Hey there :3

Finally finished this story. I wrote over two months on it, but still I'm not overall satisfied though I don't want to write on it any longer. So please forgive any grammar mistakes/typos or tell me them :'D Again, a Kirino/Kariya fic, forgive me :'3 So, have fun... Oh, and when you don't like it, just don't leave a comment like "Oh noz, what haz you done to my cutiez!" Thank you. Oh, and I appreciate any form of critism :3

He was drunk. He was definitely drunk. Otherwise he couldn't explain this unbearable headache or his aching stomach which gave him the feeling that he had to vomit any seconds. Don't forget to mention it as the reason why he would allow the other one to touch him like that. He would have stopped the older male long ago, would have slapped his hands from his waist and thrust him aside to get rid of his lips which caressed his neck if he hadn't been influenced by this devilish liquid. "Enjoying it, Kariya?" "Y-yes." Of course, both of them were drunk. Because Kirino would never do something like this to him if he wasn't, would he? "Stop it", he whispered, not really convincing enough so that Kirino asked for a reason. "We're drunk." Kirino chuckled softly. "We're not." Silence. The older one dropped out his actions to look Kariya in the eyes. Turquoise meet gold-brown and Kariya recognised that Kirino's eyes glinted with relish – at least he thought so; or was it just his imagination? He hadn't much time to think about it any further because Kirino was getting closer till Kariya was actually able to see his long eyelashes. "We are sober", Kirino whispered before he closed his eyes and leant in for a kiss. " – ya!"

The younger boy was not sure how to react but one thing came to his mind: Whatever caused Kirino to do this, it was also the source of his headache. "Hey, don't think too much", Kirino smiled while he pressed his fingertips carefully against Kariya's temple. The latter one couldn't help but sigh contently because the pain faded away, though he was still in agony due to his aching stomach. As if he could read his mind, Kirino let his hand run over Kariya's jaw, down his chest till it lay one his stomach, fondling it carefully as if it would take the pain away. "– riya?"

Much to his dismay, Kariya started to enjoy the other one's touch and closed his eyes – just to open them in the next moment, followed by a gasp as he felt Kirino's hand further down in a place where he had never expected to be touched by him – not that he had thought about this idea anyway. "Settle back, I'll take good care of you." The pink-haired boy smiled and Kariya didn't lose the feeling that something went definitely wrong. "Don't." Again, he heard him chuckle in a way that sent pleasant shivers down his back. "What about Shindou?", Kariya wanted to know after Kirino send him this enquiring glance from before. "He is not here. And he won't know about it. And even if, why would he – no, why should I care?" "Because you love him", he wanted to answer, but in the next moment he felt an intense pressure on his shoulders. "Kariya!"

Startled, Kariya looked in the concerned eyes of Hikaru whose hands lay on his shoulders. "Thank god, you're finally awake. We were really worried about you." Groaning, Kariya sat up and rubbed his eyes. His vision was blurry and so he needed a while till he recognised where he was. A bed which was definitely not his and a room he didn't know – great conditions to wake up. His eyes wandered around this foreign room, even if he had problems to keep them open. Nevertheless he tried his best to fight against the fatigue, rubbing his heavy eyelids before he spotted Ichino as well as Aoyama, who stood next to Hikaru, watching him with concern. "What happened?", he asked, rather surprised that his voice worked even if his throat felt dry and his tongue seemed to weight too much to actually speak with it. However, Hikaru was rather confused and looked at him with widened eyes. "Eh, you don't know?" "In the middle of the evening, you just passed out with a high temperature and knocked your head", Ichino explained after a while instead of Hikaru who was kind of speechless. "And just now, a shiver crept over you so we thought it would be better if we wake you up", Hikaru said when he found his words again.

Right, now he remembered. It was Tsurugi's seventeenth birthday and – after he gave in to Tenma's persuasion – he invited the whole team over to his house. It was quite amply and even if Tsurugi was not fond of a party at his house, he provided his guests well. Kariya sighed wearily, tightening the blanket around himself. This damn headache – he felt as if his head would explode and to make it even worse, his eyes burnt so that he had to close them in order to lower the pain.

"Here you are. Amagi-san is looking for you." Kariya flinched and flicked his eyes open as he heard Kirino's voice. He was the last person he wanted to see, especially after this odd dream. "Oh, you're awake." The young boy cursed inwardly nevertheless he looked at Kirino, trying to get away from him as soon as possible. "Yes, I am. If you would excuse me now...", he said hoarsely and wanted to get up but was pushed down by Kirino as well as Hikaru. "You should stay in bed, or else your fever won't decrease." Kariya paused when Aoyama said this – what was this guy doing here? Of course, over the years he loosen up and made friends with more people – which was mostly due to Tenma – but this didn't mean he was close friends with Aoyama or Ichino. To say it simply, they got along, nothing more. "Be thankful, they put you to bed, changed your clothes and took care of you till now", Kirino remarked so that Kariya's eyes narrowed – they changed his clothes? He was not prude or ashamed of his body but he just couldn't stand the fact that someone else dared to undress him. "Come on, you two. Let's see what Amagi-san wants", Hikaru laughed sheepishly while he pushed them towards the door as if he could read the mind of Kariya – who was about to strangle the older ones.

"Don't be mad. They are simply concerned – you were drenched in sweat because of your fever." Kirino's words pulled him back to reality which was worse than he had thought; they were alone. He and Kirino. Alone. The same situation as in his dream. Kariya could slap himself – as if Kirino would be this intimate with him all of a sudden. It was just a dream, he reminded himself, in which people always acted different than they used to. Right. He was a teenager who just had dreams like that. It was coincidence that it was Kirino but it could have been somebody else, too. Besides this, it was not his Senpai but another person who solely looked like his Senpai. Exactly. So there was nothing to worry about. After all it was just a delirium. Satisfied with this conclusion, Kariya nodded.

"Deep in thoughts? That's unlike you. Are you sure, you're fine?", Kirino asked worriedly. "Of course I am", he said, trying to get his act together. "And shouldn't you be with Shindou?" A smile appeared on his lips – now he had a possibility to keep him at arm's length even if he had to go back to his old self and annoy his Senpai. "In the meantime, he might be together with Akane-san." Kirino send him a confused glance which calmed Kariya, but he was smiling in the next moment. "Do you want to make me jealous?" "W-why should I?", he almost screamed, his face redden due to his embarrassment. "I don't know. I never understood your actions."

Kirino didn't lie, Kariya was well aware of that fact. His pranks lessened over the years, but he hadn't explained why he had done all the things to his Senpai, eventually he forgot the reason himself anyway. And even if they didn't became friends, they also didn't distance themselves from each other until the day when Kariya changed their relationship – at least in his mind.

On this day, Midori said to Tenma "You've grown up, haven't you?" though Kariya wasn't sure if she was honest or just teasing the other one. Nevertheless, the defender who never really had paid attention to the look of the others glanced at his teammates. But even when he recognised how they've grown up – especially Kurama and Shinsuke – nobody awoke his interest besides three people: Hikaru, Shindou and Kirino.

Hikaru became his friend and was the first one he admitted to trust so it was naturally that he didn't ignore his look. And Shindou... after all the time, he was still their captain and – hell, why was he lying to himself? Shindou was the person Kirino paid the most attention to so he wanted to know if he was worth looking at. And as far as he could say, he was. He wondered if this was the reason the others liked him so much. This consideration made him feel sick all of the sudden, though before he could think about this any longer, he glanced at Kirino. He had to admit that his Senpai was attractive. Very attractive. He might be rather short in comparison to Shindou or Tsurugi, but he was still taller than Kariya. Above all, his eyes where clear and even when they didn't glint like they did in his dream, they surely seemed to shine.

"Kariya, you're spacing out." The younger one didn't respond, instead he grabbed Kirino by his collar and dragged the older one towards himself to look him in the eyes. "Indeed. They are really shining." Although Kirino was surprised, he still managed to free himself and to push the smaller one down. "You should sleep, your fever let you talk nonsense." Nonsense? Yeah, he might be right but it didn't matter. As far as it concerned Kariya, he didn't want to sleep. "You had a tough day. Tsurugi offered that you could stay overnight till Hitomiko-san pick you up tomorrow", he continued just to avoid any other reaction similar to the one before. To support his statement, he closed the door and covered Kariya up so that he couldn't escape. "Fine." With an unsatisfied hum, he gave in, closed his eyes and rolled aside, facing the opposite wall.

The pink-haired male stayed by his side for a while and watched him till the door opened. "Kirino?", Shindou asked carefully, entering the room quietly when he saw that Kariya slept. "I just wanted to inform you that I leave." The defender looked at the clock to see if it was already this late. Indeed, it was almost midnight and he wondered why Shindou was allowed to stay this long anyway. Not that his parents were strict, rather they were really worried about their son, even when he was already eighteen. "Okay." "Should we bring you home?", Shindou asked him, knowing that his chauffeur had to make a detour. But the men knew Kirino and as long as he was the best friend of the "young lord" – as Kirino liked to call his friend to tease him sometimes – he had no problems to drive a longer way. It was really late, he thought, so it was better than walking. That's why Kirino tended to accept his offer, but Kariya had different plans. "You cannot go. You promised me to stay." The older male was confused when he saw that Kariya had been awake all the time even more when he realised what the younger one had said. "You mustn't break your promise, Kirino", Shindou warned his friend who was too surprised to answer anything. "Get well soon! I see you two on Monday at school", their captain said, not realising what was going on. And in the next moment, he was gone.

Silence spread, until it was broken by Kirino's sigh. "Kariya, you never change, will you?" "Stay", Kariya told him, sounding more desperate than he intended. "You are serious, are you?" The other one nodded eagerly, so that Kirino sat acquiescently down at the bedside. Being at one with the world, Kariya closed his eyes and made it himself comfortable. He didn't know why, but the company of his Senpai made him happy. Really happy. And finally, he was able to drift off, leaving reality a second time.

Even if the bed was big enough for both of them, Kirino asked Tsurugi – who just entered the room – for a futon. The forward didn't question why he wanted to watch besides Kariya's bed, instead he fulfilled his wish and even brought him a pyjama to sleep in. "Want to call your parents?", Tsurugi asked monotonously. "I don't need to, they are not home today", Kirino said, thanking him in the next moment that he was allowed to stay over the night. "No need to thank me", Tsurugi said, looking at the sleeping figure. "I still don't understand why he came. He should have known that you would have been fine if he hadn't came. A fever is nothing to be taken lightly", Kirino mumbled while following Tsurugi's glance. Now, the latter one starred at the defender, raising an eyebrow. "He likes you." "Excuse me?" "He likes you, that's why he came." The defender didn't know if he should laugh or be confused – he decided for both. "If you don't believe me, talk to him tomorrow. Good night", Tsurugi said, leaving the room. Kirino stayed quiet for a while not knowing how to handle the situation. Suppressing a sigh, he changed his clothes and turned off the lights before he crawled under the duvet, trying to sleep at least a bit.

The morning came to soon to actually grasp it. The night had been cold and Kirino hadn't slept very well even if he wore the comfortable pyjama he borrowed from Tsurugi's brother. He had spent most of the time to think about Kariya. He liked him, this was for sure – but just as much as the other first-years. Frankly, he wasn't too sure about the last part anymore. He did feel something when the younger one was near him and he definitely liked this feeling; but was it really love? Shifting movements to his left let him look up and the view of a dozy Kariya elicited him a small laugh. "What are you laughing at?", the younger one grumbled dozily. Noting that Kariya didn't seem to be a morning person, he got up and sat down at Kariya's bedside, ignoring his question. "Did you sleep well?" The younger one yawned but nodded slightly, getting up in a sitting position. At least someone who could sleep, Kirino thought, not knowing that Kariya had his special dream again. Two times in a row, and if Kariya hadn't been so stubborn, he would have believed that he actually felt something for the other one. Kirino looked at him, suddenly remembering his talk with Tsurugi. Why not, he thought, shifting closer to Kariya who was not sure what his Senpai intended to do. "Say, why did you come?", he asked without hesitation. "None of your business." ".?" "None of –" "It is my business. If it was my fault, I will make it up to you." Surprised by this sudden words, Kariya looked at him in bewilderment. What should he say? That he was scared of the thought that his Senpai and his captain could get closer? No, that sounded way too wrong, as if he was jealous. He wasn't jealous, he just was... before he could finish his thought, another one crossed his mind. "You'll do anything?" Kariya voiced this question without thinking any further about it and it came too sudden for Kirino to understand it. This gave him the possibility to change the question, but when Kirino asked if he had heard wrong, he repeated it verbatim. "If you tell me the reason, I will", the older one said hesitantly. "Because of you." "I beg your pardon?" "Couldn't have let you snuggle with the captain", he simply explained. Kirino would have expected to see his typical smile which implied that he was teasing him – but his face was serious, more serious than he had ever seen him. "You do love him, right?" "Why do you think that?" "You are always right besides each other. Always." Kirino wondered, if they really gave that impression, but pushed this thought aside. The relationship between Shindou and him didn't concern Kariya so there was no need to deepen the topic. "He is a precious friend of mine and I value our friendship like no other, but I'm not in love with him", Kirino explained, feeling rather awkward to talk about it. Kariya blinked – had his assumption been false all the time? If Kirino and Shindou weren't in love with each other, would it change the relationship between him and his Senpai? With his dream in mind, he couldn't say 'no', however he hoped that his next step would bring assurance. "I told you the reason. Now I am allowed to request something."

Not sure if it really was the reason why he had come – though it seemed to fit with Tsurugi's statement like a puzzle – Kirino nodded, kind of interested what he wanted. Kariya already knew it, but before he asked his Senpai, he needed to persuade himself – the next move he was going to do was just to satisfy his curiosity. He wanted to know if the things which the person – he still negate that it was Kirino – of his dream did would really arouse him. Nothing more. No feelings affected his next move. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at Kirino. "Kiss me." "What?" The words left his lips before he could fully understand the other's wish. "Kiss me!", he repeated, this time with more pressure. "Is your fever still that bad?" "No, I'm fine." To prove his words, Kariya took Kirino's hand and lay it on his forehead which was rather cold in comparison to yesterday. "Why –" "You promised. You mustn't break your promise, Kirino", he said, imitating Shindous way of talking. Seeing his stern, almost yearning expression and realising that nobody would find out about it afterwards, Kirino followed his wish. "Fine, if you insist." "I do." Kirino wasn't sure about his motivations and before he was able change his opinion, Kariya's lips lay already on his. The kiss was supposed to end soon, should be too short to grasp the emotions of it but as Kariya pulled back, Kirino automatically followed his motion, continuing the kiss.

"Senpai", he mumbled, when they parted, not averting his glance. "Kariya, you –" "Hitomiko-san is here!" The boys flinched as Tenma opened the door and moved quickly apart. Tenma – as naively as ever – entered the room, not noticing what happened and with a happiness that made Kariya sick. "Matsukaze, knock before you enter a room", Kirino lectured him, trying to hide his blush. "Ah, sorry", he laughed, looking at Kariya afterwards. "Do you feel better?" "Yes, thank you." The smile he sent him reminded Kirino of the fact that Kariya was still able to pretend to be someone else. Because of this Kirino was in doubt about the true intention behind the kiss and if he wanted to admit it or not, that was disappointing. He enjoyed the kiss too much for his own liking. This was definitely not good, he thought, trying to ignore this strange feeling he got due to the kiss. "I'll go to the bathroom", he stuttered abruptly, before he got up, grabbed his clothes and left quickly the room. "Is it just me or acted Kirino-senpai weird?", Tenma asked Kariya. The defender just shrugged, not wanting to tell him the truth; he wouldn't comprehend it anyway. "Is something wrong?", Kariya asked, when Tenma starred at him for a while. "Heh, are you sure you're okay? Your face is all red." "I don't know what you mean." Turning his head so that Tenma couldn't see his face anymore, Kariya searched for an excuse, choosing the only option he had. "What are you doing here anyway?" "Me? I stayed over night, just like you", he answered cheerfully and when Kariya asked where he had slept, he answered with the same tone as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Together with Tsurugi in his bed." Kariya couldn't deny that Tenma really gave one a tough time with his simple-heartedness.

On the way to the bathroom, Kirino encountered Tsurugi who was – just like Kariya – seemingly not a morning person. "Did you sleep well?", the forward asked, suppressing a yawn. "Yes." No need for him to know the truth, Kirino thought. "What about you?", he asked, hoping that this small talk distracted him. But Tsurugi who just wasn't the most talkative person around only hummed. Smiling slightly, Kirino was about to continue his way, when Tsurugi's question hold him off. "Did you talk to him?" Thinking that he owed him an answer if he didn't want to be ungrateful, Kirino nodded. "And?" The defender wondered where this sudden interest came from partly because Tsurugi never seemed to be interested in other businesses. Or maybe... he just wanted confirmation? Not looking him in the eyes, Kirino answered him, redden a bit. "You were right." "Thought so. And?" "Nothing. I guess..." Tsurugi looked at him for a while till he averted his glance and continued his way – and Kirino was grateful for this.

"Good morning, Kirino-kun." He had often heard about Hitomiko, but had never seen her in person. Now, that she stood in front of him, he wondered what kind of person she was – he wanted to know how Kariya was able to keep his mistrustful character although she cared about him. "Good morning. It is nice to meet you", Kirino said, bowing towards her. "Thank you for taking care of him", she said, pointing at Kariya who sat already in the car. "Shall I drive you home?" "Thank you for this offer, but I reject. I live just a few streets away." Kirino wanted to accept her offer, really – walking home was too stressful for his tired muscles – but being together with Kariya was nothing he could deal with right now. His mind was too busy to comprehend his feelings towards the younger one. "Alright. It was nice to meet you after all", she smiled, confusing the defender. Why would she want to meet him? "He was talking about you and his other teammates, so I got interested", she chuckled to erase his confusion. Frankly, whenever Kariya felt asleep on the couch, he mumbled quietly the name of his Senpai, so she looked forward to the guy who awoke the interest of Kariya. And it was kind of interesting, she thought smilingly. As soon as they would be home she would ask Hiroto to give Kariya a talk about protection. Chuckling about the image of an embarrassed Kariya, she went to the car, turning around a last time. "I know that Kariya can be troublesome sometimes, but please take care of him." "Sure." Waving, he watched how the car started till it disappear from his sight. Sighing, he went straight home.

"What have I got myself into?"

Ans that's it :3 Hope you liked this weird story~ And I hope that the Rantaku fans will forgive me...

Bye for now :3