Forty Winks

Intro: -MUSIC: Green Day, 'Long View'- Okay, so here's some catching up on the fluff I haven't written in a long time. This is counting as the, 'Sleeping Beauty,' upload…yeah. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this strand. Give yourself a pat on the back! (smiles) Picking up on the fic numbers... this is like... fifty-three.

A/N: About the title: 'Forty Winks' is a phrase meaning, 'to slumber,' not forty literal winks. (laughs) So you could say, 'I'm going to have forty winks tonight!' People might stare at you funny, though.

"You're going to bed, Kuro-Chin?" Fai asked, happily trailing with a skip.

"Yeah," Kurogane grunted, "And you're not."

"We're sharing a room again. It wouldn't be right if you or I slept in Sakura-Chan's room and Mokona always sleeps with her. You really don't have a choice," reasoned the mage.

With a sigh, the ninja let go a breath of air. "Well you're not sleeping in my bed."

"I'm not sleeping in…?" Fai laughed, "You don't honestly expect me to go after you like that, do you?"

The ninja stared at the other dumbfounded. "I think after all's said and done I can expect you to do something like that."

Fai laughed again. "Kuro-Chin's cute but he doesn't like me. There'd be no point in it."

Kurogane blushed silently.

Fai murmured something under his breath a quick moment. Then, it clicked. "I get it! Kuro-Gan has a weak spot in bed!"

"What the Hell?" Kurogane demanded, "That doesn't even sound right!"

Fai laughed again. There was a certain gleam in his eye that told Kurogane tonight would not fair so well for himself. He gulped harshly.

-O-

The clock rang twelve times. Fai was excited as can be. Kurogane had a weak spot having to do with him not wanting Fai in his bed. Friends shared beds. There would be nothing wrong in sharing a bed with Fai, but he didn't want to. There must be a deep, dark secret… And Fai was going to find out.

Kurogane was sure to be asleep by now. Unless, of course, the ninja had predicted he was going to slip in his bed. That was very likely. Kuroganes were slick when it came to their man-pride, after all…

Fai sneaked his head to Kurogane's bed's level. Kurogane seemed to be asleep…

He sneaked onto the bed, leaning over the ninja. Kurogane was snoring quite loudly with an arm over his forehead and a pillow on his chest squeezed down with the other arm. A sliver of drool hung out from the bottom-left corner of a chapped mouth. Fai restrained himself from giggling. If all went well, he could expose the ninja even deeper…

Fai slipped under the covers, still keeping a distance. He waited a moment… Nothing. Kurogane was being very patient for once.

Fai slipped closer. Again, he waited a moment… Nothing. For once, Fai was frustrated.

Fai finally cuddled up to the ninja, hugging him tightly. At which point the most disturbing thing happened: Kurogane flung the pillow off and started hugging Fai back.

"Uh… Kuro-Chu…?" It was a first because Fai had managed to get himself into a situation where even he was disturbed to be in. "Kuro-Nin…?"

"Awww… you feel like that damn idiot mage… he's not this soft, though… maybe he is… I wouldn't know… damn, I gotta get him alone one of these days… damn that bastard to Hell… I don't even like guys… what am I saying…?"

Fai's face lit up. Kurogane was dead asleep. Nothing could wake him up it seemed – like a rock – and yet he was cuddling Fai and talking in his sleep. It was rather absurd, but when Fai thought of Kurogane's personality, it made sense.

"What am I saying…? Huh… stupid bastard acts like a girl… there's no shame… no shame… there's a world of shame there… eh, it'd be better… if he accepted… that he's a guy… yeah… he's a guy… I've seen him naked…"

Fai giggled slightly. Kurogane's face twitched. The blonde clasped his mouth shut, restraining himself. The more information he received, the better. Kurogane sighed in his sleep, cuddling the blonde's head closer to his chest. His right, muscular arm slung behind Fai's back, caressing him gently.

"Mmm… you smell like Fai… one of these I gotta tell him… before he decides… to run off… away to that damn bastard… one day…"

Kurogane buried his cheek in Fai's golden locks. Fai was brought into a protective grasp. For being rather introversive, Kurogane could carry some conversation with himself… Fai shoved that thought away, his cheeks were on fire, burning valiantly.

"I'll hold him tight…and caress him…and then I'll tell him… that I won't ever let him go…"

Fai's heart skipped a beat. He probably wouldn't be able to sleep for the rest of the night after hearing something like that… but Kurogane was just too warm. It would be a waste to throw away this prime opportunity.

-O-

Kurogane flinched. He was relaxed – as if he drank a glass of liquor before going to bed. He didn't remember anything like that… He felt another body next to him. He probably coaxed a woman on the street last night to do so… No memory of that, either…

He inhaled deeply… It smelled like… Fai.

Kurogane twitched, not wanting to look down. He knew what was there. He knew how what was there got there. He knew what the thing that was there would do when it woke up.

Something cold rolled over onto Kurogane, stealing the one's breath away. Kurogane was pretending to be asleep but Fai knew better – his heart was racing and his body was extremely tense. Fai smirked – it was prime time to expose the big puppy.

"And the princess woke up with her true love's first kiss," Fai chimed, placing a kiss on Kurogane's chapped lips.

Kurogane woke up after that.

In fact, the big puppy immediately popped up from the bed and pinned the mage down.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Kurogane roared. "Just who the Hell is the princess?"

"Hold that thought, Kuro-Koi. On another note, I didn't know Kuro-Nin was so good at cuddling!" Fai chimed. Fai being Fai, this was not a fluffy moment. He was sadistic in that way. The fake melodramatic confessions were as loud as a hyper-active yaoi fan-girl trying to get an issue of the latest release. This was one of those situations. "I feel like I've been lied to this whole time!"

The ninja blushed, barely able to stutter a, "sh-shut up! Shut up and get out! I don't wanna hear that from you!"

"But Kuro-Yang thinks of me all the time! Even in his sleep," Fai added. "Am I wrong?"

Again Kurogane blushed, this time, more wildly. "People do delusional stuff in their sleep all the time!"

"I knew it! Kuro-Chan can't deny it!" the blonde wailed, "You're just sooooo in love with me! I understand! Everyone falls for a beautiful, wonderful, exciting-"

"Shut up already! It's not like that at all!" Kurogane yelled in his defense.

"Then what is it like?" inquired the mage, quite curious.

"I hate you. I hate you so much," Kuorgane confessed. Fai's smile became distant from his eyes in that split moment. The ninja blushed, sitting up as he picked up his conversation, "and then… there's this part of me that likes you. I hate that I like you more than I hate you. And yet…I like how I hate that I like that hating part of me that likes you."

Fai stared, confused, yet slightly pink. He smiled.

"Kuro-Chan! I-"

"Fai-San, Kurogane-San, breakfast is ready," Sakura chimed with morning glee. The girl popped her head in briskly – long enough for the sound to enter but short enough to where she only saw blurs of the two. (Sakura was taught that it was rude to look at people before they were ready to seize the day.)

Fai sighed as the door flung shut. "I wanna sleep with you tonight again."

"Don't say that out loud," growled the ninja, "People are going to stare at you funny."

Fai smiled coyly, chiming in an innocent tone, "Why shouldn't they?"

Kurogane glared at Fai, dropping the glare soon afterwards. "You're so impossible."

"Kuro-Chu don't you-"

Sending an evil glare towards Fai, Kurogane growled, "Yeah. I love you. There. Say that I said that, and I kill you."

For the first time since he really smiled, Fai actually smiled. It didn't really make sense – that last thought. What really mattered, though, was that he was loved by a ninja that would willingly kill him at any given moment. And for Fai, that was everything he had ever wanted.

Afterthoughts: I think I'm going to gag out of the fluff… (blinks) It's been awhile. Please review! Reviews make me happy!