~

It wasn't until they actually made it to the room that she gently pulled away from him, wiping her teary face, "...I'm sorry..."

After her apology, she walked towards the dresser, opening the drawer where she kept her energy shots- an alternative to the pills that she kept. The girl reached inside for one, but froze, her arm flinching in the same fashion that it did when she went to pinch herself earlier.

'Even now?...' She almost seemed frustrated with her newly conditioned response, unable to follow through with her impulsive decisions. Her being frozen in place, provided an opportunity however, and it was one that wasn't missed.

She suddenly felt a pair of forearms wrap around her waist, and right after, she was slowly rising into the air.

"You're not gonna need thoooose!"

Roma lifted, and then suplexed Rena into her bed just behind them, causing the both of them to go bouncing a bit from the impact. He broke out into a hefty laugh, his smile stretching from ear to ear while Rena slowly started to wriggle free.

"...w-what the hell?..." She asked softly, sitting up and looking down at him. Her expression wasn't as aggressive or as emotionless as it normally was... in fact, the argument could've been made that it was actually rather soft. "...but... I do... I do need them..."

Roma stared at her for a moment, and it felt as though his heart would burst out of his chest. She was just so damn... cute. He took a seat on the bed and then pat his lap twice, offering a smile, "You won't need em. If you need to sleep, let's sleep, but if you need to stay awake, then let's play a game!"

Rena stared at him for a moment... before suddenly flinching,

"Ah."

Then, her face exploded red, and she began to back up, falling off the bed, and landing on the floor on her back, "T-There?! You want me to sit there?! The hell is going through your mind?!"

Roma's eyes narrowed a bit. In truth, he didn't have anything perverted in mind with his suggestion, but when she mentioned the implication, a hint of pink coated his own cheeks. "J-Just follow me." He instructed, dropping down from her bed, and crawling over to his own. Rena looked confused, but followed, occasionally tripping over her own hair.

Once they made it, it was revealed as to what Roma was getting at. Roma placed a controller into Rena's lap while he turned on his console, preparing a game for them to play while she sat there, still confused. At least at this point, she was a lot less combative, and the ahoge atop her head began to flutter a bit.

"It's a fighting game. I can show you what to do, but more often than not, the easiest thing to do for beginners is to button mash." Roma told the girl, quick to start the game, and choose his character.

"Fighting... game?" Rena asked softly, following his lead, and also choosing a character that caught her eye. To her shock, she could play as a panda.

Roma nodded, sitting next to her and briefly explaining the controls to her. He expected them to go one ear and out the other, but when the match started... he was proven wrong.

"Player 2 wins."

Roma darted his eyes towards her, "You've played this bef-"

He paused when he saw her grinning a bit, raising her controller into the air quite triumphantly, "I WON!!"

That's when she realized what she was doing, and stopped, lowering her hand, and clearing her throat, returning to her generally  'bitchy' expression. "Hmph. I have not." She denied, though she began covering her face with her long, raven black hair, bashful about the blush starting to appear on her face. That outburst was embarrassing.

"Bullshit." Was all Roma retorted under his breath. That's when he did something surprising. Without warning, he suddenly leaned over, lying his head in her lap.

The pillow didn't last long since Rena was quick to move backwards and away from him, "D-Don't touch me!" She told him hurriedly, reaching to pinch her arm, but flinching yet again.

And just like that, Roma undid all of the bonding that they had just managed to do. He slowly sat up while scratching the back of his head, "...haha, sorry about that.." He apologized quietly, not meaning to open up those wounds of hers again.

Rena looked at him as he apologized, looking off to the side when it concluded, "...I can't go to class, I'll have to drop out at this point." She murmured, slowly repositioning herself behind Roma as she spoke. A blush coated her face, but she pointed to her thighs, unable to look him in the eyes as she continued, "...again. I need to learn..."

"Drop out?" Roma asked, stuck on that portion of the conversation and unsure as to why that had been brought up. He was curious enough about it that  he didn't even notice her telling him to lie back down, but Rena wouldn't press the issue.

With her eyes still off of him, she began to explain, though the blush was replaced with a look of sadness, "I... can't leave here. I have to stay in my room. They called it... anxiety? And, uhm, depression... PT...SD, and some other stuff... A-And going there... made it worse..."

Rena began to tremble a bit, and before she realized it, her eyes grew wide, looking lost and absolutely traumatized. Another attempt to pinch herself proved fruitless, and the fear in her eyes was even worse than prior.

"..." Roma held out his hand, just in front of her face. Rena glanced at the hand, and then his own face, and when she did, it was met with a smile.

"High 5."

Rena bit her lip timidly, but slowly opened her own shaky hand. She tried to touch him, but suddenly felt like there was a certain somebody behind her.

"NO!!" She cried out, whipping around and punching the air.

"..." Roma accepted that this wasn't something that'd be settled overnight. A glance at the alarm clock showed that the time was 2:06 AM, and with another round of classes in the morning, it was better to just cut his losses. The boy rose to his feet again, and approached her bed, taking a seat on it, and patting the space next to him so that she could come over.

"...ahh, I'm sorry.." Rena apologized meekly, coming over and sitting next to him, taking one of her pillows and squeezing the life out of it, obviously rather tense after the evening's events, "...You should sleep..."

Her suggestion was met with silence though. Roma had his phone out and hummed quietly while scrolling through his feed. She stared at him in confusion, but it doubled when she saw him lie backwards, getting comfortable in her bed. Interestingly though, his knee gently pressed against hers in this position, and it wasn't something that went unnoticed.

She moved her own leg away, taking the pillow she held and hitting him with it, making Roma drop his phone. She started to pout a bit since she knew Roma had heard her. No way he didn't.

"It was a test, Remma." Roma claimed quietly, moving the pillow from off of his face and staring up at her.

Shockingly though, he still wasn't deterred, making one last attempt, "Say, do you want to sleep together-"

"S-SLEEP TOGETHER?! NO WAY!!"

Roma was then the recipient of a barrage of pillow strikes. Rena swung it from side to side, jawing the boy repeatedly as she dealt with the redness on her face and the steam rising from out of her ears.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stu- oh wait." She suddenly stopped and paused, "I don't even sleep."

"Are we cuddling or not, because if not, I'm gonna take more blanket."

"No! Take the stupid blanket, I'm not doing this!" Rena huffed and got off the bed, sitting on the floor while hugging a pillow. She stuffed her face in it and exhaled while Roma could faintly hear her ahoge wag, "Hurry. Go to sleep. Please."

Roma glanced towards her and then closed his eyes. This was far enough. He was willing to concede. He sat up and took the blanket he had around himself, draping it over Rena's back instead. Sure, she was difficult right now, but he'd take this Rena over the cold-hearted one any day.

She watched as he descended from her bed, and went to turn off his console, re-preparing his own. By this point, her eyes drifted back to the floors, and she knew full well that this was going to be another sleepless night. But even despite that, there was another thing that she knew...

"Goodnight, Remma!"

"...goodnight, Arthur..."

...and it was that she didn't particularly hate this night...