Okay, I lied to all my Kamichama people. I apologize. I started to write a Kyohru fic, I had the ideas all ready, but then inspiration for this fic struck me and I had to do it. So here is the fic my loyal Kamichama buddies. I have to say, you are all the most vigorous when it comes to reviewing and favorite-ing my work. I feel so loved!
No clue what possessed me to do this, but I did it. The situation is oh so cliche and overused so I had to do it. I tried to incorporate every scene that I've ever read/watched in this situation too, haha. I love it though, it shows a bit more of my writing abilities, in my opinion. We'll see what you think. Please review? I love feedback. Seeing the fanfiction email address pop up in my inbox makes me oh-so-happy:D
NOTE: I do not own the lovely Koge Donbo's characters. In a perfect world, I would. But we all know it is not one therefore I do not own the characters! Get it?
A loud, scratchy cough erupted from the throat of a petite brunette, her olive green eyes shutting tightly as she raised her fist to cover her mouth. She sighed weakly when she finished her bout, breathing heavily to catch her breath. She stood, mid-way through pulling her skirt on, and placed a hand on her chest, trying to lose the tight feeling in it. She yanked the skirt around her thin waist and grabbed her shirt, holding it against her chest as she tried to clear the congestion in her throat. It only led to another loud fit of coughs. She let her arms fall limply at her sides, feeling very weak now. She was about to pull the shirt over her head when she heard a loud thud behind her. She turned to see that her door was open and a blonde boy around her age was standing in the doorway, looking very concerned and annoyed at the same time. He appeared as if he was trying to say something to her, his mouth was open, but the sight of her shirtless stopped him before the words escaped. His face was bright red, and he was obviously flustered, but he didn't move. The girl's already reddened cheeks flushed a deeper color and she grabbed the closest object, a book unfortunately, and chucked it at him, hitting him in the chest. She attempted to shout at him, but her voice came out strained and the words faded in and out.
"Kazu…ne…-kun! Get...out…perv!" she attempted to screech. The blonde immediately shut the door and she heard his footsteps flee down the hall. She panted lightly, trying to catch her breath again. Her face was red hot from embarrassment. Stupid chauvinistic cretin… she hissed in her head and yanked the shirt firmly over her head and hurried to get her socks on. As she did this, she rubbed her sore throat absent-mindedly.
When Karin walked downstairs, she was noticeably pale, but her cheeks were flushed. She coughed lightly as she went to sit down. Kazune avoided her gaze, obviously still embarrassed, but he kept stealing glances at her tired countenance. He wanted to comment on it, but felt as if today was not the day to get her worked up. A dark-haired girl emerged from the adjoining room, apron tied around her waist, carrying a tray of croquettes. She wore a dazzling smile, despite the hour of the morning and cheerily hummed as she placed them on the table. She was about to turn to get the tea, but she noticed Karin's sickly face.
"Karin-chan! Are you okay? You don't look well," Himeka cried worriedly and hurried to her friend's side. Kazune silently thanked his cousin for bringing it up as Karin tried to assure Himeka she was fine. Himeka's face was visibly looking more distressed with every excuse Karin threw out. As Karin tried to explain she was simply having a terrible reaction to a new make-up she was trying out, she felt a firm hand press against her hairline from behind, then felt as it pulled her head forcefully back. She blinked at the blonde hair that fell in eyes as a forehead pressed against hers. After a second, it pulled away and she found herself looking into the sky blue of Kazune's eyes.
"Nope, you're definitely sick. You've got a fever," he commented, looking into her eyes as well. Her face flushed deeper and she yanked away from his grip. She sent him a glare as she brushed the hair from her face.
"I'm just fine you pervert," she snapped, irritated by the audacity of him to even come close to her after this morning. Also by the fact he had proved she was lying. Damn him for being so smart…stupid males. He raised an eyebrow at her and was about to fire back when Himeka cut him off.
"You shouldn't go to school today, Karin-chan, if you're so sick. You should go back to bed and rest," she said, her voice thick with concern. Karin wanted to protest at this, but she saw Himeka's face and felt bad. She sighed and nodded meekly.
"Okies, Himeka-chan. I'll stay home," she said and looked at Kazune, glaring at him again.
"For you," she added bitterly. Kazune frowned at her and snorted, sitting back down and grabbing a croquette. Karin stuck her tongue out at him and headed back upstairs. Stupid Kazune. Himeka watched her walk away and called after her.
"I'll bring you some tea and breakfast before we leave!" she cried after her. She looked at Kazune and cocked her head slightly.
"Why do you and Karin-chan seem to already be angry with each other, Kazune-chan?" Himeka asked curiously. Kazune blushed lightly, remembering the image of a very startled, and half-naked, Karin. He bit brutally into his croquette and frowned.
"No reason," he said quickly in a rather harsh tone. Himeka still looked confused, but she shrugged it off and went to get the tea, which had begun to whistle in the kitchen. Kazune grumbled to himself as he chewed his food. Pfft, women.
Karin was awakened later that day by the faint sound of a door slamming downstairs. She sat up groggily, coughing as she did so. She rubbed her eyes. How long had she been sleeping? She checked her clock, and then thought a moment. Himeka brought her some tea, medicine, and toast before she left. She ate, and then she must've dozed off. Had she really been sleeping this whole time? She sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. Still hot. She let out another sigh and leaned back against the pillows. She heard a light knock on the door.
"Come in," she croaked, the phlegm in her throat caught there from her sleep. She noticed Himeka's tiny head pop in. Karin smiled.
"Himeka-chan, why are you home so early?" she asked as she sat up a little. Himeka looked embarrassed, but hurried over to Karin's side. She sat down by the bed and gathered everything up in the tray she left her earlier.
"Well, I was worried so I left a little early to get here to help you. I got all your work for you, too," she said with a smile as she fixed the tray so she could bring it back downstairs. Karin noticed she had left something by the door, which must've been the work.
"Aw, you're so sweet Himeka-chan. Thank you," Karin replied hoarsely. Himeka smiled at her and got up with the tray.
"It's no problem. Kazune-chan should be home in a little bit. I'll bring up some more tea and medicine, and some soup too. I'm going to go out with Q-chan later, so I'll make sure Kazune-chan watches you." she said as she headed over to the door and left. Karin frowned slightly. She didn't really want Kazune to help her, especially after this morning, but she supposed if the only responsible people would be out, he would have to do. She sighed once again as she sunk into the pillows. She positively hated being sick. Hated it with the burning passion of a thousand suns. She yawned and got up. She needed to move around, being stuck in bed made her feel worse. She stood up and took a step, but immediately felt dizzy. She quickly sat back down. Again, she hated being sick.
A few minutes later, Himeka the nurse returned with a tray of tea, medicine, and leek soup. Karin wasn't much of a fan for leek soup, but when she was sick, she'd eat just about anything. She immediately started to eat, feeling ravenous suddenly. It must be from all the sleep. Himeka smiled at her friend as she watched Karin eat the soup. She headed back to the door and paused there a moment.
"I'll be downstairs for a while. If you need anything, just call down for me and I'll be right up. Leave the tray by your bed when you're done with it," she said. Karin nodded at her and thanked her once more. Himeka smiled and quickly brought Karin's work closer to the bed before ducking out of the room again. Karin looked at the medicine on the tray and stuck out her tongue in disgust. Medicine was probably what she hated most about being sick. She dug behind her pillow and pulled out an empty water bottle. The bottom was lightly covered with the medicine Himeka left her earlier. She dumped the new dosage in and stashed it away. Sure, she knew it was bad but she could not stand taking medicine, it made her gag. She went back to her soup and tea, trying to kill the growing dizziness in her head.
Some time later, Himeka came up to inform Karin that she was going out with Q-chan for possibly an hour or two. Karin was lying down, feeling worse than before, so she just nodded and Himeka departed. She closed her eyes briefly. She was hot, but when she took the covers off she was cold, so she resorted to staying wrapped up in her blanket. She knew her face was flushed, but her hands were ice cold. She coughed again, a bit more violently than before, nearing gagging at this point. This spell lasted longer than the rest, forcing her to sit up so she could cough enough to stop the gagging. When she finished, she was out of breath and her throat hurt a lot more. She sat there, panting, tears streaming down her face from the pain. She hated being sick. It wasn't fair. She sniffed, trying to keep real tears from falling.
A knock at the door startled her from this and she looked up.
"Come in," she croaked weakly. She saw a blonde head pop in, then the rest of him. Normally, Karin would've acted very cruel to her visitor, but today she was just too drained and miserable to. She coughed again and looked at Kazune, her eyes asking the unsaid question to spare her throat from the torture.
"I heard you coughing and wanted to be sure you were okay," he said to her, examining her quickly with his eyes. She could see his features change from indifference to slight concern as he checked her over. She felt hotter knowing this, much to her vexation.
"You look like hell. Have you been taking any medicine?" he asked, walking over to the bed. Upon closer inspection, he noticed her tear-stained cheeks, which were very pink. He reached out and lightly pressed his hand to her forehead. Hot, almost boiling. She shrunk back from his touch, but neither knew if it was either from embarrassment or from annoyance. She looked away from him quickly.
"Yes, I have," she lied in a raspy tone, a little too quickly, "So it's no big deal."
Kazune frowned, obviously not satisfied by this answer. Karin pulled the sheets back over her as she leaned back down, feeling very dizzy. She shifted a little to get herself comfortable, but in this process, she also knocked loose the bottle from under the pillows. It rolled off the bed and hit the floor with an echo-y thud. She realized what it was immediately and felt her body heat rise considerably. Kazune darted his blue orbs to the source of the sound and bent down to pick it up. He looked at it a moment with indifferent curiosity, but this quickly grew to a mild shock. He held up the bottle and pointed to it in an accusing manner to Karin.
"Is this your medicine?" he questioned, as if he didn't already know the answer. Karin was so dumbfounded at her terrible luck that she was speechless and could only look at him with a look of mild fear. His features were pulled into a look of anger.
"You idiot! No wonder you're not getting any better, you've been hiding your medicine! What is wrong with you? Do you like being this sick?" he scolded bitterly, obviously very upset that she had been shirking her treatment. She sunk into her pillows, pulling the covers over her head with a wail. She felt so terrible she didn't even have the willpower to yell back at him, never mind the voice for it. She resorted to letting out a meek squeak that got caught in her throat and came out as a soft sob. Kazune heard this and felt bad, but he wanted an answer from her. He grabbed the sheet forcefully and pulled it back and pinned it down, looking into the eyes of a very terrified and distraught-looking Karin.
"Tell me why you didn't take it," he demanded with his eyes icier than before. Karin felt very small under his gaze and tried to pull away from it. She could feel the tears already pouring down her cheeks. She had lost all control today. Kazune's anger was scaring her and making her feel guilty for making him so angry with her. She closed her eyes, trying to get away from his painful gaze.
"Sorry…," she blubbered, the tears stinging her hot face, "I'm sorry I just really hate medicine because it's the worst part of being sick and I really didn't think about getting well at that point and I'm sorry…"
She stopped her blabbering as she tried to stop the sobs coming from her chest because they were only making her cough more, and these coughs were the most painful because her chest was already tight from the crying. She sniffled as she tried to stop coughing, but continued to blabber.
"But please stop yelling at me because even though it's my fault, I feel really bad and hot and cold and my throat is sore and I keep coughing and I can barely breath and I'm dizzy too!" she finished in one, long, almost incoherent splutter. Pathetic sobs came from her throat as she tried to stop the tears, rubbing them away with the back of her hands. This is what sickness reduced her too, a whiny little girl. More reasons to hate sickness. She felt Kazune's hands leave the bed and she looked up at him through wet eyelashes. He was sitting down on the chair by the bed, giving her the space she would need. She sat up a tiny bit so she could look at him, still trying to quiet herself. He watched her, the anger gone from his face. It was now much calmer with a very soothing quality in it. She wanted to look away from his gaze, but found herself unable to. She wanted to feel the light it seemed to shine upon her. His hand lifted gently to brush away the hair falling on her cheeks. The light touch of his fingers across her skin sent a chill up her spine that briefly washed away the hot and cold she felt. His hand stayed touching the side of her face for a moment and their eyes locked in that one moment. Karin felt something unnerving in his gaze, as if it held this secret it desperately wanted to tell her. This feeling was oddly familiar to her, though. His hand left her face to rest back on his lap. She couldn't take her eyes off of him now. He smiled at her, a very slow and quiet smile, but it was so warm and loving that it seemed to be the only thing she could see.
"Sorry for yelling. I didn't know you hated medicine so much. Why don't you try sleeping again? I'll sit right here with you," he offered. Normally, she would've protested at this, but she realized she had wanted company all day and she didn't want to pass up this opportunity. So she nodded meekly and sunk back into the pillows and yanked the blanket up to her neck, her finger tips curling over the top from underneath. She watched Kazune a moment, a bit hesitant to relax with her nearby, but his face assured her. She suddenly realized how exhausted she was and how dizzy she was too. Her eyes fluttered shut and she slowly succumbed to the exhaustion to fall asleep.
Kazune waited a few minutes, watching her peaceful face and listening to the soft wheeze that came with every rise and fall of her chest. He looked at the bottle that sat at the bedside. He knew she had to take something or she could get really sick, like really sickly. He looked at her peaceful face a second. She would never take it, though. He picked up the bottle and opened it, tilting it to the side so the liquid dribbled down the side to puddle right before the mouth of the bottle. He felt a bit embarrassed to do this, but he knew it was the only way to get her to take it. So, with a hard swallow, he poured the medicine in his mouth, careful not to swallow any or salivate too much. He leaned over her and, after a brief hesitation, he rested his mouth over hers. His silent prayer was answered when her mouth opened to receive him. He opened his and drained the medicine into her mouth. He didn't pull away immediately, but lingered for a moment to enjoy what was actually happening here. The he pulled away, only about and inch or two from her face. He watched as her face twisted for an instant before she slowly swallowed. Her serene face showed a frown as her brows furrowed- he actually found amusement at this because he could only imagine her reaction if she were conscious -and then relaxed again. He sat back and smiled at her as she continued to sleep soundly.
By the next morning, Karin's fever and dizziness went away. By that night, her throat was healing. And by the end of that week, the cough was gone completely. Karin always thanked Himeka and told her it was her wonderful bedside manner that made her get better so quickly, but Karin knew that she wouldn't have gotten better if she hadn't have taken medicine, which she didn't. So how was it possible she had gotten better? She always looked at Kazune curiously, wondering if he was the cause behind this. He admitted he did make her take the medicine while she was asleep, but when she would ask how, he would always respond with the same thing and a sly grin.
"Just a spoonful of sugar is all it takes."