"Achoo." A sneeze escaped. The sneezes have been going on for twenty minutes and everyone within the vicinity was already fed up with them.
It was early afternoon in the Japan. People were bustling and hustling, to and fro, to their destinations. A peaceful, yet modestly productive day for everyone who was outside and enjoying the sun's rays as they shined down upon the country. However, not everyone was as lively this day.
"Achoo." Another of the dreadful sounds escaped. These sounds were thought to be dreadful in the minds of an overly-weighted white cat and an overly-sized black crow. They turned their heads and focused their eyes on the culprit who had been erupting said dreadful noises.
"Really, Baron? Do you have to 'spray' that everywhere?" Muta complained. Baron woke up this morning with an annoying headache. His nose kept sniffling from all the sneezes he had let out, and his whole body ached for no particular reason. The dapper cat just looked at Muta.
"My apologies…(sniffle)… Muta. I can't really… (cough)… control where I aim. (sniffle)" Baron said sarcastically. He pulled out a handkerchief from his coat pocket and wiped his nose with it. Actually, multiple tissues and handkerchiefs littered the Bureau's floor with how many he had already used. The orange cat pulled his coat closer to his body as he started shivering slightly from the faint breeze. He had no idea how he ended up with this cold, and he was nowhere near close to being fond of it. A few coughs came out of Baron as he accidentally let go of the white fabric in his hand. Gazing down at the handkerchief on the floor, he didn't bother to clean up his mess as he sighed and leaned back into his chair. Muta and Toto couldn't do anything for the half-cat, so they just looked at him in pity.
"Isn't there like a medicine you could take to help with this cold of yours?" the fat cat asked, pleading hinted in his voice. He was getting really annoyed with Baron's endless sneezes.
"Medicines don't work on Creations, puffball. All we can do is live through this like normal." The black crow stated. Baron just looked at the other two members inside as he groaned in annoyance, from the soon to start argument, and pain, from his throat hurting.
"You wanna run that by me again, chicken wings." Muta insulted. Toto just looked at him with irritation.
"You really need to get your brain checked out. If you have one, that is." Toto remarked. Before they could continue, another sneeze came from Baron, silencing their argument before it could escalate. Baron breathed heavily as he closed his eyes, hoping that his sickness would just disappear in the blink of an eye. With all the magic he contained within himself, a simple cold got the best of him. The cat and crow just sighed at the sight before them.
"Maybe we should take you to Haru." Toto offered. Baron opened up his eyes and looked at Toto.
"I don't want to… (sniffle)… bother her with… (sniffle)… something as simple… (cough)(cough)… as this." He remarked, sighing as another sneeze worked its way out of him.
"Well we don't really have any other options considering the state you're in." Toto responded. With a huge sigh and a very big cat's yawn, Baron stood up and slowly walked to the doors. Thinking what he was doing, Toto jumped out of the window and onto the cobblestone ground as Muta kept a distance from the gentle-cat. He didn't want to end up sick like the one in front of him.
Gripping a few of Toto's feathers, Baron struggled to try and get on the crow's back. However, he failed to realize how much numbing pain his body was in. With a soft sigh, Baron fell to his knees as his legs gave out on him. His body was really weak as the sickness spread throughout his system. He was really tired. Toto gave Baron a sympathetic sigh. He wasn't used to seeing his friend so helpless and weak like this. Turning his head to look at the big white cat behind him, Toto gestured for assistance. Muta just grunted as he walked up to the collapsed Baron and grabbed him by his waist. Being as gentle as he could, Muta placed Baron on top of Toto's back. As soon as he let go, Baron's body gave out and gently collided his head with the back of the crow's neck, breathing heavily and looking red as a beet.
"I'll fly him to Haru's while you go and see King Lune. Maybe there's something for Baron that can help him get over this sickness." Toto said. With that, he took off into the air while being careful with his passenger as much as he could. The journey itself wasn't as long, but all the coughs erupting from Baron made it seem longer than it took. Toto knew his friend was in terrible shape. He just hoped Haru could help.
In the small house of a certain brunette, a loud groan of stress and suffering erupted into the silent air that made up the household. Haru had just gotten home from school, earlier than usual. She had come down with her best friend's cold from a weak ago. The girl was excused from the rest of the school day, but the walk back towards her home made her feel worse than ever. She pulled out a tissue from the fourth box she had on her desk as she struggled to use her vision properly and look at the equations of her homework. Her studies were going nowhere with how sick she felt, and she didn't want to fall behind because of it. In reality, she wasn't even behind by a longshot, but this cold was messing with her thought process.
Gently laying her head upon her propped-up arm, she continuously tried to look at the symbols that made up her homework, getting nowhere near as finished than she was an hour ago. Her head collapsed out of her grip as she crossed her arms and laid on the desk with disappointment. Unknowingly, her mother entered her room and looked at the sight that her daughter was in.
"Haru, I told you to rest up. You need to be in bed. And you haven't even gotten out of your school uniform yet." Naoko informed. Haru turned her head to look at her mother.
"I'm sorry. But Baron would never forgive me if he saw me falling behind in my schoolwork." Haru complained. The brunette had introduced her mother to the Creation about four weeks ago. Sad to say, her mother fainted at the sight of the small town and its inhabitants, but after a few hours of getting to know everyone, Naoko understood why her daughter had been disappearing a lot. She was skeptical at first about her daughter's feelings towards the Cat Creation, but then began to see her perspective with his gentlemanly manners and caring for Haru.
"Baron, also, wouldn't forgive you if he saw that you were wasting yourself away by not resting and letting your mother take care of you." She argued right back. She must've won the argument because Haru got up from her desk and made her way towards her bed. In a few seconds, the brunette plopped onto the mattress and groaned from the impact. Smiling at her daughter's behavior, Naoko picked up the fallen tissues with a trash bag and took them out of the room.
"I'll be back with some tea while I make some soup. Just try and get some rest for now." She said. The grunt and three coughs she heard from the teenager were the confirmation she needed as she exited out of the room and back downstairs.
A few minutes after, Haru heard a tapping on her window. Slowly raising her head in pain, she turned to see a familiar black crow on her sill. Smiling weakly, she pushed the window open and beckoned the crow into her home.
"Hi, Toto." She said in a muffled whisper as she covered her mouth in a yawn, followed by a sneeze. Toto looked at the girl with skepticism. 'Don't tell me she's sick too.'
"Hello, Haru." He responded, looking at the girl as a few coughs escaped her throat. "Are you alright?"
"It's just a cold, but I'll be fine. Why are you here?" she asked, her eyes half open. The crow sighed.
"I was hoping you could help with something." He said, looking back to his passenger. Haru didn't see what he was looking at, considering she was too busy covering another yawn that escaped her.
"What did you need help with?"
"Apparently, there are two people that I now know of that are sick as sick can be."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about you and Baron." With the mention of Baron, Haru snapped out of her sleepy state and looked at the crow with wide eyes.
"Baron's sick? Well then, let's go." She proceeded to rush out of her room before the crow got her attention once again.
"There's no need. He's on my back." He said. As soon as the words got to Haru, she finally noticed the slouched figure on Toto's back. Making her way back to the bed, she placed her hand open in front of the crow. With a shake of Toto's feathers, Baron's sleeping figure slid off the crow and into the human girl's hand, his arms and legs dangling from the position he was in. Haru just looked at the heavily breathing figure in her hand as she saw how weak and helpless he looked.
"I guess we both have a cold." She obliviously stated. After a few seconds, Baron's body began to glow and grow to human height in front of them. The sudden growth spurt led Haru to fall off the bed and Toto to fly out of the way and onto the desk. Baron woke up with a jolt and the fatigue settled in. he gripped his head in pain and looked at his surroundings. It was then that he saw the figure on the floor.
"Oh dear, Miss Haru. Are you alright?" he asked as he moved to help her up off the floor. As soon as they were on their feet again, Haru stumbled and leaned into Baron. Their combined weights and Baron's numbing body was too much for them to stand up as they collided onto the bed once again in one awkward movement. You couldn't tell with how sick they were, but the fact that Haru was on top of Baron was enough to make them blush madly. How they ever got into this predicament was beyond everyone in the room. But no one was really complaining, until a flurry of coughs and sneezes escaped from the two figures on the bed. Baron and Haru just looked at each other in heated sickness.
'How did I get myself into this?' they both thought, unaware of the other.