Before we get to the fan fic, here's a quick explanation of a few terms used in the story: "Cinnapon" is the Yami no Matsuei version of "Cinnabon", a real-life bakery known for its cinnamon rolls. And "Pocky" refers to a Japanese snack food. Basically, Pocky are little cookie sticks that have a candy coating. I usually buy them in chocolate or strawberry flavor, but they come in lots of other flavors too.

Summary: Tatsumi tries to comfort Tsuzuki with a bedtime story. Yes, a bedtime story!

Legal disclaimer: Yami no Matsuei and its characters are property of Matsushita-sensei and whoever else owns them. This story, however, is mine. Please don't sue me, because I'm merely writing this for fun. Besides, I have no money! I spent it all on anime and Pocky!

Once Upon a Cinnapon

by Literary Eagle

A quick glance into the infirmary revealed that Tsuzuki was still awake. That worried me. During his last trip to Nagasaki, he had been attacked by a particularly dangerous monster. Although most of his physical wounds had healed, he was obviously still quite weak and desperately in need of rest.

"Tsuzuki-san, you should try to get some sleep," I said softly, approaching his bedside, "You don't want to upset Kurosaki-kun, do you? He only agreed to go home because you promised that you would take care of yourself."

"You're right, Tatsumi. I'm sorry," Tsuzuki murmured, fidgeting with his blanket, "It's just that... the infirmary is too quiet now. I guess I was getting used to having Hisoka here to keep me company. But I knew it would be selfish to make him stay any longer, so I told him to go home..."

Spotting a nearby chair, I moved it closer to Tsuzuki's bed and sat down. "Would it help if I stay here until you fall asleep?" I asked.

"R-really?" he said, his eyes widening, "Thank you so much, Tatsumi!"

Seeing the surprise and longing in his eyes, I felt a pang of guilt. It had been quite a while since I last spent some time with him. Had I truly become that caught up in my work?

As if in answer to my question, Tsuzuki suddenly looked crestfallen, saying, "But if you're here at this hour, it means that you must have been working late again. You shouldn't be staying here! You need to go home and get some rest..."

I shook my head. "Tsuzuki-san, I am staying," I said firmly, "so please tell me if there's anything I can do to help. I really want to be here for you."

Tsuzuki smiled gratefully. "Well, this is probably going to sound silly, but... When I was young, my sister Ruka used to read stories to me until I fell asleep. Maybe that would work."

"Stories?"

"Yeah," said Tsuzuki. His expression softened as he stared off into the distance, immersed in a fond memory. "She used to read from the Japanese edition of a really old book... I think it was 'Illustrated Fairytales' by Lady Anabella... Oh Tatsumi, do you think the Gushoushin's library might have that book? Maybe you could read it to me!"

"Unfortunately, I think the library is closed at this time," I said, cursing myself for not visiting Tsuzuki earlier. But to my surprise, he smiled again.

"That's okay," Tsuzuki said brightly, "Just make up your own fairytale! It would be fun!"

"Ah... Tsuzuki-san, I'm not much of a storyteller..." I said.

"Please, Tatsumi? Pleeeeeease?" said Tsuzuki, as his big violet eyes sparkled imploringly, "Pretty please with sugar on top? Mmm... sugar... Er, I mean, pleeeeeeease?"

Even if Tsuzuki had not been attacked by a monster, there was no way I could refuse him when he looked at me with those puppy eyes. "Alright, I'll try," I said, "But you might have to help me a little."

"Yay! You're the best, Tatsumi!"

"Once upon a time," I began hesitantly, "There was a prince, and his name was... hmm..."

"His name was Tsuzuki, of course!" Tsuzuki said helpfully, "So, where did Prince Tsuzuki live?"

I thought for a moment. It would make sense for a prince to live in a palace, but since Tsuzuki was putting himself into the story, he'd probably want to live where sweets were plentiful. "He lived in a gingerbread house," I tried, but Tsuzuki looked aghast at what I had said.

"No, not a gingerbread house!" Tsuzuki said, shaking his head frantically, "Gingerbread houses are deathtraps that bad people use to capture innocent children!"

"Oh, of course," I said sheepishly, "So... Prince Tsuzuki sold the gingerbread house to a homicidal maniac, then went to live in a magical Cinnapon instead." I felt silly having the prince live in a bakery, but Tsuzuki seemed delighted with my choice. Encouraged by his smiling face, I continued, "The Cinnapon was a wonderful place, always full of fresh cinnamon rolls and other good things to eat. Each day, Prince Tsuzuki would gather some of the delicious food and enjoy his meals outside, in the cool shade of a peach tree."

"How about a Pocky tree?" Tsuzuki suggested.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Tsuzuki-san, Pocky are biscuit sticks. They cannot grow on trees."

"Please, Tatsumi? After all, it's just a story!" Tsuzuki looked at me with those irresistible puppy eyes again.

"Very well," I said, "One day, the peaches on the tree... ah... mutated into Pocky. From then on, Prince Tsuzuki was able to have his meals in the cool shade of a Pocky tree."

"And he sat on a tuffet while he ate," Tsuzuki added.

"A tuffet?" I said, looking at him questioningly.

"Little Miss Muffet had one," Tsuzuki explained, "She sat on it while eating her curds and whey."

"Tsuzuki-san, do you even know what a tuffet is?" I asked.

"No," he admitted, "But it must be something important, since Mother Goose took the time to mention it!"

For some reason, I found myself unable to argue with that logic, even though I didn't know what a tuffet was either. "Alright. One day, a tuffet dropped out of the sky and landed right in front of the Cinnapon," I continued, "Prince Tsuzuki was very excited. He moved the tuffet into the shade of the Pocky tree, so he could sit comfortably whenever he ate. And so, he was very happy..."

"Lonely."

"Pardon?" I asked, looking at Tsuzuki. But he had turned his head away so that I couldn't see this face. "Tsuzuki-san, is something wrong?"

"Prince Tsuzuki was lonely," he said quietly, turning around to face me again. Then his lips curved into a mischievous grin, much to my relief. "Come on, Tatsumi, what did you expect? Prince Tsuzuki seems to be living alone. He needs to share all that good food with someone!"

I smiled in return. "You're right, of course. My apologies," I said, "Luckily, Prince Tsuzuki's loneliness did not last, because a traveler from a faraway land entered the Cinnapon. The newcomer's name was..."

"Sir Tatsumi?" Tsuzuki asked with a hopeful smile.

"His name was Sir Tatsumi," I agreed, "and he offered to stay with Prince Tsuzuki to help him manage his finances."

"Tatsumiiiiiiiiii..." Tsuzuki whined.

"Sir Tatsumi just wanted what was best for Prince Tsuzuki," I said, straightening my glasses, "Proper financial planning is very, very important."

"It's very, very BORING!" said Tsuzuki, pouting cutely, "You shouldn't put that into the story!"

"Alright then," I said, trying to think of something else, "Sir Tatsumi was an explorer, so he offered to stay with Prince Tsuzuki to tell him stories of his many adventures."

"Yeah!" Tsuzuki cheered.

"And so, Prince Tsuzuki and Sir Tatsumi became good friends, enjoying many picnics on the tuffet... luckily, it was a big tuffet," I said, "During the day, they shared stories and delicious food in the shade of the Pocky tree, and at night they rested in the warmth and safety of the Cinnapon. And sometimes, Sir Tatsumi would even help Prince Tsuzuki with his financial planning..."

"Hey!" said Tsuzuki, pouting again.

"Sorry, that last part just sort of slipped out."

Tsuzuki rolled his eyes. "Anyway, go on."

I paused for several minutes, but no new ideas came to me. "I'm not sure where to go from here," I said apologetically.

"Okay, I'll continue the story a bit," said Tsuzuki, "But you still have to do the ending, alright?"

That sounded reasonable, so I nodded.

"One fine day," he said, "Prince Tsuzuki went out alone. While he was outside, he got attacked by a vicious monster..."

My chest tightened with worry. Why was Tsuzuki putting his encounter with the monster into the story? "Tsuzuki-san, I..."

"The prince was badly wounded by the monster, but he fought back with his magic," said Tsuzuki, his voice taking on an almost urgent tone, "Even though Prince Tsuzuki had the ability to heal himself, he knew that his injuries were very serious. But he still didn't give up. He thought of Sir Tatsumi, and he knew that he had to survive, so that he could see him again..."

Tsuzuki struggled to sit up. For a moment, the drama was ruined when his blanket fell away, revealing black-and-white pajamas that made him look like a dairy cow. I was so thrown off by the bizarre sleepwear that I hadn't noticed Tsuzuki moving closer to me, until he lost his balance and nearly fell right into my lap.

Seeing that Tsuzuki was still somewhat weak and unsteady from his ordeal with the real monster, I put my arms around him so he wouldn't tumble off the bed. "Tsuzuki-san..."

"Prince Tsuzuki had realized that Sir Tatsumi was the most important thing in the world to him!" Tsuzuki continued obliviously, "The prince decided that even if the Cinnapon ran out of cinnamon rolls, even if the Pocky tree stopped blossoming, and even if the tuffet stopped tuffeting, none of that would matter, as long as Sir Tatsumi would still be there!"

"Tsu-"

"And so, Prince Tsuzuki prevailed against the monster," said Tsuzuki, beginning to tremble, "There was no way the prince would let anyone stop him from seeing Sir Tatsumi again... Because he still had to tell Sir Tatsumi that he loved him very much!" Tsuzuki's next words were so soft that I could scarcely hear them at all. "So please tell me... How does the story end, Tatsumi?"

Tsuzuki was saying... that he loved me? Recovering from my initial shock, I realized that I knew where I wanted this story to go. "Sir Tatsumi rushed outside and found the injured Prince Tsuzuki. He led him back into the safety of the Cinnapon. He was very sorry about what had happened, and he apologized for not being there when Prince Tsuzuki needed him the most..."

"But it wasn't his fault!" Tsuzuki protested, looking up at me, "He couldn't have known that this would happen! Besides, he still helped... Because even though he wasn't actually there, just the thought of him was enough for Prince Tsuzuki to fight the monster, and..."

"But that wasn't good enough for Sir Tatsumi," I whispered, "He promised that he would try not to get so caught up in his work anymore. He wanted to be there for Prince Tsuzuki more often, because... he realized that he loved Tsuzuki very much too."

Tsuzuki made a half-sobbing, half-laughing sound, and rested his head against my shoulder, still too weak to do much else. I ran my fingers through his hair, murmuring all manner of apologies and confessions that I hadn't even realized I had been keeping bottled up for so long. But then he put a finger to my lips and smiled, so I smiled back and held him in silence.

Eventually, Tsuzuki interrupted the quiet just long enough to murmur, "Tomorrow morning... like 'Snow White' and 'Sleeping Beauty'. No, better than those, because I'm giving my consent, mmmkay?" and then fell asleep before I could ask what that meant. I lowered him back onto the bed and then got up to leave, but he suddenly whimpered in his sleep and grabbed my sleeve. I was astounded. I hadn't known that he could do that irresistible puppy routine even when he was unconscious! Taking the hint, I settled down on the bed next to Tsuzuki. Then he curled up against me, and I let myself smile. As I drifted off into slumber, I decided that I could get used to this...

My dreams were filled with strange but pleasant images of purple-eyed puppies dancing around a Pocky tree. Alas, the dreams turned into a bizarre cartoonish nightmare when the innocent puppies were lured into a gingerbread house owned by Muraki... I awoke with a start, and was relieved to find Tsuzuki still sleeping peacefully beside me. In fact, he was drooling on the pillow, and the morning sunlight seemed to be emphasizing that by making his saliva glisten. Suppressing the urge to wipe the drool off his face, I carefully crept out of bed and left the infirmary.

The dreams had left me with the pressing feeling that something was missing from our fairytale about Prince Tsuzuki and Sir Tatsumi. And what did Tsuzuki mean about being better than "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty"? Did he also sense that our bedtime story needed something else? I required answers, and I decided that a certain book might be able to help.

The Gushoushin brothers greeted me as I entered the library. "Good morning, Tatsumi-san!"

"Good morning," I said, hoping that I looked somewhat presentable despite having slept in my clothes while someone drooled all over the pillow, "I was wondering if you had the book 'Illustrated Fairytales' by Lady Anabella?"

"One moment, please," said the younger Gushoushin. He checked the library's database, then disappeared behind some bookshelves. Several minutes later, he returned with a book that seemed as if it hadn't been read in ages. However, despite the coat of dust, it was evident that the tome had been a true labor of love. It was a hardcover, but it felt soft to the touch because it was wrapped in green silk, with striking red designs stitched into it. The edges of the pages had been gilded, and they were held together by a little clasp that reminded me of a diary.

After thanking the Gushoushin, I made my way back to the infirmary, leafing through the book as I did so. I was truly impressed with the charming illustrations that brought each fairytale to life. Lady Anabella was quite the artist.

Arriving back at Tsuzuki's bedside, I continued to flip through the pages, trying to figure out what was missing from the fairytale we had created. When I saw the illustrations for "Snow White" and "Sleeping Beauty", it finally dawned on me what Tsuzuki had been trying to say.

And so, I leaned closer to Tsuzuki and prepared to add the missing scene to our story. It was time for Sir Tatsumi to awaken Prince Tsuzuki with a kiss.

Author's notes: For those who are wondering what the heck a tuffet is, it's a stool. According to the dictionary, it can also be a tuft of grass. Take your pick.

This story is dedicated to Anabella, a very kind artist who has drawn illustrations for some of my fan fics, including this one! The illustrations are on my website (you can find the address to the site in my author profile). Thanks, Anabella! I am also grateful to my prereader Firebird, who gave me the inspiration for this fic when she mentioned that a Pocky tree would be a cute subject for a children's book.

Thanks for reading, and feedback would be greatly appreciated!

-Literary Eagle, 2002