Morning Routine

Morning routines. They all have them. Set the morning after Episode 7...

Atsushi wakes up first, beating the alarm clock. He slept well enough, but a futon on tatami mats really doesn't compare to his own bed, so he can't help but feel a little uncomfortable. En had shifted closer to him sometime during the night and his arm somehow wound up on Atsushi's waist, which the latter wastes no time peeling off (he doesn't have to be careful; he knows En won't stir).

When he's up, out of habit he makes his bed, despite logic telling him there is no need for that. Then he takes in the sight before him. Io and Ryuu are nestled safely in their futons, their faces hidden in their pillows. Next to Ryuu, Mr. Tawarayama is as still as ever, with Wombat curled up by his head. Across from him, Yumoto is a splayed-out with a wide smile on his face, his blanket haphazardly tossed aside. Atsushi picks up the blanket and folds it, deciding against covering Yumoto (in case it would be too hot) in favor of setting it on his own futon. At the other end, across from Io, En is curled up on his side, dead to the world.

Carefully treading to his shelves where they'd set their bags, Atsushi puts on his glasses, picks up the toiletry bag he prepared the night before, and leaves the room.

Sometime later, the alarm rings. The shrill sound comes from Io's phone, placed next to his futon, and slowly he lifts his head, reminding himself that he's at the Tamakuro Inn. The alarm stirs Wombat, who shoots up immediately, and Ryuu, who groans and hides his head under his pillow. Io reaches over and silences it, and then lays his head back down for a few moments. Then he sits up and pulls his bag over. His eyes land on his defiled toothbrush. He debates rinsing it down with scalding water, but in the end he takes out his wallet (for a smart inn always knows to stock such supplies for forgetful guests) and decides to put an end to his discomfort once and for all.

Ryuu is awake now, the alarm having roused him. He doesn't want to get up, but between the alarm and Wombat's obnoxiously loud movements (everything is obnoxiously loud in the mornings), he finally pulls the pillow off himself and sits up. Atsushi and Io are gone, Wombat is awake, and Yumoto and En are still fast asleep.

"Morning," Ryuu mumbles sleepily, the greeting returned by Wombat. He stretches as he stands, and gets his bag, rummaging through it to find his things. He tells Wombat to wake Yumoto and En as he leaves.

In a neighboring hotel on a neighboring resort, the phone rings. "Good morning Arima-san? This is the front desk with your morning wake-up call…"

Ibushi hears the words with increasing awareness, and finally thanks the man before hanging up and sitting up. He slept well, and sea breeze wafting through his window feels good. He enjoys the stillness for a few moments before getting up and going into his bathroom to wash up.

There is a coffee machine in the common room. After getting dressed, Ibushi goes straight to it and reads the instructions. He picks out the strongest, darkest blend on the table and patiently waits for it to brew. Akoya and Kinshiro's doors remain closed, and he knows they are likely still asleep. He knows he should knock and tell them it's morning.

But Ibushi also knows that he does not know what they're like in the morning and decides that he would rather not find out until he's had at least one strong cup of coffee.

Yumoto is awake now, or at least not asleep, as the dazed way he sits on his futon can hardly be called "awake". Atsushi woke him, gently shaking his shoulder and whispering for him to wake up. That it's not how his brother wakes him is the only thing running through Yumoto's mind as he idly watches his friend getting dressed at the other end of the room.

Wombat isn't in the room, having left with Tawarayama-sensei, and En is still asleep, though Atsushi has snatched away both his pillow and his blanket at this point. Io returns, already dressed, and Ryuu reappears shortly afterwards.

"I've scheduled breakfast for 10," Io informs them, and begins to roll up his futon. Looking at En, he adds, "Punctuality is important."

Ryuu gets dressed quickly and then sits down on his futon. He fishes out a small square table mirror from his bag. As he styles his hair, he says, "Yumoto, that goes for you too."

Atsushi, never one to stand around, goes over to Yumoto and begins coaxing him into getting up and getting ready for breakfast. He is calm and patient, and Ryuu and Io can't help but look on with some amusement.

Then as Ryuu goes through his supplies, he realizes he's left his deodorant in the washroom. Before he leaves though, he has Io toss him Yumoto's bag, pulls their youngest friend up by the wrist and drags him along.

There is a knock. "Kinshiro? Are you up? It's morning," Ibushi's voice is heard from the other side of the door. Kinshiro is awake already, but he lays in bed for a few more minutes before slowly hauling himself up. He's on vacation, he tells himself, and though it should mean that he could relax, he irritably realizes that he has to do everything for himself.

He stumbles into the washroom and lets the water run for a few moments as his thoughts come together. He's never been a morning person; he's never had to be. Everything has always been set out for him and he's always just had to go through the motions. Though the motions remain the same, it's interesting how different it feels when the household staff is missing.

Washing up is a slow and sluggish affair, but he gets through it and feels a little more alert afterwards. Kinshiro sheds his nightclothes and gets clean clothes from the drawers.

As he finally opens his door, he wonders if Ibushi had the sense to order breakfast already.

It's amazing what a little cold water does. Yumoto left the room in a lethargic state, but comes back as the enthusiastic bundle of energy they're all used to (instead it is Ryuu dragging along behind, still carrying Yumoto's bag, looking worse for wear. Such enthusiasm is too tiring in the mornings). Yumoto greets everyone brightly and then drops onto the tatami mats for morning stretches. Ryuu returns to his hair, while Io just watches Atsushi trying to wake En, his phone in hand.

"He's still out?" Ryuu asks, with wide eyes.

"Yes," Io sighs then looks at his phone, "Alright Kinugawa-senpai, it's been fifteen minutes."

"Ah, thank you," Atsushi sighs and there is a strange glint in his eyes. He tells En to wake up once more and when it becomes clear that his words will have no effect, he gets off his knees…

…and promptly sits on En.

Akoya wants his stylist. Ibushi's knocked on his door twice already, once to wake him, and a second time to let him know that breakfast was ordered. Akoya finds his voice irritably perky. Kinshiro's voice was also heard. His was irritably grumpy.

The beds in the hotel are soft, but Akoya slept poorly, the previous night's events still playing in his head. Getting lost like a helpless child was one thing, but being seen in such a disheveled state was unacceptable. Despite showering, his skin still feels the mountain dirt. Worse, the shampoo in the hotel, despite being the same high end brand Akoya always uses, leaves his hair feeling too dry (or maybe that was the waters fault?) Everything else is taken care of, but Akoya could never present himself to anyone if he wasn't looking perfect.

The number of strands on his hairbrush begins to alarm him. He needs to at least tie it back, but he hates the way it feels in his hands, and he can't bring himself to run his fingers through it, even for a simple ponytail.

He spies his phone on his nightstand. He isn't sure how many minutes pass before he finally grabs it.

"Yufuin-senpai, the tatami mat imprint will be stuck on your face forever if you don't wake up," Ryuu tries, in a fake sing-song voice. After a thought he adds, "It'll make you look old."

En groans softly and shifts himself so that his face is on the futon again, but he doesn't wake up. Ryuu prods him lightly with his foot. "Come on Yufuin-senpai, wake up."

"Is he always like this?" Io asks Atsushi, who is standing nearby pensively.

Atsushi nods. "Sitting on him usually works, but I guess he's built up a tolerance." Your waist is really thin¸ En's words from the previous night suddenly echo in his head, and as he feels his face heat up, he hastily adds, "Or he's just purposely being difficult."

"Can I tickle him?" Yumoto asks, slightly loosening his hold on Wombat as he does so. The alien takes the momentary distraction as an opportunity to escape and return to the teacher, prompting him to sit up.

"No, let's not resort to that yet," Atsushi stops him, "I'd feel bad. Sleeping on an unfamiliar bed on top of all of yesterday's excitement probably took a lot out of him."

"Kinugawa-senpai, you're too soft," Ryuu scolds and unsuccessfully attempts dragging En from the futon by his arm.

"Still, you would think that being on an unfamiliar bed would make sleeping-in harder," Io observes, "Especially when one is used to a western-style bed."

There is a muffled reply to this that none of them catch, so Ryuu leans in closer and asks En to repeat his words. He glances up a moment later, eye twitching. "Sleeping on a futon is a sacred experience. This is how the Japanese were meant to sleep," Ryuu parrots dryly.

Atsushi smacks his forhead, while Io just nods thoughtfully. "That's an interesting view to hold, I suppose."

"I've always slept on a futon," Yumoto raises his hand eagerly, "Gora-an-chan says it's better for your back."

"That may be true, but studies say for chronic back pain, it's better to have a mattress that conforms to your body," Io points out. Yumoto just shrugs.

Ryuu turns back to En. "Anyway, if this is how Yufuin-senpai feels about this topic, maybe we should just offer to get him a futon in exchange for waking up."

"He has one buried deep in his closet, Ryuu," Atsushi sighs, "And don't believe anything he says either. His usual line on this matter is "Beds are the greatest thing the West gave us. How did our ancestors ever survive without them?""

They consider this a moment.

"So he's just being a pain in the ass then?" Ryuu asks.

"Yes."

Ryuu prods En with his foot again, considerably less gently this time.

The cart brought up by room service contains a variety of breakfast foods and as the server sets everything out on the table, Ibushi and Kinshiro enjoy a cup of tea on the balcony. There is little talk between them, but occasionally they glance in the direction of Akoya's door silently debating if he'll ever come out, or if he's even awake.

"This is getting ridiculous," Io says, glaring at the clock on his phone, "Yufuin-senpai, wake up!"

"This is like pulling teeth," Ryuu groans, "Kinugawa-senpai, how do you do this?"

Atsushi wears a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Well sitting on him is a first resort," he admits, "The usual threats won't work since it's summer vacation. Breathing warm air into ear failed, and I've already stolen his pillow and blanket—

"Can we steal the mattress too?" Ryuu mutters under his breath.

"—splashing his face with cold water sometimes stirs him—

"Oh! How about we dip his hand in warm water?" Yumoto offers, though his suggestion is met by exasperation.

"And just what do you propose we tell the inn's proprietors afterwards?" Io snaps.

"And while he is ticklish, I'd advise against it," Atsushi admits, "He'll fight back."

The others sigh.

"Now then," Atsushi turns to Ryuu, "What was that about stealing his mattress?"

The food spread out before them is tantalizing, but it is poor manners to eat before everyone is present, so they do not. Kinshiro already banged on Akoya's door, ordering him to wake up and learns that he has. Ibushi asks him if he needs any help, and they are angrily told that "beauty takes time."

Ibushi and Kinshiro sit at the table eyeing the food. Ibushi suggests that they start without him, while the food is still warm, but Kinshiro is insistent on waiting.

Ibushi's phone buzzes, so he takes it out of his pocket and opens the text. It is from Akoya, and it reads, "Help me with my hair."

A text message only takes a few moments to arrive once it has been sent, but Ibushi knows that this message took a long time to reach him. He pictures Akoya staring at the phone long before picking it up, and then endlessly writing and rewriting the words until they finally sound good in his head. Akoya probably hopes the message sounds like a casual request of assistance, but all Ibushi can picture is a moody cat peeking out from under the bed in hopes of getting some affection.

Despite that, Ibushi slowly writes out, "What's the magic word?" and his smile only grows as he hits send.

It takes another couple of minutes for a reply to arrive (and Ibushi swears there's a demonic aura emanating Akoya's door as he waits), but when the text reading "please" finally appears, Ibushi politely excuses himself, and then walks to Akoya's room.

"That… looked painful," Io notes, lowering his end of the mattress. The force they used to pull the futon out from under En may have been too much and he is left at a considerably odd angle on the mats.

"En-chan? Are you still alive?" En's sleepy thumbs-up only adds to their frustration.

"Okay, seriously, there have to be limits to this kind of thing," Ryuu lets go of the mattress, "Can we just leave him behind and go eat?"

"Ah but," Atsushi tries to protest, but he quickly realizes that Ryuu has a very good point, and it's not fair to them for En to act this way. "Okay… but, may I try one last thing?"

They nod.

"Yumoto, use tackle!"

It is super effective.

Akoya's door is unlocked, and when Ibushi enters, Akoya is sitting on his bed with folded arms and trying very hard not to look petulant. His hair, Ibushi notes, looks how it always does, but he knows better than to point that out, and instead plays along as Akoya shoves him into the bathroom and forces him to wash his hands. He stands over him and needles him about every little thing, but Ibushi doesn't complain, not even when Akoya grabs his hands afterwards and scrutinizes them thoroughly.

There is a rectangular stool in the room, in which Akoya sits with a mirror in his hand, while Ibushi stands behind him with a brush and a hair tie.

"So what would you like?" Ibushi asks, "The same style you had yesterday or something else?"

"Yesterday's is fine," Akoya tells him quickly. He tenses once Ibushi begins brushing.

Ibushi's brush strokes are slow and light, which he thinks Akoya appreciates, but part of him wonders if he should go faster since it's clear the physical contact is merely tolerated. Akoya stays quiet, though the face reflected in the mirror is severe.

When he is done brushing, Ibushi gathers all of the peach locks, and slings them over Akoya's shoulder. Akoya stands up to make it easier to braid. It takes three attempts to finally make a braid that isn't too loose and while Akoya checks over it carefully in the mirror afterwards, he asks, "Have you ever done this before?"

"Yes, that last one was my third attempt ever."

"Oh, no wonder it's terrible."

"I can try again," Ibushi offers, but Akoya refuses.

"We'll be here all day. I could make a better braid with my eyes closed."

"So why don't you?"

"My hair feels gross. I don't want to touch it." Ibushi raises a brow at this. Though he realizes he doesn't have a point of comparison since he's never touched Akoya's hair before this, it felt soft and healthy in his hands. He considers pointing it out but instead he says,

"I don't think I did too badly for a first attempt. You look very cute."

"I don't want to look cute, I want to look beautiful," Akoya pouts but the faint tint on his cheeks makes it clear to Ibushi that he appreciates the compliment.

"You look very beautiful then," Ibushi agrees, "Now come on. Your mood will improve once you eat."

As if on cue, Akoya's stomach growls, and it takes all of Ibushi's self-restraint not to crack a smile, as the former hastily marches out of the room.

It is quickly made apparent that waking En up was only the first step. Fortunately, Atsushi's used to En being like this, and therefore knows what the fastest way to deal with him is: get upset. (It does help that he is genuinely annoyed with him at the moment.)

Once En is awake (and crabby), Atsushi quickly hands him his clothes and toiletries and orders him to go wash up. He complains about the shirt. Atsushi is prepared for that.

"What do you mean you don't like this shirt? When I picked it out for you, you said it was great," he bites his lip for good measure (to hide his smile, but En is still too groggy to realize that) and there are no further arguments. En does take his time trudging out of the room though, so Atsushi has to physically push him from behind to make him walk. He tells the others to go on ahead.

Ryuu, Io and Wombat just watch with dropped jaws.

"Kinugawa-senpai… there's a limit to how much you can dote on someone," Ryuu mutters after he's gone.

"I feel like I'm in some sort of bad sitcom," Io agrees.

"And do you get this feeling that he going to have stand there and give orders so Yufuin-senpai doesn't stand around like a zombie?"

"I do. Is that what you did for Yumoto earlier?"

"No way. A few splashes of cold water, and he could fend for himself." Yumoto perks up at the mention of his name and says,

"I'm hungry, let's get breakfast already."

Amazingly, they are not late.

"About time you showed up," Kinshiro snaps and starts putting food onto his plate (there is very obviously a bread roll missing, but no one comments on it).

"Sorry," Akoya says coolly and takes his seat. Kinshiro locks eyes with Ibushi who gestures to Akoya with his eyes and then touches his hair quickly. Kinshiro understands.

"Your hair looks very nice," Kinshiro tells him, and Akoya flashes one of his usual arrogant smiles, but his eyes visibly light up. Ibushi silently thanks him and takes his seat.

There is a wide selection of food for them to sample, and they each pick out the things that suit their palates. Conversation is light—mainly about the food, and the rest of the day's plans. It is pleasant exchange and hopefully a precedent of things to come.

Io is grateful that they didn't actually bet money on how long it would take En and Atsushi to rejoin them, because he would have lost (to Wombat no less). They're back much faster than expected.

Breakfast is a traditional Japanese kaiseki, with various small dishes for them to enjoy. Yumoto and Wombat dig in without a second thought, but Ryuu and Io are more distracted by the complete change in their seniors' demeanors.

En has gone from being the biggest pain imaginable to a meek puppy endlessly apologizing to Atsushi, and trying to appease his (supposed) anger. And Atsushi—their kind, gentle, patient friend—is very obviously enjoying it.

"Oh you like this… whatever that is? Here, have mine, you need to eat more anyway," En has a embarrassed smile as he moves a plate on his tray to Atsushi's. Atsushi thanks him, and continues eating (but he does also make En take something from his tray in exchange, which is met with no protests because En wouldn't dare oppose him now).

"What did he do to him?" Ryuu whispers to Io, while Yumoto tries to see if he can get any more food from any of them (Atsushi obliges, naturally).

"I have no idea," Io answers with a frown, "But… I think is routine for them."

They silently exchange a vow to always stay on Atsushi's good side though.

A/N: Thanks for reading :)

So this fic... turned out much longer than I expected haha. Originally I was just going to include the Battle Lovers' side, but considering Ep 7 had us alternating between the Defense Club and the Conquest Club, it seemed more appropriate that I do the same thing here (though balancing the eccentric manga student council and their much more subdued anime versions is... hard. I'm not really sure if I was able to find a good balance in the end o.o")
Inspirations for this fic include Episode 7, that one throwaway joke I had in a previous fic, the Boueibu game and "What makes you beautiful" by One Direction. Seriously.

...Also I feel I should apologize to En fans. Sorry En fans o.o" (I'll be nicer to him next time!)

So, er, yeah, till next fic ^^"