Keisuke opened his eyes and very slowly, turned to squint at the alarm clock on the bedside table. "Ten-thirty?" he mumbled sleepily. He gave a yawn before he rolled over to his side and found that Takeshi was still asleep. Keisuke smiled and slowly reached out to brush Takeshi's hair from his face. Takeshi had been relieved to find that the cut on his forehead did not leave a noticeable scar; the faint mark just near his hairline could only be seen up close, and even then with some squinting involved.

"Aren't you vain?" Keisuke accused softly, and frowned slightly when he thought that he saw Takeshi shiver. "Cold?" he asked; not waiting for an answer - not that he had expected one anyway, he gently pulled Takeshi closer to him and wrapped his arms around his lover. Takeshi mumbled something incoherent and instinctively snuggled up to him, still fast asleep.

Keisuke closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall half-asleep. He stayed as he was for over an hour, content. Only when he heard his stomach rumble in complaint did he reluctantly roll out of bed, being careful not to wake Takeshi. He switched off the air-conditioner and went to open the windows.

He then unbuttoned his pyjama top and shrugged out of it; he felt rather hot, but since Takeshi was cold... He turned back to look at his lover, and felt his cheeks grow warm. How the hell can someone manage to look so seductive, sprawled in bed wearing pyjamas that were a size too big for him? Keisuke had bought the black silk pyjamas as a gift for Takeshi when he went out shopping the other day, and was disappointed to find that they were a little too big. Takeshi did not seem to mind though, and said that he liked them just fine.

"Damn, he looks good in black," Keisuke muttered.

Keisuke wadded up his own pyjama top into a tight ball and was about to throw it into a corner before he thought the better of it. He plodded off to the kitchen, tossing the item of clothing into the laundry hamper on the way. Takeshi might be more affectionate and forgiving to him than normal in the past few days they had spent together, but the GT-R driver still glared and grumbled whenever Keisuke messed up his apartment.

Keisuke had learned more in the past few days on how to pick up his own things and clean up after himself than all those years of his own mother nagging at him.

"Maybe Takeshi would like breakfast in bed," he muttered as he scanned the kitchen. "Now then, just how did aniki make that cheese omelet?" he wondered aloud, at the same time wishing he paid more attention to Ryousuke when his elder brother was cooking. He scratched his head and tried to remember just exactly what Ryousuke did. Failing, he was about to go hunt for his cellphone and call his elder brother when he heard the faint sounds of running water in the bathroom. "Takeshi? You awake?" he called out.

"Yeah," came the reply. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the kitchen!"

"What are you doing in there?" Takeshi asked suspiciously.

"Don't worry, I won't make a mess!" Keisuke replied, trying to make himself sound confident.

Takeshi then grumbled something Keisuke could not quite understand, but it was probably something rude. He hunted around for his cellphone for a while before he remembered that he had left it in the bedroom. He returned to the bedroom and found that Takeshi was in the middle of undressing; the Night Kids team leader's legs were bare, and he was in the middle of unbuttoning his pyjama top. "Get back in bed!" Keisuke ordered.

"No," Takeshi growled, "I'm sick of staying in bed. I'm not an invalid."

Keisuke snorted and walked over to push Takeshi back into bed. "You should be resting!"

"I'm fine!" Takeshi protested. He tried to get up, but Keisuke easily pushed him down again. He finally surrendered and grumbled as he lay back down.

Keisuke reached down to take Takeshi's pyjama bottom and handed it over. "Put them back on."

"No," Takeshi said stubbornly, "it's too hot."

Keisuke snorted. "Then why are you shivering?" He heard Takeshi sigh, and was greatly surprised when Takeshi pulled him down by the neck and kissed him. And not just any kind of kiss - it was the kiss Takeshi used when the GT-R driver really wanted him.

"So do something about it," Takeshi said with a sultry smile once their mouths parted.

Keisuke hesitated. Takeshi rarely took the initiative, but when he did it was usually more than worth it to drop everything to respond, sometimes literally, he thought, recalling the time he had broken that cup. But...

"What about those ribs of yours?" Keisuke asked, genuinely concerned.

Takeshi shrugged and tugged hard; Keisuke let himself fall into bed and let Takeshi climb into his lap, straddling him. "So I'll be on top," Takeshi muttered before he leaned in for another kiss.

Kenta paced back and forth nervously, once in a while glancing anxiously at his watch, or at the road. "Ryousuke's going to kill me," he muttered over and over. "I'm doomed," he concluded.

He gulped when he heard the unmistakable whine of Wankels in the distance, and paled when he saw Ryousuke's white RX-7 approaching him. The Mazda slowed down and parked next to Kenta's orange S14. Ryousuke climbed out of the car, and he did not look too happy.

Keisuke gulped again. "Ryousuke," he greeted nervously.

"Kenta," Ryousuke replied coldly. "Sit," he ordered, jerking one thumb at the guardrail. Kenta hurried over and sat down, cringing inwardly when Ryousuke walked over and sat next to him.

A long moment of tense silence passed before Ryousuke spoke again. "You saw the file in the zip drive?" Seeing Kenta nod, he continued, "You know what that means?"

Kenta nodded again. "You know that I..." He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, and looked down guiltily.

"You ran Nakazato off the road on purpose," Ryousuke finished it for him; again, he cringed. "Perhaps you had no conscious intention of doing it, but unconsciously..."

Sensing that Ryousuke was giving him a way out, Kenta hurriedly took it. "Yeah, I guess." It was true anyway. He had not intended to ram into the back of the Night Kids team leader's black GT-R, but more likely the more aggressive part of his deeper psyche thought otherwise.

Ryousuke let out a long sigh. Somehow that gesture annoyed Kenta and before he could stop himself he blurted, "So what's the big deal? He's-"

"Kenta," Ryousuke hissed sharply, making the younger driver flinch.

"Do you know that Keisuke's seeing that Nakazato?" Kenta ignored the warning, hoping that the news would somehow make Ryousuke see things his way. It did not.

"Of course I do. Actually, I think they make a rather cute couple."

"You do?" Kenta squeaked, astonished.

"Yes. I guess you don't share my opinion," Ryousuke said wryly. "Is that why you tried to bash his head out that night?"

Kenta stared at him. "What? Bash whose head out? What are you talking about?"

"Nakazato got waylaid on his way home from work by some guy last week. Did you have anything to do with it?" Ryousuke's voice took a more threatening tone. "Don't lie to me."

Kenta shook his head violently. "Ryousuke, I didn't do it! I don't even know where he works! I swear!" Seeing Ryousuke glare at him, he continued babbling. "Honest! I may hate the guy, but I wouldn't do that! Heck, I'm too small to do it anyway!"

Ryousuke stared at him; Kenta steadfastly met the gaze. After a moment, Ryousuke nodded and smiled slightly. "I believe you."

"Really?"

The smile grew bigger. "Nakazato told me the police arrested the culprit a few days ago. Turns out he was just a typical thug who needed some extra money. He swiped Nakazato's wallet, and was stupid enough to try and use one of the credit cards at some departmental store. When the cashier found that the card was listed as stolen, she called for the security guards and they handed him to the authorities. End of story."

Kenta blinked at him. "If you knew it wasn't me, then why did you accuse me of doing it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Ryousuke replied lazily, but Kenta sensed that there was a warning for him to keep out of Keisuke's affairs in there somewhere.

"Ryousuke," Kenta asked tentatively, "why are you doing all this? I thought that Nakazato would be the last person you'd ever want to see your brother with."

Ryousuke smiled. "I wasn't too comfortable with it myself, until Keisuke cleaned his room one day."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. It'd take too long to explain."

"I still don't like the idea of Keisuke and Nakazato together," Kenta grumbled.

"You don't have to like it," Ryousuke snapped. "And if you're plotting anything, bear in mind that Nakazato saved your ass."

"What?!"

Ryousuke sighed again. "I guess you didn't pay much attention to that simulation. Skyline GT-Rs, especially the V-Specs, are capable of recovering from very tight situations, provided the driver keeps the car under power." Seeing the blank look on Kenta's face, he continued to explain, "When your car ran into Nakazato's, all he needed to do was to keep his foot on the throttle and adjust his steering a bit, and he would be in the clear. But he didn't. He came off the gas and braked hard." He looked at Kenta meaningfully.

Kenta shook his head, not understanding.

"You would have ended up ramming into the guardrail - and possibly off the cliff if he hadn't done that. Your car's nose was pointing straight at the guardrail and you would have crashed into it if he hadn't braked and slewed his own car sideways to slow you down." Ryousuke paused for a moment to gather his thoughts before he continued. "I've studied the way he drives, and I know that he's well aware of how his car behaves under power. He knew what he was doing when he chose to brake. Maybe not consciously," Ryousuke smiled, "but he did it all the same."

Kenta sighed and covered his face with his hands. "Oh shit," he groaned.

"I bet you're feeling rather wretched, aren't you?" Ryousuke asked innocently.

Kenta ignored him. "Are you gonna tell Keisuke about this?" he asked worriedly instead.

Ryousuke shook his head. "No. I should," he said meaningfully, "but I won't."

"Thanks," Kenta said, relieved.

"I don't want to complicate things even more. But try anything stupid like that again and I will tell both my brother and Nakazato what you did. They might forgive you, but I doubt that Nakazato's teammates will." Ryousuke chuckled. "They're very protective of their team leader, I've noticed."

Kenta nodded; he had no idea what else to say. They stayed quiet for over five minutes before Ryousuke broke the silence. "Hey Kenta," he said, "you ever thought of going out with Fumihiro?"

Kenta gave him a pleading look. Ryousuke laughed.

Keisuke hummed to the tune playing on the radio, one hand drumming idly on the arm of the couch. The sports programme on the TV he had been watching had gone for a commercial break; he had grabbed the wrong remote when he wanted to switch channels, and ended up switching the radio on instead. But fortunately the radio station was playing a rather nice song, so he figured that he might as well listen to it while waiting for the commercials to finish.

'Just for this lifetime, you can be my pastime
Here are the rules of our play
In it together 'til I know you better
Darling, darling, now what do you say?

If this ain't love...
Why does it feel so good?'

"Hey, that sounds kinda like what we have, don't you think?" Keisuke looked down and smiled at a sleeping Takeshi, who was curled up on the couch, his head resting on Keisuke's lap. He ran his hand through Takeshi's soft black hair affectionately. "Sleepyhead," he muttered softly.

'If this ain't love...
Why does it feel so good?'

He grinned. Here he was thinking soppy thoughts, cuddling up on the couch, smiling down at his lover and feeling that he could stay like this forever. In other words, he was acting all mushy just like the characters in those TV romance dramas he hated.

He liked it though.