To Wash One's Back Means True Love

Misaki woke up the next morning feeling like absolute shit. His head was pounding, his throat felt disgusting, and he felt parched. As he pushed off the covers of futon and attempted to sit up, he placed a hand down to try to get himself up out of bed.

But his fingers didn't land on the covers. His hand fell onto something warmer and moving. Yata's eyes quickly darted over to the ground and he gasped in surprise.

"WAHHHHHH!" Misaki cried out as he scrambled out from under the covers.

Kuro, Shiro, and Kanamoto all sprang up instantly. "What!? Did something happen? Why are you screaming first thing in the morning?"

Yata quickly grabbed the pillow and began to smack the blue-haired man who was sleeping beside him. "OI SARU! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SLEEPING IN A FUTON WITH ME?"

"Ugh…Misaki…your voice is too loud. Can you please shut up?" Saruhiko tried to turn away from the flurry of pillow attacks that were landing on his face.

"Stop fucking around! What the hell did you do to me last night you fucking weirdo!?" The crow's face was redder than ever.

"Yata-san…what do you mean what the hell did he do to you. You should be asking Fushimi what you did to him last night," Kanamoto said in a serious tone.

"W-w-what!? What are you talking about, Kanamoto?"

"After you collapsed to the ground, you proceeded to vomit on Saru, who ran to catch you before your head hit the floor. Then, he had to carry you and clean the both of you up. After he put you to bed, you started shivering and complaining that you were cold, and you wouldn't let go of Saru's clothes."

The crow could not believe what he was hearing. He quickly glanced over to the two Silver clansmen, and they both nodded their heads. "Yeah, you should be thanking the Blue clansman. If it were me, I would have left you on the ground to deal with the mess yourself when you woke up." Yatogami looked disgusted as he recalled the events last night.

The chestnut-haired man turned his head back toward Fushimi, who still had his eyes closed. With a pink glow on his cheeks, Yata opened his mouth and quietly said, "Umm…Saru…I'm sorry…Thank—"

"Shut up and don't worry about it. Just let me go back to sleep."

As the Silver clansmen and Kanamoto left the room, Misaki sat there quietly, hugging his knees. He couldn't understand what the monkey was ever thinking. They could be fighting as mortal enemies one second, but then Fushimi would turn around and do things like last night, where he would gently care for him. He simply could not understand why Saruhiko would do anything like that. As the days passed from when they had first joined HOMRA together, he began to feel more and more distant to the blue-eyed man.

He wanted to go back to the old days where the two were always together, but he just didn't know how to express it.

The close bonding moments quickly fled out the window as the morning went on. Saruhiko had proceeded to tease Misaki for being a lightweight, unable to even handle one drink. Any gentle, caring emotions that the crow had earlier this morning had exited the building before noon.

As Yata removed his clothing he hissed, "Why the hell are you following me into the hot spring, you bastard?"

"Hehhh, I didn't know I had to get your approval to use this building's facilities," Fushimi said with a smirk.

Misaki quickly tied a towel around his waist before stomping off toward the water.

"Oya? If it isn't Yata-kun. I heard you had an eventful time last night. How are you feeling now?" Munakata gave a gentle smile as he looked at the crow, who was now blushing.

Beside Reisi were Mikoto and Izumo—who apparently started their drinking early today.

"Yata-chan, make sure you drink plenty of water this morning. You're probably still dehydrated," the blond-haired man said.

"…I got it." Misaki slowly climbed into the hot spring and submerged all but his head and neck into the warm water. He noted a little kitten lying in the water close to him, but didn't really stop to think why it was there.

After taking a sip from his sake cup, the Scepter 4 captain said, "We were just talking about our high school days before Suoh and I became Kings."

"Eh? You and Mikoto-san knew each other when you were younger?" The crow's ears perked up with interest.

"Yes Yata-kun, though I couldn't say we were on good terms with each other back then."

The Red King turned his head at Reisi and said, "Were we ever on good terms with each other?"

The Blue captain began to laugh out as he replied, "I guess not. But those days were a lot of fun."

"Really…I wish I could have met Mikoto-san when he was younger…" The Red vanguard knew that Suoh was a mysterious person, and despite him being the crow's king, he really didn't know much about him or his past.

"Would you like me to tell you a bit of what I can remember then?" Munakata gave a warm smile at the amber-eyed man.

Yata's eyes lit up with excitement. "Really!? Yeah! I want to hear all about it!"

"You shouldn't bother, Munakata. There's nothing to even say." Mikoto downed the entire cup of sake before pouring another serving.

The chestnut-haired man waded over beside the Blue King as he began to recount the events on how he had first met Suoh and some of the trouble that happened between the two. Yata listened attentively, looking like a giddy pup wagging his tail.

As Fushimi walked in to this scene, he instantly became annoyed. His Misaki was not only beside the kings, but also he looked like he was in a state of euphoria. "Why the hell is he so happy blabbering away with those bastards?" Fushimi's thoughts were filled with malice. He needed some way to pull Misaki away from their clutches.

Saruhiko looked to his side and saw Yatogami and Isana, who were taking turns washing each other's backs. A light bulb flickered on in his head.

"Mi-Sa-Ki, did you even clean yourself before jumping into the water? You're going to get the hot spring all dirty."

Yata shot up out of the water as he began to clench his fists and shout. "Saru! Shut up, you bastard!"

The crow began to charge towards Fushimi, who was holding a tub of various toiletries. Before he could say another word, the blue-eyed man grabbed Misaki by the arm and said, "I don't mind washing your back for you, Mi-Sa-Kiiiii."

After that, the Blue clansman placed a pink fanned ring over his head. "Just like a little child, I can wash your hair without getting any shampoo into your eyes."

Yata began to grit his teeth as he shook off Saruhiko's hand. "Don't touch me you idiot!"

The blue-eyed man dropped the tub full of items as the two got into a fighting stance—the Blue ready to tackle and the Red ready to counter. The three men in the water simply sighed and continued on drinking peacefully, ignoring the arguing duo behind them.

Suddenly, a burst of smoke filled the air as the kitten in the water suddenly transformed into a girl. "Shiro, nya! I'm hungry. Let's go get lunch!"

"Oi Neko! How dare you act so shameless running around naked in front of a bunch of men! Get out and put some clothes on!" Kuro scolded the Cat Girl.

As the smoke cleared, Misaki looked over and saw a girl—completely in the nude. "Kyaaaaaa!"

The Red vanguard quickly covered his face and began to run away. Unable to see anything in front of him, the man stepped on the soap bar that Fushimi had dropped earlier and slipped. As he fell forward, he landed right against Saruhiko's body, his towel falling off in the process.

There was an awkward silence in the area. The Scepter 4 officer couldn't help but to begin to blush as he felt the crow's naked body against his.

"Ooookayyy…so who's ready for lunch?" the Silver King asked as a bead of sweat dripped down his face.