Disclaimer: I own very little.

A/N: This is an entry to the 30-dogpile challenge in LiveJournal, the theme being Insomnia. Threesome.

To Sleep or Not to Sleep

The most creative time of the day, Inui had come to notice, was often in the middle of night. Several times he had in vain struggled with a problem all day only to suddenly realize the solution at the literally darkest hour. Of course, this meant he had to get up and write the answer down, and possibly try it out, too. Often he didn't return to bed until the wee hours of morning, if even then. Now, he knew very well the importance of a proper night's sleep to both his physical and mental health, but when he was too concentrated on something, such trivial things tended to slip from his mind.

Of course, this couldn't go entirely unnoticed by his bedmates. No matter how much he tried to explain that the ideas would be forgotten if he waited until morning to write them down, he got constantly scolded for his nighttime activities. Really, why should it bother them as long as he didn't wake them up? And why on Earth did they seem even more annoyed about the fact that he didn't, indeed, wake them up, trying to sneak past them unnoticed? Surely they would prefer just sleeping peacefully.

Once again, 2 AM found Inui in his laboratory. He'd thankfully managed to slide out of bed with neither Kaidoh nor Renji stirring. This was another reason to be glad that over the years they'd become quite flexible as far as sleeping arrangements went – back when he always slept between the two others it had been practically impossible to sneak out without at least one of them waking up to question him.

Focused though he was on his work, it didn't stop him from hearing as somebody entered the laboratory. Not turning around, Inui tensed a bit, expecting to heard yet another lecture on the importance of sleep.

To his surprise, none were heard. Instead he heard the all too familiar sound of somebody sitting down on the little couch on the other side of the laboratory. The couch had been brought there by Kaidoh, who seemed to get some entertainment out of watching him working in the laboratory – only in daytime, though. Renji shared this hobby with him to some extent. However, he found it hard to believe either of them would just sit down and not say a thing about him being up at this hour.

"You should be asleep, Sadaharu," said Renji's somewhat sleepy voice. Ah, yes, here it was at last.

"I'm sorry, Renji," Inui replied. "I'll merely finish this and come back to bed with you." It wasn't as much of a lie as a refusal to accept his basic character. Renji surely knew this, yet he refrained from commenting. Very strange.

Inui continued working in absolute silence. A couple of careful glances revealed him that it was, indeed, Renji sitting on the couch, waiting patiently for him to finish.

Inui wasn't entirely surprised when the door was again opened, another set of foot steps announcing Kaidoh's arrival. The youngest man didn't say anything, simply seating himself beside Renji. Despite Inui waiting, he stayed quiet.

As he was apparently not going to be disturbed for at least a moment, Inui worked on. Soon he realized that the breathing patterns that echoed his in the silence of the laboratory had changed somewhat. Daring a sneaky glance towards the couch, he realized that the two were asleep, leaning against each other.

Shaking his head with a slight smile, Inui softly walked to the couch. The two would get cold like that, sitting there in naught but their underwear. Fortunately he had a blanket at hand.

Taking the blanket from the arm of the couch, Inui prepared to spread it over the two. However, suddenly a hand darted forward, snatching his wrist.

"Caught you," Kaidoh hissed. "Now, back to bed with you, Sadaharu."

"But – but my project –" Inui tried to protest, already knowing it useless as he looked at the youngest man's serious eyes. Renji, too, was obviously awake, although his eyes still appeared closed.

"If you could abandon it to come to us, it can't be at such a crucial point," Renji commented. "You need sleep just as much as we do. Now be sensible, Sadaharu."

Inui sighed, knowing there was no use in arguing. Kaidoh still wouldn't let go of his wrist, Renji taking a hold of the other as the two started to steer him towards the bedroom. Once there, he was deprived of his glasses and pushed onto the bed, the two other men settling on his sides, an arm over him each.

"You're not going anywhere tonight," Kaidoh murmured into his ear. "Now, sleep."

Even as he thought back to his unfinished project, Inui found a ghost of a smile on his face as he slowly drifted to sleep.