Open Wide
By YaoiKitten
Chapter 1?
It was simple, really. So simple he was surprised that he had never realized it before. You'd think that, after a while, all the black-out spells, the sleepiness, and the general feelings of lethargy would have given him some indication of what was going on.
He supposed it just took those magic words to make him realize it.
'I know that you're not a human. That's why you don't have to hide it from me.'
Yes, it truly was simple. He hadn't wanted Touya to know that he had never truly existed. Subconsciously, he had hid himself from Touya so well that he hadn't even realized it himself. He had separated himself so much from Yue, built a wall between the two parts of himself, all so that Touya would never know that there was more to Tsukishiro Yukito than what he already knew.
Or so Yukito had thought.
But Touya had known, and had known all along. Yukito knew that long before Sakura and the others had known, long before he himself had subconsciously realized, Touya had known all along. Touya was just like that. His magic enabled him to see things that others didn't, to sense things that other's couldn't.
He was just that cool.
Yukito would have blushed at the thought if he wasn't so used to thinking it.
Of course, Touya would no longer be able to do all those things. He had given over his most precious thing to him, had handed over his magical powers so willingly to Yue in order to sustain his life. Touya would no longer be able to see his dead mother, to sense when Sakura was in trouble, or to sense danger or strange magic or even someone's mere presence around him. Touya was just human now, devoid of all magical power and the sixth sense that he'd had for all of his life.
Yue had sucked him dry, taken all of his powers with nothing more than a simple kiss on the neck. Like some kind of magical vampire, all of Touya's powers had transferred into his true self, his other half. Yukito could still feel it coursing through him, filling him and sustaining him in a way that all the food he'd been eating or all the sleep he'd been getting never could. It was like he had some kind of drug coursing through his veins, but then again he supposed that this was probably how normal people felt all the time.
If he felt high after receiving just enough magic for him to reach an equilibrium, would Touya feel incomplete when he went back to being a normal human being, without his magic?
Yukito couldn't help but ponder that question, among others, as he waited silently for Touya to wake up. It had been hours since the exchange had occurred, Yukito had returned back to his normal self but Touya had yet to wake up. Eriol-san had been kind enough to allow them to stay in the room until Touya had awoken, but it was getting late and Yukito was seriously trying to decide if he should either carry the larger boy home, try to wake him up, or just spend the night at the mansion.
Despite all of his nervous energy, he just couldn't pry himself out of the chair. He had been sitting still for hours, his eyes never leaving Touya's face, his own breath hitching from each rise and fall of Touya's chest. He was afraid that Yue had taken it all, or taken to much, and that he would never awaken again. He was afraid that he would just stop breathing and never wake up. Yukito's throat constricted painfully when he dwelt too long on the thought.
This was new too, the swirling of emotions going on between his head and his heart. He had always liked Touya, ever since the first day that they had met. Gradually, over the years, his fondness for his best friend had grown into something far beyond that. He had no clue where they stood anymore and had even less clue as to where he was at the moment. He was confused, and staring at Touya's sleeping face wasn't helping him any.
There it was, a flicker of movement as Touya's eyes rolled behind his eyelids. Yukito held his breath and waited until he saw his eyes slowly open and focus on the ceiling. Slowly, his gaze shifted and zeroed in on him without a single thought.
Yukito exhaled.
Touya's brown eyes looked straight into his own misty gray. There were no secrets between them now, nothing to separate and confine them into their own heads and hearts. Everything had been opened and laid bare, but there was just one question that lingered between them.
"How are you feeling?" Yukito whispered.
No, that wasn't it.
"Tired," Touya replied in his husky voice. "Drained."
"If you feel up to going home, I'll make you some tea then and you can go back to sleep." Yukito reached out and hesitantly laid his hand over Touya's.
Touya turned his hand over and intertwined their fingers, giving Yukito a soft squeeze to let him know that he was all right. "Sounds good. Sakura?"
"She went home with Li-kun and Daidouji-san. She knew that I would stay with you."
"How are you feeling?" Touya asked, trying to sit up and finally managing it.
Yukito ducked his head a bit and looked up at him sheepishly. "Great."
"That's good." Touya gave his hand another soft squeeze.
"You… you shouldn't have done that, you shouldn't have given away your power for me…"
"Who said I did it for you?" Touya asked seriously.
Yukito gave him a questioning look.
"I did it because I didn't want you to disappear. I want you to always be with me because… because…"
"Because you're important to me?" Yukito finished for him.
"Yeah."
"Am I… am I your most important person?"
Touya's expression soften and he reached out his hand and placed it on the back of Yukito's neck, pulling him forward so that his head rested against his shoulder. "Yuki, you mean the world to me."
Yukito smiled into Touya's shoulder and felt the relief wash over him. "You're important to me, too."
Silence stretched between them, but neither was willing to move. Finally, Yukito broke the silence.
"To-ya, so where do we go from here?"
Now there was the question.
Touya only took a moment to think about it. "Wherever we want."
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Touya felt like shit. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Yuki that if he could help it. He was loath to feed the other boy's guilt complex anymore than he probably already was.
So what if he gave his magical ability to Yue. He WANTED to do it. It was his magical powers, God damn it, and thus his to give away to whoever he wanted. And he wanted to give them to Yuki. Er, Yue. Yue was the one he gave them to in order to save Yuki. That was it.
Touya's brow furrowed and he leaned more onto his friend. His head hurt and thinking wasn't helping.
"You okay?" Yukito asked, noticing the extra weight he was suddenly supporting. Touya had said that he felt like he could make it home, but as they got nearer to his house his energy seemed to be draining. He was leaning heavily on him now, and even Yukito was becoming weary from having to walk supporting two people.
Touya nodded. "Yeah."
So where do we go from here? Touya's initial reaction was to say 'That, my dear, is a very good question.' Of course, he wasn't about to say that. So he said the next thing that came to his mind.
Wherever we want.
Now that was a good answer. Simple and non-committal, yet full of confidence. It left so many possibilities open, and put some of the responsibility on Yukito's own shoulders.
They're both men, after all, so why should Touya have to be the one to push, to pursue, to initiate everything? No, he wanted Yukito to do all of those things too.
He sighed. After being pursued all his life by school girls, and after pursuing Kaho, it would be nice to have an egalitarian courtship for once.
Now, where to start? He supposed he should probably start with 'I love you' like he'd originally been meaning to say for the past months.
Touya remembered vividly the first time he realized that he loved his best friend. It was when Yuki had come over to spend the night for the first time. It was supposed to be a last minute study session before finals that week, not that either of them really needed it that badly, but they never did get much studying done. Instead they had stayed up all night talking, never even cracking open a book. They had never had such a large chunk of time to spend with each other before, and it was as if neither of them wanted to waste it by sleeping. Finally, well into the morning, Yuki had nodded off right in the middle of their conversation.
That was the moment when Touya realized how much he loved him. He watched the other boy's eyes slowly close as he lost consciousness and relaxed back into the pillow. His mouth opened into a cute little yawn and he was asleep, just like that. Just like a kitten. Touya could have sworn he almost heard him purr. In that moment, while Touya watched him sleeping peacefully, he came to the inevitable conclusion that his feeling were more than platonic.
As time passed and he tried to keep it inside, he felt the over-whelming urge to come out and say 'I love you.' However, one thing and then another just kept getting in the way.
And then Yuki started to disappear.
That in and of itself terrified Touya more than anything. Sure, he knew it was inevitable, but to see his friend disappearing before his eyes sent chills of fear down his spine faster than any scary movie, any scary situation he'd ever been in. In his desperation, his confession of 'I love you' became 'I know that you're not human.' He knew that he didn't want Yuki to disappear, he didn't want him to leave. If he could prevent that from happening, then he'd happily give his power to his friend.
So he did. And here they were. In front of his house with him leaning heavily on Yuki.
Touya fished the key out of his pocket and handed it to his friend. Yukito took it and helped him up the steps before opening the front door. They made their way inside the darkened house and Touya noted with relief that Sakura's shoes were sitting in the genkan. That meant she had made it home safe and sound.
"Let's get you upstairs," Yuki whispered in the dark, navigating Touya towards the stairway.
When they passed the living room, he noticed his father had fallen asleep in the chair. That was just like Dad, trying to wait up for him. Touya used the last of his strength to straighten up and pull away from Yukito to walk over to his father. He placed his hand on his shoulder and shook gently. "Hey, 'Tou-san, wake up."
Fujitaka Kinomoto woke at his son's gentle prodding and yawned.
"I'm home now, so you can go to bed."
"I see that. Sakura-san said that you would probably be late coming in, but I hadn't heard from you yet so I waited up."
Touya smiled in the darkness. "Thanks, tou-san."
Fujitaka realized that Yukito was standing in the doorway. "Oh, will Tsukishiro-kun be staying the night tonight?"
Yukito blinked, he hadn't really thought much of it.
"How 'bout it, Yuki?" Touya asked.
"You're always welcome," Fujitaka added.
"I can. My grandparents are traveling right now, so there's no one home anyways. Thank you for your hospitality, Kinomoto-san."
"No problem. Oyasumi."
"Oyasumi."
Yukito rushed to Touya's side when he noticed the other boy swaying on his feet. Fujitaka had just left the room when Touya had begun to loose his balance, but Yukito was able to catch him before he slumped to the ground.
"Let's get you upstairs," he repeated.
"Ah," Touya agreed, wanting nothing more than his nice, soft bed and a blanket at the moment.
Yukito helped him upstairs, completely and totally oblivious that Kinomoto-san was watching them from the hall with a look of mixed worry and amusement on his face. He knew that something was wrong with Touya, but at the same time he trusted Tsukishiro-san to take good care of him.
Yukito led Touya upstairs to his bedroom and turned down the covers on the full-size bed. Touya flopped into it, seeming to fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. "Hey, you shouldn't go to sleep in your clothes like that."
Touya didn't move.
He sighed and carefully navigated Touya's limbs out of his shirt. Yuki folded the T-shirt neatly and placed it in the hamper before turning back to his friend. He carefully removed his pants, being extremely careful not to pull Touya's boxers off with them. After he thought his friend would be comfortable, he pulled the comforter up around his torso and laid his hands carefully outside the blanket. He folded the jeans and placed them at the end of the bed, in case the other boy might want to wear them again tomorrow.
"I'll go get the futon…" Yuki said to himself, and turned to go.
Touya suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Don't worry about it, just sleep here tonight."
Had he been awake the entire time?
Yukito hesitated, but one quick yank and he was sprawled out on the bed, half on top of Touya.
"T-To-ya!"
Yukito looked over at his friend, but he seemed to already be asleep again. He sighed. After a moment hesitation, he quickly kicked off his pants and sweater, folded them neatly, and climbed into bed next to his friend. He laid his glasses on the nightstand before curling up on his side and pressing as far against the edge as he possibly could, all thoughts of making tea long forgotten.
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It wasn't until the first vestiges of early morning that Yukito became increasingly aware of the overwhelming heat encompassing his body. The unbearable warmth was enough to rouse him out of deep REM sleep and bring his mind to the brink of consciousness. His body's first reaction was to kick the covers off before he woke up more fully, but his legs wouldn't seem to move.
Yukito slowly moved into consciousness. His forehead wrinkled at the uncomfortable heat, for that was the first thing he became aware of. He made the effort to move, but that was when he noticed the heavy weight that was keeping him down. He frowned and slowly opened his eyes, trying to blink the last traces of sleep away.
The sun had just come up so the room was lit with the faintest hint of sunlight. Yukito could only see the long expanse of skin in front of his eyes, so close it filled his vision. He blinked at it.
He pulled back enough too see the rest of Touya, still sleeping next to him. The other boy was breathing deeply, completely and totally relaxed. Somehow, at some point during the night, Yukito had ended up in Touya's arms.
Yukito laid his head back down in the crook of Touya's neck in shock. He didn't know how it had happened, but he was definitely pressed up against the other boy. Touya slept on his side usually, and Yuki was also on his side facing him. Touya's arms encircled his torso and held him close, their legs intertwined and Yukito's head was cradled in Touya's neck. Large expanses of skin pressed up against each other from their arms, torsos, and legs.
He didn't know what to do. He wanted to get up, to escape from the hot, sticky body next to his, but he wasn't sure if he could. He shifted his weight back experimentally, but only succeeded in pulling the other boy on top of him more. His eyes widened as Touya seemed to pull him even closer in his sleep.
"To-ya?" he tried, wanting to see if the other boy was awake.
Touya didn't stir.
Yukito relaxed back into the pillows, wondering what he should do next. The only thing he could think of was to wake Touya up, but did he want Touya to see them in that kind of position? He didn't even know how he had gotten there! What if he was the one that had cuddled up to him in the middle of the night, how would Touya take that?
Though, what if Touya was the one who pulled him towards him while he was asleep? How should he take that? What if Touya was actually awake this entire time, and was only messing with him?
Yukito's eyes narrowed and he looked up at his friend's face. He wouldn't put it past the other boy at all.
It was then that he realized just how close they were. Pressed up against each other like this, Touya's face was only a couple inches from his own. All he would have to do is lean upward those last two inches and…
Kiss him.
The thought came unwarranted into his head. Yukito practically jumped out his skin, not expecting the thought to come so forcefully, so unbidden. His eyes widened and he pressed his face into Touya's neck as if the entire world could see his shame and he wanted to hide his burning face. He could never…
Why not?
There it was again, the same strong, demanding voice of his conscious. Only it wasn't, it was a bit different, a bit more insistent than how his inner voice usually sounded. It was a bit more mature, a bit deeper, a bit more authoritative.
Yue.
Why not?
Because I don't want our first kiss to be when he's asleep!
Yukito heard what almost sounded like the cross between a snort and a chuckle, and then it was gone. Yukito's mind tingled and his breathing was rapid, and the only thing he knew was that he had to get out of there now. He tried to pull away, but Touya's weight and arms kept him held firmly.
Touya was frowning in his sleep now, the movement was also jarring him awake. Yukito grabbed onto this hope and started slapping lightly at Touya's chest, trying to push away. Touya let him go and he scrambled out of bed, the sheets getting twisted around his legs and causing him to flop onto the floor with a thump.
Touya sat up on his elbow and looked over the side of the bed, blinking sleepily at his friend. "Yuki?"
Yukito looked down at the carpet, anywhere but at Touya. "I'm all right."
"Oh," Touya said, and fell back onto the pillows again. He was asleep within seconds, leaving a very confused Yukito sprawled onto the floor.
He carefully untangled himself from the bedding and stood up, fixing the covers so that they covered Touya again. He must have still been really tired to go back to sleep so soon like that.
Yuki grabbed his clothes and threw them on before getting his glasses from the nightstand. He balanced them on his nose and looked at the clock. It was 6:40. He should have enough time to make it home and get ready for school before he had to be in classes.
He went over to Touya and made sure he was all tucked in again. He brushed a lock of hair out of his eyes and trailed his fingertips down the side of his face, feeling the day-old stubble under the whorls of his fingerprints.
Yukito fled the room quickly, making his way downstairs to the genkan to retrieve his shoes.
"You leaving now, Tsukishiro-san?"
Yukito turned to see Kinomoto-san coming out of his bedroom, tying his tie as he walked into the kitchen. "Ah, I'm going to go home and get ready for school."
"What about Touya? Should I let him sleep?"
"Yeah, he's not feeling very well." Yukito stood up to go.
"Oh, Tsukishiro-san?"
He turned and looked at Kinomoto-san. "Hai?"
"Arigatou. For always looking after him."
Yukito smiled. "You're welcome," he said as he turned and left.
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