Another loud clang filled the hallway of the Inui residence. Namiko glanced up from her laptop and sighed. Looking to the first aid kit thankfully unused at her side, her eyes exasperatedly glanced to the time that constantly changed on her desktop. "Are you two okay?" she called out, two delayed grunts of an affirmative came filtered to her direction. In an expression tinged with incredulousness and pride, Namiko returned to her own work.

The knock on the front door was sharp and sure, the visitor to the Inui household shifting from one foot to another as he awaited the lady of the manor. It had been a challenge, Fuji Syuusuke thought, carting his creation on the train in an oversized art portfolio, but with a little help from Inui Namiko it should soon be a fait accompli.

"They're still at it?" Fuji queried when she opened the door to let him inside.

"Unfortunately." Namiko sighed. "Even news that my purchasing specialist was unable to overnight ship the raw material they needed until Monday...somehow they had the idea of being able to make in imitation additive themselves."

Fuji echoed Namiko's sigh with his own, lugging the portfolio into the house. "But they'll probably wind up having to redo the module because it was only an imitation anyways."

The prodigy clicked his tongue absently, wincing as something crashed from the direction of the lab. "Help me open this, please?" he asked, laying the portfolio on the couch. "I think my art project will come in handy." With a grin, he unzipped the folio, removing a large piece of cardboard, folded twice.

"Oh?" Namiko queried, peering at the cardboard lying on the couch. "That is a rather large project for-" she paused as another crash and a loud shout came in their direction again. "-well, let's see it."

The grin grew, taking on a quality far more suited to the fictional Cheshire Cat, except Fuji did not disappear. "Take this end of it," he instructed, placing it in her hands and unfolding the rest. "Is my facsimile accurate enough to create for us a window of opportunity?" Fuji asked, as a painted replica of Namiko's son smirked up at her from the cardboard.

Namiko giggled. "Even if you were aiming for a peripheral facsimile, this is eerily accurate. I'm impressed, Syuusuke-kun. We will not need to employ stealth, at this point they only acknowledge band-aids, water and food."

"Why thank you, Inui-dono," Fuji replied, accepting her compliment on his work. "I used photographs to get the pose right. I would have brought this over last night, but the paint wasn't dry." He tilted his head slightly, curious. "Do you mind if I keep him for a few days? I'll send him to school at least some of the time."

"As long as he can get some uninterrupted sleep I do not mind in the least. Perhaps without his assistant I can get Toshi to rest. Once they both set their minds to something..." Namiko trailed off, shaking her head.

 "...there's no deterring them for anything," Fuji finished. "Sleep should be far more easily had at my house. Kaasan and Neesan are expecting me to return with him, so there will be food, too. My inability to cook is somewhat legendary," he added, only a bit ruefully.

"Well," Fuji carefully held his cardboard Inui, and definitely not thinking things such as Tezuka's cardboard Gackt fetish, "I'm going to slip in and drop the bait. With any luck, my changeling will let me escape with the human child." He smiled, quite pleased that Inui's mother saw nothing wrong with his strange plan. It was nice to have one's eccentricities accepted by the de facto in-laws.

"I'll distract Toshi, if he already isn't." the woman nodded as she led Fuji down the hallway. "Watch your feet, there are broken beakers and metal pieces scattered all over the floor in there."

"So noted." Drawing breath and hefting cardboard boyfriend, Fuji padded his way down the hall in Namiko's wake, sliding over the threshold of the vaunted inner sanctum.

True to warning, the lab looked less like a lab but a rejected and abandoned version of one. Namiko called it the 'movie set lab' but only to herself. Toshi was sitting on top of a folding ladder, scratching his head with the screwdriver in hand as he held the apparatus in his other hand. His son was crouched over his iBook, dark lines etched under his red tinged-eyes. "Dad, my algorithm inputs were misprocessed. You need to add point 59 pounds of the oligmer solution."

Toshi paused. "Oligmer. Are we on module five?"

"Eight...no, ten. Sorry."

"I thought we were on five, why did I remove-"

"Put it back, I said to tighten it because it was loose."

The visuals did not disappoint, either of the scattered chaos or the work-weary occupants. Avoiding a puddle of unidentified and still-bubbling solution on the floor, Fuji positioned his project to one side of the iBook, unsurprised when Inui did not notice him.

He laid his hands on Inui's shoulders and peered at the algorithms, doing a mental 'print screen' to turn over in his brain later. Fascinating, the complexity of this particular module. Leaning in closer, he whispered against the shell of Inui's ear, "It's bedtime, Professor. Time to come with me."

Inui canted his head toward the voice, it barely making it's way into his thoughts. "There's an unidentified process that's not closing properly. Given the prior documentation from..." he began to mumble, his typing slowing for a moment.

"Mmm. I'll close it properly, then." Reaching over Inui's shoulder towards the computer, Fuji tapped a few keys to correct the process and saved the various files, shutting down the computer and closing the lid. When bleary eyes turned towards Fuji, he licked the tip of Inui's nose and grinned remorselessly. "My assistant is going to do your work for you," he explained in a matter-of-fact tone, pointing at cardboard Inui. "So you are sojourning at the Fuji compound. Besides," he added, rubbing one finger in small circles against a tired forehead, "you know better than to argue with me when I'm determined to have my way."

Inui closed his eyes, albeit for a long time. "That...is nic-" a long yawn. "...nice. Who's the assistant?"

"He's you," Fuji replied without missing a beat. "From the future, of course, sent back in time by me ten years from now to ensure that you get some sleep. The fate of Japan depends on it, you know."

"I too tired not to believe you." Inui said after a slight pause, not even noting the cardboard standing next to him.

"I was counting on that." Fuji stood, holding out a hand to help Inui to his feet, shameless smile on his face. "Let's go to bed, Professor."

"Bed." Inui stood slowly, groaning loudly has his muscles protested.

Fuji slipped an arm around Inui's waist, providing him a warm, solid body to lean on. "Okay, step over the toxic stuff on the ground, good job." The prodigy pointed out toward the living room, receiving a nod from Inui's mother and a wave of hand. By the door sat a hastily-packed bag with a few clothes and schoolbooks, ready to go.

"Here, give me your slippers, "Fuji said, taking them one at a time and exchanging them for shoes. The train might be quicker, but it would be easier to keep Inui awake if they walked. His own footwear reclaimed, Fuji hoisted the bag to his opposite shoulder and guided Inui outside, murmuring a brief 'ittekimasu' as he pulled the door shut.

Well, that's one down." Namiko smiled, returning to the kitchen. She had another ten minutes before Toshi would actually notice the son's absence and another ten to convince him to go to bed. Until then she could have chamomile tea and honey waiting for him.

Outside, Inui leaned heavily on Fuji, glancing at the surroundings in a half awake daze. This looks nothing like my desktop... "What time is it?"

"Nine, maybe?" Despite summer's approach, the outside was left in relative dark by this late in the evening. Fuji looped a possessive thumb into one of Inui's belt loops (it also helped him keep Inui upright) as they staggered down the street. "Past your bedtime, at any rate. Just what were you two working on that was so pressing?"

"We're working on...many things. The electogravitational rotating cylinder, adjusting specs on the viscosity on a few products that are in need of MSDS sheets as well as considering counter products as safe testing them. Dad's on a working vacation." Inui rambled on proudly. "It has been a long time since I've been able to assist him in his projects, Mom always says it seems he works more on his work vacations than when he is actually at work because he can 'kill two birds with one stone' getting what he needs done completed and spending quality time with me."

Fuji smiled to himself, knowing this topic would likewise kill two of his own birds: keeping Inui's mind running enough to stay awake and subtly increasing the pace of their steps. "Fascinating, Professor. Tell me more, especially about the electrogravitational rotating cylinder thing."

"It is in pieces, we wanted to attempt a slightly large scale to gauge results from a project of that size. Mom was weary because to charge that many generators there was a large risk of outages or fuse burnouts. The purpose of the cylinder and to show what force is caused by the state of rotation and or varying charges as well as other factors. The building is the most intricate though once complete it should be rather fun." Inui began to ramble more about Yamashita-sensei's findings and patent, plus his father's opportunity to discuss the research with the man.

While understanding Inui's topic, Fuji did little more than 'mm-hmm' and 'really? that's fascinating' and 'what are the best practical applications?' He steadily kept them on their course, the porch light at his house coming into view. "How many fuses did you blow, by the way?" Fuji asked as he opened the gate.

"Twenty-three."

"And the neighbors hadn't beaten down your door yet? I'm impressed." Fuji fished in his pocket for the key, shoving it home and unlocking the door. "Watch the step into the landing, Professor, it will try and bite you."

Inui, in all his sleep deprived glory, flinched at the sight of the evil landing. "Oh. Okay." he stepped into the house, glancing around.

Fuji closed the door behind them, glancing back over his shoulder just in time to intercept Inui. "Sleepy or not, etiquette still holds. Shoes." Bending over, Fuji leaned into Inui and picked up one of his feet, much like a farrier would to shoe a horse, and plucked off the loafer, switching quickly to the other side and repeating the motion. Whew, crisis averted.

Retrieving the bag he had dropped, Fuji once again offered a hand to Inui, smiling fondly. "Upstairs before I have to bed you down right here?"

Inui's head followed up the path of stairs as if he was already climbing them. Were there always so many? "Hai, hai." he said as he shuffled forward.

It took pulling, dragging, cajoling, and even threatening (that he didn't quite mean), but Fuji successfully scaled the stairs with Inui in tow, bringing him down the hall to his room. He shut the door, dropping the bag next to his tennis racquet, and gave Inui a curious once-over visually. "Such a shame to take off your clothes when I don't intend to molest  you..."

"You need to take of my clothes...why not?" It's amusing, how the mind picks up things on a subconscious level.

Leaning back against his desk, arms folded across his chest, Fuji smiled in his most Mona Lisa way. "Because even an amoral bastard like me has rules against someone's first time being under the influence of sleep deprivation. I want us both to enjoy it."

Inui managed to contort his face into a pout before yawning loudly. "Fair enough."

"It's about the only time you can apply 'fair' to me," Fuji pointed out, stalking towards Inui until he stood in front of him. "Sit down," he said, gently poking Inui in the chest, sending him onto the bed behind him.

Inui sat on the edge of the bed, almost leaning back to rest his head against the pillows. "Yessir." He yawned again.

Fuji took the tails of Inui's shirt in his hand and whisked it off over his head. "You're so cute when you're obedient," he quipped, reaching to undo Inui's pants and send them to join the shirt on the floor.

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Inui managed to tease.

Kneeling next to the bed, his forearms resting on Inui's bare knees, a rare serious expression flickered across Fuji's face, candle-like. "I always do, Professor. Even when you're not obedient."

"I'm glad." Inui leaned forward to rest his forehead against Fuji's.

Fuji took a slow, contented breath, reaching up to hold Inui's face between his hands. "This is not where I want you to go to sleep."

"It is still very nice." Inui murmured, the warm breath and skin on his face gently making all of the thoughts swimming in his head slowly slip away to nothingness. Only Fuji remained. "I...I could sleep like this."

"I know. But you'd be even more stiff and sore tomorrow than from going without sleep." Fuji tilted his head just enough to brush lips against Inui's, savoring the taste of him. "Lie down. I'll stay until you're asleep."

Inui followed instructions and slowly lowered himself back on the bed, his body feeling even more leaden as they sunk into the soft pillows. He let his eyes close, his words inaudible, muffled out by a yawn. 

Fuji crawled up into his bed next to Inui, lying next to him on his side, one hand possessively splayed over Inui's bare stomach. Absently, listening to Inui's breathing slow and regulate, he wondered if the cardboard replica had been discovered yet.