A/N: Finally my exams are over and all went well. The following chapter is sadly a little bit short but as the next chapter will be from Ryoma's point of view, I decided to stop here. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. ^-^
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
~~ Time To Cuddle ~~
~~ 10. March, Early Morning ~~
Kunimitsu awoke to the sound of gagging, followed by the sound of a turned on shower. He forced his tired brain and sleep drowned eyes to function and open, even if he wanted nothing else than continue sleeping. His right hand searched automatically for his glasses which were always on his nightstand beside his bed.
After putting them on and switching on the lamp on the nightstand, he cast a glance at the nearby digital clock above the door.
It was too early for him to be awake, especially when he had gone to bed so late. He had woken up to an ungodly hour. The brunette wanted to groan. He had barely slept three hours and could feel the next headache coming as the day progressed.
Thankfully Syusuke had helped him earlier to prepare the bed which was originally for Echizen, but as the teen had fallen asleep in his bed, he had no choice but to use the only free bed if he wanted to have some sleep because sleeping with Syusuke in such a small bed was just out of question. His boyfriend had the bad habit to thrash around too much.
It was only after Kunimitsu knew about it from a very painful experience that he would only sleep with the other brunette in the same bed if the bed was big enough to slip out of reach. The once hard landing on the ground thanks to Syusuke's kick was enough for him.
"Morning, Mitsu." Kunimitsu blinked behind his glasses to get his eyes to focus and as soon as his boyfriend changed from a blurred silhouette into a sharp and beautiful figure did he nod in greeting. Though, he and his boyfriend weren't the only one awake. Genichirou sat wearily in his bed, blanket over his legs and his back pressed against the wall. A characteristically smile was on his lips in greetings nonetheless.
The source for their very early wake up echoed anew from the bathroom. The gagging sound was awful and sounded painful. Kunimitsu's gaze wandered around the room, from one bed to another. Keigo was still asleep, snoring softly under his purple sleeping mask. The bed where Echizen had slept was left behind empty though. So the culprit of the gagging sound was found.
Kunimitsu sighed uncharacteristically and stood up. His body reacted somehow out of instinct, standing up from the bed and heading in the direction of the bathroom but Genichirou's grip on his wrist stopped him.
"He is throwing up for the last ten minutes. Syusuke told me about the other night when you two slept in one bed…" Genichirou paused, watching him. A deep and creepy feeling overcame Kunimitsu. Oh no… had Echizen?!
The brunette frowned in worry, asking silently his friend if his worry was true. Genichirou shook his head very lightly in denial. The movement merely noticeable but relief flooded him instantly. The secret was still hidden. Echizen hadn't screamed again.
"What exactly did I miss when I had been gone?" Sharp blue eyes watched them both carefully, regarding them. "Gen and also Yuuta said… I won't pressure Echizen any more, at least I will try my best no to bother him too much." The brunette's voice grew softer with each word.
Kunimitsu looked at Genichirou, asking silently if they should tell the brunette the little secret which they had discovered a couple of hours ago. The only reaction he received from his friend was a shrug with the shoulders, making Kunimitsu sigh.
Absolutely great.
Should he lie right in his boyfriend's face after their fight and risk another fight by this decision or should he tell and maybe cause Syusuke to ask even more questions as his curiosity was worse than any cat's.
He couldn't decide, didn't want to choose the wrong answer. However, the longer he waited to explain, and Genichirou wouldn't do it as he stared at him in utter uncertainty, the deeper grew the frown between Syusuke's brows. A strong swallow, followed by a deep mental breath before he said: "We believe his cousin will be here soon and if she gets in contact with Echizen, she will most likely break him or at least give him another mental breakdown."
"You're sure his cousin will come here?"
Kunimitsu nodded in agreement. The sound of gagging stopped, the shower was turned off and the door to the bathroom opened quietly and very slowly. Echizen, pale and shaky on his legs, closed the door silently and wobbled a few steps in the direction of the bed. The teen paused abruptly in his movements as soon as he had seen the other awake teens. The shock and embarrassment were clearly visible on his face.
Echizen's confused gaze went from the sleeping Keigo, to Syusuke, to Genichirou and stopped by Kunimitsu and then lowered a bit. Kunimitsu followed Echizen's gaze to his still entwined hand with Genichirou's. A frown of confusion and a tilt of the head in curiosity were all the reactions Echizen showed. Not a reaction he had foreseen, considering how the teen had always stuttered and blushed deeply whenever he had witnessed an act of love.
What had change the way of reaction?
What was this expression in those golden orbs?
Kunimitsu cleared his throat to get the teen's attention. Better not to stir the now dimly lit fire and turn it into a bright flame. "Another nightmare?"
Echizen's orbs were glued on the hands a second longer before his view landed guiltily on his face. A small blush of embarrassment crept up his cheeks and his focus went once again to Syusuke, who smiled really friendly, in uncertainty.
Kunimitsu sighed loudly, received a frown from the other two and walked back to his bed, holding the blanket up while gesturing at Echizen to hop inside the bed. The blush spread even further over the teen's cheeks. "We already slept in the same bed and you had no problem with it then. It seems to help you sleep well and we will need your strength tomorrow at practice."
A strange emotion of pride and something else filled him by such a …lie.
Was it a lie?
No, not really... maybe... Why was he offering such a thing?
Kunimitsu wanted to groan out loud. Don't think.
It was way too early to think about his messed up inner self and the decision he makes in his tired self right then.
Why was he offering, again, a place in his bed to a younger teammate whom he barely knew and who had more secrets than his actual boyfriend?!
Anxiety, caution and shyness were written like the words in an open book on Echizen's face. Kunimitsu took a deep breath, nodded once more to the uncertain teen before climbing back into the bed, still offering the little space in front of him in the bed. The choice lay not by him any longer. He was just tired. The day's emotional drama wore him out, the headache already softly knocking on his head.
Echizen glanced from the lonely and cold bed where he had slept in alone and then to the other bed where Kunimitsu slept in… It didn't take long for Echizen to decide where to sleep as he moved quietly over to him, snuggling under the blanket.
Syusuke grinned, switched off the light and went to sleep like Genichirou. Kunimitsu switched off his own light, pulling his glasses from above his nose and putting them on the nightstand. "Good night, Echizen." Said teen nodded.
They turned their backs to each other. Sleep overtook them quickly.
~~ 10. March, Morning ~~
"Ore-sama hadn't expected that."
"It's unusual for him. He hadn't really cuddled with me like this before and I'm his boyfriend."
"Ore-sama can understand that. You are thrashing around in your sleep whenever you dream strange things and it makes it impossible to really cuddle with you."
"Mitsu has never complained before."
"It's true nonetheless. Shouldn't we wake them up? I brought breakfast as the canteen has been flooded due to the rain. Kunimitsu really let his guard down."
"One moment, Gen. You two haven't complained either."
"Ore-sama isn't complaining but explaining."
Someone chuckled and the sound stirred Kunimitsu slowly awake. Bright light blinded him for a second and his hand wandered up to the nightstand to search for his glasses only to find himself unable to do so…
Something slightly heavy hindered him from moving his right arm at all. He shut his eyes anew to stop the blurry view and took a deep breath.
What was wrong with his body? Why was it so heavy?
He moved his head a little and was greeted by the scent of grape and something like delicious green tea…It smelled really good. Did Syusuke always smell so good?
His brain was always slow without his first cup of good and hot green tea…
Luckily nobody knew this side of him or Syusuke would certainly take advantage of it. Keigo perhaps too. It was impossible to count the tricky teases and blackmail attempts from his boyfriend against him to get what he wanted. If he didn't know that his boyfriend would never do anything consciously to harm him, he would immediately consider putting some distance between them.
The warmth of the bed, the calming scent... it was tempting to let sleep overtake him anew but his gut feeling told him something different.
Another chuckle, though this time it was clearly Syusuke's chuckle which grew louder and clearer. "Saa, Mitsu, who knew you're such a cuddler... hehe."
Snap. Snap. Click.
The sleepiness was gone instantly, his brain trying his hardest to work on high speed. He forced his body to move, shoved the heaviness away and fished for his glasses while sitting up. His insides were in a riot but on the outside everything on him appeared to be calm and composed.
At least he had hoped so but the moment his view cleared and sharped, he knew his secret wasn't any longer a secret. Syusuke and Keigo were smirking and Genichirou was actually grinning. "Good morning, Mitsu."
But why exactly were they grinning?
He knew this smirk from Syusuke which promised teases but there shouldn't be anything for the brunette to tease him with. He had just woken up a little bit dazed maybe... but this smirk... It shouldn't be simply because they know he wasn't the fittest in the morning…
"Gen brought us breakfast and your cup of green tea is ready as well. If you could let go of Ryoma, we could wake him up too." Syusuke had leaned closer to him as he spoke, his smirk growing wider and wider. Kunimitsu frowned by the words which made little sense to him.
Why had Gen brought them breakfast?
What about Echizen?
Syusuke grabbed his left hand, lifted it up from the warmth underneath it and put it on the lesser warm blanket. His boyfriend then shook on a shoulder which belonged not to Kunimitsu and therefore forced his curious mind to follow the movement.
Echizen slept next to him with his spine against Kunimitsu's body. They must have slept arm in arm over the night and until then.
Oh no, this is what the three...
"Ryoma, it's time to wake up. C'mon." Syusuke shook a bit harder and a few more times on the teen's shoulder before finally managing to wake him up. Echizen yawned, stretched his body and rubbed his tired eyes. Kunimitsu had the strange desire to ruffle the dark and messy hair.
A jolt went through him. Alright, it was definitely time to get up and take a cold shower. His hope of a normal day today went flying out the window. With such thought already appearing so early in the morning, it could only get worse.
Where were the drama free days?