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Verse 9 – Sleeping

Tezuka wondered how he had ended up in this mess.

Fuji stood in front of him, smiling pleasantly, as per usual. He looked a bit too innocent, in Tezuka's opinion.

Behind the tensai, Aiden and Sakuno were shuffling around, pulling out two futons, and laying both out on the floor with fluffy blankets. The blankets all had smiling bear faces drawn in.

He remembered how he'd gotten here in the first place.

Everyone around Tezuka and Fuji (except, perhaps, Echizen) had had some form of alcohol, and were all slightly tipsy. No one was completely drunk though.

It was then that Fuji suggested they leave. Fuji looked tired. He had danced with almost everyone in the room, sans Tezuka, and they'd been there for about four or five hours. It was already past midnight.

After everyone filed into their choice of Echizen's, Atobe's, or Aiden's car, Tezuka was left standing beside Fuji. Then, he was dragged into the rather comfortable backseat of Echizen's BMW (Tezuka refused to acknowledge that "dragging" had, at some point in time, changed to "following willingly").

They were sitting relatively peacefully, with quiet conversation every now and then between Echizen and Fuji. Tezuka zoned out a few seconds in and didn't look up until his name was mentioned.

"Speaking of which, Tezuka, can you spend the night?"

Tezuka wondered where that had come from, but answered with his immediate reaction: "No." Only afterwards did he realize that he had no good reason to refuse. It wasn't as if his parents were there to tell him otherwise, and he didn't have anything important to do the next morning.

Fuji smiled at him in that knowing way as Kevin proceeded to point out his exact thoughts.

Tezuka later wondered why he hadn't noticed before. If he was supposed to go back to Atobe's mansion, he was sure Atobe would've made a big fuss over it.

Apparently, Fuji had planned this a very long time ago.

Stubbornly, he continued to say no, even after he crossed the threshold of their house.

Now, Tezuka stood in front of Fuji, continuously refusing to stay.

Atobe, Yukimura, and Sanada had, presumably, gone back to Atobe's mansion. Echizen and Kevin had gone back to Kevin's apartment, but only after giving Fuji an encouraging smirk. Tyler was busy working on something or the other, and after Tyler kissed Fuji good-night, and Sakuno said the same, the two were alone once again.

He realized he was being a bit childish. Atobe was most definitely not going to send someone to pick him up, and he most certainly did not remember the way back. He didn't exactly want to wander around unfamiliar streets after midnight either.

But, he constantly said no, continuously being stubborn. Fuji humored him in his own way – by continuing to smile and saying "Tezuka" sarcastically every now and then. Before Tezuka knew it, he realized he was having fun.

He also hadn't realized that they had, at some point, sat down on their respective futons.

They were in "The Old Room", as Fuji called it, and, even though there was a bed, he didn't like letting people sleep on the floor by themselves. He also thought that the floor was comfortable.

"Saa…what should we do, Tezuka?" Fuji's voice was lowered, almost to a whisper, as if mumbling a great secret.

Tezuka quirked an eye brow. Fuji knew he wasn't an ideas person; that had always been the tensai's job. Though, Tezuka wouldn't admit it for the world.

Fuji chuckled – they both noticed that Fuji had been chuckling a lot more than usual – before speaking. "Why don't we watch a movie?"

The idea seemed innocent enough – Tezuka was actually glad that Fuji wasn't feeling especially creative.

He simply nodded and reluctantly let Fuji pick on he wanted to watch. Tezuka wasn't known for his choice of movies, and Fuji wasn't a guru at it either. While the stoic one in the room would have happily picked a documentary or some other informative movie, the sadist would lean towards the horror genre, and the gory murder mysteries.

Which was exactly what he did.

Tezuka was left to turn off the lights and turn on the TV while Fuji went to grab the movie and some food. He then quickly changed into the ridiculous pajamas he'd been given.

When Fuji got back with stack of movies, stacked even more with food, he found Tezuka sitting against the wall with his arm crossed across his chest. His usual stoic expression was marred by the frown pulling his lips down by a millimeter or two. The reason for his obvious discomfort was just as obvious.

Aiden's fogged mind had taken a hold of the first set of clean sleepwear that his hands could find. Tezuka was too polite to say anything about it.

The shirt and the pants were both a light blue. The pants reached to his ankles and had dots of yellow and black uniformly throughout. The blue shirt, however, had a giant, yellow frowning smiley face on it. Underneath the animation, the statement "I Need A Hug" was bring in bold, black ink. He looked adorable.

Fuji's smile looked predatory and far too pleased. Tezuka immediately gave the tensai a glare (which came out as more of a pout, due to his frown). Fuji's smile grew wider.

But the jibes Tezuka expected never came. Instead, Fuji closed, and locked the door behind him, and laid out the movies and the food in front of Tezuka. "Pick one," he commanded.

Tezuka stared at Fuji. He didn't even look at the movies Fuji had attempted to show him. Fuji finally picked out a movie, with a sigh. It started playing.

He joined the tensai at the two grouped futons once the tensai gesticulated absentmindedly. They both lay on their stomachs, Fuji already drawn into the dark pictures moving across the screen.

Tezuka tried to pay attention to the movie, but even still, he wasn't really sure what was going on. He just saw a girl go around killing a bunch of people while making strange noises. That part wasn't scary. What made him have to suppress a shiver was her face: it was completely covered with her long hair, and the only time you saw anything was when she looked up – a large, mostly white eye. It was creepy. As was the inhuman way she moved (but that was probably because she was dead).

But he wasn't scared. Not at all. He remained stoic.

Every now and then Fuji would pass over some of the food. Tezuka soon learned that what Fuji considered movie food included lots and lots of candy. Once, Fuji handed him a licorice strand, while another time, he found his hands full of something call "Buncha Crunch". There were Milk Duds, Whoppers, Gummy Bears, and even just plain bars of chocolate. Giving a small look at the food pile, Tezuka gaped (inwardly) at the sheer amount. All of it looked sickly sweet. Did Fuji really expect them to finish all of that?

Going back to the movie took effort. He'd already forgotten the plot of it. It was just a bunch of people dying because they entered that house. There wasn't much blood in it, but it wasn't absent either. The whole movie was simply very disturbing, in Tezuka's opinion. But the movie wasn't bad.

He was most definitely going to choose the next movie.

By the time the credits rolled, Tezuka was already lying on his back; he'd been watching the movie upside down for the past five minutes because being on his stomach became uncomfortable after a while.

He closed his eyes and prepared to go to sleep.

Trust Fuji to tear that idea into shreds, burn it, and laugh maniacally while watching.

"Ne, Tezuka, did you like the movie?" Fuji asked curiously.

He knew that most people, especially most of his Japanese friends, didn't like scary movies. He hadn't really found the movie too scary. It was the people's fault, really: if they'd just stayed out of the house, they would've been fine.

But the special effects were pretty awesome, in Fuji's opinion. And he wanted to know if Tezuka felt the same.

"Aa," was the reply he got. It spoke volumes.

"You didn't like the girl?"

"Hn."

"Her eyes we cool, ne?"

"…"

Fuji chuckled before poking Tezuka.

Tezuka opened his eyes and turned to look at Fuji, annoyance apparent on his face. Had the tensai just poked him?

Tezuka was poked again by a finger connected to an evil-seeming Fuji. Tezuka huffed. Fuji poked him. Again. So, the stoic man did the most logical thing anyone could think of- he poked Fuji back.

And, so started a huge poke war between the two. They ran around the room and hid behind different objects and furniture. Soon enough, Fuji's bright laughter filled the room and Fuji surrendered. "You are the poke master, Tezuka. I cannot win against you!" Fuji kept laughing and Tezuka felt silly.

They had a really good time, especially Tezuka. They'd spent quite a bit of time, and since Tezuka and Fuji were too mature to start a pillow fight (well, Fuji would've probably done it, but Tezuka frowned upon that), the poke war had sufficed. And Tezuka felt incredibly triumphant at winning.

His lips quirked up, just a millimeter, but Fuji's sharp eyes caught it.

The two stared at each other, Tezuka being able to imagine the look on Fuji's closed eyes easily.

The moment seemed, somehow, so intense. He wasn't sure how he knew, but something was happening.

Unconsciously, his eyes went down to Fuji's lips. He licked his own in…anticipation? Excitement? Anxiousness? He wasn't sure.

But he kept watching.

Suddenly, Tezuka noticed the details: the way Fuji's hair fell softly onto his shoulders, the way his lashes rested on his upper cheeks, the way his pale lips parted letting in air, the smooth skin near his lightly bared neckline. Everything stood out in sharp, clear detail, and Tezuka couldn't have missed it even if he tried to.

He leaned forward unconsciously.

Fuji opened his eyes.

The sea-blue orbs sparkled. Tezuka couldn't read the expression on them, but he knew he felt the same. He saw the same questions, the same confusion, and something else he couldn't identify, and wondered if his eyes reflected the same.

Fuji breathed out. The hair around his face moved just a little, and tickled his chin. It was a truly entrancing sight.

Tezuka leaned closer, licking his lips once more, his eyes glancing between the tensai's own and his lips.

Silence resounded throughout the room.

"Tezuka…?"

Fuji's quiet question brought Tezuka back to reality and his smile immediately disappeared.

Fuji was actually a bit hurt at the way Tezuka pretty much jumped back, though the disappearing smile was expected.

What had Tezuka been trying to do? And had Fuji's eyes tricked him?

For a moment, Fuji was sure that he'd seen Tezuka's eyes sparkle with pent up desire and excitement, as if he was trying to initiate something. The older boy had leaned closer, so Fuji had returned the gesture.

And Tezuka had kept looking at his lips. What was that about?

"Um…We should go to sleep now…"

This time, Tezuka nodded, and gratefully accepted Fuji's suggestion. The only other time Fuji had seen the boy move so fast was on the tennis court, as he watched him crawl underneath the futon. Fuji lay down on top of the blankets next to Tezuka.

Fuji matched his breathing to Tezuka's, breathing in every time Tezuka breathed out. It was calming in a strange way, as if they were in sync.

Tezuka had seemed like he'd wanted to do something…what? Fuji had had a passing idea that came to him – Tezuka had kept looking at his lips. Could he have possibly wanted to…?

No, he decided, immediately. Tezuka wasn't like that. Tezuka wouldn't do that. It was just a trick of the light.

With that, he rested his closed eyes and let himself drift off to dreamland. Somehow, he felt a little disappointed.

Tezuka couldn't look at Fuji, even if the other boy was asleep. He noticed when Fuji matched his breathing and felt relieved that the tensai didn't seem to have noticed anything. His heart slowed- when had it sped up, anyways? And he calmed down just little.

He hadn't just thought about kissing his tensai. No, that wasn't it. It was definitely something else.

Tezuka closed his eyes and sighed internally. He repeated the mantra over and over.

It was definitely something else. So why did he regret not leaning forward just a bit more?

TBC

Hm, so what was Tezuka thinking? Especially, when he doesn't like Fuji? Yeah, right, Tezuka, keep telling yourself that. Whatever helps you sleep at night.

Thank you so much, CoffeeTea, for beta-reading this chapter (even if have said thanks a thousand times already)! :D

REVIEW PLEASE! What should Tezuka do next?