What's a Cold?
Ichigo was walking down her street when she heard teleportation behind her and spun. She wasn't surprised that it was Kisshu, and sighing, she asked, "Come to try to kidnap me again?"
"No, Pai kicked me out," Kisshu said gloomily. He started coughing, and Ichigo asked, "Are you sick?"
"Yeah, but I don't think it's a Cyniclon disease," Kisshu said gloomily.
Ichigo went over to him, and felt his forehead. "You've got a fever," she informed him. "I think you caught a cold."
"How can I catch cold?" Kisshu asked, sounding puzzled. "Cold is a temperature."
"It's also a disease," Ichigo said. She sighed and said, "You might as well come home with me; you'll get worse if you stay outside."
"Thanks," Kisshu said- then started coughing again, and nearly fell over. Ichigo helped him walk the rest of the way to her house, and let him in, then said, "Take off your boots, 'kay?"
Kisshu did so, and Ichigo led the way upstairs. "Do you mind the guest room?" she asked him.
"Will you stay?" Kisshu asked.
"I was going to sleep in my room, but I can bring a sleeping bag in if you want," Ichigo said.
"That would be nice," Kisshu said, sounding sleepy.
Ichigo took his hand and pulled him to the guest room, then said, "You should get in bed; I'll get a cool cloth for your fever."
Kisshu sleepily climbed under the covers on the bed and settled back against the pillows. Ichigo tucked him in and left, coming back with a cool cloth. She put it over Kisshu's forehead, and smoothed his hair back gently. "I'm going to go make some soup for you," she told him softly. "Try to get some sleep."
"'Kay…." Kisshu said sleepily. He fell asleep soon after, and Ichigo quietly left.
Going to the kitchen, Ichigo looked in the fridge, and got out the ingredients for miso soup, then started making a pot of it.
About forty-five minutes later, she was done, and covered the soup to keep it hot, then went to check on Kisshu.
He was stirring when she came in, and opened his eyes as she came over. "How are you feeling?" Ichigo asked him softly.
"I don't feel good," Kisshu replied gloomily.
"Are you hungry?" Ichigo asked.
"A little," Kisshu said.
"Do you want some miso soup?" Ichigo asked him.
"Sure," Kisshu said. Ichigo left, and put some soup into a bowl, then took it upstairs. Kisshu sat up as she came back in, and looked at her hopefully. Ichigo smiled and handed him the bowl of soup. He took it and started drinking it. When he finished, he said, "That was good; I didn't know you could cook."
"I've been practicing," Ichigo said, taking the bowl and feeling his forehead again. "Your fever went down a little," she told him. "Why don't you get some more sleep?"
"Can you stay?" Kisshu asked.
"Sure," Ichigo replied. "I'll stay."
Kisshu settled down and watched sleepily as Ichigo settled down on the bed with him, and smoothed his hair back gently. "Get some sleep, Kisshu," she said softly.
Kisshu closed his eyes, feeling Ichigo stroke his hair, and fell back to sleep.
~XXXX~
Kisshu slept through the rest of the day and night, and Ichigo slept on the floor in her sleeping bag overnight. She woke up to the sound of Kisshu coughing the next morning, and sleepily got up. When he stopped coughing, she asked, "Do you want to try cough syrup?"
"What's that?" Kisshu asked.
"Medicine," Ichigo explained.
"I can't take human medicine; it's poisonous," Kisshu said.
"That reminds me, do you have any allergies?" Ichigo asked.
"Just bananas, but it's a pretty severe allergy," Kisshu said.
"My mom and I banned bananas from the house," Ichigo said. "That's not a problem. Do you want some orange juice?"
"Okay," Kisshu said. "Thanks for helping me, Koneko-chan."
"Sure," Ichigo said, surprised. "Do you want anything to eat?"
"I don't really have any appetite," Kisshu said.
"Is your stomach okay?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah, I'm just not hungry," Kisshu said gloomily.
"Okay," Ichigo said. "I'll go get you some orange juice."
Kisshu nodded, and Ichigo smiled at him and left. She came back a few minutes later with a glass of orange juice, and gave it to Kisshu. He drank about half of it before setting it down. "Tired?" Ichigo asked.
"Yeah…" Kisshu said sleepily. He laid back against the pillows, and Ichigo tucked him in, then felt his forehead. "You've still got a fever," she said. "Try to get some rest, 'kay?"
Kisshu nodded. Even though he was half-asleep, he still asked, "Can you stay?"
"Of course," Ichigo said gently. She climbed onto the bed with him and gently stroked his hair as he fell asleep.
As Ichigo watched Kisshu sleep, she was thinking about his behavior. He's been much nicer and more polite, she thought. I guess that's kind of to be expected; he probably doesn't want me to kick him out. I didn't expect him to be this clingy, though. I wonder if he's always like this when he's sick. Maybe I'll ask when he wakes up.
She kept stroking Kisshu's hair until her arm got tired, and then just watched him. His fever had gone down a little bit, but it was still there.
Five hours later, Ichigo was getting worried. Kisshu hadn't woken up yet, and his fever was back up. As she was debating what to do next, she noticed Kisshu was stirring. "Kisshu?" she asked softly.
Kisshu opened his eyes. "Koneko-chan?" he asked.
"I'm here," Ichigo said, smoothing his hair back gently. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel awful…." Kisshu said gloomily.
Ichigo gently felt his forehead, and said, "You're burning up, Kisshu. Do you want me to call Pai? I have his cell phone number."
"Can you?" Kisshu asked. "I'm too tired…."
"Go back to sleep, I'll go call Pai," Ichigo said.
"You're leaving?" Kisshu asked. He sounded worried, and Ichigo smiled.
"I'll be just across the hall," she said softly. "Do you want me to bring the phone in here?"
Kisshu nodded, and Ichigo got up. "I'll be right back," she told him gently, and went to get her phone.
She came back with it a minute later, and scrolled through her contacts till she reached Pai's number. She hit Send, and waited.
Three rings later, she heard, "WHO THE HELL IS THIS AND WHERE DID YOU GET MY NUMBER!?"
Kisshu started coughing again as Ichigo said, "Jeez Pai, I hope you don't do that to Lettuce."
"Mmph," Pai said grouchily. "What do you want?"
"Kisshu's at my place, and he's pretty sick," Ichigo said. "Do you have medicine you could give him?"
"I'm on my way…." Pai sighed, and hung up.
Two minutes later, Pai appeared in the room, and came over to the bed, then pushed the blankets back, putting a hand on Kisshu's chest. "I take it you caught a cold?" he asked Kisshu.
"That's what Ichigo called it," Kisshu said, coughing.
Pai sighed, and his hand began to glow as he told Ichigo, "Stay quiet."
Ichigo obeyed as Kisshu fell asleep, and noticed after a few minutes that the feverish flush was leaving Kisshu's face, and he was breathing easier. Fifteen minutes later, Pai took his hand away and said quietly, "He'll be fine when he wakes up, but let him sleep off the healing."
"Okay," Ichigo said. "Is he always clingy when he's sick? He seemed to get worried every time I had to leave the room."
"Yeah, he's always been that way," Pai said. "He needs someone with him when he's sick, or he doesn't get better. I don't know why he's like that, though. He's probably going to be pretty hungry when he wakes up; you might want to make something, since I can't cook."
"Okay," Ichigo said. "Stay away from my kitchen; Taruto told all of us what you're like with kitchens."
"Mmph," Pai said grouchily as Ichigo left.
When Ichigo got to the kitchen, she went to the fridge and found a lot of leftover lasagna. She took the pan out and set it on the counter, then went back upstairs. She found Kisshu awake, and asked him and Pai, "Do you two want lasagna for dinner?"
"Sure," Kisshu said.
"Are you feeling up to coming downstairs, or should I bring it up here?" Ichigo asked.
"I feel fine; let's go downstairs," Kisshu said. He got out of bed, and he and Pai followed Ichigo downstairs. She put the lasagna in the microwave, and got out some plates and forks.
"Glasses are in the cabinet over the sink; you two can pick whatever you want to drink from the fridge," Ichigo said as the microwave beeped. She took the lasagna out, and cut some for each of them, setting the plates on the table as Kisshu and Pai came over with their drinks; milk for Kisshu and water for Pai. "Koneko-chan, what do you want to drink?" Kisshu asked.
"I like milk," Ichigo said. "I can get it though; go eat."
"Thanks," Kisshu said. He sat down with Pai as Ichigo got herself a glass of milk, and they started dinner. "This is really good," Kisshu commented. "Did you make this?"
"No, it's leftover from two nights ago; my mom made it," Ichigo said. "She and my dad leave me lots of food while they're gone.
"Where are they?" Pai asked.
"I forget, but my dad travels for work, and my mom goes with him now that I'm older," Ichigo said. "I wish Mom would stay, but then again, I couldn't exactly invite you guys over for dinner if she's here."
"Your parents don't know?" Kisshu asked.
"No," Ichigo said. "It's safer that way; my dad won't take his sword and chop Ryou to pieces. I'd rather not be visiting my overprotective father in jail. If he knew even half the stuff Ryou's put me through, he'd go berserk."
"Blondie sure is evil," Kisshu commented. "Can I get rid of him?"
"Sure," Ichigo said. "With him out of the way, we can talk about ending this pointless battle."
"Good point," Pai said. "But Kisshu, you should wait till tomorrow before teleporting; you're still recovering. You should be fine by tomorrow, but take it easy and go to bed early tonight."
"Fine…." Kisshu said sulkily.
Ichigo ruffled his hair and said, "You can sleep in my room tonight if you want."
Kisshu perked up, and said, "We get to sleep together?"
"Yup, and I suppose Pai can have the guest room if he's not going back to the ship," Ichigo said.
"I was going to go back to the ship, but I might be back if Taruto's on sugar high," Pai said. "Thanks for dinner."
"Sure," Ichigo said. "Will you two help clean up?"
"Of course," Pai said.
Ichigo, Pai, and Kisshu washed and dried the dishes, and then Kisshu and Ichigo went to watch a movie, while Pai went back to the ship.
A bit boring, and I'm sorry to Megumi-chan3, whose requested story will be out soon, but probably not today. I hope you all enjoyed this at least a little, and please review!