He was tired. His neck hurt, the pain traveling down to his shoulders and tightening his muscles in the most uncomfortable way possible. He tried stretching, but that only awakened the pain and discomfort, addling his tired brain.

Blearily blinking his eyes, Yukio removed his glasses with a regretful sigh. The pages before him blurred, the white sheets marred with black inscriptions that became difficult to read. The blue computer screen flickered before him, and he winced, turning the machine off and lessening the pressure around his eyes.

But the work still remained. He could not make it go away with a simple push of a button. Avoiding his work would get him nowhere, would not lessen the workload. He still had to focus on his studies, and he had to prepare for the upcoming lessons for the school. Then there was that mission he had to review in case he was called back into the field.

Too much. It was all too much.

His glasses slipped from his hands and clattered on to the desk. Resting his head in his hands, he tried to gather himself for a quick breather. Maybe if he closed his eyes for a few moments, he would feel better. He was not resting; he didn't have time for that, but he would collect himself so that he was at his best when he worked.

He didn't hear the door open, nor did he detect the presence of another being sitting beside him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. With a jolt, he realized that he had in fact given in to temptation and fallen asleep, despite his intentions of getting back to work.

He detected his brother's presence, and his weary mind casually thought that he must have really been out of it if his brother's rambunctious voice and antics had not stirred him from his rest.

Without prompting, Yukio rested his head on Rin's lap. He wrapped his arms around Rin's waist, closing his eyes as he allowed himself this one moment of weakness. He could hear Rin's surprised exclamation, felt how Rin had raised his hands as if Yukio were an unusual animal that had decided to approach him. But Yukio could not even bring himself to raise his head, already succumbing to his brother's comforting warmth.

After a moment, Rin wrapped his arms around Yukio, pulling him close and securing him in an embrace.

Yukio's breathing evened out, and the thought did not cross his mind that Rin would probably tease him about his imperfect behavior when he awoke. All he needed right now was this physical contact and his brother's protection against the outside world.

xXx

When Rin had entered the room with exclamations about his hard work of dinner growing cold, he had stopped when he noticed his brother's stooped figure. Initially, concern had filled Rin as he wondered if his brother had been attacked, but it only took him a moment to realize that Yukio had only fallen asleep on his work.

He had smirked in amusement, a teasing jab building up on his tongue, only to stop when he caught sight of his brother's creased forehead, the frown forming on his troubled features, and the slight tremble in his hands that clutched at a few papers.

Sitting in the only available chair and scooting forward, Rin had hesitantly reached out to poke his brother awake. But Yukio had merely sighed and leaned, no, collapsed into him. Rin had stiffened up when he felt his brother cling to him in a moment of pure vulnerability. A protest was dying on his tongue when his little brother sighed so softly.

Oh God, what should he do? He tried to think about what dad would have done in this situation, when a thought struck him like a demon's blow.

Was...was he seriously questioning how to help his own little brother?

He frowned. No way! He wasn't that helpless that he didn't know how to help out! Yukio was his brother, and as the older sibling, Rin was fully capable of knowing what to do.

With a determined nod, Rin carefully wrapped his arms around Yukio. His brother's body was nearly limp, not even resisting. The chair was not at all comfortable for Rin's back, but Yukio looked as content as ever in his brother's arms.

Rin resisted grumbling when he felt his back protest at the odd sitting position. Ah, whatever. He'll remind Yukio of how much of a good big brother he was when he woke up. That'll show him!