She felt warm, safe. Cocooned in comfort, snugly wrapped but not trapped. A soft breeze teased her ear and strong fingers brushed tantalizingly back and forth across her neck.
Wait.
...Fingers?
Her eyes snapped open to see amusement and traces of something else dancing in the amber depths in front of her.
"What the hell?" she yelped, trying to bolt upright only to realize she was pinned down by her own blanket. A blanket that had two devilish redheads on top of it, one on either side of her. She glanced around, only marginally coherent, realizing slowly that she was still laying on her side in her own bed as she had been when she fell asleep. The only difference was the fact that she now had Kaoru laying in front of her, his hand toying gently with the nape of her neck, while Hikaru was spooned against her from behind, his every breath wafting over her skin.
"Good morning," they murmured in unison. The intimate tone of their combined voices coupled with the embrace they had her in conspired to bring a flush to her cheeks.
"What are you...does my dad...what the hell are you two doing in my bed?" The two in question chuckled mischievously, making no move to abandon their current positions.
"Technically, Haru, we're on your bed, not in it," Kaoru said, he whispered against her hair.
"But we'd be more than happy to climb inside with you and keep you warm," Hikaru's lips were soft against her ear, his hand coming to rest on her hip. She barely managed to stifle a moan as she was bombarded by the memories of their kisses.
"Seriously, guys, it's too early for this. Just tell me what you're doing here."
"Well, since it's Saturday, we came to take you shopping for camping gear." Hikaru's breath was warm and she wanted to arch back against him.
"But when we saw you here you were still sleeping so peacefully, we couldn't bear to wake you." And Kaoru, god...his eyes were so tender, so caring, it nearly drew a soft purr from her throat before she managed to clamp down on her own unruly thoughts.
"So instead we decided to lay here with you until you woke up," they finished. She blinked a few times, brain still not having caught up to the idea of being awake yet, let alone being hemmed in between such warm strength – though her body was quite awake and happy with the situation, she noted ruefully. She forced her thoughts into some semblance of sense.
"So, what, you broke into my house?"
"No, silly," Kaoru smiled. "Your father let us in on his way out."
"He just...let you in. Without staying to keep an eye on you." Apparently she was awake enough now for skepticism, and though her words were more accusatory than questioning, they grinned anyway.
"Well, since Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai are here too, we kind of maybe might have implied that Kyoya-senpai was on his way. Your father felt quite sure that no one would get up to any mischief with those three in the house."
"Yeah, he seemed especially happy to see Honey-senpai," Hikaru mused from behind her. Haruhi nearly whimpered as the fingers on her hip were joined by those of his twin, the weight of their hands solid and steady.
"I can't think," she muttered, closing her eyes – thereby missing the delight on the faces of her captors. "You guys need to leave my room – I have to get dressed and stuff."
"We'd be happy to help you, Haruhi," Hikaru murmured, earning him a rather restricted but still solid elbow to the ribs. His younger brother laughed out loud.
"Come on, Hika. Let's give Haru a chance to wake up and get ready – who knows how long Kyoya-senpai will be able to keep the Boss busy?"
"True," Hikaru agreed. With that both twins stood and, with a backward glance from wicked eyes, headed out of the bedroom leaving Haruhi laying beneath her cooling covers feeling groggy and confused and...a bit regretful.
She decided that there was no way she was going to be able to wake up without a shower so she shook out sleep-tired legs and headed to the bathroom. A few minutes beneath the pounding spray and her head began to clear, the fuzzies seeming to wash down the drain with the lingering fatigue of having just woken. Unfortunately with clarity of mind came the vivid recollection of how wonderful it had felt to wake up snuggled between her two friends. What the hell is wrong with me? she asked herself angrily. Squishing shampoo through her hair she tried to ignore her unruly thoughts...such as what it would be like to be sandwiched between the two and not sleeping...
"AAARGH!" she growled, rinsing off and turning off the water. It wasn't until she stepped out onto the bath mat that she remembered that she had left her towel and robe in the bedroom. This is just great, her inner self grumbled. Since walking out naked was most definitely not an option, she didn't have any other choice. Heaving a sigh she opened the door a crack, calling out reluctantly.
"Hey guys – could someone bring me my towel and robe from my room? And no smartass comments, please." Closing the door again she leaned back against it and shut her eyes, hoping that the rest of the day would be less chaotic. Not likely, she knew, but a girl could dream, right? A tap on the door broke her out of her reverie. Warily she opened it and peeked around the edge to see the kendo master standing there, her folded bundle of bathtime clothing in his hands. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you, Mori-senpai," she said gratefully. "I was afraid the twins would try something."
"Hn." He turned to leave and she shut the door quickly and began fluffing the towel over her head. Wrapping it around herself and tucking the end in, she reached for her hairbrush only to knock over a glass jar candle. Before she could catch it, it had rolled off the sink and hit the floor with a loud crash, sending shards of glass in every direction. The flying glass cut into Haruhi's leg and she cried out in pain and shock, but before she could even think about moving the door crashed open and Mori was standing there. It took less than a second for his quick eyes to assess the situation and scoop the towel-clad girl into his arms, spinning on his heel and carrying her into her bedroom where he gently placed her on her futon. Haruhi, still stunned by the speed in which everything had happened and not quite as alert as she would have liked, was uncharacteristically mute, and the sight of Mori dropping to his knees to inspect her injuries didn't help her mental state one bit.
"These are deep," he murmured, his low voice serious. "Do you have a first aid kit?" Haruhi, transfixed by the sight of her own blood beginning to trail down her calf, could only nod.
"It's going to stain the carpet," she said, though she didn't realize she'd spoken until the older teen sat up slightly and, in one smooth motion, whipped his dark green shirt over his head to fold and place on the floor beneath her leg. Haruhi just stared.
"First aid kit?" he repeated, and she somehow managed to unstick her tongue long enough to tell him it was under the bathroom sink. In no time at all he was gone and back and then he was kneeling before her again, one large hand cradling her foot carefully and holding it steady while he picked up the tweezers in the other.
"This may hurt." Blinking quickly she nodded and resolved not to watch him remove the glass from her skin. However that meant her eyes were easily captured by the next most interesting thing – namely, a shirtless Mori-senpai who currently had her leg in his hands. She swallowed loudly as her disobedient eyes decided to roam over his toned physique. Good god, the boys would freak if they saw me staring like this... It was then that a thought occurred to her.
"Mori-senpai, where is everyone?"
"Bringing breakfast." Nothing else was said as he finished removing the glass shards from her leg, fingers more nimble than she could have imagined. She glanced down once and was amazed at the amount of shining splinters and chips he was carefully dropping one by one into a neat pile on a square of gauze. Between that and the streaks of blood on her leg, the normally steady girl began to feel a bit woozy. I am not awake enough for this, she thought with a groan. Her savior misinterpreted the sound.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, glancing up at her, and at the honest remorse in his eyes she flushed beet red.
"No, it's okay, I was just thinking of...something," she finished lamely, struggling to tear her eyes away from his broad shoulders.
"Ah."
He continued working in silence until he was certain he'd removed all the glass, at which point he made a short humming noise under his breath.
"What is it?" Haruhi asked. Once more those dark eyes met hers.
"I'm going to use peroxide. It will sting a bit." He seemed somehow both hesitant and resolute.
"I trust you," she said simply and was amazed to see a small smile on his lips. Without another word he reached for the bottle and, still holding her foot, began to pour a tiny stream of the disinfecting liquid on each cut in turn. Every time she flinched he murmured an apology but before long it was done.
"Some of these will need bandaged. Most are small." She nodded at him, tacitly giving him permission to finish his doctoring. Knowing if she kept staring at the miles of smooth skin before her she would go completely insane, she lay back on the mattress and flung an arm over her eyes, concentrating on regulating her breathing. I am calm, she thought. I am calm. I am calm. I am oh GOD... Her mantra was cut short by the sensation of his fingers stroking over her skin, the slightly greasy feel attesting to the presence of an antibiotic ointment. Screw calm – I am BREATHING! By the time he finished with the smaller cuts she was struggling not to pant. But when he lifted her leg a bit higher to place gauze and adhesive on a larger wound on the back of her leg she lost her composure and moaned aloud. Completely horrified she froze, barely hearing his apology for causing her discomfort. You have no idea, her inner voice whimpered as she grabbed her tenuous threads of control with what willpower she had left, determined not to let him know how painfully turned on she was. And since she refused to sit up or open her eyes, she had no idea what picture they presented to the trio that had just opened the door.
Honey was through the entrance first, exuberant greeting dying before it was even voiced as he looked in shock at his shirtless cousin and their friend. His eyes greedily followed the slender line of her leg where it was held up in Mori's steady grip, up her calf, her thigh, and higher. He knew she couldn't possibly be aware of the fact that, in laying on her back as she was, her towel had slipped slightly allowing a view of creamy skin from hip to ribcage. It was the most erotic thing he'd ever seen, and that was saying a lot. Behind him he heard twin gasps as the Hitachiins saw what he was seeing and the noise – soft though it was – caught Mori's attention. The dark-haired teen didn't even spare a glance for them, and Honey suddenly realized that the scraps of white fabric in his cousin's hand were actually gauze...and there was blood on the folded shirt beneath her leg.
"Haru-chan!" he yelped, dropping everything and rushing into the apartment. "You're hurt!" He darted to her side and threw himself into her arms, her state of undress all but forgotten in his worry. The abruptness of his leap, however, caused her to tense up and try to catch him so he wouldn't squish her – the end result being a very red-faced Haruhi clutching Honey as a shield as she tried to readjust the towel that had been knocked completely askew in the ruckus. Add to that dogpile a pair of concerned redheads whose only knowledge of the situation was that their beloved Haruhi was hurt somehow, and the fact that she was now mostly naked and buried beneath three damnably sexy, worried guys with a fourth still grasping her leg, and it was no wonder she lost it.
"EVERYBODY OFF!" she bellowed, pushing the lot of them off of her mattress and deftly re-wrapping her towel in one smooth movement.
"But Haruhi -"
"- what happened?"
"Why are you bleeding, Haru-chan?"
"A candle broke and cut her leg," came the calm voice as Mori returned to applying bandages.
"I'll be fine, guys, really," she reassured the trio, fighting her blush valiantly. She'd almost succeeded when Kaoru realized what she was wearing...or rather, what she was not wearing. His twin noticed at the same time and before she could react she had one on either side of her again, this time tracing their fingers along her bare shoulders.
"This is a really good look on you," Hikaru said softly, his fingertips daring to dance along the edge of her towel.
"Yeah, it is – we should know," his brother whispered on her other side, letting his hand ghost over her arm. Seeing how flushed and shaken Haruhi was, Honey determined that it was time to interfere.
"Hika-chan, Kao-chan – can you help me get breakfast ready? I'm sure Haru-chan is starving." When the pair made no move to leave their current positions he cleared his throat softly. It drew their attention to him...and to the steel in his eyes. Gulping, they jumped up and hurried out the door, not wanting to tempt the wrath of a hungry Mitsukuni (or an apparently possessive one, Kaoru thought to himself) leaving the girl and her 'doctor' behind in peace.
Said doctor was finishing applying the adhesive strips to hold the gauze in place while said girl took a deep breath and attempted to calm her racing pulse.
"Done," he said quietly, gathering up the garbage and his blood-spattered shirt and dumping it all in a plastic bag for disposal. Haruhi carefully stood, holding her towel in place with a firm grip and taking a couple of steps to gauge the pain involved in walking. Judging it to be minimal, she was quite satisfied with the job he'd done and told him so, thanking him sincerely. Mori nodded, seemingly a bit embarrassed by her thanks and praise.
"Be careful," he cautioned. "One of those cuts is close to your heel. It could affect your balance." She was about to thank him again when she took another step forward – and buckled with a yelp as pain from the injury he'd just warned her about shot up her leg. He caught her easily before she'd even begun to fall and she was suddenly cradled against his chest – his very warm, very solid, very naked chest – with his arms around her securely. The feel of being pressed so tightly against him made her head swim and she hoped her moan had only been mental. By the widening of his eyes, though, she knew he'd heard her...and that this time he understood the tone. She was surprised to see his cheeks turn slightly pink, yet he made no move to let go, instead keeping his arms around her as she looked up into his dark eyes.
"Haruhi," he whispered, his normally quiet voice now borderline inaudible, yet she heard every syllable. She wondered if he wanted to kiss her as badly as she wanted him to.
"Haru-chan, Takashi – breakfast!"
Just like that, the spell was broken and she saw him gather control once more. He gently stood her upright, the only hint of their recent near-intimacy shown in the way he ran his large palms from her shoulders to her wrists as he steadied her and took a step back. She took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself.
"Thank you, Mori-senpai."
"Ah." With that noncommittal response he turned and strode from the room, leaving her to grab her robe and slippers, donning them reflexively as she tried to forget the memory of his hands, his eyes, and thoughts of what almost, maybe, nearly was.