Of bratty demons and mushroom heads

CHAPTER 25

It was the end of Hiyoshi’s second day in Singapore and he finally had a few free moments to call Akaya before he went to bed. After arriving, he’d only had time for a brief re-introduction with the Tanaka family and a quick meal before immediately going out to the dojo for classes. Exhausted after only the first day, he‘d only had time for dinner with the family before collapsing in the guest bedroom and slept straight until the alarm went off the next morning.

It was one in the morning in Japan, and Akaya had class the next day, but Hiyoshi didn’t care. He hated to admit it, but he really wanted to hear his brat’s voice. It had only been three days. He punched in the long distance number on his cell phone and waited eagerly for a response.

Akaya had been staring at his ceiling for three hours trying to sleep, but it was too hot and he didn't have Hiyoshi around to steal his heat. At least, that was how he tried to rationalize the insomnia he'd had since his boyfriend left. He rolled over for the umpteenth time and stared at his clock. What time was it in Singapore? Maybe he could call Hiyoshi. Maybe that would help him sleep. He frowned though when he realized he didn't have his boyfriend’s number and his cell phone probably didn’t work over there. Or it would be really expensive or… something. He picked up his phone to try it anyway, but as soon as his fingers touched it, the phone rang and he yelped, falling off the bed.

He pushed the button and held it to his ear, "Hello?"

“Hi.” The moment the phone line had started to ring, Hiyoshi remembered how bad he was at talking on the phone. He wasn’t sure what to say if Akaya actually answered. But when he heard Akaya’s voice on the other end of the line, he instantly relaxed and forgot to be bothered.

"Wakashi!" Akaya cried happily then blushed and cleared his throat. "Er, I mean... Hey..." He climbed back up onto the bed and brought his knees to his chest to wrap an arm around them. "How's Singapore?" he wasn't going to say how much he missed him or that he'd just been thinking about him. That would be lame and sappy and... "I miss you..." Damn it.

Hiyoshi’s mouth twitched up into a small smile. “Busy. There’s a lot of work to do.” It was really pathetic how just hearing the brat’s voice made his entire body feel a little lighter. He could perfectly picture in his head what Akaya probably looked like right then and unconsciously held the phone closer to his ear. “I miss you, too,” he whispered into the phone, barely loud enough to be heard on the other end. “I’m sorry for calling so late if I woke you up.”

The chibi demon almost missed what his boyfriend said. Almost. He smiled and shook his head. "No, you didn't. Don't worry about it. What time is it there anyway? Is it late?"

“You’re only an hour ahead of me, so it’s a little after midnight here. I can’t talk for long since I have to wake up early in the morning, and you have class.” Hiyoshi hated how awkward he sounded over the phone. Most of his communication was done through gestures and expressions, and they both sucked at verbal communication most of the time, unless used for insults.

"Oh, okay." Akaya’s smile stayed firmly in place and he flopped onto his side, his knees still pressed to his chest. "I can sleep in class, but I don't wanna keep you up too late." It was enough just to hear the other man’s voice for now, to hear him say he missed him. It was relaxing to know he wasn't the only one.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping in class, idiot. This isn’t high school.” Hiyoshi shook his head half amusedly, half exasperated. Seriously, how Akaya wasn’t flunking, he had no idea.

"My teachers are boring anyway. It's their own fault," Akaya mumbled and smiled at the tone of his boyfriend’s voice. If he closed his eyes he could imagine his expression and that brought a little laugh to the surface.

“Don’t blame others for your own shortcomings, brat,” Though it was a lecture, Hiyoshi was fairly certain Akaya could hear the fondness in his voice. Realizing he still hadn’t changed for the night, he stood the bed. “Hold on while I get changed for bed.” He put the phone down to remove his shirt and pants, but thought he heard something coming from Akaya’s end so picked it back up again while retrieving his pajama pants. “What was that?”

"Nothing," Akaya laughed again, though he really wished he could see his boyfriend undressing. It was always one of his favorite things to watch.

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes as he tried to keep the phone to his ear while putting his pajama pants on one handed. “By the way, you suck at packing. I couldn’t find anything in my suitcase yesterday.”

"That's just cause you weren't paying attention when I told you where everything was." Akaya chided but couldn't get the big smile off his face.

“You mean there was some kind of order to that mess? I found my tooth brush and paste rolled up in my pajama pants.” It actually amused Hiyoshi how bad Akaya’s packing was, but he wasn’t going to tell him that.

"It was so they were protected and wouldn't get squished, dummy," Akaya mumbled and stuck his tongue out at the phone. His packing was amazing.

“Whatever you say brat.” Hiyoshi would have argued that you can’t squish a toothbrush and it would have been fine with the rest of his bathroom supplies, but he wasn’t going to bother. Sitting down on the bed, he could almost imagine it was any other night talking to Akaya before going to sleep. “Why haven’t you gone to sleep yet? Did you go out or get sucked into another video game?”

Crap. He couldn't tell Hiyoshi he wasn't sleeping, so Akaya smiled and laughed, lying perfectly. "Heh heh, yeah, I got into playing top spin on the wii. I just took out Federer, You should have seen it! Too bad I can't go blood shot in a video game..."

Hiyoshi smirked and lay down. “Try not to stay up too late. Don’t you have tennis practice?”

"Yeah I know, don't worry, I'll be fine. I've survived through practice with buchou and fukubuchou on no sleep before. It's hard but I can do it," Akaya said honestly and winced at the memory. The two demons knew when he'd stayed up too late and made him work extra hard those days. Oh well, Wakashi was worth it.

Hiyoshi’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean no sleep? Are you not sleeping again?” He sighed, already knowing the answer. Akaya may be a good liar, but he knew his boyfriend.

Well... fuck. "No, I'm sleeping, just not a lot..." Akaya admitted quietly and covered his eyes with his hand.

“Idiot.” He should have known… Hiyoshi was sleeping alright since his body was so exhausted after the long days, but to be honest, his eating habits (despite Natsumi and the family’s efforts) hadn’t been good since he left. Why take-out and even greasy fast food with Akaya there seemed more palatable than a home-cooked meal, Hiyoshi would never understand.

"Don't call me an idiot," The insomniac boy grumbled, "You're probably not eating right, so don't gimme crap for having trouble sleeping." He knew his boyfriend and he remembered the break. He knew what Wakashi did when he wasn't there to watch him.

The martial artist wasn’t going to validate that with a response, knowing that no matter what he said, Akaya would know the truth. Instead, he gave an audible sigh and stared at the ceiling, just listening to Akaya’s soft breathing from the other end of the line.

"I wish you weren't in stupid Singapore..." Akaya mumbled and stared at the wall.

Hiyoshi hadn’t meant for the conversation to go in this direction. “Are you lying down?”

"Yeah..." Akaya said and looked at where Hiyoshi normally slept. His bed was cold and he hated it.

“First off, stretch out. You’re never going to get any sleep if you’re all scrunched up. Lay on your side away from my side of the bed.” Hiyoshi’s voice was commanding. This was not a request.

Akaya frowned. He didn't like being bossed around, especially on the phone. Still, he did as he was told and rolled over and laid out fully. Making his legs tingle as the blood rushed back to them.

Hiyoshi could hear Akaya moving around and knew his brat must be exhausted if he was following his directions so easily. “Rest the phone against your ear and try to relax.” Akaya might laugh at him for this later, but he didn’t particularly care at the moment.

"Why the--" Akaya sighed and did as he was told. "Alright, now what?" he grumbled grouchily.

“Just shut up and listen.” Hiyoshi bit out embarrassed. He took a calming breath and in a low steady voice started recapping everything that had happened since he arrived in Singapore, including details of the house and the classes. “I arrived at the dojo yesterday afternoon. I was taken directly to the main house next to the dojo where I got re-acquainted with the Tanaka’s before I was given a short tour of the house. It’s very similar to my parent’s house…”

Akaya blinked as Hiyoshi started talking, then smiled and closed his eyes to listen. As his boyfriend’s story continued, he felt his body relaxing and yawned.

Hiyoshi wasn’t used to talking so much. By the time he had run out of things to say, his mouth and throat were uncomfortably dry. Trying to be as normal as possible, he finished with, “I’m tired, brat. Sleep now.”

"Mm... It's nice when you talk so much Wakashi," Akaya murmured quietly with another big yawn. "But okay... Sleep time... I love you..."

If Akaya could see him, he would have seen Hiyoshi’s cheeks color at the comment, and a small smile on his lips. “I love you, too. Goodnight,” he whispered back and tried hard to hold back his own answering yawn, waiting for Akaya to hang up the phone.

"I miss you..." The sleepy demon mumbled and smiled a little, "a lot. So... Come home soon... I'll be waiting..." With that, he hung up the phone and immediately fell asleep. It wasn't good sleep by any means, but it was the only sleep he'd had since his boyfriend left.

The smile didn’t leave Hiyoshi’s face and he continued to hold the phone up to his ear even after he heard Akaya hang up. It wasn’t until the annoying beeping started that he finally closed the phone and resigned himself to another night of sleep without Akaya beside him. He was going to regret staying up this late in the morning, but it had been worth it. The ridiculous things he did for his boyfriend.