Fever

It was a cold winter's day in Japan. Everyone was hunched over their desks as they listened to Shouyou sensei's lectures on the samurai bushido, blowing air into cupped hands to warm their little frozen fingers. Even Shouyou sensei was shivering slightly under his clothes. Katsura tried to focus on the text in front of his cold, sore eyes, but something at the back of his head was nagging him. Something feels wrong, he thought. Something didn't seem quite right today.

"Oi, Zura."

Katsura mentally face palmed himself when he heard that annoying natural perm hiss his name two seats behind him. It was so obvious: Takasugi wasn't in the room to abuse his infuriating nickname along with Gintoki. He turned around and glared at those dead-fish eyes.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. Where's Takasugi?"

Gintoki's eyes were glazy as he gazed back at Katsura. "Ma, ma, don't get so worked up, Zura. And Takasugi is sick."

"It's Kastura. And Takasugi is sick? You're joking, right?"

"I'm serious. Go ask Shouyou sensei yourself if you don't believe me, Zura."

"Zura ja nai, Kastura da!"

"Whatever, Zura. Do you have a tissue?" Gintoki sniffled loudly as he wiped his running nose on his sleeves. Katsura shook his head curtly before returning to his book and the lesson. Even as he tried to concentrate on Shouyou sensei's words, he couldn't help wonder if Takasugi was all right. The lesson continued to drag on through the day and outside, the birds were singing a cheerful but short-lived song.

~X~

"Yes, Katsura. Takasugi is sick. He's come down with some sort of flu and he has a raging fever at the moment."

The day had finally ended and the two of them cornered Shouyou sensei outside the dining room where everybody was enjoying dinner. "But you will let us see him, right?" Katsura begged, looking up at Shouyou-sensei with pleading eyes. Shouyou-sensei sighed; Gintoki was tugging at the hem of his robes and as the sensei looked down at the two young faces creased with worry for their friend, he found that nothing was harder than denying the two of them from seeing Takasugi at the moment. But…

"I'm sorry, Katsura. But if I let the two of you go see him, I'm afraid that you're both going to catch it as well. Besides, it is freezing outside." Shouyou sensei put his hand fondly on the boy's head.

"Please, sensei? We won't touch him, we promise!"

"No," Shouyou sensei said in a soft but firm voice that they both recognized that he had made up his mind and wouldn't change it, no matter what. Katsura and Gintoki seemed to fall back, somewhat devastated. Shouyou-sensei guided the two towards the dining room and gave them a push on the back. He watched them go exchange sulky looks and return to join the others for dinner, a thoughtful smile playing around his lips. He knew perfectly well that from growing up during the climax of the war, they would try and sneak out to see Takasugi, no matter what.

~X~

"That's not fair. Why can't we go see him?" Gintoki complained loudly as he sat on the floor of the bedroom, poking at a hole through his socks that was growing larger by the moment. Zura was sitting at the far end of the room, eyes closed and an absent expression on his face, not seeming to take in the rants that Gintoki was throwing at him. "Of course we won't catch it!" Gintoki continued, falling back against the thin blankets that were going to be his bed in half an hour. "It' isn't like we're going to touch him or anything! Who'd want to touch Takasugi anyway?"

"Hey, Gintoki," Katsura said suddenly, breaking his silence. "Why don't we sneak inside tonight?"

"Huh?" Gintoki blinked at his friend, confused the random suggestion he had just thrown out of the blue at him. "You mean, sneak outside to see Takasugi tonight?"

"Of course. What else did you think I meant?"

Gintoki shivered. "Won't it be cold?" he said in a worried tone, looking at the falling snow outside. To Katsura, it was almost comedic to see the amazing change of attitude in Gintoki; nobody would have guessed that this was the boy who was whining about not being allowed to go see his friend.

Katsura shrugged that one off. "Who cares? I'm willing to go through an entire snowstorm if it means seeing a friend. I'd to it for you too, Gintoki."

Something clicked inside that slow, murky brain of Gintoki's as he stared at his friend's determined face through those eyes that never really saw anything significant. He nodded slowly.

"All right then. Let's go tonight."

~X~

"Psst, Gintoki."

Gintoki's eyes flickered open and Zura's tense face slowly swam into view. "Huh?"

"Let's go."

For a moment, Gintoki wasn't even sure what Zura was talking about. And then it hit him; they were risking their lives to go and see Takasugi, someone whom he had never really liked. A moment later, he began to regret ever agreeing to the horrible deed; the room they shared with a dozen other students was already freezing, let alone the corridor and the yard they would have to cross in order to see Takasugi. What was that boy to him anyway, he thought groggily, closing his eyes again, apart from being a total idiot? He turned his back on Zura sleepily.

"Come on, Gintoki! You said you would come with me!" Zura sounded appalled that Gintoki was going back on his promise.

"I really can't be bothered, Zura. I've changed my mind."

Someone snorted and the two boys fell silent, listening to someone turning over in their sleep and mutter a few foggy words before falling silent again. The both of them glared at each other in the dark.

"Forget it, Zura," Gintoki whispered, pulling his blanket over his head. "That idiot won't even be grateful. Who knows, he'll probably just laugh at us next week when we're the ones in bed with the flu."

"Gintoki." Zura's sudden serious tone of voice made Gintoki snap back awake. He pulled back his blanket to look up at Zura. The faint moonlight from outside was shining directly on the two as they looked at each other. "I've told you before, Gintoki," Zura said in a quiet, even voice, "that if you were the one sick today, sleeping in a dark, freezing room all alone for an entire week with a raging fever while listening to everybody else was having fun outside, I would come see you no matter what. Would you please remember that and do me a favour this time, or will I have to sit here for another hour before you do?"

There was a moment's silence as Gintoki considered Katsura's words. "Fine," he mumbled, sitting up while cursing as he rolled back his blankets to expose his skin to the freezing air. Katsura smiled as he threw a thick cloak over Gintoki.

"Thanks, Gintoki."

"I don't want to hear it from you," Gintoki grunted, standing up and sliding the door open. "I want to hear it coming from Takasugi himself. Do you think Shouyou-sensei will be there?"

"No," Katsura replied as they tiptoed down the corridor. "I checked with a sempai earlier in the evening and he said that Shouyou sensei would be away tonight. I think we're safe."

Both of them gritted their teeth and stepped out the front door. Gintoki's teeth chattered in harmony with his knocking knees as they made their way down the stairs. The winter wind was merciless as it roared all around them, flinging snowflakes into their eyes and lashing around their faces like a dozen whips.

"Katsura, if Takasugi doesn't appreciate this, I'm taking all blame on you."

"Whatever, Gintoki. Let's go already."

The two of them shuffled quickly across the frozen, deserted yard to where the sick bay was, biting down hard on their tongues to try and stop themselves crying out from the cold. Katsura himself slipped twice on the ice that had formed in the ditches where puddles had been only a few days ago and Gintoki was nearly impaled by an icicle dropping from the edge of a roof. Finally, after ten minutes of endless, icy torture, they found themselves outside Takasugi's room. Katsura knocked lightly on the door.

"Psst! Takasugi!" he called out softly in fear of being discovered by someone else. They couldn't afford to be caught now that they had come as far as the door. There was no answer. Gintoki was hopping up and down, rubbing his fingers together and try to warm his toes on his already frozen face. There was still no answer. Zura turned to Gintoki with a worried expression on his face.

"I think he's asleep, Gintoki."

"Nonsense," Gintoki snorted, rubbing his cheeks now. "That bastard would never fall asleep before twelve. He's just playing with us or something. Oi, Takasugi!"

Before Katsura could stop him, Gintoki wrenched the door open in one fluid motion and entered. He paused before following the crazy natural-perm and shuddered as he entered the room, where Takasugi lay just a few metres away from them. He wasn't asleep; his eyes were shut tightly and his breathing was short and laboured. Katsura shivered; although it was somewhat warmer inside the room than outside, there was an unknown chill within the atmosphere that he couldn't quite place. Gintoki walked over to Takasugi and knelt beside the sick boy.

"Oi, Takasugi. Wake up already. Can't you see we're here to see you?"

Takasugi made a funny noise and Katsura could see him attempting to open his eyes; they flickered, glassy and out of focus. "G-Gin-toki…" he managed to choke out in a dry, raspy and painful voice. "Z-Zura…? Wh-what are… you two… doing here?"

"It's not Zura, it's Kastura," Katsura corrected him, but without the usual air of annoyance. "Are you all right?" he asked, taking out the flask that he had placed inside his clothes and tipping some water into Takasugi's mouth through his dry, cracked lips. Takasugi managed to gulp down a few mouthfuls before coughing again.

"O-Of course I'm f-fine," he choked out. His breath was coming out in long, drawn out breaths but there was the ghost of his smile on the gaunt face. "Who do you… think I am? Plus, I don't… get homework for a week… of course I'm in… heaven…"

"I am so faking illness next week," Gintoki said, giving Katsura a dirty look as if to say oh-look, I-suffered-all-of-that-only-to-come-and-have-Takasugi-tell-me-he-is-superman, but he ignored Gintoki's childish face and pressed a cool hand against Takasugi's burning forehead.

"Are you going to be all right in a week? You don't look that well to me."

"Shouyou sensei… thinks so." Takasugi managed to crack a smile and tried to sit up. Katsura knew that he was only just trying to act strong in front of his friends. "But I won't be able to go… out… and I have to eat porridge… for seven days." He coughed again, more harshly than before and Gintoki had to forcibly push him down.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you need anything else?"

Takasugi squeezed his eyes shut and shivered. "I'm… cold," he whispered in a barely audible voice. Gintoki snorted.

"Well, you should be. It's below zero out there. Hey, Zura, what are you doing? Oi! Zura!"

Katsura was dragging out the spare blankets located at the end the room, sneezing as the dust clouded in his face. "Takasugi is cold," he said in a matter-of-factly voice, looking at Gintoki. "So let's have a sleepover. Besides, that's what we came here for in the first place anyway, right?" Not waiting for an answer, he threw the blanket over Takasugi's limp form and buried himself under the covers. Gintoki sighed as he looked at his two stupid friends.

"Zura… you do know we're going to catch his cold if we do this, don't you?"

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. And of course I know, I'm not stupid." Gintoki blinked as Zura wrapped his arms around Takasugi, as though shielding him from the cold. At first Takasugi seemed to reject this close contact with Katsura, but then snuggled deeper into Katsura's embrace. Katsura shuddered a little as he came into contact with Takasugi's skin; his face was flushed and red and burning, but his body was as cold as the water he'd just drank. Although he was pretty much freezing himself, Katsura knew that if Takasugi felt cold to him, then his body obviously held more heat than his did. He drew Takasugi's thin frame closer to his chest and tried to trap as much heat as he could into the centre of his body, but then a slightly warmer hand touched his and it wasn't Takasugi's.

"Gintoki?" he breathed, looking over Takasugi's shoulder to see Gintoki doing the same, snuggling in as close to Takasugi as possible. Gintoki rolled his eyes.

"I've come this far, so it's too late to talk about colds anymore. I might as well make the most of it. I'm warning you two, though," he added as Katsura smiled with gratitude, "that I have a habit of clinging onto things when I'm sleeping, so you're risking your life by sharing the same blanket with me."

"Get… your own blanket then…" Takasugi yawned. Katsura was glad to feel that he was finally relaxing from the warmth. Gintoki clicked his tongue with disapprovingly and poked Takasugi's back with a chilly finger.

"No. I'm cold."

"No one asked you to join in," Takasugi said in that ungrateful, annoying tone of voice everybody hated.

"… Bastard."

Katsura smiled to himself, glad that they had accomplished something tonight. He felt something shifting beside him and a moment later, Takasugi's hand had found his and squeezed it feebly. A slight movement from beside him told him that he had just done the same with Gintoki. The room was silent for a minute or two.

"I only came because Katsura came," Gintoki said in a selfish voice.

"Don't listen to him, Takasugi. We came because you're our friend."

There was more silence. Zura heard Takasugi's laboured breathing become more and more peaceful and his eyes were closed contently as though sleeping in a fitful dream. He thought the other two had fallen asleep and closed his eyes.

"Thanks for coming," Takasugi whispered out loud into the silence. Gintoki grunted in response and Katsura pulled his hand gently.

~X~

When Shouyou sensei came to check on Takasugi at 3am that morning, he wasn't the least surprised to see the three boys snuggled up together on one futon, hands linked and the most blissful, most serene and content expressions on their faces. They were all going to be sick tomorrow, he knew, but he was glad.

They were his students indeed.

Author's Note

Edit: Wow, there are so many mistakes with it that I didn't see before. I see them now, though. Just goes to show that writing at 2.30 am in the morning isn't the wisest of things to do, haha.

Again, I apologize for any sensitive ideas that have popped into your [somewhat] twisted mind, but no yaoi of any kind was intended. I just hoped that this was enjoyable for everyone out there who likes friendship stories. Reviews are greatly appreciated.

Anyways, here is a little Omake for you guys that I whipped up the next morning.

[Omake]

The winter wind as still as harsh as it was last week as the two made their way across the yard to the sick bay. Gintoki yawned widely.

"Takasugi, why are you going to see Zura? He told us not to come."

Takasugi looked away from Gintoki's prying eyes. "I don't know, okay? My body just acted on its own, it's not my fault. Besides, why didn't you catch my cold?"

Gintoki smirked. "Because I drink strawberry milk."

Always remember to drink strawberry milk, guys. Thanks again for reading.