Hidden Pleasures
He padded lightly down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible. The house was silent, Takenaga having been the last to retire for the night an hour before.
He had listened outside his three friends' doors, hearing the Wagnerian snoring coming from within each room proving that he was the only one awake.
It was time for his fix.
The floorboard on the last step creaked loudly in the silence and he froze, waiting with trepidation. If anyone were to wake up, it would prevent him from reaching his goal.
He sighed with relief as the house around him remained silent. He grinned, continuing on his way toward the kitchen, clutching his precious cargo to his chest.
He reached the kitchen and placed the colourful paper bag on the counter. He opened the bag and reached inside, reverently taking out the item inside.
It was almost too good to be true.
His eyes ran lovingly over the brightly coloured item until he could no longer contain his excitement. It had been so hard to hide his booty from the other inhabitants of the house. Kyohei especially seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to items of this nature and he was sure that he would have stolen something as good as this for his own.
He laughed excitedly under his breath. He had waited all day for this and the time had finally come. It was his!
He picked up the huge fruit and cream tart and took the largest bite imaginable. Humming with pleasure and giggling to himself as the sweet flavours burst on his tongue, Yukinojo congratulated himself on hiding the elaborate confection from Kyohei. The other man had even been known to eat the pre-prepared food that Sunako-chan had made for an evening meal for them all; there was no way that he would have passed up the opportunity to eat Yukinojo's magnificent confectionary masterpiece.
He was so engrossed with the taste sensations within his mouth, that he didn't realise he was no longer alone until the kitchen light was rudely switched on.
He had been caught red handed and there was nowhere to hide!
"What is that?" came Kyohei's dangerously low voice as he stared with avaricious eyes at the blobs of cream that decorated Yukinojo's cheeks and the small piece of tart that was left in his hand.
"Um…" Yukinojo giggled nervously, the sugar high starting to rush through his veins like a drug.
"What's going on down here?" Takenaga yawned as he entered the kitchen, closely followed by a similarly yawning Ranmaru.
"He's been doing it again," Kyohei replied, walking further into the kitchen. He placed his hands on the counter as he glared aggressively at Yukinojo. "He was hiding food from me."
"I didn't do it on purpose," Yukinojo denied feebly, knowing that his protestations were useless, but trying anyway. "I forgot I bought it."
"Right, with your sugar addiction, you forgot about something that looked like that," Kyohei said sarcastically, pointing at the remaining sweet in Yukinojo's hand. "I knew you were up to something."
Knowing the jig was up, Yukinojo quickly stuffed the last of the pastry into his mouth, which only seemed to enrage Kyohei further and he growled.
The sugar kicking in with a vengeance, Yukinojo jumped up and down on the spot before running from the room, dodging Kyohei's hands as the other man tried to stop him to exact punishment for his actions. "Tired! Bed! Bye!"
"Yukinojo, you come back here!" Kyohei roared as he spun to chase after him, leaving Takenaga and Ranmaru shaking their heads behind them at their antics.
"Ssshhhh, you'll wake Sunako-chan," Yukinojo called back, giggling as he ran up the stairs. He was cut off abruptly as he cannoned into the dark figure that had been lurking at the top of the stairs.
Unable to stop in time, Kyohei fell upon Yukinojo and Sunako where they lay on the floor.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Yukinojo whimpered, abruptly losing the sugar high as it was replaced by pain. "Sunako-chan, are you okay? Kyohei, get off," he added, pushing the other man off so they were no longer squashing a groaning Sunako.
As both men leaned over her, their features showing concern, Sunako had no choice to look at them. Her face contorted with distress. "Mmmmmmm…"
A horrified expression came over both Kyohei and Yukinojo's faces as they realised what was happening, but were too slow to do anything. "Mabushii!"
CRACK!
They both flew back, clutching their noses where Sunako had just head-butted them, groaning with pain.
Sunako's expression twisted and she jumped up, lumbering quickly back to her bedroom, leaving the men in pain behind her.
Deflated as he felt his sugar high become a thing of the past, Yukinojo glanced over at Kyohei, seeing the look of frustration on his friend's face as he stared after the rapidly disappearing Sunako.
He got up and held out a hand to help Kyohei up.
"I haven't forgiven you, you know. Next time, buy me one as well," Kyohei grumbled, stomping off back to his own bedroom.
Kyohei was obviously unsettled at their encounter with Sunako-chan, so Yukinojo was happy that she had shown up when she had. Tucking that thought away for future use – you never knew when he might have the need to distract Kyohei's attention – he sauntered off to his own bed, whistling as he went, his mission for the night complete.
THE END.