So I definitely just felt like writing Seiji, and sat down at the com and drew up the first sentence totally out of nothing. And then the rest just flowed... XD It was tons of fun to write.
Warnings: Seiji being... the pain in the rear he is
Enjoy!
While he Sleeps...
Seiji stared. And gaped. And stared some more.
"Seiji, would you stop gawking like you're watching a freak show?" Katsurou rolled his eyes, clearly fed up with Seiji's refusal to acknowledge anything else while the rest of them were trying to play cards.
"I don't see anything on his face," Sho cocked his head, peering curiously past Seiji. Shige snickered and took the diversion as opportunity to switch a card. Tatsu-bon, never one to be fooled by the likes of Shige, slapped him smartly on the arm. He shifted his legs underneath the low table they were all seated at and shot Shige a sharp look.
"Can we get on with the game?" he asked irritably, and Katsurou nodded in agreement, pulling Seiji roughly back to the table.
"Stop staring at him," he admonished as he drew a card, "or I'll make you switch places so your back is to him."
Seiji blinked once, and finally tore his eyes away from the figure on the couch, bending forward dramatically to mock-whisper, "But he's sleeping."
Shige snickered again, "Nah, we actually just knocked him over the head with a soccer ball."
Sho murmured sympathetically, "He must be tired."
Tatsuya rolled his eyes, "What's the big deal?"
"Never seen a guy sleep before?" Katsurou muttered with a tinge of amusement when Seiji's eyes flickered back to the small body languidly stretched out on the couch, muscles lax and completely oblivious to any scrutiny, red hair splayed messily over a round, feminine face.
"Course I have, Katsu, but he's..." Seiji made a motion with his hand as if he was winding up a jack-in-the-box, and then pretended to fire a machine gun, sound effects included, "ya know, that little guy. I didn't think he ever turned off."
He still sounded awed, and while Katsurou and Tatsuya exchanged looks of awed exasperation, Shige and Sho laughed at Seiji's descriptions, though the blonde's amusement was certainly more mirthful than it should have been.
Eventually Seiji managed to join the game with only a few furtive glances in between plays. After a three-game winning streak, however, he somehow 'surprisingly' lost, happily slapping his cards down on the table and extracting himself from the game.
"Wait, wait, that was on purpose!" Shige sputtered, "Come back here, you little rascal, I still have to beat you!"
"Hee," Seiji grinned back all too toothily, crouching down besides Shiina's head. He peered down at the sleeping boy, shifting to get a view of him from all angles, humming to himself.
"It's like he's a doctor examining a specimen," Tatsuya said with a raised eyebrow, and this time Shige did manage to sneak a card into the pile. Katsurou glanced at his classmate's hunched form next to the couch, and then had to look back to blink incredulously.
"Are you twirling his hair?" he asked, stunned. Seiji was touchy, and affectionate, sure, but… this was crossing some sort of line— they weren't sure which— and it was Shiina. The little guy practically had fangs. At least his attitude did, complete with a set of verbal claws.
"It's soft, and wavy!" Seiji chirped, holding a strand in between his fingers and tickling Shiina's face with it. The redhead scrunched up his nose and shifted with a series of short grunts.
"Piglet," Shige laughed, and Seiji joined in, "Do it again," Shige added, and his mischievous glint was mirrored by Seiji. They all watched with muted fascination as Seiji proceeded to tickle Shiina's eyelids, receiving a furrow of his brows and protesting whine. Seiji had to stop and roll away to muffle his laughter, but was back within seconds to try it again.
"You're going to wake him!" Tatsuya said as if the prospect horrified him, "It's your fault if he wakes up ready to tear us apart."
"Aw, he isn't that scary," Seiji grinned happily, "Look at his face, he's like a baby."
"A baby princess," Shige corrected. Sho sweatdropped.
"Yeah, sure… Back to the game," Tatsuya waved his hand impatiently, casting one last nervous glance Shiina's way.
"Ready when you are, captain," the blonde practically crooned, with a smirk that suggested his hand was now unbeatable, and he had no qualms with continuing their game now. Tatsuya was very much wary, eyeing the smirk suspiciously as he placed down his own card.
"I smell foul play."
"Shige-san would never…" Sho trailed off as he realized that yes, Shige was capable of cheating. He turned, aghast, to his teammate, "You didn't, did you?"
"Moi? Never! I've been good this game!" he vowed in mock hurt.
"Sounds like when Seiji says he hasn't emptied the cabinet of all our food," Katsuro said without looking up from his hand.
"Someone say my name?"
"No."
"Oh. Well, Tatsu-bon, where are your blankets? It's kinda chilly."
Tatsuya glared at Shige's beaming face for spreading that insidious nickname, and pointed with his thumb, "Right outside of the room, in the closet. Pick whichever one you want."
"Yes, sir!"
They didn't pay attention to him as he returned with the thickest, softest blanket he'd found, but Sho was the first to notice when the black-haired boy draped the blanket over Shiina, tucking it gently around his shoulders.
"Seiji-kun's very nice," Sho smiled, and the others looked over.
"I thought the blanket was for you."
"His skin's cold, Katsu! I thought he might want a blanket," Seiji explained, pulling off his famous pout for emphasis. Katsurou rolled his eyes, tacit permission for whatever it was Seiji was doing, and the forward grinned and plopped down next to his charge. Shiina looked like a little blanket-cocoon with a head, he thought.
"He's cute," he announced suddenly, to regain, once again, the stares of everyone at the table.
"Hm…" Shige leaned forward to give the redhead a once-over, "He is, isn't he?"
"Shige!" Tatsuya growled.
"What? You jealous?" the grin on the blonde's face was so wide even Sho realized he'd only been baited, and they laughed loudly as Tatsuya blushed.
"Are you serious?" Katsurou asked curiously, unsure whether this was just another one of his classmate's antics.
"Course, he's little-bitty, and interesting, and a good player. Plus, he looks like a girl," Seiji said matter-of-factly, then grimaced, "He's kinda mean though…"
"Shiina-kun's not mean," Sho rose up to the defense, "He's just… bold in his opinions," he finished, satisfied with his answer.
Seiji nodded sagely, "Yes, of course, you're right."
"Your striker's weird," Tatsuya muttered.
"Seiji does have strange fixations…"
"I heard my name!" Seiji chirruped, settling himself back in front of the couch to stare at whom he'd affectionately dubbed 'his midget'. Or, now that he thought about it, he rather preferred Shige's nickname for him, Chibi-hime. Yes, that would do nicely.
It wasn't like he didn't spend enough time with Shiina, they were teammates in the Tokyo Senbatsu, after all, but Seiji had never seen Shiina sleeping. It was strange to see that face that was normally so charged with expression—whether haughty or amused— slack and blank. He found it amusing, to tell the truth, especially when he blew on his forehead gently, and Shiina muttered some sort of nonsense and burrowed his head deeper into the pillow. His face, despite its waking maturity, was clearly younger when he was asleep, and Seiji was content to sit and watch it. Well, not quite. He'd rather liked the feel of the redhead's hair, and so took to playing with it as he alternately watched his teammates' game and Shiina.
"Argh—! How do you do that, Pochi?" Shige scratched his head in frustration and glared at the cards Sho had placed down, "So unfair, cut a guy some slack, will ya?"
"Looks like he's going to win," Katsurou looked distinctly put out, giving his cards a distasteful look as he took a sip of his drink.
Tatsuya's hand twitched, "No way… and you said this was your first time playing, Sho?"
"Yeah. I thought it was pretty hard at first, but it's a lot of fun!"
Tatsuya had to look away from that infectious smile, unable to feel anything more that resignation at that smile, "I fold."
"So… Pochi won?"
Sho beamed.
"Guess so," Katsurou sighed, glancing at his watch, "Hey, Seiji, we need to get going."
When there was no response, Katsurou looked back to blink repeatedly and shake his head, unable to decide between amusement or surprise.
"Aaw, they're so cute. Tatsu-bon, we need to take a picture!" Shige cooed.
"Uh-uh… Shiina would kill me…" Tatsuya muttered, trying to register the fact that, yes, Seiji had fallen asleep, his head pillowed by Shiina's shoulder, who had at some point buried his head against the back of Seiji's head, breathing on the nape of the forward's neck.
"Uh, Seiji…" Katsurou was the first to move, reaching out to shake Seiji's shoulder carefully, "Hey man, we gotta go back home. Seiji? Wake up, or it's twenty laps tomorrow."
Seiji swatted his hand away, "Mhmm… Captain's so mean…" he yawned, rubbing his teary eyes and blinking, "We gotta go, really?"
"Yes, really."
Seiji grumbled something under his breath and stood up with a wobble, watching as Katsurou picked their stuff off the floor.
"Dunno what we're gonna do with Shiina though," Tatsuya said thoughtfully.
"He's grumpy when he wakes," Sho added with a slight grimace.
"Doesn't bode well for us, does it?" Shige said, backing out of the room, "Guess that's my cue. See ya guys tomorrow!"
"Hey, wait, Shige!" Tatsuya turned too late, and cursed Shige for his devious nature. Leaving him to deal with Shinna just cause it was his home…
Seiji, dutifully following Katsurou out, suddenly stopped and glanced back, "Wait, you guys need to wake him?"
"Of course, he's not going to stay here the whole night, is he?" Tatsuya rolled his eyes, and then paused at the devilish sparkle in Seiji's eyes.
"I can wake him up."
The three others exchanged a look, and Tatsuya crossed his arms, "Well, if you're sure you know what you're doing…"
Seiji nodded eagerly and went back to crouch in front of Shiina, who now snored softly, and enunciated carefully in his ear, "Shiiiina… wake up!"
Shiina did nothing more than stir and make himself more comfortable, and Seiji prodded him again until Shiina shifted again, eyelids fluttering slightly. Then he did the unthinkable.
Seiji leaned down and pressed his lips fully to Shiina's, standing up immediately and grinning madly.
"Seiji!" Katsurou reprimanded in dismay.
"What did you—" Tatsuya blanched in terror.
Sho blushed furiously.
It took only a couple seconds, but Shiina opened his eyes, rubbed them, and slowly blinked himself into awareness, raising a hand to his lips confusedly. Seiji began stepping backwards as soon as Shiina's eyes widened.
"Wait, did —did someone just—"
They all pointed toward Seiji's retreating figure, which waved once, said "See ya tomorrow at practice, Shiina-kun!" and disappeared. Shiina gaped in disbelief, crimson rapidly tinting his face.
"That moron! I'm going to skin him alive tomorrow!"
Hope you enjoyed that bit of amusement right there (3 This fandom needs more love, give!