When Yuichiro Hyakuya woke up that morning, he didn't feel that bad. Okay, maybe he was a little too warm and his head hurt and his throat was sore, but he was fine, honestly.

Looks like today's gonna be a rough one… He thought, throwing off the covers and sitting up. The sudden attack of dizziness only supported his theory. But I have to go to school, I promised Mika we'd go out together afterwards. They always spent Friday night together, it was a sort of tradition the two had developed over the years. And they were supposed to go see a movie tonight. Yu couldn't remember the title right now, but he knew Mika was really excited about it. Something to do with dragons…whatever.

Yu groaned when he stood up. It only made his dizziness worse. Just ignore it and get dressed, you'll probably feel fine by the time you get to school… He thought as he carelessly grabbed clothes from his closet. A comfortable outfit, just jeans and a green t shirt with his giant black hoodie. He didn't even bother looking for socks, he just slipped his feet into some old sandals.

The house was quiet when he left his room. It wasn't surprising, his adoptive father, Guren, was hardly ever home. What was surprising was the fact that he'd left a note for Yu on the kitchen counter. "Big mess at work, won't be back until late tonight. Huh, at least he's not disappearing for days this time." Yu commented, then coughed. Jeez, I sound like an old smoker.

Yu looked around the kitchen for some kind of breakfast, but his stomach churned at the thought of food. And, judging from the clock on the wall, he really didn't have time to make anything. So instead he just grabbed his backpack and trudged out the front door.

Normally, the walk to school wasn't bad at all. Yu was in pretty good shape and he didn't live all that far away, so more often than not he was there in less than ten minutes. But that was on a good day. And it was becoming rapidly apparent that this was not a good day. Yu grumbled constantly as he walked, stopping occasionally to cough. At least it isn't raining… Yu thought, though it didn't make him feel much better. By the time he finally reached the school his head was spinning so badly he could hardly walk. He never thought he'd be so eager to go to English, but the promise of an air conditioned room and the chance to sit down before he fell over seemed really nice right now.

The hallways were crowded with chattering students, and the noise only made Yu's headache worse. He made it to his locker in a daze and had to try three times to open it because he just couldn't seem to focus. Why was it so hard to focus?

"Hey, Yu! How do you think you did on that last history test?" A cheerful voice asked—Yoichi. He had the locker next to Yu. "I studied, but it was still really hard…hopefully I at least passed. But we're getting our grades back today, so it won't—hey, are you feeling okay? You don't look so good."

Yu finally looked over at Yoichi, whose cheerful expression was quickly morphing into concern. Yu shrugged. "I've been better. But I'm all right, you don't need to worry."

Yoichi's eyes widened. "Wow, you don't sound very good either. Are you sick or something? Maybe you should have stayed home."

"I told you, I'm fine." Yu growled, shutting his locker a little harder than necessary. The clang made him flinch.

"You're obviously not fine. You should go home and get some rest." Yoichi insisted. "Hey, don't walk away from me! Where are you going?"

"Class." Yu answered crossly. Normally he wouldn't be this sour to his friend, but he felt like crap and his patience was wearing thin. "Just leave me alone."

"Yu, wait!" Yoichi grabbed his arm, and Yu turned back around to glare at him. "What would Mika say if he knew you were doing this?"

Yu rolled his eyes. "Mika worries too much. And right now so are you. I'm not that sick, I can make it through the day."

Yoichi just looked at him for a minute, probably trying to think of something to say. But his next words weren't even directed towards Yu at all—they were for someone he'd spotted down the hall. "Hey, Kimizuki! Come here for a minute!"

Damn it, not him too! Yu cursed as the pink haired boy joined them. "What do you want? I kind of have somewhere to be."

"Yu's really sick. Can you make sure he doesn't do anything stupid while I go look for Mika? He can drive Yu home." Yoichi asked quickly, not even waiting for a reply before he vanished into the crowd of students.

Kimizuki looked Yu up and down. "I guess you do look worse than usual."

"Leave me alone." Yu groaned, then turned and started walking away. To his annoyance, Kimizuki easily kept pace with him.

"You definitely sound worse." Kimizuki decided.

At least I don't look like a telephone pole…Yu thought darkly. "You don't need to follow me. Yoichi was just overreacting."

"About what?" A voice asked from in front of him, and he looked up to see Mitsuba with a curious look on her face.

"About nothing." Yu muttered, walking past her.

"Yu's sick." Kimizuki answered for him.

"I guess he does look pretty terrible." Mitsuba agreed.

"I can hear you, you know!" Yu snapped. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? So what if he had a bit of a cold, it wasn't like the world was ending! "And just drop it, I'm fine!"

"You're obviously not." Shinoa too? Can't I have any kind of break today?

Yu didn't even bother answering this time, he just walked past the purple haired girl. Of course, his lack of speech didn't have anything to do with the fact that his head was spinning worse than ever. What gave you that idea? It's not like every time he spoke the dizziness got worse and worse. He just kept walking, ignoring the three friends behind him until multiple hands dragged him back. "What?" he hissed

"You look dead on your feet. You need to go home." Mitsuba said seriously. Even Shinoa looked somber, and Kimizuki's face was grouchier than ever.

"I told you I'm fine. Just leave me alone!" Yu tried to get away, but all three of them were holding him back and moving was harder than it should have been. He succeeded in shrugging them off the second time, but apparently he'd moved too fast.

Because the next thing he knew, everything had gone dark and he was falling to the floor. But before he could crash into it someone caught him and lowered him to the ground gently, though they kept their arms around him. Yu couldn't tell who it was, though, because his vision refused to focus. Actually, he could barely see at this point. Everything seemed to be fading. Oh, man…I really hope I don't pass out. Now that would be embarrassing, Yuichiro Hyakuya fainting in the middle of the hallway with everyone there to see. I guess it's a bit late for that though…

After a minute, he became aware that someone was calling his name. Yu tried to answer, but his throat was on fire and all that came out was a croak. The person that had been trying to talk to him quickly said something to someone else, and a second later Yu felt himself being lifted off the floor. Wait, what? Aw, come on… Yu tried to get out of the person's arms, but whoever it was they were too strong for him right now. "Let me go!" He protested, but the demand was weak and barely above a whisper.

"Can't…sick…hurt yourself." Yu could hardly make out the words, but he knew that voice. Squinting through his hazy vision, he spotted a familiar mess of blond hair.

"Mika…" Yu meant to sound angry, but it seemed more like a childish whine.

"Rest, okay? I've got you." Mika said calmly.

Normally, Yu would have been extremely embarrassed that his best friend was carrying him like a child, but he couldn't seem to find the energy to protest. He tried once more to struggle out of Mika's arms, but his grip only tightened. "Shh…it's okay. Why don't you try to sleep?"

Sleep was the absolute last thing Yu wanted right now, but his body seemed to have other ideas. He could hardly move. His vision, already so poor, went completely dark. And then everything was gone.

Mika arrived at school later than usual. He was normally there early, but this morning his wallet had mysteriously gone missing and it had taken almost twenty minutes to locate the damn thing. At least I found it, though. I'd hate to have to cancel movie night. He'd definitely have been late if it wasn't for his car. The thing was small, old, and more than a little beaten up, but it had its uses. He'd barely made it inside the school before someone came running up to him, calling his name.

"Mika? Mika! Hey, come here!" Is that Yoichi?

Mika's question was quickly answered when the brown-haired teen ran right into him. "Hey, calm down! What's the problem?"

Yoichi took Mika's arm and began pulling him through the hall. "It's Yu. I was just with him, and he's sick. Really sick, but he just keeps insisting that he's fine. He really shouldn't be here, but he refuses to go home. You're the only one he listens to, so I came to find you."

That stubborn idiot! "Let's hurry, then." This wouldn't be the first time Yu worked himself into the ground. He'd never ask for help, no matter how bad things got. That's why Mika always tried to keep an eye on him. But it didn't always work.

After a bit of running and shoving people aside, Mika spotted Yu up ahead. He seemed to be arguing with his other friends, who looked like they were trying to keep him from running off. Even from a distance Mika could tell he didn't look good. Yu twisted away from his friends, but instead of running off his face went blank and he collapsed.

Mika ran forward faster than he ever thought possible, and managed to catch Yu before he hit the ground. Oh, crap. He's burning up! Why in the world did he even try coming to school today? Mika lowered his friend to the floor, though he kept Yu's head in his lap. The dark haired boy opened his eyes and stared up at Mika, but his gaze was hazy and unfocused. "Hey, Yu, can you hear me? Yu? Yuichiro!" Yu just stared at him blankly and let out a quiet moan. "Come on, Yu, wake up! Yu!"

Mika looked up frantically when he got no reply. By now, a crowd had gathered around them. Unfamiliar students were just standing there and gawking at Mika and the semi-conscious Yu. Some of them might have been asking if they needed help, but right now Mika didn't really care to listen. Okay, being around so many people is definitely not good for Yu right now. I need to get him out of here. "Oi, you four! I'm taking him home. Tell the teachers what happened, okay?" Mika asked Yu's friends.

"Do you need any help?" Yoichi asked, but Mika shook his head.

"I've got him, don't worry. I'll text you once I get him back to his house." Once Mika said this, he pulled Yu's limp body closer and picked him up and started walking towards the parking lot. Dozens of pairs of eyes followed them, and the crowd parted to let them through.

After a few steps, Yu started to squirm. "Let me go!" He demanded, the words hardly coherent.

"I can't do that, Yu. Sorry. You're sick and I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Yu looked up at him, but his eyes were still unfocused. "Mika…" he whined.

Mika smiled—here was the great and prideful Yuichiro, whining like a little kid. To be perfectly honest, he's being kind of adorable right now. "Yep, it's me. Just rest, okay? I've got you." Yu groaned and started struggling again, but Mika only held him tighter. "Shh, it's okay. Why don't you try to sleep?"

Had this been a normal day, Yu would have never listened. And even now Mika was willing to bet that he was trying his hardest to stay awake, but it just wasn't working. Slowly, Yu's eyes closed and his body relaxed. Good. It'll be easier to get him home this way. Mika smiled at Yu's now sleeping face, feeling half exasperated and half affectionate. Why does he always have to be so reckless? He's such an idiot, making me worry like this…

By now the two of them had reached the parking lot. Mika ignored the stares and questions of the other students, calmly making his way to his car. It was difficult to unlock the door with Yu in his arms, but he managed.

Before long they were in the driveway at Yu's house. Yu still hadn't woken up. It made Mika a little nervous, but at the same time it did make his job a lot easier. He's going to be a nightmare once he wakes up. But at least I managed to get him home first… Mika sighed ad rolled his eyes at his friend. "Knowing you, you'll just try to get right back up once you're awake. Guess I'm not going to class today either."

Mika picked up the still unconscious Yu and carried him inside. One good thing about having a father that's ex-military: the house stays clean. Mika observed once they were inside. It was certainly a change, because Yu had been an absolute mess when they were kids. But judging by his bedroom, he still tended to be untidy. Mika sighed when he'd gotten Yu settled. "Just what am I going to do with you? You're hopeless."

Yu groaned and stirred, and for a second Mika thought he was going to wake up. But instead, the unconscious boy just rolled over and grabbed Mika's hand. Mika blushed, and he was glad that Yu wasn't awake to see it. He'd never do something like this if he was awake. It's kind of nice…No, no, no, you can't think like that now, Mikaela. Concentrate on taking care of him.

Mika eased himself out of Yu's grip and stood, looking down at his friend. "Wake up soon, all right? I'll be waiting for you."

Yu didn't know where he was, but he did know that everything hurt. The last thing he remembered was arguing with his friends, and then…he'd fallen. Someone had caught him though, and they'd carried him away. So now where was he? Slowly, Yu opened his eyes, grateful that the room wasn't brightly lit. I'm in…my bedroom? What the heck? Had that person really taken him all the way home? Yu tried to sit up, but everything was spinning.

"Don't you dare!" Someone ordered, and pushed him back down. Yu blinked, trying to focus. Eventually the hazy shapes around him started to make sense and he recognized the person sitting on his bed.

"Mika." He groaned, "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping you from being a reckless idiot." Mika said cheerfully.

Yu groaned. I really don't want to deal with him right now. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

Mika shrugged. "Well, yeah. But then who would keep you from doing something stupid?"

"I don't need a babysitter!" Yu growled.

"Oh, really? Tell me, what you'd have done if I wasn't sitting here when you woke up? You'd have gotten up, wandered off, and probably just made yourself even worse."

"I'm fine! I don't need you fussing over me."

"Yu, you fainted in the middle of school. You can barely walk!" Mika snapped, his playful demeanor quickly changing to annoyance. "You're obviously not fine!"

I've had just about enough of this. Yu sat up, ignoring his dizziness, and glared at Mika. "Look, I don't need you to treat me like a child! I'm not stupid, I can take care of myself!"

"You're sick! What's wrong with me wanting to take care of you?"

"I don't need your help!" Why does he always have to be like this? Ever since we were kids he's been such a worrywart. And it's always about me! Whenever Yu got sick, whenever he got hurt, even if it was just a scratch, Mika would always freak out. But he'd never pay attention to himself! It didn't matter if Mika was dead on his feet with exhaustion, if there was the slightest chance that something was wrong with Yu he'd completely ignore his own well-being. It pisses me off! "Just get out of here. I'll be fine on my own."

Mika shook his head. "I'm not leaving. Not when you're in such bad shape."

Fine, then I'll leave! Yu thought angrily, shoving off the blankets. When he tried to get up, though, everything started spinning and he just fell towards the floor. But once again, Mika's arms were around him before he could crash into it. Damn it, I hate this! I can't even walk on my own, it's pathetic!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're not going anywhere!" Mika ordered, then picked Yu up and placed him back in bed. "You're staying here if I have to hold you down!"

Yu tried struggling, but Mika had him pinned. The anger in his blue eyes was severe. Yu didn't think he'd ever seen him so angry. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Mika yelled, "Is accepting that you need help so damn hard?"

Yu scowled and looked away, which was kind of difficult since Mika was pretty much on top of him. "Fine…" he muttered.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." Mika taunted.

"I said fine! I'll stop." Yu muttered, "Now get off of me."

"Good." Mika sighed, and moved so that he was once more sitting on the edge of the bed. When Yu looked back at him, he realized his friend had an almost worried expression.

"Why do you always have to be like that?"

Mika raised an eyebrow at him. "Like what?"

"You always freak out over every little thing. Remember that one time we went swimming?" When Mika nodded, Yu continued, "All I did was choke on a little water, but you freaked out and acted like I was drowning. Did you really need to pick me up and carry me out of the pool?"

"I was just worried about you."

"And the time I sprained my ankle, you refused to let me walk anywhere. When I crashed my bike and you insisted on doing full first aid for a couple bruises…that time you were over for dinner and I accidentally cut myself, and you made me go sit on the other room while you finished cooking."

Mika was staring at the floor at this point. Yu couldn't see the expression on his face at this point, but it didn't seem to be a happy one. "I just—"

"Oh, let's not forget the time I forgot to call you and tell you I was going to be late, so you freaked out, assumed I'd been kidnapped, and called the cops. That was probably the most ridiculous one. When I finally arrived you were so relieved you almost started crying." Yu finished, a bit of a smug look on his face.

Mika sighed and looked back at Yu, his face carefully neutral. "When we went to the city and you got lost for an entire day because you refused to ask for directions. When you almost failed English last year because you wouldn't tell anyone you were having trouble. The time you challenged Kimizuki to a fight and he knocked you out. And let's not forget the time a little girl lost her balloon, so you ran out into the street to catch it for her and would have been hit by a car if I hadn't pushed you out of the way."

Now it was Yu's turn to feel embarrassed, but the last story kind of ticked him off. "And then, because you pushed me out of the way you got hit by the car instead and ended up in the hospital for three days." Yu had felt guilty about it for weeks.

"That wouldn't have happened if you weren't so reckless! Seriously, if I wasn't there to look out for you who knows what could have happened by now."

"I don't need you to look after me. I'm not a kid, so why don't you just worry about yourself for once?"

Mika just sighed and shrugged. "I don't need anyone to worry about me."

There he goes again. Yu rolled his eyes. Every time I try to talk about this…"Yeah, you do. If I've always got to have you worrying about me, then someone should be there to have your back."

Mika shook his head. "I'm not the crazy, reckless one. I just don't matter as much. It's fine."

"You listen to me, Mikaela Hyakuya!" Yu grabbed Mika's hand and glared at him until he looked up, blue eyes unreadable. "Don't give me that crap about not being important. You matter just as much as anyone else."

"I don't have time to worry about myself when I've got you to look after." Mika said this like it was perfectly normal. "I—" He sighed and looked away again. "I don't know. We've been together for so long…I care about you a lot. I don't want you to get hurt."

"And what about you, huh? What if something happens to you?" Mika didn't answer, and Yu sighed. "Look, I…I know I take risks sometimes. And I might have downplayed me being sick a little bit."

"A little bit?" Mika asked incredulously.

"Okay, okay. Kind of a lot." Yu shrugged. "My point is…well, even if I'm not the most cautious person out there, I don't need you to sacrifice yourself to look after me. I'll be fine, so just try to pay more attention to yourself."

"But I—"

"Can you promise me that, Mika?" Mika just looked away again. Oh, no you don't! This time, instead of grabbing Mika's hand Yu reached up and touched his face, then leaned in close till Mika had no choice but to look at him. Yu was suddenly glad that he was sick—Mika wouldn't be able to see him blushing if his face was already red. I can't believe I'm saying this… "Well, if you won't take care of yourself then I guess I'll have to do it."

That got Mika's attention. The blond recoiled slightly, a surprised look on his face. He chuckled nervously. "Jeez, Yu. You must be really sick. You'd never say something like that normally!"

Yu let go of him and looked away, scowling. "Don't make fun of me! I was being serious."

This time, Mika let out a full on laugh. "The guy who can't seem to keep himself out of trouble wants to keep me safe?"

Yu glanced back at him for a second, but Mika had his eyebrows raised in such a ridiculous expression he just huffed and looked away again. "You got a problem with that?"

"Yu, look at me." When he refused, Mika sighed and Yu could imagine him rolling his eyes. "I'm not teasing you. I actually thought you were being kind of cute."

"What?" Yu whipped his head back up to stare at Mika. That was something he'd never expected to hear. 'Cute' was simply not a word used to describe him. "What did you just say to me?"

It was only then that Yu realized how much Mika was blushing. "I said I think you're cute!" He forced out, not meeting Yu's eyes.

If it were possible, Yu would have run away right then and there. But he knew he wouldn't make it very far in his current condition, and embarrassed or not Mika would catch him and drag him right back. There was no way Mika would let him go anywhere right now, so he had no choice but to sit there and process what had just been said to him. He thinks I'm…cute?

Sure, over the years there had been plenty of teasing 'you're so adorable' statements exchanged between the two of them. But judging from Mika's tone and his body language, he wasn't joking in the slightest.

It wasn't like Yu hadn't at least thought about having Mika as more than a friend. The two of them had been so close for so long. And Mika had always put Yu first. He was polite to the general public, but when Yu was around he became another person entirely. So naturally, this pattern of behavior had made Yu wonder what was going on in Mika's head. And with this new revelation, he was even more confused…Yu wasn't opposed to the idea of their relationship changing, he'd just never expected it to happen. "You think I'm…"

Mika nodded curtly. "Yeah. So?" He paused for a minute, looking like he was thinking about something. "And I…I don't like it when you go off with your other friends without me."

Wait a second, he gets jealous? Where did that come from?

Mika was still talking. "It's not that I don't like them, I—I just want to be with you the most!"

At this point, Yu was fairly certain he was receiving some kind of a love confession. Shinoa had teased him about his lack of a romantic life often enough for him to recognize the signs. Still, he didn't know what to say. Had it come from anyone else, male or female, Yu would have turned them down pretty quickly. But this was coming from Mika, of all people.

Mika finally looked back at him, and it was then that Yu realized how close they were. Mika's expression was frantic and his face was entirely red. "I care about you a lot, Yu. As…as more than just a friend. But if you don't feel that way it's fine, forget what I said. You don't have to feel the same, I just wanted you to know!"

With Mika looking at him like that, being so close, and those words hanging in the air…Yu had absolutely no idea what to do. So it was just as much a surprise to him as it was to Mika when Yu leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth. Mika stiffened in shock, but he relaxed after a second. Right then, the rush of heat Yu was feeling had absolutely nothing to do with his fever, and everything to do with the boy who was so close to him.

When they separated, they were both breathless. Mika still looked a little scared, but now he was hopeful too. "So you…"

"I think so." Yu's head was spinning again, and his heart was pounding harder than it ever had before. He could barely contemplate what had just happened. Did he really just kiss Mika?

Mika grinned and let out a relieved laugh. "That's amaz—whoa!" He cut himself off when Yu slumped forward, leaning against him. "Yu, are you all right? Can you hear me?"

Yu really hadn't wanted to ruin the moment like this, but apparently he had no say in the matter. The rush of emotion he'd just felt had been overwhelming in his current state to the point where he couldn't manage to sit up anymore. Yu groaned in frustration.

Mika sighed and put his arms around Yu. "I guess that wasn't the best idea right now, huh?"

"Was too…" Yu mumbled into his chest.

"Idiot." Mika said fondly. "Come on, you should probably get some rest."

Yu tried to protest, but as Mika gently set him down he couldn't seem to find the words. He knew he was tired, but he couldn't go to sleep after what had just happened. "Mika, I—"

"Shh." Mika smiled down at him. "Don't worry. I'll be here when you wake up."