Sleepless Night

by Yai-tzu Hin

Warning: No part of this story or cast of characters may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author, Yai-tzu Hin. If you do, moths will eat your favorite shirt, mice will take up residence in your kitchen and you can't get rid of them no matter what, all the bulbs in your reading lamps will go out, you'll run out of gas in your car when you're running late, and your computer will develop the annoying habit of deleting the best part of every fic.

It had been Keien's idea after all, Yatsurugi reminded himself as he lay down in his bed. His muscles were sore from swimming so long that afternoon. He wondered if he'd managed to pull something when he dove off the board. He'd hit the water wrong. Imizu, who was at the pool every day, had pointed it out to him when he had hauled himself onto the side of the pool. Keien had smiled and told him that everyone did that from time to time.

"Why in the world did I let Keien talk me into swimming a fourth day this week? I was perfectly happy with just the three days we'd been doing." Yatsurugi grumbled to himself. Keien liked to swim though and Yatsurugi wanted to be anywhere Keien was. In fact if he was so sore he might sneak next door and snuggle into bed with him. The vision of Keien's sleeping form, wrapped tightly in his blankets against the winter cold made him smile. For a moment he thought about abandoning his bed for the warmth of Keien's. He was an angel after all. He could simply glide over on silent wings, pass right through the wall and land beside Keien without him waking. It was tempting, very tempting. Unfortunately, he currently held human form and it was somewhat frowned upon to use your powers frivolously. After his most recent experience with angels who did not adhere to the rules, he decided he'd stay in his room and try to sleep.

"I wonder how Hades and Kayumi are doing?" he muttered as he turned out his bedside lamp and pulled the covers tight about him.

Keien lay awake. He couldn't sleep. Groping for the book on his nightstand, he knocked over the cordless phone in the process. The phone, which was constantly roaming about the house, fell to the floor and bounced under his bed. Keien groaned. He hung off the side, one hand planted on the carpet, the other reaching for the wayward item.

"Of all the blasted…" he growled as his hand swept over a pair of socks, a pencil and what felt like a mouse. Keien jerked his hand back, then realized that it was one of the kitten toys left over from when Hades had been trapped as a kitten. For a moment he considered getting another kitten, a real one this time, not an angel of death. It would be nice to have a nice warm body to cuddle up against during the cold nights. That's what Yatsurugi is for, a little voice in the back of his head told him. Keien sighed. Of course his roommate would be asleep by now. He could always sneak in and crawl under the covers with him. Keien shook his head. He wouldn't do anything without Yatsurugi's consent first.

The phone continued to elude him. Swearing under his breath, the pulled himself further from under his covers. His entire bare chest was exposed to the freezing temperature of the room. Keien shivered once then reached under the bed again. He felt the smooth plastic of the phone and grabbed it. Yanking it out, he balanced on his fingertips while he replaced it on the stand. It took a bit of wriggling before he could get his entire body back on the bed and under the blankets. Then he resumed his original search for the book he'd been reading earlier that day.

This time he turned on the lamp. No sense in repeating history, he thought as he snatched the paperback. Settling into a comfortable position, Keien stared at the cover for a moment. It was white with a sash of blue painted amongst scattered rose petals. The rose the petals fell from hovered just off to the right directly below the book title and above the author's name.

"Well," he muttered out loud. "Where was I?" He removed the bookmark and began reading.

He thought he heard something fall, but it must have been his imagination. Yatsurugi rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. Not that he'd been asleep when he'd heard the noise from Keien's room, but he'd been close. Closing his eyes, he snuggled down amongst the thick comforter and blankets. Slowing his breathing, Yatsurugi waited for sleep to over come him. It didn't. After nearly fifteen minutes he gave up. He rolled onto his back and stared into the darkness. There was a dim light from the street filtering in through his blinds, but it only served to illuminate a small portion of his room. The darkness still enveloped him.

Why can't I sleep? he wondered lifting his head up just enough to move his hair out of the way so it wasn't pulling painfully on his scalp. He played with one of the long lavender locks, twisting it then letting it go. He did this for a while as he contemplated everything and nothing. I'm I so worn out that I can't even sleep? he thought. Maybe, maybe not. Ack, this is getting me no where. I need to do something so I can get some sleep. I have class in the morning.

He turned on the lamp and waited for his eyes to adjust before getting up. He had a number of books that he'd never read. Reading the titles, none struck him as interesting until he came across one.

"Two Small Pieces." He read the title aloud. "This isn't one of mine. It must be Kayumi's. I wonder how her book ended up with my stuff?" He flipped it over and scanned the back. It sounded interesting enough. Hell, it was something to read and it was complete fluff from the sounds of it. Perfect for putting him to sleep. Yatsurugi crawled back into his bed and stuffed the covers back around him. After making the nest, he opened the cover and began reading.

The first few pages were fairly mindless, but Yatsurugi plowed on. If he could get past the description of the town the main character lived in and get to the actual story, he'd be better off. The pace picked up about page four and continued to get better. Yatsurugi glanced up once to check what time it was.

Midnight, Keien had been reading for forty-five minutes. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the least bit sleepy. Somewhere during the attack on the shipping frigate by a pirate ship, he'd gotten cold again. He reluctantly put the book down and snuck over to his laundry basket. He found the tee shirt he'd been wearing that day and put it on. It was still mostly clean. He'd only worn it once. Crawling back inside his warm bed, Keien picked up the book and returned to the pirates and the captured hero. The pirates were actually a group of rebels trying to reclaim their land taken by an evil force. They attacked its ships in order to weaken it. Currently the hero had decided to join the pirates in hopes of avenging his own people. If this evil power fell, then his town would be free too.

Keien sighed and wished he were brave enough to go and turn up the heat. He didn't feel he could make it to the thermostat without freezing first. Besides he was fine as long as he stayed in bed. Of course he'd be warmer if there was another body in the bed. Preferably, Yatsurugi's. The first morning when he'd woken up to find Yatsurugi in his bed, Keien had been shocked, yet he'd wanted to touch him. He had wanted to see if Yatsurugi was flesh and blood like him. Yatsurugi had looked so delicate, like a fragile doll that Keien longed to feel. The urges from that first morning had never died and now they shared something that Keien wouldn't give up, ever. Unfortunately, Yatsurugi was asleep in his bed, worn out from swimming and not in the mood for a midnight cuddle. Keien turned back to his book to find that the hero had once more met the heroine and that she was on the enemy's side.

Yatsurugi covered his mouth in an attempt to keep from laughing out loud. This was too much. The main character was now hooking up with a band of brigands. The leader was a smart ass punk. The main character was in for a ride. Yatsurugi snickered at a line of dialogue and was forced to bite his lower lip to keep from falling into a fit of maniacal laughter. After a moment he regained control of himself. Continuing to read, he paused long enough to wonder if Kayumi had any more books by this author. If they were all as entertaining as this one, he'd happily borrow them.

The clock read 12:17 in the morning. He had class at ten tomorrow, which meant he needed to be up at eight in order to shower, eat and catch the train. At this rate he'd be lucky to get six hours worth of sleep. He wasn't tired though. His body was sore and it reminded him of this every time he moved, but he couldn't seem to convince it to go to bed. Again the thought of sneaking over and joining Keien appeared. With all his will, Yatsurugi shoved it back. He wouldn't disturb Keien's rest. Just because he couldn't sleep, didn't give him the right to wake Keien. Gloomily, he returned to his book.

A shiver ran up his spine. Despite all the blankets piled around him, Yatsurugi was cold. The temperature outside must have dropped below zero again. He pushed the curtain back on his window and caught a glimpse of something white falling. Snow. It was snowing again, which meant that the streets would be slick in the morning. That made running for the train even more exciting than usual. There is nothing more I like than sliding down the streets trying to make a train, Yatsurugi thought. He shivered again.

"This is ridiculous. I'm freezing." He told himself. Clenching his teeth to keep them from chattering, he pulled one blanket over his head and tried to read. After fifteen minutes of fighting, he gave up. Throwing off the covers and with book in hand stalked out of the room.

This was too much. Keien couldn't take it anymore. It was too cold.

"I'm not turning down the heat again until spring even if my power bills will be high. I don't care anymore." He growled angrily. He swung his legs off the bed, planted them firmly on the floor and got up. With his novel clenched firmly in his hand, he opened his door and headed for the thermostat. He noticed that the hall way light was on already. Yatsurugi was happily turning up the heat. Keien raised his eyebrow and then nearly laughed.

"Couldn't stand the cold anymore, ne?" he asked half-jokingly. Yatsurugi turned around, startled at the sound of his roommate.

"Keien! I thought you were asleep already." Keien shook his head.

"Nope, can't sleep a wink."

"Neither can I." Yatsurugi admitted. "I've been reading this book trying to fall asleep. It hasn't worked." He held the book so Keien could read the cover. "It's one of Kayumi's that got mixed up with my stuff. It's just some bit of romance fluff that she had." Keien eyed the cover, then bit back a laugh.

"Your sister has good taste." Keien held up the book he'd been reading. Yatsurugi stared at the all too familiar cover.

"We've been reading the same book?" Yatsurugi couldn't help by snicker.

"Looks that way." Keien replied. "Well, considering we're both up. Do you want some tea?"

"No thanks." Yatsurugi said. "I have a better idea of how we can warm up." Keien stared at him for a moment, then smiled.

"So do I. The question now is, my room or yours?" Yatsurugi walked seductively over to Keien, cupped his chin with a free hand and kissed him.

"I don't care. Just as long as you don't tell me what happens in the book. I want to find that out for myself." Yatsurugi whispered. Keien agreed and then lead him towards his room. Yatsurugi flipped off the hall light and shut the door behind them.