A/N: Eh... I guess the Tenipuri group will be playing in the snow in the next chapter. I felt like writing something fluff-ish. I hope it turned out okay. This is a bad place in the story for me to be getting a bout of writer's block.

A/N 2: Wow... I didn't realize so many people read this. :D

A/N 3: I apologize for any typos. I'm tired and don't feel like editing this too much. I did the first half though.

Echizen Ryoma's room was incredibly small, Oishi Shuichirou noted as he tried to find a comfortable position on the floor. Everyone else was already asleep and/or still unconscious from the game of Truth or Dare. He rolled over to look at the redhead beside him; at least he had caught Eiji when the other boy had fainted. Though, he was a bit worried that the acrobat hadn't woken up yet. Had the redhead been that tired, or had his fever spiked that high again?

He wasn't too sure that he wanted to think about the reason Eiji was sick in the first place and now unconscious. Such a thought made him feel ill. How could anyone in their right mind hurt Kikumaru Eiji?

Someone was snoring loudly. It was probably Momo, Oishi thought as he heaved a sigh. No, it was too loud to be just one person, and the sounds were coming from the same area. The dark-haired boy yawned; maybe Echizen was snoring also. The younger boy had been snoring the other day, so it would only make sense that he would continue to do so. Plus, he and Momo were sharing his bed; Ryoma had apparently tired of sleeping on the floor of his own room.

Oishi wasn't quite sure why Momo was on the bed also. Perhaps Echizen had decided that the second-year had suffered enough for one night after drinking the latest juice cooked up by Inui. Maybe the first-year just wanted extra warmth because he was lacking blankets—Fuji had stolen them earlier, and Echizen hadn't protested when the tensai had given him a look—and his fluffy, warm cat had abandoned him in favor of sleeping next to Kaidoh who was surprisingly good with animals.

He found the latter somewhat more believable than the former, given Echizen's typical disposition.

The serious half of the Golden Pair rolled over onto his other side, glancing up and out the window. The snow was still falling as it had been for several hours now. Everything left unsheltered from the blizzard was now covered with nearly two feet of white fluff.

Oishi burrowed further into his blankets. Just looking at the snow made him want to shiver. He was already rather cold; the house's heater wasn't working nearly well enough to ward away the chill. Well, he was also probably cold because the majority of the team was sleeping on the floor with nothing other than a light blanket—well, Fuji had a multiple nice warm blankets and was sharing them with a hesitant Tezuka; Seigaku's captain was clearly wary that the tensai would pull a prank of some type on him and/or take some sort of blackmail photo—and a pillow each; Nanako-san had softly apologized for the lack of spare futons, and everyone had quickly insisted that it was alright. They were the ones who had decided to stay the night without much warning, after all; none of the permanent residents of the Echizen household should have to apologize for the accommodations.

He was startled from his thoughts as someone mumbled in his sleep, and Oishi promptly registered the sound as Inui's voice. He listened for a moment before giving up. The taller boy's words were too jumbled with sleep for him to understand, not that he really wanted to anyway.

He let his green gaze slide over to the next occupant of the room.

Kaidoh was resting next to Inui—the older boy had conveniently draped his arm across the second-year, trapping him—and holding Karupin close to his chest. The gruff boy's bandana had disappeared sometime during the night—Oishi was almost positive that it was in Inui's possession at the moment—, and his midnight-colored bangs fell softly against his forehead just above his closed eyes. Kaidoh made a small noise of discomfort as he shivered a bit before scooting closer to the tallest member of the team for extra warmth.

A short ways away from the dark-haired couple, Fuji and Tezuka lay wrapped in a cocoon of warm blankets. Fuji's smile was strangely absent in his sleep, and while such a sight was usually frightening, the sleeping honey-haired boy did not seem like he could hurt a fly. Next to him, Tezuka—Oishi noticed that he looked quite a bit different without his glasses—seemed quite a bit less serious than he was when he was aware. The vice-captain raised his eyebrows; apparently the phrase "Yudan sezuni ikou" did not apply when one needed rest.

His gaze drifted over to the shy—usually—member of the team. Taka-san was resting on his stomach, face buried in his pillow. The normally polite boy's soft snores drifted across the room, barely reaching Oishi's ears.

Oishi smiled; at least most of the team was quiet and resting well.

The vice-captain restlessly rolled over on his side, facing his boyfriend again. He studied the redhead's relaxed features, frowning at the bruise that marred Eiji's normally lightly tanned skin that was still unusually pale. The ever-present bandage starkly contrasted with the nearly violet skin of the acrobat's cheek.

Eiji's eyebrows furrowed, and he twitched slightly in his sleep as if he were having an unpleasant dream. Oishi frowned and reached out a hand to smooth down his crimson locks, but he drew his hand back quickly as his boyfriend's eyes slowly opened. The acrobat blinked sleepily for a few moments before scooted closer to him, mumbling something about having a bad dream and being cold.

Oishi gave a small smile; it was nice that Eiji had finally woken up. He'd been worried for a while. The redhead asked him why he was smiling, and the vice-captain told him that it wasn't important before wrapping his arms around the other boy and drawing him closer to him.

"Is this warmer?" Oishi asked.

Eiji didn't reply; he had already passed back into the world of dreams.

Oishi smiled as he felt his eyes drift shut. He wasn't worried anymore for now. Eiji was okay.

He slept.

To be continued...

Glossary of Terms:
tensai— genius or prodigy.
-san— suffix used to show respect.
Yudan sezuni ikou— roughly "Don't let your guard down."

--Wolfram003--
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