It's not often that an idea comes to mind fully formed.

The drinking age in my [division of my home country] is 19.

Leo was, by nature, a light sleeper. It was a characteristic that he was born with, and it was only exacerbated during his younger years. It used to be the constant arguing of his parents that woke him, but this time it was the low buzzing of his vibrating phone. He patted around carelessly on his nightstand, picking it up and glaring at the screen with bleary eyes.

"Of course it's Elise," he grumbled. "Who else would call me in the middle of the night?"

In their childhood, his younger sister had went to Leo more than her other siblings whenever a storm or a nightmare or yelling voices bothered her enough that she couldn't fall asleep again. Despite the fact that she had been a legal adult for nearly two years, it seemed that she still was not opposed to harassing her older brother whenever she saw fit.

"Yes?"

"Hey big bro... It's me… I'm really really really sorry about this—" Elise's voice was uncharacteristically weary sounding. "—but I need a ride back to my apartment."

Resigned to his fate, Leo tucked the phone between his ear and shoulder and slipped out of bed to find some clothing to wear. "I guess you're at a party right now? You know, just because you can legally drink now doesn't mean that you should."

Even with the mediocre quality of call, he could hear his sister's exasperated huff. "It's only a couple of us here, and I barely had anything at all. Maybe you'd know that if you weren't so BORING, and decided to show up." Despite the fact that he couldn't see her, Leo knew that Elise was rolling her eyes. "It's just that Selena said that she wouldn't let me leave her place until the morning unless I had someone to drive me home. I texted Effie, like, half an hour ago and she hasn't replied yet."

Leo pulled on a thin black jacket and made for the door. "Okay, okay, just give me a few minutes. I'll be right there."

The redheaded business major, Selena, opened her door less than a second after Leo knocked. She was a friend of his older sister, Camilla, studying to complete her masters degree. It was something about one-upping her "perfect mother" that motivated her to stay for an additional few years in school.

"I assume that you're looking for your sister? She already left."

Leo sighed irritably. "What do you mean, she already left? She called me less than ten minutes ago."

"Well, she did. Her friend, the one with the pink jacket, apparently got stuck in an all-you-can-eat buffet and didn't see the text message until after Elise called you."

"So I woke up at one in the morning for no reason?"

Selena glanced behind her for a second before replying. "Well, actually, if you might be useful after all. There are two more here that don't have rides yet. If you could do me a favour today, maybe I'll bring you along on one of my shopping trips next week."

Said shopping trips were infamous among Selena's friends, and Leo had to suppress a shiver at the thought of being dragged into one of them. "And if I don't want to be trapped in hell for a few hours with you?"

"Ugh, with the way both of your sisters talk about you sometimes, I thought that you'd be nicer, a bit more… chivalrous, you know? Anyway, just give those two a ride. You're already here."

Without waiting for an answer, Selena beckoned at two figures sitting on the couch behind her. "Hey, Sakura. Hana. Found you two a driver." Her gaze snapped back towards Leo. "They're friends of Elise, so I'm not sure if you know them. Both a little tipsy, but not much more than that."

He did know them, in fact. One was a painfully shy, but kind-hearted nursing student, and the other a tomboyish, often rude, kinesiology undergrad who stuck to her best friend like water sticking the pages of a book together and ruining them.

The interactions between those two and himself were often through his younger sister's gigantic circle of friends, so Leo didn't have many opportunities to talk with the introverted Sakura. It didn't stop him from noticing so many small things about her from a distance. The way her eyes lit up at the sight of her favourite pastries, or the way her smile seemed to be the brightest thing in the room, or her laugh that reminded him of wind chimes. How she was constantly brushing her hair out of her eyes, or trying to fade into the background during raucous group conversations, or nervously playing with her fingers, not looking up. The gaze of unassailable determination when she set her mind on something, whether it be as simple as assisting a professor or as complex as organizing a festival celebrating the eve of spring.

Yes, Leo was smitten.

"Sakura's brother was supposed to get them after dropping off his girlfriend, who lives at the other end of town, but he hasn't showed, and it's been almost an hour." Selena muttered something indistinguishable under her breath that sounded vaguely like, "last that long," before closing the door halfway and turning back inside.

A pink-haired girl timidly poked her head out the doorway. "H-hi Leo. Selena said that you agreed to give us a r-ride?" Sakura gave him an awkward little bow. "I-I'm very grateful for that. I'm sorry for troubling you."

"It's not a problem at all," Leo replied. He heard a faint 'yeah, right' from Selena, further inside the apartment.

"Hmph. Let's go." Hana stepped past him, uninterested in saying more than that. She was clearly a little unsteady on her feet, as a result of the alcohol in her system.

The trio made their way down the narrow staircase in single file. From the back of the procession, Leo could tell that Sakura was also liable to fall at any moment, even holding onto the right-side handrail. Increasing his pace, he stepped in line with her, and offered her his arm. She accepted it with a grateful smile.

Outside, Leo started up the his eleven-year old, second (or third, or fifth) hand black sedan. The engine sputtered to a start, coughing and hacking like a congested old man. To his pleasant surprise, Sakura slipped into the passenger seat beside him, leaving Hana by herself in the back seat, glowering at the blond.

"So, where is your apartment?"

"Wouldn't you like to know…" came a grouchy snarl from behind him.

Sakura rubbed her temples first, and then her closed eyes. "B-be nice, Hana… Leo's giving us a ride back, you c-could at least act civil towards him." She shook her head in an effort to clear her mind. "Anyway, it's at…"

The car was silent except for the rumble of the engine and the sound of rubber on pavement. Hana had quit trying to antagonize the driver, and instead lay quietly across the backseat. So early in the morning, the city beyond of the university student neighbourhoods was serene. Movement beside him caught his eye. Glancing over for half a second, Leo saw that it was Sakura, the girl trying to stifle a yawn, leaning forward and catching herself repeatedly. If she fell asleep, he knew that he would have problems getting her to sleep in her bed, as opposed to just collapsing on the floor.

"Tired?" he asked, trying to make quiet conversation so that she would stay awake.

"Mhm…" She slumped back against the seat, head drooping. "I have a h-huge headache, too…"

Leo didn't take his eyes off the road. "How much did you drink tonight? You're not going to feel very good in the morning."

"I didn't intend… intend to drink anything… But I saw some sake… and it reminded me of back home in Hoshido… I only had two or three cups…"

He was glad that Sakura couldn't see the incredulous expression on his face. "Only two or three cups? Are you sure about that?"

"Positive… I'm being seriously sincere. Totally truthful. Fully forthright…" She fell silent again. "I-I'm sorry. I'm being ridiculous, aren't I?"

It was difficult for Leo to suppress a smile. Mildly intoxicated Sakura was just as endearing as sober Sakura. "People say weird things after they drink."

The pink-haired girl shifted around uneasily on her seat. "C-could you just forget anything I say tonight? I d-don't know what's going to come out of my mouth."

"Of course I can."

He recoiled briefly as he felt something fall against his shoulder. Sakura was leaning on him, curling up in the seat as best as she could with a seatbelt across her chest, seemingly comfortable for the first time the entire drive. He thought about trying to keep her awake, but he hesitated to disturb her again. At a deserted intersection, he pulled off his jacket and draped it over her, which she took hold of and snuggled into it immediately.

"You know, Leo… You're actually really nice... You just try to pretend otherwise sometimes… but I can see right through you..."

The car quietly rolled up to a set of two-storey apartment blocks. Shutting off the engine, Leo glanced over at his sleeping companion. She hadn't said anything in the past few minutes, and simply clutched his coat like a security blanket as she inhaled and exhaled steadily. He reached across to shake her shoulder gently.

"Hey, Sakura… You need to wake up and find a proper place to sleep."

In the rearview mirror, Leo saw Hana sit up, rubbing her eyes. "If she's sleeping now, you're not going to wake her up for a few hours."

This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid. "Well, what am I supposed to do, then? I'm not staying here all night."

Hana opened the door and stepped into the crisp night air, swaying slightly. She was forced to steady herself against the car. "I can carry her up to our apartment. You can leave. Thanks for the ride, I guess."

Leo scoffed at her words, following her lead and stepping out onto the black asphalt. "Yeah, sure, that seems like a sound plan."

The brown-haired undergraduate straightened up to glare at him. "Are you doubting my strength? Do you want to repeat that a little closer to my face?"

"No, I'm doubting your ability to not fall down the stairs with a human being held in your arms after having who knows how many drinks." He strode around the front of his car to the passenger side. "I will carry her upstairs, and you will stay here and avoid giving yourself a concussion by trying to move until I come back."

Ignoring the suspicious look that Hana was giving him, Leo lifted the sleeping Sakura out of her seat and into his arms, bridal style. Closing the passenger door with his foot, he managed to unlock the outer door of the building using a key he retrieved from her purse. Carefully shifting the position of his arms to better support her head, he took measured steps up the stairs to the second level. With his arms under her knees and shoulders, he couldn't take hold of the railing, and the hand grasping the key had a limited range of movement. It took him several tries to slot the key into the lock, nearly dropping it twice, before he was able to depress the latch and push the door open.

The living space was standard for a pair of broke university students— only an old couch, fraying carpet, and a small TV. Of the two bedrooms, it was easy for Leo to guess which belonged to Sakura. The first was decorated with posters of various athletes, and a lone photograph of an older man in a military uniform. The second had a white and pink flower-patterned bedspread and a pot of orange blossoms.

Leo entered the latter room, trying to avoid looking around too much. This was Sakura's private space, after all, and he wanted to respect that. Still, he couldn't not notice the sheer number of framed photos she kept on her desk. Parents, friends, his sister Elise, even, and one depicting a group of her and three others, presumably her siblings. The only one he recognized was that insufferable pineapple, Takumi, but there was also a tall man with long hair and an air of strength that reminded Leo of his own brother, and woman with short, dark-red hair glaring at the camera defiantly. A trio of dolls, painstakingly sewn by hand, each one matching the features of a sibling, lined a shelf on the wall across.

All of his walking had caused Sakura to stir slightly, and as he set her down onto her bed, she grumbled quietly, eyes still shut, and grabbed at his arm. "Mmph… Don't go… I was just getting comfortable..."

Leo shook his hand free, and before he could think better of it, brushed his fingers through her pink locks for a few seconds. "It's time for you to go sleep, Sakura." He pulled her blankets up and over her and turned to leave.

Her voice was muffled as she turned over and buried her face into her pillow, arms crossed over her chest. "Could you d-do that again some other time?"

He glanced back at her, curious. "Do what again?"

"Carry me places… and m-maybe stroke my hair... It was nice, and you were really warm…"

Leo forced himself to temper his reaction. Sakura had just maxed out on her apparent alcohol tolerance just a few hours ago, after all. "We'll see."

He left silently after that, taking care not to slam her door as he exited. A series of thumps echoed from below him, followed by a string of expletives, causing him to rush to the stairwell as quietly as he could. The source of the disturbance was Hana, who appeared to have tumbled down the first few steps on an attempt to make her way to the second floor.

"I told you not to walk for a reason, you know."

She gave him a venomous scowl. "You were taking too long, so I had to go check on Sakura."

Leo let out an annoyed breath, and made his way to the bottom floor. He stuck out a hand and pulled Hana to her feet. "I'll help you up the stairs, but I can't be bothered to do anything for you beyond that."

By the time the two of them made it back to Hana and Sakura's apartment, he had a bruised shoulder and his mother had been insulted in about six different ways.

Only after he had returned home did Leo realize that he didn't have his jacket anymore.

Selena woke up with a splitting headache, extremely irritated, to an insistent banging on her door. It was Takumi, at about two hours after midnight.

"Where the hell is my sister?" he asked frantically, half panicked and half angry.

The redhead quietly took note of his mussed up hair and the red marks across his face. "Oh, she got a ride from Leo, like, an hour ago."

"What!?

There's a fine line between being romantic and being a creep. This is probably the latter, tbh. But I'm going post this anyway, because I don't get enough verbal abuse online these days.

While writing a section of this, one of my revision comments was, "Is this even physically possible with a steering wheel?" The answer to that is no, so that part was removed. Anime trope, in case anyone was wondering (ha).