Can we keep him?

Satoshi woke with a start at the sound of the thunder outside. He tried to block out the boom of the thunder, but gave up after a particularly loud BOOM was heard. He realized that he was shaking and decided to go see if his mother would let him stay with her for the night. He looked down the stairs and realized that she was still awake; he thought about going to her, but decided against it as she would probably scold him.

He was about to go back to bed alone when he noticed one of the guest rooms was ajar. He crept in and to his delight (and relief); he saw that Kurapika was there. He silently walked up to the bed and gently poked the sleeping Kuruta awake.

"Huh?" said the sleepy Kurapika. When he realized that it was Satoshi who had awakened him and the thunder raging outside, it clicked into place why the boy was there.

"Are you scared of thunder?" he asked gently. Satoshi quickly nods, and Kurapika sat up.

"Come here, runt. You can stay with me since there's a thunder storm going on…" Kurapika smiled. Satoshi crawled up and lay down next to Kurapika. When he was settled in, Kurapika covered them up and wrapped his arm around Satoshi. The young Hikari snuggled up to him, (Kurapika suspected that he was a living teddy bear for Satoshi), and he softly sang a lullaby that put them both to sleep.

------------

Satoshi's mother went upstairs to check on her son. She was startled when she saw that he wasn't in his room, but her fears were put to rest as she spotted him curled up next to the boy who played with him in the park. She smiled at the sight…it almost looked like the blond was an older brother helping Satoshi sleep.

----------

The next morning, Satoshi woke up and quickly realized that his new friend was still asleep. He curled up closer to him, and fell back to sleep almost immediately. Kurapika awoke to a blue disaster snuggled up against him. He held back a chuckle as he gently woke up the sleeping boy.

"Eh? What time is it?" the Hikari asked groggily.

"Don't know…but I believe it's time for breakfast!" laughed Kurapika as he got up. Satoshi let loose a grin as he sat there on the bed.

"What's the matter, squirt?" said Kurapika in surprise.

"I have a hard time waking up…due to my low blood pressure."

"So you take a while to fully wake up, eh? I'll stay here until you're ready to go downstairs, 'kay?"

"Thanks!" said Satoshi as he lay his head down on the older boy's lap. Half an hour later the two got dressed and walked, (er, slid down the banister,) downstairs. The mother raised an amused eyebrow at their antics. She set the food on the table and they ate in peace. After they finished, Satoshi went to his mother and asked, "Mommy, can we keep Kurapika around?"

Both the mother and Kurapika recognized that tone and look…it was the old argument of keeping a stray animal as a pet. Kurapika nearly fell down, anime style, when he heard the blue disaster's question. (Only slightly modified since Kurapika had a mind of his own!)

The mother tried not to laugh when she saw the older boy's face, which had a look that plainly said, "What am I, a stray puppy?"

She smiled and said, "He can stay, but only if he wants to."

Kurapika gulped when the young Hikari let loose a child's most potent weapon against adults when they want something. It was…the sad puppy-dog look! (Which worked almost every time!) The Kuruta laughed as he said, "Alright, I guess I wouldn't mind staying!"

"Yay!"

----------

Satoshi didn't notice that his mother was holding her sides with silent laughter. Kurapika sighed, wondering what he had gotten himself into this time!

Months passed, and Satoshi couldn't be happier! Since Kurapika came, it was like he had an older brother. The mother was happy for him, but deep down she was also sorry for him. Soon HE would begin to emerge; she didn't know how Kurapika would handle the false angel of the Hikari clan…