites. He settled on an unfamiliar title, carefully removing volume number one as he flipped to the first page.
"Oshinki Renosuke... I'm unfamiliar with his work..."

Nishi sat on his soft mattress, gently feeling Tan-Tan's forehead for any signs of a fever.
"He's my biggest inspiration when it comes to drawing manga. I fell in love with his stories when I was a bit too young to understand them."

Sitting beside Nishi, Minami carefully peeked below the blankets, admiring Tan-Tan's body, clad in one of Nishi's sweatshirts; of course, it was more like a dress on her.

"Minami, if you snuggle Tanaka-san, you'll catch her cold."
Akinari gave her a stern warning, his eyes silently reminding her of her upcoming swimming competition. Minami pouted in return, quietly scooting away from the sickly girl; who was in much need of some cuddles. Nishi applied a cold compress to Tan-Tan's forehead, planting a soft kiss on her cheek while the club members were occupied in their own conversations.

"Right, then. Time to make Tanaka-san the best rice porridge in the world! Minami, come help me."
Akinari rolled up his sleeves, yanking Minami's hand along with him.

"Aw! But I wanna read manga with Mako-chan!"
Minami's voice echoed down the hallway, her whining soon muffled by Nishi closing his bedroom door. Makoto sat at Nishi's desk, engrossed in one of Oshinki Renosuke's manga; quietly flipping the pages as his eyes darted across the paper.

Tan-Tan stirred from her sleep, pulling Nishi close to her body in her state of delirium. Her lips trailed his neck, quietly whispering sweet nothings as her fever took hold of her mind.
"Nishi-senpai~ You're so handsome~ Come closer, give me a kiss~♡"

"Tan-Tan! You're still delusional from your fever, calm down!"
Nishi's cheeks were bright pink, his hands trying his best to remove Tan-Tan's grasp from his shoulders, but she just wouldn't let go. If not for Makoto being in the room, Nishi would seize the opportunity to cuddle with his girlfriend; but he had a hard-boiled persona to maintain in front of his underclassman. Akinari and Minami were an exception, not caring about their own PDA bothering anyone, but Nishi wouldn't allow himself to be caught calling Tan-Tan cute pet names and caressing her cheeks.

"Nishi-senpai~ smooch~♡"
Tan-Tan puckered her lips, leaning closer with surprising strength. Nishi fought with everything he had, but in the end, he just couldn't resist her enchanting expression. He kissed her.

"Nishi, where do you keep your-"
Akinari appeared at the door, holding a bag of white rice in one hand, and a bottle of mirin in the other. He froze.

"Aki! Don't you dare!"
Nishi immediately pulled back from Tan-Tan's arms, knowing all too well that his friend couldn't resist a good teasing session.

"You're bold, man, and with Meguro-kun in the room? What happened to hating PDA, you hypocrite!"
Akinari began poking at his friend's cheek, his eyes narrowed with mischief.

"What did you call Tan-Tan earlier, again? Should I remind you, Aki? Tan-Tan-chan, was it?"
Nishi retaliated with a palm to Akinari's face, gently shoving him away.

"I told you, it's because Minami won't stop calling her that! Whatever, I'll find your sesame oil myself."
Akinari retreated, knowing if this battle continued, they would end up exposing each other's deepest secrets.

Makoto spoke from Nishi's desk, his eyes still glued to the manga he had been reading in silence.
"You really shouldn't kiss when other people are present... Kuromoto-senpai..."

"Not you too, Meguro-kun."
Nishi hung his head low in defeat. Tan-Tan, who was starting to come to her senses, found herself giggling silently under the covers. She peeked her head out just enough to reveal her half lidded eyes.
"Sakai-senpai called me Tan-Tan-chan?"

Nishi smirked, leaning in extra close to share the juicy gossip.
"He did. I think he's starting to really like having you around."
He ruffled her silver hair, gently pressing on the cold compress that lay across her forehead.

Akinari and Minami returned from downstairs, both of them balancing a tray of rice porridge and Pojari Sweat. Minami dashed to Tan-Tan's side, eager to share some girl talk after a long day of being around just boys.
"Tan-Tan-chan, you're awake! Say ahh~"
She dangled a spoonful of porridge in front of Tan-Tan's lips, her eyes full of compassion and friendship.

"Ahh~"
She gratefully accepted the bite, enjoying the warm, creamy goodness. The boys of the group gathered at the center table in Nishi's room, already eagerly working on an unfinished manuscript. The day turned into night, and before they knew it, they had all collapsed from exhaustion; each one of them finding a comfortable corner to nap in peace. Other than Nishi, who was quietly nodding off at his sketchbook, the manga club members had returned to their usual cherished atmosphere. As he set his pencil down for the night, Nishi gave Tan-Tan a loving kiss on her cheek, whispering in her ear.

"Get well soon, Tan-Tan."