Sunabouzu fanfic

A small attempt at writing something.

Fever

Fever is one of the worst things that can happen on a desert. Even more during work. Especially when the "work" involved at first a simple transport of precious jewelry, but ended up with a shooting marathon with some bandits.

Luckily the job ended safely, so that a very satisfied Desert Punk with a paycheck and his pupil made their way to the boy's hometown. Nothing seemed unusual on the way back through the desert yet for the apprentice who had been for quite some time with the famous Desert Punk she noticed that something was off with her master's behavior.

He did less perverted jokes or any complains towards her than usual. That itself made her a bit worried. It didn't even look like he had another of his wet dreams or something.

But she kept quiet and decided to observe the situation a little more. That was until they reached their destination. As it was still afternoon they met on the way to her master's house some of their acquaintances. Of course, it wasn't without any remarks mostly directed toward the boy. It went like "What! Still alive? What a shock considering the previous jobs" coming from the Kawaguchi brothers or "Still a scumbag as always I see" from other ones. She didn't pay much attention to their insults as she was more worried about said boy's condition when he didn't even reply to any of the comments which surprised the others. He simply continued his walk not bothering to take off his mask till he reached his house and fell onto his bed. Meanwhile Kosuna after fetching some water, went to the house in order to check her master's condition. What she saw made her pale. The famous Desert Punk, tough as steel nails, her master whom she considered as strong, was sweating and panting like there was no tomorrow. And it wasn't from a wet dream. After overcoming from the first shock, she quickly proceeded to him taking off his mask and cloths leaving him only in shorts and a white t-shirt before positioning him on his back so he lay with his head on the pillow. Then, she took the fetched water and lightly soaked a clean rag in it.

She gently placed it onto his forehead. She wanted to help him in some way, but didn't know what to do. She had heard about how easy it was to catch a fever in the desert yet she never got one nor anyone she knew. That meant that she had to ask for help. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she turned and ran off to the town. Once there, she abruptly stopped.

"I have to ask someone, but who?" thought she nervously looking around. Her logic was getting with every second worse and worse. She was too worried to think rationally. Her self panicking came to a halt at the touch of a familiar hand.

"Yo. What's up? Weren't you with the idiot just now?" asked the oldest of the Kawaguchi brothers who then realized the distress of the girl.

"What's wrong? Something happened?" turned to her the second oldest, Akio with Haruo behind him.

"I-I-I" stuttered the still bewildered girl who made a rather twisted face.

"Firstly take a sip and calm down" suggested Fuyuo as he handed over his can. Kosuna gratefully took the can before drinking from it. She let out a more becalmed sigh and with a straight yet still worried eyes said to them: "Master has a fever"

What happened next left her utterly dumbfounded. The three began a spasmatic laugh.

"The great famous Desert Punk finally getting it. No wonder he had a dull response earlier" could be heard from the three.

After good minutes of their laugher, they finally cooled down. Seeing the very confused expression on the little girl, the oldest started to more or less explain: "You see, the idiot is so up-straight that under no conditions he would never show any sign of weakness. More like insanity, but nevertheless. Even so for him to catch a fever."

He started another round of giggles yet was halfway stopped by Kosuna.

"What can I do? I don't know if the clinic would just give us medicine after we didn't pay the bill last time. It's the first time I see someone having a fever" said she with a more nervous face.

Normally, the Kawaguchi brothers would care less about the condition of the idiot, who would either way yet seeing the sincerity in her eyes they couldn't help, but feel sorry for her. So after a little thought they decided to give her some advice.

"Well, I don't think you need to worry that much. A fever from a desert will go away with only a few tablets against fever which you can buy in the shop on the corner for a good prize. Someone as tough as him will get better even faster. Idiots don't die from such petty things" tried the second oldest of the brothers which seemed to work somehow on the girl who looked more becalmed after knowing what to buy and where.

"Especially scumbags like him. And it's good to give water from time to time, just for future reference." added the second oldest with a smile.

"He won't die before we kill him" assured the youngest giving her a big smile. Kosuna seemed more calm to the relief of the Kawaguchi brothers.

"Thank you for the advice, but still, " said she with a small sad smile catching of the three off guard, "he is my master whom I very respect. Even though I know he is a strong person, I can't help worrying."

She bowed down in a thankful manner and rushed off leaving the very surprised brothers. They stayed so for a good minute before the oldest told the others:

"The bastard can consider himself lucky for having someone like her."

All of them nodded to that and couldn't wait till the latter got better. They wouldn't let him off the hook so easily. A dark aura emitted from the three which meant that after the next minutes the town would be flooded with new rumors concerning a certain sick guy.

In the mean time Kosuna purchased the medicine and got back to her master's house. His condition didn't seem to have gotten better so she poured some water into a glass, took the tablets and kneed before her master's head gently heaving it up in order to give him his medicine. Of course as he was barely conscious, she had to forcefully make him eat it which after some failed attempts ended successfully. Then, she wiped off most of his sweat with a piece of cloth she had found before making him take another sip of water. The night went with the same pattern which she strictly followed after the advice she had been given. Roughly at 6am she fell asleep on a chair next to her master's bed. She would have liked to stay awake till her master woke up, but after taking care of him for the whole night, sleep overtook her already tired from the night and the transportation job body.

A few hours later at noon, the sick man woke up with a rather refreshing feeling. He didn't feel the heaviness in his body that came from the fever nor the piercing headache. On the contrary, he felt as light as a feather.

"I knew a good nights sleep would solve this," thought he smugly when he noticed a crumpled figure of a certain girl with heavy bags under her eyes, sleeping soundly despite her position. Next to her he saw an opened box with tablets, an empty glass of water and a piece of cloth on the table. When he tried to sit up, a wet rag fell from his forehead. At first he was confused by what that all could mean, but then something clicked in his mind and he put one and one together. A small yet genuine smile graced on his rough features.

"This brat…" mumbled he under his nose before standing up to dress up. When he got ready he noticed the girl shift a bit in her sleep. He came closer to her, took her into his arms bridal style before placing her onto his bed as delicately as he could. He peeked at her one more time and headed out to the town to get something to eat. He idly wondered what the girl liked to eat.

While thinking about his way of thanking her, he walked forward not knowing about the very interesting rumors and the remarks that awaited him once he got there.

At the very least he had someone that cared about him.

And the feeling was mutual.

Not that she had to know about it.