"You might as well give up."

Kio started, and turned away from the door to blink at Zero, one of whom was sitting on the floor beside the bed, and the other who was sprawled across it and dangling his head off the side to stare upside-down. Both were holding beers. Kio frowned.

"How old exactly are you two?" he asked. And why did they have the same name?

"He's not going to fuck anybody but Ritsuka," the one on the bed pointed out.

"Aw, look," the one on the floor giggled, "Youji, he's blushing."

"I am not!" Kio snapped, blushing harder, and what was with that eyepatch anyway? He stomped over to the bed and snatched the beer out of the one on the floor's hand. Youji laughed meanly, and the other Zero snatched away his can in response.

"Oi, give it back, Natsuo!" Youji flailed unsuccessfully at Natsuo, and Kio drank several large gulps of his own beer. He thought seriously about moving onto harder things, mid-afternoon or not. Natsuo dangled the can just out of Youji's reach, then darted it to his lips and drained the rest of the can triumphantly.

"You're boring," Youji announced, flopping his arms and head back down. His eyes roved the room restlessly, and then sparked. "What's that?"

"Eh?" Kio glanced behind him and caught sight of the little white device Soubi had returned a few days ago. Lord knows what he had pierced on the brat, that pervert…why was that kid staring at him? Oh, right. "It's a piercer."

"Piercer?" Youji's eyes lit up, and he flipped himself off the bed and was making for the piercer almost before Kio could act. Kio tried to step in front of him, but Youji darted around him as though he'd been standing still and snatched it up. When Kio glanced behind him, Natsuo had moved as well, and was rifling through the bag of beers Soubi had sat on the floor before gallivanting off with his little grade-schooler.

"Hey, put that down! It's not a toy!" he snapped at Youji, who evaded his grab yet again, then Kio turned to Natsuo. "And those aren't for kids!"

"We aren't kids, we're Zero." Natsuo rolled his eyes as he flopped down on the bed at the same time as Youji and handed him one of the two beers in his hands. Youji took it and braced it between his thighs to snap the tab without looking away from the piercer in his other hand. "And it isn't like there's anything else here to drink besides beer."

"We're university students!" Kio retorted, fetching himself another can and snapping the top derisively. "Of course there's nothing here but beer! And stop playing with that!"

"How does it work?" Youji demanded, squeezing the piercer a little. His eyes were wide with a fascination that Kio did not exactly like. "The needle just punches through your skin, is that it?"

"Give me that!" Kio stomped over to the bed and made a grab for the piercer. Youji danced his hands out of range, and Natsuo caught ahold of Kio's shirt and yanked him down onto the bed in between them. Yelping, Kio just managed to keep from spilling his beer everywhere as he landed on his knees and one hand. He twisted around to sit, and this time did manage to snatch the piercer out of Youji's hand.

"Do me," Youji commanded, turning to press against Kio.

"What?!" Kio exclaimed, and this time he did drop his beer; it clattered to the floor in a foaming puddle. Soubi was going kill him if it stained the floor…

"Right here." Youji drew his hair back from his face and pointed at his ear, and Kio sagged a little with relief.

"Oh, pierce you, you mean."

"Of course, pierce me." Youji rolled his eyes, and tilted his head further to expose his ear. "You pervert."

"I'm not!"

"Blu-shi-ing!" Natsuo sang, leaning in close to poke Kio's burning cheeks. Kio barked for him to shut up and pushed him away.

"Right here." Youji tapped his ear high on the curve of his cartilage, and when Kio warned that cartilage piercings hurt more, Youji grinned and tapped again.

Kio lined up the piercer around Youji's ear, pausing to wonder suddenly if piercing little kids was any kind of good idea, then started when Natsuo's chin came to rest on his shoulder.

"Up a little more," Natsuo murmured into Kio's ear, laying a hand over his to slide the piercer over the spot he wanted. "Perfect!"

Shrugging Natsuo off and steadying his hand, Kio snapped the piercer shut before anything else happened. Youji gave no sign he'd felt it, except for a low 'nngh' in his throat, then he giggled, making Kio tug his hand quickly away.

"Tickles," Youji said, reaching up to finger the hole in his ear.

"Me next, me next!" Natsuo chanted, climbing up into Kio's lap and presenting his own ear. Kio was just about to squeeze the piercer when he added, "You can't have him, you know."

"What?" Kio jerked back. Natsuo smiled and reached up to pinch his cheek.

"If Seimei ordered him to be Ritsuka's," Natsuo shrugged, "then he's Ritsuka's."

"People don't…" Kio shook his head angrily. "It doesn't work like that!"

"Soubi does." Natsuo pinched Kio's cheek again, and Kio reached up to slap his hand away.

"Too slow!" Youji exclaimed, snatching the piercer out of Kio's hand and sliding it around Natsuo's ear before carelessly squeezing it. Natsuo gave a tiny shiver in Kio's lap, making him twitch, and Youji made a louder, more satisfied "nngh". He was smiling lazily as he dropped the piercer on the floor and leaned over to kiss Natsuo.

Kio squirmed with embarrassment and tried to shove Natsuo off, but Natsuo settled his weight even more firmly in Kio's lap. He slid the kiss from Youji's lips over to lobe of his ear.

"He's embarrassed," Natsuo murmured, both of their eyes focused on Kio. Kio caught a flicker of tongue that made him swallow hard.

"Keh, what's with the adults here?" Youji snapped, pulling away from Natsuo to slide around behind Kio. Kio struggled, but was too late as wiry arms wrapped around his chest and a pointed chin dug into his shoulder. "They're boring."

"But so cute, ne?" Natsuo giggled as he slid from Kio's lap to the floor, settling in between Kio's legs. Kio's eyes widened as Natsuo's hands went to the flies of his jeans, but Youji slapped them back easily, then transferred Kio's wrists to one hand so that he could run fingers up under Kio's shirt.

"Knock it off!" Kio shouted, then gave a strangled gasp when Youji pinched his nipple with sharp fingernails. Natsuo finished undoing his jeans with a hum of approval and tugged Kio free, wrapping a firm hand around him and flicking his tongue across his head.

"Oh, so you do want to play," Youji breathed against his neck, pinching harder, and Kio shuddered violently. Kio felt Youji's tongue swirl lightly up over the line of his piercings.

"No-oh!" Kio's protest was cut off when Natsuo wrapped lips around his cock, and he was horrified to find his body wanted very, very much to play. "Stop, don't!"

"Oi, harder, he won't shut up," Youji ordered, letting go of Kio's wrists to give one of Natsuo's ears a yank.

Ears? Kio fought the haze of lust clouding his thoughts as Natsuo complied and Youji bit down on his shoulder, and reached back to grab one of Youji's ears. It twitched silkily between his fingers. "Cut it out, you're kids!" Kio grabbed Natsuo's shoulder with the other hand and managed to push him back an inch or two.

"Oh relax." Natsuo drew the back of his hand lazily across his mouth and slid closer again. "Nobody's dropping anything."

"Got nothing to drop, do you?" Youji agreed, leaving off with Kio's nipple to grab his wrists again. He wrapped his other hands tightly in Kio's hair and jerked his head back to sink his teeth into the curve of Kio's neck more easily.

Kio thrashed and fought, but it just drove him deeper into Natsuo's mouth, and seemed to delight both of them more. Ragged moans filled the tiny walk-up, and it took Kio minutes to realize they were his. His hands had fallen limp to the bed, and Youji had rucked up his shirt to tug and pinch at his nipples, occasionally dropping one hand to rake nails across his stomach, leaving sharp red welts, or to squeeze the base of his cock while Natsuo licked and sucked.

When a finger—god knows which one it belonged to—slipped down into his jeans to press a sharp nail against his inner thigh, Kio arched and came, strangled shout echoing off the bare walls.

Hazily, Kio felt arms and hands withdrew from him, and he flopped back onto the bed, completely wrung-out.

"Mn, good toy." Kio heard voices murmuring as the bed beside him jostled a little under the weight of someone climbing up. "Took longer to break than I thought."

When the jostling because rhythmic, he pried open his eyes just long enough to see Natsuo crushing Youji into the bed, kissing hard enough to draw blood, Youji's legs wrapped tightly around Natsuo's waist.

Shivering at the way his body stirred to the sight, Kio turned his head the other way and let his eyes slip shut again.

*****

When Soubi returned, the soft pink of the twilight making his hair glow gold, Kio was hunched over his sketchpad, as far away from the bed as he could be. Natsuo and Youji were still tangled up on the bed, playing a game that involved punching each other as hard as they could by turns. Kio's angry pencil strokes were making furrows in the paper.

"I like it," Soubi said, putting a hand on Kio's shoulder to peer at the drawing, and Kio hissed as Soubi's fingers dug into the bruise from Youji's teeth. "How was your afternoon?"

Kio looked up and searched Soubi's face. He looked relaxed, his smile back, and his injuries didn't seem to be paining him as much. He'd made up with the brat, then. Natsuo's words sank claws into Kio's brain, and Kio wrenched his gaze back to the paper balanced on his knees. "Fine."

"Kio played a game with us," Natsuo announced from the bed, making Soubi look up. Kio's pencil froze. "Come over here and we'll play another."

"Oh?" Kio didn't have to look up to see the smirk twitching at the corner of Soubi's mouth, and he gritted his teeth.

"Sa, Kio," Youji chimed in, "if we get Soubi to play, you'll want to, right?"

Kio's pencil tore right through the heavy paper, ruining the sketch, and Kio's face flamed while Soubi gently slid the pencil from his fingers and admonished Zero not to play so roughly.

God, he needed a beer.

"Oi," Soubi asked, "what's this stain on the floor?"