Lullaby Chapter 4

[eiahmon]

Title: Lullaby Chapter 4
Pairing: none
Rating: Pg-13
Warning: Pure crack, fluff, and weirdness in spades
Summary: Atsushi wakes up one morning to find that he has somehow undergone a drastic change, and he is NOT happy about it. For that matter, neither are his bandmates.
A/N: My muse has returned, sporting a nice tan, more than a few hickies, and a suitcase full of suspicious looking paper umbrellas.


4.

March 3rd
Day 3

"Atsushi, Achan, c'mon, time to get up."

Atsushi grumbled and tried to scoot further under the blankets. He heard the owner of the voice chuckle, and his blankets were abruptly pulled away.

"You're going to miss breakfast if you don't get up, Atsushi."

"Doan wanna get up. Warm, comfy."

The voice, which he vaguely recognized as Ani's, chuckled again. "Get up, Atsushi, you can't sleep all day." A hand came down on his shoulder and gently shook him, so he gave it up as a bad job and blinked his eyes open.

Ani was sitting down beside him on the bed, and the drummer smiled at him when he saw that he was awake.

"Good morning, Achan."

Atsushi yawned and rubbed the sand out of his eyes. "Good morning, Ani." He sat up and blinked his eyes a few more times to clear them. "What time is it?"

"It's nearly noon."

"Noon!" He hadn't slept that late, at least without getting good and drunk the night before, in so long.

"If you're hungry, hurry up and get down to the kitchen." Ani told him as he stood up "Or there won't be any left and you'll have to go without."

"Yes, Ani." The drummer walked out of the room, and Atsushi climbed out of bed and started rooting around in the dresser for something to wear. He knew that the others would save him something to eat and would not make him go hungry. His mother had often said the same thing when he had been reluctant to get out of bed, so he knew it was just an empty threat.

That was confirmed when he wandered into the kitchen a few minutes later and found a plate waiting for him. Hide and Hisashi were over, and they and the brothers were seated around the table having coffee and talking. Atsushi climbed up into his chair, which still had the phone book on the seat, and ate his breakfast while listening to the conversation between the four.

"Did anyone ask why Achan wasn't there yesterday?" Hide asked.

Hisashi shook his head slightly. "There were a few, but they all seemed to accept our story that he was ill and left it alone."

"Did you get everything done?" The question was addressed to Yuta and Ani.

"Most of it, so we have to go in today to finish up." Yuta replied. "Then the rhythm section will be done." Then he rolled his eyes. "We'll probably be there all night."

"I hope not." Hide stated emphatically. "Because a certain someone needs a bath, and I'm not bathing him."

Atsushi wrinkled his nose in disgust at the thought of being bathed by one of his friends. "I can bathe myself, you know."

They ignored him. "He also needs a bedtime." Hisashi added. "He was up too late last night." Ani and Yuta nodded in agreement.

"He started to get tired around seven last night," Hide said "so that should be a good time."

Seven! That was so early! "I don't need a bedtime." Atsushi protested angrily "And I can bathe myself." The others looked at him, and Yuta gave him a smile that bordered on condescending, which only irritated him more.

"If you say you can, Atsushi," the bassist said "then I won't argue with you, but you do need to be in bed earlier, whether you like it or not."

"I do not, and I don't want to!"

It was Ani who gave him the warning look this time. "You do too, and you will, Atsushi. You practically fell asleep at the table last night, and you slept so late because you were tired. So you are going to be in bed by seven, end of story.”

Atsushi pushed his plate back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Pouting doesn't become you." Hisashi said evenly, and that was enough for him. Atsushi jumped out of his chair and ran out of the room.

"Maybe you should have let him sleep, Ani." he heard Yuta say as he ran through the connecting door to Yuta's side of the house.

"Maybe."

Atsushi ran down the hallway towards the front of the house and up the stairs to the second floor. He looked around for a place to hide before he spied the wet bar against the back wall, and he ran over behind it and crouched down. He could still faintly hear their voices drifting up the stairs, and he drew his knees up to his chest and laid his head down on them. Why were they being so mean?

The adult, rational side of his mind knew that they were not trying to be mean to him; young children needed plenty of sleep, so the earlier bedtime made sense, but that didn't mean he had to like it. He angrily wiped away a single tear that had welled up in his eye, before he looked up and saw the bottles of alcohol that were within easy reach. He stood up and plucked a bottle of vodka off the top of the bar before he settled back down on the floor with his prize. He unscrewed the cap - which was a little difficult with his smaller, weaker hands - and, sighing in relief, he tipped the bottle back to take a drink.

"No, Atsushi!" The bottle was smacked out of his hand and fell to the floor, where its contents poured out onto the patterned rug. Atsushi looked up to see Yuta standing over him, wearing an angry expression.

"What are you doing?" the bassist demanded.

"I just wanted a drink!"

"And what makes you think that you could? You are three years old, Atsushi. You cannot have any alcohol."

"But Yuta!"

"I said no, and that's final."

Atsushi jumped to his feet. "I hate you!" he screamed, and he ran through the connecting door to Ani's side of the house, and down the hall to his room. He dropped to the floor and climbed under the bed, curling up against the wall and hiding his face in his arms.

"I'm not a baby." he told himself firmly "I'm not. They're just being mean." He yawned. "Just... being... mean." he mumbled as he dozed off.

*****

"Achan."

It was Hisashi's voice that pulled Atsushi from his nap later. He grumbled something and nestled his head further down into the crook of his arm. When had his bed gotten so hard? And why was he feeling so chilly? Had he fallen out of bed? He blinked his eyes open, to see Hisashi's face peering at him. Atsushi raised his head up, only to get a rude shock when it connected sharply with the wood of the bed frame above him.

"Ow..." he moaned as he rubbed his newly acquired sore spot. He looked up and only then did he remember where he was and why he was there. He looked over at where Hisashi was laid out of his stomach, propped up on his arms, and blushed to the roots of his hair when he remembered his earlier behavior.

Hisashi only laughed at his embarrassment before he reached under the bed, grasped hold of his shirt, and hauled him out. As soon as he was clear of the bed, Atsushi wiggled out of the grip, stood up, and began brushing dust bunnies off of his clothes.

"Ani's mad at me, isn't he?" he asked quietly as he hung his head. He hated it when his bandmates were upset with him, especially Ani.

"Not really. He knows that we should have let you sleep more, and it was mostly being tired that made you act like that. Yuta's the one that's a little irritated, since it was a bottle of his favorite brand of vodka that you dropped."

"I did not drop it. He knocked it out of my hand!"

The guitarist raised an eyebrow. "Only because you were trying to drink it."

"Details, details."

"Yes, well, it's time for lunch if you're hungry." Hisashi stood up.

"Weren't you going into the studio today?"

"Ani and Yuta did, so Hide and I are stuck with you."

"You make it sound like it's the worst fate in the world."

Hisashi only smirked and walked out of the room, and grumbling and muttering about what wonderful friends he had, Atsushi quickly followed.

Lunch was a silent affair, and afterward, Atsushi escaped to his room as quickly as politeness would allow, while his two friends cleaned up. Without thinking about it, he pulled out his bucket of Lego blocks, which had been moved over from Yuta's living room, and started building, The two guitarists hadn't said anything more about his earlier behavior, but Atsushi still felt like squirming every time one of them looked at him. He barely noticed when Hisashi, and later, Hide joined him.

"There are more of those things in a bucket than I thought." Hisashi said several hours later when they sat back and looked over their work. The center of Atsushi's floor was covered with various brightly covered buildings, including three houses, a barn, and a mini skyscraper.

“Could someone explain to me exactly why we built a barn out of bright blue blocks?” Hide wanted to know.

“Because we used all the red ones in the houses.” Atsushi pointed out as he started on house number four.

“Well I suppose that’s a good enough reason then.”

“Of course it is.”

“That is a child’s logic for you.” Hisashi said as he grinned widely at Hide. “Simple and to the point.”

“Unless I decide to act my current age and be an unreasonable brat.” Atsushi said without missing a beat.

“Like you did this morning.” Hide said.

Atsushi groaned and let his head sink to the wood floor as he blushed again. “I’m not going to live that down, am I?”

“Nope.” he friends said cheerfully in unison.

“Someone shoot me now. Just please put me out of my misery.”

“Where would the fun be in that?” Hisashi asked with an evil grin “Have to let you suffer a little, you see.”

“You two are mean, cruel. Why did I ever become friends with you in the first place?”

“Because we impressed you with our stunning good looks?” Hide suggested cheekily.

“Because we awed you with our musical talent and you felt you had to stick around to better yourself?” Hisashi added.

Atsushi raised his head and glared at them. “Oh now you’re just giving me hell. You two are so full of it, I’m sure the neighbors can smell you.”

“It’s not our house.” Hide said cheerfully as he stood up “So we don’t have to worry about what the neighbors think.”

“Until Ani and Yuta get asked why their house smells like a broken sewer line, and they kick your ass for it.”

Hide paused and swallowed heavily. “There is that, yes.” He looked over at Hisashi. “I guess we should stop giving him grief then.”

Hisashi gave a dramatic sigh. “I guess so, and I was having so much fun.”

“You two are such comedians, you should go over to America and do Vegas.” Atsushi said dryly as he started putting the blocks away.

“And don’t you forget it.” Hisashi said as he helped.

Hide stepped out of the room.

“I’m going to order supper.” he announced as he walked down the hall.

“He makes it sound like he’s going to slave over a hot stove for hours upon hours.” Atsushi grumbled as he stood up, wincing a little at the stiffness he felt from lying on his stomach on a bare floor for so long. Hisashi sniggered again, and the two of them wandered out of the room and downstairs.

Later, after they had had their fill of sushi, Hide left the room, and a minute later, Atsushi heard water running in the downstairs bathroom.

“It’s bath time, isn’t it?” he asked Hisashi, dreading the reply.

Hisashi turned away from the movie they were watching and grinned. “Yup.” he said cheerfully.

Atsushi actually felt a little sick. “You’re going to let me bathe myself, right?”

“Yes, Achan.” Atsushi sighed in relief, but then he saw the grin on his friend’s face. “But I will be in the room with you, to make sure you don’t get hurt.”

Atsushi felt his face burn. “You don’t have to do that. I’ve bathed myself thousands of times and have never had an accident. I’ll be just fine.”

Hisashi sniggered. “Young children should never be unsupervised while in the tub, because they can drown so easily.”

Atsushi glared at him, remembering how he never left Itsuki unattended until the boy was nearly five. “I hate you.”

“Aw, you know you love me. Now let’s go. It’s almost time for you to go to bed.”

“I still hate you.”

Hide was standing by the bathroom door, grinning widely. Atsushi groaned.

"Don't tell me you're going to be watching too!"

"Why yes, yes I am."

"Both of you are pedophiles! I swear!"

"Now, now, Achan. We're just making sure that nothing happens to you. Sakura would kill us if she found out we let you drown in the tub on our watch."

"Bull-"

Hisashi cut him off. "Children your age do not need to be using such language."

"Oh go to hell!" And with that, Atsushi stomped past them into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it after him so they could not follow him. He heard them laughing as they walked back into the living room, and he grumbled to himself as he shucked his clothes and climbed into the steaming water. Despite his agitation at how his friends were acting, he sighed in relief and allowed himself to relax. A hot steaming bath always made him fell better. It would have been perfect if he had his old body back, a bottle of red wine, candles, and Sakura in the tub with him, but one couldn't have everything he supposed. He grinned wickedly. Maybe sometime in the future, he and Sakura would come back and “christen” the tub. That would be a suitable vengeance for the drummer. Now he just needed to figure out what to do about the others. Oh he would get them, make no mistake, he just had to figure out how. Oh yes, they would pay for the all the grief they’d been giving him. He let an evil little giggle escape before he turned to the serious business of getting clean.

Several minute later the doorknob rattled and someone knocked on the door. “Achan, open the door.” It was Hide.

“Like hell!” he called back. “I’m not letting you in here.”

“You want your pajamas, don’t you?”

“Set them on the floor outside the door. You are not coming in here, period. I’m willing to bed you have a camera in your hand to catch me naked, and it’s not happening.”

There was a moment of silence, and Atsushi knew that he was correct, before he heard Hide sigh. “Alright, have it your way.” He heard the frump! of cloth being dropped on the floor. “Hisashi and I will be in the living room if you need us.” Hide’s footsteps walked away from the door, and Atsushi waited a few minutes to give him time to get well and good away from the door before he climbed out of the tub, pulled the plug, and wrapped himself in a large towel, more than a little shocked to see that a towel that once would have gone around his waist damn near covered him from head to toe. He dried off, and making sure the towel was securely wrapped around him, he unlocked the door and opened it silently, grateful that Ani kept his hinges well oiled. He spotted his pajamas folded neatly on the floor by the door, and he quickly snatched them up and shut and relocked the door. He dressed, brushed his hair and his teeth, before he threw the damp town and his clothes into the laundry hamper by the door. He wandered out of the bathroom, and into the living room, where Hisashi and Hide were chuckling over something, not him he hoped, before they spotted him. Hisashi patted the empty space on the couch, and Atsushi humphed before he climbed up into the offered place.

“Ready for bed yet?” the guitarist asked.

Atsushi shook his head and looked at the clock. 6:55.

“Too early to go to bed.” he said, and he promptly contradicted himself by yawning.

“Sure it is.” Hide commented. Hisashi chuckled, and stood up.

“Well it’s time anyway.” he said and he scooped Atsushi off the couch into his arms.

“If you say so.” Atsushi said as he was carried out of the room and up the stairs. He yawned again. “I hate being this small.”

“I’m sure.”

Hisashi gently deposited him on his bed and tucked him in.

“I’m sorry I was bad today.” Atsushi mumbled sleepily as his blankets were tucked around his shoulders.

“I know, and it’s alright. Just get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Atsushi yawned again as Hisashi stood up from where he had been leaning over to tuck the blankets in, and he was asleep by the time the guitarist reached the door.

Chapter 3 -- Chapter 5
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