This idea popped into my head a few days ago and has stayed. I hope you like it :)
Lin sat down at his desk and sighed. Another exorcism at another A deceased teacher who was simply too fond of the classroom and insisted on conducting lessons from beyond the grave. The job did have its highlights, particularly when the ghost teacher compelled Yasuhara to write lines on the blackboard for disrupting class. However, there was a significant low. There was a flu going around the school and a particularly grotty child had singled out Lin to vomit on. Lin shuddered at the memory and wondered if his future wife was open to cloning instead of traditional reproductive techniques.
As he began to type up the report for Naru, he realised that he was feeling uncomfortably warm. He loosened his tie and decided to switch on the air conditioning. "I hope that child didn't infect me," he muttered. He continued typing away at his computer, the clock's ticking the only thing keeping him company. After half an hour, he realised that the words on the screen were starting to swim before him eyes. When he attempted to get up from his chair, his knees buckled and he grabbed the edge of the table before he fell over. "I'll just spend the night on the couch," he muttered feverishly and lay down.
Masako Hara patted her silky black hair, despite the fact that it was never unruly. She had decided to drop by and see if Naru was in and hopefully coax him into having dinner with her, or as it normally unfolded, for Naru to have a cup of tea while she ate. She was disappointed when she saw that the light was off in his office. "I guess he's left," she murmured to herself in disappointment. Then she spotted the light in Lin's office and her heart skipped a beat. Perhaps he was working with Lin? She knocked on the door but there was no answer so she opened the door.
She immediately felt embarrassed when she saw Lin's long form reclining on the couch. As her cheeks started to turn scarlet, she realised that he was saying something. She walked towards him and saw that his eyes face was flushed and he was muttering something while staring at the wall. He looked like he had a high fever and it concerned her.
"Lin-san," she said gently. "Lin-san, are you alright?" It was a silly question but she really did not know what to do. She was rarely alone with the tall Chinese man and she did not know how to interact him.
"Lin-san, it's Naru. It's time for tea," she said in her most authoritative tone.
"Tea?" groaned Lin as he half slid off the couch. "Is it really so hard to steep your own tea?" he complained, still unaware that it was Masako who had spoken.
Masako raised her kimono sleeve to cover her smile.
"Hot water. Tea. Strainer. Cup. Not so hard is it?" he continued in his fevered rant. He then turned and spotted Masako. His face crumpled into a frown.
"Naru, you look funny. Your hair's too long, get it cut."
Masako did not know whether to laugh or to cry at this point. She decided to keep up the pretext of being Naru. It seemed that Lin was so out of it that he would have mistaken John-san for Ayako-san at this point.
"Nevermind the tea, you should go home."
Lin gave a snort of disapproval. "It's about time," he proclaimed and pottered out of the office. Masako followed him closely and locked up after him. Unfortunately, by the time she turned around, he had already started wandering up the staircase.
"No, Lin-san, you are supposed to go down the staircase to get out of the building."
"Silly Japanese. Who makes a building that way? Hong Kong people would have done it correctly," he complained as she grabbed his elbow and steered him back down the stairs.
Once they exited, she flagged down a taxi and despite her best instincts, decided to escort him to his apartment. Lin then began to rant in rapid Cantonese and all Masako could do was murmur in agreement from time to time. She hoped that she had not accidentally agreed to give away her first born child or something.
It was with relief that she saw the taxi draw up outside Lin's apartment building. Watching him get out of the taxi was cringe worthy as he stumbled and barely missed ramming into a post office. With the help of the doorman, she was able to get him to his apartment.
It would be a lie to say that she was not interested in seeing Lin's inner sanctum. He was such a private person that she could not begin to fathom what sort of apartment he lived in. Unsurprisingly, she found that he lived in a sleek, if not somewhat impersonal apartment. Everything was clean and in its place, it barely looked lived in.
Lin tottered to the couch and lay down. It was in fact, not correct to say that he lay down. It was more like watching a large tree fall in the forest. One moment he was vertical, the next he was horizontal. Masako walked up to him and lay a cool hand on forehead. He was clearly burning up.
Masako let out a small scream when he suddenly grabbed her hand. "Naru, your hand is tiny," exclaimed Lin. He then opened his eyes and took a long look at the owner of the hand.
It would be a lie to say that Masako's heart did not skip a beat when Lin stared at her. His grey eyes seemed strangely lucid and made her feel very exposed. When he slowly raised his head, her heart started to hammer in her chest but she did not draw away. Lin's face grew closer to hers and then he suddenly turned away... and threw up on her kimono.
After a quick shower and several attempts of trying not to throw up herself, she was feeling better. Unfortunately, her kimono was ruined and her only option was to wear Lin's clothes.
"This is the last time I help anyone," she muttered to herself as she folded up Lin's trousers. The only way she could wear his clothes was if she folded up his trousers and clothes. She was swiftly developing a dislike of the 6"4 Lin, particularly since it was so difficult to find anything to fit her delicate 5 foot frame.
"I look like an orphan from Oliver Twist," she groaned as she looked at her reflection.
When she walked out of the room, Lin was still in the place she had left him. She covered him with a blanket, but the memory of him gazing into her eyes made the blood rise in her cheeks. As she looked at him, he stirred. She jerked back and half walked, half fell out of the apartment in her hurry to leave Lin behind.
"Hara-san?" asked a voice outside the apartment.
She froze and cringed. Naru was here. She was stepping out of Lin's apartment. If it was not for the fact that she looked like a Dickensian character, this would have looked compromising. Naru was here. She finally gathered up the courage to turn around and look.
"Hello, Naru," she said somewhat weakly.
"Hara-san, what are you wearing?" His eyes narrowed, "Are those Lin's clothes?"
"He threw up on me."
A ghost of a smile flickered over his face, "And you're stealing his clothes as payback?"
"I didn't have anything to wear," she snapped.
"So he's ill. I assume that's why he did not pick up his phone. I came to look for him."
"I brought him back from the office, he really wasn't fit to come home by himself."
"Wouldn't it have been easier if you had just called me to take him back?" he asked with a curious light in his eyes.
"I have to go, he's in there," she said as she felt a blush rise in her cheeks and she hurried away.
Naru unlocked the door and walked in. He inspected the comatose form of Lin and adjusted the blanket.
"Lin, it looks like you've started something here," he said with a smirk.