*~*Sleeping Aid*~*

Worst. Sleepover. EVER!

That was what went through Teddie's mind as the boys rushed into their [supposedly haunted] room at the Amagi Inn.

The Team had decided to spend the night at Yukiko's family hotel, with Nanako invited along while Dojima was out of town. The blonde was expecting so much for such an occasion- namely soaking in the hot springs and hanging out with the girls.

But neither happened. The moment they got to the hot-springs, the girls pelted them all with buckets! Buckets! To the FACE! Fighting Shadows in the TV World was more pleasant than a headshot-by-pail!

Things got worse as loud moaning filled the halls, and the boys figured out they were in the room that TV reporter, Miss Yamano, stayed in before she was murdered. Scared, they ran to the girls room to sneak in and spend the night…

…Ending up in the wrong room. Teddie shuddered- he and Kanji almost ended up snuggling with those awful women from the school Beauty Pageant! He'd be having nightmares for a week!

"Ugh… what a night…" Yosuke groaned, slumping onto his futon. "I don't care if this room is haunted or not… I just want to sleep and get this whole weekend over and done with."

"Pretty sure a ghost would be less horrifying than what we just saw," Yu responded, lying down.

"Remind me again why we like girls?" Kanji sneered.

"I'll tell you once I remember myself,"

"I thought you hated women?" Yosuke questioned Kanji.

*DOOF!*

A pillow socked Yosuke in the face. "Don't start that again!" Kanji snarled, before bitterly curling up on his futon. "Lets just sleep…first thing tomorrow morning I'm going home."

"Yeah… this sleepover wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be…" Teddie muttered. He looked at Yu. "…Next time, can we sleep at Sensei's house?"

"Sure," Yu replied.

Teddie smiled, then turned out the lights. Within the minute Kanji was already out, Yosuke and Yu drifting off shortly after. The blonde, however, was having trouble sleeping.

It was dark in the room, well past midnight, and the moonlight through the trees cast shadows through the windows, giving the room an eerie atmosphere. He considered crawling back into his bear-suit- during their haste back to the room he leaped out of it in order to gain more speed. He looked around, seeing that he had dropped it on the other side of the room the moment they ran in.

He sat up to get it…

*tap tap tap*

"Eep!" he gasped, ducking under his blanket. He peeked out… seeing it was just a tree-branch being blown against the window.

He sighed, then planted his face on his pillow. Why am I getting so worked up so easily? I can't keep acting like a coward. What would Sensei think? I told everyone I would get stronger after all-

*groan*

"Gah- what's that?" Teddie whimpered, sitting up in shock, his eyes darting back and forth.

The noise continued, as he realized it was coming from right beside him...

Turning out to be Kanji snoring.

Oh, good grief! Teddie sighed, rubbing his face, embarrassed with himself… and slightly annoyed with the rebel for disrupting his attempt at sleep. He looked over at his Sensei and Yosuke, who didn't seem troubled by the sound. He looked back at Kanji…

Noticing his expression; while Yosuke and Yu seemed more relaxed, Kanji's expression was… angry. Not that it was any different than usual- it was rare for the blonde to see him without a glare and a scowl. Did his face just freeze from being mad so often? He wondered, sitting up on his elbow as he studied his friend; what kind of dreams was causing him to make such a bitter expression?

Normally Teddie would drift off easily, namely by watching others sleep. But it was no use tonight, seeing that one of his friends looked irritated in his slumber.

…

He couldn't stand it.

Reaching over, the blonde stroked the top of the rebel's head, in hopes to help his friend relax. Running his fingers through his hair, he noticed just how soft it was. As he rubbed it, a few strands drooped over his face, and the former-bear realized that he must have brushed his bangs back to suit his style. …He didn't know why- stroking them down, he thought Kanji looked better with bangs.

While brushing the bangs down, Teddie let his hand slide down and rest on the side of the rebel's face, his thumb caressing his cheek. Kanji flinched a little in his sleep but relaxed, his brows no longer furrowed and his scowl had softened.

There, that's much better, Teddie thought with a smile- maybe his actions were helping his friend have a better dream.

Yet… something felt strange. Seeing Kanji sleeping so peacefully should have put his heart at-ease.

Instead, it was pounding at quite the high rate!

…

Also he had yet to pull his hand away, as it was still cupped against the side of Kanji's face.

Realizing this, Teddie slowly pulled it away… and instead let it drift onto the rebel's arm. As close as he was lying to him right now, pulling away quick would expose his friend to the sudden lack of warmth, and may upset his dreaming.

At least, that's the only excuse Teddie could think of. Otherwise, he didn't know the reason, other than he just wanted to rest his hand on his arm. Doing so, he felt the teen's muscles- he certainly worked out a lot, didn't he? I hope I can have muscles like these, someday, he found himself thinking.

Kanji shifted in his sleep, his arm bending upward and draping over the small blonde, pulling him close. He was snuggling with him in his sleep!

Teddie froze, feeling his heart-rate beating at the speed of light; his ear was pressed against his friend's chest, and he could hear his own soft heartbeat: ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum… it was very soothing to hear. (In all honesty, the blonde often forgot the rebel even had a heart, as rough and tough he often acted).

He shut his eyes. This position made him feel warm and safe… granted he wanted to be with one of the girls like this, as he previously intended. But, secretly, it felt just as good with Kanji- his strong arms made him feel extra secure, his heartbeat calmed him a great deal, and the rebel (despite his reputation) was actually a great hugger. The way he held Teddie close, gently squeezing him… the blonde felt like he was going to melt from the warm, fuzzy feeling his friend was giving him!

Eyes growing heavy, the blonde nuzzled against Kanji, curling up against him so to make sure there wasn't even an inch of space between them.

Soon, he was fast asleep.

…

Kanji opened one eye, having to grin. Hearing his friend's tiny yelps had disturbed him from his sleep- he remained still, though couldn't hide his irritation.

When Teddie reached over and rubbed his head, caressing his face, he had every mind to sit up and snap at the blonde… but it was late, and he knew his senpais were already fast asleep, so he didn't want to cause more of a ruckus.

Plus… he was curious on what the blonde was up to.

When he draped his arm over him, it was a test to see exactly how Teddie would react. Would he pull away? Try to 'wake' him up? …It was a surprise the little blonde let the rebel pull him close, relaxing as his head was pressed against his abdomen so he could hear his heartbeat. Kanji had to keep himself calm- if his friend heard his heart racing, it could give him away. It was simple- he just imagined snuggling with one of his plush-toys.

In a way, this was much better.

…Although, he was worried about being caught by his senpais in the morning.

Thinking this, he looked over… having to grin.

During their own slumber, Yu and Yosuke found a way into each other's arms as well, their leader having his best-friend lying face-to-face with him, both of them having their arms draped around each other.

The rebel had to contain a snicker. And to think they wasted time trying to sneak into the girls' room. We probably would've ended up getting our asses kicked anyway. He figured. God willing the next time they hung out like this, they'd have less trouble.

He shut his eyes, sighing deeply as he rubbed Teddie's back, cuddling against him a little more. No one was around to see, so there was no reason to feel embarrassed. Besides, this whole weekend sucked- he needed some sort of stress-relief, and hugging the blonde felt like just the thing.

…

Unbeknownst to the boys, someone was watching from the doorway.

Naoto, feeling a bit guilty for robbing the guys of their hot-springs privileges, was unable to sleep. Upon hearing shouts from the room next door, she had left the room to investigate, hearing the boys running to the elevators while hearing Kashiwagi and Hananoka giggling in the next room.

Conscience beside her, the Detective Prince decided to make her way to the boy's room to find out exactly what was going on… as well as apologize for the misunderstanding this evening. There was no excuse for her to take Rise's advice and 'keep it a secret'- such a suggestion was irresponsible.

She ended up pausing in the hall, trying to figure out a suitable request for forgiveness that wouldn't cause the boys to seek ramification for Yukiko's fluke. Suggest the boys have the hot-springs first in the morning? Treat them to a nice breakfast? …Aspirin for the headaches they no doubt developed from the pail-projectiles?

She decided a reimbursement could be decided later, and to start with a simple apology. When she reached their room, she noticed the lights were out, and peeked inside to see if the boys were still awake.

They were asleep… and… snuggling?

The Ace Detective blinked, looking again to make sure it wasn't a trick of the eyes. Sure enough, each of the boys had found a partner for their sleepover.

Her eyes were on Kanji, and how tight he was holding Teddie. She had to smile a bit. This was the same rebel who talked her into doing the pageant in order to 'make him a man', yet here he was cuddled against one of the other guys. If the rest of the girls saw them now, no doubt they would be taking pictures to 'blackmail' them.

To her, though, it was… sweet. In her opinion, the differences of gender shouldn't be a matter of intimacy between people- what mattered was feeling comfortable with that person enough to let them close to you. …Not that she could bring herself to feel intimate with anyone- she greatly preferred her personal space, as she established at the hot springs.

Looking at Kanji, though…

She felt herself blush, and shook her head. Don't be ridiculous. You have a case to focus on. She told herself. The preliminaries of relationships would have to wait.

At least he had Teddie to keep him occupied at the moment, until then.

Naoto walked back to her room, deciding this would be one secret worth keeping.

It would be one step in apologizing.