Here is my first fanfiction for SakuraPet! I wrote this the day after I saw episode 6, so it's kinda just based after that. I haven't read the novels or seen beyond episode 6 at this point, so sorry if it turns out being inaccurate or something. I hope you like it!

Dedicating this to clueless1337 for their help in requesting the category! Without them, my story wouldn't be here.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo :(

Until You Fall Asleep

A soft, white paw prodded Sorata awake as it poked at his face.

"Hikari..." he groaned. "Why can't you sleep in the morning instead of the afternoon?" he mumbled, pushing the cat, who seemed to be grinning with triumph, off of him. He sat up in his bed and stretched, thankful that it was the weekend at long last.

As he glanced around his familiar room, the events of the past few days came washing back over him. It had been several days since Nanami had moved into Sakurasou and then proceeded taking over Mashiro Duty from him. However, two days ago she had fallen ill with a high fever, causing her to flunk her voice acting performance. Yet, since he recognized her hard work, she seemed to finally come to terms with the fact that she was no longer all alone and did not have to do everything by herself anymore. Mashiro had stayed by her bedside, holding her hand that night.

Reflecting on the fresh memories with somewhat of a smile, Sorata realized that, despite her inability to look after herself, Mashiro excelled in perception skills when it came to taking care of others. Despite rushing around the day before, assisting to 'whisk the princess away' and almost completely putting aside the news of her own debut, Mashiro had stayed awake with Nanami the entire night with little sleep.

Sorata realized she had been asleep the entire day yesterday because of that, and although slightly worried that she might injure herself with some basic household appliance, he had left her alone to get some rest yesterday. She deserves that much at least. He reasoned. Shiina's been working really hard too, especially these past few days.

The thing that gave him peace of mind about leaving her to her own devices was that Mashiro was very unlike Nanami in the sense that she was not afraid to fall asleep whenever she felt like it.

"I'll let her sleep a while longer, then check on her after breakfast." He decided, slipping out from under his blankets as Hikari leaped to the floor. She mewed impatiently as he got dressed into some casual pants and a t-shirt. "Alright, alright, I'm coming. Geez..." he sighed with a small smile as he slipped on his socks. Hikari lead him to the kitchen where the other cats were waiting and frantic as Sorata poured their food.

"Gooood morniiing, Kouhai-kyun!" Misaki shouted her greeting as usual as soon as she noticed him enter the kitchen. "I hope you're in the mood for the pre-formed spawn of the mighty eagle!"

"Good morning, Senpai. And if that means eggs, then yes, I'd love some." He replied before turning his attention to the other person in the room. "Oh, good morning, Jin-san."

"Yo. Morning." The older boy responded with the usual grin. "I just delivered Ryuu's food, so don't worry about it."

"Thanks."

The three of them helped one another make enough omelets for everyone still yet to arrive as well as for themselves. "I guess Aoyama's still worn out." Sorata noted when he had finished eating and her seat was still vacant. "I'll go see if Shiina's up yet." Excusing himself from the table, Sorata stepped past the cats, hungrily inhaling their food, and slid open the door to the hallway.

Just then, a flurry of footsteps suddenly grew louder as they neared, and an instant later, Nanami appeared before him, still in her pajamas.

"Uwoh!" The two shouted as they stumbled apart from one another. Sorata managed to ask first, "Aoyama, what's wrong?"

She looked to be all better; her cheeks were a healthy color again and she seemed alert and energetic like her old self. But her frazzled hair and the slight spark of panic in her eyes suggested something was amiss.

"K-Kanda-kun! Oh good, quick come with me!" She hastily grabbed his hand and began rushing back the way she had come, too on-edge to even realize how she was so blatantly touching him at the moment.

"W-What's going on?" The baffled drag-along asked as he stumbled after her.

"It's Mashiro!" The girl cried, striding toward their destination.

"Shiina? What did she do this time?" He asked with the beginnings of a sigh.

"T-That's just it!" Nanami exclaimed, looking back at him with exasperation and worry. "She won't do anything!"

"Hah?" Sorata had no time to ask further questions as he was finally pulled to a stop outside of Mashiro's room, the colorful sign on the door reminding him of the colorful mess of various clothing he was bound to find inside.

Without knocking, Nanami thrust open the door and dashed inside the room in a panic with Sorata on her heels. The room was mildly messy, probably because the inhabitant had not been awake long enough throughout the past several days to destroy it to the point of a tornado blowing through, like usual.

The bed was, of course, empty due to Mashiro's lack of caring where she fell asleep, for the most part, and Nanami immediately halted in the middle of the room. Sorata peered over her shoulder to find Mashiro lying on the floor with her back toward them.

Instantly, he understood Nanami's fluster. Mashiro often fell asleep at her desk with her tablet pen still in her hand, or she would deliberately curl up underneath the desk in a haphazard pile of clothing like some stray cat.

But the manner in which she was lying on the floor presently was not a normal position, even for the artistic genius, to fall asleep in. She still wore her attire from two days ago, a light orange shirt and white skirt, suggesting she had not even bothered to change clothes since the night she stayed beside Nanami. Her frazzled, creamy hair pooled messily around her, covering her shoulders and all down her back and even shielding most of her face.

No matter how he looked at her, Sorata knew this was the position of a person who had unwillingly collapsed unconscious.

"I've tried everything!" Nanami fretted, kneeling down beside the unmoving girl. "She just won't wake up! Kanda-kun, what should we do?"

"C-Calm down first." He said, also trying to keep his own head straight. Just like Aoyama, she must have collapsed from fatigue. I swear, these girls... He knelt down next to Nanami and peered over Mashiro's limp shoulder at her face. "Does she have a fever, too?" Mumbling, he reached his hand down and pressed it against her forehead.

Usually, Mashiro would awaken upon physical contact if the verbal did not work, but even as his hand touched her skin, she did not so much as flinch. To his dismay, she felt cold rather than warm, which only served to make the lump in his throat thicken.

"H-Hey..." Nanami stammered. "Is she breathing? She's breathing, right?" She sounded as though she was trying to reassure herself as she stared at her unresponsive friend.

"D-Don't be ridiculous." Sorata murmured. "Of course she's breathing." Right? He bit back his fear as he placed a hand on Mashiro's shoulder before gently turning her toward them and lying her on her back. Nanami watched worriedly as Sorata grasped Mashiro's small wrist, wincing at how cold she was.

There was a long moment of silence within the room as Sorata felt a small fluter beneath his fingertips, but was unable to decipher if it was Mashiro's pulse or his own. But it soon became apparent to him that she was, in fact, breathing. Her chest was rising and falling, but it was extremely slow, so much so that it appeared she was not moving at all.

A small flicker of relief rose within the two concerned companions as they noticed this, but it was still obvious that Mashiro was very unwell. Her face was paler than usual and she must not have moved from the cold, hard floor for nearly an entire day and night, if not longer.

"Should we call the hospital? She's not anemic, is she?" Nanami began fretting aloud again.

"Sensei never mentioned it, so I don't think that's the case. It's probably just sleep-deprivation, and I don't think she's eaten much in the past few days..."

"Oh no... I-I've got to go to work soon..." Nanami mumbled, conflicted.

"Don't worry about it." Sorata intervened. "I've got nothing else to do all day, so I'll look after her." The last thing he wanted was Nanami believing Mashiro's illness was due to Mashiro's taking care of Nanami beforehand, for then Nanami would probably attend to her all night and get sick again, which would only serve to continue in a vicious, painful cycle.

But Nanami seemed eased by his offer to take care of Mashiro, he was the original expert, after all. "Okay." She agreed. "But I'll go get Chihiro Sensei right now, just in case." With something else to do now to fulfill her endless busybody energy, Nanami got to her feet before racing out of the room.

Left alone with his charge, Sorata decided that he should at least move her onto her bed. First, he cleared the discarded articles of random clothing away before pulling down the covers to reveal her pillow.

He then returned to kneel beside Mashiro and carefully slid his arms underneath her knees and shoulders. He lifted her slim figure and was even a little concerned about how easy it had been. Her head fell limply against his chest as he brought her closer to him, feeling the urge to hold her as closely to himself as possible in order to keep her warm.

W...What am I doing? He shook his head forcefully and shoved the strange thoughts from his mind. Of course, Mashiro was adorable, particularly when she was asleep with her trademark bedhead, but he was not so sure he really liked her in that way just yet. Also, he reminded himself that she was not particularly sleeping but rather unconscious, and that snapped him back into reality.

He carried her over to the bed and laid her down before pulling the covers up to her chest. He reached forward and began smoothing out her frizzy hair, not fully aware of what he was doing. But as soon as he heard noises from outside, he immediately withdrew his hand and stood at attention stance as the door opened. Chihiro appeared, seeming as if she had just been roused from sleep as she stalked into the room, Nanami standing timidly in the doorway behind.

"I swear, you kids..." The teacher grumbled, seemingly having similar thoughts as Sorata's earlier. "You're all just going to keep getting sick at this rate, and then you'll try to take care of each other and get ever sicker until you're all in the hospital together!"

Sorata stepped aside as she reached the bed and felt Mashiro's forehead. She, too, was taken aback at the chill on her cousin's skin, but refused to let her worry show. "She just needs some rest, and then when she wakes up, some food and a warm bath." She diagnosed, before straightening up to glare at the other two occupants in the room. "You heard me, so scram. The next person to get sick around here is going to get it." She threatened as she shooed them out.

When Chihiro left as well and headed toward the kitchen, Sorata and Nanami hung back outside Mashiro's room.

"Well, I've got to go to work until this evening..." Nanami said regretably.

"Are you sure? You're still recovering, yourself." He reminded her.

"A-Ah, I'm just fine! Don't worry, I won't push myself so hard anymore." She blushed a bit as she said this, making Sorata feel a bit better.

"Alright." He agreed. "And don't worry about Shiina."

"Mm." The girl nodded with a tiny grin before taking her leave.

Sorata decided to head back to the kitchen and tell the others about Mashiro's sudden illness.

"Whaaaaaaat?!" Misaki cried out. "Not Mashiro-chan, too! Oh, what is this cruel world coming to?!" She wailed.

"It's okay, she'll be fine." Sorata said, trying to reassure himself as well.

"So what are you going to do?" Jin asked as he began cleaning up plates from the table.

"Well, Sensei said to leave her alone for now, and that the next person to get sick would 'get it'." He recalled, a little nervously. "But I know I'll be fine. I don't work long hours into the night like some people around here. Plus, wouldn't it be kind of lonely to wake up feeling unwell and not having anyone there?" As he spoke, he noticed the faces of his two upperclassmen go from somewhat serious to teasingly catlike.

"D'aaaaw how romantic, Kouhai-kun!" Misaki purred.

"That's something straight out of a shoujo manga, my man." Jin added with a gleam in his eyes.

"Y-You guys-! It's not like that!" Sorata tried to defend himself, but Jin cut him off.

"Anyway, what exactly do you think I'll 'get' from Chihiro-san if I get sick next?" Jin wondered suggestively.

"Oy."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Jin laughed, waving his hand as Sorata glared back at him.

"Whatever." The younger boy sighed hopelessly before deciding what to do for the day. "I'll go for a walk and see how Shiina's doing when I get back." He announced as he exited the room.

I hope she's awake by then... He prayed, forcing down the spark of worry he felt inside.

When Sorata returned from his walk, it was a little after noontime, and he found that Chihiro had left until evening, giving him an eased conscious when he entered Mashiro's room again.

To his dismay, the girl genius had not appeared to have moved so much as a centimeter since he had left her that morning. But just for good measure, he tried to rouse her anyway.

"Shiina. Oy, Shiina..." he reached down and gently shook her shoulder, but she merely moved like a limp doll beneath his hand, and he stopped for fear he was hurting her somehow. "You know you can't stay asleep forever, right? You still have manga to draw, pictures to paint, and baumkuchen to eat." He reminded her.

When still she gave no signs of reply, Sorata decided to tidy up her room as per usual. He rearranged various manga pages and drawings into neat piles on her desk before he began assorting her misplaced clothes.

After about half an hour of tidying up, he slid the last crooked book back into place on her desk before letting out an accomplished sigh.

As his eyes wandered back toward the bed, he noticed that Mashiro's eyebrows had furrowed slightly, as if she were having a bad dream. Upon closer inspection, he found she was shivering slightly and hurriedly rummaged through her closet and pulled out another blanket to drape on top of her.

He realized there was a cold sweat beading on her forehead and Sorata headed for the bathroom, grabbing a cloth and dampening it with warm water before rushing back to her. Padding the material against her face, he hoped to warm her up, even if just a little bit. Sorata used the dry end of the cloth to wipe off the thin layer of water, and without fully realizing it, rested his free hand on Mashiro's shoulder. Her body shuddered suddenly and Sorata immediately thought something was wrong until a small sound escaped her lips.

"Mm..."

He had heard that noise enough times to know it meant she was on the verge of waking up, and relief crashed over him.

He pulled the cloth away and stepped back as her eyelashes twitched with effort as she tried to lift them. Finally, her light auburn irises were revealed for the first time within days, and although they were glazed with dreariness, they were still a very dazzling sight.

It was a moment before her vision shifted into focus and her eyes found his. "Sorata..." Her voice was even smaller than it normally was and was carried out on a thin, tired breath. "How's Nanami?"

Sorata opened his mouth, about to tell her that she was the one who needed to be worried about right now, but quickly stopped himself from saying so. That's just how she is.

"She's fine, thanks to you." He answered her with a small smile. "But you, on the other hand... You've been out for nearly two days now."

"...Out...?" She repeated, still confused.

"You passed out after taking care of Aoyama all night long." He informed her. "Ah w-wait! Let me help you!" He blurted out as he saw her try to push herself up. Dropping the cloth, he reached forward to prop up her pillow and gingerly helped her sit up to lean against it. Just that much alone seemed to consume a considerable amount of her energy, however, and she swayed sideways. "Oy, take it easy!" He said as he supported her. "You need to get your strength back." He made sure she was steady before he let go of her.

With her head bowed slightly, her hair screening her face on the sides, and her irregular breathing, she was the very image of fatigue, and it pained him just to look at her at the moment.

"My stomach hurts..." she murmured.

"That's because it's empty." He told her. "I'll go make you something." He got to his feet before quickly adding. "You stay here. Don't move around too much. Just take it easy and relax."

He made sure that she had no intentions of getting out of bed before he rushed to the kitchen. It only took him a few minutes to make a warm bowl of miso soup and he was back at her door within no time. "Shiina, I'm coming in." He announced as he opened the door, slipped inside and then kicked it closed.

Mashiro sat just as he had left her, except the blankets had been slightly moved, as had her arms, for they were both crossed over her stomach now. Sorata went over to her and placed his free hand on top of hers. "Come on, you've got to try and eat. You haven't had anything for over a day."

But Mashiro shook her head from side to side.

"It hurts..." she panted weakly.

"It's only soup. Just try, please." He begged, knowing it would at least warm her up a little.

She blinked her tired auburn eyes up at him before she nodded once, trusting him enough to try.

"Good girl." He removed his hand from hers and handed her the bowl. Mashiro shakily lifted her hands to grasp the bowl, but he felt it would end badly if he let her do this herself, so he placed his hands around hers to keep her steady.

Deciding that he did not like the thought of her handling spoonfuls of hot soup on her own either, Sorata gulped once and ended up feeding her.

At first, Mashiro ate slowly, as if her stomach truly did hurt, but after a few moments, the hollow feeling must have died away to be replaced with a healthy hunger, and she soon drained the entire bowl. Sorata placed it on her desk, relieved, but then saw that she was holding her shoulder. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Does your shoulder hurt, too?"

"No." She rasped. "Sorata's hand... was warm..."

"Ah. I see." He blushed a bit as he avoided her gaze. "Are you still cold?"

"A little." She admitted.

"Okay, then you should take a hot bath." He knew the potential danger of this suggestion, but it was the only way to get her well again. "Do... Do you need my help?" All the other female residents were presently out and he did not want Mashiro to have to suffer being cold until one of them returned.

"I can do it." She replied, which made his eyes widen in shock.

"Really?" He blurted out. "Uh, I mean, you... you really don't need my help?"

"I can do it." She repeated. "You've done enough for me."

"That doesn't usually make a difference any other day..." he trailed off, imagining her slipping and falling and breaking some part of her body. "I'll at least start the water and pick out your pajamas."

As Sorata went off to do these things, Mashiro pushed the blankets off of her legs and she was instantly assaulted with chills, considering she was only wearing a mini skirt. She slipped her bare feet onto the floor as Sorata finished finding her pajamas. "Hold on, let me help you." He took her left hand in his and used his right arm to support her shoulders as he slowly pulled her up to her feet.

It was obvious that she had not walked in two days, for almost immediately, she stumbled and Sorata swiftly caught her. Maybe this was a bad idea... He helped her cross the room one step at a time, with her legs still quivering from chills and numbness.

By the time they reached the bathroom, she was leaning almost her full weight on him and Sorata desperately leaned her back against the sink for fear of letting her slip through his arms. She was breathing hard and her body was trembling again, and Sorata watched her anxiously.

"Shiina..."

"Ma...Mashiro..." she corrected through ragged breaths.

"I don't think I can let you do this after all." He sighed.

"I can do it." She huffed.

"I can't see how." He retorted, not unkindly. "What happens if you get dizzy and don't realize the water's reached your mouth? I'm not risking you drowning or slipping and injuring yourself. Let's just wait until Aoyama or Senpai gets home."

"I can do it." She repeated, staring meaningfully up at him. He saw the stubbornness imbedded in her irises and knew it was too late to change her mind now; unless he physically forced her to go back, she would stay here. But there was no way he was going to do such a terrible thing as grab an unwilling and additionally sick girl by the arm and drag her back to her room.

"Fine." He gave in. "But just wait a few minutes until your head stops spinning." He could tell she had a headache just from the way she leaned against him.

He rubbed her back for several minutes as her breathing slowed back to normal and her shivering stopped. At last, she let out a long sigh before raising her head. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I can do it." She nodded.

"Alright. If you're not out in 15 minutes, I'll knock and make sure you're all right." He hesitantly let her go, but she did not stumble or sway. "If you need anything at all just call for me."

"Mm." She nodded and he left the room.

He did not hear any crashing or sounds that would indicate she had slipped or fallen, but after 10 minutes of waiting he began to feel anxious. Do all girls usually take this long? No, some take even longer, don't they?

Just as he was about to get up and knock to make sure she was okay, the bathroom door opened to reveal Mashiro in her purple pajama pants and matching long-sleeved shirt. Although the shirt was entirely unbuttoned, it was probably one of the best jobs of dressing herself he had seen from her since he had gotten to know her.

"Oy, come on." He sighed, a little scoldingly to hide his utter relief. "You can't walk around like that, even in here. You need to stay warm." Leaning down a bit, he slipped the bottom button through the partnering hole and worked his way up, trying his best not to look at the glimpses of bare skin revealed beneath the fabrics while still trying to close the buttons. Once he passed over her chest and fastened the last one just beneath her collarbones, he let out another long sigh of relief.

"Ah, wait, come back here." He took her wrist as she tried to walk past him. "You didn't dry your hair."

He sat her down on the toilet as he fumbled with the chord for the hair dryer. A little disturbed at just how good he was at this, he turned it on and began drying her long, light brown hair until it turned back to its usual creamy color.

The warm air blasting over her shoulders and down her back made Mashiro so comfortable that she almost closed her eyes and fell asleep, but she just barely managed to stop herself from doing so. Sorata's hand occasionally touched her back as he moved her hair from side to side to dry it, and she thought his hand was warmer than anything else.

When he finally finished, Sorata took a towel and rubbed it atop her head before padding it down her back. "There." He said, sounding accomplished.

"Sorata." She said as she unexpectedly touched his hand.

"W-What is it?"

"You're warm."

"...Huh?"

"You make me warm." She tried to clarify, but it just sounded like something he could easily misinterpret. Fortunately, he managed to force certain thoughts out of his mind as he replied.

"Ah, yeah. That's good. I'm glad you're not cold anymore." He smiled. "Come on, let's go back."

She hardly needed any assistance in getting back to her bed this time, which told him she was starting to recover. But when she sat down at her computer chair, Sorata instantly became flustered.

"W-What are you doing?" he cried.

"I haven't worked on it in two days." She explained, locating her tablet.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He instantly denied her and stopped her hand before it could reach the tablet. "You can't start working on your manga now. It's almost nighttime. Just got to bed."

"I can do that later."

"No, you can do it now." He said defiantly. "You're just starting to get better. If you rest now and get a good night's sleep you can work on it tomorrow, I promise."

Mashiro blinked up at him several times, as if calculating the truth of his words before she replied.

"Okay."

"Good." He took her hand and stood her up before leading her back to her bed. "Just rest." He told her as she obediently climbed onto the mattress. Although he laid her pillow down for her, Mashiro remained sitting up. "What is it?" He asked.

"Come here."

"W...What?" He asked cautiously as he stepped closer.

"Kneel."

"Hah?"

"Kneel down." She repeated.

"Why should I-?"

"Sorata-"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" He yelped, feeling as if she were yelling at him in her own, monotone way. He knelt onto the floor so that the two of them were just about face-level with one another. Just as he was about to ask what it was she wanted, Mashiro reached her arms around his shoulders and embraced him. "W-W-W-W-What are you-?!" he shouted, trying to keep his composure.

"Thank you." She breathed in her usual, small voice.

Sorata fell silent as he heard her speak. He relaxed a bit as she continued to hold him, hugging his head to her chest. For some reason, he felt this was all right for the moment, and let his eyes close.

Her embrace was certainly warm and she smelled of peach blossoms and soap. He could hear the faint murmur of her fluttering heartbeat as it thumped rhythmically within her chest. "Are you warm?" She asked, and he felt the small rumble her voice made within her stomach. He was about to ask what she meant exactly, until he recalled her words from earlier, that he made her warm. So she's just repaying the favor, huh? I see...

"Yes." He answered as he restrained himself from wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Good." She sounded satisfied as she pulled back, and the warmth of her chest left him, her arms falling from his shoulders. "Then you can sleep with me."

"...Eh?"

"You can sleep with me tonight." She said.

"What the hell?!" He shouted. "H-How could you even think about saying something like that to a guy?! Are you insane?!"

"I could ask Nanami."

"NOOOOOO!" He cried. "Do you even realize what you just said?"

"I said you can sleep with me."

"DON'T SAY IT AGAIN!" He yelled. He buried his face into his hands as he tried to calm down.

"If we make each other warm, why can't we sleep together?" She wondered.

"Didn't I tell you not to-" he cut off when he realized that he was only hearing her words for what he wanted them to mean, not what she intended them to mean. She was only asking to sleep beside me so we can keep each other warm, while I was off thinking perverted things... He was not even sure if she was capable of seduction or anything along those lines, considering what he had seen in the past. "Listen," he said. "I can't stay in your room and you can't stay in mine, or else it will cause problems. But..." he trailed off mumbling.

"But...?" She parroted.

"But...since you're not feeling well..." he went on, appalled at himself that he was making excuses. "I can at least stay here... until you fall asleep." When he had finally forced the words out, Mashiro seemed content enough with his suggestion and she nodded with a small smile.

Sighing with relief yet again, Sorata turned off the light in her room as she laid down on her side facing him. He pulled all the blankets up over her and she clutched at them, still trembling ever so slightly.

"Good night, Sorata." She mumbled as she closed her eyes.

"Yeah..." he gently rested his hands on top of hers and squeezed them tightly, causing her to sigh happily.

As he gazed at her face for a second before he remembered Nanami telling him not to do that, he reflected on the events of the hectic day and realized it had ended up as just another normal day for him attending to Mashiro. But I guess, in a way, these are the best kinds of days for me. He smiled, making sure not to get drowsy and end up falling asleep in her room.

By now, Mashiro's breathing had already slowed and deepened, and he expected she must have been very exhausted. He squeezed her hands one last time as he stood up.

"Good night, Mashiro." He whispered.

A small smile formed on her lips as he said her name, and Sorata just barely managed to stop himself from running his fingers through her temptingly soft hair.

Turning toward the door, he left her sleeping, already somewhat eager to see her again tomorrow morning.

A/N: Ahh curse this ending. I just couldn't stop adding things to it, and then before I knew it, the ending sucked. Sorry about that, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.

Please review!