Tsuna came out of the kitchen and into Ryuji's cave quickly revealing him as being hunched over his desk, his hands moving almost automatically. Though when she wrapped around him to look at his face his eyes were closed and his breath was ragged. She knew he was trying his best, his eyes must have hurt so much that he couldn't even bring himself to look at the screen anymore. He must have known that if he stopped even if it was because of overbearing pain it might cost him time that he couldn't make up.
Ryuji had been working on a contest from the world's biggest light novel publisher for the last two months and in that time he had to have three novels out the door. He always had mountains of ideas for series but he always had trouble putting them into action..he couldn't worry about his limitations, if he did the job would never get done.
He had already finished two novels and it was a week before the horrendous deadline hit. If he wanted to be able to get the last one in then he would have to finish it by tonight cause if he did not then his editor would not have enough time, not to mention even if his editor had time then he wouldn't due to him looking over all of his editors work to guarantee that it fits Ryuji's vision.
Tonight on the final stretch all he could think about was giving up on the third novel. Not only because it was just so much work but also if he stopped he could use the time he would spend writing the third novel, to instead thin out the problems on the other two. He was confident in everything he wrote due to the crunch. He hasn't even been able to read the chapters that he had written even after he finished writing them, so he was ignorant of the actual quality of it. The only thing that he had to latch onto were the test readers, they said it was beyond incredible and something that could rival some of the biggest light novels on the market. Some even compare it to their favorites. These words acted as a torch in the pressing darkness that enveloped him and his team's hearts of the uncertainty of their creations.
Ryuji was the head of his team and if he wasn't confident how could he expect anyone else to follow his light? So even if it's a confident facade it was necessary, for he would become the world's strongest. How could he allow himself to flake on something so dear to him? The odds, were impossible, the time, non-existent, but he would not allow himself to stop because if he wanted to put a true dent on this earth he had to accept the heart pain, the shallow breath, the instinctual tears that flooded from his face, these were all signs of his body giving out but his will refused to follow.
Because this was him nobody else even if it was one of his first novels, he would rather die than lay back down on the bed and get some shut-eye. He would not allow himself to live in the shame of what could have been and he will live even if this doesn't work, he will know, no, his whole team will know that they did their best. They followed his light to the end and he will be damned if he would allow that light to be dimmed so early in his career.
Then he felt a warm embrace cascade on his cold body. He hadn't noticed but due to lack of sleep, and probably a lack of everything else under the sun, his body heat had dropped. Feeling Tsuna's wet just washed hair on him he jumped, his hands still moving but he wasn't typing anything intelligible it was just the muscle memory making him continue despite his brain not catching up. She spoke concerned, her modest chest enveloping his neck.
"Hey Ryuji, how long have you been working on this?"
Ryuji opened his eyes for the first time scanning his writing which was good aside from some typos, until he got into what he had looked at what he had just written... After deleting the jibber jabber he looked at the time in the top right of his laptop.
"Maybe around eight hours but I don't really remember when I started. It's just been a blur, I tried to sleep, but I couldn't, my heart just bled worries of what if the time I spent sleeping was the difference between this book getting out or not."
Ryuji took his hands off his laptop to grab a half drank water bottle off the ground from a pool of them beneath him. Drinking it then throwing it behind him without a worry.
"So I got to work despite my body being in pain. I got coffee and a pain reliever pill to help with the sprint. I hope it's enough. I only have a little more left before the novel is done."
Tsuna looked at her disheveled brother with a comforting smile that he would never see due to his focus. For these past two months they had only spoken on the topic of his novels, and despite her lack of skill when it came to creativity she tried to help bounce ideas back and forth with him. Since it was the only kind of conversation that could hold his attention, there was no room for anything besides his novels in his brain. For now at least, whenever he was tired enough that he couldn't even move his hands anymore he would come limping down the hall to their bed whining for cuddles. That made up for any words that were missed between the two of them.
Ryuji probably didn't even notice that it had been morning already. She had just gotten out of the shower after waking up so naturally she went to his room to wake him up. Tsuna couldn't believe that it still surprised her that he was still awake at times like this; it had easily been at least the fifteenth time she saw him in this state throughout the deadline approach. She had no idea how he could still stand, let alone be conscious enough to be creative.
Tsuna wanted to help more but there was only so much she could do, so she pulled up a chair and sat beside him. She rested her head on the empty side of the dest ready to watch her brother toil through this, put his mind through his hands into the computer, keep writing to spite the very pain of it. It reminded her of when Ryuji hadn't discovered his love for writing yet, he never worked hard on anything, in fact, he was the laziest person she knew by quite a large margin. The only times he used to try back then was when he would tutor her or when helping others. No matter what he could never seem to try for himself, but here he was putting everything on the line for his future, his dream. Tsuna smiled, closing her eyes as she rested her head on her forearms.
She and him stayed there for what seemed to be hours. Tsuna knew it would be better to cook something, to make sure he had the energy to keep going but she couldn't help but be selfish so she could experience the joy with her brother. She stayed there nervous for his health until she heard the words.
"I'm done."
Ryuji turned his head unsteadily, seeing Tsuna look up to him from over her arms, pure joy slowly spreading over her face as she realized what he had just said. He put both hands onto the desk pushing himself as she shot up to hold him. She felt tears fall onto the top of her head hearing once again.
"I really did it."
Tsuna held Ryuji until his body went limp, falling onto her. She carried him to their bed tucking him in. It had been at least two days since he had slept so it was well deserved and considering this insomniatic tendency she could almost guarantee that he had forgotten to eat, so when he woke up he'd need food. Usually he would drive them around, but today he was in no state for such a thing. She didn't know when Ryuji would need her but she was adamant about being there regardless of when that may be so even if she wasn't tired she got under the covers with him, being careful not to wake him up, wiggling herself between his arms. She could feel his breath on her as she nuzzled into his chest.
Ryuji woke up staring at the ceiling feeling soft breathing on his pecs. Even though he was awake his whole body felt limp and immobile. Everything felt so slow and numb, he expected to be happy about this unbelievable accomplishment but his body was just relieved so much so that his brain couldn't catch up to feel joy. All the trials and tribulations he had just conquered felt so trivial. Despite his mind telling him this his body couldn't seem to disagree more with his face in an unrelenting smile.
Without much more time Tsuna woke up, he was moved to the kitchen. He couldn't remember how he got there and didn't care though his heart lingered on the fact he didn't care. While he watched her he scrolled through each line and paragraph each one of her movements that he subconsciously watched seemed to be moving through molasses. The colors of his sister grew but he was still in his mind trying to think of any holes that he left in his writing.
"Ryuji, you there? You have to eat."
His eyes began to focus to show Tsuna's worried face in front of them, there seemed to be doubles of her in his vision. Without saying a word he ate his food. He felt the texture of the food going down his throat and it made him feel sick but he continued to eat. It was no fault of Tsuna's cooking that he felt like this, just his over-analytical brain taking over with his lingering, and utterly overbearing, focus.
Then like clockwork, he was back at his job again, thinking, on the bus ride to his job he got out his laptop to begin typing to further the project..yet it was already done. That realization put a pit in his stomach. What would he do with his life, or time now that this trail had been conquered? That had been his driving force for everything for so long so without it, it left him waiting, going through the motions waiting for another call to his skills. Yet none came throughout the day.
Ryuji was at the supermarket and got a cheap bottle of wine, could he afford it, probably not but he deserved it for what he went through. He drank it before even checking out, walking out of the market with it in a paper bag so he could drink in public.
He pulled up to their driveway busting open the door and Tsuna rushed to greet him frantically, the moment she was in his sight he grabbed her by the waist pulling her in. Their lips interlocked as their tongues danced an oh-so-familiar dance. His hands slowly strayed from her waist running his fingers through her hair. Tsuna pulled away out of breath as Ryuji's eyes screamed of his hunger for more.
She turned away blushing as he grabbed her hand kissing the ring he had planted on it long ago. His glare pierced Tsuna's heart, worried about what the night would entail. He stood up to pull her into his chest, picking her up in a princess carry quickly a moment after. She looked up to see her brother's confident smile as she was laid out on the couch, his hands trickling over her body to caress her face. His face nearing her cheek as he leaned into her ear.
"You're mine."
Ryuji bit her ear, tugging on it gently as her hands rose to her face, trying not to get caught by his bold movements. Before he grabbed onto both of her hands, spreading them, pressing them against the couch. He leaned in for a kiss, sucking her tongue in while biting it softly. After he met eyes with her, pressing his cheek against her own, rubbing it, smelling her hair. As he was doing this Tsuna was finally able to smell the alcohol on Ryuji. She smiled finally gaining some clarity on what was happening, wrapping herself around him before flipping him over and turning the tables. She smiled looking at her brother who still looked ill, she couldn't make him do anything more than he could do, so to make sure he went easy on himself, she licked his neck causing him to let out a vulnerable noise he could never make without her. As she prepared her plot for where she wanted to place a hickey on him more and more moans came out of him, preventing him from getting out of his trance.
"Ryuji, I think you're missing something. It's not that I'm yours, or that you're mine. It's that we are each other. Our being, our identity, and most of all, our last names. So before trying to be bold remember who you belong to before I make it to where you can't go into work tomorrow, at least not without a turtleneck~"
Ryuji, unable to fight back due to being intoxicated, was left victim to Tsuna's whims. She let his hands free to simply rest on her chest as she began to plant her claim on his neck, preventing any girl from even daydreaming about a date with her man, her property. She began to laugh to herself as she committed these deeds, pressing his mouth down to make every voice he made vibrate through his teeth as she licked clean his gums passionately. The thought of no other woman or man getting to experience the ecstasy of owning Ryuji ran rampant in her mind as she lost herself in the night.