Saito knew only one thing about this world. Actually, he knew a lot of things no thanks to his friends he made over the time span he has spent in the new world. No, the one thing he has learned indefinitely about this world is that trouble just loves a foreigner who carries a single sided blade and has the powers that could rival that of legends.

One foe that hit Saito however he did not expect, nor could he fight.

Saito was lying in the lush green grass outside of the academy's walls. Whenever the male felt the entire world depended on his choices or just wanted to forget everything go one and lose himself, the Gandalfr comes to the fields to let his mind at ease, his hands behind his head with the rest of the body relaxing.

The boy felt at peace with the world, as if the tranquility that represented the moment was eternal and imperishable. He felt something touch his nose which made him open his right eye to see a butterfly sitting on his nose. Saito smiled at the sight and closed his eye once more.

A few hours of silence passed and Saito enjoyed every second of the privilege he nearly never had. The sound of the wind brushing the blades of grass he sat on gave the male a sense of nirvana. Although he was no genius, Saito knew that this sort of activity was good for his body due to letting clean air into his lungs, in place of polluted gases from forges and fires.

"Hiewa to shizukesa…" Saito thought in his head, using his native tongue in place of whatever he uses on a daily basis. As soon as he thought his sentence, something entered through his nose which made him open his eyes. "What the… there's nothing around for miles, what could possibly have caused the scent?" The Gandalfr asked himself but knew he would get no answers sitting around. "Ehh, might as well return home before Louise get's worried."

Little did Saito know things were about to get worse; much, much worse for him.

Louise opened the door to her bedroom which also consisted of many other utilities which included, but not limited to, a mirror for brushing the knots out, a dresser and of course the bed she shared with her familiar. The void witch looked at the four corners of the room and saw no sign of her defender, even if the question of who defends who can be put into question with explosions being the answer. Louise closed the door behind her and began walking to the bed.

With an irritated grunt, she through her books on the table and plopped down on the bed to relax him body. "Class was so boring; all they talked about was the earth element which I can't use. I wish they could give me private lessons or something, anything that might be useful to me." Louise continued to rant to herself about how the school system did not benefit her.

Suddenly, a feeling of agony swept over the female mage. Under normal circumstances, she ignored such feelings but with Saito missing and no idea of his current location, worry took place of agony. She looked out her window and saw the exact same person who was worrying about slowly walking towards the tower.

Louise opened her window and leaped to have her stop before the ground by way of levitation magic. "And where have you-" Louise stopped as she saw snort running down the male's face. "Ewww, gross, here." Louise insulted and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket.

Saito immediately took the soft fabric and blew his nose into it. Doing so only made him feel even worse but he refused to allow Louise to see it, mostly to prevent her from worrying about his well-being. "-hanks…" Saito spoke but tried to not show any weakness in his voice.

"He's hiding something from me. I can just tell by the way his body is acting, almost as if it is crumbling under its own weight." Louise looked at the male with a deceptive glare, a look Saito knew all too well. "Tell me."

"Tell you what?"

"What happened to you? It is extremely clear that you are sick from something."

Saito felt his strength dwindling rapidly with every minute he spent standing. Even his breathing which was once a natural action he put no thought into was now a grieving task to accomplish. His legs felt like iron and his arms lead, struggling to even move them without raising any suspicion. Nevertheless, the fool proceeded to lie to his master.

"Nonsense, I just happen to… do some intense training while on my way back."

"But you very rarely train."

"Today was an exception! I need some rest Louise so can I please leave?" Saito asked, the decision ultimately left to the ironing board of nobility and explosions.

Louise knew he was hiding something, she did not know what it could possibly be though. "Fine, but you better be ready for some work tomorrow afternoon." She said, remembering a shipment of valuables being delivered to the academy that she had been saving money for.

"Yes, if it makes you happy. I am sorry but I really need some sleep. I will see you later, Louise." Saito cracked a smile with much effort. He pretended to casually walk in her presence until he came across a turn. The Gandalfr fell against the right wall but kept his balance enough to prevent him from tasting the dirty floor. "What… is… going on…?" Saito asked in a weak voice as he began to cough up something, something he normally got back home.

Louise sat in the transfiguration classroom once again bored to unimaginable bounds. To add onto this, she did not get much sleep with Saito's constant coughing. The noble nearly kicked the male out of the room but a part of her said not to, saying he was struggling. With what, the witch did not know but if she has learned one thing, always trust a woman's intuition.

The void mage's head slowly fell downward to the table she and many others of her peers were using when the sounds of a woman screaming sounded in the academy. Immediately Louise noticed it was Siesta's voice but did not understand why she was screaming.

Mere moments after the surprising rise of one's voice, the door to the classroom slammed open to see the single maid of the academy panting, trying to catch her breath. "Miss… Vallière…"

"What?" Louise gave off an harsh tone question, much thanks to her nature of being a noble.

"Saito… he-"

The heads of quite a few students rose at the hearing of the most famous swordsman, most notably his master. "What did he do this time, floundering around, trying to find some cow to rest his head on?" Although she always came off as an abusive, and in some ways hateful character to the male, she was truly curious as to what he was doing.

"You need to see him yourself, he looks deathly ill."

Louise's eyes widened at the word deathly. Very few times has that word been used and the results been anything but. The witch quickly gathered her things and made her way to the door where the maid was waiting for her. The two began to quickly walk to the noble's chambers with Louise hearing the sounds of footsteps behind them.

Siesta reached the door first and quickly opened it to let the higher class woman in. Louise stepped inside and dropped all her study equipment at the sight before her. Shock filled the body of the void woman, an intention of screaming nearly escaped her lips at the sight she was seeing.

Saito lay in her bed with a face almost as pale as snow. The thing however that greatly scared her is the way his body was lacking the strength he once possessed. Bone became more apparent with skin only hiding it from the females in the room. Worse yet, blood was exiting from his mouth and what wasn't he coughed up, ending up on the now crimson blanket. Without the fabric covering him, Louise would have completely lost her mind.

Louise just stared at the sigh before her. "What… what is going on?"

"I don't know Miss Vallière, but Saito was not like this when I checked up on him yesterday when he was sleeping." Siesta said as the footsteps grew louder.

Louise quickly pulled the maid with her outside of the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind her. The people who stood before her were Guiche and his little motley band he called the Undine Knights. She knew why they were here, one word of the vice leader being in harm and bam, the whole group arrives to help him.

"Can we please see our friend and leader Louise?" Guiche asked, getting a worried look on the female's face.

"No, no one can see Saito right now. No leave us alone." Louise said but the males before her did not move an inch.

"Please Louise, we will move you aside if we have to. We need to see how Saito is doing."

"Let them see it Louise, we can't hide this forever. I think he would want his friends to know how bad it is." Siesta voiced a third part, already knowing the horrifying details in the room.

For once in her life, she submitted to the pressure and moved aside from the door. Siesta was shocked by the action as Guiche did not question it and quickly opened the door. His face of worry for his friend soon turned to a look of dread and nearly fear. He closed the door behind him, understanding the female's reasoning.

"Get out fastest messenger to her majesty at once, tell her Saito is in critical condition and need the best healers in the land immediately!" Guiche shouted but did not see a single soul move. "NOW!" His raise of voice enforced the lower squabble that the situation demanded swift action. "Dear Founder, why him?"

"Do you know what is wrong with him?" Louise asked, wondering if the womanizer knows anything.

"It is just a hunch, but I think Saito might have contracted a virus that is tearing his body apart. Since he is not from here, his body does not have the proper response and is losing the battle." Guiche explained in a summary of the idea.

"Wait, are you saying he contracted whatever he has because I did not get him vaccinated when I summoned him?"

"Perhaps. Remember how you treated him when you summoned him earlier? The last thing on your mind was making sure that he was properly treated for his future. Then again, no one really believed he was any use so his death would have helped you I believe."

Louise suddenly felt a wave of guilt hit her. She perhaps could have prevented the position Saito was in if she treated him better early on. "The only thing we can do now is wait for some professionals to arrive and give us a full description of his condition." The noble woman said, much to her distaste of not able to be at her familiar's side when he needed it.

"We should not enter the room either, in fear of contracting the disease if we are vulnerable to it."

Guiche pointed out to the two as they nodded in agreement. The male decided that now was a good time to leave to let their minds take in the situation. The three each took a guess on how long Saito may last just by a grief glance at his current state before hand. They all came up with the same answer.

Tonight.

News tends to spread like wildfire in the magical school. As expected, the word of Saito's sickness took the ears of many students and staff alike. The rising sun appeared before the awakened people of the earth. Saito however was stuck in the bed he normally shared with his master. Loneliness filled his tortured soul of why no one was trying to help him.

Derflinger sat underneath his sheet which his hand fiercely holding onto the grip to give him what strength he can gain. Even with the Gandalfr powers active, Saito felt his very life slipping away from him with each hour. If the virus did not kill him off, then the constant spewing his crimson blood. All that was on his mind was of just surviving to see the next day.

Although his physical body had nearly given out, his mental state was barely altered. "Why is this happening to me, I was checked off the disease list back home one year ago? Not only has that, but no one else seemed to have caught it since the window is open."

Saito's thoughts stopped when he heard the doorknob turn. He opened his hazed eyes to see the door open and find five men clad in white clothing stand in the door way, all of which having masks on their faces. The males quickly gathered in the room and closed the door behind them. Before it did, Saito caught a brief glance of pink. The male could not muster any form of bodily movement so he remaining still.

"We need to remove the blanket covering his body to see his torso."

One of the five men said. Saito could not tell the difference between the five with how the world around him blurred in and out. The same doctor slowly grabbed the front of the sheet and gradually pulled the sheet away from Saito's upper body. After pulled the sheet half way from him, the doctor saw the runic symbol on the teenager's hand.

"So he is the Gandlafr her majesty spoke of." The physican quickly removed the rest and saw indeed the cause of the male's state. "Kesakitan Purba…"

"What, but I thought that was exterminated long ago?" A young male asked, confused as to why his superior would suggest such a cause.

"The symptoms are obvious. Coughing of blood," He turned his head to the not removed blanket. "which in turn results in paling of the skin, deterioration and weakening of the muscular system, the skeleton almost being fully visible, it all adds up to Kesakitan Purba."

"Then why is it infecting him? Every soul alive in this world needs to get-"

"In this world. From the reports her majesty gave, this man was summoned form a different world so as such, he does not have the necessary cells to counter such a deadly invasion. You can remove your masks. Please call in the familiar's master."

One doctor nodded and slowly made his way to the door. He grabbed the knob and hesitated. He turned to the boss of this operation who slowly motioned for him to do it. The guy turned back and opened the door. Outside he found a young female with pink hair sitting on the ground, slipping in between being awake and asleep.

"Excuse me ma'am." The doctor spoke as the eyes of the girl opened to see a male standing before her. "The main doctor would like to speak with you personally." He offered his hand to the girl who accepted it and rose to her feet. "Please be prepared to see a sight you may not like to see."

Louise remained silent, worried about the details she was going to receive. The womans entered the room and found the blanket of blood had been removed, revealing the clothes he wore; along with them, his bones showed up more than she has ever seen in her life.

"Miss Vallière," A doctor who obviously appeared to be the one in charge spoke. "I have concluded that this male has contracted a disease we cannot cure with the time span open to use. It is a miracle that he is still breathing as of this moment."

"What is wrong with him?" Louise said, incorporating a strong will behind her voice.

"He has contracted Kesakitan Purba, a since believed disappeared virus that infects the person's white blood cells to kill them off enough to prevent retailiation. Once that is settled, it turns it's attention to the red cells which care oxygen to the organs of the host, which in turn include the skin; That is why his is white as the snow."

"Is there no way of curing him?"

"Unless we were in the capital as of this moment, we may have a chance of saving him. However, moving him from this position now would jeopardize harming him. We do not have the equipment to thoroughly pinpoint the source and destroy it as of this moment."

"How long does he have before this get's out of hand?"

The doctor looked at the clock in the room and concluded it was nine in the morning. "Figuratively speaking, he could already have perished last night. By what means he is still alive, we cannot say."

Louise looked at Saito and found a slight glow from his left side. "Is he holding a sword with his left hand?"

"Yes, he is."

"Then it is his familiar powers. They provide him, should he be holding a weapon, with increased physical capabilities as well as mastery of all weapons. Most like he grabbed the sword during the night and has been using the boost as a sort of healing property."

"That would make sense. He can see that he still has some white blood cells fighting the virus off but are rapidly dropping. If what you are saying is true and the course of his body continues, the virus will target his red cells in a few hours at the most."

"So… this is it, he will die?"

"Yes, we are sorry we can't provide any help." The head doctor said and signaled for the other that it was time to leave.

Louise stood there as the adult left the room and closed the door behind them. At the sound of the closing of the door, Louise broke down into tears. Sobs of sadness cried out from soul, seeing the state the man she loves.

"Stupid, stupid, STUPID! Why didn't you say anything when you had the chance!?" Louise shouted in a fury of mixed emotions. In the end however, she knew this was the wrong time for her to be blaming him. If anything, she knew he did it to make her not worry. "Saito…"

Louise slowly walked over the closet and grabbed a spare blanket. She took it and made her way back to the bedside. "Saito… can you hear me?" No response was heard from the sick man. Although the doctors expected her to leave, why did not tell her that the room was contaminate.

Even if it was, she doesn't care.

The void witch unfolded the blanket and laid it as softly as she could on his broken body. His destroyed body did not show signs of getting better. However, a part of her felt his will was still strong. Louise pulled a chair from the nearby table and placed it next to the right bedside. She slowly reached for his right hand and tenderly held it.

"It is my fault you are in this state Saito, the least I can do for you is be here in your time of pain…" Louise spoke in her bath of tears.

Saito could not speak with the strength in his body all but gone, but he knew that his love was sitting next to him. "Louise, no one blames you." He thought and truly believed, thinking it was his own stupidity that caused this.

The male felt the warm hands of his master hold onto him, an act that seemed to give him strength where all seemed to abandon him. A twitch in his right hand caught Louise by surprise who felt and saw the movement.

The sound of a single set of feet came into contact with the floor outside of Louise's room. Knocking soon followed as the woman regrettably released the male's hand and quickly made her way to the door. She opened it and found a male dressed as a delivery man standing before her. What she saw next to him is what could be considered by commoners as a priceless picture.

"Hello ma'am, would you happen to be Louise Vallière?"

"I am she."

"Wonderful, the painting you requested is here. All I need for you to-"

"Donate it to a poor cause."

The void witch said in a perfect monotone voice; a tone where one is under pure loss. And with it, she closed the door in front of the male, absolutely losing the object she has been trying to get so quite some time. She turned around and almost ran back into the chair she was sitting in. To her, money now meant nothing to the noble if Saito was not a part of her life. She would gladly give away everything to make sure he male could live a suitable life.

Louise sat in the same position for an hour, humming a sort of lullaby. The sound of music put Saito's mind into somewhat ease. However, a battle raged in his mind over his take on this. On one side is his carefree nature that has defined him for so long. The other is the complete opposite, demanding him to give up and accept his fate. Saito stood before a crossroad and did not know what to do.

The character of fun loving urged him to continue fighting on until the end, saying that accepting his death is the worst thing he could do. However, the negative voice begged to say different. He said that accepting the cold embrace would end all his pain, taking him into a warmth that seemed very alluring.

As the lore of the giving up seemed tempting, the spirit of good spoke. "If you give up on yourself, then you give up on everyone you care and love, including Louise."

The words of the spirit hit Saito harder than any wound could be inflicted on him. His will shined with a brilliant light that overshadowed anything the demoralizing spirit could provide. Saito felt a gentle, yet powerful power enter his body, one that seemed to surpass his Gandalfr abilities.

Louise continued to look on in sadness when she once more felt sick male's right hand slowly tighten her lower palm. However, unlike the last time, his grip did not lessen; if anything, it remained. The witch looked to see Saito's chest very gradually rise up from the blanket and dip back down. Disbelief entered her body but it was quickly expelled when it happened once more.

Saito laid there without so much as a peep but then when Louise thought she was just seeing things, a murmur escaped his lips. This was proof enough that the male had somehow gain some kind of strength to help in his greatest battle.

Hours passed from his expected time of death and yet the male remained breathing. Louise continued to hold onto his hand as if a link between them. A major sign of reassurance that Saito was healing is the opening of his mouth to breath from time to time. Saito's skin also began to regain color but it still was far from his natural color. Louise had asked Siesta to bring her a plate of food from herself, and one for Saito.

A knock arrived on the door followed by it being opened to find the maid commoner holding a tray with two plates of food. She walked in and placed them on the table, looking at the condition of her friend from afar. "He seems to be getting better. I suppose the doctors were wrong, thank goodness."

Louise did not respond, not out of her pride of a noble but in a state of question. Although it was apparent that Siesta loved him and would do anything do get him, she also knew the difference in value between a life and an object; something that has taken Louise up until now to truly understand. In so doing, her attitude had greatly lessened on the commoner; not all gone, but greatly diminished still.

"Siesta."

"Yes Miss Vallière?"

"If you had the choice between an object you have been saving for quite a while and a life you cherished, what would you choose?"

Intelligence may not have been the strongest gift Siesta had, but she knew what the female was talking about nonetheless. "If I may speak freely?"

"You may."

"Saito's life is worth more to me than any one object could in this world. I would sacrifice everything I had, including the clothes on my back to see him live a happy life like he has in the past."

Louise smiled at the response she received from her completion. "Thank you, you may leave now Siesta. I shall handle him for the rest of the night."

"Very well, take care you two." Siesta said, almost slipping the noble's name in front of her.

Louise leisurely turned to her right to grab the one of the plates of food. On it contained very soft food for Saito's stomach to easily digest. Cooked vegetables, toast, a little lean meat here and there but nothing truly overwhelming that his body supposedly could not handle were on the two plates. Louise dictated that she would eat the same foods as his sick familiar, as to get a feel for what was going into his body.

She took a slice of toast and broke off a corner. Louise looked at Saito and slowly moved the food to his lips. "Here Saito, you need to eat. Otherwise, you will not get any better." Louise said, seeing the male struggle to open his mouth but got it enough to have to woman insert the food into his mouth.

In a sort, Louise felt like a wife, taking care of the person she loved. Granted, if this scene were to never happen, the stubborn noble probably would not be the way she is right now. She watched the male bit by bit chew the food he was provided until it was finished. Although Louise still had half a plate of his food, Saito did not look like he wanted any more food.

Saito opened his eyes to see the ceiling of the room, no longer a blur in once was. The blanket he once felt was gone, allowing him to look over to his left hand and saw that Derflinger was still sitting in his left hand. Whether this has annoyed the blade by constantly holding him or not, Saito does not know. The chevalier slowly rose up from his bed to have the blanket covering him fall to his waist.

"Hmm…" Saito looked over his body and saw that still his skeleton showed but compared to what it was like at day one, it had greatly recovered. "Oh ya, Louise." Saito turned his head to the right to see the sleeping form of his savior resting on the edge of the bed.

The male looked at the calendar in the room and found that three days have passed since he was basically stealing the bed from Louise due to understandable reasons. Saito bit by bit rose up to a vertical base, careful not to wake his sleeping master.

"Welcome back to the land of the living partner." Derflinger said as Saito turned his head left.

"Oh, hey Derf."

"Is that all you have to say? You were bed ridden for three days and that is all you have to say to me. You will never change."

"I don't plan on changing until the day I die pal." Saito smiled under his pain still running amuck in his stomach "But…" He turned back to the sleeping form of Louise and raised his right hand to move a few strands of her hair back into place. "perhaps for someone, I might change… so long as I get to sleep on this bed and not on hay."

Author's Notes – There are SO MANY things I have explaining to do, so I might as well start with the biggest.

Easily the most said response to the pair I used is "WTF, you hate Louise, you bash her in every story you do so why are you having them be together!?" To that, I would like to direct you to Halkeginia Christmas where I did not bash her once. Hell, she was originally going to be Saito's partner in it but Tabitha fit the role better.

Although Louise is not a person who I believe should be with Saito in the end, I can understand why people would say they should. In the end, I don't hate Louise enough to not do a story with her as the main heroine, but she is not by any stretch my favorite female character in the series. That honor would probably have to go to Tabitha.

Second, this story has been LONG OVERDUE; it has sat in my documents for weeks only because I am able to get sick easy in the spring. I still am sick but not enough to force me in bed.

And the finally thing is that this story actually happened to me when I was younger. Just remove Derflinger, a questionable tsundere that blows shit up every five minutes when Saito does something wrong, and Saito in a bed and you have it. Stupid, yes, but ideas people come from anywhere.