Author's note:

Gonna give my hand at a humor and holiday fic. I wanted to do something for Halloween and Thanksgiving, but had been too engrossed with Wrong Side of Heaven to do anything. Not to mention I was actually sick during that time as well.

The goal for this will to have the dates actually line up a bit with the actual dates of December, I know it says it's only a week till Christmas in the fic even if it's not in real life right now. My goal is to only update once a week, until Christmas so that way I can kind of drag out the days in the fic till then.

The first chapter kind of popped into my head, so this is kind of a spur of the moment fic.

This takes place after G-Rev, their looks reflect that season and time frame.
Update:

So, I have lost all interest in this fic, even though I have like 5 chapters out and the plot was just spiraling out of control, so I'm taking down the second chapter and leaving this as a one-shot.

Enjoy the show!

December 18th

"You can't be sick, mothers don't get sick Ray." Tyson wailed out, causing the neko-jin to stop his actions of blowing his nose.

Ray rose an eyebrow at the bluenette questioningly, since when did they start calling him their mother? "Sorry to upset you so much Ty, but I am sick. I have the same cold you all do." Ray explained, going back to blowing his nose very loudly.

"Then what are we going to do about dinner?" Tyson whined again, pulling at the corners of his hair that stuck out from under his hat as he slumped against the table they were all sitting at.

All four boys had been called for a meeting by Grandpa Granger to discuss the holidays and what each boy was going to do, at first it was decided each boy was going to go back to their hometowns for the holidays, but that was before they each came down with a terrible cold. It took them each a day to rearrange their plans, canceling flights and making phone calls to apologize to their friends and families that they were expected to see. Christmas was only a week away, but with their colds and the snow storms not giving up they decided it best to just stick it out at the Granger's dojo for Christmas.

The last of the boys to have gotten sick was Ray, having just gotten off the phone with Lee back in their village he had come down to join the others at the table in the dining room. His nose was red and sore from having to wipe it constantly, his golden eyes were puffy and swollen, and he hadn't bothered to wrap his hair that morning and it was all over the place and hung around his back and shoulders.

"We should just ask Grandpa to order take out, I don't think I can stomach another bowl of chili…" Max mumbled, laying his forehead against the table.

Being the second one to have gotten sick, Max hadn't bothered to dress properly during the weeks of the sickness and he was still dressed in his baby blue pj's. His face was tinted pink under his blue eyes, his hair was a mess upon his head as he hadn't bothered to brush it. His normal fair complexion was flushed, having come down to the table after another trip to the bathroom to upchuck his lunch.

"No, I'll order the food." Ray spoke up, grabbing another tissue from one of the many boxes they had placed around the house during the past weeks. "We'll need food that's helpful to us, not something that'll make us worse." His words were cut off by another nose blowing session, he made a face at the snot in the tissue and wadded it into a small ball and stuck it with the others that were in his pants pocket.

"Aw, I wanted junk food." Tyson mumbled, using the sleeve of his pj's to wipe the trail of snot from under his nose causing the other boys to cringe.

Tyson was the first to have gotten sick, having played out in the fresh snow without a jacket and then trained in it. Staying up well past his designated bed time that night, and then the water to the house had become cold so his normal hot shower was another cause for his body to go into overdrive and he fell ill. It was no wonder though, that he was the reason the others had caught his sickness since he couldn't even be bothered to use a tissue.

"Ray's right, we need something that'll help so shut up." Kai finally spoke up, not bothering to look at them all as they sat around him at the head of table.

Kai had even gotten sick, though since he had decided to train harder out in the cold air it wasn't all that surprising since he felt that with the two of his teammates down he had to pick up the team's slack. He was trying to put up his normal walls and act like it wasn't bothering him, though, even with his cold mask on his skin was paler than normal and there were dark circles under his eyes.

He kept them closed while sitting at the table, his arms over his chest, but when they were open they were just as swollen and puffy as the others. He was the only one of the four to still dress and keep up his normal appearance, his hair was combed, and his blue triangles still painted just as neatly on his cheeks as before. His trusty white scarf tied around his neck, with his normal jacket and purple pants and top.

If anything about Kai was different though, it was the fact that he was moodier while sick. Just the simplest of things caused him to snap, and the others had done their best to steer clear from him and stayed out of his way when he decided to emerge from his room.

"If I need remind you, it's your fault we're all in this sorry state." Kai growled out, slightly opening one eye to glare over at Tyson on his left. "Use a damn tissue you pig!" He shouted, shoving the box from the center of the table at Tyson.

"Alright, geesh. No need to remind me." Tyson huffed, plucking out the last tissue as the others had been used up by Ray. "So, what are you going to order us Ray?" He turned to the neko-jin on his right, his normal spot across from Kai at the other end.

There was a momentary pause while Tyson and Ray blew their noses, wadding up the tissue before Ray spoke. "I don't know yet…" Ray sighed out, his attention turning to their blonde friend still face down on the table on his left. "Max? Hey, wake up buddy." Ray gently nudged him, and Max grumbled under his breath but sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry, what were we talking about again?" Max yawned, promptly sneezing right after and quickly covered it with the back of his arm. "Tissue, now." He said, looking horrified at the sleeve of his pj's.

"One sec, I'll get the box from the kitchen." Ray pushed his chair back, the legs scraping against the wooden floor.

"See, this is why you're the mother." Tyson called to Ray's back, even if the other boy was already in the other room Ray could hear his words.

Max gave Ray a warm smile as he sat the box of tissue down in front of him, Ray didn't answer Tyson until he sat back down in his chair. His shoulders slumped back as he leaned against the back of the chair, looking up at the ceiling.

"Ty, I'm not sure if you've noticed but I'm a guy." Ray rolled his eyes, causing the headache he was already feeling in the side of his head surge.

"Yeah, but who does all the cooking and cleaning around here?" Tyson asked, making sure to use a tissue for the snot that was starting to run again.

Ray pondered it over for a moment, then let out a sigh. "Just because I do that, doesn't make me your mother." Then he remembered that the dishes in the sink were starting to pile up, of course he was the only one to cook and clean around there. Even in his sickened state he was sitting there cringing at all the house work that had to be done, Tyson could see it on Ray's face and smiled triumphantly.

"See, what'd I tell you? You're the mother around here." Tyson laughed, though the others didn't join in his joy.

"Well if I'm the mother, who's the father?" Ray bit back, his face flushed from embarrassment.

Tyson's smile grew across the width of his face and he turned to look at Kai, visibly seeing the blush on Ray's face deepen.

"Obviously Kai is." Max couldn't hold his laughter in at Tyson's words, his laughter was hoarse and croaky, and it strained his already sore throat.

"What makes you say that?!" Ray shouted, if it wasn't for his sickness he wouldn't have been able to claim his red face was from blushing. Tucking his chin into his chest, feigning he had to blow his nose again so he didn't have to look at the others.

"For starters, he's always yelling at us for running around the house. Constantly telling us when to go to bed, he's super strict on what we eat and when we eat. The list goes on." Tyson explained, Max's laughter had died down as the strain was too much on his throat and he started to cough.

By then the others were wondering how the conversation had steered this way, obviously it wasn't what they had all been called down there to discuss so with that Kai pushed back in his chair. Everyone's attention snapped to him as he stood there, trying to still his legs from wobbling under his weight. He'd be damned if his teammates saw him falter, even in the slightest.

"Where are you going?" Tyson all but shouted.

"Since we've nothing better to talk about, I'm going back to bed. Call me when you idiots have dinner here." Kai said roughly, his throat was dry, and he headed to the kitchen for a glass of water. Even though his legs gave way under him, he caught himself against the doorframe and pushed himself out of the dining room into the kitchen.

"I'll go look up a place to order from." With that Ray excused himself from the table as well, Max's head had come back down on the table as he passed out again.

Rubbing the side of his head Ray walked into the kitchen, hearing Tyson sneeze that shook the house and sighed. If only Ray had been lucky like Daichi, Hilary, and Kenny and avoided getting sick. Daichi had ran off before winter even hit Japan, having come from an island the cold weather wasn't something he wanted or could deal with. Hilary had dropped by one time and the second she saw how sick Tyson was she hadn't shown back up to the dojo, but the boys didn't really care since she would just hound them for all for getting sick in the first place. Kenny had come by every now and then the past few weeks, trying to help ease the boy's sickness to no avail.

A little light bulb appeared in Ray's mind, Kenny's parents ran a ramen shop and the hot broth would be soothing on all their throats. Without thinking much, he spoke up to Kai, who's back was to him at the sink refilling another glass of water.

"How's some ramen sound?" Kai shifted slightly, his keen senses having dulled slightly from being sick and once he recollected himself from Ray's words he turned to face the neko-jin. Even with Ray sick, he still had his quietness about him.

"What?" Kai asked, eyebrow raised.

"Ramen, the broth would be good for us all. I can get a discount if I order it from Kenny's parents." Ray explained, going over to the phone that hung off the wall by the fridge.

Kai only nodded as he sipped his water, closing his eyes again as he leaned against the counter of the sink. Ray just half smiled and plucked the phone off the receiver, dialing the ramen shops number and placing the order after Kenny had been the one to pick up.

Hanging the phone up Ray went about and grabbed a glass from the cabinet next to the stove, across from the fridge, and stood in front of Kai a bit apprehensively. He looked to have fallen asleep standing there, his arms across his chest and the hand that held the glass was slowly slipping from his grasp.

Ray cleared his throat, but Kai didn't respond, so he gently poked him in the arm. "Kai?" Said Russian jumped, his eyes popping open and he immediately scowled.

"Water?" Ray showed him his glass and Kai moved to the side, letting Ray fill his cup. "You're really burning up, should take that scarf of yours off." Ray mumbled, but it was loud enough for Kai to hear.

"And you should mind your own business, Kon." Kai spat back, almost slamming the bottom of his glass on the counter. "Just because Tyson has declared you the 'mother' of this house, doesn't mean you get to act like that towards me."

"I wouldn't dream of it, father." Ray snorted, rolling his eyes again.

Even his own temperament had flared under his sickness, normally he was cool and collected but now he was too sick to care who he snapped at. "Kenny will be here in thirty minutes, I'm going to take a shower." His tone was still cold, downing his water he slammed his own cup down and spun on his heel, his hair following his movements as he stomped out of the kitchen.

Kai just watched the younger male leave, unsure of what to say or do. All their normal attitudes had changed over the past weeks, Max wasn't hyper and bubbly but sluggish and almost always sleeping. Tyson was louder than before and at the flip of a switch he was whiny or irritating, more so than normal Kai thought at least. It was no wonder Grandpa Granger hadn't really been seen since he had called the teens down to the dining room, once they had all shown up he scampered off to his room.

Hiro hadn't really been present either, but Kai wasn't all that concerned with having to deal with the eldest Granger brother. Not after the fiasco that was BEGA, when Hiro did show up from time to time Kai had always found a way to avoid him. Why he bothered sticking around the Granger dojo was beyond him, aside from the fact he had come back from a near death experience against Brooklyn and the Blitzkrieg Boys had already up and left Japan without him.

As Kai went about to washing out the glass he had been using Tyson came into the kitchen, Kai rolled his eyes and promptly turned his back on the bluenette.

"Max passed out again, I can't carry him to his room. Mind giving me a hand?"

Kai washed out the glass and sat it back in the cupboard before turning to Tyson, giving him a slight nod he followed him back into the dining room and pulled Max out of his chair and carried him to his room. Even with his own weak body, he pushed past the burning in his arms and chest, making sure not to drop the youngest member of his team to his room. Tyson sat down on the edge of Max's bed, pulling the sheets up over his chest as Kai started back out of the room.

"Quit swapping spit, that's how he ended up this way in the first place." Kai growled, shutting the door before Tyson had time to retaliate.

With his skin burning under his heavy clothes, Kai started to unwrap his scarf from around his neck as Ray stepped out of the bathroom across the hall. Kai abruptly stopped, almost as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't be. Ray smirked, it was a sloppy one, but he didn't say anything as he crossed the hall to his bedroom and closed the door without a word.

Kai let out a ragged breath, his throat made a racking noise and it strained. He pulled his scarf off his neck, taking it to his room that sat beside Ray's own and made sure to set the scarf down on his desk gently so as not to break the wood from the weights he had placed in it.

Even with the scarf gone, Kai's body was still on fire and he shrugged off his jacket resting it over the back of the chair that sat in front of his desk. The cold air in the room did nothing to help his torched-up skin, but he didn't feel like changing completely and just plopped himself down on his bed that he had stripped of it's sheets. Sleep came to him quickly, and before he knew it he was sound asleep as his skin burned.

By the time Kai had woken up and trudged back downstairs for another glass of water, his mouth drier and his throat was aching worse than before. Ray was at the door getting the food Kenny had brought over, the little boy was covered in head to toe in heavy winter wear with a medical mask over his mouth. Kai rolled his eyes at the sight, leave it to Kenny to take all precautions to not catch their illness and Kai silently cursed the little nerd for being spared this torment.

"Thanks again Chief, we'll see you around." Ray said, his words were more nasally sounding as he shut the door. "He also brought some more medicine, I didn't even realize we had run out." Ray said as he carried the plastic bags into the kitchen, walking past Kai as he had stopped at the bottom of the stairwell.

Once again Kai rolled his eyes, Tyson was right for having declared Ray the mother. He babied them all too much, and the stress on Ray's body wasn't helping him get over his own cold. It was because he had tried to heal them all himself he had even gotten sick, wordlessly Kai followed the trail of raven hair into the kitchen.

"It's all the same kind, so just take a bowl." Ray didn't bother to look over his shoulder, having heard Kai's hard footsteps across the wooden floor as he immediately went to the cupboard for the glass he had previously used.

Ray unpacked the Styrofoam bowls from the plastic bags, setting them out on the counter in a neat line and dug out the two bottles of medicine without looking up once from what he was doing. When he turned to get the measuring cup he almost ran head first into Kai's chest, as he had moved over to grab a bowl of ramen.

"Sorry." Ray stammered a bit, his face flushing again and before he could say anything back he sneezed loudly into his shirt.

"You need to rest, you're not going to get over your cold any faster worrying about us." Kai rolled his eyes, by now he had done that so many times he could feel his eyes straining.

"Well someone has to, we can't expect Tyson to take care of himself. He's the reason we're like this, idiot… Max is too weak to do it himself, and grandpa won't stick around the same room with any of us for more than a few minutes." Ray sighed out, by-passing Kai to the drawer he was previously walking to. "And you're too stubborn." He finished, fishing out the plastic measuring cup and struggled with the child-proof lid of the medicine bottle for a few minutes before turning to Kai.

Kai rose an eyebrow, having picked a bowl off the counter and just stared at the outstretched hand with the medicine bottle in it. "Really?" He sighed, but didn't bother rolling his eyes as he took the bottle from Ray's hand and opened it, handing it back.

"Oh, shut up." Ray huffed out, measuring out the right amount into the plastic cup and pouring its contents into two bowls. "Take your medicine to, you hear me?" Ray started, picking up the two bowls of ramen off the counter and gave a hard look at the taller male.

"Yes, mother." Kai huffed, but smirked as Ray smiled and left the kitchen with the two bowls to Max's room.

He didn't know why he did it, the medicine was slick and tasted horrible as it slid down his sore throat, but he took it anyways. He cringed as the taste clung to his tongue, it was no wonder Ray had mixed it with the ramen for the other two. If he hadn't Kai was sure Max and Tyson wouldn't have taken it at all, which wouldn't have helped any of them. Before retreating to his own room, he poured the medicine in a new clear plastic cup and set it next to the last bowl on the counter for Ray.

Instead of going back to his room he took his normal seat at the kitchen table as Ray came back, empty handed and went into the kitchen himself to grab his own bowl. Kai smiled to himself as he heard Ray mumbled something under his breath, before he too appeared in the dining room with his own bowl. Setting down in his normal chair, across the table from Kai. They sat in silence as they ate, once again Ray was right, and the hot broth helped soothe their sore throats.

Still without saying anything, Kai stood and went over to the other end of the table and plucked up Ray's half eaten bowl. He had been unable to stomach most of it, as it was already starting to push its way back up his throat.

"Just put the lid back on it, I might be able to finish it later." Ray said as Kai was already halfway out of the dining room, and laid his head on the cool wood of the table. His ears perked as Kai came back into the dining room, but he didn't bother to lift his head.

"What are we going to do for Christmas?" Ray breathed out, the medicine already doing it's work and he was getting tired.

"Why are you worried about that?" Kai scoffed, taking his seat again.

"Well, just cus we're all sick doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate it." Ray offered, his voice wasn't as nasally as before but his words still croaked out.

Kai sighed, resting into the back of his chair crossing his arms across his chest. "I don't know." He shrugged, for him his body wasn't as tense, and his muscles weren't aching as badly as his body temperature was slightly cooling.

"Some help you are." Ray mumbled and sat back up, having to push his bangs out of his eyes. "I guess we can at least decorate a little, nothing to big since it's just us. Maybe set up the tree, I had already bought some presents for the guys." He shrugged, and yawned where his sharper teeth showed.

"Weren't you leaving?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, I was just going to give them to you all before everyone left." Ray said, laying back against the table as he fought to keep his eyes open. "Got you something too." His voice trailed, and he yawned again as his eyes closed.

For a minute Kai just sat there, unsure if Ray had actually fallen asleep until he could see the shallow breathing from the neko-jin. With a sigh he pushed himself from the table, walking the space and pulling the Ray from his chair and into his arms. Unlike with Max, Kai's arms were more locked into place as he carried Ray back to his room. Even in his sickened state, Ray's room was pristine and clean. His bed was made, looking as if it hadn't even been touched and the room was colder than even Kai's own as Ray cracked the window open. That was when Kai realized that Ray's skin was burning more than his own, and he sighed again as he laid the raven-haired boy on his bed gently.

Noticing the stacked presents in the corner of the room at the foot of Ray's bed, Kai shook his head a bit as he left the room to gather his blanket from his room. Being unable to untuck Ray's own from under him, he came back and draped it over the neko-jin's visibly shaking body. The second the warmth of the blanket touched his skin, Ray pulled the ends closer under his chin and turned on his side into a tight ball.

"Thanks." He mumbled out, just as Kai had closed the bedroom door behind him.

Maybe what Tyson had said about both of them was true.