Of bratty demons and mushroom heads

CHAPTER 7

Hiyoshi had been a mess. Worried about the eminent condemning call from his father, trying not to think about Kirihara’s betrayal, and knowing that whatever kind of friendship they had built was completely lost now. But after having gone almost three days hardly eating or sleeping and barely leaving his room, Hiyoshi had been forced back into the world of the living by Choutarou, who’d gently talked him out of his rather pathetic state.

Then, the odd and somewhat disturbing run-in with the three Rikkai demons took place. They had originally come to support/avenge their kohai with a broken nose, and instead had ended up literally threatening him back to life. But the demon, who had been way beyond confusing, was Sanada-san.

It seemed to Hiyoshi that Sanada-san had only come to intimidate and threaten, but not three hours later he’d been back to make sure he’d started eating properly. He certainly didn’t want to get on the man’s bad side again, so… he’d let the man take him out to lunch. In the end, Sanada-san volunteered to be his new martial arts training partner in Kendo. Looking back on it; it had to be one of the most embarrassing times in his life.

Lying on the grass next to the lake, his favorite spot on campus, it felt good to be outside. It was cloudy and chilly, but for once, the feel of cold breeze on Hiyoshi’s skin felt nice. It looked like it might even rain, which explained why no one else was around.

Akaya kicked at a rock on the pathway, his hands shoved in his pockets. It was the first time since Friday night that he'd been out and about. His talk the night before with Sanada had helped him to sort out things a bit more in his head and get out his frustrations. He felt a lot more level headed and ready to face anything.

He'd gone on a walk around the lake and was just nearing the end of it when he came face to face with the one thing he wasn't ready to handle, Hiyoshi. He considered turning around and walking away, but before he could stop it, he was already walking toward the other boy.

Hiyoshi had been attempting to clear his thoughts, relax and let his mind and body recuperate, when he heard someone approaching. Annoyed, he turned towards the person to see if they were planning to bother him. He froze when he saw it was the very person he couldn’t stop thinking about for the last three days. He felt conflicted. What should he say? Should he just ignore him? He had… missed him. He had told the brat’s over-protective sempai-tachi that he would apologize and then not get close to him anymore. Watching him, he just waited to see what Kirihara would do.

"Oh uh... I'll--uh--I'll go..." Akaya mumbled and turned around, reaching up to touch his nose carefully. Sanada had said that the other boy didn't hate him, but the almost annoyed look on Hiyoshi’s face told him otherwise. "I'm sorry to bother you..." He started back the way he had come slowly, not caring that it was the long way.

Hiyoshi had been trying not to look at Kirihara’s broken nose; feeling the guilt swarm to his chest. He winced at the other boy’s awkward retreat. Automatically, he sat up and yelled out, “Wait! Aka-uh… Kirihara… shit. Stupid brat, come back here!”

The seaweed headed boy stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn back to face Hiyoshi. "I'm not a brat," he snapped but didn't walk away, despite every nerve in his body screaming at him to leave. After everything, his senpai were wrong. Hiyoshi did hate him and couldn't even call him by his name.

Damn it. Hiyoshi hadn’t meant that to come out the way it did. He was supposed to be apologizing. Standing up, he hesitantly walked over to where Akaya had his back facing him. He reached up to lightly touch the base of Kirihara’s neck as he always did, but then moved to his shoulder instead and guided him to turn around so they were facing each other.

Hiyoshi didn’t like seeing the brat like this. Finally forcing himself to look at the damage he’d done, he gently outlined the other boy’s broken nose with his hand whispering a soft “sorry” as he did so. Realizing what he was doing was not normal, he quickly retracted his hand. “I-sorry… You don’t-I mean… shit.” He crossed his arms and glared to the side for a moment. This was really embarrassing!

Akaya let himself be turned around and kept a rather cold emotionless look on his face until Hiyoshi’s fingers touched his nose. His eyes went wide and the blood was pounding so hard in his ears that he barely heard Hiyoshi’s quiet apology. The quiet word just made him blush harder and made his head spin in confusion, wasn't he the one who was supposed to be apologizing? Finally, as Hiyoshi pouted, he smiled a little and reached out to pull the other man against him in a hug.

The hug was completely unexpected, but Hiyoshi supposed most things that involved the brat were. He could feel the tension in his body finally leaving him as he let himself relax in Akaya’s arms for a moment. If he thought he had felt better earlier, now it was like a huge weight had been lifted off his chest. Pulling out of the mini-demon’s arms with an obvious blush on his face, Hiyoshi sat back down on the grass, tugging Kirihara down to sit next to him. He gave him a small but sincere smile. He rarely did that, the expression almost a foreign thing to Hiyoshi, but he knew that Akaya probably needed reassurance the same way he did.

It was surprising to be tugged down to the ground, but Akaya didn't complain. The smile and blush on the other’s face drew a smile from him as well and suddenly everything felt better. His chest didn't ache anymore and neither did his nose, at least until he practically jumped onto Hiyoshi’s lap so he was straddling him, then it just stung a little.

“Oof!” Knocked back onto his forearms, Hiyoshi tried not to laugh out loud at the sudden attack. Was this the same person that he had been worrying all weekend about? “You know, I just told your crazy protective senpai-tachi that I would keep my distance from you, and you’re not helping. Did you sick them on me to get revenge or something?” He asked with a teasing smirk on his lips. Though, they had actually been rather… scary, and he preferred not to get on their bad side again.

"Eh?" Akaya blinked as he wrapped his arms around Hiyoshi’s shoulders. "My senpai-tachi?" He cocked his head to the side as he thought about who it could have been, "You mean Yanagi-senpai, buchou, and fukubuchou? I didn't send them after you, why would I?"

Normally, by this time, Hiyoshi would have been pushing the other boy off of him, but right now it just felt too good to have him close again. He let himself collapse the rest of the way down onto the grass and brought his hand up to tangle in Akaya’s curls, letting the familiar feeling wash over him. He answered back sarcastically. “I don’t know. Maybe because I broke their precious kohai’s nose? Heh, Yanagi-san can be damn creepy when he wants to be, I think Sanada-san may have saved me a trip to the hospital, and your Buchou looked like he was gonna eat me alive with his smile.”

Akaya let his head fall forward and closed his eyes as Hiyoshi’s hand found its way into his hair. He chuckled. "Yeah, it's not a good idea to make them mad. They all have anger issues," said the part-demon boy. "Buchou is the worst," he whispered as if the blunette could hear him from wherever he was, "but how did Fukubuchou save you from going to the hospital?"

Akaya was so warm on top of him. “I hadn’t been eating, so he lectured me for mal-nutrition and later took me out to lunch.” Shit! His eyes flew open and his hand stopped brushing through Akaya’s hair. He hadn’t meant to tell him that. In fact, he planned on never telling anyone how pathetic he’d been acting, ever.

"Why hadn't you been eating?" Akaya opened his eyes to stare in shock at Hiyoshi. "He was right to lecture you! You can't not eat!! Idiot!" He scolded with a deep frown, "Don't ever do that again."

“Yeah, yeah…” Hiyoshi grumbled. “I already got the lecture, remember?” He was NOT about to tell Kirihara that he was the reason he’d been depressed. “Anyway, isn’t it about time you got off me? I don’t want the over-protective trio to come after me again.” He smirked up at him.

"Yeah, well you better listen to it," Akaya replied stubbornly then leaned down so he was lying on top of Hiyoshi, instead of just sitting on him. "They won't come after you. They're all really nice you know." He grinned. "They're good senpai."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Sure, I’ll remember that.” ‘Until they come murder me in my sleep…’ He had enough problems with just the one chibi demon; he didn’t need the whole family haunting him. “So, Kirihara-san, are you going to get off me or not?”

"Don't call me that," the supposed chibi demon grumbled and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s neck. "My name is Akaya." He kissed the pale skin lightly with a devilish grin.

Hiyoshi chuckled, and tried to repress the small shiver that ran up his spine at the feel of Akaya’s soft lips against his neck. “Heh. I still think I prefer brat, or how about chibi demon brat? Maybe one of these days you’ll grow up to be big and scary like your demon senpai’s.”

Akaya glared at him, and then got an evil idea. He pinned down Hiyoshi’s arms then latched his lips onto the base of his neck and started sucking firmly. He only pulled away when he was sure there would be a decent sized mark, served him right.

Hiyoshi’s eyes bugged out. “Jeez brat, what are you, a vampire?” He tried to struggle but Kirihara’s grip was strong, and his body was still too weak to put up a decent fight. Okay, now he had a decent reason not to let himself go that long again without eating.

"There," Akaya said with a giant grin as he sat back to look over his work. "Heh, heh. Have fun explaining that one, mushroom head." He snickered to himself. That'd teach Hiyoshi not to compare him to his senpai like that.

Hiyoshi gave him a confused look. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing to explain. You’re the one who attacked me!”

"Dumbass," Akaya laughed and propped himself up on his elbows, one on either side of Hiyoshi’s head. "I gave you a hickey, a pretty good one too. That's what you're going to end up having to explain."

“WHAT!?” Hiyoshi’s hand immediately went to where the hickey supposedly was. Glaring, he brought his other hand up to tighten in Kirihara’s hair, and tugged. “Akaya…” he growled, “you tell anyone about this and I will make you regret it.”

"How do you plan on doing that?" Akaya purred slyly and licked at Hiyoshi’s lips with a devilish smile. He was quite proud of himself.

Stupid traitorous body. Hiyoshi had to hold back another shudder and force himself not to react to the action over his lips. “I’ll…” What wouldn’t get him killed? “I’ll never give you a massage, ever again,” he whispered back.

"I don't believe you," Akaya mumbled and kissed the mark he'd left before pressing his lips against Hiyoshi’s in a gentle chaste kiss.

Hiyoshi just laid there and his lips turned up in a small smile as he let himself be kissed, for once just enjoying the feel of the other’s lips against his. He didn’t encourage it, nor did he try to push him away. What was the point? The other boy must know by now that he wasn’t completely against it, and he didn’t have a fiancé anymore that he’d be cheating on. He could feel light drops of rain start to fall on him where Akaya wasn’t covering him.

The rain got heavier and started to soak through his shirt, but Akaya didn't pull away. Instead, he pressed himself closer to the other man, licking at his lips gently as he tried to deepen the kiss and protect his mushroom from the rain at the same time. Hiyoshi not pushing him away or yelling at him was all the encouragement he needed.

Without protest, at Akaya’s silent request, Hiyoshi opened his mouth slightly to let the other in. Still not participating, he shivered as he felt the other boy’s tongue move expertly over his own. His heart was beating faster and his breathing was turning heavy, the rain only making it all seem more surreal as he let a low noise escape from the back of his throat. Grabbing at the back of Akaya’s hair, he gently pulled him way so he could whisper against his lips, “Shouldn’t we get out of the rain?”

As Akaya got pulled away, he stared at Hiyoshi with slightly glazed eyes while he tried to calm his breathing and his faster heart beat. "Why?" he mumbled quietly and braced his weight on one arm so he could reach up and run a hand though the other mans hair to fix its slightly mussed look. "It feels good."

Hiyoshi couldn’t help but keep the small smile on his face. “We’re going to get sick if we stay out here.” He quickly leaned up and gently kissed the bridge of Kirihara’s nose gently and teasingly, before turning red and making them both stand. “Besides, we both have class soon and we can’t go sopping wet.”

"I'm not going today," Akaya mumbled and rubbed at his nose gently, it still throbbed lightly and too much pressure made it hurt, but the kiss had actually felt good. "But yeah... I guess we should go inside so you don't get sick." He had the immune system of low level god and almost never got sick so he wasn't particularly worried about it.

“Why aren’t you going to class today?” Hiyoshi asked curiously as he started to make his way back toward the campus and dorms. He could see other students running into buildings and under shelters to get out of the rain. He was already pretty soaked though so didn’t see much point to it.

"Don't want to," Akaya laced his fingers behind his head and looked up with his eyes half closed, enjoying the feel of the rain on his skin. "I like to play video games when it's raining," he grinned happily and turned his attention back to Hiyoshi. "You wanna come play with me?"

“That’s no reason, and I do have to go to class whether I want to or not.” Hiyoshi held himself back from lecturing about being a good student. “But… it’s only an hour class, so I can… meet you after?” It came out awkwardly since he still wasn’t sure what was okay between them. “We can get something to eat, or I can bring something back…”

"Bring something back and we'll have a blast." Akaya laughed and grinned happily. "I'll be in my room." He reached up and messed up Hiyoshi’s hair before running off toward the dorms, a new sprint in his step. He headed straight for his room; feeling like a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He hadn't slept well, if at all, since the night at the bar. And now that the weight was gone, he could feel the effects. As soon as he reached his destination, his exhausted body collapsed onto his bed and he fell into a deep sleep with his door still cracked open.

After finishing class an hour and a half later, Hiyoshi had gone to the nearest convenient store and picked up a few food items. Kirihara wasn’t a picky eater and he was getting it for free, so he better not complain. It was strange thinking that just this morning Hiyoshi thought he wouldn’t be seeing the brat anymore, and now he was on his way to his room with lunch.

He was still hesitant about this. He had finally accepted the fact that he liked the brat (for reasons he couldn’t fathom), and especially during their earlier encounter realized that the feeling wasn’t something he could just stop. But the truth still held that he didn’t want to be caught in a one sided… anything again. So, for now, he would just deal with whatever happened and try not to let himself get overly emotionally involved. If there was one thing he was good at, it was shoving his feelings aside.

By the time he arrived at Kirihara’s door, Hiyoshi was almost soaked again. It was really pouring outside. He knocked once and the door opened. Figuring it must not have been closed all the way; he peered in and saw Akaya asleep on his bed. What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t want to go back out into the rain so he let himself in. The brat had done it to him enough times that he didn’t need to feel bad about it.

After putting all of his stuff down, Hiyoshi knelt down next to the bed and contemplated what to do. The brat actually looked deceivingly cute while out cold, certainly less annoying when quiet, but… also less amusing. Bringing his hand up, he let it comb through Akaya’s still damp hair. “Akaya…” He gently tried to coax him awake. “Are you planning on sleeping for the rest of the afternoon, brat?”

"Hn..." Akaya rolled over with a little groan and nuzzled Hiyoshi’s hand. His hand patted the bed next to him and he mumbled. "Nn... Come back to bed..." he muttered tiredly.

Come back to bed? Hiyoshi stared at the blissfully asleep brat, wondering if maybe he had missed something. He had told him to come, right? Continuing to pet his hair and bringing his face down right next to the other boy’s, he asked, “Akaya… Who are you talking to?” He was tempted to toss him off the bed, but managed to restrain himself. He’d already done enough damage to the boy for one week.

"Hmm....." Akaya smiled in his sleep and pulled the other man into a kiss. When he pulled away, he licked at his lips and smiled. "Mmm... tastes good..." He opened his eyes and blinked them slowly. "Wakashi... Hey... hmm... Come back to bed..." He closed his eyes again and patted the bed again.

Hiyoshi made a little surprised sound at the unexpected kiss and then blushed hard at what Kirihara said. The brat had been dreaming about him? He slowly got on the bed, figuring it didn’t matter that his clothes were still wet since Akaya’s were, too. His arm lightly held Kirihara around the waist. “You know, if we stay like this, the food is going to get cold.”

"Hmm, food?" Akaya opened his eyes again and found himself staring straight into Hiyoshi’s. "You brought food?" he mumbled and kissed him again lightly. "What kinda food?"

Rolling his eyes Hiyoshi answered, “I told you I would. I brought Nikku-man and Pizza-man, and some Cha-han onigiri from the convenient store. Take your pick.”

"Mmm... Those sound good," the sleepy boy mumbled and sat up, running a hand through his hair with a yawn. He looked down, confused that he was still wearing all of his clothes. "Oh... I forgot to change..." he mumbled and then looked at Hiyoshi’s clothes that were a lot more wet than his own. "What were you doing out there? Swimming?" He snickered and got up to dig through one of his dresser drawers. He pulled out a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and threw them at Hiyoshi. "Put those on."

“Felt like it,” Hiyoshi grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly got up from the bed and caught the clothes Akaya tossed at him. “Thanks.” They looked like they would fit alright so he went to a corner of the room and faced the wall change.

Akaya chuckled and stared at Hiyoshi’s back as he changed. "You insecure about your looks or something?" He crossed his arms and leaned against the dresser, completely forgetting to get out some clothes for himself. It definitely wasn't a bad view.

Hiyoshi gave a soft snort. “No, I just happen to possess a trait called modesty. You might look into it.” After he finished pulling the dry pajama pants on, shirt in hand, he turned around and looked at Kirihara with a raised eyebrow. “You planning on changing too, or do you enjoy walking around with damp clothes on?”

"I was just enjoying the scenery," Akaya said with a grin then decided to go ahead and look through the dresser drawer. Finding a pair of old jean shorts and a t-shirt that he liked, he pulled off his own shirt and pants without trying to hide it at all.

Trying hard to ignore Kirihara’s blatant display without embarrassing himself, Hiyoshi put on the shirt then walked over to retrieve his bag of food. “I wasn’t sure which you’d want so I got both of what they had. Do you have a preference?” He sat on the floor and started taking out the contents.

Akaya laughed and pulled his shorts on over his boxers before pulling his shirt on and sitting down next to the other boy. "Niku-man is good." He grinned happily and held out his hand, waiting for the food.

Smirking, Hiyoshi took out the niku-man and unwrapped it, but then held it out of Kirihara’s reach. “What do you say, brat?”

Akaya glared at him and tried to grab it, but missed and frowned. "Please," he mumbled quietly.

Hiyoshi ruffled Kirihara’s head with his free hand like one would a small child before handing the niku-man over. He then reached for his pizza-man and cha-han. Leaning back against the bed as a support, he quietly and contentedly started to eat his lunch.

Akaya smiled again as soon as the food hit his hand and he immediately dug in. "This is great!" he said happily and watched Hiyoshi eat.

Akaya watching him while he ate was a little unsettling. “What’s so interesting? You can have some of mine if you want.” He broke off a piece of his pizza-man and held it out to him.

"Nothing," Akaya said with a grin and took the little piece and popped it into his mouth. "Mm... The niku one is better." He took another bite of the niku-man and swallowed it before leaning over and kissing Hiyoshi and licking at the others lips. When he pulled away he grinned slyl., "See? It tastes better."

Hiyoshi wasn’t sure if he should be disgusted or amused. He pulled Kirihara’s wrist that held the niku-man toward him and took a bite. “You’re right. I like the niku-man better.” He lay back and started un-wrapping a cha-han onigiri

Akaya looked down at the onigiri curiously and opened his mouth with a quiet "Ahhhhh" obviously waiting for Hiyoshi to feed him.

It took a lot of effort for Hiyoshi to stop himself from laughing out loud. Akaya looked ridiculous sitting there with his mouth hanging open. “I think you have a problem with your jaw, brat. It doesn’t seem to be working.” He took another bite of his rice ball.

"Hey!" Akaya pouted and instead leaned forward and took a bite of the rice ball when Hiyoshi was about to take another bite. "It works just fine," he mumbled with a little grin and licked at a piece of rice that had stuck to his lip.

“You know I got you your own.” The brat was just too annoyingly cute when he pouted like that. Hiyoshi handed him the other rice ball. “Although you owe me a bite of that now,” he added as he finished his own lunch.

"No way, it's all mine." Akaya started munching on the rice ball happily. He loved to eat, especially with friends. "So you know what we should do? We should play some videos games."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes at the suggestion. “Why should we do that? Do you have a Nintendo 64?” Kirihara should have already known from their experience together at the game center that he didn’t play many games, and didn’t know any of the new systems.

"Yeah, but N64's are old, we could play gundam on the xbox or something," Akaya said, going over to his little tower of game consoles next to the TV. He had every console ever made and games to go with every one. He looked back over his shoulder at Hiyoshi with a childish grin.

“You know I don’t know how to play any of those.” Still, Hiyoshi figured he’d indulge him since he had nothing better to do. He looked at his large game collection. “Jeez, brat, you think you have enough games? It’s a wonder you have enough time for anything else.” He shook his head but scooted closer to the TV. “Whatever you want is fine, but you’ll have to show me how to use the controller.”

"Well, what do you know how to play?" Akaya asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked up at all of the games.

Hiyoshi glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest. “Idiot, I just said I don’t know any of them. I’m not going to say it again.” He did not like it when someone shoved the fact that he didn’t know how to do something in his face. “I don’t care what we play.”

Rolling his eyes, Kirihara ran his finger over the covers of the boxes and cartridges. "Fine, how about..." he paused on a cartridge and pulled it out. “This?" He held it up, displaying the 'Super Nintendo Mario Kart' label. “This one okay?"

“Sure, we can try that... Or I could just watch you play something if you want.” Hiyoshi was irritated; he’d never seen that version before. He didn’t particularly mind watching others play; he used to watch Gakuto play video games when he got bored. "Why don't you show me something you enjoy playing?"

"If you're sure..." Akaya mumbled and put the game back before looking at the shelves again. He paused over a case and popped a disk out. "This game is pretty awesome," he grinned and dropped it into the tray on the wii. "It's Resident Evil 4." He flopped down on his bed with the wii-mote and an expectant look to Hiyoshi.

Hiyoshi smirked. “Resident Evil? Sounds like it suits you.” He didn’t care much what the game was. He got up and sat on the bed next to Akaya who was holding a funny looking white plastic stick.

"Shut up." Akaya glared half-heartedly at the other man and then turned his attention back to the screen as he selected the game from the menu. "This game is great. It's about the t-virus. It makes people turn into Zombies. Oh, and they have chainsaws and axes and stuff."

Sounded interesting enough. Hiyoshi had nothing against blood and violence; even if it seemed a bit overkill at times. With his back against the wall, and from his position on the bed, he had a great side view of Akaya’s face. Kirihara got really into the game, swinging the stick around like a lunatic and sometimes even jumping off the bed and then sitting back down. He wasn’t sure how that worked exactly, but figured he could ask later if he was still curious. He didn’t know how long he sat there for, but he was easily able to zone out and let his mind and body relax while he watched Akaya’s humorous display. The last few days had been hard on him, and with his brain finally shutting off, he slowly started to doze off.

Akaya got to a save spot and set the controller down to roll and stretch his wrist. He looked over at Hiyoshi with a big grin. "See isn't it...” he dropped off and closed his mouth. Asleep, huh? The normal gruff expression was gone and for once was replaced with a peaceful one. It was cute. Before he realized it, Akaya was leaning forward and kissing him.

Mumbling incoherently in his sleep, Hiyoshi smiled softly when warmth encompassed him. Leaning hazily towards it, he made a little sound, halfway between a sigh and a groan.

Akaya smiled into the kiss when he felt Hiyoshi’s lips move under his own to form a smile. Sometimes he forgot it was possible for the mushroom-head to do that. Grudgingly though, he pulled away and just watched the other sleep for a little while. He wasn't pervy enough to molest a guy while he was sleeping.

Half tempted to wake him up, Akaya decided against it and instead pulled a blanket over the other man then laid his head in his lap. It didn't take long for his eyelids to get heavy and leave him to join Hiyoshi in sleep.

---

A few hours later, Hiyoshi’s upper body was cold and uncomfortable. His neck hurt from falling asleep sitting up with his head bent to the side. He looked down to see Akaya asleep on his lap and reasoned that’s why he had no feeling in his legs. Unfortunately, the brat was heavier than he looked, and he didn’t have good leverage in his current sitting position. With both arms around the other boy, he carefully tried to move Akaya’s head off his lap and scoot him toward the pillow at the end of the bed.

Akaya groaned and opened his eyes as he felt himself being moved. "Wakashi..." he whined and glared at the other man, "What are you doing?"

Hiyoshi returned Akaya’s glare. “Making myself more comfortable.” Seeing that Akaya was at least somewhat awake, he stopped trying to move him and instead let his tired body collapse fully onto the bed. He could hear the rain still coming down hard outside from Akaya’s window and felt no inclination whatsoever to go back out into it. Taking the blanket that Akaya had placed over him earlier that must have fallen off, he faced the wall and ignored the other boy, intending to go back to sleep.

"Man..." Akaya yawned and moved up to snuggle against Hiyoshi’s back. "Now I'm awake..." He grumbled and kissed the back of Hiyoshi’s neck.

“You’re still half asleep, brat, now get off me and go back to sleep.” Hiyoshi was still really tired. He wanted to fall back asleep, not become Akaya’s cuddle toy, even if being Akaya’s cuddle toy felt kind of nice.

"'m not," Akaya murmured and kissed the other’s neck again. "See? 'm wide awake," he smiled and tightened his arms around the other’s waist.

Hiyoshi was tempted to pout, but instead, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the wall, sulking. Sulking, he decided, was much manlier than pouting. He half-heartedly struggled in the other boy’s grasp, determined not to lose any more of his dignity for one day. “If you’re so awake, then go be awake somewhere else.”

"It's my bed," Akaya replied with a bit of a laugh, "I don't have to go anywhere." He licked the back of Hiyoshi’s neck and grinned from ear to ear, "and it's raining too hard for you to go anywhere."

Sighing, Hiyoshi gave up on going back to sleep. He was pressed against Akaya’s well muscled chest and wrapped up in his arms. It felt ... nice. However, he wasn’t about to just lay there and let the brat do whatever he wanted. He didn’t want to hurt him since he was still painfully aware of the broken nose, but… “Quit bothering me, or I’ll…” He swiftly turned his body around in Akaya’s hold, pushing him underneath him in the process and held his hands above his head.

"You'll what?" Akaya said silkily, not at all surprised that he had ended up in the other boy’s hold. He looked up at Hiyoshi with a sly smile and barely resisted the urge to roll his hips up against him. ‘Kinky...’ he thought in amusement.

Hiyoshi held back from rolling his eyes, but could not hold back a mirrored sly grin. “This.” and he began mercilessly tickling Akaya’s sides.

Akaya’s eyes went wide with surprise before he started squirming around violently, laughing like a little kid. "S-s-stop! Ahaha! Waka-shi!! Leggo!!"

“No.” Hiyoshi answered simply. “This is what happens when you deprive me of my sleep.” He was enjoying himself; having not been in a tickle fight since way before his older brother had moved away from home. Getting to watch Akaya squirm was an added bonus. Laughing softly at the picture he made, Hiyoshi let go of Akaya’s hands so he could attack both his sides at once.

Between gasps, Akaya giggled out, "You suck!" and tried to squirm away as soon as his hands were released. Once he had the chance he started tickling Hiyoshi’s back.

Not expecting the sudden counter attack, Hiyoshi let out an undignified “ACK!” before losing his balance and falling onto his side. He couldn’t help the laughter that poured out as he tried to struggle out of Akaya’s grip, and while still trying to tickle him back. “Akaya! Wait! Ahaha! Enough!”

"No way!" Akaya laughed along with Hiyoshi and continued tickling until his sides ached from laughing too hard. Finally, the fingers stopped and he tried to calm his laughing. "I can't breathe--" he said between gasps and giggles.

Hiyoshi had been afraid he was going to pass out from lack of air before Kirihara finally stopped his assault. “Serves you right!” He gasped out between breaths, and then punched the other boy in the arm. Not enough to hurt, but enough to definitely feel it.

"Ow," Akaya whined between laughs and closed his eyes. "Jerk," he said with a giant grin and punched Hiyoshi back.

“Baby,” Hiyoshi countered back, punching his arm again, a little harder than the last time.

"Fungus," Akaya copied him, hitting a bit harder than Hiyoshi had.

This meant war. “Chibi,” Hiyoshi called with a large grin on his face. He tried to grab Akaya’s arms, but only managed to get one, and attempted to put him in a hold again.

"Loser," Akaya grinned and managed to keep his other arm away from Hiyoshi. Using his better physical condition to his advantage, he rolled them so he was lying over the other man.

“Idiot,” Still grinning, Hiyoshi tried to roll them over again to gain the upper hand, but in the struggle didn’t notice how close they were to the edge of the bed and they fell off in a mess of limbs. Reacting quickly, Hiyoshi twisted so that he landed on the bottom. He was going to be really mad at himself if he let Akaya’s broken nose get hurt even worse because of him.

Akaya yelped as they rolled off the bed. "Ow..." he mumbled and looked down at Hiyoshi. "W-Wakashi, you ok?" He climbed off of him and looked him over quickly.

“I’m fine.” Hiyoshi answered less than enthusiastically. He had let himself get too carried away. He looked over at Kirihara and asked, embarrassed, “You alright?”

"Yeah, I'm ok," Akaya smiled again and started laughing quietly. "That was fun." He stood and held out a hand to help Hiyoshi up.

Glad to see that Akaya was fine, with only a slight hesitation, Hiyoshi took his offered hand to help him up off the floor. Despite his efforts to hold it back, his body let out a tired yawn, and he covered his mouth with the hand that wasn’t currently still in Akaya’s. He looked out the window and saw the rain was still coming down hard, but there was no helping it. “It’s getting late. I should be going.” He pointed out as he looked around the room to see where he had left his stuff.

"You can't go out in that rain," Akaya said, keeping a firm hold on Hiyoshi’s hand. "Just stay here tonight."

Hiyoshi paused at the invitation. “I don’t know…” It’s not that he didn’t want to. The problem was that he did, maybe a little too much.

"If you go out in that, you're going to get sick. Then I'll make fukubuchou come take care of you," Akaya threatened. He'd been tended to by Sanada before. It had been an... interesting experience. He didn't know running laps could help fight off a cold.

Hiyoshi smirked at the brat’s threat. “I’m not terribly afraid of your fukubuchou coming to take care of me. Besides, you really think I’m that much of a weakling to get sick walking for five minutes in the rain?” He spotted his stuff over by the TV.

"Yeah," Akaya said with a little coy grin and refused to release the others hand. "Just stay with me tonight, come on, it's not gonna kill ya." He stepped between Hiyoshi and his stuff and looked at him with pleading puppy dog eyes he'd spent years perfecting.

It was unfair… so unfair. Hiyoshi had been using all of his self restraint to not just give in and stay, but when the brat looked at him like that, what else was he supposed to do? He looked down at their linked hands and gave a worn out sigh. “Fine, brat, you win. I’ll stay, but only for tonight.” He knew this was just asking for trouble in the long run, but right now, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

"Awesome!" Akaya grinned victoriously and pulled Hiyoshi into a quick kiss. "You ok with sleeping in just boxers?" He looked like a kid who'd just been told his best-est friend could stay the night.

What had he gotten himself into? Hiyoshi thought as Kirihara’s lips met his for the umpteenth time that day. Oh yeah, he didn’t have any extra clothes. He hadn’t thought about that. “I can just wear the pants I have on.” The one’s he was borrowing must have been older because they weren’t that uncomfortable. He tried to take his shirt off, when he noticed… “Think you can let go of my hand now?”

"Oh, sorry," Akaya mumbled and let go before pulling off his own shirt and pants. "You're really going to sleep in pants?" He looked the now shirtless Hiyoshi up and down. "You're crazy."

Hiyoshi rolled his eyes. “Whatever, brat.” He normally slept in pajama pants, but he supposed just boxers would be more comfortable. What would it hurt? At least he knew Akaya well enough now that he knew he wouldn’t try anything while he was asleep. Well, he thought so anyway. He quickly took the pants off then asked Kirihara where he should put them before climbing into the bed near the wall.

"Wherever you find a place," Akaya mumbled and waited for Hiyoshi to get into bed, then turned off the lights and crawled in after him. He pulled the smaller man against him with a big grin and closed his eyes; glad the other had decided to stay.

"Akaya…" Hiyoshi grumbled sleepily, blushing furiously as he was encompassed in a set of strong arms and pulled back against an equally strong chest. "Wait a minute! I never said you could..." His protests teetered off. What was the point of arguing? He knew it wasn’t going to do him any good. So instead he willed himself to relax, and let himself fall into the first good night’s sleep he’d had in ages.