Serenities of Hell
By: Lost-Remembrance (Red Tail)

Chapter Two:

Kaname groaned when he opened his eyes, instantly being assaulted by light. He wished he was back in the soothing darkness and closed his eyes. His wish didn't come true. Luckily, someone must have heard his groan and dimmed the lights, making it near pitch-black. The emergency lights were still on in the room however.

"Hey, Kaname, are you feeling better?" A hand brushed over his forehead, feeling for any fever. The hand felt cool against his skin and the dark haired teen closed his eyes, relishing the moment.

Itsuki frowned when he felt the feverish head. He reached behind him and grabbed a cool wet cloth from the basin. He soaked it in water and then placed it ontop of Kaname's forehead.

He sighed in pleasure when the water trickled down his temples, into his hair. He shivered none the less at the cool sensation against his heated body. He groaned and opened his eyes. He saw a shadow overhead, a worried face leaning down to examine him. "Itsuki?"

The other teen gave a nod and a weak smile. "Well, it's good to see that you're awake at least."

"Where am I?"

"Well, you were at the hospital, but they thought you were okay and it was just a simple cold. They brought you to the nurse's office on my command. I thought it'd be better than them taking you home since no one would be there to care for you."

Kaname frowned, opening up his mouth to disagree with that.

"Kaname, your sister is at work right now. It's still school hours right now. She won't be home for another couple of hours." Itsuki replied, "By the way, in case you wanted to know, Mana couldn't be here because of her lessons. Sensei refused to let her leave class."

Kaname nodded, "I understand." Itsuki stared at him for a moment before nodding as well.

"You still have a fever. Why did you try playing basketball when you knew you were sick?"

"Hmm?"

"Kaname," Kaname's dark eyes stared sleepily at Itsuki, "You almost died today! You stopped breathing—they had to resurrect you." Through the sleepy haze clouding Kaname's mind, he was aware that Itsuki was crying a little.

"Why…"

"That's the second time you've almost died on me." Itsuki whispered. The teen then looked up, brushing away the remaining tears trailing down his face. "Go to sleep Kaname, you shouldn't force yourself to stay awake because of me."

"Sorry…" Kaname whispered, his eyes closing as he drifted off into sleep once more.

Itsuki looked at his best friend and sighed, "I hope you get better Kaname… I'm so worried about you."

The nurse walked into the room. She looked at her patient, and then the boy standing vigilant over his body. "Did he wake up at all?"

Itsuki nodded, "He did for a little bit, but he was tired so I told him to get some rest."

The nurse smiled, "That's good. Since he's so ill, I'll write him a note excusing him from the rest of his classes, and you as well. It looks like he's stabilized except for his fever. I think it's safe for him to go home. If you'd like, I'll excuse you from school as well so you can take care of him."

"I'd like that very much." Itsuki said, bowing to show his thanks. The nurse just nodded.

x.x.x

Meanwhile, Tomonori was pacing back and forth in his office room. He frowned, hands behind his back. Tsukasa and Isshin were sitting in chairs, watching him pace back and forth.

"So are you going to tell us what's on your mind? And where's Mana?" Isshin grumbled. He was not happy today. Kaname had collapsed during basketball practice and an ambulance had to be called because he wasn't breathing. Luckily, they got him resuscitated before the ambulance came. However, the paramedics took him to the hospital to figure out what was wrong with him since he still had trouble breathing.

Tomonori paused in his pacing, but then continued anyway. He stopped by the window. The shades were pulled down, only allowing lines of light from the blinds to filter into the room. He closed his eyes and pulled his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"I've been feeling a disturbance lately. A great evil."

Isshin looked up, eyes narrowing, "What are you talking about?"

"It's not just any evil though." Tomonori turned around to face his comrades in the battles against Kaoru and her fighters. "It's evil surrounding Kaname. Not that he's summoning it or anything. Usually, there's a light around him, but it's been getting dimmer lately as if something happening to him."

"Yes, well something did happen to him today, or did you forget?" Isshin grumbled.

Tsukasa frowned with worry. "Is there anything we can do? Are you sure about this Tomonori-san?" The blonde questioned as he bit his lower lip.

Tomonori looked away, briefly closing his eyes, "I'm not sure. I haven't yet delved deeper into this matter and given it thorough investigation. I just wanted to warn you of my thinking."

"All right, thank you." Isshin nodded, standing up from his chair. "I'd better be getting home. Let me know if anything changes, whether it is in your findings or in Kanade's condition. Itsuki will probably fill me in on what's going on since I told him to let me know if there are any changes in Kanade."

"All right." Tsukasa and Tomonori agreed.

TBC