Disclaimer: PoT not mine.

Rating: PG-13.

Setting: after college; Tezuka & Fuji in their mid to late twenties.

Summary: It was a procedure Tezuka had perfected after years of Fuji entwinement.

Word Count: 866

Steps.

Sunlight streamed into the room as the alarm rang noisily beside the bed.

From under the covers, a hand flew out and slammed deftly down onto the 'snooze' button.

Silence ensued.

Five minutes later, the insistent beeping began again.

This time, the comforter stirred as Tezuka awoke. Groggily, he reached over Fuji's body, which was currently entwined with his, to switch off the alarm. He squinted at the bright rays in his eyes and slowly began the tedious process of extracting himself from Fuji's close embrace. It was a long methodical procedure that he had perfected during their years together as college roommates.

Well, almost perfected.

There would be a few snags once in a while, but today, he couldn't afford any mistakes. He had a lunch meeting and the last thing he needed was for Fuji to wake up and decide to accompany him there. Fuji always insisted on going with Tezuka whenever he met with a new client – he said it was to make sure Tezuka didn't get himself into any shady business.

Tezuka knew better – Fuji just wanted to mark his territory.

Not that he minded, for it meant he wouldn't have to worry about any businessmen asking him out or subtly brushing his thigh during meetings.

But the way Fuji acted in public sometimes…

It could get inappropriate.

And Tezuka had no intention of scarring yet another one of his patrons.

Now… back to the matter on hand.

Step One – untangle the legs.

The first step was always the hardest, thought Tezuka. Fuji was a cuddler, and that meant every morning, Fuji's long lean legs would either be wrapped around his hips or intertwined with his legs. Very tightly. And always pressed hard against a certain appendage between his thighs.

But Tezuka wasn't the former captain and coach of Seigaku and now the head of his law firm for nothing. Over time, Tezuka had learned that by running his index finger gently down Fuji's hip, the tensai would loosen his grasp on Tezuka's lower body. Of course, that meant he would also latch on more tightly to Tezuka's arms and upper body, but that was what Step Three was for.

Step Two – turn head away.

It sounded simple enough, but Tezuka had had to learn the hard way how devastating not performing this step correctly could be. Fuji liked burrowing his face into Tezuka's neck or chest, and if shifted incorrectly, it just made him burrow even deeper. And occasionally, for some strange reason, it made him start to lick and nip there. Which, of course, made Tezuka wake him up for another round of the previous night's activities, and their whole morning schedule would be thrown off.

Today was one of Tezuka's luckier days.

The side of Fuji's head was pressed lightly on top of Tezuka's bare chest, and it was fairly easy for him, using his right hand, to exchange his body for the striped blue and white pillow. The feel of his hard chiseled muscles could definitely not be replaced with the soft fluffiness of the pillow without being noticed, and it was something that Tezuka had worried about before, but he knew now that as long as it was his pillow, and consequently contained his scent, Fuji would stay fast asleep.

Hopefully.

Step Three – free the arm.

During their freshman year in college, Tezuka had the pleasure of experiencing Fuji's Death Grip every single morning. And years later, it still hadn't loosened.

The right hand of the tensai would be curled tightly around his tricep, and the left hand would lay lightly on his bicep.

And Tezuka still had not figured out the best way to execute Step Three. Prying off Fuji's fingers took too long, and often, Fuji would be awake by then. Most days, Tezuka just tried to yank his left arm out from Fuji's grasp, though, as Inui would say, there was a 40 chance of failure.

Tezuka frowned at Fuji, who appeared to be still asleep. Then readying himself, he took a deep breath and yanked.

Success!

Luck was most definitely on his side.

Then, he became acutely aware of The Death Grip on his right hand, which, for sure, was not there before.

Shit.

And he still had seven more steps, including placing photo albums in strategic areas on the bed, so that Fuji wouldn't notice the sudden lightness from the loss of Tezuka's weight, and draping towels over lamps and chairs to limit the amount of sunlight in certain spots, so that Fuji wouldn't get a blast of sunshine heat right in his face.

"Waking up without telling me?"

Tezuka made no reply, but inwardly cursed whoever out there was in charge of life.

Fuji's smiling eyes opened.

"Ah, I remember. You're meeting Suzuki-san for lunch."

Tezuka heard the unspoken, And I'm coming with you. Loud and clear.

Sighing, Tezuka wrapped the sheet around his waist and stood.

"I'm taking a shower."

Lightly scratching his head, he headed into the bathroom.

Grinning widely, Fuji hopped off the bed, sunlight bathing his naked body in golden light, followed Tezuka in, and closed the door.

They still had four hours before noon, anyways.

---owari---

AN: So, how was it? I'd really appreciate some feedback, just so I can tell if you guys like it.

I finished this in sort of a rush… So pardon any spelling errors. Maybe I should get a beta reader. Hmm. If you see any obvious spelling/grammar mistakes, let me know.