Cupid Plays Suna (Sunaosa)

Chapter 6

Sleep was not an aspect of any god's life. They and their powers were eternal so sleep was never needed in their lives. They didn't think much about it because it was never going to be a problem for them. Therefore, after the first week of being in a mortal body, Suna was exhausted. He could barely manage to keep his eyes open, much less perform well enough in practice. He used up most of his reserves replenishing his energy, but it seemed to not be enough. At first, he thought it was a defect and was planning on recreating this body again, but when he asked Komori about it, Komori smacked him on the back as he laughed.

"I figured you didn't sleep that much because of those bags under your eyes, but an entire week?" He shook his head again as he cackled at Suna, and Suna paused as the realization washed over him. Sleep. So that's what this is. My body needs to sleep.

He turned to Komori with a serious look. "How do I get some of it?"

Komori howled even louder as he continued to pat Suna on the back. He didn't know then that a side effect of exhaustion was irritation, but in that moment he was very close to transforming back into his godly being and burning everything in a hundred mile radius. "You really are a weird one, Suna, but thank you for the laugh. I needed it." He bounded up from the side of the court where they were stretching and jogged off with a thumbs-up.

Suna vowed that if something similar ever happened again, no one should be blaming him for transforming. Later that night, he researched all he could about sleep. He's seen mortals do it plenty, but he didn't understand how. He would lie in bed for hours with his eyes closed but nothing happened. He just couldn't do it.

Therefore, Suna soon gave up or just ran on a couple hours of sleep a day. Most nights he spent sitting on his balcony to observe the people below, and practice taking pictures so he wouldn't embarrass himself the next time he was asked to take one for his team. Then when he met Osamu, he was able to fill up a good amount of it by listening to his voice on the phone. For some reason, he felt much groggier listening to Osamu's voice late at night than any of the recommended playlists he used to make himself sleep.

When Osamu had to hang up because of work early in the morning, Suna used that time to glance over the pictures they took together. Many of them were from the summer, trying different restaurants, or walking down the street together at sunset, and Suna knew it was the perfect opportunity to take one.

The ones he scanned over the most were the ones he took of Osamu when he wasn't looking. His favorite was one that he took of Osamu while he was standing behind the counter at his shop. He was forming a new batch for Suna, and his eyes were crinkled as he laughed at something Suna said. It may or may not have been the wallpaper to his home screen ever since. And he may or may not stare at it so much that his other teammates would ask what he was smiling at.

His body was able to function well enough on the passable hours of sleep, but as of late, he hasn't been able to get any. Ever since Osamu hugged him that day, he's continuously chased after sleep since. When he tried hiding his phone away from him and shut his eyes to sleep, his thoughts began to steer towards Osamu again. He wondered what that hug meant and why he was so affected by it. He wondered why Osamu would ever miss him, and why he was so excited whenever Suna visited him even though it was every other day. But most of all, he wondered why he couldn't stay away from him.

He knew the hours he continued to lose sleep were catching up with him, and he finally hit his breaking point at the end of practice. After he landed from a block, he fell right back into Komori and Washio with a long yawn. His eyes were drooping closed, and his knees were about to give out. "Whoa, Suna, when's the last time you slept?"