Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi~~

Chapter Seven: Triple Date

The knock sounded impatiently on the front door, stirring one of the three girls slowly awake. They were still snuggled into the blankets, carelessly strewn over the floor. Two large mugs were safely out of harm's way on the kitchen counter; the third was half-hidden around the corner of their futon-turned-couch, on its side. Luckily, it was empty.
When another rapid succession of thuds came to her unhappy ears, she stirred. Russet hair slipped loose from its confining braid, brushing gently against her cheek. Thinking it a butterfly, she waved her hand over her head. "G'off," she mumbled.
THUD.
It reverberated through the room. Someone was not in a good mood. "Shangetdoor," she groaned, burying her head under the corner of a fluffy blanket. The ebony-haired American didn't seem to hear, still sleeping deeply. "Yuuuuuuuuuuu-iiiiii," she yelped suddenly, as a foot caught her in her stomach. She sat up, scowling down at her makeshift-bed companions, and running a hand absently through her hair. She bit back another yelp as her fingers encountered her braid. "Ugh. I'm coming!" she shouted at the next knock, wondering who was being so irritating first thing in the morning.
The blonde stirred slightly at her friend's shout, cloudy blue eyes blinking slowly open. "Mia...?" she lifted a hand to her eyes, shading them from the so-bright morning sun. "What's it?"
"Someone at the door," her best friend muttered, storming to it angrily. It didn't quite have the same effect when she was barefoot, but it helped her temper. She jerked open the door with a snarled, "Yes?!" Her eyes widened at the sight of the man sprawled next to the door, his head resting on the wall. His hand was raised, knuckles ready to smack against it again.
Slowly, he turned his head, amber eyes for once unhidden by shades. "Yo," he greeted after a long pause, giving her a brief once-over. Nothing in his face showed his appreciation of her slight figure clothed in a skimpy pajama top and silky, loose-legged bottoms in an eat-your-heart-out, tart red. Her comments about his car to the contrary, she seemed to like the color.
"Tasuki? What on earth are you doing here at..." she checked her watch, "six in the morning?"
"She can't sleep," he explained. His expression reminded her of a helpless kid.
"Who?" She? Who's she? I guess he went on a date last night... Why don't I like that? I need to stop waking up this early in the morning... my brain gets fried.
She blinked as he unzipped his jacket—Good leather, her mind approved—to allow a furry black head to peek out. A brief flash of pink showed as the kitten yawned. "Her," he replied simply.
"Oh, Tasu-chan," she sighed, letting her legs fail her and falling to the floor in a heap. She didn't realize the endearment she'd just used, her attention caught on poor Angel. "Why can't she sleep?"
Miaka was also oblivious to the brief flare of hope and satisfaction in his eyes. His tone was even as he said, "She kept whimpering when I put her on her bed in the living room."
Her eyes half-closed in exasperation. "Didn't you think she was lonely?"
"Yeah. That's why I let her sleep with me, but she still wouldn't sleep." He yawned, apologized. "Think she misses you," he half-mumbled, sliding to the side, his shoulder colliding with hers.
Miaka turned her head into the crook of his neck, snuggling close and biting back her own yawn. Angel began to purr, climbing out of her place in Tasuki's jacket to curl up on his thigh, one paw delicately placed on her knee. Obediently, she shifted closer, letting her thigh run parallel to his.
She smiled as the kitten immediately shifted over to lay half on her leg and half on his. "Cute." This time she couldn't fight a yawn. "Tired," she mumbled, closing her eyes and snuggling closer to her seishi. His arm came around her shoulders, a warm hand clasping her bare upper arm. "Cold," she agreed.
"MIAKA SUKUNAMI, CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR!"
Shannon's yell made her jump, bumping her head painfully against Tasuki's. "Owww," she whimpered, turning to look over her shoulder as she rubbed the top of her head. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" she asked sourly, to no answer. It had been a stupid question anyway. Angel perked up at this new voice, climbing down from her perch to pad curiously into the doorway.
Deciding standing meant far too much work, Miaka crawled on her hands and knees. Tasuki followed her—walking, of course. He always had too much damn energy, she thought peevishly, finally collapsing against the now-cold blankets. "Goin'sleep," she sighed. Funny, she thought he heard Hotohori laugh. Maybe she was more tired than she thought. He wasn't here.

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"Ohmigod," the dark-haired girl was muttering, covering up her two friends with one blanket and herself with another. She cast Tasuki a baleful look as she stalked into her room. "Make some coffee, will you?" she tossed over her shoulder, pointedly ignoring the two new presences in the doorway.
It seemed none of the women were morning people. Checking to make sure Angel was sleeping and wouldn't be moving from her spot, he sauntered into the kitchen, glancing at Andy and... what was his name? Chichiri? "Better close the door," he advised with a smile. "I don't think they like letting cold air in."
"Of course." The blue-haired man closed it behind them, gifting the sleeping women with an odd glance. He felt the urge to growl—he better not be looking at his Miaka. His smile turned from cordial to something akin to baring his teeth.
"So, what are you two doin' here?" he asked, poking through the cabinets. The former singer was the one to answer, after carelessly sprawling on the couch.
"We thought it would be a good idea to get together. Since Shannon gave Chichiri the apartment address."
"Huh." He grunted as he found a canister of Maxwell's. "This early in the morning?"
"We wanted to wring a promise out of 'em before they ran in their different directions," came the serene reply. "Easier that way, you know."
"Right." He fiddled with the coffeemaker, wondering what was what. His certainly wasn't so... complicated. Or big. "Don't talk so loud, you'll wake the girls."
"Already woken," came a sleepy mumble. The blonde sat up slowly, careful to keep the blanket over her. She blinked her sleepy blue eyes as though to ascertain the reality of the moment. "Oh, my..."
Leaving the odd contraption for the moment, he peered into the living room, almost smirking at her wide-eyed, pale countenance. He could almost hear the thoughts running through her head--Three men in the house this early in the morning... what the hell were we doing last night?
"Listen," she began nervously, "Whatever happened last night, it was—"
"None of their business." The American flounced out of her room, fully dressed and rather perky looking. Very energetic. Tasuki envied her—that damned cat had kept him up all night. "I don't know what you guys are doing, coming over here at such an ungodly hour of the morning—but you need to get out." She pointed dramatically to the door, careful to keep her voice low. Miaka hated to be woken up.
"We'll leave in a second," Andy replied generously, only to be on the receiving end of her smoking glare. "We just wanted to know if you all would come to the Pre-Christmas party tonight."
"The what?" Tasuki asked, frowning. The hell was a Pre-Christmas party?
"It's a party that uses the excuse of the holidays coming up to be thrown, you know. We thought it might be fun." Chichiri stood, obviously ready to leave, since their welcome had been yanked out from beneath them.
He always so polite? the flame-haired man thought sourly. That couldn't be healthy, letting people have their way. He certainly wasn't leaving because the oh-so-bouncy Shannon wanted him to go.
"'Sgood idea," came a half-hearted mumble from the blankets. He grinned as Miaka waved a hand vaguely in the air, obviously intent on sleeping, but wanting to chip in. "Pick up later, sleep now..." she snuggled into the blankets, endearingly determined. Shannon snapped her mouth shut, frowning at Andy.
Interesting. She didn't seem so hostile to the other man...
He'd have to go just to see the sparks fly in their company. And it was always a good thing to watch his woman, and make sure the too-pretty singer kept his hands off...


CJ's Blurb: Sorry for the length between updates and the super short chapter. ^.^;; I promise I'll try to make the next one a little longer...! The problem is that I have too many ideas of where to go right now, and I need to pick and choose out of all of them. ^_^

HoshiHikari4ever: Something like that. ^_^