Author Fangirling: I've haven't thought of a good FY fic in a while, much less typed one up. This one came to be some time ago, and I just barely had enough inspiration today to write it. Yay for a slightly new take on the brotherly relationship between Tasuki and Chiriko? It's funny that most of the other characters (except maybe Mitsukake or Chichiri) picked up on the relationship they had. And in case you've never seen a kid cry in their sleep, well, it's pitiful. Very pitiful.
Miaka knew many people who did strange things in their sleep. Her brother would snore, Yui would mumble, Nuriko would giggle and moan, and Tamahome would grab people. But she didn't know anyone other than Chiriko who could cry in their sleep.
Sometimes he would just whimper to himselfwhen he was having a bad dream, but on a few select nights, it would be a full on wail. This was one of those nights.
"Why doesn't he wake himself up when he does that?"Miaka held the pillows against her ears. Her room being directly across the hall from his, she could pick up most of the sounds, but it was far less bearable for those in the neighboring rooms.
"Would you knock it off?" she heard Tasuki yell and beat his wall. In return, the wailing got a little louder.
"Aw, geez," Miaka moaned under her breath. "Just go to sleep--"
Her comment was interrupted when she heard Tasuki's door open, followed by Chiriko's. The priestess furrowed her eyebrows at these new sounds, and deducted that he went to go shut Chiriko up. Feeling concerned about just how he was planning to do this, she climbed out of bed and quietly followed.
Keeping her breath as quiet as possible, Miaka peeked through the slight crack in the door. Inside, she didn't see Tasuki gagging Chiriko or hitting him with pillows like she expected, but rather, the older boy was awkward trying to pick the other up.
While Chiriko was small, he was by no means tiny. Tasuki was having a difficult time trying to fit him on his lap while keeping him asleep. "Sssh, Chiriko. Hey, there's nothin' to cry about," he said, trying to sound as comforting as possible, but not succeeding. Chiriko still whined and hiccupped on a few sobs. Frustrated, Tasuki rolled his eyes and tried again.
"Hey, Chiriko. Cut it out," he rocked him back and forth. It was certainly not something he was used to doing, and not something he would ever want someone else to see- especially Miaka, who was watching wide-eyed and holding her breath to keep from making a comment about it.
Chiriko's eyes clentched tighter as he moaned in a high pitch, as if settling down, or preparing for another burst of tears. "There's nothing to cry about, Chiriko," Tasuki continued, in a more natural-sounding tone. "You're just having a bad dream. Everything's alright- I'm right here."
The smaller boy's hand reached up to rub his eyes as he simmered down, not the action Tasuki expected. "Ssshh! You don't hafta wake up!"
Miaka smiled to herself as she watched, trying to keep from giggling. 'You probably don't want Chiriko to know about this either, do you, Tasuki?' she thought. 'Still, it's nice to know that you do let down the tough-guy exterior sometimes.'
The younger boy stopped crying, and relaxed into Tasuki's arms. After watching him hiccup a few quick breaths, Tasuki carefully slid him down onto his bed and covered him back up. Miaka quickly pulled away from the door to tip-toe back to her own room.
"Miaka?" the red-haired bandit blinked as he came back out into the hall. The said priestess froze just as she was about to slip through her door. "What are you doing out here?" he looked at her suspiciously.
"I… um…." she babbled, while mentally yelling at herself to think of a quick cover.
The two stayed very silent for a moment waiting for her answer. The silence was broking with the sound of Miaka's fake snoring, following by a sleep walking act back into her room. It didn't take long for Tasuki to figure out what she was really up to, and the new-found quiet of the night didn't last much longer.