Nuki's Note:

Another somewhat old one shot. This story contains YoruxRan, otherwise known as Yoran. Once again it is an extremely popular pairing on GW. Enjoy


Washcloths

Ran was always happy. She was the preppy one, very quick to bring Amu back on her feet when the girl was down. Ran cheered, she encouraged, she truly was always happy.

That is, except for when she was sick. It was a warm, yet some what windy day when Ran sat in Amu's room, alone. She was curled up in three wash cloths for blankets, placed inside one of Amu's old sweatshirts for comfort, and beside her was a very small cup filled with steamy soup. Despite her size, Ran had managed to sneeze her way through an entire tissue box. She moaned, pulling her tiny knees up to her chest. She was supposed to be the one to cheer people up when they were sick, not become sick herself! And boy did having a cold suck, especially having a cold for the first time. Although Amu had assured her everything would pass in time, Ran was not so sure.

Perhaps she was just down due to the consequences. Of all days Ran had to remain at home, it was the big day of Kukai's soccer game. She had hoped to be there to cheer on Kukai and maybe even chit-chat with Daichi. As friends, just friends, Ran had repeated that to herself again and again. It didn't matter though, she wasn't even there.

Ran coughed. The worst part about being sick was being alone. Amu, Suu, and Miki had all offered to stay with her, but Ran insisted they enjoy themselves. As much as she would have enjoyed their company, she still felt the need that she should cheer them on into going with out her. Although now that they were gone, she really did feel rather lonely.

On top of being sick, alone, and cold, she was bored. Most things that entertained Ran involved getting active, jumping up, twirling around…fun stuff. Her body ached too much to do that, she felt too weak to even move. Her nose was too stuffed up for her to fall asleep, despite how utterly exhausted she felt. Sighing, Ran decided to take a few sips of soup, just for something to do. The warm flavor of chicken broth felt heavenly along her sore, itchy throat. Using the small bottle cap Amu had given her, Ran continued to drink- she had never tried the soup until then and was becoming grateful she had.

"How unfortunate, nya."

Ran dropped the cap instantly, whirling around she fast that she almost toppled over. A familiar head with untamed blue fur and large yellow eyes made an appearance over Amu's bed. Ran was about to yell until she was sent into a fit of coughing, complete with a sneeze or two. Yoru cocked his head; a confused expression took over his face.

"What's up with you?" he asked, his head observing the rest of the room.

"I'm sick…" Ran muttered, heading back to the warmth of her wash cloths and Amu's sweatshirt.

Ran moaned. She could feel a headache coming on, and with this guy here, it would probably only increase. If only she could take human medicine and fall asleep immediately like Amu when she was sick.

Yoru grinned. "You're lucky I'm such a great cat. It'd be very easy to take advantage of your position, nya."

Ran snuggled under the layers; even then she was still cold. She figured if she ignored Yoru, he'd go away. Really she hoped he didn't take her shaking for fear instead of being cold, that would just lead to an argument and a bigger headache.

"Just go please, I'm trying to sleep."

Yoru's tail twitched. He had pounced on to the desk where Ran was and remained in one spot, looking at her as if she had the answer to a very difficult question.

"Why are you so grumpy? I thought you were the hyper one, nya."

"I'm sick." Ran growled, trying to hold back another coughing fit.

Yoru stepped in her direction. Ran had expected him to paw at her face and nip at her hair, instead he curled up beside her, his flickering tail wrapped itself around Ran's back. She could not help but blush, but quickly did away with all flustered emotion and returned to a stern look.

"W-what are you doing?" she demanded.

Yoru purred. "You looked cold, so I decided to warm you up."

"Bu- but you'll get sick too if you stay by me!" Ran continued to protest, despite how suddenly sleepy she was becoming.

"Then you'll come and stay by my side, won't you?"

Ran almost nodded, but she caught herself in time. "But then what if you give it back to me?"

Yoru frowned at her, his tail began swishing again. A gust of wind blew through the slight opening in the window, which sent Ran huddling beside the other shugo. He smiled.

"Then I'll still visit you, and we can be sick together."

Ran blushed. For the time being, it sounded like a pretty good plan.