Chicken-Pox

Kai was running with all his strength; his naked feet ached in response to being pushed against the cold dojo floor constantly, for more than half an hour. Breathing hard, he slammed the back door open, entering the Grandpa's garden and ran all the way across the other side. It was when he only had just relaxed, leaning his side against the big oak tree, that he heard the back door slam open again to reveal a very angry-looking Hiromi standing there with her fists by her sides. Her face was covered with sweat and she looked much more tired than he felt.

"How dare you…" She said through clenched teeth, leaving her sentence unfinished in her fury.

Hiromi slammed her foot against the wet, grassy ground and glared at Kai as she walked over to him. Kai, who couldn't run away now that that the infuriated brunette was blocking his path, just stood there, his eye-brows twitching in discomfort as he eyed the decreasing distance between him and deadly-looking friend of his. His crimson orbs turned towards Hiromi's face, where now stood tiny little red marks; an unwanted reminder of the sickness she had been going through in the past three days.

Kai backed away, suddenly nervous; he was still panting hard, a result of running around the house with Hiromi chasing him. He didn't know how she had found the sudden, unwavering strength to hunt someone around the house….just this morning, she couldn't even get up from her bed to drink a glass of water. Chasing someone around the dojo at 1 pm for half an hour, in her Pajama's, wasn't something she should have the ability, or the will to do.

"Hiromi," Kai started slowly and calmly, not wanting to enrage the brunette more than she already was. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"You already said that." Hiromi reminded him, stopping in her tracks just a few feet away. Kai noticed how her feet, just like his, were bare; exposed to the chilly weather outside.

"Please, 'Romi," He said in between ragged breaths. "Just get some rest. You can hit me afterwards, okay?"

Hiromi, as she crossed her arms across her chest, just huffed in more anger. It was pretty cold outside, and already, she could feel affect of the pain-killer she'd taken, wear off. She was exhausted, running around the house in an attempt to catch Kai. The guys, who had gone to the park to 'practice' as they'd put it when she'd woken up in the morning, weren't back yet. She was used to that behavior from them; it was her chicken pox. Her parents had been out of town on one of their business trips, and when she contracted Chicken Pox from her cousin last week, they'd told her to stay at the dojo, since no-one was there at her house to take care of her. The guys were glad to have helped, though they'd kept their distance. Tyson and Max would never be in the same room as hers for more than a minute, not that she minded or anything. Ray and Kenny would just come to check up on her once in a while.

Kai, who'd been the only one who had the guts to actually near her quarantine zone, was also the only one who she'd really talked to in the past three days. He kept reminding her to take her medicines, and kept bringing her the food she'd been to sick to get up for. He'd been talking to her when no-one else would. Hiromi knew that Kai was aware of the fact that her temporary little disease was contagious, and she distinctively remembered him telling her that he hadn't been vaccinated for it, but then again, he was a little less paranoid than the rest of their friends were. Kai, unlike the rest, knew that he'd catch the disease only if he and Hiromi somehow touched. So, he'd been looking after Hiromi, where her other 'friends' were refusing to. Though, Kai thought as he looked at the sick girl standing in front of him, she wasn't repaying him well.

"Hiromi, you're sick, please," He started again, repressing a sigh…He had to get her inside; she looked pretty beaten up. "Just go back to bed."

Hiromi eyes, as they took in Kai's expression, turned wary. Rage boiling inside of her still as she recalled the words Kai had said earlier, that had made her go into this state of frenzy.

Don't walk, He had said with a smirk, when Hiromi had gotten up for a glass of water, I'll have to carry you back if you faint…

Like mentioned, she'd been pretty used to everyone's behavior around her, but when Kai'd made a joke out of being reluctant to touch her, she'd snapped. It might have had something to do with the feelings she had for him, though. She felt betrayed, somewhat.. It was pretty childish, but she'd been angry at Kai for saying that; he'd hurt her feelings and sadistic as she was, she wanted her revenge…and she wanted it now. Her eyes glinted with a little vehemence, as Kai's small comment repeated itself in her mind, where, now, a plan was slowly forming.

That stupid ass of a friend of hers was going to pay….

"Hiromi?" Kai asked worriedly, when he noticed his ruby-eyed friend's freeze mid-step. Kai, who didn't know what was wrong, felt a lump in his throat as Hiromi's whole body started to shake. He took a few steps towards her, his panic combining with some annoyance. He'd told her to stay inside!

"`Romi?" He asked again, feeling a rush of fear, when she took a few steps backwards. She rested her hands against the wall, leaning at it for support, apparently and when Kai saw that, he immediately ran over to her side. Her shoulders moved quickly, as if she was breathing too hard, and the moment Kai reached her, her knees seemed to have given away, making her fall almost dutifully into Kai's outstretched arms.

"Damn it!" Kai cursed, as he picked the weak brunette off the floor. She seemed to be completely unconscious; he'd been fearing just this. Hiromi knew she didn't have the stamina to run around, he'd told her to stop! Why hadn't the stupid girl listened to him?

Sighing angrily, he carried her inside, to her 'quarantine zone', as everyone had put it and just when he was about to lay her down on the bed….

"Aaachhooo!"

Kai's eye-brows twitched in disgust.

"HIROMI!"

Next Day:

Kai had an angry frown on his face, as he lay next to Hiromi in her quarantine zone; her bed. The tiny red spots that were appearing all over his body were more apparent on his pale skin, than they'd been on Hiromi's slightly-tanner skin on the first day of her illness. He groaned as Hiromi gave him a smug smile. He wanted to smack her head for pretending to faint to get her revenge but he didn't think he had the energy to hit her any hard. How did her mind work this way…? Oh, right, she was EVIL….

"Problem solved," Hiromi said, pursing her lips teasingly at Kai, "You can touch me freely now."

She winked a bit flirtatiously, and Kai could only blink in response to her action. The sudden rage that had been boiling up inside him was blocked by the strange feeling of mischief as a plan crossed his minds.

"You're right." Kai whispered, turning himself completely towards the ruby-eyed brunette. He could see the confusion pass through her features at the unexpected smirk that he found himself unable to repress. It was now his time for revenge, "I can touch you now."

With that, his arms went around her waist, pressing her to the mattress. She struggled, but she was even weaker than Kai was right now, so that didn't help. She responded physically –he could feel her muscles tense up, her cheeks tinge red and her skin go warm at his touch– but not verbally. She looked shocked, and a little bit…pleased?

"You know," Kai whispered once more, as he glared at the devious brunette who was pinned underneath him, "This is the prefect time for you to apologize for what you did."

Hiromi pursed her lips again, her cheeks were still tainted pink and she pretended to think for a few seconds before she answered with a satisfied smile.

"I think I'm gonna pass."

Kai smirked.

XXXxxxXXXxxxXXX

So, what'ya think of my second one-shot? This one was inspired by my baby-cousin, who had chicken pox, and she came to our house when she was better… She was running around the house, with her fists in the air, yelling 'Chicken Pox!'….:) She KNEW they're contagious, and she was chasing everyone around the house, threatening them to cook her some noodles or she'll touch them….lol! She's such a sweety….Well, I was just thinking about it, and this story just formed in my mind. I wanted to go somewhere else with it, I wanted for Hilary to chase Kai around the house and for Kai to hide under the tables and in the closets, you know, just to get away from Chicken-Pox-Hiromi, but somehow, while writing it, the story changed into something else.

I've never had Chicken Pox before, so I don't know very much about that illness. I don't know how long it takes to catch a fever after you've touched someone with that disease, so spare me if Kai got sick TOO soon; I couldn't find that bit on Google.

Anyway, weird ending, right? But whatever, that's alright. Aside from the ending, though, I'm satisfied with it. One more thing; thanks to KaiHil-Lover, who found the courage to read this story before she edited it out. Thanks for saying that it didn't need much editing and thanks for correcting the nickname-mistake. Love you…:)

Review, everyone!