Of bratty demons and mushroom heads

CHAPTER 5

It was dark and cold and Akaya was shivering as he ran toward the Daidaiiro dorm in just his boxers. He didn't know why he was going to Hiyoshi’s room instead of Sanada’s room, as he usually did on nights like this, but none the less, he kept running. He'd had a nightmare that he hadn't had since he was little and it had shaken him up badly, though he would never admit it. As he got to the room he didn't even knock, he just turned the handle and entered. Hiyoshi really needed to remember to lock his door.

He crawled into the bed and snuggled up to Hiyoshi’s back, still shivering from the dream. He already felt a bit better just having someone around that he cared about. Wait, cared about? That wasn't right---oh well, he wouldn't worry about it at the moment.

Hiyoshi hadn’t been asleep long. Once again, he had been made to spend the majority of his day after classes with Keiko-san. Spending the day with her usually meant coming home late with an empty wallet and all of his energy sucked out of him, and he still needed to get his homework done. He had gone to bed a lot later than he would have liked.

Nevertheless, Hiyoshi was sound asleep until a noise had partially woken him up. He started to fall back asleep until he felt something cold against his back. He would have thought maybe his blankets had just fallen off; he had a lot of blankets since he got cold easily, except it was shivering. Not really concerned in his sleep deprived state, he slowly turned around to investigate. Kirihara? What was he doing here? “What the hell are you doing here, brat?” He mumbled half consciously. “It’s the middle of the night.” It didn’t even occur to him to ask why he was in his bed.

"Can I stay?" Akaya wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s waist and pressed himself closer against him as he tried to calm his body and mind. There was adrenaline rushing through his veins and he couldn't stop the shaking or his racing heart. "Please?" His voice was quiet and shaky, almost fragile sounding.

Now Hiyoshi was more awake. The brat was being polite? Well, as polite as he could be for coming into his room without asking and waking him up in the middle of the night. He was cold. Kirihara was NEVER cold. He quickly covered them both with the blankets and wrapped his arms around the other boy’s shoulders to warm him up. “What happened?” He asked, trying to be gentle, which was not his forte. “Did you get drunk and lock yourself out or something?”

"It--it's nothing..."Akaya muttered and snuggled closer. He didn't want to admit that he'd been so freaked out because of a dream. He didn't want Hiyoshi to see him as weak. "I just... don't wanna go back there right now..." 'I don't want to be alone,' he finished in his head.

“Don’t want to go back where?” Hiyoshi didn’t like the way Kirihara was still shaking. Now that he was underneath the blankets, his body was warming up again. He shouldn’t still be shaking. He hadn’t seen his friend for a few days since he’d been busy with school and Keiko-san. The brat had supposedly been training non-stop, or so he had heard. Maybe something had happened that he didn’t know about. He lightly stroked the brat’s back, which he just now uncomfortably realized didn’t have a shirt covering it. “I think I at least deserve to know why you decided to come over and wake me up in the middle of the night.”

"My room..." Akaya couldn't close his eyes. Every time he did, he saw the scene from his dream. All the bodies lying out before him. Hiyoshi was right though, he did deserve an explanation, "...Nightmare..." he said quietly and tightened his arms around the other man momentarily. It was embarrassing to say and made him feel like a little kid again, sneaking into his parents bed.

A bad dream? Kirihara had come to his room and woken him up in the middle of the night because of a bad dream? “Shit…You really are a brat. You had to come over here and wake me up for that?” In spite of his cruel tone, Hiyoshi slowly moved his arms down to wind them around Kirihara’s waist and hugged the other man back. It wasn’t a natural action for Hiyoshi, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the moment.

"Sorry..." Akaya said humbly. He felt bad for waking the other boy up, but at least it didn't seem Hiyoshi was going to kick him out.

“Stop that!” Hiyoshi snapped irritably. He didn’t like it that Kirihara was acting so subdued, it didn’t suit him. “It was just a stupid dream and it doesn’t mean shit… Look at me when I’m talking to you, idiot.” He held Kirihara’s chin, forcing him to look at him as he reprimanded seriously. “Dreams aren’t real and they don’t mean anything. All that ever comes of nightmares is a lack of sleep, nothing else. Do I make myself clear?”

Akaya’s eyes went wide with shock as Hiyoshi scolded him. "Uh--y-yeah..." He nodded and forced a little smile. He wanted to say thank you but couldn't find the words, so he locked his eyes on the other boy’s and kissed him slowly.

Hiyoshi was about to go off on another rant about the importance of getting a good night’s rest, sleep was something Hiyoshi appreciated dearly, when he felt those lips on his and lost his train of thought completely. A small moan escaped him and his hand on Kirihara’s chin slowly made its way to his cheek before burying itself in his hair and pulling him closer.

Finally letting his eyes flutter shut, Akaya licked lightly at Hiyoshi’s lips, practically begging for entrance. For the first time since he'd woken up, he wasn't shaking. When it came to kissing he was confidant no matter how scared or shaken up he was. Not to mention, the other’s kiss seemed to calm him more than any words could, and that little moan was enough to draw an answering one from his own throat.

Hiyoshi couldn’t think as that warm tongue slid along the seam of his lips. Opening his mouth with a groan, Hiyoshi surrendered to his own suppressed desires. He allowed the brat's tongue entrance, shuddering as he felt the other’s body move against his. Kirihara felt so damn good against him and all of Hiyoshi’s repressed desires cried out for this not to stop.

Akaya pushed Hiyoshi back slowly so he was lying on top of him, but he was careful not to break the kiss. He braced himself on one arm and let his other explore Hiyoshi’s bare chest. The muscles were defined and firm, but in a different way than his. This was the chest of a powerful martial artist, not the chest of a tennis player who trained too much. He didn't know what had changed Hiyoshi’s mind about kissing him, but he was definitely not going to complain.

Hiyoshi felt he was being pushed onto his back, but ignored the alarms going off inside his head. Instead, allowing being covered by the boy’s warm and hard body. His taste, his smell, his touch… they had somehow all become so familiar to him. He distantly heard another moan and wondered if that was him or Kirihara.

Akaya’s hand knew what to do even without him controlling it. He was experienced. Hell, he could do this in his sleep (and probably had). It trailed down Hiyoshi’s side until it found his hip and he rubbed it gently before letting it move down the other’s leg. He pulled the limb up and rolled his hips down against Hiyoshi’s on reflex. The kiss made his heart race again, but this time in a good way, and his breath caught in his throat.

Brain in a fog of lust and sleep, Hiyoshi’s hips bucked up at the unexpected motion, causing him to growl under his breath. He clumsily tried to reciprocate Kirihara’s hold on him to bring him even closer, and do that again. Every touch, every move the other boy made against him was like fire racing down his skin. He’d tried to ignore this, denying any chance that he could possibly feel anything but friendship for his brat. To accept the reality that he… SHIT. He violently shoved the other boy off of him, managing to completely throw him off the futon.

As Akaya was thrown off the futon, his head cracked back against the floor and he grabbed it, cursing. "Ow! Fuck." He balled himself up on the floor and groaned. "You could have said stop..." he murmured and sat up as the throbbing in his head finally subsided.

Breathing hard, Hiyoshi tried desperately to collect himself. He was absolutely furious. ‘What was I thinking? Have I completely lost my mind?’ He prided himself on self-control, and now he had gone and done exactly what he had been trying to avoid. “Is this what you do to all your conquests? Claim to have bad dreams then take advantage of their sympathy?”

The wild haired boy winced and looked away. "Conquests?" He didn't know why, but the word made his chest hurt. It felt like when he'd seen Sanada lose to Echizen back in junior high. It was like disappointment, fear, and hurt, all mixed together. He didn't understand it any better now than he had back then. "W-whatever, I'll leave, alright? Will that make you feel better?"

It took all of two seconds for Hiyoshi to feel the pang of guilt well up in his chest. He was being irrational. It hadn’t been all Kirihara’s fault that this had happened. “Damn it. Come back here. Brat! Hey! AKAYA!” He hadn’t meant to call out to him like that. He knew though as he watched Kirihara make to leave, that if he let him walk out then, he would regret it.

Akaya paused mid-step and blinked in surprise. Had Hiyoshi just called him by his first name? "Eh?" He cocked his head to the side and opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He heard his name all the time. All his senpai called him that (except Yagyuu, but that was just because he was so polite all the time), his family called him that, almost all of his lovers called him that, but none of them had ever made him shiver (in a good way) when they said it. Not like Hiyoshi just had.

It wasn’t like Hiyoshi could take back what just happened and un-kiss him, and he wasn’t going to kick the brat out in the middle of the night with just his boxers on. Hiyoshi reached out, grabbed Kirihara’s arm, and roughly pulled him back down on to the futon with him, covering them both with the blankets. His arm came around the brat’s waist so he wouldn’t try to leave again. “Just for tonight, brat.” He said softly from behind him. “Now, go to sleep.”

Akaya swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. Hiyoshi was right. He needed to sleep. He had class in the morning. "Good night..." he mumbled and closed his eyes as he rested his hand on the arm that was still wrapped around him, fully aware he wouldn’t be getting to sleep for quite a while. At least he wasn't alone now.

Hiyoshi was tired, very tired. He didn’t know what this meant and didn’t want to think about it right now. Letting out a long breath, he watched as it made Kirihara’s curls sway slightly in front of him. He closed his eyes and forced himself to relax. “Good night...” he whispered back in a low tone, just barely loud enough to be heard.

After Akaya felt Hiyoshi’s breath even out a bit, he rolled over in his arms and watched him sleep. It was pretty boring, but it was nice to see such a relaxed expression on the other’s face. Their breaths mingled and his arms reached out to pull Hiyoshi closer. With his forehead resting against the brown bangs that covered the mushrooms forehead, Akaya closed his eyes again and tried to match his breathing to the slow rhythmic movements of Hiyoshi’s chest. Before he realized he was even tired, he had drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.