Something was off, and it was keeping him awake.

Hikaru stared petulantly at the clock as it counted off another minute he wasn't sleeping and tried not to fidget. He had been making a conscious effort not to move since his first hour of tossing and turning had finally managed to wake Haruhi.

He glanced over his shoulder to where she was now sleeping, her hand touching his back and her knee brushing his thigh. She had not believed him when he said nothing was bothering him, so he threw out, "It's just a little weird." And it was weird, sharing a bed with her, but it shouldn't have been that weird.

A thought came to him as his gaze fell on those fingers lying against his shoulder blade, and Hikaru turned toward Haruhi as gently as he could. Her took her hand in his and pressed his fingertips to the inside of her wrist.

He almost swore out loud.

Their heartbeats were off. The only other person he'd ever shared a bed with in his life was Kaoru, and their heartbeats always, always synced up.

He dropped her wrist and rolled over onto his back, scowling up at the ceiling with his arms crossed. Something so small, so inane, so stupid was going to ruin his night. And probably Haruhi's, too, if he kept flopping around like this. With a frustrated sigh, he closed his eyes and set about trying to solve this.

Ignoring it was useless. Now that he had identified the problem, it was intensely obvious, as though their mismatched pulses were both hammering in his ears. He tried holding his breath for a few seconds at a time to slow his heart down just enough, but it only seemed to make it worse and he gave up quickly.

He was just beginning to wonder if it would be better for both of them if he just slept in another room when he felt that discordant pulse on his arm.

"You're still awake. What's wrong?" Haruhi was leaning on one hand as the other rested on his arm. She was studying him with a frown and that wide-eyed look that made Hikaru feel like she was effortlessly looking through to his very rawest form.

It gave him a renewed determination to make this work.

Instead of answering, he leaned forward suddenly and pressed his hand flat against her chest. Haruhi's face registered surprise for a brief moment before falling into the more familiar expression of mild annoyance. "Hikaru…" she muttered warningly.

"Shh. Just hold still a minute," he said, closing his eyes. If he listened for a moment and gave it some thought…there. 1-2. 1-2. 1-2. It really did not sound discordant at all. It was not the same reassuringly continuous beat, but it had its own rhythm that, he was sure, could be just as comfortable.

He pulled back, grinned, and ruffled Haruhi's hair just for the look he would get. "I think I'm fine now."