Hello again, everyone!

I just got back from an Anime Convention the other day and had an urge to post something!

Well, this story is inspired by the cover of the third Uraboku Drama CD, where Shusei is holding a marker over a sleepy Hotsu's face. :) And here is my take on what happened to lead up to that point! Hope you enjoy!

I don't own Uraboku.

Consequences of Video Game Addiction

Every night….Every night he's playing those damn video games…

Shusei was thinking as he's lying in bed, trying to sleep.

Hotsuma was in his bedroom on the other side of their living space. He had his video games on, and he always had a bad habit of having the volume on as loud as it could be. To make things worse, it was a shooter game with the sound of machine guns firing in the background.

Shusei's eyes were like slits, frustrated that his partner couldn't be a little quieter. He had been very busy the past few days. The police station was in need of his abilities and he never said 'no' when they asked for help. As the head of student council, he was overloaded with school work alongside his usual homework. And, of course, fighting Duras also takes a lot out of you. All Shusei wanted was one night of restful sleep. Of course, the sounds of gunfire and bombs were no lullaby.

I'll get you back…

He wasn't the type of person to want revenge, but something had to be done about his partner's lack of manners. He grabbed the pillow and wrapped it around his head, trying to block out the noise.

"Damn it! Shit!" He could hear Hotsuma cussing at the game. Shusei guessed his character died as that was his usual reaction, "Ah! You stupid bastard, you deserved to die!"

Shusei rolled to his other side, unable to get comfortable.

"No! Ahh crap!" There was the sound of machine guns going off in the backroom to add the Hotsuma's foul mouth.

That's enough!

Shusei got up, and walked to Hotsuma's room, navigating through the dark with ease thanks to his God's Eyes. He was able to walk into Hotsuma's room undetected by the blond as he was too enamored in the video game. The television was unbearably loud in his room and Hotsuma was mumbling things to the character in the game. Shusei tip toed to behind Hotsuma, who was sitting in a chair, still unaware of the brunet's presence. Quietly and swiftly, Shusei grabbed the back of the chair and pushed it forward, throwing Hotsuma onto the floor.

"Damn it! What the hell, Shusei?" He screamed on the floor.

"Have you any idea what time it is?" Shusei asked in a tone that actually startled Hotsuma. It was quiet with an underlying hint of anger.

"Um…10?" He was either clueless or just didn't care.

"1:00 am…it's one o'clock in the morning, Hotsuma. I am tired. I have been busy with student council work; I have been at the police station for hours, as well as doing homework. I need to sleep."

"Well, what's stopping you?" Hotsuma got up off the floor and sat back in the chair.

"You, you idiot!" Shusei said louder then intended.

"What?"

"Turn off the game and go to bed!"

"Jeez…alright!" Hotsuma got up and turned off the TV. Just the TV…

"….The game too, Hotsuma." Shusei knew he was just going to turn it back on as soon as he left.

Hostuma growled and turned off the game. He glared at Shusei for a few moments, "Well?"

"Well what?" Shusei said grumpily, "You want me to tuck you in or something? Go to bed!" He turned and walked out of Hotsuma's room, unintentionally slamming the door behind him. Shusei stomped back to his room and crawled back into bed. He closed his eyes and tried drifting off to sleep.

… … …

Hotsuma was surprised by how grouchy Shusei could be when he's sleep deprived. Usually, he was very calm and controlled, but seeing him like this was different. He was sure not many people ever saw this side of Shusei.

Hotsuma walked over to his bed and fell on top of it and almost immediately went to sleep.

… … …

You idiot…

Shusei looked over at his alarm clock. 3:34 am.

He kept tossing and turning in bed but was never able to get to sleep. He felt horrible, exhausted from the last few days of work. But right now, with his ability to rationalize diminished due to lack of sleep, he's blaming Hotsuma. And for this, Hotsuma needs to be taught a lesson.

He figured his Zweilt partner would be asleep by now, and once again he got out of bed and silently made his way back to Hotsuma's room.

Hotsuma was lying on top of his bed, sprawled out and seemingly very comfortable. Shusei glared at his source of insomnia who was apparently getting a restful sleep. He glanced around the room, not entirely sure of why he was there. He saw the table that Hotsuma kept his games on. Next to them were a pad of paper, with codes and cheats for games, and the marker they were written with.

A small, tired smile made its way to his face. He grabbed the marker and quietly walked over to Hotsuma. Shusei uncapped the marker and let it hover over Hotsuma's face. He touched his face with the marker, leaving a small mark. Shusei let out a small laugh but Hotsuma didn't respond, so he began drawing all over his face. He gave him one big eye brow, and added some swirls on his cheeks. Not stopping there, he gave him a mustache and some other random doodles until his face was covered. Shusei covered his mouth with his arm, fearing his laughing would wake Hotsuma up. He hadn't laughed like that in a long time. It had been a very long time since Shusei acted so childishly and let down his guard like this. Shusei blamed his lack of sleep for it.

Satisfied with his work, he went back to his room and didn't bother to try and sleep. He got dressed and went downstairs, despite the early hour.

…...

"Good morning, Shusei-kun!" Yuki said cheerfully as he walked in the dining room. How anyone could be so happy in the morning…

"You're down here early, Shusei." Tsukumo pointed out with his sister not far behind him.

"Yeah, got up early." Well, I never slept at all, to be precise.

"Where's your loud-mouth partner?" Touko asked.

"Probably overslept, as usual." Shusei answered.

Toma began bringing out breakfast, and all the Zweilts helped themselves to the food. Unlike the others, Shusei was content with just drinking his tea. It was a quiet meal for about ten minutes until a scream was heard from upstairs.

"SHUUUUSEEEIIII!"

The other Zweilt and Yuki looked at the direction of the noise and then glanced at Shusei, who pretended to hear nothing. Loud footsteps were making their way down the stairs.

Shusei just took another sip of his tea.

Hotsuma barged in the dining room, still with the marker all over his face. The others began laughing at how ridiculous he looked.

"What happened to you?" Touko asked, trying to cover up her laughter.

"Hotsuma? What's that all over your face? You should try washing that off." Shusei said, as if it wasn't his fault.

"I did try washing it off!" He was standing right behind Shusei now, "What's all this about?" He pointed to his face.

"I think you know." Shusei pointed at Hotsuma's face, "Also, it may be a good idea to not leave a permanent marker out like that. You never know who could get their hands on it."

"Why you!"

Shusei poked the drawn-on mustache, "Hmm..." He thought, "It's an improvement, I suppose."

"You jerk! I'll get you back for this one!"

The two Zweilt partners continued arguing, as if no one else was there. The others at the table were still laughing.

"They'll never change…" Tsukumo chuckled. He was eating a bag of chips, which the chef abruptly ripped out of his hands, claiming it's not breakfast material.

It was such an amusing sight, Hotsuma screaming, with marker all over his face, at a sleepy Shusei with bags under his eyes.

"It won't come off!" Hotsuma complained while rubbing his face.

"That's unfortunate." Shusei said.

Hotsuma growled Shusei's name.

"So, what did we learn from all this?"

God's Voice mumbled, looking away from Shusei.

"I couldn't hear that. One more time please?" Shusei urged.

"I won't play video games so loudly!" He screamed.

"I guess that will do, now how about an apology?" Shusei smiled.

"Hell no! Get this off my face!" He grabbed Shusei's shoulder forcing him to look at what he'd done.

"Quiet please, I'm trying to drink my tea." Shusei said nonchalant, waving away his partner.

The two partners continued quarrelling, not realizing the others were leaving.

"Hey, uh, we're going now…" Tsukumo tried telling them.

"Shusei-kun…Hotsuma-kun…" Yuki tried getting their attention but his soft voice was no match against the two Zweilt's bickering.

"Forget it." Touko told them knowing the two won't stop anytime soon, "It's no use." She grabbed both their arms and pulled them out of the dining room.

"I turned my games off last night! You didn't need to do this!" Hotsuma pointed to his face.

"I know." Shusei gave a wry smile to his friend, "It was just too much fun to pass up."

I bet Shusei can be really scary when he's tired…And Hotsuma…well he's always just Hotsuma! XD

I remember so many nights when I had to work early the next day...and my brother would be playing Call of Duty at about 1 in the morning. I'm surprised I never threw the Xbox out the window...but I wanted too.

Hope you liked it! :D

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